Our text will be in Genesis 35,
but if you would turn with me first to Genesis 28, we'll refer
to a few passages of here on our way to chapter 35. So just
go ahead and turn to Genesis 28 and hold your Bible open there. It had been 30 years now since
God had first revealed himself to Jacob when he had fled from
Esau to the house of Laban. It had been 30 years since Jacob
had first seen Christ, the ladder, which stood upon the earth and
ascended unto heaven. That ladder pictures Christ,
there's no doubt about that. It'd been 30 years since Jacob
saw the only access there is to God. Truly, there is only
one mediator between God and man, and that's the man, Christ
Jesus. I'm glad that there's one, aren't
you? Truly, Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and
no man, no woman, cometh to the Father but by Him, John 14, 6. You think about 30 years, seems
like a long time, but it goes by so fast. I was thinking this
week, it's been 27, almost 28 years since Teresa and I moved
to Madisonville and started attending this church. maybe 31 years or so since we
were first exposed to the gospel of Christ and Him crucified.
And 30 years is a long time, but yet it's not long at all,
is it? It goes by so fast. Where does
the time go? Yet time is nothing to the Eternal
One. That's why I get perplexed when
people start talking about the hour and the day and the year
that God saved them. When I think back on the past
30 years, I can't tell you exactly when the Lord saved me. I'm still
seeking Christ now for redemption. I put no confidence in a profession
that I made, and I certainly don't put any confidence or assurance
in the three times I was baptized. I'm still trusting that Christ,
by His grace, is saving me. Do you know what I mean when
I say that? Only those who endure till the
end shall be saved. We talk about that all the time.
And do you know what my only hope of enduring is? The same
as yours. And that is that my Lord, having
loved his own, loved them until the end. If I'm saved, I must
be kept by the power of God. And if I'm to endure to the end,
it was because Christ loved me to the end. We know that, don't
we? And we thank God for his love. As I think back on the past 30
years of my life, there have been many ups and downs, highs
and lows, joys and sorrow, good times and bad. Jacob experienced
all these things in his journey to get back home. over the past
30 years. I haven't always acted like a
saved man, but what does a saved man act like? I've not always
trusted in God my Savior, yet I hope that I'm trusting in Him
now. I haven't always in faith depended
upon Christ alone, but Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief. Many times I've done it my way
and it was the wrong way. Yet when I read the words of
Scripture that says, where God says, Jacob have I loved? I find
great, great, great comfort. You know why? Because Jacob lived
much like I have. And yet God loved him in spite
of him. Don't you find comfort in that?
Oh my. I think about all the things
that I've promised God over the years. Why do we do that? Even
after He showed me Christ is my only access to God. My vow and my promise to God
is very much like Jacob's. Matter of fact, here in the 28th
chapter, look at verse 20. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying,
if God will be with me, if God will keep me in the way that
I should go, if God will give me bread to eat, if God will
give me raiment to put on, so that I can come again into my
father's house in peace. Now you remember, he's running
for his life here when he made this vow unto God. He said, if
I can just come again into my father's house in peace, shall
the Lord be my God." Sounds like many of my faithless vows over
the years. Truly, man's vows and promises
to God are foolish. Truly, we don't have the ability
or even the willingness to keep them. But listen to these words
of the wise man Solomon. He said, be not rash with your
mouth. And let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before
God. For God is in heaven and thou
upon earth, therefore let thy words be few. And I'm glad that
he used that word few there. Let thy words be few. I can say,
Lord, help me. I can say, Lord, save me. I can say, have mercy on me.
I can say, Lord, if you will, you can make me whole. I can
say, Lord, that I might receive my sight." You see, you can say
a lot with just a few words. Therefore let thy words be few.
And Solomon went on, he said, A fool's voice is known by the
multitude of words. When thou vowest to vow unto
God, defer not to pay it, for he hath no pleasure in fools. Pay that which thou hast vowed.
Better it is that thou shouldst not vow, than that thou shouldest
vow and not pay." Ecclesiastes 5 verses 2-5. Now God had done all that Jacob
had asked and here we still find him not having returned home
as he had promised. Twenty years in Badanaram, marrying
wives and having children. working for laymen, starting
a career. No worship of God. The whole
20 years he's there, no mention of Jacob worshiping God, conversing
with God, sacrificing anything unto God, setting up an altar
unto God. Sounds a lot like my past 30
years. We get married. Some have children. We start
careers to provide for family. We struggle to find time to worship
the God whom we owe everything to, just like Jacob did. Oh, I'm telling you, I see myself
so clearly in this man, this deceiver, this supplanter, don't
you? But God loved Jacob. Isn't that
amazing? And He would not leave him alone.
And dear sinner, I'm telling you, If you belong to Christ,
God will not let you alone. He won't let you alone. Look
at Genesis 31 verse 3. And the Lord said unto Jacob,
return unto the land of thy fathers and to thy kindred, and I will
be with thee. Oh, what would keep us from going,
knowing that God would be with us? And that's not all that the
Lord said unto Jacob. He told his wives, down in verse
13, that God had also said, I'm the God of Bethel, where thou
anointest the pillar, and where thou vowest a vow unto me. And now arise, and get thee out
from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred. You
see, as I said a moment ago, God had provided all Jacob had
requested. God always keeps His promises
to us, but not so with Jacob. And God reminds him and commands
him to make his way back home. We know the rest of the story.
We've looked at it in great detail. Jacob prepares to meet Esau. He sends the gifts ahead to try
to appease his angry brother. Christ wrestles with Jacob at
the river Jabbok. God honors his promise of divine
protection. Laban is pacified and Esau comes
to Jacob in peace. All the things that he feared,
God has resolved. Now it's time, Jacob, to make
your way back home. Does he? No, he lies both to God and to
Esau, and he heads in the opposite direction. Dear sinner, aren't you glad
that salvation does not depend on your faithfulness to God,
but His faithfulness to you? Aren't you relieved that your
redemption does not depend on your love for God, but His love
for you? Aren't you glad that God records
these things in His Word and shows us something of His patience
and His long-suffering and His mercy to us? Aren't you glad?
Oh, I'm so glad to read the life and the story of Jacob because
I see that God has mercy on no-count deceivers like me. Jacob, after leaving Laban and
meeting with Esau, spends another ten years from the presence of
God. And again, we read nothing about
any fellowship, any communion with God, nothing about any altar
or sacrifices made unto God. We do read that he builds a house
and he settles in Shechem, which by the way means a place of burden.
And that's exactly what it became to him. It was a place of burden. And Jacob, even as we saw last
time, forms alliances with the Canaanites there. And you know,
I was amazed to discover that Shechem was only about 30 miles
from Bethel. Only about 30 miles. From outward
appearance, Jacob was not that far from God, only 30 miles from
Bethel, which is the house of God. That's what Bethel means.
But as the old saying goes, close only counts in horseshoes and
hand grenades. So he might as well have been
a million miles away. While in Shechem, Jacob somewhat
passively accepts the rape of his only daughter. He seems content
to enter into an agreement of mixed marriages with the Canaanites,
which was a major, major no-no with God. God had strongly forbidden
that. To intermingle the bloodline
with these God-hating idolaters would defile the purity of the
covenant people of God. It seems that Jacob was preoccupied
with prosperity and security. By the enticing words of Hamer,
you remember Hamer, the father of the young man that defiled
Jacob's daughter. And even though it would be at
the expense of further disobedience to God, seems like Jacob was
interested in this arrangement of prosperity and security. Would Jacob actually agree to
allow his children to intermarry with these idol worshippers in
order to preserve peace and enhance his wealth? Would a child of
God do such a thing? Well, it's recorded on the pages
of Scripture in Genesis chapter 34, and I'm telling you that
apart from the grace of God, friends, there's nothing that
we're not capable of. Absolutely nothing. Yes, Jacob is near Bethel, but
he's not at all near the God of Bethel. How is it with you? How is it
with you? Am I far from God? It may appear
that we're walking close to God, while the opposite is true. Paul
describes this condition as having a form of godliness, but denying
the power thereof. 2 Timothy 3, 5. And I'm telling you, may God
enable us to always, always be on guard to not be like the church
at Ephesus who had lost their first love. Oh, may God keep
us from being like that church at Laodicea who because of their
wealth and security considered themselves to be doing well when
they were in fact destitute cold and indifferent. Sometimes God
for a season allows his chosen people to have their way until
he shows them that their way is not the way that leads to
life eternal. Tragic and painful as the events
of Genesis chapter 34 are, We have rape. We have murder. In spite of all that pain and
all those tragic events, God would not leave Jacob alone. His daughter had been raped.
His sons had killed the men of Shechem. Fear had once again
gripped his faithless heart. Look over Genesis chapter 34,
verse 30. We see that Jacob feared that
the relatives of those who were killed and those taken captive,
believing that the action of his sons would destroy him in
the end. And Jacob said to Simeon and
Levi, you've troubled me to make me distinct among the inhabitants
of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. And I, being
few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me
and slay me, and I shall be destroyed, I and my house." Oh, we see Jacob,
and he's a fearful man, isn't he? A man of faith's not a fearful
man. A man of faith believes God.
God said, I'll be with you. You go home, I'll be with you.
And all the way home, he's worried about Esau. When he gets there
to the River Jabbok, Laban catches up with him. He's scared to death
Laban's going to kill him. He's just a fearful man. He left
fearing his brother Esau. And he comes back fearing his
brother Esau. But I'd have you notice that
God sent trouble to Jacob once again. Did you know what this
trouble is called? It's called the sovereign providence
of God. God's the first cause of all
things. And friends, if you belong to
Him, and you're being disobedient to His will, if need be, He'll
send you trouble. or he'll make you think he's
going to, like he did Jacob, like the prodigal son that came
to his senses. Men may choose to obey and disobey
God. You can call that free will if
you want to. We may for a season resist God's
will and way, but we never, ever will hinder his purpose, never. Can't be done. God had allowed Jacob to go his
own way. Jacob reaped the consequences
of his disobedience. But in the end, he did exactly,
exactly what God had purposed him to do. So, would God give
up on this wretch named Jacob? I would have. No. He loved him with an everlasting
love. That's the same kind of love
God loves you with. Everlasting love. God's love
will never leave nor forsake His chosen people. Isn't that
amazing? Even when He should have. Jacob was to return home and
God would see to it that he did. Are you living in the land of
Shechem? When you should be dwelling in Bethel? If you are, then this
should be of great encouragement to you. Then we find ourselves in verse
1 of Genesis chapter 35. Look at it with me. And God said
unto Jacob, Arise! Go to Bethel and dwell there
and make thee an altar unto God that appeared unto thee when
thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother." Now child
of God, hear me. God will not leave you to yourself. He's not going to do it. To Jacob,
Bethel was God's house. That's where God had revealed
Himself to Jacob. That's where Jacob had seen that
ladder which is Christ. That's why Jacob named the place
Bethel. Bethel means the house of God. He said, surely the Lord is in
this place. Surely the Lord is in this place.
The house of God is where Christ is proclaimed. The house of God
is where Christ is heard. The house of God is where Christ
is seen. That's where Jacob saw the ladder.
And that's where you'll see Him, in the house of God. That's where
the Gospels preach. That's where Christ is worshipped.
There's only one way now to return home to the house of God. There's
only one way to approach a thrice holy God. Do you know what it
is? You do, don't you? How do we return to Bethel? Well, in Shechem, Jacob seems
oblivious to God's standards of holiness and purity. We know
all too well that God will not accept anything short of perfection. How do we return to Bethel? How
do we return to the house of God? Look at verses two and three.
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. Most of you already know what
that's talking about. In verse 3 he says, let us arise
and go to Bethel and I'll make thee an altar and I will make
there an altar unto God who answered me in the day of my distress
and was with me in the way which I went. So let me ask again,
how do we return to Bethel? How do we return to God? Well,
the first thing we do is we put away strange gods among us. And you might say, well, I don't
have any idols. I don't have any strange gods.
We can make a god out of anything and everything. Anything we put
before God, we make a god. Anything we hold dearer than
Christ is an idol. Men can even make religion an
idol. Many do. When the Lord took Peter,
James, and John into that high mountain, and Christ transfigured
before them, there appeared Moses and Elijah talking with the Lord
Jesus Christ. And the first thing out of Peter's
mouth was, man, it's good that we're here. This is good. This is cool. Let's make three tabernacles.
One for the Lord, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Yet the Scriptures say, while
Peter spoke, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And
behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said, this is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. God didn't say anything
about Moses. God didn't say anything about
Elijah. God said, this is My beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased. This is where God is well pleased
in His Son. Hear ye Him. And when the disciples heard
it, the Scriptures say, they fell on their face and were sore
afraid. And Christ came and He touched
them. And He said, Arise and be not afraid. And when they
had lifted up their eyes, the Scripture says, they saw no man
but Jesus only. If you are to come to the house
of God, you're gonna have to come with Christ alone. You're
gonna have to put away your strange gods. A strange god can be anything
that's among you. Jacob seemed to be content to
do nothing about these strange gods until now. Had Jacob ignored
the idols of the men and women of Shechem that his sons had
taken as spoil? It seems as though he did. But
now, again revived by God, Jacob knows that this idolatry's got
to be dealt with. No man can approach God without
faith in Christ alone. Secondly, notice that Jacob declares
that they must be clean. You're going to have to be clean. You're going to have to be clean.
A couple commentators that I read said this meant that the men
must abstain from their wives. Another one said that this referred
to the washing and purification of their hands and their bodies
from the blood of the Shechemites that they had slaughtered. But
we know What these references of outwardly clean pointed to
and picture, they point to and picture the inward cleansing
done by the grace of God. Only God can make you clean.
You can't wash yourself clean. And Christ washes his people
clean by his own blood. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord? Who shall stand in His holy place?
He that hath clean hands and a pure heart. But my heart's
anything but pure. Oh, and the Lord Jesus Christ,
He can't be any purer. Who hath not lifted up His soul
into vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, and
sworn deceitfully." Now, if you would ascend into the house of
God, or stand in His holy place, you've got to put away your strange
gods. You've got to trust in Christ and Him alone. You can't
trust in the law of Moses. You can't trust in what might
be that the prophets prophesy. You can't trust in Elijah, you've
got to trust in Christ, in Christ alone. And then the third thing
we see here in verse two is you're gonna have to change your garments. Child of God, come with nothing
but the robe of the perfect righteousness of Christ upon you. How do you
obtain this righteousness? The righteousness of God is by
the faith of Jesus Christ unto all them that believe. Do you
believe on him? That's how you obtain this righteousness.
That's the only way. Abraham believed God and it was
counted unto him for righteousness. But of Him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." God gets all the
glory. Christ gets all the honor. For the end of the law for righteousness,
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believes. Romans 10. Christ is all we need. That's
it. He's our substitute. He's our
righteousness. He's our sanctification. He's
our cleansing. He's our redemption. And I'm
telling you friends, in, by, and through the Lord Jesus Christ,
we can save with Jacob here in verse 3. Let us arise. Let us
arise and go to Bethel. And there make an altar unto
God, who answered us in the day of our distresses, and was with
us in the way which we went." You look back on your life and
you tell me that you don't see God was with you all the way.
The child of God will tell you straight up, He was with me all
the way. Christ is our altar. Christ is
our sacrifice. Christ is our offering. Christ
is our acceptance. Christ is the just God and Savior. I'll make a few points in closing.
God's grace cannot be resisted. Look at verse 4. And they gave
unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and
all their earrings which were in their ears. And Jacob hid
them under the oak, which was by Shechem." We'll talk more
about that next time. Secondly, God's care and protection
are always for certain when it concerns His people. Look at
verse 5. And they journeyed, and the terror
of God was upon the cities that were around about them, and they
did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. You see, the very thing
that Jacob feared the most, that we just read a few moments ago
in verse 30, God resolved with just His presence. They just
went through these towns and the terror of the Lord was upon
these people. I said, we don't want anything
to do with them. Their God is God. Their God is God. Will we ever learn that God has
much more than just our backs? You know, a kid faces a bully
on a playground and his friend walks up behind him as they're
fixing to throw down and he goes, I got your back. And the boy that's fixing the
fight says, I'm worried about what's in front. That's where
the bully is. That's where the whooping's coming
from. But God has your front. He has
your back. He has your side. He said no
man can pluck us out of His hand. If we're in His hand, we're surrounded,
aren't we? Thirdly, God's people will worship
Christ at Bethel. The house of God. Look at verse
6. So Jacob came to Luz, which is
in the land of Canaan. That is Bethel. That's what it
was called. And Jacob changed the name on
his way to Laban's. He changed it. That's where he
saw the ladder. That's where he set up an altar. And he changed
the name to Bethel, the house of God. And he and all the people
that were with him You know, wherever two or more are gathered
in His name to worship Him, the Scripture says He's there in
their midst. Wherever that worship of Christ
is, that's where the house of God is. And that is where all His people
will be. It seems as though Jacob is growing
in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord here. Are you growing
in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord? Oh, I pray that
I am. I think that I am. I hope that I am. I beg God that
I am. Jacob's still learning some things.
Are you still learning some things? None of us have arrived, none
of us have attained. The Apostle Paul said that. Not that I've arrived, not that
I've attained, but I'm pressing on. Pressing on to that prize that's
before me, Christ. And the perfection of holiness
is found in Him. Being conformed to the image
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what I'm pressing towards.
That I might be found perfect in the eyes of my God. God sends trouble and trials
to teach us lessons. I quote this often, but I'm telling
you, it's been such a revelation to me when David said, it's good
for me that I've been afflicted. Well, why? He said that I might
learn thy statues. And do you know that that, did
you know that that word, I think maybe we mentioned this once
before, but that word statues there, do you know what it means?
It means appointments. God sends us trouble so that
we might know who it is that controls all things. Who it is
that appoints all things. God afflicts His people with
trouble so that they might know who appointed their trouble. They might know who afflicts whose people are afflicted, so
that He may teach them these lessons during their trouble. To show them who it is that delivers
them from their trouble. When God afflicts us, David said,
it's good for me that God sent me trouble. It's good for me
that I've been afflicted, so that I might learn. Jacob's learned
some things. In light of his new understanding,
that old altar won't do. So he builds a new one. And this
altar he renames, look at verse 7. And he built there an altar,
and he called the place Elbethel, because there God appeared unto
him when he fled from the face of his brother. Now if you have
a marginal Bible, you may notice that the name Elbethel means
God of Bethel. Bethel means house of God. Those
two little letters L mean God. El Shaddai. A lot of the E-L-L
means God. Beth means house of. So El Bethel
means God of the house of God. He's learned some things. You
know, there are a lot of church buildings that are called the
house of God. But some truly have God over
their house. Christ is God, the Son is over
the house of God. God has committed all judgment
unto the Son. Do you know what that word judgment
means? It means accusation. God has
committed all accusations against you under Christ. You don't have
to defend yourself. That word judgment also means
condemnation. You can look this up in a concordance.
God has committed all your condemnation under Christ, your substitute. Judgment means damnation. God
has committed all the damnation that you and I deserve, all God's
people unto Jesus Christ are crucified. Let me tell you, if God be for
you, who can be against you? There's no doubt that the self-righteous
world would look upon Jacob. And they'd say, there's no way
that man knows God. There's no way that man is saved.
There's no way he's one of God's redeemed. He's so faithless. He's so fearful. So unfaithful. Well, just look at his life. But you'd be wrong. You'd be
wrong. God said, Jacob have I loved.
God said, Jacob have I loved. I'm so glad that God loved Jacob. You know why? It gives me great
hope that he might love me. Huh? Doesn't that give you hope? All righty. Clayton, would you dismiss us,
please?