Genesis 28:22

And this stone... shall be God's house.

If he returns, this place where the pillar marks the spot shall be. place of worship and recognized as God's house. By referring to Genesis 35:1-7, the reader will find how Jacob kept this vow on his return, twenty years later.

PRACTICAL AND SUGGESTIVE.

The "house of God" is found wherever. devout heart is lifted up to him in spirit and truth.

The angel of the Lord encampeth around about those who fear and serve him.

Though homeless and wanderers, if we be God's, the divine protection will be over us.

Heaven is not afar off or inaccessible. The angels of God, though unseen, are constantly passing and repassing. Jesus is the WAY, and by him all may enter.

"The Gate of Heaven" is wherever Christ is found. He is the Door. All "who keep his commandments shall have the right to enter through the gate into the city."

God keeps his promises from generation to generation. The God of our fathers is our God, and he who was faithful to them will be faithful to us.

When God does, much for us we are called upon to do much for him. In view of his wonderful mercies through the gospel, that we should make our bodies living sacrifices is only our reasonable service.

Every Christian home should be. Bethel; it should have its altar of Jehovah; It should have its pillar consecrated to God; the church, the ground and pillar of the truth, should be its pillar.

Jesus is the reality of which Jacob but dreamed in his ladder from earth to heaven. Through him ascend prayers, desires, worship, love, to God; and through him descend from God, answers to prayer, new life, help in daily duties, wisdom, truth, the Holy Spirit, the love of God.

J ACOB.--The life of Jacob is related with more of detail than that of any other person, in the Old Testament history; yet there is great uncertainty concerning the division of its periods. His first sixty years were passed near Beersheba, then twenty years in Haran, and fifty years in Canaan (though some of the best chronologers allow forty years to Haran, and thirty to Canaan), and seventeen years in Egypt. The principal places named in Jacob's journeys are Beersheba, in southern Palestine; Bethel, twelve miles north of Jerusalem; Haran, east of the Euphrates in Mesopotamia; Mizpah, the place afterwards known as Ramoth-Gilead, east of the Jordan; Mahanaim and Peniel, also east of the Jordan; Succoth, in the Jordan valley; Shalem, near to Shechem; Ephrath, near to Bethlehem, the place of Rachel's death.

B ETHEL.--The pillar of Bethel must have been looked upon by the Israelites, and may still be looked upon in thought by us, as the precursor of every "House of God" that has arisen in the Jewish and Christian world,--the temple, the church, the chapel, nay, more, of those secret places of worship that are marked by no natural beauty and seen by no human eye, the closet, the catacomb, the thoroughfare, of the true worshiper.... The stone of Bethel remained as the memorial that an all-encompassing providence watches over its chosen instruments, however unconscious at the time of what and where they are. "The Shepherd of the Stone of Israel" was one of the earliest names by which the God of Jacob was known.-- Stanley.

Though like the wanderer, Daylight all gone, Darkness be over me, My rest. stone; Yet In my dreams I'd be Nearer, my God, to thee. There let the way appear, Steps unto heaven, All that thou sendest me, In mercy given; Angels to beckon me Nearer, my God, to thee. Then, with my waking thoughts Bright with thy praise, Out of my stony griefs Bethel I'll raise; So by my woes to be, Nearer, my God, to thee.

POINTS FOR TEACHERS.

1. Outline the previous history of Jacob; the enmity of Esau; the flight of Jacob, now sixty years old. 2. Note the place to which he was journeying, Haran, the former home of his race, the present home of his kindred, seeking not only. refuge, but. wife. 3. Observe him at Bethel, an old home of Abraham, asleep under the open sky, with. stone for. pillow. 4. Bring out the wonderful imagery of the vision, the ladder; God above, the earth beneath; the messengers of God passing and repassing between. Note the significance of this imagery. It is an object lesson teaching grand spiritual truths. 5. Note the revelation; the acceptance of Jacob as the heir of the Abrahamic covenant; the renewal of the promises; the revelation of Jehovah, the covenant God. 6. Observe Jacob awake, his impressions concerning the place; his awe. 7. Note what he did when morning came, what the pillar signified. 8. Note the covenant that he makes with God; his pledges for the future, and how they were kept. God's pledges to us call for pledges to him. 9. Note the Bethel now reared, and what makes. Bethel. Enjoin that all should be Jacobs to rear Bethels to God.