Genesis 28:10 – 15 “Meanwhile Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. On reaching a certain place, he spent the night there because the sun had set. And taking one of the stones from that place, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down the ladder. And there at the top the LORD was standing and saying, “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 now lie. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and east and north and south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. Look, I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Rebekah’s plan to get Jacob away from Esau before Esau can kill him has worked. Isaac has sent Jacob back to Rebekah’s relatives to find a wife. And on the way from Beersheba to Haran, Isaac spends a night in the open and has a vivid dream.
“Wait a minute!” you say. “This is JACOB, the guy who stole his brother’s birthright and his brother’s blessing as the first born twin. Why should God bless this guy?” Good question. Let’s look at the alternative. God told Abraham that Isaac would be the son of the promise, the one through whom God would work. Isaac only had two sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau was an impetuous macho man who couldn’t think further than his appetites of the moment. Jacob, while manipulative, was a thinker and a planner.
Many times we think that someone must be perfect before God can possibly work through that person, but that’s wrong. There are no perfect people. King David was an adulterer. King Solomon allowed his wives to divert him into weird religions. St. Paul began life as Saul, the Pharisee and persecutor of Christians. Frankly speaking, God always has to work through imperfect people; that’s the only kind available. But God also changes people as he works through them.
If you had had the opportunity to interview King David after he repented from committing adultery with Bathsheba and having her husband murdered, you would have found him to be very humble and aware of his own failings. David said in Psalm 51:10 – 12 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Your presence; take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.”
Paul said of himself, “So then, I too was convinced that I ought to do all I could to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is what I did in Jerusalem. With authority from the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were condemned to death, I cast my vote against them. I frequently had them punished in the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme. In my raging fury against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.”
Let’s see what happens to Jacob…
v. 16 – 21 “When Jacob woke up, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was unaware of it.” And 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!” Early the next morning, Jacob took the stone that he had placed under his head, and he set it up as a pillar. He poured oil on top of it, and he called that place Bethel, though previously the city had been named Luz. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, and if He will provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear, so that I may return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God. And this stone I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give You a tenth.”
WHEW! Suddenly Jacob is not nearly as smug and self – assured as he was; in fact, this dream has thoroughly shaken Jacob. Jacob has had an experience of being in the presence of God, and he will never be the same again. For the rest of Jacob’s life, he will carry with him the sense of God watching over him.
APPLICATION: Do you believe that God can use you, or do you think God has given up on you? Remember that God is not worried about your ABILITY but about your AVAILABILITY. If you will allow God to use you, God will transform you. Make no mistake; yes, you should confess any sins you know you have committed to God. But trust that God will not only forgive you but that God will cheerfully use you for His purposes and His glory if you will only let Him.
PRAYER: Father God, thank you that you forgive us our sins and that you will use anybody who will turn himself over to you. Thank you that you have promised to lead us and guide us. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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