When Jacob left home to go back to his mother’s tribe and find a wife, he rested for the night at a place called Luz. During the night he had a dream that was no ordinary dream. The dream was a reality—a vision of the Lord. He saw a ladder—a staircase—reaching to the heavens. Angels were going up and down the ladder. The Lord Himself stood atop the ladder, and made five promises to Jacob. God promised to make Jacob into a great nation. He promised to give Jacob and his descendants the land of Canaan. He promised to bless all the families of the earth through Jacob’s descendant—the Messiah. He promised to be with Jacob wherever he went. And He promised to bring Jacob back to the promised land.

In response, Jacob made a vow: “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”

For whatever reason, Jacob delayed in fulfilling the vow. He hung around the town of Succoth a while before living in Shechem for a time. Finally, God prodded Jacob into fulfilling his vow at the place he named Bethel—a name meaning “House of God.”

Since Bethel is where God revealed Himself with amazing gracious and merciful promises, Jacob understands the Lord’s command to go to Bethel and build an altar to also be a call to repentance.

A lot had been sliding in the life of this family. As I’ve said numerous times—like most families—this family had its own baggage. Last week, we heard about what Jacob’s sons did in totally misusing the sacramental gift of circumcision, and then two of Jacob’s sons used that misuse to kill all the men of the town of Shechem because Dinah was defiled.

There was also a lot of opportunity for people in Jacob’s household to have idols. Rachel stole her father’s idols. Jacob acquired idol worshiping servants from his father-in-law. Jacob’s sons took the wives and children of the men of Shechem—and they likely worshiped idols. Some of the family also had earrings that must have been somehow used for idol worship. Either the members of the household unsuccessfully kept these idols secret from Jacob or he carelessly tolerated them to keep the peace in the household. Whichever it was, he musters up courage to combat the idolatry and commands that they be discarded. Only one God is to be worshiped—and like a faithful spouse, He doesn’t accept second place. Jacob’s family was to cleanse and purify their hearts and lives of idolatry, unbelief, and wickedness.

Jacob refers to God as “the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” He clearly remembers the Lord appearing to him the first time at Bethel, answering Jacob’s distress and making a promise to be by Jacob’s side. For many years, the family witnessed God keeping that promise. They readily handed over their idols in repentance, returning to the Lord their God.

God continued to be with Jacob as his shield. The other Canaanites around Shechem would have been all too happy to attack Jacob in revenge for what happened in Shechem, but the Lord miraculously caused the towns around Shechem to be afraid of the family.

Jacob arrived at Bethel and built the altar to the Lord as a sacred place for worship, fulfilling his vow many years before. For a second time in Bethel, God appeared to Jacob.

The Lord blessed him, reaffirming his name change—this time in the land of Canaan. Just like the Lord makes you new men and women in Christ, giving you a new name, so the Lord has made Jacob a new man in Christ, giving him a new name.

The Lord’s call for Jacob to return to Bethel and fulfill his vow to build the altar wasn’t because God was insecure without him doing so. The Lord called Jacob to Bethel in order to “renew a right spirit within” him. Having confirmed the name change from Jacob to Israel, the Lord confirms the promises He made to Jacob when he left many years before—the promise of a great nation and land.

The promise of the Messiah is not mentioned this time. Commentators point out that Jacob’s faith in the Messiah was not wavering, and so that might be why God didn’t mention it at this time.

Jacob had faltered in Shechem with the way he handled Dinah’s defilement and the unwarranted revenge of his sons on the entire town. The whole event gave Jacob—and by extension the Lord—a bad name and reputation. Sin doesn’t just tarnish us, but it hurts the family name. It tarnishes the Lord’s name and reputation. The Lord changing Jacob’s name and reaffirming the promises was also an interesting way of announcing the forgiveness of sins.

We see this in other parts of Scripture. Peter denied knowing Jesus three times. The way Jesus forgave Peter was to ask three times, “Do you love me more than these?” Jesus’ response to Peter’s strong yes was to tell him to “Feed my sheep.”

In today’s Gospel reading, when Peter realizes the miracle Jesus worked in bringing the enormous catch of fish, he instantly recognizes his own unworthiness in the presence of Jesus’ holiness, and he falls at Jesus’ knees begging Him to leave because Peter is so unworthy to be there. Jesus announces pardon, not by saying I forgive you, but by saying, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will be catching men.” When reading Scripture, look out for some of the unique ways the Lord declares forgiveness and pardon for His people.

Jacob offers a drink offering in thanksgiving to the Lord, pouring it on the stone pillar he set up as a memorial statue. This practice would be taken up among the people of Israel as one of their offerings to God. Jacob also anointed the pillar with oil, consecrating it to the Lord, setting it apart as a place of worship to the one true God.

The Lord strengthened Jacob in the midst of the family messiness, dysfunctions, sorrows, and grief that would be endured in future days. We heard a lot of it this morning in the time span of just a few verses.

First, it’s mentioned that Rebekah’s nurse, a woman named Deborah, died at Bethel. We know nothing about Deborah. It wasn’t even revealed that she was part of Jacob’s household until this chapter. She either was part of Jacob’s caravan when he left home many years before, or he joined Jacob’s household after the death of his mother.

Then, as Jacob and his family journeyed away from Bethel, tragedy struck again. His beloved wife, Rachel, died in childbirth. We get a sense of the anguish she felt by the name she gave her son with her dying breath. Ben-oni means something along the lines of “son of my sorrow.”

Understandably that name would not work for a grieving Jacob. He didn’t want his twelfth son’s name to constantly remind him of the bitterness of Rachel’s death amid the sweetness of their son’s birth. So, instead the baby is named Benjamin, which means “son of the right hand”, possibly a name meant to honor Rachel’s strength rather than her last day. She was buried near Bethlehem. The city of David. The city of Jesus.

Following the death of his mother’s nurse and the death of his beloved wife, his oldest son acted in great wickedness. He shared intimate union with Jacob’s concubine, who was Rachel’s maid. It was a power move, an attempt to establish dominance as the rising patriarch of the family.

To us on the outside looking in, it was such a foolish move. Obviously, such a power play wouldn’t bring the results Reuben thinks. It’s as dumb as the vineyard workers thinking that by killing the owner’s son they’ll get the vineyard. But the sinful heart so often deludes us into foolish thinking when we sin. Sin is always foolishness.

Reuben will be disinherited of the right of the firstborn and the promise of the Messiah will not go through him, because he totally disrespected the man whom the Lord God renamed Israel. In fact, none of Jacob’s first three sons—Reuben, Simeon, nor Levi—will inherit the promise of the Messiah.

Today’s reading ends on a bittersweet note. Jacob finally arrives at his father’s home, and biblical scholars estimate that he was able to spend about a decade with Isaac before he died. I don’t want to make this too confusing, but I also want you to have a little bit of a picture in your mind. Moses wrote Genesis with the emphasis on “generations.” Sometimes the “generations” are events, as was the case with the creation account. Most times the “generations” are people like Noah and Abraham and Ishmael. So as Moses writes, he’s trying to bring closure to Isaac’s story. What I’m saying is that even though Isaac’s death is recorded here, he didn’t die yet chronology. Isaac lived until shortly after Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers.

How encouraging it is to hear that Esau and Jacob were still reconciled in their relationship when their father died. Together the twins buried Isaac in the family cemetery that Abraham bought as a place to bury Sarah.

Isaac was gathered to his people. His soul was united with the saints in heaven—the believers awaiting resurrection on the last day. As Jesus says, “God is not a God of the dead but of the living.”

We do well to remember and emulate the faith of the patriarchs—the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They trusted the Lord’s promises. The book of Hebrews teaches us that the promise of the land was the land of Canaan, but it was so much more. The Promised Land was a picture of heaven. The nation of ancient Israel was a real people and nation, but it was so much more. All who trust in Christ Jesus are a part of Israel, united under our King of kings and Lord of lords. And the promise of the one through whom all families will be blessed is fulfilled by Jesus—the Messiah.

By faith Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob trusted the Lord to fulfill these promises. By faith you trust in the Lord Jesus who has fulfilled these promises through His death and resurrection for your sins. He has claimed you as His own. He has purified you and changed your garments by Baptism through which He has made you members of His household.

Sometimes, like Jacob, we return to our old ways of sin. Yet, the faithful Lord “renews us and leads us” by the forgiveness of sins to “delight in His will and walk in His ways to the glory of His holy name.” Amen.