Oct 19
20
Old Testament Reading: Genesis 28
“Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him, ‘You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women. Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!’ Thus Isaac sent Jacob away. And he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother. Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he directed him, ‘You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women,’ and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram. So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father, Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth. 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 the 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 up on the earth, and the top of it reached to 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 to 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 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! This 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 the 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 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 give a full tenth to you.’” (Genesis 28, ESV)
New Testament Reading: John 1:43-51
“The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!’ Nathanael said to him, ‘How do you know me?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’ Nathanael answered him, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ Jesus answered him, ‘Because I said to you, ‘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 heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.’” (John 1:43–51, ESV)
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[Please excuse any and all typos and misspellings found within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church, but without proofreading.]
Introduction
I think it is safe to say that most Christ-followers have, at some point in their Christian pilgrimage, felt a degree of uncertainty concerning the their relationship with God. Perhaps the uncertainty was the result of falling into some sin which wounded their conscience and grieved the Holy Spirit — living in sin will certainly have a negative impact upon one’s confidence in Christ! Or perhaps it was an attack of the evil one that caused the despair. It is even possible that there was no obvious explanation for the lack of assurance — sometimes these seasons of spiritual darkness are inexplicable.
Now, it may be that you have experienced a season of uncertainty like this. It is even possible that you are experiencing one now! And if you have not in the past, and are not in the present, it is possible that you, at some time in the future, will feel as if God is distant. Brothers and sisters, please know that there is encouragement to be found in this little story about Jacob for the one who feels unsure. There is light for the sojourner who feels as if darkness has overtaken them, and as if God is distant.
Let’s step into Jacob’s sandels for a moment. These must have been dark days for Jacob. He must have felt very unsure as he journeyed away from home in the promised land toward Haran, a land that was foreign to him.
Remember that Haran was the place where Abram had settled for a time with his father Terah as they journeyed from Ur and towards the land of promise at first. Genesis 11:29 says, “Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there” (Genesis 11:31, ESV). The city of Haran was located to the north of Canaan, on the other side of the Euphrates River. Terah, for whatever reason, did not complete the journey. He stopped short of entering into the land of promise with his family. Abraham would complete that journey after his father’s death.
The thing to notice about this story is that Jacob’s life seems to be going in the wrong direction. His desire was to have the birthright and the blessing. His desire was to inherit the promises made to his grandfather, Abraham, and his father, Isaac. These promises, remember, had very much to do with the land of Canaan. The LORD spoke to Abraham repeatedly, saying, “To your offspring I will give this land” (Genesis 12:7, ESV). He said the same thing to Isaac — “Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father” (Genesis 26:3, ESV). Jacob was one of those offspring. In fact, he was the chosen offspring. And yet now he is leaving the land that was promised to him for Haran, that place where his great grandfather, Terah, had stalled out many years before. Jacob must have felt confused, unsure and afraid.
It is impossible to know what exactly was going on inside of Jacob, but his soul must have been in turmoil. Think of what he had just done. He took part in a wicked scheme to deceive his own father. He took advantage of his frailty. He tricked him in his old age. The law of God says, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12, ESV). This law was written by the finger of God and delivered by Moses to Israel many years after Jacob lived. But this law was not invented in the days of Moses. Indeed, it is a part of that moral law that was written upon Adam’s heart in the beginning (see Romans 2:14ff.). This means that even Jacob was bound to keep it. He was to honor his father and mother. And this principle would have also applied to him: “that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” Jacob violated this law, and now he is experiencing a kind of exile from the land, having been sent away to Haran. As I said, these were dark days forJacob. He dishonored his father, he participated in his mother’s sin, he swindled his brother yet again, and the result was separation from his family and from the land that he loved.
[APPLICATION: Brothers and sisters, sin has this effect. When we violate God’s law it brings division. It disrupts and disturbs the peace. It leads to dark places. And though it be true that your sins are washed away through faith in Jesus the Christ, we must remember that sin still has consequences — earthly and natural consequences.]
Here in this little episode we learn that Jacob reaped what he sowed. He sowed dishonor and deceit, and he reaped division. He was divided from his family and from his land. But in the same episode we also see that God was gracious to Jacob. The favor of the LORD that was set upon him even before he was born remained upon him, despite his sin. Clearly this favor was unmerited — Jacob was obviously undeserving. But God had set his love upon him, and nothing could change that. God spoke to his mother, Rebekah, while he and his older twin brother were still in the womb, saying, “the older shall serve the younger”. And elsewhere the scriptures say that God loved Jacob, but Esau he hated (Malachi 1:3; Romans 9:13).
That Jacob was chosen of the Lord, and Esau not, is apparent in this story. Let us briefly compare and contrast Jacob and Esau before getting to the heart of this text.
Notice that after the family was divided by the deception of Isaac, Esau pursued an earthly and fleshly solution to his problem. He knew that his mother and father were displeased with his Canaanite wives. He heard that his mother had said,“I loathe my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?” (Genesis 27:46, ESV), so “Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had… (Genesis 28:9, ESV). He decided to marry in the clan, thinking that this would please his parents. But notice that he married into the the non-elect family of Ishmael. It was a big swing and a miss for Esau as he pursued an earthly and fleshly solution to his problem.
Esau pursued favor with his parents according to human wisdom, and to no avail. But note that in this story God pursued Jacob and set his favor upon him. God pursued Jacob to reassure him, to comfort him, and to call him to a constant and faithful walk with him. This is the thing that must be noted in — God pursued Jacob and would not let him go, despite his flaws.
[APPLICATION: Brothers and sisters, this is how God deals with his covenant children. If God has determined to set his love upon them then he is also faithful to pursue them, to win them, and to never let them go. And here is the foundation of our confidence in Christ Jesus. We are to know for certain that our right standing before God depends, ultimately, not upon our work, but upon Christ’s. If our right standing before God depended upon our faithfulness, then never could we be sure. But because it depends upon God, and the work that Christ has accomplished on our behalf, we can have confidence in him even in times of darkness and difficulty, for God is faithful to keep his promises.]
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Remember The Promises That The LORD Has Made
Brothers and sisters, in times of darkness we must look to God and remember the promises that he has made. When life grows difficult and we begin to feel uncertain, we must look to God and to his word — it is there that we will find an immovable foundation on which to stand, for God is faithful, and his word is sure. This principle is clearly present in this narrative.
Did you notice that twice in this story the LORD was gracious to remind Jacob of his promises concerning him? The first reminder came by way of the blessing that his father, Isaac, pronounced upon him. And the second reminder came by way of a dream.
It is in verses 3 and 4 that we find Isaac pronouncing a blessing upon Jacob before he leaves for the region of Paddan-aram (and more specifically, the city of Haran). There Isaac speaks to Jacob, saying, “God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!” (Genesis 28:3–4, ESV)
This was a very significant moment. It was significant, not only for Jacob, but also for Isaac. For here we see that Isaac was no longer determined to give the blessing to Esau, but had resigned himself to the fact that Jacob, the younger of the two, was indeed the son of promise, according to the revealed will of God. Isaac finally got it, in other words.
And this moment was obviously significant forJacob, for in this moment he heard his father knowingly and willingly speak to him and pronounce upon him the blessings and promises that were given first to Abraham. Jacob had been blessed before, remember. But that first blessing was given to him, not willingly and knowingly, but by deception. It is not as if that first blessing didn’t count. Isaac clearly though that it counted. But Jacob must have wondered if he was really blessed of the Lord, given the way that he got the blessing. Here blessed by his father knowingly and willingly.
Jacob was reminded of three promises as Isaac pronounced this blessing upon him. One, God had promised to make him into a great multitude — he would have many descendents. Two, these offspring of his would be blessed, and they would be a blessing to the nations. And three, these descendents would possess the land of promise — the land in which Abraham, Isaac, and now he, sojourned. These promises were not new promises. They were given first to Abraham, and then to Isaac. And in this moment Jacob watched his father — the father that he had not long ago deceived — knowingly and willing give these promises to him.
In verses 10 through 15 Jacob is again reminded of the promises of the LORD, but this time the reminder came in the form of a dream.
In verse 10 we learn that “Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set [I think we are to feel the loneliness and uncertainty of Jacob as he finds himself without a place to stay as darkness overtakes him]. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep [this was common for shepherds to do as they slept in the open field]” (Genesis 28:10–11, ESV).
In verse 12 we read, “And 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! And behold, the LORD stood above it…” What an awesome sight this must have been! The heavens were opened before Jacob. He saw a vision of the Lord. And traveling up and down on this ladder were angels.
Now, what did this vision mean? Well, the words that God spoke to Jacob help to clarify the meaning of the vision. Verse 13: “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 to 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 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, ESV)
Notice five things about this vision and the word of the LORD spoken to Jacob:
One, Jacob saw the LORD, who reveled himself as the God of Abraham and Isaac. Friends, nothing in our lives will be right until we know the LORD. We were created to know him, to live in obedience to him, and for his glory, for he is our Maker. Take special note of this: The LORD revealed himself to Jacob. And this is the way that it always goes. Now that we are fallen into sin, we do not search for the LORD, but instead the LORD graciously reveals himself to us, if we are one of his elect. Jacob was elect of the LORD — this we know. He was not pursuing the Lord, but the LORD pursued him and revealed himself to him.
Two, notice that the LORD promised to always be with Jacob. “I am with you and will keep you wherever you go”, he said. The LORD was seen in heaven, but the ladder signified the LORD’s presence and activity upon the earth. We must remember that though we cannot see the LORD, he is ever present with his people. This is a great source of encouragement to the people of God in every generation. God is with his people. He dwells in the midst of them. He will never leave them nor forsake them (Hebrews 13:5). And if this true (which it certainly is) then we can go anywhere and endure anything, for God is with us.
When the church in Rome was experiencing hardship Paul the Apostle encouraged them with these words: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35–39, ESV). The greatest source of encouragement for the Roman church was to know that God was with them, and that nothing could separated them from his love in Christ Jesus. And this is what Jacob needed to hear in order to have courage for his journey — he needed to be assured that the LORD would go with him.
Three, the LORD reassured Jacob of his special plan for the land of Canaan, which he was about to leave. “The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring”, he said. And he promised, saying, I “will bring you back to this land”. The ladder had it’s top in heaven, but it’s base was set down in Canaan, indicating that that place was a special place. God’s would do a special work there in the years to come. The LORD would bring Jacob back to the land.
Four, the LORD reassured Jacob of his special plan for his 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.” The rest of the Pentateuch will show the initial fulfillment of this promise through the birth of the nation of Israel, who would come from Jacob’s loins.
And five, the LORD reassured Jacob that it would be through his offspring that all of the nations of the earth would be blessed. Of course, we know that this promise finds it’s ultimate fulfillment in the Christ, who would come into the world through the nation of Israel, and would die as the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. There is no greater blessing than to have your sins for given and to be reconciled to God. Christ came to give that blessing, not only to the Israelite, but to all the nations of the earth.
Understand this clearly, therefore. God plan for Israel, who would descend from Jacob, was, from the beginning, that they would serve as a kind of mediator between God and mankind. The God of heaven determined to make a way for the peoples of the earth to be reconciled to him, and this he would do in the land of Israel and through the people of Israel, who would descend from Jacob. Indeed, the ladder that bridged the gap between heaven and earth signified this very thing.
At the beginning of this sermon I read from John 1:43-51. And I did so because there we find Christ’s interpretation of the vision that was shown to Jacob of the ladder to heaven and the angels ascending an descending upon it. We have asked the question, what did this vision mean? And we would be wise pay carful attention to Jesus’ explanation. In John 1:43ff. we learn that a man named Nathaniel was amazed because Jesus knew that he was sitting under a fig tree when Philip had approached him. Nathaniel responded to Jesus, saying, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Listen again to Jesus’ response to him. “Jesus answered him, ‘Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these. Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man’” (John 1:50–51, ESV).
Clearly, Jesus was referring to the Genesis 28 passage that we are considering today. Notice that Jesus spoke of heaven being opened and of angels ascending and descending. But strangely there is no mention of the ladder. And why is that? Notice, it is because Jesus claimed to be the ladder! To Nathaniel he said, “you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on [me] the Son of Man”!
What did the ladder signify? The ladder shown to Jacob in the dream signified Christ. It revealed to Jacob that God would provide a way for man to be reconciled to him. God would provide a mediator — a Savior who would bridge the chasm of sin that had opened up between God and man. Jesus Christ is the door; he is the way; he is the narrow gate. Indeed, he is the ladder which connects heaven and earth, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.” (1 Timothy 2:5–6, ESV)
[APPLICATION: Brothers and sisters, these promises made to Jacob and the vision shown to him apply to you and to me, but not in the exact same way that they applied to him. These promises were made to Jacob. God would be with him as he journeyed away from the promised land, and he would be faithful to bring him back. God would give him many descendents, and to them he would give the land of Canaan. These promises would be fulfilled in the formation of the nation of Israel and in their conquest of Canaan. Through Jacob’s offspring the nations of the earth would be blessed. Considered in this way, these promises belonged uniquely to Jacob, and not to us. But considered from the vantage point of their fulfillment in Christ Jesus, these promises are also ours. In Christ, God has reconciled us to himself. We belong to him through faith in Christ, and we are to rest assured that he will never leave us nor forsake us. He will bring us safely home into the new heavens and earth. Indeed, nothing can separated us from his love.
You and I need to be reminded of these promises continually, don’t we? Just as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were frequently reminded of God’s promises to them, so too we must be reminded of God’s promises to us. Stated differently, we must be reminded of the gospel. We must be reminded of that good news, that through faith in Jesus the Christ we find the forgiveness of our sins. We must be reminded of that good news, that though we were once children of wrath, now we are children of God. We must be reminded that the God has promised to never leave nor to forsake us. He will finish the work that he started in us. He will bring us safely home, for we are Christ’s beloved bride, if indeed we have been united to him by faith and cleansed by his blood.
Friends, the gospel is not only something that we need to hear at the beginning of the Christian life, but always and until the LORD calls us home. The gospel — and no, I am not referring to that ultra simple, watered down version of the gospel that is often preached in our day, but the full, robust, Christ centered gospel that was preached from all the scriptures by the first disciples of Christ — that gospel is always something that we need to be reminded of. For that gospel is the very basis of our assurance before God.
In times of difficulty and darkness, this is what need more than anything — we must look to God and remember his promises and that he will be faithful to keep them.]
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Respond In Faithful Worship
Having been reminded of the promises of God that are ours in Christ Jesus, it is only right that we then respond in faithful worship. Notice that this is what Jacob did. After being reminded of God’s promises to him he arose in faith and he worshipped. This, brothers and sisters, is medicine for a troubled soul. Instead of withdrawing from God, we ought to draw near to him in times of trouble, for he is what we most need.
Verse 16: “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! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven’” (Genesis 28:16–17, ESV).
Clearly, Jacob felt alone and distant from God as he sojourned. But in this dream it was reveled that God was with him and always before him. Jacob didn’t realize it at first, but now he knows.
The scriptures say that Jacob was afraid. This is always the response of men when then behold the glory of the LORD. They often tremble with fear and fall down before the LORD as if dead.
[APPLICATION: You and I would be wise to live life mindful of the fact that the God of glory is, in fact, ever before us. The radiance of his glory is typically hidden from our sight, but this does not change the fact that he is always before us. We live our lives before his face. He sees all. He knows all. He is everywhere present. And he is awesome. The fear of the LORD, brothers and sisters, is the beginning of wisdom.]
Consider now the response of Jacob. Verse 18: “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 the 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 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 give a full tenth to you.’” (Genesis 28:18–22, ESV)
This stone that Jacob used for a pillow at night was turned into a memorial. Jacob turned it on it’s side so that it would stand out as unnatural and manmade. It pointed to heaven, perhaps as a reminded that the God of heaven had revealed himself to him.
When Jacob poured out the oil upon the rock it was an act of worship. He “sacrificed” some of the precious oil in faith and out of gratitude to the God of heaven.
Jacob named the place “Bethel” which means “house of God”. This was an acknowledgement of the truth that had been revealed to him — that God would be present in this land in a special way. He would dwell with his people there. And through this land all the peoples of the earth would be blessed.
“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 give a full tenth to you.’”
This vow was obviously a personal profession of faith uttered by Jacob. He vowed to have the LORD as his God. He would enjoy communion with the LORD in his house. He would worship the LORD by giving him a tenth of all. But this vow also anticipated the formation of the nation of Israel. Jacob would do all of these things, on a much larger scale, through Israel who would descend from him. The LORD would be Israel’s God. They would enjoy communion with the LORD in his house. And they would worship him by giving a tenth of all by bringing their tithes and offerings up to the tabernacle, and later temple.
[APPLICATION: Brothers and sisters, having been reminded of the promises of God that are ours in Christ Jesus I ask you, will you respond in worship? Will you rise up, even in times of darkness and dispare, to give God glory? Will you honor him as your covenant Lord and God. This you decided to do at the start of the Christian life, but may I suggest to you this is something you must decide to do continually, day by day, an especially Lord’s Day, by Lord’s Day. Will you come into his house to enjoy communion with him? Will you give of your offerings, willingly, thankfully and cheerfully?]
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Conclusion
Brothers and sisters, in times of difficulty and darkness, this is where we need to be. Many have a propensity to run and hide when the going gets tough. Instead, we ought to draw near. We ought to draw near to the Lord. We ought to come into his house to hear his word proclaimed and to be reminded of his promises. We ought to come and worship, for the LORD is faithful and worthy of our praise.
Psalm 100: “A PSALM FOR GIVING THANKS. Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations” (Psalm 100, ESV).
