Worship talk given in General Conference chapel.
"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" (Genesis 28:12).
IN A BOOK of ancient Jewish stories Jacob is called the "man with a ladder." It no doubt would be more correct to say that Jacob became the man with a ladder. He did not begin his career thus; in fact, until that memorable night on the way to Haran he was representative of the millions of ladderless people who have encumbered the face of the earth and who continue to do so.
A close look at these ladderless people reveals that they are of the baser sort. Oh, it is not that they have no interest in climbing; they are desperately eager to mount the rungs of advancement. The shoulders of friend and foe alike are used for this purpose. For them the end justifies the means. Actually, the means ofttimes becomes their end.
These ladderless people are grasping and ambitious. The trouble is that in spite of their unabated efforts to climb they mistake the direction. So by cunning, Jacob robbed his brother Esau of his birthright. Following the same unscrupulous pattern, he deceived his old father. For him this was climbing, but his direction was downward. His very name came to mean in popular thought "one who supplants." This ladderless Jacob had in him all the ingredients of a cheat, ready to resort to any deal in order to advance his selfish aims and reach what he considered to be the top.
Then the unpredictable happened. Jacob ceased to run true to form. He scored a splendid victory and threw away his garb of trickster. It all came about because of a dream and a ladder. Two details in this dream made the difference in Jacob's life!
The first is a reference to the top. Before, Jacob had never found an appropriate place to stop in his scheming and supplanting. This is what tortured him and caused his perdition. And Jacob is not alone in this dilemma. Such is the way of ladderless people. Alexander the Great wept because there were no more worlds to conquer. Climbing, not unselfish achievement, was his goal.
Today, as yesterday, ladderless men and women are driven by pride and lust. Actually theirs is an unhappy lot. Such climbers see their hopes turn to ashes. They never find the top; they find only sorrow and dissonance. Finally, they go on living for more or less the same reason a hen goes on laying eggs.
The second point is that Jacob got a ladder. All this came in a dream by night. In the morning he had a ladder—and he never abandoned it.
This ladder reached clear to heaven, and on it were angels "ascending and descending." Jacob's dream brought him to the very gate of heaven. Heaven became the end of his pursuit, and this end was satisfying—completely satisfying.
Then, not only did Jacob find a proper objective in life but he came to understand the procedure of the heavenly way: "ascending and descending." Before this, Jacob had thought of nothing but the ascent. On this ladder there was two-way traffic— gifts matching gains, responsibilities matching privileges, service matching opportunity. For him this was a new way of life.
A final thought will complete our picture. The ladder that Jacob found on the way to Haran was Christ. This is evident in the teaching of the Master as recorded in John's gospel, chapter 1, verse 51: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." Apparently Jacob sensed this lesson, at least vaguely, when he awakened from his dream and realized that he was at the "gate of heaven."
Therefore men and women of the ladder in verity have found Christ. Heaven becomes their goal. They identify their life and purpose with God's life and purpose in Christ. Their goal is higher than the highest human thought can possibly reach. The aim of their life is heaven, and the procedure of this heavenly way as revealed in Christ becomes the way of service to mankind.
How is it with you and with me today? Do we have the ladder? If not, let us dream the dream of Jacob and become men and women with the ladder.
