Genesis 35:2-4 Then Jacob said to his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean… No sooner is Jacob admonished to go to Bethel, than he feels the necessity of a reformation, and gives command for it. This proves that he knew of the corrupt practices of his family, and had too long connived at them. We are glad however to find him resolved at last to put them away. A constant attendance on God's ordinances is dwelling as it were in Bethel; and it is by this that we detect ourselves of evils which we should otherwise go on in without thought or concern. It is coming to the light, which will manifest our deeds, whether they be wrought in God or not. Wicked men may reconcile the most sacred religious duties with the indulgence of secret sins; but good men cannot do so. They must wash their hands in innocency, and so compass God's altar. Jacob not only commands his household to put away their idols, but endeavours to impress upon them his own sentiments. "Let us arise," saith he, "and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went." He is decided for himself, and uses all means to persuade his family to unite with him. His intimating that God bad heretofore "answered him in the day of his distress," might be designed not only to show them the propriety of what he was about to do, but to excite a hope that God might disperse the cloud which now hung over them on account of the late impure and bloody transaction. (A. Fuller.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: |
    |