Remember Bethel and Bethlehem | Genesis 35 | Ben Akatsa | August 23, 2026

And Jacob hid them under the Terebinth tree that was near Shechem.

And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

And Jacob came to Luce, that is Bethel, which is in the land of Canaan, and he and all the people who were with him.

And there he built an altar and called the place El Bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother.

And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel.

So he called its name Alon Bakuth.

God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Padan Aram and blessed him.

And God said to him, Your name is Jacob.

No longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.

So he called his name Israel, and God said to him, I am God Almighty, be fruitful and multiply.

A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.

The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.

Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him, and Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone.

He poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it.

So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel.

Then they journeyed from Bethel.

When they were still some distance from Ephraim, Rachel went into labor, and she had a hard labor.

And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, Do not fear, for you have another son.

And as her soul was departing, for she was dying, she called his name Benoni, but his father called him Benjamin.

So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephroth, that is Bethlehem.

And Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb.

It is the pillar of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day.

Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard of it.

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.

The sons of Leah, Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, Simon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, the sons of Rachel, Joseph, and Benjamin, the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant, Dan and Naphtali, the sons of Zilpah, Leah's servant, Gad and Asher.

These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Pedon Aram.

And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath Arbah, that is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned.

Now the days of Isaac were 180 years, and Isaac breathed his last, and he died, and was gathered to his people, old and full of days, and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

This is the word of the Lord.

He may be seated.

It is so good to have the privilege this morning to preach from Genesis 35.

If you don't know me, my name is Ben and I serve as an associate pastor here at Ethnos.

We've already prayed.

And I'd like you to pray two prayers.

The first prayer, pray for yourself and pray this way.

Lord, speak to my heart through your word this morning.

Just like that.

Lord, speak to my heart through your word this morning.

And then the second prayer make for me and just pray this way.

Lord, enable Ben to speak clearly, helpfully and worshipfully.

Just like that.

Lord enable Ben to speak clearly, helpfully and worshipfully.

And uh then now I'll pray for us.

Lord Jesus Christ, we commend ourselves now to your word that is able to give us an inheritance amongst the saints.

You have commanded pastors to feed your sheep.

Without you, I cannot do it, for it is not by might nor by power, but by your spirit.

So I ask you this morning, take my five loaves, as it were, my two fish.

Please, Holy Spirit, do much more than I ever could.

I depend on you.

In Jesus' name we pray, and everybody said.

Amen.

Amen.

Places have a powerful effect on our memories.

Like I could say Japan, and someone might think, Oh, I was in Japan just recently.

Or I could say Nairobi, and Nairobi for my wife and I is a special place because it's where we were born.

I could say Trinity Classical School, and some children will be like, oh no, we're going back to school tomorrow.

Or I could say Spring Forest Middle School, and someone will say, Why did you have to mention it on a Sunday morning?

Places are important.

And this morning we'll see two places that I hope will be a kind of mental holder for you and I.

Our sermon today is called Remember Bethel and Bethlehem.

Remember Bethel and Bethlehem.

And one of the things we see in our passage today is Jacob has been on a journey.

The book of Genesis that we've been covering together talks about God creating the world.

And then because of sin, because man and woman disobeys, there's a problem, and God has a plan to fix it.

And eventually he narrows it into this one family, starting with a man called Abraham, and then Abraham's son, Isaac, and then Isaac's son, Jacob.

That's who we've been looking at today.

And after today, the camera is gonna shift to one of Jacob's sons, Joseph.

But before it does, there's a bit of unfinished business with Jacob.

And if you look at the screen, you're gonna see a map.

And on that map, you see a place called Sakoth here on this side.

And that's where Jacob and his brother Esau met and made peace.

And then Jacob moves to a place called Shechem, somewhere up there.

And that's where Jacob is today.

When God speaks to him, God says this.

And I think I have this slide up on the screen for us.

God said to Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell.

What's that word?

Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.

Twice.

God repeats there.

There.

This is the first time that God is giving a command to anybody in Jacob's family for them to make some kind of altar.

Altars were any race structure.

I think I have an image up on the screen of examples, where people would meet with God.

So basically, God is telling Jacob, I want to meet with you.

But the interesting thing is this where Jacob is, there is already an altar.

There's already a place that they could meet.

And I think I have this up on the screen from Genesis 33.

And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Padan Aram, and he camped before the city.

And one of the first things he does on the next screen, what's that word?

We just read that word, right?

In our passage there.

Then he erected what?

What's the problem?

There's already an altar where he is, but then God comes and says, You go to Bethel, erect an altar there at Bethel, yet there's an altar here at Shechem.

There's a place they can meet right where Jacob is.

So what's wrong with where Jacob is?

Because when Jacob erects the altar where he is, he names it God, the God of Israel, proclaiming allegiance, like you're my God, finally.

Jacob had promised.

If God does everything he has promised to do for me, he made a vow that God will be my God.

And then you read him making that altar and you think, wow, finally Jacob has kept his vow.

But there's a problem with that altar.

And we realize there's a problem with where Jacob is because in verse 2 of chapter 35, Jacob says to his household, put away the foreign gods that are among you.

Putting away the foreign gods is a phrase that's normally used to represent changing of allegiance.

The same phrase is used in 1 Samuel, it's up on the screen.

And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, if you're returning to the Lord with all your heart, if it's true that he has all of you, then put away the foreign gods and direct your heart to the Lord.

So the people of Israel put the, they put those uh gods away and serve the Lord only.

The putting away of foreign gods is tied with total allegiance to God.

This idea of them purifying themselves, changing their clothes is talking about a totally new way of life.

So the problem with where Jacob is is this.

In fact, when God appears to Jacob, he says what?

Go up to Bethel, as though to indicate where you are spiritually is not where you should be.

Bethel confronts spiritual compromise.

There's a quote from a man called John Flavelle, and this is what he says The greatest difficulty in conversation in conversion, sorry, is to win the heart to God.

The greatest difficulty after conversion is to keep that heart with God.

Bethel confronts our spiritual compromise just like it confronts Jacob's spiritual compromise.

What might spiritual compromise look like for you and I?

It could look like this.

It could look like the busyness of life coming in and choking out what is most important, which is growing our relationship with God.

Commentators believe that Jacob was in Shechem probably about 10 years, busy with life, doing things, but he had neglected the most important thing, which is his relationship with God.

There are very good things you and I do.

Our jobs, taking care of our kids, even coming to church, setting up things like we do.

But we can do all those things to the neglect of really pursuing Christ in prayer, in the scriptures.

And maybe the question for you this morning is where has the busyness of life choked out what's important?

Because all these things are good.

But what is most important?

One commentator said that Bethel represented for Jacob the things that were most important.

It could look like beginning to be okay with media choices we never should be comfortable with in the first place.

We can get comfortable watching movies that diminish the dignity of women, or that cheapen intimacy between a man and a woman.

Or that normalize same-sex relationships, allowing our hearts to accept that what God has said should not be accepted.

See, I have this, like all of us, most of us, except the really young ones, do, a phone.

And this can be a gateway for media that you and I should never allow into our lives.

And I'm just gonna leave that really broad because there's an area where you have to use wisdom, but then there are areas where there are really clear red lines.

And maybe for you and I this morning, remembering Bethel, is asking ourselves, where have I begun to be comfortable with media choices I should not be comfortable with?

Whether it is things I'm listening to, whether it's things I'm looking at.

I try to think of other examples, and this is kind of what came to my mind, so that's what I'm gonna use.

So it could look like busyness that chokes out what's most important.

And the word to all of us would be go back to Bethel.

Because Bethel confronts our spiritual compromise.

What would going back to Bethel look like?

It could look like praying for God's help to deal with an area of spiritual compromise.

Like for Jacob, it could mean removing the things that are causing spiritual compromise.

I think another remedy is just living with the end in mind.

We know this.

The life we live is not forever.

And one day we're gonna stand before God.

And when you are faced with that final moment, there's nothing like a fine that final moment to clarify what's important.

Years ago, um, so probably, yeah, about 20 years ago, um, I was going to college, and at some point started having this issue with my heart where I was getting irregular heart rhythms.

And it was happening over and over and over again.

The issue was not new.

It had happened when I was in Kenya, it started happening when I was here in the US.

And during the time where this was happening was during a very, very busy time of my life.

Because I was going to school, I was working, I was dating, not that dating was work, but I'm just saying, I'm just saying it is another thing that was in my life, and really important one, Anita.

Um, so I had all these things going on, and each night I would only have about four hours of sleep on a good night, but the regular rhythm was two to three hours of sleep.

It was really, really hard.

But here's the thing: because of this hard issue that was going on, even though I was so busy, God never got choked out of my life.

And when I say never, I mean never.

During that period, I mean I've had periods of busyness where he gets choked out, like everyone.

But during that period, because I was living with the end in mind, God gave me a heart of wisdom.

Live with the end in mind.

That's Bethel.

Bethel confronts our spiritual compromise.

But that's not all.

Another place we see in the passage is Bethlehem.

And Bethlehem conforts our deepest sorrows.

One writer says this those who teach that our dedication to the Lord automatically protects us from troubles and tears need to read this chapter carefully.

Certainly, Jacob was walking with the Lord in faith and obedience in this chapter.

Nevertheless, he still had his share of trials.

Some have called this chapter Jacob's School of Sorrow.

And the reason they do that, and I have a slide on the screen.

Here's one way you can structure this whole passage we're in.

Burials.

The first one, foreign gods.

The next one, Deborah.

The next one, Rachel, the next one, Isaac.

In this passage, in a span of I don't know how long, he loses three people.

Deborah was the first one.

Deborah was his mother's nurse.

And apparently was with Jacob when Jacob was journeying.

For some reason, the death of Rebecca is not mentioned in the scriptures.

Where she is buried is, but her death is not.

And some believe Rebecca, Isaac's mom, is not mentioned because she colludes with Jacob to lie to Isaac.

That's what some think.

It may be.

We just don't know.

But what we know is that this faithful maid, this faithful nurse who was with Rebecca, is now with Jacob, which some believe communicates that Jacob's mother was dead.

And when Deborah dies, where she's buried, Jacob calls it the tree or the oak of sorrow.

Now don't miss that where Rebekah dies in this passage is right after Jacob gets to Bethel and builds the altar God asks him to build.

Right after he has obeyed God.

See the thing with life is sometimes sorrows have a way of finding us when we're doing the right thing.

And there's just no explanation for it.

The next one is Rachel.

Rachel, we should remember, was Jacob's beloved wife.

He worked, as it were, 14 years for her because of how much he loved her.

And the time of the birth the birth of a child should be a really jovial time.

But it ends up being a time of sorrow for Jacob.

So much so that when she names the child, she names in son of my sorrow.

And it's Jacob who has to come in and rename him Benjamin, meaning son of my right hand.

So Jacob was there when she died.

And we know Jacob never forgot the death of Rachel.

We know that because in Genesis 48, 7, on his deathbed, Jacob says, As for me when I came from Padan Aram to my sorrow, Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the way.

Because there's some sorrows we just don't forget.

And scripture acknowledges that.

And then an unthinkable thing happens right after a really deep sorrow.

His firstborn, Reuben, goes and sleeps with his concubine.

Now this might be a power grab, his way of saying, I'm, because I'm the firstborn, it's my time to lead the family.

It might be a way of making sure his mother, Leah, gets better treatment in the home.

I have an image on the screen.

And there you see Jacob, kind of a sort of family tree.

You see Leah, his first wife, who has a concubine called Zilpa.

And then you see Rachel over there with a concubine called Bilha.

And Ruben sleeps with her.

Maybe as a way of trying to make sure Leah gets better treatment in the home.

Maybe that's what he's up to.

We don't know.

The point is, it's another sorrow in his life.

And then finally, the chapter ends with Jacob and his brother burying Isaac in the Promised Land.

I want us to look at the death of Rachel.

Because when it happens, Bethlehem is mentioned.

Verse 16 of Genesis 35.

If you have your Bible open, look at it with me.

Then they journeyed from Bethel.

When there was still some distance, and if you have a footnote, it says that could be two hours, but there was still some distance from Ethrath.

Rachel went into labor and she and she had hard labor.

And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, Do not fear, for you have another son.

And as her soul was departing, for she was dying, she called his name Ben Oni.

But his father called him Benjamin.

And then verse 19 the name of the place is repeated again.

So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath.

And here it is, that is Bethlehem.

The reason why that matters is this.

Remember, I told you that Jacob never forgot the sorrow of losing Rachel because at his deathbed he mentions it.

Do you know who else did not forget?

God did not forget the sorrow that Jacob went through.

How do we know?

You have this verse up on the screen.

This is when the promise of the birth of Jesus in Micah is said.

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrata, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me, one who is to be ruler of Israel, whose coming forth is from old, from ancient of days.

And when the time of fulfillment comes, Matthew 2.1 says, now after Jesus was born where?

In Bethlehem.

You see, the scriptures go through so much pain to make sure we understand that the place where she died, Ephraim close to Bethlehem, is the very same place that Jesus is born.

Because God never forgot the sorrow.

And not just that, because Jesus is born, there's an evil ruler who decides to kill the children.

And when he does, Matthew records this, you have it on the slide.

A voice was heard in Rama, weeping in loud lamentation.

And what's the name that comes next?

Rachel.

As a representative of all the mothers who were crying, because God never forgot the sorrow that Jacob went through when he lost his dear wife.

Can I just tell you plainly?

God will not forget your sorrows.

How do I know?

In Revelation 21, what do the scriptures say?

The scriptures say, Revelation 21, and I think I have it up on the screen.

The scriptures say, then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven, and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.

We sang this this morning.

He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be them as their God.

And we keep going.

So what is that supposed to tell us?

God will not forget, and something will happen on that day when you and I are standing face to face to our Heavenly Father.

That will be a wiping of every tear when he lets us know I never forgot only of the tears that you cried.

Do you know what the Bible says?

Every tear, and this is something we've talked about before.

It's talking about every sort of tear, every single thing that caused you sorrow in this life, from the light ones to the really heavy ones.

God is gonna deal with all of them.

And when that happens, the former things will have passed away.

And then Jesus finishes by saying, Behold, I make all things new.

You see, you and I need to remember Bethlehem.

Because Bethlehem reminds us that that is where God gives comfort to our sorrows because of the Messiah Jesus Christ, and gives hope to each one of us because that king who was promised is coming back one day to deal with all those sorrows.

So you and I don't have answers for some of the things that happened in our lives.

Jacob did not have answers.

He had a promise.

And though he did not see everything that the promise entailed, he knew enough to know that he could trust God.

You and I don't know everything that that wiping of every tear is gonna look like.

We don't.

There's a bit there's mystery there.

But we know enough to know that it's gonna happen.

So don't forget Bethlehem.

And that's why the Apostle Paul says when we grieve, we grieve as those who have hope.

A pastor tells his story of a monthly church service he used to lead at a retirement community.

And after one sermon, he invited people to choose hymns that were particularly important expressions of praise for them.

The first person to speak was a guy called Babe Johnson.

He and his wife were wonderful Christian people.

He was outgoing, encouraging, thoughtful.

You could not tell he was a man who lived with a lot of pain.

So his hand went up immediately.

And he said, I want us to sing hymn number two, one, three, 213.

And then the pastor asked him, Is there any particular reason why you'd like to sing hymn number 213?

And he said, Yes.

And I quote, our son died when he was 40.

It was very traumatic.

Struck me very hard.

We stood at his graveside service, and God brought him 213 to mind.

It gave me hope and lifted me up.

The hymn he picked is because he lives, I can face tomorrow.

Because he lives, all fear is gone.

Because I know he holds a future and life is worth a living just because he lives.

That's what it looks like for you and I.

To remember Bethlehem and not forget.

Because Bethlehem comforts us in our sorrows and gives hope.

That's what I'd like all of us when we remember Bethlehem to think of.

And while this message cannot deal with all the nuances of sorrow, I just want to hold up Jesus Christ.

Saints, could you look at me for a moment?

Just get my gaze.

I'm not trying to be dramatic, I'm sorry.

If it's dramatic, I'm sorry.

Remember Bethlehem, y'all.

Remember Bethlehem.

Remember Bethlehem.

The king came.

The king is coming back.

That's what kept Jacob going.

Of all the things that could keep us going.

That's the one thing in our deepest sorrows that will not let us down.

So remember Bethel and Bethlehem.

Make them your spiritual landmarks.

Because Bethlehem confronts our spiritual compromise.

I mean Bethel confronts our spiritual compromise.

And Bethlehem comforts our deepest sorrows.

Let's pray.

I want to give you an opportunity to do business with the Lord.

And what I mean by that is this for some of us, it might be that Bethel image.

Where there are areas of spiritual compromise that we are dealing with or facing that we need to do just kind of that first thing of praying to the Lord and asking for his grace to deal with those areas.

So would you just take a moment to talk to the Lord and tell him, man, I've been so busy, it's choked out.

Just my my love, my devotion, my pursuit of you.

And all these things I've been doing are good things.

Like you've given me great gifts.

You've given me a job.

Thank you for the job.

You've given me a family.

I'm so grateful.

Give me such good things.

But I need you to help me because I'm so busy doing all these things.

That my devotion, my first love, is not where it needs to be.

Maybe that's a prayer you need to make.

Maybe for you Bethel spiritual compromise looks like media.

That you're allowing yourself to consume that you should not.

Like there's nothing wrong with media.

But because we live in a fallen world.

There's good media and bad media.

And maybe consider what that means for you.

And then there's remembering Bethlehem.

Remembering Bethlehem.

And maybe for you it might be kind of the Lord, these sorrows I'm dealing with right now, or that I've been remembering of late, that I've been weighing on my heart.

It may just be you saying to the Lord, thank you for sending Jesus, who was born a man of sorrows, acquainted with my grief.

Jesus wasn't just sent for Jacob, he was sent for me.

And maybe the prayer should be, Lord help me to continue on in hope, the hope of the returning king.

And so, yes, I carry aches and I also carry hope.

And both of them are true.

And for the Christian, that's okay.

And then now I'm gonna make a prayer for all of us.

Heavenly Father, I trust you have done what I could never do.

Which is take this word and apply it where your people need it.

Oh take my feeble, feeble, feeble, feeble efforts.

And in some way May the words Bethel, the words Bethlehem be a sort of landmark in our minds.

For dealing with spiritual compromise and for hope in our sorrows.

And we pray all these things, trusting in Jesus' name, and God's people said Amen.