Genesis 28:15 & Genesis 29:1

We’re going to go back and reflect on one verse from yesterday’s passage, verse 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.”

This promise is one repeated throughout scripture. I was ready to move on to chapter 29, but, thanks to Beth Moore, when I reviewed my workbook on this passage from her study, The Patriarchs, I realized I needed to stay here a minute longer. Just like Jacob, it takes us a while to figure out that God is indeed with us! Just as Jacob spoke of God in third person throughout most of his vow, we seem to get stuck in that same mindset when we pray and even throughout our days. Even though we know in our heads that God has promised over and over to never leave us, we don’t always act like we believe it, do we?

Beth Moore reminded me that we have God’s promises in black and white! We have the benefit of flipping pages and finding them staring us in the face. Jacob had the memory of his encounter, but not a Bible to hold in his hand and continually read. A couple of the passages Beth refers to are these, which she says even exceed the promise made to Jacob:

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). (Matt 1:22-23)


Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt 28:19-20)

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (John 14:16-18)

The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (2 Tim 4:18)

The last one reminds me that God has promised to take us through to the very end of our lives here on earth, then usher us safely into His kingdom. In other words, He will finish what He begins in us. This is the promise of one of my life verses, Phil 1:6.

. . . being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.


God KNOWS where He’s taking us! He WILL finish the work He has started in us. Do we believe it? Then it should make a difference in how we walk through our days! We should be modeling the confidence that these promises bring. Be patient! Through all of our highs and lows, He is working in us and through us to make us ready to meet Him face to face! That’s an encounter I can’t wait for!

How did this promise affect the way Jacob walked? Well, as we look at the first verse in chapter 29, we’re going to look at the Amplified Bible version (not because I’m so smart, but because that’s what Beth Moore recommended!):

THEN JACOB went [briskly and cheerfully] on his way [400 miles] and came to the land of the people of the East.

I LOVE that!!! I need to walk briskly and cheerfully this morning, or I’m going to be late for work!! Love to you all!

 

Genesis 28:16-22

In yesterday’s verses we read about Jacob’s dream, in which he saw a stairway to heaven (or “ladder” ). Angels were ascending and descending on it. In today’s verses we’ll see Jacob’s understanding of the vision of the stairway, and we’ll look at his reaction to this personal encounter with the God of Abraham and Isaac.

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 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.”. . .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 so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the LORD will be my God 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.” (Gen 28:16-17,20-22)

Jacob awakens and is now in awe of this “random” place he chose as a stopping place on his journey. He recognizes that God was in this place, meeting him. Because of the vision of the stairway to heaven, Jacob decides this must be the “gate of heaven,” so he takes the stone he had been using as a pillow and sets up a memorial to God, anointing the rock with oil. (vs. 18-19) He calls the place Bethel, which means house of God. At this point in his new walk with God, Jacob seems limited in his understanding of God, but the new relationship is real. Jacob could not have known that the stairway was prophetic of Christ’s role as the one who bridges the gap between us and heaven, the One who even calls Himself the Gate (John 10:7)

Note that in Jacob’s vow there seems to be a slow transition of his awareness of God’s presence. Look at the many pronouns. At first there are lots of first person pronouns, as Jacob revels in the blessing God has promised him: “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 so that I return safely to my father’s household, the the LORD will be my God...

Then, after speaking of the LORD in third person throughout that, he finally realizes that God is still with him, and he addresses God directly at the very end of this vow: “. . .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.” Look! There’s a model for tithing!

When Jacob speaks of his journey, I’m certain he is just thinking about this specific trip to find a bride (and to escape the wrath of Esau). But we know that he has only just begun his lifelong journey of faith in the God who will be called “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” In fact, the rest of Genesis is about Jacob and his family. I’m so grateful for this story of Jacob’s beginnings of faith, because it so encourages me! It will take many years to work out some of Jacob’s major issues, but he has begun the life of faith, and he has certainly found grace from a merciful God who loved this conniver just as he was - but who also loved him too much to let him stay that way! And so with us...

This morning was one of those when I woke up feeling so inadequate and overwhelmed - in fact, I had to really struggle to get into God’s Word this morning. Thank you, LORD, for drawing me here to be reminded that my worth comes from you alone. You use my inadequacies to show your strength and power and to demonstrate who YOU are to others around me!

 

Genesis 28:10-15

Jacob set off to find himself a wife, but in this encounter we read about today he found God first. This passage is a familiar Bible story and the subject of a chorus you may have learned in Sunday School as a child, “We are climbing Jacob’s ladder. . .” I love looking at it with fresh eyes!

Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.” (Gen 28:10-15)

Notice that Jacob stopped when he “reached a certain place.” According to Beth Moore, this word reached could be translated happened upon. There’s a randomness here - it could have been any old place. There was nothing special about it. She points out that often we think we’re in a random place, when actually we are there for a divinely scheduled appointment with God! Haven’t you found this to be true in your life? To me, it’s what makes the Christian life such an adventure! If you are constantly wondering, “Who are you putting in my path today, LORD?” or “Where are we going together today, LORD?” you will find there are many such encounters ahead of you!

I hate change! But I have learned over my last 35 years of walking with Christ that whenever someone is subtracted from my life (so many dear, dear friends have moved in and out of my immediate area) or whenever God has moved me to an uncomfortable place, it is always because He has a plan! I’ve learned that there is no such thing as “random!” Certainly, this place is about to become VERY special to Jacob.

As Jacob tucks in for the night he has a vey vivid dream in which the LORD speaks directly to him. Notice first how God introduces Himself to Jacob. He could have thundered, “I AM the Holy, Omnipotent, Sovereign, Almighty God, Creator of the Universe!” That would certainly have been awesome! Instead, He shows Himself as the God of personal relationship: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.” He’s saying, “I know your grandfather, Abraham, and your father, Isaac really well. We are friends!”

Then, He affirms the covenant He made with both Abraham and Isaac to Jacob (just circle all of the “you” messages in these verses). Verse 15 is especially precious: I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to the land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” In other words, “Not only was I with your grandfather and your father, I am always going to be with YOU, Jacob!” And this is BEFORE Jacob has undergone ANY interior life changing. He’s in the middle of the run for his life, after having deceived his father! God’s promises are NOT contingent upon who WE are and what WE have done, they are contingent upon who HE is and what HE has done!!!

I love this encounter - that God revealed Himself and His purpose to Jacob through a dream when Jacob was not at all looking for God! This is how God first called me, through an amazing dream that was so vivid that I sat bolt upright in bed afterwards, filled with an overwhelming awareness of how much God loved me. And THEN I began my search for the Truth! I often pray that God will use a dream to reach someone I love who is NOT walking with or even wanting to walk with Him. Does anyone you know and love come to your mind who needs this kind of encounter?

Tomorrow we will see Jacob’s reaction!

Genesis 28:1-9

So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. 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.” 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. (Gen. 28:1-5)

At the end of chapter 27, Rebekah complained to Isaac about the Hittite wives of Esau, saying her life would not be worth living if Jacob also took a wife among pagan people. She knew exactly what Isaac would suggest: a trip to her brother Laban’s house to find a bride from among relatives. Sure enough, Isaac decides to send Jacob to look for a bride. Now, it’s interesting that Isaac sends Jacob himself, rather than sending a servant as his own father had done for him. I’m wondering if Isaac was hoping such a trip would toughen up Jacob. Whatever Isaac’s reasons, it is clear that God was in this plan, for He was going to meet Jacob in a very personal way on this journey.

I love that there never seems to be a particular way in which God deals with people. There isn’t a prescribed method of meeting God, anymore than there is a formula for healing or receiving a blessing. Everyone of us is unique and our faith walk with God is going to be completely different from those around us - even our children! We need to remember this when we watch our children struggling to come to their own place of faith. Their experience will not be the same as ours. It may be scary to watch them wander out from the safety of home, but God is with them as much as He was with us before we encountered Him personally. Our job is to teach them about God as children, model faith, both in success and failure, before them, and then to push them out the door to claim their own relationship with God. And we should do that with prayer and a blessing.

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,” and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; 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. (vs. 6-9)

Here is an interesting picture of Esau, who remains clueless. He thinks that if he just takes a relative, instead of a Canaanite woman, as his wife, he will please his father and receive a blessing. He does not get that the problem is spiritual. So he tries to solve the problem by creating another one - he takes a THIRD wife! Yes, she is a relative, but through Ishmael, so not of the line of promise. In this case, three wrongs don’t make a right!

This reminds me of those who don’t know the LORD and who hunger for SOMETHING, but they don’t know what it is. They don’t understand that the void in their lives can only be filled by Jesus Christ. So they try to stuff it with other things: “Maybe I’m unhappy because of my wife - I’ll get a new one;” “If I just had a different job, my life would be perfect;” “I know I will finally be content when I buy that new house.” The problem is not that we need new things or people in our lives - we need the ONE Person who can change us from the inside out! WE need to be a new creation!

We’ll see tomorrow that this journey of Jacob’s will be the beginning of a new life for him!

 

Genesis 27:42-46

“Anything we have to manipulate to get, we rarely get to keep.” I have this written in the margin of my workbook for Beth Moore’s study, The Patriarchs. I’m assuming it’s something she said in her video that struck me about the last verses in this chapter:

When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you. Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran. Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides. When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”


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.” (Gen 27:42-46)

This last scene in this chapter truly shows the consequences of the many dysfunctions in this family: favoritism, manipulation, deceit, a lack of spiritual discernment, enablement, unchecked anger and bitterness. The favoritism that Rebekah and Isaac each showed to their sons set the scene up for unhealthy competition between these brothers. Rebekah’s need to manipulate the outcomes “for God” thrust Jacob right into the middle of his largest deception. Isaac ignoring all of the warning signs that something was amiss and failing to lead these boys spiritually. Esau was allowed to go with his impulses, whether in his tendency to anger or in his choice of brides - the classic enablement by a dad who saw his son as a man’s man, the hunter, the jock superstar! And at the heart of it? Everyone wanted his own way over God’s way! Can we relate just a bit?

And look what happens in the end. Rebekah was told by someone (Isaac? A servant who overheard?) that Esau was plotting murder. So she told Jacob to “get out of Dodge” for a “awhile” until Esau could simmer down. That “awhile” lasted more than twenty years, and Rebekah died without ever seeing her son again! Note that nothing turned out as they had probably hoped, as she laments the women in Esau's life, who did not know or love God.  What a mess!

I’m right in the middle of this kind of situation at work right now that has just blown up. And as I’m reading God’s Word, which is always given at the absolute perfect time, I’m seeing how favoritism has created a competition that has lead us down all of these same paths! And the need to manipulate every detail (which really comes from that need to have our own way by hook or by crook), ends up with everyone losing in the end! As I said at the outset of this chapter, who needs a soap opera when we have these Bible stories? But the sad part is that I could now say, “Who needs a soap opera when you can be living one out yourself?” Yesterday I felt like I was a main character in “As the School Turns!” It was ugly - and feelings were hurt and people felt misunderstood and we all ended up guilty as sin! LORD, help us!!!

I am so thankful for this lesson today. I almost didn’t want to even open my Bible this morning, because I was feeling so discouraged. But, once again, God’s Word pointed out the heart of today’s problem! How thankful I am for the “sword of the Spirit” that cuts us to the quick and does exactly what God sends it forth to do!

Praying for peace!

 

Genesis 27:36-41

Today we’ll look at some of the historical ramifications of the dysfunction of this family, as we look at the blessing that Isaac gives to Esau.

Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”

Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”

Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.

His father Isaac answered him,“Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness, 
away from the dew of heaven above. You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.”


Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” (Gen 27:36-40)

You’ll note that I have highlighted Esau’s lamenting that Jacob “took” his birthright in addition to the blessing. Here is the convenient lapse of memory and the “victim” mentality of so many we all know who waste their lives wallowing in self-pity, never recognizing their part in the way their lives have turned out. Everyone else is to blame.

When I see this in students who are only 10 and 11 it scares me! My theme in my classroom is “Make Good Choices,” which is mainly about recognizing your personal responsibility for how your life turns out.

Blaming others for our woes is a way to feed bitterness and anger. And that never turns out well, as we’ll see today in Esau and his family line. Isaac prophesies that Esau “will live by the sword.” He would be a man of violence. Although he would serve his brother, there would come a point in history when he would “throw his yoke” off. I’m grateful for the help I received from Jon Courson, Beth Moore, and my Bible commentary here. I knew that the descendants of Esau were the Edomites, who were a constant source of trouble for the Jews. In fact, later, when the Babylonians carried Judah off into captivity, the Edomites not only applauded and gloated over it - they also went in behind and looted Judah. The book of Obadiah in the Old Testament is a book dedicated to the Edomites, specifically in condemnation of their treatment of their “brothers.”

When you look at the intensity of Esau’s anger toward his brother in verse 41, you wonder at such rage. Yet, we have seen over and over that the Jews have historically been the target of unnatural hatred. In the Old Testament book of Esther, we see the prototype of all antagonists toward the Jews in the Edomite, Haman. Haman plotted the complete annihilation of the Jews throughout the Medo-Persian Empire. Eventually the Edomites became known as the Idumeans, a people who converted to Judaism, but remained ethnically Edomites. Remember King Herod, the one who ordered the slaughter of every male child under the age of two after Jesus was born? He was an Idumean.

According to the historian, Josephus, in A.D. 70, when Titus was poised to invade and destroy Jerusalem, 20,000 Idumeans were allowed in the city gate of Jerusalem by the Jews, because they promised to help fight off the Romans. When they got inside the city gates, however, they turned on the Jews, slaughtering them. Do you see that these are a people who HATE Jews? This is an unnatural obsession that comes from Satan. It’s the spirit of antichrist that was also seen in Hitler, Stalin, and now in many Muslim leaders. Satan wants nothing less than the complete destruction of these chosen people, because he knows that God is not through with them yet. He wants to thwart God’s plan for the Second Coming. Jon Courson thinks that the prophecy about Esau throwing off the yoke of his brother refers to the future when the antichrist will assume power and set up his image in the temple in Jerusalem. It will be a short-lived “victory” for Satan!

Tomorrow we’ll see what the personal ramifications of the deception by Rebekah and Jacob were.

Genesis 27:29-41

There is so much in these next verses, that we are going to stay here for a while! I’m amazed at all that is in these few verses. Yesterday we read about the blessing that Jacob received. Did you all note the last verse in the blessing?

“May those who curse you be cursed 
   and those who bless you be blessed.” (Gen. 27:29b)

Don’t you wish our government leaders would get this verse? There is a blessing in blessing Israel and in being her friend. But turn away from Israel, ally yourself with her avowed enemies, and you will be cursed by God! There is no other political option than to be allied with Israel!

Okay, so we saw that Jacob made a hasty exit, just in time to miss the arrival of Esau, who was back from the hunt with his tasty game. Look carefully at both Isaac’s and Esau’s reactions:

After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”


His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”


“I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.”


Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!”


When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!”


But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”(vs. 30-35)

When Isaac realizes that he has been tricked, he shakes violently! Imagine his anger! He absolves himself of any blame, however, when he claims that Jacob “came deceitfully and took your blessing.” Certainly, Jacob hatched the plan with his mother and totally deceived his father, but, as we saw before, Isaac had plenty of signs that something was not right before he bestowed the blessing.

When it says that Esau “burst out with a loud and bitter cry,” we can imagine the wailing exploded from him. He finally realizes what he has lost because he “despised his birthright” (Gen 25:34). There is a the anger quickly descends into a bitterness that takes root here. When we look ahead to verse 41, we see the end result of this anger:

Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”


The anger and bitterness become a grudge, to the point that Esau plots murder! Now this is clearly not normal anger! Certainly people can become bitter and hold tightly to their grudges, but MOST people do not go to the point of plotting murder! Premeditated murder comes from the heart of a psychopath. Beth Moore writes the following about Esau’s behavior:

Normal people don’t murder. Normal people get hurt and angry. They may insult others and even act unkindly, but they don’t premeditate a murder. (The Partiarchs, P.124)

This desire to murder comes straight from the pit of Satan. John 8:44 tells us that Satan “was murderer from the beginning.” In particular, Satan’s number one desire has been to kill off the chosen people from whom the Messiah would come. This is why the Jews have been continuously persecuted throughout their history. As Beth Moore writes, “The holocaust of God’s people has been the enemy’s plan all along.” (P.125)

We saw this kind of anger in Cain. When we give into our hurt and anger, and let the root of bitterness grow, we are giving Satan a foothold in our lives. (Eph 4:27) He comes to steal, kill, and destroy! There is nothing good that comes from anger that we hold onto, only destruction! It is so easy to nurse our hurts, especially when we truly have been wronged. But holding onto them and feeding them will surely destroy our relationships. The book of Ephesians is full of warnings about guarding our emotions. If you are wallowing in hurt and anger today, read that book! Ask God to help you let it go and replace your hurt heart with a heart full of compassion, grace, and mercy!