Jo’s Place

​ Jacob’s Return to Bethel Then God said to Jacob,  “Get ready and move to Bethel and settle there.  Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother, Esau.”  So Jacob told everyone in his household, “Get rid of all your pagan idols, purify yourselves, and put on clean clothing.  We are now going to Bethel, where I will build an altar to the God who answered my prayers when I was in distress.  He has been with me wherever I have gone.”  So they gave Jacob all their pagan idols and earrings, and he buried them under the great tree near Shechem.  As they set out, a terror from God spread over the people in all the towns of that area, so no one attacked Jacob’s family.  Eventually, Jacob and his household arrived at Luz (the place of light) in Canaan (also called Bethel - which means the house of God in Hebrew).  Jacob built an altar there and named the place El-bethel (which means “God of Bethel”), because God...

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran.  At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night.  Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep.  As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven.  (Many people call this “Jacob’s Ladder” …but it is God’s Ladder!) And Jacob saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway.  At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and He said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac.  The ground you are lying on belongs to you.  I am giving it to you and your descendants.  Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth!  They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south.  And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants.  What’s more, I am with you,...