After Jacob was dealt with by God at Peniel, he began to recognize his own weakness and was gradually changed. He gradually saw the way he should take; he passed through Shechem to Bethel and finally dwelt in Hebron. However, this does not mean that Jacob needed no further dealings from God after Peniel. The Bible shows us that after Peniel, he seemed to encounter even more dealings from God than before. We may say that Jacob was a suffering-ridden person. From Shechem to Bethel and from Bethel to Hebron, Jacob suffered many sorrows. We can take a look at the following examples.
In Shechem Jacob met a very difficult situation. His daughter was defiled by Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the country. Jacob's sons then conspired to slay Shechem and all the males in the city. This matter greatly troubled Jacob. Let us read Genesis 34:30: "And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house." Jacob was very worried that Shechem's countrymen might rise up in revenge to destroy him and his entire house. This was the crisis that confronted Jacob in Shechem.
In chapter thirty-five Jacob went to Bethel and encountered another incident. "Deborah Rebekah's nurse died" (v. 8). He could not see his mother, but if his mother's nurse was there, he would have been somewhat comforted. He did not expect that his mother's nurse would die also. The Scripture purposely records that "she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allon-bachuth." The meaning of Allon-bachuth in the original language is "the oak of weeping." From this we have a glimpse of Jacob's sorrow and grief at that time.
He journeyed from Bethel, and when he was close to Ephrath, he was met with an even more sorrowful event. "Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor...And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died,) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day" (vv. 16-20). The wife whom Jacob loved so much died on the way. The pillar that he set upon Rachel's grave told of his sad story.
When Jacob was in Edar, he experienced another heartbreaking thing. His son Reuben went to lay with Bilhah, Jacob's concubine (v. 22). This was another matter that caused Jacob to suffer.
After he passed through all these incidents, he arrived at Hebron where his father Isaac sojourned. Here the Bible makes no mention of his mother Rebekah; perhaps his mother had already died. This was God's severe dealing with Jacob. In his youth his mother had loved him. His mother had taught him how to steal the blessing that his brother Esau should have received. But now the mother who had loved him so dearly was no longer around. He truly experienced many sorrows.