After having fled from his home in order to escape his brother’s vengeance, Jacob,
with the blessings of his father, travels eastwards towards the land of Harran,
where his mother’s father, Laban, was living. Now the entire point
of his trip was to extract him from the circumstances revolving around his brother
and to essentially save him from being beaten to death by Esau. But secondarily, the bible
tells us that Rebekah wanted Jacob to leave so that he could marry a woman who was God fearing
and that the best place to find one of these women was in their ancestral home towards the east, and
not where they were currently living in Beersheba. So Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran,
but the journey was far and he ended up stopping for the night when the sun went down.
Taking one of the stones that were at this spot, he placed it under his head and laid
down to sleep. The bible tells, “He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth,
with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham
and the God of Isaac.” (Genesis 28:12-13) Jacob is seen to have his very first vision
in the bible and you might say that this was him being established as a very important character,
given that thus far, God has only spoken to those who are principal characters. From Abraham to
Isaac, God only appears to talk directly to those who are loyal to him and to those who worship him
without question. Indeed, we do see God speak with the likes of Abimelek in chapter 20 of Genesis,
but it might be argued that this was only done on behalf of Abraham
and to keep Sarah pure, not because God had any interest in Abimelek. In any case,
God speaking to Jacob here is a most significant moment and certainly sets him up as a fundamental
character in carrying Abraham’s legacy. The dream consists of some very profound elements,
not just the voice of Jacob’s God, but also the imagery of angels. Genesis thus far has proven to
be quite scarce of angels and whilst we do indeed see them in the Genesis 19 where they arrive at
Lot’s residence in Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as in Genesis 16 where one saves Hagar and Ishmael
in the desert, their roles and inclusion in the story do remain to be something of a mystery.
This remains to be the case in Genesis 28 where Jacob’s dream shows them ascending and descending
a stairway to heaven, implying that the angels were free to traverse between the heavenly realm
and the earthly one and that in doing this, they were likely carrying out the will of God on earth.
But the angels themselves are not necessarily the takeaway point here, and instead,
it’s likely that the idea being conveyed to Jacob
was that heaven was real. He sees in his dream that it is accessible (albeit, by the angels),
but with this realisation, he realises that heaven is closer than he thinks. Yet, another idea here
suggests some importance behind the staircase of heaven (that which is sometimes thought to be a
ladder). With this staircase, or ladder, it might be said that whilst God is so far above humanity,
it is not beneath him to visit his creations at any given time and so, the use of the apparatus
here might show believers that despite how absent God may seem, the staircase or ladder
show that he did establish a means for which to visit the earth. In this, the staircase or
ladder can be a symbol of hope to believers, that one day they will ascend up it and into heaven.
In his dream, God continues to Jacob “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham
and the God of Isaac.” It should be noted that despite Isaac’s teachings to his sons,
Jacob had never seen God, nor heard his voice. So to meet God now in this rather personal setting,
was most likely the most profound moment of Jacob’s life. God continues to Jacob,
“I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants
will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east,
to the north and to the south.” (Genesis 28:13-14) It might be said that these words from God
were comfort to Jacob, who may have not been too sure of himself given how he and his mother
had schemed to acquire the birthright and the blessing. With this confirmation from God himself,
Jacob knew that he was, in a sense, the chosen one and that there was now nothing to fear from Esau,
because God had promised him the same that he had promised his father and grandfather before him.
You might say that this covenant between God and Jacob shows that the doubts that were held
by those who were in disagreement as to Jacob’s inheritance should now have been laid to rest and
that regardless of how dubious Jacob’s movements were when taking advantage of Isaac’s health,
God had now explicity picked Jacob, and not Esau. The bible continues to confirm this as God tells
Jacob, “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land.
I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Genesis 28:14-15)
Now, when Jacob awoke from his sleep, he awoke with a brand new perspective.
You might say that the old scheming ‘heel catcher’ Jacob was gone and its place was a god fearing man
who had gained a new appreciation for life. The bible tells us, “When Jacob awoke from his sleep,
he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid
and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the
gate of heaven.” (Genesis 28:16-17). Here we get a sense that Jacob was not so sure of God
prior to this dream and that if he believed in God, he did not really comprehend his power,
in that he could virtually be anywhere at any time. He declares that he was not aware of it,
but now that he is, he cannot help but see him everywhere - hence his
reaction that the earth is an awesome place. Early the next morning, Jacob took the stone
he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar. There, he poured oil on top of it. With
this, he decreed that the place was named Bethel, though the city here used to be called Luz.
Now, going by the next passage, saying that Jacob was a new man
may have been me speaking too soon. Despite appearing God fearing after waking from his dream,
he seems to revert back to his more ‘heel catcher’ ways now that he’s had some time to think about.
We then see Jacob making a vow as he states, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this
journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to
my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar
will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.” (Genesis 28:20-22)
What’s interesting about this vow is that it seems Jacob is still trying to bargain with God.
Despite having literally been promised by God that he will be with him, Jacob still isn’t quite
sure to place his trust completely in this higher power. He implies that God could very well break
the promise he has made, which is why he adds the stipulation that if God feeds and clothes him,
then and only then, will he call the Lord his God and then and only then, the pillar he has set
up will become God’s house. Furthermore, he tries to pay God off with incentive,
almost as if he did not feel worthy of receiving this promise, for he promises
to give God a tenth of everything he is given. So with this, we understand that God’s word was
not enough for Jacob and that in order for him to really believe, a dream wasn’t actually going
to cut it. He needed more tangible proof, such as being clothed and fed and needed
to get back safely to his father’s household first before he went about worshipping a god.
The moral that believers may derive from Jacob’s folly here is that like with Abraham,
when God says he is going to deliver on something, he will most certainly deliver on it - even if it
takes decades. God is never seen to go back on his word, but it would seem that every individual man
in Genesis who encounters him needs to experience this first before submitting to him entirely.
Jacob is no exception as he is seen to try and set the terms for the covenant, though one might say
goes too far when he begins to add his own terms instead of humbly accepting what God has offered.
We can see the difference in vows between God and Jacob
that one is very much spiritually based and the other is more personal and selfish.
God’s vow was that he would give to Jacob everything that had been promised to his
father before him and that throughout his life, he would be with him, watching over
him. He promises never to leave Jacob until he has done everything that has been promised.
Meanwhile, Jacob’s vow is far more self-centered as he requests bread, clothing and the safe return
to his father’s household. Despite having realised the power of his God in his dream, Jacob does
not appear to be as humble nor respectful as his father nor grandfather before him
and sees this more as an opportunity to get more out of the deal than was being offered. In this,
you might say that those ‘heel catcher’ ways of his were still present and would take more than
just a dream of God to suppress. Luckily for Jacob though, God does not rescind the offer of the
Covenant and go to give it to Esau instead, who after having experienced his hardships
might very well have accepted God’s offer with no qualms at all. But as we’ve discussed, once the
biblical God says something, he appears bound to follow through on it and despite the unspiritual
response from Jacob, still hedges his bets on him. Why does the biblical God do this, you might ask?
Well, it’s hard to say given that no one can actually know of his plan. Believers might say
that the reason why he still opts for Jacob is because in actuality, he was still the lesser of
two evils between himself and Esau. Despite having been through his hardships and being humbled, Esau
might not have been the better choice, especially considering the vengeance he held for his brother.
Furthermore, it might be said that because God had already told Rebekah in Genesis 25
that the older brother would serve the younger, he could not now go back on his word. Another
idea proposes that God deemed both brothers to be unworthy, but that because Isaac and Rebekah
were not about to produce another child, he was left with no choice but to pick Jacob.
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