Last Sunday we read about how Jacob, the son of Isaac and Rebekah, stole the blessing intended for his older brother Esau. After Jacob stole the blessing, Esau returned to discover what had happened. He begs Isaac for another blessing, but there is only one to give and it’s been given. Esau is furious with his brother and who can blame him. He plots to kill Jacob, but only after Isaac dies. Rebekah of course overhears Esau’s plan and tells Jacob he must run away to avoid his brother’s wrath. Jacob leaves his family behind and travels to his Uncle Laban’s home in Haran and that’s where we find him in our scripture reading this morning. Listen for and hear the Word of God as I read it to you from Genesis chapter 28, verses 10-22.
As we well know, Jacob is a schemer, treacherous, deceitful, always thinking about himself and concerned with his own interests. He looks only to his own instincts to interpret life. It’s all about his needs, wants and desires.
Jacob had not looked for God, but God looked for him. And it’s during his sleep in a dream that God is able to get through to him. How does God speak to you?
Jacob sees a ladder, or a more accurate description would be a stone staircase, touching the earth at one end and the heavens at the other. With the angels ascending and descending on the staircase, God appears to Jacob! It’s not just an appearance of God, but it IS God connecting directly to Jacob; not through a burning bush or a prophet, live and in person. And in that face-to-face meeting, God makes a promise to Jacob that a new kingdom, the Kingdom of God, is now at work in the world. The old kingdom of fear and terror is being overcome. Jacob thought he was alone just trying to survive with not much to offer, but God sees something valuable in this schemer that apparently even Jacob himself doesn’t perceive. Through the lens of God’s grace, God sees past the selfishness and deceitful behavior to the true Jacob; the Jacob God had created before his birth.
Through Jacob’s dream, God makes his promise to him in person and that promise is three-fold.
First, God promises to be present with Jacob with the words, “I will be with you”. Heaven has come to earth and God is present with his people. God also makes this same promise to later generations. God promises to be with Joshua and the Israelites before they cross the Jordan River. God promises the prophet Jeremiah He will be with him, too. In the angel’s message to Mary, the promise is kept through Emmanuel which means, “God is with us”. And Jesus’ last words to his disciples according to Matthew were, “I am with you always, to the end of the age”. God wants Jacob to know he is not alone.
Second, God promises action in the form of protection and safety. Jacob was a fugitive on the run no longer protected by the familiar social norms and assumptions of his past life. He is out in the open on his own. As God promises Jacob he will keep him, God offers that same promise in the priestly blessing in Numbers chapter 4, “The Lord bless you and keep you.” Psalm 121 describes the promise vividly, “The Lord is your keeper…The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.” God wants Jacob to know he will protect him from harm and danger.
Third, God promises a future homecoming for Jacob; a return to this land promised to him and his descendants. God knows what Jacob is doing and where he’s going.
When Jacob awakes, I believe to a great extent that he is a different man with a different understanding of his future. This encounter with the Living God sparks a change in Jacob. His life is not just about surviving day to day. Rather it is a life filled with purpose and direction. He recognizes that he is on holy ground and signifies it with a stone pillar covered in oil.
Jacob’s promise to God is filled with conditions; several “if-then” statements. God’s promise is unconditional and Jacob’s promise is packed with conditions. Jacob’s promise is more of a contract, a service agreement if you will: if God does a, b, and c, then Jacob will do e, f, and g.
What promises have you made? Our lives are filled with these conditional promises. Those of us who are married make a promise to our spouse to be faithful and loving and a divorce is the way to get out of this conditional promise. Whenever you borrow money to buy something, you promise the bank you will pay it back with interest, but how many people break this promise by defaulting on their loan or filing for bankruptcy. Parents make promises to their children such as saying when they’re nine years old they can have a puppy when they’re eleven, thinking that the nine year old would forget all about it by the time they’re eleven but they don’t and you are a person of integrity who keeps their promises even for a puppy. Our lives are filled with promises, but they are conditional promises; contractual agreements between two parties that can be made null and void.
God’s promises to us are unconditional. God doesn’t change his mind. God doesn’t turn back on his word. God’s word is bond. It’s a sure thing, the real deal, no ifs, ands or buts. God’s promises are something you can bank on with confidence! No FDIC is needed.
It was Charles Spurgeon who once said, “God has promised to keep his people, and God will keep his promises.”
And God has kept his promise! God has never left us or turned away from us no matter where we’ve been or what we’ve done. Living for God is not about merely surviving day to day. Rather it is a life filled with purpose and direction. God speaks to us in numerous ways, through our friends and families, a stranger at the store, a TV show or movie, and even sometimes through our dreams. Despite our imperfections and spiritual messiness, God considers us worthy to receive his promises through Christ Jesus. The Bible says in Romans 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.”
God has kept his promise to be with us, to be active in our lives and to return us home one day. This promise, spoken to Jacob in scripture, is made visible and real in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ is the stairway to heaven, the connection between us and God in the heavenly realms. The life Christ lived, the things he said and taught, his death on the cross and being raised from the dead in a bodily resurrection all point us to this Old Testament promise.
“God has promised to keep his people and God will keep his promises.” All you and I have to do is accept this promise, Jesus Christ, putting our selfish desires that hurt others, ourselves and God, to be connected to God. And he’ll lead you to your heavenly home.