Genesis 28:1-8

Review

Good morning yall! I am excited to participate in our Genesis series this week and next week. It has been fun studying through the old testament and seeing how our faith in Christ is ultimately rooted in the history of God’s chosen people. Pastor Ryan has been killing it hasn’t he? Praise God for how he has used you in this study. I have so much appreciation for all the studying he has done over the last year or two on the book of Genesis. Thank you Ryan!

The last following weeks we have been walking through chapter 27 and have seen how Jacob deceived his father Isaac into receiving the blessing of the abrahamic covenant by pretending to be his older brother Esau. We’ve seen how Rebekah manipulated the situation so as to assure that God’s will would be Jacob being the bearer of the divine covenant. Both Jacob and Rebekah show a complete distrust in God being able to work out his own plan according to his own means. We’ve also seen how anxious and casual Isaac has been with the passing on of the covenant. Isaac was more worried about filling his belly and attending to his selfish desires rather than submitting to the will of God and calling upon his life. Esau, Isaac’s favorite son, also displayed the same callous attitude towards his birth right and divine covenant. Just like his father, Esau was more worried about the fleeting pleasures of life. In this one chapter (chapter 27) we have seen deception, lying, apathy, selfishness, favoritism, anger, manipulation, the desire to murder, to name a few… (I hope this isnt what your family looks like!) Does this sound like a family that God would use to pass on his divine covenant to establish the twelve tribes of Israel and maintain the messianic seed? Are the foundations of our faith built upon faithless and sinful people? What we have witnessed in chapter 27 is that God permitted these things to happen so that he could redeem their actions with His plan. Either way, good or bad circumstances, God’s plan continues, regardless of our manipulation and selfishness.

Intro and Outline

As we roll into chapter 28, we see the shift of focus from Isaac’s life to now the life of Jacob. In this chapter, we witness Jacob’s calling and response to God, a deceptive and rebellious 70 something year old man becoming one taught by the Lord to rely on Him. In Jacob’s calling, the issues of Purity, However, we are not finished with the family dysfunction yet.

Pull out your Bibles and/or phones with your bible app and open to Chapter 28, it can be broke up as shown:

> I. 27:46-28:9

a. 27:46

b. 28:1 - 5

c. 28:3 - 5

> II.

c. 28:6 - 9

> II. 28:10-20

a. 28:10 - 12

a. 28:10 - 12

b. 28:13 - 15

b. 28:13 - 15

c. 28:16 - 19

c. 28:16 - 19

d. 28:20 - 22

d. 28:20 - 22

Section A.

In our section for today, 27:46-28:9, we begin at the closing out off chapter 27. Verse 46 reads,

“Then Rebekah said to Isaac, ‘I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.’”

At first glance, we can recall what was first brought to our attention with the calling of Isaac in chapter 24, when Abraham was preparing to pass on the blessing to his son Isaac, he had his servant go to Laban and get a wife for Isaac, “I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the canaanites, among whom I am living, but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.” It is important for the divinely called people to remain the chosen line of God’s blessing. Yet, we must consider a few verses prior to provide the meaning of this verse as we go into chapter 28. Esau’s anger over Jacob’s deception, Esau...

27:41b, “He said to himself, ‘The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.’”

Verse 45 gives us a clear picture of the real motivation behind Rebekah’s rushing,she says,

“When Rebekah was told what her older son had said, she sent for Jacob and told him, ‘your brother is planning to avenge himself by killing you. Now, do what I say: flee at once to my brother Laban. Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides.”

We can understand that Rebekah’s haste is due to Esau’s desire to kill Jacob. You see, Rebekah is deceptively planting her concerns in Isaac’s mind even though she really just wanted to protect Jacob. Although Rebekah does not want Jacob to marry women of the land of canaan, she’s more concerned with Jacob’s safety, even saying “my life isn’t worth living.” She is systematically continuing her control and manipulation over God’s plans. She knew very well that the older would serve the younger, and we see in chapter 27 how she was the motivator and instigator of deception! And now, She thinks she is manipulating Isaac into protecting Jacob by sending him off to the land of Rebekah’s family to marry. Rebekah is operating under a complete distrust and lack of confidence in God.

Section B.