Genesis 28
4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.” 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6 Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,” 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8 Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; 9 so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”
18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God 22 and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”
Genesis 28 (NIV)
Just like Abraham did not want Isaac to marry a Canaanite woman (Genesis 24), now in Genesis 28 Isaac gives the same instruction to his son Jacob. As discussed earlier, it is not about prejudice or discrimination, it is about covenant and obedience to God.
Esau at this time had already taken two Hittite women to be his wives (Genesis 26:34-35) and they had been a source of grief for Isaac and Rebekah. This once again showed Esau’s disregard for the things of God. However, when he heard that Isaac had specifically told Jacob not to marry a Canaanite woman, Esau tried to make things right… so he went and married a woman from Ishmael’s lineage instead of going to Paddan Aram where Isaac was sending Jacob.
On his way to Harran, Jacob had an encounter with God and God repeated the same promise to Jacob that He had made to Abraham and Isaac.
Lessons from Genesis 28
- Loopholes and Shortcuts: Esau first married two Hittite women and when he realized how displeased his parents were with his choice, he went and married an Ishmaelite. Technically, she was a descendant of Abraham and technically she was under the Abrahamic covenant but not quite because even though Ishmael was Abraham’s son, he was not the one through whom God chose to establish the covenant made with Abraham.
One of the ways the devil tricks children of God is through loopholes. He takes Godly concepts out of context and presents them as shortcuts so that being thus deceived, the children of God will head to their demise. Pray that God will give you wisdom to discern between the truth and the almost-truth. Practice obeying the word of God to the full instead of finding loopholes and technicalities, don’t take shortcuts that will lead you away from God’s precepts.
- Divine encounters happen on the path to purpose: Genesis 28:12-15 records the amazing encounter Jacob had with God on his way to Harran. God appeared to him in a dream and reiterated the promise He had made to Abraham and Isaac, even adding the promise to be with him (Jacob) till the very end. When you obey God and walk according to His purpose, He will light up your path and guide you every step of the way. When you live in disobedience however, you shut down the flow of God in your life.
- Value the things of God: Notice what Jacob did in Genesis 28:18 when he woke up from that dream – he built an altar unto God just like Abraham did multiple times. Jacob had high regard for the things of the things of God unlike his brother Esau. It is no wonder that he had so many encounters with God. Just like Jesus said, pearls are not thrown to pigs because they will just trample them (meaning: things of value are not given to careless people because they will not take proper care).
- The tithe: Again, following in the footsteps of Abraham, Jacob decided to honour God with a tenth (10%) of everything. The tithe is a way of acknowledging that God is the giver of everything we have, it is an act of appreciation and worship. When you tithe, do it as unto God and not as unto men – you are not giving to your pastor or whoever is standing before you, you are giving to God.
Reflection
- Why do you think Jacob and Esau were so different in how they valued the things of God?
- Do you have a reverence for God and things pertaining to God?
Further reading
- Matthew 7:6 NIV [Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.]
- Deuteronomy 8:18 NIV [But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.]
- Colossians 3:23-24 NIV [Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.]
- Malachi 3:10 NIV [“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”]
Prayer
Father, thank you for your word for me today. Forgive me for the times I failed to value spiritual things as I should have. You are Lord of my life, Lord over all I that I am and over all I have, teach me your ways that I may know you and walk in your perfect will. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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