Ge 35:1 Then God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother."

2 And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments.

3 "Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone."

4 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.

5 And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

6 So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.

7 And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.

8 Now Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called Allon Bachuth.

9 Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him.

10 And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name." So He called his name Israel.

11 Also God said to him: "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.

12 "The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land."

13 Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him.

14 So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it.

15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel.

Moses is showing his original Israelite readers here that God blessed Jacob when he wholly obeyed God. Jacob delayed in fulfilling his vow he made to God in Genesis 28:19-22 thirty years ago. Instead, after serving Laban for twenty years, he went to Shechem, not Bethel, and dwelt there for ten years.

As discipline, God permitted the sad story of Dinah, his daughter, and the scandalous story of the violence and treachery of his sons in Shechem. Now, Jacob was reminded of his vow and was ready to leave Shechem and go to Bethel.

Jacob's commitment and full obedience are seen in his words: "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone."

And because of this the blessing of God was upon him. God protected them by striking the cities with fear with the result that no one came to harm them in their journey. In Bethel, Jacob fulfilled his vow. The result? God blessed him by reconfirming and expanding His promise to him. His name "Israel" speaks of his blessed status and position before God. The promise of numerous descendants, along with kings from his line, with further assurance of the land was given to him. All these because Jacob now fully obeyed.

In the same way, the nation Israel will be so blessed if they obeyed God fully and wholeheartedly. That's Moses' point here.