Genesis 35:1-7
AFter Jacob had departed with his family from his father-in-law Laban and had met his brother Esau, God said to him, "Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God" (Gen. 35:1).
Jacob then told the people that were with him: "Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: 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" (vv. 2,3).
The people gave Jacob all their strange gods, which Jacob buried under an oak by Shechem. They then journeyed to Bethel, where Jacob built an altar and where God later appeared and blessed Jacob again, changed his name to Israel, and reiterated the promise He had given to Abraham and Isaac.
What does all this mean to us?
The House of God
Bethel, which means the house of God, is a figure of the place where believers had gone to worship and fellowship with God before the corporate churches turned apostate. (The altar in Bethel was built long before the Old Testament tabernacle and the temple, which also represented the house of God.) It can also be the place where we commune with God privately in Bible study and prayer, adoring Him in His beauty, worshipping Him in His holiness, pouring out our hearts in prayer before Him with thanksgiving.
At Bethel we are in the presence of God: a small foretaste of heaven.
We are reminded of the prophet Isaiah, who saw the glory of the Lord filling the temple and cried out, "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts" (6:5).
We also call to mind the four living creatures that rest not day and night, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come" (Rev. 4:8).
And we look forward to the time when we will join that blessed throng and mingle our voices in ever blessed adoration: "Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever" (5:13).
Reassurance. At Bethel, we put aside all the things of the world and of our working days, and concentrate on the goodness of God. There, we hear more clearly than ever God's reassurance to us, saying something like this:
I am Jehovah, the Almighty God, who brought you out of Satan's realm and out of the bondage of sin and death! I am your God! I claim you as My very own, My choice possession in Christ Jesus, above all that is in heaven and earth,! I have formed you in sovereign wisdom and almighty power to hold your own unique place in My creation, to carry out My purpose in Christ, to the coming of My kingdom and the eternal effulgence of My glory. I am your almighty God and your merciful Father. I have made you and enabled you to serve Me alone. You are Mine!
For I am God! The one, only, true and living God! Besides Me there can be no other, for all holiness, righteousness, truth, love, and infinite goodness belong to Me alone. I am Light, the only Light of life. I am Life. In Me you live and move and have your very being. To know Me is eternal life, for intimate communion of life with Me is your only blessedness, your joy, your peace, now in this present time and into endless eternity!
So, let us go up to Bethel. Let us draw near to God. But before we go, let us take heed to His Word! In the Bible He has given us His law as our sure guide through life. He has shown us the straight and narrow way that leads to His eternal dwelling place, our true and heavenly home. Moreover, He has given us the power of God that works mightily in our heart and conscience to lead us consciously to love and to serve our God with our whole being. It is the law of liberty, the guide to true thankfulness.
No strange gods
Notice that even before Jacob and his household went to Bethel, they had to put away the strange gods among them. Later on, when God gave the law of Moses, He began His Ten Commandments with: "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Exo. 20:2,3).
It is the foolishness of man to change the truth of God into a lie, and worship and serve idols. Isaiah points to the irony of it all by noting that a man takes a piece of wood, splits it in two, throws one half in the fire, treating it as having no more worth than something by which to warm himself, and takes the other half to form some monstrosity that represents his god. He notes:
And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? (44:19)
Bad as it is for pagans to worship strange gods, it is worse when those who profess to be God's people forsake Christ. Jeremiah 2:13 says, "For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water." Following gospels that do not save is nothing less than spiritual adultery.
Our idols? Before we go to Bethel, therefore, let us examine our hearts and bury all our false gods, even as Jacob did under the oak at Shechem. The Bible says: "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully" (Psalm 24:3,4).
Sometimes, we lift up our souls to vanity more than we realize. One idol that immediately comes to mind is our big ego, that proud I. It was pride, the ambition to be like God, that brought ruin upon our first parents. Rulers of the world, like Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, the Herods, the Caesars, the Antichrist all exalt themselves as if they were God.
But I? Yes. Don't you at times think, "If only every one were like me, this would not be such a bad world to live in." The fact is, every false doctrine, every sinful act is a choosing of our own rebellious way in defiant of God.
Money has always been a very popular god. Jesus says, "No man can serve two masters...Ye cannot serve God and mammon" (Matt. 6:24). And scripture warns that the love of money is the root of all evil. Yet we crave it, strive for it, and even pray for moreŃ like asking God for a higher-pay job or a better return on our investments. Unless God guards our souls, we think of my house, my fields, my barns, and my resources.
Modern idols. One of the strange gods of modern days is science. Science has made amazing discoveries and inventions over the past century or so. We marvel at the advancements in technology and medicine, as they explore into deep space and try to manipulate human genes. After the Tower of Babel, God scattered the people over all the earth and confounded their language so that "they may not understand one another's speech" (Gen. 11:7). But today, science has developed the Internet to link all peoples together into one world wide web.
An increasingly popular god nowadays is sports. Radio and television have brought this god into our homes. In this country, the Superbowl is more celebrated than Christmas or Easter. Worse yet, having our youngsters engaging in some sports has become the priority of many families. This god has demanded so much of our precious time that it is crowding out Christian fellowship into as few moments as we can possibly spare.
Then, there is the goddess of fashion, styles that are streamlined to hug the figure, styles that have their own strong sex appeal, and all the other fads that capture our fancy!
The Living God
How should we go up to Bethel? Hebrews 10:22 says, "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." That requires our getting to know the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent. And where better can we learn to know Him than from His self-revelation in the Scriptures.
We must read the Bible, study it, meditate on it, always with the prayer, "Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth." We must have time for our personal devotions, for our family devotions and for communing with the saints. The Bible tells us that there are those to whom God has given the spiritual gift of teaching. We should never be too proud to learn from them.
Total trust. As we go up to Bethel, we need to trust in God alone. We think of a child that goes along with his parents, leaving it up to them where they will bring him. Or the child that sleeps peacefully in its mother's arms while the storm is raging round about. Or the little boy who puts his little hand in father's big hand, safe from the angry dog that growls at him.
Well, our Heavenly Father knows best, for He has eternally planned every step of our way, even when we are led through deep, dark valleys, through rushing streams of water or even through the flames of fire. We are always safe in the palm of His hand, under His watchful eye, with His ear attuned to our weakest sigh.
Full submission. We submit to Him with humility and patience. There, we dare not venture out anywhere, or do anything without our God, without a prayer on our lips, seeking His help, His approval and blessing. We become very dependent, even helpless and needy. We begin to understand what it means to pray without ceasing.
We can fully submit to God when we know that all good things come from Him and Him alone. We profess to believe in God's providence, that is, that all that befalls us in this veil of tears comes to us from the hand of our Almighty God. Trusting that our heavenly Father is well aware of our need for food and clothing, we concentrate on seeking His kingdom and His righteousness.
Unbelief says that God helps those who help themselves. Faith says on the one hand, "Without Thee I can do nothing," and on the other hand, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Only through faith can we learn how to go up to Bethel. Only then can we learn to pray as our Lord teaches us: "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." And only then can we confess as the Psalmist does, "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory" (73:24).