SC 8/30/2008
Jacob’s dream
Genesis chapter 28:1-22
Disclaimer-
This sermon is from private study and resources from others at sermon central. I will attempt to give proper credit where due.
Intro-
The scripture we are looking at this morning is the same one that we looked at our Wednesday Bible study. As I began to teach this lesson I realized that a lot of people are struggling with their relationship with the Lord. A lot of people have to get past their past. A lot of people need a fresh encounter with God. Some may never have had a personal encounter with God and not know what it means to have a personal relationship.
Let me set this up:
Jacob is on the run exiled from his brother Esau who he deceived and took the family blessing from. For 3 chapters we see Jacob and Esau (twin brothers) did not get along well. (Which is not normal for twins) we see the father Isaac favors Esau, the first born, and Jacob the second born was a mama’s boy. Rebecca the mother is told in Gen. 25 that the older will serve the younger. Through many events of deception, Esau gave up his birthright for a bowl of red stew, and lost the blessing of inheritance given by his dying father because his brother pretended to be him.
We can quickly learn a lot here. It seems that all people involved are always learning everything the hard way. They have all attended the “university of hard knocks. That is the hardest school to graduate from, it does not come with a diploma. They say that when things get rough, remember it ‘s the rubbing that brings out the shine. We should be pretty shiny by now
Illustration:
There are 4 kinds of bones in the world. (Sermon Central)
Wishbones-Those that spend their time wishing everything into existence.
Jawbones- Those that spend their time talking about what they are going to do.
Knucklebone- knock everything that someone else is doing.
Backbone- Those that take responsibility and do what is needed and what they say they will do.
Bill Gates from his book “ Business at the speed of thought” brings out some interesting points. The same things my mother instilled in her two boys growing up.
Life is not fair- get use to it, get over it.
If you mess up, it is not your parents fault. Don’t whine about mistakes, learn from them.
Schools may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. They may say that 2+2=5, but it is wrong. The answer is 4. It is the real world. Stop making excuses and make the right decisions.
Illustration
Chuck Colson , the one involved in Watergate with president Nixon once said “ I found myself behind razor wire and the confine of a federal prison for several months for my part in Watergate. “The real legacy of my life was my biggest failure- that was that I was an ex-convict. My greatest humiliation - being sent to prison, was the beginning of God’s greatest use of my life.”
Why am I saying all this? Because this is where Jacob is at.
He messed up There is consequences to face. He is exhausted. He’s tired of running. He does not want to be sociable. He does not like himself, he don’t like what is going on, he see’s no way out. That is why he is sleeping in the woods. Secluded from everyone else. A rock for a pillow. The custom was to put up travels, to be hospitable, he waits until the city is locked down, and beds down outside for the night.
THAT IS EXACTLY WHERE GOD CAN GET OUR ATTENTION
Alone time- that time where everything we have tried has failed. We are out of answers and out of excuses.
Jacob’s dream- v12-15
“He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the Earth, with it’s top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said; I am the Lord, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 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. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised to do.” That’s good stuff.
-stairway or ladder from Earth to heaven.
- angels ascending and descending (commentary says that angels going up are bringing our needs and prayers to God. The angels descending are bringing the answers from God.
He identifies Himself- I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham, and the God of Isaac. Alone time when God gets our attention. God can speak to us.
Medicine has given us longer life, but we don’t know the meaning of life.
Jacob deceived everyone to get the blessing, but is on the run and can’t enjoy it.
ANYONE KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT?
On our journeys, we’ve talked about this before, we have encounters with God, and He is trying to tell us something.
God’s message to Jacob
Unique dream because Jacob knows for sure that it was God. In the midst of a hard times, God made Himself available. I have had some weird dreams. I need God to show me and tell me the ones that have meaning, and to forget the ones that are worthless.
What can we learn from Jacob
I He is here
Reminds Jacob that He is omnipresent.
Psalm 139:7-10
“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn. If I settle on the far side of the sun, even your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast”.
Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the Earth.
You may feel alone, but your are not alone.
Rely on truth, and not on your feelings during hard times.
II. He is working
v13-“ I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham, and God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. I am with you, and will watch over you wherever you go. And I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised.”
Amen That is a promise I hold unto every day. He will not leave me until He does what he said He will do.
Jacob may have felt like God had forgotten him, but God was still working.
God is not absent Just because we don’t see Him doesn’t mean He is not working or doing anything.
III. He is committed to us
He says - I will not leave you until I have done what I promised.
Philippians 1:6-
“He who begun a good work in you will bring it to completion in Jesus Christ”.
Feeling like a failure- sometimes
Feeling like you don’t deserve His love- sometimes
The truth is He is committed to you even when you are weak.
As long as you want to be in the Lord’s hand of protection, nothing can take you out of it.
III. There is a way to God
“I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father except through me.”
“One mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”.
Jesus became our stairway to heaven
We become part of the family of God
There is only one stairway to heaven.
Jacob’s response
v16-17 “When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it. 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.”
When we are doing our own thing, God has to wake us up. When this happens, Jacob realizes the awesomeness of God. He is strengthened, he has his eyes opened.
We need God
We need each other
“weep with those that weep” “rejoice with those that rejoice”
sometimes we just need a hug, someone to listen, someone to cry with us. God has to open our eyes to realize what a blessing it is to have God at our side. “If God is for us, who can be against us” if we have the Lord, we have everything If we everything but the Lord, we have nothing
Closing:
Jacob vowed to serve God
v20- If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my fathers house, then the Lord will be my God.
Illustration
Two men were in the hospital. One man had to get fluid taken from his lungs every morning and had to be stood up in bed. While they were doing that, he would comment what he saw out the window of the room. He saw a playground with kids playing, he saw love birds holding hands and kissing. He saw older people enjoying the great outdoors. One night that man was in distress and tried to get to the call button and the man in the next bed watched as he struggled and died. He could of helped by hitting his call button. He was jealous because that man had the bed against the window. After his death, he requested to be placed next to the window. The nurse was happy to comply with his wishes and the man was moved and made comfortable. Slowly and painfully the man propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He strained to look out the window beside the bed. As he did, he saw nothing but a brick wall.
What do you see? Do you see through the eyes of Christ or our own selfish self?
Gen 28:11-
When Jacob “lay down in that place” that is when the Lord appeared. When we have come to the end of ourselves, and we rely on the Lord. That is when we will see the Lord do a new thing.
How many need a dream?
How many need to rekindle the dream that the Lord has already given you?
Who would say I am not giving up until the Lord accomplishes what He said He would do.
Altar call:
He stands above our circumstances, problems, cares, our pillows of stone.
Put a note up so you will see it- “I am not alone"
