Genesis 28:1-22
Notes
Transcript
Genesis 28:1-22
Genesis 28:1-22
Last week, in Genesis 27, talked about the soap opera of Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, and Jacob’s family. Isaac conspired with Esau to bless him as the firstborn. Rebekah knew God’s plan for Jacob to be the master of his brother, so she hatches a scheme to subvert her husband’s plans by means of deception. What was that plan? Gen 25:23
23 And the Lord said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.”
Childish games, right? How old was everyone here? Isaac was 137 years old and going blind, Rebekah was about 100, Esau and Jacob were 77. 77 years old. Still living at home with mom and dad.
What’s Rebekah’s plan? She’s going to slaughter 2 goats, skin them and cook them. Take the pelt and slap it on Jacob so he feels like Esau. Tuck Jacob into Esau’s dirty clothes, that are with her in the house, and give Jacob a bowl full of goat and say “I’m Esau.”
What was Rebekah banking on? That Esau would add up the other 3 working senses and hope that what he hears he dismisses. He’s going to know his 77 year old son’s voice. You parents can pick up your child crying in a crowded mall, right? You know that.
Ultimately, Jacob fools Isaac and gets blessed, and the blessing states specifically: Gen 27:29
29 Let peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, And let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, And blessed be those who bless you!”
The prophecy was fulfilled, by any means necessary. There were several takeaways from last week, like the fact that God’s Will, will be done no matter the cost. I can’t see a way that this plays out any other way, any righteous way. Righteous in my eyes, at least. The takeaway from this, is that the Lord can use our screw-ups and do amazing things with us, as long as we are willing to make the changes the Lord needs us to make.
Another takeaway was to look at the situation that Isaac was in thru this chapter. He was blind, and that meant he had to rely on his other 4 senses to confirm who was before him. His eyes had failed, but his ears had not. He knew this was not Esau before him. He used those other 3 senses, smell, touch, and taste to confirm it and those are all feelings, right?
What do we learn? That we learn by reading the Word of God, and that means we hear clearly what is His Word, and discern His Will because we know it. When we go with what we feel, that’s when we give into the enemy’s plans. he is so good at deceiving you. He’ll get you more often than not. The good thing is, God knows this, and His Grace and Mercy abound. We’ll never be sinless, but eventually we will sin less.
God’s plans are so good for us. So much better than our plans. Psalm 37:23
23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way.
The word “good” is in italics, which means what? It’s not in the actual Word of God. Why is the Bible translated like this? The word for Man isn’t the word adam, it’s the word geber. That word is a warrior, a learned, strong, powerful man. Not a man in skinny jeans. A man. A man who know’s his responsibility. It should be said like this:
“The steps of a MAN are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way.”
Constrast that with Prov 16:9
9 A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.
This is “adam” this man is swayed by his feelings. My question for you is, which are you? Do you make your dinky plans and let the Lord drag you around? OR, do you grow up and start making righteous changes in your life, and let the Lord say “Look at that man! That’s what I’ve been looking for!.
Who we are is based on the choices we make. The Lord won’t make you love Him. He is Just, however. Which means, if God must intervene to get His will done…those who have stood in the way and made those plans murky will eventually pay for that. If they have the right attitude about it, though, they will learn so much and become an example of righteousness before this world.
-------------------------------------------------Pray -
Before we start in Genesis 28, I want to return to Genesis 27 for one verse. The chapter ends with a seemingly throw-away verse that sets up the beginning of this chapter.
46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”
Remember, last week, we were talking about the fact that Esau and Jacob still lived at home? The Bible doesn’t say that they shared a home…but they all lived close at least, even though Esau’s “choice clothes” were in the house.
So, this close proximity meant that the families were close. Who was in this family? Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, Esau, and who? Esau’s Hittite wives, right? The end of Genesis 26:34-35
34 When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.
It’s funny how the Bible is written sometimes, the end of 26 and 27 both end with And Esau had 2 Hittite wives…who mom and dad hated. Another repeat, making a point…not only honor your father and mother, BUT, that God made us adam, and isshaw. 2 halves that are to be whole together.
Obviously they didn’t approve of the living arrangements of Esau and his wives. It was disgraceful to them, especially since they were Hittite women. Remember that name too, it will become important thruout Genesis also.
With that, let’s begin Genesis 28
1 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2 Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.
Rebekah’s plan, at the end of the last chapter, was that Jacob would quickly go back to Abraham’s homeland and find a wife there. He recognizes that these women around here are bad news. Rebekah helps Isaac to see that it should be his decision to send Jacob away, as well as who to send him to.
If we think that this family was dysfunctional and full of lies, if you’ve read ahead, you know that Laban is so much better at deception than even Jacob is. The name Laban means “to whiten, or to cleanse.” It doesn’t describe so much who he is, as what he will do to Jacob.
So, Jacob scurries away, right? No, one more thing.
3 “May God Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples; 4 And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land In which you are a stranger, Which God gave to Abraham.” 5 So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
Another blessing for Jacob to solidify the Lord’s plans for him. This would be the last time that Rebekah would see Jacob in her life, as he’s running from his brother’s wrath. Like we talked about last week, I don’t think that this is Rebekah’s fault so much.
She’s not the villian, she’s just a part of a dysfunctional family. They were a family full of one-upmanship. I don’t see another way that the Lord could have fulfilled his plan in such short time than the way he did. Further proof that the Lord will fulfill His plan, no matter the cost. You can’t outsmart him, you can’t pull a fast one. The Lord handles His own affairs, and if you stand in the way, you can expect to pay.
6 Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram. 8 Also Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. 9 So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.
Another blessing, another twist of the knife on Esau. At this point, Esau has had enough. He obviously feels disrespected. He hears these words, and KNOWS he’s got 2 wives from the daughters of Canaan. So to flaunt the issue further, he decides to stick it to his parents further by taking another wife. This time, he goes to the enemy’s team, right?
Some of us live like this, don’t we? The lengths we’ll go to get revenge on someone. Some of us are like “well, if I’m going to get caught, I might as well go all the way!” Is this ever a good idea? NEVER! My goodness. This is why I’m thankful that the Lord handles people like this. He will forever handle the Edomites for this kind of fleshly behavior.
Esau never wanted to be like his brother. One thing he was good at was raging against any semblance of order. They were both very self centered. One of them, however, clearly could not be tamed.
Has anyone in this room been like this? Been like “You know what mom and dad? How do you like this?” If you’ve been like that…OR, if you ARE like that, remember that the Lord is patient with you, not wanting you to perish, but to come to repentance. If you’re steeped in sin, if your urges, your proclivities, your desires, your eyes overtake you, and overtake you often…get on your knees before God and repent and change. If you don’t, God is faithful to let your sin come to completion, and then He’ll make an example out of you.
When our sin comes into the light, it should be a burden lifted, so you can heal that which YOU have broken. That’s what needs to happen, right? Now you must walk back to everything you broke to fulfill those lusts and repent. I used to say beg forgiveness, but I know forgiveness isn’t for me. When I hurt someone, them forgiving me helps them, not me. That’s where I know I have work to do. How much does that relationship mean to me? What am I willing to do NO MATTER WHAT the outcome in the end. That relationship may never get mended, but Paul says in Romans 12:18
18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
AS MUCH AS IT DEPENDS ON YOU. You hold the keys to your relationships. It’s YOUR name. You broke it, you fix it. There is a cost to our carelessness. Esau and the Edomites will pay for this behavior. They will never break from the habit. Will you? You have kids, will they? How will they if they watch you doing that same behavior. More is taught than caught. I watch my kids all the time do what I do, and say what I say…and I never said most of that stuff to them. Those little ears hear thru doors and floors. Those eyes watch how you handle things.
Repent and change. Or face the consequences. It’s up to you.
What happens next has always been a mystery to me, and it’s because every time I have ever read about it, I want to listen to the song again...
10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
So, Jacob walked as far as he could that day and he finally went to sleep. He didn’t have a tent with him, or even a blanket according to scripture, he laid down on the hard ground and put a rock under his head and had a dream.
I never remember the words of the song, and even now I want to listen to it again and see if I can pick the theology out of Led Zeppelin’s lyrics…but the Word of God is so much better to search thru. Remember, we talked about the past few weeks, that when God wants us to recognize something in His Word, he repeats it. Why is this story in the Bible? Is it ever repeated in the Old Testament? Never. This is the only Old Testament reference to Jacob’s Ladder.
Does it appear anywhere else? It does. And we’ll get to that in a little while. ll thruout Scripture, there is this immense void between heaven and earth. Now, Jacob has this vision of this ladder. This ladder to heaven, this stairway that Jacob sees, where the angels of God are going up and down, what is he seeing? There’s more to the story here though, let’s get to that
13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
This is the first time the Lord talked to Jacob. He knew of the Lord from his mother and father, but He had never directly interacted with him before. We will find this is a profound moment for Jacob. Here, the Lord identifies himself as the same God of Abraham and Isaac, and confirms the covenant He made with Himself in front of Abraham to multiply his descendants.
Verse 15 is telling, and if you don’t know what’s coming, like Jacob didn’t, you’ll miss it. Genesis 28:15 “15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.””
Behold I am with you and will keep you wherever you go. The word “keep” means to guard or protect. So, until the Lord brings you back here. Remember I’m here. Parents…before we ask our kids to do something crazy to them…how do we comfort them? “I’m right here...”
The Lord was about to start a journey with Jacob that he wouldn’t believe had He told him…the first step in that journey is simply to wake up.
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
The Israeli tradition is full of these moments. Places have so much meaning in Jewish culture. These places hold significance and especially knowing certain events happen again and again in certain places is important for us to know also. Each one of us has those memories. Those Ebenezer stones, stones of times when the Lord helped us.
The first house we lived in, our 3rd grade classroom. The encounters in those places made us who we are today. Jacob, like in Jewish culture, sees this ground as Holy and reverent. The House of the Lord. The same term is used for a temple of the Lord. He sees this place as the Lord’s place.
What did the Lord just get finished telling Jacob? “I am with you wherever you go.” If this is where the Lord dwells…in this place, does he recognize what the Lord just said? The Lord is everywhere, right? We know this now, but Jacob didn’t. It’s so interesting how we often put God in a box and think he can’t help us. He’s not as big and powerful as we know He is and that we think we can handle our issues so much better than He can. Let’s finish up this chapter, I want to bring this around to some relevant meaning to us.
18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. 19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21 so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. 22 And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
Jacob set up a stone of remembrance. Bethel means House of God, Temple. It’s short for Beth (house) Elohim (God). What does Luz mean? It’s the word for an almond tree. What do almonds symbolize in the Bible? It is the first tree to blossom after the winter season, symbolizing a time of regeneration. It also symbolizes watchfulness and leadership.
Almonds are special thruout scripture with many complex parables that make so much more sense when you understand the significance of Almonds and the people of Israel. It would be a good study for some of you Bible Scholars to pursue. This is the beginning of something special for Jacob, though. A time of the Lord watching over him.
Here, Jacob makes a promise to the Lord that IF the Lord will take care of HIM, He will give the Lord a tithe. This promise is all about him. What more would you expect knowing his family history? We talked about this being his first encounter with the Lord. Does he understand any of this? He sure thinks he does.
He thinks this is the Lord saying “This is a special place, I want you to see it.” Then he thinks this protection he’s going to give him is for him. Look at the words Jacob uses Genesis 28:20–21 “20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21 so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, THEN the Lord shall be my God.”
He’s put conditions on the Lord. This isn’t a bargain. God’s made the promise…Now, something I appreciate about the Lord, and we talked about it last week, God knows how to play the table, and not the cards. He will always beat us at our own game. We can’t get away from Him.
What is the greater meaning for us here though about this stairway to heaven? Let’s look at the verses again
12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
Does this story show up again in the Bible anywhere? Does this story have a retelling to hammer home a point? No, instead, this passage has a fulfillment. Let’s turn to the book of John chapter 1. It’s storytelling time.
3 SLIDES
35 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. 36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). 40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).
43 The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
John 1 is amazing…last week we read several verses out of John 1 also, it lays out so much in terms of connecting Genesis to Jesus. What is this story about?
This man Nathanael was a man who didn’t lie. He was the OPPOSITE of Jacob, and it’s his name that would be changed to Israel. But do you see it? What does this ladder, this stairway to heaven represent? What is the stairway? Better question, WHO is the stairway? AND, what does it rests upon?
The Son of Man is the Ladder. This not only would tell a learned scholar of the Jewish scriptures that this obscure, difficult portion of scripture is now being fulfilled, but the fact that this void between Heaven and earth was being bridged, not by a ladder, but by God Himself.
And He identifies that they ascended and descended upon Him. What did Jacob say? This is the House of God. This is God’s Temple. What did Jesus say would be torn down, and rebuilt in 3 days? The Temple of the Lord. His Body. Not only is He the Ladder, but He is the Temple also.
If you live a life with Christ, His Spirit lives within you! Your body is His temple. We must be careful of what we use it for. Is your body a bastion of sin? Is it filled with secret rooms and passages that nobody knows about? Those rooms, not in your house, but in your heart, where the computer files and websites are hidden that you have to make sure you keep your spouses’ eyes from?
When the Lord is with us, nothing stands against us. When He’s not, we’re living in a glass house. He can’t be where sin is. He wants to make you Holy, but He can only work if you’re willing to let Him work. What you’re hiding needs to be brought into the light.
The Lord doesn’t want to ruin you, but He will let you do it yourself. The chasm between Heaven and earth is vast and wide. Nothing we can do will earn us a place in Heaven. No matter how good a person you think you are, there has only been one who has resisted the devil to the point of shedding blood. Where does your trust lie? Change that in your heart today.
I’m preaching to mostly saved people, but we all need to hear this too…You can’t lose your salvation, but how you look to this dying world is meaningful. 2 nights I was at an event for the co-op kids. They had a lyric challenge. I was so proud of all of the kids getting almost all of the lyrics to every song! Mostly secular, but still, the fact that they had them was interesting.
Then, a song got selected that was obsecure to the kids, but a few of us parents recognized it. April and I started rapping to it, taking me back to my childhood in Southern California. I grew up with Gangsta Rap, and Disney showtunes. You can ask me about it later, but that was what I was drawn to. I was either blasting Warren G, or belting out Gaston when I’d show up to football practice.
I’m sure April was shocked to hear that side of me (no offensive lyrics were sung, I don’t do that). It’s always a bit of a shock to find that someone you hold in regard has a past. Doesn’t this world need that, though? To see that I’m just like you? I’m like you in EVERY WAY, but one. Where my salvation lies.
The Lord gives us opportunities to display who we used to be, so we can showcase what’s been done in us. To be ridiculed for not using the language of your peers is a badge of honor, not just to you, but to the Lord as well. Be different, be changed. Don’t let this world have you anymore. That sin, that secret sin needs to go. Confess it and fight.
The Lord won’t take something from you He’s training you to fight against. He wants you to fight it, master it, conquer it, and then deal with it in others. Who better to train someone how to fight a war than one who’s been in war?
How does our military do it? When the new soldiers get dropped into theater, they’re trained by the people around them. You don’t want to get shot, and you don’t want them to get shot…so you pin them to yourself and say “do what I do.” You walk work on them. You’re both in the fight, but having someone who knows what you know, feels what you feel, and can fight like you fight, you get better together.
That is fellowship, that’s discipleship. That’s what the church needs. That’s what each of you provide. This church body isn’t a collection of robots. This body is being prepared to be sent out, every week.
You parents, your kids need to hear from you, they need to see you. This world needs us to turn from our wicked ways and focus on the calling of Christ.
We need to realize this world sees Jesus like Jacob did. Oh look, a bridge, a way to heaven…that’s nice. This must be a church. Good to know it’s there in case I need to come back to it sometime.
This event didn’t change Jacob. That first encounter with God we all had didn’t make much of a difference in our life at the time it hit us. We look back now at that moment as an important date, don’t you? This is the day my whole life changed…if only I knew it then. The Lord has work to do on Jacob, not just in him. It’s never pleasant, but it produces a harvest. The harvest starts with a cultivating of the soil. And that starts with 2 Corinthians 3:3 “3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.” The work is ahead of us. Let’s do it together.
