The Oak of Weeping and Worship Text: Genesis 35:1-8
Introduction: The Stench of Shechem
We are coming off one of the ugliest chapters in the book of Genesis. The honor of Jacob's daughter Dinah was violated, and in response, his sons Simeon and Levi enacted a treacherous and bloodthirsty revenge, slaughtering the entire city of Shechem. Jacob's response to this was not one of righteous fury at the sin, but rather one of pragmatic fear. He tells his sons, "You have troubled me, to make me a stench among the inhabitants of the land" (Gen. 34:30). He was worried about his brand, his public relations. The entire family is neck-deep in compromise, violence, and fear. They are spiritually adrift, settled down near a pagan city, and have become just like them.
And it is into this mess, this stench, that God speaks. This is always how it works. God does not wait for us to clean ourselves up before He calls to us. If He did, He would be waiting forever. He steps into the middle of our self-inflicted disasters and graciously commands a way out. This chapter is about a necessary and commanded course correction. It is a story of covenant renewal. It is about what a man, a father, a patriarch must do when he realizes his family has been spiritually contaminated by the world. It is a call to leave the compromised ground of Shechem and return to the consecrated ground of Bethel, the house of God.
This is not just a geographical journey. It is a spiritual pilgrimage from defilement to devotion, from compromise to consecration. And the principles laid out here for Jacob's household are the same principles that must govern our households today when we find that the world has gotten into the church, and into our homes. God's solution is not therapy, or a new strategic plan, or a rebranding effort. God's solution is always the same: repentance, purification, and a return to worship.
The Text
Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods which are among you and cleanse yourselves and change your garments; and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which they had and the rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem. Then they journeyed on, and there was a terror from God upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. And he built an altar there and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled from his brother. Then Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; it was named Allon-bacuth.
(Genesis 35:1-8 LSB)
The Divine Initiative (v. 1)
The action begins not with Jacob's bright idea, but with a command from on high.
"Then God said to Jacob, 'Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.'" (Genesis 35:1)
Salvation and sanctification are always God's initiative. Jacob is stuck. He is fearful, compromised, and his family is a mess. He doesn't know what to do. And then God speaks. This is grace. God does not abandon His people in their sin; He calls them out of it. The command is specific: "Arise, go up to Bethel." Bethel means "house of God." It was the place of Jacob's first, life-altering encounter with the living God, where he saw the ladder to heaven and made his vow (Genesis 28). God is calling him back to the beginning, back to his first love. He is to leave the polluted land of Shechem and return to the place of divine revelation.
Notice that God reminds Jacob of His past faithfulness. He is the God "who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau." God anchors His commands in His character and His past actions. He is saying, "Remember who I am? I am the God who saved you when you were alone and terrified. I was faithful then, and I am faithful now. Therefore, obey me." All true obedience is rooted in remembering who God is and what He has done. He is not just giving a command; He is inviting Jacob back into a relationship that is defined by God's saving power.
Repentance Before Worship (v. 2-3)
Jacob hears God's command and immediately translates it into action. He steps up and leads his family as their covenant head.
"So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, 'Put away the foreign gods which are among you and cleanse yourselves and change your garments; and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.'" (Genesis 35:2-3 LSB)
Jacob understands that you cannot go up to the house of God with idols in your baggage. The first order of business is radical purification. "Put away the foreign gods." Where did these come from? Well, Rachel stole her father's household idols years ago. And when they plundered Shechem, they no doubt took their idols along with the women and children. Syncretism had set in. They were trying to worship Yahweh while keeping a few pagan trinkets around for good luck. Jacob says no more. True worship demands exclusive loyalty.
This putting away of idols is coupled with external signs of internal cleansing. "Cleanse yourselves and change your garments." This is not about hygiene; it is about consecration. They are to wash away the filth of Shechem, the filth of their sin, and put on clean clothes, symbolizing a new start, a fresh dedication. You do not approach a holy God wearing the grave clothes of your old life. This is the Old Testament equivalent of what Paul says in Ephesians: put off the old self, which is corrupt, and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Eph. 4:22-24).
And Jacob catechizes his family. He tells them why they are doing this. They are going to build an altar to the God "who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone." He is giving his testimony. He is teaching them that their God is not a mute idol of wood or stone. He is the living God who hears, who answers, and who is present. This is how a father leads. He calls his family to repentance and points them to the faithfulness of God.
The Burial of Idolatry (v. 4)
The response of the household is complete and total. This is not a half-hearted repentance.
"So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which they had and the rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem." (Genesis 35:4 LSB)
They surrender everything. Not just the obvious idols, but also "the rings which were in their ears." In that culture, these were not mere decorations; they were often pagan amulets, charms connected to idolatrous worship. They were symbols of their old identity. To give them up was to make a clean break with their past allegiances. True repentance is costly; it involves getting rid of things we might be attached to.
And what does Jacob do? He doesn't sell them or put them in a museum. He "hid them under the oak which was near Shechem." He buries them. He puts them out of commission, permanently. And he does it right there, near the scene of their great sin and compromise. It is a powerful symbol. They are burying their idolatry, their assimilation, and their sin at the very place that represented their spiritual decay. It is a gravestone for their old way of life. We are to have the same attitude toward our sin. We are to bury it, to put it to death, and leave it behind for good.
The Fear of God and the Arrival at Bethel (v. 5-7)
As soon as they obey and consecrate themselves, God provides a supernatural protection.
"Then they journeyed on, and there was a terror from God upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob." (Genesis 35:5 LSB)
Logically, this was the moment for the surrounding Canaanite cities to attack. Jacob's family was vulnerable, on the move, and had made themselves a "stench." But no one touches them. Why? Because a "terror from God" fell on them. When God's people get right with Him, He becomes a terror to their enemies. Our safety is not found in our own strength or in political maneuvering, but in our obedience. When we fear God rightly, He ensures that our enemies have a very different and potent kind of fear.
So they arrive safely at Bethel. And Jacob does exactly what God commanded. He builds an altar and worships. "And he built an altar there and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled from his brother." The name is significant. It means "The God of the House of God." Jacob's understanding has matured. He is no longer just focused on the sacred place, Bethel. He is focused on the God of the place, El-bethel. His worship is directed to the person of God Himself, the one who reveals Himself. This is the goal of the journey: not just to get to a location, but to worship the living God who makes the location holy.
An Oak of Weeping (v. 8)
The chapter ends with what seems like a strange, almost random, historical note.
"Then Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; it was named Allon-bacuth." (Genesis 35:8 LSB)
Why is this here? Deborah was a tangible link to the past, to Jacob's mother Rebekah and the family's origins in Haran. She was likely a beloved matriarch in the camp, a figure of stability and history. Her death marks the end of an era. But more than that, her burial sanctifies this place of renewal with sorrow. The name they give the place, Allon-bacuth, means "oak of weeping."
This is profoundly realistic. The life of faith is not one of perpetual mountaintop experiences. Right here, at the culmination of this great spiritual renewal, at the house of God, there is a grave. There is weeping. Joy and sorrow, worship and grief, consecration and death are woven together. We bury our idols under one oak near Shechem, and we bury our beloved saints under another oak near Bethel. This is the Christian life. We are joyful in our salvation, and we grieve, but not as those who have no hope. Our tears at the graveside are shed on consecrated ground, in the very presence of El-bethel, the God of the House of God, who is the God of the living and not the dead.
Conclusion: Your Bethel Awaits
The pattern for us is clear. Like Jacob's family, we live in a world that constantly seeks to contaminate us. We pick up foreign gods, idols of money, sex, power, approval, comfort. We settle down in Shechem and begin to stink like the world. And in His grace, God calls us out. He says, "Arise, go up to Bethel." He calls us back to Christ, who is our true Bethel, the true House of God, the ladder between heaven and earth.
This journey requires the same things of us. It requires that we, as heads of our households, lead our families in radical repentance. It means identifying the foreign gods we have allowed into our homes, through our screens and in our hearts, and burying them for good. It means cleansing ourselves, not with water, but through confession and faith in the blood of Christ, and changing our garments, putting on the righteousness He provides.
When we do this, when we return to the centrality of worship, we find the same divine protection. The "terror of God" falls upon our spiritual enemies. And we find that our lives, like Jacob's, are a mixture of worship and weeping, of joy in God's presence and the sorrow of living in a fallen world. But it is all done on holy ground, before the face of El-bethel, the God who met us in our distress, who is with us wherever we go, and who will one day wipe away every tear from our eyes.