God Renews His Promise

God Renews His Promise

Text: Genesis 34, 35

Focus: 35:1-15

We have been studying about Jacob(the supplanter) who did become Israel(the prince). We watched him steal the birth rite and the blessing from Esau. We watched as he fled to Haran to escape the death threats of Esau. We watched him as it seemed he met his match with Laban, his mother's brother. We watched him as he toiled 14 long years for Rachel the love of his life. We watch as he escaped Laban and returned to Canaan land and he made peace with Esau. Now lets see him deal with his family. A family that have also watched and been a part most of these things happen.

The one constant of life is things will change. God says things will come and they will pass. Jacob had grown both materially and spiritually. God had seen that Jacob had become wealthy when he returned to Canaan land but money won't solve the problems Jacob had when he returned.

By the "Grace" of God, Jacob was now called Israel and he was able to take his place as the Patriarch of the nation of Israel and successor to the promises of Abraham. He had learned to turn things over to God.

Does Israel do everything right? No, and we must keep in mind that Satan lingers in the background to somehow try to stop the future Christ Child.

What we must see is that God never forgets His promises. We need to stay in God's Word so we will know just what God promises to each and every one of us.

The Bible says:

2Pe 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
2Pe 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

*****Our text:

Gen 35:1 And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.
Gen 35:2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:
Gen 35:3 And let us arise, and 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.
Gen 35:4 And they gave unto 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.

If you want to see a modern day teenager, then see Dinah the daughter of Jacob. She has her eye on the world and the world reaches out to destroy her. The world we live in right now is trying to destroy all our children. They cannot get out in public without some evilness trying to take them over. For Dinah it was rape. For many it is drugs or alcohol, or smoking and the many other things.

Just to see how much we have progressed in our day. About one out of every six women in the world have been a victim of rape. On the opposite side only one out of every sixteen rapist ever spend one day in jail.

AND We call ourselves civilized! In the time of Dinah any female caught alone was considered free game by the Canaanites. We cannot condone the actions of Levi and Simeon for they went overboard with their vengeance, but we can see that the world will not punish it's own vile persons. There is always some lawyer around to make sure Their Rights Are Not Violated. That's a slap in the face to the victim of the crime. Just recently we see lawyers coming out of the wood work to defend a murderer of many people in Arizona. Some are there to try to stop capitol punishment, that is authorized by God, regardless that this man killed innocent adults and a precious child. Where are their rights? They will be buried and soon forgotten by the world but that trial will be headlines to make sure this killers rights are not violated. This is the world we live in.

God says:

2Ti 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
2Ti 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

But what we can also see is that if Jacob had done what God said for him to do, none of this might not have happened.

The Bible says:

Gen 31:13 I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.

Isaac lived by the well Lahairoi, near Kadesh, southwest of Beersheba.

The Bible says:

Gen 25:11 And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.

This where Jacob had fled from Esau. Jacob knew this but he decided on his own to do other wise and there is always reasons God tells us things. We can miss out on a lot of evil if we will just obey God's Word.

Jacob stopped at Succoth, a city of Shechem and built him a house:

Gen 33:17 And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
Gen 33:18 And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padanaram; and pitched his tent before the city.
Gen 33:19 And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for an hundred pieces of money.
Gen 33:20 And he erected there an altar, and called it Elelohe-Israel. (The Mighty God of Israel)(He will rule as God of Israel)

This is this the same place where Abraham first stopped on his journey:

Gen 12:6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
Gen 12:7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.

This was not the place that God told Jacob to go, nor did he tell him to stay. There was no need to build the house.

Jacob lived in Shechem for ten years and Bethel was only 30 miles away. There are many who move to surrender to God but fall short by so little. We will always fall short when we do not obey God. There was a rich man one time:

Luk 18:18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Luk 18:19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
Luk 18:20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
Luk 18:21 And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.
Luk 18:22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
Luk 18:23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.

There has never been much worship of God in this place of Shechem. For instance Jesus stopped by this place one day in his travels:

The Bible says:

Joh 4:3 He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.
Joh 4:4 And he must needs go through Samaria.
Joh 4:5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
Joh 4:6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
Joh 4:7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
Joh 4:8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
Joh 4:9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
Joh 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
Joh 4:11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
Joh 4:12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
Joh 4:13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
Joh 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
Joh 4:15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

And:

Joh 4:21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23 [But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him].

Just as Jesus had told these, Jacob told his family under the direction of God:

"Then Jacob said unto his household, and to 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;"

What and where is Bethel?

Physically speaking Bethel is the place where Jacob had stopped when he first ran
from Esau. It was called Luz by the Canaanites.

Gen 28:16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, [Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not].
Gen 28:17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! [this is none other but the house of God], and [this is the gate of heaven].
Gen 28:18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.
Gen 28:19 And [he called the name of that place Bethel]: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.

It was called Luz after some Almond or Hazelnut tree that grew there.

Not so to Jacob. It was the "Bethel" The House of God. Jacob felt it was the gateway to Heaven because he said "Surely the Lord is in this place".

No matter where you are in your spiritual life if you can find your Bethel, your true "House of God" you will see that the Lord is truly in that place. The local Bible believing Church is the place to start your look.

It is a commandment of God:

Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

What is a church?

Mat 18:18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Mat 18:19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

If you have not gathered in the name of Jesus you are not in a "House of God". You have not found "Bethel". The Lord "must" be in that place.

When Jacob first found Bethel he found what is best known as Jacob's ladder:

Gen 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
Gen 28:13 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 liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
Gen 28:14 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 the families of the earth be blessed.

This is where he received the assurance of the Covenant Promise to Abraham.

Notice the Lord was at the top of the ladder.

Now the words of Jesus:

Joh 1:51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

Notice the Lord is at the bottom of the ladder at this time. He is Christ Jesus, The God-Man on Earth in the flesh.

We can see these things clearly if we are in Bethel, "The House of God".

What are some of the things we need to do before going to the "House of God"?

1.) Put away all the strange gods that are amongst us.

"strange" would mean heathen, things that are foreign to the "House of God".

Remember Rachel had stolen the images of her father Laban and there is no telling what the children of Jacob had been taught. He had not stopped it but it was time to put and end to all these things and these false gods.

2.) Be clean.

Repent be physically clean ask for God to forgive our sin.

Act 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
Act 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

Act 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Act 3:20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
Act 3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

3.) Change your garments:

Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Notice Jacob buried all the evil:

Isa 2:20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;
Isa 2:21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

Oh by the way, those earings were not worn as mere ornaments, they were not just jewelry but they were for superstitious purposes; perhaps as amulets or charms, first consecrated to some false god, or formed under some constellation, and stamped with magical characters.

You see there are some things we must do for the House of God to be that Spiritual House of Salvation for us. We cannot do these things on our own we need the help of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must be washed in His Blood to get this clean. There are those that try it on their own and fail:

The Bible says:

Mat 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
Mat 12:44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
Mat 12:45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

When you are cleaned you must fill that empty place with the Holy Spirit or those evil spirits will return.

Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

There is no safety valve. There is no room for error. There is only one way!

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

******Our Text:

Gen 35:5 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.
Gen 35:6 So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him.
Gen 35:7 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.
Gen 35:8 But Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.
Gen 35:9 And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.
Gen 35:10 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.

Until we get to Heaven we will have no way of knowing just how many times God has protected us from evil. God had encamped his angels around Jacob and his family when Laban had chased them down.

Gen 32:1 And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
Gen 32:2 And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

Mahanaim means (the double camp)(one camp of angels encamped around the camp of Jacob)

The time of Elisha:

2Ki 6:15 And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?
2Ki 6:16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
2Ki 6:17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

There are many times that God just will not allow harm to come to His children.

Jacob built an altar: Elbethel

We have already seen that Bethel means the "House of God".
Elbethel means the "God, of the House of God".

Anyone and everyone should be welcome into the House of God but if you do not meet the God of the House of God and seek a personal relationship with Him then you have missed out on knowing the truth.

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

You see the difference between these two is the difference in knowing the Word of God and "the God, of the Word".

We study the Word of God to know the God of the Word. Our relationship must be a personal relationship with our Lord. We should strive to learn as much about our Lord as we can.

God had kept His promise and returned Jacob safely to Bethel. Jacob built an altar and led all his family in worship of the true God. You know the front of the Church is not the only place to build altars to the Lord. We need an altar to the Lord in our homes, or place of work, our cars, our closet or place of prayer and anywhere we can meet God because we can meet God anywhere because of the Cross.

The Bible says:

Mar 15:37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.
Mar 15:38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.

This opened the way for every one to go straight into the throne room of God. To go into the Most Holy Place beyond the veil.

You see have Jesus, who is the anchor of our soul, who is within the veil and our soul cannot be taken again by the devil:

Heb 6:17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
Heb 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
Heb 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;

Will sorrow still come?

Jacob loses in a very short time:

1.) His old nurse: This was the nurses to Rebekah his mother. No doubt his early years were surrounded by her raising.

Gen 35:8 But Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.

You see even in Bethel there will be a place of weeping.

2.) His beloved Rachel dies, giving birth to his twelfth son Benjamin.

Benjamin: "The son of my right hand"

Gen 35:19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.

Notice in this same place:

Mic 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Would come Jesus the, Son of God's Right Hand.

3.) His father Isaac dies at the age of 180 years and we see that Jacob and Esau are still civil with each other.

Gen 35:29 And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

God appeared again to Jacob and said again he would be known as Israel but God also said that He(God) would be known as El Shaddai, the all powerful God. God would not be known as Jehovah until the time of Moses.

The Bible says:

Exo 6:2 And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD:
Exo 6:3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.

*****Our text:

Gen 35:11 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;
Gen 35:12 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.
Gen 35:13 And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.
Gen 35:14 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.
Gen 35:15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel.

Another writer wrote it this way:

The history of Israel as detailed in the Bible encompasses around 1800 years. It proclaims a dynamic account of God's miracles, judgments, promises, and blessings. Israel begins as a unilateral promise to one man, Abraham. For more than 400 years, Abraham and his descendants rely on that promise, even during a significant period of slavery in Egypt. Then, by means of an amazing series of miraculous events, God delivers the Israelites of out Egypt in the Exodus (Hebrew: "a going out"). The Exodus is the occasion that most Jews look to as the foundation of the nation of Israel. The Exodus is the act of deliverance which Israelites dwell on as the demonstration of God's love and protection of Israel. Once the Exodus was completed, God established a conditional covenant with the Israelites at the Mountain of Sinai. It is there that God proclaimed His Law (the Ten Commandments). It is there that God promises blessings for adherence to His Law and curses for noncompliance. The rest of Israel's history as recorded in the Bible is a continuing cycle of blessing and punishment for Israel's obedience and disobedience to God's Law. Throughout times of victory and defeat, king and judges, priests and prophets, restoration and exile - the Israelites are blessed when they obey God and disciplined when they do not. As a nation, Israel was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. At that time, the Jews scattered throughout the whole world, keeping the hope based on prophetic promises of an eventual regathering to the chosen land God gave to Israel. In 1948, after almost 1900 years had passed, Israel was again declared a sovereign nation and officially reestablished in the promised land. Through a series of miraculous events, including the Jews retaking of Jerusalem in 1967, this generation is witnessing the fulfillment of prophecy with respect to God's special nation.

The AbrahamicCovenant is the most binding covenant on the face of this Earth. Because Jesus Christ is of the seed of this covenant it still exist as God's promise through this very day. There is still a King that will sit on the throne of Israel:

The Bible says:

Joh 18:33 Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?
Joh 18:34 Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?
Joh 18:35 Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?
Joh 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
Joh 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

And when He comes again:

Rev 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

1Ti 6:14 That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:
1Ti 6:15 Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;
1Ti 6:16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

The Apostle Paul says it best I think:

1Ti 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; [of whom I am chief.] (my name can go here how about yours)
1Ti 1:16 Howbeit for this cause [I obtained mercy], that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, [for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting].
1Ti 1:17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

A literal pouring out of water or oil or wine has long been symbolic of a person’s pouring out all of himself, with no reservation, even his blood, in devotion to his Maker, Christ.

At a time of deep penitence, when “all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD,” Samuel asked “all Israel” to gather:

1Sa 7:5 And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the LORD.
1Sa 7:6 And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the LORD. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.

This history inspired a nameless poet to write a heart-touching song, “Poured Out Like Wine”:

Would you be poured out like wine upon the altar for Me?
Would you be broken like bread to feed the hungry?
Would you be so one with Me that you would do just as I will?
Would you be light and life and love My Word fulfilled?
Yes, I’ll be poured out like wine upon the altar for You.
Yes, I’ll be broken like bread to feed the hungry.
Yes, I’ll be so one with You that I would do just as You will.
Yes, I’ll be light and life and love Your Word fulfilled.

Jacob poured his drink-offering on a stone, but his descendants under the law of Moses poured their drink-offerings on animals being sacrificed on the altar, a quart of wine on a lamb or kid, a third of a gallon on a ram, and a half-gallon on a bull (Exodus 29:40; Numbers 15:1-10). The flaming wine of these drink-offerings was “an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD” (Numbers 15:10,KJV)

In the New Testament, each person at his baptism lays, not the dead body of an animal, but his own body upon the altar of human service, “a living sacrifice, dedicated and acceptable to God,” a “spiritual service” for the rest of his life, 24 hours a day (Romans 12:1).

In the Old Testament the sacrifice was not complete without the pouring out of wine on the burning animal (Numbers 15:1-10). That becomes a type of a Christian’s pouring out of himself, even his life, to make his sacrifice complete. Paul used the word spendomai, “I am poured out or offered as a libation (in the shedding of my life-blood),” (Abbott-Smith, p. 413).

To the Philippians Paul wrote:

Php 2:17 Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice[spendomai] and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.

We can never underestimate the power of God to keep His Promises no matter how impossible or improbable they may seem to us. Our own salvation lies in the hands of Our Righteous God, who never breaks His Promises.

Paul wrote again:

1Co 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

This also will come to pass.

You know there is a "Bethel" in the life of every believer. That's a good place to offer up our selves as servants to God.

That's the place to pour out ourselves before the Lord. Amen.

We must leave Shechem and bury all that is behind us to ever get there! Amen.

Let's pray!