Posted on: 3rd February 2025

Jacob left Beersheba - and he came to a certain place and stayed there that night. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep and he dreamed - a flight of steps (ladder) was set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven - the angels of God were ascending and descending on it - and the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. I am with you - I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” (Genesis 28: 10-17)

Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you
know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree’, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1: 47-51)

Jacob (Hebrew ‘supplanter’ – ‘deceitful’) is storied in Genesis as a deceitful, dishonest guy. It is likely that, in addressing Nathanael (Greek ‘gift of God’) as one ‘in whom there is no deceit’ Jesus was contrasting him with Jacob. The amazing thing is that, as Jacob was escaping his family and personal dishonesties, and was in the middle of nowhere, God met him personally and prophetically. Jacob saw steps dropped down from heaven and providential angels to-ing and fro-ing in that place. And Nathanael, somewhere out of town and not in a religious structure is also given a revelation by God – the living, incarnate, access bringing, providential blessing giving, very present grace and truth bringing ‘Word made flesh – tabernacled amongst us’ (John 1:14). He saw the Lord in that place.

So let us name our places – where we live, work, walk, meet people. Let us be blessed and a blessing and know that flight of steps, that access to pray and be in living connectivity with our Heavenly Father through the Son of Man, wherever we are.

You don’t need me to give practical applications to this. I’m in Otley, you’ll be somewhere else in Leeds. May we all live in the realisation that, through the agency of the Holy Spirit and angels, he is with us in our wherever. 

THE LORD IS IN MY PLACES

By John Simkins, Otley Prayer Network