RECAP
Isaac is born
1. Who was Isaac?
Abraham offers Isaac
1. What happened when Abraham offered Isaac?
2. What Was caught in the bush?
3. What was special about this act?
A Bride for Isaac
1. Where did Abraham send for a wife for Isaac?
2. What was her name?
Jacob and Esau
1. Who was Esau?
2. Who was born first?
3. Did God love Esau?
4. What did Esau do when he was hungry?
Isaac blesses Jacob
1. How was Jacob blessed?
2. Was he honest about how he did it?
3. Who was in line to be blessed by Isaac?
4. Was Esau blessed as well?
5. Who helped Jacob with the plan to get the blessing?
6. Who was mad at Jacob?
7. What did he do after he was blessed by Jacob?
LESSON TIME!
In today’s lesson, we are going to learn about the real “Jacob’s ladder.
Gen.28:10-22
10 Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. 11 At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. 12 As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway.
13 At the top of the stairway stood the LORD, and he said, “I am the LORD, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. 14 Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. 15 what's more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything, I have promised you.”
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” 17 But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!”
18 The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it. 19 He named that place Bethel (which means “house of God”), although it was previously called Luz.
20 Then Jacob made this vow: “If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing, 21 and if I return safely to my father’s home, then the LORD will certainly be my God. 22 And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me.”
Have you ever felt all alone? Maybe you have looked up at the sky on a bright, starry night and felt so little in comparison to the great, big universe.
Man in his natural state is so helpless and God can seem so far away at times;
yet, the Almighty God Himself chooses to have fellowship with us!
We never have to feel alone as His children because He loves us, He pours out His grace on us, and has promised He will always be with us.
Heb. 13:5B
For He, Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you
Gen.28:10 Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran.
11 At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night.
Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep.
Imagine how Jacob must have felt. He had left his family and his home and was now traveling all alone to a new place.
In a dark, strange place, he made the ground his bed with the heavens alone being his shelter.
There he slept, helpless, in a vast, wide universe. It was at this lowly state that God chose to appear to Jacob.
When we are at a low point, feeling we are without a friend or feeling afraid;
remember, God, desires to be our comfort and help.
12 As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway.
13 At the top of the stairway stood the LORD, and he said, “I am the LORD, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. 14 Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. 15 what's more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything, I have promised you.”
As Jacob lay looking up at the sky, God must have seemed so far away; he needed someone to bridge the gap between himself and God. In his dream, Jacob saw a ladder reaching up into heaven with angels ascending and descending on it, and God Himself standing above it. This ladder reached directly down to the earth, to mankind. John 1:51 reveals to us that Jesus Christ is the ladder that bridges the gap between God and man. Who is worthy enough to come to God? Jesus came that He might bridge the gap and bring us into fellowship with God. When Jesus took the punishment for our sins upon the cross, He took upon Himself the separation from God the Father that we deserved. He experienced separation from God the Father upon the cross that we who believe in Him might never experience separation from God.
Does the Lord will ever leave His children?
God gave promises to Jacob and encouraged Jacob with His presence. Jacob did nothing to deserve this awesome dream of God. Remember back to some of our past lessons? Jacob actually did some pretty mean things to his family. Yet, by His grace, God chose to bless Jacob and reveal Himself to Jacob. God shows his grace and love towards us even when we do not deserve it. Jacob did not have a flawless character. He could be crafty, selfish, and at times deceitful. We do not have flawless characters either; yet, God still loves us and has a plan for our lives. The Lord, out of His goodness alone, has promised us that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:6). Even if we are in a lonely or scary place, we can place our trust in the Lord. He will always be here for us.
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” 17 But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!”
18 The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it. 19 He named that place Bethel (which means “house of God”), although it was previously called Luz.
Do you recall Jacob’s words when he first woke up? He said that the Lord is in this place, but he did not know it. Sometimes, we can forget that the Lord is with us. God is everywhere, all of the time; and when we ask Jesus to come into our hearts, He comes to live inside of us. Because we do not see Him and often do not feel Him, we can forget, as did Jacob, that He is present with us. Circumstances will not make us feel lonely or afraid if we remember that God is present with us! Jacob was blessed and filled with awe over what the Lord had done in his life. In response to the Lord's love and goodness, Jacob worshipped Him. He woke up early and set up a memorial to the Lord. He changed the name of the place from Luz which means "separation" to Bethel which means "House of God” (the place God dwells)." As Christians, we are no longer separated from God; we dwell within His presence! What a blessing that we may come boldly before His throne of grace and commune with Him at all times. That should cause us to worship the Lord, just like Jacob did.
20 Then Jacob made this vow: “If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing, 21 and if I return safely to my father’s home, then the LORD will certainly be my God. 22 And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me.”
Here we see Jacob making a vow to God.
But, it seems almost like it is a bargain like maybe Jacob is putting the Lord to the test.
He is saying, “If you do what you say, then you will be my God.” It is interesting that Jacob would put conditions on His service to the Lord. We can be sure, what God says, He will do. God’s Word is more solid than the stone Jacob laid his head-on. Please note also, we do not need to make vows (promises) to God. God loves us and blesses us because of His grace and goodness, not because we have done or can do anything to deserve it. We need to be careful not to try to earn God’s favor by making promises that we may or may not be able to keep. Jacob promises to pay a tithe to the Lord, willing to give of his resources. As Christians, we understand that all we have has come from and belongs to God. May we, like Jacob, be willing to worship the Lord with our resources, giving tithes and offerings. We have learned some valuable lessons from this story of Jacob—especially that we can be confident God is with us, even when we do not feel His presence. He will never leave us or forsake us.
MEMORY VERSE
GENESIS 28:15a "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go."
PRAYER
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