Back to Bethel

As your finding Genesis 35, I want to ask you a question? Has there ever been a time when you loved Jesus more than you love Him right now? Has there ever been a time when you were more excited about the things of God than you are today? Has there ever been a time when you were closer to the Lord than you are at this very minute?

I read about a farmer and his wife who were driving to town in their pickup truck. The farmer was sitting behind the wheel in silence. His wife was sitting over against the door .. as far from her husband as she could get. After several miles she said, "You know dear, when we were first married we didn't sit this far a part." Without blinking an eye he said, "I’m not the one that moved."

So to you who are not as close to God as you once were .. God says, "I'm not the one who moved."

The Bible says, "draw near to God and God will draw near to you."

GENESIS 35:1-3 “1 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the 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 that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. 3 Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.””

SLIDE 2-4

Jacob had crashed. Spiritually he had hit rock bottom. He had moved into a pagan town. His daughter had been seduced by a pagan prince. In revenge his sons had massacred all of the males in an entire village. Furthermore, his family had forsaken God and fallen into paganism and idolatry. Jacob needed his fire rekindled, his faith rejuvenated, and his family reclaimed for God. We find in this chapter God's remedy for backsliding. What we’re going to discover as we get back to Bethel, is that the way forward for the child of God is often backward.

John Maxwell has written a book called, “Failing Forward.” Sometimes that’s exactly what we have to do. That’s what Jacob had done. If you feel frustrated with your Christian life. If you think you need to draw closer to God. If your looking for something that can help renew your commitment to God, then let’s get back to Bethel.

SLIDE 5

I. THE SUMMONS TO BETHEL, Genesis 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.'"

Do you remember Bethel? Bethel for Jacob was the place of revelation where he first saw a vision of God. It was the place of regeneration where he first heard the voice of God. It was the place of reservation where he first made a vow to God. For twenty years Jacob had been spiritually unfaithful, spiritually unfruitful, spiritually unfit because he had gotten away from Bethel. You remember that Jacob had made a promise to God concerning Bethel:

SLIDE 6

"Then Jacob made a vow, saying, 'If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.'" (Genesis 28:20-22)

Jacob had promised God that he would regularly come back to Bethel, the house of God. But he had not kept that promise. Because of that, he had gotten into a backslidden condition. Do you have a Bethel? Do you have a place and a time that you can go back to where you first met God, where you repented of your sins and received Jesus Christ as your Lord and as your Savior? Every saved person has a Bethel, a place where he went from being lost to being saved; a place from where he went from being a sinner away from God, to becoming a son in the family of God.

Often I have asked people if they have ever been saved. Frequently people will respond, "Oh, I have always been a Christian." Friend, if you have always been a Christian, then you have never been a Christian. That's like saying you've always been married. Just as there has to be a point in time where you go from being single to married, there has to be a point in time where you go from being lost without God, to being saved with God.

God wanted Jacob to get back to the place in his life when God first became real to him. Back to Bethel, the place where Jacob first met God.

SLIDE 7

II. THE STEPS TO BETHEL, Genesis 35:2-3

"Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, 'Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. Then 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 in the way which I have gone." I want you to know that there's only one door that a backslider can walk through if he wants to get back to God. That is not the door of remorse, it is not the door of regret. It is the door of repentance. There are two things that every backslider has to do if he wants to come back to God and get right with God. He has to clean out, and he has to clean up. That is exactly what Jacob and his family had to do.

SLIDE 8 A.

They Removed False Gods, 'Put away the foreign gods that are among you.' (v. 1b)

An idol is anything that is more important to you than God. Someone has defined an idol as any person or anything that has usurped in the heart the place of preeminence that belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. We Americans have many idols. There’s the idol of position. There’s the idol of possessions, the idols popularity, of pleasure, prosperity. But the greatest idol of all is personal. It is the idol of self. We are a selfish people. Our focus is on ourselves.

Years later, the descendants of Jacob would hear Joshua declare this same challenge from Joshua 24:15. “Choose you this day whom you will serve. Whether it be the gods on the other side of the flood, the gods of your fathers. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

SLIDE 9B.

They Replaced Filthy Garments,

"Purify yourselves, and change your garments." (v.2b)

Now it really shouldn't surprise you that they had on filthy garments. They had gotten away from the worship of God. They had gotten away from the work of God. They had gotten away from the word of God.

Spurgeon said, "Backsliders begin with dirty Bibles, and they end with filthy garments."

But you see, it was only after they had cleaned out and cleaned up that Jacob could then say, "Then let us arise and go up to Bethel." (v.3) You see, you can't go to Bethel dirty. Concealed sin must become confessed sin before it can become cleansed sin. If you want to get right with God you've got to deal ruthlessly with your sin. What God claims God cleanses.

SLIDE 10

I John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness.

SLIDE 11

III. THE SIGHTS AT BETHEL, Genesis 35:7,9,13

A. An Altar (v.7) Jacob built an altar there and named it El-bethel

Now that he was cleaned up before God ..his desire for worship returned! And the first thing he did was to build an altar and called the place, "El Bethel." Now remember .. it was Jacob that named this place Bethel to begin with. The name "Bethel" means "house of God." "El Bethel" means "The Mighty God of the house of God." And here's why the name change. Verse 7b, "because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother." So among the sights at Bethel was an altar.

SLIDE 12B.

An Appearance (v.9-11) God appeared to Jacob once again when he arrived at Bethel

Jacob got back to Bethel and he had a divine visitor! Now ... God doesn't tell him anything that He hadn't told him before! God already told him about the name change. So why is God repeating Himself? Because God wanted to remind Jacob of something he had forgotten! Jacob had forgotten that he was a child of God! Do you need reminding today that you are a child of God? That we are joint heirs with Christ ... children of the King and we ought to live like it! We ought to behave like it! So .. there was an altar .. an appearance ...

SLIDE 13

C. An Ascension (v.13) Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him.

Let me tell you something ... no matter how far you've gotten away from God ... you can always go home!

There was a drunk man who got into a row boat one night to cross the river. He picked up the oars and began to row and he rowed all night. When the sun came up .. not only had he not reached the other side of the river ... he found out that he was right where he had been rowing the night before.

Do you know what his problem was? He forgot to untie the boat!

Some of you here are still tied to old habits .. old desires .. a few idols and you've got to untie your boat and completely give your life again to Jesus.

You've got to go back to Bethel! The place where you first fell in love with Jesus and then just fall in love with Him all over again.

God will help you. Go back to Bethel and be right with God.

Now .. I told you earlier that you can't go back to where you've never been! But the way back to Bethel is the way to Bethel!

Not remorse! Not regret! But repentance! There must be a turning to God!

Christian friend ... Jacob wasted 20 years with God! Years he could have lived for God he lived for self! How many more years are you going to waste?

Haven't you wasted enough time? Are you ready to get started again with God? If you want to go forward you've got to go backward. You've got to go back to Bethel.

You've got to go back to a place where you first fell in love with Jesus, and then just fall in love with Jesus all over again.

What is true for a backslidden saint, is also true for a lost sinner.

If you would just say: The dearest idol I have known Whatever that idol be; Help me to tear it from Thy throne And worship only Thee.

God will help you. Whether it be for the first time or the fiftieth time, you can come back to Bethel and you can be right with God.

FBI Sermon Notes

TEXT: Genesis 35:1-3

TOPIC: Back to Bethel

BIBLE SURVIVORS SERIES, Message 4

Pastor Bobby Earls, First Baptist Church – Icard,

September 30, 2001

I. THE ____________________ TO BETHEL, Genesis 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.'"

II. THE ____________________ TO BETHEL, Genesis 35:2-3 "Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, 'Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. Then 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 in the way which I have gone."

A. They Removed ___________ __________,

'Put away the foreign gods that are among you.' (v. 1b)

B. They Replaced ____________ _________,

"Purify yourselves, and change your garments." (v.2b)

III. THE _____________________ AT BETHEL, Genesis 35:7,9,13

A. An ________________. (v.7)

Jacob built an altar there and named it El-bethel

B. An ________________. (v.9-11)

God appeared to Jacob once again when he arrived at Bethel

C. An ________________. (v.13)

Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him.

Genesis 35:1 ESV

1 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”

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