After the service tonight, if
we can set up the tables for the. Meeting in the back, that
would be helpful if everybody could do that. Verse one of Chapter 35 is where
I get the title of this message. And God said. And God. Said. Genesis chapter 34 is one of
the darkest chapters in the Bible. In this chapter, we have a record
of partial or almost obedience, horrible parenting, rape, deceit,
and lies. Using religion for personal gain
and evil ends. Murder, theft, kidnapping, enslaving,
unbelief, despair, and hopelessness. I've said before, the Bible's not family friendly.
And this is indeed a dark chapter that God has revealed for his
own holy purposes. Chapter 34, verse one. And Dinah, the daughter of Leah,
which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the
land. Now this is spoken of in a way
that we wouldn't generally read it. Dinah, I would think the
daughter of Jacob, but the scripture doesn't say that. Dinah, the
daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob. We're going to see
by the time this chapter is over where Dinah could have had some
serious issues because of the way her father treated her and
the way her father did her. Dinah, the daughter of Leah. Now, this was in the land of
Shechem. Shechem is the way it's pronounced.
Shechem. And this is not where God told
Jacob to go. He was told to go back to Bethel,
and he doesn't. This is called partial obedience. He was only about 20 miles away,
he was almost there. But he didn't go where he was
instructed to go, but bought some land in Shechem, about 20
miles from where he was directed by God to go, Bethel. That place
where God first made himself known. Remember when the ladder
was let down from heaven and set upon the earth. And this
could be called partial obedience or almost obedience. He came close to the place God
said to go. That's like almost faith. I trust Christ 99% of the way.
What good would that do you? It will not help you at all. Now, none of the things that
took place in this chapter would have taken place had not Jacob
simply obeyed what God said and gone to Bethel. But he didn't. He stopped in Shechem. But thank God, God brings good
out of evil. He always does. I'm so thankful. Dinah, most believe her to be
13 or 14 years old. And she goes out to see the daughters
of the land. Where is the parental control
at this time? She's just a little girl, yet
she goes out to see the daughters of the land. And Jacob's Actions
toward her are not appropriate as we are going. Well, let's
let's read verses 2 through 5 and When Shechem the son of Hamor
the Hivite prince of the country saw her this 13 or 14 year old
girl he took her and lay with her and defiled her and his soul
clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob and he loved the damsel
and and spake kindly unto the damsel, and Shechem spake unto
his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife. And Jacob
heard that he defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his cattle
in the field, and Jacob held his peace until they were come."
Now that's an inappropriate response. If your daughter is Defiled like
that, are you gonna hold your peace? Jacob's response was not
appropriate. Now, verse two, when Shechem,
the son of Hamor, the Hivite, prince of that country, saw her,
he took her and lay with her and defiled her. This little
13, 14-year-old girl. And whether it's statutory rape,
that's rape, or actually raping her, what great wickedness that
took place. And his soul, the one who defiled
her, clave unto Dinah, the daughter of Jacob. He was infatuated with
her. He loved her. He loved the damsel
and spake kindly unto the damsel. was taken up with this woman,
this girl that he defiled. And Shechem spake unto his father
Hamar, saying, Get me this damsel and the wife. And Jacob heard
that he defiled Dinah, his daughter. And there was no action at this
point. Now his sons were with his cattle
in the field, and Jacob held his peace until they were come.
Verse six. And Hamor the father Shechem
went out unto Jacob to commune with him. And we don't read where
Jacob said anything at this point. This man with his son has come
into Jacob's presence. Jacob knew what took place. What
does he do? Nothing. Verse seven, and the sons of
Jacob came out of the field when they heard it. And the men were
grieved, and they were very wroth." I would think this is the way
Jacob would have responded over something like this, but he didn't.
But his boys did. They were grieved. And they were
very wroth, because he'd wrought folly in Israel in lying with
Jacob's daughter. Which thing ought not to be done?
You know, there's a lot of things that just ought not to be done.
This is one of them. Verse 8, And Hamor communed with
him, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter. I pray you, give her him to wife,
and make ye marriages with us. Give your daughters unto us,
and take our daughters unto you, and you shall dwell with us.
And the land shall be before you, dwell and trade ye therein,
and get you possession therein. Now we don't read where Jacob
said anything at this time. Verse 11, and Shechem said unto
her father, this is Shechem speaking to Jacob, And unto her brethren,
the sons of Jacob, let me find grace in your eyes, and what
you shall say unto me, I'll give. Ask me never so much dowry and
gift, and I'll give according as you shall say unto me, but
give me the damsel to wife. I'll pay anything. Verse 13,
and the sons of Jacob answered Shechem, And Hamor, his father,
deceitfully. Now they already had a plan.
And Jacob was not privy to this plan. Jacob was okay with what
was said. Okay, we'll do that. He wasn't
going to seek justice with regard to what took place with his daughter.
He was okay with it. But his sons had other plans. And the sons of Jacob answered
Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully and said because
he had defiled Dinah their sister. And they said unto them, we cannot
do this thing to give our sister to one that's uncircumcised for
that were a reproach unto us. Now look, they're gonna use religion.
They're gonna use true religion in a deceptive way to get what
they want. We cannot do this thing to give
our sister to one that's uncircumcised, for that will reproach unto us. But in this will we consent unto
you, if you will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised. Then will we give our daughters
unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will
dwell with you, and we will become one people. But if you'll not
hearken unto us to be circumcised, Then we'll take our daughter
and we will be gone. This has to be done. And the words pleased Hamor and
Shechem, Hamor's son. They agreed, we're going to be
circumcised. And the young men deferred not
to do the thing because he had delight in Jacob's daughter and
he was more honorable than all in the house of his father. I
think it's interesting how the scripture points out some honor that this
man had. I mean, it was what he did was
a crime. It was wicked. He was infatuated with this young
girl, and he was more honorable than all the other men of his
house. And Hamor and Shechem, his son,
came into the gate of the city and communion with the men of
their city, saying, these men are peaceable with us. Therefore,
let them dwell in the land and trade therein for the land. Behold,
it's large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to
us for wives. Let us give them our daughters. Only herein will
the men consent unto us to dwell with us to be one people if our
every male circumcised, as they are circumcised, shall not their
cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours.
Money talks, doesn't it? money talks. And that is what
he is using. We're going to be financially
enriched by doing this. It'll be difficult temporarily,
but we're going to be enriched and they will dwell with us.
And unto Hamor, unto Shechem, his son, hearkened all that went
out of the gate of his cities, and every male was circumcised,
all that went out of the gate of his city. And it came to pass
on the third day when they were sore. You know, I imagine what
kind of infection could take place in something like that.
I mean, there's all kinds of dangerous things that could have
happened. They could have been very sick, unable at this time
to defend themselves. And it came to pass on the third
day when they were sore that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon
and Levi, remember we read about them in Genesis chapter 49, and
Jacob points this out about these two men where he says instruments
of cruelty are in their habitation. And it came to pass on the third
day when they were sure that the two sons of Jacob, Simeon
and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword and came upon
all the city boldly and slew all the males. They killed everybody. And they slew Hamor and Shechem,
his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of
Shechem's house. The sons of Jacob came upon all
the slain and they spoiled the city. because they defiled their
sister. They took the sheep, their oxen,
their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which is
in the field, and all their wealth, and all their little ones, and
their wives, took they captive, and spoiled even all that was
in the house. This is evil. That's all you
can call it. What Shechem did was evil. This was murderous. pillaging,
plundering. Now look what Jacob says. Jacob
didn't know anything about this. He wasn't in on this with Simeon
and Levi. And Jacob said to Simeon and
Levi, you've troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants
of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. And I being
a few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me
and slay me. Now God said the Messiah's gonna come to you,
but he forgot it this time. And I understand why. I shall
be destroyed, I and my house. And they said, should he deal
with our sisters with a harlot? Shouldn't we have done this?
Didn't we do the right thing? Now, there's something in that
language that's not conveyed very well in this translation. And I need to bring this out
because I believe it casts so much light on the next verses,
the first few verses of chapter 35. Every action is spoken of
in the perfect tense in the Hebrew, which means every action is a
completed action. Let me read you Young's literal
translation. They have been gathered against
me, They have smitten me, and I have been destroyed, and my
house. All of these things are said
as completed actions. Jacob was so sure of his defeat,
he'd reached, I believe, the lowest point in his life. He
speaks of these things as already having taken place. He says it like this. You've
troubled me, you've made me odious, you've made me distinct among
the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the
Perizzites, and I being few in number, they have gathered themselves
together against me. They have slain me, and I have
been destroyed. I and my house. Now that is the
language. Everything is spoken of as a
completed action. What's that make you think of? This is a picture of our fall
in Adam. Our ruin in Adam. A thing that has already been
done. We're troubled by the sin of
another. Now, I can't say In saying that,
with regard to Adam's sin, I'm troubled by the sin of another
because I committed it when he did. I was united to him. But yet, I have been troubled
by the sin of another that's made me to stink and to be odious. By one man's disobedience, many
were made sinners and I and my house are stinking, dead and
destroyed. Now that's where Jacob is at
at this time. He's reached his lowest position and oh, how frustrated
he is with his sons. You have made me to stink. Verse one of chapter 35. And God said. Here's the hope. And God said unto Jacob, arise. We heard that song this morning. Arise, my soul, arise. Shake off thy guilty fears. Well,
I tell you when I arise, when he tells me to. I'll stay down
there until he says, arise. And he says to Jacob, arise,
go to Bethel. That's the place where God first
appeared to him. And God revealed the gospel to
him in a ladder. I think that is so beautiful.
It's so simple. It's a ladder. Heavens were opened. A ladder was sent down from heaven
and set up upon the earth. And the scripture says the angels
of God descended and descended on that ladder. And that is speaking
of Christ the mediator, the one way into God's presence, the
one way into heaven. I love this verse of scripture.
This is Christ the mediator when he said, I am the way. And listen to me. He didn't say,
I'll show you the way. He didn't say, I'll lead you
along the way. He said, I'm it. I am the truth. I love that. I am the truth. Not I'll show
you the truth or I'll teach you truth. I am the truth. I am the life. Not even, I am
the life. The only way you're going to
be able to approach the Father is by my life being your life
before God. Do you believe that? I am the
way, I am the truth, I am the life. That's what that ladder
led down from heaven. All of God's blessings coming
through that ladder, through the Lord Jesus Christ. Any prayer,
my faith comes, my desire comes through the Lord Jesus Christ
is accepted simply because of Christ. There is no other reason.
That's the ladder. Christ, that's where God revealed
himself to Jacob, at Bethel, the house of God. Now, look what he says, and God
said unto Jacob, arise, go up to Bethel, and what next? Dwell there. Stay there. Don't leave there. Any departure
from this is away from God. This is the same thing as saying,
abide in Christ. Stay there. Don't go anywhere
else. Be satisfied to simply be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul put it this way in Philippians
3, 9, Oh, that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having
my own righteousness, which is of the law. I don't want to have
anything to do with that, but that which is through the faithfulness
of Christ, the perfect obedience of Christ, which is nothing less
than the righteousness of God, which is my faith. You go to
Bethel and you stay there. And you do not leave that place. Now that's what I'm called upon
to do. That's what you're called upon to do. Go to Bethel and
stay there. We're made partakers of Christ
if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. You stay there. I think of what,
um, Colossians two, uh, turn with me to go out, hold your
finger there and turn to Colossians chapter two. Colossians chapter two, verse
six, as ye therefore have received Christ Jesus, the Lord. Now had you received Christ Jesus
the Lord, you received him as the only hope you had. And you received him joyfully.
You were very thankful to be saved by Christ. You really believed
that he was all you had. You didn't have anything else
to bring to the Father, only him. as you received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk ye in him." Abiding in Christ. Now he tells Jacob, get up, go
to Bethel, the place where I revealed myself to you, and stay there. Don't go anywhere else. And there make an altar unto
God. Now what's an altar for? Sacrifice. Sacrifice. The only way Jacob or you or
I can be saved and accepted by a holy God is the sacrifice of
Christ. I want you to think of the sufficiency
of His sacrifice. You know, when God gave the Ten
Commandments, I love the Ten Commandments. I love Exodus chapter
20. It reflects the holy character
of God. What took place after He gave
the Ten Commandments? Build an altar. Build an altar. Why? He knew they wouldn't keep
them. Build an altar. And there were
two instructions with regard to that altar. Number one, no
tool could touch it. It was to be made of unhewn stones,
not stones formed by men. This is God's work alone. And you know what the second
requirement with regard to that altar, you couldn't have any
steps to that altar. There's no steps you need to
take to make the sacrifice of price work. Works, he by himself
purged our sins. There's no steps right now, even
right now as I'm sitting here, there's no steps you need to
take to make that sacrifice work. No hewn stones, no steps. As a matter of fact, he says,
if you put steps on that altar, all it will do is expose your
nakedness. The only hope you and I have
is a complete, sufficient, glorious, Saving, sin atoning, complete,
perfect sacrifice of Christ. You build there an altar unto
God that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of
Esau some 20 some years before. And Jacob said unto his household,
and to all that were with it, put away. The strange gods that
are among you. Evidently they had idols. Anything
that's not the God of the Bible, get rid of it. No strange gods. I wish I could
emphasize this as it ought to be emphasized. But God is one
God. He is who He is. And we bow to
who He is as He is in His Word. And we're to have no strange,
false, wrong concepts, idolatrous concepts of God. Any idolatry
that you and I are guilty of is only trying to bring God down
to our level. It's any comparison we make of
God. Well, God's like this. God's
like, no, He's not. No, he's not. He's altogether
other. There's nothing you and I can
compare him to. Get rid of any false concept
of God. This is the God of the Bible,
and you know, we're proud of Him. I'm not proud of myself,
but I'm proud of Him. I'm proud of the gospel, we believe.
It's a gospel that cannot be improved in any way. It's a gospel
that glorifies God. Get rid of any false concept
you have of God. And be clean. Be clean. Now, I know from the scriptures
that that is a glorious command. And when was the leper declared
to be clean? When he came to the priest, overall
covered with leprosy. That is when he was declared
to be clean. I know what the leper did who
came to Christ. I know what he knew. He said, Lord, if you will,
you can make me clean. And he said, I will be thou clean. And change your garments. Make
sure the only thing you have on is the wedding garment. the
righteousness and the merits of Jesus Christ. And let us arise, verse three,
and go up to Bethel, and I'll 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. Every believer can say that without
exception. 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. Now there's some significance
to that. These earrings somehow were a hindrance to hearing.
And they got rid of that which hindered them in hearing. And Jacob hid them, buried them
under an oak, which was by Shechem. Now on this journey, it's a 20-mile
journey, and they journeyed. And remember how afraid he was
of the Canaanites and the Perizzites? Look what it says regarding these
people. And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the
cities that were around about them. And they didn't pursue
after the sons of Jacob. They were scared to death. There
wasn't anything they could do. Their hands were tied. The terror of God was upon
them. Now this is a reminder to us
of the adorable providence of God. It's this way all the time. All the time. God rules and reigns
in every event and you're protected by him. Just the way they were. Verse six, so Jacob came to Luz,
that's the place where God first met him, Bethel, it means the
house of God. So Jacob came to Luz, which is
in the land of Canaan, that is Bethel, he and all the people
that were with him, and he built there an altar, just like God
told him to, and called the place El Bethel, because There, God
appeared unto him when he had fled from the face of his brother. He built the altar. Our house
is always around the altar, isn't it? The sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus Christ. But, Deborah, Rebecca's nurse,
Jacob had known her all of his life, died. And she was buried beneath Bethel
under an oak. And the name of the place was
called Alambeichuth, which means the Oak of Weeping. Now, you know, even dwelling in Bethel,
you're going to have sorrow. The Oak of Weeping. You're going
to have trials. It's going to happen. It did
with Jacob. And God appeared unto Jacob again,
verse nine. Aren't you thankful for that?
God appeared to Jacob again. And you know, he appears to every
one of his people again and again and again. When he came out of Badanaran
and blessed him, and God said unto him, thy name is Jacob, If you'll remember, that name
means supplanter, cheat, deceiver. And Jacob was all of those things.
And God said unto him, thy name is Jacob. And he repeats what
he taught him in chapter 32. Thy name shall not be called
any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name. And he called his
name Israel, a prince with God, one that has power with God.
And this is true of every believer. Do you know, not that you have
any power in and of yourself, but you've got the ear of God.
He responds to you for Christ's sake. And you have power over
men. You see, they're in God's hand.
And they won't do anything more than he allows them to do. You're
a prince. That's true of every believer.
You're a prince, a prince of God. You have power with God
and you've prevailed. And God said unto him, and this
is the same thing that he said to Abraham and Isaac, the exact
same covenant. And God said unto him, I am God
almighty. be fruitful, and multiply a nation,
and a company of nations shall come of thee, and kings shall
come out of thy loins." Many kings. King David. The King of
Kings can't be said to come out of his loins, but he came through
that line. The King of Kings was born of a virgin, but he
came through this line. And I think this is interesting
to note, as you go on reading in this chapter, and we're going
to consider this next week, where Reuben lay with Jacob's concubine,
Billa. And do you know that the reason
that the Lord came to Judah is because Reuben? It was Reuben. I don't know if
I said it right. It was because of what Reuben
and what Levi and what Simeon did in this chapter. The promised
seed was not going to come through their line, but through Judah.
And somebody said, well, Judah must have been better. No, read
about Judah. He was just as bad as the rest of them. This is
just God's sovereign grace. But here we have it. In the land which I gave, verse
12, And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac to thee will
I give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. And
God went up from him in that place where he talked with him.
And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with
him, even a pillar of stone. And he poured a drink offering
thereon, and he poured oil thereon. And Jacob called the name of
the place where God spake with him, Bethel. The house of God. Now through this dark chapter, and you can't call
it anything but that. And this is God that wrote this.
Don't forget that. I mean, some people say, well,
why would you even read a chapter like that? Because the gospel
is in it. And the way Jacob said, you've
made me to stink. You've made me utterly corrupt.
I've been destroyed. They've been gathered against
me. It's over for me. Now that is what happened in
Adam to me and you. But thank God and God said. Jacob didn't ask for God at this
time. He didn't ask for mercy. He seems to be totally in despair. It's over for me. And God said,
arise, go back to Bethel, the place of the ladder, and stay
there. May that be the truth with regard
to me and you. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name,
by your spirit, you would say to each person here, arise and go back to Bethel and stay
there. Would you do that for Christ's
sake? In his name we pray, amen. Good one.