(Gen. 33, 34, 35)
THOUGH the number of papers received during August has fallen below the average, it is not too much to believe that quite a number of our Class are or have been away, enjoying a country or seaside holiday, and were perhaps unable to get the current number of “THE SPRINGING WELL.” Some, it may be, have not yet returned. Well, dear ones, “out of sight” does not always mean “out of mind.” So Cousin Edith will think of those whose papers are missing as absent, and would commend each to the care and blessing of the Lord.
Though the meaning of the word “Beth-el” (house of God) has been correctly given by ALL who have sent in their answers, its position on the map of Palestine has not been, as a rule, clearly indicated, the replies in some cases being so far off the lines as to suggest it might be well for all of us to look up the geography of Bible lands a little during our next holidays: still, by putting several answers together, we get a fairly good idea of the place and its position in the Land.
The name “Beth-el” was given by Jacob to the place where God first appeared to him in a dream. Up to that time it had been known as Luz. The seal of Divine approval seems to have been set upon the new name by some words we find in chapter 31:13, “I am the God of Beth-el.” The site of the ancient city is about ten miles north of Jerusalem. “It stands,” says one who has visited its ruins, “on a rocky ridge between two valleys, but still higher ground seems to shut it in on every side except the south.” If we open our Bibles at Amos 5:55But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nought. (Amos 5:5), we read, “Beth-el shall come to nought.” At the present time about twenty houses roughly put together with stones taken from the heaps of ruins that surround them mark the spot.
It was conquered under Joshua, and given to the tribe of Benjamin (Josh. 12:9, 189The king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Beth-el, one; (Joshua 12:9)
18The king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one; (Joshua 12:18) as: Judges 1:2222And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Beth-el: and the Lord was with them. (Judges 1:22)). At the division of the kingdom Beth-el fell to the lot of Israel, and it was there that Jeroboam set up one of the golden calves. There seems to have been a school for the sons of prophets at Beth-el in the time of Elisha, but it remained a place of idol-worship till the reign of the pious king Josiah (2 Kings 13:15-1915And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows. 16And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king's hands. 17And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the Lord's deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them. 18And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed. 19And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice. (2 Kings 13:15‑19)).
We might linger much longer over Beth-el and its history, but must pass on. If Jacob could not be trusted, God might; and all His ways of patient grace with Jacob seem to have had one object—to strip him of self-confidence. Ever onward, and upward, until at the close of his pilgrimage he becomes, as we have already seen, a worshipper (Heb. 11:2121By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. (Hebrews 11:21)), He gives, as we read his history, an impression of having been a man who loved to make his own arrangements: his well-laid plans must have cost him much time and thought. But he forgot, as we are so apt to do, that God (who was known to him as the “God of Beth-el”) had already said, “I am with thee, and will keep thee, and will not leave thee,” and He had a purpose of blessing which none might hinder, and even Jacob’s own self-will or failure could not turn aside.
Ample proof of this is found in his conduct during the years in which he dwelt with Laban, also in the way in which he divided his household, cattle, etc., in expectation of a meeting with Esau; but again and again God comes in “a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:11<<To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth.>> God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1)). But Jacob must learn his lesson (so must we); and the man who, when he saw the ways of God, ways which he could not understand, had said in bitterness of soul, “All these things are against me” (Gen. 42:3636And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me. (Genesis 42:36)), could at last, as by faith he looked forward to the coming of the promised Deliverer (Gen. 49:1818I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord. (Genesis 49:18)), joyfully exclaim, “I have waited for Thy salvation O LORD,” for God had marvelously blessed him.