None of God's dealings is without a promise. Every time we suffer a dealing there will be a promise along with it. The more dealings we suffer, the more promises we shall have. In 28:13-15 we see God's promise to Jacob. According to Jacob's experience, God's promise did not come before His dealing. The promise is not firstly that we shall be provided with food and raiment. It firstly is that we shall have the land and the seed and that we shall be a blessing to all the families of the earth. Here we see three things—the land, the seed, and the blessing. According to the consistent revelation of the Bible, the land is for the kingdom. In His creation, God created man in His own image and gave him dominion over the earth, over the land. Thus, the land is for the dominion, the kingdom. The seed is for the expression, for the spreading of the image. In 28:13 and 14 we have the same two things that are found in Genesis 1:26—image and dominion. After this, we become a blessing. Our blessing is simply Christ, for Christ becomes our blessing to others.
If we examine our experience, we shall see that whenever we suffered or had some dealing from God, we received the land and had the sense that we were in the kingdom. Furthermore, we sensed that something of God was expressed through us and was spreading out of us. This is the seed. In addition to this, we became a blessing to others, to our neighbors, relatives, friends, and everyone around us. God's promise was not only given to Jacob; in principle, it is also given to us. When we are under God's dealing, we participate in the land, the seed, and the blessing. We share in the territory and the expression of God and we become a blessing to others.
God knows our need. In verse 15 He said to Jacob, "Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of." Here God was promising to give Jacob food and clothing and to bring him back to his father's land in peace. The people in religion know nothing about the land, the seed, and the blessing. Often when they give a testimony, they say something like this: "Praise the Lord that His presence is always with me. Recently, I took a tour of Chicago and God's presence was with me. Throughout all the years He has been giving me food, clothes, and all that I need." I have hardly ever heard a testimony in which someone said, "Praise the Lord! After God dealt with me, my territory has been enlarged. God has truly been transforming me. He is spreading His expression through me. What a blessing has followed this!"
Now we come to Jacob's reaction. Firstly, after waking out of his sleep, he called that place the house of God (v. 17). Where did Jacob get the concept of the house of God? Abraham did not know of this. As we have pointed out, we do not find this term before Genesis 28. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all lived in tents. Why then did Jacob not say the tent of God but rather the house of God? Surely this is not only a dream but a revelation. Although Jacob did not actually see the house of God, he termed what he saw the house of God, saying, "This is the house of God." Certainly this came from divine revelation.
God has revealed His economy not only in clear words but also in the lives of human beings. Jacob, a man living altogether on the human level, had a dream. In that dream he saw something, and after he awoke he said, "This is the house of God." Undoubtedly, this concept of the house of God came from God Himself.