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God Appeared in Jacob's Dream

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When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD 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. (Genesis 28:16-19)

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That night, the stars in the sky looked so beautiful but to this person, this beautiful night was very lonely, scary and a very sad night.

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This person was Jacob.
Jacob was the grandson of Abraham, the Father of our Faith and Jacob was the son of Isaac, the Man of Obedience.

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Jacob was going to the house of his mother's side uncle, Laban.
Laban lived at Paddan Aram. In an empty field, Jacob brought a stone and used it as a pillow and lied down to sleep. Why is Jacob spending the night in that field alone?

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Jacob had a brother named Esau.
They were twins who were born on the same day.
But Jacob knew that his brother was trying to kill him after their father's death.
So today, Jacob ran away from home.

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Even before, Jacob and his brother Esau had troubles.
Esau was going to receive the blessing of God but Jacob had the desire to have that blessing. So Jacob even bought the power of the firstborn with a bowl of red bean stew.

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Finally, Jacob had the blessing of his father Isaac without telling it to his brother Esau. His father Isaac was too old so Isaac could not make things right again.
Jacob knew that and he took away his brother's blessing.

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Jacob ran away from Esau and he spent the first night in a field with a stone pillow. While Jacob was sleeping in the field, an amazing thing happened.
Jacob had a very special dream.

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There was a very big ladder and it even reached to the sky.
On the ladder, angels were going up and down.
Jacob saw this amazing scene and was very surprised.

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Then at the top of the ladder a sound was heard.
"I am the LORD God of your Grandfather Abraham and your father Isaac. I will give the land you're standing on now to you and your children. Your offsprings will be as many as the dust on the ground and where ever you go, I will protect you. I will always be with you."

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After Jacob had that dream, he woke up.
Then Jacob confessed. "LORD God surely was here but I did not know."
Jacob realized that God was with him.

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Early that morning, Jacob set up the stone he used as the pillow like a pillar.
Then Jacob poured oil on the top of the pillar.
Jacob offered thanksgiving worship to God for being with him.

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Jacob promised to God in that place.
"If God will be with me and protect me on my way and provide me all the food and clothes and if I will come back to my father's house safely, I will offer one from the ten I have."

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Jacob called that place Bethel. Bethel means house of God.
Jacob said that the place he put up that stone will become the house of God.

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Jacob lied to his father and he did a wrong thing of taking away the blessing of his brother Esau but God did not gave up on Jacob. God loved Jacob until the end. Jacob thought that he would have to go the long way alone but God was with Jacob even from the beginning of the way. Jacob realized that and thanked God.

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Even when we do some wrong things and we are not so good like Jacob, God's love never gives up. Anywhere we go, God is with us. So we should know that God is always with us and live our lives thanking and worshiping Him.