Title: The Land We Should Have
Contents
Bible Verse: Genesis 35:1-7
1) And God said to Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there;
God, who appeared to you when you fled from Esau's face, commanded you to build an altar there.
2) And Jacob said to his house, and to men, and to all who were with him, Among you
Throw away the foreign gods that exist, purify yourself, and change your clothes.
3) Let us get up and go up to Bethel, and He will answer me in the day of my trouble, on the way I go.
I will build an altar there to God who is with me.
4) They gave Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their hands and the earrings that were in their ears.
So Jacob buried them under an oak tree near Shechem.
5) They left, but God made the towns all around him greatly feared, so Jacob
No one pursued the sons.
6) And Jacob and all who were with him came to Luz, which is Bethel, in the land of Canaan.
7) And he built an altar there, and called the place El Bethel, because of the face of his brother.
When he escaped, there God appeared to him.
I. There is no blessing from God in the land of Shechem, which I went to for happiness.
After breaking up with his older brother Esau, the land that Jacob went to was Shechem. In the land of Shechem, the colorful and rich culture of Canaan was developed. When Jacob was fleeing to his uncle Laban's house because he was afraid of his older brother Esau, he met Jehovah God and was promised God's protection and material blessings. He called the land Bethel. And he made an oath to pay tithes to God and to serve only Jehovah God. However, when his relationship with his older brother Esau was restored and his fears passed, he moved to the land of Shechem for a comfortable and prosperous life rather than the promised land of Bethel for his life.
While Jacob settled in Shechem, his daughter Dinah was ravaged by the chieftain of Shechem. The brothers, who were indignant at this, eventually slaughtered the men of Shechem, a cruel act that was done to Jacob's family. Jacob was afraid of retaliation from the tribes of Canaan. When Jacob was afraid and did not know what to do, the Lord God appeared to him and said, Only then does Jacob decide to return to the land of Bethel, which he had promised with God.
Ⅱ. The blessed land we should go to is Bethel.
God appeared to Jacob and commanded, “Leave the land of Shechem, go up to Bethel, and live there and build an altar for worship.” The land of Shechem, which Jacob chose for his happy life, was the land of false abundance. As a result, Jacob suffered a miserable past in the land of Shechem. The land that God, who looked at Jacob's pity, had directed for Jacob's happiness, was like a desolate wilderness with little visible abundance. However, it was a land where God, the Lord of all abundance, resided.
In the land of Bethel, God instructed Jacob to live the life he should live three times in succession. It was ‘living as a worshiper who builds an altar’. It does not mean that you should not forget worship in your life, but rather that your whole life be a worship that fears God. God's promise to Jacob in Bethel, the land of worship, was that he would become “a God who answers the day of trouble and is with you on the way.” The promises God made to those who truly worshiped God were ‘God’s protection’, ‘God’s future promises and blessings’, and ‘God’s healing and restoration’. In order to truly worship God, we must first give up what we regard as God, love, serve, and pursue. We must also repent of our bodies and minds defiled by sin and evil. And you have to show a new and changed way of life.
The most basic way to show that you are a worshiper who fears God according to God's command is to offer public worship with respect. It is the most basic Christian life. where are you now Do you sometimes come up to Bethel while living in the land of Shechem? Or are you glorifying God by living in the land of Bethel? Jehovah God commands. Leave Shechem, and go up to Bethel.