PART 1
King David once said, One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. (Psalms 27:4). What was so important about this place that made this such a desire of his? To find the answer let’s turn back the clock to the patriarch Jacob. Here we will discover what made this place so important. We will also discover why Satan has created a plot to keep this information from ever reaching you. We all have probably read the story concerning Jacob’s ladder. Just to summarize, Jacob while running from his brother Esau laid upon a place because the sun was set. While Jacob slept he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. After Jacob awaked out of the dream he said “Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.
17And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
And he called the name of that place Beyth-‘el (Bethel in English). Because Jacob did not speak English, we must call this divinely inspired name by the name in which he called it. God established this testimony in Jacob (Psalms 78:5) and although Jacob named it, this name came from Heaven and was confirmed by God.
13I am the God of Beyth-‘el(Bethel), where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.
As we look back on the dream, we notice that the ladder extended down to earth. This ladder serves as a connection between heaven and earth. Without this house, the gate of heaven does not exist.(beginning to see the plot?) Within this house, ‘El gives his revelations of salvation and answers ALL your prayers. (Ex.20:24 “In all places where I record my name, I will come unto thee and bless thee.” This is why David wanted to enquire in his temple…. If this feat was possible any and everywhere, why did David insist on going to this Place?
2 Chronicles 7:14 says “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face…. Where do we seek his face but at the place in which he dwells? Scripture goes on to say “Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.”
Commandment to do this forever
Although in today’s culture, names have little meaning, the same is not true concerning ‘El’s (God’s) house or the names that belong to him. This is one of his greatest desires, for when you have any other name on your house of worship it is no longer his but yours. Duet 12:1-5 shows us the everlasting covenant.
1These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.
2Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:
3And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.
4Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God.
5But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:
It is a commandment to seek this place all the days that we live upon the earth. This is a perpetual covenant.
Even in the last days ALL NATIONS will go up to Beyth-‘el
2And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (Isa. 2:2-3)
How is Beyth-‘el presented in this scripture? In honor of Jacob, who was the first to name this place on earth, the scripture is presented in such a way that honors not just ‘El(God), but Jacob as well. The word “of” , shows ownership or means belonging to. In other words, this house which belongs to God also belongs to Jacob. It is the place that Jacob named (Genesis 28:16-19; and the same place that ‘El (God) confirmed (Genesis 31:13). Remember, this was a testimony established in Jacob, and a LAW appointed to Yisra’el.(Psalms 78:5) It is God’s house. Beyth in Hebrew means house and ‘el is the name of Elohiym which means God.
Next Part 2 “How do I get to Beyth-el and what signs should I see that will identify this place”?
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