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LADDER TO HEAVEN
Reading: Genesis 28: 10-22.
Jacob was fleeing for his life. He had cheated his brother Esau of his birthright and his father's blessing, and Esau had vowed to kill him once their father died. So Jacob, urged on by their mother Rebecca, set out on the long journey to Paddan Aram to the home of his uncle Laban in Haran. He didn't know how many years it would be before he would see his home again. He was very much alone, a bit of a wanderer, a fugitive and his future was very uncertain. Consumed by these thoughts and feelings, he found a place on the first stage of his journey to set up camp for the night. Using a stone as a pillow, he lay down to sleep. While he slept he had a very vivid dream. It was of a ladder or a stairway between earth and heaven, and on the ladder were angels, ascending and descending. The awesome thing was that, at the top of the ladder, the Lord was standing, and he began to speak directly to Jacob. He firstly identified himself, so that there could be no mistake. “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac.” And then he made Jacob a promise. It was a repetition of the promise he had made to Abraham, namely that God would give him the land he was lying on and much more besides and that he would have numerous descendants. He also reiterated that through Jacob and his descendants all people of the earth would be blessed. And, as if that wasn't enough, he promised to be with Jacob to protect him and to bring him back someday safely to his homeland.
Jacob, naturally enough, was overwhelmed. “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn't even aware of it” was his first comment upon awakening. He sanctified the place in which he had slept and renamed it Bethel, meaning ‘the house of God.' And then Jacob, not to be outdone, made a promise or a vow. It sounded really a bit like bargaining. He told the Lord that if he did all this for him, then he would certainly make the Lord his God and that he would tithe to God everything that God gave him.
In the Judeo-Christian tradition, of our three ‘fathers in the faith', Jacob is the most unlikely. He was a schemer and a bargainer. He looked out for his own interests first and foremost. He lied to his father, cheated his brother, deceived his uncle, even although the latter may have deserved it, but through it all, he maintained his relationship with God, albeit a very earthy relationship. And God, who cannot be false to himself, kept his promise to Jacob. He brought him back. He was reconciled with his brother. Jacob's twelve sons gave their names to the twelve tribes of Israel, the race through whom God would work his redemptive purpose for all of humankind. The writer to the Hebrews gives us a little glimpse of Jacob at the end of his days, still journeying, still worshipping, still placing his trust in a faithful God who had brought him through everything and would lead him on to that place beyond the end.
There are certain things that stand out for me from Jacob's dream and his response to it; the times when God has been very present for us and we weren't aware of him; the many ‘bethels ‘ in our lives, the places and the people through whom we have encountered him; the fact that God can use anyone, even someone as spiritually and morally doubtful as Jacob was initially, and that God's purposes will not be thwarted; the times when we have bargained with God rather than responding to him with trust and love; the assurance that even although our future may seem uncertain, even although we may experience painful times of lostness, loneliness or ‘homelessness', God will never abandon us and will bring all things to a good end. The world is more than it seems and all about us are the angels, the messengers of God, nearer than we know.