Jacob's Dream

1. Jacob ‘s Dream Genesis 28:10-19

Who was Jacob?

• Jacob was one of the sons of Isaac and Rebekah,

• Jacob probably had a very stressful life. Because of his rivalry with Esau.

• First, Jacob tricked his father so he would receive the blessing which was supposed to go to the oldest son Esau so, Jacob fled toward the city of Haran to escape Esau’s fury. Jacob probably had a few sleepless nights,

2. But instead of Jacob having sleepless night he had a very interesting night

• Genesis tells us that Jacob came to a certain place on his journey toward Haran, “and stayed there for the night,Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place” (28:11).

• His interesting Night Jacob dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth. Some translations say that it was a stairway or a ramp, but in any case, the top of it reached to heaven. The angels of God were “ascending and descending on it” (v. 12).

• This dream was interesting because God spoke and made Promises The Lord said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring” (v.

• God promised that Jacob’s offspring would be numerous, spreading to the four corners earth

• Then God concluded with the words, “Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” (v. 15).

3. What can we learn from Jacobs Dream? Jacob’s dream reveals to us that:

• God wants a relationship with us. The ladder between heaven and earth is a clear sign that God wants to be connected to us.

• God’s desire for relationship it was seen first when Adam and Eve “heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze” (Genesis 3:8). Where are you Adam God said

• We also find connection when the word of God “became flesh and lived among us”

• Jacob’s dream reveals that God wants to be with us, not distant from us. God enters into the very center of human life, in all of its complexities and difficulties.

4. We also learn God comes to us in grace, not in judgment.

• If anyone deserved to be judged for his sins, it was Jacob. He took advantage of Esau when the older brother was weak with hunger, offering him bread in exchange for his birthright (Genesis 25:29-34).

• Jacob disguised himself as Esau in order to receive their father’s blessing (27:1-29). And yet, when the Lord appeared to Jacob, God offered him gracious gifts of land and numerous offspring.

• Jacob’s dream shows that God gives us what we need, not what we deserve. “The LORD is gracious and merciful,” says Psalm 145, “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love”

5. God also promises to be with us wherever we go, and to remain faithful to us.

• The name Immanuel means “God is with us,” says the Prophet Isaiah

• God never leaves us or abandons us, but stays close beside us, through all of our pains and struggles and failures. Although we sometimes fall away from God, the Lord never falls away from us. “I will not leave you,” says God to Jacob, “until I have done what I have promised you

6. Finally Genesis tells us that when Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, “Surely the LORD is in this place — and I did not know it!” (v. 16). He discovered in his dream that God was far closer than he ever imagined, and that the place of his sleeping was “the house of God” and the “gate of heaven” (v. 17). Then Jacob called the place “Bethel,” which means “House of God. Jacobs Dream tells us surely the presence f the Lord is with us

• Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place when I am sleeping and not working

• The Presence of the Lord is here when we’re sitting still and not running about

• Surely the Presence of the Lord is in this place, The place where relationships are damaged and the presence wants to re-connect us.

• Surely the presence of the lord is in this place where Judgment should be, but it’s the presence of amazing grace and not just judgment.

• Surely, the presence of the Lord is in this place the place of wherever we go.