Genesis 28:10

Genesis 28:10 says, And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.  Jacob did what Isaac told him to do.  Though he had received Isaac's blessing, he was still obedient to Him.  We should likewise be obedient to our heavenly Father, even if we have already received our inheritance, or blessing of everlasting life through our faith in Christ.  Verse eleven states, And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.  Jacob stopped over night on the way.  It says he made a pillow of stones, which really doesn't sound very comfortable. Isaac may have been the one through whom God was going to fulfill His promise to Abraham, but that didn't mean that he would never be uncomfortable.  Some people today claim that as followers of Christ we will never have to struggle or suffer, but this has never been what God's word teaches us.  Of course, some would say that Jacob had yet come to have a personal relationship with God, which was most likely true.  Verse twelve declares, 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.  Jacob had a dream of a ladder reaching into heaven and angels going up and down it.  God often spoke to people in dreams in Biblical times, and may still do so today, but if so, we must somehow be able to determine that it is really God speaking.  Not all dreams are a message from God.  Verse thirteen adds, And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;  Isaac saw the LORD God or simply God as we would say, standing at the top of the ladder.  God first identified Himself as the God of Abraham and Isaac.  God simply being their God was not enough, just as His being the God of our parents and grandparents is not enough.  God had now come to Isaac in a personal way, just as He must to each individual in order for anyone to claim salvation through Christ.  Verse fourteen continues, 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 in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.  This was a repeating of the promise to Abraham and Isaac.  When we come to God through faith in Christ as our Savior and Lord, He does not promise us any more than He has always promised anyone who has accepted Christ.  Verse fifteen concludes, And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.  God told Jacob that He would not leave him until God's promise was secured.  As followers of Christ, we can also be certain that no matter where we go in this world that God will be with us and His promise of everlasting life is secure.  Verse and sixteen says, And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.  When Jacob awoke, he said that God was surely in that place and he didn't know it.  Until we come to a personal relationship with Christ, even though God is wherever we are, we won't recognize it, and once we have that personal relationship we should always acknowledge that God is with us, wherever we go.  Verse seventeen states, And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.  Jacob saw the place as a dreadful place because he said it was the home of God.  As followers of Christ, the home of God should never be a place of dread and fear for us, but a place of joy and peace instead.  Verse eighteen adds, And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.  Jacob took the stone that he had slept on and turned it into a altar to God.  Verse nineteen continues, And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.  Jacob called the place Bethel, though it apparently already had the name Luz.  I believe that whenever a person accepts Christ into their life, everything should become different, since everything should now be viewed through obedience to God.  Verse twenty declares, And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,  I believe that Jacob could have said that since God would be with him, just as we must acknowledge that He is with us today if we are following Christ in faith.  Verse twenty-one adds,  So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:  Jacob was putting conditions on his faith in God, and we can never afford to do that.  Verse twenty-two concludes,  And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.  Jacob promised a tenth, or tithe, of all that God might bless him with to God.  I believe that we must likewise give a tithe unto God, but we must acknowledge that everything we have belongs to God and should be used to glorify Him.