Back to Bethel!

“And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fled 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.”  Gen 35:1-3 KJV

As the year 2025 unwinds, and as God moves us forward and upwards, He is mindful of our relationships with Him and also of the milestones we attain. He is concerned about every detail of our lives and intends that we have all-round growth. God is not only interested in blessing us with physical increase but desires for us a robust and growing relationship with Him.

According to vocabulary.com, a milestone is figuratively used as a significant event in your life. Often, it marks the beginning of a new chapter, for example a new year or birthday or other strategic events. It is often a moment when you reflect on where you are in life. This reflection is very important for us because as humans, we have the tendencies to forget certain events as we move on in life. This was why God would always visit His people and bring them to remembrance of His dealings with them. The children of Israel experienced this a lot. God didn’t want them to forget certain monumental experiences, hence He would always visit them and guide them back on their path especially when it appears they are straying. What a loving and faithful God we serve!

In the passage above, we could see God visiting Jacob and calling his attention to go back to the place of his first encounter with the Lord. He wasn’t calling him back to his old life but to his place of divine encounter. He wasn’t demoting him but helping him to get things right again. He was to go back to Bethel and raise an altar there. Bethel was so named when Jacob encountered God as he was fleeing from his brother Esau, who was bent on dealing with him because of all that transpired on the issue of stealing the blessing from their father.  Jacob had gone through so much in the journey of life especially as he found his way to Laban, his uncle. He had grown, increased and expanded in many areas of life. He had acquired multiple wives including the female servants who had babies for him (which wasn’t in his original plan), had quite a number of children, livestock, servants etc. He had become famous and popular in the land where he sojourned; and had been blessed tremendously. He could keep going on in life but God needed his attention again like He had in Bethel. Bethel was a place of divine encounter. Bethel is primarily a place of consecration and not demotion.

By all means, we need divine encounters, not just a one-off experience but regular encounters with the God of our journey. For Jacob, Bethel was the place of deep communion with the Lord; a place of prayer and the Word. Bethel was a place where God had revealed Himself to Jacob. It was the place of his experience with God, before he became a big man. However, along the journey to greatness, Jacob had dropped off some important godly habits; taken on some ungodly garbage and in some unguarded moments strange things had crept into his life. He, together with his family, had acquired uncountable idols along the way. He had taken the forbidden into his company.

By all means, we need divine encounters, not just a one-off experience but regular encounters with the God of our journey

In the course of his journey in life, Jacob had become a big man, he had become blessed with riches but without caution, he had allowed greed, self-centeredness, insensitivity and quite a lot more creep into his life. He had grown so large and it seems some godly virtues have been squeezed out of his equation. God in His mercy came visiting again and called his attention back to the place of intimacy.

In our journey through life, we need a constant “BACK TO BETHEL” experience. We need to maintain consistent personal intimacy with God. We need to be reminded of those moments where we had definite encounters with God before we became who we are presently; before our responsibilities increased; before our work and ministry took so much of our time, attention and energy; before we took on extra baggage of the flesh which began to creep into our lives and we acted/reacted more in the flesh than by the spirit; before we became so comfortable and conceited that worship, prayer, fasting, personal evangelism began to fade off our schedule; before we became so self-centered that we cared less or not at all, about the needs of others. Bethel is the place of consecration wherein unforgiveness, selfishness, greed, pride, strife etc had no place. It was solely a place of intimacy with God.

In our journey through life, we need a constant “BACK TO BETHEL” experience. We need to maintain consistent personal intimacy with God.

As we begin another year, we should prioritize the “Bethel experience”. We should keep God in view as we advance lest the cares of this life consume our attention and allegiance. Let our slogan be “Jesus now, more than ever”! Let us go back to ask Him to help us get things right wherever we have got them wrong; where we have carelessly allowed the flesh to creep in and dictate our lives.

May we not get too occupied and carried away with the issues of life as to neglect the God of Bethel. May our hearts yearn and long for Him more and more. May we continually hear the voice of God and receive His help as we journey with Him through life. Amen!

From the desk of funmiadebayojournals, I welcome you to 2025; a year of walking with the Lord and flourishing in His purpose. Amen!

© Funmi Adebayo