Genesis Chapter 28
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Jacobs Dream
Jacobs Dream
Intro: To bring us back up to speed where we left off, Rebekah warns Jacob to leave and go find her brother Laban in Haran. She warns him because Esau is mad at Jacob for “stealing” his inheritance when we know Esau gave it up himself. Rebekah tells Isaac that the reason Jacob is going away is to find a wife from Rebekah’s family. She did this in order to keep Isaac from getting upset over the situation between Jacob and Esau. Remember Isaac is in the later years of his life at this point.
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.
He should not take a wife from his native land
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.
and Yes, exactly what your thinking, this would be him taking a wife that would be one of his 1st cousins. Remember Abraham and Sarah were half siblings. Sometimes these things needed to take place in order to keep that “pure” bloodline through which the messiah would come.
So Isaac and Rebekah are giving Jacob the same instruction that Abraham gave Isaac.
Genesis 24:3–4 (KJV 1900)
And I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.
And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;
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.
Isaac kind of reiterating his blessing that he passed down to Jacob.
Same covenant referencing
Genesis 13:15 (KJV 1900)
For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
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.
The genealogy reestablished here to better illustrate the reason for the trip. For Jacob to find a wife within that extended family lineage.
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;
And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padan-aram;
And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father;
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.
So when i first read this verse, I read it as “once again Esau just trying to please his parents and not God” well although that be the case, after talking with James this past week he pointed out a part that I completely missed, “read verse” he already has 2 Hittite wives that we read about in chapter 26, and instead of getting rid of his first 2 wives and take unto a wife not of the land of Canaan, he just adds one of Ishmael's daughters to his original 2 wives. This is showing and giving example to not giving up the ways of man and FULLY committing yourself to Christ. Esau would not give up his wives the he chose in order to try and please his parents and God’s will, Just like a lot of people in this day in time. Many times you will see people say, and Im guilty of it as well, Well I wont completely quit with the sin that pleases the flesh, ilI just not make it a focused point. If we are not willing to fully commit ourselves to Christ, then we cant expect Christ to fully commit his blessings in our lives. No I’m not saying its an easy journey, im a caffeine addict, i am a nicotine addict, it is a process in giving up the ways of man, but through Christ and praying for guidance and strength, He will help you along the way, IF your willing to FULLY commit yourself and give up the ways of man and follow God’s guidance.
And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran.
Jacobs Journey
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.
Pillows H4763 (mara’ashah): properly a headpiece that is at or as a head rest.
when studying this chapter, I kept getting stuck on this verse you think “why in the world would he a stone as a pillow?” Pastor Murray make a good illustration in this verse.
The translation can be used as, OR at a headrest, so most likely he is in a strange place, so he used these stones as a protection around him while he slept.
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.
Remember, dreams and visions were a common and one of many types of divine communication throughout the bible.
This description of Jacobs dream (we will see) is kind of falsely mimicked with the tower of Babel due to mankind's pride pride
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;
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.
God repeats the remaining covenant promises to Jacob that were originally given to Abraham then passed on to Isaac.
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.
So this being both God’s promise, and prophecy, Jacob is pretty much being cast out from the land of Haran promised to Isaac. But God is reminding him that he is entitled to land in which he will be lead.
And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.
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.
We have to remember that unlike Abraham’s and Isaac’s divine encounters within the land of promise. Abraham and Isaac built temples during their journeys to show and be used to help witness and experience God’s divine interaction. Jacob is still new to his path at this time. This is a part of the land where there were no temples built for worship. This verse is like showing Jacob eating his words so to speak. Yes there is no temple showing it to be a Godly area or a place of worship, but yet he had a divine dream from God. To me, I read this verse like Jacob being “young” to his Godly journey alone, he recognizes and understands his path through his relationship with God. And Jacob is proving that God can be anywhere. Not just temples of prayer and worship areas but ANYWHERE.
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.
Jacob used the stones he had to basically shield and protect himself in his sleep, and built a stone pillar and anointed it by pouring oil over it. Keep in mind, that during this time period and in this area, it was common for “stone pillars” to be used as religious objects in reference to idolatry, the worshiping of false god’s. But in this context, Jacob built a stone pillar and anointed it in honor of Yahweh the most High God.
This monument here is referred to as the Stone of Scones or The Stone of Destiny, It is believed to be the very monument that was built an anointed by Jacob here in Genesis.
This is what’s called the coronation chair
It is used for British Monarchs ceremony of power. Kinda like how when we swear the new president into office we make them swear over the Bible. Same kind of thing here, they use this chair as for that same reason because that stone of scones is in the seat of this chair.
This Chair is being kept right now in Westminster Abbey
The stone however is back in Scotland. There is a link I can share that tells the history of the all of this.
The Stone was temporarily returned to be re-united with the Chair for the coronation of King Charles III in 2023.
And he called the name of that place Beth-el: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.
So this place was originally called Luz meaning
But he renamed this place Bethel after his encounter with God. Bethel meaning:
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,
So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God:
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.
Jacob has a interaction with God, and he vows in response to Gods divine protection, all of what Jacob mentions here is in God’s covenant promises, but in response, Jacob vows to return 1/10th of his blessings unto the Lord.
Conclusion: Two things that I really took away from this chapter, 1st being to return 1/10th unto the Lord,
Anytime we receive a blessing, it is important that we set aside 10 percent of that blessing and give it back to God, whether it be money, time, works, ETC. If anyone is unsure I will make it clear now, Papa, James, the elders of the church, no one takes payment from the church. All the money that is donated to Smyrna Fellowship gets reinvested in the church. I say that to say this, giving 10 percent to the Lord isnt just talking about tithing money. Whether it be your time, a car ride for someone in need, my parents, my sister, and I we split a 4 yard dumpster. I know it sounds silly but just letting people in need of dumping their trash once in a while is a way to share a blessing with someone else. Im going to speak for all of us here when I say that God blesses us everyday with the ability to wake up in the morning, and study and spread his word through our everyday lives. Its not about money, or materialistic things, or image, its about spreading God’s word and being that “mirror” through teachings and actions to reflect his light onto those who are in the dark. Set aside 10 percent of your time at the very least to do God’s work and you will see his blessings and light shine through you and all around you.
Lastly, notice what happened to Jacob here, he thought he was in the strange and terrible place when actually he was right where God wanted him to be.
This past weekend me, Jasmin, and Hank were on the way home from Orlando Saturday night and we had been gone since 6 am. Well about 10:30 that night we were on 121 just past race pond and a semi truck was rolled over on its side horizontal covering the road, well all the first responders are there, no one was hurt not even the truck driver, but Jasmin’s aunt was a first responder working the scene and she came up to us and told us there is no way around them. We had to turn around go all the way back to race pond and turn by the swamp park to get back home. The GPS took us to a 10 mile dirt road as a detour, and I was aggravated at first, we were wore out, ready to get home, and those of you who know my wife, she is the most optamistic person ive ever known, and she said” God may be protecting us from something” and for the rest of the car ride her and I laughed and cut up and just enjoyed our time together all the way back to Blackshear. So I say that to say this, its easy to get frustrated and wonder, why am I here, what am I doing in this place, but remember God puts us in places for a reason, we may not see the bigger picture but God does.
I truly believe that God put us a that particular place at that particular time in order for us to enjoy each other. Saturday was my birthday, Sunday was mothers day, and after a whole day of amusement park rides, good food, good music, my best memory of that day is me, my wife, and my son laughing and cutting up on a wet nasty 10 mile long dirt road back home.
I believe that God was protecting us on our way home and allowing us to fellowship with each other.
So the next time your stopped in traffic, or stopped by a train, take a second to stop and enjoy God’s creations around you and to also give him thanks for all his blessings. Know that God puts us in certain places at times for a specific reason.
