At the time of chapter thirty-five, Jacob must have been approximately a hundred years of age. Although Jacob had passed through many things, prior to this chapter, we are not told that he had ever made a thorough clearance. He suffered many things in relation to his brother, his uncle, and his cousins, suffering twenty years under the hand of his uncle Laban. But Genesis never says that as Jacob was undergoing those sufferings he purified himself or made a clearance of himself. Rather, we are told of Jacob's skill and supplanting. But, as we shall see, when God told him to arise and go up to Bethel, Jacob made a thorough clearance.
The first time God appeared to Jacob was in a dream (28:10-22) in which Jacob saw heaven opened and a ladder extending from earth to heaven with angels ascending and descending upon it. When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he was inspired to call the name of that place Bethel, and the stone that he had used as his pillow he set up for a pillar and poured oil upon it. Following this, he vowed that if God would bring him back safely to the land of his fathers, then the stone which he had set up for a pillar would be God's house (28:22). In this dream God paid Jacob a gracious visitation and caused him, undoubtedly in the spirit, to speak concerning God's eternal economy. If Jacob had not been inspired by the Spirit of God, how could he, a supplanter, have spoken a word revealing God's eternal purpose? It would have been impossible. God unveiled to Jacob His heart's desire, which is to have Bethel.
However, that dream at Bethel did not change Jacob at all. It seems that after the dream had transpired, the inspiration returned to heaven. Jacob's manner of life was unaffected. It is the same with us. At Bethel, Jacob prophesied in a wonderful way, speaking of God's house, but it seems that the prophecy returned to heaven. Like Jacob, many of us have had a dream, a revelation, or an inspiration in which we uttered a word of prophecy, if not to men, then at least to angels. But the next day we continued to live the same as always. After his dream at Bethel, Jacob continued his supplanting, especially the supplanting of Laban, as if he had never had the dream. In fact, he was even more "Jacobean" after the dream than before.
In chapter thirty-three, Jacob was still Jacob. The heavenly dream and the sufferings had not changed him. But something occurred in chapter thirty-four that touched Jacob's heart. His only daughter became defiled, and his sons caused him trouble by slaughtering people and plundering their city. These events touched Jacob deeply and caused him to make a radical turn. After this, God came in to speak to him.