Verse 16 says, "And they journeyed from Bethel." Verse 27 says, "And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Arba, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned." Jacob had arrived in Hebron. Once he reached this place, God's work in him was completed. From this point on, he dwelt in Hebron, the place where Abraham and Isaac once dwelt. The meaning of Hebron is to remain in the fellowship. It was not only fellowship with God but fellowship with the other members of the Body of Christ.
Bethel was not the permanent dwelling place for Jacob. Only Hebron was the permanent dwelling place of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This means that we need to know Bethel as the house of God just as we need to know Shechem as the power of God. However, we do not live in the knowledge of the house of God; we live daily in the fellowship of it.
From that time on, Jacob realized that he could do nothing on his own. Everything had to be done in fellowship, and nothing could be done outside of fellowship. If the flesh is not dealt with, it will never see the importance of fellowship. Many Christians do not seem to need fellowship. They do not need to fellowship with God, and they do not need to fellowship with other children of God. They are this way mainly because their flesh has never been dealt with. The flesh must be dealt with, and one must know the life of Bethel before he realizes that he cannot live outside Hebron, and that he cannot survive without fellowship. The fellowship we are speaking of refers to the life supply of Christ which comes from the other members. When other brothers and sisters supply us with the indwelling Christ and we go forward through the supply of these other members, we have Hebron and fellowship. God's children are very much in need of this.
If God's children have not been dealt with in their flesh, they cannot know the life of the Body of Christ. They may understand the doctrine about the Body of Christ, and they may even be able to expound it clearly. But if their flesh is not dealt with, they will not know the life of the Body. Once the flesh is dealt with, they will know the life of the Body of Christ. They will see the importance of fellowship, and they will not be able to live apart from the fellowship. They will not be able to be a Christian at all without the other children of God, and they will not be able to receive any supply of life apart from the help of God's children. Brothers and sisters, the Body of Christ is a fact; it is not a doctrine. We cannot live without Christ, and we cannot live without the other Christians.
We have to ask God to show us that we cannot be Christians by ourselves. We have to live in fellowship with God, and we have to live in fellowship with the Body of Christ. May God lead us on so that we can truly glorify His name. May God gain not only a vessel in Jacob, but a vessel in us as well.