Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

them to join in the worship of God when they would arrive at
Bethel. "So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their
hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them
under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem."
God caused a fear to come over the inhabitants of the land, so
that they made no attempt to avenge the slaughter of Shechem, and
the travelers reached Bethel safely. Here the Lord appeared to Jacob
again and renewed to him the covenant promise.
From Bethel it was only two days' journey to Hebron, but it
brought a heavy grief to Jacob in the death of Rachel. Twice he had
worked seven years for her sake, and his love had made the toil
light. That love had been deep and abiding.
Before her death, Rachel gave birth to a second son. With her
parting breath she named the child Benoni, "son of my sorrow." But
his father called him Benjamin, "son of my right hand," or "my
strength."
At last Jacob came to his journey's end, "to his father Isaac at
Mamre, ... (that is, Hebron)." Here he remained during the closing
years of his father's life. To Isaac, weak and blind, the kind
attentions of this long-absent son were a comfort during years of
loneliness and bereavement.
Jacob and Esau met at the deathbed of their father. The elder
brother's feelings had greatly changed. Jacob, well content with the
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