Nonetheless, there are other interpretations which can be had with this verse (even as there are other, complementary interpretations of God’s promise to Abraham). The historical legacy of the people of Israel, and their residence in the land of Israel, represents ways in which God kept his promise to Abraham. The simplest meaning for the story is the one which suggests that God granted Jacob an understanding of the future glory of the people of Israel and the land in which they would dwell.
#JOHN KARLSON FREE#
But we are free to accept those which we believe are applicable, so long as they connect with and continue to present the Christian faith (and not contradict it). Of course, we do not have to agree with all possible interpretations it is not a free for all. This is because each passage of Scripture has many meanings implied at the same time. There are many ways this story can be interpreted, and each of them can complement each other. Then, he received a message from God concerning the blessings which God had promised to Abraham.
Through his dream, whether or not it was directly given to him by God, or his mind working with the presence of God which he encountered at the place he was at before he went to sleep, Jacob perceived that heaven and earth were connected together as if by a ladder.
It was commonly believed that God could and often did communicate with people through dreams indeed, dreams were one of the ways prophets got in touch with the transcendental reality of God. Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place and I did not know it” (Gen. 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 that of which I have spoken to you.” And he dreamed that 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 descendants and your descendants 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 by you and your descendants shall all the families of the earth bless themselves. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. And he came to a certain place, and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Jacob left Beersheba, and went toward Haran. One of the many intriguing stories in Genesis is that of Jacob dreaming about a ladder which went up to heaven: Michael Willmann : Jacob’s Ladder / Wikimedia Commons
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