From last Sunday’s sermon we learned that Jacob, the HEEL, successfully tricked Esau out of the birthright due the firstborn. Then, in cohoots, with his mother Rebekah, Jacob successfully conned and deceived Esau again, and their father Isaac, out of the ancient patriarchal blessing. Remember, this is the covenant blessing given from God Himself to Abraham then to Isaac. This is the blessing that holds both physical and spiritual promises and future for all generations to come.

Jacob very quickly learns that although he is now the heir to the family fortune, and in line to be the family leader…it does not come without a price. Esau vows to kill him, the one who tricked him, not once but twice, of all that was rightfully his. Rebekah, ever the thinker, convinces Isaac to send Jacob to her brother Laban, under the guise to find a wife from within their own faith, so that he “will not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.” These Canaanites or Hittites are the neighboring pagans. Rebekah, no doubt, thinks Jacob’s departure will be for a short time, giving Esau time to cool down.

Then we see in Genesis 28:3&4, that Isaac does send Jacob off but with yet another blessing: “May El Shaddai bless you, make you fruitful, and increase your number in order that you become a community of peoples. And may God give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your descendants with you, that you may take possession of the land of where you temporarily stay, which God gave to Abraham.” This blessing, finally given in a public way, leaves no doubt that Isaac has transferred the promise to his younger Heel of a son, Jacob.

Then we see Jacob following the time-honored code of con-artists the world over who are caught in similar straits. He runs for his life! That is where we find Jacob today. Jacob is on the run for his life from his twin brother. He is in exile in the middle of the vast and desolate desert. The supplanter, the trickster, the schemer and deceiver, is now alone. Although he probably has servants with him, Jacob is far away from everything he has ever loved or everyone who has ever loved him.

So on Jacob’s first night away from home we are told: He encountered a certain place, and stayed there, for the sun had set.” This implies that Jacob has in some sense been led to this very place. Now although you and I have not physically camped on that particular spot, I believe many of us have been there at one time or another. Some here today may be there right now. It is that place we come to when we have worked hard for something, gotten it, and then found out that it is not what we had hoped it would be. It is that place on the other side of the fence, across town, in that other work place or neighborhood, or another’s bed, where we learn we are no happier there than we were here. It is that moment of total exhaustion, when we have tried everything we know, when we feel completely alone, and when we have nowhere else to turn. Some do turn to alcohol or drugs in that place. Delirium and numbness seem preferable to reality. Some turn to extramarital affairs. Denial and filling that place with other things seem ways to cope.

Let’s go back to Jacob. “And he took one of the stones of that certain place, put it under his head there, and slept in that particular place” (28:11). Three times in this verse the word for “a certain place” is used. This repetition emphasizes the particularity of the place. This tells us something extraordinary is about to happen in that certain spot.

How praiseworthy and extraordinary to be able to say that Jacob turns to God in that moment at that place. In fact, he simply goes to sleep and loses himself in his dreams. Now you and I dream whether we remember those dreams or not. Some of our dreams we would like to repeat or have become a reality. And some of our dreams are avenues used by God to speak to us. Something like that happens with Jacob and his dream. When he loses himself in his dreams, God is already there!

Let’s take a closer look at that dream. Jacob’s dream reveals a ladder, really a sort of stone stairway, from heaven to earth. The word translated “stone stairway” is used only here in the Hebrew Bible. It appears to refer to the Babylonian building ziggurat, or the massive ramp of the kind that can still be seen on the sides of ancient ziggurats in central and South America.

And there were “heavenly beings” of God ascending and descending on this stone ramp or stairway! The word messengers is often translated “angels.” It is probably out of the need of the ramp that these “angels” can be thought of as being without wings. In fact angels are never described as having wings. Wings seem to be limited to the cherubim and seraphim. It does appear that “messengers” is the true function of these heavenly beings, whoever or whatever they are thought to be. On this stairway these messengers or workers of God ascend and descend, tying together or connecting heaven and earth. God stands there. The messengers

move in a steady stream up and down as they carry the word of the Earth’s troubles - Jacob’s troubles directly to God’s ear. Because these messengers are considered God’s agents, they carry down with them God’s plan of action. So Jacob sees all this in his dream. He sees this vision of God in this dream.

Someone has said, “Even in his despair, Jacob did not go looking for God. He seeks only escape. Isn’t it often just the same with us? If we choose to ignore the reality of God when we are successful, we choose to instead to give credit to ourselves. We somehow take our failures as proof that there cannot be a God -- otherwise why would we be so miserable? We go from “Look at what I did. I didn’t need any help. My success is my doing!” to “Look how miserable things are. If there were a God, I’d be successful.” We often justifiably gripe that God does not make any sense. However, I believe we are more guilty of that than God.”

And here is Jacob who does not bring God into his situation in a positive or a negative way. This is what Jacob hears in spite of himself: “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; and 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 all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will I bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. (Gen 28:13-15)” Wow, Isaac’s parting blessing to Jacob has come to pass.

And in this dream event Jacob has his first direct message or blessing from God. And seven times God uses the personal pronoun “I”. How much more loving and personal could God be? And we were maybe expecting that God would react differently to this little cheat. And him sleeping peacefully on his rock-pillow. We were expecting a divine rebuke of such behavior that came from Jacob. We expect that same divine rebuke and much more when we ere. We have the example of Jacob and the example of God right here. This errant one receives the promises and blessings from God.

God speaks to Jacob directly. God speaks to him directly as the God of his fathers. God confirms the promises made in the covenant. Seems pretty straight forward. The land is to belong to his children. They will become countless as the dust of the earth. They will spread abroad widely in all directions. Through them the whole world will be blessed. The final purpose of God is always universal-inclusive blessing. That blessing reaches and includes each one of us here today, and those to come after us. So Jacob is now formally accepted as the seed through whom the promises will be fulfilled.

What else do we find? Jacob flees his father’s house with only the robe on his back. The God of his fathers speaks to him. He has no friendly relatives to give him shelter on his journey. Yet, this same God promises to give Jacob the land. Jacob has no wife. Yet he has just received the promise of numerous descendants, too many to count! This presupposes his marriage. In Jacob’s immediate situation he can go forward on his hazardous journey knowing that he will be protected by the ever-present supervision of the Lord. And despite Jacob’s deceit, God promises to bring Jacob “back to this land.” This blessing also links Jacob with the original covenant promise God made with Abraham. God in grace stood by the promises. God in grace continues to stand by His promises.

This is the most comprehensive announcement of the promise of God we have heard: land, blessing for both Jacob and his heirs, and the presence of God until ALL is accomplished. It is not Holy Hell that God gives Jacob. But rather Holy Heaven! Not to mention the marvelous lesson that even for a dyed-in-the-wool, double-barreled con artist like Jacob there are a few things in this world you cannot get, cannot take, but can only be given. One of these things is love in general. Another is the love of God in particular.

In that love, God’s sovereign purpose in Jacob is revealed. God does not do this because Jacob is worthy but because God purposes it. Yet there is in Jacob that which will respond. Indeed, Jacob does respond. Upon waking from his dream he turns the rock he used for a pillow into a sort of altar and he worships God. While his behavior continues to leave much to be desired God will work on him to make him what he ought to be. God will be with him and will keep and guard him. God will bring about God’s purpose through him. Jacob is God’s personal concern.

Jacob’s life takes on meaning because it is part of the Lord’s ongoing purpose for him and all generations - that includes you and me. This is the God that Jacob has been hearing about in the ancestral stories told again and again by his grandfather, father and mother. This is the God that Jacob perhaps sensed in all his growing up that was something he was searching for. This is the God who moves from stories and someone else’s God to Jacob’s very being. This is when Jacob experiences true conversion. It is no longer enough to be Abraham’s grandson. Jacob must establish his own personal relationship with God.

It is the same with us. It is not enough to hear wonderful stories about Christians in your family or how God has worked or is working in your relatives’ lives. For each one of us, church, God, and faith must all move to “my church, my God, my faith. We need to become part of this story, God’s story. We need to begin that personal relationship with God, through His Son Jesus Christ. If you would like to start that relationship and you do not know how, please come see me after the service.

We know that Jacob has always known the truth about God. But he never identifies with that Truth. God is not Someone far off. Rather God is immediately present. This surprises Jacob. Jacob’s realization is filled with the fact that God knows all about him. God knows all that Jacob has done before he came to this certain place. God knows all about his meanness, crookedness, scheming, conniving and deceitful ways. God also knows that deep within Jacob’s heart is a longing for spiritual realities. That is why God chose to make Jacob be “the praise of God’s glory.”

Just like God knew every detail about Jacob’s life, God knows every detail about our life. He knows when we put up a front. He knows when we act like we are something that we are really not. He knows how much of us is genuine, and how much of what we say is really the truth.

Are you surprised? Are you surprised to know that God is immediately present with us in all we say and do and think? What is your first thought when you are reminded that God knows every detail of your life? Take time at some point today or this week to not only read but to meditate on Psalm 139 (part of which was our Call to Worship). This passage records the psalmist’s awareness of God’s complete knowledge about every detail of life. Be willing to throw yourself wide open to God’s searching eyes? How wonderful it is to know that in spite of our shortcomings God loves us and will bring out the best in us if we will yield our lives to God.

We, too, may feel unworthy in our walk God through Jesus. It is not our sense of worthiness that matters. Rather it is the fact that God, through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, who is at work in our lives. It is also that we are responsive, and continue to be Jesus. As God said through the apostle Paul in Philippians 2:13: If we are God’s, God will work in us to “will and to do work for God’s good pleasure.”