Genesis 28:10-19

Genesis 28:10-19 (NRSV)

¹⁰ Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. ¹¹ 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. ¹² 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. ¹³ 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; ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ 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.” ¹⁶ Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!” ¹⁷ 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.”

¹⁸ 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. ¹⁹ He called that place Bethel.

            Genesis 28:10-19 is the story of the dream of Jacob. Most Old Testament scholars view the history of the texts as a combination of historical sources. The source of the story is E in 28:10-12 and 17-18, while J is in 13-18, 19.  The delightful little children’s song “We are climbing Jacob’s ladder” has little to do with this story. In popular usage, Jacob's ladder refers to a connection between heaven and earth.

             

One of the things I find intriguing in this story is that while Jacob is traveling toward Haran, he finds a little place in the middle of nowhere to rest for the night. He uses a stone for his pillow. Yet, in this nowhere place he has a dream or vision. The stories in Genesis are full of dreams and dreamers, and God is often the one who inspiring them. “It's the dream afraid of waking, that never takes the chance,” as Amanda McBroom wrote and Bette Middler so beautifully sang. Billy Joel in his “River of Dreams” also had a beautiful way of putting the importance of the dream. One may have to pass through mountain of faith and the valley of fear to find the dream. The dream may well be a sign that we have lost something important to us. Others may have stolen it from us. The dream is a sign we are looking for something sacred to us. We can only hope that we find at least partial fulfillment of the dream in this life.  In this case, the dream has a ladder, which we might think of as a stairway or ramp. We might think of a structure like the Babylonian ziggurat.  Angels, typical of the E stories, ascended and descended the stairway. These heavenly beings go out from the presence of God to do work on earth. They bring the mystery of the divine near to us.^[1] They are messengers from God. In the Bible, their presence lets us know that God is near.

               We make an important theological affirmation when we affirm that God is present everywhere. Yet, such awareness does not negate the importance of an event that discloses who God is and what God wants. An event occurs in a moment and at a place. Such an event can be anywhere. Such an event is an encounter with God.^[2]  The God of the covenant becomes the God of Jacob.^[3] This revelation occurs in a vision or illumination that communicates the divine will.^[4] The revelation is first of the Lord standing beside Jacob. The promise of the presence of the Lord is a keynote of the Bible. The Presence is enigmatic, surprising, and dangerous. Yet, the Presence is also for our good. Jacob has discovered the accompanying presence of the Lord when he least expected it. We have the assurance of divine accompanying in times of turmoil or in times of quiet. Jacob the deceiver receives a word of grace. We are right to affirm the omnipresence of the Lord. Yet, we need such events in our lives when God shows up.^[5]

                 The Lord is also the God of Abraham and Isaac. Jacob is not receiving a revelation from a new divine being. This revelation relies upon prior knowledge of the God of Abraham and Isaac.^[6]

                  The promise is still land and progeny. The promises of God on this point are unconditional. In Genesis 12:1-4a, the Lord tells Abram to leave his land people and go to a land the Lord will show him. The Lord will make of Abram a great nation that will bring blessing to others. The Lord will bless the families of the earth through his family. In Genesis 22:15-18, the Lord will bless the nations through the nation that will come through Abraham. In Genesis 28:3-4, Isaac tells Jacob that God Almighty will bless Jacob with the blessing of Abraham. Families of the earth will experience blessing through this promise! In this revelation, the Lord will be with them. The Lord will keep them, a common theme we find reflected in the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24, “The Lord bless you and keep you.” We then have the powerful image that the Lord will lead Jacob home. For those who have left home literally or spiritually, the promise is powerful.

                   The subjective response of Jacob to the presence and revelation of God is fear. Such a response is typical of ancient piety when one is in the presence of the divine. He thus refers to the place as “awesome” or “fearful.” He makes an altar out of the stone that had been his pillow during the night. Jacob, aware that the Lord is in this place, calls the place Bethel, or House of God. It would become one of the worship centers of the northern Kingdom of Israel when it split from the southern kingdom of Judah. Josiah would destroy this ancient religious center as an act of restoring faithfulness in his time.

                   The story of the vision of Jacob has an important lesson for us. Any of us with open minds and hearts can realize we are not alone on this journey of life. Heaven invades our ordinary realm. It may well come in the form of a dream God has given us. For the Christian, the unveiling of this mysterious presence carries the name of Jesus Christ. Heaven descended to earth in the man, Jesus of Nazareth, who, as the risen Lord, walks the journey of life with us.^[7]

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[1] in his book on Christian Dogma in 1923, p. 87

[2] (Church Dogmatics III.3 [51.3], 477-479)

[3] (Church Dogmatics, II.1 [31.1], 479)

[4] (Systematic Theology Volume 1, 201)

[5] (Church Dogmatics, II.1 [31.1], 479)

[6] (Systematic Theology Volume 1, 204).

[7] Preaching From the Old Testament, p. 65.