1759 B.C.

Genesis 28)

1 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him (this blessing God endorses-vv.13-15, by sending Jacob to Haran, as He had blessed Abraham to bring him from Haran-12:1-3), and charged him, and said to him, "You shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. (see 24:3)
2 Arise, go to the plain of Syria, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father; and take you a wife from that place of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.
3 And (5 "ands', #5=grace) God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a multitude of people; (or convocation, first occ. Occurs 123 times: rendered "multitude" 3; "assembly" 17; "congregation" 86; "company" 17. Cp. 49:6. Ps. 22:22,25)
4 And give you the blessing of Abraham, to you, and to your seed with you; that you may inherit the land wherein you are a stranger, which God gave to Abraham."
5 And Isaac sent Jacob away: and he went to Padan-aram (see v.2) to Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian (= a resident of Syria, not a Syrian), the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.

6 When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padanaram, to take him a wife from that place; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, "You shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;" (Cp. 24:3, and remember who these Canaanites were)
7 And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to the plain of Syria;
8 And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father; (see 25:35)
9 Then went Esau to Ishmael, and took to the wives which he had Mahalath (= sickness) the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth (= heights), to be his wife.

10 And (25 "ands" in vv.10-15, #25=5x5=grace intensified) Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran.
11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took from among the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. (That "rock" that he used as a pillow is Jacob's pillar, or the Stone of Scone, which exists today and sets under the coronation throne in Ireland Jacob's Pillar: Stone of Destiny )
12 And he dreamed, and behold, a stairway set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it. (It was the gate to heaven, contact with God and man)
13 And, behold, the Lord stood beside him (it is not the angels, but the Divine faithfulness and promise, which mark "this place" and make it "the house of God" vv.16,17), and said, "I am the Lord God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon you lay, to you will I give it (as He said to Abraham and Isaac, note the "shalls" and "wills" in this and all these repetitions of Yehovah's covenant), and to your seed;
14 And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south (notice that the 4 points form a cross): and in you (mark the personal gift, and see 17:7, and 50:24) and in you seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. (This can be fulfilled ONLY in Christ)
15 And, behold, I am with you, and will keep you in all places wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land; for I will not leave you (This promise first made here, to Jacob for covenant grace; to the people, for their journey-Deut. 31:6; to Joshua, for conflict-Josh. 1:5,8; to Solomon, for work-1 Chron. 28:20; to us, for daily provision-Heb. 13:5,6), until I have done that which I have spoken to you of."
16 And Jacob awakes out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place (Fig. Exclamation, an outburst of words, prompted by emotion); and I knew it not.
17 And he was afraid, and said, "How revered (or awesome) is this place! this is none other but the house of God (This "house" is the place where God meets the unworthy in grace. It was so with David-1 Chron. 22:1. It is so far for us. Our "place of worship" is where God manifests Himself to us in grace. "The God of all grace" is emphatically "the God of Jacob"-Ps. 146:5), and this is the gate of heaven."
18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone (see v.11) that he had put for his pillow, and set it up for a pillar (afterward forbidden, Lev.26:1. Deut. 16:22), and poured oil upon the top of it. (A law before Moses)
19 And he called the name of that place Bethel (= the house of God): but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. (= nut tree, perhaps almond, hazel)
20 And Jacob made a solemn vow (the first recorded vow), saying, "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothes to put on,
21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God:
22 And this stone (see vv.11,18;), which I have set for a pillar (see 31:13, and Rev. God's elect are also pillars), shall be Beth-elohim: and of all that You shalt give me I will surely give the tenth to You. (cp. 14:20)

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