Jesus explained the truth about Jacob's Ladder the story of Jacob's Ladder has fascinated people for many years the expression Jacob's Ladder has developed into a common phrase it has been used as the title of a movie a book a flower and even as the name of an electronic device but where did this phrase come from in the first place in Genesis 2 the phrase Jacob's Ladder is mentioned Jacob the future father of the nation of Israel was on the run from his twin brother isau in Genesis 25 we learn that Jacob had tricked his brother
isau into losing his Birthright as Isaac's firstborn son as it turned out all it took for a famished TOA to give up his inheritance to his little brother was an offer of soup in Genesis 27 Jacob upped his game again by impersonating assau to deceive his aged and nearly blind father into blessing him combined these deceptions transferred to Jacob both the physical and spiritual blessings of the family lineage Jacob's theft of the's blessing and Birthright caused tension between him and his older brother because of this the word of God says Genesis 2741 so Isa hated
Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him and Isa said in his heart the days of mourning for my father are very near then I will kill my brother Jacob Isa meant every word he spoke knowing this isa's mother Rebecca sent Jacob to her brother laan for Refuge Jacob hoped to find a wife and establish a new life there safe from his brother's Fury with his father's permission Genesis 285 then Isaac sent Jacob away and he went to padan Aran to Le son of Betha the aramean the brother of Rebecca the mother
of Jacob and a Jacob decided to camp out under the stars alone and on the run with nothing but a rock for a cushion at this time Jacob's heart was probably filled with regret for the past loneliness in the present and uncertainty about the future but then the story takes a momentous turn Genesis 28 11-22 and he came to a certain place and stayed overnight there because the Sun had sat taking one of the stones of the place he put it under his head and lay down there to sleep he dreamed that there was a
ladder stairway placed on the earth and the top of it reached out of sight toward heaven and he saw the angels of God ascending and descending on it going to and from heaven and behold the Lord stood above and around him and said I am the Lord the god of Abraham your father's father and the god of Isaac I will give to you and to your Descendants the land of promise on which you are lying your descendants shall be as countless as the dust of the earth and you shall spread abroad to the west and
the East and the North and the South and all the families nations of the Earth shall be blessed through you and your descendants behold I am with you and will keep careful watch over you and guard you wherever you may go and I will bring you back to this promised land for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you then Jacob awoke from his sleep and he said without any doubt the Lord is in this place and I did not realize it so he was afraid and said how fearful
and awesome is this place this is none other than the house of God and this is the gateway to heaven so Jacob got up early in the morning and took the stone he had put under his head and he set it up as a pillar that is a monument to the vision in his dream and he poured Olive oil on the top of it to consecrate it he named that place bethl the house of God the previous name of that city was loose almond tree then Jacob made a vow promise 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 clothing to wear and if he grants that I return to my father's house in safety then the Lord will be my God this Stone which I have set up as a pillar Monument Memorial will be God's house a sacred place to me and of everything that you give me I will give the tenth to you as an offering to signify my gratitude and dependence on you this is Jacob's first Supernatural encounter with God and it parallels
Abrahams in Genesis 15 it's also worth noting that Jacob is nearly the same age as Abraham was when God told him to leave his home and travel to a new land a ladder set up on the ground this is more accurately expressed as a ramp or staircase it is similar to a mount built against the wall City Jacob did not simply receive a vision from God he also acquired a message from God the word for Jacob confirmed the promise made to Abraham and Isaac your descendants will be like the dust of the earth and all
the peoples of the earth will be blessed through you this is the first time Jacob has heard God's promise it wasn't new information but it became real for him when he realized it was God's promise when Jacob awoke from his sleep he knew exactly what had happened he concluded surely the Lord is in this place he concluded and I did not know it the place had not changed it was still the desert with only a rock as a pillow but God appeared in that place he appeared to Jacob in his Brokenness and weariness because he
needed Jacob to reach the end of himself before relying on God we know Jacob had a new encounter with God because he was afraid not of isau but of the one true God a greater fear had driven out a lesser fear because God's power had triumphed over isa's power Jacob had dozed off in a certain place but after seeing God he awoke and gave the location a sacred name bethl what was once a dark place was transformed into a holy space nothing had changed in Jacob's situation all that had changed was Jacob's New Vision of
God and it changed everything the Pagan city of LZ was transformed into bethl which means House of God Jacob poured oil on top of the rough pillow Stone transforming it into the Cornerstone of a god centered altar he Sanctified this dark place invisibly recognizing the supernatural at work right there in the harsh natural world even though Jacob had pulled off the ultimate Heist by claiming the family line inheritance for himself God wanted him to understand that while he was God's chosen heir to fulfill God's promises to Abraham to multiply his descendants into a great nation
that God would call his own God was in charge not Jacob the plan would be carried out in God's way not Jacobs it would be some time before Jacob fully grasped this truth this is the visual Jacob Sees In The Dream but what does it mean in his encounter with Nathaniel the Lord Jesus makes an apparent reference to this incident Nathaniel had met Phillip after he had gained a newfound Joy Philip was eager to share it with someone so he decided to speak with Nathaniel he kept his message simple and short he told Nathaniel that
he had found the Messiah who had been foretold by Moses and the prophets Jesus of Nazareth Nathaniel had problems Nazareth was a despised city of Galilee seeing the Messiah living in such a poor neighborhood seemed impossible to him his mind was occupied with this question and so he decided to voice it no argument was raised by Phillip he felt that the best way to meet objections was to introduce men directly to the Lord Jesus john4 7 Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him and said of him here is an Israelite indeed a true descendant of Jacob
in whom there is no guile nor deceit nor duplicity this verse shows that Jesus knew all things despite having never met Nathaniel before he knew who he was Nathaniel was surprised that a total stranger should speak to him as if he had known him but Jesus saw him even though he was so hidden John 1 49-51 Nathaniel answered Rabbi teacher you are the Son of God you are the king of Israel Jesus replied because I said to you that I saw you under the Fig Tree do you believe in me you will see greater things
than this then he said to him I assure you and most solemnly say to you you will see Heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the son of man the bridge between Heaven and Earth whenever Jesus introduced a saying with the words most assuredly he was always about to say something very important here he gave Nathaniel a picture of the time in the future when he would come back to Reign Over All the Earth the world will then know that the Carpenter's son who lived and despised Nazareth was truly the Son
of God and Israel's King heaven will open that day the favor of God will rest upon the king as he reigns with Jerusalem as his Capital Nathaniel had likely been meditating on the story of Jacob's Ladder with its ascending and descending angels that ladder is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ himself the only access to heaven the angels of God will Ascend and descend upon the son of man Jesus told Nathaniel that he had seen only very minor demonstrations of his messiahship in the future reign of Christ he would see the Lord Jesus fully
revealed as God's anointed son the latter illustrates the relationship between God and man it shows that the God who created the universe wishes a close relationship with his creation particularly Mankind and that he is the one who initiates that connection discussion and friendship as Jacob's lad Illustrated the connection between God and man Jesus Christ is the spiritual connection mediator and ladder to bridge the gap created by sin between God and men and for this cause he is the mediator of the New Testament that by means of death for the Redemption of the transgressions that were
under the first testament they which are called might receive the promise of Eternal inheritance Hebrews 915 Jesus Christ would initiate a new spiritual Covenant that would be available to all he would exchange our sins for his righteousness allowing us to know God and enjoy the intimate relationship he intended from the start Jesus was indeed the Son of God even the Roman soldier at the cross declared that as Christians we see this dream of Jacob's as highly symbolic representing the mediator Jesus Christ who came to Earth and became that ladder or stairway for us to reconnect
the relationship with God that was severed because of sin Romans 5 1- 2 therefore since we have been Justified that is acquitted of sin declared blameless before God by faith let us grasp the fact that we have peace with God and the joy of reconciliation with him through our Lord Jesus Christ the Messiah the anointed through him we also have access by faith into this remarkable state of grace in which we firmly and safely and securely stand let us rejoice in Our Hope and The Confident Assurance of experiencing and enjoying the glory of our great
God the manifestation of his excellence and power according to the word of God Jesus was our ideal Jacob's Ladder who came to Earth from the line of Jacob through God's Provisions redeemed us so that we could live in heaven for all eternity Jacob's reaction to this Vision suggests that he may have become a True Believer on this occasion Jacob's dream emphasizes God's initiating Grace not because he was righteous because of God's call and faithfulness to Abraham Jacob was the third generation to receive the promises of the abrahamic Covenant because Jacob had most likely never heard
God's voice before the Lord identified himself through Abraham and Isaac the ladder actually more like an escalator the Hebrews imply that the ladder was moving with one ladder ascending and one ladder descending with angels ascending and descending Jacob knew that heaven where God resided was at the top of the ladders when he awoke he promised God a tenth of everything he created when we look at the characters in Genesis we can see parallels to Jesus let's go back to the time when Abraham was told to offer Isaac as a sacrifice he was directed to a
specific mountain known as Moria years later that same Mountain became known as golgatha the place where God sacrificed his only son Adam and Eve amid his punishment of Adam and Eve God made a promise in Genesis 3 he told the serpent that the woman's seed or offspring would bruise the Serpent's head even as the serpent bruised the offspring's heel a bruised heel is not fatal but a bruised head is and this is the first promise that God would one day deal Satan a fatal blow we now know who bound the strong man and ruined his
Goods the ultimate Victory will come through Christ the woman's seed in the Bible God frequently communicated with people through dreams providing them with critical information and directing them in the actions he desired them to take he speaks to us today through his written word the Bible which contains many stories like Jacob's and specific and clear principles by which he wants us to live God also speaks to us through the Holy Spirit when we pray listen to sermons and songs interact with other believers and spend time alone with him the key is to do the word
rather than just read or hear it the story of Jacob demonstrates that even when we disappoint him or fail to give him our complete Allegiance God does not abandon us he'll wait for us to surrender our hearts to him completely
