And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven
Jacob at Bethel
I.
THE WANDERER. It had been a desolate day, and there was only desolation at night. In his weariness he slept, and as he slept, he dreamed. If dreams reflect the thoughts of the day, a new life must have begun within him. It was not Esau, or the plotting mother, or the aged father, upon whom he looked. The old tent was not over him, nor did he long for the pillows of home. It was a new experience, and the story of his vision has been told all down the centuries for more than three and a half thousand years. What does it mean?
II. THE MEETING-PLACE. It was upon the barren mountainside. Tier on tier of rocks reaching to the mountain-summit were the stairs of nature’s cathedral. The winds of the mountains roused him not. The audience of that night was asleep. If the beasts came forth from their retreats, they did not disturb him. His own sin had driven him into solitude. Voice of friend or foe, there was none. He was alone; but God was there even when he knew it not. What meetings there have been alone with God I What night-scenes of grandeur and awe! Amid sufferings from sin, in deepest trials and in roughest places, many a soul has exclaimed with the waking Jacob, “Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
III. THE VISION AND THE DIVINE COVENANT. Two thoughts are suggested at the outset by this vision: the reaching up of earth to heaven, and the reaching down of heaven to earth.
IV. THE PILLAR OF REMEMBRANCE. Gratitude should be the very first fruit of religion. What less has God reason to expect? What else can man prefer to give? (D. O. Mears, D. D.)
Jacob at Bethel
I. THE DREAMER.
1. A lonely faith.
2. An exile from home.
3. A fugitive from his brother.
II. THE DREAM.
1. The ladder. Heaven not closed to man.
2. Angels of God ascending and descending. Ministry.
3. God at the summit of the ladder.
III. THE IMPRESSION OF HIS DREAM.
1. An overpowering sense of the presence of God.
2. His sin rose before him. (G. R. Leavitt.)
Jacob’s vision
I. IT WAS VOUCHSAFED TO HIM IN A TIME OF INWARD AND OUTWARD TROUBLE.
II. IT SATISFIED ALL HIS SPIRITUAL NECESSITIES.
1. It assured him that heaven and earth were not separated by an impassable gulf.
2. It assured him that there was a way of reconciliation between God and man.
3. It assured him that the love of God was above all the darkness of human sin and evil.
4. It imparted to him the blessings of a revelation from God.
III. IT REVEALED THE AWFUL SOLEMNITY OF HUMAN LIFE,
IV. IT RESULTED IN JACOB’S CONVERSION,
1. He erected a memorial of the event.
2. He resolved to make God supreme in all his thoughts and actions. (T. H.Leale.)
Jacob’s vision
I. CONSIDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES under which the vision was granted.
II. LOOK AT THE NATURE of the vision.
1. The angels are interested in the well-being of God’s people.
2. Heaven is a place of activity.
3. There is a way of communication open between heaven and earth. This way represents the mediation of Christ.
III. LOOK AT THE PROMISES which on this occasion were made to Jacob.
1. God promised to be with Jacob.
2. God promised His protection and guidance to Jacob.
3. God promised him final deliverance from all trouble. (A. D.Davidson.)
Jacob’s dream
I. A way set up between earth and heaven, making a visible connection between the ground on which he slept and the sky.
II. The free circulation along that way of great powers and ministering influences.
III. God, the supreme directing and inspiring force, eminent over all. Lessons:
1. Every man’s ladder should stand upon the ground. No man can be a Christian by separating himself from his kind.
2. Along every man’s ladder should be seen God’s angels.
3. High above all a man’s plans and resolves, there must beta living trust in God. (H. W. Beecher.)
The vision at Bethel
I. The vision at Bethel was the first step in Jacob’s Divine education--the assurance which raised him to the feelings and dignity of a man. He knew that though he was to be chief of no hunting tribe, there might yet come forth from him a blessing to the whole earth.
II. Jacob’s vision came to him in a dream. But that which had been revealed was a permanent reality, a fact to accompany him through all his after-existence. Now the great question we have to ask ourselves is, “Was this a fact for Jacob the Mesopotamian shepherd, and is it a phantasm for all ages to come? Or was it a truth which Jacob was to learn just as he was to learn the truth of birth, the truth of marriage, the truth of death, that it might be declared to his seed after him; and that they might be acquainted with it as he was, only in a fuller and deeper sense?” If we take the Bible for our guide we must accept the latter conclusion, and not the former. The Son of Man is the ladder between earth and heaven, between the Father above and His children on earth. (F. D. Maurice, M. A.)
What Jacob saw in sleep
Sleeping to see. One may be too wide-awake to see. There are things which are hidden from us until we lie down to sleep. Only then do the heavens open and the angels of God disclose themselves.
I. It does not follow that God is not, because we cannot discern Him. Little do we dream of the veiled wonders and splendours amid which we move. To Jacob’s mental fret and confusion, the wilderness where God brooded was a wilderness and nothing more. But in sleep he grew tranquil and still; he lost himself--the flurried, heated, uneasy self that he had brought with him from Beer-sheba; and while he slept the hitherto unperceived Eternal came out softly, largely, above and around him. We learn from this the secret of the Lord’s nearness.
II. No man is ever completely awake; something in him always sleeps. There is a sense in which it may be said with truth that were we less wakeful, more of God and spiritual realities might be unveiled to us. We are always doing--too much so for finest being; are always striving--too much so for highest attaining. Our religion consists too much in solicitude to get; it is continually “ The Lord, the Father of mercies,” rather than “The Lord, the Father of glory.” We require to sleep from ourselves before the heavens can open upon us freely and richly flow around us. (S. A. Tipple.)
A ladder between heaven and earth
I. JESUS, THE LADDER, CONNECTS EARTH WITH HEAVEN.
II. THIS LADDER COMES TO SINNERS.
III. GOD IS AT THE TOP, SPEARING KIND WORDS DOWN THE LADDER.
IV. ADVICE TO CLIMBERS:
1. Be sure to get the right ladder; there are plenty of shams.
2. Take firm hold; you will want both hands.
3. Don’t look down, or you will be giddy.
4. Don’t come down to fetch any one else up. If your friends will not follow you, leave them behind. (T. Champness.)
Intercourse between earth and heaven
I. The ancient heathens told in their fables how the gods had all left the earth one by one; how one lingered in pity, loath to desert the once happy world; how even that one at last departed. Jacob’s dream showed something better, truer than this; it showed him God above him, God’s angels all about him.
II. The intercourse between God and man has been enlarged and made perpetual in Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son.
III. When Jacob awoke he consecrated a pillar, and vowed to build a sanctuary there and give tithes. We cannot altogether commend the spirit in which he made his vow. He tried to make a good bargain with the Almighty; yet God accepted him. The place was holy to him, because he knew that God was there. (R. Winterbotham, M. A.)
The nearness of God to men
I. GOD IS NEAR MEN WHEN THEY LITTLE THINK IT. “He is near--
1. When we are not aware of it.
2. When sin is fresh upon us.
3. When we are in urgent need of Him.
II. GOD IS NEAR MEN TO ENGAGE IN THEIR RELIGIOUS TRAINING.
1. God assured Jacob of His abiding presence with him.
2. Jacob was taught to recognize God in all things.
3. He was taught to feel his entire dependence upon God throughout the journey of life.
III. GOD IS ALWAYS NEAR MEN TO EFFECT THEIR COMPLETE SALVATION. Intercourse has been established between earth and heaven; the whole process of man’s salvation is under the superintendence of God. (D. Rhys Jenkins.)
Jacob’s conversion
I. JACOB’S IMPRESSIONS. First time of leaving his father’s home. When night came on, and there was no tent to repose under, and no pillow but a stone on which to lay his weary head, then a feeling of loneliness came over him, then tender thoughts awoke. He felt remorse, tears came unbidden. He felt, “I shall never be in my father’s house the boy I was.” In all this observe--
1. A solemn conviction stealing over Jacob of what life is, a struggle which each man must make in self-dependence.
2. But beside this conviction of what life is, Jacob was impressed in another way at this time. God made a direct communication to his soul. “He lay down to sleep, and he dreamed.” We know what dreams are. They are strange combinations of our waking thoughts in fanciful forms, and we may trace in Jacob’s previous journey the groundwork of his dream. He looked up all day to heaven as he trudged along, the glorious expanse of an Oriental sky was around him, a quivering trembling mass of blue; but he was alone, and, when the stars came out, melancholy sensations were his, such as youth frequently feels in autumn time. Deep questionings beset him. Time he felt was fleeting. Eternity, what was it? Life, what a mystery! And all this took form in his dream. Thus far all was natural; the supernatural in this dream was the manner in which God impressed it on his heart. Similar dreams we have often had; but the remembrance of them has faded away. Conversion is the impression made by circumstances, and that impression lasting for life; it is God the Spirit’s work upon the soul.
3. Jacob felt reconciliation with God. There is a distance between man and God. It is seen in the restlessness of men, in the estrangement which they feel from Him. Well, Jacob felt all this. He had sinned, overreached his brother, deceived his father. Self-convicted he walked all day long; the sky as brass; a solemn silence around him; no opening in the heaven; no sign nor voice from God; his own heart shut up by the sense of sin, unable to rise. Then came the dream in which he felt reconciliation with God. Do not mind the form but the substance. It contains three things:
(1) The ladder signifying heaven and earth joined, the gulf bridged over.
(2) The angels signifying the communication which exists between earth and heaven.
(3) The voice which told him of God’s paternal care.
(4) The last impression made on Jacob was that of the awfulness of life.
II. THE RESOLUTIONS WHICH HE MADE.
1. The first of these was a resolution to set up a memorial of the impressions just made upon him. He erected a few stones, and called them Bethel. They were a fixed point to remind him of the past.
2. Jacob determined from this time to take the Lord for his God. He would worship from henceforth not the sun, or the moon, not honour, pleasure, business, but God. With respect to this determination, observe first” that it was done with a kind of selfish feeling; there was a sort of stipulation, that if God would be with him to protect and provide for him, that then he would take Him for his God (Gen_28:20-21). And this is too much the way with us; there is mostly a selfishness in our first turning to God. A kind of bargain is struck. If religion makes me happy then I will be religious. God accepted this bargain in Jacob’s case; He enriched him with cattle and goods in the land whither he went (Gen_31:18): “for godliness has the promise of the life that now is.” Disinterested religion comes later on. Observe, secondly, what taking God for our God implies. It is not the mere repetition of so many words; for as our Lord has said, “Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of God.” To have God for our God is not to prostrate the knee but the heart in adoration before Him. God is truth: to persist in truth at a loss to ourselves, that is to have God for our God. God is purity: resolve to shut up evil books, turn a countenance of offended purity to the insult of licentious conversation; banish thoughts that conjure up wicked imaginations; then you have God for your God. God is love: you are offended; and the world says, resent; God says, forgive. Can you forgive? Can you love your enemy, or one whose creed is different from your own? That is to have God for your God. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
The heavenly pathway and the earthly heart
I. CONSIDER THE VISION AND ITS ACCOMPANYING PROMISE. We are to conceive of the form of the vision as a broad stair or sloping ascent, rather than a ladder, reaching right from the sleeper’s side to the far-off heaven, its pathway peopled with messengers, and its summit touching the place where a glory shone that paled even the lustrous constellations of that pure sky. Jacob had thought himself alone; the vision peoples the wilderness. He had felt himself defenceless; the vision musters armies for his safety. He had been grovelling on earth, with no thoughts beyond its fleeting goods; the vision lifts his eyes from the low level on which they had been gazing. He had been conscious of but little connection with heaven; the vision shows him a path from his very side right into its depths. He had probably thought that he was leaving the presence of his father’s God when he left his father’s tent; the vision burns into his astonished heart the consciousness of God as there, in the solitude and the night. The Divine promise is the best commentary on the meaning of the vision. The familiar ancestral promise is repeated to him, and the blessing and the birthright thus confirmed. In addition, special assurances, the translation of the vision into word and adapted to his then wants, are given--God’s presence in his wanderings, his protection, Jacob’s return to the land, and the promise of God’s persistent presence, working through all paradoxes of providence, and sins of his servant, and incapable of staying its operations, or satisfying God’s heart, or vindicating his faithfulness, at any point short of complete accomplishment of his plighted word. Jacob’s vision was meant to teach him, and is meant to teach us, the nearness of God, and the swift directness of communication, whereby His help comes to us and our desires rise to Him. These and their kindred truths were to be to him, and should be to us, the parents of much nobleness. Here is the secret of elevation of aim and thought above the mean things of sense. It is the secret of purity too. It is also the secret of peace.
II. NOTICE THE IMPERFECT RECEPTION dream indicates a very low level both of religious knowledge and feeling. Nor is there any reason for taking the words in any but their most natural sense; for it is a mistake to ascribe to him the knowledge of God due to later revelation, or, at this stage of his life, any depth of religious emotion. He is alarmed at the thought that God is near. Probably he had been accustomed to think of God’s presence as in some special way associated with his father’s encampment, and had not risen to the belief of His omnipresence. There seems no joyous leaping up of his heart at the thought that God is here. Dread, not unmingled with the superstitious fear that he had profaned a holy place by laying himself down in it, is his prevailing feeling, and he pleads ignorance as the excuse for his sacrilege. He does not draw the conclusion from the vision that all the earth is hallowed by a near God, but only that he has unwittingly stumbled on His house; and he does not learn that from every place there is an open door for the loving heart into the calm depths where God is throned, but only that here he stands at the gate of heaven. So he misses the very inner purpose of the vision, and rather shrinks from it than welcomes it. Was that spasm of fear all that passed through his mind that night? Did he sleep again when the glory died out of the heaven? So the story would appear to suggest. But, in any ease, we see here the effect of the sudden blitzing in upon a heart not yet familiar with the Divine Friend, of the conviction that He is really near. Gracious as God’s promise was, it did not dissipate the creeping awe at His presence. It is an eloquent testimony of man’s consciousness of sin, that whensoever a present God becomes a reality to a man, he trembles. “This place” would not be “dreadful,” but blessed, if it were not for the sense of discord between God and me. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The angel-ladder
I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH THIS REVELATION WAS MADE TO HIM.
1. Jacob was lonely.
2. Jacob was standing on the threshold of independence.
3. Jacob was also in fear.
II. THE ELEMENTS OF WHICH THIS REVELATION CONSISTED.
1. The ladder.
2. The angels.
3. The voice of God. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
Bethel: a picture and its lesson
I. THE PICTURE.
1. A solitary man.
2. A guilty man. Sin pierced his hand more than his staff did.
3. An injured man. “A child may have more of his mother than her blessing.”
4. A fugitive man. “He had, like a maltreated animal, the fear of man habitually before his eyes.” He cringes one moment, and dodges the next; deprecating the blow he invites, expects, and gets.
5. He is a weary man. There he lies. Now look at him. Mark these--the nameless spot, the shelterless couch, the comfortless pillow, the restless slumber.
II. THE LESSON.
1. In this world wicked success is real failure. No security after sin save in repenting of it.
2. In this world God pays in kind, but blesses sovereignly. That is to say, retribution is often like crime, but grace is a surprise.
3. Turning over a new leaf does not always show a fresh page. It does no good to take up a journey from Beer-sheba to Padan-aram when one means to do the same thing right along. God demands a change in the heart, not in the habit; not so much in the record and show of the life as in the life itself.
4. Sometimes unhappiness is our chief felicity. Jacob has one good, valuable characteristic--he cannot sleep soundly when the angels of covenant grace are coming for him. It was a grand thing for this fugitive that he was restless while the ladder of love was unfolding over him.
5. Retribution is lifted only by redemption. God’s mercy gave Jacob chance of becoming a new man that night. It would have saved him Penuel and a forty years’ wreck had he accepted it. He might have beckoned an ascending angel to his side, and sent by him a prayer up the ladder; and then an angel descending along the shining rounds would have instantly brought him a message of pardon. Surely any man can show some sign of a penitent heart. We can be sorry we do not sorrow. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
A man asleep
I. Jacob is the type ISRAELITE Of his lineage. From this night Jacob becomes the pattern Jew. All that is good or bad in his descendants has its natural beginning in him.
II. Jacob is the type MAN of his race. Far from God. Homesick. What man wants is God.
III. Jacob is the type CHRISTIAN of the Church.
1. He was chosen even before he was born.
2. He is now in the thick of the conflict between nature and grace.
3. He will eventually be saved in the kingdom of heaven. (C. S.Robinson, D. D.)
The ladder of doctrine
I. THE PROPHETIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SCENE.
1. It could not have been exclusively personal to Jacob.
3. Furthermore, the vision is not exhausted in any mere engagement of God’s providential care.
3. Hence the vision must be interpreted as belonging to the kingdom of grace.
4. This vision, therefore, is discharged of its full weight of meaning only when we admit it to be a fine, high symbol of Jesus Christ.
II. ITS DOCTRINAL REACH. The plan of redemption comes out in this symbol. Jesus Christ became the medium of grace and restoration. If, now, no mistake has been made in our inquiry thus far, the conclusion we have attained will be fairly corroborated from the disclosures presented of Jesus’ person and work.
1. Begin with His Person. Surely no more felicitous image could have been presented. Christ’s double nature is well shown. It would have been only a mockery to Jacob to disclose a ladder coming almost to this earth, yet falling short by a round or two, so as to be just out of reach. Then the angels could not have alighted, and no human foot could have risen. Nor would the case have been anywise better if he had been made to see that his ladder reached nearly to heaven, not quite. For then the angels would have had as great need as he, and an uncrossed gulf would have been beyond them in the air.
2. As to the work of Christ, furthermore, we may remark the same exquisite aptness of this figure in Jacob’s vision. Examining it closely, we find that it teaches the sovereign assumption, the perfect completion, the evident display, and the free offer, of the plan of grace. (C. S.Robinson, D. D.)
The ladder of life
I. RECONCILIATION IS NOW OFFERED IN GOOD FAITH TO EVERY INDIVIDUAL OF THE HUMAN RACE.
II. THE NECESSITY OF AN INSTANT AND DETERMINATE DECISION IN OUR DEALING WITH THE OFFERS OF GRACE.
III. HOW ESSENTIAL IT IS FOR EVERY SOUL THUS ADDRESSED BY THE GOSPEL OFFER TO MEASURE ALTERNATIVES.
IV. WHAT FELICITOUS DISPOSAL THIS VISION MAKES OF THE VEXED QUESTION CONCERNING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN FAITH AND WORKS.
V. GROWTH IN GRACE IS ALSO GROWTH IN EXPERIENCE.
VI. RESPONSIBILITY BEGINS THE MOMENT THE FIRST STEP OF DUTY IS DISCLOSED TO AN INTELLIGENT MAN.
VII. PERSONAL ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS OUR SAVIOUR AND SURETY. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
The vision of God
I. ANALYSIS.
1. It is evident that God Himself was the sum and substance, the centre and glory, of that entire vision. The Almighty was disclosed in presence and purpose, in prediction and promise, as standing up over the ladder of grace for a fallen world.
2. See the effect of this discovery upon Jacob.
(1) The first thing it did was to frighten him.
(2) The next effect seems to have been some sort of sense of guilt. He vaguely feels the need of propitiation.
II. LESSONS. The truest way to produce conviction of sin is to make a disclosure of Divine holiness.
2. The uselessness of mere religious emotion without establishment of principle.
3. God really offers a chance of salvation to every man who will enter upon the new life. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
A turn in the tide
I. THAT ERRING MEN NEED DIVINE HELP.
II. THAT THIS SPECIAL HELP WAS GRANTED TO JACOB IN VIEW OF THE FUTURE. Lessons:
1. The presence of God comes closer than we often think.
2. The earthly may be in unison with the heavenly.
3. Avoid bargain-making with God. Do not say, “I could believe I am saved if only I felt happy!” Say, “He calls me to come; and as He will in no wise cast me out, I must be accepted by Him. What more dare I ask for? “ Do not say, “If only I had more time, if I were not so pressed with poverty, if I had but some friend to direct me, I would serve God!” What I You do not need God because you are moneyless, friendless! What! You would walk with God in a calm, but not when a storm was yelling and dashing! Oh, foolish people and unwise! Away with all reserves! God is for us: Christ is with us. Receive what He proffers. Do as far as you know of His will, and leave all consequences with Him, sure that He will secure everlasting blessings. (D. G. Watt, M. A.)
Jacob at Bethel
I. THE VISION GRANTED TO JACOB.
1. This dream taught Jacob that there is a close connection between this world and the next.
2. It taught him that God rules over all.
3. It taught him the solemnity of life.
II. THE PROMISES MADE TO JACOB.
1. That he should be greatly blessed.
2. That he should be a blessing.
3. That God would watch over him.
III. THE RESOLUTIONS FORMED BY HIM.
1. He resolved to make a memorial of the night vision and the promises.
2. He resolved to accept the Lord as his God.
3. He also resolved to give back to God a tenth. (W. J. Evans.)
Divine providence
I. THERE IS A DIVINE PROVIDENCE.
II. THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT IS VEILED AND SILENT IN ITS OPERATION.
III. THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT IS ACCOMPLISHED BY MANY AGENTS.
IV. THE DIVINE PURPOSE IS ACCOMPLISHED AMID MUCH APPARENT CONFUSION.
V. THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT IS CONTINUED WITHOUT INTERRUPTION OR HINDRANCE.
VI. THE GRAND DESIGN OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT IS MORAL AND SAVING. (W. L. Watkinson.)
Bethel
I. THE PILGRIM. “The way of transgressors is hard.” He is without a guide, friendless, defenceless.
II. THE PILGRIM’S VISION. “In Me is thy help.” “Lo, I am with you alway.”
III. THE PILGRIM’S VOW. (T. S. Dickson.)
I. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS VISION.
1. The close connection between earth and heaven; between things unseen and things seen.
2. The ministry of heaven to earth; the communication between things unseen and things seen.
3. The assurance of Divine love and care.
The dreamer
II. WHAT THIS VISION AND REVELATION OF GOD TAUGHT JACOB.
1. The universal presence of God.
2. The sacredness of common things.
III. WHAT THIS VISION AND REVELATION LED JACOB TO DO.
1. TO set up a memorial of that night.
2. To consecrate himself to God. (A. F. Joscelyne, B. A.)
Bethel; or, the true vision of life
I. IN THE TRUE VISION OF LIFE THERE IS A RECOGNITION OF OUR CONNECTION WITH OTHER WORLDS.
II. IN THE TRUE VISION OF LIFE THERE IS A RECOGNITION OF GOD’S RELATION TO ALL.
1. As the Sovereign of all.
2. As the Friend of man. Two things show this.
(1) Man’s continuation as a sinner in such a world as this.
(2) The special means introduced for his moral restoration.
III. IN THE TRUE VISION OF LIFE THERE IS THE RECOGNITION OF A DIVINE PROVIDENCE OVER INDIVIDUALS.
1. This Biblical doctrine agrees with reason.
2. It agrees with consciousness.
IV. IN THE TRUE VISION OF LIFE THERE IS THE RECOGNITION OF THE SOLEMNITY OF OUR EARTHLY POSITION. “How dreadful is this place!”
1. Jacob’s discovery introduced a new epoch into his history.
2. Jacob’s discovery introduced a memorable epoch in his life. (Homilist.)
Man’s spiritual capacity
I. THE EXISTENCE OF A SPIRITUAL CAPACITY IN MAN.
1. Jacob saw angels, and God Himself.
2. He heard the voice of the Infinite.
3. He felt emotions which mere animal existence could not experience.
II. THE AWAKENING OF THIS SPIRITUAL CAPACITY IN MAN.
1. It is sometimes unexpected.
2. It is always Divine.
3. It is ever glorious.
4. It is ever memorable. (Homilist.)
Jacob’s vision
I. TAKE NOTE OF THE SURROUNDINGS OF THE VISION.
1. The ambitious schemings of Jacob and his mother to supplant his brother Esau.
2. Jacob is an illustration of a man in whose soul faith struggles with ambition.
II. EMPHASIZE THE REVELATION WHICH THE VISION CONTAINS.
1. God as the God of providence.
2. The intimate union of the seen and unseen.
III. NOTICE ITS EFFECT UPON THE MIND OF HIM TO WHOM IT WAS GIVEN.
1. A sense of the universal presence of God.
2. A sense of awe which possesses the sinning soul at the revelation of God’s presence.
3. A sense of penitence at the revelation of God’s goodness. (R. Thomas, M. A.)
Jacob’s dream
I. THAT THE MORAL DISTANCE BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH IS GREAT.
1. Heaven is distant from the thoughts of the ungodly.
2. The conceptions of man prove the same thing.
3. The conduct of sinners seems to confirm this statement.
II. THAT THERE IS A SPIRITUAL COMMUNICATION BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH.
1. This confers dignity upon our globe.
2. This imparts honour to man.
3. This communication is of Divine origin.
4. Heavenly communications are not dependent on the outward circumstances of man.
III. THAT THROUGH THIS COMMUNICATION ALONE MAN CAN HAVE A TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.
1. Because the human and divine are united.
2. Because through it a covenant relationship is formed between us and God.
3. It secures to us the protection of God.
4. It provides for the consummation of our highest conceptions of felicity.
IV. THAT TRUE COMMUNION WITH GOD PRODUCES REVERENTIAL FEAR IN THE HEART. (Homilist.)
The spirit world
I. THIS VISION SUGGESTS THE IDEA OF A SPIRIT WORLD.
1. We think of a spirit--
(1) As a self-modifying agent or being.
(2) As a religious being.
(3) As a reflecting being.
(4) As a self-conscious being.
(5) As a self-complete being.
(6) As a personally responsible being.
2. That a world of such beings exists may be argued from--
(1) The structure of the visible universe.
(2) The concurrent impressions of mankind.
(3) Our own individual consciousness.
(4) The Word of God.
II. THIS VISION SUGGESTS THAT MAN IS CONNECTED WITH THE SPIRIT WORLD.
1. He is a member of it.
2. He is amenable to its laws.
3. He is now forming a character that will determine his position in it.
III. THIS VISION SUGGESTS THAT THERE IS ONE MASTER. (Homilist.)
The solitary one and his visitation
I. THE SITUATION AND CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH JACOB WAS PLACED when he received this visitation from heaven.
1. He was solitary.
2. He had a weary body.
3. He had an anxious mind.
4. He was asleep. The Almighty can visit and bless at a time and in a manner which we little expect.
II. THE GRACIOUS VISITATION WHICH JACOB HAD FROM GOD.
1. It was in a dream.
2. It was an encouraging visit.
3. It was a glorious visit.
4. It was a gracious visit.
III. THE EFFECTS PRODUCED ON JACOB’S MIND AND THE LINE OF CONDUCT WHICH HE WAS INDUCED TO PURSUE.
1. He was afraid.
2. He set up a pillar.
3. He changed the name of the place.
4. He entered into a solemn covenant with God.
IV. APPLICATION.
1. In our journey through life we may sometimes be solitary, dejected, and perplexed; but we often have gracious visits from the Lord.
2. The vows of God are upon us, viz., those of baptism and good resolution.
3. Do we offer unto God thanksgiving and pay our vows unto the Most High? (Benson Bailey.)
Jacob’s vision
I. WHAT JACOB SAW ON THIS OCCASION.
1. A ladder
2. Its position.
3. Its base.
4. The top of it.
5. Above it.
6. Upon it.
II. WHAT JACOB HEARD.
1. Jehovah proclaimed Himself the God of his fathers.
2. Jehovah promised him the possession of the country where he then was.
3. He promised him a numerous progeny; and that of him should come the illustrious Messiah, in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed.
4. He promised him His Divine presence and protection.
III. WHAT JACOB FELT.
1. He felt the influence of the Divine presence.
2. He felt a sacred and solemn fear.
3. He felt himself on the precincts of the heavenly world.
IV. WHAT JACOB DID.
1. He expressed his solemn sense of the Divine presence (Gen_28:16-17).
2. He erected and consecrated a memorial of the events of that eventful night.
3. He vowed obedience to the Lord.
4. He went on his way in peace and safety.
Application:
1. The privileges of piety. Divine manifestations, promises.
2. The duties of piety.
3. The delights of public worship. God’s house is indeed the gate of heaven.
4. How glorious a place is heaven! (J. Burns, D. D.)
The dream of Jacob
I. Here is, first of all, LARGER SPACE. Jacob saw heaven. Enlargement of space has a wonderful influence upon mind and spirit of every degree and quality. Go abroad; climb the hill, and leave your sorrow there. Take in the great revelation of space, and know that God’s government is no local incident or trifle which the human hand can take up and manage and dispose of. We perish in many an intellectual difficulty for want of room. Things are only big because they are near; in themselves they are little if set up with the firmament domed above them, and numbered along with other things, which give proportion to all the elements which make up the circle of their influence. Go into the field, pass over the waves of the seas, pray when the stars are all ablaze like altars that cannot be counted, and at which an infinite universe is offering its evening oblation; take in more space, and many a difficulty which hampers and frets the mind will be thrown off, and manhood will take a bound forwards and upwards. Space is not emptiness: space is a possible Church.
II. Enlarging space never goes alone; it brings with it ENLARGING LIFE. Jacob not only beheld heaven: he saw the angels coming down, going up--stirred by an urgent business. It is one thing to talk about the angels: it“is” another to see them.
III. Enlarging. “space brings enlarging life; enlarging life brings AN ENLARGING ALTAR. Jacob said, Surely the Lord is in this place.” We cannot enter into Jacob’s meaning of that exclamation. He had been reared in the faith that God was to be worshipped in definite and specified localities. There were places at which Jacob would have been surprised if he had not seen manifestations of God. The point is, at the place where he did not expect anything he saw heaven; he saw some form or revelation of God. See how the greater truth dawns upon his opening mind, “Surely the Lord is in this place,” and that is the very end of our spiritual education; to find God everywhere; never to open a rose-bud without finding God; never to see the days whitening the eastern sky without seeing the coming of the King’s brightness; so feel that every place is praying ground to renounce the idea of partial and official consecration, and stand in a universe every particle of which is blessed and consecrated by the presence of the infinite Creator.
IV. Immediately following these larger conceptions of things, we find a marvellous and instructive instance of THE ABSORBING POWER OF THE RELIGIOUS IDEA. In Jacob’s dream there was but one thought. When we see God all other sights are extinguished. This is the beginning of conversion; this is essential to the reality of a new life. For a time the eye must be filled with a heavenly image; for a time the eye must be filled with a celestial message; a complete forgetfulness of everything past, a new seizure and apprehension of the whole solemn future. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Christ typified by Jacob’s ladder
A beautiful emblem of the Saviour. It may typify--
1. The person of the Saviour.
2. The mediatorial work of Christ.
3. Christ as the only way to the Father.
4. The accessibility of Christ to the perishing sinner.
5. The connection of angels with the work and Kingdom of Christ.
6. The heavenly state to which Christ will exalt His people. (J. Burns, D. D.)
Jacob at Bethel
1. The office of sorrow--even of remorse, the sorrow of sin--is to drive us from the visible to the invisible, from earth to heaven, from ourselves to God.
2. There is a ladder between earth and heaven on which angel messengers carry up our prayers to God and bring His answers down. Nay! this is but the hope of our dreams; the reality transcends it; for God is here, and needs neither ladder nor angel to communicate with us or open to us communication with Him: here in our hours of sorest need, of bitterest loneliness, of self-inflicted sorrow, of well-deserved penalty, of more poignant remorse; here as He was in the burning bush to Moses, and in the mysterious visitor to Gideon, and in the still, small voice to Elijah, and in the child wrapped in the swaddling clothes to the stable guests; and still by most of us unseen and to most of us unknown.
3. But when the veil is taken from our faces and we see Him, then the ground becomes consecrated ground, the stable a sacred place, the lowing of the cattle an anthem, Horeb a sanctuary, the land of Midian a holy land, our pile of stones a Bethel.
4. Yea! more than this; not places only but persons are transformed by this vision of the invisible, by this awakening to the truth, Lo, God is here. It here changes Abram, Chaldean worshipper, into Abraham, Friend of God; Jacob, the supplanter, into Israel, Prince of God; Moses, the impetuous murderer of the Egyptian, into the meekest man of sacred history; David, the sensual king, into the sweet singer of spiritual experiences; Jeremiah, the prophet of lamentation, into the hope and courage of Israel; Saul, the persecuting Pharisee, into Paul, the self-sacrificing Apostle; John, the son of thunder, into John the beloved disciple.
5. Finally, the poorest consecration--the gift of ourselves with even Jacob’s “if”--is accepted by God as a beginning. Whosoever cometh unto Him He will in no wise cast out. (Lyman Abbott, D. D.)
Jacob at Bethel
I. THE SEVERITY OF GOD. The pitiable condition of Jacob when he arrived at Bethel illustrates this. A homeless, helpless, despondent wanderer.
II. THE GOODNESS OF GOD.
1. In its suggestive symbol (Gen_28:12).
2. In its encouraging revelation of the Divine presence (Gen_28:13).
3. In its encouraging promises (Gen_28:13-15). Inheritance, guidance, protection, companionship.
III. THE EFFECT UPON JACOB.
1. It awoke him of his sleep.
2. It filled him with an awe-inspiring sense of the Divine presence.
3. It filled him with a spirit of worship.
4. It led him to a reconsecration of himself to God.
Lessons:
1. Self-seeking even leads to failure.
2. God will never leave nor forsake His child.
3. Let us beware of a partial consecration. (D. C. Hughes, M. A.)
The Christ ladder
The great truth, therefore, that ariseth from hence is, that Christ is our Ladder of Life and Love, by which we have communion with God upon earth, while we live, and admission unto God in heaven, when we die. This ladder hath seven excellent properties. It is--
1. A living ladder, therefore it is called a ladder of life; a ladder that hath life in it, both intrinsically and objectively.
2. A loving ladder, that will not, cannot easily let go its hold of any such as sincerely come to it, to climb upon it, and do therein take hold of it, and thereby embrace it.
3. It is a lively ladder also that will so lovingly embrace us, and so livelily both take hold and keep hold of us, and not let us go until He has brought us up to the top of the ladder, and from thence into mansions of glory.
4. It is a lovely ladder.
(1) In its nature.
(2) In its posture.
The posture and end of its erection is for saving from hell, and sending to heaven.
5. The fifth excellent property is, it is a large ladder; there is room enough both for saints and angels upon this ladder. It is so large, that it enlargeth and stretcheth out itself into all lands, as do the great luminaries of heaven. This ladder is--
(1) Extensive, as it is found everywhere, Asia, Africa, or America; whether it be in the city or in the country; whether it be in public, or in private, whether in family worship, or closet retirements; in all those places believers do find this large ladder of love let down to them, and there doth Christ give them his loves (Son_7:11-12). Upon which account the apostle saith, “I will that men pray everywhere,” etc. (1Ti_2:8), whether in the fields, or in the villages, or in the vineyards, or under the secret places of the stairs (Son_2:14). Any place, yea a chimney corner may make a good Oratory upon this ladder, whereon Christ accounteth our voices sweet, and our countenances comely. And this ladder, Christ.
(2) It is comprehenensive to all persons; there is room enough upon this ladder for all the saints in all the nations of the world.
6. The sixth excellent property--it is a long and lofty ladder, so long as to reach from earth to heaven.
7. The seventh excellent property of this ladder is, it is a lasting, yea, an everlasting ladder. (C. Nose.)
Jacob’s dream: the solution of a mystery
I. THE DUALITY OF EXISTENCE. Let us pause for a moment and contemplate our own existence; for each one of us is a little universe, a miniature representation of the great universe of which we form a part, Now, we carry within ourselves a kind of double consciousness. We have a higher nature and a lower nature, a spiritual side and a material side, an immortal element and a mortal element. It is this double consciousness that has suggested to heathen nations the existence of another world. Men of thought and reflection among them have discovered in themselves powers that can never be developed in the present life, desires that can never be satisfied by any material objects, and hence they have speculated and discoursed concerning a higher, a nobler, a more permanent state of existence. But Jacob was not left to grope after this knowledge by the light of his own reason. In this magnificent vision of the night, the truth is made known to him in all its imposing details, is revealed to him with marvellous clearness and emphatic precision. This truth is taught unto you, not by the uncertain voice of your constitution, as it was to ancient sages; not by supernatural visions, as it was to Jacob; but by the explicit and authoritative teaching of God’s word. It was a part of Christ’s mission, when He assumed our nature, to teach us this truth; for He brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel. He came to elevate us, by setting us free from the tyranny of sense, and directing our thoughts to things invisible. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for the meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you.”
II. THE UNITY OF EXISTENCE. We know that we possess both a material and a spiritual nature, but the point at which they come in contact it is impossible to ascertain. You have a definite reply in the text. Heaven above and earth below are connected by one great ladder. They are, therefore, not two, but one. “And, behold, the Lord stood above it.” The Lord of heaven is also the Lord of earth; heaven End earth are therefore united into one realm. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland contains different countries; all separate, yet all united; owing allegiance to the same sovereign. The universe is a vast united kingdom, embracing different provinces, different principalities, different powers; but all alike subject to the central government. “And, behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it.” The spirit-world is very near to us, we are but one step removed from it, were our eyes opened we should perceive that it stands round about us. Indeed, we are sometimes inclined to believe that material forms are but symbolical representations of spiritual realities, that the things which are seen are but outward manifestations of the things which are not seen. Through its agony and atoning death, the way which sin had shut up has been reopened. God can have mercy upon us, can hold communion with us, can send His angels down to comfort us in our troubles, to strengthen us in our conflicts, and at last to bear our ransomed souls to glory. The unity of existence! It is a wonderful, and yet a solemn fact. All being is but one vast territory, broken up into innumerable separate parts, but all united under one sceptre. Dream not, then, that when you quit this world, you will become the subject of a different government, or become amenable to different laws. (D. Rowlands, B. A.)
A ladder of escape
A company of shipwrecked sailors cast on the coast of Scotland at the bottom of a great precipice, where the water would have broken up their vessel and drowned them, found a ladder hanging down the precipice, which they reached from their ship’s mast, and escaped thereby. So Christ is to us a ladder of salvation, and if we believe on Him we shall be saved from all evil, and we may rise to be holy, happy, and useful. (D. Rowlands, B. A.)
The God of Bethel
I. CONSIDER WHAT JACOB SAW.
II. CONSIDER WHAT HE HEARD.
1. “I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac.” It is well to have a known God, a tried God, a family God, and a father’s God; it is well to be able to say, as the Church does in the twenty-second Psalm, “Our fathers trusted in Thee: they trusted, and Thou didst deliver them.” It is well for you, when God looks down and sees you walking in the same path that your fathers did who are gone to heaven before you, “followers of those who through faith and patience are now inheriting the promises.”
2. “The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed.” God had already given it by promise to Abraham, but at present he had no inheritance, not so much as to set his foot on. But as God had given it to him and his seed by promise, it was as sure as if in actual possession. Yet several hundred years were previously to elapse, and they must suffer much in Egypt, and must wander forty years in the wilderness. But what of this?
It was the land of promise; God had given them it, and nothing could hinder their possession of it.
3. “And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south.” And so it was. You know in a few years they became an innumerable people, and what millions since have descended from this one patriarch.
4. “And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” This refers to the Messiah. To them as concerning the flesh He came, God having raised up His Son, even Jesus, who “delivered us from the wrath to come.” In His name we are blessed with all spiritual blessings. This promise has as yet received only a partial accomplishment. Few as yet are blessed with faithful Abraham. But we read of a nation being “born in a day”; that all nations of the earth shall be blessed in Him; that all shall know the Lord from the least even to the greatest.
5. “And, behold, I am with thee.” So He is with all His people. His essential presence fills heaven and earth.
6. “And will bring thee again into this land.” This would be gladsome tidings to Jacob, for who is he that could not rejoice at such tidings concerning a country where he was born and bred, the residence of his most impressive years?
7. “For I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.” But would He leave him then? Oh no; his anxieties therefore were entirely unnecessary. Thus it is with Christians: they have exceeding great and precious promises, “All yea and amen in Christ Jesus,” and all of them must be fulfilled before God leaves His people. Will He leave you then? No, He will never leave you, nor forsake you, to all eternity. As your day is, so shall your strength be while here; hereafter all tears shall be wiped from your eyes.
III. OBSERVE WHAT HE DID.
1. He discovered and acknowledged what he was ignorant of before he went to sleep.
2. He confessed a privilege.
3. He reared a memorial.
4. He vowed a vow. (W. Jay.)
The vision
I. THE SITUATION OF JACOB AT THIS PRESENT TIME.
1. And, that we may understand this more accurately, let us notice his character. According to the chronology of sacred Scripture, Jacob was now more than seventy years of age; so that his character was not then to be formed. He had lived sufficiently long to develop all its reigning tendencies; and though some might be disposed to conclude, from the impropriety of his conduct on this occasion, that he was yet a stranger to God, and to the renewing influence of Divine grace, yet an accurate knowledge of human nature, and an extensive acquaintance with the errors of men of sincere piety, would hardly sanction so harsh a conclusion.
2. His affliction. A short time previously Jacob had no enemy. Behind him were the terrors of murderous revenge, and before him the uninteresting waste of an untried world. To this must be added the sorrows of separation from all that he had learned to love. These things could not but press upon him as he went out from Beer-sheba to Haran; and the distress of his heart would be in a still greater degree aggravated by the consciousness of guilt. He had defrauded his brother--he had deceived his father--he had lied unto God. The peace of conscience which he once enjoyed must have been disturbed. He could not look up with cheerful confidence towards the God of truth. Sin against God has ever had the same character and effects. It drove the angels out of heaven, and our first parents out of paradise.
3. His submission. Not a word of murmuring appears on the record--nothing of the spirit of resistance--no high rebellious contending against the providence of God; but silently he obeys the injunctions of parental authority; and with nothing but his staff, he steals unobtrusively from under his father’s roof, and enters alone upon the pilgrimage, which his misconduct had rendered necessary. There would be, however, some comfort even in the spirit of pious submission.
4. His afflicted mind would, in the midst of trial, be in some measure cheered by the expectation which he had been warranted to encourage. He was yet, as a matter of grace, encouraged to look upon himself as one “ whom the Lord had blessed”; and it appears, that in the sorrowful hour of his departure from home, his father, fearing lest, in his exile, he should “ be swallowed up of overmuch sorrow,” gave him even additional encouragement. He confirmed the blessing to him in language still more distinct” God Almighty bless thee, and give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee.” We see, then, Jacob fallen and afflicted, but submissive, penitent, and borne up by hope in the promise of God, taking his journey through the wilderness, till the shadows of evening lengthen round him--till the setting sun finds him in a solitary spot, remote from the dwellings of man; where the turf must be his bed-the circle of heaven his canopy--and one of the stones of the place his pillow; and where, if he finds comfort, it must be from a source beyond the range of human calculation. We must not attach to such a scene, in a warm climate, all the desolateness of a houseless wanderer among ourselves; but still, such a combination of circumstances wears the strong character of chastening; and we may write upon it that interesting passage of Holy Writ. “Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.” Jacob strove to hasten an event which he should have looked for in the regular course of God’s providence--the result is that he delays it. He aimed at the pre-eminence in his father’s house, and, in a few hours he is resting his houseless head upon a stony pillow in the wilderness. Such dispensations are highly calculated for the advancement of the spiritual character. God only can make the storm a fertilizing, rather than a desolating shower.
II. But we come to consider THE CONSOLATION WHICH WAS MERCIFULLY VOUCHSAFED TO JACOB IN HIS SOLITUDE. In the failure of all sources of earthly comfort, God generally appears most especially, for the support of those who trust in Him.
1. The obscure intimation of a gracious reconciliation with God through a mediator.
2. The second lesson inculcated in this vision was the providential protection of God. It was shown to him, that He who through a sufficient mediation was a reconciled God, would also be a father, a protector, a guide. It is scarcely possible to conceive a more kind and encouraging address, to one in the circumstances of Jacob. It is calculated to give a very exalted idea of the mercy of God, who not only blesses beyond what we ask or think; but even when we think not, meets his erring and disconsolate children with the assurances of a love that cannot be averted, and a fatherly protection that will never fail. How blessed are they who have the Lord for their God! In the midst of outward affliction and inward trial, Jacob was crowned with blessings that empire could not command, and that wealth could not buy. Let not then the pilgrim of the cross be discouraged. A rich provision is made for you--a throne of grace is open to you; a willing helper only waits, and scarcely waits, for the petition of faith, that he may give you aid. How deeply is their lot to be regretted who have never sought the Redeemer, the guardian, the guide, the comforter of Jacob!--how much is the mere man of this present world to be pitied! (E. Craig.)
Life as a ladder
It was a good while ago that a young man, sleeping one night in the open air, had a wonderful vision of a ladder that reached up all the way into heaven. Whatever else it meant, it was at least a vision of what his life might be, of what every life may be, of what every true and noble life must be. Its foot rested on the earth; and we must all start very low down. He who would ascend a ladder, puts his foot first on the lowest round. We cannot start in life at the top, but must begin at the bottom and climb up. We cannot begin as angels, nor as holy saints, nor even as moderately advanced Christians. We must begin in the most rudimentary way, with the simplest duties, just as the wisest men once sat with primer and spelling-book in hand. But this ladder was not lying all along on the earth; its foot was on the ground, but its top was up above the stars, amid the glory of God’s presence. A true life rises heavenward. It is a poor, an unworthy, life-plan that is all on the earth, that lifts no eye or thought upward, that does not take heaven into its purpose. The true life must press upward until it reaches glory. Its aim is the perfection of character. Its constant aspirations are for holiness and righteousness--Christlikeness. Its goal is heaven itself. A ladder is climbed step by step; no one leaps to the top. And no one rises to sainthood at a bound. No one gets the victory once for all over his sins and faults. It is a struggle of long years; and every day must have its own victories, if we are ever to be crowned. It may give some people considerable comfort to think of life’s course as a ladder, which one must climb slowly, step by step. A ladder is not easy to ascend. It is toilsome work to go up its rounds. It is not easy to rise Christward; it is hard, costly, painful. Railroad tracks suggest speed, but a ladder suggests slow progress. We rise upward in spiritual life, not at railway speed, nor even at the racer’s rate of progress, but as men go up a ladder. Then there is another side to this truth. Men do not fly up ladders; yet they go up step by step. We ought always to be making at least some progress in Christian life, as the years go on. Each day should show some slight advance in holiness, some new conquest over the evil that is in us, some besetting sin or wrong habit gotten a little more under our feet. Every fault we overcome lifts us a little higher. Every low desire, every bad habit, all longings for ignoble things, that we trample down, become ladder-rounds on which we climb upward out of grovelling and sinfulness into nobler being. There really is no other way by which we can rise upward. If we are not living victoriously these little common days, we are not making any progress. Only those who climb are getting toward the stars. Heaven is for those who overcome. Not that the struggle is to be made in our own strength, or that the victories are to be won by our own hands; there is a mighty Helper with us always on the ladder. He does not carry us up, always we must do the climbing; but He helps and cheers, putting ever new strength into the heart, and so aiding every one who truly strives in His name to do his best. The ladder did not come to an end half-way up to heaven; it reached to the very steps of God’s throne. A true life is persistent and persevering, and ends not short of glory. It is ladder, too, all the way; it does not become a plain, easy, flower lined path after a time. A really earnest and faithful Christian life never gets easy. The easy way does not lead upward; it leads always downward. Nothing worth living for can be had without pain and cost and struggle. Every step up the way to heaven is up-hill, and steep besides. Heaven always keeps above us, no matter how far we climb up toward it. However long we have been climbing, and whatever height we have reached, there are always other victories to win, other heights to gain. We shall never get to the top of the ladder until our feet are on heaven’s threshold. This wonderful vision-ladder was radiant with angels. We are not alone in our toilsome climbing. We have the companionship and ministry of strong friends we have never seen. Besides, the going up and coming down of these celestial messengers told of communication never interrupted between God and those who are climbing up the ladder. There is never a moment, nor any experience, in the life of a true Christian, from which a message may not instantly be sent up to God, and back to which help may not instantly come. God is not off in heaven merely, at the top of the long, steep life-ladder, looking down upon us as we struggle upward in pain and tears. As we listen, we hear Him speak to the sad, weary man who lies there at the foot of the stairway, and He says: “Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest; I will not leave thee.” Not angel championship alone, precious as it is, is promised, but Divine companionship also, every step of the toilsome way, until we get home. It is never impossible, therefore, for any one to mount the ladder to the very summit; with God’s strong, loving help the weakest need never faint nor fail. (J. M. Miller, D. D.)
