Jacob's Departure — Peter Brandon

Jacob's Departure and the Vision at Bethel

I am going to take a series on Jacob and therefore my first talk will be Jacob's Departure. And I am turning you immediately to Genesis 28 and we'll read from verse 10. Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran.

And it came to pass that in a certain place there he tarried all night, because the sun was set. And he took off the stones of the place and put them for his pillows and lay down in that place to sleep.

And he dreamed and behold a ladder set up on earth and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac, the land whereon thou lies, to thee will I give it and to thy seed.

And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth. And thou shalt spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And in thee and in thy seed shall all families of the earth be blessed.

And behold I am with thee and will keep thee in all places to which thou goest and will bring thee again into the land. For I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

And Jacob awaked out of his sleep and he said, surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not. And he was afraid and said, how awesome is this place, this is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven.

And Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put for his pillow and set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of that city was called Love at the first.

And Jacob vowed a vow saying, if God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God.

And this stone which I had set for a pillar shall be the house or God's house and all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee and God will bless to us the reading of his word. Now I'm sure of this that most of us feel very much like Jacob, that's why I have taken up this series.

Jacob's Family Background and God's Election

And first of all we're going to see his departure from the land of his nativity. Then we're going to meet him at Bethel and see how the Lord completely changed him. And then we're going to meet him again at Bethel, the very place where God originally met him, God brought him back to that place and there was blessing.

So first of all, let's give the background. When Jacob was born, there were twins in the womb of Rebekah. And even during that period, there was fighting within her bowels. And she went to the Lord concerning this problem and the Lord made it perfectly clear, and this is remarkable, that the elder would serve the younger.

And therefore before they were born, prophetically God makes a promise. Now we are seeing today the struggle between Israel and the Arab races. And we know very certainly now that they are determined to destroy Israel.

But always remember, before Jacob was born, the prophecy to Rebekah was this, that the elder would serve the younger. And Israel will never be obliterated. God has a plan for them and it will be fulfilled, irrespective of the present problems today.

So that is encouraging. As the children grew, there was a parental problem. Jacob was actually his father's, his mother's boy. And Esau was his father's boy. Esau was strong, he was hairy, he was a hunter.

He was a man of the field. And as you know from the New Testament, the field always speaks of the world. But Jacob was plain. He was a homeboy. But don't imagine that he was mummy's boy. Jacob was a hard worker and we see that when he went into Paddan Arab.

But here are two boys, one was loved by his father and the other was loved by his mother. Now there you have a problem. When we have children, do not have favourites. Can I repeat that? When we have children, do not have favourites.

And that favouritism caused deep problems in the family of Isaac and Rebekah. What a lesson for us to learn in that respect. Then we noticed that when they grew, one was associated with the tent, the other was associated with the field, and obviously Esau was a man's man.

But he was a man of the world. And he comes in from hunting and he is faint. That means he's at the point of collapsing. Now his father had this same problem. His father said that he was dying almost 20 or 25 years before this incident.

And therefore he lived till he was almost 180. So obviously there are some people that are always dying and they outlive those people who seem to be in the abundance of health. And that's a little lesson we want to grasp here.

He never did die until he was 180. Esau comes in and he's faint, he's ready to die. You see, he had the genes of his father. And there was Jacob, it's a lovely picture, and he was cooking potage. It was a thick kind of soup, more like our tomato soup.

But of course, I don't think they had tomatoes in those days. Anyhow, he is obviously cooking. And this man Esau comes and he smells the soup. And then he says to Jacob, give me of your soup. And then Jacob makes a bargain with him.

The Birthright, Family Worship, and the Messianic Promise

You see, basically he had the birthright, but he cared not for the birthright. He says, sell me your birthright and you can have the soup. Now, that spirit is still with the Jewish people today. They are brilliant in business and sometimes a little deceptive.

And you see it right in Jacob. And of course, Esau cared nothing for the birthright. Now, what was the birthright? Now, unless we go into this in detail, we shall never fully understand what he was selling.

First of all, the birthright was to have priestly responsibility in the family. And that meant he would constantly lead the family in worship. He cared that much for that. Now, let me say a little word about this.

Years ago in my own country, when I was on missions, I would go into homes and nearly every family had a family altar. Husband and wife would pray and sometimes the children would pray and it was lovely to hear them.

And there was a sense of joining together through that family altar. But that has gone. Probably it has gone because of the intensity of labour that people find today. But that must be restored. If there's going to be real blessing in a home, have a family altar.

There's nothing more precious than before a meal, the scriptures are read, prayer is made, worship is offered and God's people are joined together by the word of God and by the presence of the Lord. And where that is in a home, there's always blessing.

Now, may I say to those who are younger in the Lord and you've just been married or you're thinking of marriage, always put that first. That's your birthright, to be priestly in your family. And it's lovely when you can look at Dad and say, well, he's a man of God.

And you can look at Mother and say, she's a woman of God. And around those great facts, there can be blessing. Now, may I say this carefully, don't grow up around the television. Grow up around the word of God and God will bless you.

Now, I'm not throwing stones at the television because quite frankly, those that don't have, I haven't got a television and I'm going to tell you why immediately. Because the Brandons are sport fanatics.

And I could spend hours and hours watching football, cricket and rugby. And therefore, I don't want the temptations. But don't grow up around the word of God. Don't grow up around the television, forgive that mistake.

Grow up around the word of God and God will bless you. Secondly, with the birthright, there were prophecies made. In other words, through the line of Abraham and Isaac and then Jacob was the line of the Messiah.

And the line of the Messiah was twofold. First of all, he was coming to die. And secondly, he was coming to reign. And therefore, this is the faith line in the birthright. And these men of God, although they didn't see it clearly as we do, they could see that the Messiah was going to come and that he was going to die.

That's why when the Levitical order came in, there were these offerings. And all those offerings were speaking of the death of Christ. And that's why the tabernacle and all those symbols referred to Christ.

And therefore, in the line, therefore, of Abraham and Isaac, there was this line of the Messiah. Esau cared nothing for that. And that's your salvation. They look forward to the Christ to come and to die.

We look back. And therefore, the centre of all things is the cross of Christ. He cared nothing for that. And then lastly, the birthright depended on the promises. God was going to promise Jacob and he promised Abraham and Isaac that he would be with them.

Irrespective of their personal lives, he was going to be with them. And he told Jacob that he would bring him back to the land. And he was going to bring him back to the land. These were the promises.

And God blessed their seed. So that their seed would multiply and multiply. And one day it will. And they will replenish the earth. And then he told them that one day there would be the millennial reign.

And that's all in these promises. And through Israel, the whole earth would be blessed. Every nation. No, no. Esau cared nothing for this. What did he care for? The pottage. A materialist. Now when he saw that behind all these prophecies there were material blessings, he sought it.

Materialism and the Call to Spiritual Riches

Sought it with tears. But God rejected him. Now there's one thing that we must learn today. There is a spirit that goes through the Western world and it's led us in. They're rich, increased with goods, and need nothing.

And the great promise of God was this. And the counsel of God. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire. White raiment that thou mayest be clothed. And that the shame of your nakedness is not seen.

And anoint thine eyes with thy souls that thou mayest see. So what happens in a materialistic world? What is the counsel of God? Go in for the gold. What's that? Christ. More about Jesus would I know.

More of his saving fullness know. That's it. Go in for Christ. Go in to know him. Know him intimately. And that's far more important than natural gold. Then white raiment, what does that mean? The raiment was put upon them and they look lovely and white.

What is our raiment? That Christ may be formed in us. I was only sharing with the young people last night. They have one body. They're going to live in it for no longer than five seconds. Let's count.

One, two, three, four, five. Then you're out of the body. In comparison with eternity. And that comparison is odious. And therefore the great fact of Christianity is that God has made you righteous. Now he wants you to be righteous.

That worked out in your daily life. Then anoint thy eyes with eyesalve. Now what does that mean? They produced in Laodicea an eye ointment that would wipe the dust and the grit out of the eye because it was one of the hottest places in the world.

Now he says anoint your eyes with eyesalve. What does that mean? Get the grit of the world out. Lift up your heads. See the glory of Christ. The wonder of that glory. And therefore he's encouraging them to go in for the spiritual.

And then he never really got into the Laodicean church but he gives us a wonderful promise. As many as I love, I chase them. Be zealous therefore and repent. Then he says, Behold I am standing at the door knocking.

What's he knocking for? Salvation? No. Sanctification? Could be. But more than that. He's knocking for a life of communion. And then he makes this wonderful promise. Behold I stand at the door and knock.

If any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me. Now what does that mean? When you have supper with a person you get to know them. And what the Lord is saying I've saved the best meal until the end.

That was the supper. And he wants to share with you all his glories. And he'll enjoy your bread and cheese. That's all we can give him. But there's a transportation there of supping. And what a promise for us all in these last days to know the Lord intimately and personally.

Rebecca's Deception and the Danger of Artificial Faith

Then there comes the parents. Now if only Rebecca had relied on that great promise she would never have done all this deception. You see God told her emphatically that the elder would serve the younger.

But she couldn't hold to the promise. She tried to engineer it. So would you believe it she dressed her Jacob up as Esau with his garment and the smell of his garment the smell of the world, the field.

Then would you believe it she was able to change goat meat into venison. That's a brilliant cook I can assure you. And she got it so beautifully like venison but it was all artificial. It wasn't real.

And would you believe Isaac thought he was going to die and twice he thought he was going to die but he didn't die. And he wanted venison before he died. Something wrong there. He wanted something for his stomach not for his soul.

You know I knew of a man that had stocks and shares and the day before he died all he was concerned about was his stocks and shares. What a foolish man. Just imagine the day before he died he was just concerned with his stocks.

He would leave them all behind. Always remember this. There are no millionaires in the graveyard. They've left it all behind. Hold to that. That's vital. And this man wanted venison just before he died.

Well in comes Jacob and he was a good actor. All dressed up as Aesop. There's some goat fur around his neck. Some on his hand. There was a careful camouflage. And therefore the mother tried to engineer the promises of God.

You can't do that. When God makes a promise you can stand everything on it. He will never break a promise. But she couldn't stand on the promise of God. She tried to engineer it making her lovely Jacob look like Aesop.

Genuine Conversion and the New Birth

Be very careful of artificiality. In the last days they will have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof. Last night three people stayed behind and two of them were really seeking the Lord. But one young man said that he was a Christian.

So I said to him why do you think you're a Christian? And this is what he said. My parents are good Christians and I have been brought up to be a Christian. And I go to church and I say the prayers and I believe that makes me a Christian.

That is camouflage. Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now I don't want to dislodge anyone in the faith. You know I wouldn't want to do that. But in the last days people are going to have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof.

Now the people that have been saved in this mission who had made a profession but were never born again is really disturbing. Go around the foundations of your faith even now to make sure that you haven't got that which is artificial.

Have the real experience of being born again. Now when we speak of being born again and this comes into this message very much what does it mean? The greatest miracle that God ever performs is the new birth.

It's called the workmanship of Christ Jesus. And that word workmanship basically means the masterpiece of Christ Jesus. And therefore when a person is born again God gives him a complete and thorough cleansing that satisfies all his justice and that's through the blood of Christ.

And that person is so clean that into that body there comes the Holy Spirit and he's born of God. And that means if I may give another that that that person has within him the Holy Spirit of God and that's a living miracle.

Now can I ask you carefully have you really been born of God or is it artificial? And that's the work of the devil. Well, Jacob receives the blessing by deception and through that there was anger between the two sons and Esau was determined and that meant works was in opposition to faith.

That's always been the case. Take for instance Abel and Cain. The battle there was a religious battle and if you look at it carefully it was works and faith. And you will notice all over the world now there's the religion of works and the religion of faith and they are diametrically opposed.

And therefore you have in Jacob the principles of faith if he only knew it and you have in Esau the principle of works. And therefore we must be very careful not to bring works into our faith. The law if I may put it roughly never saved the soul and the law never sanctified a saint.

There are the principles of faith that go through a Christian's life right to the very end. He was told to leave home. Now I feel sorry about this. There's something about Rebecca that I love. She had more insight than Isaac and yet she tried to engineer the promises of God.

Friends you can't do it. And do you know what that meant? She never saw her Jacob again. She lost him forever. What a lesson we can learn. Never have favourites and just rely totally and completely on the promises of God.

Jacob's Helplessness and God's Grace at the Point of Extremity

So now Jacob's wandering. He's going towards Haran that means parched. He comes to a point where darkness is coming upon the earth. He looks around and he sees some stone and he's so bankrupt he takes them for a pillar.

It appears that Isaac gave him a very little. And you see this man in a position of utter helplessness and when I saw it early this morning I nearly cried. This man that was always engineering. 50 of God, 50 of himself.

Look at him now. There's a stone for his pillar. You can't get more poverty than that. He's fast asleep. He can do nothing. And that's where God met him when he was totally helpless. Now have you noticed this?

And I'm sure you have. All the miracles of the Lord Jesus were done at the point of extremity. Those that are individually outlined. Take for instance the woman with the issue of blood. A blood disorder.

She spent all her money on physicians and was no better but rather worse. And in desperation meaning at the point of extremity she touches the hem of his garment and she's made whole. Take for instance Lazarus.

He was sick and the telegram comes to the Lord He whom thou lovest is sick nigh unto death. The Lord doesn't come. He stays. He dies. And now for four days his body decomposes. A complete breakdown. That's when Jesus came.

Right at the end when extremity reached its death. That's when the Lord came. You will notice too with the Apostle Paul. He was saved on the Damascus road. But then when he was in Arabia he went through a severe conflict until he screamed out these words and that's the meaning of that word.

Not just a cry. A scream. Oh wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me? It was at the point of extremity. I want to say something now that's going to be a little rough. But it's so vital. God will pass by all our gimmicks until we come to the end of ourselves and then we seek him.

And when we get to the end of ourselves he will bless us. God is determining that no flesh will glory in his presence. That's why the scripture says in a very direct way we are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.

Now you know what that filthy rag means? I will say it quickly and then pass over it. It means a menstruous cloth. Why? Because God is determining that no flesh should glory in his presence. That the Lord should get all the glory.

And that's what we see in Jacob. Look at him. Fast asleep. Perhaps snoring. Head on a pillar. And that's when the Lord met him. May God bring us to the end of ourselves and then he'll start really blessing us.

The Ladder, Reconciliation, and Access to God's Presence

Now look at his vision. He sees a ladder. The trauma is tremendous. It's set up on earth. Not in heaven. And it reaches to heaven. And therefore there was a carriageway to glory. That's the first time you see that in the book of Judges.

Immediately man sinned. The door was closed to the tree of life. And yet at the same time if you read it carefully God is protecting the seed of life. Meaning protecting the genealogies that were going to bring in the man-child Christ Jesus.

But the way was barred. And the only way they could have access into the presence of God was through sacrifice. Now the whole thing explodes in beauty. There's a ladder. Between heaven and earth. Can I shout it out?

There's reconciliation. And the angels of God are ascending and descending. What does that mean? When the Lord Jesus died upon the cross we all know after his death the veil was rent. And you should all say hallelujah.

That veil was his flesh. And what beauty we see in the flesh of the Lord Jesus. No Adamic sin there. But when the judgment fell it fell so completely on him that he could say my God, my God why didst thou forsake me?

Then finished. And then God got to work. He split that curtain from the top to the bottom so it could never be replaced. For that's the meaning of the word tear. So Judaism was all over. And there was a way right into the presence of God.

To me that's beautiful and I see that in the ladder from earth to heaven. Then the angels are descending and ascending. Or ascending and then descending. Now what does that mean? Don't throw angels away and put it just in the Old Testament.

Thank God for angels. They're here now. We're in the presence of angels. Wonderful isn't it? That's why our sisters are covered. Because of the angels. They look at the world and they see total dishonor and disobedience.

As you know in Europe we're being governed by existentialism. That man is God and all the laws affiliated to God that we find in the Bible have got to be rejected. And we must experiment and fulfill the desires of our body.

And we know that that has brought in the permissive society. And that's what the angels are seeing. Rebellion. But in the local church they want to see the divine order. And it brings glory. It brings blessing.

They must say something like this. Doesn't that look lovely? They're following out the plans of God. But more than that. Angels are directive. You say, what do you mean? It was the angel of the Lord that said to Philip, Arise and go to Gaza.

And to the way, go to south and to the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza which is desert. It was the angel that put him there. They're directive. And then they're protective. I wouldn't be here apart from angelic ministry.

I remember going from door to door on a snowy day. And the snow had frozen on the roof tops and on the ground. And I was knocking on the doors and one lady opened the door and I was speaking to her. It was a terribly cold day.

And then I had an urge to go in the house and I've never had that in my life. So I still carried on talking because she was really interested. And then I felt a push and I went in. And she was so scared she ran into the lounge.

And just where I stood a large piece of frozen snow that would have crushed my brain fell just where I was standing. Who pushed me in? It was the angel of the Lord. Thank God for their protection. Now may I say this to the motorists?

You can claim angelic protection but please don't make them do overtime, will you? Keep within the limits. And every day when I get into the car I just give myself to those angels and ask for that protection and it brings wonderful peace.

Thank God for the ministry of angels. And there they are, angels of heaven, ascending and descending. On whom? The deceiver, the camouflaged boy. Oh, the grace of God. The more I look at Jacob the more I see the wonderful grace of God.

The House of God as Mount Zion and the Heavenly Sanctuary

Now let's hurry on. And then you will notice that Jacob arises from the sleep and he calls it a dreadful place. What time does this session go on, dear brother? Can I? He called it a dreadful. Now that's a wrong translation.

It's an awesome place. He realized that in his sleep, in his helplessness, he had been in the presence of God. And he said this is an awesome place. Never use that word awesome in relation to the human family.

It's wrong. There's only one person that's awesome and that's the Almighty God. And it was an awesome place. He says this is none other than the house of God. Now what is the house of God individually?

We'll talk about the house of God collectively tonight. But the house of God individually. Now let's turn to the Hebrews and we shall see it.

Hebrews 12, verse 22.

Hebrews 12, verse 22. And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. That's Sinai. Thank God we haven't come there. But ye have come to Mount Zion unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, now notice, and to innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and the church of the firstborn, who are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of the sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Now Mount Zion, what is that? That's the sovereignty of the king. That's where the king reigned. So the sanctuary for us, the house of God for us, is Mount Zion. The place where the Lord has complete sovereignty.

Then you will notice, the city of the living God. Now what was the city? It was the place of activity. The place of, we might say, industry. And therefore this speaks of the activity of the spirit. And in the house of God, whether it's individual or whether it's public, it's the place where we see the activity of the spirit.

Beloved, let's pray that we'll get back to that. I believe we could see great things in these last days if we would get back to the real activity of the spirit of God. But go on. And the heavenly Jerusalem.

What's the heavenly Jerusalem? The place of worship. The place they came to in those days in the Old Testament with their burnt offerings. For us, it's the place where we adore the Lamb and worship Him.

And then, to God the judge of all. What does that mean? When we pray and when we worship, there's only one judge. And that's God. We may make some mistakes, and when you get older you do make mistakes.

But it's all rectified by the Holy Spirit before it reaches the ear of God. Wonderful. But He is the judge of all. We're not the judge. It's God the judge of all. A man might stand up Sunday morning and give a wonderful oration on the person of Christ.

And we say, that was lovely. But it may all come from His head. God sees what's in the spirit of man. A person may just rise up and just say a little word of thanks to God for His Son and for His precious blood, the Preshet.

And God may get a lot from that. You see, He's the judge. Not man. And then notice as He goes on to the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn. The word and there is not in the original. And it means that the General Assembly, Church of the Firstborn.

There's no sectarianism in the sanctuary of God. Can I repeat that? No sectarianism. We see there the whole General Assembly. And isn't it lovely every Sunday morning when we break the bread. It's not only a picture of our Lord's body that was given for our sins and the blood, the picture of His wine that was shed for our sins.

But we see the wonderful results of that cross, the one body. And we express it. The General Assembly. The Church of the Firstborn. And we see that in the presence of God. And then go on. The spirits of just men made perfect.

I love that. All our loved ones are in the presence of God and they're worshipping. Always remember, the moment you're absent from the body and present with the Lord, you'll be much more alive than what you are now.

They're not in a state of unconsciousness and sleep. Don't accept the Bollinger Theory. They're with the Lord. And Paul says, absent from the body, present with the Lord. Then he could say, for me to live is Christ, to die, gain.

He was enjoying Christ now. But he would enjoy Him more when he was in that place called Paradise. And all our loved ones are there. And may I say, they're having a wonderful time. They're in a state of absolute sinlessness.

And they're in a state where they can see the Lord in a way in which we couldn't see Him now. In Paradise. Now we have no communication with them. But they're worshipping the Lord and we're worshipping the Lord when we're in the Sanctuary of God.

Isn't that precious? Then go on, and Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant. I've got here that chief. We shall see Him, the Mediator of the New Covenant. And then he goes on, and the sprinkling, and the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

The idea of Abel's blood was crying out for vengeance. But the blood of the Lord Jesus cries out for mercy. Beloved, we're in the Sanctuary now. We never leave it. We talk about coming and going. You'll never find that in Scripture.

We're in the presence of God. Dear sister, when you leave this and you're cooking the meal tonight, you're in the Sanctuary. Dear brother, when you're working at the lathe or maybe sweeping the firms floor, you're in the Sanctuary.

Never out of it. God has brought us in through the blood. And He wants us to live Sanctuary lives. Now the problem. This man has been brought into the presence of God and he quits it. He takes the pillar and makes it a pillar.

He pours ore upon it. He calls it an awesome place and he leaves it. Now the problem. How is God going to bring him back to that? With all these problems and difficulties that Jacob had, how is God going to fulfill His promise and bring him back to Bethel?

It's an interesting study. It's thrilling. We're going to see that in the next session. How God brings him back to Bethel. And I'm sure the Lord's going to bless us all as we see the marvellous way of grace He deals with Jacob in Athens.