Although a church building is not really the house of God, we have heard preachers refer to the local church as the house of God, figuratively.  And, in truth, there are many similarities that we can find between “Bethel,” which means “the house of God,” and the local church. ...

  God told Jacob to go back to Bethel and build an altar to the Lord.  Before the journey, Jacob made his household fix up some things to prepare them for Bethel, “the house of God.”  He told them to:   Put Away the Strange Gods (v.2) Comparing this passage...