In this lesson, we examine how God sovereignly chose and sovereignly provided for Jacob. We also examine Jacob’s vision of a heavenly staircase and how that vision connects with Jesus Christ.
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right yeah actually um to repeat what you said bill he demonstrated faith in God and how he sought his master’s will over his own will which I think um in itself demonstrates Faith but also specifically he was looking for a bride for Isaac and he asked God to reveal that bride in an extravagant way he said do something unexpected so that I may know that you love my master but it wasn’t just a servant who demonstrated faith before that someone else says something that demonstrates faith remember at the beginning of the account we hear Abraham speaking to his servant the servant says well what if she doesn’t want to come back with me but Abraham says he’s confident the Lord will do something the Lord will send his Angel before you and this is a statement of faith he says I know that it’s going to work out you don’t have to worry about her not coming back if she won’t come back they’re free from my oath but she will because the Lord’s gonna accomplish it so Abraham demonstrates Faith Abraham servant demonstrates Faith you can even argue that Rebecca demonstrates Faith because she immediately chooses to travel to Canaan now how did God vindicate their faith and demonstrate a sovereign control a couple different ways but how does God demonstrate his obvious Sovereign control in Genesis 24 that we looked at last week oh it’s one way yeah that’s the that’s the biggest one right that when Abraham’s servant prayed that the Lord answered his prayer and did exactly as he had prayed and these tests are the the things that he had prayed were also things that would show the character of the woman that he was interacting with so we see God’s sovereignty interact in a couple different ways there God caused the servant to be a god-fearer and someone who was faithful to Abraham and so that was part of God’s Sovereign kindness to Abraham but then God also moved things in Rebecca’s life and and formed Rebecca in such a way that she would be a great Bride for Isaac that involved God’s sovereignty over many many years and then God revealed Rebecca to the servant after after the servant prayed so those are all examples of God’s sovereignty there and we can also add to that that God moved the hearts of Rebecca and her family to allow her to come back to Canaan they immediately said yeah we want this marriage to take place and then when it happened a little bit more quickly than they anticipated God moved Rebecca’s hard to say I will go I will go now so God’s sovereignty very much on display in this account and when the servant saw God’s Sovereign work he concluded remember that God was displaying his loving kindness to Abraham God was displaying his faithfulness he sees how God has arranged everything he says wow the Lord is showing loving kindness to my master and what did he do in response does it twice he bowed and worshiped like he was having a conversation with people conversation with Rebecca conversation with her family they say something that’s like wow that is so obviously the Lord’s kindness to my master and he just worships he bows and he worships now how was this account meant to instruct us and the Israelites before us well it as I said last week it was to remind them to trust in God’s Sovereign control because God is working things for their good he is being kind to them he is honoring his Covenant and they can depend on him they must depend on him they were going into an unknown land they were going to have to deal with problems that they never had to deal with before but God says look how I provided for Abraham and for his son I will do similar things for you not the exact same but I will still have that same Covenant kindness towards you that’s true for us any questions about last week’s lesson Okay so we’ve seen what God accomplished on on Abraham’s behalf and Isaac’s behalf but he’s going to show us more of his Sovereign Covenant kindness as we move on in the historical record and we look at Isaac’s son Jacob that’s the subject of today’s lesson entitled Jacob’s Ladder we’re going to be overviewing Jacob’s life today covering a lot of textual ground and therefore not going too in depth into any particular Passage we’re all going to look more closely though at the situation of Jacob’s birth and also a special Vision that God grants Jacob known as Jacob’s Ladder let’s pray before we go on father you are great and exalted you are so holy and high and Lord we can’t comprehend you except that you revealed a a little bit about yourself and what you have done Lord we could not know you unless you revealed yourself so we’re thankful for that Lord help us to understand your Revelation now help me be able to explain it well and I pray God that those who hear and myself Lord as I continue to talk about it will you be moved to worship Lord because we see more of who you are and how great you are and that would be moved to trust and depend on you in Jesus name amen let’s start our study of Jacob by going to the chapter right after the one we looked at last week open your Bibles please to Genesis 25.
we’ll be looking at verses 19 to 28 as we examine the birth of Jacob and of his brother so Genesis 25 verses 19 to 28.
now these are the records of the generations of Isaac Abraham’s son Abraham became the father of Isaac and Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebecca the daughter of bathuel the aramian of paddinaram the sister of Laban the arameon to be his wife Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was Barren and the Lord answered him and Rebecca his wife conceived but the children struggled together within her and she says and she said if it is so why then am I in this way am I this way so she went to inquire of the Lord the Lord said to her two nations are in your womb and two peoples will be separated from your body and one people shall be stronger than the other and the older Shall Serve the younger when her days to be delivered were fulfilled behold there were twins in her womb now the first came forth red all over like a hairy garment and they named him Esau afterwards his brother came forth with his hand holding onto Esau’s heel so his name was called Jacob and Isaac was 60 years old when she gave birth to them when the boys grew up Esau became a skillful Hunter a man of the field but Jacob was a peaceful man living in tents now Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for game but Rebecca loved Jacob will stop there let’s make some observations on this passage how long had Isaac and Rebecca been waiting for children after they were married 20 years we mentioned this last week but Isaac was 40 when they got married and his children were born so 20 years and some things had to happen for these children to come what did Isaac pray to God he prayed that they would be able to have children that the Lord would open his wife’s womb that he would grant them a child because she was barren the Lord answers that prayer he responds by granting that request and Rebecca conceives they do they are able to conceive but the babies struggle together in her womb and what does Rebecca do in response she inquires the Lord she prays she says I don’t understand what’s happening to me I want to speak to God about it God again responds by telling her the reason for the tumult in her womb and what was the reason there were twins in there that’s part of it so they might naturally just struggle against each other right there’s a prophecy that’s actually based on what’s happening in her womb before they’re born he the Lord tells her the struggle is emblematic of the children’s Futures and the futures of their Descendants the children will struggle against one another in life their descendants will form two Nations that will also struggle against one another and then something unexpected the older will serve the younger he also says that one nation will be stronger than the other now why would it be strange for the older to serve the younger that’s right the Customs at the time and we see throughout the scriptures that the firstborn is the one who receives the inheritance he gets the he gets the most of the inheritance and he gets the special blessings and the birthright Etc but God foretells that it’s actually going to be the younger who’s going to be preeminent over the older this is counter-cultural and this goes against the normal pattern Not only was the older child going to be in subjection to the younger but also his descendants were going to be in subjection to the younger child’s descendants so this was a unexpected prophecy now which child turned out to be older Esau I mean they were twins but the one who came out first was Esau so he was considered older and why was he called Esau because he was hairy says he was red and he was hairy but the name Esau has to do with being hairy it comes from the word um it has to do with being rough so it’s kind of like feeling him and it’s like a little bit rough because of all the hair why was Jacob given his name because he was clutching onto his brother’s heel Jacob means heel catcher so it’s a very literal name applied to that situation figuratively though heel catcher means supplanter like you take the place of somebody else so there’s also going to be something prophetic about that name as these two children grow up Esau is the favorite of the father and Isaac is the favorite of the mother but why does Isaac prefer Esau yeah yeah yeah that’s right Esau is a hunter and it says his father had a taste for game so he liked the food that Esau was able to bring back and he probably in general preferred the outdoors just as Esau did because we see later in the Bible when um when Jacob was actually deceiving his father and pretends to be Esau Isaac smells Jacob and he says Ah the smell of the field you know that’s the smell of Esau he likes that smell so I think Jacob had a preference for the outdoors and so he has a preference for Esau all right so we’ve made some observations let’s ask a few interpretive questions what aspects of God are on display In this passage one of them has to be his sovereignty right his control before the children are born he says what they will do and he says what their descendants will do that’s the god who’s in control what else anything else okay you say he provides why yeah yeah he provides he he compassionately provides for his people he answers the prayer of Isaac and Rebecca to have a child and then when she’s going through the struggle he tells her what’s going on that’s the compassion of the Lord and we also see his provision he says I am going to provide for you I’m going to provide for both of you I’m going to honor my Covenant see the faithfulness of the Lord there we see the provision we see the compassion we see his power also he’s able to make close the womb or open the womb and he also has power over destinies okay can you explain that a little bit further God’s law does not invalidate his promise hmm mm-hmm okay I see what you’re saying there so later on in the law we have it that the older is the inheritor but here God is reversing that and the special promises that he’s making and just like he had given to Abraham those promises are are not going to be overturned by the coming of the law when Mosaic not Moses when Israel proves unfaithful to the Covenant that God had provided that didn’t nullify the earlier abrahamic Covenant that didn’t nullify the earlier promises that God had made and we see a similar thing happening here with Jacob and Esau in terms of inheritance that the law coming later that doesn’t nullify what God was doing here so yeah that’s something else we can look at so we see different aspects have gone on display different aspects of things related to God but certainly what’s very obvious is his sovereignty his control now God ordained that the younger child Jacob would be Isaac’s Heir and not Esau the firstborn well why I mean wouldn’t it be a lot easier God if he just let the firstborn be the air why did God do that well we’re not given an answer in the text But ultimately the answer must be what why does God do anything it suited his pleasure it it’s what he wanted to do It ultimately suited God’s pleasure and purposes and therefore he did it Jacob did nothing to earn God’s choice nor could he have he wasn’t even born yet God simply chose Jacob to be the inheritor of Abraham’s Covenant of blessing and this is very similar or this is just like what we hear later on in the scriptures in Romans 9. actually turn to Romans 9 for a moment keep your finger in Genesis 25 but turn to Romans 9.
because this episode right here Jacob Nissan’s birth becomes important for a point that Paul makes later on in Romans Romans 9 verses 10 to 16.
Romans 9 verses 10 to 16 verse 10.
and not only this but there’s Rebecca also when she had conceived twins by one man Our Father Isaac for though the Twins were not yet born and had done and not done anything good or bad so that God’s purpose according to his choice would stand not because of works but because of him who calls it was said to her the older will serve the younger just as it is written Jacob I have loved but Esau I hated what shall we say then there’s no Injustice with God is there may it never be for he says to Moses I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion so then it does not depend on the man who Wills or the man who runs but on God who has Mercy notice the purpose clause and verse 11 of Romans 9. why did God Proclaim that Jake would be the inheritor and not Esau according to Romans it’s not just because he wanted to but he wanted to show something that’s right is to show that it is not about what you do that that gives you blessing it’s all about my choice you can’t earn the Covenant you can’t simply inherit the Covenant I have to choose you and he was going to make that clear with what he was doing with Jacob and Esau and he’s going to make it clear on in Genesis 2.
we’re going to see this theme with Jacob’s sons and Joseph’s Sons because the firstborn does not end up being the air or the one who receives the greatest honor or blessing Judah is going to be the one who receives them the kingship and then Joseph’s Sons it’s the the younger who receives the greater blessing so all of this re-emphasizing to us that God will have mercy on whom you’ll have mercy his choice will stand it does not depend on man’s world will or works God acts according to his own pleasure so he wanted to show that even by doing this with Jacob and Esau now this should have caused Israel to give glory to God because he chose them and God reminds Israel it’s not because you were a better Nation than other people that I chose you but I just chose to do it and I honor the Covenant that I made with Abraham and so in the same way we must give glory to God we must love God give praise to God for his choice of us because we didn’t inherit that choice we didn’t earn it he simply was gracious and giving it to us causing us to repent and to believe and to obey him because God is Sovereign over all things when it comes to birth rights when it comes to blessings and when it comes to Salvation he’s not obligated to do any good for any person so any good he does for any person is a great great Mercy now this promise about these two children sets up the following several chapters of historical narrative because we’re going to see how God’s purposes were brought to pass it says certain things are going to happen now we’re going to see how it happens and we’re also going to see how certain people doubt God’s promises and God’s control and therefore enter into trouble unnecessary trouble and we also see how one certain person grows in faith as he learns to trust in and to be thankful for God’s kind control we’re going to overview chapters 25-33 in Genesis I’m not going to read most of these passages but we are going to summarize what happens to Jacob so we can look back at it all and analyze it briefly if you have your student guides you can follow along we’re going to be writing one sentence summaries and those are on pages 19 to 21 of your student guides be noting little summaries of important events in Jacob’s life we’re going to split up the events by the passages in which they appear you can come back and read these passages more specifically more in detail on your own on the first section in the guidebooks in the first section that we’re going to highlight is the one we just read Genesis 25 19-28 this section talks about the birth of you son Jacob and as we saw Jacob is promised to Birthright by God we could summarize that we could put a one sentence summary Jacob his promise of Birthright by God next we have Genesis 25 29-34 right after the passage we read Jacob takes advantage of his brother’s hunger and he buys the birthright from Esau so we could summarize it by saying Esau and you probably remember some of these events from Sunday schools that you’ve attended but Esau sells his Birthright for a bowl of soup then in chapter 26 verses 1 to 5 God Appears to Isaac and he reaffirms his Covenant with Isaac and he uses the same language that he had previously used with Abraham so we can summarize that by saying God reaffirms the Covenant with Isaac and then later on in chapter 26 we see that Isaac experiences that blessing he acquires great wealth meanwhile Esau Mary’s two Canaanite wives to the displeasure of his parents but we’ll summarize that section by saying God blesses Isaac and Canaan so things moving along here then chapter 27.
verses 1 to 45 the now old and blind Isaac or nearly blind Isaac he feels the time is right to formally bless Esau as the firstborn and asks for a prepared meal of game Rebecca and Jacob a scheme to deceive Isaac you know what happened here Jacob places goat skins on his hands and goat skin on his neck and then he lies to his father about his identity and deceived Isaac pronounces Divine blessings on Jacob he calls for divine blessings on Jacob including that Jacob’s brother would bow down to Jacob Esau returns from hunting to find and his Blessing is stolen Isaac tells Esau that Esau will indeed serve his brother and with both his Birthright and blessing now taken from him by Jacob esos filled with hatred vowing to kill Jacob as soon as his father dies Rebecca hears of this and tells Jacob to flee to haran for a time remember haran that’s where Rebecca came from that’s Northern Mesopotamia so to summarize this important episode Rebecca and Jacob steal the blessing from Esau but Rebecca needs to find an excuse to send Jacob away other than your other son wants to kill him so she tells Isaac that she wants Jacob to obtain a proper wife this is what we see in the later part of chapter 27 and into chapter 28.
he wants to find a proper wife and Isaac sees fit to send Jacob to haran to Laban and his family to find a wife and as he sends him off Jacob blesses I mean Isaac blesses Jacob again and passes the promises of Abraham to Jacob Jacob leaves Beersheba for the Aryan of padnaram that is haran Northern Mesopotamia and he has a special Vision on the way which we’ll talk about later iswa meanwhile to win the favor of his parents he takes a third wife for himself from ishmael’s descendants thought that would make them happy so we can summarize this section by saying Isaac sends Jacob to Laban to take a wife now jumping to chapter 29.
looking at several chapters here chapter 29 verse 1 to chapter 31 verses 50 to 55 we could write in summary Jacob marries his cousins Leah and Rachel yes they they were his cousins they are they were his first cousins actually so this not be something we would do today but the Lord permitted at this time though Jacob at first receives hospitable treatment from his uncle Laban and he falls in love with Rachel Laban tricks Jacob into marrying both of his daughters and then some weird things happen and he ends up marrying both of their Maids too so he ends up with four wives moreover while Jacob works for Laban Laban attempts to cheat Jacob out of his wages but God blesses Jacob making Jacob wealthy successful prosperous after 20 years in Iran God commands Jacob to return to Canaan Jacob also realizes by this time that laban’s family greatly resents him and so Jacob leaves secretly for haran Laban hears about it though runs after him with with some men rides after him rather after a minor conflict and some accusations about stolen Idols the two actually depart from one another in peace so that that’s uh those chapters there two more sections in chapter 32 verses 1 to 31 as we as he approaches Kanan Jacob hears that Esau is coming with 400 men it becomes fearful of Esau because he senses that Esau may be coming to attack him and to attack his family so Jacob prays Jacob prays to God and send some gifts ahead to hopefully assuage his brother’s anger but he’s very fearful and I do want to read part of this section look at Genesis 32 let’s read Jacob’s prayer this is in verses 9 to 12.
Jacob prays to God verse 9.
oh god of My Father Abraham and God of my father Isaac O Lord who said to me return to your country and to your relatives and I will prosper you I am Unworthy of all the loving kindness and of all the faithfulness with which you have shown to your servant for with my staff only I cross this Jordan and now I’ve become two companies deliver me I pray from the hand of my brother from the hand of Esau but where I fear Him and he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children for you said I will surely Prosper you and make your descendants as the as the sand of the sea which is too great to be numbered and that’s where his prayer ends so we praise that to God just desperate but also acknowledging that God had accomplished everything for him up to that point later that night before the two brothers meet he Jacob wrestles with a man it just seems to appear but it turns out to be he later on understands that this is the Angel of the Lord it says God this is the pre-incarnate Christ he doesn’t know all of that but he knows it’s God as a result of the match which God grants victory for Jacob allows Jacob to be the Victor in this wrestling match Jacob receives a new name Israel so we can summarize this section Jacob wrestles with God and God changes Jacob’s name to Israel the name Israel by the way can be translated two ways either he who strives with God or God strives finally Genesis 33 1-20 there’s a great moment of tension the two brothers finally meet but Esau receives Jacob in peace and in affection the two are reunited and Jacob settles in Bethel with his four wives and eleven sons and I think actually this is just amazing how it all unfolds so I do want to read that section too let’s see would be a good place to pick it up let’s look at chapter 33 verse 1.
and we’ll read down to verse 9.
then Jacob lifted his eyes and looked and behold Esau was coming and 400 men with him so he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two Maids they put the maids and their children in front and Leah and her children next and Rachel and Joseph last but he himself passed on ahead of them and bow down to the ground seven times until they came near to his brother and Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell in his neck and kissed him and they wept it lifted his eyes and saw the woman and the children and said who are these with you so he said the children whom God has graciously given your servant then the maids came near with their children and they bowed down Leah likewise came near with her children and they bowed down and afterward Joseph came near with Rachel and nabow down and he said what do you mean by all the company which I have met and that those are some gifts that that Jacob has sent on ahead and he said to find favor in the sight of my Lord but Esau said I have plenty my brother love what you have be your own I’ll read the next verse too Jacob said no please if now I found favor in your sight then take my present from my hand for I see your face as one sees the face of God and you have received me favorably yeah one more verse please take my gift which has been brought to you because God has dealt graciously with me because I have plenty then urged him it took it it’s the one that read that because it’s like he was anticipating just this terrible reunion this tense reunion and then God just he just overflows him with a kind reception moving Esau’s heart not just to be like okay I won’t kill you like love amazing amazing so we can summarize this section by saying Esau receives Jacob there’s more to come for Jacob and his sons but let’s look back at this and note a few things when did God promise to Jacob that he would be the heir of Covenant and blessings as we saw before he was born before he came out of the womb and we saw through this historical record how God brought that to pass Jacob did indeed receive the birthright he received a blessing he received the Covenant from God but some of how it happened May give us pause did Jacob and Rebecca sin by deceiving Isaac to receive the blessing yes they did that was sin they lied they deceived they stole and the sin had consequences what were some of the consequences Jacob had to leave for 20 years the family was no longer together the mother and father couldn’t be with Jacob that was a pretty big consequence what else well Jacob and Jacob is going to receive some some unfair some difficulties when he’s in haran that’s related to being split from his family so yeah that’s a consequence well and most obvious Jacob almost got killed the sin almost provoked murder and it obviously led to Discord in the family we had a lot of family members who suddenly had a reason to be annoyed with other family members Jacob I’m not Jacob Isaac and his wife the relationship of the sons to the parents and we’re going to see some other consequences later so this this sin led to consequences yet God ordained at the sin would occur in order to accomplish his purposes now could God have given the blessing to Jacob without Jacob and Rebecca’s deceitful interference yes of course and this is something we’ve already seen in our curriculum right God is going to bring his promises to pass no matter what Sarah and Abraham they were promised a child but Sarah didn’t see how that was going to happen without giving Hagar to Abraham by violating God’s standard for marriage but she didn’t need to do that Abraham was promised many descendants and God’s blessing yet when he went into certain places his wife was so beautiful he felt compelled to lie about his wife in order that he might not die but he didn’t need to do that in both instances we see God provides miraculously and it just shows you Abraham you didn’t need to do that and they both LED to trouble both of those sins led to trouble but God still honored his Covenant with Abraham because God had chosen Abraham for a unilateral Covenant God stayed faithful but there was no need to try and accomplish what God promised by sinfully going outside God’s will in contrast when Abraham was told to sacrifice Isaac to God Abraham did the opposite of what he did earlier he looked at what appeared to be a hopeless situation an impossibility for God to keep his promises and he chose to trust God’s character rather than what his eyes saw and he reasoned because God is faithful God will even do what if he has to you know bring Isaac back from the dead now remember what we said there when we studied that God will do the miraculous before he breaks any of his Covenant promises what do you call Abraham to do and later Isaac and Jacob to do was to believe to obey and to wait so this is what Jacob and Rebecca should have done now we do not hear in the text why Isaac was not on board with that why he sought to pass the Covenant blessing to Esau even though God had prophesied it would be Jacob who would be the preeminent one maybe it was lack of faith maybe a lack of understanding maybe it’s because Rebecca and Jacob never confronted him over it I don’t know the reason but God would have done something he would have caused something miraculous to happen before the blessing and Birthright passed from Isaac to Esau sin was not necessary and yet God permitted it why well to show us that he’s totally in control he’s always faithful to his promises even when at times his people do not believe those promises and bring trouble on themselves but God still is going to do what he said he’s going to do we don’t need to sin to bring about God’s promises but even when we sin God is going to stay faithful to whatever he’s promised to further illustrate this point let’s look back at one special instance in the history of Jacob that we that we overviewed look back to Genesis 28.
Genesis 28 we’re going to look at verses 10 and 22.
now this is when Jacob leaves Kanan to go to haran it’s under the threat of murder from his brother his parents have sent him away and he’s on his he’s traveling to Mesopotamia and he stops and spends the night in the field and as he sleeps he has a vision let’s investigate that verse 10.
then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Iran it came to a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set oh because the sun had set and he took one of the stones into place and put it under his head and lay down in that place you had a dream and behold a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching 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 your father Abraham and the god of Isaac the land on which you lie I will give it to you and to your descendants your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth and you will spread out to the west and to the East and to the north and to the South and in you and in your descendants 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 then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it he was afraid and said how awesome is this place there’s 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 his top he called the name of that place Bethel however previously the name of the city had been Luz then Jacob made a vow saying if God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take and will give me food to eat and garments to wear and I return to my father’s house in safety and the Lord will be my God the stone which I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house and all that you give me I will surely give a tenth to you okay we won’t fully analyze this passage I think you can say that Jacob does not fully understand what’s happening here and some of what he promises and says is not necessarily true but a couple things we want to notice what does Jacob see in a dream he sees a ladder and what’s happening with this ladder that’s right angels are ascending going up and descending going down now the word for latter can also be translated staircase and that’s what the more likely meaning here hence my picture probably a staircase not a ladder but why would Angels be going up and down on this staircase this is not like it’s an amusement park ride which as soon as they got off they just want to get back and go the other way no that wouldn’t make sense so what must the Angels be doing what I think that’s certainly we can say that they’re ministering to Jacob but they’re ministering in general they must be going up and down because they’re doing God’s work they’re traveling to and from whatever places God sent them to accomplish whatever God said to do and obviously some of that is going to have to do with Jacob who stands at the top of this staircase God himself and can someone summarize what the Lord declares to Jacob we’ve heard that language before what is God declaring Covenant the Covenant blessings the abrahamic Covenant he’s saying that applies to you Jacob you inherit that and notice the last statement from the Lord in verse 15. he says 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 for you now let’s connect these two parts of the vision we have the stairway with angels moving busily on it and then we have this promise to Jacob what’s the connection or to ask the question another way why does God show this Stairway to Jacob what do you think okay uh we’re going to talk about that in just a moment but there is a foreshadowing there is a statement about the coming Messiah here with and you all the families of the earth will be blessed and there’s a statement in the New Testament that connects with this episode but we’ll talk about that in just a second but why Show Jacob this ladder the staircase I mean he could have just told him the Covenant without showing him this picture yeah Danny yeah this is like a a peak behind the spectral curtain and he says look I’m gonna bring to pass what I promised to you I’m going to bring to pass this Covenant and look my angels are already working they’re busy going up and down this staircase they’re traveling from Heaven to Earth and all around and they’re working on my behalf I’m not sitting here idle I’m keeping you actively God is encouraging Jacob that God is active that God is going to bring about his purposes and he’s going to bring about what he promised to Jacob it’s like God is saying you see certain things happening and looks like I don’t know and I’m not doing anything but look at how active I am I see you I’m totally on top of accomplishing all my purposes on your behalf I’ll bring about what I promised and this isn’t the only time that God does this for Jacob look at Genesis 32 for a moment back to Genesis 32 and look at verses 1 to 2.
when I first noticed this I was like whoa this was in here Genesis 32 verses 1 to 2. now this is when Jacob is on his way back to Canaan now as Jacob went on his way the angels of God met him Jacob said when he saw them this is God’s Camp so we named that place Maha name so once again God says look Divine things are happening here I’m letting you see my angels you can trust me I’m working and then later on in the chapter Jacob wrestles with God himself he sees the very face of the pre-incarnate Lord what’s the point of all this to show Jacob show Israel show us that God is in control and he is active in bringing about his purposes he’s with his people he keeps them he’s acting on their behalf he’s still moving and ordaining every part of the universe to accomplish his plans his Perfect Plans like God did for Elisha’s servant you remember that when the city that Elisha and the servant were in was was surrounded by enemy soldiers and the servant was fearful and then God and Elisha prayed God Open the servant’s Eyes let him see what’s really happening here you know all these Angels were were there present ready to destroy the enemy in the same way God is showing us what is really happening in these instances just look at what my angels are doing God is very much in control he’s not slow he’s not lazy he’s not unable to accomplish all things for our good and His glory God sees God hears God knows and God Acts and what is God chiefly concerned with bringing about well Bill already mentioned it that statement in verse 14 in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed of course God is going to be active on Jacob’s behalf because God is active God is working towards an even greater purpose the coming of the Messiah the Redemption of man it’s no accident that in John 1 we hear something related to this turn over there John 1 verses 47 to 51 yeah Danny um back in chapter 28 let’s see yeah if God will be with me I don’t know I haven’t fully thought that through but I don’t think we should say oh this is exactly the way that I should pray to God because it does it does sound a little bit um yeah faithless mercenary it’s like well uh if you do this from being on and I’ll do this for you so I don’t know if that’s something that we want to imitate but Jacob Jacob is being refined in his faith what we hear here sounds a lot different from that other prayer that we heard from Jacob where he says God look at everything you’ve accomplished for me like this seems like a kind of immature Jacob that’s my current thoughts on that but yeah thanks for asking about that over to John John chapter one oh just a side note because of some of the other things he said there like oh this is God’s house this is the Gate of Heaven like this place is really special it’s actually not like it’s just part of Canaan and Bethel turns out not to be any particular particularly important site it’s just one of the cities of Canaan so yeah I think Jacob didn’t completely understand all right John 1 verses 47 to 51.
this is Jesus he’s just called some of his early disciples in verse 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and said of him behold an Israelite indeed in whom there is no deceit Nathanael said to him how do you know me Jesus answered and said to him before Philip called you when you were under the Fig Tree I saw you Nathaniel answered him Rabbi you are the Son of God you were the king of Israel 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 God ascending and descending on the son of man well Jesus statement in verse 51 is kind of strange unless we read it in light of Genesis 28. what does Jesus make himself out to be he is the stairway he is the latter that Jacob saw what does that mean what is Jesus expressing I think we can say this Jesus was telling his early disciples that they will see in his own life and Ministry and work on the cross the same thing that Jacob saw that night in Canaan God is actively involved in our world and bringing about his purposes and these purposes Center on his son and what that son was going to accomplish on behalf of humanity moreover it’s only on the basis of Jesus that any of God’s good promises can be applied to us so for that reason oh no I’ll explain that a little bit further Jesus is the reason that God makes a unilateral Covenant with Abraham Isaac and Jacob without the stairway of Christ’s work there is no way that God could accomplish any good on behalf of any humans any people so when Jesus connects himself with Jacob’s staircase he’s not only saying you’re going to see how involved God is by what happens in my life and in my work on the cross but also it’s that because of Jesus’s work God is able to be active and to accomplish all the merciful purposes he has for his elect God so God is continuing with Jacob something that he had already shown at the beginning of the Bible the basis of um yeah that God has ultimately bringing about salvation and rescue for mankind and he’s going to accomplish that through the Messiah so he’s accomplishing something for Jacob but it was part of a grander purpose and Jesus identifies their grander purpose later on in the Book of John it’s in connection with this we can add to one of the verses that we brought up last week you know the verses in Romans 8 that says God is going to always accomplish good for those who love him it’s going to make all things happen for their good but a couple of verses later it also says this is Romans 8 31-32 what shall we say to these things if God is for us who is against us he who did not spare his own son but delivered him over for us all how will he all how will he not also with him freely give us all things so we can make that connection with Jesus and the staircase because of what Jesus has accomplished because he has accomplished salvation for us how is it possible that God would not accomplish everything else for us Jesus is the staircase that allows God to do that we can trust that God is going to be for us we can trust that he will provide for us because he’s already provided our greatest need and he’s provided a way for himself to justly provide for us now we will sometimes suffer but we’ll sometimes have to work hard we’ll sometimes have to ask our brethren for help and we will certainly have to pray but God will provide to quote one more New Testament verse related to all this the staircase the idea that God is working and that it’s connected with the Salvation purposes John 5 17 Jesus tells the Pharisees my father is working until now and I myself am working he was saying that connection with the Sabbath but the idea that God is constantly active I want to bring that out so God was encouraging Jacob by letting him look behind the curtain so to speak see that God is actually very active and bring about his purposes for Jacob and also his purposes ultimately for man questions or comments before we look at some further application yeah Shane Jesus then when Philip had gone to tell Nathaniel we found him a puma of whom of Moses in the law and the prophet’s wrote about him see that and then Jesus when he sent it to him you know I saw you when you run to the Patriots yeah it’s a good point that you’re making sure that that reference would not have been lost on his audience not just Nathaniel who probably had a good or a decent understanding of the law somebody who actually cared about the law and cared about God but the other disciples too and the the Jewish New Testament believers they understood when you’re talking about ascending and descending the Angels ascending and descending they’re thinking of that Old Testament instance where God gave that Vision to Jacob so Jesus was making not not an obscure claim here he’s saying you’re going to see um you’re going to see some very special obvious acts of God’s mercy when you are around me not just in my in my life in Ministry Jesus is saying but also ultimately what he accomplishes in his death yeah other questions or comments okay let’s consider some more application by looking at the questions from the workbook if you have the workbook these start on page 21 we’ll look at four different applications of what we looked at today first in this section of scripture we see a lot of sin and a lack of trust demonstrated by the main characters how does this actually support the truthfulness of what God has given us in Scripture how does the fact that we see sin and lack of trust and important people Patriarchs their spouses Houston actually show us that the Bible is truthful yeah Roy yeah well there’s that’s one aspect of it that is that God remains faithful despite the unbelief of people now that doesn’t mean that you’re not going to miss out on blessing or that you’re not going to experience trouble but God is going to be faithful to himself he’s going to be holy he’s going to give himself the glory that he deserves but God is still going to act yes Danny yeah yeah that’s I think the the point of this question that is these characters are not being whitewashed they make some pretty bad mistakes and they do some things that later on they’re very obviously forbidden they’re God this is history this is not um a mythology this is not something to this is not simply an ideal this is actually what happened and this is different from what we see in mythical accounts of leaders or other religious writings the Bible doesn’t shy away from showing us the shortcomings of people and also how God still was faithful to those people and grew those people in their faith and in obedience they are people just like us but that should never make us say oh well they’re messed up just like I am so I guess I don’t really need to change no God never intended you or me to stay in patterns of sin God tests and refines his elect they grow in faith this was true in the Bible and it’s true of us today we put off habits of doubt and sin and we become more and more obedient to God if we are in Jesus we mortify the Flesh in its sinful habits learning by the Holy Spirit from both the negative and positive examples in the scriptures to trust and obey the Lord make no mistake no Christian will continue in long-term patterns of sin I can’t help it they’re New Creations they have to seek righteousness at all costs it’s just their new nature more on that see Greg sermon from a month or two ago question number two and what ways do we act like Jacob and Rebecca to bring about what God has already promised what do you think do we think we do what’s an example well probably one of the biggest ways that we act like them is that we try to manipulate God’s timing of things and we do so by sinning maybe there’s something that you’ve been really wanting to spend your money on but just haven’t been able to save enough or business has been a little slower than normal rather than waiting on the Lord and being content you decide to go into debt something that the Bible actually warns against in order to purchase that thing that you want now it’s not wrong to buy something not even wrong to desire to buy something but if you have to have it at all cost to the point that you’re violating God’s word well then you made it into an idol wait on the Lord he knows your needs he’s active on your behalf trust and obey be content with what he’s provided in the meantime or maybe we really wish we really wish to be married but God just hasn’t provided a spouse or even a girlfriend or boyfriend so we start getting obsessed with finding a spouse uh endlessly looking online or via apps we scroll through profile after profile or maybe we start rationalizing sexual sin blaming God for not providing us a timely outlet for our sexual desires or maybe we found a potential spouse but the person is not a Believer but and no other eligible spouses around who are Christians so we just go with it it’s not wrong to seek a spouse but it is wrong to make an idol out of obtaining a spouse to sin sexually because you’re dissatisfied with God not giving you a spouse or to violate what God says about pursuing marriage with an unbeliever because you really want a spouse if you’re able to develop friendships with someone who could be your spouse that’s fine do it but if there are no prospects pray about it and wait on the Lord he will provide he knows your situation and he is active he’s active in providing for you we could think of many other examples related to timing but God will bring about what he’s promised he’s called us to be faithful in the meantime another way I think that we can be like Jacob and Rebecca when we resort to sinful methods to accomplish God’s purposes some examples God promises to provide for our needs but let’s say we become worried that we won’t have enough money to take care of ourselves so we don’t report everything accurately on our taxes say this is just the way that this is the situation God’s put me in and this is what I have to do no that’s not true or God promises to bring us through every trial but then we make a particular mistake at work and it looks like we’re going to lose our job unless we lie about what we did well this is the way God’s provided for me to keep my job oh no that’s not true in these situations and others like it we don’t need to sin in order for God’s promises to come to pass when we sin we only bring trouble on ourselves not to mention we lose Joy so these examples of Jacob and Rebecca and others in the Old Testament they should remind us that God will do the miraculous before he stops keeping his promises to us quickly these other two questions what is the line between the responsibility of man to act and trusting in God to fulfill his promises well on the one hand we’re not going to say I’m not going to do anything I’ll just let God do it well God has actually called you to be obedient he’s called you to work he’s called you to pray he’s called you to act wisely so no we don’t say let go and let God the other hand we don’t sin to bring about what God promised nor did we become idolatrous if we’re able to change our situation great but if not just leave it with the Lord and we wait for his timing he’ll bring it to pass finally what are the results of sin in this section of scripture I think we’ve already talked about a little bit but lots of broken relationships not just between not just related around the deception of Rebecca and Jacob but due to laban’s deception and the competition between Leah and Rachel you just have a lot of broken and strained relationships because people are not trusting in the Lord not trusting in the Lord provide this is the great Folly of Sin Sin promises us good but only delivers us delivers us to hurt and Evil but God’s ways are always good we are out of time for today next week we’re going to be looking at Joseph’s Life we’ll be looking at Jacob’s son Joseph we’ll start doing that don’t forget our memory verse Genesis 15 19 to 20. if you have other questions or comments come see me afterwards let’s pray father you all your ways are good and Lord how how foolish it is when we won’t wait on your timing when we when we go outside of your will to to make your promises come to pass but we can believe you we don’t have to worry or would you have called us to be faithful Lord enable us to do that by your spirit remind us of these good truths of the scriptures help us to follow the positive examples like Abraham trusting in you with his son Isaac and to learn from the negative examples of the Lord to not do as Jacob and Rebecca did but Lord we thank you that you are faithful to yourself you will sanctify us do that Lord let the service continue to be a part of that and let us give the glory that you were due Lord let that be a great joy to us today in in this church service in Jesus name amen