The Gate of Heaven

Sue and I attended the evening service at the Redeemer Presbyterian Church. The sermon was based on Gen. 28:10-22. The pastor was my schoolmate at Gordon-Conwell. Jacob fled from Esau and “reached a certain place.” (v. 11) In the OT narrative, the biblical author is often very descriptive about the scene: the name of a place, the time, the people, etc…Here, ironically, Jacob reached to a place with no name. “It’s a non-place,” said the pastor. When I listened to the sermon, I knew that he got the “non-place” insight from Walter Brueggemann. In commenting on Gen. 28:10-11, Brueggemann said:

“The framework of the journey (vv. 10-11) is not very important except that the event happens ‘between places’ where nothing is expected…Here everything is risky. It is enough in this memory that a ‘non-place’ is transformed by the coming of God into a crucial place…And in the process, this ‘non-person’ (i.e., exiled, threatened) is transformed by the coming of God to a person crucial for the promise.” [Genesis (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982), p. 242.]

Due to Jacob’s own mess, he came to this non-place in which he met God the first time. This “non-person” is about to be transformed into a person at this “non-place.” Sometimes we can’t particularly point out where we are at in life stage or journey. We are in this “non-place.” For Jacob, God revealed to him the first time at this “non-place.” After theophany, Jacob said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it…How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” (vv. 16-17)

The pastor said that in the narrative there is a theme of strangeness and lostness. Jacob was lost in exile. He ended up in this “non-place” where he couldn’t locate himself. But this no-name place became the house of God. It became a window for Jacob to say that: “This is the gate of heaven.” Wherever we are at, that is where the gate of heaven is. Our “certain place” can become the gate of heaven in and through which we can encounter God in a fresh and surprising way.