The Day of New Beginnings

Arise and Go Up to Bethel

 

Gen. 35:  
1 ¶ Then God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother."
2 And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments.
3 "Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and 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 I have gone."
4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.
 
“Arise and go up to Bethel and dwell there…” We are to ascend spiritually to Bethel, which means “House of God”. We are to do more than just ascend however, we are to dwell there. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also (John 14).”  “The eternal God is a dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms (Deut. 33).” 
 
The above passage from John is not speaking about a literal second coming, but refers to the spiritual dwelling place we ascend to in God. Just as there is an abiding place for the body of Christ as a whole to dwell and function, there is also ascension into a unique dwelling place for each one of us individually. God has prepared a place for each of us, a unique place in which His calling and purpose for our lives can be fully realized. 
 
In Bethel Jacob was to make an altar to God. As we ascend into our Bethel, our worship is established before God. Many dealings and the work of the cross bring us to our Bethel. Through it all God establishes a pure worship. True worship doesn’t come through what we normally think of as blessings, but the worship God looks for comes through much tribulation and adversity. The sum total of the dealings of God in our lives produces a broken and contrite spirit which yields a pure worship to the Lord.
 
 
In verse two Jacob tells his household and all who are with him to put away 
their foreign gods, to purify themselves, and to change their garments. What are the foreign gods in our lives? Each of us must see them for ourselves. 1st John 3:2-3 says, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” It’s the purification of our spirits that enables us to ascend into that place of His appearing. It’s in Bethel, the realm of His appearing that we are changed into His likeness. This is typified in verses five through 15. It’s at Bethel that God confirms Jacob’s new name as Israel. Jacob’s new name represents a change in nature. 
 
Jacob also tells his household to change their garments. Rev. 19:8 says, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” 
 
Notice how verse three begins. “Then let us arise and go up to Bethel…” It’s the purification of our spirits and the changing of our garments that brings us to our Bethel. In verse four Jacob takes all the foreign gods and hides them under the terebinth tree. That is exactly where our foreign gods must go as well. They must be hidden under the tree, which is the cross.
 
5 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.
6 ¶ So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him.
7 And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.
8 But Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.
9 And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.
10 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.
11 And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;
12 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.
13 And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.
14 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 he poured oil thereon.
15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him Bethel.
 
It’s only after Jacob comes to Bethel that the promises of God become a reality. On several occasions the Lord appeared to Abraham and told him He would give him the land. There finally came a time, however, when God told Abraham, “I have given you the land (Gen. 15).” It became a done deal. So it is with Jacob here. As we ascend into our Bethel, we find the Lord sealing us and establishing us. We enter a realm where we can inherit His unique purposes for our lives.