Yacob's Dream At Bethel
Daily Yacob drew farther away from his father's camp at Beersheba. Suddenly, at one of the first stages YAHWEH came to him. It seems that to reveal HIMSELF to Yacob and to make his mission clear to him, YAHWEH waited for him to be at a distance from the family circle where questions of self-interest predominated, where there were continual clashes and material concerns took pride of place. We see now the plan which YAHWEH puts before the man whom HE has decided to entrust with the Promise. And we see, too, the reaction of this Hebrew shepherd who, it must be admitted, seems unfitted to become one day the 'Man of YAHWEH'.
The Setting Of Yacob's Dream
The sun had set. Taking one of the stones to be found at that place, he made it his pillow and lay down where he was.
This was an old custom of the Semitic shepherds accustomed to spend the night in the open. He used a stone for a pillow, but covered it, of course, with the end of his ample woolen cloak. He had a dream: a ladder was there, standing on the ground with its top reaching to heaven; and there were malakim of YAHWEH going up it and coming down. And YAHWEH was there, standing over him, and saving, 'I am YAHWEH, the Sovereign Ruler of Abraham your father, and the Sovereign Ruler of Yitschaq' (Bereshith 28: 12-13).
Before going further there is need for explanation. Architecturally, in the first place: what exactly was this 'ladder', at first sight a rather unusual term? From the historical point of view this processional going up and down between 'heaven' and 'earth', belongs, as we shall see, to an old Sumerian rite. But from the spiritual point of view, the whole picture takes on an entirely new symbolic meaning.
Thus there are three points needing examination.
Explanation of Yacob's Ladder
At the beginning of the previous volume Abraham, Loved by YAHWEH, a chapter was devoted to the time he spent in the region of Ur in Lower Mesopotamia. Something was said there of the Sumerian ziggurats, the enormous buildings, like pyramids with steps, whose solid silhouette rose out of the centre of each city-state.
The ziggurat, we may recall, was a rectangular building in brick, with three stories, standing back from each other, reached by huge external staircases. The height of these great superimposed blocks might be as much as 195 feet. Right at the top, on the last platform there was a cella in which was to be found the statue of the tutelary deity of the city. This chapel was known in the Sumerian ritual as 'heaven'.
Abraham, who used to graze his flocks on the thin grassy belt between the cultivated land and the wilderness, was familiar with the ziggurat of Ur, dominating the whole conglomeration of houses, palaces and temples. In addition, during the long journey undertaken by Abraham with his clan, going up the valley of the Euphrates, from Ur to Haran, the Hebrew shepherds would have been able to see a number of these high towers in the distance.
These buildings had been put up at the cost of thousands upon thousands of human lives, of labourers forced to carry the bricks and work under threat of the whip. As a result the Mesopotamian ziggurats were held in horror by the Hebrews, for they, too, could be press-ganged on occasion to work on these hated buildings. In any case, and especially since the time when at Haran YAHWEH revealed to Abraham and his clan the idea of the one YAHWEH, the ziggurat appeared to them as the very symbol of idolatry.
In the previous volume it was explained how the ziggurat of Babylon (Bab-ili, 'gate of the gods') could have given rise in the shepherds' camps to the fable known as the tower of Babel. These shepherds regarded these enormous buildings as an expression of the pride of men who, in a fit of madness, decided to climb up to heaven and drive out YAHWEH. But 'heaven' as we have seen was the Sumerian name for the cella at the top of the building. This detail enables us to see how the nomads had misunderstood the matter.
To obtain access to the successive platforms the ritual processions organized by the Sumerian priests made their way up the imposing stairways. In addition, at certain periods of the year, the priests solemnly brought down the statue of the god of the city. And this may explain for us, perhaps, the architectural setting of Yacob's vision: a ladder...standing on the ground with its top reaching to heaven. For a primitive nomad shepherd a stairway was probably a constructional element difficult to imagine. In the present case, it was obviously expressed by the word 'ladder', a primitive tool that everyone knew.
The sumptuous procession carrying the deity down the immense exterior stairways of the ziggurat, the slow and solemn return of the Kohen's up to the cella called heaven -the ascent and descent of the malakim seen by Yacob in his dream: these are two images which bear a close relationship. And thus we have a probable explanation of Yacob's vision by means of its archaeological context.
Symbolic explanation of the malakim of YAHWEH
What is the symbolic explanation of the malakim of YAHWEH (that is, the Spirit of YAHWEH) going up and coming down a continuous, untiring movement in both directions on the imposing stairway bringing heaven and earth into communication?
Here the traditional exegesis of the passage proves acceptable. There is revealed to us by this vivid picture a theological idea that was original at this period, namely, the continual, providential manifestation of YAHWEH in the lives of men. Hitherto, in the ancient religions there was only the blind, implacable action of the various deities of the pantheon, exercising their power fatalistically over the earth. Now with the story of Yacob's ladder can be seen the beginning of a spiritual relationship between the believer and his Creator. Henceforth, there is established a stream of spiritual unmerited love and favours between YAHWEH and HIS faithful creatures. Man can now communicate with YAHWEH in his heart. And he can do so otherwise than by the rites of pagan sacrifice, based on the material idea of 'a gift for a gift': for the offering of an ox some earthly advantage was given in exchange.
The 'ladder', the twofold column of malakim moving unceasingly between YAHWEH and his creatures, is the sign of a profound spiritual advance.
'YAHWEH Needs Men'
Yacob's dream does not end at this point.
And YAHWEH was there, standing over him, and saying. 'I am YAHWEH, the Sovereign Ruler of Abraham your father, and the Sovereign Ruler of Yitschaq. I will give to you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants shall be like the specks of dust on the ground; you shall spread to the west and the east to the north and the south, and all the tribes of the earth shall bless themselves by you and your descendants' (Bereshith 28: 13-14).
And so the Covenant was renewed. There is nothing surprising or original in this confirmation of the Promise already clearly stated in solemn form, first to Abraham and then to Yitschaq. Yacob was merely informed that it was through his descendants that the Promise was to be effected; it was for him now to do his part.
YAHWEH certainly did not confine himself to this reminder. He summoned Yacob in person, declared HIS trust in him, and promised him help and protection. 'Be sure that I am with you; I will keep you safe wherever you go, and bring you back to this land, for I will not desert you before I have done all that I have promised you.' At first sight, probably, and looking at the matter from the purely human viewpoint, YAHWEH's choice may seem surprising; Yacob, with his cunning tricks, sly conduct and shameless lying, hardly seems to us to be of the stuff of a hero worthy of YAHWEH's attention and fitted to be designated as Abraham's and Yitschaq's successor.
YAHWEH calls to HIMSELF those HE will send
In the Old Covenant, like the New, we are often surprised by some unexpected choice on YAHWEH's part. Thus at the beginning of the story of Paul of Tarsus, the savage persecutor of the first MessiYanic followers, who could have expected to see him suddenly become the apostle destined to carry the message of YAHSHUA across the Near East and as far as Italy? YAHWEH calls to HIMSELF those HE will send by gauging their temperament, their intelligence, shrewdness and effective possibilities. Esau the elder (or at least the supposed elder) was in reality unfit and rather limited. Now by doing violence to moral principles Yacob gave evidence of his possibilities as a man of action. It was he who was chosen. For the time being YAHWEH left him a free hand. But when the time came, twenty years later at the ford of Jabbok, shortly before his second halt at Bethel, YAHWEH was responsible for the spiritual transformation of the man whom HE had chosen.
Yacob's Awakening
Then Yacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Truly, YAHWEH is in this place and I never knew it”! He was afraid and said, “How awe-inspiring this place is! This is nothing less than a house of YAHWEH; this is the gate of heaven!” (Bereshith 28: 16-17). Yacob's reaction was one of terror, in the spiritual sense: fear experienced in the presence of YAHWEH’s manifestation whose reality is undeniable (“YAHWEH is in this place”); fear at the unexpected nature of the apparition (“and I never knew it I”); lastly, fear of this place, this piece of earth, henceforward to be held set apart, on which YAHWEH, the Almighty of his ancestors, had just manifested HIMSELF. All this is in harmony with the beliefs of antiquity. Yacob's spiritual evolution was not yet sufficiently advanced to enable him to answer YAHWEH's call as Abraham, his grandfather, had done by an act of faith and immediate, complete and generous acceptance.
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Yacob Called Yisrael Index Yacob Sitemap Scripture History Through the Ages Yacob Called Yisrael Yacob and Esau Theft Of The Paternal Blessing Flight, The Only Solution For Yacob Yacob's Dream At Bethel Yacob Puts Up A Stele Named BethEl The Location Of Bethel Importance Of The Well, A Meeting Place Details Of The Mohar The Sons Of Yacob How Yacob Became Rich Yacob Leaves The Land Of The Fathers Treaty Between Yacob And Laban Messages Between Yacob And Esau Yacob Wrestles With YAHWEH Two Brothers, Yacob and Esau Meet Towards The Promised Land The Departure From Shechem The Conclusion Of Yacob