Verse 5 says, "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." It is very encouraging to see that their enemies were terrified. Due to the trouble caused by his sons, Jacob was afraid that the city people would fight against him and kill him. But after Jacob and all those with him had put away the idols, purified themselves, and changed their garments, a terror from God fell upon the city people. Their clearance and purification terrified the enemy. This indicates that if, for the sake of the church life, we put away all foreign gods and self-beautifying and abominable ornaments, purify ourselves, and change our garments, the demons and besetting sins will be terrified. There will be no need to fight to overcome; the enemy will be terrified and the victory will be ours. Have you ever terrified sins? Have you ever terrified gambling, drinking, or smoking? Perhaps you have found these things difficult to overcome. If so, it is because you have not put away foreign gods, purified yourselves, and changed your garments. If you do all this, all the "bugs," "scorpions," and "gophers" will be terrified and will flee and hide. I have read some books about overcoming sin and the world. Forty or fifty years ago I practiced what I read in those books. But the more I practiced, the more defeated I was because I was not in the church. Being in the church by putting away the foreign trusts, purifying ourselves, and changing our garments terrifies sin and worldliness and gives us the victory. Are you troubled by the little "gopher" of your temper? It will be terrified. Genesis 35:5 says that the people of the cities did not dare to pursue Jacob. God gave Jacob a prosperous journey up to Bethel. Whenever we are in the church, all the "gophers" are terrified.
After making a thorough clearance, Jacob and all his people arose and went up to Bethel (vv. 3, 6). At Bethel, he built an altar to God and "called the place El-Beth-el" (v. 7), realizing that God was God to him at Bethel. We must respond to God's call or reminder to go up to the church where we can build the altar of our real consecration and experience God in a practical way. After we come into the church, we all realize the need of a real consecration. By such a consecration, we experience God being God to us in His house—the church.
Verse 8 says, "Deborah, Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allon-bachuth." For quite a while, I could not understand why, at this juncture, Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died. There are no wasted words in the Bible. Deborah was a nurse to Jacob's mother, Rebekah. Rebekah must have died prior to Jacob's return. Thus, Deborah must have been very dear to Jacob as a comfort in place of his mother. At the precise time Jacob had the experience of Bethel, Deborah, his comfort, was taken away by God. As many of us can testify, when we put away the foreign gods, purified ourselves, changed our garments, and came into the church life, God intervened to take away our "Deborahs," our nursing mothers. Many of us had a "Deborah," someone or something loving, sympathizing, and soothing. But the day we came into the church life God spontaneously took our nurse away, and our "Deborah" died. The church life is a life that does not require a nurse. None of the church people needs a nursing mother. But, sorry to say, some of us still like to have some nurses to sympathize with us and to soothe and to comfort us like a mother taking care of an infant. Any word spoken positively regarding nursing mothers is addressed to babes. After being in the church for so long, do you still need someone to nurse you? Nevertheless, even the older ones still desire a "Deborah" to soothe and care for them. But if we mean business with the Lord for Bethel, He will remove our nurses.
In these verses we see that three things were buried: the idols, the earrings, and the nurse. All were buried under an oak. The oak is a symbol of flourishing life. Hence, all the foreign gods, the self-beautifying items, and the nurses are buried under the flourishing life, especially the life in the church. This is not a doctrine, but something that corresponds to our experience. The life in the church flourishes like an oak tree, but underneath it are the "Deborahs." We put off the idols and removed the earrings, but God caused our "Deborah" to die. This is a real purification, both from our side and from God's side. We put away and God took away. We put away the foreign gods, the earrings, the pollutions, and garments, and God took away the nurses. In the church life we do not need sympathy or nursing. All our "Deborahs" must be buried.
The oak under which Deborah was buried was "beneath Bethel" (v. 8). This indicates that our experience of the taking away and the burying of our "Deborahs" is not on a high plane; rather, it is beneath the level of the church. The church as the house of God is on the highest plane, and here in the church we must have some experiences that are also on the highest plane, such as the experience of Christ as our life and our person. To experience the burial of our "Deborahs" is rather low; it is beneath Bethel. Hence, the burial oak was called Allon-bachuth—the oak of weeping. This is not a matter worthy of our rejoicing.