Genesis 28

Introduction:

Looking at the life of Isaac, he started out well.

He was a dedicated man who, as a young man, was willing to place himself on the altar in obedience to the Lord.

He trusted God—even when he could not understand what God was doing.

Later, when it came time for Isaac to take a wife, he trusted God to provide the right woman for him.

And Isaac and Rebekah both knew what it meant to pray and seek the mind of the Lord.

They had learned to trust God. And yet, by the time we come to Genesis 27, something has gone terribly wrong.

God had already told Isaac and Rebekah that the older would serve the younger—that Jacob, not Esau, would receive the covenant blessing.

God had made His will known.

The promise did not depend upon Isaac manipulating the outcome. It did not depend upon Rebekah developing a plan.

It depended upon God being faithful to His Word.

But instead of believing God, they began scheming.

Isaac tried to give the blessing to Esau.

Rebekah and Jacob deceived Isaac to make sure Jacob received it.

Everyone in the family began trying to accomplish by human wisdom what God had already promised to accomplish by His power.

Application: And Genesis 27 reminds us of a sobering truth:

It doesn't matter how well we start if we allow our lives to fall off the rails at the end.

A good beginning is not enough.

We need to finish well.

2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

We need to keep trusting God when His timing doesn't make sense, when circumstances seem to be moving in the wrong direction, and when we are tempted to take matters into our own hands.

And that brings us into Genesis 28.

Jacob is now leaving home—not as a triumphant young man who has secured the blessing, but as a fugitive running from the consequences of his deception.

He is leaving behind his family, his home, and everything familiar.

But here is the remarkable thing about Genesis 28: 

Jacob may be running from home, but he is not running outside the reach of God.

And in the middle of Jacob's failure, God meets him.

Genesis 28 begins to show us that God's faithfulness is greater than our failures.

Jacob had made a mess of things, but God had not abandoned His promise.

The God who had spoken to Abraham and Isaac was still at work—and He was about to meet Jacob in a very unexpected place.

1. (1-2) Instructions to not take a Canaanite wife

Issac called to Jacob, maybe expecting to get an earful , but he bless him

Issac charges Jacob not to take a wife from Cannan

Jacob was the one to inherit the birthright and carry on the seed of the Messiah, so he should seek a wife among the daughters of his uncle Laban

God was preserving the family line in which Jesus would come through

Our choice in a spouse is someone should bring us closer to the Lord

2. (3-5) Isaac grants the blessing and covenant of Abraham to Jacob

a) May God Almighty bless you:

Isaac first pronounced a general blessing of prosperity upon Jacob, blessing him in the name of God Almighty, that is, El Shaddai.

This title for God was previously used in Genesis 17:1, where God described Himself to Abraham with this phrase.

Abraham passed the knowledge of God as El Shaddai on to his son Isaac, who now passed it on to Jacob.

El Shaddai—the Almighty God—as the One who will bless Jacob and fulfill the covenant.

Jacob's future would not ultimately depend upon Jacob's ability to scheme, manipulate, or control circumstances.

It would depend upon El Shaddai—the Almighty God—who is powerful enough to accomplish His purposes despite human failure.

b)  The blessing of Abraham

As Abraham was promised (Genesis 12:1-3), Jacob was promised:

A land

A nation (that you may be an assembly of peoples).

A blessing (give you the blessing of Abraham).

c) Jacob was not worthy of this blessing.

His blessing did not come based on his own merit

Issac, Rebeka, Jacob and Esau

Yet God blessed them as He blesses us

We’re not worthy to receive anything from God based on our merit, yet He bless us so richly

3. (6-9) Esau adds more wives

He may have thought to impress his father by marrying non-Canaanite women when he saw that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother.

4. (10-12) Jacob’s dream of a ladder

Jacob was to travel 500 miles Haran

He was probably was experiencing many feelings, like fear, is my brother following me?

 Jesus made it clear in John 1:51 that He is the access to heaven

John 1:51 “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.””