Do not simply regard this as a story about Jacob. You must take it as your biography. I can testify that I have done the same thing as Jacob. I simply forgot my vow, my consecration. I believe that all of us have made a consecration to the Lord, especially during a time of trial or difficulty. We made a vow, saying, "O Lord, if You will bring me through these difficulties safely, I will consecrate myself to You and take You as my God and build a house in this place for You." In principle, we all have made a vow similar to this. But have you fulfilled your vow? Probably none of us has. By this we see that we all are Jacobs. His history is actually our autobiography. To make a vow to the Lord and to consecrate ourselves to Him is one thing, but to fulfill our vow and to carry out our consecration may require the sacrifice of a daughter, eleven sons, a Shechem, a Hamor, and many other people and things.
The Christian life is often a stormy life. When we first heard the gospel, we might have thought that after becoming a Christian our lives would be peaceful and that there would be no storms. Perhaps we thought that our boat would sail safely in Christ without a storm. But throughout the more than fifty years I have been a Christian, there has been one storm after another. Eventually, I came to realize that the Christian life is full of storms. What is the purpose of these storms? Although I was not clear fifty years ago, I am very clear today. Actually, it is not a matter of storms or peace—it is absolutely a matter of whether or not we are being transformed for God's building to fulfill God's purpose. Your life is stormy because you are stubborn, because you are so much like Jacob. You need many storms because you have not yet been transformed into Israel. You may say to yourself, "I am at Shechem and everything is safe. Let us sail on peacefully." This peace may last a short time, but suddenly a storm comes, your Dinah is defiled, and everything is in turmoil. This is our life. Do not blame Him; it is we who make it so difficult for Him to work on us. Although we never prayed, "Lord, send us a storm," all kinds of storms have come. But no storm has killed us. After fighting through so many storms, we are still living. The Lord certainly has sacrificed much for our sake. Dear ones, many of you are still young. You are now on the boat and it is too late for you to repent and jump out. You need the storms.
What happened to Jacob in chapter thirty-four made a profound impression on him. When he was old and was bestowing his blessing on his twelve sons, he was unable to forget what Simeon and Levi had done. In 49:5 and 6 Jacob said, "Simeon and Levi are brethren; their swords are weapons of violence. O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their company, my glory, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they hamstrung oxen" (Heb.). According to Jacob's word, Simeon and Levi not only killed men but also hamstrung oxen, cutting the nerves to cripple them. Jacob never forgot that. This was the worst trouble he had ever passed through. It was much heavier than his difficulty with Esau. It greatly terrified him, causing him to fear that the people of the land would attack him and kill him. Even at the time of the blessing of his sons, Jacob could put no trust in them. He said, "O my soul, come not thou into their secret," that is, stay away from them. The trouble Simeon and Levi caused Jacob touched him in the depths of his being. After that happened, Jacob immediately took the word of the Lord to go up to Bethel. From that moment Jacob began to be transformed. Prior to that time, he had had no change.
Jacob had left Padan-aram and, having been pursued by Laban, was delivered out of his hand. He was also rescued out of his trouble with Esau, and came to Succoth, where he built a house for himself and booths for his cattle. I believe that Jacob did not have the peace to remain there. Thus, he traveled onward to Shechem, following the steps of his forefather and beginning to have the proper tent life with the altar testimony to live as God's called one. But his life at Shechem was not up to God's standard. God's goal is to have Bethel, His house on earth. Like Jacob, many brothers and sisters today are still living in Shechem. They have followed the footsteps of the forerunners and they have been strengthened. They have the tent life with an altar testimony and they are living as God's called ones. But God's desire is not satisfied because they are not yet up to His level. Because of this, certain unfortunate things happen to them again and again in order to prepare their heart to listen to God's word to arise, to go up to Bethel, to dwell there, and to build an altar. We need to see all these steps. In the next message we shall see that, in chapter thirty-five, Jacob began to be transformed. His transformation began after the Lord spoke to him about going up to Bethel.
Today, nearly all seeking Christians are like Jacob, living a good life in Shechem but neglecting God's goal in Bethel. But in the Lord's recovery He wants us to pass through Shechem and go up to Bethel, to pass through our individual life to go up to the corporate church life. If we have not arrived at the corporate church life, we still fall short of God's goal. This is why however good we are in Shechem, we do not have the satisfying peace and safety. This forces us to take the Lord's word to leave Shechem and to go up to Bethel to have the proper church life in His house on earth.