Almost 30 years had passed since Jacob—younger son of Isaac and Rebekah, twin brother of Esau—had left his kindred and homeland due to the threat his estranged brother had made on his life, after Jacob and his mother connived to cheat Esau out of the coveted elder son’s blessing from Isaac. It was a sordid story, with tragic results. But God ruled and overruled, bringing good out of bad, as He so often does.
Jacob, on his flight to Padan-Aram, met God, wrestled with him, and built an altar at Bethel where, after this life-changing experience, he vowed that God would be his God, and that of all that God would bless him with, he would honor Him with a tenth of it. Having served seven years for Rachel, the girl of his dreams—and being deceived by Laban, his father-in-law, so that he got Leah instead of Rachel at first—he served another seven years, finally marrying Rachel. He eventually made the journey back to his homeland, laden down with material prosperity. Before going home, though, Jacob was told by God to return to Bethel, where he had built an altar to worship Him years earlier, when he was on the run from the rage of his brother. Returning, Jacob built the altar of renewal and revival, and God changed his name from Jacob (supplanter, cheat) to Israel (prevails with God).
According to a Barna survey, Americans’ religious devotion is declining in the 21st century. In fact, there is generally “spiritual complacency.” According to Barna: “Too many Christians and churches in America have traded in spiritual passion for empty rituals, clever methods and mindless practices.” (Baptists Today)
Could it be that we need to return to Bethel? Our churches, our pastors, our people?
Bethel was a place of obedience. God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there and make an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.” (Gen. 35:1) Jacob immediately told everyone in his house to put away any strange gods that they had left Padan-Aram with, that they were going to Bethel to build an altar to God. Leaving in obedience to God’s instruction, it is said that “the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.” (Gen. 35:5)
It’s always best to obey the clear commands of God in scripture. God gives plenty of instructions to His church today. For starters, “Be ye holy, even as I am holy.” (I Pet. 1:16) Is it possible that we, as individuals and as a church, need to revisit that “altar” where once we made some holy vows to God to love, serve, and obey Him? Bethel, for Jacob, was a place of obedience.
It was also, as noted, a place of renewal. Strange gods were put away. One of the last admonitions in the New Testament is: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” (I John 5:21) Are there idols that you have embraced, reader friend, that have sapped your love for, and obedience to, your Lord and Savior? Going back to Bethel means renewing your affirmation to love Him with all your heart, soul, and mind. One cannot do that clinging to idols—of materialism, pleasure, self, and any number of other objects of our heart’s absorption.
“We are many but not much—there is a reason for the disparity between our numbers and our real substance,” missionary and minister Cline Paden once wrote. “And the reason is not a pretty one. We could pour a lot of perfume over the situation and make the stench of our negligence seem less nauseous, but eventually we must face the ugly facts…with monotonous regularity…members present their bodies—not as ‘living sacrifices’—but for the Sunday morning body count. The problem is not that churches are filled with empty pews, but that pews are filled with empty people.” (Cline Paden, “What Lack We Yet?” Biblical Research Press)
There surely is a need for renewal, for returning to Bethel, the place where holy vows have been made to renew our commitment to His Word and will.
Revival. Renewal. It can happen today: “When the thorn tree of strife is rooted from the heart; when apologies are made for unkind, nasty words and grievances are adjusted in a manner pleasing to God; when the dead atmosphere of indifference, and lukewarmness is dispelled by a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit; when there are long vigils of prayer in which the soul is laid bare before God in humiliation and contrition; when self-discipline is practiced, and self is forgotten in service; when faith takes hold of God’s promises and resists every attack and accusation of Satan; when personal testimony is warm and is proven by a holy life; when we attempt great things for God and expect great things from God; when Christians are willing to face opposition, ridicule, persecution, hate, suffering and shame for Jesus’ sake, rather than compromise their convictions or soften their witness against sin,” then revival can and will come. (copied, unknown)
Hymn writer Fanny Crosby believed that revival was possible when she penned these words: “Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord, by the power of grace divine; Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope, and my will be lost in Thine.”
That’s what it will take. Our will, lost in His! Jacob finally got it. He had some dark stains on his past. He truly had been a deceiver and cheater. But his gracious God worked on Jacob—and later through Jacob—so that, at Bethel once again, God said to His servant: “And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.” (Gen. 35:12)
Returning to Bethel can be a spiritually life-changing event. Jacob’s life was never the same. He did suffer some faith-stretching events, even after this historic meeting with God. But his faith never wavered, and he lived to see his sons, his wives, his entire family live in peace and prosperity, testifying to Pharoah and to Pharoah’s people that there is an “Almighty God,” whose hand guides and provides His chosen flock, through the hardest of times as well as the best.
Back to Bethel. It’s the place to visit today, if you have not been in touch with God of late!
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” (Ps. 51:10)
YOU and GOD 