THE SECRET STAIRCASE

Genesis 28:10-22
Bob Bonner
November 26, 2006

No matter how old we are, there remains in all of us a child’s heart, one that loves secrets. Particularly, we love fantasies about secret doorways into and out of secret wardrobes, as in C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia. We especially like those secret passages when they lead to places where life is filled with adventure, hope, warmth and security. We like any secret passage that will lead us away from a dreary, boring, fear-filled, trapped-in world to a world of freedom and new life. A life filled with order, promise, purpose and safety.

As children, we were drawn to objects like magical rings which possess secret powers, that if we put one on, we will be transformed into a super hero.

As we grow older, we adults learn that for the most part, those secret doorways, passages and rings are nothing more than vapor fantasies. There is no truth, reality or life in them. However, this morning, I want to show you a very real secret staircase, that if you choose to walk on it, will lead you to places you want to go and it will change your life. This secret staircase is first mentioned in the Bible, in Genesis 28. However, the fuller significance of the importance and secret power of this staircase can only be appreciated and understood if one sees it in relationship to the rest of the drama that is the book of Genesis.

Dr. Bruce Waltke observes in his commentary on the book of Genesis that the book of Genesis can be viewed as a drama made up of several acts, which in turn, are made up of several smaller scenes. When one looks at how sequential acts are connected together, they resemble “a piece of embroidery with design intersecting design.” In other words, as you stand back to observe the big quilt of this drama as it unfolds in Genesis, you will notice that there are no smooth transitions between the major acts. You will find the closing scenes from one act, intersecting the opening scene of the next act, like a piece of embroidery, with design intersecting or crossing over or hinging the two acts together. This is clearly observed when we begin this next act in Genesis 28:10 which focuses on the life of the next patriarch, Jacob. Although the act that concerns Jacob’s life begins with 28:10, the introduction to Jacob’s life begins much earlier, back in Genesis 25.

Allow me to show you how the beginning of our present act which focuses on Jacob’s life intersects the past act of Isaac’s life. As you grasp this bigger picture, the importance of this first scene in this next act, this scene that involves the “secret staircase” will take on greater significance to you.

First, let’s look at the next act that makes up Jacob’s taking over the patriarchy. This next act is made up of eight scenes, uniquely fashioned together. When one stands back to get the broader view of how these scenes relate to one another, an important lesson becomes obvious to all.

The first scene is what we want to cover this morning. It concerns Jacob’s leaving home for the first time and for the first time meeting the Angel of the Lord, whom I take to be, the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. This meeting takes place at Bethel. At this meeting, God effectively passes on the promises of the Abrahamic covenant to Jacob. From there, Jacob continues his travels north.

The next five scenes, scenes 2-6, take place in northern Mesopotamia, in Paddan-Aram, around the city of Haran, in his uncle Laban’s territory. Laban is the most powerful man in Paddan-Aram. It is there that Jacob learns many lessons about life and living as a man of integrity. While there, Jacob becomes a wealthy man, and determines to return home. In so doing, there is a conflict between himself and Laban, whereby, in the end, Jacob, the future representative of the nation of Israel, establishes himself as an equal to the leader in the north, Laban, and thus his people, as an equal, if not superior, to the citizens of Aram.

In scene 7, Jacob is back in Canaan where he has his second meeting with the Angel of the Lord. Here, he wrestles with the angel, and at this time, God changes Jacob’s name to “Israel,” signifying that Jacob has graduated from his preparatory school of the past 20 years, to be a patriarch, and is now ready to make his stand as the patriarch in Canaan.

The final scene, in Genesis 33:1-17, Jacob, the patriarch and future representative of the peoples of Israel, reconciles with Esau who himself has become the leader of the southern nation of Edom. In the process of reconciling with Esau, Jacob establishes his equality with the leading kingdom in the south, Edom.

Do you see the pattern?

The first meeting with the angel sets the stage for Jacob becoming the major player of all the land of Canaan. For sure, this meeting with the angel sets the stage for him becoming an equal with the governments of the north. Then he meets an angel again and he becomes a major player as far as the world governments to the south are concerned. This deliberate structural pattern is used to reveal that God is preparing these peoples to become a distinct nation amidst the present developing nations. All of this begins with our passage for this morning, involving the “secret staircase.”

But intersecting this act are a couple of scenes from the previous act. In other words, this new act does not stand alone. It is structurally stitched together, like a piece of embroidery, to the previous act. Hence, the following is another way to view the chapters we have just covered.

If you start back in the last few scenes of the previous act, with Jacob fleeing Esau, which technically begins with 27:42, after Rebekah gets word that Esau is out to kill him, you can also structure these next chapters around Jacob and Esau’s relationship, not just around the theme of God’s preparing for a nation to emerge in Canaan. The structure would look like this:

Jacob flees Esau 27:42-28:9
     Angels of God meet Jacob at Bethel 28:10-22
           Jacob an exile in Paddan Aram 29:1-31:55
     Angels of God meet Jacob at Mahanaim 32:1-2
Jacob reconciled to Esau 32:3-33:17

Notice how the first and last lines of this chart frame the tension between the two brothers. But at critical junctures the Angels of the Lord make promises to Jacob that give him hope and a future. The purpose of this structure is to prove God’s faithfulness to his prophetic promise about these twin brothers, that the older would serve the younger.

Hence, what takes place in these ensuing chapters, beginning with our passage for this morning, in 28:10, is not only the preparation of a peoples to become a known nation, but you are also observing God’s handiwork in the ongoing transformation of Jacob’s life, making him one of the most remembered patriarchs of Israel’s history.

As we come to 28:10, it’s important for us to realize that for the next 20 years God is going to take Jacob through the school of hard knocks so as to strengthen his character so that he might be able to lead God’s people. For this training to take place, it was essential that he get out on his own and away from his dysfunctional family. During these years, God drives the lesson home to Jacob’s heart, that apart from Yahweh, he can do nothing. But with Yahweh, and in submission to Yahweh, God will do great things in and through this previously very deceptive and dishonest man.

Our passage of study begins with Jacob leaving home for the first time, fleeing Esau’s hatred and headed to Haran to find a wife. In route to Uncle Laban’s home in Haran, Aram, Jacob gets born-again. We are about to see Jacob’s conversion from a non-believer who knew about God, to a man who would first see God, and for the first time, commit himself to following after God, which begins the spiritual transformation of his life.

We read, “Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place.”

We are told later that the “certain place” Jacob stopped for the night was Bethel. Bethel is approximately 50 miles north of Beersheba. The presumption is that he made this trip all in one day, and this is his first night away from home. If this is correct, then you can see that Jacob had hot-footed it away from home because he was afraid of an enraged Esau wanting to kill him. When you flee for your life, you often don’t have time to take everything you need for the trip. Such was the fear that drove Jacob to make his hurried trip to Haran. As a result, he had no tent, no caravan, no household servants...nothing, and that’s why he could make such good time. But the downside of that was he had no one alongside him to sustain him or protect him from bandits.

For the first time in his life, Jacob is “alone” in a strange and dangerous country. It’s the first time he has ever been separated from his mother. Even for an adult of 80 to 90 years of age, this is frightening. On this trip, he had a lot of opportunity to think about his past life, to miss his mom and weep. He had time to contemplate his future in light of his past. Will he ever really know peace? Will he ever really possess the blessing and role of the patriarch passed on to him? Many thoughts wandered through his mind.

Sometimes, it is necessary for one to come to a point of utter helplessness, aloneness, before we can meet God and discover the miracle of His presence in our lives. Jacob is at that needy point for the first time in his life. He is now ready to meet God!

Arriving in the dark, and presumably, outside of the city of Luz, Jacob cleared a spot on the rubble-strewn stone ground to lay down for the night. In misery and exhaustion Jacob soon lapsed into a deep sleep in which he began to dream. “He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.”

The term “ladder” most scholars see as referring to a flight of steps or stone ramps such as those found on a ziggurat or terraced pyramids; rather than a common ladder with rungs on it. On this invisible to the human eye, secret staircase are angels ascending and descending between earth and heaven. Just as this physical world is real, so is the invisible realm of heaven, and so are the angels who dwell there as ministering spirits of God. You might wonder what the role of angels is. According to the Bible, the role of God’s angels is to protect (19:1-22), communicate (18:2) and guard (3:24) God’s chosen ones. In short, angels are His servants sent to care for those who will inherit God’s salvation. For the most part, they live in the invisible realm, rarely breaking into the visible realm.

The expression “set on the earth” literally translated is “placed toward the earth.” The idea here is that this secret staircase goes from heaven to earth not from earth toward heaven. If you remember the building of the tower of Babel, it was human kind’s intent to reach God from earth. This is clearly the opposite. God is initiating this move to earth. He is bringing His invisible and real realm to Jacob.

How many of you remember the old Negro spiritual called, ‘We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder?’ That old spiritual teaches that by our self-efforts we can become more spiritual or closer to God. However, that is not a proper interpretation of the meaning of this ladder. This ladder does not point to the ascent of man. This ladder represents the descent of God, coming down to rescue and change a helpless man.

Human beings never really seek God first. They may seek after a god of their own creation and one who is close to being their equal, but human beings do not on their own seek to really know and submit their lives to the transcendent sovereign God. Yet, God, in His mercy and grace, has always sought after us first. God loved us first. God sent His son and we rejected Him.

In verses 13-14, God reiterates the Abrahamic covenant in essence, tagging Jacob as the spiritual leader who is to pick up the patriarchal torch for the family. We read, “And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. ‘Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’”

According to Dr. Waltke, this promise that Jacob’s descendants “will spread out” denotes “to break out” with destructive force; it connotes a holy war. This is a prophetic promise concerning the nation of Israel fleeing Egypt and coming into the promised land as conquerors. This localized, and not to be spread across the world, holy war is the only holy war on earth that God has clearly ordained. It’s purpose was to establish a base of evangelistic operation from which the rest of the world could see how the God of Israel would bless those who seek His face.

Jacob is so startled and awestruck by what he has dreamed, that when he awakens he is stunned by what all of this means. Before he went to sleep, he was filled with fear, loneliness and many questions about his future. But post dream of the secret staircase, he is filled with a sense of hope, purpose, and not being alone. His fears have been washed away. Knowing that God has promised to protect, provide and to never leave him. In response to all of this, Jacob can do only one thing: worship! We read, “Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.’ 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.’ So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top.”

This act of worship, taking the stone he slept upon, using it to mark this event, marks a new beginning in Jacob’s life. It is his conversion. It is his born-again experience. So great of an event in his life is it, that he renames this place. We read, “He called the name of that place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz.”

It should be noted that of Jacob’s entire journey from home to Haran, the Spirit of God records only this event. Luz was a major Canaanite city, a place of cultic worship. Jacob, by renaming this city “Bethel” is making the clear statement that only the true God dwells there. A further note of interest, in chapter 12, Moses calls this same place “Bethel,” not because it was named that during Abraham’s day, but because that is what it had become known as to Moses’ people.

“Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me and will keep me [more literally, “guard me”] on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the Lord will be my God. ‘This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give [more accurately, I will keep on giving] a tenth to You.’”

This is the longest vow in the Old Testament. Liberal theologians look at Jacob’s vow as a conditional contract. In other words, “God, if you don’t fulfill these my conditions, then, I will bail out on you.” But that is not the case. This is Jacob’s way of declaring his complete commitment to turn his life over to the Lord. From this point on, it is Jacob’s desire for God to be the master over his life. This is Jacob’s conversion prayer to God. This is the day that Jacob could point to, if asked, as the day that he was born-again.

One theologian, E. F. Roop further explains the significance of this vow. He correctly sees it as Jacob’s declaration that the purpose of his whole journey has changed. Whereas previously, he left home to escape Esau’s revenge and to get a wife, and now he realizes that the purpose of the rest of his life, not just this trip, is to fulfill his calling before God to be the patriarch of the family.

Typically, this vow, as with other Old Testament vows of dedication expressed a separation to the Lord and from the corrupting influences of society. Jacob really wanted a new start and desired with all of his heart to do right. God knew his heart and knew that he would still fail many times in route. But God’s mercies flowed freely down through the years, as God continued his work of transforming Jacob’s life.

In accordance with New Testament teaching, when someone is truly saved, not just prayed a prayer, but really meant what they prayed, the evidence of the conversion will be a turning away from evil and a turning to live for God. Even though they are not perfect and will continue to fail, there will be observable change in the lives of those who put their trust in Christ. Change is always the evidence of the new birth.

In verse 22, we witness a clear change in Jacob the “grasper” which his name means. He has now become Jacob the “giver” or “tither.” This commitment, long before it became commanded in Scripture as a lifetime practice was practiced by Jacob. Up to this point, we never hear of Jacob’s father, Isaac ever having tithed to God. Abraham did, but maybe only once. But Jacob, according to the Hebrew tense of the verb “to tithe” begins tithing the day of his rebirth and carries it forward til the end of his life. This is not a one-time gift.

From the day we just read about to almost two thousand years in the future, another devout Israelite, a Jew named Nathanael was meditating on the things of God, and quite probably was reading or meditating on this very account of Jacob’s dream. He may have been wondering “How would it ever be possible for there to be a reconciliation between human beings, who possess so much evil inside and a holy God, in whom there is no evil? How could there ever be a real ladder from earth to heaven?” He knew that, somehow, all these promises were centered in the promised Messiah; but would the Messiah ever come?

As he was meditating and praying about these matters under a fig tree, another dear Jewish friend, Philip, knowing Nathanael’s great interest in these spiritual matters, came to deliver a message to him, that he thinks he has found the Messiah. We read about this event in John 1:45-51. There we read, “Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ And Nathanael said to him, ‘Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him and said of him, ‘Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!’ Nathanael said to Him, ‘How do You know me?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’ Nathanael answered Him, ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the king of Israel.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these.’ And He said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you shall see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending ON the Son of Man.’”

In other words, Jesus Christ points to this very passage from Genesis 28 and God’s secret stairway from heaven to earth, and said, “I am that stairway, upon which the angels tread going up and down. If you want to enter heaven, then you must put your complete trust and confidence in Me, as your Messiah, your savior, your master and Lord!”

As we will see in the weeks ahead, Jacob’s life changed because God changed him from the inside out. Jacob didn’t change his life. Similarly, the secret to transformed life, here on earth, and the secret to spending eternity with God, is none other than this very same “Jacob’s Ladder,” Jesus Christ. He is the only way to God. Only when we come to Him, and admit to Him that we are rebels who have not wanted God to run our lives; only when we admit to Him that we have violated our own consciences; only when we ask Him to forgive us for our foolishness and trust in Him to be our ladder, our Savior and Lord, can we be transformed like Jacob was. Only then, can we know the presence, protection, provision and promises of God in our lives. Hope, purpose, order and direction come to those who put their trust in this “secret staircase” to heaven, Jesus Christ.

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