{"id":3535,"date":"2018-09-05T12:17:26","date_gmt":"2018-09-05T02:17:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/?p=3535"},"modified":"2021-10-22T16:34:22","modified_gmt":"2021-10-22T06:34:22","slug":"54-the-angels-ascending-and-descending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/54-the-angels-ascending-and-descending\/","title":{"rendered":"#54 Bethel – The Angels Ascending and Descending"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Genesis 12:8 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.<\/p>\n

We are investigating the significance of Bethel (formerly Luz).<\/p>\n

Jacob is fleeing from his angry brother Esau from Beersheba and heading toward Haran in Padan Aram (That\u2019s where Abram had originally come from).<\/p>\n

The distance from Beersheba to Haran was about 800 kilometres (500 miles) -many weeks of walking or riding.<\/p>\n

The distance from Beersheba to Luz is only about 65 kilometres (40 miles). So in his eagerness to escape Esau, Jacob (aged 77) most likely made it to Luz in one day after the sun had set.<\/p>\n

And it was not a random place he was heading to -it was the mountain east of Luz where Abram had set up his alter 185 years earlier.<\/p>\n

He placed a stone near his head (not as a pillow) and feeling fearful and lonely he slept and had the dream (sullam) we spoke about in the last post, of a stairway between heaven and earth, angels ascending and descending upon it and God (Jesus the Messiah) at the top.<\/p>\n

This was Jacob\u2019s first recorded meeting with the Lord (Messiah) in his life and it involved angels ascending and descending from heaven to earth where he lay.
\nWhen Jacob returned to Canaan 20 years later, he met angels again.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s travel even further forward to the New Testament where Jesus the Messiah was at the beginning of His earthly ministry.<\/p>\n

John 1:43 The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, \u201cFollow Me.\u201d 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
\n45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, \u201cWe have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote\u2014Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.\u201d
\n46 And Nathanael said to him, \u201cCan anything good come out of Nazareth?\u201d
\nPhilip said to him, \u201cCome and see.\u201d
\n47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, \u201cBEHOLD AN ISRAELITE INDEED, IN WHOM IS NO DECEIT!\u201d
\n48 Nathanael said to Him, \u201cHow do You know me?\u201d
\nJesus answered and said to him, \u201cBefore Philip called you, when YOU WERE UNDER THE FIG TREE, I saw you.\u201d
\n49 Nathanael answered and said to Him, \u201cRABBI, YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD! YOU ARE THE KING OF ISRAEL!\u201d
\n50 Jesus answered and said to him, \u201cBecause I said to you, \u2018I saw you under the fig tree,\u2019 do you believe? YOU WILL SEE GREATER THINGS THAN THESE.\u201d
\n51 And He said to him, \u201cMOST ASSUREDLY, I say to you, hereafter YOU SHALL SEE HEAVEN OPEN, AND THE ANGELS OF GOD ASCENDING AND DESCENDING UPON THE SON OF MAN.\u201d<\/p>\n

What a phenomenal exchange!
\nWhat an incredible statement by Nathanael. Let\u2019s dig a bit and discover the treasure.<\/p>\n

The fig tree was the place for meditating and memorising the scriptures.
\nRabbis taught under fig trees because it was thought to be a place where the scriptures could be best understood.<\/p>\n

So Nathaniel, like many Jewish men was a genuine God seeker.<\/p>\n

But was it really Jesus\u2019 statement about seeing Nathanael under the fig tree that inspired Nathanael\u2019s Messiah statement?<\/p>\n

Not really. As mentioned, many Jewish men studied under the fig trees.<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 next words reveal why Nathanael called Jesus \u201cThe Son of God and the King of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nathanael had a divine revelation that Jesus was Messiah.<\/p>\n

Remember when Peter identified Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God? Jesus was amazed. He responded by saying \u201cBlessed are you Simon Bar Jonah for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but My Father in heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a direct, divine revelation from God the Father to recognise Jesus as the Son of God and Messiah.<\/p>\n

Nathanael had been studying\/memorising a certain passage of the scriptures under the fig tree when Jesus saw him there in the spirit.<\/p>\n

What was it?<\/p>\n

Well of course it was this scripture about Jacob\u2019s vision of a staircase and the Messiah at the top and angels ascending and descending from heaven to earth.<\/p>\n

Jesus knew what it was that Nathaniel was studying as he sat under the fig tree?<\/p>\n

He knew that Nathanael had been memorising the scriptures around Jacob\u2019s journey to Haran, to Bethel where he had the dream and then on to a 20 year exile where he would be deceived by his uncle Laban (a man in whom there was a lot of deceit).<\/p>\n

When Jesus saw Nathanael He said \u201cBehold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!\u201d<\/p>\n

Nathanael instantly and divinely knew that this was the very same Messiah that he had just been meditating on.<\/p>\n

And he blurted it out with joy!
\n\u201cRabbi, You are the Son of God and the King of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then Jesus confirmed who He was by stating \u201cYOU WILL SEE GREATER THINGS THAN THESE.
\nMOST ASSUREDLY, I say to you, hereafter YOU SHALL SEE HEAVEN OPEN, AND THE ANGELS OF GOD ASCENDING AND DESCENDING UPON THE SON OF MAN.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesus was claiming that He was God. He was Messiah.
\nHe was the stairway between heaven and earth.
\nThat angels come and go at His bidding.
\nAnd that the revelation of Himself as the Messiah is to see heaven opened to him -the only way between heaven and earth since Adam was driven from the garden by God in Genesis 3.<\/p>\n

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man who is the Messiah – Jesus,<\/p>\n

Do you believe that Jesus is the Messiah?
\nDo you believe that He is the son of God?
\nYou can believe on Him today and surrender your life to Him and start to follow Him and obey Him.<\/p>\n

Find a place to get on your knees now and bow your head in prayer now and give your life to Him.
\nAnd when you have, let us all know so that we can rejoice with you.<\/p>\n

Romans 10:9 ….that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
\n10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
\n11 For the Scripture says, \u201cWhoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Watch This Message Genesis 12:8 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the...","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2186,1424],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-articles","category-posts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pduNeC-V1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/40685469_252968722220133_3766938557726326784_n.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3535"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4145,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3535\/revisions\/4145"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}