Stairway To Heaven

“He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on earth, with its top reaching to heaven.” Genesis 28:12

Although we’re not Jewish, a few in my family must be kin to Jacob.  Blessed with the ability to sleep anywhere at any time, they can rest in the rowdiest or roughest of circumstances.  I’m not saying I’m jealous, but the certainty of a good night’s sleep, no matter the conditions, would be rather reassuring.

Noise pollution wasn’t Jacob’s problem in the middle of the wilderness, but his accommodations that evening weren’t exactly cozy.  On the run from his brother’s rage, he stopped at sundown to sleep.  He had forgotten to pack a pillow, so “taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down”(Gen 28:11).  This should be no surprise when we realize how hard-headed Jacob was, but it couldn’t have been comfortable!   However, no insomnia inflicted Jacob, and he soon dozed off and started dreaming.

He saw a stairway connecting heaven and earth with angels going up and down, and “there beside him stood the Lord”(Gen 28:13).  Jacob might have been in the desert doing his own thing, but God had an Almighty agenda for this deceiver.  In grace, God promised to give him the land on which he was lying, to go with him as he wandered, and to bring him home again.

Jacob awoke with a sacred scare.  “How awesome is this place!” he exclaimed.  “This is none other than the house of God”(Gen 28:17).  His stone pillow became a pillar—a place of connection and covenant with God, and Jacob vowed to worship.

Jacob’s ladder wasn’t so he could climb up.

Jacob’s ladder was how God came down—to comfort, to promise, and to bless.

What a good night’s sleep!

Double Trouble

“Isaac…loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.”    Genesis 25:28

The Battle of the Boys began as babies.  The twins wrestled in the womb and wrangled during birth as Jacob emerged grasping his brother’s heel in an effort to slingshot his way to the front.  But Esau arrived as the firstborn, a position which carried great privilege—Dad’s big blessing for life and double bounty at his death.

As the boys became men, the match continued with the parents picking sides.  Connected by their passion for the outdoors, Papa Isaac preferred the rowdy Esau.  Mom Rebekah was biased to baby Jacob.  Quiet and kind, he hung around the house, helping with the domestic duties. “Isaac…loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.”  And trouble was brewing.

It showed up first in a soup cauldron.  Esau, starving after a futile hunting trip, swapped his birthright for a bowl of Jacob’s stew.  In a moment of weakness, he gobbled the lentils and gave away his legacy.

The problems reappeared on a platter. Isaac, old and blind, wished to bless his eldest before he was buried, so he rang for Esau and requested a wild game dinner for the occasion.  Rebekah overheard the opportunity and wanted the best for her beloved.  While Esau stalked, Jacob schemed.  Dressed in his brother’s clothes for scent with his hands and neck covered in goat hair for feel, Jacob served his dad a deceitful dinner and stole the special blessing. Enraged at the ruse, Esau made plans to murder his brother after he mourned for his father.  Homebody Jacob had to run for his life and didn’t return for twenty years.  And nobody won the war.

In our families, favoritism and fraud fare no one well because deceit never wins the day and neither does a double-standard.  Our love can be expressed differently but should be shared equally.

Always be fair and never be false.  Your home shouldn’t be a combat zone. 

Holy Matrimony

“Isaac brought her into the tent…and he married Rebekah…and he loved her.”  Genesis 24:67

The match was made in heaven, but the message needed to make it to earth because Sarah was dead, Abraham old, and Isaac unwed!   Since the hometown girls weren’t exactly holy, Abraham sent a servant to retrieve a relative for his son. The man was anxious about the assignment, but Abraham promised an angel would go before him.  The servant heard no wings as he approached the well at Nahor, but since many women came to draw water in the evenings, he knew it was a good place to scout for a spouse.

But before he inspected, he implored.  “Then he prayed, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, give me success today”(Gen. 24:12).   He asked God to make the choice easy and obvious.  “Please, may the girl who gives me and my camels water be the wife you’ve chosen”(Gen. 24:14).

Before he said “Amen,” Rebekah arrived, gave him a drink to sip and his camels drinks to slurp.  The servant was delighted to discover she was the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother, and he bowed in worship.  At her family’s house, he wouldn’t touch his supper until he told the story, giving God credit for His kindness and praise for His provision.  Her brothers realized this duo was divine, bestowed their blessing, and agreed for Rebekah to depart the next day. 

As she neared her new home, Rebekah spotted Isaac in the field and hopped down from her camel into holy matrimony.   The servant’s mission was complete—Operation Hitch was a has-been.

If you’re married, you probably prayed for God to send you a spouse.  He answered when you asked, so praise Him for your partner every day.  Enjoy the easy days.  Hold tight on the hard ones.  Don’t hang on to wrongs, and when you need to, hop down off your own high horse. Love holy and wholly.

That will make the Matchmaker happy.  And you too.

Trust and Obey

“Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering.”    Genesis 22:2

“Abraham, take your son….”  Fear crept in after only four words, but God continued, “Your only son, Isaac, whom you love.”  The reminders of affection only increased his anxiety.  “Go to the region of Moriah.  Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about”(Gen. 22:2).  The dread of every parent—the death of a child, and Abraham must do the deed himself.

We’re not told how Abraham felt or what he said, but we know what he did.  “Early the next morning Abraham got up and…set out for the place God told him about”(Gen. 22:3).  Abraham obeyed and Abraham believed.  On the third day of the journey, he left his servants at base camp and instructed them to stay put.  “We will worship and then we will come back to you”(Gen. 22:5).  Two would go up and two would come down.  Abraham knew God’s promise and trusted Him to do the impossible to keep it. 

Isaac noticed the wood, the fire, and the knife, but seeing no sacrifice, he asked dear old dad, “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”   Abraham answered, “‘God himself will provide the lamb.’ And the two of them went on together”(Gen. 22:7-8).

Surely God would have them stop before they reached the top, but the summit appeared and the sacrifice approached.  In the ultimate act of abandon, the father bound his son and raised the blade.  And then God halted from heaven. Isaac’s life was spared.  Abraham’s loyalty was commended, and a ram in a jam ended up as the offering.

Abraham’s situation was unique to him, but the application is for all.  We’ll not be told to kill our kids, but we must be willing to surrender what we cherish.

Trust and Obey.

Hold nothing back.

God will provide.

Laugh

“Then the Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh?’”  Genesis 18:13

I would have chuckled—and so would you. 

After many decades of marriage, the table was still set for two, and, since Abraham had sired a son with a servant, the fingers of fault pointed at Sarah.  By eighty-nine candles on the cake, most would have gotten over it, but the stigma and sting of an empty cradle still haunted Sarah’s heart.

The three men arrived around midday.  Ever the hospitable host, Abraham invited them to come in, cool off, and chow down.  They picnicked under a shade tree, with Abraham standing close by.  “Where’s your wife?” they wondered.  “Over there, in the tent,” he replied.  Then one of the men (who was God in the guise of a guy) said, “I’ll be back in a year, and by then, she’ll have a baby boy.”

The eavesdropping Sarah could hardly believe her ears.  In fact, she couldn’t.  She laughed to herself as she thought, “After I’m too tired and Abe’s too old, will we now be blessed with a little bundle?”

God asked why she laughed.  Sarah lied and said she didn’t.  God didn’t let her off the hook, but He didn’t let her down either. At ninety, Sarah cuddled her newborn son and then handed the crying kid off to his century year old daddy.

They named him Isaac, which means “he laughs.”   “Sarah said, ‘God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me”(Gen. 21:6).

Embrace your Isaacs. They are those running-around, right-before-you reminders that sometimes God does something so hilariously incredible that all you can do is shake your head, shout your praise—and laugh!

Abraham and the Altar

"There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.”  Genesis 12:8

God said to Abraham, “It’s time for a trip.  You and the wife pack the Winnebago and travel to where I tell you.”  So Abraham pulled out and headed south taking his possessions and a promise.  “You will become a great nation.  You will have a great name.  I will bless you, and everybody else will be blessed through you”(Gen. 12:2).

Abraham traveled to Shechem—and built an altar.  He moved between Ai and Bethel— and built an altar.  He moved to Egypt—(not so good but God was.)  He moved back from Egypt to the altar between Ai and Bethel.  He moved to Hebron—and built an altar.

His nephew Lot, whom he should have left at home, moved to Sodom and was soon a spoil of war.  Abraham and 318 personal soldiers ran to the rescue, routed the four raiding rulers, and returned with Lot, a lot of others, and all the loot.  The grateful king of Sodom said, “Keep what you’ve collected,” but Abraham took no pay and no prize. “After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:  ‘Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield, your very great reward’”(Gen 15:1).  He had refused the goods of men, and his reward was God.

Abraham didn’t need stuff.  He needed a son.  So he asked, “O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless…My servant will be my heir”(Gen. 15:2).  But God said, “No, not your servant.  Your own son.”  He took Abraham outside and ordered, “Look up. Tally the stars and you’ll be totaling your descendants”(Gen. 15:5).

“Abraham believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.”(Gen. 15:6).

And Abraham built an altar.

God’s blessings are beyond what we can figure.

Look around and count—and offer your thanks on the altar of faith.

The Blueprint of Babel

“Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens.”  Genesis 11:4

I really would like to have seen it.  Architecturally, the tower was surely impressive.  Its base was bold enough to bolster height which could climb to the clouds, and its sides were surrounded by a city big enough contain them all.

Babel was built with bricks for the abundance of sand and sun assured never-ending supplies.  One by one the bricks were fashioned.  One by one the bricks were fastened.  They were held together by a mortar of tar and a motive of pride and preservation.  “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth”(Gen. 11:4).

The name of God was not enough.  They wanted one of their own so they set out to leave a legacy by living for themselves.  One by one.

God came down to inspect.  He noticed the foundation was not Him but them, and since this did not meet code, He confused the speech of the laborers.  Unable to understand each other, they scattered away from each other.  One by one.

Babel was never completed.  No certificate of occupancy was ever issued.  The unfinished tower stood in the desert as a desolate monument to the grand plans of men minus God.

In vanity, they built up.  And God came down to scatter.

In humility, we look up.  For God came down to gather.

One by one.