Stairway to Heaven

Genesis 28:10-17New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood beside him and said, “I am the Lord, 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 shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. 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 have promised you.” Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!” And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

I'm not going to lead in to this with a Led Zeppelin video, but their image of a "Stairway to Heaven" is actually a bit closer to what Jacob is seeing in this dream rather than a ladder.

This story happens after Jacob has tricked Isaac into giving him his brother Esau's birthright.  He is literally on the run for his life now, knowing that Esau is not going to be happy with him.  

So far, nothing about Jacob seems to indicate he's a stand-up guy.  He's a liar and a trickster.  

And here God blesses him.

Here God chooses him.

In fairness, both Jacob's father, Isaac, and grandfather, Abraham, weren't perfect either and had been known to stretch the truth when they thought they needed to.  So, Jacob comes by his imperfection honestly, so to speak.

However, regardless of Jacob's imperfections there is one person in the story who remains truthful.

God.

God has made a promise to this family of Jacob.  God has promised blessing to this family.  

Despite their imperfections.  

God has chosen Jacob to be including in this blessing despite who Jacob is and what Jacob's done.

God keeps God's promises.

For Abraham, for Isaac, for Jacob, for you and for me.  

We don't need a ladder or Stairway to Heaven anymore.  God's promise comes to us now fully realized in a cross.  

The promise remains.  We have inherited a blessing that has been passed down for thousands of years.

And we are meant to be a blessing to others because of that promise.

Thank you Lord for your expansive love and promise of freedom and blessing.  Help us to spread that blessing to your world.  Amen.