神建造的工作，是为着得着祂的家
你初读创世记头几章的时候，好像还看不清楚什么，但等你读到雅各的故事，你就能看见一点神所要建造的是什么了。雅各这个人虽然是神所拣选的，但他在年幼的时候，却从来没有想到神。他只想到自己福利的问题，只想到怎样用手腕去讨人的便宜。他完全是一个自私的人。但是他的手腕却闯下了大祸，叫他没法再留在家里了。当他逃避他哥哥的时候，他来到旷野中的一个地方，因为太阳落了，就在那里露宿，拾起一块石头，枕着睡觉。他这时候实在是一个漂流在外，无家可归的人。就在这样漂流的情景之下，神来了。
他在梦中就看见一个异象，有一个梯子立在地上，梯子的头顶着天，在梯子上有神的使者上去下来。我信圣灵在那里有工作，使他有一点领会这个梦的意思，就是天上的神要通到地上的人里面，叫地和天有联结，叫人和神可以同住同处。所以他醒来以后，马上作了一件奇妙的事。他清早起来就把所枕的石头立作柱子，将油浇在上头；并且他说，这一块石头，这一个地方，就是伯特利。在原文里，利就是神，伯特就是家。所以在这里雅各的意思就是说，我所立作柱子的这一块石头，有一天要成功一个殿，要成功一个家。这个地方就是神的家。
人怎样无家可归，神也同样的无家可归
雅各没有说这是是他的家，他说这是神的家。从表面看，你是看见一个无家可归的人，一个漂流在外流离失所的人，但你若仔细去读那一章圣经，就还能读出一个感觉来，这里不光有一个无家可归的人，这里也有一位无家可归的神。不光是这个人在地上没有家，并且这位神在地上也没有家。现在神和人所有的，就是一根石头柱子。人没有法子住进去，神也没有法子住进去。这里给我们看见，人怎样无家可归，神也同样的无家可归。他们彼此真可以说是同病相怜。
我不太相信雅各在那个时候会像我们今天这么清楚，可是他在圣灵的权下却糊里糊涂的说了几句最明白最清楚的话。他说，他所立为柱子的那一块石头，必要成为神的家。一点都不错，神就是要在地上得着一个伯特利，得着一个神的家。这是圣经头一次题到神的家。
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God’s Heart Desire Is for Building up a House – Gen. 28:18-22
God’s Building Is for the Purpose of Gaining His House
When you first read the first few chapters of Genesis, you may not be able to see them clearly. But when you read the story of Jacob, you may be able to see a little bit of what God desires to build. Although Jacob was chosen by God, when he was young, he never thought about God. He only cared about his own welfare and used tricks to gain advantage from others. He was a very selfish man. But his tricks caused great trouble, thus he could no longer stay at home. When he was fleeing from his brother, he came to a place in the wilderness. Because the sun had set, he slept there in the open. He then picked up a stone and slept on it as his pillow. At this time, he was truly a drifting away homeless man. In this drifting situation, God came to him.
After that, he saw a vision in his dream. There was a ladder standing on the ground, with the top of the ladder pointing to the sky, and angels of God ascending and descending on the ladder. I believe the Holy Spirit was operating there, allowing him to understand a little bit of the meaning of this dream: God in heaven will come to the inner part of man on earth, so that heaven and earth can be connected for man and God’s cohabitation. After he woke up, he immediately did a wonderful thing: he got up early in the morning to make a pillar of the stone on which he was resting, and poured oil on it. And he said, this stone and this place is Bethel. In Hebrew, “El” means God and “Beth” means home, indicating the stone pillar that Jacob setup would one day become a temple and a home. This place is God’s home.
Just As Man Is Homeless, So Is God
Jacob did not say this was his house, he said it was the house of God. On the surface, you see a homeless person, a drifting away one. But if you read that chapter of the Bible carefully, you may get the feeling that there is not only a homeless person here, but also a “homeless” God. Not only does this man have no home on earth, but God also has no home on earth. Now all God and man have is a stone pillar. There is no way for man to live in it, and there is no way for God to live in it either. Here we see that just as man is homeless, God is also homeless. It can be said that both of them have the same situation.
I don’t quite believe that Jacob would have been as clear as we are today at that time, but under the authority of the Holy Spirit, he mumbled some of the clearest words. He said that the pillar stone he set up would become the house of God. It’s absolutely true. God wants to gain a Bethel that is a house of God on earth. This is the first time the Bible mentions the house of God.