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Contra_Mundum · #4 (**permalink**) 05-05-2007, 03:38 PM

Sermon on Gen. 28:10-22
http://www.puritanboard.com/f87/jacobs-ladder-21208/#post265853

Quote:

In this context, then, of exhaustion, of fear, of exposure, of want, of the feeling of being cast out, and of mission-impossible, Jacob begins to dream. And this is no ordinary dream. The content of the dream is pretty simple. (v.12) Jacob beholds a ladder, or it would be better to conceive of this structure as a staircase, its bottom was on the ground, and its top in heaven, the dwelling place of God. And the angelic ministers of God were streaming up and down it, ascending and descending. And (v.13) “behold” it is a command, an exhortation to attend, take note of this, “The Lord stood above it,” as reads most translations. But I would have you take the marginal reading in many of your Bibles, which says, “above him, or over or beside him.” This passage is emphasizing the nearness of God to Jacob, as well as his authority and claim upon him. You should also consider that the Lord converses with Jacob, rather than calling out or down to him. This ladder or stair is not intended for angels, but for God, who has come down to his elect. As one commentator put it, in the Tower of Babel, men engage in an absurd attempt to build a stairway to heaven, one to which the Lord comes down, down to notice. But when God sets in his own stair, he does so instantly and effortlessly, and bridges the whole distance.