June 29th, 2025: Jacob Set Up a Sacred Pillar | Genesis 28:10-22

And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. (John 1:51).

Think back to the original sin. It wasn’t hatred, killing, adultery, perversion, or covetousness, though all of those things came out of that sin. The first sin was unbelief. Satan asked Eve to doubt the character and commandment of God. The sin was unbelief, and the motivation may have been any number of things, including pride, lust, or lying to herself. We read His word.  We study His word. We take great satisfaction in being able to quote His word. However, when push comes to shove, we may fail to act in faith and obedience and to believe that God simply means what He says. The scriptures are full of personal human examples, where the lack of trust, the desire to fix things without God’s help, and straightforward disbelief of what God says ends in the great downfall. In today’s lesson, we have a man on the run meeting up with God, who cannot be moved. Will he believe God or try to keep going his own way?  

And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.

A little background to start, since the whole scripture is the story of Jesus. The Old Testament is filled with pictures of how He would come to us and what He would be like. It is all His story- there is a thread of scarlet tying things together.  Just outside of the Garden of Eden, God promised Eve a descendant who would repair the sin the first couple had committed and rescue the human race. Noah found Grace in the eyes of God, and his entire family was sheltered from God’s judgment because they were hidden inside the ark. I Peter 3:20-21 states, 

20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

The ark was a picture of our salvation in Jesus. Abraham was a friend of God, and he was shown a place in the rock where He could be safe. Isaac was the chosen son, offered by his father, but not sacrificed; Christ, the Son of God, would be the one to be fully given in obedience to the Father. 

The scarlet thread leads us to Jesus. Take ,for example, the account of Jacob.  While Rebekah was pregnant with her twin sons, she was told by God which one would inherit the birthright.  

And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the Lord. And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. (Genesis 25: 22-23).

In Genesis Chapter 27,  just prior to our lesson,  Isaac’s family is in turmoil. Isaac favored his eldest son, though he knew what God had said about the elder serving the younger.  Isaac sent Esau out to get and prepare his favorite meal, after which he wished to bless Esau, giving to him what God said belonged to Jacob. Jacob wanted Esau to have the birthright and the blessing, but Esau didn’t value those things.

  Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright. (Genesis 25:34).

The birthright was the responsibility and the inheritance that Isaac could pass down to his son.  The blessing was a promise given to Abraham, which God instructed him to give to his son Isaac.  Esau didn’t value the spiritual aspects of his heritage; he valued the flesh; a bowl of soup was more desired than the promise of God. He married pagan Canaanite wives, who were a grief to his mother and father. But when he heard his father speak of being near death,  Esau had a change of thought and wanted his father’s blessing.

 Rebekah overheard their conversation, and because she favored Jacob, she came up with a plan to deceive Isaac. It would put Jacob in a better light if he hadn’t known about the deception, but he was in on it.  He deliberately lied to his father and actively deceived Isaac into believing that he was Esau with the help of food prepared by Rebekah and a hairy disguise.  God had spoken on the matter, the blessing belonged to Jacob, but Issac wanted to give it to Esau.  Rebekah knew what God had said, but felt God needed her help to accomplish His will.  Esau knew he had sold his right to the blessing, but thought he would take it anyway, another lie. 

Jacob wanted the birthright and went along with his mother’s dishonest plan, he lived up to his name (supplanter) he would  “grab the heel” to get ahead of his brother. Rebekah and Jacob’s trickery worked, and Jacob ended up with the blessing from Isaac. But God would have blessed Jacob anyway, because He always keeps His promises. God knew in advance how each of them would act, but their choices did not change the plan and were not required to bring it to pass. God’s foreknowledge is hard to comprehend. He knows what we will do even before we know, yet allows us to make our own choices. 

It’s tempting to feel that God needs our help to bring His will to pass.  Rather than believing what He says, in pride, we try to “fix it” and “make things happen” with our limited and sin-cursed understanding. 

 Esau found out that Jacob was leaving and comforted himself by plotting his murder as soon as his father was no longer around.  In God’s wisdom, this isn't the end for Issac, he lived several more years and his boys buried him together. 

This lesson starts with Jacob being advised by Isaac to go to his uncle Laban the Syrian (Rebekah’s brother) and find a wife.  Jacob heads to Padam-aram, also known as Haran.

And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.

Jacob would travel close to 450 miles to get from Beersheba to Haran. The halfway point was near Mount Moriah, where Abraham was sent to offer Isaac.  This would not be an easy trip.  There was plenty of time to think.  Most scholars feel that Jacob was around 77 years old when he left and that he could have traveled anywhere from 10-30 miles per day. This place was originally called Luz, and most commentators think this place is approximately 40 miles from Beersheba. Some feel it is as much as 70 miles away (implying that Jacob traveled quickly to get as far away from Esau as possible). The Bible doesn’t really state how long it took Jacob to get here or exactly how old these men were.  

 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

He ran from Esau, but he couldn’t outrun God.  God talked to Jacob in a dream. In this dream Jacob saw a ladder stretched from earth into Heaven. A path from God to Man. Messengers of God (angels) and going up and down the ladder between earth and heaven. God stood at the top. And God spoke. He is God; the same God that spoke with Jacob’s father and grandfather. Without any help, He reached out to Jacob.  Jacob’s descendants would become a great nation.  That nation would have their own land - this very land that Jacob was sleeping on. And finally, through Jacob’s descendants, all of the world would be blessed. God is with him.  Jacob was never in danger of losing the blessing.  God is also keeping His promise to Jacob’s descendants still today. God signed His covenant with the words, “until I have done what I have told you.”

 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and 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. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.

It is easy to understand Jacob’s fear. He may know about God, but what he knows has been passed down through Abraham and Isaac. This was a personal encounter.  God controls the interaction and communication between earth and heaven. When He reveals Himself to Jacob, Jacob realizes just how much bigger God is than his understanding. Jacob gets an insider’s peek at the workings of Heaven and hears God speaking directly to him.  This is the only place in scripture where the word ladder is used.  This ladder isn’t a picture of our efforts to reach God.  This ladder is about God’s reaching out in provision and in person toward His creation. We get a glimpse  of God keeping His promise, despite any efforts to thwart or assist. Jacob renamed this place the “house of God,”  Bethel.  The Canaanites will continue to call it Luz. Jacob remembered this place.  He would return to it in about 20 years.  God will meet him there again and change his name to Israel.

And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. (Genesis 35:10).

Where is your Bethel?  At what point did you realize that God has His own plans for you and desires to be known by you?  God breaks through our plans and reveals Himself, and we either humble ourselves or continue to reject Him.

And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

Jacob vowed a vow.  What does that mean?  A vow is a solemn, binding, accountable promise. It is entered into willingly.  We’re cautioned not to make this kind of commitment lightly.  When you make a vow, or swear an oath, God expects you to keep it, He holds you accountable for your actions. When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands? (Ecclesiastes 5: 4-6) Vows are promises to God. 

Should Jacob have made this vow? In a sense, his vow is an agreement with what God had spoken to him. God had directly told him what He would do. The debate is what Jacob’s intention was when constructing his pillar of rocks. Is it a profession of faith in the word of God or a negotiation with God?  Was it an “If God does these things, then I will…” bargain with God?  Does he pay his tithe in faith, or as a bargaining chip for God’s favor? What do you think? Have you made bargains with God? Do you have promises that you haven’t kept? The sure thing to do is to believe the word of God and live accordingly.

Thank you for studying with us! God bless!