Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

Yesterday we left off with Jacob's son, Semyon and Levi,

slaughtering all the men of Sheckham, the town they'd just moved to,

in order to avenge the rape of their sister Dinah. Today we see Jacob and his family preparing to move out of Shekham. Good call.

As he packs up, Jacob makes it known to all of his family that from here on out,

they're only going to worship

yawe and he buries all their gods. As they passed through the nearby cities

God made all the locals afraid of them. We don't know how he did it, but God actually created terror in the hearts

of those who oppose him in order to protect his people. This is the only place in the whole Bible

where this Hebrew word for terror is used.

Most of the time when we refer to things like the Fear of God,

it means something different than this word being used here.

Usually, it carries a connotation of reverence and awe, but here this word has only the

connotation of sheer terror.

We'll talk about this more in a future episode, but I just wanted to plant that seed while

we're here.

God called Jacob to settle in Bethel.

You may remember Bethel as the place where God appeared to Jacob in his famous latter dream.

Back then in chapter 28, Jacob set up a pagan pillar on that spot. But he's

a new man now with a new heart. So God sends him back and he replaces the pillar with an altar, just like the altar he set up in yesterday's reading after he wrestled with God.

This whole scene is important because it shows us Jacob's change apart and his increased understanding and faith.

He's tearing down the old things that dishonor God.

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