Two-way Communication with God

Jacob's Ladder
Audio MP3

This is what the LORD Almighty says: In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.—Zechariah 8:23, NIV

Timothy Alexander

For Rebekah, bearing two sons at once was a dream come true. Though she was initially barren, the Lord arranged for her to conceive twins; and her heart rejoiced. Two decades of inability to give her husband a son had finally come to an end—and she was happy. But soon, those twins “struggled within her” to the point where she thought, “Why did I desire this?” So she went to the Lord and personally inquired. And the Lord spoke to her, saying, “Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger”(Genesis 25:23, Leeser).

Esau was the elder. He grew to become a “man of the field,” a “cunning hunter,” certainly a man of great physical and emotional strength. But Jacob, the younger, is described in Scripture as a “plain man,” a man who dwelled in tents, a man who was emotionally closer to his mother than his father. To the natural eye, it may have seemed at that point that the elder was in fact stronger than the younger; but the fulfillment of God’s words to Rebekah was just beginning. And those words would prove to be not only true but eternally far-reaching.

Perhaps Rebekah shared with young Jacob the import of God’s words to her. Perhaps, as he was growing and his character and disposition were forming, the value and reliability of God’s word were impressed upon Jacob’s young heart. Perhaps Jacob noticed in his mother’s life a strength of substance and a strength of character which resulted from her having received a promise directly from God. Perhaps he saw a direction and focus in his mother’s life that he attributed to the fact that God himself had spoken to her and given her that direction. Jacob certainly saw that in his father’s life. Although the Scriptural record of Jacob’s young life is rather sparse, it is abundantly clear from later events that Jacob’s early years contained the kind of instruction and schooling that would ingrain in Jacob’s heart the value of that grand heritage that he received from both parents.

In contrast, Esau demonstrated a keen disregard for his birthright when he gave it away in return for just one hearty meal. We too, as Christian men and women, are sometimes tempted to disregard our own marvelous birthright in exchange for the fleeting pleasures of this world. And Jacob’s ready resolve to acquire that birthright and to value it above all other things in life is a solid example for those who desire to walk through life in faithfulness to their master.

The Dilemma of Deception

When Isaac thought he was nearing death and it was the time to bequeath his inheritance to his sons, Rebekah encouraged Jacob to acquire his father’s chief blessing by deception. Irrespective of the oft-debated morality of the method, it seems obvious that Rebekah’s actions were driven by the confident memory in her heart of God’s words. God had told her the elder would serve the younger, and this was her way of acting on that promise.

Jacob, however, was not so sure. He protested: “Peradventure … I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing” (Genesis 27:12). Jacob knew that the greatest of all Isaac’s possessions was that celebrated promise originally given to grandfather Abraham. Jacob knew that God fully intended to give that promise to Abraham and that Abraham received it gratefully and nobly. Jacob also knew that that same promise was passed at arm’s length from Abraham to Isaac who received it with dignity, knowing well that it was intended for him and not another. Jacob knew that God confirmed the passing of that blessing to Isaac, that God had restated it to Isaac in clear and convincing language. But now Jacob was intending to get that same promise by deception. Jacob was planning to take that grand and noble heritage, perhaps the most noble and dignified inheritance in history, by fraud.

Jacob was a man of principle, and this plan did not set well in his heart. Genesis 25:27 describes him as a “plain man.” “Plain” is from the Hebrew tam which means perfect and complete, one who lacks nothing in physical strength or beauty, one who is morally innocent, having integrity, ethically pure. In Jacob’s mind, the blessing was the most valuable possession he could receive; taking it by deceit made him wonder if it then would really be his.

Jacob’s hesitancy was quieted by his mother’s protective parental spirit. She said, “Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice” (vs. 13). Jacob complied, and Isaac unknowingly passed that grand patriarchal possession to his second-born son, Jacob.

Esau returned from the hunt, unsuspecting that his hoped-for inheritance had already been given away. When he discovered it, he was bitterly disappointed and wept. He remembered the selling of his birthright and realized the link between that event and this, but he did not see his own part in the loss of the blessing; he did not realize that he had, for many years in fact, despised or disregarded the real value of that birthright. And so, as is common among mankind, he saw only his brother’s fault and vowed to kill Jacob for what he had done.

Jacob perceived the earnestness of his brother’s threats and left home for Haran. After traveling northeast for some time, Jacob arrived at a place near the city of Luz and camped there for the night, using a stone as a pillow. During the night, God spoke to Jacob in a dream: “And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.” (Genesis 28:12-15).

Now Jacob possessed that promise just as securely as Abraham and Isaac. Any doubt in Jacob’s mind as to whether he was the rightful recipient of that promise was wiped away by God’s own words. In addition to the promise, God also gave Jacob the land. He was now the inheritor of not only the promise originally given to Abraham, but also the land originally given to Abraham.

But in addition to those two wonderful gifts, God also gave Jacob a dream. The dream of the ladder{FOOTNOTE: Strongs #5551, meaning “staircase.” The Hebrew word appears only in this verse.} was a visual illustration of the promise being fulfilled. Jacob saw angels ascending and descending from earth to heaven. And it was this vision that God put into Jacob’s mind when giving him the promise of the eventual blessing of all the families of the earth.

The Dream in Jewish Tradition

What has this dream meant to the Jewish people down through history? Two notable interpretations are offered in classical Jewish tradition. The first is there were actually four angels ascending and descending the ladder. The expression “ascending and descending,” according to the tradition, means that the angels were climbing up, then falling back down. The first angel was able to climb up seventy steps before he fell back down and, therefore, represented the kingdom of Babylon in which Israel was held captive for seventy years. The second angel also climbed a number of steps before falling, and he represented the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians and their domination over Israel. Similarly, the third angel exercised his power and climbed a number of steps before falling, and he represented the world empire of the Greeks.

According to this tradition, the fourth angel represented the universal Empire of Rome. It is claimed that one of the characteristics of the fourth angel is that he climbed high enough to disappear into the clouds, giving the impression that he made it all the way to heaven and would not fall down. But, according to this tradition, the fourth angel did finally fall, indicating that the domination of Rome over Israel, though protracted and traumatic, though claiming to be God’s kingdom on earth, would also eventually end.

An interesting detail of this tradition is that the name of the fourth angel was Esau, fortifying the promise that all of Israel’s enemies would eventually be rendered powerless by God, even the one, Esau, who was of the most immediate concern to Jacob, the dreamer.

The second notable explanation offered by Jewish tradition is that the place of this dream, Bethel, a name meaning “The House of God,” was actually Mount Moriah where the temple, the House of God, would later be built. This explanation suggests that the work of the ladder represents the work of the temple, the work of restoring the relationship between God and Israel and, by extension, the work of restoring the relationship between God and mankind in general that was lost in sin.

These two traditional explanations seem to express a hope that when God linked Jacob’s dream to the promise, he was assuring Jacob that both divine protection over Israel and the restoration of the relationship lost in Adam would be a part of the blessing of all the families of the earth through Jacob’s seed. Indeed, that is a beautiful hope.

Within the Jewish relationship with God, the law was offered as a means to obtain life. The Jews were given the opportunity under that law to develop the fruit of a meek and humble spirit, a spirit which would take God’s word softly to heart and would recognize the Messiah when he appeared. That relationship is spoken of in Scripture as a fig tree, and Jesus found a beautiful example of Jewish fruitage in Nathanael under a fig tree. Jesus described Nathanael as an “Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile” (John 1:47).

When Nathanael discovered that he had been seen by Jesus under the fig tree and that Jesus could also see the thoughts and intents of his heart, his honest faith immediately blossomed, and he expressed that faith by acknowledging that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.

It was Jesus’ response to Nathanael that included a reference to Jacob’s dream. Jesus said, “Thou shalt see greater things than these … ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man” (John 1:50,51). Jesus was saying that he was beginning the work pictured by Jacob’s dream, a work that would restore two-way communication with God that was lost because of sin. Nathanael would now begin to see in Jesus’ life a truly unobstructed relationship with God, and that accepting the invitation to follow Jesus would produce in Nathanael’s life the beginnings of that same kind of restored, unobstructed relationship with God that Nathanael so fervently wanted.

Jesus was saying he was the fulfillment of Jewish dreams, that the original promise given to Abraham, repeated to Isaac, repeated to Jacob, and cherished in the hearts of all God’s people since that time, could now begin in earnest. As the Seed of Abraham, which would in due time bless all the families of the earth, he was now present to begin his work.

The vision of a restored harmony with God was Jacob’s dream, and it soon became the sincere hope of all Israel. In fact, it is the hope of all people, the desire of all nations. That hope, that dream, that promise is soon to be fulfilled through Abraham, through Isaac, through Jacob, and through Christ in bringing all men out of their graves, bringing them up the highway of holiness, and blessing all the families of the earth.

Thank God it is not just a dream!