The Book of Amos – Chapter 4:1-13: Israel Has Not Returned to the Lord

Our Lord GOD will slay our sons, our children of spiritual lies before our eyes – Jer 29:21-23– Amo 3:7

[Aired December 7, 2024]

The entire twelve ‘Minor Prophets’ mostly sequentially frame our transition to becoming Christ’s Christs in pointing to other Biblical Books that go into greater detail of our transformation. Classically, they begin with Hosea and his harlot wife, Gomer, starkly representing us as a spiritual whore. Following is the Book of Joel informing us of locusts and all sorts of pestilence manifesting as doctrines of self-righteousness. Those dreadfully annoying ‘pricks in our flesh’ don’t inspire us to repent genuinely since their representations in Babylon are seen as a physical outward commentary on Old Israel. We deludedly imagine that they have no relevance to us since our Babylonian churches teach that we are saved from chastisement since Christ exchanged our accountability on the cross. All of Judah and Israel’s judgment and punishments, in deluded thankfulness, are seen as dead and buried in boring chronicles. How incredibly mistaken is that dismissal?! Rather, those with eyes to see and ears to hear rejoice in spiritually coming behind in Christ, fulfilling his very same sufferings mostly spiritually.

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25  Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28  Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Col 1:29  Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

As seen in the previous study in this series in Amos, indeed, the Bible, we are espoused to our husband, Christ. Every fleshy, unconverted, and converted husband experiences his wife’s innate bias of withholding her body and mind and not giving her all alone to him. Be we male or female, we are she and every negatively representative female in scripture standing defiantly before our Husband, even walking away to pleasure ourselves whoreishly in other intrigues deemed more captivating than he can conspire. Old Judah and Israel, Oholah and Oholibah serve as a perfect reflection of our identity, as does King Zedekiah.

What can we learn from our indifference, similar to Gomer, Queen Vashti, Oholah, and Oholibah and other flighty female traits concentrated in the Zedekiah within?

Zedekiah represents us as Kings in our own right in Babylon, sitting on God’s throne, attempting to replace him as God. Consequently, the Lord uses our enemies to judge us in our appointed time.

The cup of spiritual fornication is in the hand of the harlot; however, we, as the Zedekiah-like harlot, are in God’s hand for His workmanship when, like Gomer, we are blatantly fornicating in plain sight among our Babylonian churches, and God forbid, with falsehoods among ourselves (1Co 5:1-13). Hence, the Lord says to Zedekiah,

Jer 29:21  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them [You and I spiritually] into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes;
Jer 29:22  And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah [You and I] which are in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire; 
Jer 29:23  Because they have committed villany [Indolent ‘senselessness, folly, immorality disgrace’] in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours’ wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the LORD.

Significations:

Amo 4:1  Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink. 

As with Old Israel, whenever life is full of riches, and we need nothing other than grander examples of the riches already possessed, our flesh unconsciously dismisses our need for God. As Solomon did not deny himself of any pleasure (Ecc 2:10), our constant upgrading to greater material wealth causes us to spiritually seek more beautiful women to satiate our sensualities, represented as fornicating self-righteousness, and we insidiously become God (2Th 2:4). Accordingly, Amos 4:1 presents us as cattle, even a ‘fruitful cow’ (‘Kine & Bashan’) oppressing ourselves, the ‘poor and needy’ within, drunk on our own righteousness. When we overflow with the peace riches endow, we imagine that we are like Job where people hail us with titles and effectively bow before us and seek our counsel because the outward appearance commands respect.

Job 29:7  When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!
Job 29:8  The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up.
Job 29:9  The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.
Job 29:10  The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
Job 29:11  When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:
Job 29:12  Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.
Job 29:13  The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
Job 29:14  I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.
Job 29:15  I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.
Job 29:16  I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
Job 29:17  And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.
Job 29:18  Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.
Job 29:19  My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch.
Job 29:20  My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand.
Job 29:21  Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel.
Job 29:22  After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them.
Job 29:23  And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.

Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 
Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us [As seen with the entier Bible, and here, with the Minor Prophets], and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 
Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 
Heb 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Heb 12:12  Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13  And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

Amo 4:2  The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. 

Even today, in remote tribes, a small metal pin or smooth stick through the sensitive nose of a beast of burden linked to reins causes an instant directional response. Similarly, ancient conquering forces would literally pierce captive’s jaws behind their lower teeth and out through their mouth with metal hooks that would guarantee instant submission wherever they were led. If we are the Elect, that figuratively is a blessing our Lord bestows on us, assuring our part in the First Resurrection. When we have endured tribulations and life-changing chastisements, we will first rule with Christ, our brothers and sisters, in the One Thousand Year reign and then Gog and Magog in judgment in the Lake of Fire.

In the meantime, the Gentile Christian churches, as we once did, deludedly think that they have utter control over Satan in casting out demons. Similarly, Gog and Magog, the world, equally sit on God’s throne as masters of their destiny, presenting themselves as God unwittingly making a covenant with Satan.

Job 41:1  Canst thou draw out leviathan [Satan] with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?
Job 41:2  Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn?
Job 41:3  Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee?
Job 41:4  Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?

We quickly learn to glorify our Lord for choosing us and dragging us out of Babylon with a hook in our noses to turn us back in the same manner we came into Babylon.

Joh 21:18  Truly, truly, I say to you, When you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you wished. But when you grow old, you shall stretch forth your hands and another shall gird you and carry you where you do not wish.
Joh 21:19  He spoke this signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, Follow Me.

Isa 37:29  Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. 
Isa 37:30  And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
Isa 37:31  And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
Isa 37:32  For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant [The Elect of God], and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.

Isa 41:15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.

People are hills, mountains, nations, kings, kingdoms, etc, and God is bringing chastisement to the world’s nations depicted as Gog and Magog, and he will do it through his Elect, who are first to be spiritually threshed and beaten to a fine powder before they judge their kin in the Lake of Fire.

Isa 42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

Amo 4:3  And ye shall go out at the breaches [a gap in a city’s wall], every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD. 

When cattle or sheep find a breach in a fence to better pasture, once one passes through, all the rest gallop en mass and, by volume, enlarge the gap like a breach in a dam wall. That pictorial indicates the eventual mighty flood of God’s word upon all men on the Eighth Day, the Lake of Fire. In the meantime, the Elect are nearing the consummation of their learning through transgressions with their husband, Christ’s progressive correction (number 3), in “Bethel” (H1008), meaning the house of God.

Amo 4:4  Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years: 

The doctrine of tithing from the Old Testament is not present in the teachings of Christ found in the New Testament. When I was in the Worldwide Chruch of God, we believed that we should tithe a first tithe of our increase of physical wealth to the church (we had to keep the A1 jet fuel up to the prestigious Gulfstream) and a second tithe to spend upon the Feast of Tabernacles or as the Old Testament calls it, the Feast of Booths representing our temporary bodies. Not only that, but every third year, we were hit with a third tithe to break the proverbial camel’s back fully.

Deu 14:22  Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.
Deu 14:23  And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.
Deu 14:24  And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:
Deu 14:25  Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose:
Deu 14:26  And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,
Deu 14:27  And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee.
Deu 14:28  At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: 
Deu 14:29  And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.

Mat 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

In Amos 4:4, the God-given transgressions he gives us through his servant, Satan, and their inevitable chastisements demonstrate our steady transition toward becoming Christ-like as the number 3, “after three years,” unveils the meaning and progression for the ‘time of reformation’.

Heb 9:10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. 

Amo 4:5  And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord GOD. 

Therefore, our New Covenant ‘tithe’ symbolises a transformed heart in perfect unity with our husband’s heart, one that is not puffed up by the leaven of our impudent self-righteousness but highly aroused to keeping his commandments.

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

And, of course, in classical hindsight of Israel’s passivity towards her Lord’s ardour, typified by us, wouldn’t you know it, they, like Gomer to Hosea, did not return the Lord. Accordingly, the following verses, picturing our rejection of his physical gifts now transformed into pestilence and tribulations, will continually prick our comfort more violently until we, with spiritual breath like the smell of apples, do enthusiastically respond to his ravishings.

Israel Has Not Returned to the Lord

Amo 4:6  And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. 
Amo 4:7  And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. 

Our Lord is the Master Potter who creates each of us to his design; one for honourable use, and another for dishonourable use, but in our time and order, we experience both (Rom 9). We receive the bread and water of affliction from false teachings and wonder why we seem accursed and in prison while our Babylonian brothers and sisters glory in their physical riches. Of course, the violent imagery in all scripture is the Lord’s purpose to benefit his Elect for their spiritual understanding alarmingly for their expected end. Upon having the keys to understand every detail of his word, we tremble in immense gratitude in knowing the end of this saga in Amos of Israel not returning to the Lord.

Jer 29:10  For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
Jer 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 
Jer 29:12  Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
Jer 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Amo 4:8  So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. 

That verse typifies us, the unwitting remnant’s parched search for truth in Babylonian churches prior to coming to the heavenly Jerusalem of truth. Many are called, but few return unto Christ.

Isa 10:20  And it shall come to pass in that day [today since the cross], that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
Isa 10:21  The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.
Isa 10:22  For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption [a complete destruction or our old ways] decreed shall overflow with righteousness. 
Isa 10:23  For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.

Amo 4:9  I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. 
Amo 4:10  I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. 
Amo 4:11  I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. 
Amo 4:12  Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. 

Our understanding of the effects of palmerworms, locusts, cankerworms, mildew, drought, and famine was thoroughly explored in our Joel series. These elements illustrate the consequences of our disregard for the Lord’s blessings, immaturely stubbornly pouting at being treated in this way.

Act 2:16  But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;

Joe 1:18  How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.

However, the Lord of hosts has a grand plan to save all of mankind through his remnant Elect, his Bride, who is today becoming his Wife.

Amo 4:13  For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name. 

In Babylon, we saw those foreboding prophecies phenomenally cryptic, dismissed to be awarded vengefully to the many disgusting wretches who didn’t believe in our supposedly truthful version of Christ’s commands. We didn’t see that every man is chastised in his order for salvation until our earthquake awakened us that Christ chose his Elect first to be chastised, and now, to confused onlookers, we relish reproof since,

Act 2:17  And it shall come to pass in the last days [today, if you hear His voice], saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
Act 2:18  And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
Act 2:19  And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
Act 2:20  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
Act 2:21  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Next week, Lord willing, he will arouse our spiritual minds, not masochistically, but joyfully see Israel’s continued tongue-lashing most positively as imperative for our path to life eternal.

(Key verses: Gen 35:1-20)

The theme of sanctification runs throughout the scriptures, but is especially focused in the life of Jacob for our learning (1Co 10:11; Rom 15:4). On the instruction of God, Jacob returned to Canaan after twenty years in Haran. If he thought his trials were a thing of the past, he was soon awakened to the truth that in Canaan the levels of tribulation will increase. Shalem (a city of Shechem) was the first place Jacob and his family stayed, which ironically means peace and safety, but their stay here brought great grief and misery to the family as their daughter Dinah was raped by Shechem, the son of Hamor, who was a Hivite and a prince of the country (Gen 34:1-3). This happened while Dinah was visiting the daughters of Shechem. In their hate-filled revenge two sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, killed all the men of Shechem after the sons of Jacob made a deceitful deal with them to have all these men circumcised to allow intermarriage between the two groups (Gen 34:13-17). Jacob only discovered afterward what these two sons had in mind when this deal was struck, and he deplored this evil act of his sons. Jacob, however, remained focused on the promises of God even through the severe trials and many distractions (Lev 20:26; Joh 10:36-39; Joh 17:19). The theme of sanctification in the scripture deals with this process of the perfecting of the elect of God to be a “vessel unto honour…and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work” (2Ti 2:21):

Mat 5:48  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

1Pe 1:15  But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
1Pe 1:16  Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

In Genesis 35 a few aspects in the lives of Jacob and his family are mentioned, which helps us to see why the enduring process of sanctification is such an important theme in scripture.

The priorities of the house of God are the focus for the elect

Through sanctification the elect are being separated from the self-centered spirit of the world in them with all its pride and lusts, to focus on the spiritual house of God and to be perfected and holy in their function to Him and others (1Jn 2:16; Exo 35:21; Jer 1:5; Act 13:2; 1Co 12:1-31; Eph 4:1-24; 1Co 6:2-3; Rev 20):

Gen 35:1  And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel [Hebrew: “bêyth-‘êl” = house of God], and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.

This is the second time Bethel appears in Jacob’s life. When he was fleeing from Esau to Haran, he had a dream one night, and in this dream he saw a ladder reaching heaven on which the angels ascended and descended, pointing to Jesus as the only way to God on which His messengers, His true elect, also find their spiritual function and purpose (Ecc 12:13-14; Mat 7:13; Joh 14:6; Eph 2:8-10; Php 3:9-10; 2Ti 2:21). Here Jacob took the stone he used as a pillow the previous night and set it up as a pillar the following morning and poured oil on it, representing his acceptance of God’s promises to him of the inheritance of the land and producing an offspring which God’s protection will never cease:

Gen 28:18  And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.
Gen 28:19  And he called the name of that place Bethel [Hebrew: “bêyth-‘êl” = house of God]: but the name of that city was called Luz [means “almond tree”] at the first.
Gen 28:20  And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
Gen 28:21  So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:
Gen 28:22  And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

The word “Bethel” is the first reference in the scripture of a manmade type of dwelling for God. No physical creation or manmade structure on earth can actually contain God, but this is how God, through the physical, wants us to understand something much deeper and more intimately about his intentions with His elect firstly, and with the rest of humanity (Rom 1:20). These are Solomon’s words written down to show us the intimate relationship between heaven and where God resides in His elect, as God has no desire to dwell in physical buildings (Deu 10:14; Psa 139:7-10; 1Co 3:16):

1Ki 8:27  But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?

God’s focus is on spiritual intimacy with His elect in order that they indeed might be able to function to fulfill His purposes with all mankind. Mankind was first given a dwelling of flesh, which is marred or corrupted in the hand of the Potter (also called a “vessel unto dishonour”), before He makes us into a “vessel unto honour” which is our new resurrected dwelling in spirit:

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

1Co 15:42  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
1Co 15:43  It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

Many earthly details of the physical “house of God” are given in the Old Testament which also helps us to see this spiritual process of sanctification in the hearts and lives of God’s elect in this age. We see a God that is meticulously at work, if we look at the specifics and details in the materials used in these buildings and also the specialized functions of those who were attached to these structures, among others (Exo 35:21; 1Co 10:11; Eph 2:10). The overall emphasis with the purpose and functions in these structures was on holiness and proper functionality. Not even slight deviations from His instructions were tolerated by God (Exo 15:26):

1Ki 6:11 And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying,
1Ki 6:12 Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father:
1Ki 6:13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.

We see this single-mindedness also now in the life of Jacob and especially after this ordeal with the city of Shechem. Jacob is now taking stricter leadership in terms of holiness within his own family before they travelled to Bethel:

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.

Jacob is cleaning his house of all idols – those who are visible and those who are hidden. Before we can enter the house of God, there is a cleansing process which needs to be completed through the symbolic seven vials in our lives:

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Those who preach a secret rapture out of these plagues are busy with a contaminated and twisted gospel. As these old covenant sanctuaries with all their manifold offerings were given to the nation of Israel in their years of wanderings and being taken captive to experience all the heartache and pain, so they all reveal our own story and process of sanctification. Those who keep the way of God must enter through the flaming trials and plagues to enter to God’s paradise (Gen 3:24; Act 14:22; 1Co 3:12-15; Heb 10:14; 1Pe 4:12-17; Rev 1:1-3). Like Jacob is now doing to his household, so Christ cleanses His elected spiritual household through His flaming sword – His Word (Mat 21:12-17):

Mat 3:12  Whose [Christ’s] fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Everyone in Jacob’s household listened to him and brought their strange gods to him to dispose of under an oak tree in Shechem. The name “Shechem” means “shoulder” which is the part of the body that relates to “the place of burdens”. Shechem was indeed a place of burdens for Jacob, and here under this tree in Shechem he covered or buried these “strange gods” of his family in order to move forward in love and forgiveness:

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 Shechem.

It was here where all the outward and physical images of their native region in Haran, Mesopotamia (spiritually referring to Babylon), were taken away from the family of Jacob, including the family gods which Rachel had stolen from her father, Laban (Gen 31:19; Gen 31:32-35). The family of Jacob left all their “former conversations”, even as the true house of God in this age is putting off their old corrupt man of flesh and its deceit:

Eph 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

This brings the fear of God on those around us as they witness this powerful change from our “former conversation”. This fear of God is our protection from the fear of men, and this is what we also witness in the life of Jacob and those who were with him:

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.
Gen 35:6  So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him.
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.

Another oak tree is then mentioned, but this time this tree is in Bethel, the house of God:

Gen 35:8  But Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.

The scriptures do not mention the death of Jacob’s mother, Rebekah, but only her gravesite is stated (Gen 49:31). The death of her nurse, Deborah, who was now buried here at Bethel, is specifically mentioned (Gen 24:59). Jacob’s links and memories with his old life and the world outside Canaan, even his part in Rebekah’s deceit, are also being detached in this way. We, as the elect of God, do not dwell on past failures and deceit we ourselves participated in or had to endure on our road to spiritual maturity (Eph 2:2-3):

Isa 43:18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
Isa 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

Php 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.

The name of this tree in Bethel was Allonbachuth, which comes from two Hebrew words “allôn” which means “oak” and “bâkûth” which means “weeping”. This “oak of weeping” all sets the scene for the bitter trials the house of Jacob is yet to face. It is when we are given to see that we are the house of God and the heaven He dwells in that we are taken through much more intense judgment, knowing there is a joy-filled purpose to God’s judgment. We learn so much more of God and His righteousness through the death of our old man (Isa 26:9; 1Pe 4:17; Heb 9:27):

Jas 1:2 (BBE) Let it be all joy to you, my brothers, when you undergo tests of every sort;
Jas 1:3 (BBE) Because you have the knowledge that the testing of your faith gives you the power of going on in hope;
Jas 1:4 (BBE) But let this power have its full effect, so that you may be made complete, needing nothing.

Here in Bethel God confirmed His promises to Jacob:

Gen 35:9  And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.
Gen 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.
Gen 35:11  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;
Gen 35:12  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.
Gen 35:13  And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.

The drink offering

A second aspect mentioned here in Genesis 35, which helps us to appreciate the process of sanctification in our lives, is what Jacob did after God confirmed His commitment to Jacob or Israel here in Bethel:

Gen 35:14  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.
Gen 35:15  And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel.

The drink offering relates to our attitude while going through judgment and trials. When we know that we are judged by God, we also know that every son whom God receives is chastened of the Lord. We will not murmur as before when we in our immaturity were ignorant of the purpose of God’s wonderful works, even the evil He brings on us (Psa 107; 1Co 10:1-10). We will also respect the trials of our brethren who go through the very same fiery trials (2Co 11:1-33):

1Co 11:32 But when we are judged [Greek: “krinō”], we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned [Greek: “katakrinō”, a later judgment] with the world.

Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.

The drink offering Jacob poured on the pillar of stone symbolizes this attitude of the acceptance of God’s love and grace even through His chastisement (Tit 2:11-12). This is the first mention of a drink offering in the scriptures, and here we are also given to know why this drink offering is important if we can appreciate the process of sanctification in our own lives. The drink offering has to do with the giving up of a life, like water or blood being spilled on the ground (2Sa 14:14; Joh 19:34). The offerings under the law of Moses also give us more important aspects relating to this offering when we are indeed in “the land of [our] habitations”:

Num 15:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 15:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land of your habitations, which I give unto you,

Num 15:7 And for a drink offering thou shalt offer the third part of an hin [a unit of measuring liquids] of wine, for a sweet savour unto the LORD.

This drink offering in the law of offerings was usually a “third part of an hin of wine”. The number three (“third part”) is spiritually pointing to this continual process of dying daily “for a sweet savour unto the Lord”:

1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Joh 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

Wine is also a product of ripe, crushed grapes, and this gives the picture of this crushing process in our lives (Neh 15:13; Lam 2:12). Spiritually wine is a symbol of blood, which is connected to life as is also seen in these words of Jacob on his deathbed to Judah and his household, typifying the life of God’s elected rulers (Lev 17:11; Isa 63:1-3; Hos 9:2-4):

Gen 49:11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes.

Jesus’ life was given as a drink offering as we all take part in that offering first by our rejection and denial of Him and His true doctrine at our ordained time, before we can see how we ourselves are to be the drink offering in our association with Him and His doctrine (Mat 26:27):

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Mat 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Mat 10:40 He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

The pouring of oil

Jacob also poured oil on the pillar of stone at Bethel as he did before on his way to Haran (Gen 28:18):

Gen 35:14  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.

Oil is a symbol of the spirit of God, and the pure oil of God is only connected to the true house of God and the true light therein which burns always because of this oil. This oil of His Word is necessary if we are to overcome the trials which God has in His storeroom for His elect. To keep our lamps trimmed is the way of the wise in the kingdom of heaven (Exo 25:6; Lev 6:13; Mat 5:14-16; Mat 25:1-7; Rev 21:23; Rev 22:5):

Exo 27:20 And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.

Psa 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Our travailing and hard labour

When Jacob and his family left Bethel to travel to Ephrath, Rachel was at that point in time pregnant with Jacob’s twelfth son, but this birth was to bring death to Rachel, Jacob’s dearly beloved wife:

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.
Gen 35:20  And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.

Here again a pillar is featured, and the term “unto this day” in scripture wants to give us a token of this truth that sanctification is an ongoing process, even as these words from God’s mouth are fulfilled in every generation, even today in our lives:

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

The pillar of Rachel’s grave is the sure remembrance that we will indeed lose everything we became attached to in this life, and that is the only way the new man in Christ is being brought forth, symbolized by Benjamin, a type of God’s elect. For Rachel it was the son of her sorrow, which is what “Benoni” means. Our sanctification comes through the painful redemption from our old body with its carnal mind which is experienced as very strong and stubborn, yet God’s elect is given the strength of Christ in them to overcome everything (Jer 31:11-15; Rev 13:4; Php 4:13). For Jacob this son was the son on the right hand which is what the name “Benjamin” means as he represents the elect of God, Christ and His Christ, which is born through much tribulation only (Mat 2:1-18):

Act 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

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Detailed studies and emails relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the iswasandwillbe.com website, including these topics and links:

The Spiritual Significance of Biblical Locations – Part 3
The Spiritual Significance of Biblical Locations – Part 7
Building the House of God
The Drink Offering
Numbers in Scripture – Three, The Process of Spiritual Completion
Awesome Hands – Part 24: Arise, Go Up to Bethel
The Wise Took Oil