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 daughters of Canaan; 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; 9 Then
went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the
daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.
Esau, like other men in this culture, gathered to
himself several wives as the phrase took
unto the wives he had indicates. Is Esau here, though, defying his parents
or is he trying to please them by marrying a distant relative? Ishmael is his uncle
(Isaac and Ishmael had the same father but not the same mother) so Mahalath is
his cousin.
10 ¶
And 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.
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. 13
And, behold, the LORD stood above it, 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; 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: and in thee and in
thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 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.
God’s choosing of Jacob to continue His ministry of
reconciliation, of reconciling man to Himself, is confirmed here in this dream.
The dream has special significance as prophecy. For Jesus Himself refers to its
meaning.
John
1:51 And he saith unto him, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of
God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
Christ is the ladder from earth to heaven. He is the
bridge between man and God. This is an important fact of human history, perhaps
the most important fact after God’s existence. There is no other way to go from
here to there except through Him.
John
14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way,
the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Acts
4:12 Neither is there salvation in any
other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we
must be saved.
All other founders of religion, messiahs, or masters
were either deluded or frauds or both; Buddha, Mohammed, etc. etc. before
Christ, and after.
John
10:8 All that ever came before me are
thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
Jehovah God reinforces the land grant given to Abraham
and Isaac now to Jacob and to his posterity. All the families of the earth will
be blessed through Jacob and his descendants. Indeed, the Saviour of the world
will come through this line. The gospel will be preached around the entire
earth. God’s reconciliation will circle the globe and the whole earth will hear
about His forgiveness and His desire to have mankind restored to his
relationship with God.
God promises protection, that He will stand by Jacob,
and that His will, God’s will, will be accomplished.
Hebrews
13:5b …for he hath said, I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Isaiah
55:11 So shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall
accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I
sent it.
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