Genesis 28:10

The Bible says in Genesis 28:10-12, “And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. 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. 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.” Jacob was on a trip to a far-away place, and now he had to spend the night out in the wilderness in the open air. Undoubtedly, Jacob had many uncertainties and fears in this situation. God will allow us to be in such situations so that He can demonstrate His love for us and His ability to take care of us in any circumstance.

There is a very good lesson to learn from the dream that Jacob had. Jacob saw a ladder stretching from earth to heaven, he saw “the angels of God ascending and descending on it.” The angels of God are always ascending and descending between heaven and earth. They leave heaven with instructions from God in order to come to earth to benefit man in doing the will of God. Once an angel has fulfilled a particular task, they return to heaven to receive more instruction for the next task.

The word “angel” means “messenger.” An angel has been sent out from God. There are more than enough angels doing this work for God. Revelation 5:11 says, “And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;” This is just one scene, and there are 100 million angels plus many more millions of angels shown here. Because of the great numbers of angels always being sent by God with errands to accomplish, there must be many angels around us at all times. It says in Hebrews 13:2, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Angels are spoken about many times in the Bible. For example, they announced the birth of Christ, they were present at the resurrection, and they are shown prominently in the book of Revelation as Jesus brings the end to life on this earth as we know it. The Bible says in Revelation 14:6-13, “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.”

The Bible says in Genesis 28:13-15, “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; 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.” In these verses God is making promises to Jacob concerning the future. But before God makes these promises about the future, He reminds Jacob about what God has already done in the past. God said, “I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac.” All that Jacob has to do is look back at what things God did for Abraham and Isaac, and then Jacob can be assured that God will do the same things for him.

As Christians we can do the same thing. We can look and see how God took care of other believers, and then we can have faith and confidence that the Lord Jesus will do the same things for us. That is the message that is being presented in Hebrews 12:1-3. After telling us in Hebrews chapter eleven about all of the great things that were accomplished in the lives of those who had faith in the Lord, the Bible says, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”

God made very similar promises to Jacob that He had made to Abraham. There are at least six specific promises that God made to Jacob. God’s first promise to Jacob was, “the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed.” The land of Canaan was promised to Jacob. God owns every piece of land in the world, and God gives each parcel of land to whom He will. But of course, He gives land and other things to us so that we will be good stewards of those possessions. Make sure that you dedicate everything that you have to God’s glory. The day will come at the judgment when we will be required to give an account of how we used everything that God has placed into our hands. Jesus spoke about the importance of being a steward who is prepared for the coming of his Lord. Jesus said in Luke 12:42-48, “And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.” James also wrote about those who have riches, but who do not use their riches responsibly as unto the Lord. The Bible says in James 5:1-7, “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.”

God said to Jacob, “the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed.” God’s great promise concerning the land of Canaan extended far beyond Jacob because Jacob’s “seed” is mentioned. Notice that the word “seed” is singular and applies specifically to one individual. The individual is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the King of the Jews. What has been written has been written, and cannot be annulled or done away with. The Christ shall yet come and take the throne of David and reign upon it. The land of Canaan is made up of an even larger area than Israel and Palestine. And when you think about the land of Canaan remember this: the future of this land has already been determined because of the promises of God that were made to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And God always keeps His promises. That is one of the reasons that we know that Jesus will return to the earth. He must return in order to fulfill the promises of God concerning the “seed.” It says in Revelation 19:11-16, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

God also promised Jacob in Genesis 28:14, “in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” The “seed” is the Savior Jesus Christ. The blessing is the blessing of forgiveness and salvation and eternal life. Salvation through faith in Christ is offered to all the people of the world. Everyone can come to know this great blessing. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Of course, this blessing that was promised to Jacob and to “all the families of the earth” is the greatest of all blessings. What greater blessing is there than to have the guilt of sin lifted? What greater blessing is there than to go to heaven instead of hell? What greater blessing is there than to spend eternity with the Lord Jesus Christ? This great blessing comes through Jesus Christ only because He came into the world and died in our place to pay the penalty for sin. Those who repent, turn to Jesus, and believe on Him enter into the blessing.

Several promises were made to Jacob in Genesis 28:15. God said, “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.” God promises to always be with every believer. Jesus said in Matthew 28:20, “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

Jacob was on a trip to a strange land. There were many dangers and uncertainties to such a trip, especially in the day in which Jacob lived. But God’s promises are greater than the dangers of life. God promised to bring Jacob back safely to the land of Canaan and promised to never leave Jacob. In the next couple of chapters in the book of Genesis we will see how much Jacob prospered in all of his endeavors. These things did not happen by accident. They happened because the grace of God accompanied Jacob in all that Jacob did. Learn to walk with Christ and you will see your greatest and most important accomplishments come to fruition.

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