Genesis 28:10-22
The Stairway to Heaven

1. Jacob's Vision
   1. The Background
      1. Jacob has just gained his father's blessing by deceit
         1. He has lied to his father
         2. He has blasphemed the Lord
      2. Now his brother Esau feels cheated and seeks to kill him.
      3. So he is banished from the Promised Land, sent out to Haran to find a bride.
         1. The very blessing he sought by his own trickery, this he cannot retain.
         2. What good is this land, gained by his own hand? He cannot retain it. To stay here is to live in fear.
         3. Like Adam and Eve, he is banished from the place of God's presence. His own sin brought this on him.
         4. He desired the blessing of God, but he sought it through sinful means.
         5. And he didn't really understand it.
         6. So he is banished to the east, like Adam and Eve before him, like his own descendants after him. For his own descendants will be banished to the east, to Babylon, when they disobey the Lord their God.
         7. Jacob, by his own unrighteousness has forfeited his right to this land.
      4. He heads back to pagan lands where the Lord is not worshipped
         1. Back in the direction of Ur, where Abraham had worshipped false gods beyond the Jordan.
         2. In Ur there was a ziggurat, a pyramid with steps going up each side to the top. And at the top, supposedly, a god dwelt and one went to pray to him there.
         3. To the east, men had tried to build such a tower in Babel, or Babylon, a tower with its top in the heavens.
      5. What a mess he has made of it all!
      6. How will he inherit the blessing of Abraham now?
   2. The Setting
      1. We see him in this story, still in the Promised Land, but on his way out.
      2. He came to "a certain place" and camped there "because the sun had set."
         1. The language emphasizes the randomness of this place
         2. It is just where Jacob happened to be when it got too dark to continue his journey
         3. He is not seeking a holy place. He is not hoping for an encounter with the Lord.
         4. He is dejected and weary. All his plans have come to nothing.
      3. He took a stone and set it at his head
         1. Not under his head, as a pillow
         2. But at his head as a protection, perhaps from the wind
         3. We are to imagine a long stone, laid on the ground, as we shall see later
         4. This is the protection that the land affords him.
         5. It isn't much, but it is all he can get.
      4. So he lies down and goes to sleep
   3. The Dream
      1. He sees a "ladder," or better yet, a staircase with its base on earth and its top in heaven.
         1. And not just its top in the earthly heavens, the sky.
         2. But its top is in heaven above, the dwelling place of God
         3. For God's angels descend upon it to the earth
         4. And from the earth they rise up on it to heaven
         5. And God himself is standing at the top of it
      2. Here is what the ziggurat in Ur claimed to be
      3. Here is what the men of Babel tried to build
         1. a tower with its top in the heavens
         2. But the Lord looked down to see it, as one looks at something far below.
         3. Not so with this tower, this staircase.
      4. The Lord does not look down to see it, but stands upon it
         1. It is a connection between heaven and earth
         2. It is a connection between God and Jacob
         3. To be at the base of this stair is to be in the presence of God
            1. It is to have the angels carry up his worship
            2. It is to have the angels carry down God's word
      5. What will the Lord say to this rascal, this thief, who cheated and blasphemed to gain the blessing?
2. The Lord's Blessing
   1. The Lord Does Not Curse or Rebuke
      1. Look at this blessing! There is not a word of reproof in it.
      2. Does the Lord condone Jacob's actions?
      3. How can he?
      4. But he forgives, and he blesses anyway.
      5. This is grace, pure grace!
      6. Jacob deserves a curse, not a blessing!
      7. But God comes to him and blesses him
   2. The Lord Repeats the Abrahamic Blessing
      1. He is the God of Abraham and Isaac. He will be Jacob's God as well.
      2. I will give this land to your offspring (13)
      3. In your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed (14)
      4. This promise is fulfilled in Christ
   3. The Lord Expands His Promise (15)
      1. I am with you and will guard you wherever you go
      2. Remember how Abraham didn't want Isaac to leave the Promised Land (Explain why)
      3. Remember how God told Isaac not to go down to Egypt (Explain)
      4. Now Jacob through his own fault must leave the Promised Land
      5. And God responds not with judgment but with grace upon grace.
         1. I will go with you wherever, even outside this land
         2. And I will bring you back safely here
      6. Jacob's sin has not succeeded in frustrating God's plan.
      7. Rather, God expands his grace to cover Jacob's sin
      8. What then? Shall he continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid!
3. Jacob's Response
   1. He Reassesses the Promised Land (16,17)
      1. He had thought of it only in earthly terms
      2. So he had used earthly means to get it
         1. He had relied on his flesh, his works, and they were filthy
         2. But he has now had a Damascus road experience, like the apostle Paul
         3. The Lord has appeared to him and showed him that the covenant is not about a piece of real estate but about the inheritance of heaven itself.
         4. This circumcised son of the covenant is about to become a true son of Abraham by faith.
      3. "Surely the Lord is in this place and I, I did not know it."
         1. The "I" is emphasized.
         2. He'd been seeking this land for all the wrong reasons.
         3. Now he knows that the Lord is here and that is why this land is valuable.
      4. He is filled with awe and fear
         1. "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
         2. Finally he understands what his inheritance is all about
         3. Finally he understands what has been promised to his grandfather Abraham and to his father Isaac.
         4. And he trembles to be in the presence of such glory.
   2. He Consecrates the Place
      1. He took the stone that he'd set at his head and made it a pillar
         1. It had been horizontal; It now stands upright
         2. It had been his protection on earth, and a pretty poor one.
         3. Now it points up to heaven to his true protector who will be with him always.
         4. So he pours oil over the pillar, anointing it, signifying that this is the place where he had met God and received promises.
      2. And he names the place "Bethel"
         1. The house of God
         2. Not that God lives on earth
         3. But on this ground he looked up and saw the heavens opened and understood the glory of what had been promised to him.
         4. Here, on earth, he had seen the house of God, which is in heaven.
   3. He Makes a Vow to God
      1. Correct reading: "If God will be with me, and keep in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, and if I return in peace to my father's house and the Lord shall be my God. THEN this stone which I have set up as a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to you."
      2. If = since (Jacob's not really in doubt.)
      3. God will be with him
      4. He will keep him in the way
      5. He will give him food and clothing
         1. And with these he will be content
         2. Gone is his lust for the goods of this world. He has seen heaven opened up.
      6. He will bring me back in peace
      7. The Lord will be my God.
      8. Therefore, this stone will remind me of the house of God in heaven
      9. And of all you give me, I will give a tenth to You
         1. Greedy, grasping Jacob, has become generous!
         2. Jacob, who gained the birthright and the blessing through trickery, finally acknowledges that he can't rely on himself.
         3. Everything he has is from God.
         4. Therefore he can freely offer a tenth of it back
         5. God will surely keep his word and supply all Jacob's needs.
4. The Passage Fulfilled in the Light of Christ
   1. Jesus Is the Stairway
   2. Jesus Is Bethel
   3. Let Us Therefore Consecrate Ourselves to Go

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