Jacob escapes and flees to what looks like an ordinary place, on a night like any other. But on this night, he’s running away from his brother, Esau, who has threatened to kill him. For Jacob had just swindled him for a second time. Esau had had enough!
But let’s go back to the first time that Jacob cheated his brother. Esau came home from hunting one day, famished. But there was Jacob was cooking—and Esau wanted to eat! But Jacob demanded that Esau pay for the food by selling his birthright.
Esau said, “I’m about to die [from hunger], so what good is this birthright to me?” (Genesis 25:32). The Hebrew text gives us a hint, letting us know just how hungry he was. When Esau saw what was cooking in the pot, he cried out, “Give me some of that red-red” (Genesis 25:30; LXX has only one “red”).
Esau was so hungry that he didn’t even have the presence of mind to call the stew that Jacob was making “stew.” “Give me some of that red-red!” But was Esau that hungry? No; to sell his birthright like that shows that he didn’t value it like he should have. But Jacob’s also at fault. He should’ve never forced his brother to pay for what he should’ve given him, without cost.
But, right now, let’s take a short side-trip. For you might be thinking, “I don’t even know what a ‘birthright’ is. And why would Esau giving that up and Jacob getting it even matter?” What complicates it even more is that Jacob also swindled something else from Esau: the blessing that his father, Isaac, was to give to him.
Birthright and the blessing usually go together. But they aren’t the same. The birthright was the responsibility that came with being the firstborn son. He was to keep the heritage of the family intact, watching over the family for the next generation after the family patriarch died. That’s an enormous responsibility. But with the birthright also came the privilege of receiving a double portion of the family estate.
But the blessing was different; it was something greater and applied to more than Esau and Jacob’s immediate family. The blessing that Isaac was going to give to Esau goes back to the original blessing that God had spoken to Abraham. When Isaac was going to bless Esau, he was passing on to Esau the blessing that God first gave to Abraham. That’s why Isaac couldn’t give it to Esau after he had given it to Jacob.
When God blessed Abraham, that blessing came with several promises attached to it. First, God promised land, the land that He would show to Abraham (Genesis 12:1). Abraham and his descendants would have land where they could settle. Having a particular geography would allow Abraham’s descendants to remain intact, so God’s teachings and ways could pass from one generation to the next.
God also promised to make Abraham “into a great nation” (Genesis 12:2). With an intact geography, Abraham and his descendants could become, and remain, a distinct people, a nation. That was important, for through that “great nation,” the Messiah, the Savior of the world, would come, bringing life and salvation.
But, even more, God promised that through Abraham “all the people of the earth [would] be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). The blessing from God to Abraham would eventually spread to all people and places, not just the Jews. Through that “great nation,” God’s promise of salvation would pass from generation to generation until the Messiah arrived. And through Him, that blessing would bust open to all people.
But Jacob took the blessing that Isaac was supposed to give to Esau, his firstborn son. And now that Jacob had that blessing, and not Esau, the promised Messiah would now flow through Jacob’s loins, not Esau’s. Now, Esau being the man that he was, may or may not have fully understood what happened when Jacob took the blessing from him. But whether he realized that or not, he still burned hot with anger against Jacob.
Esau may have still been simmering with rage at Jacob, for fleecing him of his birthright over a bowl of “red-red.” And now Jacob has the nerve to steal the blessing that my father was going to pass on to me, his firstborn son? Jacob’s a dead man!
But their mother, Rebekah, heard what Esau was planning to do. So, she tells Jacob to flee to her family home, back to Haran. After all, Jacob had always been her favorite son, so she needed to protect him. She hoped that, in time, Esau’s anger would wane. As a bonus, Jacob would also have time to find a wife from her home country.
So there’s Jacob, on the run, fearing for his life, guilty before God and man. He makes a bed to sleep, finding only a rock for a pillow. And during the night, a vision comes to him. He sees God’s angels ascending and descending on a staircase from heaven to earth. And above the staircase is God Himself, orchestrating it all.
Unlike God, Jacob is doing nothing. But God is—He’s giving His blessing to Jacob! And that’s good, for Isaac didn’t pass on the full blessing that God had originally spoken to Abraham. Isaac added to it, but also left some of it out (Genesis 27:28-29). So, what Isaac messed up, God corrects in the vision that He gives to Jacob.
The next day, after experiencing what he did, Jacob declared: “This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Jacob then built a pillar, a monument, to mark what took place there. For what happened was extraordinary!
But what caused Jacob to say, “This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven”? What made that place where Jacob slept, rested, “Bethel,” “the house of God”? What changed that ordinary place into someplace extraordinary?
Jacob didn’t build that monument just because he had received a vision there. He built it because of what happened in that vision—heaven came to earth! And what was the big deal about that, besides it being a big deal in and of itself? Think about it.
In the other accounts when God allowed someone to see Him, the first response was often: “I’m a dead man. God is holy, and I’m not” (see Isaiah 6). And why was Jacob there, at that place? He was running from his brother’s wrath because he was guilty of stealing what belonged to his brother. And while still in that state of sin, God came to Jacob, blessing him. Through Jacob, God would even bless all the people of the earth.
God came to Jacob that night, not in wrath, but forgiveness. And how do we know that? It’s because God pointed Jacob to the blessing that would come to “all the peoples of the earth” (Genesis 28:14). That blessing was the promised Messiah, who would make right what Adam’s sin had made wrong. The promised Messiah would bring God’s forgiveness—that’s why “all the peoples of the earth [would] be blessed.”
Although Jacob, the sinner, had stolen God’s blessing from his brother, at that seemingly ordinary place, the God of heaven came to Jacob in forgiveness. That’s what made that place extraordinary. Jacob was now at peace with God. God was delivering His blessing to Jacob while Jacob was on earth, doing nothing.
Later, that promised Messiah, Jesus, would call a man, Nathanael, to be His disciple. Jesus told him, “You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:51). Jesus was pointing forward to His death on the cross. The ascending and descending angels between heaven and earth testify to Jesus reestablishing peace between the sinner on earth and God in heaven.
Only Jesus could do that. Why? Because only He is both God and Man. He’s the bridge, the staircase. That’s why Jacob saw angels ascending and descending from heaven to earth on a staircase. For through that Staircase, through Jesus, God would bless “all the peoples of the earth.” Through Jacob, that Messiah would one day be born, who would forgive sins and restore us with God.
Jesus is the Staircase between heaven and earth. He brings God’s forgiveness to earth. That’s why you don’t have to search your feelings to “feel” if God has forgiven you. God brings His forgiveness to you, here and now, at Bethel, “the house of God.”
God coming to Jacob with His blessing and forgiveness was such a big deal that Jacob built a monument. But Jacob’s vision pointed to Jesus, the Staircase, who brings God’s forgiveness in heaven to us fallen sinners, here on earth. So, the question to ask is, “Where do I get Jesus?” For when you get Jesus, you get God’s blessing, forgiveness, and restoration.
You get Jesus here, at Bethel, “the house of God.” That’s why Scripture tells us not to neglect coming together as God’s people (Hebrews 10:25)? That’s why God called the day to worship Him a Sabbath day, as a “day of rest” (Exodus 20:8).
In his vision, Jacob was doing nothing; he was resting. God was doing the doing. That’s the point of being in Bethel, “the house of God”: God is doing the doing, bringing to you His blessing and forgiveness, just like He did to Jacob.
Why does Jesus tell pastors to baptize (Matthew 28:19-20)? On Pentecost, Peter preached, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins” (Acts 2:38). Why does Jesus tell pastors to celebrate the Lord’s Supper? He tells us: “For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for the many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28). Jesus even wants pastors to preach God’s forgiveness to His people. He told His Apostles: “repentance into the forgiveness of sins is to be preached in His name” (Luke 24:47).
That’s why this place is the “house of God.” That’s why this place is the “gate of heaven.” In Christ, God blesses “all the people of the earth,” even you. In Christ, God has forgiven you. That’s why you, even you, are at peace with God. Amen.
