In this chapter we have three communions and three funerals. I. Three communions between God and Jacob. 1. God ordered Jacob to Beth-el; and, in obedience to that order, he purged his house of idols, and prepared for that journey, Gen. 35:1–5. 2.

Here, I. God reminds Jacob of his vow at Beth-el, and sends him thither to perform it, Gen. 35:1. Jacob had said in the day of his distress, If I come again in peace, this stone shall be God’s house, Gen. 28:22.

Jacob and his retinue having safely arrived at Beth-el, we are here told what passed there. I. There he built an altar , and no doubt offered sacrifice upon it, perhaps the tenth of his cattle, according to his vow, I will give the tenth unto thee.

We have here the story of the death of Rachel, the beloved wife of Jacob. 1. She fell in travail by the way, not able to reach to Bethlehem, the next town, though they were near it; so suddenly does pain sometimes come upon a woman in travail, which she cannot escape, or put off.

Here is, 1. Jacob’s removal, Gen. 35:21. He also, as his fathers, sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, and was not long in a place.