A Rock, A Vision, and A Response
Text: Gen. 28:10-22
Introduction
1. Read Gen. 28:10-22
2. Illustration: Sometimes small churches look at themselves and say, “Oh, we can’t do this and we can’t do that because we are too small. We don’t have the resources.” And their vision gets limited by their circumstances and instead of taking giant steps of faith, they take baby steps. I’m reminded of the story of a man who had done something wonderful and the king called him in and told him he could mark off as much of the kingdom as he wanted and it would be his. The man took his staff and traced a line in the dirt around himself. The king watched as he finished and said, “Is that all you want? Just what’s in that circle?” The man said, “NO. I want everything OUTSIDE the circle.” What if we drew a line around this building and said we want to claim all the territory beyond this place for God?
3. This past week, we took a giant step of faith and had a GREAT VBS! We said:
a. We’re not just a little country church!
b. We can do great things for God.
4. It’s all because we responded to God’s vision.
Proposition: God is the vision giver, but we have to be the vision receivers!
Transition: In our text today, we learn about a rock, a vision, and a response.
I. A Rock: God Reveals Himself in Times of Dispair (10-11).
A. Jacob Went Out From Beersheba
1. To set the back drop for our text, we must understand what is going on at the time.
a. Jacob had received the blessing he so desired.
b. However, because of it, he had to flee from the wrath of his brother Esau.
c. The 550 mile one way trip would have taken him at least a month (Walton, NIV Application Commentary, 570).
2. He had to leave his Father, Mother, home, and possessions.
a. He left everything he had ever known.
b. He was going to a place he had never been, to live with people he did not know.
c. And this was a blessing?
3. The text says that he came to a certain place and he "he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows..."
a. This makes the Faubus Motel look like Hilton!
b. This is limestone country, so he took one of the stones and used it for a pillow (Horton, Complete Biblical Library, 255).
c. Illustration: Last fall, we had a campout, and one of my sons friends forgot his pillow, so he decided to use a piece of firewood for a pillow. In the morning he woke up saying, "Man, does my head hurt!"
4. Jacob was in a place that looked pretty grim.
a. He had no family.
b. He had no friends.
c. He had no money.
d. His only comfort was a rock.
5. But this was a place of anointing!
a. It was a place of vision.
b. It was a place of revelation.
c. It was a place of grace.
d. It was the place that God had to take Jacob.
B. From Despair to Vision
1. When Sister Diane first spoke to me about doing a VBS she told me she really didn’t want to do it.
a. She was concerned that we wouldn’t have the resources.
b. She was concerned that we wouldn’t have enough workers.
2. However, she said that every time she said to herself "I don’t want to do this," God wouldn’t leave her alone.
a. God took her to a place of desperation.
b. But he also took her to a place of anointing, where he said step out in faith.
3. Then as a church, we all stepped out together and God met us every step of the way.
a. He provided the resources.
b. He provided a van to pick kids up (free of charge I might add).
c. Most of all, he provided you! All of you who worked on the VBS, and God used you to make it a success.
4. We all said "We’re not just a little country church, and we are going to do something great for God! We are going to make a difference!"
5. God brought us to a place of anointing.
a. A place where we could see the vision.
b. A place where we could dream the dream.
c. A place where we could see the possibilities.
Transition: He brought us from a place of despair and doubt, to a place of vision and faith.
II. A Vision: God’s Vision is Unmistakable (12-17)
A. I Am the Lord
1. As he slept, Jacob had a dream of a ladder and the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
a. This type of dream was common in the ancient Near East, where the gods would communicate with mortals by means of a staircase or ladder between heaven and earth (Walton, 570).
b. God used a means to communicate his vision to Jacob that was relevant to his culture.
c. The message never changes, but the way God communicates it to us does.
2. However, notice something very different: God didn’t ascend and descend on the ladder, only the angels (Walton, 571).
a. God used a common means to communicate to Jacob, but He made it uniquely his own.
b. It was unmistakable: this was Yahweh!
3. Also, notice what He says to Jacob, "I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac..."
a. The Lord made it clear that this vision was from Him.
b. This was not some crazy dream that you have when you have too much pizza late at night.
c. This was a vision from the Most High God.
4. He makes it clear to Jacob that He was the God who had made a covenant with his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac.
5. Now He is establishing the covenant with Jacob. He gave Jacob the same promise that He had given to Abraham.
a. He promised land.
b. He promised descendents.
c. He promised that all nations would be blessed through him.
d. He promised that He would not abandon Jacob, but would bring him safely back to this place.
6. When Jacob wakes up, he knew he had been visited by God. He said " Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
a. The word translated "dreadful" arEy: expresses the terror of a finite person when confronted with some aspect of the presence of the Almighty God. - New International Dict of OT Theology & Exegesis. Pradis CD-ROM
b. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had heard from God.
B. God’s Vision Unmistakable
1. Illustration: A woman got on an elevator in a tall office building. There was just one other person in the elevator, a handsome man. She pushed the button for her floor and then casually looked over at the man and suddenly had one of those moments of recognition shock. Could it be? The man looked exactly like Robert Redford, the movie star. Her gaze was almost involuntarily riveted on him. Finally, she blurted out, ’Are you the real Robert Redford?’ He smiled and said, ’Only when I’m alone!’
2. When you hear the voice of God there is no mistaking it!
3. When you hear the voice of God you know there can be no other.
4. When you hear the voice of God you have no choice but to obey.
5. Jn. 10:3-5 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."
Transition: However, knowing the voice of God leaves us without option.
III. A Response: God’s People Must Embrace God’s Vision (18-22).
A. The Lord Shall Be My God
1. What is truly amazing is what Jacob did when he woke up from his dream.
2. The first thing he did was to set the stone he had used as a pillow as a pillar.
a. Setting up these "standing stones" was a common religious practice in the ancient Near East (Walton, 571).
b. It was used as a reminder of some great thing that God had done.
c. 1 Sam. 7:12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the LORD has helped us."
d. Jacob knew that he had been in the presence of God, and he didn’t want to forget it.
3. The second thing he did was to give the place a new name. It had been called Luz, but he changed it to Bethel.
a. The word Bethel means "House of God" (Walton, 571).
b. His life had been transformed in this place, and now he was going to transform it because he had met God there.
c. It was no longer a place of wilderness, but a place of worship for generations to come.
4. The third thing he did was to make a vow to God. He said "If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God."
a. At first glance, it may seem that Jacob is just making another bargain, as he did with Esau.
b. However, the word translated "If" can also be translated "truly" or "since" (Horton, 259).
c. He was expressing gratitude and faith, not doubt, and so appropriated the promise (ibid).
5. The fourth thing that Jacob did was he put his money where his mouth was, when he said "and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You."
a. He recognized for the first time in his life that everything he had came from God.
b. His faith became more than just lip service, but he showed the genuineness of his faith by what he gave.
B. Responding to God’s Vision
1. Illustration: T.E. Lawrence once said, "All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds awake to the day to find it was all vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for the many act out their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible..."
2. A vision from God means nothing until we respond to the vision.
3. God gives us the vision but he gives us the responsibility of appropriating in into our lives.
4. If the vision is going to be active in our lives we have to:
a. Step out in faith.
b. Step out in trust.
c. Step out in hope.
5. We can say "all things are possible for him who believes" all we want, but until we begin to act like it, they are only words.
Transition: All things are possible to him who acts like he believes.
Conclusion
1. God is the vision giver, but we have to be the vision receivers.
2. What are you going to do with the vision of God?
3. Are you going to wake up and pretend it didn’t happen, or are you going to allow it to transform you?
