(2)
In this message we come to a very crucial turn in Jacob's life — his dream at Bethel (Gen. 28:10-22). Although we are all familiar with the story of Jacob's dream, I doubt that we know the true significance of it. If we would know the significance of this dream, we must understand why Jacob had it where and when he did. Why did he not have this dream when he was at home with his parents? Once we find the answer to this question, we shall see what this dream means to us all.
Jacob had this dream while he was wandering on his lonesome journey (28:10). Jacob had been born into a very good family. He had an excellent father, a loving mother, and an interesting brother. Before the foundation of the world, God chose and predestinated him to have the birthright. In the story of Jacob we see God's intention and man's desire. God intended that Jacob be the first, and Jacob also desired to be the first, not the second. Thus, Jacob's desire corresponded to God's intention. This indicates that if we have a desire which corresponds with God's intention, then that desire must originate with God and not with ourselves. God intends to give us the birthright, and we also desire to be the first. This desire is not wrong; it is absolutely right. However, we must learn the lesson of not exercising our natural ability and our natural strength to fulfill God's intention and to satisfy our desire. Our natural strength and ability present a problem.
By reading the book of Genesis along with the whole Bible, we see that God intended to give the birthright to Jacob and that Jacob desired to get it. However, Jacob's natural strength had to be dealt with. Therefore, God sovereignly caused him to be the second. Although God had chosen him to be the first, God caused him to be born the second that Jacob might learn that his natural man was altogether unworthy and had to be cut off. God wants to give us the birthright, but our natural man is unqualified for it. We need to be transformed. Because God knew that Jacob needed transformation, He made him number two instead of number one. Without such a sovereign arrangement, Jacob's natural man and natural strength would never have been exposed. If God had put Jacob ahead of Esau, Jacob might have thought that he was very spiritual. He would not have struggled, because he would already have been the first. But God knew what was in Jacob and He put Esau first that Jacob's natural man might be exposed. Even while he was still in his mother's womb, Jacob struggled to come out first. This was God's arrangement.
Whatever happens to us is according to God's arrangement. Do not think that you are too small to be worthy of such a sovereign arrangement. God has a purpose for us — to give us the birthright. Since our natural man is not qualified for this, God must transform us. He does not do this simply by His creating hand, but by a long process which can only be carried out through all the circumstances of life. As we have seen, God used Isaac, Rebekah, and Esau to deal with Jacob. Although these three people never held a conference to discuss how to deal with Jacob, they nevertheless worked in a good coordination for this purpose, because everything was under God's sovereign hand. God arranged for Esau to be born first. He also arranged for Esau to be physically strong but not to be skillful in exercising his mind. Although he could not exercise his mind very well, he could exercise his physical strength to defeat Jacob. Furthermore, God arranged for Jacob to have a father who only knew to eat and enjoy. Even when Isaac realized that something was wrong when Jacob came to him disguised as Esau, he only cared for his eating. This was the reason that he had become blind. While Isaac was neutral, Rebekah, who was very clever, was partial, very much favoring her beloved son Jacob. These three persons worked together to cause Jacob to leave his loving mother and his father's home and to become a lonesome wanderer.
In ancient times it was a great thing to travel from Beer-sheba to where Laban lived. It was not a small matter for Jacob to leave his mother, father, and the environment in which he had been raised and to take such a long journey. Having become a lonesome wanderer, he must have suffered a great deal on this journey.
If you consider your past with the proper understanding, you will realize that your experience was exactly the same as Jacob's. Not many of us were saved when we were in a good home under our loving mother's care. Most of us were saved when we were lonesome and had been forced to suffer. Some had lost their mother, father, fiancée, wife, husband, or children and had become lonesome. In principle, at the time many of us were saved, we were suffering and lonesome. During the years in which we were under the care of our loving mother, the heavenly dream did not come. When did the first dream from heaven come to you? We all have had such a dream. The first dream of our spiritual life was our salvation. As we shall see, every spiritual vision is a dream. In what kind of situation were you when you had your first dream? As many of us can testify, our circumstances were not at all pleasant. Some were suffering, others were lonely, and still others were in an unpleasant environment. We had been forced to suffer, to wander, and to become lonesome. When, according to our consciousness, we had lost everything on earth and we were suffering and were lonely, the first heavenly dream came to us.
Speaking of Jacob, Genesis 28:11 says, "He lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took one of the stones of that place, and made it his pillow, and lay down in that place to sleep" (Heb.). Jacob was in the wilderness and had no lodging place. Needing something on which to rest his head as he slept, he took a stone and made it his pillow. What is the meaning of this? It means that all human doing had been put away. There was no house, no lodging, nor anything made by man. Everything there in that place was God's work. When Jacob was at home, the situation was very different. There everything was made by man. But that night in the wilderness, there was nothing man-made. Everything in that environment had been made by God. If you examine your past experience, you will see that the first dream of your spiritual life came at a time when nearly everything man-made had been crossed out and put aside. All that remained was the heaven and the earth created by God. When Jacob lived at home, he could lodge in a man-made dwelling and rest on a man-made pillow. But in the wilderness he had to rest on a God-created stone.
If I had been Jacob, I would have been more clever, using either wood or clay instead of stone. I do not think that I could have rested on a stone. But Jacob did not use either wood or clay. As we shall see, it is very meaningful that he used a stone for a pillow. If you had been Jacob, would you have used clay or stone? I would have made a pillow out of clay and rested my head upon it. But this would have been something man-made. The stone which Jacob used for a pillow, on the contrary, was something created and prepared by God.
As nearly all the called ones can testify, before they were saved, they were forced to suffer, to be lonesome, and to be in an environment in which everything man-made had become nothing. According to their understanding, everything man-made was useless, and they trusted in God's creation, in the things made by God. It was at such a time that the dream from heaven came.
The principle is the same today. If you want another heavenly vision, then you must have some suffering. When the brothers give you a difficult time or when your wife troubles you, the heavenly dream will probably come once again. If you are always happy and in a pleasant situation, maybe no dream will come. Most heavenly visions come at a time when you are suffering or ill-treated. Nearly all the visions I have seen have come in times of suffering. No one likes to suffer. But when suffering comes to us under God's sovereign hand, we cannot reject it, saying, "Suffering, I don't like you. Go away." The more we say this, the faster the sufferings will pursue us.
I know from my own experience that the vision does not often come when we are happy; it comes when we are suffering. When we are happy in the wonderful church life, the heavenly dream may not come. But when we are troubled by the brothers, the sisters, and the elders, the dream comes. If you have not had a heavenly dream since you were saved, this may prove that you have not been suffering. If there is no suffering, there may be no dream. But whenever we are deprived of so many man-made things and are brought to the place where there are only the God-created things, that is, when we are cut off from what is of man and put our trust in what is of God, the vision comes. The heavenly vision comes in this way.
Consider Jacob's experience. He had been chosen and predestinated by God. But because he was struggling and striving to get what God intended to give him, he found himself in difficulty. Then God sovereignly came in to force him to leave his home, bringing him into a situation where he was lonely and without the help of man. Suppose you had been Jacob, having to leave your home and family and being so lonely. How would you have felt? If I had been he, I would have been completely disappointed. Nevertheless, at that very time, the dream came.
Genesis 28:12 says, "And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it." The center of this dream was a ladder. In this dream, did the ladder come down from heaven? No, it was already there on earth, and Jacob only needed to have a vision of it. Before he had the dream, he could not see the ladder. This means that everything necessary for receiving the birthright was there long before we were saved. The problem was that we could not see it. We had to have a vision in order to see it. Do not think that in his dream Jacob saw the ladder descending like Peter saw the sheet descending from heaven (Acts 10:9-16). Jacob did not see something coming down; he saw something which was already on earth. We are not told that the ladder reached the earth but that it was "set up on the earth" and that "the top of it reached to heaven." It was a ladder already existing on earth, not one descending from heaven.
What about the angels of God on the ladder? When I read about them in years past, I always thought that they were descending and ascending. But this verse says that the angels were ascending and descending. This means that the angels were there before Jacob had the dream. When he saw them, they were firstly ascending and then descending. If Jacob had seen the ladder coming down from heaven and the angels of God descending on it, his dream could have been taken as an answer to Jacob's desire or prayer. If Jacob had said, "O God, I'm lonely and want to see a vision from heaven," and a ladder had come down from heaven with angels descending on it, it would have been the answer to his prayer. But it was not at all like this. Without even praying, Jacob suddenly saw a ladder set up on the earth, the top of which reached to heaven. That the angels were ascending and descending on this ladder indicates that the dream was not an answer to Jacob's prayer but that it had been preplanned by God.
Do not think that your salvation was an answer to your prayers. Before you prayed, salvation was there waiting for you. It was not that you prayed and then suddenly salvation descended from heaven and fell upon you. No, before you were saved, salvation was waiting for you, but you had to be forced to leave your home and every man-made situation and be brought into a lonesome environment. Then your eyes were opened to see what was already there.
In verse 12, unlike John 1:51, we are not told that Jacob saw heaven opened. Jacob did not see heaven opened, because it was opened before he even got to that place. When was heaven opened to you for your salvation? Did you fast, pray, and cry to the Lord to open heaven to you and then suddenly see heaven opened? No, heaven has never been closed to God's chosen people. Although heaven is open to us, we still need to come to Bethel. We may not want to come here, but we have no choice. Like Jacob, we have been forced to come here. Many of us came into the church life because we had no choice. We were forced to come. You may say, "If I had a way, I would get out of the church life." But, thank the Lord, you do not have a way. Perhaps you have said, "I don't like the situation in the church life. I want to go away." But praise the Lord that this is impossible. We all have been forced to come to Bethel, the place where we see the already-existing ladder. There is no need for us to beg and wait for heaven to be opened. Once our eyes are opened, we see that the ladder is already here. This is the heavenly vision, the heavenly dream. In this dream we do not see a ladder descending; we see the ladder which is here already.
When we come to the New Testament, we see that Christ is the ladder which Jacob saw. In John 1:51 Jesus said to Nathanael, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you shall see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." Christ is the One who brings heaven to earth and joins earth to heaven. Firstly, He brings heaven to earth and then He joins earth to heaven. Genesis 28:12 says that the ladder was "set up on the earth." According to our concept, Christ has gone away from the earth. But according to God's concept, Christ has been set up on earth, and no one can move Him. For nineteen and a half centuries, people have tried their best to shake this ladder, but they have been unable to do it. Do not think that Christ is coming down. No, He has already been set up on earth.
According to your deep, inner sense, where was Christ at the time you were saved — in heaven or on earth? According to your natural concept, He was in heaven. But according to your inner sense, Christ was directly in front of you, for He had been set up on earth. We have all experienced this. However, due to the influence of religion, we went along with our mental figuration instead of with our experience. In our experience of salvation, Christ was on earth.
Our Christ, who is the ladder bringing heaven to earth and joining earth to heaven, is now not only in heaven but also here on earth. Christ has been set up on earth and He is reaching into heaven for the purpose of coming to us and bringing us to Him. As we have already pointed out, in Jacob's dream the angels of God were ascending and descending on the ladder. The angels are waiting to ascend. I believe that whenever a sinner receives the Lord Jesus and is saved, many angels ascend to heaven bearing the good news. Firstly, the angels gladly ascend to heaven and then they immediately descend with good things for the new believer. This traffic does not start from heaven; it starts from earth and goes to heaven and back to earth again. In like manner, whenever we repent and say, "Lord, I want to gain more of You and to be gained more by You," the angels, who truly are reporters, bring the news to heaven.
Christ, the sent One, the One who brings heaven to earth and joins earth to heaven, is here on earth right now. Many times in my room I have had the sense that Christ was there. As soon as I responded to Him, it seemed that some angels, moving faster than a rocket, ascended to heaven to report the good news. Many of us can testify that on some occasions we had such a wonderful time with the Lord that we had no words to describe what was happening. That was a strong proof that the angels were there ascending and descending. Then, as we continued to have this good time with the Lord, we went a little further with Him, and the angels happily ascended to heaven again to report something new and to descend immediately with more good things for us.
According to the proper vision, the angels of God are ascending and descending. There is no need for us to pray or fast. We simply need to be forced by God's hand to leave everything human and to come into an environment where we have a dream and our blind eyes are opened. Then we shall say, "Amen, Lord Jesus. The ladder is here, and the angels are ascending and descending on it." When we were saved, something like this happened to us. But we did not have the words to explain it. Today, Christ, the ladder, the center of the universe, is here. This ladder has been set up on the earth and is waiting for us to see and touch it again and again. Whenever we have a vision, we may not have the understanding or the words to describe it, but we sense that a ladder is before us. Whenever we enjoy a spiritual experience, we have the sense deep within that something either before us or inside us is joining us to heaven and that if we touch it, we touch heaven. This is Christ. Often, when we have a further experience in the church life, we smile and say, "Why didn't I see this before? How stupid I was! Something has been set up on earth that reaches to heaven, and when I touch it, it brings me and joins me to heaven." This is the ladder. As we shall see in the next message, this ladder produces Bethel, the house of God, the gate of heaven. Using today's term, it produces the church.
Jacob's dream at Bethel was not of him; it was absolutely of God. Jacob had lost everything and was fully disappointed. He had become a hopeless and homeless case. But, much to his surprise, in the midst of his disappointment, the dream came. What is this dream? It is simply a vision, a seeing. In our experience, the ladder was there, but we did not see it. Now that we have the sight, we see the ladder which was there all the time. This is the significance of Jacob's dream.
Every spiritual experience is a dream. I cannot tell you how many dreams I have had through the years. Coming into the church life is a dream. Knowing the practicality of the church is also a dream. Many times we have said, "My, this experience is so good that it must be a dream. What a dream has come to me!" The more dreams we have, the better, for the more dreams we have, the more we touch and enjoy the ladder.
The center of every spiritual dream is Christ as the ladder, as the One who brings heaven to earth and joins earth to heaven. Whenever we sense deep within that we have been brought into heaven and have been joined to and made one with heaven, and that heaven has been made one with us, that is an experience of Christ. We should forget about trying to overcome sin and weaknesses. The proper experience in life is to have a dream of Christ as the heavenly ladder which has been set up on earth and which brings us into heaven. Do not try to overcome sin, nor to conquer your weakness. When you touch this ladder, you will be in heaven, heaven will be yours, and there will be much traffic between earth and heaven and between heaven and earth. You will have whatever you need, and every negative thing will be under your feet. This is the experience of Christ as the heavenly ladder.
Do not pray that the ladder will come down to you. Whether you pray or not, as long as you are God's chosen one and have a desire which corresponds to God's intention, you will sooner or later be forced to come to Bethel where you will have a dream. The purpose of this dream is always that we see Christ as the ladder. This heavenly ladder issues in Bethel, the house of God, the church. Here, in 28:10-22, we see the Christ who brings forth the church. This is truly a dream.
