Stairway to Heaven

A series on the story of redemption
The story of Jacob.
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Genesis 28:10-22 

[Everybody has a story. Even God has one. His is a story about love and redemption and faithfulness. In this series we are going to take a closer look at God’s story through the lives of the people that He touched. How their story became His story of redemption. And how your story is also a part of it.]

  

“Stairway to Heaven” is an iconic rock song released in 1971 by the English band Led Zeppelin. Even though it was never released as a single, many believe it is the greatest rock song of all time.

 

The song is about a woman who accumulates money, only to find out the hard way that her life has no meaning and will not get her into heaven. For the most part though, the lyrics are vague. But the music is memorable and classic.

 

In the memorable and classic story of Jacob, he confronts his own “stairway to heaven”. However, it’s the result of a circuitous journey that began with a sibling rivalry with his twin brother Esau. Even at birth, the rivalry had already begun as Jacob grasped the heel of his older brother Esau.

 

It was made worse by the fact that their father Isaac loved Esau more, and their mother Rebekah loved Jacob more. The rivalry escalated when Esau impulsively sold his birthright for a bowl of stew to the shrewd Jacob. Later, Jacob schemed with his mother to steal the older son’s blessing.

 

Finally, the sibling rivalry came to a boil when Esau made plans to murder Jacob once their father had passed away. Learning of his plans, their mother schemed with Jacob, sending him away to live with her brother Laban.

 

During this trip, Jacob had a dream one night where the Lord confirmed his covenant.

 

¹² 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. ¹³ There above the stairs 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. ^14b …All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.           NIV

 

The stairs in Jacob’s dream, would bring to mind those found in a Mesopotamian religious structure called a Ziggurat. It was a tower constructed for the purpose of worshipping a local god making it possible for worshippers to reach their god.

 

However, Jacob’s Ziggurat could be a metaphor with dual meanings highlighting God’s story of redemption. First, it could be God’s covenant with the nation of Israel. Second, it could be his one and only son Jesus who truly is the “stairway to heaven”.

 

⁵¹ Then Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.”                John 1            NLT

 

The Lord worked through an intense sibling rivalry between Jacob and Esau to bring his plan of redemption into the world. It was his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that continued through his one and only son, Jesus.

 

Jacob’s story was God’s story. It’s our story too. It’s the ancient story of redemption that continues today. It’s as new as your story and mine.

 

Copyright 2023 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com