JACOB’S CALL
TEXT: Genesis 35 W. Max Alderman
INTRODUCTION: The Shechem massacre placed Jacob in a most fearful state. Yet God made Himself very real to Jacob as He spoke to him. The Word of God made all the difference to Jacob. This chapter pictures the work of salvation and also can picture rededication in a person’s life. With Jacob, it began with a call and it was followed by consecration…
I. THE CALL OF JACOB Vv. 1-4
The Lord is calling Jacob to the place that he had previously found peace, safety, and worship during a crisis. It was at this place named Bethel (house of God) that God confirmed the Abrahamic covenant to Jacob (28:10-19).
PRACTICAL APPLICATION: It is impossible to separate a productive Christian from the house of the Lord. The church meets at a place of assembly for the purpose of its membership being able to gain peace, safety, and find worship. In addition to these blessings, they are countless other blessings to be had. The Lord wants us to be faithful at our place just as he called Jacob to his place. When I go to a Georgia Southern football game, I hear the fans scream to the other team: “This is our House”. I wish to scream out to the other team, which is Satan’s team, that this church is “Our House!”
A. It was a call from Heaven. (v. 1)
The mortal man Jacob was confronted by a heavenly messenger, God Himself, and told to arise and go to Bethel and dwell there. He was told to make an altar unto God there. Altars are mentioned many times in the Bible. The first mentioned altar in the Bible was the one built by Noah after the flood (Genesis 8:20). Abraham built altars (Genesis 12:7-8; 13:18; 22:9); Isaac built altars (Genesis 26:25), and then Jacob restored the altars that Abraham had built at Shechem (Genesis 33:20) and Bethel (Genesis 35:1-3). Altars would be built in association with a great event or as a reminder of one’s heritage. Altars were also built to show reverence and gratitude to God’s presence and blessings.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION: We do not build and worship at altars as did Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and then Jacob, but we certainly can worship the Lord in a sacrificial, giving way, as we present our bodies as a living sacrifice unto the Lord. Romans 12:1 reminds us that we should present our bodies as a living sacrifice unto the Lord. Please do not wait until you are nearly dead to begin serving God in a giving and sacrificial way. Do it now, starting today!
B. It was a call to Holiness. (Vv. 2-4)
The call to holiness involved the putting away of some things and also the putting on of some things. God is a jealous God and does not want His people giving worship to any other god and for this reason, Jacob tells them to be clean. This could refer to ceremonial cleansing for the purpose of them being aware that God is Holy and He does not accept that which is defiling or filthy. Jacob also instructs them to change their garments. This was important because “Throughout the Bible, garments symbolize character. The inward life of the unregenerate is compared to a polluted garment” (Barnhouse). These verses picture what goes on at the time of salvation (Colossians 3:5-17) and consecration. These evil things that Jacob told the people to put away were buried under the oak, which was by Shechem, to be seen no more.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Christians should be marked and identifiable by the way that they present themselves. The world has such a magnetic pull on everyone, including Christians. For this reason, just as Jacob initiated Godly leadership in encouraging his family to sanctify themselves, so should we do the same. Jacob’s family only got right with God after Jacob himself did. This again shows us the tremendous leadership role men have within the family. A man resisting God will see the same effect in his children. A man who gets right with God will see the effect in his family also.
II. THE CARE OF JACOB Vv. 5-8
The protective, providential care is clearly seen in this section. God brought a terror or fear to the cities surrounding Jacob. Thus Jacob was spared from vengeance on the part of the survivors of the Shechem massacre. The Lord also protects the Christian, who is in His will, from the enemy.
A. The care brought Protection against the Foes. (Vv. 5-7)
Just as there are diabolical forces that permeates the air, and the minds of men (Ephesians. 6:10-16), there is also the sovereign influence of God that allows Himself to do as he wills. He caused a terror to grip the hearts of the men that were around about Jacob. Therefore, Jacob was able to safely make his trip to Bethel.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION: God’s children should never need to walk about with a spirit of fear, but with the peace of knowing that they have great protection from the Lord. We discover this kind of protection only when we are in the center of God’s will.
B. The care brought Peace at the Funeral. (V. 8)
The burial took place beneath an oak tree which was called Al’lon-bach’uth. Al’lon-bach’uth means “oak of weeping.” There was sorrow, but not sorrow without hope. Weeping may last for a night time but joy comes in the morning.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION: We cannot escape the reality that people whom we love and appreciate will leave this world before we do. Because of this there will be times of sorrow and heartbreak. We will have our own “oak of weeping” places that serve as a reminder of that loss. We also have the promises of God’s Word that tells us that though others will, He will never leave us not forsake us.
III. THE COVENANT WITH JACOB (Vv. 9-15)
The Lord is again restating the conditions of the Abrahamic covenant to Jacob as He did to Abraham. This passage demonstrates the way that the Lord keeps His promises as He originally gave them to Abraham.
A. Jacob reminded of God’s Power. (Vv. 9-11a)
God introduced Himself as God Almighty (Hebrew – El Shaddai). Shaddai takes its derivative from a similar word that means “mountain,” thus picturing God as being greater than the mountains. The mountain also was a symbol of antiquity and eternity, because there was nothing that was thought to be older than the mountain. There was nothing more majestic in its power than the mountain. Yet God, in this word, is seen greater and higher than the mountain.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION: What makes the promises of God of such worth to the believer is in knowing that God is All Powerful. There is none like Him in power and that power is sufficient to back up His promises. Everything that you do in the realm of your Christian experience can be done with the sure knowledge that God is available to empower you to do whatever you do. Philippians 4:13 reminds us that we can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us. The reason that this is so, is because of His available power to us.
B. Jacob reminded of his Posterity. (Vv. 11b-12)
Jacob was reminded that he would be the father of kings as well as the father of nations. He also had the reconfirmation that he would have the land that was given to Abraham given to him and his seed.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The believer has the thrill and hope of bringing children into the world that will grow up in the faith and then come to the place of knowing Christ as their personal Saviour. (2 Timothy 3:14, 15) “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus”.
C. Jacob reminded about the Place. (Vv. 13-15)
Places are significant in the Scriptures. The place called Bethel carries great significance, in that Bethel was the place recorded in chapter 28 that Jacob encountered and met the Lord. After, around thirty years he is redirected to the place called Bethel, “house of God.” The place he made a drink offering and poured oil on the pillar of stone. This is the first such drink offering (Numbers 15:5-7).
PRACTICAL APPLICATION: When people find themselves drifting or find that their love for the things of the Lord are being crowded out by the things of the world, there needs to be the awareness that when someone or something points you back to the church, that that is a sign that God is still interested in you and wants you to be faithful to “the house of the Lord”.
IV. THE COURAGE OF JACOB (Vv. 16-29)
Jacob’s courage was most apparent as he demonstrated strong faith at the death of his wife, Rachel, and then his father, Isaac.
A. The Death of his Wife showed his courage. (Vv. 16-20)
When Rachel was dying, after she had given birth to a son, she called her son Benoni, which means “son of sorrow misfortune.” Jacob, resting on God’s promises at Bethel, changed the name of Benoni to Benjamin, which means “son of the right hand.”
PRACTICAL APPLICATION: When believers go through their difficulties, this is one of the ways that the Lord reveals Himself through His witnesses. That affliction that we may be called upon to bear maybe what God will use to strengthen our own lives and also to witness to others. (2 Corinthians 4:5-7) “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”
B. The Determination of his Walk showed his courage. (Vv. 21-29)
Jacob continued to journey seeing his family grow and become fruitful. He met with sorrow (vv. 22-29) yet kept on going in his walk.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION: (see IV. A.)
Closing Remarks – This study shows how a man came back into the will of the Lord after having been out of it for such a long time.
