Bethel

The House of God

Although the place called Bethel is mentioned twice in the narrative about the journey of Abraham (Genesis 12-13), it wasn't actually given that name until Abraham's grandson, Jacob, named it "the House of God", or Beth (house-of)-El (God).

Skeptics try to use this information as a basis for accusing God's word of being written hundreds and even thousands of years after the fact. This is ridiculous since, by the time Moses compiled and wrote Genesis, Bethel was a well-established geographic location.

And criticizing the Bible on this basis is tantamount to accusing a geologist of "error" when he reports finding a dinosaur bone near Pittsburgh! "Why, the area near the mouth of the Ohio, where the Monongahela and Alleghany rivers end, wasn't called "Pittsburgh" when dinosaurs roamed the earth!!

Silly skeptics.

The place was originally called Luz. Jacob experienced a moment with God, received the blessing of God and re-named Luz, "The House of God." (Genesis 28:19) But Jacob went to the home of Laban to meet his wife (he ended up with four) and after being blessed with eleven sons and a daughter, Jacob was visited by God, again, and the Lord said, "I am the God of Bethel... get thee out... and return." (Genesis 31:13)

Jacob returned and had another moment with God. He built an altar and called it El-Bethel, which is "The God of the House of God". Jacob was moved by his experience and, again, declared that this place that the locals were still calling Luz would NOT be called Luz, but would be called Bethel.

Jacob was told to DWELL there. He did not. And when he left Bethel, he found DEATH.

We could write at length about this special place called Bethel. It was a place of honor to God, as well as a place in which God received honor.

Where Is Your Bethel?

Every believer begins their walk in a geographical location where they "meet God". Many were born again while attending a church service. Others were born again when they believed the Gospel being shared in their home. Billy Sunday was born again outside of Pacific Garden Mission and would return to that place annually to pray and thank God for saving him.

My "Bethel" was in about the strangest place that any person who knows me could imagine. Anyone who knows me knows that I have had a time of it with the occult fraternity known as Freemasonry. So the idea that my "Bethel" was on the 5th floor of the old Masonic building in downtown Portsmouth Ohio is an incredible irony.

God has a sense of humor. You'll never convince me otherwise!

I was witnessing to a Jehovah's Witness one day in the old Sears Warehouse just off Fisher Road on the west side of Columbus, Ohio. He looked at me blank as I gave him my personal testimony. I told him that the best day of my life was when I believed God personally. I said, "I met the Lord on His terms."

Then the Jehovah's Witness said, "You're talking about Bethel!"

I said, "I don't know what you mean."

He said, "You don't know about Bethel?"

He was not really understanding me. I found out later that Jehovah's Witnesses refer to their headquarters in Brooklyn as Bethel and they seem to think that this is God's House on the earth.

At any rate, this lead me to a study of Bethel. I remember being excited as I read about this wonderful place where God came to man, picturing the Incarnation in Jesus Christ. But as we read, things change.

Bethel Becomes The House of Idols

By the time we come to the book of Joshua, we see that Bethel is under Pagan control with a pagan king. Joshua conquered Bethel, so the geographical location was finally under the control of God's people. It was, once again, a place that reminded God's people that He was near.

But as time wore on, apostasy set in all over Israel. Solomon had been lead into idolatry in his old age by his pagan wives (1 Kings 11:4). God foretold of the dismantling of his kingdom and it took place very shortly after Solomon's son Reheboam assumed the throne of David.

God allowed Jereboam to establish the Kingdom of Israel, leaving only the tribe of Judah under Reheboam. Almost immediately after assuming power, Jereboam took matters into his own hands and committed his kingdom to apostasy. He worried that the people would be drawn back to Reheboam during times of feast and animal sacrifice, so he set up an altar with new "gods" and feasts. He created a new religion, completely forsaking the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

He set up this apostate kingdom in BETHEL. 1 Kings 12:25-33 tells us about Jereboam's apostasy.

We see contemporary examples of this kind of apostasy in our own nation. John Harvard was a wonderful Christian man whose generous gift to establish a school for the training of Christians for ministry was honored by the naming of the school: Harvard. Today, Harvard is one of the darkest black holes in higher education.

Other examples include denominations like John Wesley's United Methodism. The Methodist preachers once blazed through the world of pioneer America, riding circuits on horse back and preaching two and three times daily. Today, Methodism is filled with rank liberals who reject the infallible word of God, deny the fundamental doctrines of Christianity and promote sexual perversion at the altar of "unity".

Then there is the apostasy of "Evangelical Lutherans", the Presbyterian Church USA and the American Baptist Convention. All founded by believers in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and all have gone into utter apostasy.

Restoring The House of God

In the very next chapter, 1 Kings 13, we read of a "man of God" who prophesies against Jereboam's altar of apostasy in Bethel. He even names the man that God will raise up to end the apostasy: Josiah.

Before we meet Josiah, we are told that this man of God listens to a lying prophet, disobeys God and loses his LIFE. So, even the best of God's men seem to have very little fidelity to God's word during this time of apostasy.

For thirty chapters, we read of the ugly apostasy in Israel. But then we come to 2 Kings 21:26 and find a child being named King of Judah. His name was Josiah, just as God had previously announced. We begin to read of his wonderful reign in 2 Kings 22.

In 2 Kings 23:3-25, we see the purification of Bethel. What a glorious sight this must have been for those who remained faithful to God Almighty during the dark days before Josiah's reign.

Josiah would eventually be killed in battle and we may gather from the text that he perished by simply going into battle presumptuously, without seeking God first, proving that sins of omission can be as costly as sins of comission. Nevertheless, the reign of Josiah was a bright and glowing account of a man who had a zeal for God according to his knowledge of God's word.

We do not live under a theocracy, therefore we do not form armies. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual. (2 Corinthians 10:3-6) Therefore, we must think of our battle in terms of Gospel preaching, Spirit-filled prayer, Bible teaching and all other forms of Biblical ministry and service.

And we can be used of God to take down those strongholds in our lives, our families, our churches and our nation. We can restore our Bethel and claim these places for God, in the name of Jesus Christ.

The Remnant: Special Edition

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If you would like to know more about Jesus Christ and the Gospel message that explains how you can be eternally saved, click on the "View Newsletter" link and read our Special Edition of The Remnant Newsletter.