A Study of Genesis 28:10—22

It takes a few years of living the Christian life and more than a little Christian maturity, but eventually you’ll realize that your worst moments in life are the best moments for God to be glorified.  When you get so desperate that prayer is your only hope, that’s when God moves in and demonstrates His presence in a way not possible had you’re life not taken a turn for the worse.  Remember, it was in the fiery furnace that God delivered the Hebrew children.  It was while he was being stoned to death that God opened the heavens and allowed Stephen a glimpse into the Kingdom.  It was while John was in exile on a rock called Patmos that the Revelation was given him.  And it was after the sun had gone down on Jacob’s journey that he saw the ladder.  The desolate valley of Achor , in Jacob’s case, became the doorway of  hope.  Consider— 

1.  The Unenlightened Wanderer; The Sinner’s True Condition

Jacob’s plight was a sad one.  Here he was, heir of the Promise given to Abraham and Isaac, now a fugitive running for his life (Gen. 28:27—41).  The record says that he got to a “certain place” in the darkness and he was tired and so he made up a bed and went to sleep.  The Bible isn’t very specific about this “certain place,” but it doesn’t need to be.  Haven’t we all, run to “certain places,” either running from something or running in search of something?  These “certain places,” which may be so non-descript and unassuming, are places appointed by God where He will come and meet with us, giving us exactly what we need.  These “certain places” may be a Christian friend, or a church service or even a time great distress. 

Jacob, like every other self-righteous sinner, was looking for success by a life of deceit and unreality.  Such a life is destined to end in hopelessness and is marked by misery and disappointment.  Imagine, always waiting for the truth to be discovered or the other shoe to drop.  Is the sun of your hope setting?  Is the night of dread closing in on you?  It’s time to rest and look up, trusting in the Lord!

2.  The Amazing Ladder; A Picture of the Way of Salvation

Here’s a vision his father and grandfather never had!  Here was a new and heavenly vision revealed specifically and only to Jacob by God Himself.  It’s a wonderful illustration of Jesus, who alone is “the Way,” John 14:6.  This ladder, like the salvation of Jesus Christ, had it’s starting point on the earth; it was and is easily accessible by man.  The ladder’s top reached into Heaven itself.  The ladder of Christ’s Cross reaches from the lowest pits of earth to the highest Heaven, Romans 10:3.  Jesus Christ, like Jacob’s ladder, is the only link from earth to Heaven.  Jesus declared that He is the way and there is no other name (Acts 4:12).

3.  The Angels; The Present Ministry of Angels

Notice the words of Hebrews 1:14 in this connection— 

Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? 

As soon as the ladder was in place, the angels were on it.  How quick they were to take advantage of any opportunity to serve.  The angels of God have no way from Heaven to earth but by this one way; they ascend and descend upon the Son of Man. 

4.  God’s Gracious Promise; The Message of the Gospel 

By way of the ladder, God revealed Himself and His will to Jacob.  This is magnificent foreshadowing of God in Christ—the New Way—reconciling the world unto Himself.  The Lord stood above it, assuring us that Christ is the Way to God.  The Gospel of God, preached in Jacob, offered a three-fold blessing— 

• A possession.  I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying, verse 13b.  Those who trust in Christ, the Living Ladder, will receive an inheritance among all the saints of God.
• Protection. “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”, verse 15.  What an amazing promise.  Jesus told us:  I will never leave you or forsake you.
• His abiding presence.   I will not leave you.  With God with us, why should any of us ever fear?  At the Cross is the promise of sufficient grace.

5.  The Solemn Discovery; The Testimony of the Enlightened 

Following the vision, Jacob woke up and declared that God was in “this place.”  To those still asleep at the foot of the Cross, it seems merely a confused dream.  But to those awakened, the Cross is an “awesome  place,” verse 17. 

The experience of Jacob at the foot of the ladder has been the experience of many at the foot of the Cross. 

1. The Lord was in this place and I was not aware of it.  Christ was on the Cross, dying for your sins before you knew it.  That’s a solemn discovery.
2. This is an awesome place.  It’s awesome—dreadful (KJV) because it is the place where the awful question of sin has been forever settled; where the wrath of God fell on the head of His Holy Son.
3. This is none other than the House of God.  Here is where God dwells, in Christ, as a refuge and a hiding place for sinful man.
4. This is the gate of heaven.  Jesus is the way to Heaven,  John 10:9, “If any man enter in he shall be saved.”

6.  The Anointed Pillar; The Sacrifice of Praise

When he woke up, Jacob took his stone pillow, set it up almost like an altar, and anointed it with oil, so moved was he by the presence of God that night.  Only the presence of God can make a “certain place” into a Bethel (house of God).  Only those to whom this presence has been experienced can raise the anointed pillars of praise.  Where are the pillars that the goodness of God has constrained us to set up? Are they out in public, where passers-by can see them?  Every act of kindness done to others, for the sake of Jesus, is a memorial pillar.  The oil of God’s grace makes every act and good deed acceptable before God. 

7.  The Vow; Our Consecration 

“If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD  will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”—verses 20—22 

What a covenant Jacob made with God.  This is the kind of covenant each of us could make with God, except without the “If.”  God’s promises of grace and His promise of Salvation to us are unconditional; there are NO “if’s” with God.  Jacob, however, on condition of prosperity said he would give God a tenth of his possessions.  How magnanimous!  How generous!   Any worldly man could make such a bargain.  But real and true dedication goes so much deeper than the tenth.  It embraces our whole being and every part of our lives.  Think of the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:19—20: 

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Than to the Romans: 

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. (12:1) 

Once we do that, then we will be able to: 

…test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (21:2)