Bible Word of the Day
Bethel (Where God Interacted with His People)
Meaning
Bethel was a small town, a village located approximately ten miles north of Jerusalem in the hill country of Israel. During ancient times the town was also called Luz, however the modern name of the town today is Beitn. Bethel plays an important role in the Bible because of the interactions God had with His people and with the patriarchs of Israel. In addition, Bethel was located at the major crossroads of several ancient highways and it was an area that contained several natural springs. This was the location where Abram (later to be called Abraham) first camped after entering the Promised Land. It was also the site of one of the first altars Abram built to the Lord. Therefore Bethel was one of the first places where the Jewish people (the Hebrews) met with God, both before and after becoming the nation of Israel.
In addition, because of the events that happened at Bethel it plays an important role in what we learn about the Lord and His interaction with mankind. The word Bethel translated means “house of God” or “place of God” and from its history that is exactly what happened there. Some of the events which took place at Bethel include being the first place where Abraham built an altar and “invoked the name of the Lord.” It was the place where Jacob had his vision of the ladder where angels were traveling back and forth between Heaven and earth. Jacob and his family settled there, the Israelites settled there shortly after defeating the city and the kings of Ai and Jericho. As we study the Bible, we see that Bethel played a significant role as a location where God connected with His people, Israel.
“And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.” (Book of Genesis 12:8)<br/><br />”Then they said, ‘In fact, there is a yearly feast of the Lord in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.'” (Book of Judges 21:19)