Devotion 35

DEVOTION 35: “Bethel - the Holy Place” coming out of Gen. 35

For Jacob, Bethel was where God will meet, establish, and transform him.

Today, we do not enter into a Holy Place, instead we enter into the Holy Spirit. This is where God meets, establishes, and transforms us. A man or woman does not know God until they are baptized in the Holy Spirit. They may think they do, but the truth is we do not know God until we receive the Holy Spirit. 

None of the disciples believed Jesus Christ would resurrect. John 20:9 “For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.” The Scriptures remain closed to us until we receive the Holy Spirit Baptism. It was not until after the Holy Spirit baptism that disciples discovered who they were in Christ.

Acts 4:7-12 “And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? [8] Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, [9] If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; [10] Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. [11] This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. [12] Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

The Holy-place (Bethel) is the death of the old Jacob, and the resurrection of the new Jacob ( Isreal).

The Holy Spirit is the death of the old you, and the resurrection of the new you. That’s the name change.

Let’s read:

Genesis 35:1-2 “And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. [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:”

No strange gods come to Bethel.

No strange doctrines come into the Holy Spirit Baptism. All our doubts and false doctrines come to die to receive the Holy Spirit Baptism. 

The Lutheran cannot survive on justification by faith alone. The Methodist cannot survive on Sanctification by faith alone. The Baptist cannot survive on John’s Baptism alone. The Pentecostal cannot survive on the Holy Spirit alone.

All must receive justification by faith alone, sanctification by faith alone,  John’s Baptism of repentance by faith alone, and the Holy Spirit Baptism by faith alone. This is the Promise.

Acts 2:38-39 “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. [39] For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”

We fall short of the Promise to our own peril. 

In the wilderness, those who did not enter the Promised Land died and their bones bleached because of unbelief. 

Numbers 14:22-24 “ Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; [23] Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: [24] But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.”

“Another Spirit”

Joshua and Caleb were the only 2 out of 12 that entered they had the right Spirit, another Spirit, he FOLLOWED FULLY.  That means Caleb believed it all. He was not limited by a denominational doctrine or creed. 

We continue our reading:

Genesis 35:3-9 “And let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; 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. [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. [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, Beth-el, he and all the people that were with him. [7] And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el: 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 Beth-el under an oak: and the name of it was called Allon-bachuth. [9] And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padan-aram, and blessed him.”

How things change in Bethel. How things change with the Holy Spirit Baptism. 

Jacob, a struggling man in Shechem is now seeing the Hand of God move in his life.

We restrict God from moving in our lives when we resist the Holy Spirit Baptism. 

We continue our reading:

Genesis 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.l”

Oh Glory! 

Our names are not be changed  until we lined up with the Promise of God by the Holy Spirit Baptism. 

We continue our reading:

Genesis 35:11-12 “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.”

He became the God not just of Abraham and Isaac but of Jacob. 

Today, He can become the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and you, if you’ve receive Him in you in the form of the Holy Spirit. 

We continue our reading:

Genesis 35:13-21 “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, Beth-el. [16] And they journeyed from Beth-el; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour. [17] And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also. [18] And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin. [19] And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Beth-lehem. [20] And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day. [21] And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.”

The making of a man . No longer the man Jacob but the nation Israel. How wonderful it must have been for Jacob. 

It can be just as wonderful for us if we lined up with every Word of God.

We conclude our reading:

Genesis 35:22-29 “And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: [23] The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun: [24] The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin: [25] And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali: [26] And the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid; Gad, and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padan-aram. [27] And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned. [28] And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years. [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 started with one man Abraham. He is now fulfilling his Promise to Abraham through Issac, Jacob, Israel, and you if you line up.

Let the Word of God line you up with the Promise of God. Believe and confess Christ the Word as we’ve revealed Him from the First Adam. The Holy Spirit is the Promise of God, in Christ!

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