Introduction: there was trouble in the camp. Jacob had tricked his father, Isaac, into receiving the paternal blessing Isaac wanted to give Esau, Jacob’s twin (and older) brother (Genesis 27). Even worse, their mother, Rebekah, had helped Jacob in this deception! Even before this, some years previous, Jacob made a hard bargain with his twin brother, Esau, for Esau’s birthright (Gen. 25:29-34); oddly enough, nobody else seemed to notice or even make mention of it at the time.
But now, Esau was furious and breathed aloud his plans to kill Jacob. Rebekah found out about and, again, stepped in to protect Jacob. Rebekah found a way to get Jacob away from the situation, and that involved a variation on the “let’s find him a wife” theme. Except for the time Isaac and the family spent in the land of the Philistines (Gerar, Genesis 26), Jacob might never have gone on any other journeys at all!
1 Why Jacob left home
Text: Genesis 28:1-5, KJV: 1 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. 2 Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother. 3 And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; 4 And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham. 5 And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.
Genesis 27 records a very sordid story, in that Rebekah, mother of Esau and Jacob, conspired for Jacob, the younger son, to basically steal the paternal blessing Isaac, the father, planned to give Esau, the older son. Things seemed to work out the way Rebekah planned: Jacob got the blessing, Esau got another but lesser blessing, and Esau was so furious at what Jacob had done that he planned to kill him!
Rebekah found out about Esau’s plan and decided to get Jacob out of harm’s way. She came up with the plan (ruse?) for Jacob to find a wife. Esau had already married two foreign (pagan?) women, Hittites, and Rebekah was not happy about it. This sets the stage for Jacob’s departure from home.
Verse 1 tells us that Isaac “called Jacob, and blessed him (in addition to the blessing he had stolen from Esau), and charged him (gave him some serious instructions)” to not marry one of the local (pagan?) girls but rather go back to Rebekah’s country and family, then find a wife from there. The differences between a wife-search for Isaac and the one for Jacob could be summarized as follows (see Genesis 24): Isaac was about 40 when Abraham decided to find a wife for Isaac; Jacob was maybe 77 by some calculations; Sarah had died three years before this bur Rebekah was still living; Abraham sent a servant and 10 camels loaded with gifts to impress the chosen damsel; Isaac sent Jacob away with nothing but the clothes on his back and his staff.
Thus, having little but what he could carry, Jacob set out for Paddan-Aram, the land of his uncle Laban (his mother’s brother). Jacob himself later said, in so many words, he left home with only his staff but he was coming back with a lot more (Genesis 32:10, paraphrased).
But before he arrived at Laban’s territory, Jacob was going to experience something very special.
2 What Jacob experienced that first night
A: A night under the stars
Text, Genesis 28:10-11, KJV: 10 And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. 11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.
Beersheba was about the southern limit of Isaac’s land. In later days, there was a phrase, “from Dan to Beersheba”, to describe the northern edge to the southern edge of Israel’s territory. A similar usage, currently, might be “from Maine to California” or “from coast to coast” to give two examples.
Jacob had left Beersheba, along with just about everything and everyone he knew, and was heading towards Haran. This was where his uncle Laban still lived and this was his mother’s home territory. Isaac had told Jacob to find a wife from his relatives in Haran but what Jacob knew of his relatives there is debatable at best. There is no record of any communication between Rebekah and any of her relatives as recorded in the Bible.
Needless to say, this was going to be a long, long journey, and Jacob found himself literally in the dark. Moses wrote “the sun was set” which could mean anything from twilight to dusk to full darkness but at any rate, Jacob decided to “call it a night” and get some sleep.
This, by the way, was truly an act of faith on his part! It’s anybody’s guess how many bandits or thieves were on the loose in those days and a single target like Jacob, traveling alone, would have been an easy target. Add to this when he’s asleep and maybe couldn’t hear anyone approaching or see them in the dark. No matter, Jesus arranged what he had, using some of the local stones as a base for his pillows. I doubt anyone like Jacob, used to living in relative comfort, would humble himself to sleeping with his head on rocks without something to soften the surface. Once done with that, he “lay down in that place to sleep”.
But what he saw or experienced next would make sleep nearly impossible!
B: A ladder and a promise
Text, Genesis 28:12- KJV: 12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. 13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; 14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 And, 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.
Jacob had to have very tired after walking from Beersheba to Luz (verse 19), which was a long way from Beersheba (estimates of distance vary). Looking at some of the available Bible maps, he had a very difficult journey, what with climbing up and down through the hills and valleys of central Canaan as it was then known. He would have probably walked through Hebron and Bethlehem, places of importance to those of his family in earlier and later days, and finally found a place he thought was safe enough to rest for the night.
Verse 12 states that Jacob “dreamed”, and in this dream he saw a ladder from earth to Heaven. Even more unusual was that he saw angels of God ascending and descending. How much Jacob knew about angels at that stage of his life is not known for certain—he didn’t mention this to anyone according to the Scriptures.
But he did see something, rather, Someone, who was very special indeed! Jacob saw the LORD, God of Abraham and Isaac. Very few people have seen the LORD in person. Jacob’s reaction seemed to be absolute silence at this point. Mine would be too, most likely!
And not only did Jacob see the LORD, he heard the LORD speak! The LORD gave Jacob some new information, as follows:
First, the LORD confirmed His identity. He said, plainly, “I am the LORD, God of your father (grandfather, there is no word for “Grandparent” in Hebrew). Jacob couldn’t mistake this Person for anyone else, anywhere, and I believe he realized this for himself at this point.
Second, the LORD confirmed His promises to Abraham and Isaac through Jacob himself. Abraham was, and had been, dead for years, maybe decades by now and Isaac believed himself to be close to death. Did they wonder who was going to receive God’s promises to them? God solved that problem when He chose Jacob. Example: The LORD confirmed to Jacob that He was going to give Jacob and “his seed (descendants)” the very land on which he was lying down!
Was this a promise or a confirmation that Jacob would indeed find a wife and have children?
Remember, Jacob was a man on a journey, not only to find a wife but to escape the wrath of his own brother after stealing the birthright and blessing!
The LORD then added that Jacob’s descendants would be like the “dust of the earth” spreading about all over the world. That was partially true in the Old Testament period but even more so now, where the Jews, descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob live in nearly every country on the face of this earth. O that they would have faith in the God of Abraham, even as Jacob had.
Finally, the LORD promised Jacob, “I am with you” and “I will keep (protect, a word with many translations) you everywhere you go and I will bring you back here. I won’t leave you until I have done everything I’ve told you I will do.”
All of this took place during Jacob’s dream. What would he do once he woke up?
3 What Jacob did after he woke from his dream
Text, Genesis 28:16-22, KJV: 16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. 17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.19 And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. 20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, 21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: 22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.
Jacob had been asleep, a long way from his home, and in a place that he probably didn’t know much about. True, he may have heard Grandpa Abraham tell about the altar he had built in this area many years before but there is no record Jacob had ever traveled this far away. Now he’s awake, and he did several things before he did anything else.
The first thing Jacob did was to acknowledge or agree that this was a special place. How many times Jacob had even spoken to God is never stated before this point and how much he knew about God is debatable as well. Isaac and Rebekah may have done their best to get the knowledge of the True God, the God of Abraham and Isaac into their sons. Nobody knows how well they succeeded, up to this point.
Jacob made two positive statements about the place. One, he said “Surely the LORD is in this place but I didn’t know it (paraphrased)” This could mean that Jacob realized the God of Abraham and Isaac was in more than one place at a time. How much he or anyone else knew, at that time, about God’s “omnipresence (how He could be everywhere at once)” is something we may never know. He finally learned this about the God of his fathers.
Then he said the place was “dreadful” but the word meant “awesome” in the days when the KJV was translated. Our definition of “dreadful”, such as extremely bad (that campsite was dreadful!), wasn’t the meaning here. Jacob wasn’t describing something bad, rather, he was amazed at how much good was here! And he took that knowledge one step further, in that he believed this was God’s house and the gate to Heaven (after all, hadn’t he dreamed of angels ascending and descending on that ladder?).
Following this, Jacob rose up “early in the morning (now there’s an idea for a series of studies. How many times did something happen “early in the morning”?)” and then did something unusual with the stone he had used for his pillows. First, he set it up as a pillar—probably mounting it so it pointed upwards—and then anointed it (“poured oil upon the top of it”). Interestingly, according to Nave’s Topical Bible, this was the first time pouring oil on something or anointing something is ever mentioned in the Bible. Where or how Jacob knew of this action is never stated.
And because Jacob had determined that this was “the house of God”, he called the place “Bethel”, which in the Hebrew language means “house of God”. Bethel would be mentioned several times in the Old Testament—in various contexts and situations. But that’s another story or message for another day.
The last thing Jacob did was to make a vow to the LORD. He framed it, actually, as an “if-then” type of bargain! Jacob said IF God will a) be with me (The LORD had already promised this during Jacob’s dream! See verse 15), b) IF God will keep me in the way that I go (again, already promised in verse 15—what was Jacob thinking?); c) IF God will give me food and clothing (this was a reasonable request. Jacob had nothing with him except what he could carry!) and d) IF God will bring me back to my father’s house in peace—THEN AND ONLY THEN will the LORD be my God. Jacob probably didn’t know this at this time, but God had already chosen him instead of Esau to be the one who would receive all the promises and benefits guaranteed to Abraham and Isaac.
Then Jacob likely performed one of his first ever acts of worship. He pointed out the stone, which he had “set as a pillar” (and anointed with oil) would be God’s house, plus, he promised to give a tenth (tithe) back to God of all God would give to him.
Conclusion: The chapter closes at this point but not Jacob’s story. He left his home, spent the night in unfamiliar territory, had the strangest dream of his life, and made a promise to God. Even though Jacob was on a journey, he was nowhere near the end of that journey. There was still a lot to encounter but Jacob knew God would be with him on every step of his journey.
And God will be with you and me on every step of our journeys, too!
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
