The History of Bethel by S. N. HASKELL

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Dec 14, 1905

The History of Bethel

By S. N. HASKELL

S. N. HASKELL

WHEREVER the cause of God centers, there is the sharpest conflict between Christ and Satan. Bethel, twelve miles north of Jerusalem, was such a place; it was a strategic military and spiritual center.

The city was anciently called Luz, meaning “almond tree.” It was under these almond trees, no doubt, that Jacob “had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him.” Hosea 12:4. When Jacob knew of a surety that his peace was made with God, and his sins were forgiven, he lay down and slept sweetly with only hard stones for a pillow. Then it was that the Lord revealed that wonderful vision of the ladder reaching from earth to heaven, and the Lord gave him that wonderful promise, “I am with thee.” Truly Jacob could say as he awakened, “The Lord is in this place.” The presence of the Lord was of more importance than the presence of the almond trees, and Jacob changed the name from Luz, almond tree, to Bethel, the house of God. Gen. 28:12-19, margin. In speaking of Jacob’s experience at Bethel, the prophet Hosea says the Lord found Jacob “in Bethel, and there he spake with us.” We should ever remember that in the history of Bethel God is speaking to us. Hosea 12:4.

The first mention of Shiloh is in

Joshua 18:1, where it is stated that the tabernacle was set up at Shiloh when Israel entered the promised land. Jer. 7:12. It was in Shiloh that lots were cast, and the land divided among the tribes of Israel. Why the tabernacle was placed at Shiloh instead of Bethel, we are not told, but there always seemed to be a close connection between these places, for in locating Shiloh it is spoken of as north of Bethel. Judges 21:19. Israel assembled at Shiloh to attend the yearly feasts. 1 Sam. 1:3, 24; 2:14.

While the record states that the tabernacle was set up at Shiloh, the ark, a portion of the time, was in Bethel, and special services were held before it in Bethel in the days of Phinehas.

The Hebrew word translated “house of God” in Judges 20:18, 26, is the same word that is translated Bethel in other places. The Septuagint Version, Young, Jewish versions, and others give the translation of the word as Bethel. We quote Judges 20:26, 27, from the Septuagint as follows: “The children of Israel and all the people went up, and came to Bethel; and they wept, and sat there before the Lord . . . for the ark of the Lord was there in those days, and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron stood before it in those days.” In 1 Sam. 10:3 we find men going up to Bethel with kids and other things necessary to make their offerings before the Lord, showing that Bethel was a center of worship. See 1 Sam. 7:16.

In the days of David the ark was taken to Jerusalem, and ever after Jerusalem was the center of worship, the place the Lord regarded, until they rejected the Saviour, and their house was left desolate. We can readily see how Bethel, humanly speaking, would still claim to be the spot chosen of the Lord. This feeling existed, but did not come to a crisis until the days of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. At that time there was an insurrection in Israel, headed by Jeroboam. They came to Rehoboam saying, “Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.” 1 Kings 12:4.

The king sought counsel in the matter. “The old men, that stood before Solomon . . . spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants forever. But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him. . . . The young men . . . spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter for us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins. And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips; but I will chastise you with scorpions.” 1 Kings 12:6-11.

From that time Israel was divided, but Jerusalem was the center of worship. Jeroboam soon saw that if those following him went up to Jerusalem to worship, they would be won away from him, and to prevent this, he set up a rival worship in Bethel and Dan. A golden calf was set up in each place, but from the record it seems that Bethel became the center of this false worship. God did not at first utterly forsake Bethel, for in the days of Elisha there was a school of the prophets at Bethel; there was also a rival worship and education. It was youth from the Bethel schools that taunted Elisha with the translation, and were destroyed. These youth were in marked contrast with those in the Bethel school of the prophets, who were in such close touch with God that they knew the day Elijah would ascend. 2 Kings 2:3, 23, 24.

Ahijah, the aged prophet of the Lord, lived in Bethel in the days of Jeroboam, and although the prophet was old and blind, he could not be deceived, but was led of the Lord as in the days of his youth. At this time the prophet states, “There is found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.” 1 Kings 14:13.

The Lord sent a prophet to Bethel with a special message against the false worship Jeroboam had established, and when Jeroboam stretched forth his hand against the prophet, the Lord withered the hand of Jeroboam. Instantly he entreated the prophet to pray for him, and in answer to the prophet’s prayer the king’s hand was restored. 1 Kings 13:1-6.

The controversy was not simply a political one, it was a controversy waged between the powers of light and darkness. Notwithstanding the fact that the worship of the calves continued in Bethel, God had men in that city that feared him.

For many years the two houses of Israel were in controversy. Sometimes it resulted in open war, as in the days of Baasha, when Asa the king of Judah used the treasuries of the Lord’s house to secure help against Baasha king of Israel; and Asa “took away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; and King Asa built with them” other cities. There was never the same financial strength after the division. From the days that the shields of gold with other treasure were taken into Egypt, and Rehoboam substituted shields of brass, there was financial trouble until they ceased to be an independent nation.

In the days of Amos the call came for all to forsake Bethel. Amos was the father of Isaiah, and lived in the days of Jeroboam II, about one hundred and seventy years after the golden calf had been set up in Bethel. One of the principal burdens of this prophet seems to have been against the false worship at Bethel. Amos says, “I will also visit the altars of Bethel. . . . I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end.” Amos 3:14, 15.

In Amos 4:4-11 the prophet graphically depicts the result of heeding the call, “Come to Bethel.” He continues: “For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live: but seek not Bethel. . . . Bethel shall come to naught.” Amos 5:4-6.

The message was rejected in Bethel; for “Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words. . . . Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there; but prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king’s chapel, and it is the king’s court.” Amos 7:10-13. It was in Bethel that the prophet Amos said, “I was no prophet.”

The Lord had not forsaken the house of Israel; for Amos was especially chosen as a prophet for the house of Israel, and in rejecting his prophecies they brought evil upon themselves.

God never forsook either faction, but sent warnings and reproofs to both the houses of Israel until they both learned in the school of captivity and persecution the lessons he would have taught them in a time of peace if they had harkened unto his voice through the mouth of his prophets.

“Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” Rom. 15:4. “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be: and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” Eccl. 1:9.

Loma Linda, Cal.