The Pew is going to spend the next few weeks considering one of the five W’s in the Bible. You know…who, what, why, when and where? Although many of the biblical cities are no longer there physically the work of many biblical historians and archeologists have located the most likely places they were and in other cases where they are today. Concerning written histories of these cities they did and do exist…while some are disputed, generally most of their former locations are accepted and noted as such. This week we will visit Bethel, one interesting fact is that only Jerusalem is mentioned more frequently than Bethel in the Old Testament. Bethel means “house of God” and was an ancient Israelite city and sacred space frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. The name “Bethel” means “House of God” in Hebrew, and it is located in the hill country of Ephraim, about 10 miles north of Jerusalem. It is written that these events occurred in Bethel. It was Where Abraham worshiped God when he came to Palestine (Gen. 12:8; 13:3, 4), Where Jacob dreamed his “ladder dream” (Gen. 28:11-19),  Where Jacob was commanded to return (Gen. 35:1, 8, 15), Where Jeroboam set up golden calf images (1 Kings 12:26-29) and Where Elisha was mocked by some children (2 Kings 2:1-3, 23-24).

Bethel gets its first mention in the Bible in connection with Abram, who built an altar to God there. It was from here that Abram left and headed toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. In the Bible, Ai was an ancient Canaanite town located just east of Bethel. It was conquered by the Israelites under the leadership of Joshua during their conquest of Canaan. As was his custom he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD” Bethel’s  original name was Luz. It was renamed Bethel by the patriarch Jacob. Many years later Jacob returned to Bethel, built another alter to God there and called the place El-Bethel…meaning “God of Bethel” Bethel has a mixed history at best. Bethel was one of the main worship centers of Israel, it is written that Bethel at one time was the home of the Ark of the Covenant.

To keep this simple… God centered things and people came there often, God it is said often sent prophets to preach at Bethel (1 Kings 13:1–10). Many of these prophets pronounced judgment and condemnation on Bethel as a center of idolatry (Amos 3:14; 5:5–6; Hosea 10:15). While this is not a complete look at this city it is a perfect example of the richness of the Bible and the fulness of the scripture. To me it brings home something I think we miss…These were real people, real places, and a real God…

Thanks for joining us in “The Pew” and come back next week.

Life is Good

jk