The Period Of The Judges

The Period Of The Judges--FREE BIBLE STUDY!!
The house of Joseph refers to the tribes of Ephraim and the half tribe of Manasseh, who dwelt beyond the Jordan. Beth-el was twelve miles north of Jerusalem. It was strategically located on the north-south trade route, and was a junction for traffic from the Mediterranean seacoast on the west and from the Jordan valley via Jericho on the east. Bethel has been commonly identified with modern Beitin, about twelve miles north of Jerusalem, though some evidence favors El-Bireh two miles further south. Beth-el means “house of God,” a name given to it by Jacob in [1]Genesis 28:19, where it is also noted that its original name was Luz. Beth-el remained a very important city in and throughout biblical history. Originally, it was evidently a strong Canaanite cult-center. It later became a prominent city in Israel; and finally, it lapsed into a center of idolatry.