The Second Visitation

Let me tell you a story...

Jacob just got his blessing from his father but his elder bro Esau wasn't too happy. In fact, Esau was so angry that he wanted to kill him... So Jacob took off and fled and went on his way to look for Laban his uncle. Meanwhile, on his journey, he came to a place called Luz. Luz seemed like an ordinary enough place and he decided to spend the night there. He took an ordinary rock and used it as a pillow... so much for comfort... But then in the night, as he was sleeping, something from heaven touched the place.. he dreamed of a ladder extending to heaven with angels ascending and descending.. There, God made a covenant with im, telling him that He is with him, will watch over him and will bring him back to his father.. everything looked so uncertain for Jacob, his whole environment changed and he was forced out of his confort zone.. his bro was the hunter type.. he's used to going out and staying away from home for days.. not Jacob.. he preferred to remain at home.. but now things have changed.. and with the background of all this uncertainty, God met him. And he promised God that he would serve Him if He took care of his needs... Jacob was aware of the presence and glory of God in the place. Where God appeared, the atmosphere changed. And Jacob said "This is none other than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!" He took his pillow and made it a pillar, an altar of worship and He named that place Bethel- the house of God.

God prospered Jacob. He had the adventure of his life filled with ups and downs.. he gained 2 wives and many sons and many many more cattle... until finally, it was time for Jacob to fulfill his promise to God. God now asked Jacob to return to Bethel. On the way, Jacob told all his household, slaves included, to throw away their foreign gods and he burried them under a tree. He also told his entire entourage to change their garments.. cos they were on a journey to Bethel. And this journey wasn't an ordinary journey... It was a special mission to meet God. It was a mission of worship. It was a dangerous mission.. and entourage that big could be attacked by robbers and the surrounding tribes and countries.. but the fingerprints of God were all over that mission- the terror of God fell on all the towns that they passed so that no one dared to attack them... and Jacob reached Bethel.. and Jacob worshipped, building an altar there... He called it El Bethel- God of Bethel, God of the house of God. And God met with him, reaffirmed his covenant with him that was to last for generations. There, God appeared and procaimed his new name- Israel, the prince of God... Jacob received a new identity, a new revelation of his calling and destiny... and it worship was at the centre of it.. You see, it's great to be the father of an entire nation and even the father of kings.. but it's even greater to be known as a worshipper, a servant of God, a priest and a prince of God. Cos then, whatever God is, it reflects a bearing on us.. Because He is, we are!

It's amazing what God can do to a rock.. from something on the ground to becoming a pillow. Now that's useful... but guess wad.. from a pillow, it became an altar, a representation of God's presence on the earth... Now where are we in our Christian walk.. perhaps we see ourselves totally useless.. or maybe slightly useful like a common pillow.. but let's dream of our potential to be a representation of God on this earth that commands greater worship to be given to the Most High God. Even a rock had a destiny.. what more us! Even the destiny of a rock changed with God's presence.. what more us who are called to that very purpose!

When Jacob first came to Bethel, he had a revelation of the place. And how awesome it was indeed! Surely God was there! It was a really nice place where God was! And guess wad.. Jacob wanted others to visit that place too... he wanted the pillar that he set up to be God's house... but guess wad.. he was short changing himself.. cos he only had a revelation of the place, not God.. the name of the place changed from Luz to Bethel, but not his... cos destiny is all about the ever-unfolding revelation of God.. as God is revealed, we walk in our destiny... and some of us may just lose sight of it.. like Jacob, we may encounter his presence, be touched, get a few prophetic words here and there.. and we'll want to do things for God.. like build a church! That's noble! But guess wad... how can a pillar be God's house? How can a rock be God's house? Surely he made these things and He's far greater to inhabit them!

And then came the Second Visitation. Here, after history with God, all the adventures and the ups and downs, Jacob met God again.. and his response was very different.. He callled that place El Bethel- God of the house of God... this time, he didn't just have a revelation of the house, or of the place.. He had a revelation of God. Jacob was undone, ruined. He knows that His God is bigger than he could even imagine. And here, He received a revelation of His nature- El Shaddai... it's a mind-blowing revelation of God's power and might... But more than that, God confirmed his name-change; Israel. And God's own divine quality was in it. This time round, he heard his new name uttered from the very lips of the Almighty. This time round, it wasn't the place that was changed, it was Jacob. It was Jacob's destiny unfolding before him as he had a revelation of God. What I would give just to have God utter my name before me! But as Jacob knew more of God, he knew more of himself...

And many times in our evangelism, people come to church, get hooked to the place cos God's presence is there.. and they get a revelation about the place and that God is really there and they stay.. but we all need a personal encounter.. we need to move from Bethel to El Bethel. They need to encounter God personally and have a revelation of who He really is. This would demand worship from them and they would receive a revelation of they are in Him, a revelation of destiny. The angels ascending and descending represent the various gifts and commissionings of God coming down upon the earth... but a greater place than that is to understand who we are in Him.

Jacob had a revelation, that it is not the pillar that should be God's dwelling place- it's us. He is the treasure in jars of clay and the more we go through history with Him, the more He's revealed. and the more we understand ourselves. The Second Visitation called for holiness, casting aside sin and idolatry for the mission of worship. This prepared him for the visitation and the revelation. That's where the church needs to go. And what happened after Jacob and his house had cast it all aside and buried it, the terror of God came upon the surrounding towns. That's what the presence and the holiness of God does to us. Not only are we living temples and living Bethels but the holiness and character of God penetrates our very radius that the terror of God will hit all who surround us and they will have such an awe for our mission of worship and greater awe for our God! How dangerous is your radius? Does it cause the people around you to tremble and know that God is real? But that comes from a place of holiness, from a place of brokenness, from a place of the revelation of who God is and who we are in Him.

Bethel was good, Bethel was cool.. but nothing beats El Bethel, the God behind it. ;)