A Place called Shechem

Gen 35:1-4 And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. 2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: 3 And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. 4 And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

Josh 24:1 And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.

Shechem was a place where the main highways and ancient trade routes converged between the river Jordan and the Mediterrean Sea. In the area referred to as the Mountains of Ephraim (or simply Mount Ephraim) and between two mountain peaks called Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. If a person wished to journey through the promised land, the convenient way was to pass through Shechem.

Long before the promised land was given to the Israelites under the leadership of Joshua, Shechem was prominent in Jewish History. When God told Abraham to leave the sinful Ur of Chaldees and go “to a land which I will shew thee,” Abraham just stepped out in faith and began to travel along the popular trade routes of the day. It was not until he got to Shechem that God spoke again.

Gen 12:6-8 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. 7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. 8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.

Here in Shechem, Abraham (then referred to only as Abram) first heard God’s promise that this would be the land that his seed would inherit. Shechem represents the first confirmation of a promise of God in Abraham’s life. Abraham then traveled slightly around the mountain to a place called Bethel and also built an altar unto the Lord. Bethel means “house of God.” Notice that Abraham pitched his tent in Bethel, in other words he built an altar in the midst of his life. We today must also build an altar in the midst of our lives! Wherever we live and whatever circumstances that we find ourselves in, we must build an altar there! An altar consists of praise, worship, sacrifice, fire, submission, prayer, and calling upon the name of the Lord! Whatever situation you find your life dwelling in today, be sure that an altar is present!

Bethel means “house of God,” and Shechem means “shoulder or upper back.” When Jesus Christ suffered and died, it is no coincidence that He provided healing by stripes borne upon His back. Before He was crucified, Jesus was forced to carry a cross upon His back along a pathway leading to ultimate victory for you and I. Shechem then represents the Cross of Calvary, True Repentance, Submitting ourselves to God and His Will, and the Death of our Sins. It is at this place that Abraham found direction for His life and future for His family. It was at this place that Abraham found the meaning for His life and first developed a relationship with God. Every person today has undertaken a life’s journey that God wants to lead to a promised place. If we are to find direction for our lives. If we are to find future for our families. If we, like Abraham, want to find meaning for our lives and develop a relationship with God then we must be willing to pass through a Shechem, a Cross experience, and be willing to die to our self wills and submit to walking the Path that Jesus has left for us in His Word!

Shechem was the cross roads through the mountains where many roads converged. One could travel many directions from Shechem. Shechem then represents a place of decision where we decide to submit ourselves to the Cross experience and Crucify our flesh, or whether or not we choose to go down some other road. Abraham moved from Shechem to Bethel, the dwelling place of God and then decided to live there! The same decision that Abraham had to make is one that we all face: as you come to the place of taking up the cross in your life, will you choose the road that leads you to live in the presence of God?!!!!

In Bethel, Abraham began to call upon the name of the Lord. Calling upon the name of the Lord has always been God’s method of Salvation. In Romans 10:13, while talking to the nation of Israel, Paul reminds them of this promise: “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” HOW you are to call upon the name of the Lord within the time that you live is the crucial fact, though. Today we must call upon the name of the Lord in Repentance. We must call upon the name of the Lord at Baptism. We must also call upon the name of the Lord to receive His Spirit in our lives! In order to Repent, to submit to Water Baptism, and to receive the Holy Spirit, at Bethel, we must make the right decision at Shechem. Don’t turn at the crossroads of your life or take another path. Move on to Bethel and experience what life is like with God dwelling with you! For us the path is still the same, the Highway into the promised land goes from Shechem to Bethel: from a decision to take up our personal cross and lay down our self will, to calling upon the name of the Lord and dwelling with God!

________________________________________________________________________

Shechem and Bethel in the Mountains of Ephraim also figured prominently in the life of Abraham’s grandson Jacob. In Genesis chapter 28 we find Jacob fleeing for his life because he has just cheated Esau out of the birthright. As Jacob flees, He passes through Bethel on His way toward Shechem. He is heading the wrong way, and heading away from the promises of God! Sin in our lives never leads us closer to God but always farther away from God’s plan for our life! Here God gave Jacob a dream of a ladder descending from heaven with angels ascending and descending from it with the Lord standing at the top! God then promised Jacob the same promise that He had given Abraham about the promised place.

Gen 28:19-21 And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. 20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, 21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:

Jacob arose afraid of what had happened to him. The reason for his fear was his direction. He was going backwards from the plan of God. Rather than stop running and allow God to direct his life, Jacob continued on to the east, taking a road from Shechem that led away from Bethel. Despite a definite promise from God, Jacob did not change direction! As he went Jacob made the statement “if I come again here” then I the Lord God will be my God. So also do some people feel the drawing tug of God and see the dream that God has given them that leads straight to Jesus Christ, but do not want to have to make a decision so they too turn away from their experience that God has given them and continue in the direction that their past life is leading them. It seems that they will do anything but have to deal with a decision about Calvary! The events that followed, Jacob being deceived by Laban, the hard years of labor, the conflict between Leah and Rachel, could have been avoided if Jacob had only changed direction and allowed himself to go the right way through the Shechem and Bethel of his life.

Years later, Jesus would refer to this incident while choosing His disciples:

John 1:49-51 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. 50 Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. 51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

When Phillip discovered Jesus, he immediately went to find Nathanael (sometimes referred to as Barthalomew) who was sitting under a fig tree. Nathanael knew the scriptures and was patiently waiting for the Messiah to come. Notice the difference between the result of Nathanael’s experience with God and Jacob’s life. Nathaneal immediately went from questioning whether or not the Messiah could come out of Nazareth under the fig tree to proclaiming that Jesus was the Son of God the King of Israel! At the decision time in his life, Nathaneal did not hestitate to dwell with God. In the Shechem of his life, Nathaneal chose to go on and dwell in the Bethel of his life and did not even consider returning in the direction that he had been going in his old lifestyle. What is the point? Some people like to read the Old Testament stories about visions and dreams from God and they’ll read how that God gave a dream to Jacob about angels ascending and descending and getting clear direction on how to get to where God wants them to be. When Jesus realized that Nathaneal had made his choice to dwell with God and become His disciple, Jesus then promised Nathaneal in verse 51 that he would soon see the same vision that Jacob had seen. Even today when we decide to become completely sold out to God and allow Shechem to carry us to Bethel -- we allow our place of decision to take us to the dwelling place of God -- God will give us -- the disciples of today -- direction and promise also!

Over 14 years later, when Jacob finally left Laban with his wives and flocks of sheep, he came journeyed once again to Shechem.

Gen 33:18-20 And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan-aram; and pitched his tent before the city. 19 And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for an hundred pieces of money. 20 And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel.

Jacob returned to Shechem and purchased a piece of property there. The majority of His neighbors were extremely unfriendly and thus Jacob could not use the local water sources. Most people would have left because of the persecution, but Jacob was determined to make the right decision this time and stick it out. When a person decides to do their best to shoulder their cross, nowadays, they usually are persecuted also! We need to get the tenacity of Jacob and say “I’m not abandoning Calvary no matter what the odds against me are!” Jewish History teaches us that Jacob realized that he was not going to be able to use the heathen’s water so he dug his own well. He dug by hand a 105 feet deep well that was seven and a half feet in diameter. We know this because the well is still there today! Some of you need to get the attitude of Jacob and allow the persecution to drive you to a place that you will do anything, even dig through rock to stay with Calvary! Jacob also purchased a burial plot there for his family. I like Jacob’s new found determination! He realized that He’d made a mistake in leaving Shechem the first time but decided that nothing was going to cause him to leave the place of the promises of God, the Calvary experience now! What Jacob was telling God was “I’m going to stick it out no matter what persecution comes my way.” Whatever I have to do to live in Calvary, then I’ll do it, if I have to dig through some unbelief, I’ll do it! All of us have things in our lives that we need to dig past in order to live in Calvary, in order to pick up our cross! Why don’t you show God how serious you are about living for Him and dig past them. Jacob told God “when I die, I’m going to die under the shadow of Your Cross, I’m going to die at Shechem. Some of us need to get the attitude that no matter what difficulty that we may face in our lives, we are going to live for God even if we die in the process! And if you are truly saved, you will die in the process! Jesus said it this way:

Mark 8:35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.

Get the attitude that no matter what happens in life you are going to live for Jesus. Jacob’s story teaches us that tenacity in the spirit takes two things: digging a well and buying a burial plot! Jacob’s enemies have since passed on, but his well and burial plot still remain to this day as a testament to what God can do to a person that despite his past mistakes will decide to never go back on Calvary again.

The well was designed so that there was a pit 15 feet square that was lined with rock. In the floor of the pit, was the opening of the well which was only four feet across so that the well could be closed. In Jacob’s day, a rope or ladder was probably constructed to lower the person drawing water into the 15 foot deep pit and then the water actually pulled out by someone standing on the ground. In the Greek, the city of Shechem is called Sychar and it was here that Jesus paused at Jacob’s well while passing through Samaria on His way to Galilee from Jerusalem in John chapter 4. Archeological studies suggest that in Jesus’ time there were probably stone steps built leading down into the pit so that a person could merely walk from the surface to the well opening. By Jesus’ time the rock lining of the pit had been built up to form a small wall around the pit so that children and animals could not fall in. When the famous Samaritan “woman at the well” came to Jacob’s well, she found Jesus sitting on the stone wall. Jesus used the water of the well to teach the woman about the “everlasting water,” the Holy Ghost. Notice that Jacob had dug the well in response to persecution and now the Samaritan woman was coming to this well instead of going to the town well in the middle of the day alone because of persecution resulting from her past. Jacob had to dig through some obstacles, physical and spiritual, in order to reach the water. The Woman from Samaria also had to dig through some obstacles in order to reach the water. You might have to dig through some things in your life to get to the everlasting water, but by all means dig! The correct response to persecution for living for God is not to run but to allow it to draw you closer to God’s Spirit! When you live on the water that Jesus gives, it doesn’t matter what the circumstances or persecution in your life, you will not thirst! Allow the experience of Calvary to lead you to a daily spiritual Bethel in your life: God dwelling with you by living inside of you (Holy Spirit).

Jacob did stop at Shechem, however, this time he allowed the moment of decision in his life to lead him in the right direction to Bethel.

Jacob was commanded by God to go to Bethel and dwell there. Before dwelling with God, Jacob commanded his household to cleanse themselves of the strange Gods and items with which they had contaminated themselves. The strange gods and earrings that they gave him, Jacob buried a Shechem. Remember: Bethel represents dwelling with God and Shechem represents the Cross experience or deciding to surrender everything to God in our life. When Jacob finally decided to go the right way, he completely sold out to God! He even “cleaned house” of the things that just “possibly” hinder his relationship with God. He commanded his family to “be clean,” and to “change their garments.” Tonight, every one of us has come face to face with Calvary once again through the preached word of the Lord. We all are once again at Shechem tonight. Why don’t you decide to dwell with the Lord. Why don’t you submit everything tonight. Why don’t you bury some things in the spirit tonight. Why don’t you give up some of the things that you’ve felt the gentle nudge of the Spirit telling you to get rid of tonight? Oh I know it may not be some great sin, but in order to get from a place of Shechem to Bethel, you need to wash yourself. You need to give up some things that hinder your walk with God. There is a difference between weights and sin. We focus on sin, but weights usually lead to sin. What are you keeping in your life that is weighing your relationship with God down. What do you have in your life that is hindering you on your daily road through the promised places of God? Jacob buried some things, washed some things away, and he also changed his clothing. In the Jewish day clothing reflected your lifestyle. Some of us are wondering why we have a hard time getting from the daily Calvary experience of repentance to the power and glory of God in Bethel. We need to change our lifestyle. What is important to God needs to become important to us. We need to change the actions and loves that we have that displease God.

Verses 9 through 15 detail what happened to Jacob when he was willing to give up some things at Shechem. One thing was that God met him there. Another thing is that God changed his name to no longer bring rememberance of his past failures. The things that Jacob and his household gave up did not have a literal connection with his past. They were other problems, but when Jacob was willing to give up the small things in his life, God changed the major problems! Sometimes we as Christians want God to fix the major problems in our lives but balk at the Word of God or Spirit of God dealing with what we consider “small things.” But if the Word of God or Spirit of God has brought to your attention some small things that you need to take care of, it’s probably those little things that are keeping you from getting to Bethel. In Bethel, in dwelling with God, there is true liberty for the major problems of your life, but your resistance to the small things in your life are hindering your ability to get there. The things that God is dealing with you may seem trivial and unconnected to the big picture, but they really do matter, or God wouldn’t keep trying to get your attention!

Once Jacob got to Bethel, God also renewed the covenant that He had made with Abraham. God will keep His end of His promises once a person is willing to give up everything at Shechem and move on! But to a person who decides to keep part of their will, the promises of God are forever a mystery. Don’t sell yourself short, die out to your flesh at Calvary and move into Bethel tonight!

________________________________________________________________________

Let’s talk about the importance of giving up some things and rededicating your life to the Lord tonight. Let’s continue to look at the importance of making the right decision at Shechem.

The Story of Joseph and his brothers is a very familiar one. Joseph was the favorite son of Jacob and was given special treatment. This caused jealousy among his older ten brothers. Joseph also began to have dreams of the other brothers serving him, and his telling of the dreams only served to make matters worse. One day the older ten brothers were out working and Jacob sent Joseph to check on them. Genesis 37:12 tells us that the brothers were feeding the flocks of sheep in a place in the mountains called Shechem.

Gen 37:12 And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem.

Shechem = the place of decision! The place where one must decide to die out to flesh and move on in a relationship with God or take the wrong path! The brothers chose to get rid of their younger brother. The seized Joseph and threw him in a pit until some traders came along on their way to Egypt. The Brothers then sold Joseph to the traders as a slave. Some Bible scholars believe that the pit that Joseph was thrown into was the 15 foot pit of Jacob’s well. We have no sure proof of this, but it does fit into with the history of the place, and was conveniently nearby. The 10 older brothers had traveled to Shechem and made the wrong decision, and later their decision would cost them their relationship with God! What about Joseph? Instead of getting bitter about what conspired at Shechem, Joseph decided to allow the experience to cause him to get closer to the Lord. Joseph’s Bethel was in a foreign land and even a jail cell, but we find that Joseph never complained about Shechem. Remember earlier Jacob had finally made the right decision at Shechem and God granted his dream. Now Joseph made the right decision at Shechem and God eventually granted his dream! Some of you, God has given dreams to and visions of what He’d like to do with your life. At this point, you have not seen them come true. Could it be that you are still fighting with some small things at Shechem, so God is not able to take you on to Bethel? The way to get your dreams answered is not to promote yourself, but to submit the small things to God!

Over 500 years later, when the children of Israel left Egypt. They had to take the bones of Jacob and Joseph because both of them did not want to be buried in Egypt. Both Jacob and Joseph were buried at Shechem. Do you want your dreams to live? Do you want to live you life in the perfect will of God? Then why don’t you die to some small things that are hindering your relationship with God tonight? Why don’t you die again under the shadow of Calvary!

________________________________________________________________________

Later under the able leadership of Joshua, the children of Israel conquered the Canaan land and began to settle there. Once again the Mountainous region of Ephraim became a decision ground!

Josh 8:33-34 And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel. 34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law.

Joshua divided the people half upon Mount Gerizim, and half upon mount Ebal. He stood in the middle and read the commandments of the Lord. The place between the two mountains is the location where Jacob’s well is located called Shechem! Joshua then stood at Shechem and preached to Israel the Word of the Lord. This was symbolic of them being able to choose to obey all of it, or not to obey all of it in their new life! You are also at a Shechem at your life tonight also! and you must decide rather to obey the voice of the Lord tonight and bury some things or to not obey His voice, but before you choose you need to know the whole story.

This was not the last time that Joshua assembled the people at Shechem. Immediatley before His death, Joshua once again assembled the people at Shechem.

Josh 24:14-15 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. 15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Once again Shechem became a place of decision. It was here that Joshua made his famous “Choose you this day” speech. Jewish history teaches us more to this story that is backed up by other scriptures. This was the second time that Joshua had assembled the people at Shechem between the mountains of Gerizim and Ebal. When the people assembled this time at the mountains they noticed something remarkable! Mount Gerizim was forested and plush with growth while Mount Ebal was barren with only Cactus and Rock upon it! Remembering how Joshua divided the people last time, Israel realized that they must choose right at Shechem! Even today if you go to the location of Shechem, and look first at Mount Gerizim and then turn and look at Mount Ebal, to this day, Mount Gerizim is plush and well forested, and Mount Ebal is barren. A reminder to this day that you must be willing to surrender everything at the decision making time of your life! Will you choose fruitfulness or will you choose barreness, that’s really the choice that you are making tonight! . . .

Joshua died and of course was buried at Shechem (Joshua 24:30-33). Everytime the Israelites visited his grave they had to come to Shechem and come face to face with the mountaing tops symbolizing their spiritual choice!

________________________________________________________________________

Tonight I have done a semi-thorough job of showing you how Shechem has always represented a place of decision to sell out to God’s Will and move on to a Bethel-like experience in God’s promises. Time does not permit for me to continue to expound the other stories involving Shechem. Of the stories of Rehoboam, and Abimilech, and Dinah, you’ll have to take my word for it or search for yourselves how that they made the wrong decisions at their Shechem experience and lost the relationship with God and the promises that they could have had in their life. Someone said that those who do not study history are doomed to repeat its’ mistakes. I’ve shown you the history of Shechem, and in closing, I’d like to briefly mention the future of Shechem.

We’ve already mentioned how the town of Shechem became the town of Sychar in Samaria. Today the town of Shechem, and the well of Jacob still exists as the present day town of Nablus in the West Bank. Before Jesus’ second coming, the West bank will go through a time of persecution and tribulation and also go through the wrath of God himself. During this time it will once again be decision time for the Jewish people of this area. After this time, the Jewish people will be given the opportunity to accept Jesus as their Messiah again. The prophet Jeremiah prophesied about this time of decision and mentions the Mountains of Ephraima where Shechem lies:

Jer 31:1-7 At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. 2 Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. 3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. 4 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry. 5 Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things. 6 For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God. 7 For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.

So in the future Shechem will once again be a place of decision and some of the Jewish people will choose to dwell in the promises of God! But what does that mean to us? Today our Shechem is a place called Calvary and a preacher preaching the Word and the Spirit of God calling us to cleanse ourselves of even the small weights and move on into a Bethel experience with God! Shechem has been a place of decision in the past, will be a place of decision in the future. Tonight God has used the preached Word of God and drawing of His Spirit to bring you to a place of decision in the shadow of Calvary: a Shechem in your life! Push through the persecution and the past, and surrender everything to God tonight, even the small things!