What is Your "Bethel?"

Abraham had been called by God to leave his home country and to travel to a strange and faraway land. Can you imagine what that would be like - to leave your life behind, your friends, your family...everything, and to journey into the wild unknown? Yes, Abraham was a man of faith, but that didn't make the decision easy. On top of that, he suffered the death of his father in Haran (11:32) and most certainly endured the usual rigors of a long journey. So needless to say, when Abraham arrived in Canaan by the grace of God, he was dealing with a whirlwind of emotions. He was perhaps relieved to have completed the long journey, thankful for God's grace in guiding him safely to his destination, impressed by the faithfulness of God...and yet he also was weary, perhaps a little sad, and still encumbered with uncertainty. Taking all of this into account, Abraham was now completely dependant upon the goodness of God. How would he survive in this strange country? Where would he live? What would he do? Would the native people mistreat and harrass him? What did God have in store for him?

And so it makes sense that when Abraham first entered the land of Canaan,he humbly turned to God, to worship Him, for he was fully cognizant that he was in God's hands.

"And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord" (Gen. 12:8).

After worshiping at this alter in Bethel, one of Abraham's first moves was to Egypt. There was a famine in Canaan and the implication is that there wasn't a famine in Egypt. Perhaps Abraham felt compelled to go to Egypt to ensure that his family's needs were met...even if it meant braving the possibility of danger. Abraham warned his wife, Sarah, of a particular fear he had. She was a beautiful woman, and Abraham was afraid that the Egyptians would kill him in order to have Sarah for themselves. What was Abraham's solution?

"Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you" (Gen. 12:13).

Sarah was indeed Abraham's half-sister (11:31; 20:12), but still, it was deceptive on his part. He deceived the Egyptians into thinking that she was NOT his wife, even though she was. He was afraid for his life and took matters into his own hands, rather than trusting God. Maybe Abraham shouldn't have gone to Egypt at all. There is no indiciation that God told him to go. Going by the inspired record, I think it is safe to assume that since God didn't tell Abraham to go to Egypt, He would have provided for Abraham and his family had they remained in Canaan.

No matter how you look at it, Abraham had a lapse in faith resulting in a very awkward moment while in Egypt. Not only that, but we know that his son, Isaac, did the very same thing later (Gen. 26:7). Is it merely a coincidence that Isaac engaged in the exact same form of deception? I am inclined to believe that Abraham's bad example in this instance served as the justification for Isaac's own deception.

Having said all of that, notice Genesis 13:1-4:

"Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord."

Abraham had exhibited tremendous faith in leaving his home country for a foreign land, but in the instance of his deception in Egypt, he lost sight of his faith. I imagine that Abraham was upset with himself, that he felt some degree of guilt. Maybe he second-guessed his decision to go to Egypt in the first place.

We can all relate to Abraham. There have been moments when we, too, experienced a lapse in faith. We made a poor decision...a decision that reflected self-reliance rather than humble dependance upon God. We've all lost sight of God's wonderful care and promises during moments of weakness and fear.

But the question is: what do we do when we realize our error? How do we restore our faith in God? What can we do to regain our focus and resolve?

What did Abraham do?

It is interesting that when Abraham left Egypt, after his lapse in faith, he went back to Bethel...to the altar he had originally built to the Lord. And he worshiped. He needed to be reminded of his committment to God, and of God's promises. So he returned to the Bethel, a place that meant something to this man...a place that would surely get him back on track.

What is your Bethel? In other words, when you lose your focus, what is it, or who is it that restores your focus? Is it a certain passage of scripture? Is it prayer? It is the church assembly?

The way I see it, we all have to find something that is so meaningful to us spiritually that it never fails to restore our focus and resolve, to remind us of God's presence and His love. Otherwise, we are wandering about aimlessly with nothing or noone to anchor us. Of course, Jesus is the "anchor of the soul" (Heb. 6:19), but that needs to be more than a vague, intangible concept. How is Jesus our anchor?

The point is: like Abraham, we often lose sight of our faith, and we need to have a "Bethel" that will restore our faith. What is it for you?