God did not give Jacob a sermon. Rather, because Jacob's heart had been touched and, as a result, he was ready to hear the word of God, God simply said, "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" (35:1). Here we see that God told Jacob to do four things: to arise, to go up to Bethel, to dwell there, and to make there an altar to God who had appeared to him. The turn, or the change, Jacob made in chapter thirty-five was very significant.
In 35:2-7 we see Jacob's response to God's word. Before this chapter, there is no record of a man who was walking in the presence of God and who cleared himself and his whole household. Verse 2 says, "Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments" (Heb.). For the single purpose of going up to Bethel, Jacob and everyone with him had to make a thorough clearance and to purify themselves. In this chapter God did not say, "Jacob, you are going to Bethel to build an altar there; you should realize that you must be holy. I am holy, and you must be holy also. You must rid yourself of all your foreign gods, purify yourself of every defilement, and change your garments."
Recently, an elderly Christian, a man who had been a preacher for over forty years, asked if we teach our people to dress in a certain way. He had observed the way the brothers and sisters dressed and wondered if we taught them to do so. I told him that during the past fourteen years we had never laid down any regulations about clothing. However, anyone who has been touched by God for His dwelling place will sense that something within is charging him to clear himself and to purify himself. You may tolerate certain defilements and looseness in your life. But whenever you touch the church and you mean business with the Lord to have the church life, something within charges you concerning those things which are not fitting for the church life. Immediately after God commanded Jacob to arise and go up to Bethel, Jacob charged his people to get rid of the foreign gods, to purify themselves, and to change their garments. Later we shall see that changing the garments signifies changing our manner of life, that is, putting off the old manner of life and putting on a new man. Although God did not tell Jacob to do this, something deep within him required this of him. If he had been charged to go to a worldly place, he would have sensed no need to purify himself. Rather, he would have been ready to defile himself even more. Jacob had such a radical change because he had been touched for Bethel, for God's eternal dwelling place.