NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE

Rev. Bernt P. Tweit

Our sermon text for today is taken from Genesis, chapter 28, looking at verses 10 – 17, which I will read, in a short while.

Back in the early 1800s, there was a lady by the name of Sarah Flower Adams. Sarah Flower Adams had to learn at a very early age to say "Farewell." Her mom passed away, when she was only five years old, and she had to say "Farewell" to her mother. At the young age of 32 she had to say "Farewell" to her acting career. Because of her health, she was not able to perform on stage, anymore. She had just finished playing the role of Lady Macbeth, in London's Richmond Theater. At the young age of 32 she had to say "Farewell" to acting. She thought that in a few short years, she would have to say "Farewell" to her sister, because her sister was fairly ill.

Sarah's pastor came to her and said he was working on a new hymnbook to put together and was wondering if she and her sister would help with some of the hymns. They did. They wrote thirteen texts, or words, for the hymns! They also wrote sixty-two new hymn tunes for that hymnbook that their pastor was putting together!

One day, Sarah's pastor said, "I am preaching on the account from scripture, on Jacob's Ladder and was wondering if you could write a hymn for me, that we could sing during the worship service."

The hymn that she wrote is the one that we are going to be singing after our sermon, today. The name of the hymn that she wrote is, "Nearer, My God to Thee." It is in that hymn that we are reminded of Jacob on this journey that he was going on, and how God came to him, comforted him, and brought to him many, many promises.

Also today before we read our text, I would like to share just a little backdrop on the life of Jacob. Remember that Jacob is the son of Isaac and Rebecca. His grandpa is Abraham. Jacob had done something pretty deceptive. He deceived his father in getting the blessing of the first born son. That made his older brother, Esau, angry. And Esau even said, "When my father Issac dies, I am going to kill my brother Jacob."

That word got to their mom. Rebecca went to Isaac and said, "I don't want Jacob around here anymore. I want him to marry somebody from back home, up in the homeland. So, send your son Jacob away."

And so, that is what Issac told Jacob. He told him to leave this place, leave Beersheba and go up to Haran and find himself a wife. That would be a journey of five hundred miles. That would be the equivalent of walking from here in Madison, Wisconsin to Cleveland, Ohio. Jacob was leaving on this journey. He was leaving on foot. And now, as Jacob stops for the very first night of his journey we come to our text for today. We see how God comes to Jacob in a dream. Let us read these words, from Genesis, chapter 28, verses 10 - 17.

Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

There above it stood the LORD, and He said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it." He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven."

These are your words, Heavenly Father. Lead us in the way of truth. Your Word is truth.

Amen

It is in this account of scripture that God gives Jacob a four-fold promise. And all of those promises are listed out for us in our sermon text.

The first promise that God promised to Jacob is that his descendants would be as numerous as the dust of the earth. Now this was the same promise that God had made to his grandpa, Abraham. When God spoke to Abraham, He said, "Abraham your descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky."

In our text this morning, it says, "Jacob came to a certain place." Now, there is nothing uncertain about the place where Jacob stopped, because the place where he stopped, was exactly the same place where God had made this same promise to Abraham. When God made this promise to Abraham, Abraham and Sarah did not have any kids, yet. They were well passed the time when they could have kids. But, God made the promise to him. "Your descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the skies." And, we know that Abraham and Sarah had children in their old age. Now think about Jacob. God makes this promise to Jacob, and Jacob does not even have a wife, yet. He does not have any children, yet. And God makes this promise. "Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth."

As a little side note…When I was a kid, and hearing this Bible story from scripture, as Jacob is getting ready to lay down for the evening, the sun is going down and he picked a rock to put under his head as a pillow, I thought that was really strange. And, I was so thankful for the pillow that I had in my bed. But, it was a rock that Jacob used as a pillow as he lay down his head that night!

Another promise that God had made with Jacob was this. "All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring." This is a messianic promise. It is a promise that Jesus would be coming through the line of Jacob. Jesus would come through Adam and Eve. He would come through Noah. He would come through Abraham and Isaac. And now, He would come through Jacob. What God said to Jacob is true. All peoples certainly have been blessed through the greatest offspring that came through Jacob. Jesus is that greatest offspring. What Jesus has come to do is He has come to reconnect us with God. Because of our sin, we have been disconnected to God, but Jesus has come down to us. He lived a perfect life. He died on a cross and through faith in Jesus, as our Savior, He has brought us into connection, again, with God. We have been blessed through Jacob’s offspring. As we continue to share our faith in Jesus, as our Savior with others, we also can say that others are blessed through the words that we speak to them. What God spoke to Jacob is true. All nations are blessed through Jacob.

The third promise that God made to Jacob is that "I will be with you and watch over you wherever you go." Remember where Jacob was at in this station of his life. His brother hated him. His brother wanted to kill him. Certainly that weighed heavy on Jacob's heart. Now, he is getting ready to go on this five hundred mile journey that he is just starting out on. There were a lot of unknowns ahead in life for Jacob. What comfort that must have been for Jacob to hear from God, "I will be with you. I will watch over you. And I will guard you and I will protect you."

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, what struggles are you going through? I think it is safe to say all of us can say we all are in financial trouble, in light of the economy and the crisis that our nation and the world is going through. A little over a month ago, I was visiting with a member of our ELS who had lost 61% of the value of his stocks, because of our economy. Probably our struggles and troubles are more than just financial. Maybe it is health problems. There has been a slue of sickness in our school - hacking, coughing, and flu...terrible! I think maybe even many of our members have fallen ill these last few weeks. Maybe your health problems are more than just the simple cold or flu. They are more serious. There are health problems that we struggle with. Maybe our struggles are with our marriage. Or, maybe our struggles are with our emotions. But, it is these struggles and troubles that we are going through that we can look back to this promise that God made to Jacob, because God is making that same promise with you. "I am with you and I will watch over you, wherever you go." What comfort that brings to our burdened hearts.

The fourth-fold promise that God made to Jacob is, "I will bring you back to this land." Our text for today is in Genesis chapter 28. It is in Genesis chapter 35 that we do see Jacob returning to this very land that God had promised to give to him and to his descendants.

Jacob had a lot of unknowns ahead of him in life. And yet, as God came to him in a dream, he could cling to this four-fold promise.

We also have a lot of unknowns ahead of us in life. But, there is a promise that God had given you. Just as God promised this land to Jacob, there is a land that God has promised to you. That land is not an earthly one, but that land is a heavenly one. God has promised you Heaven.

The greatest thing today, that we should take away from our sermon text is this. When Jacob fell asleep and when God came to him in a dream, Jacob saw a stairwell, or a ladder. It was God who was standing at the top of that ladder. And, it was Jacob who was at the bottom of that ladder. Angels were ascending and descending on that ladder. God has made a promise to you that His angels are here to guard you and to protect you. He says in His Word, "He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways." But, there are also angels who are ascending up into Heaven. God promises to hear the prayers that we send to Him, and those angels will carry those prayers to Him, where He will not only hear them, but He will listen to them and He will answer them.

But, who is the ladder, or who is the stairwell? That stairwell, or that ladder is Jesus. The ladder is a type of 'Christ.' That stairwell or that ladder is to remind us of what Jesus, our Savior, has done for us. It is Jesus, our Savior, who has connected us, once again with God. Jesus left the comforts of Heaven, and He came down to earth to be one of us. Jesus fulfilled everything that we could not do. And, He took His perfect life to the cross. And, when Jesus said, "It is finished," He made full and complete payment for all of our sin. And, when Jesus rose from the dead on Easter morning, God accepted the payment that Jesus made for our sin. You are forgiven. Everlasting life in Heaven is yours because of our Savior, Jesus. Jesus is the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Him.

Which gets us back to our hymn that we will sing after the sermon. It was Sarah Flower Adams who had to learn at a very early age to say, "Farewell," (at the young age of five, saying "Farewell" to her mom, as her mom died, at the age of 32, saying "Farewell" to her acting career, and then thinking that she would have to soon say "Farewell" to her sister). As her pastor came to her and as she wrote hymn texts and hymn tunes for that new hymnbook, she realized that even as we go through life and there are troubles and struggles that lie ahead, it is even those struggles and trials that bring us nearer to God.

As we sing the hymn, I want you to look at that hymn through the eyes of Jacob, as he is on that five hundred mile journey to Haran. God fulfilled His promise of the coming of a Savior. Jacob laid his head on a rock, knowing that God was near to him and God would keep His promise to him.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, God will also keep His promise with you. He is near to you also.

Amen.