Named it Beth-el

Scripture

Genesis 28:10–22 NRSV

Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the 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. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood beside him 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; and 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 all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that 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.” Then Jacob woke 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.” So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he 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 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 surely give one-tenth to you.”

Introduction

Episode 3 of our on going soap opera of What’s in a Name? The Jacob narrative. We have seen Jacob purchase Esau’s birthright for a bowl of lentil stew, then conspire with his Mother to steal Esau’s blessing. Esau has had enough and threatened to kill his little brother. So, Jacob becomes a type of fugitive if you will, a man without a country who is sent into a kind exile by his Mother and Father.

You see what Chris did not read for you is that Rebekah, after telling Jacob to flee to Haran, goes to Isaac. She complains about Esau’s wives. Remember what I read to you last week?

Genesis 26:34–35 NRSV

When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite; and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.

This is what she asks of Isaac, she is still scheming mind you!

Genesis 27:46 NRSV

Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women such as these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

So Isaac calls Jacob and:

Genesis 28:1–5 NRSV

Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, “You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women. Go at once to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father; and take as wife from there one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and numerous, that you may become a company of peoples. May he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien—land that God gave to Abraham.” Thus Isaac sent Jacob away; and he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

So we see Jacob is once again blessed by Isaac. I wonder if Isaac knows Esau has vowed to kill his brother? Rebekah used Esau’s wives as an excuse to send Jacob away.

Exegesis

OK, with that background out of the way we now look at Jacob coming face to face with YHWH in a place that is totally unexpected.

This is one of those stories, that if you grew up in the church, you were fascinated with as a kid. What you were probably never taught is that ladder is one translation of the underlying Hebrew word. It most likely means staircase ramp. Like the ramp like staircase on a ziggurat.

In Mesopotamian mythology the stairway used by the god’s messengers went up to the gate of the gods, while the temple of the deity was located at the bottom. In this way the deity could leave the assembly of the gods and descend to the place of worship.

So Jacob decides to bed down in a place that is not seen as a holy place, yet in his dreams he has a divine encounter. He sees this staircase with the angels, messengers going up and down and standing next to the staircase is YHWH and Jacob stands next to YHWH. Or YHWH could be standing above, the Hebrew is not clear.

YHWH makes covenant with Jacob.

Genesis 28:13–15 NRSV

And the Lord stood beside him 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; and 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 all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that 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.”

Jacob wakes up and realizes that this is a sacred place. The gateway to heaven! Once again we see the importance of names as Jacob names that place the House of God, Beth-el. He takes the stone he was using as a pillow, stands it on end and anoints it, that is he sets it apart from the ordinary. This is an important and divine place and Jacob will return here as we shall see in the coming weeks.

The Jacob makes a vow that is so Jacob. God’s covenant is unconditional. Jacob’s is conditional. Basically Jacob says, “YHWH, if you come through on your promises, you will be my God!” And he vows to set up an endowment for the shrine he just made. Jacob, always hedging his bets!

Application

The big mistake we can make here is try to explain this appearance of God away as some kind of primitive legend or myth. Or we can try to get into Jacob’s head and try to explain it away psychologically. No, we need to examine this story and unpack it with the idea that the theology contained in the story is here to transform our lives. So let’s unpack it with that in mind.

Isn’t it interesting how Abraham, Isaac, Jacob the prophets, the Judges, the disciples have these encounters with the divine that are not warm fuzzies but actual appearances of God? Why doesn't this happen anymore? I mean wouldn’t it be nice to have Jesus appear to us and say, “I know 2020 has been a disaster so far but I promise you that this will pass and you will enjoy blessings beyond all understanding.” I mean we would know for sure everything is going to be OK.

We see here that God is always makes good on God’s promises, even if we hedge our bets like Jacob does. “God if you do this for me I promise to come to church more often.” You ever done that? Oh I have! “God if you will do this for me, I will do such and such for you!” Tit for tat, quid pro quo, an excuse for making God in our image instead of surrendering ourselves to God. If I give myself to you God, what’s in it for me?

What is interesting here is that we know that God is everywhere, however sometimes God shows up in a place in a way not like he does everywhere else. Like Beth-el. Jacob even in exile and in fear of his brother does not ask for a reassurance from God. God’s reassurance is given at God’s initiative at a time and place totally unexpected. Jacob did not pray for the grace and mercy he received even though God gave it!

One place God showed up in a way different than how he was everywhere else, is in the incarnation. In Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus even calls himself the ladder between heaven and earth, heaven’s gateway. Wesley, in his notes on these verses says Jesus is our ladder and quotes:

John 1:51 NRSV

And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

Because God is an incarnational God, God shows up in unexpected places at unexpected times, because it is entirely at God’s initiative that he shows up in a place that is different than everywhere else.

Dad’s Story

Renee’s story

John’s story

Yet, this is the exception not the norm of the way God works.

Really, can we see God? Can we see God is such a way that it changes our lives? Yes we can. As Rev. Carlos Rodrigues tweeted this week:

Dear Church,

Forget better live streams. Feed the hungry. Care for the sick. Be kind to strangers. Love your neighbor. Remember the prisoner. Stand up for the marginalized. Rise for the broken.

Jesus waits for us there.

Jacob did not need a temple or a building to meet God. He didn’t even need a Bible study, small group, Sunday School or worship service. God met him right where he was, out in the open 55 miles or so from Beer-sheba. Jesus, the ladder, the gate of heaven, tells us that we meet him every-time we feed the hungry, share water with the thirsty, take care of the sick, visit the incarcerated, and welcome the stranger. In other words we can see God in the everyday, ordinariness of life if we love our neighbor. Because when we do these things to our neighbors we do them to Jesus. He said so himself in Matthew 25:31-41.

God met Jacob right where he was physically and emotionally.

He meets us where we are as well. Will you look for him?