Jacob’s Return to BethelGenesis 36:1-7

Genesis 28:19-22

• “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.” (NKJV)

Jacob dwells in Haran for 20 years

• Just as God promised, He was with Jacob.• He blessed Jacob with a large family & material

wealth -Genesis 29-30• When Jacob returned home from Haran - God

kept him out of harm’s way.– God protected him from Laban, who was pursuing

him, Genesis 31– And God answered his prayer for mercy when Esau

came to meet him, Genesis 32:9-12, 24-30.

Genesis, Chapter 35

• By the time we get to Genesis, chapter 35…– Jacob had settled near the city of Shechem,

Genesis 33:18; 35:4– Yet he has not gone back to Bethel, where the

Lord had appeared to him and where he had made his vow.

Vows made to God are not to be taken lightly…

• Psalm 76:11 Make vows to the LORD your God, and pay them; Let all who are around Him bring presents to Him who ought to be feared.

• Proverbs 20:25 It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy, And afterward to reconsider his vows.

• Ecclesiastes 5:4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed-- 5 Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.

• Acts 18:18…

God is a keeper of His vows

• In the case of Jacob...– Jacob had deceived his father and was under duress

when the Lord had appeared to him. – The Lord offered to Jacob great blessings.– Jacob vowed he would so serve the Lord.– Jacob was blessed with a large family; just as God

promised (Gen 28:14a, Gen 30:21, Gen 35:22b-26)– Jacob had become extremely wealthy because of God

(Genesis 31:11-13) – He had been able to return to the land in which God had

said He would give to him (Gen 28:13b-Gen 33, 35:1)

God is a keeper of His vows• Christians - be thankful for what God has done for us...

– All who have obeyed the gospel did so at a time in our lives when we were under duress

– Through the gospel call, God has offered us all great blessings. We have been given an abundance “of every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3)

– God has offered us a place in His spiritual kingdom (the church) and also we have a hope to enter an eternal abode with the Father.

– God has offered all of that to us, and if we’ve accepted His offer through obedience, then we need to keep our vow – to remain faithful!

If we have not fulfilled our vows

• We need to go back to the beginning...– We noticed that Jacob was told to go back to

Bethel…– In a similar way, if we have not fulfilled our vow to

be faithful to the Lord, we need to go back to the beginning, Revelation 2:4-5

When we fulfill our vows, our blessings are confirmed!

• When Jacob fulfilled his vow, God appeared to him and renewed the promises that had been made to Abraham and Isaac, Genesis 35:9-15

• Be confident that all of the spiritual blessings that God has to offer can be ours, John 5:1-13