I woke up in the middle of the night thinking of Jacob (who was later named Israel). It wasn’t because of my current preaching series on Joseph, Jacob’s son. No, I was thinking about the phrase, “Jacob used a rock for a pillow.”
It’s not unusual for me to think theological or biblical
thoughts in the middle of the night, or middle of the day or even the middle of
my watching the Olympics. But it wasn’t a theological prompting.
It was literally my pillow. Not THAT "My Pillow", but one of
those decorative pillows that you put on the bed during the day and then take
off during the night then put back on the following day. At least those of us
who make up the bed almost every day.
(Notice Melissa, I said “us”). Don’t be shocked but Melissa almost
always makes up the bed but occasionally so do I, hence the usage of said word “us”.
But back to Jacob and more importantly my pillow. Apparently,
I fell asleep with the wrong pillow as I found My Pillow on the floor in the
middle of the night, and the modern-day equivalent of Jacob’s pillow under my
head, but not quite as hard as a rock and certainly more decorative.
Now, I am sure that there must be a book or a theologian out
there somewhere that explains why Jacob used a rock for a pillow, but I have
never read it and never even seen it but surely there is a 40-day Bible Plan on
YouVersion on “Rock Pillows”. Still, as I couldn’t go back to sleep, I started
thinking about why God would include that explanation of Jacob using a rock for
a pillow.
I knew the story. I have written and forgotten about
the lithified, igneous excuse for a cushion beneath the prophet’s head. But in
the middle of the night, I was thinking of Jacob’s dream and his vision of a
ladder and angels ascending and descending on that ladder or stairway to
heaven.
The patriarch awoke and said, “Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place,” or something like that in Genesis 28.
There are a number of applications to this biblical story,
but I think the greatest is that the house of God is not a certain geological location,
nor are His angels confined to a certain place on earth, but rather wherever and
whenever we seek Him. His angels were already present before the ‘in the
beginning’ of Genesis 1:1. Angels are mentioned 72 times throughout the book of
Revelation.
God is omnipresent, meaning He is present everywhere, but He
also has His heavenly messengers to come down from heaven to minister, give
spiritual encouragement and protection to His people. An angel heralded Jesus’s
coming to Joseph before Christ’s birth and also gave warning to Joseph of
approaching danger after his birth (see Matthew 1:20 and 2:13).
God occasionally speaks to us in dreams, and for the most part,
He blesses us with sleep. Psalm 127:2 says, “It is vain for you to
rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so
He gives His beloved sleep.” Proverbs 3:24 says, “When you lie down, you will
not be afraid; Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.” And Psalm 4:8
says, “I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O LORD, make me
dwell in safety.” Even Jesus slept on a cushion in the midst of a storm.
Jacob rose from his sleep, took the stone that had been his
pillow, set it upright, and made it the foundation of a pillar.
So, as I lay awake last night, thinking of Jacob and his
rock pillow, I thanked God for a mattress, covers, and exchanged my decorative
pillow for My Pillow. I didn’t go straight to sleep, but I felt the reassurance
of God’s mercy, love, and care for me.
