Hiking in Canada in the Snow and Rain, 1989.
In the late 1980s, I went hiking sometimes with Ross, who would later become my brother-in-law, and Lyndon, another friend. One time we decided to leave the trails and go straight over a mountain to a remote lake we’d heard about. Somewhere way up on the cliffs, I started complaining and asking my friends why they chose the route we were on. Finally, Lyndon turned to me and said, “Look, we’re lost too. Would you please quit whining?” I can still clearly remember the place and feeling. It was a life lesson. I returned to enjoying the hike. We slept on a small ledge way on a huge cliff. Later, coming down the other side, I fell and slid down a chute on my back, out of control, toward a sheer drop. Just before the drop, my pack caught on a snag sticking out of an old log and jerked me sharply to a stop. The stones around me continued over the edge to crash far below. God rescues us many times, and sometimes we are aware of it.
Sometimes, on overnight hikes, I tried using a stone for a pillow. Flat rocks about 2 inches thick kind of worked, but I soon returned to using my jacket or a pair of jeans. I never found a rock that was a good pillow. So what is the deal with the following Bible story?
Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. 12 And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder[b] 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! 13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. . . . 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.” (Gen. 28:10-17).
The ESV version, quoted above, has a footnote beside the word “ladder” in verse 12. The Hebrew word may also be translated as “stairway.”
Communion with God
Back a few stories in Genesis, people had conspired to build a stairway to heaven on their own terms (Gen. 11). They used their modern technology, the brick. Archeologists discovered the oldest pyramids had stairways to their top.
“Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens'” (Gen. 11:4a).
In Genesis, heaven is where God lives. When people try to define good and evil on their terms and build their way to be like God, it is not good. God interrupts their plans.
Three Habitats
The creation story sets the pattern, and in the rest of the Scriptures, you will find three habitats. The heavens are God’s space, the land is where humans live, and the chaos waters are where no one flourishes. In Genesis and the rest of the Bible, people often encountered God on a mountaintop. Eden is described as a mountain garden in Ezekiel 28:12-14—the Tree of Life in the center of the Garden (Gen. 2:9).
God’s Revelation to Jacob
Jacob was like the snake in the Bible story. First, he comes out grasping his brother’s heel. Is that an odd detail to include in a story? Do you remember any other Bible stories about heels? (Gen 3:15). Then Jacob deceives his brother to gain God’s blessing. Then he conspires with his mother to deceive his blind father. Who is the deceiver in the previous stories? Finally, Jacob is exiled from the promised land.
Earlier in the biblical story, God asked Abraham if he would go to “a far country” to start over and to start a salvation plan for the nations (Gen. 12). It is when Jacob is leaving the promised land because of his deception and striving, that he lays everything down, stops struggling. He takes one God-made stone, as compared to the man-made bricks, puts his head on it, and goes to sleep. Most of his body is still on the ground.
Lesson 1: When we stop struggling but continue actively pursuing God’s plan for our lives, God reveals that He wants heaven and earth to overlap. On His terms. He will build the stairway.
Lesson 2: There are two ways to go through life.
A) We can either think people are the problem. We strive, overpower, deceive, and define good and evil on our terms. Option A does not lead to peace, well-being, or favor with God.
B) We have a deep conviction that God is ultimately in control. We choose whether or not we want to participate with Him. We stop striving but continue to actively watch for God’s provision and leading, always ready to relax and enjoy, or to move out into unknown territory with God. Option B leads to peace, well-being, and favor with God.
Lesson 3: The Old Testament is a long story about how God wants to set up residency on earth in the Tabernacle, in the Holy of Holies. Then Jesus came, and God “tabernacled” among us. Later the heavy curtain was ripped, allowing free access to God’s presence, and Jesus was given all authority in heaven AND on earth.
Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘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 heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:49-51).
A BIG QUESTION: Why did God take so long to come to earth? For example, why didn’t Jesus get born to Eve, maybe in the place of Abel? Why did God choose such an extended plan?
Your thoughts?
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