Ok . . . so imagine it. You’ve pretty much been able to “do life” on your own. You’re a smart guy . . . a resourceful guy . . . you know what you want . . . and you’re just crafty enough to know how to get it. Yeah, you are technically the younger son . . . but hey, only by a couple of minutes . . . so why should your twin brother get all the advantages of being the eldest? His birthright could just as easily been your birthright . . . his blessing, just as easily your blessing . . . so, why not? And Jacob, “the heal holder” (Gen. 25:26) . . . the “supplanter” . . . pretty much was able to use his cunning to deceive his way to the top of the family food chain. But, you get to the end of Genesis 28 and he’s got to be wondering, “What has this really all gotten me?”

He’s alone . . . he’s laying on the ground trying to go to sleep . . .he’s trying to use a rock for a pillow . . . and he’s got to be wondering what he’s got himself into (28:11). Sure he’s got the birthright . . . all that took was a bowl of soup (Gen. 25:29-34). You bet he’s got the blessing of his father . . . that cost him some goat roast and a bad rash from the itchy clothes he had to wear (Gen. 27:1-29). But now, he’s on the run from a brother who wants to kill him . . . separated from a father who’s dying . . . apart from his biggest supporter, his mom . . . going to who knows where . . . not really knowing if he’ll ever be back . . . doesn’t know how he’s going to feed himself . . . doesn’t know how he’s going to clothe himself . . . doesn’t really know much about nothin’. Good job, Jacob! Pretty resourceful. Pretty self sufficient. Pretty lost. Now what?

“Then [Jacob] dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: . . . ” (Gen. 28:12-13a)

What a dream! A ladder to heaven . . . angels going up and down it . . . a vision of the Lord God in all His heavenly glory . . . and then, God speaks. Talk about your divine visitation! And you gotta know it wasn’t because Jacob was the most righteous guy around . . . or that he had the most to give God . . . or that he was even seeking God . . . God visited Jacob in this dream because it was God’s sovereign determination. God was going to use the deceiver for His glory.

“The land on which you lie . . . I will give you and your beyond-counting descendants. In you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. I am with you . . . and will keep you . . . and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you . . . I will begin a work in you and through . . . and I will finish that work.” (Gen. 28:13-15)

Isn’t that how God works? It sure is how He worked in my life. Not that I had a vision and heard and saw God. But that He just as surely revealed Himself to me . . . through other believers . . . through His Word . . . through the inner-workings of His Spirit with mine. I wasn’t looking for Him . . . I was doing life my own way, with my own means and resources. And then, He revealed Himself to me. Not in a dream . . . but just as clearly and powerfully as He did with Jacob. It wasn’t overnight . . . but it wasn’t for Jacob either. It would take time for Jacob as well. But it started with a new awareness.

Jacob wakes up from this amazing dream . . . he comes to after his divine revelation . . . and realizes, “Surely the Lord is in this place” (28:16). A new dimension was opened up for Jacob. There would be a larger context in which to live life and pursue goals and judge success. Sure, there’d be a few more lessons to learn along the way . . . no way was it going to be easy street . . . he wasn’t going to get it all right . . . but, in His grace, God revealed to Jacob that He wanted him . . . and that He would work in and through him. And though Jacob’s faith started small, “If God will be with me . . . then the LORD shall be my God” . . . he started seeing life on earth in a heavenly context . . . started to realize that it wasn’t about how clever he was, but about how faithful God was.

Isn’t that the grace of God known by many of us Jacobs? Why He would visit us, we don’t know. That He visited us, we become more sure of each day as our relationship with Him becomes more real. We are confident that the work He’s begun in us, He will complete until that day when He takes us up that ladder and to our heavenly home (Php. 1:6). In the meantime, we learn to do life less on our own strength and more by the power of His indwelling Spirit. He must increase . . . we must decrease. Not my will, but Thine be done. And the dream is for His glory . . . amen!