Genesis 28:10-22
Jacob’s Vow at Bethel
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.”
Jacob journeyed towards Haran and ended up with a surprise as he stopped to rest and had a dream that changed him. He dreamed of a staircase going up into heaven from where he slept, a true stairway to heaven with God’s angels going up and down on it! At the top above this magnificent sight stood the LORD Himself who spoke in his dream to tell him that He was the same LORD God of his father Abraham and Isaac, Isaac being his direct father and Abraham being his grandfather but also his spiritual father of faith and ours as well since we are also his descendants (Romans 4:16) of faith. To Jacob was given the inheritance of the promised land of hat became Israel, and to all of the faith of Abraham in Christ we inherit the kingdom of heaven from where the LORD spoke to Jacob in his dream and to us through His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2). Then God showed him the inheritance and told him he would be with him all the way (Philippians 1:6) until he obtained the inheritance (Romans 8:17, Ephesians 1:11) that cannot be taken away (1 Peter 1:4-5) as a picture of the kingdom we have in Christ. These pictures are portents of the gospel we now have revealed to us in the Son of God. Then we see how Jacob awoke from this dream vision and realized that God was there! He named that awesome spot Bethel, house of God, by the gate of heaven whose stairway he had a glimpse of. He took the stone pillow he had slept on and made it into an altar to worship the LORD there as he called on His name in honor and praise. He then vowed to return to his father’s house in peace as Gods sustained him along the way and claimed that the LORD alone was his God with the stone pillar as the altar of worship. He also promised to tithe of all he had to the faithful God who led him and revealed Himself to him. Do we likewise honor and worship the Lord who revealed Himself (1 Corinthians 2:10) to us in His Son? Remember, we will find the stairway to heaven in our resurrection to meet Him at last and worship Him for eternity!
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