28:10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran.
28:11 He came to a certain place and stayed there for the 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.
28:12 And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it
reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
28:13 And the LORD stood beside him and said, "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;
28:14 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.
28:15 Know that 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."
28:16 Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this
place--and I did not know it!"
28:17 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."
28:18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under
his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.
28:19 He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first.
Jacob sure hadn't merited God's favor. Yet, God remained faithful
to Jacob. If God stood with this
crooked man who would steal from his own family, maybe it tells us
more about God than it does
about Jacob.
Rick in Canada, eh?
Hi all.
V. 19 - "the name of the city was Luz at the
first."
I love the fact that this almost insignificant detail is included
here!
The writer understands a bit of how God's promises work. They change
everything, and at the same
time change nothing.
God's promise changes everything in the present for those who are
given them, because it takes the
pressure off. The future is looked after. We don't need to worry; we
can trust that we are
cared for, and will not be forgotten.
At the same time, absolutely nothing changes. Pharaoh is still in
charge of Egypt. Caesar is
still in charge in Rome. People are still sold into slavery. Citizens
are expendable for the
"greater cause," and foreigners are expendable for citizens.
The name of the city was Luz at the first, and that did not change.
But a promise has been made, and suddenly it's all to play for.
What caught my attention in reading this passage this time around was Jacob's surprise in encountering the presence of God, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it." How aware or unaware of God's presence are we. Jacob's life certainly did not warrant the gift of God's presence, yet it was there all along. Later, as he prepared to meet Esau in Chapter 32, he also unexpectedly encountered God in the middle of the night. Connecting these two passages, centering on the ways in which we encounter God might offer some interesting possibilities.
Tom in TN
What caught my attention in reading this passage this time around was Jacob's surprise in encountering the presence of God, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it." How aware or unaware of God's presence are we. Jacob's life certainly did not warrant the gift of God's presence, yet it was there all along. Later, as he prepared to meet Esau in Chapter 32, he also unexpectedly encountered God in the middle of the night. Connecting these two passages, centering on the ways in which we encounter God might offer some interesting possibilities.
Tom in TN
As I've been living with this text, it strikes me that we have as a society completely obliterated God from our dreams. We have so many Jungian and Freudian interpretations for the images in dreams that people either buy into the psychological meanings or they completely ignore their dreams. What if God really is communicating with us regularly - and what if we begin to pay attention to that communication? It certainly does tie in with Psalm 139!
Ruth in MA
As I've been living with this text, it strikes me that we have as a society completely obliterated God from our dreams. We have so many Jungian and Freudian interpretations for the images in dreams that people either buy into the psychological meanings or they completely ignore their dreams. What if God really is communicating with us regularly - and what if we begin to pay attention to that communication? It certainly does tie in with Psalm 139!
Ruth in MA
Nice point, Ruth in MA. Today, I was visiting a member in the hospital. He sounded as if he were trying to convince me that God had spoken to him in his sleep. Perhaps he was trying to test the reality of his experience! God experiences transcend science and psychology.
Pastor Mary in OH: United's a good school, too! It's funny -- this is the only place where some people know what my screen name means. Perhaps I am "fully known"! MTSOfan
I like the idea of going to church to meet God in that place. I know that God is omnipresent, but to sense the Lord's presence is a powerful thing. I think that I am going to go with the idea of the sanctuary in which we worship the Lord, is one of those special places. However, God is everywhere, and ought to be in our hearts. Places like our sanctuary are special to us b/c we met the Holy Spirit there. We had an intimate meeting with God there. and we tend to memorialize places like that. and if we memorialize places, then we have a tendency to place THEM as holy, and we risk the danger of lifting the place up, and not our God. the place becomes a god, and not our Almighty God.
TF
I'm going to be teaching a course in moral theology (Christian ethics) during the coming academic year and am currently reviewing potential text books. Yesterday, I read "Ethics after Easter" by Stephen Holmgren (Cowley Publications 2000). In a chapter on the objective moral content of reality, Holmgren wrote something that seems to me to address Jacob's astonished declaration: "Surely the Lord is in this place--and I did not know it!" He writes:
"[O]ur moral reflection occurs within the context of God's creation, the reality that precedes our consciousness of it. Quite simply, the world was here before we were here to notice it. Though such a statement seems obvious, today we tend to think and act as if the opposite were true. Instead, we approach circumstances and events as if they were the proverbial blank slate awaiting our acts of well and reasoning to give them their order and meaning." (pp. 55-56)
Jacob seems to have approached Luz (Bethel) with this same modern attitude, only to have been surprised to find that the place had a reality and a Presence which preceded him. The Psalm ("where can I go ... ") and the Gospel ("the world is the field") attest that that is true of EVERY place!
Blessings,
Eric in KS
Tommy in Tx: Forgive me for not responding to your question on stealing birthrights last week. Right now, my access to the web is limited, so I didn’t read your posting until 7/16 (I’m always curious to see responses to my postings). My church is in the process of buying its own computer, so soon, I hope, I’ll be able to participate in discussions in a more give & take manner. Ken in WV
