Genesis 28:10-22
10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” 18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. 19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “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, 21 so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. 22 And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” 18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. 19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “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, 21 so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. 22 And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
Jacob rested one night on his journey and was shown a dream with a door to enter heaven up a ladder from God’s house. The angels traveled up and down from heaven to earth, and God spoke from above it all to Jacob. He began with who He is as the God of the living (Matthew 22:32), including Abraham and Isaac who were dead yet alive. The Lord reiterated the promise of both the land and descendants of blessing to Jacob as Je had to his father and father’s father. God had to remind each of His unshakable will of promise and blessing, for they were of His choice for and of them to certainly bring it all to fruition. He also promised that He would be with Jacob everywhere he journeyed, just as our Lord also promises us (Matthew 28:20). We can certainly trust the eternal and omnipotent God of the living who never die! Jacob then erected an altar of worship and named the place the House of God whom He had met there in what appeared to be a dream. He vowed solemnly that if God brought him safely home as promised that he would make the Lord his God in heart and life. He consecrated what he had to God, promising a tenth as a title of worship. We see how God preserves us by His covenant promises even to unending life beyond death, and how he alone deserves worship with all we possess and are. These things have been written for our example. For us, Jesus the Messiah is the door we enter and our bodies become the house He lives in forever.
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