Bethel lies north of Jerusalem, on the ancient road that connected the capital to the heart of Israel. The city was formerly called Luz.
Abraham had already passed through there and built an altar to the Lord, between Bethel and Ai.
It was in this place that Jacob, fleeing from his brother Esau, dreamed of a stairway connecting earth to heaven, with angels going up and down. God renewed to him the same promise made to Abraham and Isaac.
When he woke up, Jacob anointed the stone he had used as a pillow and named the place Bethel, house of God. Years later, he returned to the same spot and built another altar there.
Centuries later, the ark of the covenant stayed for a time in Bethel, and Samuel judged Israel in the city. But Bethel also had a dark side.
King Jeroboam turned the place into a center of idolatry, setting up a golden calf to keep the people from going up to Jerusalem. Prophets such as Amos denounced this sin, and King Josiah eventually destroyed the altar.
Bethel shows how the same place can hold both a real encounter with God and the human distortion of worship.
