Jacob’s Ladder

Jacob’s Ladder

Genesis 28:10-22

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTNjStJH4GA

Read Genesis 28:10-22

There truly isn’t many solemn if not downright interesting passages in the Bible than what we’re looking at today, which is Jacob’s dream of a ladder extending from heaven to earth, with angels going up and down it, with the Lord at the top.

It appears to be specifically designed to instruct, support, and comfort, not only Jacob but also believers in Jesus Christ.

But its major component or take away is God’s desire to meet with us and to speak His word, will, and way into our lives and into our circumstances.

And what this opens for us to contemplate is God’s Way of Communication

There are two verses that speak to this very thing that are instructive to every believer.

The first is Hebrews 1:1-2 that talks about how Jesus is one of two major ways that God the Father uses to speak to us.

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things.” (Hebrews 1:1-2a NKJV)

As it says, God has communicated with us in a variety of ways, depending on the need and the situation. And we’ll look at these various ways in just a moment.

But the second major way that God the Father speaks is through the Holy Spirit, which is brought out in 2 Peter 1:20-21.

“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21 NKJV)

Now, there are two main ways that Jesus and the Holy Spirit speak into our lives. First is through the Word of God, or the Bible. This is the clearest and most effective way God communicates with His people today.

There’s a saying that if you want to know how something works, read the owner’s or user’s manual. Well, the Bible is God’s manual to help us navigate this world we live in. Unfortunately, we often ignore it, and try everything else to our detriment.

The second way which is highly used by God is that of prayer, which is our opening a line of communication with God, where there is a two-way conversation.

But there are more ways that God uses to communicate.

· Visions – Where God speaks to us by showing us visualizations of events that are either going on at the time, but also those that will take place. These you can see in the book of Daniel and the visions that God gave Him about the coming future empires.

· Dreams – God enters our minds and hearts when we’re asleep and reveals to us those things that will come, or a personal word from Him, like that of Jacob in which we are studying today.

· Directly (Audibly)– Here God speaks directly to someone, like when He spoke to Moses in the Burning Bush, or when He spoke to Moses face to face, as one person to another (this was and is extremely rare). Paul had such an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus.

· Angels – Like the angel who came to Daniel to tell him the meaning of His visions and dreams.

· Circumstances – This is another way, but we must be careful, because Satan can manipulate the situation to fit his purpose. And so, to correctly interpret our circumstances, they must line up with God’s word.

· God’s hand – like when God wrote the Ten Commandments on the tablets of stone, or when He wrote upon the wall in Babylon. (But I really don’t ask for such revelation, because when He wrote on the wall, it was in judgment.)

o For years a middle-aged farmer desired to be a preacher. One day while planting his crop he looked up in the clouds and they formed the letters “P” and “C.”

o Immediately he took this as a sign from God telling him to Preach Christ. Soon afterwards he sold his farm and started a small church. The only problem was that he was horrible at it. After one particularly bad sermon his neighbor whispered in his ear, “Are you sure God wasn’t telling you to Plant Corn.”

Let me start our story by giving what brought Jacob to this place where he had this remarkable dream.

Literally, Jacob was escaping for his life because his brother, Esau, was seeking to kill him for taking his covenant blessings that God provides to the first born. And Jacob did so by deceiving his father, Isaac.

And so, with the help of his mom, Rebekah, he was hurriedly sent away to find a bride from house of her brother, Laban in Padan Aram.