"A Stone Marks This Place"
Genesis 28:10-22
Sunday, March 18, 2012

Introduction: Whenever I go to the mountains, I am amazed at the clear air and the green trees. I am also amazed at the contrast in colors; the blue sky, white clouds, green pines, brown on the ground. There is something about the mountains for me that is peaceful; special. For some reason, whenever I am in the mountains I feel closer to God. I know it’s not the fact that in higher elevation, physically I am closer to God. Something inside me just feels more at peace, and more able to feel the presence of God.

Do you have a place like that in your life? A place where you go where you feel closer to God? A place where you just feel like you connect better with God? Maybe for you it is in a church; or maybe at the beach; or maybe in the quiet of your home./ If you don’t have a place like this, I encourage you to be more aware of this concept, and see if you can’t find that place where you just feel drawn to God’s presence.

I. The Lord Beside Him- (Genesis 28:10-14; John 1:51)

a. Dreams- In Genesis chapter 28, we have Jacob, who has received the

blessing from his father, but he received it with deception. You see Jacob was the younger of 2 sons; Esau was the oldest and by law deserved the blessing. But Jacob’s mother helped him to deceive his father, and in the end, he got the blessing. But because of how he got the blessing, he was forced to flee from his country, to avoid Esau. Esau was very angry that Jacob had stolen his blessing, even though in essence Esau had sold his birthright for a bowl of stew./ So this time away, for Jacob, was a time for him to re-evaluate what it meant to follow God and be obedient to God’s ways. This time away, was a time for Jacob to understand the importance of living for God, instead of always seeking to do things his own way.

We see that Jacob is on a journey, he is a fugitive of sorts, outside of the protection of the conventional means of his society. He was apart from his family and friends. He decides to stop for the night, and as he falls asleep, he begins to dream./ ILLUS.- Amusing Grace, p. 76, #239.

There are all kinds of dreams that we have: dreams for our children or grand-children, or just the normal dreams we have during our sleep./ In the book Understanding Human Behavior, p. 49, we are told this about dreams: (read) “Our first dreams of the night tend to be rather dull and trivial, mostly having to do with things that we have done during the day. In later REM periods, dreams become more unusual, more vivid, more colorful, easier to remember, and sometimes more anxiety-provoking. During any one REM period, we are likely to experience a sequence of related dreams, or to run through the same dream two or three times. For the most part, however, we dream about things that are of some interest or importance to us, including our daily activities.”/ Now most of the time that we dream, it is like this, related to, or coming from, our life; perhaps even related to what occurred that day.

But some dreams have a greater purpose. Some dreams are given to us by God to help us to learn from God/ a purpose He has for us. This dream that Jacob has is not just an ordinary dream, it is a dream from the Lord. I don’t know if you have ever experienced this, but some dreams seem to be special dreams./ This is the kind of dream Jacob had.

b. Meaning of the dream- As Jacob is in this dream state, God was able

to speak to him. It is possible that Jacob was so concerned with his life because he was fleeing, so worried about what might happen to him, so caught up in making sense of what he was to do next, that he might not have been able to receive anything from God while he was awake. So God chose to speak to him in a dream.

In this dream we see the providence of God. The ladder referred to in the passage, and the angels ascending and descending, remind us that God is ever communicating with His people. It is a wonderful image of God’s desiring to reach out to us and connect with us. The providence of God is at the upper end of the ladder, and it is being brought down to us, His people, at the lower end. This reminded Jacob, and reminds us, that we are not left to our own resources, but can count on the resources of heaven. This was also a statement from God to Jacob that God would be by His side to guard and guide him.

A second message that Jacob received from this dream was of the mediation of Christ. In the gospel of John, 1:51, we are told: “Jesus said to Nathanael, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’”/ The same phrasing is here in Genesis that we see in John. God has a way to connect Earth with heaven. And now that Christ has come, that connection is made through the mediation of Christ. Our way to heaven is through Christ. Now Jacob couldn’t understand this fully because Christ hadn’t come to the earth yet, but God provides ways to communicate and connect with us. And for Jacob, it was in this dream.

A third thing that happens in the dream is that God speaks to Jacob. In God’s speaking, He affirms who He is (the God of Abraham and Jacob’s father Isaac), and shows how Jacob is connected with the promise that was given to Abraham. Jacob is now the heir to the promise; Jacob is now the one who will continue to be the connection of the “many descendants” that were promised to Abraham. Jacob will fulfill this by faith, just as Abraham and Isaac lived it out by faith./ God is going to bless Jacob and will give to him offspring that will carry on the “family of God.”

II. The Lord Will Keep You- (Genesis 28:15-17; 1 Corinthians 6:19)

a. A promise- Illus.- When I was growing up, I probably didn’t

appreciate my parents like I should have. But as I look back on my growing up, the thing I remember the most, is that my parents were always there for me. My dad coached my baseball teams from when I was 8 until I was 16. My mom was the team mom for most of my teams. And whenever I would do anything, sports, music, whatever, my parents were always there to see me and support me. Because of this I knew I could always count on my parents. When they said there were going to do something, I knew that they would do it; I believed their promise.

I’m sure it was like this for Jacob. Jacob saw how the Lord was there for him. Jacob knew how God had been there for his father Isaac. Jacob knew the commitment and faithfulness God had shown to Abraham. The Lord was there for His people./ And so in this time, God gives Jacob a promise; a promise that Jacob could count on. A promise that is for Jacob alone. In the previous verses God had re-affirmed the promise given to Abraham, but now Jacob gets his own promise as well. The promise is this: “I will bring you back to this land.”

What God is telling Jacob, is that even though he is in exile, God will bring him back to this land that has been promised to Abraham, and then to Isaac. Jacob, even though he has received the blessing from his father by deception, it seems that he was meant to be the one to carry on the call from the Lord, and so the Lord is letting Jacob know that he too will be able to come back to this land of his people.

How often do we wonder if God is with us? Maybe we have done something wrong, and we think that our sin will keep us from God; keep us from God’s blessings. Through what we see in the dream of Jacob, we can know that when we seek God in faith, God will come to us, will guide us, will guard us, and will bring us into His promise!!

b. A revelation- Jacob wakes up from his sleep, and from his dream, and

he has a revelation. The revelation is a surprise to Jacob. Jacob was surprised that God would meet him there; surprised that God would come to him like this. But Jacob/ even though it had happened in a dream/ knew that he did indeed have an encounter with God. And so in verse 16 Jacob says: “Surely the Lord is in this place”/ Now, God should not be thought of as residing in any one place. We are told in 1 Corinthians 6:19, “your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.”/ Psalm 139:7 says, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” The inference here is ‘no where.’ There is nowhere we can go that God is not there! God resides in each one of us, through the Holy Spirit, when we believe. God resides over the whole earth. God resides in the heavens. But there are times when God comes to His people in profound and meaningful ways; in ways that make it evident that “the Lord is in this place.”

Now think about this for a moment: Jacob is in exile; he has received his family blessing through deception; he is on the run; his life is in turmoil! Aren’t these the times in our lives when we tend to doubt God’s presence? Aren’t these the times in our lives that we feel the farthest from God? And so it is understandable that Jacob would be surprised at this visit from God. It is understandable that this encounter would make such a profound impact on Jacob.

Illus.- Many years ago, Larry Brown was the coach of the professional basketball team the San Antonio Spurs. One day Coach Brown was at a local men’s store signing autographs. The autograph session was to last 2 hours, but Larry Brown stayed for three. At the end of the three hours Coach Brown was finally able to slip out. He climbed into his car, turned on the ignition, and got ready to leave. But then something caught his eye…a young boy was peddling up on his bike to the store. He was very late in his arriving. As the boy got off the bike, Larry Brown could tell he was looking for him. The boy walked up to the window, looked in, saw that Coach Brown was not there, and with a sad look on his face, slowly walked back to his bike. Coach Brown turned off his car, and walked over to the boy. Now understand that there were NO REPORTERS NEAR; NO CAMERAS WERE FILMING; IT WAS JUST LARRY BROWN AND THIS BOY. Larry Brown signed his autograph and sat down at a table to have a little chat; a chat that had a profound impact!

Jacob’s encounter with God made a profound impact on his life!

III. The House of God- (Genesis 28:18-22)

a. A stone- EX. There is a story of a family who was getting ready to go on

vacation; the bad news was that the father had to work, and so he couldn’t go. He still wanted his family to have this great experience, so he helped them to plan the trip, and get excited for it. The day came for the family to leave, and so they gathered in the car, said goodbye, and off they went. A couple of days into the drive the father realized that he would be able to get off work. So he flew into the state where they would be driving through, and then had someone drive him to a place where he knew all cars had to pass. Since he had helped them plan the trip, he knew about when they would be driving past this destination. And so the father waited on the side of the road/ . Can you imagine this? His family drives by and the kids shout out: “Hey, that guy looks just like dad! Wait a minute, it is dad!!

Here is their father, at a place where they didn’t expect him, coming to be with them. Astounding. Unbelievable. Wonderful. Memorable./ I’m sure his kids never forgot this experience with their dad./ And Jacob would never forget this experience with His God. And because of this experience Jacob chose to memorialize it. He memorialized it with the stone on which his head lay; the stone which he used for a pillow. But along with the stone, which marked the spot where he had this encounter, he also gave it a name: BETHEL. Bethel, which means “the house of God.” Isn’t the house of God one of the profound places where God dwells? And for Jacob, this place was where God dwelled deep in his heart; deep in his being.

But Jacob did one more thing, and that was making a vow to the Lord. In verses 20-21, Jacob is making a solemn vow. At first reading it might seem like Jacob is saying that his vow is contingent on God’s actions, but what he is really saying is that he will depend on God’s presence, God’s provision, and God’s protection. These are what will be proof that God is who He says He is and does what He says He will do./ This stone, and this vow, and the promise that Jacob will give a tenth of all that he has to the Lord, are the ways that Jacob was affected by this encounter.

b. God with us- The amazing thing about this story, is that it is not just

for Jacob. You and I have had, and will have in the future/ visits from God. You might be skeptical about this statement I just made, but it is true. God visits you and me. It is not the same way every time. Maybe he visits us in a dream. Or maybe he visits us through a stranger. God has many ways to visit us. To show you this is true I want to read you 2 scriptures: Hebrews 13:2, and Matthew 25:34-40. Hebrews 13:2 tells us- “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” And we read in Matthew 25:34-40- ³⁴"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' ³⁷"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' ⁴⁰"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Conclusion: GOD IS WITH US IN MANY WAYS! But we have to be ready to see Him if we are going to see him. And when we do see him, we have to do something that helps us to remember. For Jacob it was placing the stone, and giving the place a name; Bethel, ‘the house of God.’ For me it is writing it in my journal, or telling Tami or a friend about it.

EX. When I was doing youth ministry in Camarillo a number of years ago, I had a volunteer youth leader who was very creative. He was so talented and creative, that when we would take retreats with the kids, I would let him plan and do the teaching. At the end of every retreat, he always had a remembrance object for the kids to help them remember their experience. One year, it was a smooth stone that had the theme of the retreat written on it. Every time the kids would see this stone, they would remember encountering God at the retreat./ I encourage you to find ways to mark the places and events where you encounter God. In this way, you will not forget God’s protection, provision, and presence in your life. Amen.