Prompt: Jacob in Bethel, by Larry Elmore, by Justin Gerard

Bethel is a very important place in the Bible. It means "the house of God". This place is very important for Jacob. He is reminded of many things whenever he hears the name of the place, Bethel.

Today, the Church of Jesus Christ is called by different names: the house of God, the family of God, the Body of Christ, the temple of god, the building of God, the vineyard of God, and many others names. All these names point to one biblical truth: God lives in the Church.

And so if anyone wants to experience the presence of God, the church must demonstrate this reality to the world.

In this article, I want to share with you the importance of Bethel in your life. Particularly, I want to share with you the nature of a life rooted, grounded, or settled in the house of God.

A life rooted in Bethel requires complete surrender.

At this stage in Jacob's life, God called him to go up to Bethel, settle there, and build an altar there to God. This message is important. This shows that God wants Jacob to go up to Bethel and make that place as his permanent residence. And not only that, the building of an altar there at Bethel shows that God wants Jacob to prioritize his relationship with God through prayer and worship.

However, Jacob was not alone in doing this. He has already raised a big family. Under his leadership, his entire family must worship and serve God with him. But there is a problem.

The members of Jacob's household had many idols with them. And so he asked them to get rid of all those idols. Only then that Jacob repeat the message of the Lord to his family about going up to Bethel. In short, Jacob was not alone in his commitment to God. He has a family with him that must demonstrate the same commitment. If not, it would be very difficult on the part of Jacob to worship the true and living God, and his family were still clinging to idols.

The good thing about Jacob is that he is credible enough to say such words to his family not only because of his leadership position but also because of his encounter with the angel of God at Peniel. There he learned that to end the long years of hostility with his brother, he must first encounter God. After that encounter, we saw Jacob changed. Fear disappeared and he went ahead of his gifts.

And so when Jacob asked his family to give up their idols, it only shows that Jacob had done it first. He already gave up the idol of himself and he is asking his family the same thing. By giving up their idols, God is telling them to have no other gods besides Him. To do this requires total surrender.

Complete surrender of one's life to God is the most difficult part of Christian living. A man can give his talents, his money, and many other things to God, but himself. He might think that he has already given up, but through life's trials, it is revealed that it is not the case.

You will see a man who has completely surrendered his all to God not in good times, but in bad times, during the most difficult trials in life. There you will know the real center of his life. If the center in his life is focused on a person and when that person is taken from his life, he will see no purpose in living continually. For him, that's the end of life. If the center in his life is education, and he experiences failing in an examination, he will be devastated. If the center of his life is his career, once fired from his job, he will lose all his energy in living. If it is business that is the center of his life, if it suffers bankruptcy, not a few also end their lives. If it is money, you take it away from him, and he will suffer a nervous breakdown and depression. All of these are various forms of human idols - person, education, career, business, and money - and they can divert our hearts far away from God. But a man who truly loves God, no matter what happens, whether everything is taken away from him or not, will keep on serving and worshipping God.

A life rooted in Bethel is the way to end all your troubles.

Three times in this passage Bethel is associated with Jacob's troubles.

First, in verse 1, God himself said to Jacob to go up to Bethel, settle, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau. Then in verse 3, Jacob himself told his family to go up with him to Bethel where he would build an altar to God, who answered him on the day of his distress. And then finally in verse 7, Moses himself repeated the same statement in verse 1. So Bethel reminds us of the end of Jacob's distress. It also reminds us of God's appearance to Jacob during the time of his escape. At Bethel, God wants to remind Jacob that the time of his fleeing is finished. But from Jacob's perspective, Bethel reminds him of the end of his distress.

Like Jacob, we also have our days of distress. Such distress could be a result of broken relationships, family problems, or financial trouble. One good way to see our distress is to identify the other side of the story. I am thinking of Jacob. Is he just running away from his brother? Or is he running away from God by insisting his way?

Perhaps, a deeper source of human distress underneath human relationships and situations could be the fact that man is running away from God. Beginning from the Garden of Eden, we see that the immediate impact of sin is to flee the presence of God. We see this in our first parents, Adam and Eve. And since then humanity has been trying to evade God. Isn't this the source of so much distress in our time? So many people are under distress of many kinds. Some do not see a bright future for themselves and their families. Others worry too much about too many things. Isn't this an indication that man is fleeing the presence of God?

Coram Deo is a Latin phrase translated as "in the presence of God". This captures the reality of Christian life in the presence of God. This is what Bethel reminds us, to continually live in the presence of God.

Am I escaping from the presence of God or am I living in his presence? If a person continually escapes the presence of God, there is no way for him to overcome his troubles in life. His distress will be prolonged until the time he seeks with all humility and commits himself to live in the presence of God. A person who daily lives in the presence of God will see his troubles gradually disappear until the time that he will no longer see any of them. And so by the grace of God, let us live our lives rooted in Bethel.

A life rooted in Bethel leads to change and productivity.

Bethel is a place that reminds Jacob not only of the years of his fleeing from his brother and the day of his distress; it is also a place that reminds him of God's power and grace that changed him and his call to productivity. God told Jacob:

Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel (v. 10).

This is the same message that the angel of God told Jacob at Peniel, the night before he met his brother. This message reminds Jacob that he is already a changed man.

And not only that, God also repeated the same message that he gave to Abraham and Isaac:

Be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give land to your descendants after you (vs. 11-12).

This message provides Jacob with a vision of his future and the future of his descendants. In God's hand, his future is secured.

In Jesus, God ended the day of our distress. In Jesus, God himself sought for us. We have been running away from him. But in God's grace and mercy, he reached out to us through the preaching of the gospel. The Holy Spirit opened the minds of our hearts and we saw the beauty of the Cross. And not only that but not only did God end our distress and departure from him, in Jesus, He also changed us and gave us a bright future. Our future is secured in Christ. In this life, you are called to be productive and to bear fruit, and in the life to come your destiny is secured. Only by living a life that is rooted in Bethel, by living in his presence moment-by-moment, only you and I can live a productive life.

Conclusion

A life that is rooted in Bethel requires total surrender, ends our distress, and leads to productivity.

Grace and peace!