"...The Lord did not call us out to just live in the periphery of the good land. He wants us to go all the way in to the center of His heart’s desire!!"
Jacob faced a difficult situation in this chapter 34: his daughter was defiled, his sons deceived the people of Shechem and killed them, and plundered their city in revenge. Jacob was afraid that the people around Shechem would become hostile to him. He was afraid for the lives of his family. At this time, God told Jacob to rise up to go to Bethel
In chapter 31-33, Jacob had left Padan-aram and, having been pursued by Laban, was delivered out of his hand. He was also rescued out of his trouble with Esau, and eventually came to Succoth, where he built a house for himself and booths for his cattle. From there he traveled onward to Shechem. He did have a tent life and an altar for God. However, his life at Shechem was still not entirely satisfying to God. God's goal was for Jacob to be at Bethel, which signified the house of God. This is where Jacob, after his dream, had erected the pillar and promised the Lord that the pillar would eventually become His habitation. Even though perhaps Jacob had forgotten about the vow, God had taken it seriously and remembered. Therefore God would not allow Jacob to remain comfortably in Shechem, but sovereignly allowed a “storm” to be raised up to propel him forward to Bethel, where he could dwell and build an altar to God. Once he arrived at Bethel, God reappeared to Him and reestablished with him the promise that He had made with his fathers. (Such appearing and blessing was back in chapter 28.)
God is faithful! Today, many are like Jacob, living a good life in Shechem but neglecting God's goal in Bethel. But God is not satisfied; He wants us to pass through Shechem and go up to Bethel, to pass through our individual life to go up to the corporate church life, a life in the house of God. If we have not arrived there, we still are short of God's goal, although we might be living in the Lord as a good Christian. This is why when we are in our “Shechem” we do not have the satisfying peace and safety. This forces us to take the Lord's word to leave Shechem and to go Bethel
Shechem is a comfort zone. We have to continually guard against settling down in our comfort zones. We might be enjoying a good life in Shechem but perhaps our Lord is still without a Bethel. Just when we are thinking that we are doing well in our Christian life and settling down, our dear Lord may start yet another storm to urge us on. When these things happen, we often get discouraged, because we don’t understand why the storm came. But actually, the storm came from the Lord’s faithfulness. He will not let us rest in Shechem. He is faithful to His promise. He will stir us up and bring us into His house, one way or another, if we have really given ourselves to Him. When trouble comes to us, praise the Lord it is because He did not forget about us and leave us half way to the promised land. He is simply trying to remind us of our vow made in Bethel not so long ago. The Lord did not call us out to just live in the periphery of the good land. He wants us to go all the way in to the center of His heart’s desire!!
Encourage those who love Him.