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250 Beersheba. Tired, Jacob lay down to sleep in the rocky field. What ensued is best told in the Bible's own words (Genesis chapter 28): And Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Harran. And he reached a certain place and went to sleep there, for the sun had set. And he took of the stones of that place and put them to rest his head on, and he lay down in that place. And he dreamed, and beheld a ladder set up on the ground with its top reaching up to the sky. And behold, angels of Elohim were going up and coming down on it. And behold, there was Yahweh standing upon it, and he spoke, saying: "I am Yahweh, the Elohim of Abra- ham thy ancestor and the Elohim of Isaac. The land upon which thou liest, to thee I will give it and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be spread as dust on _ the ground, spreading west and east and northward and southward; and in thee and in thy seed shall all the communities of the Earth be blessed. Behold, I am with thee; I will protect thee wherever thou goest, and I shall bring thee back to this land. I shall not abandon thee until I have done that which I am saying to you." And Jacob awakened out of his sleep, and _ said, "Surely Yahweh is present in this place, and I knew it not." And he was afraid, saying: “How awesome is_ this place! This is none other than an abode of Elohim, and this is the gateway to heaven!" And Jacob got up early in the morning and took the stone that he had used as a pillow, and set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on its top, and called the name of the place Beth-El. In this Divine Encounter, in a nighttime vision, Jacob saw what, without doubt, we would nowadays call a UFO; except that to him it was not an UNidentified Flying Object: he well realized that its occupants or operators were divine beings, "angels of Elohim," and their Lord or commander none other than Yahweh himself, "standing upon it." What he had wit- DIVINE ENCOUNTERS