God's Covenant Promise through Jesus - A House of God

Go Up to the House of God

(Genesis 35:1-15, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, June 14, 2015)

[35:1] God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” [2] So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. [3] Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” [4] So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.

God called Jacob to make an altar—a place of sacrifice—to Him. Jacob understood this as a call to devoted worship—not just for him, but for the entire covenant community, “all who were with him.” They needed to “put away foreign gods” and “purify” themselves. His family obeyed.

[5] And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. [6] And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, [7] and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. [8] And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth.

God was with this unusual family as they journeyed in a world of danger and mortality. He was able to grant victory over every enemy—even death.

[9] God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. [10] And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. [11] And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. [12] The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” [13] Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. [14] And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. [15] So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

We are reminded at this key moment in the story of Jacob that God was the author of Israel (Genesis 32:28). The man who had wrestled with God and somehow prevailed would be the father of a nation that would factor greatly into the Lord's plans for the resurrection of the world. Israel was called to “be fruitful and multiply.” They would be a people group, a nation, a land, but somehow they would be more than just one. A “company of nations” would come from Israel, and God said to Jacob that “kings shall come from your own body.” Jesus, a descendant of Israel has become a “Bethel” for all the family groups of the earth. All this is from God.

Put the Word to Work: We worship at “Bethel” admitting our deep debt to the God of Jacob.

Memory Verse from the Songs of Ascents—Psalm 132:1 – Remember, O Lord, in David's favor, all the hardships he endured.

Gospel Reading—Matthew 22:23-33 – Sadducees ask about the resurrection