“And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel.”
— Genesis 35:15
Sometimes the language of faith reaches back through centuries and still speaks to the human heart.
In the early 1930s, B. B. McKinney wrote a hymn reflecting on Jacob’s encounter with God:
Back to Bethel I must go,
Back where the rivers of sweet water flow,
Back to the true life my soul longs to know,
Bethel is calling, and I must go.
Bethel comes from two Hebrew words:
Beth — house
El — God
Bethel literally means “The House of God.”
For Jacob, Bethel marked a turning point in his life. It was the place where heaven seemed near and where God spoke direction into a wandering life.
Most believers have a Bethel.
Perhaps it was a childhood church.
A youth retreat.
A college Bible study.
A quiet moment when the truth of Christ suddenly became personal.
It was the place where the story of God intersected with your story.
But time passes.
Faith sometimes becomes routine.
Clarity becomes clouded.
Commitments made long ago become distant memories.
And sometimes the Spirit whispers:
Back to Bethel.
Not because we want to live in the past—but because remembering that encounter can renew the future.
Sometimes renewal is needed.
Sometimes redirection.
Sometimes a radical reorientation.
In all those senses, returning to Bethel is a step backward that allows us to move forward again.
Beyond the paywall, let’s explore three questions that help us return to Bethel.
