Bethel Lutheran Church - Pastor Luke Bernthal
Soli Deo Gloria

Old Testament Pictures of Christ: The Stairway to Heaven ; Genesis 28: 10 - 19; 2009-03-08

The Bulletin (order of service)

Text: Genesis 28: 10 - 19;
10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: "I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 "Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you." 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it." 17 And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!" 18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. 19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously.

Unfortunately, when it comes to our spiritual lives we human beings do not have even this much spiritual “common sense!” Even though we are, by nature, lost, dead in sins and blind in unbelief we’re like the husband who refuses to even stop and ask for directions when he’s hopelessly lost, simply because that would be admitting he’s hopelessly lost!

Well, our text tells us of a man who was doing some travelling and was in dire need of direction, guidance and blessing from God, as well. The man’s name was Jacob (also known as Israel). He was one of the twin boys who was born to Isaac, who was the subject of last week’s sermon. At the time of our text Jacob was fleeing from his twin brother, Esau, because he had tricked his father into giving him the birthright blessing that God had told Isaac to give him in the first place. Now Esau wanted to kill him and Jacob was headed to live in the country of Haran with Laban, his uncle (his mother’s brother) (cf. Genesis 27:41-46). It is here in his very “lost,” lonely, and desperate situation—much of it a result of his own doing—that Jacob encounters our Old Testament Picture of Christ for this week.

We are told in our text that the LORD, Jehovah, Himself appeared to Jacob in a dream—a very strange dream: “Then he [Jacob] dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it” (Genesis 28:12). We see a picture of Christ in the “ladder” that “was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven.” In other words, Jesus is the “Ladder” or “Stairway to Heaven.”

This might at first seem like a rather strange picture for Jesus (after all, when was the last time you looked at a ladder or a staircase and thought of Jesus?), and we might not even make the connection between the ladder in Jacob’s dream and Jesus if Jesus Himself had not said the words He spoke to Nathanael in our Gospel reading for this morning: "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man" (John 1:51). As Jews who knew their Old Testament Scriptures, Nathanael and Jesus’ disciples would have taken Jesus’ words here as a clear reference to the dream that their famous ancestor, Jacob, the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, had that night at Bethel.

However, this rather “strange” picture of Jesus as a “ladder” or “stairway to heaven” is in fact an excellent picture of Him! But as we consider this picture let’s be as specific and as clear as Jesus Himself is. Jesus is not a “ladder” to heaven. He is not one of the many “stairways” to God the Father. No! He is the “Ladder,” the one and only “stairway to heaven!” “Well, pastor, that’s close-minded and offensive! What about all those people who don’t believe Jesus is the way to heaven, or at least that He is not the only way to heaven?” Well, fine, don’t listen to me; listen instead to the Words of God Himself!

This teaching that Jesus is the one and only Savior of the world is one of the clearest and most prevalent teachings in the whole Bible. Even in the Old Testament the LORD, Jehovah, claims to be not just the one and only true God, but the one and only Savior of mankind. The LORD says in Isaiah, “Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, And besides Me there is no savior” (Isaiah 43:10-11). “And there is no other God besides Me, A just God and a Savior; There is none besides Me” (Isaiah 45:21).

Jesus Himself claims to be the one and only Savior and the one and only way to His Father’s home in heaven. He tells us, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Jesus says that He is the “narrow gate” the “narrow way,” to life eternal. All other ways lead to eternal destruction. He says in Matthew’s Gospel, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

In the rest of the New Testament Scriptures Jesus’ apostles claimed the very same thing about Jesus that Jesus Himself did. Speaking about Jesus Christ, Peter says in the Book of Acts, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). The Apostle Paul calls Jesus the one and only “mediator,” or “go-between” between us and God the Father: “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:5-6). Again, think of that picture of the “ladder” Jacob saw in his dream that was “set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven” (Genesis 28:12).

No matter how much this contradicts your own opinion, your own beliefs, or the world’s. No matter if it’s not “fashionable” or “politically correct” to say this, think it, or believe it, the fact is it’s the TRUTH! TRUTH is TRUTH! There is no getting around that. Jesus is the ONLY “ladder” that leads up to heaven. He is the ONLY “Way.” He is the “narrow way;” the “narrow gate”—enter by Him or you don’t get in at all. You can believe what you want to believe, that’s true, but that doesn’t change the TRUTH! There was one way to my friend’s home; there is one way to God’s home in heaven! You have to take the “stairway,” Jesus!

In Jacob we see a very good example for us to follow. He was a man who was in many ways “lost.” He was wandering in the wilderness. Running from the trouble and certain death that his own deception and sin had caused him. He needed God’s guidance, direction, and blessing. God Himself spoke to Him and gave Him that guidance, direction, and blessing. Did you notice that the LORD repeated the blessing He had given to Abraham and Isaac which pointed to the Savior, Jesus who would come from His line? “And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: "I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 28:13-14). The LORD also assured and comforted Jacob with His promise to be with Him. We read in the very next verse, "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you" (Genesis 28:15). Jacob recognized the presence of the LORD, Jehovah, in that place. He found His comfort and salvation in the One who connected Him to God, the “Stairway to heaven” Jesus, the promised Savior. Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it." And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!" Jacob called it “Bethel” (Genesis 28:19) which means “House of God.”

We too have come to “Bethel,” the “House of God,” once again this morning to hear God’s voice in His Word. He has given us the same promises and assurances He gave to Jacob. He tells us of our Savior from sin in Jesus Christ, the “Seed” of Jacob, through whom “all the families of the earth [have been] blessed” (Genesis 28:14). He tells us in numerous places in His Word, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5, cf. Joshua 1:5). Like Jacob, do we listen to His voice; to His directions; His instructions? Do we listen and take to heart His comforting hope-filled words, and His words about His Son Jesus the only way to heaven?

Through Jesus, God has truly made a “Stairway” or “Ladder” to heaven. But this one and only “ladder” has only one “rung”—you see the “ladder” Christ used to bring us to heaven is a cross!

Don’t try and take your own “path;” trusting in someone or something other than Jesus. All other “saviors,” “gods,” or “religions” are on the “broad path” that leads to eternal destruction (Matthew 7:13). Don’t try and make your own “ladder” to God in heaven either; trusting in your own righteousness, or thinking that you can somehow work your way to heaven. You can’t! Those “rungs” will break! You aren’t righteous enough and you can never do enough good works to pay for even one of your sins! But Jesus’ righteousness is enough! His works, His shed blood, His resurrection did pay the penalty and gave us the rescue from all of our sins! All other ways and works will all fail and fall short! They ALL lead to eternal destruction. Instead, take “the Way” (John 14:6). Follow the one who climbed the cross in order to bridge the gap between us and God and make the one and only “stairway to heaven” for us. Not to go to a home with BBQ, cake, and ice cream, but to a “banquet in heaven” (cf. Luke 14:16; Revelation 19:9) that will never end! Amen.