Genesis 35:3 “And let us arise, 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.”
Jacob told his family and those with him, “let us arise, and go up to Bethel”; that is, to The House Of God; for, God had instructed him to “Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there” (Genesis 35:1) to worship. In preparation for going “up to Bethel” (The House Of God), he instructed his family and those with him to “Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments” (Genesis 35:2). “And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them” (Genesis 35:5)! The “strange gods” where not “strange” in the cities and among the majority of the people in the land; but, they were “strange” to God and to His Commandments. The word, “strange”, means foreign; that is, these “strange gods” have no place among the Children of God; but, they tend to slip in among us, and if not purged from our lives they will eventually seize control of us. How do we know if there are “strange gods” among us? We pick up the Word of God (not modern alterations) and read it and compare everything we do and teach to what the Word of God teaches for the New Testament Church. Anything we add to Biblical Doctrine and Biblical Practice is a “strange god” to God and to the House Of God and has no place amongst us. On the other hand, what ever the Word Of God teaches us to do, we are to worshipfully do it with joy and zeal. An amazing thing happened, when the Children of Israel purged themselves of their “strange gods” and set out for “Bethel” (The House Of God), “the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob” (Genesis 35:5). The same will be true in our day, when we prayerfully purge ourselves and “go up” to Church (The House Of God) “and dwell there” (Genesis 35:1), the enemies of God and godliness will be held back by “the terror of God” (Genesis 35:5)!