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SUBJECT: Genesis 28:10-22 - Jacob’s ladder
QUESTION: What is the message of Jacob’s ladder?
Please explain these verses.
ANSWER:
First the verses:
Genesis 28:10-22
10 And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward
Haran.
11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there
all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the
stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay
down in that place to sleep.
12 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.
13 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;
14 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.
15 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.
16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely
the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.
17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place!
this is none other but the house of God, and this is the
gate of heaven.
18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the
stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a
pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.
19 And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name
of that city was called Luz at the first.
20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me,
and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me
bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then
shall the LORD be my God:
22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be
God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will
surely give the tenth unto thee.
Now the commentary:
Genesis 28
Verse 10-22. Jacob's dream and vow. Setting out on the way
to Haran, he was overtaken by night, and slept in the field.
He was far from any dwelling, or he did not wish to enter
the house of a stranger. He dreams. A ladder or stair is
seen reaching from earth to heaven, on which angels ascend
and descend. This is a medium of communication between
heaven and earth, by which messengers pass to and fro on
errands of mercy. Heaven and earth have been separated by
sin. But this ladder has re-established the contact. It is
therefore a beautiful emblem of what mediates and reconciles
(John 1:51). It here serves to bring Jacob into
communication with God, and teaches him the emphatic lesson
that he is accepted through a mediator. "The Lord stood
above it," and Jacob, the object of his mercy, beneath.
First, He reveals himself to the sleeper as "the Lord"
(Genesis 2:4), "the God of Abraham thy father, and of
Isaac." It is remarkable that Abraham is styled his father,
that is, his actual grandfather, and covenant father.
Second. He renews the promise of the land, of the seed, and
of the blessing in that seed for the whole race of man.
Westward, eastward, northward, and southward are they to
break forth. This expression points to the world-wide
universality of the kingdom of the seed of Abraham, when it
shall become the fifth monarchy, that shall subdue all that
went before, and endure forever. This transcends the destiny
of the natural seed of Abraham. Third. He then promises to
Jacob personally to be with him, protect him, and bring him
back in safety. This is the third announcement of the seed
that blesses to the third in the line of descent (Genesis
12:2-3; 22:18; 26:4).
Verse 16-19. Jacob awakes, and exclaims, "Surely the Lord is
in this place, and I knew it not." He knew his omnipresence;
but he did not expect a special manifestation of the Lord in
this place, far from the sanctuaries of his father. He is
filled with solemn awe, when he finds himself in the house
of God and at the gate of heaven. The pillar is the monument
of the event. The pouring of oil upon it is an act of
consecration to God who has there appeared to him (Numbers
7:1). He calls the name of the place Bethel, "the house of
God." This is not the first time it received the name.
Abraham also worshipped God here, and met with the name
already existing (see on
Genesis 12:8; 13:3; 25:30.)
~from Barnes' Notes
Note: The
commentary makes reference early to John 1:51. Let us read
that verse:
John 1:51
And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God
ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
Here is the commentary on this verse:
John 1:51
And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God
ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
Verily, verily - In the
Greek, "Amen, amen." The word "amen" means "truly,
certainly, so be it"-from the Hebrew verb to confirm, to
establish, to be true. It is often used in this gospel. When
repeated it expresses the speaker's sense of the importance
of what he is saying, and the "certainty" that it is as he
affirms.
Ye shall see - Not, perhaps,
with the bodily eyes, but you shall have "evidence" that it
is so. The thing shall take place, and you shall be a
witness of it.
Heaven open - This is a
figurative expression, denoting "the conferring of favors."
Psalm 78:23-24: "He opened the doors of heaven, and had
rained down manna." It also denotes that God was about to
work a miracle in attestation of a particular thing. See
Matthew 3:16. In the language, here, there is an evident
allusion to the ladder that Jacob saw in a dream, and to the
angels ascending and descending on it, Genesis 28:12. It is
not probable that Jesus referred to any particular instance
in which Nathanael should literally see the heavens opened.
The baptism of Jesus had taken place, and no other instance
occurred in his life in which it is said that the "heavens
were" opened.
Angels of God - Those pure
and holy beings that dwell in heaven, and that are employed
as ministering spirits to our world, Hebrews 1:14. Good men
are represented in the Scriptures as being under their
protection, Psalm 91:11-12; Genesis 28:12. They are the
agents by which God often expressed his will to men, Hebrews
2:2; Galatians 3:19. They are represented as strengthening
the Lord Jesus, and ministering unto him. Thus they aided
him in the wilderness (Mark 1:13), and in the garden (Luke
22:43), and they were present when he rose from the dead,
Matthew 28:2-4; John 20:12-13. By their ascending and
descending upon him it is probable that he meant that
Nathanael would have evidence that they came to his aid, and
that he would have "the" KIND of protection and assistance
from God which would show "more fully that he was the
Messiah." Thus his life, his many deliverances from dangers,
his wisdom to confute his skilled and cunning adversaries,
the scenes of his death, and the attendance of angels at his
resurrection, may all be represented by the angels
descending upon him, and ALL would show to Nathanael and the
other disciples most clearly that he was the Son of God.
~from Barnes' Notes
The purpose of these scriptures, as the commentaries
explain, is to show the role of God and the angelic realm as
it relates to earth and God’s Plan for mankind. God’s
angels are set all about the earth doing what God, the
Father desires. Clearly, they protect and deal with the
firstfruit saints. The key verse showing this is in the
commentary above, Hebrews 1:14.
Hebrews 1:14
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister
for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
Note: Here God
plainly states that He sends angels to minister to the heirs
of salvation. What could be more clear? The word
“minister” here means, “to furnish or apply; to afford; to
supply; to administer”. They do these things in our
lifelong process of Salvation.
Following is one commentary found on the Internet that gives
some clarity:
ANGEL CASE STUDY: JACOB'S LADDER
Jacob, the son of Isaac, is an individual who had a number
of interesting "experiences" with angels. We will examine
one of Jacob's most mystical angelic encounters, his dream
of a mystical "ladder."
Genesis 28:10-17
…which we read above
10 And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.
11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there
all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the
stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay
down in that place to sleep.
12 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.
13 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;
14 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.
15 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.
16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely
the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.
17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place!
this is none other but the house of God, and this is the
gate of heaven.
Here is what we know about this dream at the "literal"
level:
Jacob sees some type of "ladder" with angels on it. The
bottom of the ladder is set up on the earth. The top of the
ladder reaches to heaven. An unknown number of angels are
on the ladder Some of the angels are ascending, others are
descending God Himself is at the top of the ladder God gives
Jacob a message about his inheriting the land and always
being with him
Obviously, there is some deep meaning here, and if the
literal interpretation of the Genesis text is all we had to
go on, we would have all the more difficulty coming up with
an interpretation. There are two things in our favor
however.
The first bit of help we get is from God in the Gospel of
John:
John 1:44-51
44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and
Peter.
45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have
found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did
write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
46 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing
come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him,
Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus
answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee,
when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art
the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.
50 Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto
thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou
shalt see greater things than these.
51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God
ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
In this story, we see the following exchange between God and
Nathanael:
God making a prophetic revelation about Nathanael to
Nathanael. In return, Nathanael makes a declaration of
faith in God, as the Son of God. In response to this
statement of faith by Nathanael, God informs him that he
will have continued and greater revelation. God links
Nathanael's relationship to God, and his forthcoming greater
understanding, directly to Jacob's dream, revealing Himself
to be that ladder (in verse
51).
Returning to Jacob, we see that he too received a deeper
understanding of God through the dream. God tells Jacob that
the promises made to his grandfather Abraham, and father
Isaac, would continue through him, and that He would always
be with him. Jacob awakens to proclaim that he now knew
things that he did not earlier understand (Genesis 28:16).
We now know from comparing these Scriptures that:
There is a connection between this "ladder" and greater
spiritual knowledge. The ladder is directly related to God
Himself. Angels are involved in this process of granting
spiritual knowledge, going up and down the ladder between
God in heaven and the earth below
---end---
Note: Again, we
see that God has angels as a primary and essential element
in what He is doing with mankind.
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