What's Taking You So Long?
Almost Bethel • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Lords Prayer
Lords Prayer
Before we begin today’s sermon would you join me in praying the words our Lord taught us to pray?
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done
in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: Amen
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Introduction
Introduction
Please stand for the reading of God’s Word.
Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”
This is the Word of the Lord, Amen?
You may be seated
Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray
Just one verse today! Let’s read it again just to get it in us before we dive into this brand new sermons series...
Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”
God says Arise, go up to Bethel and Dwell there… Bethel, of course, is square inside the promised land… the land that God promised to give to Abraham, then to Isaac, and now to Jacob… it is the land that the majority of God’s plan for mankind takes place in or around… it is where the Messiah will be born, and where He will be betrayed… and Crucified… and rise again...
God says to Jacob “Arise and go to Bethel”… But wait a minute… I thought that Jacob was already going to Bethel… I thought he was already on the way to the Promise Land… Okay, let me just refresh my memory for a minute… do we have a timeline of events to help me out here… a timeline of Jacob’s life up until this point… I think that would help...
Jacob Deceives Isaac and Flees His Brother (Gen 27) — Jacob ~77 years old.
First Bethel encounter (Gen 28) — The vision of “Jacob’s Ladder”.
Works for Laban Leah and Rachel (Gen 29) — a total of 14 years.
The eleven sons + Dinah born (Gen 29-30) — years 7-14 in Haran. Jacob ~91 by year 14.
Six years working for wages/flocks (Gen 30:25-43; 31:41) — years 14-20 in Haran.
God calls Jacob to return / Jacob Flees Laban (Gen 31) — year 20 in Haran. Jacob ~97.
Jacob becomes Israel / Jacob meets Esau (Gen 32-33) — Wrestling with God, Reconciling with Esau.
The Dinah Incident (Gen 34) — Dinah Raped, Schechemites Murdered and Pillaged.
Okay, that’s right, the last time we saw Jacob, before this crazy Dinah incident, was when he was on his way to the promised land… and in rout he has this meeting with his brother Esau… and if you remember, that meeting went really well!
Jacob thought Esau still wanted to murder him because of Jacob’s earlier deceit of Isaac… but in fact God had blessed Esau and Esau had forgiven Jacob already… And at the end of that chapter, before the Dinah incident… if you remember, Esau says “Come with me back to my home! You and all that are with you, come back with me”… but Jacob refuses and says “Let me take my time… I don’t want to rush the young children and cattle…
Then Esau said, “Let us take our journey; let us go, and I will go before you.”
But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and the flocks and herds which are nursing are with me. And if the men should drive them hard one day, all the flock will die. Please let my lord go on ahead before his servant. I will lead on slowly at a pace which the livestock that go before me, and the children, are able to endure, until I come to my lord in Seir.”
Now I don’t know about you, and I don’t know how Esau took that… but it sounds like to me that Jacob and his caravan are just going to be a couple of days behind Esau…
Jacob is on the way to the promised land, maybe he wants to go set up his house there first and then go visit his brother… maybe he want’s to visit his brother first and then go to the promised land...
But if this is the case… if Jacob is on his way to the promised land, which he is supposed to be… and he is just going a little slower than Esau… if this is the case, then why our key verse this morning… why does God find the need to speak once again to Jacob… Gen 35:1
Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”
Wasn’t he already going to Bethel? Wasn’t he already going to the promised land? Well he was… but he stopped short… and he lived in Succoth and Schechem… just 20 to 30 miles away from bethel… Jacob stopped, and he started living life in ALMOST BETHEL.
Series Title Slide ALMOST BETHEL
Today we start a new series going over Genesis 35 that is schedualed to run about 7 sermons… sometimes that changes, but this is the plan now… seven sermons in the series ALMOST BETHEL… so let me tee this up for you guys...
Jacob has been called by God to live in the promised land, and one of the key places in Canaan is the place called Bethel… which comes from the Hebrew Beit El, meaning the House of God…
Bethel was the place where Jacob first saw the vision of the ladder, the angels descending and ascending on heaven… and really it was a prophetic vision of Jesus because Jesus quoted this vision and said that He was the one whom the angels of heaven ascend and descend on…
Bethel was were God showed Jacob that even through all the failures… that God’s favor was upon him, and that angles were working on his, or ultimately God’s, behalf all around him.
The birthright his father gave him through deceit… at Bethel God gave to him afresh and scandle free… it was a major point in Biblical history and a major part of the promised land… It was were Jacob was called back to.
Yet Jacob stopped short of Bethel, and dwelled just outside of the promised land… he lived in Almost Bethel...
This sermon series for those of us who have been living in Almost Bethel for far to long.
This series isn’t for the backslider or the prodigal, though they will certainly benifit.
This series is not the same as the “What is Your name” series that came with prophetic words and radical calls to repentance, though it may carry some of that weight.
Instead, this series is for those of us who love God, and serve God. We come to church, we read our Bibles, we even show up to worship night, or youth group, or growth track...
We love God, we know God, we are called to be in God’s pressence… but we have set up camp just outside of His House… we live in a place CLOSE to God’s pressence… but not in His presence...
We live close to the promises, but not IN the promises...
We are in for team Jesus… but we are not ALL IN for team Jesus.
We do church and the things of God, yes, of course… how could we not after He saved and delivered and healed and called us… We have seen too many miracles and had to many experiences and know the Word to be the truest thing on earth… how could we not do the things of God… BUT ALSO…
You have heard of the phrase “But God” well sometimes we do the things of God BUT ALSO we go to take care of ourselves… BUT ALSO we got to focus on our careers… BUT ALSO we need to focus on our children and families...
And don’t get me wrong… We need good careers, and we need to take care of our families and children… OF COURSE WE DO… But some of us, and maybe this is speaking to you… we have put those things first and made God second and we have found ourselves living a life in ALMOST BETHEL...
We love God, We Serve God, we Fear God… but that is not where we live… we live… we spend our life, our energy, our focus on things JUST OUTSIDE of God’s house, of His presence, His Promises… Church is important… but it’s not the focus… Worship is important, but it’s not the main thing… Our calling, the promises, prophetic words spoken over our lives… Yes those are important… but not really the goal right now...
That is the kind of thinking that get’s us stuck in almost Bethel… So if you are here this morning and you Love Jesus… You serve Him… You fear Him… but if you are honest, right now Jesus is a PART of your life but not ALL OF WHO YOU ARE AND EVER WILL BE… then this series is specifically for you...
And please don’t feel condemned… it happens to nearly everyone… we get distracted, we get bogged down, life gets in our face and demands our attention… God is sending this series to encourage us and remind us, not to condemn us… He want’s to call us one more time back into His presence… and out of our camps at ALMOST BETHEL… You guys with it? Let’s pray one more time to offer this series to God, then we will get into it this morning...
PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY
Now each sermon in this series will be based out of Genesis 35, all around this theme of ALMOST BETHEL… and today’s sermon is titled “What’s Taking You So Long?”
What’s Taking You So Long Sermon Title Slide
Two points this morning… we are already half way through the sermon just with this series introduction, so we need to fly through these… our first point this morning: Get Up and Get there already!
GET UP AND GET THERE ALREADY
GET UP AND GET THERE ALREADY
Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.”
I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.’ ”
Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”
THREE TIMES… THREE TIMES God told Jacob to go back to Bethel
BRO! GET THERE ALREADY!
How many times does God need to call you into His glory before YOU GET UP AND GET THERE?
How many times does He need to remind you of His promises before you start living in them?
How many visions? How many dreams? How many sermons? How many prophetic words? How many specific scriptures is it going to take for you to get there already?!
Here is what is not explicitly stated in these scriptures so it is easy to miss… Laban’s house to Bethel is about 400 miles by ancient paths… that would take Jacob and his family and flocks a few weeks to maybe a month or at most two months to travel.
You know how long it took him from fleeing Laban to this point in Genesis 35? TEN YEARS!!!!!
I have read Genesis dozens of time, never in my wildest dreams did I think it would take him that long… I thought he left Laban’s house, a few days latter he wrestles God and meets up with Esau… then a week or two of traveling and the Dinah incident happens, then a couple more weeks and Jacob is in the Promise Land… but that’s not what happened at all… Jacob set up camp 20 to 30 miles away from Bethel and stayed there for 10 to 12 years before God again appeared to him and told him “Go to Bethel… Go to my house”.
Look at the first word God says to Jacob here as He commands Jacob to go to Bethel for the third time… Gen 35:1
Then God said to Jacob, “Arise...”
The first word to Jacob is not “Go” it is “Arise”… and I think this is important for the message this morning...
The word for Arise is the Hebrew word “qum”, which means in the most literal sense “You! Get Up! NOW!”
Now I don’t think Jacob was in bed when God said this… I don’t think this is a litteral “Arise”, I think it is a metaphorical arise… and Hebrew often uses verbs like this metaphorically…
God is saying “Jacob! GET UP! STOP BEING SO COMFORTABLE! YOU HAVE BEEN LULLED TO SLEEP AT ALMOST BETHEL FOR 10 YEARS! IT IS TIME TO GET UP AND GO! GO INTO ALL THAT I HAVE CALLED YOU TO! YOU! GET UP! NOW!”
And that is the word for someone this morning… You have been doing the things of God, you have been living the Christian life… but just outside of all God has called you too… GOD SAYS “HEY! GET UP AND GET THERE ALREADY”.
If God has called you into ministry! Hey! Get up and get there already!
If God has called you to build a family! GET UP AND GET THERE ALREADY!
If God has called you to find a new Job! Get up and get there already!
If God has called you to move on from a toxic relationship, or to abandon a harmful habit, or start a new hobby, or to write a book… or whatever… GET UP AND GET THERE ALREADY.
You see the problem is not distance… Bethel is only 20 miles away from Jacob… No the problem is not distance, the problem is posture…
This is why the first word is not GO! but it is Arise… You see the first word of the great commission… Jimmal.. is GO! Why? Because these disciples are fired up… they are full of the Holy Ghost… They are ready to do whatever… but there was a great distance that the needed to go, that we need to go, to spread the Gospel to all the world. So their first word was Go! They didn’t need to arise, their posture was fine, their problem was distance...
BUT JACOB’S PROBLEM IS NOT DISTANCE… His problem is posture… He has gotten comfortable… gotten settled… gotten lazy...
So before he can even get there he needs to get up.
Listen I don’t know who this is for but God is saying “The blessings, the promises, the fulfillment, His presence… They are not as far away as you think they are! In fact they are RIGHT THERE next to you! Your problem is not how far away God’s blessing are… your problem is that you are comfortable being close to them… stop being comfortable being near God’s presence… ARISE AND GET INTO GOD’S PRESENCE.
Go home with your wife and make a baby TONIGHT! If that is what God is calling you to.
Go sign up for seminary if that is what God is calling you to.
Write the outline to your book… if that is what God is calling you to.
Set a meeting up with the pastors and sit down with us and say “Hey, I think God is calling me to this ministry or that ministry… how can I get started… what do I need to do next?!”
I know this message is not for everyone… some of you all KILLING IT! But I also know there are people here who genuinely love God and want to serve and please him… but you have all the excuses in the world for why you can’t take that final step into whatever it is He is calling you to… This word is for you. GET UP AND GET THERE ALREADY!
ARISE! Qum! GET UP AND GET THERE ALREADY!
When Joshua was weeping and having a pity party after being defeated at Ai… God used this word… ARISE! WHY DO YOU LIE THUS ON YOUR FACE?!
And you know what? Joshua listened and got up and got the sin out of the camp and went and conquered AI.
Remember when Elijah was discouraged and fleeing Jezebel? He settled into discouragement under a broom tree but God said “ARISE! GET UP! YOU GOT PLACES TO BE! ARISE! GET UP AND GET THERE ALREADY! And Elijah get’s up and the next thing you know he is having the ULTIMATE mountain top experience with God.
Jonah was a reluctant, resentful, bigoted, sorry excuse for a prophet… but a prophet he was called to be… so what does God say to the prophet slumbering in Joppa? HE SAYS! ARISE! GET UP AND GET THERE ALREADY. Now he did the opposite and fled and ended up as fish vomit… but he got there eventually...
Listen… even Paul… one of the most radical converts in History… his conversion starts with the word “Arise”.
So the Lord said to Joshua: “Arise!...”
And the angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched [Elijah], and said, “Arise!...”
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise!...”
Then the Lord said to [Paul], “Arise!...”
This is the same word that our whole woman’s retreat was based on, isn’t it?
Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
This was a prophetic word written to a Zion covered in darkness… God says “Hey the Messiah is coming to fill you with light… ARISE AND LET THAT LIGHT SHINE”.
And y’all we don’t need a prophetic word about the Messiah… we just need to arise and let that light shine? Amen?
Now that brings me to my second point… once you have gotten up… once you have gotten there… what do you do? Well you DWELL THERE… Don’t dwell in the world… When You Get There, Dwell There.
When You Get There, Dwell There
When You Get There, Dwell There
Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there...
Someone say “Dwell there!”
Where are we going to dwell? In the house of God… in Bethel… NOT ALMOST BETHEL… Not DWELL NEAR BETHEL… But Dwell IN BETHEL… in the promised land… in the promises and the prophecies and the active flowing day to day moment to moment moving of the Holy Spirit. DWELL IN BETHEL! DWELL IN THE PROMISES OF GOD.
Let me show you something that if you are like me, you missed… let’s go back to that meeting between Jacob and Esau in Genesis 33… Remember… Jacob is now married and has 12 children, 11 boys and 1 girl… God has prospered him greatly, and he is now fleeing his uncle Labon and he is SUPPOSED to be returning to the promised land… when he runs into his brother Esau and things go better than expected… look at the end of this conversation…
And Esau said, “Now let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, built himself a house, and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
Wait wait wait… he BUILT HIMSELF A HOUSE? Bro said “I will be right there...” Then built himself a house...
And note, the word here in the Hebrew for house is Beit… HOUSE… not TENT or BOOTH… that word is Sukkah, that is what he built for his livestock… but for himself he BUILT A HOUSE.
He did not pitch a tent… He BUILT A HOUSE… Unc wasn’t just passing through, he straight up decided to dwell in Succoth for years… 30 miles from Bethel… Just outside of the promised land… he built a house for himself and booths for his livestock at ALMOST BETHEL.
Then, after living there for a few years, we don’t know how many, but it must have been more than one or two if he built a house there… then he moved into the land of Canaan, to the city of Shechem where he starts by pitching a tent, but then ends up buying land and settling down.
Then Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city. And he bought the parcel of land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. Then he erected an altar there and called it El Elohe Israel.
Now, Shechem is technically in the promised land, just on the outskirts… but that is not where God told Jacob to go… where did God tell Jacob to go? TO BETHEL! Shechem is 20 miles from Bethel… It is the definition of ALMOST BETHEL...
Jacob spent YEARS here as well… most scholars say between Succoth and Bethel Jacob spent about 10 to 12 years, and they figure this number by judging his age and the age of his children in surrounding verses…
And here is what we know… he lived in Shechem long enough for his daughter to catch the eye of their prince.
He had a working relationship with the King of Schechem, because the King felt comfortable coming to Jacob to discus marriage arrangements… the king even understood Jacob’s culture and traditions to the point that he was willing to be circumcised to make a deal happen.
And not just Schechem, but Jacob had built a relationship with all the people of the land… to the point that he was afraid they would figure out that it was his sons that killed all the Shcechemite men and they would turn against him…
Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”
You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land… the Canaanites and the Perizzites… can I just say as a pastor… sometimes… sometimes in the face of abhorrent evil… sometimes it is good for the people of God to be obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land… Not always, we should be well mannered… we should follow the laws be a joy to those who govern us… but in the sight of abhorrent evil… like what happened to Dinah… I THINK IT IS OK IF WE GET A LITTLE OBNOXIOUS...
Like the Christians who were so obnoxious in the 1500's by nailing their 95 theses to church doors...
Or the Christians who were so Obnoxious in the 1600’s that they had to Flee England and start a new nation...
Or the Christians who were so Obnoxious in the 1860's that drove Lincoln to abolish slavery...
Or the Christians who were so Obnoxious 1960’s years later forcing the Jim Crow laws to end.
You see what I did there… I started with Martin Luther and I ended with Martin Luther! And I tell you what we need a new Martin Luther to be obnoxious about Abortion in our nation… but that is not what this sermon is about… and it certainly doesn’t excuse the evil of Simeon and Levi murdering everyone in Schechem...
But it proves the point that Jacob had a relationship with the people of the land of ALMOST BETHEL that he was upset when his reputation was ruined...
And that is what happens when you dwell in Almost Bethel… you start to get along with the people of ALMOST BETHEL… and that works for a while… and your relationship with God doesn’t even suffer that much at first… I mean Jacob was still serving God and worshiping God in ALMOST BETHEL… He even built an altar there and named it El Elohe Israel… God, The God of Israel! And remember his name was changed to Israel so the alter was God the God of ME!
And that is amazing… but somewhere along the way things started to slip… just a little… to where he cared about the people who were not all in for God… he cared what the ALMOST bethel people thought.
Can I tell you something? In America we got a LOT of ALMOST BETHEL people… people who are close to the things of God, but not all the way in...
It is why when I meet someone new I don’t ask them if they are a Christian… I ask “Where do you go to church”… because most will CLAIM to be a Christian… but I want to see how ALL IN you are.
And I am not even concerned about what church you go to most of the time… I am listening to how fast you respond, how excited you are to respond… if you are in church worshiping the KING OF KINGS and getting fed by the living Word of God every week, you don’t need to think about what church you go to… but most of the time I get answer like “Uh.… I go to… Uh… the one downtown… First… something or other...”
BRO THAT IS AN ALMOST BETHEL ANSWER. Now going to church doesn’t make someone saved, but someone who is saved ought to be going to church… you know what I mean… how can you go more than seven days without publicly and corporately praising the God who saved you?
So I don’t want my friends to be almost bethel people… I don’t want MY PEOPLE to be ALMOST BETHEL people...
[BIG AND HYPED UNTIL CONCLUSION]I want to be surrounded by people who dwell in the house of God… who surround themselves with the things of God, who go all out in worship… who pray unceasingly… who believe for miracles upon miracles...
I want to dwell with mountain movers and water walkers… I want to dwell with people who are so holy their shadows are healing people...
When I have issues and I get depressed I want it to be a brother in Christ who picks me back up… a BETHELITE who encourages me, prays for me, prophesies into my life.
I know the promises God has for me, why would I want anything less than those?
I know the plans He has for my life… why would I stop short of them?
He calls me from Glory to Glory… why would I compromise and settle?
LET ME BE KNOWN AS SOMEONE WHO IS ON FIRE FOR GOD, SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE WHO ARE ON FIRE FOR GOD, SERVING IN A CHURCH THAT IS ON FIRE FOR GOD, BRINGING REVIVAL THAT SPREADS LIKE WILDFIRE FOR GOD.
I want nothing short of everything God has for me! So I am not stopping 20 miles from Bethel!
I am diving in! I am going DEEP! IN OVER MY HEAD I WANNA BE!
You’ll NEVER CATCH ME OUTSIDE OF CHURCH! I WANT TO BE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MOVE OF GOD! LET ME DWELL IN HIS PROMISES AND HIS GOODNESS. LET ME AND MY HOUSE DWELL IN BETHEL!
Okay okay I need to conclude this thing… if someone can come up and play...
Conclusion
Conclusion
Turn On Children’s Class Lamps
Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”
The third time God tells Jacob to go to bethel, and both sermon points neatly held in one verse… Arise and Go to Bethel… and dwell in bethel...
Bethel… Beit El… the House of God… The Presence of God… The promises of God…
What are you waiting for? Get up and get there already! And when you get there, DWELL THERE.
Do what you need to do to get back to the center of God’s presence, plans, and promises… and when you get there… stay there… dwell there… be all in… be planted… and never settle for Almost Bethel again...
Now in the next coming weeks we will talk details about how to do this… and we will talk about the benefits of doing so… but if this is you, you are that Christian who loves God, but you are only 70%, 80%, 90%… 99 and a half percent in… if that is you, please hear this prophetic word for your life… 99 and a half won’t do! Get up and get ALL IN to Bethel.
Gospel Call
Aaronic Blessing
יאר יהוה פניו אליך ויחנך
ישא יהוה פניו אליך וישם לך שׁלום
"The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
You are dismissed from this place but not from His Presence
ye·va·re'·khe·kha' · Adonai · ve·yeesh'·me·re'·kha
ya·eir · Adonai · pa·nav · e·ley'·kha · vee·khoon·ne'·kah
ees·sa · Adonai · pa·nav · e·ley'·kha · ve·ya·seim · le·kha · sha·lom
"The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
You are dismissed from this place but not from His Presence
