In Genesis 28:1–22, we have a remarkable narrative. The scene opens with
Jacob leaving his family. He is a wandering, homeless man. We find him in the
wilderness, weary and tired. It is evening. Jacob puts his head upon a stone,
and he falls asleep and dreams.
In the dream, God gives Jacob the very first revelation of the house of God
in all of Scripture. Jacob sees a ladder extending from heaven to earth. And he
beholds the angels of God “ascending and descending” on it (Gen. 28:12). This
mysterious ladder connects the visible and the invisible; it connects the
unseen realm to the seen realm; it connects the heavenlies to the earth.
To be more specific, the ladder connects God with human beings. And upon
that ladder, Jacob sees commerce between heaven and earth. For the first time
since the garden of Eden, traffic is flowing between the heavenly realm and the
earthly realm.
Jacob wakes up and comes to this staggering conclusion: “God lives here!
This place where I have laid my head is the house of the living God!” Within
this sentence we discover another hallmark of the house of God: the presence of
the Almighty.
What does this dream tell us? It tells us that God’s ageless purpose is to
dwell on this earth with human beings. God’s eternal quest, His ultimate
intention, is that heaven and earth be joined together so that He may live with
the likes of us.
When the dream is over, Jacob takes the stone that he slept upon and sets it
up as a pillar. He then does something unusual with it. He pours oil upon it
and calls it “Bethel,” which means the house of God.
I want you to imagine that stone with oil running down its sides. That stone
represents the first building block that will make up the dwelling place of the
living God.
The stone speaks of that which is lifeless and dead. The oil speaks of the
Holy Spirit, the Spirit of life. The image of oil being poured upon a stone is
a dramatic portrait of the living God being joined with dead humanity. What is
the result of this combination?
A living stone.
The house of God is made out of living stones (1 Peter 2:5). A living stone
is one that was once dead, but oil has been poured upon it to transform it into
a building block for God’s habitation. Jacob’s revelation is simply this: God
is in quest of a house, and that house will be upon the earth and made up of
human beings who have been quickened by His Spirit.
Behold the homesick tears of a God whose deep impulse is to dwell with His
creation. Watch this marvelous Creator, with bags packed, searching for a home.
And that home will be comprised of fallen human beings, just like you and me.
At this point of the story, the Lord is still homeless. The reason is
simple: The Almighty cannot take up residence in a single stone.
What, then, will He do?
--
Taken from the book
From Eternity to Here by
Frank Viola author.
