Jacob's Ladder
We have another Jacob story this week, the story of Jacob’s Ladder. The Scoundrel of the Old Testament has lied and cheated again. With the help of Rebekah his doting mother, Jacob has duped his blind father Isaac into believing that he is his brother Esau so he can receive from Isaac the special blessing that Isaac is saving for Esau, first son and beloved heir. The father’s blessing was vitally important in those ancient times, because it set one’s authority and destiny; and once given, the blessing could not be withdrawn or given to another.
Upon seeing what Jacob has done, Isaac is devastated and has to give Esau an inferior blessing. Esau is so furious that he swears to kill Jacob as soon as Isaac dies. But Rebekah overhears and decides to send Jacob back to the old country to the home of her brother Laban. Before Jacob leaves, Isaac calls him in, adds to his already abundant blessing God’s old covenant with himself and Abraham, and tells him to find a wife in the old home place, the family of his mother Rebekah.
Why would Isaac do this after having been so upset at Jacob’s lying trickery? Well, by now Jacob is already blessed and the heir, can’t be helped. And every story has its important elements, things are remembered and included not incidentally but because they are significant. And so there is an intentional glitch in the story of Jacob and Esau. Both Isaac and Rebekah are distressed that Esau has been marrying Hittites, obnoxious Canaanite women. A son brought his wives into his father’s household to work under the guidance of his mother, and Esau’s wives were wearing on Rebekah’s nerves. Neither Isaac nor Rebekah want Jacob to bring more of these Canaanite women into the family. Sending Jacob off to find a wife in the household of Rebekah’s family unites Isaac and Rebekah in purpose and restores family unity. Jacob then sets off with the blessing of both parents, and will soon have God’s blessing added to it.
Meanwhile, Esau finds out that his parents detest his Canaanite wives. Wanting to please Isaac, Esau goes to the family of Abraham’s brother Ishmael and marries Mahalath, Ishmael’s granddaughter and Isaac’s great-niece, and brings her home. The effect for the story, of course, is to divide further the future destiny of the sons of Abraham by reinforcing the division with the sons of Isaac. Nevertheless, speaking for myself, I cannot help feeling sad for Esau who has done nothing wrong except for marrying obnoxious women, and who wants so desperately to please his father.
But as usual I have digressed
There being no inns to spend the nights on the way, Jacob must camp out in the open, under the stars. Stopping one evening in a place called Luz, he chooses a stone for a pillow, lies down to sleep, and has a dream.
A ladder stretches between heaven and earth, with angels going up and down, back and forth. God comes and stands over Jacob and makes the same promises that he had made in the past with Abraham and Isaac, the covenant of land, and being a blessing to everyone on earth, and having descendants as numerous as the dust.
God has now blessed the blessing that Isaac bestowed upon Jacob. Upon waking, Jacob exclaims, “Surely, the presence of the Lord is in this place.” He piles up stones as a memorial and renames the spot Beth-El, which is “House of God.”
In Bible times, dreams were often understood as visions from God, and still today we sometimes are struck by dreams and try to figure out why we had them and what they mean. Many parishes have “Dream Groups” of folks who are especially interested in their dreams and want to try and figure them out. The groups gather periodically, each person who wants to share a dream does so, and members of the group discuss it. In 2008, while at Credo (an eight day retreat for Episcopal priests, offered by national church headquarters), I took a dream workshop with the idea of offering a dream group when I returned home. One of the things in my mind for ministry at Holy Nativity Episcopal Church was just that, to offer a dream group. As it turns out, what with EfM, Adult Sunday School, and midweek Bible Study there hasn’t been time. Maybe someday.
Enjoy Jacob. We haven’t yet heard the end of him.
TW+
Jacob's Ladder pictures pinched on the internet.