Genesis 28

1-5 Departure of Jacob to Padam-aram.
6-9. Esau's wives.
10-22. Jacob's vision at Bethel.

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 unto him, "Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

2 Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughers of Laban thy mother's brother.

("Padan-aram" is on the plain of Syria, and this is the house, or family that Rebekah came from. Isaac chooses the house, but leaves the choice of picking his own wife up to Jacob.)

3 And (Note the 5 "ands" in these 2 verses, #5 = grace.) God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;

("Almighty God" in the Hebrew text reads "El Shaddai". "El" is the name of God, where "Shaddai" gives us another look at the nature of the Almighty Father. El shows the source that the strength comes from, but in this light, it is one of forgiveness and grace; not as Creator, but as the Giver. Shaddai is the All-bountiful. Shaddai shows God's power to supply all of the needs of His people. Shaddai is always used following the title El, for that is the power behind the giving.)

4 And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham."

(This is not a fixed place, but an expanding place. It includes all places where the multitudes of Jacob seed migrate to. The promise God gave to Abraham included all the land on the horizon, as the ten tribed nations of the "House of Israel" spread around the world.)

5 And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian,

(= a resident of Syria, not of Syrian blood. Bethuel's father was Nahor, the brother of Abraham.)

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 thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, "Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughers 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 Padanaram;

8 And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father;

(Esau is still trying to please his earthly father, rather than his Heavenly Father. Though we are to please our earthly father if it is possible, however; our eyes should be set on pleasing our Heavenly Father, who is the Creator of our soul. When we go against God, we will not receive the blessings that He would have for us.)

9 Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath (= sickness) the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth (= heights), to be his wife.

(This shows Esau's ignorance, for Ishmael was Abraham's rejected son, by the Egyptian bond woman, who was rejected because the whole affair was outside the will of God. Ishmael was not part of any promise between God and Abraham and Sarah, and as such, he and his mother Hagar were sent away. The point here is that Esau is still chasing after things to please Isaac, and not God, and he to please in his own methods, and not God's.)

10 And (25 "ands" in vv.10-15, #25 = 5x5 = grace intensified) Jacob went out from Beersheba, 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 of 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 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75ICBBvv-_g&playnext=1&list=PL308C6AE3CDC2030E )

12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder 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 above it,

(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 thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;

(As He said to Abraham and Isaac, note the "shalls" and "wills" in this and all these repetitions of Yehovah's covenants. God is the God of the living, and not the dead. God is the God of all souls, and the living souls are those souls that are in Christ, and did things God's ways; yes, even in the old testament.)

14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt 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 thee

(Mark the personal gift, and see 17:7, and 50:24.)

and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

(This can be fulfilled ONLY in Christ. It will be through Jacobs family that Jesus Christ will be born, and it is through Jesus Christ the we receive all our blessings. It is through Jesus Christ that the souls of all mankind can receive eternal life of the soul. Christ is the only ladder by which all mankind can ascend to the throne of God, and His name is the authority for our approaching that throne in repentance and requests.

This verse is also in reference to Jacob's sons become many nations scattered around the world, in geographic locations that would be a wealth to their peoples.)

15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of."

(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. This promise is to Jacob and all the generations that followed him, right up to our present generation. It is not just for the tiny land of Palestine, or Israel of today, but to all the migrations of the offshoot generations that sprang forth from Jacob. God's promises was for those ten tribes that came through the Caucasus Mountains in the seventh century B. C. and migrated westward to settle throughout Europe, and moved on to the Americas. They became known as "Caucasians" as a race of white people by tradition, However, this term is in reference to the event of migration of the "House of Israel"; the so called "lost house of Israel".

This promise that God is giving to Jacob also includes the "House of Judah", which includes the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and part of the tribe of Levi, which was scattered throughout all the other tribes.

So here we see God is presenting himself to simple Jacob, sleeping on his rock pile, and revealing to him what he will be in the distant future. Why would God chose Jacob for this blessing? Because he obeyed his mother and father, and did not marry from the daughters of the Hittites, but most of all he obeyed "El Shaddai", the Living God.)

16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, "Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not."

(Our Heavenly Father has stated that "I will always be with you, I will not leave thee nor forsake thee". He stated this in the fifteenth verse, and today His Holy Spirit is also with each of us, and this promise is expanded especially in this end time generation. We will see God moving to intercede on behalf of His people as the events of the end times unfold before our eyes.)

17 And he was afraid, and said, "How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

(This would be more accurately translated, "How awesome is this place." 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.)

18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone (see v.11) that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.

(Jacob anointed that stone, and later there would be huge rings placed in it, and it would be carried where ever the Israelites would go. That rock would be there as a reminder to the vision of Jacob, and the promises of God to him and the generations of his children that would follow. Today it is called "The Stone of Destiny".)

19 And he called the name of that place Bethel (= the house of God): but the name of that city was called Luz (= nut tree, perhaps almond, hazel) at the first.

20 And Jacob vowed a 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 raiment to put on,

21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:

(Jacob is in turn making a contract with God. God has spoken and promised Jacob a long and prosperous life, with many children, and that the Messiah would come through his offspring, Now Jacob is recognizing the fact of this promise, and in turn making a commitment back to God.)

22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar,

(see 31:13, and Revelation. God's elect are also pillars.)

shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee."

(Jacob set that pillar as God's house, to be a remembrance not only of God's covenant to him, but also Jacobs commitment to God. If you want a reason for the giving of the tenth back to God, this is the best that you can find. It is the keeping of the commitment made by father Jacob to God, that as God blesses you, you are bound by that commitment to "surely give the tenth unto Thee."

That pillar exists today at the head chair of the crown of England in Westminster Abby in London. And it points out to each of us that Christianity is a reality and not a religion. Our Holy Bible is the official record by God of the Lineage whereby the Christ child would come, and it is a record also of the attacks by Satan to destroy that lineage. If you cannot understand this fact, much of the Bible will seem as strange to you as the records of the heathen religions.

Satan has always tried to destroy that lineage by murder, lying, and even by sending a flood of his angels to destroy and pollute the seed of man through through their daughters. Satan has always tried, and he has always failed; even with the use of his earthly sons, the Kenites, and the offspring of the fallen angels, the Nephilim, Satan will always fail and God's elect know the truth.

God will always be with you and in you, as long as you ask him to stay by you. Our inheritance today is the continuance of this covenant God gave to Jacob, and in Christ there is no end to that Covenant.)

Next Chapter

Back to Genesis index