Genesis 28: 1 – 22
Let’s make a deal
28 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2 Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. 3 “May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may be an assembly of peoples; 4 And give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land in which you are a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.” 5 So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. 6 Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram. 8 Also Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. 9 So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had. 10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 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. 12 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. 13 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. 14 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. 15 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.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 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!” 18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. 19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21 so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God. 22 And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
Do you like to laugh? In fact if you do it is actually beneficial to your physical and mental health composition. We all need to laugh more. So, I expect more of you to laugh at my jokes.
They are some really good clean funny movies that I still like to watch over and over again. They still get me laughing. My favorite is Home Alone II. I just love the antics that goes on through the whole movie. Another one which is not that well known is called – The End.
Burt Reynolds stars as Wendell "Sonny" Lawson, an unscrupulous real-estate promoter, learns that he has a fatal blood disease and decides to commit suicide rather than endure a slow, painful death. He then takes the time to meet with several friends and family members for one last time, while hiding the fact that he plans to end his own life.
After a failed suicide attempt, Sonny ends up in a mental institution, where he enlists fellow patient, Marlon Borunki (Dom DeLuise), a deranged schizophrenic murderer, to help him die.
It is amazing that with such a sensitive subject as suicide the producers are able to find humor. In the film Reynolds decides to commit suicide by swimming out as far as he can until he is exhausted and then just go under. But after going under he is looking at the surface from the underside and decides not to go through with it. As he breaks the surface of the water he screams, "I want to live! I want to live!" He then begins to try to swim to shore, but it is a very long way off. As he begins to swim he talks to God. He promises to obey all of the Ten Commandments, and then realizes he doesn't know what all of them are so he promises to learn them. Then, in his panic, he says, "Lord, if you get me out of this, I will give you 80% of everything I have." But time passes and he is still going strong, and besides he can just begin to see the shoreline. But as he continues to swim he feels his strength holding out and says, "Lord, if you help me to get to shore alive I will give you 10% of all my earnings." And, finally, he struggles to the place where he sees that he is just going to be able to make it to land and says, "Well, Lord, let's just forget about what I said before. I think I can make it from here on my own."
Reynolds' attitude is reflective of the attitude of many people today. Giving to God or living for God is sometimes thought of as "paying our dues," or fulfilling an obligation. The key point here is that it is not about money. The significance of giving is surrendering your life to Jesus. As the bible states in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 6 verse 33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Please notice what is said involves ‘everything’
What should our attitude toward giving be? What is the proper way to give and think about giving? The first point we need to understand is: giving is an act of worship. It is an expression of gratitude to a faithful God for all His goodness to me. Giving is not just a response to a need in the church; it is a response of gratitude to Him Who loves us and Who gave His life that we can become children of God.
In a way today’s study would be called the opposite of the funny movie – The End. For the man Jacob it should be called – ‘The Beginning’. Like the movie we are going to also see some bargaining by Jacob with the Lord God. He wants to play the game with our Holy Master – Let’s Make a Deal!. This game is still very popular. We all wind up one time or another saying, ‘Hey Lord, if You will do this for me, than I will do this.’ Wow!
Let’s see how it goes down picking up from the last verse of chapter 27.
‘And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do to me?”
It was always the intention of Isaac and Rebekah to obtain a wife for Jacob from their relatives which was okay by our Holy Creator to do at this time in human existence. Later as the population began to greatly increase on the earth our Holy Lord God forbids this because the DNA of people was becoming weaker through intermarriage of relatives and diseases became prominent.
Yet Isaac must be kept unawares of the strains within the family, and Rebekah knew that he would probably dismiss the threat to Jacob by Esau out of hand. He would say he should be able to stand up for himself. So she goes to Isaac with the suggestion that now is the time to consider a wife for Jacob. However, like any wise diplomat she wants him to think that the suggestion is his.
There had been no hurry in bringing this about, but events have now precipitated matters. For his own safety from a revengeful brother Jacob must flee to a place of safety. So she satisfies herself with telling him how distressed she is to think of Jacob marrying a Canaanite woman. ‘Such as these’ may even suggest that some have been showing interest in Jacob and have been visiting them at various occasions. Her plan succeeds. She knew she had only to plant the seed and he would act on it. But she had no conception of the fact that Jacob would be away for so long.
Thus chapter 27.46 is the opening introduction to the new covenant narrative which continues in chapter 28. But it is also important as a connecting link. Our Precious Holy Spirit clearly wanted all this to be seen as connecting directly with the previous story which we learned in chapter 27.
28 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2 Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.
Having been prompted by Rebekah’s words Isaac, unaware of the undercurrents around him, calls for Jacob and sends him to his wife’s family, the family of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, to find a suitable wife. The fact that Isaac knows that Laban has daughters’ serves to demonstrate that the families kept in touch.
If you have been study this book of Genesis all along with us then a noteworthy fact is that in contrast to Abraham’s servant who went to Paddan-aram for Rebekah on Isaac’s behalf Jacob bears no expensive wedding gifts. Isaac is clearly not pleased with him. He must make his own way.
3 “May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may be an assembly of peoples; 4 And give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land in which you are a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.”
This charge now recognizes that Jacob is to receive authority over the family tribe after Isaac has gone.
Jacob is to become a company of peoples, and is to receive the blessing of Abraham, which includes inheritance of the land in which they at present ‘sojourn’ (that is, in which they live without a settled place to call their own). This anticipates the fact that future Israel will be made up of many nations.
5 So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. 6 Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram.
Up to this point Esau had not considered the question of the purpose of his marriages. He has acted independently of any counsel in his marriages and with little thought to the covenant community. Now the actions of Isaac bring him up short. Moses lays great stress on Jacob’s obedience in the marriage field.
8 Also Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. 9 So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.
This verse demonstrates the close connection kept with the wider family. Esau is welcomed by Ishmael’s family as a suitable husband for their daughter, and clearly knows fairly quickly where to find them in order to pursue his suit.
Esau’s love for his father constantly comes over. He desires to please him and the feeling is reciprocated. Yet he did so in independence and not like Jacob in filial obedience. Here he seeks to remedy, rather belatedly, his error in marrying Canaanite women. This brings out how independently he had acted when he married the latter. But even here he acts independently.
This union explains why we next see Esau as leader of a band of men in Seir. He has found the independent lifestyle of the Ishmaelite to his liking. And he is aware that he has no future with the family hierarchy, thus fulfilling Isaac’s words prophesied in chapter 27.
10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran.
At this time Isaac and the family tribe are still firmly situated in Beersheba. Twenty years later they will be found in Mamre near Hebron (35.27). That the tribe had kept in close touch with the children of Heth, who were connected with Mamre. Perhaps they had outstayed their welcome at Beersheba. That Jacob had kept in touch with his family comes out in that he later knows where to find them.
The omission of taking gifts to Laban and his family is quite startling. It suggests Isaac’s displeasure with him. He did not want him back quickly and would be quite happy if he remained in Paddan-aram. Rebekah felt the same for a different reason. She wanted him where he would be safe.
11 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.
The coincidental nature of the resting place is stressed. Though he knows it not an invisible hand is guiding him. The stone is mentioned because it will become a sacred pillar.
12 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.
Upon further study with the term ‘ladder’ we see that the word used is ‘sullam’ (‘heaped up). It suggests a kind of ramp leading upwards. And moving up and down this ramp were angels of God. The general message is clear, that the messengers of God are watching over God’s purposes in the world, and especially as regards Canaan. The use of ‘God’ rather than ‘YHWH’ indicates that the angels are engaged in general activity rather than specific covenant activity. It is Jacob who is being looked after by YHWH Himself.
13 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. 14 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.
Now it is Jacob’s time to walk with the Lord God. As we read here he also has a personal interaction with our Great God Yahweh. However there is a difference. He sees a vision of God in a dream, and God speaks to him directly as the God of his fathers. He confirms the promises made in the covenant. The land is to belong to their children, they will become countless as the dust of the earth, they will spread abroad widely in all directions, and through them the whole world will be blessed. The final purpose of God is always universal blessing. Jacob is now formally accepted by God as the seed through whom the promises would be fulfilled.
15 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.”
God’s sovereign purpose in Jacob is revealed. It is not because Jacob is worthy but because God purposes it. Yet there is in Jacob that which will respond, and indeed has responded, and while his behavior leaves much to be desired God will work on him to make him what he ought to be. Thus God will be with him and will keep and guard him, and will bring about His purpose through him.
We too may feel unworthy in our walk with God, but it is not our sense of worthiness that matters but the fact that God is at work on our lives and we are responsive. If we are His He will work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2.13).
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 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!”
Jacob awakes still filled with the dread and awe that his experience has aroused in him. It is possible that he takes what he has seen literally and thinks that this is literally the place where heaven and earth are joined and where there is a gate through which angels can pass.
The fact that YHWH will be with him wherever he goes, and will not leave him, is a guarantee of that. But for him Bethel will always be special, for here was where he first met God personally and heard His voice speaking to him.
How often God comes to us when we least expect it. Like Jacob we wander to ‘a certain place’ and then God meets us there.
18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.
The pouring of oil on the pillar was to sanctify it to God, to set it apart as ‘holy’. It was to become a sacred pillar, a pillar for a memorial of the covenant renewed with him.
19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously.
Jacob names the place where he is ‘Beth-el’ (the house of God) but the closest city is called Luz. Its name was later changed to Bethel because of this incident.
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21 so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God. 22 And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
Now it is time to play ‘Let’s make a deal’. I find it quite amazing when we experience something exceptional with our Lord, how quickly we kick into gear our own schemes. Have we not all pulled a Jacob? In all sincerity we promise God that we will do such and such if He does something we want. It does not work this way my friends.
Jacob makes a vow. If God will watch over him as He has promised and blesses him and will bring him back to the land of Caanan then he will indeed be totally dedicated to YHWH. The vow is threefold. YHWH will be his God, the place where the stone has been erected will be a sanctuary to His worship, and he will give one tenth of all he receives from God back to Him.
We note that he says ‘if God will be with me’ where we might expect ‘YHWH’. The terms were interchangeable. But he is going into a foreign land where YHWH is not acknowledged and thus thinks in terms of ‘God’ going with him. But if the journey is successful then he will establish His worship as the worship of YHWH, the God of his fathers. He is not saying that YHWH will become his God but that he will be reconfirmed as his God.
This pillar shall be ‘the house of God’ (beth elohim).’ As men approach the pillar they will recognize the presence of God and will engage in worship because it signifies that God appeared there and made his covenant with man. But Jacob does not limit God to a stone. His vision alone has made clear to him the transcendence of God as he calls the area as a whole Bethel.
Jacob’s grandfather had given ‘A tenth’ of the spoils of war to Melchizedek. It was a principle now to be recognized in future transaction where something is due. He is acknowledging God as his overlord.
