Genesis 28:10-19a<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nHere 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, \u201cWe are Climbing Jacob\u2019s Ladder,\u201d and thus we become \u201csoldiers of the cross.\u201d Exactly how we become such cross-directed soldiers once we have clambered up Jacob\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
We find ourselves in the middle of the long and fascinating story of Israel\u2019s eponymous ancestor, Jacob; he will later in his lengthy tale be renamed \u201cIsrael\u201d 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\u2014Gen 25) and the patriarchal blessing by an apparent deception of the twins\u2019 father, Isaac (Gen 27). I say \u201capparent deception\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
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 \u201ccertain place.\u201d 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 \u201cladder set upon the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven (or \u201cthe sky\u201d). This is hardly an aluminum step ladder, but rather a ziggurat stairway or ramp, connecting earth with sky.<\/p>\n
And on this ramp Jacob sees \u201cangels (more literally \u201cmessengers\u201d) of God ascending and descending on it\u201d (vs 12). The next verse records something quite remarkable: \u201cand YHWH stood beside him (or perhaps \u201cstood above it,\u201d that is the ladder). Suddenly in his dream YHWH is near, standing close enough for Jacob to touch. And then YHWH speaks; \u201cI 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 \u201cshall bless themselves\u201d) in you and in your offspring.\u201d (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.<\/p>\n
But that is not all YHWH has to say. \u201cKnow 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\u201d (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\u2019s gullible hunger and a father\u2019s 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, \u201cJust 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?\u201d 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.
\n
\nAfter that amazing and completely surprising speech, Jacob awakes, and exclaims, \u201cSurely YHWH is in this place\u2014and I did not know it\u201d (vs 16)! \u201cAnd he was afraid, and said, \u2018How awesome (\u201c fearsome\u201d\u2014the root is \u201cfear\u201d) is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven\u201d (\u201cthe sky\u201d) (vs 17)! Both of those initial reactions to his dream sound religious enough; one could imagine that after such a dream a person\u2019s life could well be seriously rearranged! And his initial words are matched by a religious action. He takes his little stone pillow, sets it up for a pillar, and pours oil on it, thus consecrating it for a religious purpose. He then calls the name of this sacred place Bethel, that is \u201chouse of God,\u201d though its name was in fact Luz (vs 19).<\/p>\n
And thus ends the lectionary\u2019s passage, leaving us with the clear impression that Jacob has had an experience of God and has responded to it in a deeply traditionally religious way. But I fear that will not do. One cannot read this passage by excluding vss 20-22. Jacob\u2019s response to his divine experience at Bethel is not quite what we might have hoped. Listen to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen Jacob made a vow, \u2018If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father\u2019s house in peace, then YHWH shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God\u2019s house; and of all that you give me I shall surely give one-tenth to you.\u2019\u201d Well, thank you very much! After you, Jacob, have tricked and lied, and after YHWH has overlooked all of that and has given you the blessing and the promise, all you can say is \u201cif?\u201d If God will do this and if God will do that? Jacob is after all well named. He is \u201cgrabber,\u201d the meaning of the name. In the very teeth of YHWH\u2019s free gift, all the little jerk can do is bargain with YHWH! Yet, it will not be the last time that Jacob will act disgustingly in the presence of a great and surprising gift as the amazing chapter 33 will make plain.<\/p>\n
Is Jacob the last would-be believer in God\u2019s gifts to attempt to bargain with that God? Hardly. How often have we thought, \u201cIf only God will get me through this terrible problem, I will serve God!\u201d \u201cIf God will show faithfulness to me, I will praise YHWH forever.\u201d The Satan in the book of Job asks the question we all need to answer: \u201cDoes Job worship God for nothing\u201d (Job 1:9)? Do we not expect some goodies from God if we give God our time, however small, however grudging? It is a question we need constantly to ask ourselves. Do we worship our God simply because we can do nothing else? Do we serve our God simply because we can do nothing else? Just how often are we bargaining Jacob? Good questions indeed.<\/p>\n
John C. Holbert <\/a>has been a local church pastor in Louisiana, professor of religion at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, and is now Lois Craddock Perkins Professor of Homiletics at Perkins School of Theology, where he joined the faculty in 1979. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Do we not expect some goodies from God if we give God our time, however small, however grudging? It is a question we need constantly to ask ourselves. Do we worship our God simply because we can do nothing else? Do we serve our God simply because we can do nothing else? Just how often are we bargaining Jacob? Good questions indeed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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