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Genesis 28: 10-19
10Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11He came to a certain place and stayed there for the 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. 12And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13And the Lord stood beside him 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; 14and 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 all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. 15Know that 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.”
16Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!” 17And 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.” 18So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first.
Dreams, like all interpretation, like all Scripture, the same vision can yield more interpretations than we know how to hold. Dreams in the Bible are especially portentous as they yield the truth of God. And I am always a bit wary to speak of the work of dreams because I fear I may overstep my authority. Although I have a Master of Divinity, contrary to popular misconception it’s not actually a Master of Divination.
But symbols have weight, which you know if you’ve ever awakened and said, “Ah, what did that mean?” And so today I share not an answer but a puzzle: how can one text hold so many truths that are true and different and so many ways this dream can be interpreted and entrust you to the work of finding which one is most faithful, most hopeful and most transformative for you in this time and moment? For today we are going to explore not one interpretation of Scripture but four. I promise we’ll get out at 11:00.
The Scripture today comes from the book of Genesis, from the origin stories of the Jewish tradition. Jacob is a descendant of Abraham and has been battling with his brother, Esau. They were twins that were borne in the womb fighting and it finally came to a head where Jacob stole the blessing from his brother, Esau. And Esau was so enraged that Jacob fled for his life. And where does he end up but here, somewhere in the wilderness between two points that actually matter, in the middle of nowhere where a rock looks like a decent pillow. He is at a low point, in many of his own making, and not knowing where to go. And in this lowness he has a dream. As a Seventeenth Century commentator would say, “Any Israelite would have been willing to take up Jacob’s pillow provided he might have Jacob’s dream.” In it he sees a ladder that leads from earth all the way to heaven and on it he sees the angels of God ascending and descending. He hears the voice of God who says words of promise: a gift of land, a future of promise and the hope that wherever he may go God will be with him. What do we make of this ladder? And picture it if you can with its feet in the earth that goes all the way to heaven.
Our first interpretation today comes from the Jewish tradition, from a Hasidic Master from the 18th Century Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev. Now first to let you know that the hermeneutic of Scripture, the way we read Scripture, is different in the Jewish tradition. In the Jewish tradition there is a great tradition of Midrash, of hol
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By First Congregational Church, BellevueGenesis 28: 10-19
10Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11He came to a certain place and stayed there for the 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. 12And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13And the Lord stood beside him 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; 14and 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 all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. 15Know that 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.”
16Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!” 17And 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.” 18So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first.
Dreams, like all interpretation, like all Scripture, the same vision can yield more interpretations than we know how to hold. Dreams in the Bible are especially portentous as they yield the truth of God. And I am always a bit wary to speak of the work of dreams because I fear I may overstep my authority. Although I have a Master of Divinity, contrary to popular misconception it’s not actually a Master of Divination.
But symbols have weight, which you know if you’ve ever awakened and said, “Ah, what did that mean?” And so today I share not an answer but a puzzle: how can one text hold so many truths that are true and different and so many ways this dream can be interpreted and entrust you to the work of finding which one is most faithful, most hopeful and most transformative for you in this time and moment? For today we are going to explore not one interpretation of Scripture but four. I promise we’ll get out at 11:00.
The Scripture today comes from the book of Genesis, from the origin stories of the Jewish tradition. Jacob is a descendant of Abraham and has been battling with his brother, Esau. They were twins that were borne in the womb fighting and it finally came to a head where Jacob stole the blessing from his brother, Esau. And Esau was so enraged that Jacob fled for his life. And where does he end up but here, somewhere in the wilderness between two points that actually matter, in the middle of nowhere where a rock looks like a decent pillow. He is at a low point, in many of his own making, and not knowing where to go. And in this lowness he has a dream. As a Seventeenth Century commentator would say, “Any Israelite would have been willing to take up Jacob’s pillow provided he might have Jacob’s dream.” In it he sees a ladder that leads from earth all the way to heaven and on it he sees the angels of God ascending and descending. He hears the voice of God who says words of promise: a gift of land, a future of promise and the hope that wherever he may go God will be with him. What do we make of this ladder? And picture it if you can with its feet in the earth that goes all the way to heaven.
Our first interpretation today comes from the Jewish tradition, from a Hasidic Master from the 18th Century Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev. Now first to let you know that the hermeneutic of Scripture, the way we read Scripture, is different in the Jewish tradition. In the Jewish tradition there is a great tradition of Midrash, of hol