#BibleLesson Timeless Truths. On the Road to Somewhere
This post focuses on the journey and faith of Jacob.
- Jacob and Esau were polar opposites.
- Jacob buys the family birthright from Esau with a bowl of stew.
- Then, Jacob steals the blessing of his father by disguising his real self.
Jacob and the ladder to heaven is his first personal encounter with God.
10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it[c] stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.[d] 15 I am with you and will watch over youwherever 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.”
16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place!This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”
18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel,[e]though the city used to be called Luz.
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over meon this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord[f] will be my God22 and[g] 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.”
Genesis 28:10-22
Verse 10
- Jacob met God while he was searching for "his own life."
- Jacob doesn't ask for hospitality even though he is alone and uncomfortable when he meets God.
- This is the only place in the Bible that God describes Himself in this way--the way Jacob needed to know God.
- Abraham's promise comes as he enters the Promised Land.
- Jacob gets his promise as he is fleeing that land.
- God believed Jacob's future was better than his past.
- God promises to bring Jacob back.
- Jacob begins to understand the gate to heaven is his heart.
- Jacob turns discomfort into worship!
- This is not a condition.
- It is a hope.
What made Jacob believe God was talking to him and how did he respond?
- Jacob heard the stories of God's working.
- He KNEW it was God because his faith community taught him how to respond by living their faith.
God will meet you on the road to somewhere.
He still promises a future better than your past.
Thanks to Rev. Beverly Stanton Cook for the primary teaching in this blog.
The next Timeless Truth: What Christians Belive about Jesus
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