God speaks to Jacob at Shechem and tells him to, “Go up to Bethel.” Indeed, Bethel is about one thousand feet higher in elevation than Shechem. Jacob is being called back to the place he personally accepted the God of Abraham and had set up a stone marker promising to return to Bethel to honor the Lord. Over twenty years before Jacob vowed that the Lord would be his God if he would provide:

1. Divine presence
2. Divine protections
3. Divine provision
4. A safe return to the Promised Land

Now, since the Lord has done his part, Jacob is called back to Bethel to fulfill his obligations to the vow which were promised by Jacob at Bethel thirty years earlier:

1. the Lord would be his God
2. this stone marker would become a location (altar, house, temple,  etc.) to meet with the Lord
3. Jacob would give the Lord a tenth of everything

Since, the first commitment of the vow was the promise that the Lord would be Jacob’s God, the first line of action is to, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you!” These gods could have included some idols taken from the plunder of Shechem or may refer to the household gods Rachel stole from her father Laban when they fled Padan Aram.

The Lord had been with Jacob through the last three decades to protect and provide for him. Now, he has brought Jacob back into the Promised Land with his family. It is time they get things squared away and the sons of Jacob realize and understand the Covenant of Abraham and meet the Lord, the God of their father Jacob and grandfather’s Abraham and Isaac.

"When I was young, I was sure of many things; now there are only two things of which I am sure: one is, that I am a miserable sinner; and the other, that Christ is an all-sufficient Saviour. He is well-taught who learns these two lessons." - John Newton

The Celtic Church in Britain, Iona and Ireland had roots in a very early Christian tradition that goes back before 300 AD. When the Roman church arrived to take over the Celtic Christians were observing the date of Easter in accord with the apostolic tradition of John which followed the Jewish calendar (the 14th of Nissan) and was practiced by Polycarp in 120 AD. This is contrary to the Roman Churches tradition that was established as church doctrine at the Nicene Council of 325. The Synod of Whitby of 664 AD forced Celtic Christians to submit to Rome.