And he Dreamed

Genesis 28:10-17

Why is Jacob’s dream such a big deal? First, let’s begin in verse 12, “And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 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 promised you.”

Do you dream, I often do, and I’ve never had a dream like the one Jacob had about the ladder going to heaven. First I believe it is important to understand that Jacob is more than likely alone on this journey and it’s going to be over 500 miles back to Haran on probably a donkey or Camel. He has gone about seventy miles to Bethel and on the transportation he had it should be in his second or third day of the journey. If we go back to Genesis 12:8 we find that God had spoken to Abraham in that same place and promised to give his offspring that land, and verse eight tells us that Abraham built an altar to the Lord in that place. The Bible does not speak to whether Jacob knew how special this place was to Abraham, but it became very special to Jacob.

If we resume the account in Genesis 28:16, “Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 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.” Why was this an exciting, and yet frightening time in the life of Jacob? Surely he has worshipped the God of his father’s Abraham and Isaac, but this seems to be the first time God has spoken to him. It was theophany, and yes I did look the word up in the dictionary, it means, a visible manifestation to humankind of God. I do believe we should state that God did use dreams but he also used other ways to speak to men, and no one should place supernatural significance on dreams that add to or take away from Scripture. Scripture gives clear guides on this point; “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” (Hebrews 1:1-2) What Jesus has said to us in Scripture is the final word, and the book of Revelation is very clear about not adding to or taking away from the Scriptures.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice