Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.” (Genesis 35:1 NIV)
I
When God determines to help a man, a family or a generation, He pays enviable attention to them and becomes persistently committed to their course, arranging every opportunity to make sure they don’t go out of His determinate will. Remember that it was Terah (Abraham’s father) who first got inspired to go to Canaan, but he ended up dying in Harran against divine intention (Gen. 11:31-32). Abraham also caught the same vision when the Lord told him to leave his father’s house (Gen 12:1). God deliberately called him out to settle and separate his children for His eternal redemptive purpose. He needed to cut him off completely from his past. But it is surprising that many years later when Isaac, Terah’s grandson, would suggest a refuge for Jacob when he fled from his brother Esau, it was the same Harran he recommended (Gen 27:43). However, as Jacob started out on his journey, the Lord interrupted him in a night dream and made him discover Bethel (Genesis 28:10-29:1). Bethel (meaning: the House of God) was birthed out of the significant experience Jacob had as he was about to leave Canaan, stepping out of the Promised Land, to begin a hustle for an uncertain posterity or prosperity among the pagan Chaldeans. Bethel has deeper connotations for Jacob as well as many believers today. It is God’s presence, the secret place.
Bethel is a place of encounter.
An encounter is a form of contact or divine intervention, interruption or interference arranged to get a man’s attention back to God’s intentions for him. Arguably, God was not in full support of Jacob’s journey. God immediately interrupted him when He saw that Jacob had left Beersheba (a Well of Oath), a place of abundance and refreshing.God divinely arranged that the sun should set so that He (God) could show him His will.Here, Jacob had his first and first-hand experiential knowledge of the God of his fathers. This place practically became a reference point for both God and Jacob in their subsequent interactions. Every one of us at one point must have had a time, place or period of such immeasurable encounter either as dealings, revelations or salvation. Every meaningful record is traceable to a “Bethelian” encounter.
Bethel is a place of connection
It is at Bethel that the heavens connect with the earth, humanity with divinity, the terrestrial with the celestial, and the natural with the supernatural. It is a place beyond ordinariness. In his dream, Jacob saw a stairway that reached heaven and angels ascending and descending.This suggests that Bethel is a place of sharp spiritual discernment; there is no network failure there. Bethel represents any designated place in our houses and any period of the day when we enjoy real fellowship with God.
Bethel is a place of covenant
At Bethel, God re-established and formally transferred the Abrahamic covenant and inheritance to Jacob (Genesis 28:12-13). God personally pledged His presence with him and promised to bless and protect him. It is at Bethel one gains access and gets connected to divine covenant, purpose and promise for one’s destiny. Bethel was really a great discovery for Jacob, a revelation that was sufficient to camp around, an awesome place to settle in, a beginning to end his fruitless journey and start afresh. But despite all that he saw and received, when he woke up, Jacob only marked the spot with an altar and a name and went still on his journey to Harran.
II
Have you discovered your Bethel: a place of daily encounter, a set time of uninterrupted fellowship with God in prayer and His word, a strategic stairway to the supernatural, a covenant or word to work with and walk in? God wants you to find and settle in your Bethel. Explore your Bethel. Don’t despise it, camp around its revelations for it will prosper you. Unfortunately, Jacob despised his own Bethel, but he paid dearly for it with twenty-one years of agony. He manipulated his way from God’s presence and went on his predetermined venture despite the divine visitation (Genesis 29:1). In Harran, he actually tried, he ran, but he was ageing and practically not moving forward. From him, we learn that any journey away from our Bethel is usually fruitless and stress-full. When a man decides to do anything or go in his own way, the consequences may not be bearable. Jacob left God’s House (Bethel), an atmosphere where he could have enjoyed and become the best of everything God could offer to mankind: the best of fellowship and spiritual growth experience, the blessing of fertile land, the security from God’s presence, to mention a few. He ended up in Laban’s House, a place where he was seriously battered. His journey became an adventure in terrible hostility, maltreatment and dehumanization. However, as I mentioned earlier, when God has selected a man for His purpose, He gets committed to helping him stay in line. When Jacob became totally stranded, God arranged for his escape. Hence, it is important, at this point, to consider God’s divine strategies for bringing men back to their Bethels:
III
God sends His Word. Then the Lord said to Jacob, Return to the land of your family. (Gen31:3). God’s word has been the most authentic tool in God’s hand for helping a man out of any trouble. Joseph remained in the dungeon until God’s word came to him. Outside Bethel God’s words are scarce, and revelations are not common. But God in His mercies deliberately sent His word to help Jacob out of slavery. When you are outside Bethel the only voice that repeatedly comes to you is ‘Return!/repent’. That’s a voice of mercy and redirection.
God sends unusual Blessing: For Jacob, God protected him and multiplied him uncommonly beyond his efforts. He gave him divine wisdom to acquire wealth such as he had never recorded before so that he could get prepared to go back and not return empty.
God withdraws His Blessing: Many have perished without remedy in foreign lands or in pursuit of a dead goal all in the name of “I must not return empty”. Naomi lost all in Moab when her family ran away from divine dealings through famine. When you see unusual blessings or notice unexpected persistent misfortunes, retrogression, unfruitfulness, stagnation, etc. check if it is not God calling you to return. Either blessing or misfortune can be God’s intervention for you to be back in His will.
God brings you in favour with your foes: The major reason Jacob could not stay in Bethel after his encounter was the grave fear that Esau would pursue and catch up with him there. But when he decided to come back, God arranged mercies to speak for him. As a sign of His mercy, intervention and involvement, when a man decides to go back to Bethel, God brings him into favour with his foes.
God may be forceful: When a man is insensitive or unbending to divine biddings through other means, God resorts to forceful measures. We have heard cases of those called into ministries, who because of their possessions, reputations or promotions, neglected His call. Some of them suffered the loss of body parts, loss of property and even loved ones. God had to disposition Jacob’s thigh, in the long run, to position him in His will.
IV
Friends, you don’t need to suffer misfortunes or calamities before you respond to divine calls to return to Bethel. God doesn’t need to withdraw all He has invested in you because of your stiff-neckedness. It is just half of the year, it is wise to look back, discover the missing link and trace your steps back to Bethel where God told you He was sufficient for and ready to help you if you would trust Him. Jacob rejected God’s House/Will (Bethel), he never became better but battered and that for 21 years in Laban’s House. Jacob! Jacob! God’s calling. Go back to Bethel!
Author: Oyetunji Sunday Abraham
De Vine 