An Open Heaven In 2026
Genesis 28, John 1
Psalm 26:8 (NLT)
I love your sanctuary, LORD, the place where your glorious presence dwells.
Genesis 28:11–17 (NIV)
11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.
12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
13 There above it stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.
14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”
17 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.”
1st Angelic activity
Genesis 28:12 (NIV)
He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
Ephesians 3:10 (NLT)
God's purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
Hebrews 12:22–23 (NIV)
22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,
23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.
Psalm 103:20 (NIV)
Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.
Matthew 18:10 (NIV)
See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
Acts 12:14–15 (NIV)
14 When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”
15 “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”
Acts 27:23–24 (NIV)
23 Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me
24 and said, “Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.”
Hebrews 13:2 (NIV)
Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
Hebrews 1:14 (NIV)
Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
2nd God speaks
Genesis 28:13, 15 (NIV)
13 There above it stood the LORD, and he said: “I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.
15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
3rd The intersection of the natural and the supernatural
Genesis 28:16–17 (NIV)
16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”
17 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.”
1. A Closed Heaven
Genesis 28:11 (NIV)
When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.
2. An Open Heaven
Genesis 28:12–15 (NIV)
12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
13 There above it stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.
14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
3. The Gate and the Floodgates of Heaven
Genesis 28:17–19 (NIV)
17 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.”
18 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.
19 He called that place Bethel.
Genesis 48:3 (NIV)
Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me.”
Genesis 28:20–22 (NIV)
20 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
21 so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the LORD will be my God
22 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.”
Malachi 3:10 (NIV)
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the LORD Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
John 1:50–51 (NIV)
50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.”
51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
