# 328 Touching the Heart of God

The Book of Genesis

Day 328

Ge 35:6 So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.  7 And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.  8 Now Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called Allon Bachuth.  9 Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him.  10 And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name." So He called his name Israel.  11 Also God said to him: "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.  12 "The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land."  13 Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him.  14 So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it.  15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel.

So, Jacob returns to Bethel, and God appears to him again, reaffirming the covenant He had made with him when he first passed this way fleeing from Esau. Nothing has changed on God’s part of the deal, but one can imagine some doubt creeping into the mind of Jacob. I mean, the nasty incident with the Hivites, the tolerance of foreign gods in the camp, even the delay in getting back to Bethel, all smack of disobedience on Jacob’s part.

But God, ever faithful, full of mercy, receives the repentant Jacob and restores him. Nothing is lost from the original blessing! Jacob is so moved by the forbearance of God that he builds an altar and pours a drink offering on it, along with the pouring on of oil.

This is the first mention in Scripture of the “drink offering.” Later, the drink offering would be incorporated by God in various sacrifices to Him.  The drink offering consisted of wine in varying amounts and came to be associated with joy.

What was it that prompted Jacob to do such a thing? To simply break open  a container of wine and pour it over a rock? I really don’t know, but it’s safe to say that God’s reaffirming of His promises to Jacob touched him in a very special way, and I think Jacob touched God’s heart in a very special way as well. So much so, that God would take great pleasure in future generations pouring out drink offerings to Him.

Perhaps Jacob poured out the wine to symbolize his fellowship with God. One thing we know, years later God would return the favor by pouring out His own Son, Jesus Christ and offer Him up for all who would thirst. This is an offer of fellowship that we experience to this day as we partake in the Lord’s Supper.

Thirsty for God? Some sins piling up in your life? Need a reminder of His covenant with you through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Then come to Bethel (the house of God) and partake of the offering that God poured out for you on Calvary, and receive the forgiveness of sins!