Bethel: January 2018
Table of Contents
Bethel - the House of God
In grace Abram was called by God and in faith he went, meeting God in Bethel and building an altar there. After, when his faith was weak, he went here and there, but in the end he returns to Bethel — the house of God. The place where God made himself known to Abram and Jacob his seed. When he and Jacob got away, God was ever faithful to His calling, watching over them in their wanderings, teaching them lessons about themselves. But He never changed the calling and the lofty character of it. They, humbled, were called back to Himself where He revealed Himself to them. Later, in that place of blessing, Satan would seek to replace God with idols. In turn, while patient, the God of grace is also the God of judgment and in time what Satan had introduced at Bethel God fully judged and removed. We, too, in grace have been called by the God of Bethel. We are called to be His children, part of His household and the bride of His Son. He reveals Himself, His Son and His calling to us. If we walk unworthy of our calling, He will remain faithful to us in our wanderings, and He in love will humble us and recall us. If we allow idols of the world and its ways into our lives at Bethel, He will judge them and work in our lives to make us judge and remove them.
Bethel
Bethel is first mentioned in the Bible in connection with Abram, soon after he arrived in the land of Canaan. It is recorded that he “removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east” (Gen. 12:8). It is doubtful whether the city existed at that time under the name of Bethel, as Scripture specifically dates the name Bethel from the time of Jacob. It is recorded that “the name of that city was called Luz at the first” (Gen. 28:19), so this may be an occasion when the Spirit of God uses the later name in referring to the place in Abraham’s time, even though the name was not given until Jacob’s time, about 150 years later.
It is difficult to pinpoint the exact sites of both Bethel and Ai today, and some controversy exists concerning their ancient locations. But we know that Bethel was only a short distance north of Jerusalem, perhaps near the site of the present city of El-Bireh. As we have mentioned, the name was given by Jacob when he fled from Esau, as he realized that God knew all about him and purposed to bless him in spite of his sinful ways. Although God made wonderful promises to him there, Jacob was in no state of soul to take all this in, and his comment at the time was, “How dreadful is this place!” (Gen. 28:17). But later, after more than twenty years, he was directed to return to Bethel and to dwell there. It was at this time that his restoration to the Lord really began, although full restoration was not complete until some years after this.
History After the Conquest
After the conquest of Canaan by Israel, the city was conquered by the house of Joseph and was in the territory of the tribe of Ephraim. The tabernacle was evidently pitched near Bethel, in Shiloh, and it was the place where the people of God went up to worship. Shiloh was slightly north of Bethel. It was also one of the places on the circuit of Samuel, as he went from place to place in his capacity as judge.
Many years later, under King Jeroboam, it became a place in the northern kingdom where one of the golden calves was set up and idolatry practiced. In the days of King Ahab, it is recorded that Hiel, evidently a man from Bethel, dared to flout the word of the Lord and rebuilt the wicked city of Jericho. It was also the place where Elisha cursed the children who mocked him and where she bears came out and killed forty-two of them. Such then had become the character of the place whose name means “the house of God.” But God would have the last word, for He sent a prophet from Judah to cry against Jeroboam’s heathen altar in that place and to say that a man by the name of Josiah would one day burn the bones of those idolatrous priests upon that altar. This was fulfilled more than 300 years later; not only did Josiah unearth and burn the bones of those priests, but he also broke down the altar and destroyed every vestige of that idol worship that had gone on for so long.
Much later on, in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah, Bethel is mentioned as the dwelling-place of some who had returned from the captivity. There are a number of references to Bethel in the prophets, mostly referring to times which we have already mentioned and sometimes giving a warning about the sin of Jeroboam, which God never forgot.
Moral Lessons
Here the history ends, as far as the Word of God is concerned. We do not hear of Bethel in the New Testament, and as we have mentioned, it is difficult today to know exactly the ancient site of the place. The Word of God is not concerned primarily with history, but rather with moral lessons. The place may not be able to be accurately identified today, but the lessons from its history remain, for “whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning” (Rom. 15:4).
W. J. Prost
Jacob's Recall to Bethel
In the four chief biographies of Genesis, we have illustrated four great principles of God’s dealing with His people in grace.
In Abraham is presented God’s principle of election and grace; in Isaac, sonship and heirship; in Jacob, discipline; in Joseph, we get suffering and glory. Other truths have their place in each of them, but these are the leading thoughts. It is interesting to look at Bethel in connection both with Abraham, the man of faith, and Jacob, the man of experience. Bethel, and the God of Bethel, are the same, but there is an aspect peculiar to each. Bethel was Abram’s meeting-place with God, as well as Jacob’s, and the place of his altar too (Gen. 12:7-8), but he had known him as the “God of glory” before this in Ur of the Chaldees. This was the foundation of the call which the man of faith had obeyed. Faith had brought Abram as a stranger and a pilgrim to Bethel; circumstances first brought Jacob there. Accordingly, after declension in Abram as the man of faith, there is a much speedier restoration to Bethel than Jacob found (Gen. 13:3-4). But Jacob is our subject.
The God of Bethel
In Genesis 28:10-22, we learn the circumstances in which Jacob first became acquainted with Bethel. His subtlety in seeking to obtain the blessing which was his, according to the promise of God, had now made him an exile from his father’s house. But Jacob, with all his obliquities and feebleness of character, was connected with God, while Esau, with every trait of generous frankness, was but a natural man, seeking nothing beyond this world.
It was to this Jacob, when he was a homeless pilgrim, a staff for his companion, and the stone for his pillow, that the God of Bethel appeared and entered into an unchangeable relationship and connection with Him.
Jacob never had a fuller revelation of God as the God of promise and grace than Bethel presented, and that too when every external circumstance was most contrary. Grace penetrates his heart, and he “vowed a vow saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so that I come to my father’s house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God; and this stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God’s house” (Gen. 28:20-22). But this is not the strong grasp of faith, but the feeble hesitancy of a soul that must, through many sorrows, learn its own weakness, before it will take God only for its strength. But God is the God of Bethel, and under the power of this revelation of Himself to Jacob, He called upon him to walk and act in the scenes that lay before him.
His subsequent history, before we hear again of Bethel, is marked by hard and unrewarded service, and it seems that Jacob’s bearing under this rigorous service was but little in accordance with the suited character of one who had known the revelations of the God of Bethel. But in the midst of this scene of trial, God recalls his mind to Bethel, for God had not forgotten the promise of His grace. Now He says (Gen. 31:13), “I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto Me: now arise, get thee out of this land and return unto thy kindred.”
The Return to Bethel
This fresh call of God breaks the link of Jacob’s bondage in Padan Aram, but on his journey back under the hand of God, there is many an exercise of heart that lies between him and Bethel. There are the seven days’ hot pursuit of Laban, but there is God’s pillar between Jacob and Laban, as there was afterward between the trembling Israelites and Pharaoh’s pursuing hosts. But another trial awaits him, bringing to remembrance earlier sins, and leading to deeper exercises before the God of Bethel. “Deliver me” (says the trembling man) “from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. And Thou saidst, I will surely do thee good [this was the remembrance of Bethel], and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude” (Gen. 32:11-12).
Wrestling With God
Now comes the last effort of his wisdom in his arrangements to meet the trying hour; he is left alone with God! But it is not in the calm worship by the altar of Bethel, but rather to know a night of wrestling with Him who, because He meant to bless, must needs resist the ways and cripple the energy that had neither been subdued by the presence of grace nor subjected to God by the power of faith! “There wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when He saw that He prevailed not against him, He touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint” (Gen. 32:24-25). “He had power over the angel and prevailed,” but it was with the distress of the wrestler—dreading lest the blessing should escape—that “he wept and made supplication to Him” (Hos. 12:4). He had found God and obtained the blessing, but this is not worshipping by the anointed pillar with the God of Bethel. It is God at Peniel, and when he meets his brother Esau, he finds how God had bowed his brother’s heart, without the presents that were meant by poor Jacob to bribe his love!
Shechem
He comes to Shechem and erects an altar there, and calling it El-Elohe-Israel. He is now a worshipper of “God the God of Israel,” but God in Shechem is not God at Bethel, as Jacob has to learn. Why does he linger here and purchase a piece of ground, when God had called him to Bethel and showed him there his title to all the land as his inheritance? Alas! this fresh attempt to stop short of the place to which God had called him ministers still further to his experience. If her father has purchased a possession here, why may not Dinah his daughter “go out to see the daughters of the land”? Her corruption ensues, followed by Simeon and Levi’s treachery and revenge, which destroy the poor pilgrim’s “green spot in the desert.” But God appears, and He said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: and let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem” (Gen. 35:1-4).
Back to Bethel
In all of Jacob’s experience with Laban there had been no fresh revelation of God, but after this trial, when he contemplated journeying to Bethel according to God’s call, then suddenly Jacob realizes that the things of idolatry that had gathered around him in Padan Aram must not be associated with a return to Bethel. The false gods, the earrings and the filthy garments may remain without rebuke in Syria under Laban’s hard service, but when the God of Bethel recalls us to the brightness of His grace, then the false gods can no longer be retained. At this point Jacob is back again in blessed fellowship with Bethel and the God of Bethel, and how freely does the fountain of grace, love and faithfulness pour forth its streams to refresh his weary heart! It is the God of Bethel still, in spite of all his forgetfulness and wanderings. “God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padan-aram, and blessed him. ... And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with Him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel” (Gen. 35:9,14-15).
Such is the effect of the truth of God. It may be known and believed as a revelation, but how different when the same truth is held in living fellowship with God and in moral conformity to him!
G. V. Wigram (adapted)
Jacob's Return Back to Bethel
The ways of God toward man, however they may vary in form in succeeding dispensations, remain the same in principle. As vividly presented in the Old Testament history, they lay hold of our hearts, and command our attention, whereas the doctrines which embody them are often but little apprehended and, alas! are readily set aside as having but little application to our daily life and walk. Besides this, there is the danger of the mind being in exercise with doctrines rather than the heart and conscience. We need to preserve the character of the “little child” who learns at first not by doctrine, but by observation of persons and facts to which his attention is drawn. Hence the importance of the Old Testament, by which we discover how truth is coordinated, and in what manner it should affect the heart.
A Dreadful Place
Jacob affords an instance of the heart’s workings. He was not a “profane” man, like Esau. In his own way he wanted to be right, and he coveted earnestly the promised blessing; but instead of waiting God’s time, he tried to obtain it for himself, with the result that he had to leave his home, and flee to Padanaram. On his journey, God sent him a wonderful dream, speaking to him from the top of the ladder upon which the angels of God were ascending and descending, affording unmistakable evidence that God would continually minister to his needs. In the morning on awakening he called the place “Bethel”—the house of God. He was made conscious of God’s presence, but this was more than he could bear, and he promptly left what to him was a “dreadful” place because it was “the gate of heaven,” and continued his journey alone (Gen. 28). In his subsequent history, it is noteworthy how he avoided Bethel. Desirous though he was of obtaining blessing as an heir of promise, he was unprepared to meet God and have to do with Him in a close personal way. But God’s grace pursued him. Twenty years after he had seen the vision, while still in Padanaram, God appeared to him, saying, “I am the God of Bethel ... arise, get thee out from this land” (Gen. 31:13).
Back to Bethel
He set forth on his journey to the well-remembered scene of God’s gracious intervention on his behalf, where he had sworn conditionally that the Lord should be his God, and that he would render unto Him a tenth of his substance. On his way southward he got tokens that God was caring for him—especially so at Peniel where he had the most signal proof and assurance that God was with him and for him. He had only to continue his journey in the same direction to reach Bethel but, instead of so doing, he deliberately turned aside and went to Shechem. (Gen. 33). He was still afraid of God. Unwilling to await God’s time and accept His way of bringing His purposes to pass, he had sought to become possessed of the blessing before the time, and had thus lost the sweetest part of it; namely, its reception direct from God’s hand as the portion bestowed by Him in His rich and free grace. He had not known quiet subjection to God, and waiting on Him in confidence. Hence, Bethel was still for him that “dreadful” place.
Trouble met him at Shechem. Once again God appeared to him, saying, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there” (Gen. 35:1). But notice now what came out. Jacob felt that the inner life and condition of his household was unsuitable for the “house of God,” and he said, “Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: and let us arise, and go up to Bethel” (vss. 2-3). No wonder he had so studiously avoided the “house of God.” But he could not prevent God’s having His way with him in grace so as to bring his conscience into the light.
No Strange Gods
Who would have thought that “strange gods” would be found in Jacob’s household? But so it was, and we too have to learn that our hearts are not to be trusted. Unless we are walking with God, our hearts and consciences being brought into the light, and judged there, we may find ourselves going on with all kinds of evil things, while at the same time there may be a great deal of outward earnestness, a show of piety, and a seeking after blessing.
We must not trust ourselves. Our only safety is to have everything tested by the light of God’s Word, and to walk in nearness to the Lord, in humility and dependence upon Him, that we may learn His mind, know more of communion with Himself. Thus, as kept by Him, we can escape both the perils and the seductive influences of the scene around us. The Lord give us to take to heart the lessons we see exemplified in Jacob.
W. J. Lowe
Saul and Bethel
When Israel desired a king, Scripture makes it clear that it was not of God, for God Himself reminded Samuel, concerning Israel, “They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Sam. 8:7). However, God was gracious, and He was pleased to give tokens for the purpose of helping Saul, although he was not a man of faith. If there had been an ear to hear, if there had been any measure of spiritual perception, there were special signs put in his way. First of all, two men announce the recovery of the asses Saul and his servant were seeking, and this by Rachel’s sepulchre (1 Sam. 10:2). This ought to have been a spot of singular interest to Saul, for it was the place where the foundation of his family had been laid. But Saul had no eyes to see, nor had he ears to hear, according to God.
The Testimony of God
Again three men (1 Sam. 10:3-4) were to meet him in the plain of Tabor—men who were on their way up to God at Bethel. They were going to the place, not merely of Rachel’s sepulchre, but of God at Bethel. One man was carrying three kids, and so on; these saluted him and gave him loaves of bread. Should Saul not have gathered a proof that God was at work in Israel and that God had not forgotten the famous scene where He had pledged the accomplishment of His purpose to their father Jacob? A remnant was there, an ample testimony, not merely of two but of three men. There was a more than adequate testimony to the reality of faith in Israel still.
Along with this, no doubt the state of Israel, terrified by Philistine masters, was truly deplorable, but what was that if faith was there? Circumstances should never frighten the believer. The question then was whether God was the God of Israel and whether His people had faith in Him. Yet here we find three men going up to God to Bethel, well aware of the sad condition—the practical condition — of Israel at this time. But there is more: “After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy” (1 Sam. 10:5). What an encouragement to one who could hear according to God! The worst of times to faith only calls us the more to make melody to Him. There was no lack of the testimony of joy and praise in these prophets, although God would yet have His people fairly to confess the circumstances. There is no good to be had by blinding ourselves to our actual condition, whether it be of the church now or of Israel then. It is always right, wise and lowly to admit the truth.
Christian Experience
So it is with our souls and in all our Christian experiences. There is many a believer that does not want to think of all that he has been before he was saved. Many a person when first converted to God tries to look only at what is bright, joyous and encouraging. His eye quickly finds out all the comforting passages of the Word of God. He slips over what tries and searches the heart. It is all quite intelligible, but is it really wise? It is not the mode in which the Spirit of God works to form the saint. Not that there is not abundant comfort in all the Word of God from first to last, but be assured, my brethren, that the best wisdom is when grace strengthens us to look at the truth and the whole truth, whether about God or man, at the church or our own souls. Hence it is that many a person puts off the full view of what he himself is when brought to God, but then has to repeat the lesson another day under more painful circumstances. Far better to face at the very starting-point what we are, as well as what God is in His nature and counsels. Otherwise, when we have been following the Lord for some years, we may need to be broken down for some grievous unfaithfulness, and this mainly owing to the folly of refusing to look at the full reality of what we were from the very beginning.
God’s Character
It is evident that God’s character, as represented by us, is far more affected by our having to go through a perhaps painful and humiliating process some years after starting on our course, than by our learning what we are when the full flow of divine grace confirms our souls as we learn of the Lord Jesus. Thus only can we well afford to judge all that we are naturally.
This too was expressly a sign to Saul. The first sign was personal, connected as it was with Rachel’s sepulchre—a place of death to the mother, but where Benjamin was born, the head of Saul’s own tribe, and the type of Messiah in His mighty victories for His people on the earth. Benjamin was not Joseph, that son of Jacob who was separate from his brethren and exalted in another sphere; rather, he was the son of his father’s right hand, who represents the Lord Jesus when He rises up to put down all adversaries in His kingdom by and by. This was the particular blessing that was given when the Spirit of God by Jacob pronounced the blessing of Benjamin. The second sign should have intimated the reality to faith of a more than sufficient witness that as surely as three men were going up to Bethel, God could not fail, whatever the state of Israel might be.
The Spirit of God
But then followed the sign of that present state of Israel. The promises attached to Bethel were far from being as yet fulfilled. If Saul hears of “the hill of God,” he also hears that there “is the garrison of the Philistines.” Surely then, when Israel desired a king, the actual condition of Israel was as low as it could be. Had there only been faith to enter into these signs, taking them from God, there would surely have been a blessed opportunity for the working and triumph of God, who never fails to answer to living faith, but this was exactly what Saul did not have. There was no lack of a fair show in the flesh. Saul appeared at first to be most amiable to everybody. In all this there was the brightest natural promise for man’s king, but there was more than this. There was another and higher privilege too, one may notice in passing: God was even pleased to invest him with the power of the Spirit of God, although only externally. “The Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man” (1 Sam. 10:6). Does not all this show us that God was giving every possible help and every conceivable advantage to man’s king entering on this new phase in the history of His people? This is the unquestionable lesson of these two chapters, yet we find in the end that Saul was a dismal failure. Despite every possible advantage, the natural man cannot walk by faith. The throne must wait for David, the man after God’s own heart, and a type of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all God’s promises will be fulfilled.
W. Kelly (adapted)
The Altar at Bethel
The inspired commentary on idolatry which we find in Romans shows us that it had its source in the corruption of the human mind and the haughtiness of the intellect. Accordingly, at the opening of 1 Kings 12 we find that it was the love of the world that erected the idolatrous altar at Bethel. Jeroboam thought it was the only way by which he could secure the kingdom. He did not deny, but rather corrupted, the religion of the people, making it serve his own ends.
At the opening of chapter 13 we learn how the Lord deals with this corruption. He sends His servant, under a fresh communication of His mind and a fresh anointing of His Spirit, from the land of Judah to the altar at Bethel, to denounce it and deliver the judgment of God against all who had connected themselves with it, but staying the execution of that judgment until the time of Josiah, the future king of David’s house. But He also gives a present pledge of such execution, for the altar was rent, and the ashes that were upon it were poured out. The judgment here pronounced was executed to the very letter (2 Kings 23), Josiah being prophesied of by name.
The Pledge – Long-suffering – Judgment
This is God’s common way: He pronounces judgment, but delays the execution, though giving a present pledge of it. The interval is called His long-suffering, and we know it is a time for quickening and gathering (2 Peter 3:15). Enoch pronounced the judgment of the ungodly, and we know from God that this judgment is still to be executed, but the flood was a pledge fulfillment. The Lord pronounced the judgment of Jerusalem in Matthew 24, and we know from the very terms of the sentence that it is still to be executed, but the Roman invasion was a pledge fulfillment of it.
Jeroboam was indignant at the man of God who had pronounced this sentence against his altar, and he stretched out his arm as commanding his servants to lay hold of him. But the hand of God laid hold on Jeroboam, and his outstretched arm became rigid and withered. Then his mind is changed, and he sues the man of God to pray for the restoration of his arm. This is done; then he invites the man of God to come home with him to his palace for refreshment and reward. But in the spirit of Daniel he lets the king know that he may keep his gifts to himself and give his rewards to another. He leaves the scene of God’s curse and sets himself on the way back to Judah, having done the business committed to him by “the word of the Lord.” The altar and its fruits are left to meet the judgment of God in its season.
The Old Prophet
Now, however, the scene changes. We no longer see the man of God and the king together, but we are to see the man of God in company with an old prophet who at that time lived in Bethel. We are exposed to special temptations, if we live on borderlands or in equivocal circumstances and conditions. The old prophet, saint of God as he was, lived near the altar. The devil uses him, and with a lie in his mouth, he brings the man of God back from the road that was leading him down to Judah, to eat and drink with him in his house at Bethel.
Paul would pronounce an anathema upon even an angel if he dared to gainsay that word which he had received from God. But the man of God was not in this vigor of Paul. He surrendered the word which he had received from God to the word (as he judged it to be) of an angel, and he goes back to eat and drink in the place of which the Lord had said to him, “Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there” (1 Kings 13:17).
The Beginning of Judgment
And here another divine principle gets a very striking illustration. God is judging according to every man’s work (1 Peter 1:17); that is, He is disciplining His people now. Judgment at the house of God has begun (1 Peter 4:17), and so it is here. The judgment on Jeroboam and his priests is delayed; the judgment of the man of God shall be immediate. He shall now be judged of the Lord that he may not be condemned with the world (or Jeroboam) by-and-by (see 2 Kings 23:17-18). The word falls in judgment on him, as he sits at the table of the old prophet eating and drinking, for he was eating and drinking judgment to himself. Shortly after, as he resumes his journey home to Judah, a lion meets and slays him.
How full of solemn meaning all this is! The judgment of the world is stayed; the discipline of the saints is proceeding. There was a personal pledge of the future judgment of the world, and there shall be now a present pledge of the future salvation of the saint. The altar was rent, as we saw, and the ashes poured out; so also the lion is not allowed to touch the carcass of the man of God or to lay his deadly paw upon the ass that had carried him. His body is reserved for final honor, though his life was a present forfeit to the holy discipline of God. It would have been the nature of the lion to kill the ass as well as its rider and to devour the carcass, but he acted as truly under divine commission in the death of the man of God as the man of God himself had acted when he pronounced judgment on the altar. What varied and instructive illustrations of truth all these things are!
Their Burial
The old prophet, too, is to be seen again. There was in him that which was of God, as well as that which was of nature and the flesh. But he was now old, and he had lived carelessly as a saint; he had taken up his dwelling in an unclean place. Satan uses him to corrupt his younger brother, a freshly anointed vessel of the Spirit. But still he seems to have been a “righteous man,” like Lot, though living in a Sodom. His lamentation over the man of God was genuine, as that of one saint over another—as genuine as the lamentation of David over Jonathan. It was the sorrow of a saint of God, and he charges his sons, when he should die, to bury him in the same sepulchre where he was now religiously laying the remains of him whom he calls his “brother,” the man of God.
All this speaks of the better nature in him. And when the hand of the Lord executes by Josiah the judgment he had now pronounced by the man of God, when the power of His hand comes to make good the declarations of His Spirit, and the day of the world’s doom arrives—this Jeroboam-world of which we are speaking—the hand of God respects the old prophet as it does the man of God. Josiah saves the sepulchre of these men and preserves the bones of each of them from the common penal burning, under which he was putting all others found in that unclean place around the altar at Bethel, as we read so fully and strikingly in 2 Kings 23.
All this gives us a lesson of very varied moral instruction. We see the way of God in the judgment of the world and in the discipline of His saint, we see the danger of living near Sodom, and we learn afresh that God’s Word must be clung to in the face of all and everything.
J. G. Bellett (adapted)
The She-Bears of Bethel
We see a remarkable contrast between the ministry of Elijah and Elisha, although each was no doubt called of God and each was faithful to God in the character of service entrusted to him. Elijah’s name means “my God is Jehovah,” and he sought to bring the people of Israel back to the God of their fathers and back to the law of God. They had turned away from God to worship idols, and for this reason many of his miracles were miracles of judgment. Although he openly demonstrated God’s power and was able to destroy the prophets of Baal on one occasion, it does not seem that the heart of the people was changed. But during the last few years of his life, he was given the privilege of training the younger man Elisha to be prophet in his stead.
Grace Refused
Elisha’s ministry was different, and it was characterized by grace, not law. For the most part his miracles were miracles of grace, and for this reason his few miracles of judgment stand out. Three of them are recorded in the Word of God—the tearing of the children of Bethel by the she bears (2 Kings 2), the leprosy of Gehazi (2 Kings 5), and the death of the lord who was given charge of the food left by the fleeing Syrians (2 Kings 7). All are connected with the scorning of grace, and thus do not in any way reflect adversely on Elisha’s ministry, but rather show us God’s judgment on those who despise and reject His grace. God loves to act in grace, but grace refused brings down judgment.
At first glance, the awful incident involving the children of Bethel and the she bears might seem unusual in its severity. Should one act of mockery by children be punished by death, and in such a terrible way? Yet we must remember that while Elisha cursed the children in the name of the Lord, it was God Himself who sent the bears. There is a solemn lesson to be learned in all this.
Tarnished History
Bethel as a city had a long history, and its name means “the house of God.” In the early days of Israel’s history in the land of Canaan, people went there to inquire of the Lord, for Shiloh was very close to Bethel, and the tabernacle was there at first. But things had deteriorated to the point where, in the time of Elisha, a golden calf was there, having been set up by Jeroboam. It was one of the two places in the northern kingdom of the ten tribes designated by Jeroboam for idolatrous worship, and this was still carried on in the days of Elijah and Elisha. As another example of the tarnished state of the city, Scripture records that it was a man by the name of Hiel, from Bethel, who defied the word of the Lord and rebuilt the city of Jericho.
But God had not left Himself without witness. There was a school of the prophets there, where young men were trained in the way of the Lord. No doubt godly men like Elijah and Elisha were used of the Lord to teach these young men, and this very school was a witness to the people of Bethel. But it seems that the idolatry continued in spite of this testimony; the ministry of God’s faithful prophets was not wanted.
The Mockers
But then something most remarkable happened. Elijah was caught up to heaven in a whirlwind, without going through death. It was no secret, although only Elisha saw it, for the sons of the prophets in Bethel knew it ahead of time. This news should have had a sobering effect on these sinful people, yet it seems that they were only too glad to be rid of Elijah. When his successor appears, they want to be rid of him too. The mocking words “bald head” were a real insult to Elisha, as they called him to go up, as his late master had gone up. It is highly unlikely that the children had conceived this insult by themselves. Surely they had heard it at home, among older ones; they merely repeated what their parents and others had said.
The Judgment
The judgment from the Lord was awful, but it is striking to notice on whom it fell. It is not as apparent in our English translations, but in the original Hebrew, the word used for “children” in verse 23 is not the same as that used in verse 24. The word used in verse 23 to describe the whole group—“there came forth little children out of the city”—is correctly translated, for the word means young children, from infancy to adolescence. But the word used in verse 24—“there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them” — although it can be translated “children,” can also mean “sons or young men.” It is translated “young men” a number of times in the Word of God, as, for example, in 1 Kings 12:8, concerning the young men of whom Rehoboam sought counsel, or in Genesis 4:23, concerning the young man slain by Lamech. Thus it would seem that the Lord laid His hand on the older ones of the group—the older boys who were most responsible. Again, what a solemn response by the Lord Himself to the rejection of His prophet of grace! Undoubtedly it was what might be called a “signal judgment,” intended as a warning, not only to the people of Bethel, but to all Israel.
A Prophetic Message
There is perhaps a hint of prophecy here too. God is acting in grace today toward the guilty nation of Israel, inviting them to come to Christ and be saved. We are thankful for each one who responds, but, sad to say, the bulk of the nation are like most of the Bethelites, who rejected God’s grace. Israel today has not only rejected Christ in His earthly pathway (typified by Elijah), who sought to bring them back to their responsibility toward God, but they now reject the grace of God from Christ in resurrection (typified by Elisha). In a coming day they will suffer great tribulation under something far worse than two she bears: They will be exposed to the tyranny of the Roman beast and the Antichrist. The number of those young men who were slain is significant too, for the suffering of the Jews during the tribulation will continue for forty-two months, or three and a half years.
But grace will have the victory. From Bethel, Elisha goes to Carmel, which means “garden,” or “fruitful field.” This will be the final condition of Israel after the judgment, when God’s promises are fulfilled. “Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever” (Isa. 32:16-17).
W. J. Prost
Josiah at Bethel
The great work of destruction to which Josiah committed himself in faith must have occupied considerable time. The earnest young king swept through the land from the territory of Simeon in the south to the territory of Naphtali in the north (2 Chron. 34:6), destroying everything that he knew was detestable in the sight of the Holy One of Israel. Nothing but the book of the law influenced his movements.
It may surprise some that Josiah was able to act so freely in northern Palestine, seeing that it had been for about one hundred years a province of the kingdom of Assyria. The explanation is that Assyria was declining; its day was drawing to a close. Israel’s unfaithfulness was now causing God to hand over supreme power to the Gentiles, but it was not to Assyria that He intended to give it. Babylon was the destined head of the great image which set forth symbolically Gentile imperialism as a whole, and in Josiah’s day Assyria’s destruction was near.
In the goodness of God, no external complications arose while Josiah was engaged in his good work. The movements of nations are under divine control. Elihu said truly, “When He giveth quietness, who can make trouble?” and he added that this applies to nations as well as to individual men (Job 34:29). Is it not better to confide in God than to seek safety in treaties and alliances? Useful work, even of a social character, is hindered by the waste and turmoil of war. Even God’s saints find their important service hampered by the world’s strife, although in their case God graciously overrules the circumstances to send the gospel where otherwise it might not have gone. Josiah had thirty-one years of peace in which to serve God in Israel. Alas, it was his own folly which brought the peace to an end!
The Significance of Bethel
Among the many idolatrous centers which were visited by Josiah, Bethel is specially mentioned, and some remarkable incidents are noted. Bethel had an important place in the ways of Jehovah, and it had tender associations for the hearts of the godly in Israel. Nearby was Abraham’s first camping-ground when he entered the land. In that neighborhood he pitched his tent and built his altar (Gen. 12:8). After his mistaken journey into Egypt, Abram returned to the place where he built his altar at the first (Gen. 13:3-4). Communion with God was thus restored. It was at Bethel where Jacob rested for the night on his journey from Beersheba to Haran. The vision of the ladder set up from earth to heaven, with the angels ascending and descending upon it and Jehovah speaking to his poor, wayward servant from the top of it, is familiar to us all. Early in the morning Jacob “took the stone which he had put for his pillows and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of the place Bethel” (Gen. 28:18-19). Bethel means “house of God.” After years of wandering, Jacob returned thither and learned precious lessons concerning the God with whom he had to do (Gen. 35:1-15).
Several centuries later Jehovah referred very touchingly to Jacob’s second visit to Bethel: “There he spake with us, even the Lord God of hosts; Jehovah is his memorial” (Hos. 12:4-5). Notice how God appreciated the fact that “there he [Jacob] spake with us [God in trinity].” But Bethel became one of Jeroboam’s chief seats of idolatry; he did his utmost to prevent the people from speaking with their God. Indeed the proximity of Bethel to Jerusalem seems to indicate that Jeroboam deliberately established Bethel as a religious center in order to obstruct the way of the people to the sanctuary of Jehovah.
The Center of Iniquity
Bethel was a hotbed of iniquity from the time of Jeroboam to the days of Josiah. In Amos 4:4, Jehovah says sarcastically to His wayward people, “Come to Bethel and transgress.” But in the next chapter of the same prophet we hear a pleading voice: “Thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and you shall live: but seek not Bethel. ... Seek the Lord, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it; and there be none to quench it in Bethel” (Amos 5:4-5). When Jeroboam was granted dominion over the ten tribes because of the unfaithfulness of Solomon, Jehovah told him that if he would hearken unto His commandments and walk in His ways and do that which is right in His sight, He would be with him and build him “a sure house” (1 Kings 11:38). But as Solomon was unfaithful, so likewise was Jeroboam. When the latter fled into Egypt (a type of the world in its independence of God) to escape the wrath of Solomon, he saw the people there worshipping the god Apis; this probably suggested to him the golden calves that he set up in Bethel and in Dan. From the same source Aaron and the children of Israel got the idea of the golden calf (Ex. 32).
The general condition of the northern districts of Palestine was deplorable when Josiah marched through on his mission of judgment. When the kings of Assyria removed considerable numbers of the ten tribes from the land, they replaced them with colonists from Babylon and other provinces, who brought with them their heathen gods. This sorry admixture is described in 2 Kings 17. From that time there was a strange blend of Israelites and Gentiles, and of paganism and Judaism, in the land which Jehovah loved. What confusion as the result of disobedience to God!
Idolatry Extirpated
Never was idolatry so thoroughly extirpated (completely destroyed) anywhere as by Josiah throughout the land of Israel. He slew all the priests, burnt their bones upon their altars, and then destroyed the altars themselves, reducing them to powder. When looking around the sepulchers in Bethel, one in particular attracted Josiah’s attention. “What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulcher of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things which thou hast done against the altar of Bethel. And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria” (2 Kings 23:17-18). A remarkable story is here recalled. The men of Bethel were speaking of a visit to their city three and a half centuries earlier. The memory of it lingered in the district, and the people recognized the fulfillment of the words of the man of God in the terrible actions of Josiah.
Prophetic Testimony
The modern mind rejects the idea of prophecy, but the Scriptures are full of prophecy. That which has been already fulfilled constitutes a great accumulation of divine testimony. Concerning Christ Himself, events such as His birth (the fact and the place of it), His ministry and miracles, His rejection by Israel, His sufferings at the hands of men and of God, His death, burial, resurrection and ascension, and His present session in manhood at the right hand of God were all put into writing by the Holy Spirit centuries before He came into the world. Concerning Israel and the nations in general, their downfall and sufferings were predicted while they were at the height of their prosperity, and in some instances long before they rose to power at all. If so much has been fulfilled to the letter, faith confidently expects the full accomplishment of all that yet remains.
Man is incapable of forecasting the future, but God, on the contrary, “calleth those things which be not, as though they were” (Rom. 4:17). Men who in their pride reject the prophetic lamp must of necessity grope in darkness, but light from God, which cheers the spirit and guides the steps, is not far away. Never was the word of prophecy more necessary for the people of God than in this twenty-first century of the Christian era, with its manifold complications and perplexities (2 Peter 1:19).
W. W. Fereday (adapted)
James Webb Space Telescope
For some years now, the well-known Hubble space telescope has been providing unprecedented data from the universe. Named after the famous U.S. astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889-1953), it was launched in the year 1990, and hovers in space about 350 miles above the earth.With its large mirror and intricate technological equipment, it has detected galaxies in the universe that were hitherto unknown, as well as more unusual things such as “black holes” and “supernovae.”
It was Edwin Hubble who, back in 1929, using Einstein’s theory of relativity, claimed to have discovered that the universe, once thought to be static, is actually expanding. (There is good evidence that the idea of an expanding universe was first proposed by a Belgian astronomer, George Lemaitre, two years before Hubble did.) However, there is still controversy over this assertion, although various other pieces of research since that time seem to have confirmed that this is so. Galaxies in the universe look as if they are moving away from each other, and the more distant the galaxies, the more rapid seems to be their movement away from one another.
More recently, several scientists received the Nobel prize in 2011 for their work during the 1990’s, in which they claimed that not only was the universe expanding, but that its rate of expansion was accelerating. Again, there has been serious debate in the scientific world about this claim.
The Size of the Universe
What is clear, however, is that the universe is huge—much larger than man ever thought it was. God declares in His Word, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork ... there is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard” (Psa. 19:1, 3). Something of the immensity of the cosmos can be understood by viewing it with only the naked eye, but modern technology has enabled man to see much more. The more man has been able to discover, the more he finds that it is much vaster, and much more complicated, than he originally thought.
More recently, during the 1990’s, work began on a much larger telescope, which is tentatively scheduled to be sent up into space in October, 2018. The James Webb telescope, at a cost to date of nearly 9 billion, will dwarf the Hubble telescope, with a much larger mirror and power to look much farther into outer space. Destined to be stationed in space about 1 million miles away, it will apparently be held in place because of the balance of the gravity of the sun and the earth. Facing away from the sun, it will be protected by a solar shield with successive layers, to insulate it from the extreme heat of the sun.
The Scientific Point of View
Needless to say, the potential of such a telescope is immense, but as always, the natural man approaches such capability from the wrong point of view. First of all, his pride rivals the potential of the telescope; NASA’s Eric Smith, Webb’s program director, is alleged to have said, “We will be watching the universe light up after the Big Bang.” Another NASA scientist is quoted to have said, “Humankind has always wondered about the universe, and now our telescope technology has caught up with our questions.” The most significant comment comes from a contributor to Forbes magazine—”Hubble taught us what our universe looks like; James Webb will teach us how our universe came to be this way.”
Even more significant is the fact that the scientific community persists in basing its observations and calculations on the widely accepted but ridiculous Big Bang theory, first propagated in the 1920’s by the aforementioned Georges Lemaitre. Any honest student of physics must realize that such a theory contradicts both the first and second laws of thermodynamics. The whole idea of a “Big Bang” totally conflicts with Scripture, and is really another of man’s attempts (like the theory of evolution) to get away from any responsibility toward God. Man has discovered much, and is proud of it, but as another has most fittingly commented, “Man is a discoverer; never a Creator.” With all his abilities to fashion such things as a multi-billion dollar telescope, he has never been able to create something out of nothing. Yet his warped reasoning will allow for a supposed “Big Bang,” which allegedly brought something as complicated as our universe into being, without God. Instead of being humbled by what he has discovered, man fills himself with pride, while he unhesitatingly ascribes to a “Big Bang” something that could happen only by the power of God.
By Faith We Understand
But Scripture speaks in clarion tones—“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Heb. 11:3). Once we bring God in, everything falls into place; we are not compelled to indulge in wild imaginations or deny any of the laws of physics, in order to make everything plausible. However, there is an unusual paradox here, and one which man is unable to deal with, unless He is willing to admit divine revelation.
On the one hand, man is a finite creature, and although he can understand the concept of eternity, he is totally unable to wrap his mind around it. Being bounded by time, man cannot come to grips with anything eternal, except in a conceptual way. For this reason he rejects the truth of an infinite God, who existed from eternity, and who is able to create something out of nothing. Of course, this is not the only reason man rejects the thought of God. Ultimately, he wants to avoid any thought of responsibility to God, and thus prefers to pretend either that He does not exist, or at least that He is a distant Being who does not take any interest in His creature man. Indeed, many false religions, as well as so-called “New Age” thinking, embody the notion that God is in everything, including ourselves, and that He is merely a force in the cosmos that sustains it.
Eternity
On the other hand, man cannot get away from himself, and since he was created for eternity, not merely for time, he seeks for that which is eternal. A recent article in a prominent American magazine discussed the potential of the James Webb telescope, and the author made the following remark—
“It says something both odd and exceptional about our species that while we could rightly be preoccupied with the simple business of surviving on the one world we’ve got ... we always have one eye trained outward. We can’t say exactly what we’re looking for—deliverance, company, answers to eternal questions—but we look out all the same.” (emphasis mine)
Thus man wants answers to the eternal questions that inevitably come into his mind, while He denies the revelation of the God who inhabits eternity.
Divine Revelation
How comforting it is to turn away from man, “whose breath is in his nostrils” (Isa. 2:22), and to be subject to divine revelation in the Word of God. In keeping with the character of the eternal God, His Word “liveth and abideth forever” (1 Pet. 1:23). Once it has served God’s purposes, the universe which man seeks to explore will eventually be burned up, to make way for the creation of a “new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Pet. 3:13). Despite man’s efforts in space research, and the spending of billions of dollars, he will never discover eternal realities. It is only in Christ, and in the understanding of the mystery of God, that “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3) are found. We can rest in this, and in a God who has chosen to reveal Himself in Christ, and whom we now know as Father. How much better this is than mere factual information about the universe!
W. J. Prost
Jacob's Dream
The night was dark, the desert drear,
And Jacob’s heart was sad with fear.
He laid his staff upon the ground;
A stone he for his pillow found;
And jaded, sorrowful, oppressed,
He seeks his aching limbs to rest;
He counts himself of all bereft—
None near to shield, or cheer him, left;
A stranger, homeless and forlorn;
Through his own fault so rudely torn
From all he’d loved from childhood’s morn.
What solemn lessons may we learn
While we ourselves in him discern,
The Esau and the Jacob life,
The flesh and spirit’s constant strife:
How e’en, while faith directs the will,
Evil is ever present still;
The need to watch, the need to pray,
E’en while we tread the heavenward way!
He sleeps at last—forlorn, alone,
His aching head upon the stone;
When lo in visions of the night
What heavenly glories meet his sight!
From the cold earth on which he lies,
A ladder reaches to the skies.
The upward path to heaven above;
The downward of Incarnate love;
And lo! above it stands the Lord,
By all those angel hosts adored,
Whose gracious voice, in accents clear,
Thus spoke to Jacob’s ravished ear:
Though now alone, cast out, distressed,
More than the dust thy seed shall be;
To north and south, to east and west
Shall spread thy countless progeny;
Lo! I am with thee; I will keep
Thee as the apple of Mine eye:
My loving care shall never sleep;
I will thy every want supply.
Oh, what an hour of sacred bliss!
What has the world compared with this?
What though his bed be on the ground,
And desolation dark around,
Heaven opens to his wondering eyes,
A way from earth to reach the skies:
Th’ angelic hosts are gathered there
To guard him, as salvation’s heir.
Wisdom and mercy—all engage
His head to shield, His woes assuage;
To comfort, to protect and bless
His journeys through the wilderness:
Whene’er He leans on pilgrim’s rod,
Jacob may well trust Jacob’s God.
J. G. Deck (adapted from a lengthy poem)