The Return To Bethel – Pastor Joseph Oladipo
God, through prophetical ministry, asked us to come to this place, Ebute-Metta, which He now calls Bethel (see Prophecy of LAWNA Convention on Saturday 3rd August, 2024 through Pastor J. O. Olayemi and on Sunday 4th and Friday 9th August through Pastor N. O Awojide)
God wishes that a day be made permanent for a gathering here. Perhaps if the leaders decide, this Quarterly Saturday will not be a one stop or one off occasion.
God brought us back here today on a platform of prayer.
WORD OF EXHORTATION BY PASTOR J. 0. OLADIPO (KETU AREA SUPERINTENDENT) DURING THE QUARTERLY SATURDAY’S SPECIAL PRAYER AT EBUTE-METTA ON 21 SEPTEMBER, 2024
TITLE: THE RETURN TO BETHEL
BIBLE READING: GENESIS 35:1-7
A. INTRODUCTION
Our coming here today is akin to the occasion in the life of Jacob as we find it in Genesis 35:1-7 where the Bible was read. God gave Jacob three directives:
(1) Arise, go to Bethel
(ii) Dwell there
(iii) Make an altar there unto the Lord
We have a similar pattern of directives that brought us here,
God, through prophetical ministry, asked us to come to this place, Ebute-Metta, which He now calls Bethel (see Prophecy of LAWNA Convention on Saturday 3 August, 2024 through Pastor J. O. Olayemi and on Sunday 4th and Friday 9 August through Pastor N. O Awojide)
God wishes that a day be made permanent for a gathering here. Perhaps if the leaders decide, this Quarterly Saturday will not be a one stop or one off occasion.
* God brought us back here today on a platform of prayer.
B. THE FOUNDATION/EMERGENCE OF BETHEL
Bethel is a Hebrew word that means “the house of God.”
It was a city of Canaan about 19km north of Jerusalem
It was first mentioned in connection with Abraham when he raised an altar unto the Lord at a place on the eastern side of Bethel. Gen. 12:8; 13:3
Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, gave the name Bethel to the place after he had an encounter with God on his way from Canaan to Padanaram. The place was formerly called Lur
Gen.28:12,19
• Subsequently, Jacob erected a pillar there as a memorial and poured oil on it. Gen.28:22
About 20 years later, on his way back to Canaan, the Lord told him to go to Bethel and build an altar unto Him. Gen.35:1
C. WHAT BETHEL AND OUR COMING THERE PORTRAYS
1. Bethel is a place that embodies divine presence
Jacob said, “The LORD is in this place…., this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Gen.28:16, 17
2. God accorded Bethel a special recognition
• He specifically instructed Jacob to go and build an altar unto Him in Bethel. Gen.35:1
3. Bethel is a life transforming place due to God’s presence.
⚫ Jacob’s encounter with God in Bethel was a life changing experience
* It was the very first time God appeared to Jacob in his life.
• God’s pronouncements unto Jacob form the basis of his fortune in life. Gen.28:13-15
4. Bethel is a new name given by Jacob to the place that was hitherto call Luz. Similarly, God said this Ebute-meta is His Bethel. The Bible says, “Thou shalt be called by a new name. which the mouth of the Lord shall name.” Isaiah 62:2
5. Bethel is a ground of prayer. Abraham built an altar there, Jacob also did the same. Altar was what they used to offer sacrifice of worship to God in those times. It was not every place that the patriarchs raised altar unto God but Bethel was different.
Isaiah 56:7 says “For mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.”
The Lord Jesus buttressed this during His ministry on earth. Matt.21:13
6. Bethel is a place of covenant with God.
* God gave Jacob a covenant of inheritance of the place while Jacob made a covenant of tithes of his possession to God. Gen.28:13, 22
7. Our return here (to Bethel) is a necessary reminder not to lose memory of our foundational origin. Gen.31:3; 35:1. Ebute-Metta is our foundational origin as TACN LAWNA Territory. It is our collective inheritance. It is the mother that carried our seeds in its womb which the Holy Spirit fathered to give birth to several daughter Areas today. Within Lagos Metropolis alore, we have as at present 37 daughter Areas.
Let us all seek its good. Psalms 122:9
8. Bethel is a place of consecration, rededication and reconnection with the divine. Gen. 35:2-4; Heb. 12:22-24. A reconnection with God of our fathers, a reconnection with the old landmarks.
D. CONCLUSION
Conclusively, a call unto us to return to Bethel is an awakening of our consciousness to our heavenly nativity/citizenship. Pail.3:20
Let us not be encumbered with the pleasures of this world as to make us forget that we are only sojourners here. The world is only a passage, let us live right in it to possess eternal inheritance in the world to come.
