YOU ARE BETHEL
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Today, I will be exhorting on the topic, You are bethel. I believe this sounds strange to you to an extent. The topic we are most familiar with are topics like : return to bethel, come to bethel, you are in bethel etc. This morning I am going to be sharing something quite different with you, which I hope would help you realise some spiritual truth. Now let's look at scripture where this name "Bethel" first appeared.
Gen 28:10-22
10
KJV:And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.
KJV:And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.
KJV:And 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.
KJV:And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
KJV:And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
KJV:And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
KJV:And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.
KJV:And 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.
KJV:And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.
KJV:And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.
KJV:And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
KJV:So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God:
KJV:And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.
Here we see brother Jacob having an encounter which was going to be life changing for him. Please realise that he had just seen angels ascending and descending from a ladder and he had seen the Lord at the top of the ladder, this experience had made him conclude that that place must be where God dwells. So in the old testament, we see a lot of times when building structures are called house of a God or temple. Probably they got this hint from bro Jacob and continued to walk with that notion and belief. But my question is, "Does God dwell in structures or buildings made with human hands?" "where really is bethel?". Let's look at scriptures together
2 Sam 7:1-7
KJV:And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies;
KJV:That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.
KJV:And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the Lord is with thee.
KJV:And it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying,
KJV:Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?
KJV:Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.
KJV:In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?
1 Kings 8:10-13
KJV:And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord,
KJV:So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.
KJV:Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
KJV:I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.
Now, please notice from the above scriptures especially 2 Sam 7:1-7 that king David had intentions of building a house for God, for his tabernacle to dwell in, since that was where God had chosen to dwell according to him. It is a desire that King Solomon fulfilled. He felt that God dwelt in the tabernacle but let's look at the scripture were the tabernacle was set up.
Exo 40:34-38
KJV:Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
KJV:And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
KJV:And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys:
KJV:But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up.
KJV:For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys
Do you notice it send the cloud and the glory of the Lord? It didn't say the Lord himself like what happened in exo 34:5-7 ( you may want to read that on your own). It was a representation or a form of Him but not exactly Him. King David felt that this tabernacle that housed the cloud and the glory of God deserved a permanent dwelling. He was right. Let's proceed to another scripture
1 kings 8:27-30
KJV:But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
KJV:Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day:
KJV:That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place.
KJV:And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.
I particularly like verse 27, at this point, king Solomon had come to his senses. I would have been surprised if he hadn't. After all, he was the wisest man on earth during his time. He had realised that this God cannot possibly dwell in any structure made by human hands. So where does God dwell? Let's look at some scruptures
John 14:9-11
KJV:Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?
KJV:Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
KJV:Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.
Firstly we see Jesus telling us that He is in the father and the father in Him. Meaning once you see Jesus, you see the father that's why Heb 1:2 says He is the exact representation not a form, the very exact, then Col 1:19 tells us that it pleased God to do so, then Col 2:9, re-emphasied again that it pleased God that the fullness of Diety should live bodily in Jesus. So we see that Jesus is in God, God is in Jesus. The fullness of the Godhead in Jesus wasn't 90% exact or complete, it wasn't even 99.9%, it was 100% intact and not one drop was missing. Which means that all the time Jesus spent on earth, everything God was present in Him. Let's look at another scripture
John 15:4-5
KJV:Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
KJV:I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Do you see the "you in me and I in you" phrases appearing a couple of times. You see how He was admonishing His disciples to remain in Him, so He can be in them. Let's at a passage
Rev 3:20
KJV:Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me
Again, we see His desire to live in us and we in Him. But how was it going to happen. Let's look at yet another passage
John 16:5-7
KJV:But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?
KJV:But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.
KJV:Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you
You see that Jesus was telling His disciples that until He left, the Holy Spirit that would dwell in us won't come. He was the one who was going to receive Him for us, on our behalf. He was talking about the fulfillment of Eze 36:26-27 and many other scriptures time and space won't allow me state here. Then 1 John 4:13 tops it up. So we see that those couldn't be our testimonies until Jesus had gone to be with the father. So people who cry and say, "I wish I lived in the time of Jesus or I wish Jesus was alive today" do not have an understanding of the purposes and promise of the father. Let me do a quick explanation. Jesus came to the world amongst many other reasons to be our model of how a child of God should live on the earth but God's ultimate plan wasn't to be walking on the earth doing good so that men would be amazed. His ultimate plan was that He would have children, He would live in us. That had been His desire from time immemorial. That's why the tabernacle was built. It was a representation of His desire to live in man but couldn't because the Son of promise hadn't come, so He could only live among men. That's why in the old testament, you will only see phrases like, He dwelt among them, His Spirit rested on them, I will dwell in your midst or I dwell in your midst etc. But in the new testament, we see phrases like He is in us a lot of times. Let's look at two passages amongst many that point that out.
1 John 4:13
KJV:Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
1 Cor 3:16
KJV:Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
Do you now see that you are God's house,that you are Bethel. Which means God knows me, someone may ask how, what makes you think God knows you? Well the Bible just said, His Spirit lives in me. Is it normal for a man to forget His house address? So God knows me because He lives in me. I am His house and His House address is my name, glory. Can I hear someone with excitement scream, "I am Bethel". God bless you for reading and please do have a nice and great day and a wonderful weekend ahead.
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