Buried Under The Oaks Of Shechem

BURIED UNDER THE OAKS OF SHECHEM

Written by Rev Fred Parker

November 6, 2004

FOCUS

As we peer into the subdued shadows of our pasts, it is often extremely difficult to discern those indiscriminate things that are disturbing our devotion to God in the present. ___ E. Fred Parker (November 6, 2004)

TEXT:

Gen 35:1-4

1 And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, 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 Bethel; 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. KJV

SHECHEM

1. Also called SICHEM and SYCHEM, a district in the central part of the land of Canaan.

2. Also called SYCHAR, a city of refuge in Mount Ephraim

(from Nave’s Topical Bible, Electronic Database Copyright © 1990 by Biblesoft, Inc. and TriStar Publishing)

John 4:5-7; 16-24

5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.

7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.

17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:

18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

SCRIPTURE LESSON:

Gen 12:5-7

5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. KJV

Joshua 24:25

25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

26 And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.

INTRODUCTION:

Some are often bound by the deviate acts of their ancestry; however, they may be loosed by their display of obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ in the present. As we peer into the subdued shadows of our pasts, it is often extremely difficult to discern those indiscriminate things that are now haunting our present. Our past as well as our refusal to acknowledge the need for repentance often keeps us from walking in complete victory. It is quite interesting that things that were buried generations before Jesus met the woman at the well had to be dealt with before she could experience total victory and complete deliverance from her sins. It was only after the sins of adultery and promiscuity were revealed that she was able to walk in complete victory with Jesus Christ. What had been hidden under the oaks of Shechem from generation after generation was not revealed until the “Light of the World” stood before an adulterous woman illuminating her dark past and lighting her path.