Youtube: The Great Revelation
In the previous lesson, we saw that Esau represents the physical aspect of our consciousness, while Jacob represents the mental side that is awakening to the spiritual dimension. In a moment of hunger, Esau swears he will sell his birthright to Jacob. When the time comes to bestow the birthright on his firstborn, father Isaac, now nearly blind, is deceived by his wife, Rebekah, into believing he is giving Esau this important blessing when in fact it is Jacob disguised as Esau.
Metaphysically, we can see Rebekah representing the soul. That she favors Jacob indicates that the soul expresses, not through the physical consciousness (Esau), but through the spiritually awakening mental side (Jacob).
When Esau learns of the deception, he vows to kill Jacob. This illustrates the tension between our body-based identity and our spiritually awakening mentality. Jacob flees in fear for his life. On his way to live with relatives, he has a dream. He sees a ladder reaching from earth to heaven with angels ascending and descending and the Lord standing above it. The Lord assures Jacob that he will be with him always, guiding and protecting him and his descendants. Jacob awakens from his sleep and says, “Surely the Lord is in this place; and I did not know it” (Gen. 28:16).
The great revelation is the omnipresence of God. The ancient Hebrew believed the Lord, Yahweh, was localized. Jacob thought that by leaving his homeland, he was also leaving the presence of the Lord. But he said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” (v17).
Our soul is always aware that it dwells in the presence of God. As Jacob, our spiritually developing consciousness, begins to get glimpses of this profound truth, we see that God, our spiritual source, is not in some remote location but is ever-present and can never leave us even in our moments of uncertainty. In his dream, the great wealth promised to Jacob by the Lord symbolizes the spiritual wealth that is in store for each of us.