EXTRACT

The fact was that though Jacob had come face to face with God at Peniel, and had learned how to prevail with God for blessing, yet his associations had not been purified; his household was not clear of idolatrous associations—it was the knowledge of this that kept him away from Bethel. When we have been in Padan-Aram we pick up things that are not at all suited to Bethel. That is the secret why many do not reach Bethel; they are conscious that if they had to do with God in His own house many things would have to go; and they are not prepared to let them go. The Corinthians were in idolatrous associations, and this, with other things, hindered their growth; they were only babes, and precious things could not be ministered to them.

C. A. Coates (‘An Outline of Genesis’, pp.217, 218)

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