There is a saying that one is sometimes caught between a rock and a hard place. Basically, it means you are in a difficult situation where you have to choose between two equally unpleasant courses of action. Going forward is fraught with difficulty. Going back is fraught with similar difficulties. You have to choose. It is believed to have originated from days in the mines where workers faced grueling conditions underground digging through hard rocks, but the alternative was harsh conditions above ground without any source of income.
However, some believe that the saying may have originated from our Old Testament reading where Jacob is on the run from his brother Esau who is wanting to kill him. We heard last week how Jacob stole his brother’s birthright by taking advantage of his hunger and only allowing him food if Esau, the first-born twin, gave up his birthright to Jacob. But his swindling didn’t stop there. As Jacob’s father was nearing death with his eyesight failing, Isaac decides to bless his first-born Esau but doesn’t recognize the deal made between Jacob and Esau.
So, while Esau is out hunting, Jacob’s mother devises a plan to dress Jacob up as Esau and steal Esau’s blessings. When Esau finds out what has happened and that he has missed out on his father’s blessing, he goes on a rampage and swears to kill Jacob. So, Jacob flees to his mother’s hometown to stay there in safety.
While on his way he stops to rest at Bethel and sleeps using a rock as a pillow which he will later set up as an altar to God. So, in our Old Testament reading Jacob is between a rock and a hard place. He is on the run not knowing what lay ahead of him but behind him was Esau. So, Jacob is caught between the rock of the unknown and the hard place of Esau. But as he lay with the rock as his pillow God’s protective hand is revealed to him showing an alternative solution to being caught between a rock and a hard place. Jacob dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. God speaks to Jacob and says: Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!
So it’s not about trying to work out which direction he should take but that wherever he goes that God is with him. And this is the same promise God makes to us. It is the promise Jesus made to us as he ascended to Heaven – “surely I am with you always till the end of the age”. Our life journey can often feel like it’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. Sometimes we’d like to go back to when life was simpler – less complex. The future seems so uncertain. But we keep journeying with the promise we hear in Psalm 23 – Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid, for you are with me.
Have you lain in bed at night, so full of worry and despair that your pillow feels like a rock? You can’t get comfortable and relax no matter how you toss and turn because the turmoil in your mind is tying your body in knots. Maybe you’re wondering how you’re going to get through the next day, week, year. And then comes the amazing comfort from God. You can’t put it into words but I’ve heard from so many people talk about a presence they felt that they can’t explain – perhaps like Jacob’s experience of angels ascending and descending. Such as Jesus explains in Matthew 18: “Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.
Jacob’s dream is interesting – the ladder to heaven with angels ascending and descending! But God never asks Jacob or anyone else to climb the ladder. That’s not the purpose. God comes to us. The purpose is not to escape our turmoil but to have God’s angels minister to us like they did to Jesus in the wilderness. Again in Matthew’s gospel – chapter 4 – Then the devil left Jesus, and angels came and took care of Jesus. It was the angels of God who were ascending and descending on it coming to us
And notice where God was: “And the LORD stood beside him.” Where is God in this situation? Not at the top of the ladder looking down. No! God has come down the ladder to Jacob. This is exactly what happened at Jesus’ birth. God descending from heaven, coming down to us, standing right beside us to guide us and to promise to be with us. He shall be called Immanuel – God with us.
That is the very story of Jesus Christ being born as a human and dwelling with us. And Jacob understands the significance of what he is experiencing. “Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place– and I did not know it!’” He responds to this profound experience by turning the stone that was his pillow into an altar. Our world at present seems to be stuck between a rock and a hard place with cost of living pressures – interest rate rises on mortgages – fears about climate – political debates. In fact, Paul says that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
God promises to redeem all things in the fullness of time. And what a joyous time that will be as we join with Paul in saying – I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. God promises that the sin and death of our times will one day be redeemed: That is a promise not just to Jacob but also to us. Life can be tough. The future can seem as if we’re not going to make it.
But be assured that God is watching over you. That his angels are present with you watching and guarding you.
What Jacob saw was not his imagination but God unveiling the reality that exists. Unfortunately we can’t see the spiritual realm that exists but that doesn’t mean it’s not there as Jacob said: “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!” And if we could see it we would join with Jacob and say: “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” And that is also what Paul discovered in Colossians 3 where he says: Your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. That glory is here now but will only be fully understood in eternity.
So until that day let us take comfort because the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.
