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"Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it now. And he was afraid, and said
How dreadful is this place! this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate
of heaven" (Gen. 28: 16, 17).
The gate of heaven.
What is the truth revealed in this gate of heaven? We shall expect that it will be
fundamental, elementary, and something suggestive of a beginning. The gate will have to
be entered, the house occupied, the Lord of that house known, but these are experiences
that will follow. The first feature of this revelation to Jacob is the fact of
An unchanging covenant.
"I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac" (Gen. 28: 13).
What did this mean to Jacob? God had declared to Abraham that He would establish
His covenant with him and his seed after him, "to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed
after thee . . . . . I will be their God" (Gen. 17: 7, 8). What did it mean to Isaac for God
to reveal Himself to him as the God of Abraham?
"And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham
thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and will multiply thy seed for
my servant Abraham's sake" (Gen. 26: 24).
What did it mean later on in life to Jacob?
"Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, had been
with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty" (Gen. 31: 42).
This covenant with Abraham was the first feature in Israel's deliverance from Egypt
(Exod. 2: 24; 3: 6, 15; 6: 8). It reappears in Acts 3: 13, 25 in connection with
Israel's restoration, and its inner meaning is manifested in Rom. 11: 28, 29:--
"As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes; but as touching the
election, they are beloved for the father's sakes, for the gifts and calling of God are
without repentance."
Translated into terms of Christian teaching, this first lesson at the gate of heaven must
be expressed in some such language as that of Eph. 1: 4: "Chosen in Him before the
foundation of the world", or the following:--
"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works,
but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began" (II Tim. 1: 9).
"We love Him because He first loved us" (I John 4: 19).
The next lesson that we learn at the gate of heaven is