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The Bible begins with God's creation and ends with God's habitation. We all need to be impressed with these two words — creation and habitation. The consummation of the Bible is God's eternal dwelling place. If we would know the Bible, we must keep these two things, God's creation and His habitation, firmly in mind. We have seen that the book of Genesis contains nearly all the seeds of the truths concerning God's economy. Perhaps the last seed in this book is the seed of Bethel, God's habitation. Not only at the conclusion of the Bible, but even in the latter part of Genesis, we have the consummate end of God's economy — Bethel, God's dwelling place. The word Bethel means the house of God, or the temple of God, the dwelling place of God.
The book of Genesis covers the biographies of eight great persons: Adam, Abel, Enosh, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with Joseph. We must include Joseph's life as part of Jacob's. In Adam, we have God's creation, and in Jacob, we have God's habitation, Bethel. With Jacob we do not merely see God's selection. Most Christian teachers have spent considerable time on the matter of God's selection of Jacob. Yes, God's selection is the beginning, but what is the ending, the consummate goal, of God's selection? It is Bethel, God's dwelling place. God created, selected, called, and saved us for the purpose that He might have a dwelling place for eternity. This seed of the building, like all the other seeds in the book of Genesis, is developed throughout the whole Bible. If we would understand the significance of this seed, we must consider the entire Bible.
Following Jacob, we have the house of Israel. The house of Israel was actually the house of God. After the exodus from Egypt, there was among the house of Israel the building of the tabernacle, and following the tabernacle, there was the building of the temple. Hence, the Old Testament is a record of eight great men, from Adam through Jacob, plus the tabernacle and the temple. The construction, destruction, and rebuilding of the temple bring us to the end of the Old Testament. What do we have in the New Testament? Again, we have two main things: the tabernacle, which was Jesus (John 1:14), and the temple, which is the church (1 Cor. 3:16). The consummation of the church as the temple is the New Jerusalem. One meaningful and simple way of memorizing the Bible is to remember the eight great men from Adam through Jacob, the tabernacle and the temple as the types in the Old Testament, and the tabernacle and the temple as the reality in the New Testament, the ultimate issue of which is the New Jerusalem. These thirteen items cover the entire Bible.
What is the subject of the Bible? Some may say that it is man's fall, God's redemption, our repentance, God's forgiveness, our regeneration, and our salvation. Obviously, all these things are found in the Bible. Others may point out that the Bible mentions things such as serpents, scorpions, and frogs. The Bible, containing more than a thousand chapters, is not a simple book. Even one chapter may contain many points. But what is the subject of the Bible? Studying the Bible is similar to studying a human being. Although medical students have studied anatomy and physiology for centuries, they have not exhausted the study of the human body, one-third of a human being. They know something about man's body, but nothing about the soul and the human spirit. Man is very complicated. Nevertheless, he is still a man, a complete unit. We cannot refer to a man as being a heart, a kidney, or a nose. A man has a nose, but he is not the nose and the nose is not the man. Some say that the subject of the Bible is justification. Justification is included in the Bible, but it is no more the subject of the Bible than a man's nose is the man himself. If we would know what the subject of the Bible is, we must see that the Bible tells us of eight men, beginning with Adam in God's creation through Jacob with God's house, Bethel, and that following this we have the tabernacle and the temple in the Old Testament and the reality of the tabernacle and the temple in the New Testament, consummating in the New Jerusalem. Revelation 21 says that the New Jerusalem is the tabernacle of God and that God and the Lamb are the temple in it. Hence, the New Jerusalem is the ultimate issue of Bethel.
At the time of chapter thirty-five, Jacob must have been approximately a hundred years of age. Although Jacob had passed through many things, prior to this chapter, we are not told that he had ever made a thorough clearance. He suffered many things in relation to his brother, his uncle, and his cousins, suffering twenty years under the hand of his uncle Laban. But Genesis never says that as Jacob was undergoing those sufferings he purified himself or made a clearance of himself. Rather, we are told of Jacob's skill and supplanting. But, as we shall see, when God told him to arise and go up to Bethel, Jacob made a thorough clearance.
The first time God appeared to Jacob was in a dream (Gen. 28:10-22) in which Jacob saw heaven opened and a ladder extending from earth to heaven with angels ascending and descending upon it. When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he was inspired to call the name of that place Bethel, and the stone that he had used as his pillow he set up for a pillar and poured oil upon it. Following this, he vowed that if God would bring him back safely to the land of his fathers, then the stone which he had set up for a pillar would be God's house (28:22). In this dream God paid Jacob a gracious visitation and caused him, undoubtedly in the spirit, to speak concerning God's eternal economy. If Jacob had not been inspired by the Spirit of God, how could he, a supplanter, have spoken a word revealing God's eternal purpose? It would have been impossible. God unveiled to Jacob His heart's desire, which is to have Bethel.
However, that dream at Bethel did not change Jacob at all. It seems that after the dream had transpired, the inspiration returned to heaven. Jacob's manner of life was unaffected. It is the same with us. At Bethel, Jacob prophesied in a wonderful way, speaking of God's house, but it seems that the prophecy returned to heaven. Like Jacob, many of us have had a dream, a revelation, or an inspiration in which we uttered a word of prophecy, if not to men, then at least to angels. But the next day we continued to live the same as always. After his dream at Bethel, Jacob continued his supplanting, especially the supplanting of Laban, as if he had never had the dream. In fact, he was even more "Jacobean" after the dream than before.
In chapter thirty-three, Jacob was still Jacob. The heavenly dream and the sufferings had not changed him. But something occurred in chapter thirty-four that touched Jacob's heart. His only daughter became defiled, and his sons caused him trouble by slaughtering people and plundering their city. These events touched Jacob deeply and caused him to make a radical turn. After this, God came in to speak to him.
God did not give Jacob a sermon. Rather, because Jacob's heart had been touched and, as a result, he was ready to hear the word of God, God simply said, "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" (35:1). Here we see that God told Jacob to do four things: to arise, to go up to Bethel, to dwell there, and to make there an altar to God who had appeared to him. The turn, or the change, Jacob made in chapter thirty-five was very significant.
In 35:2-7 we see Jacob's response to God's word. Before this chapter, there is no record of a man who was walking in the presence of God and who cleared himself and his whole household. Verse 2 says, "Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments" (Heb.). For the single purpose of going up to Bethel, Jacob and everyone with him had to make a thorough clearance and to purify themselves. In this chapter God did not say, "Jacob, you are going to Bethel to build an altar there; you should realize that you must be holy. I am holy, and you must be holy also. You must rid yourself of all your foreign gods, purify yourself of every defilement, and change your garments."
Recently, an elderly Christian, a man who had been a preacher for over forty years, asked if we teach our people to dress in a certain way. He had observed the way the brothers and sisters dressed and wondered if we taught them to do so. I told him that during the past fourteen years we had never laid down any regulations about clothing. However, anyone who has been touched by God for His dwelling place will sense that something within is charging him to clear himself and to purify himself. You may tolerate certain defilements and looseness in your life. But whenever you touch the church and you mean business with the Lord to have the church life, something within charges you concerning those things which are not fitting for the church life. Immediately after God commanded Jacob to arise and go up to Bethel, Jacob charged his people to get rid of the foreign gods, to purify themselves, and to change their garments. Later we shall see that changing the garments signifies changing our manner of life, that is, putting off the old manner of life and putting on a new man. Although God did not tell Jacob to do this, something deep within him required this of him. If he had been charged to go to a worldly place, he would have sensed no need to purify himself. Rather, he would have been ready to defile himself even more. Jacob had such a radical change because he had been touched for Bethel, for God's eternal dwelling place.
Firstly, Jacob told his household and all that were with him to put away the foreign gods that were among them (Gen. 35:2). When Jacob and his household were fleeing from Laban, Rachel took the household images (Gen. 31:34-35). Prior to chapter thirty-five, Jacob never charged Rachel to put them away. But after God had told him to go up to Bethel, everyone had to abandon their foreign gods, their idols. This is a shadow, a type, that is developed throughout the Bible. According to both the Old Testament and the New Testament, the first thing we must eliminate for the sake of God's dwelling place is our idols.
Many may claim that they have never had anything to do with idols. Materially speaking, it may be true to say that you have no idols. But we must know, spiritually speaking, what an idol is. An idol is anything that replaces God. Your education, your ambition, your position, your name, your desire, and your intention may replace God in your life and thus become idols. If you view the matter in this light, then you will have to admit that you have had many foreign gods. If your relative or friend replaces God in your life, then he is an idol to you. Our parents, spouses, and children may all become our idols.
Do you know why people worship idols? Undoubtedly, they worship them because of Satan's seduction. But there is a reason on the human side why people do this. People worship idols for the sake of gaining long life and happiness. Satan threatens people, telling them that if they do not worship idols, they will not have long life and happiness, but that if they worship idols, then they will have long life and happiness. Happiness includes many things: money, position, ambition, fame, a name. Many have idols due to their desire to be healthy. Why do you have something that replaces God? Simply because that thing may make you happy. Unlike Rachel, Jacob had no literal idols, but in his supplanting he had some idols. In fact, his supplanting was an idol. Why did Jacob supplant others? Because of his desire for happiness and enjoyment. Today, man has lost God and, pursuing foreign gods, seeks his happiness in idols. But God is our long life and happiness.
When God spoke to Jacob regarding Bethel, Jacob received the revelation concerning his life and realized that his life on earth was not for his own happiness. His life was for Bethel, for God's house. Thus, Bethel became his goal, the destination of his human life on earth. Formerly, his goal was his own happiness. Now, his goal and destination were replaced. No longer was his goal something for himself but something absolutely for God. In Shechem, Jacob had everything. But due to the trouble caused by his sons, he lost his safety and peace. At that juncture, God seemed to say, "Jacob, go up to My house. Here in Shechem you don't have safety and peace. Safety and peace are at Bethel. You must go up there." Thus, Bethel became Jacob's goal and destination. Jacob realized that the goal of God's house was holy; it was not a common thing. No one could enter into the house of God with idols, pollution, and old, filthy garments. Therefore, Jacob charged his household and everyone with him to put away all the foreign gods.
Jacob also charged everyone to purify themselves (Gen. 35:2). We must not only put away the foreign gods, but also purify our whole being. In other words, our whole being, manner of life, and expression must be changed. This is not merely regeneration or a little change in life. Rather, it is a full transformation. Here in Genesis 35, Jacob was transformed.
In the Bible, purifying ourselves means to be purified from every pollution. Our whole being must be cleansed from anything that is pollution in the eyes of God. In 2 Corinthians 7:1 Paul says, "Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Paul's concept in 2 Corinthians 6 and 7 was the same as Jacob's in Genesis 35. Because the Corinthians were the temple of God, Paul told them to purify themselves. There can be no agreement between the temple of God and idols (2 Cor. 6:16). Idols are idols, and the temple of God is the temple of God. Which side do you take? If idols, then go to your idols. If the temple of God, then come to the temple without any idols.
When you came into the church life, no one told you anything, but deep within something convinced you that certain things had to go for the sake of the proper church life. Every one of us had such a clearance upon coming into the church. At that time, we cleared away many, if not all, of the foreign gods, forsaking the things, the matters, and even the persons we trusted in for happiness, saying, "I don't like to keep these things anymore. All foreign idols must go." In the church life, not an inch of ground can be surrendered to foreign gods. Furthermore, when we came into the church life we were purified. At least, we aspired to be pure, saying, "For the sake of the church life, I want to be pure in my whole being, in my mind, emotion, and will." We had the same desire that Jacob had. On the day Jacob's people went up to Bethel, they purified themselves, and among them there were no foreign gods.
Many of us, including myself, realize that we are not very good. Perhaps even today you have said, "Oh, I am not so good. My thinking is still not very pure." However, compare your present manner of life with your past. Although you should not be proud of yourself, you should say, "Lord, thank You. I am not very pleased with myself, but as I compare the present with the past, I have to thank and praise You that I am quite different from what I was." Although in chapter thirty-five Jacob was not yet mature, he had undoubtedly changed from what he once was. In the next message we shall see how radically transformed Jacob actually was. God again changed his name from Jacob to Israel. God told him that he should no longer call himself Jacob but Israel.
I have known many of you for twelve years or more. I know that many of you are unhappy with yourselves today. When someone asks you how you are doing, according to custom, you say, "I'm fine." According to your inner sense, however, you are not so fine. Perhaps you have just repented, crying to the Lord; but when someone asks you how you are, you say that you are fine. Although you may say "fine" to a brother, you never say this to the Lord. We should neither be proud nor disappointed. Compare yourself with what you were twelve years ago. Has there not been a great change? Who changed us? We all must admit that we did not change ourselves; we were changed by being in Bethel, in the church life. If you deliberately stay away from the church life for a few weeks, your former ugliness will return, the fox tail will become visible, the serpent tongue will be exercised, and all the bugs will be active. But if you continue coming to the church, contacting the church again and again, the fox tail will be removed, the serpent tongue will be cut off, and the bugs will be poisoned. As long as you come to the church, the bugs will all be exterminated.
The church life is the most effective purification. Recently, I experienced a great deal of purification in the prayer meeting. As I was sitting in the meeting joining in the prayers, I was bathed and purified. I would not say that I was purified by the prayers, but I was purified by the church. The church is a large bathroom where we all are bathed and purified. If the church does not have this function, I am fearful that it will not long remain the church. As long as the church is the church, it will function this way. Often, when it is time to go to the church meeting, something within begins to purify us, telling us to cleanse ourselves. On our way to the meeting, we have frequently prayed, "Lord, I'm going to the meeting. Forgive me of this, cleanse me of that matter, and take that away from me." This is the purification for going up to Bethel. Let us all purify ourselves, for we must arise, go up to Bethel, and meet our God. We cannot meet Him in an old, polluted way. We must be purified. This purification is not a matter of our working, but of the working of the divine hand upon us. When we take care of His Bethel, His divine hand will purify us.
In addition to putting away the foreign gods and purifying themselves, they changed their garments (Gen. 35:2). According to the Bible, to change garments means to change your manner of life. Eph. 4:22-24 reveals that the old manner of life was the life of the fallen humanity and that the new manner of life is of the church. The church is the regenerated, new creation, and humanity is the fallen, old creation. When we were unsaved, we lived a manner of life that was of the fallen, old creation. Now, after having been saved and regenerated and having been brought into the church life, we must have a new manner of life. We must put off the old man and put on the new man. To put off the old man is to put off the old garments, the old manner of life, and to put on the new man is to put on the new manner of life, the church.
After putting away the foreign gods and purifying ourselves, we must change our garments, changing our manner of life. We should no longer express ourselves in an old way, but express ourselves as the church, as the new man in the new manner of life. We were the old, fallen creation, but now we are the new, regenerated creation. Many of our relatives, friends, colleagues, and neighbors can testify that after we came into the church life, our manner of life drastically changed. The church has changed and continues to change our manner of life. This is for Bethel.
Verse 4 says, "And they gave unto Jacob all the foreign 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" (Heb.). Not only were the idols buried, but also the earrings. Earrings are self-beautifying items. These were dealt with in the same way as the idols. Many people's earrings, ornaments, are equal to idols in the eyes of God. When those in Jacob's household were putting away the foreign gods, they also put away their earrings. This indicates that to their conscience their earrings were as abominable as their foreign gods. After touching the church, many sisters had the same conviction and put off this kind of abominable ornament. This is not something related to morality but to the house of God.
God did not charge Jacob to make such a clearance. Still less did He say, "Jacob, you must tell your household and everyone with you to make a clearance and to purify themselves." Why, then, did Jacob charge everyone in this way? Because the house of God is not an individual matter. It is not only Jacob. The house of God must be the house of Jacob becoming the house of Israel. Eventually, all the descendants of Jacob became the house of God, Bethel. The real Bethel was not the tabernacle; it was the children of Israel. Likewise, we must see that today we are the church. We must be purified not only because we are going to Bethel, but because we are to be Bethel. We must put away all foreign gods and abominable ornaments, purify ourselves, and change our garments. Putting away the foreign gods also means putting away all foreign trusts. We must be cleansed in our whole being, inwardly and outwardly, from every pollution, and we must change our manner of life. This is all for the church life.
Verse 5 says, "And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob." It is very encouraging to see that their enemies were terrified. Due to the trouble caused by his sons, Jacob was afraid that the city people would fight against him and kill him. But after Jacob and all those with him had put away the idols, purified themselves, and changed their garments, a terror from God fell upon the city people. Their clearance and purification terrified the enemy. This indicates that if, for the sake of the church life, we put away all foreign gods and self-beautifying and abominable ornaments, purify ourselves, and change our garments, the demons and besetting sins will be terrified. There will be no need to fight to overcome; the enemy will be terrified and the victory will be ours. Have you ever terrified sins? Have you ever terrified gambling, drinking, or smoking? Perhaps you have found these things difficult to overcome. If so, it is because you have not put away foreign gods, purified yourselves, and changed your garments. If you do all this, all the "bugs," "scorpions," and "gophers" will be terrified and will flee and hide. I have read some books about overcoming sin and the world. Forty or fifty years ago I practiced what I read in those books. But the more I practiced, the more defeated I was because I was not in the church. Being in the church by putting away the foreign trusts, purifying ourselves, and changing our garments terrifies sin and worldliness and gives us the victory. Are you troubled by the little "gopher" of your temper? It will be terrified. Genesis 35:5 says that the people of the cities did not dare to pursue Jacob. God gave Jacob a prosperous journey up to Bethel. Whenever we are in the church, all the "gophers" are terrified.
After making a thorough clearance, Jacob and all his people arose and went up to Bethel (vv. 3, 6). At Bethel, he built an altar to God and "called the place El-Beth-el" (v. 7), realizing that God was God to him at Bethel. We must respond to God's call or reminder to go up to the church where we can build the altar of our real consecration and experience God in a practical way. After we come into the church, we all realize the need of a real consecration. By such a consecration, we experience God being God to us in His house — the church.
Verse 8 says, "Deborah, Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allon-bachuth." For quite a while, I could not understand why, at this juncture, Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died. There are no wasted words in the Bible. Deborah was a nurse to Jacob's mother, Rebekah. Rebekah must have died prior to Jacob's return. Thus, Deborah must have been very dear to Jacob as a comfort in place of his mother. At the precise time Jacob had the experience of Bethel, Deborah, his comfort, was taken away by God. As many of us can testify, when we put away the foreign gods, purified ourselves, changed our garments, and came into the church life, God intervened to take away our "Deborahs," our nursing mothers. Many of us had a "Deborah," someone or something loving, sympathizing, and soothing. But the day we came into the church life God spontaneously took our nurse away, and our "Deborah" died. The church life is a life that does not require a nurse. None of the church people needs a nursing mother. But, sorry to say, some of us still like to have some nurses to sympathize with us and to soothe and to comfort us like a mother taking care of an infant. Any word spoken positively regarding nursing mothers is addressed to babes. After being in the church for so long, do you still need someone to nurse you? Nevertheless, even the older ones still desire a "Deborah" to soothe and care for them. But if we mean business with the Lord for Bethel, He will remove our nurses.
In these verses we see that three things were buried: the idols, the earrings, and the nurse. All were buried under an oak. The oak is a symbol of flourishing life. Hence, all the foreign gods, the self-beautifying items, and the nurses are buried under the flourishing life, especially the life in the church. This is not a doctrine, but something that corresponds to our experience. The life in the church flourishes like an oak tree, but underneath it are the "Deborahs." We put off the idols and removed the earrings, but God caused our "Deborah" to die. This is a real purification, both from our side and from God's side. We put away and God took away. We put away the foreign gods, the earrings, the pollutions, and garments, and God took away the nurses. In the church life we do not need sympathy or nursing. All our "Deborahs" must be buried.
The oak under which Deborah was buried was "beneath Bethel" (v. 8). This indicates that our experience of the taking away and the burying of our "Deborahs" is not on a high plane; rather, it is beneath the level of the church. The church as the house of God is on the highest plane, and here in the church we must have some experiences that are also on the highest plane, such as the experience of Christ as our life and our person. To experience the burial of our "Deborahs" is rather low; it is beneath Bethel. Hence, the burial oak was called Allon-bachuth — the oak of weeping. This is not a matter worthy of our rejoicing.
