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, Simeon and Levi, slaughtering all the men of Shechem,

the town they'd just moved to. They did this 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 Yahweh, and he buries all their gods. As they pass through the nearby cities,

God makes all the locals afraid of them. We don't know how he did it, but God actually creates

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

the fear of God, it means something different than this word used here. Usually it carries a

connotation of reverence and awe. But here, this word only has the connotation of sheer

terror. We'll talk more about the fear of God in a future episode, but I just wanted to plant that seed

while we're here.

God calls Jacob to settle in Bethel.

You may remember Bethel as the place where God appeared to Jacob in his famous Ladder 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 that 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 of heart and his increased understanding and faith. He's tearing down the old

things that dishonor God, and he's putting up new things that honor God and point to him.

Then something happens that seems weird. God changes Jacob's name. It seems weird because we've

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