BACK TO BETHEL:

Genesis 35:1–15 KJV 1900

1 And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. 2 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: 3 And let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; 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. 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. 5 And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. 6 So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Beth-el, he and all the people that were with him. 7 And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother. 8 But Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Beth-el under an oak: and the name of it was called Allon-bachuth. 9 And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padan-aram, and blessed him. 10 And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. 11 And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; 12 And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. 13 And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him. 14 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. 15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Beth-el.

Genesis 35 is in many ways a sequel of an earlier chapter.

Back in Genesis 13, we read of how Abraham, after a sinful and costly detour into Egypt, made his way back into the land of Canaan. (13:3-4)

When we come to Genesis 35, Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, after a sinful chapter in his own life, also made his way back to Bethel.

Like his grandfather before him, Jacob’s return to Bethel was an act of repentance and restoration in his life.

At Bethel, God mercifully and graciously repeated His promises to Jacob, and restored the prodigal patriarch back to where he needed to be.

As we look over this text, we are reminded that though we in our sinful wanderings often get away from the Lord, by His grace He is able to bring us back to Himself, and relocate our lives back to a place of spiritual health and blessing.

The old writer, Griffith Thomas says of his story, “It is truly marvelous what the grace of God can do even for a repentant believer and a returning backslider.”

As we consider Jacob’s return back to Bethel, there are three questions I want to draw from this text and pose to you today.

If, perhaps, you are not where you need to be spiritually; if you have somewhere gotten off course and ended up in a mess of your own sinful making, how you answer these questions could be critical to whether or not you ever make it back to your own personal, spiritual Bethel.

The first question I draw from this text is this: Will you listen when God calls?

WILL YOU LISTEN WHEN GOD CALLS?

The story of Jacob’s repentance and return to Bethel begin, not with Jacob, but with the call of God to Jacob (vs. 1)

Genesis 35:1 (KJV 1900)

1 And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.

There is a reminder in this text that repentance starts, not with us, but with the God who pursues us and calls us away from out sin.

If the Great Shepherd does not go after His wandering sheep, they will not find their way back to Him on their own.

God calls His people to come back to Him. The question is will you listen to His call?

His Call Is Merciful …

We saw in chapter 34 that God’s name is not mentioned anywhere. The result is a vile and violent episode in the life of Jacob and his family.

While God’s name is not found in the previous chapter, in Genesis 35, God’s name is found over 10 times.

You see; though Jacob and his family seemed to have forgotten God’s name, God was merciful to reveal Himself again, and show that He had not forgotten Jacob’s name.

The fact that God would once again speak to Jacob, and in mercy, move him away from his sin is a reminder of just how good our God is.

If we are honest, there have been many times in our lives when God should have just given up on us, and left us to our head-strong and hell-bent selves.

But God, the Scripture says, is “rich in mercy.” He is eternally more committed to us than we are to Him, and therefore, even when we have run away from Him, He still calls our name and offers us forgiveness and restoration.

How merciful is the call of God to us, even when we’ve tangled ourselves up again and again in the noose of our own sinfulness.

His Call Is Memorable …

God call to Jacob was to return to Bethel, and to build there an altar to the God, “… that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.”

Genesis 35:1 (KJV 1900)

1 And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.

When God called to Jacob, He said nothing of the sin he had committed, but He did remind him of the grace he had received.

The Lord jogged the memory of Jacob, and reminded him of the night some 30 years before, when He had found him as a fugitive from his own house and showed him grace!

Isn’t that just like our Lord Jesus! Though we often stray from Him, His Spirit continually reminds us of when God laid claim to our lives by His loving grace – when He was there!

There is a strong connection between remembering and repentance. In Luke 15, when the prodigal son finally came to his senses in the stench of the hog pen, his first thoughts were the memories of how good even the servants had it back at his father’s house.

If you’ve been away from the Lord, then God calls you to remember how good He has been to you in the past!

Do you remember how gracious God was to you when He saved you?

Though in your sins you have drifted away from Him, His grace and mercy towards you are still as full and free as they were the first time He found you!

Softly and tenderly, Jesus is calling. Calling for you and for me … Come home, come home, Ye who are weary, come home!

Just as He did for the wayward Jacob, God still calls people to come back to where they belong. The question is will you listen when God calls?

WILL YOU LEAVE WHAT GOD CONDEMNS?

Though God said nothing of the sin that had stained Jacob and his family, it is obvious that Jacob realized how ugly things had gotten in his life and in his home.

In our text Jacob led his family in the act of repentance as they set out to obey God’s call and return to Bethel.

Repentance is the work of turning away from your sins as you turn to God. It is the leaving behind of the things that God hates and condemns.

It is something that we must do to be saved (Luke 13:3, 5).

Luke 13:3 (KJV 1900)

3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Luke 13:5 (KJV 1900)

5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

But while repentance certainly must occur when we are saved, it by no means stops there. Just as sinners in need of redemption must repent of their sins, so also must saints in need of restoration and revival.

True Repentance Acknowledges Sin … vs. 2

Genesis 35:2 (KJV 1900)

2 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:

For Jacob to call his family out on their collection of idols and “strange gods” indicated that he had known they were there, but had done nothing about it.

But in this family meeting Jacob was acknowledging that what had been going on was wrong, and that for them to get right, they would have to own up to it, and deal with it.

Unfortunately, there are some people who never even come near to the place of repentance simply because they are not ready to own up to their sins.

There are things in their lives that are condemned by God, and contrary to the gospel they claim to believe, but for whatever reason they are content to overlook them, rather than overcome them by God’s grace.

“It’s just a little habit,” they tell themselves. “It’s a harmless thing, really. I don’t think it’s a real problem in my life. I mean, I’m still a Christian and all…”

But true repentance never sees any sin as a little thing. A repentant heart knows that a little sin will corrupt the whole life.

True Repentance Abandons Sin … vs. 2

Genesis 35:2 (KJV 1900)

2 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:

Jacob said, “We need to get rid of the things that have defiled us. Let us put them away, and let’s be clean. Let’s put on new clothes and get rid of the old ones. (See Ephesians 4:22, 24)

Ephesians 4:22 (KJV 1900)

22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

Ephesians 4:24 (KJV 1900)

24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

The family quickly handed over all their little idols and all the pagan jewelry they had stolen from Shechem. And our text says that Jacob “hid” or buried them, under an oak tree nearby.

What a wonderful picture this is of true repentance! When we are serious about getting right with God, we will take the things that have derailed us and defiled us, and we will abandon them.

And the only thing to do with them is to bury them where you bury all your sins, at the foot of the tree where Jesus shed His blood to cover our sins.

If you are away from God, He calls you to come home, but that call requires you to be willing to acknowledge and abandon your sin, and leave the things you know the Lord condemns.

Will You Listen When God Calls?

Will You Leave What God Condemns?

WILL YOU LIVE WHAT GOD COMMANDS?

Look again at God’s call to Jacob in verse 1. He said,

Genesis 35:1 (KJV 1900)

1 And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.

Genesis 35:3 (KJV 1900)

3 And let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; 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.

God was calling Jacob back to a specific place, and Jacob was willing to go there and live where God wanted him to be.

In truth, it was not just a location that God was calling Jacob back to; it was a lifestyle. God wanted Jacob back living the kind of life he should have been living all along.

For us today, the place God wants us to be is not so much a specific location, as it is a kind of spiritual life – a life in which He can bless us and use us.

The place God wanted Jacob to live was …

In The Place Of Covenant Grace …

Verse 6 tells us that Jacob and his family did just what he said they would. They went back to Bethel. When he got there, verse 7 says that Jacob did just what God told him to do – “he built there an altar…”

Once Jacob had heeded the call of God, and did what God had told him to do, the text says that God appeared to him again, in the same place where years before Jacob had seen God standing atop the angel-covered ladder.

Look at verses 10-12 and notice what God said to Jacob. The covenant was renewed.

Genesis 35:10–12 KJV 1900

10 And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. 11 And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; 12 And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.

God did not say this to Jacob in Shechem, because Shechem was not the place where God wanted Jacob. Bethel, which means “house of God,” was the place where God would promise again His blessings to His wayward son.

Like Jacob, God has spoken to us in the language of covenant grace. In His Son, Jesus, God has covenanted with us, and promised to redeem us and bless us for Christ’s sake.

To get right with God, then, is to live in Christ! It is to walk everyday with Jesus, leaning on Him as your strength and supply, and trusting Him as your only hope with God and in eternity.

How does a lost sinner come to God? Only through Jesus! How does a backslidden saint come back to God? Only through Jesus!

The way of the cross leads home.

The way of the cross leads home.

It is sweet to know as I onward go,

The way of the cross leads home.

Notice further that where God wanted Jacob to live was not only in the place of covenant grace, but also it was …

In The Place Of Committed Gratitude …

Notice what Jacob did after the Lord went up from appearing to him in verse 14:

Genesis 35:14 KJV 1900

14 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.

Some thirty years before, Jacob had done something very similar. He set up a stone pillar, and anointed it with oil, and marked the place as sacred and holy because of what God had done for him there.

In doing so, Jacob was saying two things: (1) that he was agreeing to the covenant God had made with him and (2) that he was appreciative of the grace God had showed to him.

This is exactly the kind of life God wants us to live in light of the gospel covenant He has made with us in Jesus.

He wants us firstly to consecrate and commit ourselves to living in the new life Jesus has given to us. Then, He wants us, with thankful hearts, to willingly pour our lives out for Him, offering them to Him as a living sacrifice for His service!

2 Timothy 4:6–8 (KJV 1900)

6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

Getting right with God and going back to Bethel is not about turning over a new leaf and simply trying harder to do better, in hopes that God will bless you again.

No getting right with God is simply giving yourself over to Him again; grateful for all the blessings He has already given to you!

The question is; will you do that? Will you live where God commands you – in a place of humble, grateful submission to Him?

Will you say: Take my life and let it be, Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.

That is going back to Bethel!

Will you listen to His Call?

Will you leave what He condemns?

Will you live where He commands?