ABRAHAM AND REBEKAH SEND JACOB TO HARAN FOR A WIFE
28 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 Padan-aram, 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 Padan-aram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.
vs 1 At the end of chapter 27, Rebekah plans to send Jacob to Haran to find his wife. This plan is due to the threat from Esau to kill Jacob due to his deception of Isaac to give his blessing to Jacob. Also in the last verse of chapter 27 Rebekah uses her displeasure with the wives that Esau has taken from the Hittite women. Here in verse 1 of chapter 28 we see Isaac endorsing this plan.
vs 2 While Isaac never leaves the promised land, Jacob will leave to find his wife. He will go to Rebekah's brother's house. Laban will give the deceiver a post graduate class in deception. All sins may be the same to God, however it appears the consequences of the sin is meted out in proportion to the sin.
vs 3 "God Almighty" is el shaddai means all powerful. The God that is able to provide all things for Jacob.
vs 4 Isaac is conferring the blessing of Abraham onto to Jacob. Jacob is the one that will receive the promise that God gave to Abraham. That promise is not only for the creation of Israel (land and people), but the blessing of all nations of the earth.
vs 5 Isaac did not leave the promised land to go to padan aram to find Rebekah. If something would have happened to Abraham, Isaac may not have anything to return to. When Jacob is sent to padan aram, both Isaac and Esau are living to protect the claim they have on the land. Most of all, Esau wants to kill Jacob for his deception.
vs 2 While Isaac never leaves the promised land, Jacob will leave to find his wife. He will go to Rebekah's brother's house. Laban will give the deceiver a post graduate class in deception. All sins may be the same to God, however it appears the consequences of the sin is meted out in proportion to the sin.
vs 3 "God Almighty" is el shaddai means all powerful. The God that is able to provide all things for Jacob.
vs 4 Isaac is conferring the blessing of Abraham onto to Jacob. Jacob is the one that will receive the promise that God gave to Abraham. That promise is not only for the creation of Israel (land and people), but the blessing of all nations of the earth.
vs 5 Isaac did not leave the promised land to go to padan aram to find Rebekah. If something would have happened to Abraham, Isaac may not have anything to return to. When Jacob is sent to padan aram, both Isaac and Esau are living to protect the claim they have on the land. Most of all, Esau wants to kill Jacob for his deception.
ESAU TAKES A WIFE FROM ISHMAEL
6 When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padan-aram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan; 7 and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padan-aram; 8 and Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father; 9 then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.
vs 6 Esau is left with his father and mother that obviously dislike that he took Canaanite brides. Jacob has the blessing and the birthright, now both of his parents acknowledge that by sending Jacob to padan aram to get a wife.
vs 7 As deceptive as Jacob was, he obeyed his parents and left to fulfill their will. Esau had taken wives from the Canaanites which was against his parents will.
vs 8-9 Esau was Isaac's favorite, although firstborn he has lost that status. He is the only remaining son in the land with the family, and now perhaps in an effort to appease his parents he goes to Ishmael's family to take a wife. Just as Ismael was the firstborn, and was passed over for Isaac, Esau has now been supplanted.
vs 7 As deceptive as Jacob was, he obeyed his parents and left to fulfill their will. Esau had taken wives from the Canaanites which was against his parents will.
vs 8-9 Esau was Isaac's favorite, although firstborn he has lost that status. He is the only remaining son in the land with the family, and now perhaps in an effort to appease his parents he goes to Ishmael's family to take a wife. Just as Ismael was the firstborn, and was passed over for Isaac, Esau has now been supplanted.
JACOBS LADDER
10 And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, 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. 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. 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 Beth-el: 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.
vs 10 Beer-sheba is the southern most boundary of the promised land. The phrase Dan to Beer-sheba became an expression similar to "from coast to coast". Haran is around 500 miles north of Beer-sheba, where Abraham's father Terah had settled with their family when they moved from Ur.
vs 11 Jacob spent the night in a place that God had planned to meet with him.
vs 12 God communicated with Jacob through a dream. The ladder is probably more of a staircase than a ladder. In the region around Ur there was a ziggurat that had a staircase that went up the structure to the top to enable the gods to descend and receive worship. Angels can travel back and forth between heaven and earth.
John 1:45-51
45 Philip found Nathanael and said unto him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 And Nathanael said unto him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said unto him, “Come and see.”
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!”
48 Nathanael said unto Him, “How knowest Thou me?” Jesus answered and said unto him, “Before Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.”
49 Nathanael answered and said unto Him, “Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel.”
50 Jesus answered and said unto him, “Because I said unto thee, ‘I saw thee under the fig tree,’ believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these.”
51 And He said unto him, “Verily, verily I say unto you, hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
vs 13 God appears to Jacob and leaves no doubt as the significance of this dream. God is revealing Himself to Jacob. The promise is indeed to come through Jacob. The land promised is the whole of Northern Israel and southern Judah.
Genesis 12:1-3
12 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
vs 14 thy seed is not only referring to a vast number of descendants, but also to the One to come. The Messiah will come through Jacobs lineage.
vs 15 God assures Jacob that it will be His power that will protect Jacob and return him to this land. Jacob will have the opportunity to stay in Haran. He has this promise to return. God will fulfill His word.
vs 16 God had chosen this place to reveal Himself to Jacob. Jacob believes this is Holy ground. It looked like a good place to sleep, but turned out to be a meeting place of God.
vs 17 Dreadful in this context is fearful and reverential. The place is Holy and Jacob renames it Bethel which means "house of God".
vs 11 Jacob spent the night in a place that God had planned to meet with him.
vs 12 God communicated with Jacob through a dream. The ladder is probably more of a staircase than a ladder. In the region around Ur there was a ziggurat that had a staircase that went up the structure to the top to enable the gods to descend and receive worship. Angels can travel back and forth between heaven and earth.
John 1:45-51
45 Philip found Nathanael and said unto him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 And Nathanael said unto him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said unto him, “Come and see.”
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!”
48 Nathanael said unto Him, “How knowest Thou me?” Jesus answered and said unto him, “Before Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.”
49 Nathanael answered and said unto Him, “Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel.”
50 Jesus answered and said unto him, “Because I said unto thee, ‘I saw thee under the fig tree,’ believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these.”
51 And He said unto him, “Verily, verily I say unto you, hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
vs 13 God appears to Jacob and leaves no doubt as the significance of this dream. God is revealing Himself to Jacob. The promise is indeed to come through Jacob. The land promised is the whole of Northern Israel and southern Judah.
Genesis 12:1-3
12 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
vs 14 thy seed is not only referring to a vast number of descendants, but also to the One to come. The Messiah will come through Jacobs lineage.
vs 15 God assures Jacob that it will be His power that will protect Jacob and return him to this land. Jacob will have the opportunity to stay in Haran. He has this promise to return. God will fulfill His word.
vs 16 God had chosen this place to reveal Himself to Jacob. Jacob believes this is Holy ground. It looked like a good place to sleep, but turned out to be a meeting place of God.
vs 17 Dreadful in this context is fearful and reverential. The place is Holy and Jacob renames it Bethel which means "house of God".