#41: Sacred Space

Genesis 28:16-22

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

Comments

The line between faith and superstition can be a bit blurry. Rather than attributing his encounter with God simply to God’s desire to connect with him, Jacob imagined he had stumbled onto a special place where God lived and could regularly be found. Centuries later Jeroboam would set up a worship site at Bethel, but it would not be one that was pleasing to God.

Jacob’s vow was not quite as conditional as this translation indicates by its “If God will… then I will…” form. The sense of the vow is perhaps better expressed as “Because God has promised… therefore I will promise…”

The giving of a tithe in this instance was Jacob’s grateful response to God’s unconditional promise; in no sense was it understood by Jacob as a command or obligation.

Reflections

Is there such a thing as a “sacred place” where God can more easily be found? Is the building where your church meets a sacred place in this sense? What other sacred places have you experienced in your life?

Do you more often feel like the tithes and offerings you give are an expression of gratitude for what God has done or the fulfillment of an obligation for what God has commanded?

Prayer

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who makes a sacred place of every wilderness.