Finding Bethel

Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. There he built an altar and he called the place El Bethel, because it was there that God revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.  -Genesis 35: 6-7

In my last post, I mentioned that I had been to a women's conference to hear Kelly Minter speak. What I learned in the first part of the conference was that on quiet days I am to be still before the Lord, sit at his feet, and spend time with him. As I have tried to do this, there are always a million distractions. However, my thoughts keep going back to some other lessons that Kelly taught us through the story of Jacob. We learned about Bethel, the place where the Lord revealed himself to Jacob. As I have sought the direction of God on these gloomy winter days, it seems that his still small voice is whispering through the cold and clouds, "Follow me to Bethel." Let me explain...

Kelly began her lesson with recapping the story of Jacob and how he deceived his father Isaac by pretending to be his brother, Esau. By doing this, Isaac gave Jacob the blessing that was intended for Esau. Esau then planned to kill his brother Jacob after the days of mourning for his father were over. In Genesis 28, the Scripture says that Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night. When he fell asleep, he began dreaming. In his dream he saw a staircase reaching down from heaven and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. The Lord was above the staircase and Jacob heard his voice reminding him that he was the God of Abraham and Isaac, and he would bless him with many descendants. Then, in verse 15, God said to Jacob, "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." When Jacob woke up the next morning, he thought to himself, "Surely the Lord was in this place, and I was not aware of it." The text goes on to say that he called that place Bethel, though it used to be called Luz.

Jacob goes on from there and ends up marrying Leah and Rachel, Laban's daughters. Jacob's families begin to grow. Several other events take place, and then, in Genesis 31, God tells Jacob it is time to go back to the land of his fathers and that he will be with him. Jacob carefully plans out how he will meet back up with Esau, fearing that Esau is still angry over the past. The night before Jacob meets Esau, we find this encounter in Genesis 32: 22-28:

That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." The man asked, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered. Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."

Esau ends up accepting his brother back peacefully. In Genesis 35, God tells Jacob to go to Bethel, settle there, and build an altar there to God. So Jacob tells his household to get rid of their foreign gods, purify themselves, and change their clothes. In Genesis 35: 3 Jacob says, "Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone." So they go up to Bethel and build an altar, and Genesis 35: 7 says that Jacob called the place El Bethel, because it was there that God revealed himself to him while he was fleeing from his brother.

There are so many rich truths that Kelly Minter showed us through Jacob's journey but here are some that spoke to me the most.

1. We are told that Jacob wrestled with a "man" all night before he met back up with his brother, Esau. Symbolically, this was about Jacob wrestling with God himself. At the end of the night, Jacob cries out that he will not let go unless he is blessed. Kelly pointed out that this may sound arrogant to yell at God. I have always thought the same when I've read this story before. However, as Minter taught, it is actually a great and powerful prayer: "I will not let go of you, God, until you give me what you have brought me to this place/circumstance for."  Jacob's name was changed at this time from Jacob "The Deceiver" to Israel "One who has struggled and overcome". What a beautiful picture of salvation. When we cry out to God and hold on to him until we see his promises fulfilled, he not only gives us a new name but makes us a new creation.

2. Kelly Minter pointed out that she was almost disgusted when she realized that after God had brought Jacob and all his families back to his homeland, before he could go up to Bethel to settle, his family had to bury their foreign gods. God had done such awesome things in their lives and kept all his promises and yet they had foreign gods. She felt disgusted, she said, until she heard the voice of God saying to her that we all have some foreign gods to bury before we can get to our own Bethel.. Kelly reminded us that a god with a little "g" or idol is not necessarily an Old Testament statue of wood, bronze, or metal. It is anything in our lives, good or bad, that we allow to master us, motivate us or that we fear or serve. Good things even, if we allow them to become ultimate things, can be a foreign god. To get to the place where God reveals himself to us, we have to bury our foreign gods at the foot of the cross.

3. Once we are rid of our foreign gods, then we are to be purified. While in Jacob's day, there were several things that had to be done to achieve purification, today we are purified once and for all time by accepting Jesus Christ as Savior, being washed in his blood.

4. Jacob's family buried their foreign gods, they were purified, and then they had to change their clothes in order to go to Bethel.. Kelly taught us that when we are purified by the blood of Christ internally, then our outer garments are to change to reflect the work God is completing inwardly. Colossians 3:12 describes what our new clothes are to look like: Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

It is through meditating on these truths the past few days that I have felt God's voice whispering, "Follow Me to Bethel." To Bethel-the place where God reveals himself. Kelly Minter talked about how for her, her work and ministry in the Amazon jungle is her Bethel. On these cold winter days, I'm searching for my Bethel. I'm searching for the place where God's voice will tell me to put my effort in making his kingdom come. Maybe you are searching for your Bethel too. As we travel, may we not let go of God until he gives us what he is leading us to. Let us not let any good things become ultimate things so that only the Lord is God in our lives. Purified in the blood of Jesus,  let us put on the new garments he has given us to reflect the work he is doing in our hearts. And let us follow him to Bethel, to the place of true worship, where we care about the things God cares about and live the life of power, change, and influence that he wants us to live.