The Earthly Journey and the Heavenly Journey

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (A)

July 20, 2014

Gensis 28:10-19

Jacob's vision of a ladder. 

(Image from LucasCleopas.nl)

Introduction

We are all traveling on two journeys, we are not just aware of it. Today we read the vision of Jacob of a ladder that reached from Heaven to Earth (Genesis 28:10-19). Jacob was traveling when he had this vision and this vision changed the way he saw his journey here on Earth.

I. Jacob's journey (Genesis 28:10)

Jacob was on a journey from Beersheba to Haran (Genesis 28:10) to escape the wrath of his twin brother, Esau. Last Sunday we read how Jacob cheated Esau out of his birthright as the firstborn son (Genesis 24:19-34). In Genesis 27, we read how he cheated his brother out of their father's blessing. Esau vowed to kill Jacob as soon as their father Isaac dies (27:41). Rebekah their mother then ordered Jacob to flee to her homeland Haran (in Padan-Aram, in northern Mesopotamia) to escape his brother's wrath (27:42-46). (Later Isaac, this time with full knowledge, blessed Jacob and told him to go to Padan-Aram to look for a wife--28:1-5.) While he was traveling, he reached a certain place and stayed there for the night because the sun had set. As he was sleeping, he received a vision from God (28:11-12).

All of us are also in a journey here on Earth. We may be traveling to school, to work, to leisure, & c. Life itself is a journey. Why are we traveling? Just like Jacob, are we running away from something?

II. Our heavenly journey (Genesis 28:11-15)

As Jacob was sleeping, he saw of vision of a ladder that reached from Heaven to Earth and the angels of God were ascending and descending upon it (v. 12). In the New Testament, our Lord Jesus Christ revealed that he himself was the ladder in Jacob's vision. While he was talking to Philip and Nathanael, Jesus said,

Verily, verily I say to you, Hereafter ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man. (John 1:51)

I believe this is a picture of the role of Jesus Christ as the Mediator between God and humankind (see I Timothy 2:5). We Christians believe that Jesus Christ had two natures in one Person: the divine nature and the human nature. The ancient Athanasian Creed tells us,

For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man;

God, of the Substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man, of the Substance of his Mother, born in the world;

Perfect God and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting;

Equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead; and inferior to the Father, as touching his Manhood.

Who although he be God and Man, yet he is not two, but one Christ;

One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of the Manhood into God;

One altogether; not by confusion of Substance, but by unity of Person.

For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and Man is one Christ....

As the Son of God, he represents God the Father to humankind. As the Son of Man, he represents humankind to God the Father. The angels are the messengers of God, for that is what their name means (Hebrew, mal'ak; Greek, angelos). When we pray in the name of Jesus, they bring our prayers to God and when God chooses, he can send angels his answer to our prayers. In the case of Jacob, the LORD gave him this message:

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; 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. 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. (Genesis 28:13-15)

The ladder of divine ascent of St. John Climacus.

(Image via CarmelitePriory.org)

The vision of St. John Climacus. At this point, I would like to share the vision of St. John Climacus. St. John Climacus was an Orthodox Christian saint who was a monk and abbot at St. Catherine Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. (The monastery is said to contain the Burning Bush where the LORD spoke to Moses.) He saw a vision of a ladder reaching from Heaven to Earth. There are angels who are helping souls ascending the ladder to God. There are also demon who are trying to pull the souls off the ladder or are shooting arrows at them so that they will fall into Hell. This is a picture of our journey to God: As we try to ascend to God, the Enemy will do all that he can to make us fall, but God sends us his angels to help us on our way.

III. Jacob's realization. (Genesis 28:16-22)

When Jacob woke up, he realized that he had an encounter with God:

Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.... How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. (vv. 16-17)

When we encounter God, we cannot remain unchanged. I have reason to think that up to this point Jacob was not a believer of the God of Abraham and Isaac. Before this, the only time he mentioned the Name of the LORD was in Genesis 27:20, saying that the LORD is Isaac's God (but not his own!). And at this one time, he even uses the Name of the LORD in vain by using it to lie to his father!

But after having an encounter with God, he has become a believer. It changed the way he viewed his journey on Earth. Now he says: "...then shall the LORD be my God" (v. 21). Why did he cheat his brother out of his birthright and his blessing? Perhaps Jacob wanted all of the riches of his father for himself? But in any case, after his encounter with God, his priorities had changed:

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, So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: 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. (Genesis 28:20-22)

Conclusion

What is the reason for traveling here on Earth? Is it a mad dash for possessions or money? Or is it because we're worried that we'll never have enough. Our encounter with God through his Word ought to change our priorities. If have enough food to eat ("God...will give me bread to eat..."), clothes to wear ("...and raiment to put on..."), safety in travel ("So that I come again to my father's house in peace..."). Jacob also spoke about tithing (v. 22) but we can talk about this in detail some other time. Money was no longer a priority to him. Let us always remember that we are on a journey to Heaven so that we will be guided accordingly on our journey here on Earth. Amen.