March 2 - Genesis 32-35
The focus passage for today’s devotion is Genesis 35:1-14. This passage records one of the most important turning points in Jacob’s life. Years earlier, fleeing from Esau, Jacob stopped at a place called Luz. There God met him in a dream of a ladder reaching into heaven. Overwhelmed, Jacob renamed the place Bethel which means “House of God.” When Jacob first encountered God at Bethel, he vowed that the LORD would be his God (Genesis 28:10-22).
After Jacob’s first encounter with God at Bethel, Jacob prospered materially while drifting spiritually. By Genesis 34 his family was living near Shechem, compromised morally, influenced by pagan culture, and surrounded by violence and fear. Then God spoke again: “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother” (Genesis 35:1). God was calling Jacob back to the place of encounter, commitment, and surrender. Sometimes believers do not need a new experience with God; they need to return to the last place they truly met with God.
Bethel was where Jacob first realized God was real and personal. He had left home as a deceiver, but at Bethel he became a worshiper. Yet prosperity dulled his devotion To God. Often times success slowly replaces dependence on God with confidence in self and money.
Many Christians share Jacob’s pattern. There was a time when prayer was natural, Scripture alive, and worship heartfelt. But years of routine, distraction, and comfort replace awe with familiarity. Faith becomes traditional rather than practiced.
God did not tell Jacob to invent a new altar; He told him to go back to the old one. Spiritual renewal frequently begins not with discovering something new but rediscovering something neglected: the prayer life we once guarded, the holiness we once cherished, the repentance we once practiced, and the reverence we once felt. Revival is often remembrance.
Jacob immediately understood the seriousness of God’s command: “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments” (Genesis 35:2). Hidden idols existed within his household. These idols were likely brought from Mesopotamia or taken from Shechem. Jacob could not go back to Bethel while holding onto what belonged to Shechem. Before worship came cleansing. We often want renewal without repentance. But God does not restore intimacy while we protect our idols. Every return to Bethel involves surrender.
Modern idols rarely look like carved images. They look like control, reputation, comfort, entertainment, self-image, or security. Anything we rely on more than God becomes an idol that we worship. When God calls us back, He exposes what we quietly devoted ourselves to instead of Him.
At Bethel God reaffirmed Jacob’s transformation: “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name” (Gen. 35:10). Years earlier God had given this name after wrestling at Peniel (Gen. 32). Yet Jacob continued living partially as the old man. Returning to Bethel was God’s way of reminding him who he truly was.
We too live beneath labels such as past sins, failures, fears, and insecurities. But returning to God restores our true identity in Christ Jesus. The closer we live to His presence, the less we live under our history. God did not merely forgive Jacob; He re-established his purpose and calling.
The Christian life is not a straight line upward but a repeated journey back to the altar. Seasons of routine, compromise, distraction, or success gradually move us toward Shechem which is the place of mixture. But God lovingly calls: “Arise, go up to Bethel.” Sometimes the greatest step forward spiritually is actually a step backward. We go back to prayer, back to repentance, back to Scripture, back to surrender, back to the cross. Sometimes we do not need a new revelation. We just need to go back to Bethel.