Genesis 28:12 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Genesis 28:12

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Jacob came to the place and lay down. He dreams of a ladder with its foot resting on the earth, and its top reaching to heaven. This is the first of seven appearances of the Lord to him in a night vision. He is going to be a godly man. He is going to have revelation. He is going to make some big mistakes, commit some big sins, yes. He would be forgiven those sins, though there would be a price to pay, there would be consequences because of the gravity of them that he would live with all his life. And yet he would be forgiven and he would be blessed and by and large he would live an utterly godly life.On the ladder he could see angels coming down to earth and others going back up to heaven. What did it mean? It was God’s revelation to him and it taught in the symbolic language of dreams that there can be communication between heaven and earth. Angels are messengers, going up and down, carrying out God given tasks on behalf of those who are to be saved, and reporting back to him. There is a God in heaven and we are alienated from him because of our sin. A great gulf is fixed in place between earth and heaven, a great separation. We are habitual sinners before him, and guilty. We cannot improve ourselves. But the dream offers a tremendous vision of hope. It shows Jacob that there is a way for his soul to come into the very presence of God.God has put in place a ladder, a stairway, that joins earth to heaven again. Reconciliation with God is available; communication is possible: God hearing your prayers, and being with you in life. It is about the great bridge between God and man. God will hear your cries and relate to you. That is the obvious meaning, at least that is how he saw it. Just as Jacob could not think of ascending into the skies, so no man has power to bridge the gap between himself and God. And yet if we do not come to God we have no life. God must put this ladder in place, not us, and the vision assured Jacob that he has done so. By God’s provision heaven is brought down to earth. It is possible to pray, and to have him answer prayer. Christ will come and be a Mediator. God who is holy and just can forgive us, and give us a new heart, mind, and outlook. This spoke volumes to Jacob. We can know God, not because of our goodness, but simply by believing in God, and trusting him. This dream God stamps it on his understanding. God only dealt with Jacob when his soul was down, when he felt his need.Christ refers to Jacob’s dream and tells Nathanael that it is fulfilled in him (John 1:51). It would be Christ that would make this possible. The Lord Jesus would come and take the punishment for all those who would trust in him. What astonishing love. ‘You will see me suffering and dying. I will reconcile man to God and bear away their sin’, Christ was saying. ‘I am that ladder, that stairway. On the basis of the work that I do there will be communication restored between heaven and earth, so that the angels of God can ascend and descend on this ladder.’ Jacob did not see the fulfilment of the dream, but he saw that God will do it.

Application

We need a personal encounter with God. The only way is to feel your guilt before him and your need of his pardon and forgiveness. That is the way to a personal encounter. Every true gospel message has this at the heart of it. That leads to real union with Christ. Am I dominated by lust or uncleanness or pride? Don’t say, ‘I went to a service tonight and I heard what the preacher said – who do they think they are, driving me down and making me feel bad about myself?’ Here is where God met Jacob at Bethel.

When you come to God, you must have a right spirit, not bouncing confidence, not double minded. You do not just come to ask help with exams, help to have fun in life. You come on his terms. You don’t come self-righteously, saying, ‘I am good enough. He will be pleased to have me.’ Don’t come irreverently. Sadly some churches encourage this as part of a new phenomenon belonging to the second half of the 20^th century: bouncing into his presence. He is not your mate down the road, but the living God. He will be the judge of all the earth.

What about us? Is this present life everything to us? Do we live only for material things, and believe the promises of this vain world? All I want is that everything revolves around me. May God help us to be alone, even to literally actually be alone. We want to run when God begins to speak. God can do this for all who truly come to the Lord. He will pardon and forgive and change you totally.

Questions

God does not teach by dreams today – for the word is complete. In the past he spoke ‘at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets’ (Hebrews 1:1); now we have everything we need in the finished revelation of the Bible.

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Introduction

Genesis 28:12 Commentary and Bible Study