July 11, 2007

• Discovering God’s Character – Part 12
  
  
  
  Jacob at Bethel – The Ladder to Heaven
  
  
  Imagine yourself on a long journey going to somewhere you’ve never been
  on a road you’ve never traveled. You’re well into the trip and its at
  the end of the day. You’ve been traveling since daybreak and weariness
  comes over you in a big way.  So you call it a day for traveling and
  get ready for the evening. Now replace that comfortable pillow and bed
  at your favorite hotel with a rock and the hard ground since there’s
  not an inn in sight. Perhaps as you drift off to sleep, thoughts of the
  stories your mother had told you of where she used to live and what
  would happen when you there would intrude until you finally drifted off
  into a sound sleep.

  In the middle of Genesis 28, Jacob, now most likely in his 40’s, did
  that very thing one night and he would have a dream like no other he
  has had in his life. He dreams of a ladder from the earth to heaven and
  the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. He sees the Lord
  standing at the top of the ladder…

  
  And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, "I am the LORD, the God
  of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie,
  I will give it to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will
  also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west
  and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in
  your descendants 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."  Genesis 28:13-15 (NASB)

  Jacob awoke and was shaken and realized he had been staying at “God’s
  house” that night located right at the “gate of heaven” or at least
  that is how he saw it. It was something he would never forget. The next
  morning he took the stone he had used for his pillow and set it up as a
  pillar and poured oil on the top and called the place “Bethel” which
  means “house of God”. In fact, the dream profoundly affected him.

  
  Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will keep me
  on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments
  to wear, and I return to my father's house in safety, then the LORD
  will be my God. This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be
  God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to
  You."  Genesis 28:20-22 (NASB)

  Jacob has his life changed from that point forward. He had been raised
  in a God-fearing home yet as we learned last time that even God-fearing
  homes aren’t always perfect, yet the Lord somehow uses them anyway.
  Now, at this point, the matter of faith in what Jacob learned at home
  goes beyond a mental assent and becomes “front and center” in his
  life.  Jacob is clearly saying that if God can keep His promises, He is
  my God. Now we already know that He keeps His promises so this isn’t a
  hard thing for Him. However, this was a big thing for Jacob.

  Remember what Jacob’s been through. He obtained the blessing through
  his father through dubious means that he himself did not like and
  because of this, it would seem he would have doubts about the whole
  matter. Yet once he left his father and mother to go find his wife, the
  Lord personally affirms that He Himself will bless him with the
  promises given to his grandfather Abraham, affirming what his father,
  Isaac, said to him just before he left for Haran.  This had to be
  important to Jacob. The Lord met Jacob right where he was and gave him
  the reassurance he needed that night as he’s going to be gone a very
  long time. Yet this won’t be the last time the Lord interacts with
  Jacob.

  In observing Jacob’s reaction to God appearing to him in a dream and
  reading ahead, I notice that Jacob doesn’t stop right there build a
  temple and make himself white robes and become a priest on the spot and
  ask for tithes and offerings. Instead, he commits himself to God and he
  offers the tithes and offerings himself. This is an important thing to
  consider.

  When we personally interact with the Lord, we are changed. We see Him
  for who He is. Jacob reacted properly when he saw who He was. He did
  not diminish his experience and try to explain it away. He did not
  magnify himself after his experience like we might see some do. God had
  arranged the meeting and met him in a dream. It was God’s doing, not
  Jacob’s. 

  So what can we learn about God’s character? The Lord is a personal God.
  He met Jacob that night and introduced Himself. From Jacob’s reaction,
  we can see that it can be a bit unnerving when he met the Lord in the
  dream. Yet from that same reaction, it was not a fear of terror, it was
  reverence and awe of who had visited him.  He is an interactive God. He
  seeks a relationship with us and through various means lets us know
  He’s there and is for us and not against us. While He did not tell
  Jacob the entire timeline of his life, He did tell him that He would be
  with him wherever he goes. God never leaves or forsakes His own.

  Before we leave Jacob’s meeting with God at Bethel, there are a couple
  of items which foreshadow God’s promise to bless all the families of
  the world. If you haven’t already seen who is “the ladder” in Jacob’s
  vision … let’s read this…

  
  Nathanael answered Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God; you are the
  King of Israel.” Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you
  that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater
  things than these." And He said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you,
  you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and
  descending on the Son of Man."  John 1:49-51 (NASB)
  
  
  
  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." John 14:6 (NASB)

  Jesus makes the obvious connection between Himself and the ladder Jacob
  saw in his dream. Given this, we can conclude that God has once again
  told us He loved us back then and that His promised redeemer was on His
  way. Yet the blessing would be through “the ladder” and not “the
  tower”. If you remember that the name for Babel, the city and tower
  built by Nimrod and his crew, in Genesis 11 means “gate of God”, this
  makes it a bit clearer why God simply stopped their work. God makes it
  clear early on that man-made religion (sacred and secular) will never
  do anything for man with regard to the most important matters of life
  and eternity.  Only Jesus Christ is the “gate and ladder of heaven”. 
  So are you trusting in God’s “ladder” to receive the promise of
  redemption and eternal life in heaven or are you trusting in man’s
  “tower” for you to gain favor with God?

  Now God’s promise to bless all the families of the world wasn’t only
  meant for a single person. Once one becomes a partaker in that blessing
  and becomes part of God’s family, the issue revolves around helping
  others around us to see that God wants them also to receive this
  blessing. It really gives some new meaning to the following passage of
  scripture…

  
  And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been
  given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of
  all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son
  and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you;
  and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  Matthew
  28:18-20 (NASB)

  Does it make sense now? A God who loves us…a promise to the world… and
  a ladder… Who would have thought they would have meant so much to us? 
  Mr.Vee

  • 1:22 pm
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