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No.20.
Bethel, Jabbok, Peniel and Shechem.
pp. 99, 100
We touched upon Padan-Aram when speaking of Abraham's desire to obtain a wife
for Isaac from among his own people, and consequently included some references to the
life of Jacob.
There are one or two other references which we must include in our survey of the
relation of place and purpose before we leave Jacob and pass on into Egypt with Joseph.
First comes Bethel, (Gen. 28: 19). Bethel is not mentioned in the N.T. but it still
existed, for Josephus records that it was taken by Vespasian. The last mention of it that
has come down to us, is in the writings of Jerome. In recent times Bethel has been
identified with Beitin, a heap of ruins. Among the ruins were the remains of a large
reservoir, 314 feet in length and 217 in breadth. We learn from Gen. 28: 19 that
Jacob gave the name "Bethel" (the house of God) to the place where he had the dream,
but that it was originally called Luz. The fact that in the earlier record of Abraham's
journeyings the place is called Bethel, shows that Moses was using the familiar name,
although in the record before him, there would naturally have appeared the ancient name
Luz. We have found a number of instances of this work of Moses in bringing the history
of the patriarchs up to date for the people.
Jacob returned to Bethel to fulfil his vow (Gen. 35: 1, 11-15). But a little way from
Bethel, Rachel died in giving birth to Benjamin, and at "Ephrath which is Bethlehem"
Jacob set up another pillar, and, comments Moses:
"That is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day" (Gen. 35: 16-20).
It is possible that the ark stayed for a time at Bethel (Judges 20: 26-27; I Sam. 10: 3),
and if so, this would have lent an element of sanctity to the site. Jeroboam chose Bethel
as the chief seat of idolatrous worship, and the orthodox Jews gave it the name Beth-aven
"House of idols" as an expression of their contempt (Hosea 4: 15; 10: 5). Thus fell the
city which Jacob named "The House of God".
About thirty miles south of the sea of Galilee, a stream enters the River Jordan. This
is the Jabbok, whose name was changed by Jacob to Peniel "For", said he, "I have seen
God face to face, and my life is preserved" (Gen. 32: 30). The word Jabbok means
"emptying", as the word baqaq is translated in Nahum 2: 2, "The emptiers have emptied
them out", or, as in Hosea 10: 1, "Israel is an empty vine". The name exactly fitted the
experience of Jacob, he found himself in the presence of God, and it proved the emptying
of self, manifested in two ways; he halted upon his thigh ever afterward to show the
failure of the flesh, but he received a new name Israel to show the triumph of grace.
We have already spoken of Machpelah, the burying place bought by Abraham. In
Gen. 33: 18-20, we read that Jacob bought a parcel of ground, "where he had spread