Gen. 35 – Go To Bethel
Dear family and friends, after Simeon and Levi, adjudicated the country of Shechem, other neighboring countries were angry. They gathered their armies together to attack and destroy Jacob and his sons. Jacob sought help in his time of trouble.
Genesis 35.1
And He, God said to Jacob, ‘Rise to ascend Beth-El / The House of God and return / repent there.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים אֶל־יַעֲקֹב קוּם עֲלֵה בֵית־אֵל וְשֶׁב־שָׁם וַעֲשֵׂה־שָׁם מִזְבֵּחַ לָאֵל הַנִּרְאֶה אֵלֶיךָ בְּבָרְחֲךָ מִפְּנֵי עֵשָׂו אָחִיךָ: ס
Every Letter, Word, Phrase, Sentence, Paragraph, Chapter, Passuk and Books are related. The relationship may be apparent, but most times, one must study for revelation. We use Kabbalah and Gematria as tools to learn deeper revelations. There are twenty Hebrew Words in Genesis 35.1 Jacob served his father-in-law, Laban twenty years. The Twenty Words and the twenty years are related.
A Gematria relationship that we can see is אֵלֶיךָ Ah Leh Kaw – meaning ‘To You’. יִשְׂרָאֵל – Yisrael.
אֵלֶיךָ [Gematria Mispar Godal]
א 1 ל30 י10 ך500 = 541
יִשְׂרָאֵל [Gematria Ragil]
י10 ש300 ר200 א01 ל30 = 541
Genesis 35.1
And He, God said to Jacob, ‘Rise to ascend Beth-El / The House of God and return / repent there. And make an altar there to God, who appeared to you…
Genesis 35.9-10
And God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan-Aram and blessed him. And God said to him, Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name; he called his name Israel.
Genesis 35.1
And He, God said to Jacob, ‘Rise to ascend Beth-El / The House of God and return / repent there. And make an altar there to God, who appeared to Israel…
Remember in Genesis the Acronym I shared in our of Genesis 33? What is an Acronym? The Letters of our Matriarchs and Patriarchs Spell The Word Israel.
יִצְחָק — Isaac — יַעֲקֹב — Jacob
שָׂרָה — Sarah
רִבְקָ — Rebecca — רָחֵל — Rochel
אַבְרָהָם — Abraham
לֵאָה – Leah
Remember Bethel? Remember when Jacob arrived in בַּמָּקוֹם Bah Maw Kohm -The place? Remember Jacob’s dream? Angels were ascending and descending the ladder between Heaven and earth.
Genesis 28
The Lord said to Jacob, ‘I am The Lord God of Abraham your father, and The God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed. And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west, the east, the north, and the south. You and your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with you and will keep you in all places where you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done that about which I have spoken to you.’
And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and he said, ‘Surely The Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.’ And he was afraid, and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is The House of God, and this is the gate of Heaven.’
Remember, Jacob made a commitment to The Lord in that place.
Genesis 28.18-22
And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon its top. And he called the name of that place Beth-El, but the name of that city was called Luz at first. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and garment to put on So that I come back to my father’s house in peace; then shall The Lord be my God; And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s House; and of all that you shall give me, I will surely give the tenth to You.
The point is Jacob had a powerful dramatic spiritual experience in that place, in Bethel, in The House of God. After those traumatic experiences in Shechem, it was That Place, The Lord God directed Israel to return to. It was to that place he was supposed to bring his wives and children. His wives and children needed to experience the House of God for themselves. Our times are troubled right now. Our minds / our spirits are unsettled. We are experiencing a significant disruption in our lives. We need to experience that place! We need to visit The House of God. We need to experience assurances from The Lord God.
We are scattered among the nations. We are divided. Still, we have a rich history. God listens to the cries of His people. When we shed tears, they open the gates of Heaven. When we are obedient to His Commands, our world will change. We need to take some giant steps in that direction. At the very least we must try. Our world needs healing from our damage with the Esau’s who are angry and hate us.
We have powerful tools of prayer, The תורה Torah – נביאים Nevi’im / Prophets – כתובים Ketuvim – i.e., The Tanakh.
Good Sabbath!
Dr. Akiva Gamliel Belk
