Promise 81 Gen. 35:1,5

Gen. 35:1,5 - "Then God said to Jacob, 'Arise, go up to Bethel and live there....' As they journeyed, there was a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob." Once again we see where God "should have" or we would "think" it would be the character of God, let the natural consequences for bad behaviour happen (let Haman's people kill or attack Simeon and Levi for killing the men) but He doesn't. God shows up once again to Jacob and tells him to move his camp to Bethel and to stake that land for God by putting up an alter. After doing some house cleaning they took off. Now this is the fun part, as they were passing through the land, even though they were few in number, those all around them were terrified so they didn't pursue them. What is it that caused this terror? It doesn't say, but I would imagine that they saw a great army surrounding Jacob's lot. They were walking in the center of what God asked them to do therefore they were also walking under God's protection. God wont lead us into a snare, He is our protector. He also does not act as we believe He should, even though those men deserved death for killing so many people, God has his own plans for them.