It took me a very long time to decide which of the 690 passages in the Bible that use the word 'heaven' to write about next! There are just so many excellent ones that would help us all to understand more about the reality and existence of our future home. I narrowed down my search to one that was fascinating, and was also explained by Jesus Himself. That brought me to Genesis 28, the story of Jacob's dream:Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. 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! And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 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 promised you.” 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.”
What thrilled me so much about this particular passage is that I had never before really noticed the reference to 'the gate of heaven.' I did today, though, since my previous post was entitled "The Closed Gate." As a reminder, the gates of Eden were closed after the fall of our first parents, Adam and Eve. But here, just a few chapters later, it seems as though Jacob is actually seeing the gates of heaven. How delightful.
So what are the lessons to be learned in this passage? Certainly there are many, but our focus will be on the angels, the ladder, and the gate. More on these later. For now, consider the greatness of God in leaving us hints of heaven in this dream of Jacob. The reality symbolized in his dream will be the key to opening the gates of heaven again.
These long troublesome days bring me weariness that can be so exausting, yet the thought of heaven and all it's beauty, splendor, peace and endlessness brings me renewed strength. I for one am very pleased that you spending this time contemplating heaven through scripture where we know there is truth. The treasures you bring us with these glimpses of what our hope lies in are more precious than anything we set our hearts on here, on this earth.
ReplyDeleteI carry in my heart the words of John Piper that you penned back in May, his poem entitled "Glorified." I have called on it many a day since reading it, infact I copied it and it is my journal with me where I am sitting right now. In my prayer time this morning as I was fretting before the Lord I was reminded of His words, "Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10. As I traveled there in my quiet time I read Psalm 46:4 "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dewlls." This brought me back once again to the pleasant thought expressed in John Pipers poem,
"And as I knelt beside the brook
To drink eternal life, I took
A glance across the golden grass,
And saw my dog, old Blackie, fast
As she could come. She leaped the stream-
Almost-and what a happy gleam
Was in her eye.
I knelt to drink,
And knew that I was on the brink
Of endless joy."
Thank you Candy for your dedication to bringing inspiring words, thoughts and prayers to us each day. Blessed be the name of the Lord, in who we trust may the gates of heaven be where our minds and hearts are today. DS