mAfter Jacob reconciled with Esau, he moved on to a place

called Succoth and built a house there.

m 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.
mThat place was not a part of the divine design, fine it
was agriculturally prolific but the consequences were
grave.
m je could have been chasing healthy bank balances. This seemed
like prudent foresight.
m The book of jebrews tells us that the patriarchs ought to have
dwelled in tents.
m But he lost his way, dwelled there for a undetermined period, but
discovers that he ought not be there, packs and journeys towards
the land of promise, Canaan where God had instructed him to
go.
m But he stops in Shechem.
m 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.
m Technically, Schechem was in Canaan, but it was a
worldly city.
m Jacob ought not to have settled there. Consequences
were too grave.
m Dinah was raped.
m There was a blood bath, The crimes of others form no
excuse for us.
m je fell out with the sons because he felt that he did
not stand up for the sisters in way that he ought to.
m je lost all credit in the social bank account.
m Gen 34:30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have
troubled me to make me to stink among the
inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the
Perizzites: and I [being] few in number, they shall
gather themselves together against me, and slay me;
and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.

Gen 34:31 And they said, Should he deal with our

sister as with an harlot?
m ãhen Abraham got to Bethel from Egypt, there was an
issue, but he depicted incredible wisdom in handling
an issue that arose.

m jis experience in Egypt left him much wiser, when he

fell, he picked up something as he rose.

m Ge:13:7: And there was a strife between the herdmen of

Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the
Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.
m ãisdom of Abraham contrasted with weakness of Lot;
i) spiritual directness Ȃ deals with the issue directly, does not mince
words;and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.
The heathens were watching and a bad picture could have been
depicted.
m The quarrels of professors are the reproach of religion, and give
occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. It is best to keep the
peace, that it be not broken; but the next best is, if differences do
happen, with all speed to quench the fire that is broken out.
Two ladies fighting Ȃ pneumonia and suffocation.
m jumility also can be discerned in him, he puts himself in the
equation, accepts responsibility.
m Ge:13:8: And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee,
between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for
we be brethren.
m ii) spiritual discernment- we are brothers;

m Ge:13:8: And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I

pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen
and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.

m There is more that unites them than divides, there may be

differences yes, but they had a lot in common.

m iii) spiritual dignity- lets Lot his nephew, younger than him
to take his pick first. ãhen there is a older man and a
younger man in the same room, older man should not
mention it but the younger one should never forget it.
m ãeaknesses of lot;

m ãeakness in devotion; Ge:13:5: And Lot also, which went

with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.
m But no altars.

m As a result he was worldly in desires;

m Ge:13:10: And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain
of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the
LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden
of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto
Zoar.
m je lifted his eyes but did not lift them high enough to seek
divine guidance, as to what would have been good for him
and his family.

m ãas a great place for cattle but a despicable place for his
kids.

m The kids morals became corrupted and they ended up

doing sickening things.

m Ge:19:32: Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we

will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
m 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.

m God told him to arise and go to Bethel where he had an

encounter with God. That is what he is saying to you and
me .

m ãe might think that God is mad with us.

m ãhen we find ourselves in such situations as Jacob was in,

we should remember what God told the church of Ephesus.
m Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art

fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will

come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy

candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

m Remember, repent and repeat.

m 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 Sheche
m God did not say to Jacob, that if he cleansed himself,
then he would grant him another opportunity.
m The grace of God was manifest, and that grace moved
Jacob to an extent that he decided to put away the
stuff.
m That God had invited them to go t Bethel with all their
shortcomings, compelled them to put the strange gods
away.
m The same case should apply to us. Bury the stuff at the
tree- that speaks of the cross of calvary.
m Deal with the sin that so easily besets us.
m Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified
with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve.
m The old man was rendered inactive or paralyzed. A
person who is paralyzed cannot hurt you, cannot
exercise force against you.
m The old man cant exercise force but can intimidate,
you got to give in, you donǯt have a choice.
m ãe donǯt have to succumb, not only was the penalty of
sin removed from the cross but also the power of sin
was broken.
m ãe can confidently declare, because of what Jesus did
on the cross, we can confidently walk away from that
habit temptation or tendency.

m The power of that sin has been shattered.

m 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.

m They now had been set free, they walked in victory.

m 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.

m je called the place Elbethel, meaning the God of the

house of God. Depicts monumental maturity.

m Its not Gospel outreach, itǯs the God of Gospel

outreach. Its not the bible, itǯs the God of the bible.

m The bible is a door I go through to go and talk with

God.
m Its not Gospel outreach per se that is keeps us here, it

is the God that is worshipped here.

m The reason why people lose interest in church is

because their focus was not the God of the church.

m Gen 35:16 ¶ And they journeyed from Bethel; and there
was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel
travailed, and she had hard labour.

Gen 35:17 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.

Gen 35:18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in

departing, (for she died) that she called his name
Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.

Gen 35:19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way
to Ephrath, which [is] Bethlehem.
m ãhy did Jacob take his pregnant wife away from Bethel. God had
instructed him to dwell there.
m 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.
m The only clue that is given as to why Jacob left was because
Deborah died.
m In the process, lost Rachel.
m Things must change, keeping talking about past is an idle past
time.
m Ten years ago things were this and that way, thatǯs great that was
then but now things have changed.
m The whole Christian experience is about change, Paul
says that we are changed from glory to greater glory.
m But though things change from glory to greater glory,
sometimes there is loss, that is inevitable, it is a part of
the package.
m Jacob made a big goof, he left, went on his way and saw
the death of the beloved Rachel.
m ãe must be people who abide in Bethel, where God
tells us to be, in spite of our feelings, circumstances.
m je could not remember the loss that he had suffered
because of settling in Shechem.
m Its one of the greatest tragedies in the old testament.
God had given him a second chance, but stayed for a
while then got bored.
m Stay where God told you.
m Story of Ali fayed.
m Abraham also left bethel because of famine and went
down to Egypt. Down there he lied and as he left he
carried with him jagar.
m jagar later caused a lot of grief to that family. And the
geopolitical tensions in the middle East can be
attributed to that goof.
m Pro 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and
lean not unto thine own understanding.

Pro 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall

direct thy paths.
m God can guide us in our everyday living, in every
decision, every action, every development of our lives.
m All too often, when people are faced with some major
decision, they fail to trust God completely, preferring
to decide the course of action that they think is best
for themselves and then, at best, asking God to bless
their decision.
m God will guide us, but there are three conditions that determine jis guidance.

Firstly, we are told to acknowledge jim in all our ways; that is, in every steps of

your journey, make certain that you acknowledge God as your guide.

m Sometimes when we pass someone on the street we can be so preoccupied with our

Thoughts that we fail to respond to their greeting and simply pass them by. No slight is
intendedȆ their acknowledgement was missed simply because we were too

deeply engrossed in our thoughts to notice it.

m Just as this can happen to us in our dealings with friends and family, so it can happen

in our dealings with God. ãe can be too preoccupied with our thoughts to notice jis
guidance, so we need to pay attention to jim with the sensitivity of a faith that is alive
and expectant, and

not just in special moments of devotion and prayer.

m ãe are told to acknowledge jim in all our ways, in the day and the night, at work and
play, rest or worship, in relationships, and when we are alone.
m Secondly we are told to trust jim with all of our
hearts. Sometimes we are guilty of only trusting jim
at times of special need, preferring at other times to
trust our own judgment instead, but we need to learn
to trust jim absolutely.
m jow easy it is for us to pay lip service to trusting God,
yet how hard it can be sometimes! Our human nature
tends to get in the way as we try to tell God how we
want him to guide us.
m ãhat we often seek is not guidance but confirmation.
ãe must desire to please jim totally in the ordinary
every day experiences.
m ð
 


 


  



 
 

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absolute inadequacy of

living without God's guidance. ãe cannot make the

journey without jim, and some people pay an

unnecessarily high price to learn that self-management

leads to endless defeat.

m The Bible tells us about a family of faith who decided one

day to try a bit of self management.

m God promised a child to Abraham and Sarah, but none

arrived, so after years of waiting, Sarah utilized a custom of

the time and gave her servant jagar, to Abraham.

m je has a unique plan for each of us, and je waits for us to

pay attention to jim, to trust jim with our whole heart,

to reject our own abilities to guide ourselves.

m Lot too leaned on his own understanding,
m Gen 13:10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all
the plain of Jordan, that it [was] well watered every
where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and
Gomorrah, [even] as the garden of the LORD, like the
land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.

Gen 13:11 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan;
and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves
the one from the other.

Gen 13:12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and

Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched [his]
tent toward Sodom.
m je didnǯt lift his eyes high enough and seek Godǯs guidance

as to what would have been best for him and his family.

m Just saw the lush plains, but could not see beyond because

of the limited nature of man.

m The consequences;

m Gen 19:32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and

we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our

father.
m People leave the fellowship to go and wallow out there,
consequences; death.
m ãhen Rachel was barren she said,

m Gen 30:1 ¶ And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no
children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob,
Give me children, or else I die.
m Now she got the child and died.

m Its dangerous to demand things from God. The best thing

would to do what Jesus did, father ..
m Because you know things I donǯt, you see things I cant.