Introduction
‘So, Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him: ‘Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.’ Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau. Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him, he commanded him, ‘Do not marry a Canaanite woman,’ and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; so, he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.’ Genesis 28:1-9
Although Isaac wasn’t aware of Rebekah’s deceitful plans, it seems that he is right with God and Jacob again and so, he lets his son go to get a wife, Genesis 28:1.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Isaac evidently realized that his desire to give the blessing to Esau was not God’s will, so having given it to Jacob, Genesis 27:27-29, he blessed him further, Genesis 28:1-4.’
Isaac now blesses Jacob and commands him not marry a Canaanite woman, Genesis 28:1, he is to go to Paddan Aram, the house of Rebekah’s father Bethuel, Genesis 28:2. He is to find a wife from among the daughters of Laban, Rebekah’s brother, Genesis 28:3. The blessings and promise of land and a seed are passed on to Jacob, Genesis 28:3-4 / Genesis 12:1-3. Abraham, Isaac and then Jacob, the promises are being passed on as God promised.
Jacob is sent on his way to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, Rebekah’s brother, Genesis 28:5. Sadly, this was the last time Jacob was going to see his parents alive.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Sin always drives the sinner out. Adam and Eve sinned and went out of Eden; Gehazi sinned and lied to the prophet, and went out a leper white as snow; Judas betrayed the Lord and went out and hanged himself; Peter profanely denied the Lord and went out into the darkness weeping bitterly; here Jacob had sinned and lied to his father and went out to rest in the wilderness with a stone for a pillow.’
When Esau learned that his father had blessed Jacob and had sent him away to find a wife and commanded him, not marry a Canaanite woman, Genesis 28:6, and that Jacob had obeyed his parents and gone to Paddan Aram, Genesis 28:7. For Esau, it seems like he always had a difficult time pleasing his father, he simply didn’t understand that it was because of his behaviour.
He liked to keep company with ungodly people, especially ungodly women and because of this, he couldn’t live in faith as his father did, Genesis 28:8. Esau adds to his wives by marrying others but notice that it seems he’s trying to get back into his father’s good books by marrying a non-Canaanite woman named, Mahalath, Genesis 28:9.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The behavior of both these grandsons shows what a colossal mistake Abraham made when Hagar became a second wife.’
JACOB’S DREAM AT BETHEL
‘Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the LORD, and he said: ‘I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’ When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.’ He was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.’ Genesis 28:10-17
After a trip of around five hundred miles, Genesis 28:10, Jacob is about experience something miraculous, something he simply wasn’t expecting. I would imagine he’s feeling isolated and scared and tired from the long journey. In a certain place he stops for the night because it’s getting late, Genesis 28:11.
He takes a stone, using it as a pillow and fell asleep, Genesis 28:11, and whilst sleeping, he dreamt of a stairway resting on the earth but reaching heaven, Genesis 28:13. Jacob also sees the angels of God ascending and descending on it, Genesis 28:13.
The stairway was symbolising a connection between heaven and earth. The encounter Jesus had with Nathanael mentioned in John 1:47-51 is interesting. ‘The greater thing’ to be seen mentioned in John 1:50, is better explained in John 1:51. This probably refers to the story of Jacob, Genesis 28:12, perhaps what Nathanael is reading under the fig tree. Both involve the idea of communication between heaven and earth.
In John 1:51, we see that Jesus takes the place of the stairway. Nathanael sees that Jesus is the link between heaven and earth, the One through whom God’s will is fully revealed to man, the One alone through whom we have access to God, John 14:6 / 1 Timothy 2:5 / Romans 5:2.
However, this would have been a method of drawing attention to the role of Christ as a mediator between God and man. The idea of heaven being open to all men and communication allowed between God and man via the Son, not an earthly entity. Jesus, Himself is the ladder, giving access to God.
For a Jew, such as Nathanael to declare anyone King in this manner was the greatest statement of faith he could ever make, John 1:49 / 1 Timothy 6:15 / Revelation 17:14 / Revelation 19:16. The idea being portrayed was one of total and immediate spiritual dependence on the one accepted as King, that is Christ.
This stairway is the access to heaven, Genesis 28:12, Jesus uses this event to share the same important truth, John 1:51. Jesus is the Way, He doesn’t show the Way, John 14:6, Jesus is our access to heaven. God has provided us with access to heaven, through Jesus and Jesus only.
The angels who seem to act as messengers between God and man, or guardian angels, Hebrews 1:14, are ascending and descending, Genesis 28:13. Jesus says they are ascending and descending on Him, John 1:51. We would think that they would be descending and ascending, in other words, coming down from heaven to earth but they’re not, Hebrews 13:2.
In Jacob’s dream, he sees the LORD standing above the stairway and identifies Himself as the LORD, the God of his father Abraham and the God of Isaac, Genesis 28:13. God promises Jacob that He will give him and his descendants the land on which he is lying, Genesis 28:13.
Jacob’s descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and spread out throughout the earth and everyone on earth will be blessed through him and his offspring, Genesis 28:14. God promises to be with him and protect him wherever he goes and He promises to bring Jacob back to the land, He will love leave him until this promise is fulfilled, Genesis 28:15.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Jacob was the second person in the Bible to hear the assurance ‘I am with you’, Genesis 28:15. Isaac was the first, Genesis 26:3 / Genesis 26:24. This was a promise that God later repeated to Moses, Exodus 3:12, Joshua, Joshua 1:5, Gideon, Judges 6:16, regarding Immanuel, Isaiah 7:14 / Matthew 1:23, and to all Christians, Matthew 28:20 / Hebrews 13:5.’
The purpose of the event was to reassure Jacob that through him the promises made to Abraham would be continued, Genesis 12:1-3 / Genesis 12:7 / Genesis 13:14-16 / Genesis 15:18 / Genesis 17:8 / Genesis 24:7, but more importantly to remind him that God is present wherever he goes, Psalm 139:7. God speaks words of comfort and repeats the covenant promises to Jacob and this was going to be a life-changing experience for Jacob, Philippians 1:6.
Jacob, after he awakes is thinking, the LORD is in this place, even know he wasn’t aware of it, Genesis 28:16. He then proceeds to worship God and puts emphasis on this place, saying ‘this is the house of God’, this is the gate of heaven,’ Genesis 28:17.
‘Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the LORD will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.’ Genesis 28:18-22
Notice the three things which Jacob did after his dream.
1. Jacob set up the stone he used for a pillow and anointed it with oil to memorialise the location. Genesis 28:18.
Over the years all kinds of theories have come about concerning this stone. Some suggest it was taken to Jerusalem; some suggest it was taken to Spain, others suggest it was taken to Ireland, and still others claim it was taken to Scotland, upon which, the Kings of Scotland sat to be crowned. Even today in Scotland they claim this stone is kept at the now-ruined Scone Abbey in Scone, near Perth, Scotland.
2. Jacob changed the name from Luz to Bethel, Genesis 28:19.
A little later the angel of God, the preincarnate Christ, when He’s speaking to Jacob calls Himself, the God of Bethel, Genesis 31:13. Bethel was later to become a high place for idolatry, 1 Kings 13:32 / Hosea 10:15 / Amos 4:4.
3. Jacob made a vow to return to God a tenth of those blessings that would come his way by the blessing of God, Genesis 28:20-22.
Interestingly, this is only the second time that tithing in the Old Testament has been mentioned, the other being in the instance of Abraham’s tithes to Melchizedek, Genesis 14:20 / Hebrews 7:2.
Notice that Jacob made a vow with God, after the event. Notice the difference between God’s Promise, Genesis 28:13-15 and Jacob’s vow, Genesis 28:20-27.
It’s possible that he didn’t fully trust God up to this point. Maybe it’s now a case of seeing is believing, Philippians 4:13, Nahum 1:7. God is teaching him and will continue to teach him lessons on humility.
Please note that God is still willing to accept him, even after his worldly prayer. What a merciful and loving God we serve.