Finding Bethel: God finds people and gives them a new name.

Intro

We’ve discussed God’s sovereignty in the life of Jacob.

Lost, displaces, found through a dream at Bethel.

Jacob was terrible at relationships.

God found Jacob at Bethel as he was sleeping on a stone pillows.

Jacob was given purpose and direction.

He made a vow that the Lord would be his God.

God finds people that aren’t looking for Him.

Jacob then went east, found Laban and worked under him for 20 years.

Married Leah and Rachel

Numerous children

Blessed abundantly.

Things soured with his father-in-law and family.

Jacob was given direction from God to head back to Bethel.

God’s plan is better.

But it’s not convenient. There is pain in the past.

God didn’t find you to that you could remain comfortable.

He get’s glory through obedience and sacrifice.

Jacob was like us though.

God lived up to His end. Jacob hadn’t. God called him to come back to Bethel, and Jacob eventually ended up going to the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan.

He want’s God’s blessings, but didn’t necessarily desire God.

And yet, God wouldn’t let go of Jacob...

God finds people and gives them a new name.

Genesis 35:1–4 NASB95

1 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments; 3 and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which they had and the rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem.

1. Hearing God’s message is easier when we put aside sinful behavior. (1-4)

It had been 30 years since Jacob’s experience at Bethel.

He had already erected a pillar. He is instructed to build an alter at the same location.

Jacob needed to get out of Shechem.

Bethel 30 miles south of Shechem. Ascent from a low to highland country.

Jacob had not performed his original vow in chapter 28.

His sons had defied him due to bad decisions on his part.

He had allowed foreign gods into his family. (Worldly influences)

Jacob took control of his family.

Buried gods, instruments of false worship, and changed their clothes.

He had a funeral for the items that made them sin in front of his entire family.

Fireproof - Caleb destroys computer.

Isn’t this the struggle?

Destroying instruments of sin makes you a fanatic.

Disciple - Disciplined follower of a master.

In other words, a fanatic.

People who want to hear from God will recognize the places in their life that stand in the way of God’s voice.

For many, people will never hear because they are unwilling.

God is one sin funeral away from telling you His purpose.

God finds people and gives them a new name.

Genesis 35:5–8 NASB95

5 As they journeyed, there was a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. 6 So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. 7 He built an altar there, and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled from his brother. 8 Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; it was named Allon-bacuth.

2. God is superior to all others. (5-8)

As Jacob journeyed, God lived up to His promise providing presence and protection.

The Canaanite tribes were terrified of them.

There was every reason for them to fall, and yet they didn’t . God was their shield.

What used to be unoccupied ground, had now been taken over by the Canaanites.

Almond trees everywhere. Modern day Beitin.

El-Bethel

ha-elohim - “The God of Bethel”.

Yahweh is the God, set apart from, and superior to all others.

People wouldn’t be at odds in their life all the time if they understood that God is superior. A high view of God.

What’s your #1?

Who is your superior?

Deuteronomy 6:5 NASB95

5 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Heart - mind and emotions.

Soul - source of your being.

Strenght - love hard.

The basis of all is love.

Don’t expect a word from God is you’re not willing to make Him superior to you.

Sooner or later, your desire for worldly things must fall away compared to who God is.

It is at this point that God will find you and give you a new name.

3. A new name is a new life. (9-15)

Genesis 35:9–15 NASB95

9 Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him. 10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; You shall no longer be called Jacob, But Israel shall be your name.” Thus He called him Israel. 11 God also said to him, “I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come forth from you. 12 “The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, And I will give the land to your descendants after you.” 13 Then God went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him. 14 Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. 15 So Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel.

30 years after appearing to Jacob at Bethel, God encountered Jacob again.

God proved that He remembered the promise by bringing together different parts of Jacob’s life.

It was here that Jacob recieved his name Israel.

Abram=Abraham

Simon=Peter (Rock)

Saul = Paul

It was from the sons of Israel where there would be 12 tribes.

“God Almighty” - El Shaddai

El Shaddai would bring up a great nation fulfilling His promise to Abraham.

Eventually, King David would be born from the tribe of Judah.

Jesus would come from the line of David.

Again, the presence of God would leave Israel.

Israel erected a pillar of stone.

Pour out wine on the ground honoring god.

Poured oil on the stone making it sacred.

Jacob, now Israel named the place Bethel.

We have watered down the effects of salvation on people.

It’s more than a change of our outlook on life.

Its a brand new life.

You’re new!

You are in His presence.

You have His protection.

It’s all different now.

God finds people and gives them a new name.