Genesis 28:10-22
Jacob's Dream at Bethel
10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. 11 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. 12 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. 13 There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it." 17 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."
18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father's house, then the LORD will be my God 22 and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth."
Jacob had left his family because his mother, Rebekah and him had devised a scheme to trick, his father Isaac...Jacob and Rebekah got his dying father, Isaac to give Jacob, Esau's blessing...Spoken promises and deathbed blessings were very important in the lives of our early ancestors...These blessings once given could not be taken back...Because of this, Esau plans on killing Jacob after his father, Isaac passes away...
We go about in our lives doing things keeping busy with this or that...Sometimes some of the things we do, impacts others... How our lives impacts others and how we think about others, may not be thought about...We just keep on doing them, because living can become a routine...This may have happened to Jacob...We do know that his relationship with his brother was not one based on respect...
His mother sends Jacob to her brother, Laban, in Haran to protect him...While Jacob is on his way to Laban's he stops at night to sleep..
One might conclude when reading the story of Jacob, he had not been real close to God up to this point...But this night would be different...A tired, probably scared Jacob falls asleep on a stone... While asleep Jacob has a dream about God...
God tells Jacob He is the God of his grandfather Abraham...God will extend Jacob's descendants all over the earth...All the people all over the earth will be blessed through Jacob and his offspring...God would now be with Jacob and God would not leave Jacob until He does what He just promised...
Jacob awakes the next morning and says surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it...Jacob had probably never felt the presence of God like he just felt...
Can be be unaware when God is present???...Our Patriarch ancestor, Jacob thought so...Jacob realized this place was awesome since God was near...God would forgive and be with Jacob who had taken his twin brother's blessing and earlier in their lives his brother's birthrights...
Jacob called this place Bethel, which means House of God...Jacob made a vow with God...If God would provide him his daily bread and clothes, so that he could eventually return to his father's house, he would give the LORD a tenth of all the LORD would give him...
God forgives us...God can be near us and we are unaware of it... God will provide for us...God has a plan...How that plan will work out, only He knows...