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We have seen that many crucial seeds of the truth are sown in the book of Genesis. The house of God, Bethel, is one of these seeds. However, not many Christians know what the experience of the house of God is. Undoubtedly, many know that, according to the New Testament, the house of God denotes the church (1 Tim. 3:15). But where is the practical and proper church life? Although there are millions of Christians on earth, very few of them have the genuine church life. Many merely sit in the congregation for the Sunday morning service and listen to a minister or pastor. But this is not the practical and proper church life revealed in the Bible. According to the Bible, in the genuine church life every saved one must be a living, functioning member. Every member of the Body of Christ must function. Not only do the members function, but they also live together to express God in Christ in a living, daily way. This is the practical church life revealed in the Bible. The truths regarding this practical church life are sown as seeds in Genesis.
Prior to chapter thirty-five, God was called the God of a certain person, for example, the God of Abraham or the God of Isaac. He was the God of individual persons. But in Gen. 35:7 we have "El-Beth-el," the God of the house of God. He is no longer simply the God of individuals; He is now the God of a corporate body, the house of God. Many Christians only experience God as their individual God. Not many have the experience of God as the God of the house of God. How much experience do you have of God as the God of a corporate body? We all must experience God in such a way that He is not only God to us individually, but also the God of the house of God. There is a great difference between the two.
In Gen. 35 we see a crucial and radical turn. However, not many children of God appreciate this. They read this chapter again and again without recognizing the radical turn contained in it. Before this chapter, God was the God of individuals. He was the God of Abel, the God of Enosh, the God of Enoch, the God of Noah, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac. But here He is no longer just the God of individuals, but El-Bethel, the God of the house of God. In Hebrew, "El" means God. In the title El-Bethel this Hebrew word for God is used twice, at both the beginning and the ending of this title. In a sense, the God of the house of God is double. We must admit that we do not yet have much experience of this. But we thank the Lord that after coming into the church life, we have had some experience of God's being God to us as a corporate body. In the church life, we do experience God corporately and not only individually. We all can testify that the God we experience in the church life is much richer and sweeter than the God we experience in our individual life. This is why we like to spend more time in the church life. Individually, we can experience the God of Abraham or the God of Isaac, but we cannot experience God as the God of Bethel. We can only experience the God of the house of God in the church life. If many years ago you had been told about the God of the corporate body, it would have sounded like a foreign language to you. But today this is not foreign to us. We are familiar with this experience and we appreciate it much more than our individual experience of God.
This does not mean, however, that there is not the aspect of experiencing God in an individual way. Even today, there is still this aspect. Never forget that the truths in the Bible have two aspects. This is also true of the experience of God, for the experience of God has a corporate aspect as well as an individual aspect. Many Christians today either have no experience of God or have just the individual experience of God. They lack the experience of God in a corporate way. But in meeting after meeting of the church life, we experience God in a corporate way.
At this point, I need to speak an honest word to some of you. Although you meet with us week after week, you do not have the corporate experience of God. For instance, you pray daily in your private life, but you never pray in the church meetings. In the meetings, you are observers, like a spectator at a ball game. You watch others play, but you yourselves do not play. You never participate in the meetings. Furthermore, some of you criticize those who do participate, saying that they are too bold or too quick. But what about you? Are you here to be critics, spectators, or to participate in the church life? This indicates that some among us do not appreciate the experience of God in a corporate way. Some of us still do not pray in the meetings. If you were asked to pray, you would always excuse yourselves. This reveals that you consider others as the priests and yourselves as the common people. By doing this you establish a clergy-laity hierarchy. In the eyes of God, this is heretical. We all must pray to overthrow this clergy-laity system.
According to my registration, the prayer meeting in Anaheim is better than that in any other church. I have visited nearly all the churches and I can testify that the prayer meeting in Anaheim is the best. The reason is that there is no clergy or laity in our prayer meeting. Although many pray, no one completes a prayer by himself. Rather, it may take many of us to finish one prayer. In the old, traditional way, when someone prayed, he not only finished one prayer but perhaps two or three other prayers at the same time. Either people did not pray at all, or they would pray several prayers in succession. But in Anaheim after someone prays a short sentence, someone else will follow him. In this way, many function together to offer one prayer. This is the experience of El-Bethel, the corporate experience of God.
Gen. 35 is a radical turn from the individual experience of God to the corporate experience of God. Before this chapter, El-Bethel is not mentioned. Elohim was revealed in chapter one, and Jehovah was revealed in chapter two. Later, God told Jacob that He was the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac. But, as we have pointed out, in chapter thirty-five we see a new divine title — El-Bethel, God of the house of God.
Elsewhere in this message we shall see the significance of God's telling Jacob that his name was no longer Jacob but Israel. God said to Jacob, "Israel shall be thy name" (v. 10), and Jacob seemed to say to God, "Your name is El-Bethel." Who are you today — Jacob or Israel? What does Israel mean? To answer that it means a wrestler of God is too doctrinal. Israel is the church people, and El-Bethel is the church life. We are the church people in the church life. This is not doctrine; it is experience. The church people are a people filled with God, and the church life is a corporate life of God. The church people are a people filled with God living together to enjoy God and to express Him. This is Israel in El-Bethel.
At Bethel, Jacob built an altar (vv. 6-7). Jacob's experience of the altar was progressive. When he saw the vision at Bethel (28:18-19), he did not erect an altar. Although he did an excellent job of interpreting his dream, he only set up a pillar. During the years at Padan-aram, Jacob did not build an altar on which to offer something to God. Instead, he employed many gimmicks to supplant Laban. After leaving Padan-aram, Jacob firstly returned to the eastern part of Jordan to Succoth (33:17). In 33:17 and 18 the Bible does not say that Succoth is in "the land of Canaan," as it does with Shechem. At Succoth, Jacob built a house for himself and booths for his cattle, but he did not erect an altar for God. This reveals that he cared for himself and for his cattle, but that he did not care for God. Eventually, Jacob left Succoth and journeyed to Shechem in the land of Canaan, where he pitched his tent and erected an altar (33:18-20). Jacob called that altar "El-elohe-Israel," which means the God of Israel. This altar was built to the God of Jacob's individual, personal experience. In calling the altar El-elohe-Israel, he was actually calling it the God of himself. Many Christians are like this. They seek spiritual experiences for themselves individualistically. They have learned how to experience Christ and how to trust in God individualistically. God is not El-Bethel to them; He is El-elohe-Israel. But few Christians care for God's being the God of the house of God. On the contrary, nearly all Christian seekers care for God's being their God. Some of them might say, "Was not God the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? What is wrong with saying that God is my God? Oh, this wonderful God is my God!" Perhaps their book of Genesis does not have more than thirty chapters. They must proceed to chapter thirty-five and see that God is no longer merely the God of individuals, but the God of the house of God.
At Bethel in chapter twenty-eight, in Padan-aram, and in Succoth, Jacob had no altar. In Shechem he did build an altar. Although it was good to build an altar in Shechem, this altar was not built at the house of God; it was not built in the church life. Rather, it was erected at a place somewhat removed from the church life. If you consult a map, you will see that Shechem was not too far from Bethel. The word Shechem means shoulder, signifying strength. When Jacob came to Shechem, he was strengthened, for Shechem was a place of strengthening. Likewise, when we come to our "Shechem," we also are strengthened. Nearly all the revivals in today's Christianity take place in "Shechem." These revivals merely strengthen people. Many Christians need a "Shechem," a revival, once a year to strengthen them. No revivalists care for the church life. They are only concerned with strengthening people to go on in the Christian life. Nothing related to the church is covered by them.
The altar built at Shechem was called El-elohe-Israel, by the name of God as related to an individual, not El-Bethel, by the name of God as related to a corporate body. Some may say, "Isn't it good to be strengthened at Shechem?" But look at what happened to Jacob in chapter thirty-four. After he had settled down in Shechem, trouble came to him. He had a tent for his dwelling and an altar on which to sacrifice something to God. Although Jacob might have been satisfied, God was not. Thus, the experience of chapter thirty-four was necessary. Trouble came, and this trouble caused Jacob to lose his peace. Following this, in 35:1, God could say, "Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God." God seemed to be telling Jacob, "I don't want you to stay in Shechem. It is not adequate merely to be strengthened in the Christian life. A strengthened life can never satisfy Me. I desire the church life. I don't want strength — I want the house of God. I don't want you to remain in Shechem, but to go up to Bethel." After Jacob arrived at Bethel, he made an altar and called it El-Bethel.
Jacob's experience of the altar was a gradual progression. There was no altar in Padan-aram or in Succoth. The altar in Shechem was erected to the God of his individual experience; it was not an altar for the experience of God in a corporate way. The individual experience of God is good, but it is insufficient. We need to go on from the individual experience to the corporate experience.
An altar is for consecration. Probably all of you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord. But where was that consecration — at Shechem or at Bethel? Was that an experience of El-elohe-Israel or of El-Bethel? Before I came into the church life I had consecrated myself more than once. But the consecration I made after coming into the church life was much higher than any previous consecration. My consecration before the church life was only for myself. It was for me to be holy, spiritual, victorious, and acceptable to God. But my consecration after coming into the church life was different. When you live individualistically, you do not need very much consecration. After you get married, however, you find that your spouse is a troublemaker and that you need to consecrate yourself for this new situation. You may say to the Lord, "Lord, before getting married, I consecrated myself to You to be holy, spiritual, and victorious. Now that I am married I must consecrate myself to You for this. I like the windows opened, but my wife wants them closed. I need a consecration to match this situation." This consecration is new and different. Later, you have children, and this requires a further consecration. When you come into the church life, you not only have one troublemaker but hundreds of them. Many are afraid to come to Anaheim, thinking that it is too large and that the elders here are so strong and straight. They prefer to go to a smaller locality. This indicates that when we come into the church life we need a greater and greater consecration. When you get married, you need a consecration; when you have children, you need a greater consecration; and when you come into the church life, especially to the church in Anaheim, you need the greatest consecration. Without the topmost consecration, you could not bear the church life in Anaheim. You may say to yourself, "Oh, how difficult it is here in Anaheim! There are `policemen' everywhere. I simply cannot adapt to this situation." Since you cannot adjust to it, you must build an altar to match it. As we all know, in front of the temple there was an altar, and no one could enter into the temple without first lingering at the altar. You must stop at the altar and offer yourself, putting yourself on the altar to be slaughtered. Then, after you have been resurrected, you will be free to enter into the temple.
What is the significance of an altar? An altar is for slaughter. Some have said, "The church life is good, but I cannot stand those leading brothers." Others have said, "I appreciate the church life, but I cannot bear the leading sisters. They are too holy. Their holiness slaughters me." Where then should you go — back to Shechem or Padan-aram? You have no alternative except to climb on the altar at Bethel and be slaughtered. The altar in Shechem is an individual altar, but the altar in El-Bethel is a corporate altar. This is the altar of the house of God, and you must present yourself upon it for the house of God. I have done this many times and, years ago, I was slaughtered. Now, no one can offend me. You cannot offend anyone who has been slaughtered. If you do not take in this word and build an altar at El-Bethel, you will not remain in the church forever. One day, you will either walk away or become indifferent. When you are happy, you will come to the meetings, but when you are unhappy, you will not come. It seems that the church is the church, that you are you, and that you and the church have nothing to do with each other. If you do not become indifferent, you will leave because you have been offended. The church is full of offenders. I was slaughtered long ago for the church life in mainland China. Thus, none of you can slaughter me anymore. I cannot be offended by you. This is the experience of the altar built at Bethel. If you can still be offended, it means that, although you may have an altar in Shechem, you do not have an altar in Bethel. To have an altar in Bethel means to have a consecration for the church life. You need to purposely and specifically offer yourself to the Lord for the church life. If you do this, you will never be offended. Rather, you will be prepared for trials, tests, and sufferings. We all need such an altar. This is the experience at Bethel, the experience of the church life.
If you read chapters twenty-eight through thirty-five again, paying attention to this matter of the altar, you will notice the progression from no altar to the highest altar, the altar at El-Bethel. We need a definite, specific consecration for the church life. We need to say, "Lord, now I would make a thorough and specific consecration to You, not that I might be holy, spiritual, or victorious, but that I might experience Your house and remain in it." In 1 Timothy 3:15 Paul said to Timothy, "If I delay, that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God." We need to experience God in His house and to behave in the house of God. This requires a definite consecration and a special altar. The common, ordinary altar that we experienced in the past will not be adequate for this. We all need the topmost consecration at the altar in Bethel.
In the past centuries, a number of books have been put out by Christian teachers on the subject of consecration. But, as far as I know, none of them tells Christians to consecrate themselves for the house of God. Mrs. Hannah W. Smith's famous book, The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life, places great stress on the matter of consecration, but it is only for a happy Christian life. She even considers consecration to be a secret of the happy Christian life, but she says nothing for the church life. The Keswick Convention, with which Mrs. Smith had much to do, also emphasized consecration. Actually, in the early days, the messages given at the Keswick Convention were focused on consecration. However, as far as I know, nothing was mentioned regarding consecration for the church life. In nearly every revival in Christianity consecration is stressed, but one can hardly hear of the consecration for the house of God. Because Christians have not seen the church life, all their altars are, at best, built in "Shechem." But in the Lord's recovery today we must build our altar at Bethel. We need the topmost consecration for the church life to fulfill God's eternal purpose and to satisfy His heart's desire.
Jacob also experienced a progressive advancement in the matter of God's appearing. God appeared to him in a dream in chapter twenty-eight, but that appearing was not substantial. Nothing that we see in a dream is substantial. It may be correct, but it is not concrete. Nebuchadnezzar saw a great image of a human body in a dream (Dan. 2:31), but that image was not as substantial as a real human body, and the two iron legs in the dream were not as solid as the two sections of the Roman Empire. While Nebuchadnezzar beheld those things in a dream, he had no experience of them. Likewise, although Jacob experienced God's appearing in his dream, in El-Bethel he solidly experienced God's appearing. The Lord spoke to Jacob when he was in Padan-aram (31:3), but that was not a solid appearing of the Lord. In 35:1, the Lord also spoke to him, but that also was not a solid appearing. Only in El-Bethel did Jacob experience God's appearing in a substantial way. This is the progress in Jacob's experience of God's appearing.
Many of us can testify that before entering into the church life we had some experience of God's appearing. God did appear to us, but that appearing was not solid. But after coming to the church life and being in it for a time, we can testify that here God's appearing is not only real but also solid. If anyone would leave the church life after remaining in it for a time, he could never deny that while he was in the church life he had experienced the appearing of God in a solid way. Before we came into the church life, the appearing of God was rather vague. But the appearing of God in the church is always substantial. It is so concrete that it seems that we can almost touch it. The best experience of God's appearing is only in the church.
There is also a progression in God's blessing. In the vision in Bethel (Gen. 28:13-15), in Padan-aram, and in Shechem (Gen. 31:3; 35:1), Jacob was not given God's blessing. God did bless Jacob in Peniel, but there He did not bless him solidly (Gen. 32:29). Jacob was not given God's substantial blessing because he was not yet in the place where God intended him to be. At Peniel, we are told that God blessed Jacob, but we are not told in what way He blessed him. However, in chapter thirty-five, at Bethel, the blessing is very solid. There, God blessed Jacob, saying, "I am God, all-sufficient: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; and the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land" (vv. 11-12, Heb.). These are the solid items of God's blessing in Bethel.
In Bethel, Jacob experienced his new name. His name had been changed at Peniel (Gen. 32:28, 30), but he experienced his new name at Bethel (Gen. 35:10). At Bethel, Jacob's entire being was changed and he became a new person — Israel. No matter how good we were as Christians before we came into the church life, we were not new. But after we came into the church life, something within demanded us to be new. We had to be a new husband, a new parent, a new child. We all experience this inward demanding daily. We realize that, from now on, we must be another person. This is the experience of transformation.
The church life is a transforming life. In the church, everyone is under the process of renewal. We are being renewed day by day (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 4:16). We are not being corrected, for that means nothing, but we are being renewed. The church is altogether a new man (Eph. 2:15), and the church life is the life of the transformed Israel. It is a new life with a new person and a new being. Here, in Bethel, we experience the new life, which is God in Christ. Here, in the church life, we are becoming newer every day. The longer we stay in the proper church life, the newer we become. Your chronological age may get older, but your being becomes newer. All the elderly brothers and sisters must become newer, quicker, stronger, and fresher. In their sharing they need to be louder and faster than the young people.
I expect that all the points in this message will become your practical experience. In the church life, we need the highest consecration, the consecration for the house of God, not for individual enrichment. If we have this, then we shall have God's appearing in a substantial way and enjoy His full blessing. Then we shall daily become newer and newer. This is the experience at Bethel, the experience of the church life.
