Jacob's Ladder

From: Jeff Harrison
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Jacob's Ladder

JACOB'S LADDER

When Jacob left the flat desert of Beersheba and climbed up into the hill
country of Canaan, he had a lot on his mind (Gen. 28:10). He had
never been an adventurer, preferring to stay by the tents of his
father Isaac rather than risk going out in the open field (Gen.
25:27). But now, all alone, he was making a long and
dangerous journey to a distant place he had never been before.

Jacob was in this difficult position because he had stolen his father's
blessing, pretending to be Esau, his brother--complete with goat
skin on his arms to fool the touch of his father (Gen. 27:16). But
when Esau found out what had happened, he was furious and threatened
to kill him. So Jacob's parents sent him away to the city of Haran,
where the family of his mother Rebecca was living, the same city from
which Abraham left when he first came to Canaan in obedience
to the Lord (Gen. 12:4).

For Jacob to journey to Haran was quite an adventure. He was a country-boy,
a shepherd. Haran was a major city, a center of trade in Mesopotamia to the
north. Aram-Naharaim ("Aram between the rivers"), where Haran was located,r
efers to the huge Tigris and Euphrates rivers. They flowed past the great
centers of ancient civilization, including Babylon and Ur from which Abraham
had started his journeys. Though these cities were small by modern
standards--only a few tens of thousands lived in them--they were the
largest on earth at the time. Each had its pagan temples and one
huge zigguraut, a stepped pyramid, in the middle of the city, like
that mentioned in the story of the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11). This
was a huge, artificial mountain with a large stairway
up the front. It served, according to the belief of the people, as a
"stairway to heaven" for the pagan gods. Babel, the Hebrew name of the city of
Babylon, means the "gate of God." They thought of their ziggurauts as literally a
gateway to heaven.

Some of Abraham's family left behind in Haran shared these beliefs (Jos.
24:2). Abraham's father, who died in Haran, was named Terah, a name
that comes from the word for "moon." He may have been a worshipper
of the moon-god Sin, who was popular both in Ur and in Haran. Laban,
the brother of Rebecca, was also a worshipper of idols. Later in
Genesis, his daughter Rachel stole his household idols from him, and
he chased Jacob hundreds of miles to try and get them
back (Gen. 31:30,34).

Jacob was about to be plunged into this completely different and pagan
world, a world with many temptations for a young man. But God did not want him
to be completely unprepared. So he arranged a meeting with Jacob while he was
on his way to Haran.

After making his way 56 miles (90 km) through the hill country of Canaan,
probably at the end of his second day of travel, Jacob stopped for the night near
Bethel (Gen. 28:11).* Here he slept under the open sky, using one of the stones
nearby for a pillow. This may not have been very comfortable, but it was adequate
lodging. Israel is a dry country, so here, at the peak of the hill country,
there is little chance of rain through most of the year and little grass on
the ground. There are also few insects. The scorpions are not much of a
problem, if you avoid turning over too many rocks!

* 30 miles (48 km) is a generally reliable average for the distance traveled
in a day's time on foot in ancient times. Jacob would have taken the
"Patriarchal Highway," a route still used today for travel north and
south through the center of the hill country. This took him through
Hebron, then past Jerusalem, and on to Bethel on his way north.

But this was not just any place. In Hebrew it is called "the place"
(ha-maqom), a word that often has a religious connotation. This may
have been the very spot where Jacob's grandfather Abraham had
worshipped God, near Bethel, soon after he first arrived in the land
of Canaan (Gen. 12:8; 13:3,4).*

* If not, it was very near the place. These events near Bethel in the lives
of the patriarchs explain why the city later became a center of religious
worship (Judg. 20:18,26; 1 Sam. 10:3; 1 Kings 12:32, Amos 3:14).

During the night, Jacob had a dream in which he saw a ladder reaching up toh
eaven, "and look!, messengers (angels) of Elohim (God) ascending and
descending on it" (Gen. 28:12). Standing on the ladder, together with the angels, was
someone the Bible calls LORD (YHWH), who identifies himself as the God of
his fathers: "I am YHWH, Elohim of Abraham your father and Elohim of Isaac"
(28:13).*

This one called LORD then repeats to Jacob the same promise that had been
given to his father and grandfather: the promise of the land of Israel. "The
land that you are lying on, I give it to you and to your seed" (28:13).

* The Hebrew preposition "al" can be translated either "on" the ladder or
"above" the ladder as in many English translations. However the Old Greek
(Septuagint) in favoring "on" (epi) likely indicates the correct reading.

But who is this that he sees on the ladder? The Bible teaches that no man
has ever seen God (John 1:18, Ex. 33:20). Yet Jacob clearly saw someone that
the Bible identifies as God, and who spoke as God ("I give it to you..."). Who
i s this? Later, when this same being appears again to Jacob, and reminds
him of his previous appearance at Bethel, he is called the messenger (or angel)
of God (Gen. 31:11,13). This messenger of God who is God we know today as
the Son or Word of God, and after his birth at Bethlehem, as Jesus.

Some dismiss this evidence for a distinct personal manifestation of God by
claiming that this and other appearances of the "angel of the Lord" are simply
ordinary angels speaking for God. The later rabbis invented the angel Metatron, to
whom they gave divine names, to explain passages like this. But in recording
Jacob's visit to this same spot years later, the Bible eliminates any such
alternative explanations with its carefully selected words
(translated literally from the Hebrew): "...there Elohim had
revealed themselves to him" (Gen. 35:6,7).
What is the meaning of this strange expression?

Elohim is one of the most frequently used names of God in the Bible.
Strangely, it is not a singular but a plural noun: the "im" at the end is a plural
ending. When speaking of the pagan gods, the same word (elohim) is translated
"gods."

This plural name of God is one of the proofs that Christians have used
through the years to show that God is a multi-personality--that he is a
three-in-one.

Usually, when Elohim refers to the true God, it is matched with a singular
verb. This alerts us to the fact that God is the subject of the sentence. But in
this particular verse (Gen. 35:7), not only is "God" in the plural, but so
is the verb, "had revealed themselves" (which is all one word in Hebrew, niglu[
plural] instead of niglah [singular]). Here there is no question that the
true God is being referred to, because of the context. But the writer was
not satisfied with the ordinary construction. He wanted to emphasize that God
revealed himself to Jacob as a plurality. (As Jesus said, "He who has seen me has
seen the Father"; John 14:9.) And so he chose a plural verb together with a
plural name of God. In other words, he wanted to make it perfectly clear that this
"angel of God" was not an ordinary angel, but God (the Son) himself,
distinct from and yet one with God. Because of the clear implication of this
remarkable choice of words, the early Jewish Christians used this verse as proof that
Jesus is God in debate with the rabbis (Sanh. 38b)!

Jesus himself alluded to this verse in John 1:51, when he met Nathanael fort
he first time. Jesus said to Nathanael and to the others standing there: "
You [plural] will see heaven open and the messengers (angels) of God
ascending and descending for the Son of Man" (1:51). Jesus is telling them, in
effect, that they will also see what Jacob saw! They, too, will see heaven open,
and the angels ascending and descending to do the will of the Son of Man. Here
Jesus interprets Jacob's vision, associating the divine angel of God on the
ladder with the Son of Man, that is, with himself.

But what future event is Jesus connecting this with, when they all will see
these things? He appears to be talking about the coming of the Son of Man,
his own second coming in power, of which Revelation says, "And I saw heaven
opened, and behold a white horse, and he who sat on it is called Faithful
and True" (Rev. 19:11). At that time, "he will send out his messengers (angels)
by means of a loud trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones...from onee
nd of the heavens to the other" (Matt. 24:31). Only this explains how allt
hose listening to him will see the angels ascending and descending.

According to Jesus, then, Jacob's dream is a prophesy of his own
return from heaven!

Is there any additional evidence to confirm this interpretation? Yes, the
promise given to Jacob itself, the promise of the land of Israel. Did Jacob ever
receive the land in his lifetime? No. He wandered the land as a stranger all his
life.*

So when will he receive it? In the resurrection! This was the
teaching of the early Church: that the promises given to the
patriarchs will be fulfilled in the earthly reign of Messiah, a
reign that begins with the resurrection
(Irenaus, 2nd cent. AD, Against Heresies 5.33.3; see Matt. 8:11, 22:32). Here again,
Jacob's dream points to the resurrection and the coming of the Son of Man.

* With the exception of the small plot of land and cave near Hebron bought
by Abraham to bury Sarah, in which Abraham, Isaac, and later Jacob himself were
also buried (Gen. 23; 25:9,10; 35:27-29; Gen. 50:13).

These universal implications of Jacob's dream are confirmed in vs. 14 (Gen.2
8:14) where he is promised, "...and all the families of the earth will be
blessed by you and by your seed [singular]." This, too, is a repetition of the
promises God gave to his father and grandfather. The singular "seed" by which all
the families of the earth will be blessed refers prophetically to Jesus, the
Messiah (Gal. 3:16)!

The next verse reveals the immediate reason why Jacob was given this vision
at this time: because he's going to a distant land which is not the Promised
Land--and God wants him back again! "And look!, I am with you and I will
protect 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 spoken to you" (28:15). God wanted
Jacob to know that even though he won't be in the Promised Land for a while,
the God of the Promised Land will not abandon him, but will be with him
wherever he goes. This, too, is a promise with incredible implications: If God will
not leave him until he has fulfilled his promise, then God has not left
Jacob from that day until today, because the entire promise has not yet been
fulfilled!

That's the same promise we have as believers in Messiah Jesus: that he
will never leave us or forsake us, not in this life or the next (Heb. 13:5).

What is Jacob's reaction to these awesome events? He experiences the fear
of God: "And he was afraid and he said, 'How fearful is this place! Is it not
surely a house of Elohim, and this a gate of the heavens?'" (Gen. 28:16,17).

Jacob had understood the immediate point of God's visitation: that the
gate of heaven is right there where he is, and not in the ziggurauts of
Mesopotamia where he was going!

The next morning, Jacob took the stone he was resting on and stood it
upright, pouring oil on its top (28:18). This is the ancient desert custom of usings
tanding stones (masseboth in Hebrew, sometimes translated "pillars") for
worship.*

Why is Jacob doing this? His father and grandfather had never set up
standing stones. When Abraham and Isaac had a visitation from God, they set up an
altar and worshipped him. But Jacob was not yet ready for that. So instead, he
imitated the pagan religious customs of those living around him. He had had a
remarkable religious experience, so, like them, he marked the place with a stone--with
a memorial. But memorials are for things that are dead and gone, not for
things that are alive (Matt. 23:29-31). Jacob did not yet have a living
relationship with God.

* These standing stones have been found at dozens of ancient open-air
worship sites throughout the deserts of Israel and neighboring countries (as at
Timnah, though here originally covered with a tent). Moses himself set up masseboth
at Mt. Sinai (Ex. 24:4). They were also used in cities in association with
pagan worship, as at Gezer, Hazor, and Petra; and even at Israelite high
places dedicated to YHWH, as at Arad in the time of the later kings of Judah. Butt
he use of standing stones was forbidden in the Law of Moses (Lev. 26:1,
Deut. 16:22).

But he was willing to make a deal: "If Elohim will be with me and will
protect me on this journey that I am taking, and he gives me bread to eat and
clothing to wear, and I return to the house of my father in peace, then YHWH will be
my Elohim (God). And this stone that I have set up as a standing stone will
be a house of Elohim" (28:20-22). The stone will be God's house? Jacob had
a genuine experience with God, but he still doesn't understand God very
well.

The whole earth is only God's footstool (Isa. 66:1): how can a stone be
his house?

Over the years, God was faithful and did all these things in Jacob's life.
So when he returned to the Land after his adventures in Haran, God reminded
him of his promise: "Get up! Go up to Bethel and stay there, and make
there an altar to God who appeared to you when you fled from the presence of Esau
your brother" (35:1) God doesn't say anything about a standing stone. He
wants an altar--an ongoing relationship of worship.

Jacob kept his promise. First he took all the foreign gods of those that
were with him and buried them in the ground (35:2,4). Then he went to Bethel,
and built an altar (Gen. 35:7). When he did, God appeared to him again and
repeated his promises (35:9,10). But how did Jacob respond? He set up a standing
stone again (35:14)! Jacob is now a believer. But he is still trying to expressh
is belief in pagan ways: he has not yet fully understood the ways of God.

This is not just a problem of ancient times. We all come to God with
strange ideas in our minds; ideas that must be purified, refined, and tested to
bring them in line with God's word and his will. Many pagan ideas and practices
have settled into the heart of Christianity over the years, where they sometimesr
isk blocking the life-giving flow of the blood of Messiah. It's easier to
continue old traditions than to think about whether or not they are pleasing
to God. But maybe we should think about it. Why should we do things that
God doesn't like--or that he may even have directly forbidden?

The place where Jacob set up his stone, at Bethel, later became a center of
idolatrous worship for Israel. Here they set up one of the golden calves in
the time of Jeroboam that led many to sin (2 Kings 10:29). Why did they do
this? They, like Jacob, were worshipping the right God (YHWH), but doing it
the wrong way.* They were using pagan forms of worship that God had
forbidden.

This eventually led to horrible death and destruction. Many in the
northern tribes of Israel permanently fell away, and were taken into exile where they
became completely paganized--far removed from the worship of the one true
God.

* As at Sinai, when Aaron dedicated a feast to YHWH after making the goldenc
alf (Ex. 32:5). Inscriptional evidence (such as that mentioning the "YHWH
of Samaria") confirms that the god being worshipped by the northern tribes
was the true God (at least in name), though they had abandoned the Bible's
instructions for worship.

Fortunately, Jacob himself did finally get the point. In his old age,
before leaving the Promised Land to go down to Egypt with his son Joseph, he
stopped at Beersheba, the place where this whole adventure began. Here, he offered
sacrifices in worship of the God of his father Isaac (Gen. 46:1). Again,
God spoke to him (Gen. 46:2). But this time, Jacob didn't set up a standing
stone. There was no need to. For he now knew that God would be with him every day
and every hour. There was no need for a memorial: his relationship with
God was alive.

In Egypt, just before he died, God used Jacob to deliver some beautiful
words of prophecy, including a prophecy of the coming Messiah: he to whom "will
be the obedience of all the peoples" (Gen. 49:10-12). In blessing Joseph's
children, he spoke a three-fold blessing that reflects the depth of his experience
with God, and a testimony to the God that had revealed himself to him: "The
Elohim (God) in whose presence my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked [the Father
God]; the Elohim who is my shepherd from when I (first existed) until this day
[the Holy Spirit]; the Messenger (or Angel) who redeems me from all evil [the Son
of God] bless the boys..." (Gen. 48:15,16). Here, too, the Angel of God is
prophetically associated with the end-time ministry of Jesus, who not only
marks us for redemption by his death on the cross, but will personally deliver us
from the final judgment and destruction at his return.

What about you? Are you setting up memorials for one-time religious
experiences that are dead and gone? Or are you walking in a living relationship of
worship with God? May God help us remove the paganism and every unclean thing out
of our lives, that we might worship him with clean hearts in Spirit and in
truth.

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