Laban, Jacob’s father-in-law made a big deal about a lot of little gods. Why? First of all, it is an indicator of where He placed his confidence. In a polytheistic society there were gods that took care of just about any and every aspect of life. Beyond, the father’s household gods were important to the inheritance. In that area and time, a son-in-law could appear in court and claim the estate of his father-in-law.
“And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother” (Genesis 35:7).
- God often takes us back to the altar; that special place of meeting Him.
- Bethel: the house of God. El-Bethel: God of the House of God. There are a lot of places that claim to be Bethel or the house of God. The question is does God dwell there? Is His presence there?
- We don’t take much comfort and confidence from Bethel: the house of God. But, we do have comfort in El-Beth-el: the God of the house of God. Being interpreted as, “the strong God, the house of the strong God.”
- Is God in your house of God?
James Poitras 