Jacob: Back to Bethel
Genesis 35:1-3
Introduction
Bethel is about 20 miles north of Jerusalem and is described as a bleak highlands in the hill country. It stands 1,200 feet above sea level where the winds whistle around the large exposed rocks. Although the city was desolate and forbidding it was where the spiritual high point in Jacob occurred.
To understand this passage in Genesis 35, we must go back 30 years to a time when Jacob first went to Bethel. At the time he was fleeing for his life after tricking his father out of His brother Esau’s birthright blessing. Jacob was a fugitive on the run and his first night away from home was spend in Bethel. That night as he slept with a stone for a pillow, he had a dream about a ladder going from earth to heaven, and God was standing at the top of the ladder.
What was it that brought Jacob to this place? What kind of a home did he leave? It was not an ideal home, but it was a home through which God was moving.
I. The Home of Isaac and Rebekah
• Isaac was the son of Abraham and Sarah, the son of promise God had given them by a miracle.
• Abraham had sent his servant to bring a woman back to be the bride of Isaac when they were living in Haran.
• Let’s pick up that story once Rebekah is expecting their first child in Genesis 25:22-23.
“But the children struggles together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; and two peoples will be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the other; an the older shall serve the younger.”
• God said that two nations were to come out of this family and two nations did come from these two twin boys (Esau and Jacob).
• As we follow these two boys in biblical history we are given the spiritual application to the life of the believer.
• In Esau and Jacob we have a picture of the two natures in a believer today.
• When you become a child of God, you receive a new nature, but you don’t lose the old one, and it causes a conflict.
• Paul said that the flesh was against the Spirit and the Spirit was against the flesh.
• Esau the man of the flesh was outwardly far more attractive than Jacob.
• He was the outdoors athletic type.
• He was mister popularity.
• Jacob on the other hand was a man of the spirit – although not to apparent at the beginning.
• When we first meet him, he is not good looking, but he is clever, self opinionated, and above all a mama’s boy.
• Esau was the first born and due the birthright blessing, that he really didn’t care about.
• Jacob was God’s chosen and he knew it, but he wanted his Father Isaac’s blessing anyway.
• We all know the rest of the story of how Rebekah and Jacob trick Isaac for the birthright blessing.
• Even though Jacob didn’t really care about the blessing, this was the straw that broke the camels back.
• Look at Genesis 27:41 and see what Jacob has to say about it:
“So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
• With that said, Rebekah tells Jacob to go away for a couple of days till Esau cools off, but those two days turned into 20 years.
II. The Encounter
• Let’s go back to that dream that Jacob was having that first night alone.
• In that dream Jacob saw a ladder going from earth to heaven and he saw angels ascending and descending that ladder.
• He thought, he had left god back home.
• Listen to what Jacob says in Gen. 28:16
“Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”
• You see, in that deep sleep Jacob has a spiritual nature.
• He is a schemer, depending on his own wits and strength.
• He is far from God.
• When he left home running for his life, I am sure he was saying, Goodbye Esau and Goodbye God.
• He honestly thought that he a had left God at home.
• But that first night out alone, God speaks to that lonely, homesick boy and tells him that there is grace and mercy with God, that he still has access to god, and the his prayers will still be heard and answered.
• That message still applies today for us.
• The gospel message is that ladder reaching into heaven.
• God is available, if you will just trust Christ as your personal savior.
• Let’s move on.
III. On to Haran – the College Years.
• Jacob after his dream awakes and heads out to Haran, where his mother had sent him, to his Uncle Laban’s house.
• Unknown to Jacob though he was about to enroll into college – the college of hard knocks.
• Uncle Laban being the dean and professor of all the courses.
• When Jacob arrives to Haran, he meets a girl, Rachel.
• She has led her father’s sheep down to the well to drink.
• Jacob sees her and waters the sheep for her, then he kisses her.
• It was love at first sight.
• She leads him back to her house and surprise she is the daughter of Uncle Laban.
• Jacob doesn’t know it but he just started his first class.
• Jacob had been able to out wit everyone up to this point, but Laban is much smarter.
• Notice what Laban says to Jacob in Genesis 29:15,
“Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?”
• Laban is basically saying, although you are family, I’m going to let you work for me for free.”
• Who said anything about work, Jacob sure didn’t.
• He didn’t come to Haran to work, he had never worked a hard day in his life.
• He was always able to get what he wanted with his wit.
• But before Jacob knew what was happening, he was working right along side Laban’s other hired help.
• Laban knew that Jacob had an eye for Rachel and he was going to take advantage of that for some free work.
• Jacob had refused to submit to God at home, and now he had to submit to his uncle in a different country.
• Jacob was going to learn quickly the principle of God that we read in Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will reap.”
• Jacob deceived his father Isaac and later in life Jacob will be deceived by his own boys and Joseph.
• Well after 20 years of working for free to finally get not only Rachel, but the first daughter Leah and his sheep, Jacob had enough and was on the move again, after finishing all of Laban’s courses.
IV. Heading Home
• Jacob on his way home has a memorable night, when he is left alone to wrestle with god.
• God is beginning to deal with Jacob directly in order to bring him into a place of service for Him.
Gen. 32:4-5, “He also commanded them saying, “thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now; I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.”
• Jacob remembered the last time he saw Esau, Esau was ready to kill him.
• Notice that he sends his servants to Esau and makes sure that they address him as Lord Esau.
• That is not the Jacob of old, apparently he learned some things at Laban College.
• In Gen. 32:6, we get the response by Jacob from the returning servants and Jacob is scared to death.
• I imagine that he drilled the servants with questions: “Did he look mad,” “Was he upset,” “Does he still want to kill me.”
• He is so scared that his brother is coming out to meet him that he divides his family and servants, so everyone won’t be hurt and he cries out to God.
Gen. 32:9-10, “Jacob says, “O God of my father Abraham and god of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me, Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,’ I am unworthy of all the loving-kindness and of all the faithfulness which You have sown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies.”
• This once self opinionated man, now appeals to God and cries out to Him on the basis that He is the God of his grandfather and father.
• You can start to see a little change in Jacob’s life now.
• He is no longer the cocky wise guy, but admits that he is not worthy of God’s blessings.
• That night as he was alone, the scriptures tell us that Jacob wrestled with a man all night.
• I am sure that is the last thing Jacob wanted.
• He had Laban behind him, upset for taking his daughters away and Esau in front of him, he had no where to go.
• So who is he wrestling with.
• There has been a lot of speculation, but I truly believe that he is wrestling with the pre-incarnate Christ.
• Jacob is not going to give up easily and he is struggling with God and he was crippled.
• He found out that you do not get anywhere with God by struggling and resisting.
• The only way that you get anywhere with God is by yielding and just holding on to Him.
• Listen to what Christ tells Jacob after the wrestling match that night:
Gen: 32:27-28, “So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” And he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
• God had to cripple Jacob in order to get him, but he God him and every time Jacob took a step on that bad hip from that day on, he would remember that night that he wrestled with the pre-incarnate Christ.
• Don’t get it wrong, Jacob still has a ways to go, before he becomes the man God wants him to be.
• The next day Jacob meets Esau and discovers that his brother is not angry at all, but excited to have his brother back.
• But Jacob doesn’t move right back in with his brother and instead moves toward Shechem.
• Not the place that God has called him to be.
• But it is not until Jacob’s daughter is raped and his two sons murder the people responsible that Jacob learns that lesson.
V. Back to Bethel
• God called Jacob back to Bethel, back to a fresh start, a new era:
Gen. 35:1-2, “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 form the face of Esau you brother,” And 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.”
• You may remember that in this story of Jacob, that when he is fleeing Laban with his family that Rachel takes her father’s idols with her.
• Jacob knew it, and he accepted it.
• Now God, is saying Jacob you need to go back to Bethel that is where I started with you.
• You have to be clean.
• God is telling Jacob that he needs to come clean and confess his sins.
• You cannot go back to Bethel unless you clean up.
• Now notice the response of Jacob:
Gen. 35:3, “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.”
• Jacob remembered that as a boy running away from home, he had come to Bethel and god has appeared to him.
• God told him that he would be faithful to him, but Jacob has gone his own way.
• Jacob had fallen flat on his face in tragedy and disappointment.
• Yet through it all God was with him and God blessed him.
• Now God says, “Go back to Bethel, where we started.”
Closing
Jacob knew that God was with him and as we often do, we still try to do it all by ourselves. But with God’s reminder, Jacob went back to what he knew; he went back to Bethel to straight anew. Friends, do you have a Bethel in your past? Do you remember the day you came to Christ? It was exciting wasn’t it? Sometimes we need to revisit that time and remember how it was at the beginning.
