After he had been delivered out of all these troubles, "Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle" (33:17). Succoth was on the east side of the Jordan. This indicates that while Jacob was at Succoth, he had not yet crossed the Jordan River to enter into the heart of the land of Canaan. Genesis 33:17 does not say that Jacob came to Canaan. The land of Canaan is not mentioned until the next verse, where we are told that Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, "which is in the land of Canaan" (v. 18). In God's eyes, when Jacob journeyed to Succoth and built himself a house there, he had not yet come back to the heart of the good land. By Jacob's building a house for himself and booths for his cattle, we see how much Jacob was still natural and for himself. He certainly neglected the dream he had had at Bethel. After Jacob had fled from Esau, he had a dream in which he saw a ladder reaching from earth to heaven. When he awoke from that dream, he called the name of that place Bethel and poured oil upon the stone which he had used for a pillow, saying, "This stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house" (28:22). At Bethel, Jacob made a vow to God, promising that the stone would be the house of God. In other words, he promised God that he would build a house for Him. Surely, Jacob forgot about this. If I had been there, I would have asked Jacob, "Jacob, why did you come back? Does God want you to build a house for yourself and booths for your cattle? What about the house of God?" When Jacob was a stranger in a foreign land, we could sympathize with him, for it is difficult for anyone to be an alien. But now he has come back to the territory of the land of God's promise.
If you read the Old Testament carefully, you will see that the territory east of the Jordan was never recognized as being the best part of the good land. But when the two and a half tribes of Israel came to this territory, they were attracted by it. This caused Moses to be unhappy with them. These two and a half tribes did receive this land, but they lost some of God's blessing. When the Assyrians came to attack the children of Israel, they firstly came to the land east of the Jordan, and these two and a half tribes were the first to be captured (1 Chron. 5:26). The strategic cities, such as Jerusalem and Bethlehem, are in the heart of the land west of the Jordan. Therefore, the territory east of the Jordan, where Succoth was, was not in the heart of the land of God's promise.
The Bible affords us a very brief record of Jacob's stay at Succoth. Eventually, Jacob realized that Succoth was not the proper place for him to stay with God, and he crossed over the Jordan and journeyed to Shechem. In his journey back to the good land, Jacob crossed three rivers: the Euphrates, the Jabbok, and the Jordan. In coming to Shechem, Jacob was following the footsteps of his forefather Abraham (cf. 12:5-6). This indicates that Jacob had been brought on to the right track. In Shechem Jacob erected a tent and built an altar (vv. 18-20). This reveals that he had begun to live the tent life and to have the altar testimony. This was far better than building a house for himself and booths for his cattle. In Succoth Jacob built nothing for God. In Shechem, on the contrary, he built nothing for himself or for his cattle; rather, he built an altar for God and erected a tent for his living. How good it was that he not only followed the steps of his forefather, but also had the tent life and the altar testimony.
This was good, but it was not Bethel. If you read chapter twelve you will see that after Abraham arrived at Shechem, he continued onward to Bethel (12:6-8). Jacob had his dream at Bethel (28:10-22). When he was told by the Lord to return to the land of his fathers, that was an indication that he should return to Bethel to fulfill his vow to build a house for God. I simply cannot understand whether he forgot this dream or whether he was unwilling to pay the price. But he firstly came to Succoth and then continued onward to Shechem. In Shechem he began to live as a called one. Before then, Jacob never lived as a called one. Using today's Christian terms, Jacob never lived the Christian life. Prior to that time, he was supplanting all the time. That was the life he had lived since birth. He supplanted others and held on to their heel. However, by the time Esau came to meet him, Jacob had been broken. Although Esau came to him with an honest and good heart, Jacob, even after he had been broken, was still supplanting. Supplanting until the very last minute, Jacob arrived safely at Shechem, where he began to live a tent life with an altar testimony.
Although Jacob had a tent with an altar in Shechem, this fell short of God's standard. There was a tent for Jacob, but there was no house for God. An altar had been built for God, but God still did not have a house. According to the Old Testament, the building of the altar must bring us to the building of the temple. In the rebuilding of the temple, the first item to be recovered was the altar (Ezra 3:1-3). In front of both the tabernacle and the temple was the altar. It is the same in our experience. Firstly, we have an absolute consecration and build an altar; then we continue until we come to the building of the church, the house of God.