The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Genesis 28:10-17,
“Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 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… 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.’”
Jacob’s dream speaks to the reality of a spiritual realm that exists around us. In various passages of Scripture I am struck with the thought that there is so much that is going on around us that we are not able to see. Much like my dog that hears things and smells things I don’t. I know her perspective of our yard is completely different than mine: not only is she perceiving things differently, she is sensing things I don’t at all.
In his dream the Lord reveals to Jacob a busy stairway, on the graveyard shift, that is a portal for angels ascending and descending between heaven and earth. When Jacob awakes he acknowledges the importance of the place, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” The Scripture makes no comment that would indicate Jacob misunderstood the nature of the dream - that it simply represented a spiritual reality. I’m left to think Bethel was a location for the literal travel of angels to and from heaven and earth at that time! I’m not saying every aspect of the dream was to be taken literally (ladder, stairway, “beam me up, Scotty” transport unit, etc.), but certainly the Scripture intends to inform us that there was a portal connecting the two and there was busy traffic taking place.
The dream doesn’t inform us that the location of travel between heaven and earth is static, that it only resided in Bethel. But it certainly did that night. It also doesn’t inform us that it is in constant use, but it certainly was that night. It doesn’t inform us that it was the only portal between heaven and earth that night but this one certainly existed that night. It does inform us, however, that there is a connection between heaven and earth and that earth is visited by angels. The purpose of these visits is such which we can only speculate.
We know from Scripture that some angels come with a specific task to accomplish, such as the ones that destroyed Sodom and led Lot and his family out of town. Some came for the Lord’s ministry here on earth, at his birth, resurrection and ascension. Those young in the faith have angels that appear before God, Matthew 18:10. Those of us who are born again have angels that are “ministering spirits” sent to us, Hebrews 1:14. Angels accompany us as we go to be with the Lord at our death, Luke 16:22.
To me it is all simply fascinating! Together with the presence of God’s Holy Spirit in the world today, angels represent God’s activity here and now that goes undetected for the most part. As I often think: I’m sure I would be just astonished to know all the spiritual activity at play in and around us all day long!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!
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