House of Bethel - Revelations from Genesis 28 and Genesis 35

I have written about this in the past, but here is another revelation I have been pondering. As I follow various Bible reading plans I ended up  reading the book of Genesis twice this month. As usual, the lives of the patriarchs have always blessed me and left me with deeper intrigue and curiosity about their encounters with Yahweh. 

Yakob, in his flight and sleep at Luz, encounters God in a dream, awakens from the dream, and renames the place 'Bethel' after erecting an altar and worshiping the Lord. Let's follow this divine encounter he has in Genesis 28: 10-19 from the passion translation. 

'Jacob left Beersheba and journeyed toward Haran. He encountered a certain place at sunset and camped there for the night. He took a stone from there, made it his pillow, and slept. He had a dream of a stairway securely fixed on the earth and reaching into heaven. And there were messengers of God ascending and descending on the stairway. And Yahweh stood beside him and said to him, “I am Yahweh, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. You are lying on the very ground that I will give to you and your descendants. They will become as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth and extend their territory in all directions. Through you and your descendants, I will bless the whole world. Never forget—I am always with you and will protect you wherever you go. And one day I will bring you back to this land, for I will neither leave you nor fail to fulfill every word I have promised you.” When Jacob awoke from his dream, he was overcome with awe and said, “ Yahweh is here! He is in this place and I didn’t realize it!” Terrified and overwhelmed, he said, “How awesome is this place! I have stumbled right into the House of God! This place is a portal, the very gate of heaven!” Early in the morning, Jacob took the stone he had under his head, set it up as a pillar, and anointed it by pouring oil over its top. He named that place Bethel, though the city was once called Luz.'

Jacob's awareness heightens in the spiritual realm, he knows something is different about this place, and He heard God speak to him; amid the heap of stones, he prophetically names the place "House of God." The house of God is filled with the presence of God, a gateway to heaven, and a place where, in two thousand years, the promised Messiah will be born. Jesus came to be the gateway and the House of God, and Yeshua refers to the patriarch's revelation the Father had given him.  

Fast forward twenty years, Jacob runs again on another flight from his father-in-law, with all the blessings in family, cattle, and wealth. He returns home and passes by Bethel, where he encounters God and realizes that God was indeed with Him not just in this place twenty years ago but was with him in every place he went. The faithfulness of God followed the patriarch in all the places he sojourned, suffered, struggled, and survived in his heartaches. Despite all this, Jacob prospers, and God changes His identity to 'Israel' through these life journeys and places of intimacy with the Lord. Let's follow some passages from Genesis 35: 1 & 16-21 (ESV)

'God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor. And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for you have another son.” And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day. Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. '

The patriarch's beloved wife passes away on the outskirts of Bethel after hard labor birthing her last son, Benjamin. Jacob buries Rachel, and after grieving for her, the verse in Genesis 35 says Israel journeyed and moved on (paraphrase mine). 

I want to end this post by observing and revealing that the House of Bethel is not known for who is buried there but for who will come out of that place: the Messiah, The Promised one who will deliver us all and be the Blessing and redemption to all nations, Jews and Gentiles, and whoever believes in Him as Christ, who died for our sins and brought us our salvation. 

I would dare say the House of God, the gate of heaven, is also a description of the church and we as individual believers who are now part of God's house. We are God's dwelling place on earth, and the Lord dwells among His people In the brilliance of His nature and moves the one who foreknew changed or exchanged physical places from the tabernacle made of hands to the hearts of our flesh. Immanuel, the God who lives in us, and now, we also become the gateway for others to come to God through the Good News of Jesus Christ. 

Shalom & Blessings, 

Dr. Sam Kurien

Rustling Leaves

I forgot to mention here in this blogosphere space of mine... It's almost two years now (wow). It shows you how savvy a marketer and self-promoter I am (not) for my own publication.  I published a book 'Rustling Leaves: Psalms for the Season of the Soul". It's a collection of personal poems written in Hebrew style of writing (poorly in English) accompanied by some thought-provoking questions with space where you can put your prayers, thoughts, and journal if you want to. 

Here are some promotional video links for you to enjoy: 

Check it out at the Rustlingleaves.us website.  I was able to create some digital music and, with the help of my friend and outstanding designer, to bring some doodles and visions to life with some amazing artwork that you will find and enjoy in the book as well as on artwork frame and merch you can buy at Charis Clarion's Shopify Store  at https://charisclarion.myshopify.com/

The whole book is also an app that you can download.  Check out the Instagram reel here for a preview, or head over to the Android or iOS app store to download the Rustling Leaves app. 

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Many more books coming from the Charis Clarion stable this year. Watch out, and hopefully, I will not be too lousy, lazy, or lapse in posting here and will do my part of promoting :) 

Rest and Resilience

I just finished one of my favorite author's books, 'Resilient.' Oh! What a book, another classic, John Eldredge. It is a little late, but it is a fast read, a profound and deeply needed message in a world gone mad and accelerating in madness since COVID. I would like to write a few takeaways from the book for my soul, but it would take more than one post. Hence, I am choosing to pen down some beautiful thoughts from John's language (all quotes in italics)  and interspersing my own thoughts and then turn my heart's attention to the treasures of Psalm 23 that I recite every day in my meditation, a deeper life-giving source of the Shepherd of my soul.

                "Our longing for life to be good again will be the battleground for our heart. How you             shepherded this precious longing, and if you shepherd it all, will determine your fate in this life and the life to come." 

 A skill in Chapter One, John recommends building is positioning our hearts to receive the River of Life.

            "The story of God should get more of your 'attention time' than any other media. 

Keeping our heart's attention on God and His perspective keeps us from anxiety and being drawn into the drama and madness of our age that leads to desolation. 

            "When you grow up in a world where everything is done with a few clicks on your phone, it doesn't exactly develop resilience." 

            "Resilience is also bestowed, something imparted by God into our frail humanity. That's truly good news".

Deepening our love for Abba Father, Jesus, and our Holy Spirit positions us to prevail and receive supernatural graces. 

        "If you've ever experienced the comfort of God or the love of God, that was heaven coming to you here on earth."

 The battle is for our hearts. The battle is always for our hearts. Our Father knows we need deep reserves, and our communion and loving Him build these deep reserves. It is from deep within our hearts that will flow living waters, and the source of those waters is the One who has taken the throne of our hearts. 

John talks of Eden Glory our hearts yearn for it, our hearts yearn for life to be good again. Perhaps our hearts also yearn for the New Jerusalem where God, His light, and His presence are always there. 

    "Resilience is bestowed upon us by being adored and by experiencing our deep hunger satisfied with overwhelming abundance. 

We receive our early nourishment from our mothers, the assurance of security and abundance. John uses the word mother-desolation. We all have had father and mother wounds, but God knows this of our imperfect parents and their failing and promised that He is the source of being the perfect Father and Mother for us. He promises us in Psalm 27 - though your father and mother forsake you, I will not forsake you (paraphrase mine). Isaiah 49:15  - "Can a mother forget the baby at the breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!". God loves us more tenderly, irrevocably, and deeply than the best of Fathers and mothers. 

The skill John advocates we develop is receiving attachment and the assurance of abundance. 

    "The battle taking place over the human heart can be described as Satan using every form of seduction and threat to take our hearts captive and our loving Jesus doing everything he can to form a single-heartedness in us."

Sanctification is an ongoing process, and daily communion with Jesus reveals our need to bring Him to the unconverted places of our hearts. 

    "No matter how promising an idea sounds, if God's not in it, you don't want to be in it either."

    "As we seek to convert our unconverted places and take hold of the strength that prevails, we need to bodyguard our faith and our Eden's hearts back to Jesus."

    "Every time your Eden longings rise up in you, give them to Jesus. There is no other safe place"

I think Chapter 8 is the heart of John's message in Resilient. Digging Deep within us. 

    "Like a tree sends its roots down deep into the subterranean world, we must learn to tap into the presence of God where He resides within us, deep in our inmost being"

In my personal writing journal yesterday I wrote about eight pages brewing, meditating on this.  In our busy schedules, to-do's, ambitious agendas, and nano-split second distraction instant gratification culture, we never seem to rise from our shallow surface-level encounters with God, or if we descend a little deeper, we get lost in the midlands of the chokes, fears, and concerns of our lives. Descending deep into our souls to be alone with God is not only a spiritual discipline that is much needed, but it begins with loving Him and receiving His love deeply. Knowing, truly knowing our need and our place to be the Beloved. 

    "I am readjusting my life around recovery and resilience - this is my orientation now." 

----------------

Today, in my morning reading, Psalm 23 struck for me again the deep love of my Shepherd.  Psalm 23:2 in the passion translation (a relatively new translation - I like its freshness) - "He offers a resting place for me in his luxurious love. His tracks take me to an oasis of peace near the quiet brooks of bliss." - I love how the translation uses this language and expression as a good shepherd knows where to pasture and take his flock. These green meadows would be a resting place free from fears. The Greek verb "to love" is 'agapao', a merging of two words and concepts. 'Ago' means "to lead like a shepherd," and 'pao' is a verb that means "to rest." Love is our Shepherd, leading us to proper rest in His heart. The Hebrew word 'menu' means "the waters of a resting place" (Isaiah 11:10) 

I love not only the imagery, but I am also on to something here. Rest in Him creates resilience, in fact, reserves and lots of reserves of resilience. It may feel like we have to dig deep, but the good news is He is already here, the Good Shepherd who has lifted us up and is carrying us back to lay in the abundance of green pastures. Eden is indeed here and now when we realize this truth and keep loving Him. 

The word the Lord gave me for this year was "Rest," but for the last few years, it has been "abundance." In reality, my heart yearns and wants to believe it so, but perhaps, and maybe just maybe, He has been doing just that, and it is time my soul awakens from the slumber and truly rests so the resilience that is in Him continues to bubble up as those streams of living waters that not just fulfill so I can survive but thrive in the midst of whatever season it is. 

Shalom and Blessings, 

Dr. Sam Kurien

Smoking Firepot and Flaming Torch

During my quiet time, I reflected on God’s incredible promises to Abraham and His covenant with him. It struck me how truly amazing our God is. In Genesis 15, we find a profound account where God symbolically reveals the sacrifice He would one day make. Through this encounter, God reassured Abraham and gave him a glimpse of His unchanging faithfulness and grace.

Let us pick the story from the scriptures here: 

  4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring[d] be.” 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. 7 He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.” 8 But Abram said,
“Sovereign Lord, how can I know I will gain possession of it?” 9 The Lord told him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” 10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two, and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. 12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward, they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation, your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” 17 When the sun had set, and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants, I give this land, from the Wadi[e] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—

(NIV Genesis 14:4-18)

In ancient times, covenants were sealed in a manner foreign to us today. The symbolism of the split animals sounds gross to us, but it was in those times when a convent was made between two people, and blood was a signature binding the two parties entering into that covenant.  The cut animals were put on the left and the right, and both parties agreeing and entering into the covenant are supposed to walk through them and in the blood that was spilled, signifying that may it be to me like these animals if this covenant was broken to be torn apart if I failed to keep the covenant. 

But here’s what’s extraordinary. God, knowing humanity’s sinful nature and inevitable failures, took the covenant upon Himself. Abraham saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch—representations of God’s presence—pass between the pieces. Abraham did not walk through. God alone committed to fulfilling the covenant, unconditionally binding Himself to His promises.

This moment was not just a ritual; it was a profound act of grace. The smoke symbolized God’s mystery and divine power, while the fire represented His purity, holiness, and consuming presence. These symbols echo other moments in Scripture, such as the pillar of cloud and fire that guided the Israelites (Exodus 13:21-22). They show God’s faithful guidance and His purifying work in His people.

The significance of this covenant cannot be overstated:

• The sacrifice: The split animals and spilled blood underscored the seriousness of the covenant, pointing to the cost of sin and redemption (Leviticus 17:11).
• God’s commitment: Only the firepot and torch passed through, symbolizing that God alone would bear the burden of fulfilling the covenant.
• A foreshadowing of Christ: God’s promise to take the penalty for any broken covenant looked ahead to Jesus, who bore the ultimate cost to secure our redemption (Galatians 3:16).

God’s message to Abraham—and to us—is clear: Even when you fail, I will remain faithful. The flaming torch cutting through the darkness reflects God’s promise to illuminate our paths and provide hope in uncertainty. It is a beautiful assurance of His unfailing love.

May we find comfort in the faithfulness of the God who fulfills His promises and goes before us in love and grace.

Shalom and blessings,

Dr. Sam Kurien