Lesson 60- Chapter 28 Jacob Leaves Home to Find Laban

The Blessing Really Does Go With Jacob 28:1- 5

English Standard Version (Chapter 28)

28 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women. 2 Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.

3 God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. 4 May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!”

5 Thus Isaac sent Jacob away. And he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

This time around, Jacob consults with Dad Isaac upon fleeing for his life. This wife thing is very serious as we find out. Once Isaac is informed that Jacob is going to leave, he give him advice on how to marry. Too bad the boys did not consult sooner. But better late than never. The instruction is clear, stay away from the Canaanite women!

Just to make it a little clearer, Canaan came through Noah’s son Ham. He saw the nakedness of his father. Noah pronounced this upon him in Genesis 9:24, 25.

English Standard Version (Chapter 9)

24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,“Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ge 9:25.

Canaan was the father of the various tribes that are known by their suffix- the “ites” We find them listed in Genesis 10 and we get a perspective of just who and where they are:

English Standard Version (Chapter 10)

15 Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth, 16 and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites,

17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the clans of the Canaanites dispersed.

19 And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon in the direction of Gerar as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.

It’s really a big part of the promised land from the book of Exodus. It was favored land, but inhabited by the tribes of families that did not serve the Lord and had fallen into idol worship. The plan after the Exodus was to eventually drive them out under the leadership of Joshua. The Hittite wives of Esau came from this list starting with verse 15, probably Hivites. So when it says stay away from Canaanites, this covered a big territory.

Padan- Aram ( pronounced Pay - Den’- aram.)

This is Abraham’s home land. He left here to find and follow the Lord but his son/grandson kept coming back to get wives. It is the region in upper Mesopotamia of Haran. Jacob gets instruction on who to go see, Rebecca’s brother. He was as much a trickster as his sister Rebecca. The daughters of Laban were well regarded, because hey! Mom came from this house of Laban. He is her brother.

The Blessing Flows 28:3- 4

English Standard Version (Chapter 28)

3 God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. 4 May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham

Here is where he empties the spiritual dump truck at Jacob’s front door. I may even say that Jacob may have a small inkling of what this is all about, but it takes years to blossom but only moments to institute. It gets in gear at this point. There are no tricks or nothing shady, Jacob is running for his life and Dad slaps him on the back with this blessing and says, “get going!” ( My loose translation..)

Verse five once again tells us “ to where and to whom” he is running. He is going to the home where his mother grew up.

Esau Marries Wrong, Again

Genesis 28:6- 9.

English Standard Version (Chapter 28)

6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram. 8 So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father, 9 Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.

This is a marriage of willful disobedience, jealousy, revenge, and humiliation. How far can Esau sink? Let’s think about this. It is pretty far. “If mom is conniving enough to help Jacob steal my blessing, then take this!” Another heathen bride. Of the one place Jacob was instructed to avoid, Esau went there. He went straight to the family of the rejected child Ishmael and intermingled with them of the seed that was intended to make many righteous nations. This is a heavy burden he is placing on the shoulders of himself, his family, and his children. Turning his back emotionally, socially, physically, and spiritually from his family. He may have lived nearby, but his heart was many miles away.

This does prepare us for what is coming down the road, but prepared as we may be, the world may have never recovered from this. Granted, the boys reconciled with each other in later chapters, but a lot of damage had been done.

Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, has a name with a strong figurative meaning. There are two Psalms, 53 and 88 that are Psalms upon Mahalath ( a resonating instrument), a Maschil of David( type of song). It is a Psalm that resonates not only by an instrument, but it resonates suffering of affliction and/or sickness or suffering. This may possibly be a term that describes the “blues” of the Psalmist. A woman whose name became the standard for which suffering is remembered and where healing is begged for. Let’s listen:

English Standard Version (Psalm 53)

53 TO THE CHOIRMASTER: ACCORDING TO MAHALATH. A MASKIL OF DAVID.

1  The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;there is none who does good.2  God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand,who seek after God.

3  They have all fallen away;together they have become corrupt;there is none who does good,not even one.4  Have those who work evil no knowledge,who eat up my people as they eat bread,and do not call upon God?

5  There they are, in great terror,where there is no terror!For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you; you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

6  Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!When God restores the fortunes of his people,let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

This psalm could easily be a later rebuke upon the life of Esau as he marries a forbidden woman. No matter what, the message is clear: the fool disregards the message of the Lord. God is searching from heaven for those who understand what He needs us to do. That is, He wants us to seek after Him, to come near, and call upon Him. Salvation does not come from the house of the ungodly, but it comes out of Zion. Let Jacob rejoice, he ended up with the gladness of Israel upon his shoulders.