Bible Question:
what was the Geographical significance for Bethel in the bible |
Bible Answer: Part2 Whereas Bethel had been a place of orthodox worship from Abraham to the judges, Jeroboam I made it a religious center of his innovative, apostate religion of the Northern Kingdom. He erected a golden calf both here and in Dan with non-Levitic priests and an illegitimate feast to compete with the celebrations and religion of Jerusalem, 10.5 miles to the south in Judah (1 Kings 12:29-33). Bethel was the prominent site over Dan. There an anonymous prophet from Judah found and rebuked Jeroboam I and brought destruction to the king’s altar (1 Kings 13:1-10). Another anonymous prophet from Bethel entrapped the first prophet into disobedience. Because of his disobedience, the Lord caused a lion to kill the first prophet (1 Kings 13:11-25). Other true prophets seem to have been attached to Bethel even during the time of northern apostasy, since Elijah encountered a group of them there as he traveled (2 Kings 2:2-3). Amos was sent to Bethel to rebuke the kingdom of Jeroboam II in the eighth century (Amos 7:10-13) since it was the center of northern idolatry and a royal residence. He met the resistance of Amaziah, the priest, who vainly ordered him to leave the city. In addition to Amos’s prophetic charges against those who sacrificed there (Amos 4:4), he predicted the destruction of Bethel and its false altars (Amos 3:14, 5:5-6), as did Hosea (Hos. 10:14-15). Hosea seems to have played with the name of Bethel (“city of God”), by referring to it as “Beth-aven” (“city of a false [god],” Hos. 5:8-9; 10:5). The religious significance of Bethel is confirmed also by Assyria’s appointment of a priest to this city to teach the new residents of the north who displaced the Israelites (2 Kings 17:28). Later, Josiah desecrated another false altar of Bethel during his reforms (2 Kings 23:4-19) and perhaps annexed the city to his Southern Kingdom. Bethel was destroyed in the sixth century during the exile; however, some returned there when released by the Persians (Ezra 2:28; Neh. 7:32; 11:31). Since it was a late first-century Roman garrison town, it was probably a city of importance at the time of Christ. 2. Another city variously spelled Bethul (Josh. 19:4), Bethuel (1 Chron. 4:30), and Bethel (1 Sam. 30:27). This may be modern Khirbet el Qaryatein north of Arad. 3. Bethel was apparently the name of a West Semitic god. Many scholars find reference to this deity in Jer. 48:13. Others would find the mention of the deity in other passages (especially Gen. 31:13; Amos 5:5). Daniel C. Fredericks |
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