How to become more aware and reverent of God's presence
 |
| The Reconciliation of Jacob and Esau, as in Genesis 33, oil on panel, at the National Galleries of Scotland (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Jacob was dying, and Joseph came to visit him. Jacob told him to bring his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. For Jacob intended to bless them and adopt them as his own sons, on an equal par with Reuben, Simeon, and the rest.
Jacob stated that God had appeared to him at Bethel and had blessed him with a promise of seed and land. Jacob intended to pass that blessing on to Joseph’s sons (Gen. 48:3–6). This act showed Jacob’s faith, for Jacob trusted in God’s promise. Even though Jacob would not live to see the land conquered and occupied, he trusted God’s Word.
Jacob’s faith was worshiping faith. At the age of 77, he had left the land of promise to spend time with his relatives in Mesopotamia. Isaac was sending him back there to get a wife. On his way out of the land, Jacob had a vision from God. The purpose of this vision was to assure him that God would be with him even though he was leaving the land. Jacob lay down to sleep, and in his dream he saw a stairway stretching from heaven to earth, with angels ascending and descending on it. He heard God promise that He would go with Jacob wherever he went, and the vision of angels assured Jacob of angelic protection.
When Jacob awoke, he said to himself, “God is here, too, not just at home. This place also is a house of God.” As Jacob resumed his journey, he stood outside the nearby city of Luz and renamed it Beth-El, House of God, thereby claiming it for God. Jacob also said, “This is the gate of heaven.”
The first ladder to heaven is described in Genesis 11, the Tower of Babel. God struck down this tower, and established his own before the eyes of Jacob. Jacob recognized it as a place to worship God, and worshiped Him.
Jesus is the true Ladder to Heaven (John 1:51). He is the point of mediation between earth and heaven. To come in contact with heaven, one must ascend only through Him. Just as God promised to be with Jacob in the strange land, so the true staircase to heaven is with us always, as Jesus promised the disciples “surely I am with you always …” (Matt. 28:20).
Jacob trusted God for the future, worshiping Him. In Genesis 28, he felt fear and awe when he realized that God was with him. In the same way, we often don’t realize God’s divine presence with us. Ask God to make you more aware of and reverent toward His awesome presence today.
