“Jacob Sets Up a Sacred Pillar”
Unit I: “The Genesis of Altars and Sacrifices”
PRINTED TEXT: Genesis 28:10-22 NIV
June 29, 2025
Key Verse: “Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and
poured oil on top of it. He called that place Bethel.” (Genesis 28:18-19a. NIV).
Lesson Aim:
- Discern God’s interaction with Jacob during his life’s journey.
- Experience inexplicable joy in God’s presence.
- Celebrate your encounters with God in praise and worship.
Unifying Principle and Why this Lesson Matters: Meaningful events and places can hold a lasting impression. How do we mark important events in life? Jacob marked his important encounters with altars, offerings, and signs of worship.
The Introduction, Lesson in Focus, and Biblical Context: The Introduction provides a reference to Rituals, which, in scripture, are defined as prescribed religious ceremonies and practices performed in worship and devotion to God. These rituals are often detailed in the Old Testament and are integral to the covenantal relationship between God and His people. They encompass a wide range of activities, including sacrifices, feasts, purification rites, and other ceremonial observances. The Old Testament is replete with examples of rituals that God commanded the Israelites to perform. These rituals served as a means of maintaining holiness, expressing devotion, and ensuring the community's covenantal relationship with God. The biblical context provides a brief synopsis of Genesis 12-50, which is identified as the patriarchal history of God’s chosen people, Israel. The narratives include the lives of Abraham in Genesis 12-25:11, Isaac in Genesis 25:19-28:9, Jacob in Genesis 27-50, and Jacob’s son Joshep in Genesis 37-50. In this lesson, the focal chapter is Genesis 28, which is the account of why Jacob leaves his home in Mesopotamia. This chapter also includes (1) Isaac’s directive for Jacob to leave the Promised Land to find a wife; (2) Isaac’s confirmation of his blessings for Jacob, which Jacob previously obtained under false pretenses; (3) Esau’s attempt to regain his parents’ favor by marrying one of Ishmael’s daughters as his third wife; (4) Jacob’s vision of a narrow ladder leading to heaven; (5) God’s affirmation of His covenant with Jacob and his descendants; (6) Jacob’s building of an altar of gratitude; and (7) Jacob’s conditional vow to tithe if God stayed with him. The subjects are all interconnected because they relate to Jacob’s journey and the path leading to heaven. Here, God reveals seven truths about the narrow path through Jesus that He has set for all to follow in order to reach heaven. The Lesson in Focus discusses the multiple reasons why humanity establishes memorials, which are structures built to commemorate a famous person or event. The reasons include showing respect and honor, providing closure, creating a sense of communal unity, or serving as visual messages that foster a sense of peace and understanding or as symbols of lessons learned from some significant event. Our example in this lesson is Jacob’s encounter with God after his father, Isaac, sent him away from home. Forced by nightfall, he stopped to sleep and used a stone for a pillow. He dreamt of a stairway connecting earth and heaven with angels ascending and descending it. It is here that God gave him the promises He gave Abraham, and to be with him until he returned home. Jacob responded by erecting a memorial, consecrating it with oil, symbolizing his dedicating his life and vowing to make God his God. Jacob worshipped Him and gave tithes for all he acquired. Applicable spiritual insights include assurance of God’s presence and protection, faithfulness to His promises, the importance of staying within His will, and worshipping and dedicating oneself to Him as the appropriate response to receiving God’s gracious favor. Jacob’s memorial marked a turning point in his personal relationship with God and his flawed character. Principles significant to our relationship with God: 1. God often encounters believers unexpectedly in unexpected ways and places. 2. God chooses to maintain open communication with humanity; 3. God’s faithfulness is multigenerational and can be trusted; and 4. The appropriate response to God’s blessings is to worship Him with our lives and our possessions.
A Gracious Vision (Genesis 28: 10-15, NIV):
10. Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran.
11. When he reached a particular place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head. He lay down to sleep.
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 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.
14. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
15. 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.”
Genesis 28 introduces the second phase of Jacob’s life and an extraordinary demonstration of God’s grace, His unmerited favor toward Him. It describes Jacob’s flight from an angry brother to face an uncertain future in Haran. After leaving home and traveling throughout the day, Jacob stopped for the night and secured a stone as a pillow (or headrest). Using stones for pillows was a common practice in the ancient Near East for practical, cultural, and religious purposes, including keeping the head cool in a hot climate, protecting it from insects on the ground, and warding off evil spirits or communicating with their gods during the night. On this life-changing night, Jacob experienced his first encounter with God during a dream. This initial encounter suggests that Jacob had not yet developed a personal relationship with God but only knew about Him vicariously through Isaac. In this dream, Jacob saw a ladder or stairway with angels ascending and descending between heaven and earth. One commentator noted that the dream portrays a realm where a divine connection exists between heaven and earth. As God was standing at the top of the stairway, He introduced Himself as the God of Abraham and Isaac. He affirmed that all the promises of the land of Canaan and of innumerable descendants that God gave Abraham were now to be given to Jacob as the chosen carrier of the promised line of inheritance. God graciously added His personal promise of perpetual presence, protection, provision, and guidance, which would remain in effect until these promises were fulfilled. Practical applications for believers: 1. This unexpected encounter challenges us to be aware of God’s omniscience (all-knowing) and omnipresence (ever-present), thus encouraging us to trust His plans for our lives. Despite Jacob’s lack of understanding of God’s plan for him, God was faithful to His promises and showed up to ensure their fulfillment in his life. 2. God promised to be with Jacob from this point onward as his protector and provider. This should encourage and motivate us to persevere through adversity and unexpected life challenges with the awareness that He is always available and accessible to guide, provide, and protect us when we stray in His Will. 3. We are challenged to strive obediently to demonstrate our trust in God as examples for the generations following us. In this lesson, we are reminded of the importance of passing on a faith legacy to our children and subsequent generations, preparing them to encounter God for themselves and be used for His purpose. Point to Remember: When we grow impatient and try to take matters into our own hands, we temporarily usurp God’s plans, making our way more complicated. What Jacob had tried to get through trickery the Lord now granted unto him through promise. Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
A Grateful Vow (Genesis 8: 16-22, NIV):
16. When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”
17. 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.”
18. Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it.
19. He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.
20. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear
21. so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God 22 and] this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”
When Jacob awoke from his dream, he was convinced that he had been in communication with none other than God Himself. His initial reaction upon awakening was one of fear and surprise, reflecting his unfamiliarity with the God of Abraham and Isaac. He expressed his amazement, acknowledging that he hadn’t realized that God was present in that place. Consequently, Jacob declared this place extraordinary and named it Bethel, meaning “house of God” and “the gateway to Heaven,” signifying Jacob’s recognition of God’s presence, thus reminding us that God is not confined by time and space but is everywhere. Often, believers fail to grasp that God is present wherever a sacred space has been dedicated to Him and should be reverenced and respected. Early the next morning, Jacob arose and commemorated the sacredness of this place by taking his stone headrest, erecting it as a pillar, pouring oil on its top as a memorial and act of reverence, and renaming the place Bethel, formerly known as Luz. After memorializing this sacred space, Jacob acknowledged the unconditional blessing God bestowed on him by making a vow. He declared that if God promised to do all these things for him, he would affirm his faith in Him, designate Bethel as a sacred meeting place, and give God a tenth of all that God gave him. Jacob’s vow was his mark, acknowledging God’s faithfulness and commitment to serve God faithfully and live according to His will. Jacob would return to this site in the future, and centuries later, it would play a significant role in the spiritual lives of his descendants. Jacob’s response to this life-changing encounter provides an example for believers. The assurance of God’s presence should motivate every believer to respond by dedicating themselves and sacred spaces devoted to worshipping Him in gratitude for His grace, striving to remain in His will, offering Him proportionate financial gifts, and committing to serve Him faithfully and obediently because of His great faithfulness.