Jacob's Dream

0:00Good morning. Welcome to another week through Genesis. You can go ahead and turn there, if you wish, to Genesis chapter 28. We're going to cover verses 10 to 22 this morning, which is this familiar story of Jacob's dream. It is a familiar enough story that I can give some of it away here at the beginning as we get into it and as a way of introduction. I want to give you some of the interpretations of this dream of Jacob that our wonderful internet has to offer with regards to what this dream of his meant. These are as follows: Jacob saw a ladder, not an escalator, so you have to exert yourself to reach heaven. Climbing to God takes work. Number two, Jacob saw a ladder and not a whip. You can't be forced into heaven. Jacob saw a ladder and not a leader. Teachers and preachers can't get you to heaven. You have to do your own climbing. The modern Jew believes that the ladder represents the Shabbat weekly synagogue service. When our prayers are sung, our words ascend to heaven, and when the Torah is read, God-inspired descend down to earth. Still others say that the ladder represents the succession of the kingdoms of man. It is even believed that this was God communicating to Jacob that performing virtuous acts of obedience was the way to ascend the stairway to heaven. Okay, I bring all of those up to make sure that we all understand that the worst thing that you could possibly ever do if you are unsure about a biblical passage is to Google what this passage means. The internet and most things on it, at least as far as biblical interpretation is concerned, is quite foolish. By the grace of God, though, and through the examination of his word, we will see clearly this morning what the text does communicate. And does it surprise you that it points to Christ? It shouldn't surprise you. So that brings us all back up to speed. First, Jacob swindled his brother out of his birthright by exchanging it for some soup, right? That was just a few weeks ago. Esau sold it, but Jacob was certainly a guilty party in that as well. Then with the help of his mother, Jacob deceives his father Isaac into giving him the blessing that he intended to give to Esau. That was last week. Esau is not too happy about this, as you can imagine. We didn't read the rest of the text from last week and kind of what was in the middle between last week and this week. But Esau's not too happy, and he vows to kill Jacob as a result of Jacob's deceit. As a result of that threat, Isaac calls Jacob to him and says, We're going to send you away. Send you away from their home. He sends them back to Rebekah's family, which is also Isaac's family, to find a wife from his people. And this is the same thing that was asked of him when he married Rebekah, right? So when we pick up the story this morning, then Jacob has just begun this exile journey back to his family's homeland to find a wife for himself and to escape the wrath of his brother. Okay? This is also a theme that plays itself out many times in the biblical narrative, and we've already seen it, and we continue to see it. And that is that sin and deception cause estrangement and exile. And while the exile is judgment, it's also grace, because through exile one is spared from wrath. Perhaps that will come again in our story, and it will. So that's where we begin. Why don't you stand and let's read Genesis 28? We're going to start in verse 10, and we're going to read through verse 22. 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 that place, he put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set upon the earth, and on top of it reached to the 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 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 I 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 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? There is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. 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 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 will 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 all and of all that you give me, I will give a tenth, a full tenth to you. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. Thank you again, Lord, for your word, and I pray that you would speak now for Christ's sake, and it is in his name that I pray. Amen. You can have a seat. David numerous times says in the Psalms things like Psalms 22, 1 and 2, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me? From the words of my groaning. Oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Again, Psalm 22. Job felt abandoned, didn't he? The Israelites many times felt that God had left them. We have an entire book that laments the fall of Israel. Lamentations. But what about passages like Deuteronomy 3, or sorry, 31, 6? Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. The reality that I pray the Lord shows us this morning is that God's plan is greater than our circumstances. And despite the fact that we may feel forsaken or forgotten, there is a purpose there. And the objective reality is, as we discussed last week, that no matter the circumstance, God is active in his plan. He is active in his plan. I pray this is reinforced then once more in the story this morning. As we picked up the scene, we find that Jacob has reached a stopping place for the evening, right? He has left Beersheba. He's on his way to Haran. The text says that Jacob came to a certain place. Somewhat ambiguous there. And as a quick aside, this is very good story writing on behalf of the Lord through Moses. And that the exact location where Jacob is is held back to the end of the story, right? He just says a certain place here. But the narrator, Moses, is saving this big reveal until after God has spoken through Jacob in this dream. And for our purposes this morning, I won't hold you in suspense. I'm going to tell you where Jacob is here. This is Bethel. This is the same location where Jacob's grandfather Abraham visited on his initial entrance into the promised land. You remember that back when we were going over Abraham. And what did Abraham do when he got there? Do you remember? He built an altar for the Lord, and he perfumed it with the presence of God. Remember when we talked about that, he built an altar, set up an altar there in Bethel. Now Jacob, right, the grandson of Abraham, finds himself in exile just like his grandfather. He's given a promise of inheritance just like Abraham. He's given the same encouragement in his exile. 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. This is the same promise given to Jacob as to Abraham. This is the same promise from the same sovereign God at the same place, Bethel. A promise to fulfill his purpose. And there is no way any human could ever write such an incredible story, and I've said this I don't know how many times, and interweave all of these people and all of these different circumstances in such an amazing way. So, not coincidentally, then, Jacob's response is the same as Abraham's. He builds an altar and he dedicates his life to the Lord. When did that obedience come, though? After the promise. The obedience came after the promise. The other thing worth noting here is that this is the first time, as far as we are aware, that Jacob has had confirmation of the existence of God. Of course, we don't know specifically, we just got to go off what the word gives us. He's certainly heard all the stories, but this is perhaps the first time that God has become real to him, speaking to him, become very real to him. And at the revelation of God offering to him grace in his sin and deception, right? This is talking about Jacob by the revelation of God, offering him grace in his sin and deception, he vowed to serve this God who has shown himself to be merciful and faithful to Jacob. Okay, not unlike how each of us have come to God through the revelation of his grace and his faithfulness to us in the midst of our sin and our deception. Interesting. So let's focus now then on the content of the dream. And we'll tie that to Christ and to the gospel. Jacob sees first a ladder, right? It could have been more like a stairway, depending on how the Hebrew translation comes over to us, but he sees a ladder, stairway reaching into the sky, into the heavens. Ascending and descending of the steps of this ladder or stairway are the angels of God. These are the servants and messengers of God, working his will from heaven to earth, back and forth. And the Lord is, of course, standing atop this stairway or ladder. And it is from that elevated and heavenly position that he speaks to or reveals himself to Jacob, right? So how do we get to Christ from this vision of angels coming down a stairway from heaven? As I began with, we don't look to the word itself. Sorry, if we don't look to the word itself for answers, we will come up with all manner of interpretations for such passages, especially where dreams and visions are concerned, because they are perhaps unclear. What's even more troubling is the fact that the New Testament gives us the exact interpretation of this passage, and it doesn't really even conceal it all that much. You just have to look for it. And look for it, we will. So those with eyes to see, then turn to the Gospel of John. Turn to the gospel. And I need you to turn because I want you to see it. It's John chapter 1. John chapter 1, we'll start in um we'll start in verse 47 is where I have, is where I have in my notes starting. And this is the calling of Nathaniel to apostleship, right? So this is the calling, Jesus calling Nathanael to apostleship. In verse 47, it says, Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him and said, Behold, an Israelite indeed in whom there is no deceit. Why does Jesus say to him, in whom there is no deceit? Is there a character in the Bible who was deceitful? Or perhaps deceived his brother out of his birthright and blessing? Was not Jacob a person in whom there was deceit? Yes, of course. And these stories were widely known, and Jacob was the biblical character in whom there was deceit. So when Jesus says this, he's not really saying anything particular about Nathaniel himself, but rather opening our big biblical eyes to see what he is about to say next. So get Jacob on your mind, right? As Jacob should be on your mind, and we will continue reading the rest of this text. And verse 48. Verse 48, Nathanael said to him, How do you know me? And Jesus answered him, Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. Nathaniel answered him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel. And Jesus answered him, Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? How did Jesus see him when he was sitting under the fig tree? Jesus wasn't there, right? Perhaps Jesus being the Lord still stands atop the ladder, observing creation from his elevated position. Maybe not the person of Christ specifically, but certainly the Godhead is still atop the ladder. Nathaniel is amazed that Jesus has this all-seeing, omniscient nature and replies, Surely you are the Son of God. Right? To which Jesus says, You think I am a king because I can see everything? It's much more than that, though, isn't it? We'll finish the rest of this section, starting at the second half of verse 50. You will see greater things than these. And he said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. Where else did we read that the heavens opened up and the angels were ascending and descending from heaven to earth? Does that sound familiar to us? The difference being what? When Jacob saw it, the angels were going up and down on a ladder, but when Christ expounds the true meaning for Nathaniel, the angels are ascending and descending on what? Christ himself, the son of man. Nathanael calls Jesus the Son of God, right? But Jesus uses the term son of man, which refers to himself and his position as Messiah, Savior, King. So what is Christ saying then? What is the narrative of Jacob really communicating to us then? I will reiterate what it is not saying. It is not saying that you have to climb your way to heaven. It is not saying that the path to heaven is going to be an uphill and difficult climb, although at times it might be. It is not saying that heaven is for those who progressively work their way to the top. No, this is foreshadowing in Jacob and being made clear in Christ that the Son of Man is the ladder to heaven. Christ is the only way to reach God. The angels move on the person and the authority of Christ, the one in whom we also live and move and have our being. Call it a ladder, call it a stairway, call it a bridge. God has made this so plain and so clear. The only way to heaven is Christ. John 14, 1 to 7. Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's houses are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, that where I am you may also be. And you know the way to where I am going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where you are going. How can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way. The truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. John 14, 1 to 7. It's all there for us to see, right? And your heart will leap in your chest when you read Genesis having been given Christ. And know that this is the same God talking. The Lord who tells the apostles that he is going home and will prepare a place for them and will keep them and will bring them to this promised place. This is the same God who tells Jacob in verse 15 of our text, Behold, I am with you, and I will keep you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done everything that I have promised you. It's the same message to the same people, God's people. He sees you in your sin and in your exile. But because he loves us and cares for us, he has promised that he will not leave us. Our Lord and our God will always bring his children home. And has in his grace made a way by which he may bring us back to him. Not a ladder, a person. Christ himself. Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity. And in whose spirit there is no deceit. Even David in the Psalms is helping make those connections, right? Ultimately leading us to the promised forgiveness that is offered by Christ, right? I'll say it again, what a story, right? What a story. Not just a story, though, because it's true. Believe it and live. The next thing Jacob learns, and something we should see as well, is the proper way to receive a Blessing. What is the proper way to receive a blessing? Jacob's first attempts at a blessing were to get it by force and deceit, right? That landed him separated from his homeland and his parents, on the run from his brother with murderous intentions. What he learned is that you can't grapple at God's blessing. It doesn't work. It won't work. It never does. You can't earn it. You can't steal it. You can't climb for it. You can't jump for it. You can't even win something for it. We aren't asked to do any of that. The blessing of God was always something that God Himself gave freely, without merit, and was to be freely received. Jacob finally gets to the end of our text and he says this. Then Jacob made a vow saying, if God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, I will give and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I may come again to my father's house in peace. Then the Lord shall be my God. This is not Jacob saying that he will serve the Lord so long as the Lord gives him stuff and takes care of him. I don't think that at all. I think this is the recognition by Jacob that it is truly God who is doing all the work here, not him. God promises to be with him. God promises to keep him. God promises to direct him. God promises to feed him. God promises to clothe him. God promises to bring him home. Wow, you're going to do all that for me? And I didn't have to deceive anyone to get such a blessing? You're going to do all that for me? And I didn't have to climb a treacherous ladder to get it? Well, the blessing was God's to give and Jacob's to receive. Not a transaction. A gift. And it took him running for his life before he finally did get that, right? The same is true for you today. The blessing of God is reserved for those who will receive it as a gift by faith, not for those who wish to earn it or steal it. If that is your goal, to earn it or steal it, you will find yourself running for your life. But as the King James Version says from this is Romans chapter 9, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. So let us stop willing and stop running. Throw yourselves on the good God who promises to bless those who simply trust in him. So a final few points of application, and then we close. First, we can be assured that God is with us wherever we go. Right? The Lord is perched atop the heavens and sees all and knows all. There are no dark corners. There are no places where you can go that you are out of his sight. If you find yourself lost in the wilderness, physically or metaphorically, hope you're not actually lost in the wilderness, but God is there. He is there. Wherever you go, from the mountains to the valleys, God is with you. Secondly, God will keep you. Just as He promised to keep Jacob, He promises to keep you. We can be assured of this because, as we have stated now, God is doing the work. We can be assured of our being kept because you are a plan of God, and God's plans don't fail. He doesn't take naps, he doesn't let things slip. He does what he says he will do. And he says that he will keep those who come to him in faith. John 6, 37, all that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. None will be lost. None will be cast out. All whom the Father gives will come to him and he will keep them. It is this truth that Paul leans on when he assures the church at Philippi, and I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is God's work. You are God's work. He will surely finish what he has started, and he will surely keep you. Okay, finally, we know that God will bring us home. We know that God will bring us home. The place is prepared. The banquet tables have been set. The feast has been prepared. The meat has been grilled. The wine has been poured, or is presently aging, I suppose. The rooms are ready. The choirs of angelic voices are ready to sing. All that is left is for all of the guests to arrive. This is Isaiah 25, 6 to 9. And the Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain, a banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined aged wine. And on this mountain he will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, even the veil which is stretched over all the nations. He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces. He will remove the reproach of his people from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. And it will be said in that day, behold, this is our God, for whom we have waited, that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited. Let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation. So let us wait on the Lord with glad hearts and eager anticipation, knowing that he is with us, he will keep us, and he will surely bring us home. Maranatha is the word. Come, Lord Jesus. Bring us home. Amen. And ultimately, Lord, that you will bring us home with you. We thank you, Lord, that you have made for us a way to get to heaven. It doesn't require anything of us, but faith in you, and you've given that to us too, Lord. We thank you. May we trust in Christ and may we long to be reunited with Him again. Lord, now as we proclaim the death and resurrection of Christ through the Your Supper, Lord, we pray and ask that you would forgive us of our sins where we have failed you, Lord. And we know, Lord, that you are faithful to forgive them. Ask all these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.