Jacobs Ladder
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Before:
Isaac tries to bless his son Esau, his wife Rebekah and his younger son Jacob steal the blessing.
At the end, after stealing the blessing. Rebekah sends Jacob to her brother (Laban)
Last week we saw that after his son lied and defrauded him, Isaac still blessed Jacob and then we saw how Esau was so blind trying to earn his fathers blessing by taking another wife.
He only could look on the surface and missed the spiritual aspects of life and it all passed him by.
Q: Have you ever gotten lost somewhere and it ended up being good in the end?
Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep.
For Jacob this was not a comfortable place.
When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents.
This was a very uncomfortable situation for Jabob. Notice that it seems that he didnt set up shelter. Not sure if he made a fire. He used a rock as a pillow.
Where did he just come from? A tent with a pillow. A place with food.
AND
Additionally, he was just blessed by God through his father with, land, descendants and blessing. But he is in the wilderness, where he hasnt been before.
Even though he now has the inheritance as well, since his father is still alive he pretty much left empty handed.
He deceived his father, now has his brother trying to kill him. What does he has to show for it? A rock as a pillow.
Q: Who would do better in this situation, who was built for this?
Esau was. He was the hunter, he spent time in the field and endured the hardship.
Maybe at this point Jacob already started wondering what he got himself into.
Q: Have you gotten into situations in your life where you started to wonder how you ever got there?
Looking back, do you see that God was with you during those times or not really?
Lets keep going. At this point Jacob is asleep
And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!
This was an image of something that went from earth and reached to heaven.
Q: Where have we heard of this idea before?
Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”
Jacob dreams, sees this ladder/stairway and angels going up and down it. Above it all, is who?
The Lord, but that cannot be...
No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father.
Jacob recognized this individual as God.Who did Jacob see?
Then God tells him something that should sound familiar. God tells him the promise that was made to first to Abraham, his grandafther and then to Isaac.
Promising him,
Land
Descendants
Blessings (protection)
Jacob’s response
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
Jacob didnt realize that location, the desolate location where he is sleeping on the ground. That is God’s location. Why didnt he notice, because he is spiritually blind.
Remember that we said that Esau was Spiritually blind, but so was Jacob, just not as blind.
We all have different levels of seeing what is going on spiritually but none of us are able to fully see God, His kingdom or His plans.
How did he feel after he has this dream?
He was afraid.
And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
Think about other things in life.
Places,
People,
Situations,
We think
God isnt in this place
That person is a nobody
This thing that is happening is nothing special
Little do we know that might be an exact place where God might be working and we have no clue.
Q: HOw......
So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”
Sometime the place where God has us seems like it might be a better fit for somone else. Somone else could do a better job, but if God calls you to something He will also prepare you to be able to go through it.
Takeaway:
Jacob was in a place where he sinned. He coveted, he lied and he stole something that his brother had the right to. Now he was running for his life and in that place God met him. Did know interrogate him about his sin then and there? No, why because God was faithful to His promise.
You yourself have a promise that you can bank on.
You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;
and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”