Verse 14 says that "Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had talked with him, even a pillar of stone." The first thing that Jacob did in reacting to God's word was to repeat what he had done in Bethel the first time—to set up a pillar of stone. Nothing in our first dream that was truly of the Lord can ever be forgotten. When we return to the vision, we must repeat it. In 28:18 Jacob set up for a pillar the stone he had used for a pillow and he called the name of that pillar Bethel. He repeated this in chapter thirty-five. This is a crucial point. Deep within, Jacob was convicted that he was held by God to build Him a house on earth. Perhaps Jacob said to himself, "I could never forget my experience at Bethel. Now, after returning to Bethel, God talked to me much more than He did before. Many years ago, I set up a stone as a pillar for His house. Now, after listening to Him again, I must repeat this." Jacob had vowed that a house would be built for God on earth. Eventually, this was completed by Solomon who built the temple as God's house.
Now we come to a very weighty matter—the pouring of the drink offering upon the pillar (v. 14). In chapter twenty-eight, Jacob poured oil upon the stone that he had set up for a pillar. But in chapter thirty-five there is some further development. Before he poured oil upon the pillar, he poured a drink offering upon it. Probably very few of us know the true significance of the drink offering. If you consult the commentaries for a definition of it, you will be unsuccessful. But by reading other verses, such as Numbers 15:1-5; 28:7-10; Philippians 2:17; and 2 Timothy 4:6, along with our experience, we can grasp the genuine significance of the drink offering.
According to Leviticus chapters one through seven, God charged His people to offer various offerings, without mentioning the drink offering because this offering was additional. Later, God charged Moses that His people, after entering into the good land, had to offer Him the drink offering in addition to the basic offerings in Leviticus 1 through 7. Hence, the drink offering was additional to the basic offerings. The basic offerings included the burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. In addition to all these basic offerings, the children of Israel had to offer the drink offering (Num. 15:1-10; 28:7-10). (The drink offering mentioned in Exodus 29:40-41 was for the service of the priests, and the drink offering mentioned in Leviticus 23:13, 18, and 37 was for the firstfruit offered to God after the Israelites had entered into the good land and had labored on it, v. 10). In both Philippians 2:17 and 2 Timothy 4:6, Paul considered himself to be a drink offering. In Philippians 2:17 he said, "But if even I am poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and priestly service of your faith, I rejoice and rejoice with you all." Here Paul told the Philippians that he was being poured out as a drink offering upon their sacrifice or offering (the Greek word can be rendered either way). Paul seemed to be saying, "You Philippians are offering something to God. I am happy to be poured out as a drink offering upon your offering." Shortly before Paul was martyred he said to Timothy, "For I am already being poured out, and the time of my departure is at hand." What was the drink offering poured upon? According to the Old Testament, the drink offering was always poured out upon one of the basic offerings. When Paul was about to be martyred, upon what was he being poured out as a drink offering?
As we shall see, he was being poured out upon Christ. According to Leviticus, we may offer Christ to God as the basic offerings. By offering Christ in this way, we have some experience of Christ. This experience makes us happy, and we become people filled with joy, with new wine. As those who offer Christ to God, we shall be filled with new wine. We shall have wine within us. Eventually, this wine will saturate our entire being and we ourselves will actually become wine. When Paul said that he was being poured out as a drink offering, he himself, through his rich experience of Christ, was the wine that was being poured out as a drink offering upon the Christ he had experienced and offered to God. If you could check with the martyrs like Peter and Paul, they would all testify that their martyrdom was just a pouring out upon Christ of their joy with their whole being. All the martyrs were poured out as a drink offering upon Christ to God. They experienced Christ to such an extent that when they offered Christ to God as the basic offerings, they themselves were also poured out as a drink offering upon Christ. If we have the genuine experience of Christ day after day, this experience will fill us with joy as with divine wine. Then we shall be drunken with wine and become wine for God, saying, "O God, I would like to be poured out upon Christ as a drink offering to You." Often in the Lord's table meeting I have realized that a number of saints have experienced Christ to such a degree that when they offered Christ to God at the Lord's table, there was the indication in their prayer and praise that they were ready to pour themselves out upon Christ to God. This is the drink offering, and it can only be experienced in Bethel.
The seed of the drink offering is sown in Genesis 35. If we would understand it, we must read Numbers 15 and 28, Philippians 2:17, and 2 Timothy 4:6. Then we shall understand that we must not only offer Christ to God as the basic offerings, but also as the drink offering. We need to be filled with joy by experiencing Christ that we may become wine for God and be willing to be poured out as a drink offering upon Christ to God. This experience is deep and quite subjective. You may say, "O Father God, I offer myself as a drink offering upon Christ to You." Although you may say this, if you have not experienced Christ to the extent that you are filled with joy and are drunken with heavenly wine, you will not have the joy and the willingness to be poured out as a drink offering to God. In the church life there are the possibility and the potential of experiencing Christ so much that we shall be saturated with the divine wine and even become wine. Oh, in the church life I am filled with joy and am willing to be poured out upon Christ as a drink offering for God's satisfaction.
God enjoys drinking wine. He does not want the wine made from grapes, but the wine made from Christ's saturating us. God is not interested in grapes—He is interested in you with Christ. We must become wine through the experience of Christ. The only place where we can become God's wine is in the church. I assure you that in the church your experience of Christ will bring you to the point where you will be filled with heavenly joy and will become the divine wine and be willing to be poured out upon Christ for God's satisfaction. This is the reaction of Israel in Bethel. I have the complete confidence that from now on there will be many reactions like this in the local churches. Many dear saints will say, "Lord, I'm so saturated with Your joy that I'm drunken. I have become wine to satisfy my God. Now I am willing to be poured out, even to be martyred." Recall that Paul said that he was already being poured out upon Christ for God's satisfaction. In the church life we all must be saturated with heavenly joy so that we might be ready and willing to sacrifice ourselves, to be poured out upon Christ for God's satisfaction. In the church life we all can experience Christ to the degree that we are willing to be poured out as a drink offering.