The Stone in the Wilderness

'Surely YHVH is in this place and I did not know it'...

Genesis 28:10-22

Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 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 YHVH, and he said: “I am YHVH, 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 YHVH 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.”

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, though the city used to be called Luz.

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 so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God 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.”

Jacob is a prophet. Therefore, His life reveals Yeshua HaMashiach. The question we are invited to ponder is how does this passage reveal the Messiah and what can it teach us about his purpose for us today?

Firstly we have to approach this scripture in the way we are invited to approach all of scripture in the new covenant, from a child's perspective. Therefore, we are all teachable as there is always a new layer of depth that the Holy Spirit can bring us into. The revelation that I have received and invite you into is only the tip of the iceberg and I'm sure that as you take time to sit in it with him, you will discover new facets to it as well.

The Ministry of Jesus

Context: Prior to this passage of scripture, the father Isaac, sent his son to find a wife from among his own people. Jacob has received the blessing of Abraham and is just beginning his journey into the unknown, a new world, when he encounters YHVH.

There are so many things to focus on in this passage; the ministry of angels, the revelation of the unity of the heavens and the earth, the spiritual house that Jacob encounters... I simply want to focus on the stone.

Let's think about this passage through the perspective of the stone in the desert place. A stone that has spent its entire life being a stone and suddenly encounters Jacob and is transformed from something ordinary to something of spiritual significance. The stone ceases to be what its been and becomes a pillar, a part of something much larger and greater than itself and is given the task of revealing and supporting the very house of YHVH.

Let's fix our gaze once again on Jesus. Jesus like Jacob entered the desert place with a mandate from his father to find a wife for himself. He is the ultimate fulfilment of the Abrahamic blessing and is the fruition of the new creation promise. Yet what Jesus does is personal to each and everyone of us. We are invited to participate as a whole, as a body of people on the face of the earth, and yet we are invited into a personal experience with the personal Jesus, who takes us from something ordinary in the desert place and transforms us into something utterly spectacular.

Jesus as the stone

'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone'. (Psalm 118:22)

Jesus, as the firstborn of many brothers and sisters, became a stone for us. He entered into our human experience and made a way for us to live a life filled with the divine, by receiving the oil (the Holy Spirit) poured out upon him. He fully identified with our fallen humanity and yet was without sin so that he could receive and release the Holy Spirit and in doing so, all of humanity will be transformed into something new with an eternal function in God's house.

All of us who believe as the stone

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:4-5)

Together, Christ has come to us and chosen us to become his resting place. He places his head on us all and in doing so, as we receive the headship of Christ, we cease to be what we once were and become a functioning part of the eternal house of YHVH. We are no longer the simple stone in the desert but his touch has transformed us into something new.

Our individual lives as the stone

'The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God...' (Revelation 3:12a).

Jesus enters into our world as the Son of the Living God. He goes into the desert place, which is the earth realm as a whole and rests upon the stone and pours forth the anointing oil and in doing so, transmutes it from one thing into another.

Let us think of this now internally. Jesus enters into our own lives personally. The desert places, the wilderness where nothing grows. The places of bitterness, depression, hopelessness, anger, pain, sexual brokenness... whatever it may be. As he enters in, he finds the discarded pieces of our own hearts, receives them and anointings them and in doing so, transforms them from the inside out.

This is the ministry of Jesus revealed through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 61.

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour.

Also, in the beatitudes, he takes the areas that the world would say is 'cursed' and he pours out the oil of his words upon them, restoring man's spirituality and desire for more than the 'stony' existence.

Other themes in this passage?

• The sun sets... why is this significant? The sun prophetically reveals to us the death and resurrection of Jesus.

• This then is reinforced through sleep. Scripturally, sleep can speak of death.

• Jacob as a prophet goes to sleep. He then has an encounter where he is brought into the spiritual realm and for the first time, the Presence of YHVH is revealed to him (along with many other things that all tie together).

• He then awakens.

• Then there is the new day.

• He takes the stone he was resting on, anoints it with oil and turns it into a pillar which will be YHVH's house.

All of this is prophetic. The prophetic as we know is highly symbolic (and utterly beautiful).

'At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children'. (Matthew 11:25)

What is this passage truly revealing? It is the resurrection that we can go on in this life, losing our old man's perspective and being brought forth into new life where YHVH is no longer unknown but revealed to us.

Death and Resurrection

The resurrected man receives the revelation of the nearness of YHVH, defeating any sense of separation. Jacob went down unaware and rose aware of YHVH. He then began to operate and function as a prophet and a priest.

There are depths to this passage and more will be uncovered and revealed but until then I invite you to go on your own journey of digging into the word, with the Spirit and finding the treasures that lie inside.

PROPHETIC RELEASE:

The places of your greatest pain have become the places of your greatest revelation. It was this reason that you were brought forth from the safety of your father's house and went into the wilderness, to discover the truth that you have become mine and I have become yours.

The purpose of this time has been to bring you to the place of revelation where you come into alignment with the truth that this whole world is full of my glory. I am anointing your head with oil. I am blessing your understanding and revealing to your inner man that you have become the dwelling place of YHVH, you have become the very gate of heaven. The internal reality of your life is now being filled with all the fullness of my goodness. You are coming into the greatest days where you will simply see yourself from my vantage point and perspective and you will know that I am with you, in you and around you, always.

From now on, you will live your everyday with this truth in mind; that where you are, I am. That alone will fill you with the Spirit of the fear of YHVH as you recognise that you are not your own but have been made for me, through me, to become the living temple along with all your brothers and sisters in Yeshua.