Genesis 28
So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman. 2 Go at once to Paddan Aram,[a] 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. 3 May God Almighty[b] bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. 4 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.” 5 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.
6 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,” 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8 Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; 9 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.
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11 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. 12 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. 13 There above it[c] 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. 14 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.[d] 15 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.”
16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 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.”
18 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. 19 He called that place Bethel,[e] though the city used to be called Luz.
20 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 21 so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord[f] will be my God 22 and[g] 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.”
Footnotes
- Genesis 28:2 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia; also in verses 5, 6 and 7
- Genesis 28:3 Hebrew El-Shaddai
- Genesis 28:13 Or There beside him
- Genesis 28:14 Or will use your name and the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20)
- Genesis 28:19 Bethel means house of God.
- Genesis 28:21 Or Since God … father’s household, the Lord
- Genesis 28:22 Or household, and the Lord will be my God, 22 then
No Take-Backs?
Genesis 28:1-5
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.
In the last chapter, we saw Jacob deceive his father Isaac and steal the blessing of the firstborn from Esau. Isaac knew Jacob had lied to him, yet he continues to bless him as he sends him to get a wife. Why doesn’t Isaac say, “Never mind, Jacob. You lied to me, so actually, you can’t have the blessing”?
It reminds me of the time later, when the Gibeonites lied to Joshua to make a treaty with Israel. The Lord ordered Israel to destroy everyone living in the land before them as a punishment for those people’s sins. But the Gibeonites came to Joshua and said they were from a different country. When the Israelites learned that the Gibeonites were from Canaan, they wanted to cancel the treaty, but they decided it wouldn’t have been right to do so. “We have given them our oath by the Lord, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now. This is what we will do to them: We will let them live, so that God’s wrath will not fall on us for breaking the oath we swore to them” (Joshua 9:19-20).
Maybe Isaac felt like taking back the blessing from Jacob would be adding sin to the sin Jacob already committed. Maybe Isaac realized that you can’t take back what you’ve said and that you need to follow through with your commitments.
Again, we have two lessons here: 1) Be careful what you say. 2) Follow through with what you say.
Matthew 13:26 – “Everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.”
What do you need to follow through on? Your marriage? A work commitment? A ministry you said you’d be a part of? …
Communicate Expectations!
Genesis 28:6-9
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.
We read before about how Esau had married two Canaanite women.
Genesis 26:34-35 - When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
Looking at his family’s history, you might think Esau would have understood that was a no-no, that you were supposed to marry a relative. Abraham had married his half-sister Sarah; Isaac had married his cousin Rebekah. But Esau isn’t the brightest guy. Remember, he traded his birthright for a bowl of stew.
Now that Isaac specifically tells Jacob where to find his wife, Esau realizes what the family expectation is. Did Isaac and Rebekah never talk to Esau about what they wanted to see happen in his life? It seems that though Esau doesn’t have much wisdom, he does have a soft heart. We’ll see more of his soft heart later in the story.
I’m led to believe that if he had known that his parents (and his dad in particular) didn’t want him marrying Canaanite women, he wouldn’t have done it. Meanwhile, his parents held his marriages against him.
So, here’s a really practical question for us today: Do you clearly communicate your expectations to other people? Your spouse? Your children? Your employees? Your friends or fellow church members?
Do you have a right to be displeased with them for not meeting your unspoken expectations?
Well, You Have to Start Somewhere…
Genesis 28:10-22
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. our 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.”
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.”
Look at the contrast between what Jacob wants and what the Lord is promising Him. The Lord says, “Jacob, I’m going to give you all this land!” And Jacob answers, “If you can keep me safe and give me food and clothes…” Jacob is looking for much less than the Lord wants to give.
We do the same thing, don’t we? The Lord says, “I’m going to make you a kingdom of priests, empowered by nothing less than the Holy Spirit of God,” and we say, “Lord, help me get through this workday. Help me with this health issue I’m having.”
Hear me: There’s nothing wrong with praying for those things, just like there was nothing wrong with Jacob praying for safety and provisions. The Lord wants us to trust Him for those things. But He also wants us to trust Him to do bigger things than to take care of our everyday needs. Think about all the promises the Lord has given you in Scripture. Think about the gifts and opportunities He’s given you to reach out to other people. Pray bigger.
And then, of course, we have to consider the fact that Jacob says, “If God does this, then He will be God, and I will give Him my offering.” That’s not how our relationship with the Lord is supposed to work, is it? We honor Him because He is God, not because of His blessings, not even because of answered prayers. He’s the King. He doesn’t need to prove Himself to us. Once we recognize Who He is, it’s our role to submit to Him.
That being said, we thank Him because He is gracious to us and does prove Himself to us over and over again. Take a moment to remember all the times the Lord has shown up in your life. Then ask Him what He wants to do in your life next.
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