Genesis 27-29

The theme of family dysfunction continues as Jacob with the help of Rebekah outwits Esau and Isaac to secure Isaac's special blessing near the end of his life. Jacob's "deception"--his "ruse"--makes him heir to God's covenant.  Esau, for his part, will be forced "far from the fertile  earth" and will have to serve his brother.  On his way to find a wife, on Isaac's instructions, Jacob falls asleep and has the dream that provides the title for this blog. This stairway to heaven (no Led Zeppelin jokes, please) reminds me of something I read a long time ago in the writings of Teresa of Avila, and which I am sure to misquote to some degree here--but the gist was "every sin is but another step on the spiral staircase to God."  How comforting those words have been to me over the years. Here, God's messengers descend and ascend the staircase, which I take to mean they bring God's message to us (ultimately a message of salvation embodied in Christ) and then serve to guide us on the path back to Him. It is a path from this place, to which God banished Adam and Eve, up to heaven.  Jacob goes on to the dwelling of Laban, his mother's brother, where he is the victim of a deception himself.  He is tricked into marrying Laban's daughter, Leah, when it is her sister, Rachel whom he loves--loves so much that Jacob "burst into tears" the first time he kisses her. Laban's deception causes Jacob to have to stay an extra 7 years serving Laban. But as this section of the story ends, it is Leah who bears son after son in an effort to please Jacob and win his love, while Rachel remains barren.