Text: Gen 28, 32, 35, Title: Remember When God Appeared , Date/Place: NRBC, 1.13.13, AM
A. Opening illustration: "sir what was it that i said in my message that caused you to come and get saved?"
B. Background to passage: I want to trace the route of God’s work in Jacob’s life as it relates to spiritual
renewal. This is a great case study for a man of faith who experienced many ups and downs in his walk with
God over many years. At this point he is very low. He is the hollow shell of a follower of Yahweh. He is
outwardly reminiscent of a believer, but inwardly he didn’t look much of a believer. Then late in his life,
God calls him back to a place for a time of remembrance and renewal. The tragedy of chapter 34 probably
had reduced him to a position of brokenness, so maybe he was listening for the first time in a long time.
(BTW, don’t wait for tragedy to cause you to seek God afresh. So in the text of Gen 35, we are going back to
Bethel, after the third major theophany of Jacob’s life. God calls him to remember the other two as He calls
Jacob to a closer walk with Thee.
C. Main thought: Renewal requires remembrance and repentance
A. Remember Bethel (v. 1)
1. In this verse God tells Jacob to go back to Bethel (presumably from Shechem) and live there. So he
gathered up his family and got ready to leave (more on that in a minute). But why Bethel? Is this just
some random vacation spot. No, it is the place in which God first appeared to Jacob “when he fled from
the face of Esau.” That is key. God is calling Jacob to remember this encounter. So turn back to Gen
28:10-22, and let’s look at what God wants Jacob to remember.
This is the stairway to heaven account. Jacob is in a lonely, depressed, fearful situation. Would he ever
see his father, mother, brother again? Would Esau kill him? How would he survive? Where would he
go? He lay down on a rock under the stars, and in a dream, God came and showed him a portal of servants
who come and go on the earth. Then God speaks to him, tells him He is with him, and will remain
with him, eventually bringing him back to Bethel. He wakes up, knows God was there, builds and altar
(making a spiritual marker), names the place “house of God,” and makes a vow based on God’s promises
to do three things. Some say this was his conversion. But it obviously made a huge impact! And in the
years that followed, his memory and his relationship to God faded…
Rev 2:5, 3:3,
Illustration: "The tragedy of the modern church is they want the Old Time Religion w/o the Old Time
Relationship!" ~Carter Conlon, share of the feelings that overwhelmed me when God called me to preach
Usually for businesses, communities, churches, and individuals, living in the past is not a good thing.
But when we are talking about spiritual markers, it’s helpful. But usually spiritual markers have to do
with communicating the works of God to future generation in the form of a lasting, standing testimony.
Here, God’s point is to remember God breaking into Jacob’s life. He wants not just the action, but the
Actor to be remembered. He wants the significance to be reborn in Jacob. He wanted the fire and passion
rekindled in Jacob’s heart. He wanted the sense of wonder and awe of His initial work in Jacob’s life
to reinvade his heart. He wants Jacob to return to a sacred piece of ground because it marked a sacred,
watershed moment in his life.
One place to start in a pursuit of spiritual renewal is to remember a time of divine impact in your life,
especially the point of His initial work in your life. When did God first come near? Where were you?
How did it happen? How did it feel? What were the initial results over the next few days and weeks?
Jacob said, “How awesome is this place!!!” Don’t aim to go back to 1961 or 1981, but aim to go back
to the closeness that you felt in the weeks after you got saved. We aren’t aiming for the geographical
location, nor the chronological point, but for the affection and excitement and lack of inhibitors of your
relationship to the greatest Treasure in the universe. Like the church at Ephesus, have you lost your first
love? Are there things that have gotten in the way? Can you identify them?
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B. Remember Peniel (v. 9-10)
1. God called Jacob to remember another spiritual pinnacle in his life in order that he experience renewal.
There was a time that the author recounts of when God visited Jacob “again, when he came back from
Paddan Aram.” This is the very familiar wrestling match with the Angel of the Lord. So let’s look in Gen
32:22-32.
2. The setting here is that Jacob has been gone now for 20 years in Paddan Aram, working for Laban, his
father in law. During that time he has married a wife or two, and had a kid or two by them and their
maidservants. He and Laban have had it out, and he has left to come back to Canaan. Esau was waiting
on his little bro to return. Jacob was scared. So much so that he divided up his family so they wouldn’t all
be killed, and sent servants with an incredible gift, hoping to assuage Esau’s anger before they got there.
So the night that they crossed the Jordan River at the Jabbok, all the family had taken the ferry over, and
Jacob got stuck wrestling with a man, all night long. The “man” touched the socket of Jacob’s hip before
daybreak, and wounded, submissive, Jacob hung on for a blessing, an assurance (the word means to kneel
down before). Here is the reference: name change, Jacob to Israel—“one who struggled with God.” And
Jacob called the place Peniel which means that he saw God face to face and lived; although he limped the
rest of his life.
3. Argumentation
4. Illustration: It is awesome to realize that one brief moment in the presence of God can so impact your entire
life that you are never the same again. Twenty-eight years ago I turned the television on and watched Billy
Graham preach to thousands of people in one of his crusades. I can't explain the feeling I had that night,
but for the first time in my life, I knew God was real. I was in awe of His great love and realized my
need for Him in my life. Although I didn't physically see God or audibly hear Him, I knew I was in His
presence as I reached out, I was instantly transformed as I asked Jesus into my life. “O, God of wonder,
enlarge my capacity to be amazed at what is amazing, and end my attraction to the insignificant.” -Piper
5. To see God’s face means to come to a full revelation of God, at least as much as one could stand and live.
Jacob knew that he shouldn’t be alive. He saw God, and was still breathing. God wants us to capture a
fresh breath of His holiness. If we for one moment could be in the sheer, unadulterated of God presence
(which is what face to face with God means) and live, every aspect of our being would be different!
Things of this world would not grow strangely dim, they would be completely obliterated! The things
that we long for here would not seem a distance memory, but they would be completely and totally
forgotten about. The most valuable things to us, to the planet, would now be seen as trash, encumbrances,
hindrances, obstacles, clouds thwarting our sight of pure joy! The worries and fears and heartaches of this
life will be seen as merely chuckles in the light of His face. God wants you to see Him as He really is!
He wants you to seek His presence! God is crying out over us, look to Me, see Me, be enraptured by My
presence. If we want renewal we must see Him!
C. Remember the Fear of Isaac (v. 2)
1. Finally, let’s go back to v. 3 and to Gen 31, and see that Jacob, when he thought about meeting with God,
he realized his impurity. In Gen 31 when Laban and Jacob finally decided to part ways, and swore and
oath about it, Jacob told Laban that were it not for “the God of Abraham, and the Fear of Isaac” he would
have been overcome. Jacob, even though walking far from God, as evidenced by the idolatry among his
family and the acceptance of sexual immorality and intermarriage, knew that God was to be feared. And
so he commanded his family to cast away the idols, purify themselves, and clean up, they were about to
meet with God. And a holy God is a consuming fire over and against sin!
Gen 31:42
Illustration: "There are so many things within us to draw away, the duties and the joys, and the sorrows
of life so insist upon having a place in our hearts and thoughts, that assuredly, unless by resolute effort,
frequently repeated, we clear a space in this crowded and chattering market place, where we can stand
and gaze on the white summits far beyond the bustling crowd, we shall never see them though they are
visible from every place. Unless you try to remember, you will certainly forget." -Alexander MacLaren,
"The history of the church is the history of revival in which God has demonstrated again and again his
willingness to revive his people. In the light of these things, I say, we can wait trustingly on the Lord. But
expectation also carries the idea of eagerness. It is not simply a matter of believing that God will work
on behalf of his people when they wait, but actually standing on tip toes and stretching the neck to see it
happen." –Ellsworth, “One of these days lightning is going to fill the sky from the rising of the sun to its
setting, and we will see him clearly. And whether from terror or sheer excitement, we will tremble and we
will wonder how, how we ever lived so long with such a domesticated, harmless Christ” -Piper
One writer said that we may as well stop talking about revival if we are unwilling to deal with our own
sin. Not a fun topic, but the truth is our need of renewal and revival is because we have been encroached
upon by sin. We have become calloused (10 things to pray for your wife this week), cold, apathetic, and
distant. Don’ be so quick to defensive. Pray, soften our hearts. And it is not because of the seven deadly
sins of the heathen it is because of the little, tame, Christian sins that we don’t take to seriously, or ignore
completely. We tolerate anger and resentment of others in our lives, even in the church. We even enjoy
a small dip in the tub of almost sin. Statistics show that several of you have pornography problems. All
of us are racist to some degree. We come to church week in and week out without the slightest bit of
emotion bubbling in our hearts—no praise, no shouts, no amens, no joy, no weeping, no longing, our
hearts are cold and hard. And our lack of affection for God and His things doesn’t bother us (at least
not for very long). We are apathetic about reaching our neighbors. We are fixated on the accumulation
of material wealth (regardless of whether we have any money or not). We think about how to get more
things to the point that we sacrifice things of true value. We find all sorts of reasons to not go gather
with the body. We find lots of things to complain about when we do, because we are self-centered, and if
things are not done to our preference, they must be wrong. And if we weren’t asked to join in, or give our
opinion, we will get mad and go home for a few weeks in protest. And the rest of us who are here, don’t
miss those who are not! Our hearts are not attached to them, and if they are we don’t love them enough to
go and confront them and rescue them. Nor do we love the unreached enough to go and reach them, nor
does our compassion well up over the sex trafficking that happens in mass right here in Tifton, at least not
enough to do anything about it. We are cold, self-satisfied, and engorged on our own comforts, and well-
prepared to get angry if someone calls us out on it.
I know that is painting with a broad brush, but it is OK to confess the sin of others among us. Daniel did,
Nehemiah did, Moses did, and they took personal responsibility in it. Listen, NR, without a determination
to turn to our family and say, “throw down your idols, purify your hearts you double-minded, and clean up
your act,” we will not see renewal! Write it down, take that to the bank! Like my garden, each of us have
accumulated roots, rocks, old shoes, and weeds that take a deep harrow and constant tending to deal with.
Everyone of us should be on this altar this morning begging God to split us from top to bottom, skin us
alive, and throw off the years of piled up, over looked, crusted over sin. And maybe he will come!
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Closing illustration: Roger Blanton was a member of Philip Corbean’s church in Douglas for a long
time. He came most Sundays, and had other family members that were a part of that church. At some
point he had made a profession, been baptized, and joined the church. But going through the motions
had become his routine for years. He was there in body, but didn’t really participate in the life of the
church, and had little or no walk with God. After preaching a revival meeting there last spring, I got
this email the next morning, “Pastor Jason, I so want to thank you for listening to God's prompting
to preach to Carver Baptist on "Religion". I must say, several times you stepped on my toes, but more
importantly; God touched my heart through your message of His word. Ironically, I was hesitant about
going tonight, praise the Lord I didn’t allow Satan to talk me out of it. Through your message, I have
gained the strength to stop running from God and start running to Him. I will forever be indebted to you
for the message you delivered this evening. I can’t think of the right word to express my gratitude, thank
you is so insufficient, but will have to work.”
B. Long for His closeness, cower in His holiness, and repentance in light of those two actions
C. Gen 35:13
D. Invitation to commitment
A.
Additional Notes
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Is Christ Exalted, Magnified, Honored, and Glorified?
