Angels in the Patriarchal Age
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fulfilled in His own time, had they waited in faith for Him to work for
them....
Threatened with death by the wrath of Esau, Jacob went out from
his father’s home a fugitive.... The evening of the second day found
him far away from his father’s tents. He felt that he was an outcast,
and he knew that all this trouble had been brought upon him by his
own wrong course. The darkness of despair pressed upon his soul,
and he hardly dared to pray. But he was so utterly lonely that he felt
the need of protection from God as he had never felt it before. With
weeping and deep humiliation he confessed his sin, and entreated for
some evidence that he was not utterly forsaken....
God did not forsake Jacob.... The Lord compassionately revealed
just what Jacob needed—a Saviour.... Wearied with his journey, the
wanderer lay down upon the ground, with a stone for his pillow. As
he slept, he beheld a ladder, bright and shining, whose base rested
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upon the earth, while the top reached to heaven. Upon this ladder,
angels were ascending and descending; above it was the Lord of glory,
and from the heavens His voice was heard: “I am the Lord God of
Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac.” ....
In this vision the plan of redemption was presented to Jacob.... The
ladder represents Jesus, the appointed medium of communication. Had
He not with His own merits bridged the gulf that sin had made, the
ministering angels could have held no communion with fallen man....
With a new and abiding faith in the divine promises, and assured
of the presence and guardianship of heavenly angels, Jacob pursued
his journey to “the land of the children of the East.”—
Patriarchs and
Prophets, 178-180, 183, 184, 188
.
Though Jacob had left Padan-aram in obedience to the divine
direction, it was not without many misgivings that he retraced the
road which he had trodden as a fugitive twenty years before. His
sin in the deception of his father was ever before him.... As he drew
nearer his journey’s end, the thought of Esau brought many a troubled
foreboding.... Again the Lord granted Jacob a token of the divine
care.—
Patriarchs and Prophets, 195
.
As Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him. And when
he saw them, he said, “This is God’s host.” He saw the angels of God
in a dream, encamping around about him.—
Spiritual Gifts 3:127
.