Exalting God

As we study Scripture, one of the many things we are trying to accomplish is a developing sense of connectedness with the people we read about.  We want to know as much about them as possible – what made them tick, what encouraged and inspired them, what scared them?  It is this connectedness with people like Abraham and Jacob and David and Paul that often helps us to identify with the message of God’s word and ultimately encourages us to live what we learn.

However, as we seek to connect with the many and varied characters of Scripture, we are directly challenged to make a greater connection.  While it is both practical and helpful to understand that like each of us, men like Paul and Abraham were at their core sinful men, it is of greater importance for us to see that our most important connection is to be made with God.  As people who constantly fall short of God’s righteous expectations, it is imperative that we have a right understanding of how we as humans connect with a holy God.  The account of “Jacob’s Ladder”, as it has been dubbed, provides us with a much needed avenue to see just how this connection is made.

It is interesting to see how God continued so steadfastly and patiently with the patriarchs.  We have already made mention of Abraham’s successes and failures.  It is clear that God was truly committed to building this former pagan into a great man of faith.  We only get a brief picture of Isaac’s life, but it too was one of success and failure, faith and doubt.  Yet, God remained faithful.  His commitment to these men underscores the power of what Paul wrote to Timothy: “if we are faithless, he remains faithful” (2 Timothy 2:13).  As Jacob heeded the instruction of his father and left Beersheba for Haran, we are reminded once again that God’s commitment to his covenant would not be forsaken.

In verse eleven we read where Jacob “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.” Can you imagine what was going through the mind of Jacob?  One minute he was feeling confident that he had secured a blessing from Isaac (albeit he did so immorally) and now just a brief time later he was seemingly alone in the middle of nowhere with only a rock to lay his head upon.  To top it all off, Esau was consumed with anger and wanted nothing more than to spill his brother’s blood.  For all Jacob knew Esau could have been following him, waiting for just the right moment to end his life.  This would certainly have been a legitimate fear, for Jacob knew that Esau was a frustrated man.

When weeping before Isaac did nothing to foster a blessing, he began to look for other ways to obtain what he wanted.  Hearing that Canaanite women did not please his parents, he quickly married one of Ishmael’s daughters, thinking that this would bring about his father’s blessing.  It did not.  Esau could only grasp for what he wanted, he could not attain it.

With all of this on his mind, Jacob stops for some rest.  Finding a stone for his weary head, he lay there, alone in a strange land staring at the stars.  We have all likely been in a similar situation as Jacob.  Hopefully, none of us have ever had an angry brother wanting to kill us, but what about a sense of isolation or disconnectedness from both people and God?  Have you been there?  Jacob was there and he was about to receive an awesome vision that would make God’s plan for his life abundantly clear.

Look again at verses 12-13a:

^“12And 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! ¹³And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac.”

The word behind “ladder” is difficult to translate, some translations use the word “staircase”; ultimately it does not matter.  What is important to understand is that this ladder represented a point of connection between God and Jacob.  This was not a step ladder designed to help Jacob reach something; it was a heavenly ladder meant to remind Jacob that there was a constant line of communication between he and God.  This is truly an amazing event, for here we see God once again graciously pursuing his will through the means of an undeserving sinner.

Years before this night in the desert, God promised to redeem his children through the sacrificial ministry of a redeemer (Genesis 3:15).  Ever since that promise, God steadily worked in and through the lives of both men and women as he patiently ushered his creation toward the pain and redemption of Calvary.  We know that Jacob did not deserve God’s attention or pursuit, but that is exactly what he received.

As Jacob surveyed the scene his attention was drawn to the One standing atop the ladder.  It must have been an awesome sight, to see this heavenly ladder filled with angels ascending and descending, and then to see God himself standing above it.  The sight alone of such a vision must have captivated Jacob, but then God spoke and conveyed to Jacob the same blessing he had promised to both Abraham and Isaac.  In this promise, God essentially provided an answer for every concern Jacob likely had.

Full Sermon Manuscript – Genesis 28:6-22