As the Lord may be pleased to
help us this morning, I'd like to direct your prayerful attention
to the words we read together in Genesis 28, and we'll take
as our text just one clause or two clauses from the 13th verse. Genesis 28 and verse 13, we read, And behold, the Lord stood above
it. And behold, the Lord stood above
it. That word behold instructs us
to look. Jacob was a man singled out by
God. And he's a continuation of those
promises, that covenant that God made. that he worked in the
heart and mind of Abraham, brought Abraham out of a foreign land,
right down in the southeast of what is now Turkey, and singled
him out and brought Abraham. It's something like a thousand
miles he had to travel, and there God established a work in Abraham,
whereby the purposes of grace through our Lord Jesus Christ
might be established. And in all these things, I think
we can repeat that same promise, and the Lord stood above it. Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. And at this time, we may well
understand, if we look at the context of the preceding verses
and chapters, that Jacob's mind must have been full of turmoil. He had, by the scheming of his
mother, received the blessing. Although he was the younger of
the two brothers, the promise went forth that the younger shall
serve the older. The older shall serve the younger.
But here we see that Jacob, God could well have caused him
to receive the blessing without the help of his mother. She took
advantage of Isaac's failing eyesight. And yet, the purposes
of God were carried out. God is he who is able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we can ask or think. and nothing
will stand in his way. In all that concerns God's kingdom
of grace, we can say the Lord stands above it. God Almighty
has a perfect right to determine and control because God is in
all things. God is able to do exceeding abundantly
and if God had a purpose of grace to be worked out in the life
of Jacob, this is how God will work. And
the revelation that God gave to Jacob when he was traveling
away from home and he went something like 40 miles that first day
so that he might get away from his brother who threatened to
take his life, And he went with that blessing
from God through his father. The third verse in chapter 28,
we read the words that God inspired Isaac to send Jacob with. He says, and God Almighty bless
thee and make thee fruitful and multiply thee that thou mayest
be a multitude of people. and give thee the blessings of
Abraham to thee, and to thy seed with thee, that thou mayest inherit
the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham. And it's interesting to note
that where Jacob rested that first night when he ran away
from home, and I think it works out that he might well have traveled
about 40 miles that day. He was in a hurry to get away.
But that's the very area where Abraham received that blessing
so many years ago and set up an altar to God. And so this revelation that was
given to Jacob on that remarkable night was the coming together
of God's promises and purposes to his people. His plan of salvation by grace,
through faith, was given and established in the coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ to this world. And so I've got three
headings this morning. God's purpose, God's presence,
and God's promise. God's purpose, God's presence,
and God's promise. If we go right back to the third
chapter in Genesis, and remember Genesis is a remarkable book. It covers more time span than
the rest of the Old Testament put together. And we see there,
when sin came into the world, that before Adam and Eve were
turned out of that garden of paradise, the Lord Jesus came. in the person of God, and it
was there that the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus was first preached,
I do believe, because we read, and God said unto the serpent,
because thou hast done this, verse 14, because thou hast done
this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast
of the field, upon thy belly thou shalt go, And thus shalt
thou eat all the days of thy life. That is judgment. But then we hear mercy. And I
will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy
seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel. That's God's mercy. God has a
way of salvation. That sin, which has entered into
the world, will be dealt with, but only through her seed. And I was most interested in studying
this word that if we turn to John's Gospel and chapter 2,
Gospel of John chapter 2, we read on the third day there was
a marriage in Cana of Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there
and both Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage.
And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus said unto him,
they have no wine. Jesus said unto her, woman, what
have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Notice
the address. He referred to his mother as
woman. It sounds almost impolite, but
it's not. It's absolutely correct. She,
Jesus's mother was the woman by whose seed, the seed of the
woman, she conceived the Lord Jesus by the power of God. The
seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head. And as we
know, the Lord Jesus turned water into wine, and they said what
wonderful wine it was. And as we go down in this chapter,
we see at verse 11, This is the beginning of miracles that Jesus, beginning of miracles did Jesus
in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth his glory and his disciples
believed on him. So the word there is fulfilled. It's fulfilled in other places,
but it's quite clear there that the address given to Jesus' mother,
woman, and the fact that in that same chapter Jesus is manifested
and his glory is established and his disciples believed in
him for who he truly is, the Messiah, the Anointed One, the
Christ. And so God's purpose, God's sovereign
purpose, in singling out Abraham, and then Isaac, and then Jacob,
and they each had the same message from God, that he would establish
his kingdom on earth, and that it would be a covenant, which
is an unbreakable promise, and his purpose of grace is that
souls should be saved through our Lord Jesus Christ. When we think of Isaac, Jacob's
father, you may be sure that Isaac had shared with Jacob that
remarkable event that took place. And we read that Abraham went forth under God's
command. He said, take now thy son, thy
only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest, that is the son of promise, not
the son of Hagar, the Hagarines of whom we've just sung, not
that one, but no, take Isaac and offer him up there for a
sacrifice. And they went forth, the father and the son, and we
read that Isaac said to his father, behold the wood and the fire,
but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham, under
the inspiration of God, I'm sure, answered him. He said, God will
provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. God will provide himself. And the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ into this world is the fulfillment of that promise.
God has provided himself a lamb, and the lamb of God which taketh
away the sin of the world is the only way of salvation. And it's, he's referred to as
his seed, singular, one person. God, we read in the opening words
to the Hebrews, God who at sundry times And in Diver's manner,
spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, as in these
last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir
of all things, by whom also he made the world, co-eternal with
his Father, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. God's purposes
are fulfilled. But God's presence was here shown
to Jacob in a very remarkable way. Jacob must have been completely
exhausted. He laid down. He didn't even
have a pillow to put his head on. He took up the stones of
that place. And they might, we don't know,
but they might well have been some stones that Abraham had
built an altar with years before. He took up the stones of that
place and he found something to put his head on. And he went
to sleep. And behold, a ladder set up on
the earth. That was the dream that God gave
him. But it was so vivid and so definite and almost unmistakable
That ladder which set up on the earth, the top reached to heaven,
but its foot was on the earth. What a connection. What a wonderful
blessing. The God who is high and holy
in heaven is condescending to come to this earth. And that
ladder is a wonderful picture and a promise that there is that
wonderful communication between heaven and earth through our
Lord Jesus Christ. And behold, a ladder set up on
the earth, the top reached to heaven. And behold, the angels
of God ascending and descending on it. God's glory is great. And our
Lord Jesus uniquely lived a perfect life. And he gave his life a
ransom for many. And this ladder, which is set
up on the earth, whose top reached to heaven, and there was a constant, ongoing
correspondence between heaven and earth. The councils of heaven are brought
to pass here on earth. All the actions of earth are
known in heaven, and the presence of God On the earth, when the
Lord Jesus Christ had finished love's redeeming work, what did
he say? All power is given to me in heaven
and on earth. Go therefore and teach all nations. And God will make sure before
this world is dissolved that all nations have heard the glorious
good news of the gospel. Behold, look, a ladder, and behold
the angels of God. Angels, of course, are active
messengers sent by God at God's command. And Jacob left home,
you may be sure, naturally lonely, yes, but he went with the blessing
of God that Isaac, his father, gave him. And this revelation, Surely the Lord stood above it.
God gave this revelation to Jacob, and what a tremendous comfort
it must have been. We don't read anything in this
context about the errors whereby Jacob received the blessing.
No, because it was God's purpose that he should. But I'm quite
sure that that blessing would have reached Jacob by God's hand,
even without the scheming of his mother. But what a God and what a guide
was given. This ladder speaks to us of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the mediator between heaven and earth. And through Jacob, And though
he was made to leave his father's house, he was given this divine
blessing. And these things are a guide
to we who live on earth and the divine nature which looks up through our Lord Jesus Christ
to heaven is the only way of salvation. We see here the humility
of the Lord Jesus coming to this earth which is in sin and disaster
and yet his divine nature, his exaltation is that he came down
to this world that he might live uniquely a
life of perfection and then give his life a ransom for many. The only way to heaven is by
this wondrous ladder of the blessings which are alone found in our
Lord Jesus Christ. And every blessing that Jacob
received and that we receive comes to us through Christ who has reconciled all things
on earth and things in heaven by himself. Yes, this ladder is that which
God stood above and God stands above all that he's working out
to his purposes of grace for all those eternally designed
to be saved. The presence of God shown here
to Jacob is the blessing from God given
to Isaac to send Jacob on his way with. God is saying, Amen. God is saying, So be it. Because
the covenant given to Abraham, Abraham received. It was accounted
to him for righteousness that he believed God. given a revelation of the glorious
resurrection because he strongly believed that even when he was
commanded to take Isaac for a sacrifice that the life of Isaac would
have been restored even if his life was taken because the promise
of salvation depended on this son of promise. And we read in
the scriptures that it was counted to Abraham for righteousness,
that he believed God. And we read in the Hebrews that Abraham saw the resurrection
and believed. Right back then, he believed
in the resurrection of souls for eternal life. What a blessing. And so the blessing that was
given to Abraham was passed to Isaac and then to Jacob. But
to Jacob, it was given by a revelation that he could see, not only hear,
but see, and he was spoken to in that dream by God. The Lord stood above it, and
the Lord said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy
father, and the God of Jacob, the land whereon thou liest,
to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall
be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad
to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south,
and in thee, and in thy seed, shall all families of the earth
be blessed. And behold, I am with thee, and
will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will
bring thee again to this land, for I will not leave thee until
I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.' And Jacob
awaked out of his sleep and said, Surely, the Lord, and note that
the word Lord is in capital letters, that is Jehovah, God, who was
and is and is to come, the Almighty. The Lord is in this place and
I knew it not. What a revelation this was to
that fugitive Jacob as he ran away from home. He knew not what
was in front of him, but the Lord knows, the Lord knew. And
dear friends, I don't know who I'm speaking to, but I don't
know what lies before each of us, in our future pathway, but
we can guarantee this, the Lord is standing above it. And the
Lord is able to reveal his love and his power to you as you journey
on in life. And so we have here God's promise. And it stands out so clearly
in that 15th verse, I am. the great I am. I am with thee, and will keep
thee in all places where thou goest, and will bring thee again
to this land. And we have an I will, for I
will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken
to thee of. And so in all the future pathway
of Jacob, God knew of the difficulties and the pathway before him, how
that although Laban welcomed him with open arms initially,
and yet after that, Laban tried to be rather clever
and Jacob, as we know, fell in love
with Rachel and Yet, when they came
to the wedding, what happened? Laban had tricked him. He got
the other sister, Leah. And when Jacob challenged him,
he said, I've got the wrong one. I love Rachel. And so he agreed. He would serve
another seven years. We read at the end of chapter
29 that he abode with him the space of
a month. Well, that month was only what they thought for a
start. Jacob was there 14 years after that, soon as a workman
for his uncle Laban to secure the wife that he'd fallen in
love with. But he said it felt like only
a short while because of his great love. And God sustained
him. There was Jacob depending on
God's promise. And Jacob awakened out of his
sleep and said, there's a note of wonder and surprise that God,
the God of Abraham and Isaac should now give such a gift of
grace to a young man running away from home. But we do well
to notice that God is with Jacob and the blessing he received is that from God and God alone. And when we are blessed with
a felt sense of God's nearness and presence in our lives, We can go to the same God and He cannot change. God is not only omniscient and
omnipresent, but He is unchangeable. He cannot
change. And therefore, all these blessings
are secure in Christ Jesus. Jacob had a gracious visit from
heaven. Plus the fact that God had renewed
his covenant with him. The covenant he gave to Abraham
and Isaac, he's continuing with Jacob. And salvation by grace
alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, is established. It cannot be foregone. In verse 14 we read, thy seed
shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad
throughout the whole earth. Yes. And when Jacob, and we read of
Jacob later on when he blessed his sons, he, Remember he had his sons around
him, and Joseph's sons, and there we read that Jacob wanted to bless his sons. Yes, but there was something
special when he blessed his sons. son Judah. Now I feel sure that
this must have been revealed to Jacob at that time by the
Holy Spirit so that he was divinely given a sense that Judah and
of the family of Judah, the tribe of Judah, the Lord Jesus Christ
would be born. Genesis 49 And we read these
words if we start from verse eight. Judah, thou art he whom
thy brethren shall praise. Thy hand shall be in the neck
of thine enemies. Thy father's children shall bow
down before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp from
the prey, my son, thou art gone up. He stooped down, he crouched
as a lion, and as an old lion, Who shall rouse him up? The scepter
shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his
feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering
of the people be. Until Shiloh come. Shiloh speaks
to us of the peace of God, the presence of God, and the Lord Jesus who will be
sent from above. And something like 600 years
followed before the work of the Lord Jesus on earth. But Jacob
was divinely given that inspiration to share with his son Judah. Many of the sons of Jacob failed
in their various ways. Judah, by the grace of God, was
restored to the fear of the Lord working in his heart. And Judah
became the one of whom the family of the royal line of David was
established. And through that same royal line
came the Lord Jesus Christ. And as with so much of scripture,
at the time that the Lord Jesus was born, there weren't many
looking for him, were there? There were Joseph and Mary and
Simeon and Anna, those shepherds, God-fearing men, those wise men
from the East, They've seen his star in the east and we've come
to worship him. Where is he that is born king
of the Jews, they said. They might have been depending
on the writings of Daniel, which were still in that part of the
world. But however, God made them to
know. But there weren't many of that
royal line there and still at work. But God gave his only begotten
son into the world. that we might have life through
him. And having such a blessing, Jacob
rightly responds with the worship of God. He sets up an idol. He
sets up a, not an idol, an altar. Sorry about that. We don't have
altars to worship. He set up a, an altar whereby
he could worship God, and he poured oil on the top of it.
He must have been carrying something like that with him in his luggage. But look how he changed the name.
This area was known as Luz, which I think is a name for an almond
tree with beautiful blossom. But more than that, Jacob, filled
with a personal knowledge of God, changes the name to Bethel,
the house of God, the place where God meets with His people. And we can read in chapter 35
in this same book of Genesis more about Bethel. But in all
these events which came into the life of Jacob and the events
which followed, Great revelation. When God pours out a blessing
into your soul, dear friend, it comes from the same God who
stood above that ladder and commanded his blessing from above. That same God whom Jacob saw
and heard. And you, dear friend, by his
grace and love and mercy, May you be given the gift of faith to believe and
say with Jacob, my Lord and my God, this God shall be my God,
he said. Surely the Lord is in this place. And he called the name of that
place Bethel, but the name of the city was called Luz. at the
first, and Jacob vowed a vow, saying, if God will be with me
and will keep me in this way that I go and will give me bread
to eat and raiment to put on so that I may come again to my
father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God. What a blessing it is if we can
say, as we read of after the resurrection with Thomas, who
would not believe unless he could see. The Lord Jesus revealed
himself and took great notice of Thomas. And what was Thomas'
reaction? My Lord and my God, may he be
our Lord and our God. The Lord, the one who is in control,
the one who stands above all events, may he be our Lord and
our God. The Lord stood above it. Amen.