Bethel: A Meeting Place With God

Bethel: A Meeting Place With God

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you;And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.And in you all the families of the Earth shall be blessed.”So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him.- Genesis 12.1-5 NASB

Question:Have you had a conversation with God?Did you act on it?

Bethel: A Meeting Place With God

And Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land.And the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.”So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him. - Genesis 12.6-7 NASB

An alter: a place of sacrifice and a place of remembrance; a sign, a marker

Question:What markers do you have?To what can you point back in remembrance?

Bethel: A Meeting Place With God

Now there was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. - Genesis 12.10 NASB

Results:- Fear and no trust (v.11-12) …. Abram: they will kill me- Conspiracy (v.13) …. Sarai convinced to be Abram’s sister- Deception (v.16) …. Pharaoh paid Abram for Sarai- Banishment (v.20) …. Pharaoh commanded Abram out- Starting over (13.3-4) …. Back to Bethel

Question:What would have happened if Abram had stayed?

From Bethel to Bethel

ביתאל(Beyith-El)

Bethel

Beth = HouseEl = God

A meeting place with God

From Bethel to Bethel

ב(Beth)

Beth = HouseA place of meeting and discussion

ל(El)

El = Rod or Shepherd StaffAuthority, Leader, Command, One who is in charge

From Bethel to Bethel

And he had a dream and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. Your descendants shall also be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall of the families of the earth be blessed.And behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised.”Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven.”

- Genesis 28.12-17 NASB

From Bethel to Bethel

So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on its top. And he called the name of the place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz. Then Jacob made a vow…- Genesis 28.18-20 NASB

“I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, leave this land, and return to the land of your birth.”- Genesis 31.13 NASB

Your Bethel

Where is your Bethel?

Where is that place you first met God?

Have you met Him?

My Bethel

1st Church of the NazareneCharleston Heights, South Carolina

circa: 1970

What is it called now?

New Bethel Reformed Episcopal Church

Your Bethel

Where is your Bethel?

Where is that place you first met God?

That place could be right here, right now ….

Do you want to meet God?