I have a very special pillowcase that might tempt you to make fun of me. It is my “Where’s Waldo” pillowcase. Actually, it belonged to one of our children, but I use it as my pillowcase when I go camping in the wilderness. My wilderness gear consists of leftovers from around the house. There’s no point in taking anything too nice into the woods. This particular pillowcase serves a very important purpose. An empty pillowcase is the lightest, most compact way to have a comfortable pillow at night. I simply stuff the pillowcase with come clean clothes, and I’m ready for a comfortable night’s sleep. There are many things that I sacrifice when I go camping, but a comfortable pillow is NOT one of them.
That’s one of the memorable pictures from this story from Genesis 28. We find Jacob fleeing his home and resting his head on a stone! As someone who’s spent many nights out of doors, I can tell you that Jacob had a miserable night’s sleep!
A night without a pillow can be difficult.
A night with a painful pillow is completely unbearable.
I’ve learned that a soft pillow is essential for sleep while you are camping. Jacob’s pillow of stone shouts out to us that he is unprepared, alone and miserable.
We find this story in Genesis 28:10-22
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. 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 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. 15 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 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, 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 me on 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 house, then the Lord will be my God 22 and 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.”
A. Ross notes the importance of our passage, showing “how a place became a shrine, a stone became an altar, and a fugitive became a pilgrim—God in His grace revealed Himself to Jacob in that place. Quoted by K. A. Mathews, vol. 1B, Genesis 11:27–50:26, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2005), 442.
Jacob is in a lonely place. His lessons teach us about the lonely places in our lives. The main goal of this message from Genesis 28 is to encourage us that God uses the times of loneliness and isolation to speak to us in profound ways that would otherwise be missed.
First, notice that God Brought Jacob to a Lonely Place. 28:10-11
I know that we see Jacob traveling here on his own, but don’t miss the fact that God’s sovereignty is in focus in what transpires in this passage.
Jacob was living with his father Isaac and mother Rebekah in Beersheba, in the central Negev dessert, south of Jerusalem. His conflict with Esau has forced him to leave home and his broiling wrath. Rebekah has convinced Isaac to send Jacob back to their family in Haran, about 1,000 miles away in the area of modern day Syria. This must have been devastating for Jacob. Don’t forget, he was the one who “dwelt near the tents” (Genesis 25:27).
His departure was swift. It was painful. It was unannounced. It was unplanned.
The text informs of that upon leaving Beersheba on his way to Haran, he rests one night in a “certain place.” The place was called“Luz,” and was 50 miles into his 1,000 mile journey to Haran. Most likely, this was about 2 days of travel from the time of his departure. Jacob is by himself, most likely riding a camel. He had a great deal of time to contemplate his sorrows and loneliness.
Jacob is truly alone
Leaves his father. Isaac instructed him to“Go to Padan-Aram, (Gen 28:2)
Leaves his mother.
Leaves his brother (even though his brother was ready to kill him, Jacob is now left as an isolated man without family, except the distant relatives in Haran whom he has never met.
He leaves his comfortable life
Even though we see Jacob’s involvement in the decisions that led to this departure, we can say that God’s sovereignty brought Jacob to this place.
JACOB’S own doing is laid out in Genesis 27:19–21 (NIV84)
19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing.”
20 Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”
“The Lord your God gave me success,” he replied.
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”
Jacob was the “Supplanter.” The “Grabber”
Jacob grabbed Esau’s heel
Jacob grabbed Esau’s birthright
Jacob grabbed Esau’s blessing
LATER, Jacob would grab the ANGEL of the LORD and not let go until God blessed him!
Rebekah was also responsible (in human terms) for Jacob’s sudden departure. She put Jacob up to the deception that stole Esau’s blessing. She coddled Jacob and ruled the roost, causing great division in the family.
But ultimately, God was in charge. Even though Jacob and Rebekah sinned, and even though Esau and Isaac were a great disappointment, God was working through these events to bring Jacob to a place where he would listen to the voice of God.
Now, Jacob finds himself in the desert, without protection, without a place to sleep.
This scene is written of in the hymn, “Mansion over the Hilltop”
“Tho' often tempted, Tormented and tested, And like the prophet, My pillow's a stone
And tho' I find here, No permanent dwelling, I know He'll give me, A mansion my own!”
The idea of a stone for a pillow resonates with us and reminds us of loneliness.
God allows us to find lonely places so that we can experience His presence as never before. CS Lewis wrote in “The Problem of Pain;” “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world ”
If you fell alone, you’re not alone! In his book, The Search for Significance, Robert McGee writes, “Ninety-two percent of the Christians attending a recent Bible conference admitted in a survey that feelings of loneliness are a major problem in their lives. All shared a basic symptom: a sense of despair at feeling unloved and a fear of being unwanted or unaccepted.” Robert S. McGee, The Search for Significance: Seeing Your True Worth through God’s Eyes (Nashville: Word Pub., 1998), 54
If you are alone, you might be just where the Lord wants you!
Remember that although Jacob was responsible for his life of “grabbing,” that it was God who ultimately brought Jacob to his lonely place.
The second point in our text is that God Met Jacob at his Lonely Place. Gen 28:12-15
This is Jacob’s first encounter with God! Jacob witnessed the life of his father Isaac. He heard the stories of how God spoke to his grandfather Abraham, but there is no evidence in either the text or in the life events of Jacob that he personally knew God at this time in his life.
God gets Jacob’s attention by revealing himself to Jacob in a dream. His beloved son Joseph would later have many dreams. This is Jacob’s first and the first encounter between the young patriarch and the Lord.
Jacob heard the Covenant repeated from ISAAC (Genesis 28:3-4), but now he is hearing directly from GOD! The point for us is that you and I need to hear directly from God if we are to experience his presence.
The dream is one of a ladder going from earth to heaven, with angels going up and down the ladder. Actually, the word “Stairway” is better than ladder. The emphasis of this picture is transport from one place to another. It gives us the concept that God is sending his message to earth, directly to Jacob. God has something to say, and he is going to say it to Jacob!
After only hearing about God’s presence, and seeing his father’s faith, God now has a message for Jacob, and he can deliver it only because Jacob is in a lonely place. It makes me wonder if the lack of God’s presence in Jacob’s life was because Jacob was too busy doing things his own way, working things out according to his own wisdom, so that he was immune or unable to hear the voice of God.
Interestingly, there is really nothing new in the revelation that God gives to Jacob. The message repeats the Covenant that God gave to Abraham.
28:13 - I will give you the land - LAND COVENANT.
28:14 - your descendants will be multiplied DAVIDIC COVENANT
28:14 - All people of the earth will be blessed through your descendants. NEW COVENANT
The key difference is that Jacob has never been ready to receive this message until now. That’s how it is with us as well. God has a message for you. It’s the same message that the apostles declared after Christ’s resurrection. But you will not be blessed by this message until you are ready to listen to the voice of God.
Jacob is made aware that the answer to his problems is only found in God. Jacob is learning that his own efforts to solve his problems only lead to frustration and pain. He is learning what it means to call out to God.
The film, “It’s a Wonderful Life” is one of my favorites. You may remember the scene where George Baily is alone in Martino’s bar, contemplating how alone he is. This exceptionally gripping scene was later explained by Jimmy Stewart for “Guideposts” magazine.
“Jimmy Stewart shared the story about the filming of the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life. “It’s hard to explain. I, for one, had things happen to me during the filming that never happened in any other picture I’ve made. In one scene, for example, George Bailey is faced with unjust criminal charges and, not knowing where to turn, ends up in a little roadside restaurant. He is unaware that most of the people in town are arduously praying for him. In this scene, at the lowest point in George Bailey’s life, Frank Capra was shooting a long shot of me slumped in despair. In agony I raise my eyes and, following the script, plead, ‘God . . . God . . . dear Father in heaven, I’m not a praying man, but if you’re up there and you can hear me, show me the way. I’m at the end of my rope, Show me the way, God. . . .’ As I said those words, I felt the loneliness, the hopelessness of people who had nowhere to turn, and my eyes filled with tears. I broke down sobbing. This was not planned at all, but the power of that prayer, the realization that our Father in heaven is there to help the hopeless, had reduced me to tears.” Guideposts, December 2005, p. 82
So, God brought Jacob to a lonely place, and God met Jacob at his lonely place... NOW
God’s Presence Comforted Jacob In His Lonely Place. Gen 28:16-17
Jacob encounters the LORD
“The Lord’s Presence” was there. Jacob knew it. You and I know it when we find our need and God’s sufficiency to meet that need.
Jacob understood that God was on his side!
Romans 8:31 "What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?"
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
When we are comforted by God, all of the pain of our lonely place is changed into a memorial to God’s grace.
Jacob’s Lonely Place Because a Memorial to God’s Grace. Gen 28:18-22
Jacob built an altar using the stone that was his pillow the night before (18).
Jacob changed a name of a city that didn’t even belong to him!
This was an act of FAITH
It was also an act of WORSHIP
Jacob made a vow
I will SERVE the LORD (The LORD will be my God)
I will WORSHIP the LORD (“this stone will be God’s house”)
I will HONOR the LORD (I will give you a tenth)
The promise to give a tenth is patterned after Abraham’s gift to Melchizedek in Genesis 15.
Question: Do you see your LONELY PLACES as merely OBSTACLES or as God appointed events in your life to bring you closer to the very presence of God?
In his book, “bumps are what you climb on,” Warren Weirsbe writes,
“The trouble with most of us is that we are accustomed to paved roads and level sidewalks. But life is not made that way. Sometimes the road is level and easy, and the birds are singing and the way is wonderful. But sometimes the road is rocky and bumpy, and we hear no music and feel no helping hand. Then what? Complain? Give up? No, that’s the time to remember God’s promise: “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” God’s invisible army is at your service, and God can see you through.” Wiersbe, Warren W. (2003-01-01). Bumps Are What You Climb On, The: Encouragement for Difficult Days (Kindle Locations 138-142). Baker Book Group. Kindle Edition.
Finally, if you are facing a lonely place today, the most important lesson for you is to recognize that God was communicating that there is a message for you from heaven. God wants to speak to you. He wants to have fellowship with you. But the key is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the ultimate reason for the Abrahamic Covenant.
The Stairway to Heaven is the Lord Jesus Christ
John 14:6 "Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
John 14:8–9 "Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” " "Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?"
John 16:15 "All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you."
“The secret to climbing higher is to look away from yourself and your difficulties, and look by faith to Jesus Christ.” Wiersbe, Warren W. (2003-01-01). Bumps Are What You Climb On, The: Encouragement for Difficult Days (p. 14). Baker Book Group. Kindle Edition.
If you are in a lonely place, recognize that you are there by God’s sovereign will. He has something to say. He has not put you in a lonely place so that you might be kept from him, but rather that you might come to and end of yourself so that you can put your entire faith in him. He wants you to experience his presence. He wants you to hear from heaven, and experience salvation and forgiveness. If your pillow is a stone, turn that stone into an altar. Worship the Lord and reach out to receive his forgiveness and blessing.
