The Lord orders him back to Bethel. Jacob should have headed that way in the first place when the Lord told him in Harran that it was time to leave the house of his father-in-law and return to his own people. Bethel is on the way home and it is where Jacob made a promise to the Lord after he fled his parents' home in fear of Esau. He promised the Lord that if He would keep him safe on his journey, provide food and clothing for him, and bring him back safely to Isaac's house, he would make the Lord his God. (Genesis 28:20-21) Yet for some reason Jacob didn't head in this direction once he became free of his dishonest father-in-law but settled in Shechem instead. This proved to be a disaster for his family and for the people of that city. Now he's panic stricken and doesn't know where to turn. The Lord speaks to him with clear directions and Jacob obeys Him.
"Then God said to Jacob, 'Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.'" (Genesis 35:1) Jacob had promised to return to Bethel if the Lord protected him and brought him safely back, saying he would build an altar there to God. (Genesis 28:22) If he had kept his promise he wouldn't be in his current predicament and he knows it now, so he hurries to do what the Lord has said.
"So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, 'Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.' So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem. Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on all the towns all around them so that no one pursued them." (Genesis 35:2-5)
Where did these idols come from? Well, for one thing, we know Rachel has her father's household idols in her possession because she stole them when the family left Harran. The Bible told us that as Jacob became wealthy he acquired male and female servants. Whether this means he bought slaves or whether these people are paid servants, they are from regions where they had not heard of the living God before coming into Jacob's household. They have brought their pagan beliefs with them and Jacob has allowed them to practice idolatry while under his roof. Other idols came into the home when his sons stole everything of value the now-dead men of Shechem had owned. Jacob knows he can't keep compromising on his faith. By not taking a firm stand against idolatry and by not setting a good example for his family, they've ended up in perilous circumstances. He cleanses the household by removing every idol from it. He also takes all the earrings and we can assume this is because they were either shaped like figures of pagan gods or because they had symbols or markings on them that symbolized those gods. He buries these dead and useless items in a hole at Shechem and takes his family and moves on. The Lord provides protection for them along the way, causing a dreadful fear to fall upon anyone who is tempted to harm them.
"Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. There be built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel, because it was there that God revealed Himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother." (Genesis 35:6-7) As we learned earlier in Genesis, the original name for this area was Luz but Jacob named it Bethel (House Of God) after the Lord spoke to him there. At that time Jacob didn't really know the Lord. He still doesn't know Him perhaps as well as he should, and he doesn't know Him as well as he will later on as he goes through life learning about Him and forming a relationship with Him, but we can tell Jacob already feels much closer to Him than he once did because he renames the place "The God Of The House Of God". He didn't know this God the first time he came to Bethel and he considered it a place where God was present. He didn't know then that God could and would be with him everywhere he went. He knows it now so he adds to the name he gave this area. "The God" at Bethel is his God. This God has been with him in Harran (also called Paddan Aram). This God has been with him in Shechem. This God is going to be with him wherever he goes.
The family suffers a loss while at Bethel. Rebekah's nurse, the woman who would have been her nanny when she was a child and who probably helped care for Rebekah's own son, falls ill and dies at Bethel. "Now Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried under the oak outside Bethel. So it was named Allon Bakuth." (Genesis 35:8) This means "oak of weeping". Rebekah has lost a woman who was a second mother to her. The family takes some time to grieve this woman before continuing on their way.
"After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. God said to him, 'Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel. So He named him Israel." (Genesis 35:9-10) The Lord already renamed Jacob earlier in Genesis, but sometimes we need to be reminded who we are, don't we? Jacob may think he and his family messed up too horribly in Shechem for the Lord to keep calling him Israel. He feels like he fell back into being Jacob and he's afraid he always will be Jacob. On the one hand we may find ourselves wondering why the Lord is so good to Jacob in the midst of all his faults and failures, but on the other hand we should be falling to our knees and thanking a God of such mercy. He's been good to us in spite of our faults and failures. When we mess up He doesn't disown us but instead reminds us who we are. He reminds us that our behavior of late doesn't match up with our position as the children of the living God, and this encourages us and strengthens us to do better. If He didn't remind us who we are I think we'd fall into discouragement and give up. We'd decide we were never going to grow into our new name or live up to it. Jacob has been wondering whether God still intends to make him into someone new and better or whether He's going to leave him just like he is. He receives the assurance he needs that the God he considers his God is still going to keep His promises.
"And God said to him, 'I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.' Then God went up from him at the place where He had talked with him." (Genesis 35:11-13) God reveals one of His names to Jacob: God Almighty which in Hebrew is El-Shaddai. This is an ancient name whose origins are difficult to translate but it is generally believed to mean things like "the mighty One", "the overpowering One/the overcoming One", or "the all-sufficient One".
We can be certain there is a reason why the Lord shares one of His names with Jacob at this point in time. While He is reminding Jacob that He is still making him into a new man, and while He is promising to bring about great things for Jacob's descendants, the Lord uses one of His names to assure Jacob that He has the power to back up His statements. The actions of Jacob and his sons, who are all mere humans, are not capable of derailing God's redemptive plans for mankind. He is able to overpower/overcome their mistakes and failures so that nothing they do can throw His plans off course. In addition, the all-sufficient One who sustains Himself, who needs no one's help, who needs no source of power outside Himself, who holds all things in creation together, is more than able to fulfill the promises He's made. He doesn't need Jacob's help to bring about His glorious plans for the nation of Israel and His glorious plans for the human race that will be fulfilled by the Redeemer. Since He doesn't need Jacob's help, He is not hindered by Jacob's failures either. Jacob can trust anything the Lord tells him. What the Lord says He will do, He will do.
"Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel." (Genesis 35:14-15) The Lord keeps reminding Jacob who he is now and Jacob keeps reminding himself who God is. This is the place where the one and only God met with him. It is here that the Lord refreshed his soul, so he pours out a drink offering on the stone pillar. It is here that the Spirit of God encouraged and strengthened him, so he pours out oil which in the Scriptures usually represents the Holy Spirit although at times oil symbolizes healing. These acts of Jacob show us that he received what he needed from the Lord at Bethel.
It is good that he received this refreshment and healing at Bethel. It will fortify him in the days ahead when he endures some very personal and heartbreaking losses.
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