Revival

Grace Reformation Bible Church

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May 1, 2022

Preacher: Ross Macdonald Scripture: Genesis 35:1-15

00:02: Well this morning we begin chapter 35 Which will Lord willing finish next week and really we're getting closer to another major transition
00:12: I'll be about time for some of the brethren here to read through the next section of Genesis the last cycle which is the
00:19: Joseph cycle and so we're coming up to the genealogy of Jacob as well as Esau in chapter 36 and then we'll enter right into the
00:29: Joseph cycle we've left chapter 34 and we've left with it this scene of carnage the massacre at the city of Shechem and Despite the tragedy there.
00:40: The Lord is calling Jacob calling Israel back to Bethel The place that 30 years before this the
00:48: Lord had revealed himself to him Whereas Tony just recited Jacob vowed that the
00:55: Lord would be his God That's where God gave him the promise of Abraham and the promise of Isaac in other words, he gave him the promise of the
01:05: Covenant and of course as Ten years have been spent in the tent pitched before the city of Shechem those ten years have shown obvious decline in Ways that we'll see this morning
01:17: And so God calling Jacob to Bethel is God calling Jacob to revival
01:22: And that's what we really have in the first 15 verses is the revival of Jacob and so we want to consider three actions in terms of the revival of Jacob as he enters
01:33: Bethel and These three actions will work through in five parts as we work through these verses together
01:39: But the first three actions will see in the first three parts and the first action begins with receiving
01:47: God's Word So that's point number one receiving God's Word, which is verse one
01:53: Then God said to Jacob arise Go up to Bethel and dwell there make there an altar to God Who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother?
02:07: Now we remember that Bethel had really been since Eden The place of God's revelation, of course
02:14: God appeared to Abraham But the description of Bethel is so enigmatic that we could say up to this point in time
02:22: It is one of the most sacred places on the earth. We don't know exactly where it was
02:27: I don't even know if Jacob could return and find the exact spot But surely he could have found maybe that stone he set up as a pillar
02:35: Maybe that's what he repairs in verse 15 But for the most part Bethel is this
02:41: Edenic place of God's self revelation And that's what God is calling
02:47: Jacob to return to the place where I revealed myself to you Jacob That's where I want you to return and Jacob you can almost sense the exhilaration of this call
02:59: Jacob in all the actions that follow is going to respond to this invitation this command of God Rise up and go to Bethel dwell there and make an altar to me 30 years before Jacob would have thought of this time
03:14: He had spent in in exile and on the run from his father's household when that glorious ladder
03:20: Opened with angels descending and ascending to God and all these years that had passed since then
03:26: Not just the years of discipline and sanctification under Laban But also these past ten years
03:34: Where perhaps he's realizing after the massacre at Shechem just how far him and his family have declined
03:43: Even though he had prevailed with God at pineal the tragedy of Shechem likely made
03:48: Jacob aware That he was in a place of very real spiritual danger that his family was quickly departing from the way of God his life before Shechem Seemed to be on the straight and narrow He seemed to be going from strength to strength and when he pitched his tent before Shechem He seemed to have everything going in the right direction
04:10: But this decade has been a decade of decline And what we see in verse 1 is that God will not let
04:20: Jacob decline God will not let Jacob decline God has given promises to Jacob God has shed his grace upon Jacob and therefore
04:32: God will not ultimately let Jacob decline and That ought to be an encouragement to us brothers and sisters
04:40: Though we may be in Shechem for a decade If we belong to the
04:45: Lord if we are heirs of his promises, he will not let us decline it may be a long season of stale worship of stuttered growth
04:56: Maybe even of backsliding in certain key areas in our lives and in our homes
05:03: But God will not ultimately let us stay in Shechem He will call us to Bethel.
05:10: In other words, he will revive us He will call us back to the place where his presence can be found arise.
05:16: He says to his people even this morning Come to my presence Come to the place where I reveal myself to you
05:25: Worship me make an altar to me at this place and he does so with a call to remembrance remember
05:36: Who I was? Who you thought I was when I revealed myself to you at Bethel and consider how much more you know of me now
05:45: Have I failed to be anything that I've promised to be to you? Have I let you down in any of the ways
05:52: I said that I would protect your way and provide for you You come to me with gratitude in other words and we'll see
06:00: Jacob and all of his actions Demonstrating this gratitude and humility before God all of this
06:07: Rich meaning is pregnant in verse 1 all in this command rise and go to Bethel dwell there make an altar to God So Jacob is now preparing he's exhilarated we'll see he's being brought to remembrance of of the patience and grace of God and if God could have been patient and gracious with him 30 years ago when he deceived his brother and twisted his way and showed
06:34: Hatred and animosity toward Isaac in the dishonor and deception He showed toward his father if God could be gracious then
06:41: Then even after the bloodshed at Shechem could it be that God will be gracious still
06:48: Could it be that God will show mercy to me even now even after my family has done something unthinkable
06:56: In this call in verse 1 arise Go up to Bethel and dwell there.
07:02: God is almost suggesting Jacob do you remember when things seem to be completely a mess?
07:09: When you were filled with terror because your brother was threatening to kill you And right now you're feeling the same terror because you think all the inhabitants of the land are about to kill you
07:20: And do you remember how you found refuge in me at Bethel? Rise and go to Bethel God's almost suggesting if you want to experience my presence in that way again
07:32: Rise and go to Bethel that seems to be the suggestion and so God we notice takes the initiative
07:40: God takes the initiative Jacob doesn't say you know what? This is it. We've had it.
07:46: We've got it. This isn't working out anymore. I'm terrified Let's run and get out of here and go hide out in Bethel.
07:52: We'll change our names We'll pretend that we're Canaanites, but in our tents will worship. He doesn't take any of these maneuvers
07:58: He's in terror just like he was 30 years ago and God calls him God calls him to go back to the place where he had found him 30 years ago
08:08: So really first application here God takes the initiative of grace God takes the initiative of grace
08:16: Sometimes when we're brought out of a place of decline when God pulls up pulls us up out of the pit
08:22: It feels like we're taking the initiative. Well, you know, I said to myself I've had enough and I knew it was time for a change
08:29: And so I started working all these things into my life and now I'm doing really good and we wisely would say well
08:35: Actually God was prompting you God was preparing you God was helping you God was the one that wouldn't allow you to stay in that place of decline.
08:43: You may have been there for ten years But ultimately it was God's initiative that brought you to this place of grace in your life
08:51: So again, we see here the only possible means of revival and by revival
08:57: We don't mean the big tent with the sawdust by revival. We mean renewal restoration redemption the only possible means of revival after a season of spiritual decline is the old paths of repentance and faith
09:16: That that might be old Old hands There's nothing more profound
09:23: I can add to that There's no further equation that the scriptures give to us revival
09:31: Follows the old paths of repentance in faith But in saying that revival follows the old paths of repentance in faith
09:40: We also recognize that the initiation is of God's grace God is the one who prompts us who calls us who moves us along these paths of repentance and belief.
09:53: I Love what Jeff Thomas says in? Every command of God there is an offer of grace to obey
10:01: It's kind of a riff on Augustine's prayer, right? Command what you will but give me grace for what you command in Every command of God there is an offer of grace to obey and God is assuring
10:14: Jacob that the angels who came down to him at Bethel will not come down to him now bearing vials of wrath
10:21: But that God will meet him in mercy and that he will not be destroyed there
10:26: He's saying your sins are forgiven Jacob come back to my presence That's so well said
10:34: Jacob understood that we'll see it in verse 2 He understood that God was giving him another opportunity to receive grace and mercy and refuge
10:45: When I was looking at this passage I could only help but think of what James says because this is what
10:51: God is essentially saying in verse 1 Cleanse your hands and Purify your heart you sinner
11:01: Draw near to me at Bethel and I will draw near to you Make an altar there to me
11:11: Now as soon as we read that we remember Jacob had already built an altar at Shechem Like sorry
11:18: God. I already actually have an altar here. Isn't that altar good enough? Well, apparently that altar at Shechem that is now 10 years old.
11:26: Apparently that altar had been somewhat stale It didn't have spiritual power and influence in the life of Jacob's family that altar may have been present
11:37: But God is essentially calling Jacob to church hop Not that I'm condoning church hopping
11:42: But I'm saying you're saying this clearly isn't working out in Shechem the altar of your worship here is stale
11:48: Ineffective formal hollow empty you need to go make a new altar and offer genuine worship
11:55: Where I will meet you at Bethel So we see already this altar at Shechem But we recognize the worldliness of Shechem had a bigger influence on the life of Jacob and his family
12:06: Than the altar of God did and that's always a dangerous place when the world around us the culture around us has a bigger influence on our lives and on our families than the altar of worship and God calls us to be revived and restored so that it's the other way around So that we're being formed and shaped by our worship at God's altar rather than formed and shaped by the influence of the culture surrounding us as one said
12:34: FB Meyer that altar had long lost all power for Jacob and his family
12:41: Since their daily living was for the most part a direct contradiction of their testimony ouch
12:50: And I wonder if some of us need to feel that sting their daily living
12:56: Was a direct contradiction to their testimony Coming to the altar of God the
13:05: God who said I will make you a blessing to the nations and Then following after the gods of those nations and then even slaughtering the subjects of those nations
13:18: It is scarcely too much Meyer again to say that children now speaking of Jacob's sons
13:24: That children brought up in an atmosphere of worldliness are the very hardest to impress with the realities of spiritual faith
13:33: Even though they attend an altar week after week and you see the point here
13:40: Six days spent in Shechem will always outweigh one day spent at the altar
13:47: There is no way around that So if the altar of God is not central to the life of the family not central to the household
13:55: Shechem wins Shechem is discipling the family rather than the altar of Yahweh And that's what we saw in chapter 34 over a 10 -year period
14:08: And so what is God calling Jacob to do and going to Bethel? He's saying get rid of this empty formal ineffective useless unspiritual worship
14:18: Rid yourself of the influence of Shechem come back to the old paths
14:24: Remember how I revealed myself to you and find my grace as you return to me
14:29: And that's essentially what he offers every believer when he calls us to revival when he calls us out of that stale decline
14:38: And we meet with him again to be renewed in our strength and in our holiness Now Jacob's response shows that he understood exactly what this call meant
14:49: And so the second action the first action right receiving God's Word And the second action putting away idols
14:58: Putting away idols verses 2 through 4 look at verse 2 Jacob doesn't reply to God in the text.
15:05: He replies to his household Remember where we left off in chapter 34 Simeon Levi showed no respect for Jacob whatsoever
15:15: Right. They have the last word You know Jacob is saying you've made us a stench in this land and now now we're gonna be slaughtered me my whole household
15:24: You know You are gonna be slaughtered as a result of this and there's they don't even care about that They see their father now cowering in fear and their response is one of just disrespect to him
15:35: Should they have treated our sister like a harlot? It just shows that they don't really care about his warnings his threats his fears his concerns his convictions
15:44: They don't have a respect for him Things have changed as a result of God's call in chapter 35
15:51: Notice that Simeon and Levi don't say well, we're actually like it here at Shechem, and we're not afraid and no actually now
15:57: Jacob is actually standing up into his role as the covenant head as the patriarch as The the man over his household and so he directs
16:07: God's Word to his family members because he's head over them He has responsibilities toward them verse 2
16:13: Jacob said to his household and to all who are with him you know one of the sad realities of chapter 34 all who are with him includes all these newly widowed
16:27: Women of Shechem and their children and their slaves That's all part of his household now, it's all part of the train that's going to go to Bethel But Jacob is evangelizing them.
16:40: And so he says to all of them Put away the foreign gods that are among you
16:48: Purify yourselves change your garments Jacob is thinking clearly again
16:53: He recognizes that this call to return to Bethel is a call to be renewed and restored by God's grace
17:00: It's a call to enter into God's presence again Oh, he's not calling me to Bethel unless he's gonna reveal himself to me
17:08: And if he's gonna reveal himself to me I need to be pure and I need to get rid of all this garbage in my life
17:15: And and you can't come with me unless you purge the idols in your life and and change your garments and and make yourself ready
17:21: To meet with God. That's essentially what Jacob is saying to his household We remember in Genesis 31 that Rachel smuggled the household gods away from Laban and apparently if it's not these household gods
17:35: Then it was the gods of the Shechemites and the other Canaanites in the area
17:40: We see throughout the history of Israel as a nation how they constantly gave themselves over to hybridized worship with the gods of the nations
17:50: He Reminded his family as we'll see of why
17:55: Bethel was so important. He gives a testimony So he doesn't just give the command, but then he also gives the testimony.
18:02: This is where God revealed himself to me Right put away the foreign gods which are among you incline your heart to the
18:11: Lord God of Israel that is what Joshua said and in the same setting in Shechem and So Jacob here is speaking to Israel and he's giving them a testimony
18:22: Put away these false gods purify yourself Remember that it was God who met with me when
18:29: I ran from my brother Esau. He's thinking clearly again Now the action of removing false gods the action of becoming clean
18:38: Ritually clean that's implied by the changing of the garments It shows that he understands the significance of worshiping
18:45: God at Bethel that God will be present and it requires a holiness in and not only heart but even in appearance and as he approaches
18:56: Bethel We're reminded of Israel's call to approach the worship of God in the same way and this ritual cleanliness becomes codified
19:04: And you have the priestly codes that demonstrate this ritual cleanness in approaching
19:10: God's worship and all of this is meant to instruct us as believers about the holiness that is required if we're to meet with God and Experience his presence and his power in our lives
19:22: Jacob and his sons had sinned Jacob and his sons had the influence of idols in their midst
19:30: Jacob and his sons needed to purge the idols from among them and I use that word purge decidedly
19:36: It's like purging the leaven out of the tent what we see here is that repentance is
19:46: Again the only path the old path toward revival repentance in faith repentance in faith
19:55: Putting away These household idols is the form of repentance for Jacob and for his household and repentance is not something we often say this it's not something a
20:05: Christian does at the beginning of their Christian life and Then they just carry on Repentance is the
20:13: Christian life as Martin Luther said in the first of his 95 theses
20:19: When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said repent He willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance
20:29: Also, we recognize the concern that Jacob is finally showing for his family Do you remember one of the saddest reports of chapter 34 was
20:37: Jacob seemed? Unsure of how to handle the situation with Dinah he didn't show the concern and the outrage that Simeon and Levi her brothers showed and as a father that Just was not a good show.
20:52: Not a good sign of him leading even just as a man far less a spiritual leader
20:57: But now look at the concern he has for his family now He's directing and ordering his family's life
21:03: Purge these idols from among you if only he had done that ten years ago If only he had been doing that week after week for these ten years
21:11: Chapter 34 would have never happened Dinah never would have left her family secretly her sons
21:17: His sons would have never slaughtered the Shechemites they would have been evangelizing the Shechemites you see the influence that Jacob has he's
21:25: Recovering that now put the idols away. I Love what Spurgeon says about this the idols of the family the acts and the deeds of our young which grieve
21:34: God Even the doings of the old which are inconsistent with our profession All of these things that we indulge in the divisions of our hearts and our family
21:43: All of that is sinful and unlovely and it must go if we ever hope to be made right again
21:49: There must be a breaking and a burying of idols if we plan to worship God of Bethel So what do we do
21:57: Spurgeon? Begin to pray in your families Especially when things have gone wrong get them, right?
22:06: By drawing near to God more distinctly We're gonna talk about that right in the third action we have receiving the
22:16: Word of God We have this great putting away of idols this great purging or act of repentance
22:23: And then we'll see in the third action that there's a need to build There's a need of action change
22:31: And that's what Spurgeon is suggesting here drawn here to God more distinctly build
22:38: Make radical changes and then he anticipates an objection. Did I hear you say?
22:44: I would have loved to be at the Metropolitan and hear him talk to a False opponent did
22:50: I hear you say? Well, we don't want to be formalists, right? Well, I mean we could make these changes, but isn't that kind of legalistic, you know, we're gonna read our
22:58: Bibles You know this many times a day and we're gonna pray like this and we're gonna you know, that's formalism
23:03: That's legalism and isn't God all of grace No I'm not afraid you would be a formalist
23:10: Spurgeon says I'm afraid of you actually Neglecting anything that would help your family or even your own spiritual growth.
23:17: I Pray you labor to acquaint yourselves with God drawn near to the
23:23: Lord again More thoroughly than you've done in the past This is the only way to remedy the backsliding of the household.
23:33: The significance for Israel is profound I've already referenced it, but let's actually look at it in Joshua 24
23:41: Joshua gathers all the tribes of Israel at Shechem All right,
23:48: Jacob and his sons are at Shechem when Jacob Israel is saying to his sons these future heirs of the tribes
23:57: Purge yourselves of these idols put them away Cleanse yourselves and we read in Joshua chapter 24 at Shechem He called all the elders of Israel together verse 2
24:08: He said to all the people thus says the Lord God of Israel Your father is including
24:13: Tara the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor They dwelt on the other side of the river in the old times.
24:19: That's the Euphrates and they served other gods But I took your father
24:25: Abraham from the other side of the river led him throughout all the land of Canaan Multiplied his descendants gave him
24:31: Isaac and to Isaac gave him Jacob verse 13 I've given you a land for which you did not labor
24:39: Cities which you did not build and yet you dwell in them you eat of the vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant now therefore
24:47: Fear the Lord serve him in sincerity and in truth Put away the gods of your fathers that they served on the other side of the river serve the
24:57: Lord You see what Joshua is saying to Israel. It's what Jacob is taking to the tribes
25:06: Put away these gods that the other nations are serving and serve the Lord Now therefore verse 23 put away the foreign gods which are among you
25:17: Incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel and the people said to Joshua the
25:22: Lord our God We will serve his voice. We will obey We don't have it there as the response of his family, but they all follow him to Bethel And it seems just like the people at Shechem in Joshua 24.
25:34: They're saying we will obey Because they all lend their idols over to be buried by the oak tree of Shechem And so the result
25:44: Let us arise. Let us go up to Bethel. This is verses 3 and 2 for I will make an altar there to God Who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way, which
25:54: I've gone He's now giving a testimony to his family He wants his sons to know the
25:59: God of Bethel He wants Simeon and Levi to find this path of repentance and restoration.
26:06: Oh God that you would reveal to them what you revealed to me that you would be to them what you've been to me
26:12: So you see this man now spiritually revived and he's not even at Bethel This is all the pretext the preconditions of revival
26:20: The Word of God has come and he's brought to repentance this zeal to purge
26:26: Things in his life that keep him from the presence of God and as he's doing that he's on the path to restoration
26:32: Verse 4, so they gave Jacob all of the foreign gods which were in their hands
26:39: Since that oh, you mean these gods and they're pulling them out of their pockets and backpacks it's almost embarrassing and The earrings which were in their ears and Jacob hid them under the
26:51: Terabith tree Which was by Shechem that is the Terabith of Genesis 12 when Abraham first entered into the land
26:57: And so here we've come full circle in the mantle of the covenant heir of Abraham's promises
27:04: He's directing the tribes of Israel to purge themselves of idolatry at the very place where Abraham first worshipped
27:11: God in the land Now what do we make of these earrings? Well, there actually is some debate about the significance of these earrings
27:22: But most scholars seem to think they they serve the cultic value Which is why they're included in this idol burial at the the great
27:29: Terabith tree Some suggest and this seems likely that the the earrings almost symbolized either vows or prayers
27:39: That were made to these idols So it was almost like a votive to say I've made this prayer or this vow and you're you've heard it you've heard these and so the earrings represented really a
27:52: Beseeching or a provoking of the idols towards some cause or towards some end And so sometimes the earrings would be on the suppliant on the worshipper
28:01: Sometimes they would actually be put on the idols They would be sort of pinched around the ears of the votive idol and if they were in the ears of the idols or if they were in the ears of the worshippers the fact that they're given over With these idols to be buried shows that the whole family is removing the idols from their midst
28:20: Not one earring is going with them to Bethel Everything is purged.
28:26: They're cleaning the floor in preparation to meet with and worship God. That is revival
28:33: That is revival. I was sharing I might have been with Marty and Tony a few weeks ago
28:43: There's really fascinating accounts of the the Welsh revival between 1904 and 1906 and and Several of the the coastal fishing villages and and other areas in Wales There was just profound influence and you saw this this movement among villages and towns and cities where people
29:07: Were brought to clean the floor as it were as they were making themselves ready to meet with God And there was in some of the centers of industry
29:16: You know 30 40 50 years worth of workers that had been occasionally taking a wrench or a screwdriver
29:24: Maybe it stays in your pocket when you leave and clock out and clock back in and and the Lord began to put such intense conviction upon these men under conditions of revival that Anonymously, they would bring back these tools that have been missing for 5 10 20 30 years
29:40: And so eventually the management had to start putting out signs like if you've taken tools, you know, you're forgiven
29:46: Please keep them because we can't actually do anything with these piles of old tools and just again a screwdriver
29:54: You know a nail a staple if it was something that was sinful get it out of here
29:59: We don't want to have anything to do with it We we want to repent and be restored and it shows the same kind of zeal even the earrings have to go
30:07: We don't want to be associated with the idolatry in any way. I love what a
30:13: W pink says There can be no doubt that in the readiness of the family's response we see the hand of the
30:20: Lord It's not just God's grace reaching into Jacob's life as a father and spiritual leader.
30:26: It's it's reaching into his son's in fact the power of God is evident at every point the immediate effect of God's Word upon Jacob to Immediately rise up and go to Bethel and the whole unanimous response of the family
30:42: And that's how you'll know that the Lord God is at work Reviving you and reviving your household when you take these kind of steps by faith and you say we can't do this anymore
30:56: We have to get back to basics we have to clear the floor We have to purge this garbage from our lives and the whole family says yes, we must do this
31:08: Yes, we will go with you Yes, we want to meet with God in this way Remember how passive Jacob was in chapter 34, but look at him here
31:21: God is already restoring him and he's not even at Bethel As soon as Jacob speaks they give him their idols as soon as Jacob leads they follow.
31:31: That's what's been missing He hasn't been leading them and as soon as he does in the humility of repentance
31:38: The sons that had disrespected him only a few sentences ago all of a sudden follow him
31:44: They know that he's a man to be followed. There's an aura of reverence about him now
31:51: Perhaps the Lord put a fear a holy fear upon them toward the father But not only do we see that we see in verse 5 the hand of the
32:00: Lord as a hand of protection He puts the fear of the Lord upon the nations They journeyed in the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob And so now
32:14: God's presence in it in an interesting way is actually Protecting Jacob as he travels to Bethel and the protection looks like terror among the nations
32:24: And again, we think of Jacob as Israel He's he's almost giving us the the clue that Israel is going to have the hand of the
32:33: Lord protecting them and if they walk in this kind of repentance and faith God will protect the nation of Israel by putting the terror of himself upon them so think of Moses writing this to the
32:46: Israelites and they're saying if we Bend our knees to the Lord in this way if we put off the filth and the idolatry from our lives if we pursue
32:56: Worshiping God and spirit and truth. We cannot fear the nations around us He will put his terror upon them in order to protect us
33:04: Rahab's report in Joshua 2 I know that the Lord has given you the land the terror of you has fallen on us
33:11: The inhabitants of the land are faint -hearted because of you So we have a striking illustration of God's sovereign protection of his people
33:20: This has not changed God is the same yesterday today forever There's situations that cause us to be anxious and fearful
33:31: We just need to focus on pursuing the presence of God in our lives doing what God has called us to do
33:36: Putting away the idols that so easily entangle Our protection and our provision that's in God's hands
33:46: How's he gonna How's he gonna provide in this way? It's not gonna work out. We're not gonna be able to make ends meet
33:51: We're not gonna get by It's not possible I just don't have the stamina I don't have the physical capability this can't work
33:59: You pursue the presence of God. He will provide he will protect he will make straight your paths
34:06: Not a hand can be raised against the Lord's people whether that hand be an opponent or a circumstance or a physical liability
34:16: So those are the three actions Receiving the Word of God putting away the idols
34:24: And then building Building an altar the third point building an altar So Jacob came to lose that is
34:32: Bethel which is in the land of Canaan He and all the people who are with him and he built an altar there and called the place
34:38: El Bethel Because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother
34:45: It's significant that he doesn't just say oh, yeah. Well, this is Bethel. I Remember, I named it
34:50: Bethel. So this is still Bethel. He says this is El Bethel And I think here we see part of the transformation in his life.
34:59: It's literally Bethel is the house of God. So El Bethel is the God of the house of God He had only known
35:07: God really circumstantially at that first initial revelation and we saw that in the bartering
35:15: All right, if you're willing to do this for me, I guess you'll be my God and I'll call this the house of God He didn't know that much about God at that point in time, but he knew the house of God He knew the significance of that place and that moment in his life
35:31: But 30 years have gone by and in those 30 years. He doesn't just know about the house of God He knows the
35:37: God of Bethel and so he calls this place El Bethel It's almost saying now.
35:45: I know you now. I've seen your face Now I know the God of the house of God Matthew Henry The comfort which the
35:56: Saints have in holy ordinances is not so much from Bethel But from El Bethel the ordinances are empty things if we do not meet with God in them
36:07: Right everything we do in this Bethel in this house of God is as empty as the altar at Shechem If we're not actually meeting with God when we come
36:20: And if you're like me you have to frame and prepare and pray and beseech that God will meet you here
36:28: It's just another room Lord unless you meet me here with your presence
36:36: It's just a Bethel Formally unless you come and make it
36:41: El Bethel And that's essentially what we're striving after whenever we come and gather together to worship the
36:47: Lord With verse 8 we have an interlude of sorts.
36:53: I don't want to spend too much time on this we will talk about the subsequent deaths and the rest of chapter 35, but but this is kind of previewing the fact that we're about to enter a shift this
37:04: Revival will give way to the death of Isaac Of course the birth of Benjamin, which is the very beginning of the
37:13: Joseph cycle after chapter 36 And so we have an interlude here again.
37:18: The narrative is laconic We did not know that Rebecca's nurse had been with them. She died a ripe old age one estimate was 180 years
37:26: That's pretty impressive at this point in time But she's she's buried and that's a detail an interlude and then we have a repetition of the promises of God verses 9 through 12
37:39: God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan Aram and blessed him and God said to him your name is
37:44: Jacob Your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.
37:50: So he called his name Israel This was the revelation given at Peniel But ten years have brought
37:57: Israel closer to the old ways of Jacob And so here returning to Bethel God says your name is
38:05: Israel. All right, stop acting like Jacob Because you're Israel And also
38:11: God said to him I am God Almighty Should remember that from Genesis 17
38:16: Be fruitful multiply a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you King shall come from your body the land which
38:23: I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you and to your descendants after you I give you this land So this is following Genesis 17.
38:30: The first thing would notice is verse 9 God appeared to Jacob again
38:37: This is a theophany We had at the beginning in verse 1 the
38:42: Word of God But this is actually the presence of God the theophanic manifestation of God God appeared to Jacob and Jacob seemed to know that if he moved to Bethel he would have another
38:56: Bethel like experience of God's revelation And so we see again the way that God uses his presence to empower his people
39:06: It is God's presence that revives his people Revival is a work of God's Spirit Bringing us near to God through Christ And so the
39:19: Spirit of God makes God present to us and that empowers us it gives life to us
39:25: It washes away ten years of stale and empty worship. It pulls us up out of that mire
39:30: It gives us zeal to purge the the garbage and an influence of the world from our lives
39:36: It's now no longer appealing. In fact, it becomes detestable. I want you. I want your presence
39:41: Lord. That's what revival is the appearance of God I was reading an
39:50: Account Tom Lenny's the author. It's called glory in the Glen. I Can only think of one other brother that would have an interest in reading this brother
39:58: Jim. It's a history of revivals in Scotland from 1880 to 1940 and I just collected some of the
40:06: Reports that people made about what it was like To be a part of these revivals as they swept in different areas
40:13: The Outer Hebrides in the Isle of Lewis along the western coast along the northeastern coast where there's a lot of fishing villages
40:22: These are some of the things that were said the sense of God's nearness Is often felt by believers and non -believers alike causing not only many sinners to turn to Christ in repentance
40:34: But even those who are careless to at least feel shamed Even those who refuse to bend the knee
40:43: They're almost embarrassed almost ashamed about it They can't deny the power that they're seeing in their midst though.
40:52: They harden their hearts against it. I Was met with the gracious and sensible presence of God.
41:01: All right, not something you write in a car This is not something throw away. This is someone saying I Had I know what
41:08: Jacob experienced I've actually experienced what Jacob experienced in chapter 35.
41:15: I met with the presence of God He came near He revealed his name to me love and oh,
41:26: I felt such little of his love And I was broken down at his feet
41:33: Quite suddenly upon one and another came an overwhelming sense of the reality and the
41:40: Awfulness of his presence and of all eternal things God was so gloriously near the whole atmosphere was charged with his presence
41:52: You see that is revival the presence of God Notice that these people don't say oh, yes, it was wonderful My family started doing better and my kids are doing well
42:05: They're very successful now and I worked out my anger issues and I have better self -control And I've noticed that I'm a lot more humble and I love reading the
42:12: Bible What is revival? Those are just the benefits that's the outflow of revival.
42:19: What is revival? I met with God I've known
42:24: God's presence I can barely describe it
42:30: So powerful so rapturous so glorious Like Paul, I don't know whether I was in the body or out
42:39: That's revival Spurgeon says there are times when God is very near to us.
42:46: I Wish it were always so some of us can mark out epics in our spiritual history when we were so Conscious in a wonderful way that God had drawn near to us.
42:57: We felt his presence We were thrilled the Lord seemed to put us in the cleft of the rock and make his glory pass before us
43:05: I have known such times Oh God that I would know them more often It is worthwhile to be purged and to be cleansed to do anything to be able to have this kind of divine visit a
43:20: Clear view of God in Christ a vivid sense of his love is a sweet reward for broken idols
43:31: Brothers and sisters That we would smash our idols
43:37: Pluck those little earrings those foxes in the vineyards from our midst bury them They are worth experiencing the presence of God reviving us to strength
43:49: And of course it is God repeating these promises of Genesis 17. I am God Almighty Jacob El Shaddai, just as I revealed myself to Abraham We see just like Abraham in Genesis 17
44:03: The name is changed like Abram to Abraham Jacob to Israel We see a promise of Kings coming even here a foretaste of the gospel to come
44:13: Yes, Kings will come from you a thousand years In fact will the Davidic dynasty begin and a thousand years after that will come the true
44:22: King Jesus the true King of David David's son, but David's Lord and then of course he echoes the promise of Abraham to be made fruitful.
44:33: I Will make you fruitful. I will make you multiply and that's not just echoing Abraham That's going all the way back to the garden when
44:40: God commanded Adam and Eve be fruitful Multiply right cast this dominion over what
44:47: I have made Of course instead of casting that dominion in the fruitfulness of God's design.
44:53: They corrupted the design and they corrupted what God had made and they brought the fall upon themselves and upon all of creation and God called
45:03: Abraham out of his paganism To be the beginning of his answer to the fall and so in this promise
45:11: I will make you fruitful He's saying I will redeem the curse of the fall
45:19: There is a seed coming from Abraham. He will be a king in your lineage and He will undo the curse of the fall
45:29: And therefore the last Parallel is a multitude of nations will come Multitude of the
45:36: Gentiles as far as the east and as far as the west will gather around the table of this King and so we have the gospel here in these promises at Bethel and Then lastly we we have building again as a result of building this altar and experiencing this revival this presence of God He sets up a pillar
45:55: No longer does he just pour oil on it like 30 years ago. He also offers a drink offering It shows his gratitude another act of worship at this pillar may have been the original pillar and he resets it up Jacob shows a heart of gratitude toward God So brothers and sisters as we consider these three actions we have to frame it with a question
46:20: Are you dwelling in Shechem this morning? Beginning or continuing this ten -year stalemate
46:29: Or are you approaching Bethel There really is no other alternative Are you just going through the motions at the altar of Shechem Or are you approaching with the same kind of zeal the altar at Bethel spiritual decline
46:53: Is chapter 34 spiritual revival is chapter 35 and the difference between Chapter 34 decline and chapter 35 revival is simply in these three actions
47:08: Receiving the Word of God Putting away the idols from our midst and building
47:19: In your life. Do you easily? shrug away From direct temptations but give in to those subtle influences that might indicate that you're dwelling in Shechem It's just like the four and wives of Solomon that slowly but surely draw his heart away from the
47:36: Lord that's what the influence of the world is like for us as As One said we hardly realize it and it creeps in so quietly and Then we've drifted far from Bethel far from Penuel listen to these great metaphors gray hairs are on a man before he knows it
47:57: You just wake up one day and all of a sudden you're like what in the world like I sometimes you have that black gown
48:03: At the hairdresser's shop and all sudden you see gray hairs, you know pepper your cloak and you're like what in the world
48:11: Summer Fruit is beginning to rot within long before its surface is pitted with specks The devil is too shrewd to make a
48:21: Judas with one stroke He wins us from the side of Jesus by hair breaths, right?
48:28: thousands of degrees We would never think of letting in the lion But we spare the little foxes and the little foxes break down the hedge which the lion charges through you see the influence of Shechem so subtle and Then one day you look out and you see a massacre in front of you and you say how did we get to this?
48:56: the actions of Jacob receiving God's Word Hearing putting away idols purging building an altar
49:08: So really three actions Hearing purging and building so first hearing rival begins with hearing the
49:17: Word of God It still begins with the revelation of God the revelation of God is the beginning of revival the sense that we hear him
49:25: He reveals his word to us, but then it also is the end of revival We actually have a manifestation of his revelation his own presence in power in our lives
49:34: It begins with the sight of God It was like this in Moses for Moses in the desert it was like this for Isaiah In the year that King Uzziah died
49:45: This is how God renews our faith brings us to revivals and hearing the
49:50: Word of God as we see in verses 1 through 15 is Hearing the call to repent because you don't get from verse 1
49:59: To verse 15 without verse 2 and verse 2 is repentance the putting away of the idols
50:05: So Jacob unmistakably hears rise
50:10: Come to Bethel come back to my presence come back to my refuge find my grace and mercy again
50:16: He can't help but hear that gracious call without hearing within it the command repent
50:22: Cleanse your hands purify your heart draw near to me and so the call
50:29: To receive God's Word is also the call to repentance Remember the beginning of the gospel of Mark John the
50:34: Baptist the voice of one crying in the wilderness Prepare the way of the Lord make straight in the desert a highway for our
50:40: God What did it mean for John to prepare the way of the Lord? Mark 1 5
50:46: Mark 1 4 preaching a baptism of repentance and remission of sins
50:53: That's preparing the way of the Lord what prepares the way from Shechem to Bethel repentance and remission of sins
51:00: What prepares the way for Israelites who have stale and idolatrous worship to come be able to behold
51:07: God's Savior in the person of Jesus It's the Prophet saying repent the preacher of guilt is
51:18: Alexander McLaren the preacher of guilt and repentance is the herald of pardon and purity repentance involves renouncing purging putting away
51:34: Whatever stands before you and the gracious presence of God What in my life is hindering me
51:43: From coming to the altar at Bethel and worshiping God and feeling this kind of presence and this kind of power.
51:51: I Don't know if he will reveal himself to me But I know I must purge these things if I have any hope to see his face and so That hearing of the
52:03: Word of God leads to purging and this is everywhere given to the Israelites burn your idols
52:10: Burn them bury them smash them smear them. Don't be ensnared by them
52:15: That's the only alternative that God gives to his people and numbers 1920 to the man who is unclean who will not purify himself
52:23: He will be cut off from the assembly because he's defiled the sanctuary of God Right the earrings and the gods can't be brought to Bethel they can't be brought to the true altar of God's worship
52:34: So you have to purge them you have to purify yourself. What part has a believer with an unbeliever?
52:42: What agreement does the temple of God have with idols and earrings? You are the temple of the
52:48: Living God. God has said I will dwell and walk among you I will be your God and so they shall be
52:56: Therefore come out from among them be separate says the Lord. How do you become separate you purge you repent?
53:05: Don't touch what is unclean and I will receive you I will invite you you'll find my presence at Bethel And so Paul says beloved let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh perfecting holiness in the fear of God That is the old path toward revival in the life of a
53:23: Christian And then lastly we build We build like Paul instructs in 1st
53:29: Corinthians 3 we build wisely Not foolishly not carelessly. We don't use wood and rubble and hay and straw
53:37: We use the precious things of the Lord the precious means of grace We build wisely that we might know him who is the cornerstone even
53:43: Jesus our Lord This is what it means to experience revival in your life
53:50: The effect that will have in your home The impact that can have in a church and then through the church there's so much more to say about revival at that angle a
54:02: Whole sermon on prayer would be required a T Pearson. I wrote a study of revivalism So there's never been a revival without a period of concentrated prayer proceeding it
54:13: But what I want to focus on is the activity of Jacob these three actions Receiving God's Word putting away idols building an altar and I hope that's the effect this passage has on all of us myself included that we would receive
54:27: God's Word in this way and that it would compel us to Purge those things in our lives and that we would be brought to build to build
54:37: And I close with this Account this testimony from one of these
54:43: Scottish revivals. This is the revival of weast in the Outer Hebrides 1880 and this is a reverend
54:50: DC Ross. He was a minister in Appen. This is his account part of his account There is an uncommon eagerness to hear the
54:59: Word of God Most especially how the blood of Christ makes atonement for the soul
55:06: That's revival tell me more and more and more about Jesus every night of the week
55:14: Even Saturday with occasional day meetings people gather from far and near to hear the gospel and Such was the power of the truth that at times one and another were constrained to cry out loud
55:25: Which was discouraged because it distracted the people, you know good Scotsman, you know, huh? Come on keep it to yourself
55:34: Others had a hard struggle to suppress their cries others seemed to be silently weeping Some were awakened when they returned home from the meeting
55:43: So that profound, you know, just like oh, yeah, I know it seems like something's going on here, but you know Then they get home and privately
55:50: They're brought into the rapture of the Lord One man was startled out of his sleep with the
55:57: Word of God ringing in his ears and It was noticeable how boys and girls were in constant attendance
56:04: Just adults only Club revival of the Spirit of God affects every age children
56:11: Do you hear that children were being stirred by the Spirit of God?
56:18: It was noticeable how boys and girls were in constant attendance and cases are known of little ones lagging behind their companions
56:24: Slipping away to pray in the sandy hollows Two boys through their once fondly cherished treasure a profane songbook into the fire of their own volition
56:37: Feeling I suppose that they were throwing their dearest idol into the flames Grown -up people unable to read have actually begun to study the alphabet and are now able to spell their way through the
56:49: Word of God Searching through it as if they were looking for hidden treasure Did you notice something in that account it's unbroken that's just that's as I read it do you notice every night of the week
57:02: But Saturday with occasional day meetings the people gathered from far and near to hear the gospel
57:08: They hear the Word of God. They're eager to receive the Word of God Some companions to two boys threw away their once fondly cherished treasure a profane songbook into the fire
57:22: Feeling I suppose that they were committing their dearest idol to the flames. They were purging They were purging
57:31: Well, I know this is a book I shouldn't have and I want to get rid of it And then people who were illiterate
57:40: Began to take up the alphabet, you know, 40 years I haven't need to learn how to read but I want to be able to read the scriptures.
57:46: So let's start with the ABCs That's building That's building
57:56: Receiving God's Word putting away idols building May God help us to do these things
58:03: Let's pray Father we thank you for your word.
58:08: We thank you for your call. Thank you for your grace In large our affections our appetites our desire
58:17: That we might actually receive your word that it would fill us with with an unembarrassed
58:25: Unhidden Unopaque zeal to purge ourselves of garbage and filth that we would be so consumed by our love and awe and gratitude toward you and and desire to see your presence in our lives that we could
58:42: Freely tell brothers and sisters of those idols that we must purge even seeking help where we need it
58:49: Do this work in us. I pray for the men in this church that like Jacob they would be brought out of the passivity of of their own
58:56: Shechem's into the zeal and the power and the strength of Bethel that like Jacob even here at this place
59:03: They would be able to lead their families lead their homes in these ways. I pray that for myself as much as any man.
59:10: I pray for The wives Lord that they too would would be moved by your
59:15: Spirit of God in this way that they would further your work that they would enhance and complement the leading of their husbands and and where that's lacking that they would show a zeal and a priority to you that would be
59:26: It would be a means of even winning their husbands over. I Pray that we would hear
59:34: The same kind of movement of your spirit that was seen in 1880 That you would sanctify our households and purge what is filthy from them
59:45: That we would experience your presence and be revived these things we ask in your son's name.
59:50: Amen Now it's our time for interaction brother question
01:00:31: I find it interesting that They buried the idols, but they didn't just burn them.
01:00:38: Yeah, and then it's interesting that the nurse was buried in the same place Yes on that kind of interesting.
01:00:44: Yeah, there's a lot of speculation about that, but I couldn't find anything that seemed to To give a good reason why it was significant
01:00:52: Certainly the sense of getting rid of this maybe even the connotation that these are dead You know idols that had been seen as living and active they're being treated as if they had died
01:01:02: That that's likely but I Almost wish they smashed them to the little pieces.
01:01:09: That's okay By the way, Deborah was buried under the it's just like they kind of stuck that in there. Yeah. Yeah Yeah So That's interesting.
01:01:36: I mean, maybe it is burying them It's like you're burying the dead not not to like we think well
01:01:42: He can go back and get him later if it doesn't work out That's probably not the case Yeah, I will say that that I Appreciate Ross your emphasis on repentance in faith and You know, we have a sovereign
01:02:04: God you can't muster it up as you said And so what do we do?
01:02:09: You know, what do we do as? fathers as leaders as you know mothers as Husbands as wives right you you just you prepare the place to go to worship
01:02:20: Yeah, and and you speak that this is what involves worship and praise, you know, hey
01:02:26: You know certainly all these revivals like you said and all these revivals you saw the fruit of revival
01:02:32: And and I'm sure I mean remember here in store reading things about New York City and things like that And you know, the bars are empty and right
01:02:41: Nobody's drink the bar home bars went out of business, right? No one's drinking anything like right, there's this sense that it affected the whole community in that even the
01:02:53: Non -christians as you said, we're shamed ashamed to sin and we're clearly in a place where it's different.
01:02:59: It's you know divorce right Homosexuality rainbow
01:03:05: Christianity is it seems to they say rainbow Christianity it seems to be like people are saying this is part of Christianity and So what do we do?
01:03:15: We can't muster it up and say don't do that. Don't do that But we we're called as Jacob was called to bring his family together and to bring the church together to worship
01:03:27: God and And to and to constantly say put away your idols You know you if you read
01:03:34: Acts you see that word often in their idols you see, you know, Paul Paul comes to Athens and what does he see?
01:03:42: He sees idols everywhere And so he goes in and he starts preaching in the synagogues.
01:03:49: He starts preaching everywhere. You see it everywhere that there's this There is a fruit of unrighteousness and the
01:03:57: Christian should know that not just for evangelism Right, you know we often say
01:04:02: I'll look at how this one's living or that one's living they need to be evangelized But you should see we should see the fruit in our own lives of the idols in our own lives
01:04:12: That we don't see as clearly and we should we should worship God and and repent and Put them away or ask for help of putting the way ask for understanding to help to put him away and so Jacob Jacob did a profound thing in the
01:04:30: Lord By asking his like things that we can't imagine doing as you said these
01:04:36: Part of his household were you know, the Shechemites, right? I mean we're yeah, that's right
01:04:42: It's hard enough to ask your own family Right, but to think to ask other families
01:04:49: Right and as a church, what are we supposed to do? What are we supposed to do like you better not do it and I've done this you better not do it and you know pull the speck out of your brother's eye without without pulling the plank out of your own eye, but But you you should you should prepare your heart to do it in a humble loving way
01:05:10: That one of the things one of the things that we're called to do as a church as a local church is to rid ourselves of the idols in our lives and And not be satisfied with the status quo in your life the things you've done in the past, you know
01:05:28: Jacob could have he could have lived on his previous encounter in Bethel for the next 30 40 years
01:05:35: No, no, he as you said you need to have this encounter Again and again and again and and and and we better make sure that we don't live in the status quo of what we've done and what
01:05:49: God has moved you and your wife to do in the past or you to do in the past as an Individual as you've drawn close to the
01:05:55: Lord, but to continue to look for Biblical ways to continue moving forward in him.
01:06:01: It's it's not an easy. It's not easy to do Amen So a couple observations in the text in verse
01:06:15: Relative to the tarabinth tree, by the way in verse 4 they put the
01:06:25: They they hide the the idols under the tarabinth tree, which is by Shechem then following that they travel to Bethel and Then in verse 8
01:06:35: Deborah the nurse is buried under the tarabinth tree Below Bethel.
01:06:40: So is it possible? There are two different here been trees. Yeah possible. I I haven't
01:06:46: I didn't spend much time on the the death of The nurse yeah you know between yeah between between the burying of the of the idols and The burial of Deborah you have them traveling to Bethel So it seems like it seems like it maybe there's two trees two different trees
01:07:06: Could it could be possible? Yeah, maybe burying things under a tarabinth tree is kind of a custom Yeah, the question the question would be
01:07:15: You know, is it a place markers it's something that is known You get the sense that when they reference the tarabinth at Shechem that it's a it's a known site and so the idea is that the tarabinth to say the tarabinth would be significant enough because it's a place that could be
01:07:32: Understood or it would have been known Otherwise, it would be a detail that probably wouldn't be shared or the at least location wouldn't be given
01:07:39: And so maybe both of these locations are known Yeah That's one of the issues and and one one more observation at the very beginning of the chapter
01:07:46: God said to Jacob arise go to Bethel and dwell there and and so Jacob does that and then it's it's interesting
01:07:54: God doesn't confront Jacob about all the idols that are in their midst
01:08:00: Yeah, and it's and obviously Jacob has been tolerating them
01:08:05: Because he says to his household put away the foreign gods. Yeah But God doesn't confront him about that.
01:08:13: It's just curious And yet he understands the cue exactly which is something that we experience all the time, right?
01:08:21: You know nothing about Idolatry or purging or cleansing could be shared it we could have spent, you know 45 minutes just talking about the holiness and the glory of God and if if you were feeling stirred and Anticipating being able to encounter that and you were just gripped by it
01:08:36: It would have the same effect upon you upon your life that it had on Jacob here You would know that that means you need to repent
01:08:43: I can't have this in my life and you I don't want this anymore and So I think Jacob as we all must understand that when
01:08:50: God gives a call in this way when God begins to shed grace in our lives one of the ways we know that he's shedding grace in our lives is our response is one of repentance and And it's a sign that we are receiving the grace of God is that we are repenting
01:09:04: The danger or the fear is that we claim to be under the grace of God and our repentance testifies otherwise
01:09:12: How could we then make a travesty out of the grace of God, which is what Paul's responding to in Romans 6.
01:09:18: So, yeah Confusing because you know there there's a lot of this emotionalism where It the the revival is defined by how you feel when you encounter
01:09:35: God and the feeling isn't Repentance for a lot of people that we know and I'm not saying that in a prideful way
01:09:42: At all because it's like that in our lives oftentimes. We can have this emotional experience with God You know,
01:09:50: I don't even know how to define it, but it does not involve repentance and we have a
01:09:55: Christianity in our country That that really when there's testimony of many people
01:10:02: Who have an encounter in a revival with God in it? There's no Repentance in their lives that they talk about.
01:10:10: I'm not even saying that I see it's more talked in a way like, you know I love God. He's the
01:10:16: Creator, you know It's this but there's no change in their life with obvious idols or sin and things like that And so it is important for for the true church to to really see the difference
01:10:29: You know, we all get moved by by wonderful songs We all get moved by by just in ways euphoric ways the
01:10:37: Lord, you know, they can't always be trusted Right and and we have many many
01:10:44: Examples of that and we have to be really careful. It's almost like emphatically we have to say
01:10:50: You know, you know revive what comes with revival is repentance, right?
01:10:56: It is drawing near to God. It is putting away these idols and the sin. Yes, we have to do that because we have
01:11:05: You know We have to say that to the world Right as well because I talk to many people of the
01:11:10: Lord all week long and there is no repentance talked about It's almost it is actually oftentimes when you talk to them, it's it's a license to sin
01:11:20: It's a license to keep living the way they want to live with this emotional feeling toward the
01:11:26: Lord and and I you know I can be bent Toward that we just we really have to yeah set that line and really look at this rightly as you preached
01:11:37: That's why I mentioned John the Baptist at the beginning of Mark, you know, you could describe the the arrival of Jesus as a sort of revival among the
01:11:47: Israelites that were looking for the consolation and And certainly those that were receiving the baptism of John were you know being revived or hope for being revived?
01:11:56: And it's interesting that God doesn't say all right John the Baptist I want you to go, you know pep talk make a really exciting powerful conference get stage lighting and fog machines
01:12:05: And you know really get people into this excitement in mode. No, it's just you know preach repentance, you know that's that's what's going to prepare the way to meet to meet with God and There's more we could say about preparation along those lines, but I I think if we just stick to Hearing the