Behold, the LORD stood above it.

Q: What does the Bible say about God's mercy and judgment?

The Bible reveals that God's mercy and judgment are perfectly balanced, exemplified in His response to Adam and Eve's sin in Genesis 3:15. In Genesis 3:15, we see a profound demonstration of both God's mercy and judgment. After Adam and Eve sinned, instead of immediate destruction, God proclaimed a promise of salvation through the seed of the woman. This promise highlights His mercy, as He initiates the redemption process despite humanity's failure. Simultaneously, the enmity declared between the serpent and the woman signifies His judgment against sin. This duality exemplifies God's character as both just and gracious, ensuring that while sin is addressed, mercy is also extended to those who would ultimately trust in the coming Messiah.

Q: How do we know the plan of salvation is secure?

The plan of salvation is secure because it was established by God before the foundation of the world, as evidenced in Genesis 3:15 and throughout Scripture. From the very beginning, God's plan for redemption through Christ is portrayed in Scripture, specifically in Genesis 3:15, where the promise of a Savior is first declared. This foreshadows Christ's atoning work, showcasing that salvation was not a reactive measure but a divine plan predestined from eternity. As we understand God's sovereign grace, we see that all events in history, including the life and death of Jesus, orchestrate to fulfill His purpose of saving His people. The Scriptures consistently reinforce that God's covenants and promises are unbreakable, affirming the security of salvation designated for those whom He has chosen.

Q: Why is it important that Jesus lived a perfect life?

Jesus' perfect life is essential because it fulfills the requirements for our salvation, serving as the unblemished Lamb of God. The importance of Jesus living a perfect life cannot be overstated in the context of salvation. As the Lamb without blemish, His perfection is crucial to meet God's holy standards and to offer Himself as a worthy sacrifice. Scripture teaches that no one else could atone for sin due to humanity's inherent fallenness; only Christ, who lived a life of complete obedience, could take upon Himself the wrath of God on behalf of His people. This perfect obedience is accounted to believers, allowing them to stand before God justified, not in their own righteousness but in Christ's flawless record. Thus, His life directly affects the salvation and righteousness ascribed to those who believe.

Q: What does the vision of Jacob's ladder signify?

Jacob's ladder signifies the connection between heaven and earth, ultimately representing Christ as the mediator between God and humanity. Jacob's vision of a ladder reaching from earth to heaven in Genesis 28 illustrates the profound connection between God and man—a unique representation of Christ, the mediator. The ladder symbolizes the way God bridges the gap created by sin, providing a direct line of communication and access to His presence. Angels ascending and descending signify His active involvement in the affairs of humanity. This vision points to Jesus Christ, who Himself declared in John 1:51 that He is the true ladder, the gateway to heaven. Through His life, death, and resurrection, Christ fulfills this divine connection, assuring believers of their place in heaven and their ongoing relationship with God.

Q: Why is trust in God essential for salvation?

Trust in God is essential for salvation because it acknowledges His sovereign grace and the assurance of His promises. Trusting in God for salvation signifies a recognition of our inability to save ourselves and an acknowledgment of His sovereign grace. Through faith, we embrace the truth that salvation is a gift from God, not based on our works but grounded in His mercy. This trust engages with God's promises, as seen in the covenant with Jacob, where God assured him of his protection and presence. It fosters a relationship built on faith in God's character, leading to transformative life changes. Without this trust, a person remains in their sin, outside of the saving grace God freely offers through faith in Christ alone.

As the Lord may be pleased to help us this morning, I'd like to invite your prayerful attention to the words we read together in Genesis chapter 28. I'm going to take us our text, verse 13. Genesis chapter 28. And we'll take as our text, verse 13, especially centering our thoughts on that very first clause in that verse. We read, and behold, the Lord stood above it. Behold, the Lord stood above it. We have here a record inspired by God, and it's interesting to Take note of the very fact that the Book of Genesis covers such a vast span of time. It starts from creation and goes right on to the death of Joseph. And therefore it covers more span of time than the rest of the Old Testament put together.

And it's understood and agreed by many Bible scholars that where Jacob, where Abraham came from, Chaldea, they were one of the earliest parts of the earth where writing was recognized. They learned to write and record things very early on. after the creation of this world. And so tradition therefore so universally entertains the record in its present state. And I'll read this from a Bible study, Bible historian book. Substantially that compiled originally by Moses is to be accepted because is that its earliest chapters he made use of the primeval documents which have been brought by Abraham from Chaldea where we learn from ancient inscriptions the art of writing was known in the earliest ages. In its later chapters the records would naturally have been preserved in the families of the successive patriarchs as the archives are of their race, and they would supply materials for the inspired lawgiver to make use of in drawing up the history so necessary for this purpose, the choice of the family of Abraham to be the particular people of God.

Now what a blessing it is that we have God's inspired word. And I firmly believe that the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ as recorded in the beginning of Genesis that God himself preached the gospel of the Lord Jesus even before Adam and Eve were turned out of the Garden of Eden having sinned and thus brought sin into the world and death by sin. And yet the way of salvation was already secured because God had already made a plan of salvation even before sin came into the world. And we read in Genesis 3 these remarkable words. When Adam and Eve had sinned, Did they go to God in confession and seek for his salvation and his forgiveness?

No, they ran away and hid up. And we see here God's wonderful mercy because we read, And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? It is God who makes the first move and he awakens Adam. and brings him to a realization that he can't hide up because God could see him. And God asked him, where art thou? Well, where he was, not so much that he was hiding up in the trees, but he was hiding up because he realized he'd sinned.

And as we go on in that third chapter in Genesis, we see here how that judgment and mercy shine forth. God's judgment is, in verse 15, I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, thou shalt bruise his heel. And so we see God's mercy in sending his son to this world to live a life of perfection and then to give his life and by doing so he has crushed the serpent's head, the devil is injured and that's why he's doing all the evil he can while this world continues because he is in enmity against God and yet God has secured salvation because God's mercy entered into the world and the Lord Jesus suffered for our sins and our iniquities and therefore he says your sins and your iniquities will I remember no more. God has the ability to not remember when we forget it's a failure. With God he has the ability to not remember because he sees his people through the Lord Jesus Christ and not as they are in themselves, but in the Christ, which is complete and secure because he has carried our sins in his own body on that cross at Calvary and suffered in the place of his people.

When he was in the Garden of Gethsemane, remember, he took on him the full load, the full weight of the sin of all who would come to trust in him. What a tremendous load. And he even suffered absence from his father because God, the Father, is of pure eyes and to behold sin. And he said of His Father, why hast thou forsaken me? Why? Well, because God is of pure eyes and to behold iniquity.

And our dear Saviour suffered on this earth to secure a place in heaven with himself forever and ever to those who are awakened to a sense of their need and brought to ask and seek a knock at the door of salvation. And you know, you can knock on that door quite low down. You don't need to be grown up and tall, you dear young people and children. You knock at the door and God is pleased to answer. And so, what a blessing it is that we have the Holy Scriptures.

Now God used people and formed through Abraham. He called Abraham out of a pagan background. He singled him out and Abraham went and followed God, not knowing where he was going. And through Abraham, Isaac, and now we come to Jacob. God spoke to Abraham. And he called him out. God spoke to Isaac. And now, Isaac, the father of Jacob, is going through a difficult path in life, and yet God is in control of it.

When Jacob ran away from home in fear of his brother, he might have thought, that he would be overtaken by his brother and his anger would be poured out and he would lose his life Jacob was literally running for his life I think it works out something like that first day he would have traveled something like 40 miles that's a long way to keep going in one day isn't it you don't wonder he was tired and when the sun went down We read he lied on a certain place, and there he lay down. Well, the soil was his bed, the sky was his ceiling, but the walls were God's salvation. God was round him.

And what a vision Jacob saw. Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran, and lighted on a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set, and he took up the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. I'm sure you had a more comfortable pillow than a stone last night. I know I did.

But he was so tired, And yet God was not tired of Jacob. Jacob had at that time received the birthright. And it's interesting to notice that the birthright came to the son of the father. That could have been quite early in the life of of Jacob, but until the blessing came, that birthright was not secured. It was the blessing that, you might say, secured the birthright. And so, when Rebecca interfered, she and her intrigue to make sure that Jacob would receive the blessing following the birthright, she needn't have interfered. God could have worked that out without her interfering.

And it's quite solemn to note as we read the scriptures that she didn't see Jacob again. She said, go for a few days and when your brother's settled down, I'll send word and you can come back to me. But as things worked out, the Lord stood above it. Yes, the Lord stood above all the circumstances. I think Jacob was gone 20 years before he came back, by which time Rebecca had gone the way of all the earth. She died. So she didn't see him again. Very solemn, isn't it?

But God is eternal. And in all these circumstances, in all these events, which came about at that time, we can still say, and behold the Lord stood above it. And the Lord stands above all our circumstances, all our thoughts, all the things that concern us, and sometimes weigh heavily on our mind and heart and soul, And yet, please remember dear friends, even things that appear to be going wrong, the Lord stood above it.

But what was the dream that Jacob saw? He dreamed a dream and behold, a ladder set up on the earth The top reached to heaven and beheld the angels of God ascending and descending on it. What a picture! A ladder, we know what a ladder is, a series of steps, but what a ladder that must have looked in his dream as he closed his eyes and then God gave to him this remarkable vision.

God spoke to Abraham, God spoke to Isaac and now God is speaking to Jacob by a tremendous vision in a dream. It's not surprising that when the Epistles to the Hebrews was penned to those New Testament believers. God begins by saying, God, who at sundry times and in divers manners, that means various ways, spake in time past to the fathers by the prophets as in the last days spoken unto us by his son, whom he has appointed heir of all things. Now surely The ladder that Jacob saw spoke to him of the coming to this earth of God himself in the person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. What a blessing it is that God speaks in a way that people can understand.

Jacob was a very practical thinking sort of man. He was quite courageous, very capable. And there he was, laying motionless on the ground with his head on this pillow. But what he saw, or who he saw, we should say, was this ladder. The foot was on the ground, the top was in heaven. Now surely this is a divine connection between earth and heaven.

And what Jacob saw in this vision was that great connection between heaven and earth, and who else could that be but our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He it is on whom our hopes of heaven depend. He gave his life a ransom for many, we read. And the angels of God, God's messengers, We're taking messages up to heaven and bringing answers down constantly. This is a living connection between heaven and earth.

And these blessings come in steps, step by step, as we go on in the path of life. A ladder is a series of steps. But what a vision Jacob saw. And behold, the Lord, and that is Jehovah. Notice that 13th verse. Lord is in capital letters. The Lord stood above it. And the Lord spoke. And the Lord said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac, 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, to the east, to the north, and to the south, and in thy seed shall all families of the earth be blessed.

And notice, I was sowing seeds in the garden only yesterday. If you get a packet of A little packet of carrot seed, it looks at a glance like a bit of brown dust. But you know, each one of those little seeds is miraculous. They've got a growing point. There is life there. But more than that, it's singular. In thy seed, the end of verse 14, in thy seed shall all families of the earth be blessed.

That is, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. They will be blessed, how? By his coming to this earth and uniquely living a life of perfection. The glorious good news of the gospel of our Lord Jesus goes right from Genesis to Revelation. It's like a golden thread that goes right through the scriptures. And the life of our Lord Jesus on this earth is unique. No one before and no one since has ever lived a life of perfection. And we have so many points to teach us of this. We sometimes sing that verse of a hymn, it's just come to my mind.

In him, that is in the Lord Jesus, in him the father never saw the least transgression of his law. In him we then perfection view and the saints in him are perfect too. Now what a blessing this is, that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ lived on this earth right from childhood till he gave his life and then he regained his life at the resurrection. He said he had power to lay it down and power to take it again. In all these things he lived a life of perfection and therefore it is his perfect righteousness that we can plead.

The main thing is to be in him. know Him as our Saviour, our Lord. I remember when the name of Jesus became a living person in my life. Before then it was a name, but this is a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. and to him belongs all the glory and the power forever and ever. The Lord stood above this ladder because God has a perfect right to determine and control all things on this earth.

He had power to create. You dear young people, if you open the Bible on the first chapter. I think it's 10 times in that chapter we read, and God said, and every time God said, something else was created. And I think the last one, he creates food to feed all the living creatures and mankind that he has created. His work is perfect in creation and in the new creation of bringing souls out of darkness into his marvellous light.

And the revelation that God gave to Jacob at this time was a coming together of God's promises and purposes for the plan of salvation by grace, through faith, in our Lord Jesus Christ. God's purpose and God's presence and God's promise go right through this chapter 28. Three Ps. God's purpose, God's presence, and God's promise. God's purpose was unfolded to dear Jacob as he laid there, viewing this tremendous vision that God had given to him. God's sovereign purposes are single out.

Our salvation depended on this connection between heaven and earth, this ladder that Jacob was given to see. And we have it so clearly before us in chapter 22 in Genesis, where we see this great trial that came into Jacob's grandfather's life, Abraham, who was brought out of a pagan land.

And God said, follow me, I will direct you. Abraham went, not knowing where he was going, but he knew God was going with him. And at a time when it would seem that things were going quite comfortably with Abraham, God spoke to Abraham and said, it was a great trial that God brought into his life. Abraham, and he said, behold, here I am.

And God said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee to the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of. And Jacob arose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and claimed the wood, for the burnt offering and rose up and went unto the place which God had told him of. Then on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, abide here with the ass and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you.

Abraham believed that even if he took the life of his son, he would come back to life again. Abraham had a picture of the glorious resurrection of the Lord Jesus, even then. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father. And he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son. God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went both of them together. God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.

Abraham surely saw the day of Christ and he believed. And we read it was accounted unto him for righteousness because he believed God against all odds and all that he might put in the way of it. Abraham still believed and he believed that God had power to raise up his son again because he was a son of promise. It was in Isaac and then Jacob and then through Judah and then through the whole history and the lineage of the Lord Jesus that the Lord Jesus himself was born.

And to him we read, shall the gathering of the people be. But the promises that God gave to Jacob, following the purpose of these things, he says, 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. To accomplish salvation for otherwise lost souls, God, in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, laid aside His glory, took on Him humanity, and as we have said, He uniquely lived a life of perfection. And having done this, He became, or is, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. And the Lamb of God, of course, was made known to them at the Passover when the children of Israel come out of Egypt later on.

And the Passover was formed that they had to take a lamb from the flock, a lamb without blemish. They might have been tempted to find one that was injured that wasn't so valuable. But no, it had to be a lamb without blemish. If it had a bruise or injury, that would be rejected.

But what we have before us is this wonderful truth of the Lord Jesus, the lamb without blemish, is He who lived a life of perfection. And that life He gave. Well might John the Baptist announce the presence of the Lord Jesus by saying, behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. There wasn't another good enough to pay the price for sin. He only could unlock the gate of heaven and let us in.

God at work on this earth, in the purpose of our person of our Lord Jesus, had this ongoing correspondence between heaven and earth. The counsels of heaven are brought to pass on earth because of the presence of God on earth in the person of our Lord Jesus. Behold the angels of God, angels, active messengers, at God's command.

And Jacob left home the day before, and he was lonely, but he had the blessing of Isaac that he could carry with him. And what a blessing that blessing was to him as he went. And God himself secured that blessing. He said, Behold, I am with thee and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest. This revelation that was given to Jacob must have been tremendous comfort to Jacob. He left his father's house. He had nothing, not even a pillow to lay his head on. But God was with him. What a guide he was given.

And he could see the Lord Jesus Christ in all his finished work, the perfect mediator between heaven and earth. And of course, with the ladder resting on the earth, we see The humanity of the Lord Jesus and its top that reached to heaven surely speaks to us of the glorious divine nature of our Lord Jesus. And that is the same yesterday, today and forever. And the only way to heaven is by our Lord Jesus and his finished work both in heaven and on earth. And what a blessing it is that we're not left to ourselves, but that the wondrous love and purpose of God is worked out as each soul is saved by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus and brought to trust in Him as their Saviour.

Despite all that the nation of Israel were called to endure, God continued to be their God. Right through the times of the prophets, the presence of God shown here to Jacob are the blessings from God given to Isaac to send Jacob on his way with that God saying his amen to it. So be it.

So the blessing that God gave to Jacob chapter 28 and verse 3, and God Almighty bless thee and make thee fruitful and multiply thee that thou mayest be a multitude of people. And surely that blessing came about, didn't it? It was the 12 tribes of the Old Testament were formed in the family of Jacob, of which, through the family of Judah, the Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth. God Almighty bless thee, make thee fruitful and multiply thee, and give thee the blessing of Abraham, and to thy seed with thee, that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.

Now God put that into Isaac's heart to bless Jacob with it. Now God is sealing that blessing in this vision that he's given to Jacob because we read Jacob awakened out of his sleep and said surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not. How this must have brought Jacob up with a start to think that he was running for his life and now life eternal is put before him in such a way that he can't really argue against it, can he? God had mercy on him in his situation and the very plan of salvation by the wondrous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is shown to Jacob whereby he must have had that indelible word in his heart, mind and soul that God would never forsake him or never leave him. Jacob awakened out of his sleep and said, there's a note of wonder in that verse, isn't there? Wonder and surprise that God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac should now give such a gift of grace to a poor fugitive running away from home.

God makes no mention of the way Rebecca schemed or took advantage of Isaac's failing eyesight. There's no mention of this, is there? No, the Lord stood above all that. The Lord stood above the ladder, the Lord stood above all the circumstances. Jacob could well have received the blessing without Rebecca's interference.

But dear friend, when you and I are blessed with a felt sense of God's nearness and presence, we feel sometimes filled with holy fear and reverence before our holy God. And we need that blessing to be made a blessing to us, Sometimes these things are above our ability to describe. But when Jacob had this gracious visit from God, it would have been something that he would never have forgotten. He would have taken that with him the rest of his journey here on earth.

God's covenant with him, especially of the coming Lord Jesus Christ. We see here, dear friends, salvation by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And God's promise to Jacob, and Jacob's promise to God that we read of in these verses are well worth noticing. The first thing that Jacob did was to raise up a pillar.

He took the stones that he had for a pillow and that he turned into a pillar, a stone column. And he poured oil upon the top of it. He most likely took a pot of oil with him. He might have found something to eat and that would have flavoured it. or he could have cooked it with it, we don't know the circumstances. But he had some oil with him, most likely olive oil.

He poured that on the top of it and called the name of that place Bethel, that is the house of God. It was called Luz at the first. I think Luz means an almond tree. I know an almond tree has pretty blossom and the almonds that can be eaten, but what's that compared with the house of God, Bethel?

Jacob vowed a vow saying, if God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go and give me bread to eat and raiment to put on so that I come again to my father's house in peace, Then shall the Lord be my God. The Lord in heaven above will be his God. What a blessing it is that God revives his people.

We go forward into the New Testament and after the resurrection, look at the doubts that poor Thomas had. He said, unless I see the Lord Jesus, unless I can put my hand into the nail prints, unless I can put my hand into the hole in his side, I will not believe.

The Lord Jesus knew all these things. He did not even need to be there, but he could look into Thomas's heart and soul and mind and know his thoughts. So that when he came the next week, the next Lord's Day, the doors being shut, the Lord Jesus entered in and he straight away spoke to Thomas. He knew that Thomas was absent the week before. He knew all about him. And he invited Thomas to do exactly what Thomas said he would do. But we don't read that Thomas put forth his finger or thrust his hand into the side of the Lord Jesus. No, nothing. What we read is that God's compassion and the mercy that Jesus showed to Thomas, what was his reaction?

He said, my Lord and my God. This goes right back to when Jacob was so awestruck by God's dealing with him. He said, Then shall the Lord be my God, and this stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God's house. And in all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give a tenth unto thee. So may the Lord bless these remarks this morning and may the Lord bless his word to us and help us to remember that in all God's dealings with us, the Lord stood above it, the Lord took control, the Lord worked out his purposes of grace according to his divine will and purpose, that his people might be blessed and God himself might have all the praise, all the honor, and all the glory.

Amen. Gatsby's, 680. The tune 131, 680. Before all worlds and glorious land, the blessed eternal deed was settled by the eternal three, that Christ, for man, should live. 680. Was settled by the Eternal Three That Christ for man should bleed. Astonished, angels stand amazed that Christ should die for man. This proves the eternal love of God, who glorified his plan. All this was done for you. Thee, O blessed God, why such a wretch as me? Who must forever lie in hell, the Lord's salvation? Those that God had foreordained, these shall and must believe. Not all the crop of earth or hell shall one of these deceive. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit rest and abide with us each, now and evermore. Amen.

Behold, the LORD stood above it.

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about God's mercy and judgment?

How do we know the plan of salvation is secure?

Why is it important that Jesus lived a perfect life?

What does the vision of Jacob's ladder signify?

Why is trust in God essential for salvation?

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Behold, the LORD stood above it.

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about God's mercy and judgment?

How do we know the plan of salvation is secure?

Why is it important that Jesus lived a perfect life?

What does the vision of Jacob's ladder signify?

Why is trust in God essential for salvation?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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