Depart Shechem and go up to Bethel (Genesis 35:1-5)
Christian faith is about going against the grain of the world and steadily growing toward God. However, the most important thing to watch out for when walking the path of faith is the “Shechem phenomenon,” which involves settling for comfort. Within the land of Israel, the Shechem region was fertile and blessed enough to tempt people. It offered an ideal environment for livestock farming, drawing attention and inevitably fostering a desire to settle down and settle down for a long time. With its vast green pastures and abundant clear water, it seemed certain that staying here would guarantee success, a place where one could live with pride.
Jacob and his children felt that if they stayed in this land, shepherding would be easy and they would soon become wealthy. However, what was meant to be a short stay turned into a tenure that lasted fifteen years. During his fifteen years in Shechem, Jacob amassed countless flocks and herds of sheep and cattle, amassing considerable wealth. His sons and daughters also grew up. But one day, a serious problem arose. Jacob’s daughter Dinah was betrayed by Hamor’s son Shechem. Furious, Jacob’s sons used the sacred circumcision law given by God to deceive the Shechemites and then committed a horrific act of annihilating them.
This incident led Jacob to approach God and realize that God was not pleased with his stay in Shechem but desired that he go up to Bethel, the place He had promised.
“Then God said to Jacob, ‘Arise, go up to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau’” (Genesis 35:1).
From a religious perspective, Shechem symbolizes a world without God, while Bethel symbolizes the place where God dwells. Through this incident, Jacob came to understand God’s will and repented of his wrongdoings.
“Jacob said to his household and all who were with him, ‘Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments’ (Genesis 35:2).”
He then remembered the place he had promised God and told his family to return there.
“Let us rise, let us go up to Bethel. I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and was with me wherever I went” (Genesis 35:3).”
The Bible has two themes: ‘Shuma’ and ‘Shema.’ Shuma means that if you return, the way to life opens. Shema means that if you hear (the Word), the way to life opens.
Even today, if we repent, leave Shechem, and return to Bethel, God will always accept us with love, restore us, renew us, anoint us, and bless us. Repentance leads to restoration. Prayer leads to miracles. Returning to God and hearing His Word opens the way to life.
