He Is In This Place
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. 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. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, 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 28:11-22 (KJV) emphasis mine
This is the story of Jacob’s ladder, or we could also call it God’s gate, ladder, or portal, because it really belonged to God, not Jacob. Jacob had a dream in which he saw a ladder that reached from heaven, where God dwells, to earth. He saw angelic activity- angels coming and going by way of the ladder. God promised Jacob that He would be with him and keep him. Jacob awoke and said, “Surely the Lord (or Jehovah, Yahweh, I Am, the present God) is in this place and I knew it not.”
Have you ever felt alone and wondered, “God, where are you?” God is right where He’s always been- in Heaven watching over us. (Plus, as New Testament believers, we have the Holy Spirit actually living inside us). God made Himself known to Jacob, and He will make Himself known to us so we know that He is here with us. When we encounter God, we experience a holy awe of Him. He’s beyond anything or anyone we could know. Yet, God makes Himself known to us to bless us, help us, protect us, and get us to where He needs us to be. He’s with us in our coming and going.
In this passage, we see that God has had certain places on earth set up as “houses of God;” gates, portals, access points, or open windows between heaven and earth. Geographically, we can get under the spout where the glory is poured out. Some people have called such locations an “open heaven.” Soon, the glory of God will be pouring into the earth all over the place, so get ready for the greatest outpouring of God this world has ever seen.
Jacob set up a pillar, a memorial, of his encounter with God and renamed the place Bethel, or House of God. We, too, can remember the things God has done for us in our lives and praise Him for them.
The experience so impacted Jacob that he vowed that if God would help him, then the Lord (Jehovah, Yahweh, I AM, the self-existent God) would be his God (Elohim- or the triune God who is one in covenant). Jacob was saying that he vowed to make a covenant with the Lord Himself for Him to be His God, His covenant-keeping God. He went from knowing Jehovah was there to making covenant with Him. The stone set for a pillar was to mark the place of God’s house, or a place of open heaven. Jacob swore that his part of the covenant was to pay a tenth of all to God. This would make him aware of God wherever he was. As we dedicate our goods, time, and lives to God and honor Him with our tithe, it reminds us that God is with us, and that we have an everlasting covenant with Him through Jesus Christ.
