Gen 28:10-19 outline/DB

10 Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 

11 He [a]came to [b]a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it [c]under his head, and lay down in that place. 

12 He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 

13 And behold, the Lord stood [d]above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your [e]descendants.

14 Your [f]descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will [g]spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your [h]descendants shall all the families of the earth 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 [i]promised you.” 

16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 

17 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.”

18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put [j]under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top. 

19 He called the name of that place [k]Bethel; however, [l]previously the name of the city had been Luz.

A. Location (10)

B. Stone and ראש—night time (11)

C. Heavenly stairs—description (12)

D. Divine identity—self identification (13a)

E. Covenant—Abrahamic ( given a place, made into a numerous people, God’s promised presence) (13b-15a)

E’. Covenant—Jacob specific (keeping his specific promises) (15b)

D’. Divine identity—understanding (16)

C.’ Heavenly stairs—worship (17)

B’. Stone and ראש; morning worship (18)

A’. Location (19)

I organized this outline as a chaism for several reasons. First, there is a lot of word play that make the chiasm evident. For example, ראש and אבן are used and flip-flopped in verses 11 and 18. A driving theme I noticed in this passage and chiasm is the difference in Jacob before and after E and E’. Matthew’s rightly notes this is “his first act of worship,” or even personal encounter with the God of his fathers in the Bible. The first half describes everything in ordinary terms, but after his encounter with the LORD, the author records all of Jacob’s actions and perspectives as being worshipful and in fear of God. Clearly, the LORD made an impression upon Jacob that left him in awe and wonder.

his first act of worship

The first clue I caught was the initial PC verb in verse 14. This is a part of the dialogue of what God said He would do starting in verse verse 13 (the imperfect 1cs נתן). These dialogue verses are the highlight of the passage, for it is God who is speaking. The verbs in the dialogue indicate Jacob’s induction into the Abrahamic covenant (give/bring to, land; spread, people; bless, nations/peoples; keep/not leave, presence).

Exegetical idea: God’s induction of Jacob into the Abrahamic covenant when He visited him changed Jacob’s personal relationship with God as he takes part in God’s plan for the Patriarchs.

Homiletical idea: an encounter with God leaves every person forever changed and in awe of God.

With both of these I focused on the fact that Jacob went away from his encounter with God changed.