Crystallization-Study of GENESIS(3)
Message One
The Dream of Bethel
Scripture Reading: Gen. 28:10-22; John 1:51
I. Jacob's dream was a dream of God's goal, the dream of Bethel, the dream of thehouse of God (Gen. 28:10-22), which is the church today (1 Tim. 3:15) and which willconsummate in the New Jerusalem as the eternal dwelling place of God and Hisredeemed elect (Rev. 21:3, 22):
A. God had a dream, and that dream was to have the New Jerusalem, a built-up city, asthe consummation of His economy; this building is the building of God into man and ofman into God—God's building is a God-man, a building in which God is man's home(Psa. 90:1; 91:1, 9) and man is God's home (Isa. 66:1-2; 57:15; John 14:20, 23; 15:5; Rev.21:3, 22).
B. Our dream is to become the New Jerusalem as the consummation of God's economy—vv. 9-10.
C. The principle of a dream is that in it something impossible happens to us—cf. Luke1:37; 18:27; Job 42:2-3; Psa. 126:1; Jer. 32:27:
1. Every spiritual vision is a dream; every spiritual experience is a dream.
2. Most heavenly visions come in times of suffering, when we are cut off from what isof man and put our trust in what is of God—cf. Gen. 28:10-12.
3. The first dream of our spiritual life is our salvation; coming into the church life is adream; knowing the practicality of the church is also a dream.
4. The center of every spiritual dream is Christ as the ladder, as the One who bringsheaven to earth and joins earth to heaven—John 1:51.
II. Jacob's dream in Genesis 28 is the most crucial point in the whole book of Genesisand the most crucial word in the revelation of God:
A. Christ, in His being the heavenly ladder at Bethel, speaks to us concerning how Goddesires to have a house on the earth constituted with His redeemed and transformedelect so that He may bring heaven (God) to earth (man) and join earth (man) to heaven(God), to make the two as one for eternity—John 1:51; Gen. 28:10-22.
B. In the account of Jacob's dream, the stone (vv. 11, 18, 22), the pillar (v. 18), the house ofGod (vv. 17, 19, 22), and the oil (v. 18) are outstanding items and are the basic factorswith which the Bible is composed:
1. The stone symbolizes Christ as the foundation stone, the topstone, and the cornerstonefor God's building, His spiritual house—Isa. 28:16; Zech. 4:7; Acts 4:10-12.
2. It also symbolizes the transformed man, who has been constituted with Christ asthe transforming element to be the material for the building of God's house (Gen.2:12; Matt. 16:18; John 1:42; 1 Cor. 3:12; 1 Pet. 2:5; Rev. 21:11, 18-20), which is thechurch today (1 Tim. 3:15) and which will consummate in the New Jerusalem asthe eternal dwelling place of God and His redeemed elect (Rev. 21:3, 22; John14:23).
3. Jacob used a stone for a pillow, signifying that the divine element of Christ constitutedinto our being through our subjective experience of Him becomes a pillow forour rest (which includes satisfaction), the solid support within us—cf. Matt. 11:28.
4. After awaking from his dream, Jacob set up the pillow-stone as a pillar, signifyingthat the Christ whom we have experienced, who has been wrought into us, and onwhom we rest becomes the material and the support for God's building, God's house—cf. 1 Kings 7:17, 21; Gal. 2:9; Rev. 3:12.
5. Eventually, Jacob poured oil, a symbol of the Spirit as the consummation of theTriune God reaching man (Exo. 30:23-30; Luke 4:18), on the pillar, symbolizing thatthe transformed man is one with the Triune God and expresses Him.
6. That stone became Bethel, the house of God (Gen. 28:17, 19, 22):
a. God's house is the mutual dwelling place of God and His redeemed (John 14:2,23)—man as God's dwelling place (Isa. 66:1-2; 1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 2:22; Heb. 3:6;Rev. 21:3) and God as man's dwelling place (Psa. 90:1; 91:1; John 15:5; Rev.21:22).
b. Hence, the house of God is constituted of God and man mingled together as one;in God's house God expresses Himself in humanity, and both God and man findmutual and eternal satisfaction and rest—Psa. 132:13-14.
7. Today in the church life we are in the reality of Bethel, in the fulfillment of Jacob'sdream with the heavenly ladder, the stone, the pillar, God's house, and the oil; thiswill consummate in the New Jerusalem as the eternal Bethel, the eternal house ofGod—1 Tim. 3:15; Rev. 21:3, 22:
8. The house of God is constituted of God and man united, mingled, and incorporatedtogether as one—John 14:23; 1 John 4:15-16; cf. Acts 17:24.
III. "And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and its top reachedto heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it"(Gen. 28:12); "and He said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, You shall see heavenopened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man"(John 1:51):
A. The ladder is the center, the focus, of Jacob's dream; this dream is a revelation ofChrist, for Christ is the reality of the ladder that Jacob saw.
B. Christ as the Son of Man, in His humanity, is the ladder set up on earth that bringsheaven (God) to earth (man) and joins earth and heaven as one—cf. 14:6:
1. By His coming through incarnation, the Lord Jesus brought God into man—1:14.
2. By His going through death and resurrection, the Lord Jesus brought man intoGod—14:6, 20.
C. Our regenerated spirit, which is God's dwelling place today (Eph. 2:22), is the base onearth where Christ as the heavenly ladder has been set up (Gen. 28:12; 2 Tim. 4:22);hence, whenever we turn to our spirit, we experience Christ as the ladder bringing Godto us and us to God:
1. "Having therefore, brothers, boldness for entering the Holy of Holies in the blood ofJesus"—Heb. 10:19:
a. The Holy of Holies today is in heaven, where the Lord Jesus is (9:12, 24); how,then, can we enter the Holy of Holies while we are still on earth?
b. The secret is our spirit, referred to in Hebrews 4:12; the very Christ who is inheaven is now also in our spirit—2 Tim. 4:22.
c. As the heavenly ladder (Gen. 28:12; John 1:51), He joins our spirit to heavenand brings heaven into our spirit; hence, whenever we turn to our spirit, weenter into the Holy of Holies; there we meet with God, who is on the throne ofgrace.
2. "Let us therefore come forward with boldness to the throne of grace that we mayreceive mercy and find grace for timely help"—Heb. 4:16:
a. Undoubtedly, the throne mentioned here is the throne of God, which is in heaven(Rev. 4:2); the throne of God is the throne of authority toward all the universe(Dan. 7:9; Rev. 5:1).
b. But toward us, the believers, it becomes the throne of grace, signified by theexpiation cover (the mercy seat) within the Holy of Holies (Exo. 25:17, 21); thisthrone is the throne of both God and the Lamb (Rev. 22:1).
c. How can we come to the throne of God and of the Lamb, Christ, in heaven whilewe still live on earth? The secret is our spirit, referred to in Hebrews 4:12.
d. The very Christ who is sitting on the throne in heaven (Rom. 8:34) is also nowin us (v. 10), that is, in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22), where the habitation of God is(Eph. 2:22).
e. At Bethel, the house of God, the habitation of God, which is the gate of heaven,Christ is the ladder that joins earth to heaven and brings heaven to earth (Gen.28:12-17; John 1:51); since today our spirit is the place of God's habitation, it isnow the gate of heaven, where Christ is the ladder that joins us, the people onearth, to heaven and brings heaven to us.
f. Hence, whenever we turn to our spirit, we enter through the gate of heaven andtouch the throne of grace in heaven through Christ as the heavenly ladder.
D. Where this ladder is, there are an open heaven, the transformed man, the anointingupon this man, and the building up of the house of God with this man.
E. The issue of Christ as the heavenly ladder is Bethel, the church, the Body of Christ;and the consummation of this ladder is the New Jerusalem.