Well, let's take the word of God and turn to Genesis chapter 35. Genesis chapter 35. We'll begin reading at verse number one. Genesis chapter 35, beginning at verse number one, let's hear God's word. God said unto Jacob, arise, go up to Bethel. Well there, make there an altar unto God that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. And Jacob said unto his household and all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments. And let us arise and go up to Bethel. And I will make there an altar unto God, who answers me in the day of my distress. was with me in the way which I went. And they gave on to Jacob all their strange gauds which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is Bethel, He and all the people that were with him. And he built there an altar and called the place El, Bethel, because there God appeared unto him when he fled from the face of his brother. But Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died. And she was buried beneath Bethel, under an oak, and the name of it was called Alon Bakathoth. And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Pandan Aram and blessed him. And God said unto him, thy name is Jacob. Thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name. And he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation, an accompanying of nations shall be of thee, and the kings shall come out of thy loins. And the land which I gave, Abraham and Isaac, To thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone. And he poured a drink offering thereon, and poured the oil thereon. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him. Amen, and we'll conclude at the verse number 15. We'll keep the Word of God open and let's seek the Lord and a word of prayer together. Loving Father, we thank Thee now for the opportunity to preach the Word. Lord, I certainly need Thy help and Thine empowerment. Lord, I pray for the infilling of Thy Spirit. Give me every word to say, I pray. Guide, Lord, touch these lips. Oh God, I pray. and grant, dear Father, every heart to be ready to hear what the Lord would have to say. Come by, Lord, in these days, we ask. Glorify thy Son. Help me, Lord, I cry to thee. For I offer prayer in and through the Savior's lovely, precious, and worthy name. Amen, and amen. Bethel would always hold a special place in the heart of Jacob. It was there that he first encountered the God of his grandfather, Abraham, and the God of his father, Isaac. You'll recall how that God had told Rebecca that her oldest son, Esau, was going to serve her younger son, Jacob, before the twin boys were even born. This was really the equivalent of saying that the place and the portion of the firstborn was promised by God to Jacob and not to Esau. That was not normally the order of the day, rather it was the firstborn that would receive the blessing, but not on this occasion. However, Isaac, the father of the home, he conceives a plot in which he intends to give the blessing to Esau and not to Jacob. But unknown to Isaac, Rebekah overhears the conversation with Esau and so she contrives a counter-plot which involves lies and deceit in order that Jacob, not Esau, would get the Father's blessing. All a little bit complicated. All a little bit concerning. The fallout of this sad incident was that Jacob would have to flee for his life. So angry was Esau when he finds out that with subtlety the blessing had been conferred on Jacob and not on him. Rebecca fears that there would be a bloodbath after the death of the father of the home and so she encourages, she instructs her son Jacob to pack his bags and make his way to her brother Laban's home and seek refuge from his brother's evil intentions. I suppose that Rebecca hoped that tempers would cool and that the passing of time would see to Esau forgetting all about this particular incident. incident her optimism would be misplaced. Well Jacob he takes his mother's advice and so we find him in Genesis chapter number 28 leaving home in Beersheba and making his way to his uncle's home in Pandam Aram. It was as he makes that journey that Jacob, he comes to a city called Luz, a city that he will soon rename Bethel. Because the hours of daylight had passed and journeying in the night would have been a dangerous enterprise. Genesis chapter 28 in the verse 11 informs us, in the verse 11 it informs us that Jacob lighted upon a certain place and tarried there all night Because the sun was set. And he took the stones of that place and put them for his pillows and lay down in that place to sleep. Whilst he was there, sleeping on those stony pillars, that Jacob is given a vision of a ladder. A ladder that reaches, its top reaches to heaven. And on that ladder there were angels ascending and descending on it. The ladder in the dream with its foot on earth and its top reaching into heaven is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. He who dwelt in heaven touched earth when he became flesh and dwelt among us as God-man. The vision's lesson, I believe, is very simple. Only through and by the Lord Jesus Christ can guilty sinners ever gain access to heaven. I hope you know that. I hope that you know that the only way to heaven is through the Lord Jesus Christ and faith in His work. The most significant part of Jacob's vision was the appearance of Jehovah at the top of the ladder who addressed the lonely patriarch who was sleeping at its foot. The words which the Lord uttered were well calculated to quell the fears of Jacob and to comfort and to reassure the mind of Jacob on this most memorable night. The Lord would say to Jacob, Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places where thou goest, and will bring thee again on to this land, for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. What a message of comfort, what a vision of glory that must have been for that fearful patriarch. It appears that it was so memorable that Jacob, after he arises from sleep, he comes to make this informed exclamation, surely the Lord is in this place. And I knew it not. With an overwhelmed sense of reverential fear filling his heart, Jacob then goes on to say, how dreadful is this place. This is none other but the house of God. This is the gate of heaven. Wanting to permanently mark the spot where he had now met with the living God, we're told in the verse 18 of the chapter, that Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and he set it up as a pillar, and he poured oil upon the top of it, and he now renames the city of Laz, he now names that city Bethel, which means house of God. By the time we reach Genesis 35, 30 years have now elapsed. 30 years in which he has spent time in his uncle Laban's home. He has returned. encountered Esau again. Tragedy unfolds in Genesis chapter number 34, but 30 years approximately have now lapsed since Jacob's first visit to Bethel. Much water, we would say, has run under the bridge of life since then. But now God instructs Jacob in Genesis 35 to rise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there Was there a clear directive of God to Jacob? And it is that return, another of the Bible's great returns. that we want to consider today in a message that I've entitled, Jacob's Return to Bethel, or Jacob's Return to the House of God. The first thing I want us to notice with regard to this great Bible return and Jacob's return to Bethel is the divine directive for the return. The divine directive for the return. That divine directive is evident from the words of the verse number one, because it says, And God said unto Jacob, Our eyes go up to Bethel. This certainly was not the idea of Jacob, but rather this was God's mind. This was God's directive. God was directing his servant to return to the house of God, because by his omniscience, God knew what lay ahead for Jacob. And with the benefit of the biblical narrative, so do we. We know what lies ahead of Jacob, especially in this chapter and the subsequent chapters of the book of Genesis. We know what lies ahead of Jacob. And what was it that lay ahead of Jacob? Well, as the latter part of this particular chapter shows, it was going to be a period of trouble, a time of immense sorrow for him and his family, a time of difficulty, a day of storm was about to break into the life of Jacob. First of all, there would be the death of Rebekah's nurse, Deborah. She would be buried under an oak tree in Bethel, an oak tree or a place that would be called Alon Bakathoth, the Oak of Weeping. And then fast on the heels of Deborah's death was then going to be the death of his much-loved wife, Rachel, who died giving birth to the youngest of Jacob's sons, Benjamin. She would be buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. Ephrath means fruitful. There's always a death that must take place before we ever become fruitful. A death to self. And such was the case with regard to Rachel. And then a third death would rock the home of Jacob. This time the death of his 180-year-old father Isaac in Hebron. And so it seems to be that God, in His wisdom, directs Jacob to go to the house of God, to go back to Bethel, as He prepares Jacob for the trial that was about to break. God was preparing His servant Jacob before the trial ever broke. Beloved, that's what God often does. He calls us to return to the house of God, to find ourselves under the means of grace, so that by and through the preached word, he can prepare us and he can fortify us for all of the trying and the testing events of life that will come our way. Jacob, I foresee what is about to break. And Jacob, you need to go back to Bethel. You need to go back to the house of God, for it's there I'm going to meet with you, and there I am going to equip you and fortify you for the testing day that lies ahead. You know, this chapter reminds us that those memorable seasons of life, whenever we come to meet with God, they do not take away from the trials of life that we'll have to face. Jacob meets with God again at Bethel. We're told that God went up from him in the verse 13 in the place where he had talked with him. And so we find this was a most memorable season in Jacob's life, but it did not make him immune from the trials of life. These things, these memorable seasons of life where we meet with God, they do not take away the trials of life, but rather those seasons prepare us for the trials of life. This was no doubt a wonderful experience for Jacob when he returned to Bethel with his entire household to worship again. What an occasion that would have been as he returned to Bethel. You can imagine him standing there at that particular spot with all of his family. I can hear him recounting and retelling the occasion to them when he first met with the living God, and then to recount all the way that God had providentially led him and provided for him and protected him until this day. I can see him lifting up his Ebenezer and saying, and yet, No sooner are they leaving this place, this blessed, this sacred, this hallowed spot, no sooner have they left it than they are plunged into the valley of the shadow of death. One preacher reflected on that and he said the following. He said, this is a reminder to us of the importance of corporate worship and family worship as the bedrock that enables us to prepare for whatever comes our way. As we daily worship God and meet with God's people at the house of God, those things strengthen us so that whenever tragedy strikes, we are able to respond in hope and in faith as Jacob did when Deborah, Rachel and Isaac died. God was preparing Jacob. for future valleys that he would trade, and he prepared him at the house of God, Bethel. Brother, sister, that is where the Lord will prepare you for the testing days of life, the house of God. As you sit under the preached word of God, This is where God deals with His people. This is where God comforts His people. This is where God fortifies His people, knowing what is ahead of us. God would therefore say to us on the Lord's day, arise, go up to Bethel. Oh, how easy it is to get in the way of not doing that. Oh, we're tired. The children, they're crabbit. They're unsettled. I've got a little sniffle, and really, well, the preaching, it really isn't that great, and so I'll just stay at home this Lord's Day, and in the next Lord's Day, there it is again, an absent pew, a vacant pew. And yet the words of Hebrews 10 always come to our minds, and let us consider one another to provoke one another, and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another so much the more as you see the day approaching. This, Jacob, is what I want you to do. I want you to go back to Bethel. I want you to go back to the house of God. I want you to notice from this divine command that Jacob was not to visit Bethel. Rather, we read that he was to dwell there. Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there. For a period of time, Jacob had been among the Shechemites. He had been among these individuals for a period of time, and yet Jacob was to stir himself. He was to arise. He was to return to Bethel and to abide there. He was to remain there. I wonder, do you see yourself in Jacob? Maybe you've been sitting somewhere for too long, sitting in one place spiritually for too long, and God is calling you. He's saying, arise. Arise, go up to Bethel. Arise out of your backsliding. Arise out of your coldness. Get moving again for God. I wonder what is your identification with and your attendance at the house of God? You know, for many, they simply visit God's house. They visit God's house. And they do so, as one preacher put it, for hatches, matches, and dispatches. Hatches, matches, and dispatches. Births, marriages, and deaths. And that's the only time that they ever visit the house of God. Sadly, few ever come to dwell at the house of God. They never make any local assembly their spiritual home. Maybe that's a matter that you need to get addressed in coming days. But I'll leave that with you. We would do well to have the spirit of David the psalmist who said this about the house of God. He said, one thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after that I may dwell. I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. Psalm 27 in the verse number 4. Jacob was to dwell at Bethel. He was to put his roots down in Bethel because God knew that such a move would be beneficial to him as an individual and beneficial to him and his family. You see, living in Shechem only had brought heartache. I'm not going to go into the details of that. You can read Genesis 34 for yourself this afternoon. What tragedy occurred when he lived in Shechem and so God was to move Jacob from such a place and he says get back to the house of God. Get back, get out of the world and get back to the house of God. Get back to the place of worship. Get back to the place of fellowship and communion. Get back to the place where I met with thee before. You see, the place that Jacob was to bring up his family was Bethel, the house of God. Now you'll know that this is how the church is referred to in the New Testament by Paul. When he comes to write to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3 verse 15, he says, Jacob, the safest place for you and your family is the house of God. It's Bethel. I say, brother, The best place, the safest place to bring up your family is in the house of God. I know that there is the temptation to have your children running to this sports club and to that athletic organization, but the best place for your children is the house of God. Think of it. Think of what this place was to Jacob. This place was the place of transformation. Jacob was changed at Bethel. And it was also the place of hallowed and sweet communion. And that's where our children need to be raised. in the place where God transforms lies and where he comes to commune with those whom he has transformed through the preached word. Oh may God impress upon our hearts and our minds this reality that the best place, the only place to raise your children is in the house of God. May we not be visitors at the house of God, but may we be dwellers. May we be like the psalmist who said in Psalm 84 verse 10, Am I addressing someone? who finds themselves watching in on a weekly basis, it's time to get back to the house of God, to the place of public worship, to be present when the people of God meet, It's time to return to the house of God. So let's think not only about this particular directive that is given. I want to think about a second point. And that's really the particulars regarding the return. The particulars regarding this return to the house of God. Note with me, first of all, the purpose for the return. Now that purpose is clearly set forth, first of all, in God's words to Jacob. And God said to Jacob, arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. and make there an altar unto God, and that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. This purpose is then brought to our attention, set forth in Jacob's words to his family in the verse number three. Let us arise, go up to Bethel, and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. A return to the place of worship, where Christ was central And that worship was one of the reasons why Jacob was to return to Bethel. You see, the altar was the place of sacrifice. The altar was the place of bloodshedding. It points us to the cross of Jesus Christ. And God was reminding Jacob that he and his family, they needed to worship at the location where Christ and his cross work were set forth. This is the place to raise your children. The house of God where Christ and His cross work are set forth. We preach Christ crucified. Why? Because that is the message that both the saint and the sinner needs to hear. And that's where you should worship on the Lord's day. Now I know that there are young people and you're here and someday that you'll marry and maybe there will be a choice that you'll have to make with regard to the particular church in where you will worship God. Make sure the cross of Jesus Christ is front and center. The church can have all the activities for your children and all the bells and whistles But if Christ crucified is not preached, don't be going. Don't be going. Christ crucified. The altar, the place of sacrifice, the place of blood shedding. You know, the altar was not only the place of sacrifice, the altar was also a place of consecration. place of consecration, that the direction of God, Jacob, was to return to the place that he had consecrated his life 30 years previously. And now he wants Jacob to make a fresh, a fresh consecration to God. You know, such is something that we as believers, we need to do on a regular basis. You know, it's all very well and good looking back 10, 20, 30 years ago. at our consecration to God. But what about our consecration to God? What does it look like today? Are we still as zealous for God as we once were? Are we as dedicated to Him? Are we still in love with Him as when we first came to faith? Are we still engaged in the work of God as we once were in the past? If not, then the question that comes to us is, who then is willing to consecrate his servants this day on to the Lord? Oh, I trust that the response from my heart and your heart is, I am. I am. That it was a place of consecration. The purpose of the return was to return to the place of worship where the cross was front and central. Not only do we see the purpose for the return, we also see the preparation for the return. For Jacob gives instruction to his family in the verse number 2 as they prepare to leave Shechem and they make their way to Bethel. Put away the strange gods that are among you. and be clean and change your garments. Now that instruction, though it was costly, was obeyed and heeded by the family. And we know that from the verse number four. And they gave on to Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. Jacob, as the head of the family, was reminding the family that God would have no rival. God would have no rival. Thus, all other strange gods, all other foreign gods that they had picked up on their journey, those gods must be put away. And he was also reminding his family that God must be worshipped in purity. For we read here that there was first of all there was to be personal purity that was first of all inward purity. He says in verse number two, and be ye clean. I believe this wasn't a cleansing of the hands or the outward. I believe that this was a cleansing of the heart. And so there was to be an inward cleaning, and then there was to be an outward purity. There was to be inward purity, be ye clean, and then there was to be outward purity. And notice the order. Inward purity first, and then outward purity. That's how God does it. God cleanses our hearts, sanctifies our hearts, and then he sanctifies even as we appear at the house of God. There was a change of garments. They did not come in the garments that they came as it were in their day-to-day garments, their day-to-day clothes. No, there was a change of garments. There was a cleansing of heart. And so there was a putting away of gods and there was then a putting on of that which was right and that which is proper. We are to put off the old man and we are to put on the new man. I wonder what idols, what strange gods do we have in our lives that need to be put away today? Maybe it's the idol or it's the god of materialism. That's a god. We become so consumed in the pursuit of financial gain that we have no time to give to the Lord. There's a God that needs to be put away. What about the strange God of ungodly media? Oh, many can't even find time to come to God's house. They struggle to sit through a sermon. But they have no problem staring at their screens for hours and hours, consuming the world's media. You can find them in God's book, but they're on Facebook, and they're in their Instagram accounts, and TikTok, and YouTube, and other social media sites. Maybe the ungodly media needs to be put away. What about the God of worldly music? I ask today, are those albums on your iTunes and your Spotify accounts, are they godly? Are they holding you back in your spiritual progress? What about the God, the idol of your pastimes? Hobbies, while not sinful in themselves, can be turned into idols, taking the place of God. Oh, there are Christians that can't even give an R, R to God, on a Wednesday night for prayer in God's house, but they can watch their football match. attend some other gathering. Oh, what strange gods do we need to put away in our lives? May God deal with our hearts. May we be willing to say the dearest idol I have known, whate'er that idol be, help me to tear it from thy throne and worship only thee. The altar was a place of re-consecration to God. Here I am again, Lord. Yes, 30 years. You've guided, you've led, you've provided for me. Here I am in a fresh act of consecration. Here I am. I give my life. I bring my family to thee. I lay it, as it were, on the altar. And anything that is there in my life that is displeasing, I put away. will lead us in an act of fresh dedication and re-consecration to God. Let's dig, as it were, a metaphorical hole in the ground today. Let's bury our strange gods. Let's bury our idols and all of its associated trappings. As we come to the house of God to worship Him as individuals and as families, let us do so with clean hands and a pure heart. God would have no other rival. All strange gods put away. Inward purity, outward purity, as we come to worship the living God. Think about the participants in the return. While Bethel held a special place in Jacob's heart, Jacob did not make this journey alone. He didn't say to his family, now you stay at home and I'm going to make my way to Bethel myself. No, the entire family. In fact, it is the entire household staff, along with the family that make their way to Bethel. That's seen in the words of the verse number six. So Jacob came to Laz, which is in the land of Canaan. That is Bethel. He and all the people that were with him. The head of the home is taking the lead in worship. The head of the home is taking the lead in worship, and the family follow him. No one was left behind. Every member of Jacob's family, as well as the household staff, were present at the house of God. When God's people gather for worship, Are all the members of the family there? Are they all present? I'm aware that children get sick from time to time and so do adults. But we should endeavor to have all the family present at the house of God. Jacob had them all there. The entire family. The mothers of the children, the children, the household staff. all at Bethel, not one left, someone else looking after the child, all at the house of God. I want to say something to the mothers of this congregation who struggle with their children. Maybe you go home and you sit and cry because you feel embarrassed because of the behavior of your children. I want to say something to you, Mother. I want you to be encouraged, and I want to encourage you to keep at it. You keep at it. Every godly Christian in this congregation is praying for you as a mother, and they are supportive of your attempts to see your children exposed to the truth of God's Word. Those regularly And in your estimation, those noisy children of yours will learn over time how to behave at the house of God. But they will only ever do that in situ, on site, in God's house. I commend the families of this congregation for your determination. have your little ones under the preached word, morning and evening. May that continue among us. The season will pass, Mother. They will sit. The season will pass. May God give you grace and help and comfort your heart if you feel discouraged today. Think with me finally quickly about the impact of this return. And as we think about that, I direct your attention to the words in the verse number seven. It says, and he built there an altar and called the place El Bethel, because there God appeared unto him when he fled from the face of his brother. Having previously recalled and renamed the city of Las Bethel on his first visit, Jacob now takes to renaming the place again. This time it is with the name El Bethel, which simply means the God of the house of God. Note the slight but the significant shift in the name of the place. You see, whereas before Jacob, when he first met with God at this particular locality, It seems to be that he was impressed with the place, the house of God. But now he's impressed with the person of the place. It's now the God of the house of God. It doesn't really matter about what Bethel is like as a locality, whether it's aesthetically pleasing to the eye or not. All that matters to Jacob is that God is there. God is there. I have met with the God of the house of God. And that's all I want for this place. Yes, it is proper and it is right that God's house is well-maintained and is comfortable for us to worship in. But the lasting impression that must be made upon the minds and the hearts of all those who come through the church door buildings in its present or in its future state must be that God is here. God is here. Bethel. the God of the house of God. This is where I meet with God. This is where God deals with my heart. This is where God sanctifies me. This is where God wounds me. This is where God speaks to me and comforts me and directs me and guides me. I meet with God. Oh, to pray therefore to that end. May God enable us to pray to that end, that we would meet with God, and that our children would meet with God, and that our young people would meet with God, and that those of an older age, that they would meet with God, because when you meet with God, that is life changing, and it is eternity impacting. When you meet with God, And so what impressed this man was not the aesthetics of the place, but rather it was the one whom he met there. And so he says, this place will be forever known as the place where I met with the God of the house of God. Arise, go up to Bethel. Dwell there. Don't just visit. Put down your roots. Dwell there. And as you make your way to God's house, put away all your strange gods. For God will have no other rival. Cleanse your hearts. Change your garments. appear before me as those who have been cleansed and washed in the blood of Christ, and whose even outward appearance is that which is befitting the one that we come to meet, holy God." Jacob returned to Bethel. May God help us to return to El Bethel, the God of the house of God. May all who name the name of Jesus Christ obey this command until we are called to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. In other words, we're brought to and into the Father's house, heaven itself. and therefore evermore we will dwell in the house of God. May God challenge every heart for Christ's sake. Amen. Let's bow our heads in prayer together. Our loving Father and our gracious God in heaven, We draw nigh to Thee in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior. We desire, O God, that we might meet with Thee. We pray, O God, that as we assemble at a place of public worship, that our longing, our desire would be to meet with the God of that place, the God of heaven. We pray, O God, that we might therefore put away all that which is grieving to Thee, that which would be a rival to Thee. We pray, O God, that we might know what it is to have Christ as our center and as our focus. We pray, O God, that Thou will cleanse my life and my heart, reveal to me the gods, the idols, Lord, erected in my heart, I pray, Help me, Lord, as the family head to lead my family. Help us to lead by example. Help us to be present in the house of God. We understand that there are those and they care for loved ones. We know that others are sick. We know, dear God, that they're individuals. Lord, we commit them to thee and we pray that thou will give Lord continued grace. Lord, we pray that God, as we gather together for those O God, you are able and are well, O God, that we'll be able to be all present in the house of God, father, mother, children, all present, going up to God's house and saying, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. Oh, we thank thee for the great transformation that happened in Jacob's life. We thank thee that he met Christ at Bethel. He met the Savior. What change that was. Oh, that, Lord, those who are unsaved who gather with us week after week, that they would meet with the Savior in the gospel. They will come to believe on Him and trust in Him for salvation. Lord, that it will be so transforming. Lord, that they'll ever remember this place as their birthplace, the place where they were born again off the Holy Spirit. Lord, we pray that Father, Your presence Thyself more and more even among us in answer to prayer. And grant, dear Father, not us to come, Lord, with a lethargetic spirit, Lord, with a casual spirit to the house of God. But may we come to understand that we're going to God's house. We're going to hear His Word. Oh, to be instructed and schooled as pupils under the word of God. Answer, now these are prayers. Glorify thy son. Take everything that has been of God. Let everything that is of man fall to the ground. But everything that has been of God, put it into our hearts. Help us to live it out in our lives. And may the blessing of the triune Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be upon all of thy believing people. We offer prayer in and through the Savior's great...