About thirty-one years prior, Jacob journeyed to Haran from Beersheba, fleeing from his brother Esau.[1] On his way, he stopped for the night at a place called Luz, meaning almond tree. There, Jacob dreamed of a ladder, upon which angels ascended and descended between heaven and earth. He also had a vision of the Lord in the same dream, wherein the Lord promised to bless and protect him, and he also promised to be with Jacob, wherever he went (Genesis 28:10-15). In our previous study and in our present context, Jacob had been told by the Lord to return to the place, where he had originally dreamed of God, and there the Lord would appear to him again (Genesis 35:1).
The term Luz is often taken to mean a city, but the text isn’t clear upon its mention in the text. Luz means “almond tree” and may simply refer to a grove of almond trees, and there may have been several in Canaan. However, the one Jacob journeyed to was where the Lord had first appeared to him (Genesis 35:6), at which time Jacob made a vow to God. As I said, the event took place, while he was journeying to Haran (Genesis 28:10-22). After he arrived, Jacob built an altar there and named it El-Bethel, which means “The God of Bethel” (the House of God). He built it there in honor of it being the first place, where the Lord appeared to him (Genesis 35:7).
It was at this time and in this place where Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died. Thus, Rebekah probably never witnessed her son’s return from Haran. So, when he visited Isaac, his father, upon his return to Canaan, it was decided that Deborah would journey with Jacob. He buried her under an oak tree, naming it “Allonbachuth” or “The Oak of Weeping” (Genesis 35:8). Jacob was 108 years old at this time. He was born 20 years after Rebekah had come to Canaan to marry his father, Isaac. Isaac would have been 168 years old, when Deborah died.
We don’t know Rebekah’s age, when she married Isaac, but she was probably younger than him. If we put her age to be 20 years younger, she would have been 148 years old at this time, but logic demands she was dead. If she predeceased Jacob’s return to Canaan, which is probably true, because her death is never mentioned, then she didn’t live to be 137 years old. She would have been about 117, when Jacob fled to Haran from his brother, Esau. Sarah was 127 years old when she died (Genesis 23:1), so Rebekah may have died close to that age, more or less.
So, just as he promised, the Lord appeared to Jacob, when he arrived at Bethel, and blessed him. The Lord brought Jacob here, because Jacob was terrified over what Simeon and Levi had done to the males in Shechem. He didn’t believe he and his family would survive the terrible deed. The Lord brought him here to encourage him, by reminding him of what he had already done and what he intended to do for his descendants. First, he reminded Jacob that he had changed his name to Israel, which means “God rules” (Genesis 35:9-10; cp. Genesis 32:28). In other words, no one is able to touch Jacob without the Lord permitting it, Esau couldn’t and neither could the Canaanites who surrounded Shechem.
Secondly, the Lord reminded Jacob that he intended to make him into a company of nations, and kings would be among his descendants. Moreover, his descendants would possess and rule the very land in which he sojourns, the land which God had given to Jacob’s fathers, Abraham and Isaac. After meeting with and encouraging Jacob, the Lord went up from where he spoke with him (Genesis 35:11-13). Afterward, Jacob set up a stone pillar, where he had met with the Lord, and he poured a drink offering over it, worshiping the Lord God, who met with him and took away his great fear, just as he had done thirty-one years earlier, when he feared his brother Esau and fled from him to Haran. Finally, just as he did at that time, Jacob called the place Bethel Genesis 35:14-15).
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[1] Jacob spent 20 years in Haran (Genesis 31:38, 41), and, when he left, Joseph was six years old. Joseph was born at the end of the fourteen years that Jacob served Laban for his daughters (Genesis 30:25), and he left 6 years later (Genesis 31:41). When Joseph was 17 years old (Genesis 37:2), Rachel was pregnant with Benjamin (Genesis 37:9-10, note the ‘eleven’ stars and the presence of Rachel), but she died in childbirth (Genesis 35:18-19). Therefore, Jacob’s journey to Bethel occurred shortly after Joseph’s dreams, which he dreamed, when he was 17. So, 20 + 11 = 31 years (note: Joseph was 6 when he came to Canaan, so 17 – 6 = 11).
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