JACOB, BETHEL AND THE
HOUSE OF GOD
The Rev. Harold Shepherd, CD, M.A., S.T.M., LL.B., LL.M.,
Ph.D.
Sermon from July 17, 2005
Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward
Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the
night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of
the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that
place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the
earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of
God were ascending and descending on it. And the LORD stood
beside him and said, "I am the LORD... the land on which
you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your
offspring shall be like the dust of the earth... So Jacob
rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he
had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and
poured oil on the top of it. He called that place Bethel.
Genesis 28: 10-19
Bethel was located about 12 miles north of Jerusalem, on
the border between the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.
Originally a royal city of the Canaanites (Joshua 12:16),
it was captured by Joshua (8:7). Archaeological evidence
from the time of the Israelite conquest in the 13th century
B.C. found five feet of debris consistent with destruction.
Prior to Joshua, Bethel had been a prosperous town with
well-built houses and Egyptian luxury items. According to I
Chron. 7:28, Bethel was assigned to the northern tribe of
Ephraim, and bordered on the southern tribe of Benjamin
(Joshua 18:13). When Israel needed to consult God, they
would go to this sanctuary that housed the Arc of the
Covenant at Bethel (I Sam 7:16). The city prospered under
the monarchy, as it was one of two royal sanctuaries
established by Jeroboam I after the split between north and
south took place after the death of Solomon. One sanctuary
was in the north (Dan), and the other at the southern end
of the kingdom, closest to Jerusalem (Bethel)- I Kings
12:28-30. Amos went there to prophesy in the 8th century
B.C. and was confronted by Amaziah, the priest of Bethel,
who complained to King Jeroboam II . The sanctuary was
eventually destroyed in the 7th century B.C. by King Josiah
of the Southern Kingdom.
Abraham is associated with Bethel in Genesis 12:8. After
arrival in Palestine from Haran, God first appeared to him
at Shechem, promising to give the land to his children. He
then pitched his tent on the east side of Bethel and built
an altar. He again worshiped at Bethel upon returning from
Egypt (Gen 13:3-4). When God appeared to Jacob later in
life, he identified himself by reference to Bethel: "I am
the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a
vow to me." (Gen 31:12-13). In Genesis 35, Jacob settles in
Bethel after being instructed to do so: "God said to Jacob,
‘Arise , go up to Bethel, and settle there. Make an
altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled
from your brother Esau." According to verse 7, he built
another altar at Bethel because it was the place were God
first appeared to him.
Today’s lesson from Genesis 28 is an affirmation of
the covenant that God made with Abraham, but this time with
Jacob, otherwise known as Israel, the father of the twelve
patriarchs. It helps to explain how it got its name. Bethel
means the house (beth) of God (el). It also helps the
reader to understand why it became an important religious
sanctuary, both during the period of the judges by housing
the Arc of the Covenant, and as a royal sanctuary during
the time of the monarchies. Themes that emerge include the
idea that God has chosen a covenant people and that he will
remain faithful to his promises to them. In addition, God
is not an impersonal force in creation, but rather the
supreme being who can communicate his plans with us where
God pitches his tent on earth. In this case, he did it
through a dream. The part of the passage (Genesis 28:12)
has been ascribed by scholars to the E (Elohistic). This
tradition emerged from the Northern Kingdom and reflects
the polemic between Canaanite worshipers (e.g. Baal) and
those of the God of Israel. While God walks with his people
in the older J (Yahwistic) source, God speaks through
angels or dreams in E. God is more of a remote authority
figure in E than in J. This also reflects a common
tradition in ancient Near Eastern religions about deities
communicating through dreams. There are a number of
examples of this in the Hebrew Bible (e.g. Joseph, then
later Naduchadnezzar). For example, an Egyptian temple to
Hathor near a turquoise mine in the Sinai has a temple with
sleeping chambers in which the deity was supported to
communicate with the worshiper. There are schools of
contemporary psychology that teach that one can learn a lot
about oneself from analyzing images that emerge from the
subconscious in dreams (e.g. Freud and Karl Jung). In the
New Covenant, the veil that separates us from God has been
torn and we have direct access to God. In I Corinthians 12,
Paul teaches about the role of the Holy Spirit in speaking
to the Church. Now each Church is Bethel- the house of God,
as could also be said of every Christian. Let us learn to
listen to the gentle but quiet voice of the Spirit in our
lives, realizing that God does still speak to his people
today. We sometimes dismiss this voice as being our own. We
sometimes reject it because it challenges us. Have courage
to listen, discern and obey God’s voice!