GENESIS 35 RETURN TO BETHEL After a long time, and a family crisis leading to a terrible disaster, Jacob was in a condition of soul in which he would listen to God, rather than go his own way. God knew he was now ready to listen again and He took Jacob in his mind, back to when he first met God at Bethel thirty years before when he was fleeing from Esau. There are times in the lives of God’s people when we must go back to our beginning with God and consider what went wrong with us. When we remember and review what was important then, we are moved to confess and forsake what has happened to keep us away from the Lord. Then we can act on what we know is really important now.
A lot of baggage can accumulate in our homes and lives that should never have been allowed in. We may not realize the negative impact some trinket, tool, device, picture, or even garments of clothes have had on our spiritual life. An altar without personal purification is of no more value than any pile of stones. Anything that diverts our spiritual focus on the Lord, can become an idol that ruins our faith. To wash and change clothes was an outward action that symbolized an inward change in Jacob and his household. Even the earrings were a kind of symbol as to who they were actually listening to each day. We are easily influenced by what we allow ourselves to listen to.
After Jacob had “returned from Padanaram” God had appeared to him, but for some reason he got seriously sidetracked into spending ten years in Succoth and Shechem where the family disaster may have been what woke him up to his departure from God. There are lasting consequences that we can’t avoid when we make decisions without seeking God’s guidance. Our comfortable situation may be stirred up so much that we are ready to listen and pay attention to God. When we do respond to Him, we don’t have to be afraid of what others around will think or do. God can easily take care of any potential opposition or attacks against our person and character even when we have failed grievously in some way.
At the right place and for the right purpose, an altar for worship and fellowship is much more than a pile of stones. It is a meeting place where those who have a covenant with God can come in communion and experience the benefits and joy of true worship in spirit and in truth in the spirit of holiness. When we get away from God and then finally return in obedience and contrition, God can again reaffirm to our thirsty soul, the promises and blessings that we have and can enjoy again. We don’t have to wait for some perfect time in the future to experience the blessings of eternal life, divine truth, the fullness of God and His grace and love. Those things can be ours now and everyday when we are in fellowship with Him.
Tragedies and abnormal events have a way of disturbing our peace and making us wonder what we should do. Jacob surely knew he had to do something, and God knew he was ready to pay attention to what He said, and he would obey divine direction. Like Jacob finally getting up and moving, we will see the scope of what God has promised when we move ahead in our Christian life, with faith and confidence in God. We fail and sometimes allow ourselves to be defiled by the world around us. But when we lift up our eyes to the promises of God and get to Bethel, then the house of God is a wonderful place to be; but more than that, we get back to the God of the house of God.
It is then we are ready to receive fresh revelations from God that open our understanding to greater appreciation of the Person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. God speaks to us then in personal ways through His word and He ministers grace to our souls. Grace, mercy and peace are multiplied through the knowledge of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ. Even though there are the losses and griefs common to human life on earth, there are the blessings of divine life that make us more sensitive to God’s will and gives us special hopes for the future of our sojourn here in the world. Benjamin was born amidst grief, reminding us that God is near and speaks peace to our soul at such times. We are able to truly worship the Lord again and are willing to give Him the best a humbled and contrite spirit can give. We see foretastes of glory and the distractions of living in an ungodly world, give way to spiritual insight into why we are here and what God wants us to do in service for Him. His intention is for us to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. He enables us to do for Him that which brings Him joy and satisfaction.
Learning from Mistakes At Bethel, God again affirmed Jacob’s name change as he consecrated himself and his family publicly to God. One of the meanings of the name, “Israel,” is “he struggles with God.” That indicated a desire to be close to God in spite of all the difficulties and disappointments life brings. Jacob had learned his own weakness and inability to even guide and guard his own home. It seems like his struggles to be with God and yet do his own will, had finally reached the place of surrender.
The Christian-life is not a problem-free life. It is inevitable that difficulties, disappointments, problems and failures will come. We are pilgrims moving through a foreign land, so we will be misunderstood by those are “of the world” and resent us not “being like everyone else or doing the things that everybody does.” This is one of the reasons those who “live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” The way we look at events and adverse circumstances, depends on our own choices. If we see them as opportunities for growth in the Lord and service for Him, we will go forward and prevail. If our mind is set to seek to avoid the discomfort that problems bring, we will be unhappy and unfruitful.
Religious forms, like the altar Jacob built in Shechem, are only just that – forms. The altar he built at Bethel and the stone pillar, were not mere forms. They were reminders of who God is and of our way of access to Him by faith. Contact and communion with God is a privilege so great, that respect, reverence, honor and holiness characterize all that happens at such an altar in our lives. The expensive olive oil that was poured out on the pillar, demonstrates the value Israel placed on his renewed fellowship with God. The character of our worship and the attitude we have toward the gathering center, our Lord Jesus Christ, demonstrates the value we place on Him and the place of His name. It also testifies to the value we place on being accepted by God. The Holy Spirit sets the way of communion above anything that is ordinary. When we leave that place, nothing is the same as when we came.
The rest of chapter thirty-five is the conclusion to the main story of Jacob’s life. There were the losses of Rachel and Isaac. There were the blessings of a son of his old age and the comfort he got from that. There was the grief of loss of loved ones and the grief caused by the sin of Reuben. There was the reunion and restoration to Isaac, his aged father, near to whom he stayed until Isaac died. Even Esau and Jacob could both join in showing their respect to Isaac at his death and could share their sorrow.
Much of our lives are lived in ordinary ways, in ordinary events of living. It is in those common things of life that our faith is established as an on-going testimony to unbelievers. In the dramatic events, faith may be openly admired, but in the ordinary day-to-day walk of life, our consistency, reputation, and testimony to our personal faith in our Lord Jesus Christ is observed as the way life is to be lived.
The spiritual unfaithfulness and unfitness of chapter thirty-four where there is no mention of God, is contrasted in chapter thirty-five where the main subject is God. Life without God is a failure. For Christians to try to live without people knowing that we have a living vital faith in Christ, will leave us unfulfilled and unhappy, as well as unfruitful. When we live our life under the sweet influences of Bethel, for God and with God; that is what is life “more abundantly.” The difference between being half-hearted or whole-hearted for God is very obvious. Being out of touch with God, doesn’t mean He intends to leave us alone.
FINALLY, BACK WHERE I BELONG The Call from God, v.1. Bethel wasn’t that far away from Shechem. But thirty miles to meet God at His house, when a person has taken their ease in the world, is more than we want to go when we are comfortable. Finally, Jacob was forced to move and he went to Bethel but was at least ten years late in getting there. It had been thirty years earlier when he first met the Lord there. He had vowed to return there if he came back in peace. God had blessed him and the conditions were met, but the vow was not yet paid. Repentance and faith are necessary when a child of God is out of touch with Him.
We can get used to the world and not even discern the true condition of life around us as well as in our own life, if we allow ourselves to remain in a sinful, unspiritual condition of soul. We may be afraid of what might happen to us by those around us if we do not cooperate and conform to the life the world insists on. When our spiritual condition, the pressures of society around, and God Himself combine to lead us out of a place in which we have been comfortable in body, and we are being conformed to the world, it will be costly and hard. Thankfully, the Lord will preserve us and guide us to the place He wants us to be when we yield to His will.
The Special Preparation of Jacob, v.2-4. The earnest and real change in Jacob produced a whole- hearted response in his household. The little gods and religious trinkets that had come in, were taken out and buried. All of the things that hindered the presence of God being felt in their midst, were all buried and left behind permanently. The surrender to God of our mind, our heart, our will and our whole being, will include the moral reservations and personal opinions that we may have kept secret. They all have to go before spiritual blessings will come. We cannot sanctify or consecrate worldly things to God. Anything that is of the world, must be buried and totally forsaken.
Satisfaction in our soul, strength in our character and effectiveness in our service comes after the evil habits and practice have been broken, confessed and forsaken. The “books have to be burned” that keep us from obedience to God. Jacob’s family must have been impressed with the change in him, now that he was willing to be obedient to God and wanted to be back in fellowship with Him.
The Impressive Journey, v.5. The journey wasn’t far from Shechem to Bethel (Luz), but as Jacob and his family and all that he had, moved out from the idol-worshipping Canaanites, no one tried to stop them or even question or hinder them. All the people around were terrified of them as the fear of the Lord was experienced by all. As that large company of people, material things, herds, flocks and herdsmen moved down the road of God’s leading, there would have been an awareness that something important was happening.
A lesson for us is that when we know God is leading us to make a change, then we must act on divine guidance. Self-will and self-centered opinions do not provide spiritual guidance. When God is for us and with us in any change we make in life, we are on safe ground all the way. “If our hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.”
The Wonderful Arrival, v.6. There was no lagging behind, no hesitation, as Jacob and all the people with him arrived at Bethel (Luz). It was thirty years before and he had been alone when he was last there. Now, “he and all the people” came to the place of God’s choosing. How thankful we can be when our hearts burn with gratitude to God and joy in our soul as we find that we are in the path of
God’s leading. Peace, rest and assurance settle upon us as we draw near to God and find that He draws near to us when we meet Him where He intends us to be. Even more so, when we realize there are a lot more people at the place of blessing because we came there and they came with us! Our influence and testimony do have an impact on others.
The Act of Obedience, v.7-8. When “the vows of God are on us” and we are able to fulfill them in the right place, in the right way, in the presence of God and before those who have been influenced by us, it is a time of humility, worship and joy. God becomes the Object of our thoughts, the expressions of our heart. What pleases God is what is important to us. Our concept of God reaches higher than ever before as He is revealed to us more in His Personhood and in a more profound way than ever before. Now, we are not only at “the house of God,” which attracts us to that place, but “The God of the house of God” fills our hearts and minds.
Consequently, we are changed in our life and testimony to finally become “Israel” in our own right because of God’s grace to us. We will remember the past with all its difficulties, but are now renewed in our confidence in God who never changes. The difference is that He can now bring us forward in faith even further as our experiences and memories remind us of God’s faithfulness to us when we failed Him.
The New Understanding, v.9-13. God revealed Himself to Jacob again and blessed him. Reconciliation had taken place and the cloud which had been a barrier between them, was no longer there. It must have been like sunshine after rain. The times of refreshment had come! Jacob had heard God’s voice, experienced God’s presence and in a fresh revelation of who God is and who he was, brought the full assurance of faith.
Fruitfulness and spiritual increase come when communion and fellowship with God is renewed and real. Only God knows the full extent of blessing that can come to many when we are brought back to where we belong, doing what we should do and rejoicing in our God. Such times encourage us and gives us power with God and others. We are able to be strengthened in our Christian heritage and the promises associated with doing the will of God from the heart.
The Memorial of Gratitude, v.14-15. The pillar of stones and the best oil poured out as the first drink- offering we read of in the scriptures, testified to how much this meant to Jacob. We will remember those times in our lives in which our gratitude and thankfulness was such that we could find no words to express the fullness of our joy. How great and marvelous are the mercies and grace of God!
God’s love is beyond our ability to describe. God does not forsake us, but when we sin and wander away from Him, He waits, watches and uses various means to draw us back to Himself. His love will not allow us real rest until we find our rest in Him. He is long-suffering toward us because He knows what is right for us, and yet because of the principle of free-will, knows there are lessons we must learn. God’s justice is absolute. Sin has no place in the life of a believer and God has to deal in strict justice with every sin before we can be restored to Him in fellowship and peace. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Wrongs must be made right. Truth must be maintained. Justice has to be served. Holiness must never be compromised. Rest of soul and spiritual satisfaction can come when God is satisfied. God’s grace can be restored when repentance is real and sin has been confessed and forsaken. Then we return in faith, humbled and grateful to know that the barrier has been removed. It is then we will yield ourselves to the Lord and rely on His mercy to restore to us the joy of our salvation and the experience of the marvels of God grace to us.