It’s the House of God!

June 2, 2023

Building People of Substance for Works of Power

16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” 18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. 19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21 so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God. 22 And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”

Genesis 28:15-22 NKJV

If I were raising a son, Jacob is not the guy I would turn to for a shining example of godly manhood. From the womb the guy was a con artist, a liar, and a mama’s boy. He ripped his brother off twice, even conning his aging father by playing fast and loose with the name of Yahweh, “But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the LORD your God brought it to me (Genesis 27:20).” Jacob makes it clear, Yahweh is daddy’s god, not his.

Thank God, mercy can extend even to him. As we pick up the story, Jacob is on his way to his Uncle Laban’s house. The purpose is two-fold: He’s afraid of brother Esau whom he just defrauded, and he needs to find a wife who is not a Canaanite. He finds a place to sleep and has an amazing dream. Angels are traversing a stairway to and from Heaven. Yahweh stands at the head of the stairs and introduces Himself in no uncertain terms: “”I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac” (Genesis 28:13). He then restates the Abrahamic covenant promises to include Jacob and his seed. He closes with this specific and powerful word: “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you”(Genesis 28:15).

When Jacob awakens, he is acutely aware that God has spoken. This is both wonderful and scary, and it moves this spiritually dull fugitive to acknowledge the presence of God, calling Him by His revealed name: Yahweh. He then does some things that he probably learned from watching his dad, or possibly borrowed from the Philistine culture around him.

• He established a memorial and poured oil on it. This is the first mention in the Bible of pouring oil on anything in order to consecrate it to God’s use.
• He declared the place to be the “house of God” and “the gate of heaven.” He recognizes that this is a place of the Presence of God and communication with heaven.
• He made a vow to God, but he included conditions for God to meet: Go with me, protect me, provide for me, and get me back safely. In other words, “OK, Yahweh, if You will keep your promise then I will do the following:”
  • I will acknowledge You, Yahweh, as my own, personal God. Jacob was familiar with the gods of the peoples around them. He was promising that He would serve Yahweh instead of any of the other gods in the neighborhood.
  • I will worship You here on this memorial pillar, calling it “God’s house.” This is where God and His family dwell together, the gate of heaven, portal between Heaven and earth.
  • I will give you a tenth of all that You give me. Jacob knew the significance of the tenth. This was not a thank offering, or a peace offering, or a sacrifice for sin. This was a tenth, or tithe.

Now, let’s fast forward 20 years. Jacob has married two of Uncle Laban’s daughters and worked for him to pay for the privilege. Throughout this time, Jacob is blessed abundantly. Even when Laban tries to rip him off, God supernaturally protects and provides. Jacob knew it: “Yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me” (Genesis 31:7). Even Laban saw it: “And Laban said to him, “Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the LORD has blessed me for your sake’ (Genesis 30:27).

When it came time for Jacob to return to his father’s house, God gave him a supernatural plan for transferring Laban’s wealth to himself. First, He got Laban to designate a specific color of sheep to belong to Jacob. Then He changed the color of each sheep as it was born. Time to head for Bethel!

Then the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’ And He said, ‘Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.’ (Genesis 31:11-13)

Jacob and all his family returned to Bethel with offerings and sacrifices. In that journey they were supernaturally protected from a vengeful Laban, from Esau’s wrath, and from the Canaanite neighbors. They came to Bethel to worship.

“So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother. Genesis 35:6-7

Following Jacob’s fulfillment of his vow, God spoke over him again the covenant blessing given to Abraham, to Isaac, and now to Jacob. In Jacob all the nations of the world will be blessed. The Lord reminded him that his name has been changed to reflect who he is as a covenant partner with God. He has gone from being Jacob, the usurper, to being Israel, “And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed” (Genesis 32:28).

Here’s the point:

In this, the second mention of the tithe, we see connections, threads in the tapestry, reaching back to Abraham in Genesis 14 and ahead to Jesus and his Church. We also find specific examples that connect with the promises to the tither under the Mosaic Law.

Threads connecting to Abraham’s tithe:

1. Yahweh is my God. Just as Abraham declared Yahweh to be his God in conjunction with the tithe, so Jacob does the same. The tithe is a declaration that Yahweh is my God.
2. The tithe is offered in tribute to the God who gave the victory. It acknowledges Yahweh as the source of my blessing.
3. The tithe is connected to covenant. The covenant promises made to Abraham are reiterated, appointing Israel (Jacob) as the one who carries the covenant to the next generation.

Looking forward to the Mosaic Law, notice the threads connecting to the famous tithing passage in Malachi: “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the LORD of hosts; And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land,” Says the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 3:10-12)”

1. “That there may be food in My house.” Jacob named the place Bethel, house of God. He vowed to bring a tenth of his increase to the house of God. The tithe as a means of taking care of God’s house and His ministers is found throughout the Mosaic Law.
2. “And try Me now in this.” The very unusual language in Malachi encouraging them to “try God” is foreshadowed by Jacob’s “if You will, then I will” challenge to Yahweh at Bethel.
3. “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.” The word “blessing” can mean either a tangible gift of some kind, or it can be a spoken word. In Jacob’s case, God began to speak specific words to him that enabled the release of great abundance in his life. God gave him a supernatural idea for acquiring sheep. What a blessing!
4. “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground.” Jacob enjoyed protection from, and even favor with, his several enemies. Laban tried to cheat him and was thwarted (Genesis 31:7), and his vengeful brother Esau softened toward him and welcomed him home (Genesis 33:4).
5. “And all nations will call you blessed.” Laban, a Syrian, repeatedly recognized the hand of God on Jacob (Genesis 30:27; 31:29). The Canaanites were awestruck as his caravan passed through on the way back to Bethel (Genesis 35:5).

Reaching forward to the New Covenant, it’s hard to miss Paul’s “house of God” connection to the local church:

These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly; (15) but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

1 Timothy 3:14-15

We’ll see more about this thread when we get to the tithe in the New Covenant, but for now, take a moment to think on what we’ve seen in the story of Israel, from cheater to prince. After His stirring encounter with Yahweh and his remarkable journey of transformation, he knew he needed to acknowledge that Yahweh was his God and his source of blessing. He recognized that Bethel, the house of God, was where this should be done. He understood that the tithe was an act of submission and gratitude.

For us, when the children of God gather together that is the house of God. We have a place where we gather with the family, where we are fed on the truth, and where we regularly experience the presence of God in our midst. And, as Jacob said, it’s a place for worshipping. If I believe that God has been with me, protected me, provided for me, and brought me safely back to His house, what is my response? If Jesus is my Lord, and God is my source, what actions do I add to my words? For me, there’s one sure thing: I’m gonna give Him a tenth of all.

Pastor Virgil

3141 W. Ironwood Hill Dr.

Tucson, AZ 85741

www.fcftucson.org

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