Well, if you have a bible with you,
I encourage you to go ahead and grab
it or maybe open an app on your
phone or even grab 1 of the pew
bibles.
And open to Genesis chapter 28,
and we're gonna be in verses 10 through
22 this morning.
But before we get too far ahead of
ourselves, I just kind of wanna go through
a very quick recap. I know my recap
is generally...
Go on for a little bit longer, but
a very quick recap of where we've been
from Adam through Abraham so far. And what
Genesis has really taught so much
about
Y, about about God himself and about God's
relationship to us and ourselves to Y
and ultimately, how Y desire
is for us.
He created
us, and his desire is for us.
Has good desires for us, good intentions and
good
plan sees that kind of God.
And everything we've learned so far is that
this is a god unlike
any other.
Especially as you think about the people groups
that existed
during Abraham time and before
Y comes as a God that is not
like any other God he is loving
and kind
and compassionate.
Mer.
Almighty,
patient
enduring
with his people.
And is this God is
revealed to us so too
was he being revealed to the Israelites?
In the wilderness
after fleeing from Egypt. You see we've been
approaching our reading of genesis as if the
people hearing it for the first time
were the people
in the wilderness as they were led out
of Egypt by Moses.
Genesis is is attributed to Moses.
In fact, entire torah is attributed to Moses.
And Moses
moment with his people is as he's leading
them out of Egypt and into the wilderness
for 40 years.
And here these people are hearing these stories
and the testimonies of their fore fathers and
before.
And how it helps
inform them of this
time period
in their wilderness wandering.
You see
for 400
years, the Israelites were of people that knew
nothing
more than being slaves.
And their entire worth
was built upon what they were able to
produce.
And for the first time,
there are people that no longer
is about what they do.
So how do they define themselves?
What we learned in the very beginning,
Genesis.
Chapter 1.
Was this
invitation to a god who created
mankind in his own image.
And in his image,
he invited them on day 1 to
rest.
And so a people that had known nothing,
other than doing
was called to find their value and worth,
not in what they produced,
but in their creator.
And their creator was saying,
stop,
Stop trying to live up to some standard
that was set forth by your task masters,
I am not a task master God.
And as we continued with the story,
We learned that ultimately, this is a god
that wants to be with his people,
wants to c create with his people.
Once his people to witness about him and
testify of who he is
and then do it all over again.
And again,
and again,
to not be a people
bent on destruction
bent on their own demise as we even
think about what happened with
Noah and the ark and the flood, and
we think about the people in the tower
of Ba trying to once again, create a
name for themselves.
Not just was it a matter of pride,
but they were falling back into the trap
that they were what they produced.
In God, in his mercy to save them,
scattered them.
Across the globe.
And as we hear these stories,
We are reminded
that if we are to be the people
of God,
that we need to learn from the same
lessons that the Israelites learned
in the wilderness.
To rest
to c
to witness
to love.
To see God for who he truly is.
No matter the circumstances.
And there are a lot of circumstances that
make it hard
and difficult
and challenge us quite frankly.
I can't imagine
what it was like to be challenged in
the wilderness times. I mean, How many times
did the Israel israelites said it would be
better if we turned back and went back
to Egypt.
It was a better time when we were
slaves
than in our freedom,
Challenges sometimes make us wanna go backward.
When God keeps calling us to move forward
and to trust and believe
that we too
through him can get over this wall.
And so in our passage today,
Genesis chapter 28,
we turn to
another 1 of the patriarch Jacob.
Jacob is the son of Isaac,
Isaac being the son of Abraham who few
weeks ago. We
talked about this moment in Isaac life
where he was going with his father to
worship on
Mount Mori mariah,
and they took the fire with them and
all these
logs to make a sacrifice
and Isaac in the middle of their travels
realizes, they don't have a sacrifice.
And Abraham says to him God will provide.
God will provide.
And then when they get up to the
top of the mountain,
Isaac has this realization that he is the
sacrifice nice.
And he's bound up and placed on the
altar and
nice
Abraham in this
moment is
probably extreme distress and yet extreme faith
knows that something has to happen because he
knew that they were gonna return together.
He told his servants as such.
And in that moment,
The angel of the Lord stays his hand
over his son.
And says,
stop.
God now knows.
That you believe him and trust him to
give you all that you need.
And that's important because we've been talking about
how much Abraham
was also a screw up,
and a mess up.
And didn't believe God time and time again
didn't trust God to be the provider that
God said he would be,
and now
Abraham
believes God to provide.
Through the most distressing and challenging moment
of his life.
And so you can only imagine
leading through this
family up to Jacob,
what Isaac has been through in that moment.
Jacob might not be
the most faithful follower
of Y.
And so let's hear these words this this
morning,
of Jacob,
about Jacob in chapter 28 versus 10 through
22.
And then Jacob departed from Beers
and went toward Har run.
And he reached a certain place and spent
the night there because the sun had set.
And he took 1 of the stones of
the place and put it under his head
and lay down in that place.
Then he had a dream and behold,
A ladder stood on the earth with its
top touching heaven and behold, the angels of
God were ascending and descending on it.
And behold, Y stood above it and said,
I am Y,
the God of your father, Abraham and the
God of Isaac.
The land on which you lie, I will
give it to you into your seed.
And your seed will also be like the
dust of the earth, and you will spread
out to the west into the east into
the north and into the south and in
you and in your seed, all the families
of the earth shall be blessed.
It's
Behold I am with you and will keep
you wherever you go, and I will bring
you back to this land for I will
not for you until I have done what
I have promised you.
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said
surely,
Y is in this place,
and I did not know it.
And he was afraid and said, how fearsome
is this place. This is none other than
the house of god,
and this is the gate of heaven.
So Jacob rose early in the morning and
took the stone that he had put under
his... Head and set it up as a
pillar and poured oil on its top,
and he called the name of that place
Bethel.
However, previously, the name of the city had
been lose,
Then Jacob made a vow saying, if God
will be with me and will keep me
on this journey on which I am going.
And he will give me food to eat
in garments to wear, and I return to
my father's house in peace then Y will
be my god.
Now, this stone, which I have set up
as a pillar will be God's house.
And if all that you give me, I
will surely give a tenth to you.
Let's pray. Good and gracious God. As we
hear these words this morning.
Lord I pray that we would learn from
them that we would hear from them that
we would have...
The holy
wondering about who you are,
and who you are calling us to be
and just as the Israelites might have heard
this,
in the wilderness
being taught to them from Moses God may,
we also hear from it right now.
What it is that you wanna speak and
say.
How you wanna lead and guide
and what it is that we should learn
from you and walk away with in our
lives.
It's in the holy name of Jesus that
we pray.
All amen.
Well, before we
dive too far into the text, so let's
have just a little bit more context about
Jacob because this is about Jacob. And Jacob,
maybe to your
recollection,
probably isn't... It's the patriarch that any of
us want to look to as an example
of somebody that we should emulate.
He was
quite often known as the deceive,
which if any of you also have any
knowledge about you know, what we call the
enemy
that might be 1 of his names. Now,
I'm not saying Jacob is is the devil.
But I am saying that he was a
tricks.
Jacob
was
not
well liked by his brother,
Esa saw
if you remember, he he tricked Esa out
of his birthright for a bowl of soup.
Not sure how many of you are willing
to give up your inheritance
for a bowl of suit because you're that
hungry,
but Esa was willing to trade his birthright
for a bowl of soup.
And so he got tricked out of his
birthright by Jacob there, and then,
he was he tricked his father Isaac
with his mother's help into receiving the blessing
of the born son,
which Esa saw was the
born
in Jacob
second, and therefore,
all the rights of the first born son
should have gone to Esa.
And yet,
because Isaac was old in age and
becoming blind, hard of seeing,
When
Jacob entered the room to receive the blessing
he did so
as Esa saw.
Cover himself and, like hair and put on
the clothes of esa to smell like him,
And so he received his brother's
blessing as the born.
This ends up
causing a lot of rage to be built
up in Esa on.
Isaac isn't happy with the outcome either so
much so that Jacob ends up having to
flee his home, flee his
his his family flee his clan.
And set off
for his mother's family
in Har.
In fact, he sent there in order to
find himself
a wife.
And
I think this is a really interesting story.
We're not actually gonna cover any of the
story of Jacob going to Lab in and
that whole account.
But I think it is interesting that
Jacob goes
to Lab
and stays there
when
Abraham was sending servants,
to the mother country to receipt... To find
a wife for Isaac,
Isaac wasn't allowed to go.
I think that was very
intentional
because
if he had gone, there's the possibility
that Isaac would have fallen into I worship
because we find out in those stories that
in Har iran, the the family of
rachel and it'll the family of
Rebecca and the family of Sarah and Abraham
all still practiced
idol tree.
I say all that, I'm getting off a
little bit of the topic, but
it's interesting because Jacob goes and he stays.
And And what do we end up finding
out is that Lab is also a tricks,
tricks,
Jacob into marrying the first? Born daughter before
the 1 that he wanted to marry.
And then we find out later, that Jacob
also then tricks slave back.
By
stealing flux out from under him.
So again, by all intents and purposes, Jacob
isn't somebody that we should emulate.
Deceiving people
is not good. Deceiving people in business, deceiving
people,
in family matters and relationships, whatever it might
be,
we shouldn't be seeking
deception.
But
I think the story
teaches us
that God
can use
anyone whom he pleases.
Yes
And it does not matter
your past,
your present
or even your future sins,
God is fully capable of using
who he
pleases.
And so let us open and start working
through this passage
this morning.
You see, Jacob has now departed for Beers
toshiba. He's going toward Iran. He's going to
the place where
his mothers and his fathers are from in
order to find himself, a, a wife being
also... And sent away in exile,
because of the trouble that he had caused
with his brother esa saw,
and he reached a certain place along his
journey, and he spends the night there
because the sun had set night has come
and
he shouldn't keep traveling during the nighttime, and
so was like, well, I might as well
rest during my journey. And so he took
a stone from that place, and he put
it under his head and lay down in
that place. Now, I'm not choosing a stone
as a pillow.
But to each their own, if that's what's
comfortable for him then great, for Jacob, really
good on him for finding that place, but
he finds himself
falling asleep.
And then he has a dream.
And he has a dream hold a ladder
stood
on the earth with its top touching heaven
and behold. The angels of God were ascending
and descending on it.
Now,
first,
maybe you've heard this
before because you've read this story.
But maybe you've also heard this before because
Jesus
when he was starting out his ministry,
1 of his disciples,
Nathaniel
was sitting
under a fig tree.
And his friend, Philip came and found him
and said come and see. We have found
the cry.
Nathaniel of course, was skeptical and
follows his friend Philip anyway.
And Jesus then recounts to him,
all that he knew.
And so in John, chapter 1 starting in
verse 48. And Nathaniel said to him
from where do you know me?
And Jesus answered and said to him
before Philip called you.
When you were under the fig tree, I
saw you.
And Nathaniel answered him rabbi,
you are the son of god. You are
the king of Israel.
And Jesus
answered and said to him,
because I said to you that I saw
you under the fig tree,
do you believe?
You will see greater things than these
And he said to him truly truly, I
say to you,
you will see the heavens opened
and the angels of a God ascending and
descending on the son
of man.
And so we read this passage.
And when we hear it, we should immediately
be reminded of this passage that of what
Jesus was saying to nathaniel
in the gospel.
The truth and the reality
of what this passage is saying is that
there is 1 that makes a way
between heaven and earth.
And it's Christ.
It is Jesus. It has always been Jesus
and it will always be
Jesus.
But what's so interesting is that this passage
ends up also being set up
as
a comparison
between another passage that we've already read in
Genesis
You see this language where it says they
had a dream and behold a ladder stood
on the earth with its top touching heaven.
Could also be translated as a staircase
that reached heaven.
And what's interesting about that is if you
know anything about the ancient near East,
and the culture surrounding it.
There is something
from mesopotamia that is called a zig,
And a Zig out is a temple
that was built to the gods. And on
1 side, it always have this 1 huge
staircase.
That went to the very top.
And
these were really big,
kind of structures
but they were man made. Right?
And when I say that we've already kind
of heard about this,
many believe scholars believe that it... The tower
of Ba
was a z on.
And what's even more fascinating is we didn't
talk about it then, but I wanna mention
it right now just briefly.
Archaeological, if you look around the world,
there are lots of these, structures that look
exactly like the Z,
whether you're in South America,
in Asia,
It's interesting
that people continue to build
a structure
that was probably similar to that which they
knew in
Ba.
And what happened they were scattered,
but they kept building
because it's what they knew.
But in this moment, in this dream,
it is not a staircase built by human
hands that reaches heaven.
It is 1 that comes from heaven
through god.
More specifically through Jesus.
And so,
Jacob
sees this
event happening unfolding in his dreams of god
coming in angels ascending and descending,
before him.
And I love what says this and behold,
this is verse 13 Y stood above it
But what's interesting is there's 2 ways to
trans like translate that. He is either standing
above,
or it can also be translated,
he was standing beside.
So Y is both
in this text
above
and beside Jacob.
That's speaks to the, again, this character of
God.
The person of God, this 1 that is
above all things and yet wants to be
in this really personal and intimate
relationship with his people.
And he says to to Jacob, the exact
words that he said to Isaac into Abraham
before him.
To his father and to his father's father,
this
promise.
That his seed will be a blessing to
the entire world
that his family
will be a blessing
and that he will take possession of the
land upon which he lies.
I think what's so important about that If
we remember
that this is taking place,
and
or being heard for the first time by
the people in
the wilderness by the Israelites and the wilderness.
What they're hearing
is that the covenant that God made with
Abraham
continues to make its way
through Isaac and to Jacob.
Which means God is a faithful covenant keeper.
That when he said that he would do
it with Abraham,
that he was... That he also did it
with Isaac and now he is doing it
with Jacob. And if he's able to do
it with Isaac and Jacob, then that means
that even in their wilderness moment.
Over 400 years
separated
from the first giving of this covenant
that covenant still applies to them.
And if that covenant still applies to them,
then it still applies to us.
That's the kind of covenant keeping God.
That we have.
A God who can make a covenant
with 1 man and his family
thousands of years ago.
And to this day that covenant has not
been broken.
And the covenant still stands,
and the covenant goes forward,
and will continue to go forward
forever.
And so as they hear
this covenant being re told, not remade
mind you.
There's not another sacrifice, no new covenant is
being cut.
But the covenant being re told to the
to Jacob been being re told to Israel
and the wilderness
is a solid
of who this Y is. And what he
has done and what he will continue to
do with his people and for his people,
is
and then in verse 16.
And then Jacob awoke from his sleep and
said Shirley Y,
is in this place and I did not
know it.
Here's where I kinda of just wanna focus
and wrap things up.
God is an unexpected God.
But us remind ourselves that Jacob is a
deceive, he's not 1 to be emulate,
he's not very good. In fact, as we
go forward in the passage and we read
verse 21 again.
And if I return to my father's house
in peace,
then Y will be my God.
Jacob believes that place still not trusting Y
to be his God.
Still not putting all his faith in Y.
He's gonna head off to Har iran, find
himself some wives,
make a little trouble with his father law,
and he still doesn't trust God,
But if God does these things then Y
will be my God.
Then Y will be my god. And that
is how unexpected God is, as he shows
up
to a man with no faith in him.
And we don't know how we got to
that point. We don't know if Isaac
didn't teach the commandments in the ways
that he was supposed to as Abraham
taught to Isaac.
But what we know is that in this
moment is Jacob is fleeing his home.
He doesn't have the faith that Abraham had.
Where his faith was counted to him is
where his righteousness was counted... Or where his
faith was counted to him as his righteousness.
And doesn't exist right now for Jacob
He's just fleeing
and yet God still shows up.
In a place where he did not even
expect him.
Surely God was in this place, and I
I didn't even know it.
God shows up in unexpected ways,
even when we aren't seeking him,
we don't acknowledge him or even sometimes have
the faith to believe in him,
God can still show up for us.
When he will still show up for us.
Because the covenant that was made back then
holds true today.
Even more so the covenant made in Jesus
still holds true
today.
And what's wonderful is that
David reminds us in the psalms
that we can't escape his presence no matter
where we go?
Psalm 01:39
7, where can I go from your spirit,
or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven you are there
and if I make my bed and she
behold you are there? If I lift up
the wings of the dawn, if I dwell
in the remotes parts of the sea, even
there, your hand will lead me in your
right hand will lay hold of me.
If I say surely the darkness will bruise
me and the light around me will be
night, even the darkness is not too dark
for you in the night. Is as bright
as the day. Darkness and light are a
alike to you.
It doesn't matter where we go, what... Situation
we find ourselves, the challenges that we experienced,
like the challenges that the Israelites experienced
time, and time, and time, again.
Many of them mind you were brought on
by their own decisions,
I mean, making a golden calf, their decision.
Complaining about the mann in the quail, their
decision. Complaining about the water, their decision.
A lot of the decisions that they made
in the wilderness
led to their mis fortune.
And yet y way still chose to show
up
in unexpected ways.
To still provide for them,
to still be there,
to still show them the way to still
lead them
out of the wilderness and into the holy
land.
His presence
is in
and he is fully capable.
I'm reminded of the words of Jesus and
Matthew chapter 19,
when
the disciples are
challenging him,
about the rich young ruler.
Says,
and Jesus said his disciples truly, I say
to you, it is hard for a rich
man
to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again,
I say to you it is easier for
a camel to go through the eye of
a needle than for a rich man to
enter the kingdom of and when the disciples
heard this, they were very astonished and they
said, then who can be saved.
Heaven And looking at them, Jesus said to
them with people,
this is impossible.
But with God,
all things are possible.
Well, you believe that Y is a god
of
unexpected challenges
that when we face challenges, he's gonna show
up.
He can show up, and he can change
the course and the direction of history.
Just as he changed the course of Jacob's
life in that 1 moment by showing him
a dream. And he surely did not know
that god was in that place.
That is to say,
expect.
God to do unexpected things.
Expect him to do unexpected things in your
life. Expect him to do expected things in
this church, expect them to do unexpected things
in our community, in our nation and in
this world.
Because right now, I think we're kind of
living in an age where we have to
look around and we have to say, God,
you have to do something unexpected at this
point.
But I believe that you are the God
who can do unexpected things.
Even as the israelites trans through the wilderness.
They're like, God, we don't know how you're
getting us to that promised land.
But you have showed that you are gone
that can do the unexpected.
I mean, just read through D toronto You
I can't tell you how many times they're
complaining about what's in the holy land and
the spy sent to the holy land and
we can't do it and it's... Impossible.
They didn't trust that God
could be in that place.
It's Maybe just as Jacob couldn't trust that
God could be
and
Fell.
And yet he was.
He was there.
And he was always with Jacob in fact.
If we remember
the words,
that God gave to Isaac.
It was that the older would serve the
younger?
And how did that happen?
Well, through a lot of deception,
unfortunately,
but God used it.
In his plan,
to raise Jacob up to continue
this
covenant that god made with Abraham.
That he continues to make with us and
continue to make
with the Israelites and the wilderness.
So how has God showing up unexpectedly in
your life? How has he done it?
And do you expect him to do it
again?
We you believe that he is a gun
that can do all things.
Not just little things.
But he's the god that's involved intricate in
all the little things your life,
not just the big moments where he seems
really put on display.
Because this was a big moment
for Jacob.
Have
But it's very clear in scripture that Y
was involved in every step of the process
to lead him to that moment
He still leads us today,
and we thank Jesus for that
for that gift,
that he is truly
the latter
upon which heaven and Earth connect.
In which we have been given away
back to the father
through the spirit.
Let's pray.
Good and gracious God. Could we be like
the israelites?
Who hear the story of Jacob and are
encouraged that you are a God who shows
up
unexpected places and unexpected ways to do unexpected
things.
That you continue to do it. Even today
in or I can I can't even imagine
how
unexpected
the coming of Jesus was?
And yet,
that
moment in history
changed the world.
It was another realization that the covenant that
you made with Abraham
carried forth still.
And so Lord,
lead us and guide us,
reveal yourself to us,
that we may follow you wherever you go
and whatever challenges await,
we trust and believe
that you will be there here.
It's in the name of Jesus that we
pray.
Amen.