In the Torah reading for this week called Vayetze, meaning, “and he left,” Jacob flees the house of Isaac in fear of his brother. Leaving with little but the clothes on his back, he is making his way to Haran. After the sun sets, Jacob settles for the evening, taking of the stones in that place for a pillow. There in the wild, having left the opulence of his father’s house for fear of his brother Esau, Jacob has a dream. 

“And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!” (Gen. 28:12). Not only that, but the Lord Himself stood above it (Gen. 28:13)! What is happening in this dream? The Lord is speaking covenant to Jacob. It will be years before Jacob assumes the mantle of covenant from his father Isaac, but the Lord renews the promises of the covenant here with Jacob. 

In Genesis 28:13-15 the Lord speaks five promises: 1) The land of Canaan will belong to Jacob’s descendants, a promise of family, and at this moment survival. 2) Jacob’s family will be expansive in keeping with the promises given to Abraham (Gen. 12:3). 3) The Lord will go with Jacob on this journey to Haran. 4) The Lord will bring Jacob back to the land of Canaan. 5) The Lord will not leave Jacob until He has completed what He has promised. 

There, in that place renamed Bethel, the Lord appeared to Jacob; or as Jacob understood it, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it” (Gen. 28:16). Jacob had been pampered in the house of his father, as he lacked nothing. He was even, we might say, a bit spoiled. Therefore, under the guidance of his mother, he executed a plan to steal the blessing belonging to his brother Esau. 

In the midst of all the comfort and wealth, Jacob had not recognized the presence of God in his father’s house. As a son of the house, but the second born, he failed to understand that he was chosen before his birth (Ro. 9:10-13). Everything needed to be stripped away before Jacob could be in a position for heaven to be revealed in this dream. There, with a stone beneath his head, with a ladder reaching to heaven, the exhausted and fearful Jacob received the assurance of heaven’s promise wrapped up in being chosen by God. 

Of course Messiah Yeshua/Jesus references this vision in John 1:51 with the calling of Nathaniel. As Messiah said, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you” (Jn. 1:48). Before his calling in the natural, Yeshua saw Nathaniel. Just as the Lord saw Jacob before Jacob saw the Lord, Yeshua saw Nathaniel, knew him, calls him into Kingdom promise. This Nathaniel is the disciple/apostle referred to as Bartholomew. The name Nathaniel means “gift of God.” Bartholomew means “son of furrows” suggesting a wealthy farming family. It is likely that his name was actually נתנאל בר תלמי, or Nathaniel bar Talmey. Here is another son of a prosperous house. This one is sitting beneath a fig tree, a place to escape the heat of the day, a place to pray, think or meditate. It was there, beneath the fig tree that Yeshua saw Nathaniel. This time He would not wait until sleep had overtaken this wealthy son, He would speak as this son approached Him, speaking to his faithful heart, but then connecting him to the promises of heaven by identifying Himself as the ladder/סֻלָּם, or the One in Whom not only the angels ascend and descend, but also the only way to heaven for humanity. 

The very promises covenanted to Jacob are wrapped up in Messiah: the land, the family, the leading, the rapture, and the promise of enduring presence even in the midst of crisis. Jacob had to leave the opulence of his father’s house to behold the One who stood upon the ladder. Nathaniel bar Talmey had to leave the wealth of his father’s fields to be still enough to behold the One who is the ladder. Both had to leave it all behind. They may not have done so for the same reason, but there is a sense of departing who they were in order to be drawn into who they will be as the Lord changes and conforms them, just as it is for us today. 

Dear friends, it may seem far fetched, but when we are in our place of greatest fear, loss, or even thought, He is there. No matter the circumstance in this life, every promise of God is wrapped up in Messiah Yeshua/Jesus. And He may just confirm that to you when the rush of life seems to be pressing in the most. What then shall we do? “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10).

Maranatha. Shalom.