SEPTEBER 8, 2024

Bible verse “GENESIS 28:10~22”

Sermon title "The Jacob’s life 5"

preacher Rev. Joshua Oh

Jacob fled to Haran to escape Esau’s wrath. Today's message is about an event that happened while he was on his way. He reached a place called Luz and spent the night there. At that time, there were no tents or inns for travelers, so he slept under the sky, using the ground as his bed and a stone as his pillow. As he slept, he had a vision of a ladder. Whether it was a dream or reality, he saw this ladder in a vision, and this is the famous “Jacob's Ladder,” which is also mentioned in a hymn.  The phrase “Jacob's Ladder” is somewhat odd. Jacob neither wanted to see the ladder, nor did he create it, nor did he pray for it to come down. It was God who sent it to Jacob unilaterally. So, to be precise, it should be called “God's Ladder,” but most people know it as “Jacob's Ladder.” The meaning and content of Scripture can be completely different depending on how one reads, interprets, and believes it. From a human-centered perspective, it is interpreted as Jacob's ladder, but from a God-centered perspective, it is God's ladder. This highlights the difference between viewing Scripture from a human-centered or God-centered lens. Generally, people tend to interpret and believe the Bible from a human perspective because, well, we are human. However, we must believe that the Bible, while written for humans, was written from God's perspective. One thing to clarify here is that Jacob was not so spiritual, holy, or devout that he could make a ladder descend from heaven. He wasn’t going to Haran to live a life of faith, but because he had deceived Esau and stolen his blessing as the firstborn, he was fleeing for his life. And it was during this time of escape that he saw the vision of the ladder.  Ladders are not only necessary for climbing up but also for coming down. In verse 12, it says that the ladder was set up on the earth with its top reaching heaven. This is how Moses described the scene in writing, but the ladder originally came down from heaven. Since a ladder doesn't naturally descend from the sky, Moses described it as standing on the ground with its top touching heaven, and God's angels were ascending and descending on it. So, did God set up the ladder to bring the angels up, or to send them down? It was to send them down. God wasn’t just dropping His angels from heaven. If the ladder came down to send angels to earth, then it had nothing to do with Jacob. What I mean is, the vision of the ladder was shown to Jacob regardless of his faith or spiritual life.  It’s problematic if this vision is taught as “Let us pray for God to open our spiritual eyes so we too can see the spiritual ladder like Jacob did, and let’s live devoutly.” If this were truly Jacob's ladder, Jacob should have earnestly prayed before sleeping, asking for a spiritual experience. But Jacob simply fell asleep on a stone pillow, and in a semi-conscious state, God sent the ladder down, and the angels stood on it, delivering God's message. In verses 13–15, God unilaterally made promises to Jacob: "I will be with you, and I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken." In short, God promised Jacob Immanuel, that He would be with him.  Jacob woke up early in the morning, took the stone he had used as a pillow, and set it up, naming the place "Bethel." Bethel means "the house of the Lord, the gate of the Lord, the house of Jehovah." The original name of the place was "Luz." Jacob liked to give names. Whenever he experienced something significant, he would rename the place.  In verse 20, after hearing God’s covenant, Jacob did not respond with “Amen, I believe you will do this,” but instead, he made a vow. The dictionary definition of the word "vow" consists of two characters in Korean: 맹세할 서 (to swear) and 원할 원 (to desire), meaning to swear an oath to obtain something one desires. In church, we were taught that if you make a vow before God, you must keep it. Vows are often made when the church is building a new facility, for children, or even for oneself. I have even seen a young man who should not have become a pastor go to seminary because he vowed to do so after being urged by a revival speaker when he was still a student and didn’t know any better. In the past, there were quite a few friends who ended up in seminary this way. So the question is, should we always keep vows made under such circumstances in the church? Vows are recorded in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, and especially in Numbers 29:39–30:14, which provides detailed instructions about vows, even specifying a separate “vow offering.” Numbers 30:2 says, “If a man makes a vow to the Lord or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” The instruction is clear: If you make a vow, you must carry it out. Deuteronomy 23:18–23 also speaks about vows, and verse 21 says, “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and it would be a sin for you.” So the law teaches that once a vow is made, it must be kept. However, the question is whether, like Jacob, we are making the vow ourselves—meaning, is it something we think of and decide to do, or is it something God directs us to do? A vow is not a tool for negotiating with God. Even if we make a vow and keep it, sometimes it might bring loss, and sometimes it may barely break even. It’s not as if keeping a vow guarantees a huge blessing. This is not the intent behind making vows. Yet, most vows are made with this mindset. During revival meetings or at the beginning of the year, churches often ask for financial pledges and encourage vows. Even though people may not feel inclined to do so, they end up making vows because they don’t want to seem lacking in faith or feel social pressure. Then, you might hear testimonies like, “I kept my vow, and God blessed me so much that I had no place to store all the blessings.” I’ve even seen people break their savings accounts or take out loans to fulfill their vows. Was this in a cult? No, this was in perfectly ordinary churches.  I’ve also seen people send offerings to their previous church to fulfill a vow they made, even after moving to a different congregation. Should such vows be kept? Numbers clearly states that vows made to the Lord must not be broken, and Deuteronomy says that failing to fulfill a vow is a sin. So, should we also fulfill vows made unfairly or under pressure? The biblical answer is that those who push others into making vows are misusing God’s Word to deceive, and those who make and keep those vows are victims of that deceit. Therefore, any vows made in this manner are invalid, and there is no need to keep them. There’s no obligation to do so. Does this sound too extreme? If you feel uneasy about this, then go ahead and keep the vow. However, don’t drag the Bible or God into it, and don’t call it faith or spirituality. The misunderstanding is that people think this is what Christianity is about. Don’t think that keeping the vow will bring blessings from God or that not keeping it will bring curses, and don’t confuse vow-keeping with faith or spiritual life. If you feel guilty, then keep the vow.  This conclusion is supported by the Bible itself. As mentioned, vows are found in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, which are part of the first five books of Moses, known as the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch is often referred to as the Law because it contains the codified laws of God. All the rest of the Old Testament is either based on or quotes from the Law. Does the word "vow" appear in the New Testament? The New Testament is not based on or quoting the Law (Torah). If it were, there would be no reason for Jews to reject the New Testament. But, interestingly, the word "vow" does appear in the New Testament, though it is not based on the vows mentioned in the Law. Acts 18:18 says, “Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because of a vow he had taken.” We don’t know why Paul made this vow, as the Bible doesn’t specify. The only thing we know is that Paul’s vow involved cutting his hair. It seems somewhat similar to Old Testament vows, but Paul did not explain it or use it to teach about vows. He simply cut his hair in Cenchrea to fulfill his vow. We don’t know the exact nature of this vow, and it would be problematic to say, “Since Paul fulfilled his vow by cutting his hair, we should always keep our vows as well.” This verse was not written to teach about vows. Acts 21:23 says, “Do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow.” However, there’s no explanation about what this vow was or why these men made it. The Bible simply states that they had made a vow. Apart from these two verses, the word "vow" does not appear in the New Testament. So, if the New Testament doesn’t teach about vows, doesn’t encourage them, and only mentions them in these two verses, why do Christians continue to keep vows as a religious practice? The reason is simple: it’s an expression of wanting to believe in their own way. In other words, it’s about the belief that “I will make a vow, I will fulfill the vow, and I will receive blessings from God because of it.”  Why is the word "vow" not found elsewhere in the New Testament? It’s because Jesus explicitly forbade it. In Matthew 5:33–36, Jesus said, 33“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago,34 ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’35 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is His footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.” Jesus equated vows with oaths. He referenced the teaching given to the people long ago, which refers to Moses. Moses taught in the Law that vows made to the Lord should be kept. Yes, this is what Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy say. The people would have heard and known this. But Jesus said to the saints, “I tell you, do not make any oaths at all.” The word “at all” means never, in any circumstance. Jesus commanded not to make any oaths or vows—by heaven, by earth, or by one’s own head. In other words, don’t swear by God’s name. It’s clear: the Lord forbade making vows or oaths. Therefore, churches shouldn’t compel people to make vows for building projects, nor should people make vows with their children’s futures on the line. And they shouldn’t call this faith or spirituality. So how should we understand churches that compel people to make vows and people who struggle to keep them, thinking that this is their faith? The New Testament writers deliberately avoided using the word "vow" because Jesus explicitly told them not to make oaths or vows, yet only the congregants are still using it. Isn’t this ironic?  In Genesis 28:20–22, Jacob made a vow to God. Did Jacob even know what a vow was? He wasn’t particularly strong in faith at that time. He likely made the vow out of ignorance. Moses didn’t even talk about vows until 500 years after Jacob had passed away. Jacob certainly didn’t live as a man of faith after making that vow. He simply repeated what God had already promised him in verses 13–15. Jacob’s vow was something anyone could pray. If any deity promised to take care of someone, provide for them, and bless them, who wouldn’t believe in that deity? It wouldn’t matter which god it was. After the 9/11 attacks, the motto “God bless America” emerged. The word “God” in this phrase refers to whatever god people believe in—Muslims refer to Allah, Buddhists to Buddha, and spiritualists to ancestors or spirits. Jacob’s vow was made in a similar way. The reason we cannot take Jacob’s vow prayer at face value is that even though he lived with his uncle Laban for over 20 years, Jacob never lived as someone who believed in God. During those 20 years, Jacob was entirely focused on accumulating wealth by any means necessary. If Jacob’s vow prayer had been a sincere expression of faith, then he was someone who prayed well but lived far from the life of faith. If your life does not align with your prayers, if your actions don’t reflect the Scripture you read or the sermons you hear, then what does that have to do with God? What does it have to do with believing in Jesus or with faith itself? Jacob never once lived as a believer during his 20 years with Laban, despite being the grandson of Abraham, the father of faith.  There’s no need to make vows or oaths anymore. Jesus clearly said not to make  them at all. Don’t swear by heaven, for it is God’s throne, or by the earth, for it is His footstool. Don’t swear by your own head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. If you have prayed about something, live a life that reflects the holiness and sanctity of that prayer. Live as holy and righteous as the Scripture you know, as a true Christian, and as a child of God. I bless you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.