The Presence of God

Genesis 28:10-22

GOLDEN TEXT: “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth.”—Psalm 145:18

THE setting of today’s lesson follows that well-known episode in the life of Jacob, in which he obtained birthright blessings of the firstborn from his father, Isaac, having previously purchased from Esau the right to this blessing. Partly because of the wrath of Esau in being, as he thought, defrauded, and partly because Isaac requested him not to take a wife from among the Canaanites, Jacob left Beersheba and started toward Haran. He traveled all day, until the setting of the sun, and then encamped outside a settlement called Luz, which he later renamed Bethel, because he had been so richly blessed there by the presence of God.

It was here that Jacob used stones for his pillows. And it was here, while sleeping on this improvised bed, outside of ancient Luz, that he had that wonderful dream in which he beheld a ladder set up on the earth, the top of which reached to heaven, with angels of God ascending and descending on it.

Regardless of what may be said concerning the method by which Jacob obtained the birthright which originally belonged to Esau because he was born a few minutes earlier than Jacob, God made it plain to him that He recognized the transfer, and was prepared to bless him. This assurance was given to the patriarch in connection with the dream. As Jacob gazed upon the ladder, he saw the Lord standing above it, and heard Him say: “I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father and God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to, thy seed; and thy seed shall be as, the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.”—Genesis 28:13-15

When Jacob awoke, he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.” What a wonderful impression that dream must have made upon the mind and. heart of this comparatively young man at the very time he was forsaking the material advantages of his father’s house because of his great faith in the promise which God had made to his grandfather, Abraham, and had confirmed to his father, Isaac. There can be no doubt but what this promise, reaffirmed to him on this occasion, was esteemed more highly than all which he had left behind.

The account tells us that Jacob was afraid, and said, “How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” We are not to understand this to mean that Jacob was afraid in the ordinary sense of that term, but rather, that he was awe-inspired, feeling—and properly so—that the place had been hallowed by the presence of God, that God’s presence had been there, and that from this standpoint it was the gate of heaven.

In a general way, we might understand this dream to represent covenant relationship with God, a. relationship of Jacob, and God’s people represented by him, in which God bestows His favors. The ladder itself could represent the thought of fellowship between heaven and earth, between God and man—a fellowship which, to the saints of this Gospel age, is made possible through the atoning blood of the Redeemer. This fellowship was enjoyed by Jacob because of his faith in the promises of God, and his willingness to forsake all else in order to become heir to those promises.

The foot of this ladder was close to Jacob. It is through his seed that the great work of restoring relationship between God and men will be accomplished. The vision of God at the farther end of the ladder, and His encouraging words, were to stimulate Jacob to faithfulness and appreciation of the great promise God had made a promise which was worth much more to him than the mess of pottage which he gave for it.

The dream had its intended effect. Jacob was encouraged, not only for that time, but through the remainder of his days. During the hard experiences through which he passed in the years which followed, Jacob could look back to this wonderful dream and hear the Lord saying to him, “I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land.” How true in the experiences of Jacob were the words of our Golden Text, “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth.”—Psalm 145:18

QUESTIONS:

Did God recognize the transfer of birthright from Esau to Jacob?

What was represented by the ladder in Jacob’s dream?

What was the purpose of the dream with respect to Jacob and his relationship to God?

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