God then appeared again to Jacob at Bethel (the fifth revelation) after he had fulfilled his vow to God and built an altar there (vv. 9-12). This revelation came 30 years after the first one at Bethel. In this case God appeared in visible (bodily?) form (v. 13). In the former instance Jacob had seen a vision. God confirmed Jacob's name change (cf. 32:28). This new name, Israel, was a pledge that God would do what He now promised Jacob: to give him numerous descendants and the land of Canaan. Here God summed up all the long-range promises that He had made to Jacob at various times in his life.
"The purpose of the second renaming . . . is to erase the original negative connotation and to give the name Israel a more neutral or even positive connotation--the connotation it is to have for the remainder of the Torah. It does so by removing the notion of struggle associated with the wordplay in 23:28 . . . and letting it stand in a positive light . . ."775
God's use of his name "God Almighty"(El Shaddai) is significant in view of what God promised Jacob. It would take an omnipotent God to fulfill these promises (cf. 17:1-2).
Jacob solemnized this occasion by setting up a second pillar (cf. 28:18) that perpetuated the memory of God's faithfulness for the benefit of his descendants. He not only set the stone apart as special by pouring oil on it as he had done 30 years earlier but also made an offering to God there and renamed the place "Bethel."
"Bethel occupies something of the same focal place in Jacob's career that the birth of Isaac occupied for Abraham, testing his fluctuating obedience and his hold on the promise, for more than twenty years."776
God's blessing of Jacob when his dedication was complete illustrates God's response to those who fully obey Him.
"The importance of God's words to Jacob in vv. 11-12 cannot be overemphasized. First, God's words be fruitful and increase in number' recalled clearly the primeval blessing of Creation (1:28) and hence showed God to be still at work' in bringing about the blessing to all mankind through Jacob. Second, for the first time since 17:16 (kings of peoples will come from her'), the mention is made of royalty (kings,' v. 11) in the promised line. Third, the promise of the land, first given to Abraham and then to Isaac, was renewed here with Jacob (v. 12). Thus within these brief words several major themes of the book have come together. The primeval blessing of mankind was renewed through the promise of a royal offspring and the gift of the land."777
We can enjoy the fellowship with God that He created us to experience only when we commit ourselves wholeheartedly to Him and obey His Word.
"It is noteworthy that there are certain things in connection with the spiritual life that must be entirely given up and destroyed, for it is impossible to sanctify or consecrate them. They must be buried and left behind, for they cannot possibly be devoted to the service of God. . . . There are things that have to be cut off and cannot be consecrated. Books have to be burned (note xix. 19). Evil habits have to be broken. Sin must be put away. There are things that are beyond all reclamation . . .
". . . if only we yield ourselves wholly and utterly to the hand of God, our lives, whatever the past may have been, shall be monuments, miracles, marvels of the grace of God."778
Still all of Jacob's problems were not behind him. (Someone has said that the person whose problems are all behind him or her is probably a school bus driver!)
"Just as Abraham had two sons and only one was the son of promise, and just as Isaac had two sons and only one was the son of the blessing, so now Jacob, though he has twelve sons, has two wives (Leah and Rachel); and each has a son (Judah and Joseph) that can rightfully contend for the blessing. In the narratives that follow, the writer holds both sons, Joseph and Judah, before the readers as rightful heirs of the promise. As the Jacob narratives have already anticipated, in the end it was Judah, the son of Leah, not Joseph, the son of Rachel, that gained the blessing (49:8-12)."779
