Return To The Study Of Revelations
-JACOB'S PILLOWS-
(The Scripture first, and then its prophetic applications)
Genesis 28:10-22
10 And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.
11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was
set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down
in that place to sleep.
12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to
heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy
father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to
thy seed;
14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the
west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed
shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and
will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that
which I have spoken to thee of.
16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I
knew it not.
17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the
house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his
pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.
19 And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz
at the first.
20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way
that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:
22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that
thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.
-A Prophetic Reading of Genesis 28:10-22-
10 And Jacob (In this passage, Jacob serves as a type of Christ--meaning certain things that Jacob did illustrated things that Christ would do.) went out from Beersheba (meaning the well of an oath; the seventh well—Abraham lived there), and went toward Haran (mountainous country).
11And he lighted upon a certain place (the place of faith--first given to Abraham and his seed, then the New Testament Church), and tarried there all night (?Israel’s Grace-Age dispersion--See CLOCK OF THE AGES, booklet two, chapter four--plus the remainder of Daniel's 70 Weeks: i.e., the 70th Week?), because the sun (the visiting Messiah?) was set (had finished the day of His Visitation?); and he took of the stones (representing the faithful of the age of the law and the age of Grace, the lively stones of the Bible?) of that place, and put them for his pillows...
(Cf. Song of Solomon 1:13: "A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts"—the Bible writes thus of the faithful. However, when Jesus visited Abraham's descendants, He said: "…The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head" [Matthew 8:20].), (During His Visitation/walk on the earth, He had no pillow/stone on which to lay His Head for the Jews rejected Him and the Grace Age church was yet to be born.)
...and lay down in that place to sleep.
(For Israel during her dispersion/her night, Jesus has been "sleeping prophetically" : i.e., He might as well have been sleeping as far as Israel is concerned. This "state of sleeping" will continue through the time of Daniel's 70th Week, with one difference. During the time of the two halves of Daniel's 70th Week, the Jews will know that Christ is their Messiah. Cf. Mark 4:38: "And he [Jesus] was in the hinder part [from the Greek "prumna"=also translated as stern (See Acts 27:29). According to Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, during the 14th century, stern meant 1. the rear end of a boat, or 2. a hinder or rear part/the last or latter part.] of the ship [In prophetic language, ships represent synagogues/churches--during the two halves of Daniel's 70th Week, the synagogues will be the only "ship" on the earth recognized by God.], asleep [As we said, because Israel's heart has been so far from God, as far as she is concerned, He might as well be asleep!] on a pillow [?Does this "pillow" or "stone" represent the Grace-Age Church?] : and they awake him [the faithful of Israel during Daniel's 70th Week will know Him to be their Messiah and they will be crying out for deliverance--and at that time, He will hear them.], and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? [Does this indicate that things will be so desperate for Israel during Daniel's 70th Week that she will fear that she will be utterly destroyed?]
12 And he (Jacob) dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it (Illustrating that God has chosen to reveal Himself and to harvest man through his churches, His called-out ones: i.e., Israel and the NT Church).
13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. (The Israelites have not yet fully occupied the all of the land promised to Abraham, and they won’t until they do so under King Jesus during the Millennium.)
14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed (more Kingdom Age Promises).
15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of (i.e, to the remnant of Israel through Israel).
16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he , Surely the LORD is in this place (the nation of Israel); and I knew it not. (How often was this true of Abraham's seed?)
17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! (Here he received a brief glimpse of how far into the future this would be and of how needlessly the Jewish people would suffer through the ages.) this is none other but the house of God (Israel was first called the House of God, then the New Testament Church--see Romans chapter 9), and this is the gate of heaven (every believer is to be a "gate" from heaven to the earth).
18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone...
(In the Bible, the believers of Israel and the N.T. Church are compared to stones. However, in Ephesisans 2:15, Paul explains that by the cross, Christ "...abolished in his flesh the enmity [between Jew and Gentile], even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man [cf. Jacob's "one stone" in verse Gen. 28:18], so making peace.")
...that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.
(Modern Bible Scholars who have set their minds to translate the Bible often imagine errors in the King James Version as well as the oldest manuscripts available. This is because they approach the Scriptures with their intellect and logic. This prophetic passage contains one of those imagined errors. Their rendering of this passage illustrates the need to stay in the Authorized King James Version of the Bible when studying prophecy. Verse 11 reads "stones" [plural], they want it to read "stone" [singular] so that it will grammatically agree with the "stone" [singular] of verse 18. However, this Scripture is prophetic, and it is pointing forward to the time that Jew and Gentile alike will be made one in Christ Jesus!)
19 And he called the name of that place Bethel (house of God): but the name of that city was called Luz (meaning "separation") at the first.
20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread (His Word) to eat, and raiment to put on (i.e, the righteousness of Christ),
21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace; (See the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32.); then shall the LORD be my God:
22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth (In Biblical numerology, the number 10 refers to God's full responsibility to man--a responsibility that He fulfilled on the cross, and that man enters into when surrendering his life to his Maker.) unto thee.