In Exodus 32 the slaughtering hand of Levi became a blessing. When the children of Israel worshipped the golden calf, Moses said, "Who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me," and "all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him" (Exo. 32:26). Then, when Moses said, "Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses" (Exo. 32:27-28). Here in Genesis 34, Levi, along with Simeon, slaughtered all the males of Hamor's city. Later, near Mount Sinai, Levi's descendants slaughtered the worshippers of the golden calf. Furthermore, in Numbers 25:7 and 8 one of Levi's descendants slaughtered the fornicators. Due to the action taken in Exodus 32, the Levites became priests to God.

Consider the situation Jacob faced in this chapter: his daughter was defiled and his sons deceived people, killed them, and plundered their city. Is this the family of God's called one, the family of one who is the unique testimony of God on earth? Why did all this happen to Jacob? Dinah, the eleven sons, and all the slaughtered people were a sacrifice for the perfecting of one man—Jacob. Perhaps you cannot believe that the Lord will sacrifice many for your sake. But to sacrifice many for the perfecting of one is a great thing. In Genesis 34 this one was the unique person in, with, and through whom God's eternal purpose was to be fulfilled. Dinah, the eleven sons, and all the men in the city of Shechem might have been spared, but if Jacob, the unique one, had been damaged, what would have happened to God's eternal purpose? Often the Lord will sacrifice others for the sake of perfecting you. I have seen and experienced this myself. If you have the insight, you will be able to see that even today the Lord is sacrificing many others that you might be perfected. Shechem, Hamor, all their countrymen, and even Dinah and Jacob's eleven sons were sacrificed for Jacob's sake. Everything recorded in this chapter was for his perfection.

In 34:30 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 seemed to be saying, "You have made everything miserable for me. You have caused me to stink among all the people in the land. Now I don't have any peace or safety. If the people attack us, we will all be killed." Jacob had come to Shechem in peace and safety. Now he was in a situation where all his safety had vanished. Probably he could no longer sleep well. His daughter had been defiled and now, due to the trouble caused by his sons, he could not remain at Shechem.

In 35:1 God spoke to Jacob, saying, "Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother." Notice the word "and" at the beginning of this verse. This indicates that this word spoken to Jacob by the Lord immediately follows the events of the previous chapter. After what had happened to him, Jacob was able to take in whatever God wanted to say. If God had spoken the same word to him a few days earlier, Jacob might have said, "Would God say this? This must be my imagination. I have been following my forefather's footsteps, living the tent life and worshipping God with the altar in the proper way. Why must I leave this place?" Undoubtedly, God intended to speak this word to Jacob a lot earlier. In Shechem, everything was good for Jacob, but it could not satisfy God's desire. Prior to the difficulty in chapter thirty-four, God could not speak to Jacob. If He had spoken to him, Jacob would not have listened. But now, after the daughter had been defiled, after the sons had caused trouble, and after Jacob had lost his peace and safety and was considering what to do, God intervened and spoke to him, telling him to go up to Bethel. After all this had taken place, Jacob could heed God's word about going up to Bethel. Without being in a difficult environment, we are often unable to listen to the word of God. God is not so foolish as to speak a word to us in vain. Rather, He waits until certain things happen to us.

God told Jacob to go up to Bethel. However, according to geography, Bethel is south of Shechem. Since Bethel is southward, why did God not say, "Go down to Bethel"? We cannot understand this according to our natural view. God seemed to be saying to Jacob, "Jacob, you are still down, for you are not up to the level of My desire. You must arise and go up to Bethel." God spoke to Jacob in a very meaningful and careful way, telling him to go up to Bethel, to dwell there, and to build an altar to the God who had appeared to him when he was fleeing his brother Esau. This word is short, but its significance is profound. In other words, God seemed to be saying, "Jacob, you have forgotten your vow. At the least, you have neglected to fulfill it. After that dream at Bethel, you vowed to build a house for Me. What about it? I asked you to come back, delivered you out of the hand of Laban, rescued you out of your trouble with Esau, and brought you back peacefully and safely to the land of your forefathers. But I did not do this that you might settle down. This is not My purpose. My purpose is that you go to the place where you had the dream, the place where you vowed to build a house for Me. Don't remain at Shechem, for this should not be your dwelling place. This is merely a place on the pathway to Bethel. Now go up to Bethel, dwell there, and build an altar to the very God who appeared to you."