By John C. Holbert
Lectionary Reflections for July 24, 2011
Genesis 28:10-19a
Here is a very famous passage that many a casual Bible reader may know. From this text arises one of those hoary hymns that churches have long sung, “We are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder,” and thus we become “soldiers of the cross.” Exactly how we become such cross-directed soldiers once we have clambered up Jacob’s famous ladder may be a subject for an essay rather different than this one. Still, the ladder story is one well worth pondering during this hot summer of 2011.
We find ourselves in the middle of the long and fascinating story of Israel’s eponymous ancestor, Jacob; he will later in his lengthy tale be renamed “Israel” after an infamous wrestling match with an unmanned male assailant at the Jabbok river (Gen 32). We find him here in Gen 28 at a spooky mountain, running headlong from his enraged brother, Esau, from whom Jacob has stolen both the patriarchal birthright (by means of a bowl of stew—Gen 25) and the patriarchal blessing by an apparent deception of the twins’ father, Isaac (Gen 27). I say “apparent deception” because more than a few rabbinic commentators question whether Isaac is in fact deceived at all! Whether or not he has been fooled, Jacob runs away, the possessor of birthright and blessing, hence the full heir of Isaac, though he is the younger of his sons.
He leaves Beersheba in the far southern deserts of Israel for the family homeland in Haran on the upper reaches of the Euphrates river, a very significant journey in the ancient world. But on the way he has a strange experience at a “certain place.” Resting from his flight from Esau, he spends the night, using a stone for a pillow. I can only assume that stone pillows are conducive to dreams, if not serious neck and back injuries! In his dream Jacob sees a “ladder set upon the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven (or “the sky”). This is hardly an aluminum step ladder, but rather a ziggurat stairway or ramp, connecting earth with sky.
And on this ramp Jacob sees “angels (more literally “messengers”) of God ascending and descending on it” (vs 12). The next verse records something quite remarkable: “and YHWH stood beside him (or perhaps “stood above it,” that is the ladder). Suddenly in his dream YHWH is near, standing close enough for Jacob to touch. And then YHWH speaks; “I am YHWH, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth will be blessed (or “shall bless themselves”) in you and in your offspring.” (vss 13-14). It is the patriarchal blessing, reaffirming what Isaac has already given to his son. Indeed, the language is in part a direct quote from Gen 12:3 first spoken to Abram long years before.
But that is not all YHWH has to say. “Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you” (vs 15). This long divine speech is as notable for what it does NOT say as for what it says. It is without doubt the free gift of YHWH to the new holder of the promise and blessing. But, it is noteworthy that this gift is given to just THIS man at just THIS time! This is after all Jacob, liar and trickster, fresh from clever use of a brother’s gullible hunger and a father’s aged blindness. Would we not imagine that YHWH might have something to say about such a blatant disregard for basic rules of family life and sibling care? Might YHWH not have said, “Just who do you think you are, you little lying twit! Do you think you are so clever as to get away with such nasty tricks; do you think that you can deceive me as you deceived your dying father?” Some sort of divine displeasure would not be amiss, I think! But not here. The great promise and blessing are given without question or remonstrance.
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