GETTING BACK TO BETHEL

Genesis 35:1-7; 28:12

Intro: Let me begin by asking a few questions today.

Ø Do you remember when you met God?

Ø Do you remember that moment when Jesus Christ became your Savior?

Ø Do you remember how you felt when Jesus saved you?

Ø Do you remember the thrill of those early days of serving God, when everything connected with God: the church, the Bible, worship, prayer, witnessing, etc., thrilled you beyond words?

Ø Do you remember how wonderful those early days of blessing were?

Ø Sure you do!

How many of us would have to be honest and say that memories are about all we have left?

· How many would have to say that the things of God just don’t thrill us anymore?

· That we really don’t care anything about going to church most of the time?

· That we can usually find something we would like to do instead?

· That reading the Bible, praying and telling others about Jesus just don’t thrill us anymore?

· That we would just like to be left alone to do as we please and serve God on our own terms?

It’s sad, but many believers are in that shape today!

I want you, you who may be in this very condition today, to know that things do not have to stay the way they are. God has a plan for you and it is illustrated here in these verses concerning Jacob. God called Jacob back to Bethel. Bethel means “The House of God”, and it was at Bethel that Jacob first met the Lord.

He wants you to know that He is the God of the second chance. He is the God Who allows U-turns.

I. v.1 GOD’S COMMAND WAS HEARD BY JACOB

A. God called Jacob to come back to the place where He started for God. God’s command was for him to dwell there, build an altar and worship.

It had been 20 years since his Bethel experience and Jacob had gotten far away from the Lord. He had gotten mixed up in idolatry. He had grown cold toward God; and now God is calling him home!

B. I think it is safe to say that many Christians find themselves in this same condition today! The things of God have become dead and the life of the Christian displays that deadness. This is not a new trend, Ill. The church of Ephesus – Rev. 2:1-7!

C. If you are in that spiritual state today, God has a word for you. The word He has for you is the same counsel He had for the Ephesian believers.

1. Remember – Isa. 51:5; Eph. 2:1-4a; 11-12 – Think back to where the Lord found you and what He did for you when He saved you by grace. Remember, and realize that He deserves better than He is getting from most believers!

2. Return – God’s call to Jacob and to the Ephesians was “Return.” His call is the same to you and to me. 3. Repeat – God’s call to Jacob and to the Ephesian believers is exactly the same. They were to do the first works over again.

God is calling His people back to the place where He is first and foremost in their lives. He wants us to come back to the place where our souls are aflame with love for Him. Remember those days when just the mere mention of the name of Jesus was enough to bring tears to your eyes?

4. Removal

D. Here is a man who has not walked with the Lord as he should have for 20 years.

You don’t have to live in that misery any longer! You can come home right now. You can return to the Father

I. God’s Command Was Heard By Jacob

II. v.2-5 GOD’S COMMAND WAS HEEDED BY JACOB

A. Jacob knew that if he was going to get back to Bethel, some changes would have to be made in his life. By the way, God isn’t the One who needs to make a change; we are the ones who need to change!

B. Jacob caused his family to make some changes before they began their journey back to Bethel. I would like to point those changes out if I can. By the way, isn’t it interesting that Jacob took the leadership role in the family?

1. They Cast Off Their Deities: Ill Rachel and her stolen images - Gen. 31:34-35. Our idols must go also - 1 John 5:21; 1 John 2:15. All the things that steal love and devotion from the Lord must be removed from our lives, if we want His blessings upon us, Ill. Col. 3:1-2. (Ill. Whatever takes your time, your money and your devotion is your god!)

2. They Cleansed Their Dirtiness: All filthiness, inward and outward had to be cleansed. A dirty life hinders worship - Psa. 66:18, a clean life brings blessing

3. They Changed Their Dress:

4. They Created Some Distance: These things were buried not so they could be reclaimed later, but so they would be gone forever.

What they did is a picture of repentance!

III. v. 6-7 GOD’S COMMAND WAS HONORED BY JACOB

A. When Jacob returned to Bethel, he rebuilt his altar and worshipped the Lord.

B. When we hear and obey the call of the Lord; prepare our hearts and lives for worship; then we can rebuild the old altars and worship the Lord again in Spirit and truth. That is where the Lord wants to bring each of us. And, it is where the redeemed heart wants to be.

C. The altar Jacob built was symbolic of several things. When we return to our Bethel and rebuild our altars, we will find they stand for the same things.

1. Back to the Bible, the true Living Word,

Sweetest old story that ever was heard,

Back to the joy-life my soul longs to know,