In the last 2 weeks, we talked about the first milestone at Gilgal. Now and in the next two episodes, we will look at the second milestone at Bethel. Today our topic is “Growing deeper in knowing God”. Let’s listen to:

Genesis 28:16-19

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!”

Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously.

That night, Jacob took a stone, and used it as a pillow to sleep. As he slept, he had a dream of a ladder set on earth and reaching into heaven, with angels ascending and descending on it (Genesis 28:10-12). “Surely the Lord was in this place!” he exclaimed when he woke up (verse 16). Before this moment, Jacob had not encountered God so personally. At Bethel, he could sense the tangible presence of the Lord. He experienced peace, harmony and equilibrium, and realised that God Himself had come to meet him here. After this encounter, Jacob took the stone he had slept on and set it up as a pillar, which was a very deliberate act. He poured oil on top of it, and built his altar to the Lord. The name he gave the place was ‘Bethel’, which means ‘house of God’. It was Jacob’s window into heaven, where he beheld the very presence of God.

Some years later, God reminded Jacob that He is the God of Bethel, where Jacob had anointed the pillar and made a vow to Him. He then gave Jacob the instruction to leave the land where he was and return to his family (Genesis 31:13). Subsequently, God would tell Jacob to return to Bethel again to build an altar to Him and prepare to meet his brother Esau (Genesis 35:1). Before he did, Jacob ensured that he and his household purified themselves, removed the idols and changed their garments. Clearly, Jacob realised the significance of Bethel, where God had first revealed Himself to him.

Bethel is encountering the presence of God. It is a place of communing and connecting with God, and being transformed as we walk with Him. It is a place of worship and revelation, where God’s presence is revealed in our lives. It represents both our significant encounters with God, as well as our daily walk with Him.

Scripture records many significant encounters between God and men — all of whom came away dramatically changed. Take for instance — Moses. Well, he met God at the burning bush (Exodus 3). Gideon was met at the threshing floor (Judges 6). And the apostle Paul met the Lord on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). The prophet Isaiah, on encountering God’s presence in the temple, cried out: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5).

All of them had ‘Bethel’ encounters with God, and came away changed from what they had been before. Just like them, we need the occasional, significant encounter with Him to ‘jump start’ our lives. Using an analogy, a weak car battery needs to be connected to a power source in order for it to be revived to start the car. Similarly, some of us may need a fresh experience of God to jolt our lives. These encounters may not happen often, but that significant moment transforms us, and from there, we become spiritually revived to continue to our daily walk with God.

While significant encounters are important, God also desires us to experience Him in the daily routines of life. Through these regular encounters, in our work, relationships with friends and family, our dealing with health issues, solving problems, going through trials and difficulties, He matures us. How can we connect with God regularly? He has provided us two ways — intake of the Word, and the communion of prayer.

In Scriptures, food metaphors are frequently used to describe God’s Word. It is spoken of as milk (1 Peter 2:2-3). It is also Bread (Matthew 4:4). And it is referred to as Meat or solid food (Hebrews 5:14). Milk is a nutritious drink for babies and just as it helps in their growth, the purpose of drinking milk is to help our faith to grow by experiencing an aspect of God’s grace. Next, we partake of the Word as bread. The purpose of eating bread is to hear God speak to us regularly. This is when the Holy Spirit instructs, teaches and guides us in our daily walk. The bread of the Word helps us make the right decisions in life. Finally, the purpose of the Word of God as meat helps us to walk right with God, by knowing what comes from Him and what does not. The ‘meat’ of God’s Word helps believers discern (sense, perceive or intuit) what is good and what is evil. It is easy to discern the ends of the spectrum — the very good from the very evil — but God wants us to discern what lies in between, which is the ‘mixture’.

The second key spiritual discipline is to have a regular prayer communion with God. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 reminds us to “pray without ceasing”. We must intentionally connect with the Holy Spirit the moment we wake up, greeting Him and committing the entire day to Him. Proverbs 3:6 says, “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

Three streams of the character of God flow through Scripture, as seen in Jeremiah 9:24: love/kindness, justice and righteousness. These three streams are how the Lord wants us to know Him, and how we need to make Him known to others.

• First, God exercises unfailing love and kindness. From this come His mercy, kindness, goodness, grace and compassion.
• Second, He is just. We may not be served justice here on earth, but with God, we will eventually.
• Third, God is always righteous. He cannot be accused of being unrighteous or violating His own laws. God is consistent in upholding His righteous laws, principles and truth.

When God meets us at Bethel, He reveals the goodness of His grace to us. Grace is the undeserved, unearned and unmerited favour of God and our Bethel experience consists of His grace manifested to us in various forms, such as giving us salvation and eternal life and granting us His provision, peace and protection over our lives. Bethel brings us encounters with God — powerful and dramatic ones, or quieter and regular communion in our daily lives. As we understand His character, we are transformed through the Spirit into His image from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). We will be changed as we move from one level of faith to another (Romans 1:17).

Have you personally experienced the goodness of God’s grace? How are you growing in your knowledge and understanding of God? In the next episode, we will look into the next part of the Bethel milestone: “Decision-making in the will of God”.

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