The Stairway to Heaven
Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” – Genesis 28:10-17 NKJV.
What would you think if you were to see what appeared to be a ladder extending into Heaven? That is what Trisha Hawke saw in the sky at Accrington, Lancashire, England. Most of us would not believe Trisha, except that she has a photo she took of this very unusual cloud formation. She had just taken her nine-year-old daughter to school and she says “I always have my camera with me and usually take pictures every morning after dropping my daughter off at school. The way the sun was coming through the clouds on this particular morning was really pretty and would have made a nice photo anyway but then I saw this really strange shape rising up from the skyline. It looked just like a set of stairs or steps so my first thought was it looked like a stairway to heaven. I was really pleased to have caught it on camera as often these things don’t show up the same as when you see them with your own eyes. I’m not sure what made the shape appear like that or how long it was there for but it must have been a little while as I had enough time to get my camera out and take a picture.” Here is the link to the article and to the photos of this stairway to heaven: http://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/668460/Pictures-Stairway-heaven-sky-clouds-shape-Accrington-Lancashire (Express UK 05.10.16)
Jacob had a vision of a spiritual ladder extending to Heaven with angels descending and ascending. I believe there are still angels descending and ascending to Heaven today. Most of the time we cannot see them, but that does not make them any less real. Did the ladder Jacob saw in his vision look like the one Trisha snapped a photo of?
If you do a google search for “stairway to heaven” there are a huge number of search results for the rock song with that name by Led Zeppelin; with lyrics and much of the music by Jimmie Page. I have heard the song many times, but never really listened to the lyrics; so, I looked them up today. Perhaps if you are high on some substance they would make more sense to you. The reason the lyrics are so strange is because, according to Wikipedia, Page took the words from a book he was reading at the time, “Magic Arts in Celtic Britain.” However, as often happens with secular writing there is a line of truth within the lyrics. Here is the line of truth: “Yes, there are two paths you can go by, But in the long run, There’s still time to change the road you’re on.”
There are two paths in life, a life with God and a life without God. Jesus says, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it (Matthew 7:13-14).” Entry to eternal life and a pass to the only stairway to Heaven is only through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the “gate” to the path of eternal life and the only way of salvation (John 14:6). If you are still breathing, and you are on the wrong path, now is the time to change the road you are on before it is everlastingly too late. Receive Jesus as your Savior now!