The Stairway to Heaven

INTRODUCTION:

When I grew up my mom and dad were both committed believers. Their mom and dad were also both believers. It was expected that I would become a believer and my kids after me.

But we all know there’s a difference between mom and dad’s faith and coming to possess your own convictions about the nature of God and your relationship to him.

Nobody comes out of the womb with developed worldview for how to think about God and the nature of the universe.

That kind of conviction is established over time, through a series of influences and decisions.

Some people develop a theistic worldview. Some people develop an atheistic worldview.

Many people in the East subscribe to pantheistic or panentheistic worldview. And some subscribe to a deistic worldview.

The view you hold can shaped by external influences but, at the end of the day, it’s fundamentally something you choose.

Real faith comes from a place of personal conviction.

You can’t have your mom and dad’s faith story forever. There will come a day when you decide for yourself.

What will that day look like? What type of events usually lead up to that day of choosing?

Can you properly prepare yourself for this truth quest so that you rightly decide what to believe about God?

These are all questions addressed in our passage today out of Genesis 28.

Genesis 28 is going to give us the origin story of Jacob’s faith in the God of his father (Isaac) and grandfather (Abraham).

Set The Table

It’s a famous story. It even has touch points in popular culture because Jacob encounters God on a “Stairway to Heaven.” (cue Led Zepplin)

Like many of us, most of Jacob’s days were filled with the normal monotony of life. One day, however, got interrupted by a personal crisis.

There had always been a level of enmity between him and his brother. (even in the womb) There was favoritism in the home between mom and dad. (mom preferring him, dad his brother)

And one day mom comes to Jacob and pressures him in a plan to deceive his dad and secure his future with the blessing of God.

We don’t have time for details but Jacob deceives his dad, secures a blessing and has his deception exposed. His brother falls into a murderous rage and Jacob has no choice but to flee for his life.

We closed last week’s sermon with these words from Jacob’s mother.

Genesis 27:43–45 CSB

43 So now, my son, listen to me. Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran, 44 and stay with him for a few days until your brother’s anger subsides—45 until your brother’s rage turns away from you and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose you both in one day?”

From there, Rebekah goes to her husband and gets real honest with him about her thoughts about who Jacob should marry. A convenient complaint but an honest one I’m sure.

Genesis 27:46–28:5 CSB

46 So Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m sick of my life because of these Hethite girls. If Jacob marries someone from around here, like these Hethite girls, what good is my life?” 1 So Isaac summoned Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite girl. 2 Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father. Marry one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you so that you become an assembly of peoples. 4 May God give you and your offspring the blessing of Abraham so that you may possess the land where you live as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.” 5 So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Crisis For Jacob

Up to this point we don’t really know what Jacobs faith convictions are. The text has been somewhat silent.

We know, however, this would’ve been a personal crisis for Jacob.

He was a momma’s boy. He was a home body. His brother was the hunter/gatherer not him.

Not only is he going to have to leave his mom and dad/ comfort and security. He’s going to have a 550 mile month long journey to arrive at his intended destination!

His father sends him away - with his blessing intact - to marry a woman that would be in keeping with the faith of his father and of his grandfather.

The last time this happened it was Abraham’s servant being sent to find a wife for Isaac. And even then he had 10 camels and who knows how much help. Not so with Jacob.

This is a crisis of faith. Which sets the main trajectory for the rest of this chapter.

Genuine faith comes from a place of personal conviction. Conviction is often forged through a season of personal crisis.

What we’re going to discover through this personal crisis of faith is how God often meets us there to forge convictions that draw us to himself and sustain us in days of difficulty.

Crisis for Esau

But Jacob is not the only son who has a crisis in this chapter.

We get a brief insight on Esau and his trajectory after he overhears this conversation between his dad and Jacob.

Genesis 28:6–7 CSB

6 Esau noticed that Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to get a wife there. When he blessed him, Isaac commanded Jacob, “Do not marry a Canaanite girl.” 7 And Jacob listened to his father and mother and went to Paddan-aram.

Notice Jacob’s response to his Father’s words. “He listened and went.”

Trust and obey. It would’ve been difficult but he does so anyway. The prohibition is against marrying a Canaanite woman.

But if you remember, Esau had already married not one Canaanite girl but TWO. Now he’s coming to understand even his Father didn’t approve of such a decision.

I get the idea from some of what’ said about Esau that he’s kinda dense. Even so, he cared much for what his father thought about him so he’s going to respond to this news with some kind of action.

Esau experiences his crisis in verses 8-9.

Genesis 28:8–9 CSB

8 Esau realized that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women, 9 so Esau went to Ishmael and married, in addition to his other wives, Mahalath daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. She was the sister of Nebaioth.

Esau responds to his crisis with a half-hearted attempt to please his dad but not give up his former life.

Instead of marrying a wife from Haran he goes to Ishmael. Ishmael was born out of a unholy union with Abraham and Sarah’s servant, Hagar.

The Determining Factor

Esau is just taking a further step in the wrong direction because he’s trying to have his cake and eat it too.

Jacob, however, makes the difficult decision to leave his home in Beer-sheba and make the quest to Haran. Genesis 28:10

Genesis 28:10 CSB

10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran.

Which brings up something you should remember about your crisis of faith.

It’s how we respond to crises that determines our destination.

It’s not the crises but the choices we make within them that shape our destiny.

Esau responded to his crisis and cultivated the fruit of those choices. Jacob is going to respond in a different way and cultivate the fruit of that choice.

The question is, how do we interpret and respond to the difficult things that happen in our life. That’s what I want to spend the rest of our time talking about today.

WITH GOD ON THE STAIRCASE

Let’s pick it back up in verse 10 and see how Jacob responds to his instruction from his Father. Genesis 28:10-12

Genesis 28:10–12 CSB

10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11 He reached a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from the place, put it there at his head, and lay down in that place. 12 And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground with its top reaching the sky, and God’s angels were going up and down on it.

We’re not clued in yet on “where” this place was but it’s likely about a days journey away from Beer-sheba.

It doesn’t seem like Jacob is in a town or village because the only thing he has for a pillow is a rock.

Imagine what you might’ve felt like if you were in Jacob’s shoes.

He’s in the one place he doesn’t want to be. Separated from the people and the place that he loves.

He doesn’t even have a pillow on which to rest his head! That’s a bad day right there!

Sometimes in life we can feel like our circumstances and our crises have pushed us into a place we never imagined we’d be. We don’t like it. We resist it. We protest it.

But sometimes, the place we don’t want to be is exactly where God needs us to be in order to forge genuine conviction.

An Unexpected Place

Which leads to the first principle of meeting God on the stairway to heaven.

#1. The LORD will often meet us in an unexpected place.

Many times, that place has less to do with geography than it does personal relationships.

God takes Jacob away from his family. He takes him away from his mom, a source of comfort and direction.

He’ll often do this when forging real conviction in your heart. He’ll strip from you the people and places that give you comfort and stability so that you can discover for yourself HIS faithfulness and HIS reliability and HIS wisdom.

In other words, God will disconnect us from what we do know so that we can discover what we don’t. He’ll separate us from what’s comfortable to connect us to what’s real.

Character is forged through adversity. God’s not interested in your comfort he’s interested in your character. So sometimes he’ll create the crisis so that he can meet you in that place.

Jacob’s mom was always looking out for him, always babying him, spoiling him, manipulating him, controlling him. What she NEVER does is help him talk to the Lord. She never teaches him to worship. He’s never taught to build an alar.

So God disconnects him from his parents so he can connect him to his God

Remember God is Sovereign

Which leads me to the first thing we need to remember during a crisis of faith.

Remember that God is sovereign.

God is sovereign over every surprise and unexpected situation.

This is something you parents may need to remember as your kids undergo what Jacob is experiencing.

The sovereignty of God is alluded to here in that the spot Jacob stops is the very same spot his grandfather Abraham built an altar when HE went though this same experience.

Remember in Genesis 12:1-3 God calls Abraham to go to an unknown place and to leave his comforts and security.

It says in Genesis 12:8 that Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to the LORD there. and he called on the name of the LORD.” (Genesis 12:8)

Genesis 12:8 calls the place Bethel but it isn’t called Bethel until Jacob gives it that name many years later in Genesis 28:19.

It might’ve been that rock on which Jacob laid his head is the SAME ROCK Abraham used to build that first altar to the Lord on that first journey of faith.

If not that visit then perhaps is was the second visit that Abraham made in Genesis 13:3-4.

This place looks like no man’s land but it’s actually the house of God.

God is sovereign over the affairs of man and even when it looks like you’re in a dessert it may be the VERY place God intends for you to be. A place where he can meet you on the stairway to heaven.

Jacob might’ve been running from his brother but the Lord was actually running towards Jacob.

An Unusual Way

On the stairway to heaven, God will often meet un in an unexpected place so remember He is sovereign.

The second principle we see about a personal encounter with God is that he often reveals himself in an unusual way.

Let’s look again at Genesis 28:12-15

Genesis 28:12–15 CSB

12 And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground with its top reaching the sky, and God’s angels were going up and down on it. 13 The Lord was standing there beside him, saying, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land on which you are lying. 14 Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Imagine being Jacob in this moment. He’s probably heard about stories of his grandad. He’s probably heard stories from his dad about the good old days of following Yahweh (but even didn’t finish super well in following after God.)

He knows that he Abraham and Isaac followed this God but he’s grown up surrounded by other religions and even a family that wasn’t super consistent.

Now this same God appears to him in a dream on top of a staircase with angels ascended and descending up and down.

Not only does he SEE the LORD he also HEARS the Lord speak. “This is who I am. This is what I’m going to do.”

God not only meets us in an unexpected place. God will also often reveal himself in an unusual way.

General VS Special

Theologians often talk about the difference between General Revelation and Special Revelation.

General revelation is what everybody can know about God from the things that he has created.

Special revelation is what only certain people know about God because of his unique revelation.

Back then they would receive special revelation from God through Prophets like Moses or Elijah.

People would receive special revelation through dreams or visions (as Jacob does here.)

Today we receive special revelation from God through his Word. (Namely the Living Word, Jesus)

Hebrews 1:1–3 (CSB)

‌1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways. 2 In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son..the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature…”

I say that God reveals himself in an unusual way because this wasn’t “typical” for Jacob. It was unusual.

What would you have done? It had to have been pretty compelling.

He’s receives the same promise Abraham received and Isaac after him. Now it’s not just the God of Abraham and Isaac. It’s the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

From Jacob will eventually come the twelve tribes of Israel and from Israel will come the Messiah, Jesus Christ through whom all the peoples on the earth would be blessed.

Remember God is With You

All of this coming out of a crisis where Jacob was alone, afraid and unaware of his future.

Which leads me to the thing we need to remember about the Lord during the crisis of faith.

Remember that God is with you.

Notice this promise from the Lord. “I will be with you. I will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you.”

How comforting must those words have been for Jacob to hear? Words and comfort he was used to receiving from his mother he is now hearing from the Lord himself.

This is how the faith transitions from one generation to the next.

This is also what separates Christianity (and Judaism) from other religious worldviews.

The LORD was not just standing above the ladder up in heaven detached and disinterested in what’s going on. He was beside Jacob. He promised to be “with Jacob.”

God is both sovereign over and distinct FROM Creation (contra pantheism/panentheism) but he is also emotionally invested IN his creation (contra atheism or deism.)

We know this today because in Jesus God didn’t just appear in a dream but he actually took on flesh and entered into our human experience.

Jesus IS Emmanuel “God with us.”

If you want to encounter God and come to own convictions that are true about God, then never forget that God reveals himself in a special way through Jesus and he is WITH YOU in every season.

With Jacob he sees these angels coming and going and doing the will of God.

It’s like the curtain is pulled back so that Jacob is able to see the invisible realm that is always going on all around us.

When you come to possess a genuine faith for yourself the Lord will do the same thing for you.

You’re eyes will be opened to truths you previously couldn’t see and you’re heart will begin to connect with God in a personal and intimate way.

Remember God is For You

One of the biggest truths you’ll come to understand is that the way to God isn’t to climb UP the staircase to heaven but instead to let him come DOWN his staircase to meet with you.

That’s the one big difference between Christianity and every other religion on the planet.

This is God’s way of rebuking the tower of Babel where they used their human achievement and cooperation to build a tower to heaven.

Every other religion is trying to work hard and be good so that they can climb their way up to heaven.

They’ll judge themselves in relationship to other people who are going up the staircase and they’ll feel superior or inferior based on their relationship to that ill-defined standard.

The reality is, heaven is a holy place made for holy people and none of us are holy no not one.

We can all try and climb the staircase to heaven and we may be higher up compared to somebody else but none of us will ever be able to climb high enough.

The standard is too great. The bar is too high. That’s why God decided to come down the staircase in the person of Jesus Christ.

Not just to be God WITH us. But also to be God FOR us.

Jacob would’ve immediately felt that upon hearing these great promises from God to do this and do that.

He knew he wasn’t worthy. He had deceived his Father and wronged his brother. He was a sinner unworthy to carry the blessing he had received.

But God appears to him and demonstrates mercy and grace. What he did for Jacob in a dream he does for us today through the promised Son.

He came to give us his presence. But he also came to give us new life and forgiveness.

This is what the special revelation to Jacob would’ve communicated and what the special revelation through Jesus Christ says to us.

An Undeniable Hope

So God will meet us in an unexpected place. (Remember he is sovereign)

The Lord will reveal himself in an unusual way. (Remember he is with/for)

Finally we see in the remainder of our chapter that God will leave us with an undeniable hope.

Genesis 28:16–22 CSB

16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven.” 18 Early in the morning Jacob took the stone that was near his head and set it up as a marker. He poured oil on top of it 19 and named the place Bethel, though previously the city was named Luz. 20 Then Jacob made a vow: “If God will be with me and watch over me during this journey I’m making, if he provides me with food to eat and clothing to wear, 21 and if I return safely to my father’s family, then the Lord will be my God. 22 This stone that I have set up as a marker will be God’s house, and I will give to you a tenth of all that you give me.”

When you truly encounter God for yourself he will leave you with an undeniable hope.

Why do I say undeniable? Notice Jacob’s language.

“Surely the LORD is in this place…What an awesome place this is… This is the house of God/the gate of heaven!”

After he realizes that the God he encountered was truly the God of the universe he begins to respond with worship and an offering.

He takes the stone and gives it a special marker. He pours oil on it probably as a way to set it apart and make it “holy” unto the Lord.

He gives the place a special name: Bethel. The adjacent city used to be named Luz (which means almond orchard). It very well might’ve been a place of worship by pagans in the area.

The new name becomes “House of God.” Why? Because he could not deny the fact that God had met him there.

Finally after consecrating the rock and consecrating the place he consecrates himself.

He makes a vow in verse 20 and seems to bargain with the Lord.

Some commentators see this as an official covenant he’s making with the Lord. Others see it as an example of Jacob’s immaturity in the faith.

He’s essentially saying, “God if you’ll be with me and watch over me on this journey then you’ll be my God and I’ll give you my life.”

I suppose you could take this as an example of an immature bargaining with the Lord.

In that case, Jacob is like many new believers in that our early prayers/thoughts about the Lord might be embarrassing.

I more so see it as an expression of Jacob’s confidence. He’s not so much saying, “Lord is you do this then I’ll do this…”

Surely he would’ve known by that point “God doesn’t need my rock. God doesn’t need a house. And God doesn’t need my stuff!”

I think it’s more likely Jacob is responding in faith to God’s promise to be with him and to keep him safe and to bring him back to Beer-sheeba and make his journey a success.

So it’s more so a statement of faith that “Lord, I believe you’re going to do this and this and this and in response I’m letting the whole world know that you are my God and you are worthy of it all.”

Which leads to the last thing to remember in light of this text.

Remember that God is worthy.

Which is exactly what the tithe represents. God doesn’t ask for a tithe because he needs our money.

We give a tithe as an expression of our belief that God doesn’t need anything but he’s worthy of everything because he’s the owner of it all.

When you truly encounter God you’ll come away with knowledge that God is worthy.

And demonstrate that conviction in the way that you manage your wealth and your witness.

The giving of a tithe lets people know your confidence isn’t in yourself but in the God who provides for you.

The giving of worship to God (Sunday and every day) lets people know that your life isn’t lived for you but for the God who is worthy of it all.

CONCLUSION

This is what is looks like when you come to possess personal convictions about the God of the universe.

It will often come from a place of personal crisis and difficulty. But through those hardships you will come to encounter God and understand him in ways you previously did not/could not.

You will know him as…

sovereign God who met you at a place you wouldn’t have expected.

a merciful God who pursues you even when you running from him or something else.

a holy God who reveals himself in a unusual way.

a gracious God who gives to you what you could never earn yourself.

a personal savior who condescended and took on flesh to save you from your sin.

a worthy God who needs nothing but demands your soul, your life, your all.

This is the kind of day that I pray every one of my children will experience.

It’s the day I hope many of you will experience today.

But as we read from the book of Hebrews we come to know and encounter God today through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Not only does Jesus enable us to see and know things about God. He also made it possible for God to be in relationship with us!

It was through his sinless life of love and obedience to God the Father and his substitutionary death to make atonement for sin that makes a relationship with God possible today.

Consider the human experiences of Jesus in contrast with this story about Jacob.

He obediently submitted to the will of his heavenly Father because he understood his death as part of God’s sovereign plan to save.

Jesus understood that his purpose in life wasn’t to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Jesus did all of this with absolute confidence that his Father in heaven would never leave him or forsake him. Even in death he would rise again. And that’s exactly what the Father did.

And we can come to encounter the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through repentance and faith in that same Jesus who died on the cross to save us from sin.

If you’ve never made that decision then you came make it today. If you’ve yet to encounter God in this way you can do so today.

Perhaps your response this morning will be one of desperate prayer that God bring about a similar work in the heart of someone you love.

However God leads let’s respond right now.