Genesis 35:2, 3 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: And let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.
As Jacob was settling his family into the Land of Promise with a renewed commitment to and a stronger faith in the God of the Covenant. The Lord had worked in him a pretty much completed faith. He was ready to respond to God’s goodness by dedicating himself, his household, and his descendants to the one true God alone. As head of the house he told them all to repent: put away all strange gods and make yourselves clean.
Then he called them all to worship the One God of the Promise. He built an altar for worship and thanksgiving to his God. He built an altar at Bethel, where God appeared to him and repeated the covenant given to his fathers with the addition that He would be with him until he returned to the land. God did all that for Israel; Israel responds with repentance, faith, commitment, thanks, and worship.
The head of the household, the patriarch of Israel, leads all those under his charge to repent, believe, and get clean before God. He has them all put away their gods, and replace misplaced worship with faith in the One True God of promise. Jesus, the head of our lives, calls us to give up our trust ”strange gods.” For us, these are the things we put our trust in that are not gods, demonic deceivers that want our devotion and turn us away from complete dependence on God alone. We know the false gods in our lives. Recognize these things for the strange gods that they are. Put them away!