Back to Bethel
April 21, 2023
Depiction of Jacob's dream at Bethel, by José de Ribera.
“And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel.” – Genesis 35:15
Back in the 1930s, B.B. McKinney penned a hymn that reminisced on the experience of Jacob at Bethel so many centuries before and the experiences of many a young man and woman who at their own Bethel, encountered the Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
He wrote:
“Back to Bethel I must go,
Back where the rivers of sweet water flow,
Back to the true life my soul longs to know,
Bethel is calling, and I must go.”
© 1931, renewed 1959 Broadman Press
“Bethel” is taken from two Hebrew words, “beth,” which means “house,” and “El,” which means, “God.”
Bethel is then, the House of God.
Where is your Bethel?
Is it a physical or geographic location? Perhaps it was the little country church of your youth, a Christian coffee house, or a campus Bible study. It is that time in your life when you first met Jesus.
Perhaps it was a conversation or event or merely a vague, but very real memory.
What happened to you at Bethel?
What made the difference in your life? What opened your eyes? What commitments did you make there? What would it take to return to that place in your heart and mind and renew your first love for Jesus?
As Jacob marked the place where he met God, never forget that place in your own life.
It is sacred.