Genesis 28:1 ¶
And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, 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 daughters
of Laban thy mother’s brother. 3 And God
Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou
mayest be a multitude of people; 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. 5 And Isaac sent away Jacob:
and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of
Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.
Amazingly,
to us anyway, Isaac, knowing now of Jacob’s deception blesses him again.
Perhaps he was relieved that Jacob would be going away. But, he commands Jacob
to go to his Uncle Laban’s house and take a wife from his own people. Genetic
deterioration would not have been significant in those early days of man’s
history as it is now in our degenerated state. Marrying a cousin would not
necessarily have been unhealthy but, even if it was, it was a practice not
uncommon.
Isaac
blesses Jacob in that he may be multiplied and a great many people will come
from him. Remember the blessing Rebekah received?
Genesis
24:60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said
unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and
let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.
Isaac
passed on the blessing given by God to Abraham regarding the land grant, and to
his posterity. Clearly, Jacob did not physically receive this inheritance but
it is for his posterity. Many prophecies in the Bible are for a future time,
not the time in which they are given.
Hebrews
11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was
called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance,
obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise,
as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the
heirs with him of the same promise: 10
For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker
is God. 11 Through faith also Sara
herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when
she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him
as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand
which is by the sea shore innumerable. 13
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having
seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Always
keep in mind how God’s plan of reconciling mankind to Himself is playing out in
this history.
Genesis
28:6 ¶ 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.
Genesis
28:10 ¶ 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.
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.
Genesis
28:16 ¶ And Jacob awaked out of his
sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.
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. 18 And Jacob rose up
early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and
set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. 19 And he called the name of that place Bethel:
but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. 20 And Jacob vowed a 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: 22 And this stone, which I have set for a
pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely
give the tenth unto thee.
Jacob
awoke from his dream frightened. He considered that the location of his dream was
the doorway to Heaven, the abode of God, itself. He then prepared a
commemoration of what happened with the stone he had prepared for his pillow
and poured oil over it. We will see stones set up for memorials later as well
as oil poured on things and people to signify their sanctification, being set
apart for God, as well.
Leviticus
8:12 And he poured of the anointing oil
upon Aaron’s head, and anointed him, to sanctify him.
Joshua
4:3 And command ye them, saying, Take
you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet
stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave
them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night. 4 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he
had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: 5 And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before
the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man
of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of
the children of Israel: 6 That this may
be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come,
saying, What mean ye by these stones? 7
Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before
the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of
Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children
of Israel for ever.
A
town named Bethel will form about this but first it will be called Luz
Genesis
35:6 So Jacob came to Luz, which is in
the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him.
Jacob
makes a curious vow, which would not be acceptable for a Christian knowing what
we know now and having what we have. He says that if God protects him and gives
him food and clothing and brings him back to his father’s house in peace then
the God of his fathers will be his God. He calls the stone he set for a pillar
and a memorial God’s house and promises to render to God the tenth, the tithe
of his increase, to God.
One
of the things that confuses the preacher who tries to put the Christian back
under the Old Testament is the Old Testament personage’s proclivity to make
deals with God. God promises them something if they respond a certain way and
they promise to serve God if He provides certain things for them. A preacher
reflects this when he talks about doing business with God. The Old Testament saint was promised a
physical, temporal blessing of bounty and success on this earth if he obeyed.
The Christian is not promised wealth, land, or worldly things. He or she will
have an amazing relationship with God but also tribulation and suffering with a
hope and promise of eternal life when this life is over.
God’s
ministry of reconciliation required the creation of maintenance of a people and
a place as the seat of God’s work. But, with Christ the seat of God’s work is
not in a specific location apart from the heart of every Christian. There are
no sacred spaces in New Testament Christianity save for that heart of flesh in
which abides the Spirit of God.
This
inability to see the difference between the relationship these people had with
God and our relationship with God creates a totally upside down doctrinal
attitude. Paul said;
1Corinthians
1:22 For the Jews require a sign, and
the Greeks seek after wisdom:
As
God was drawing these men and women to Him in His ministry of reconciling
mankind to Himself they needed and wanted proof, some kind of sign, prodigy, or
sort of figurative contractual agreement that underscored and confirmed His
word and His promises. The gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the
confirmation of what God has promised us. We need no other and we do err
greatly if we downplay the importance of the indwelling of the Spirit of God as
the seal of our salvation, the deposit on that promise, and what secures the
believer in Christ.
Ephesians
1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that
ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after
that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until
the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Ephesians
4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of
God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
When
you receive Christ as your Saviour the Holy Spirit indwells you in a way that
it indwells no person who has not trusted Him. The proof that you have the
Spirit inside you is what comes out of you which should give most so-called
Christians pause to wonder if they are truly believers in Christ or just caught
up in some kind of counterfeit Christian culture.
Galatians
5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is
no law. 24 And they that are Christ’s
have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in
the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of
vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
Ephesians
5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but
now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all
goodness and righteousness and truth;) 10
Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
It is also of note in this passage to see that
the skeptic who says that the ancient Jew was unaware of any concept of Heaven
as put forward in the Bible is wrong. Jacob clearly had an understanding that
there was a Heaven and that it was not a place on this earth.
Genesis,
chapter 29
Genesis 29:1 ¶ Then Jacob
went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east. 2 And he looked, and behold a well in the
field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that
well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon the well’s mouth.
3 And thither were all the flocks
gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the
sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth in his place. 4 And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence
be ye? And they said, Of Haran are we. 5
And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We
know him. 6 And he said unto them, Is he
well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with
the sheep. 7 And he said, Lo, it is yet
high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together: water
ye the sheep, and go and feed them. 8
And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and
till they roll the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.
Genesis 29:9 ¶
And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep:
for she kept them. 10 And it came to
pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the
sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone
from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. 11 And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his
voice, and wept. 12 And Jacob told
Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was Rebekah’s son: and she
ran and told her father. 13 And it came
to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to
meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And
he told Laban all these things. 14 And
Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him
the space of a month.
Jacob
went back in the direction from whence Abraham had come. So, he finds a well
with three flocks of sheep waiting to be watered by a well that had a great
stone covering it. What tremendous preaching material you can get from passages
like this. Think of the Resurrection of Christ leaving a tomb covered by a
great stone, giving living water to those sheep thirsting for it. There are so
many possibilities with this. Three flocks might represent Noah’s three sons
whose descendants overspread the whole earth waiting for this life-giving
water. Such good preaching material and I’m sure you can think of more.
Can
you see Jacob in this scene as a type of the angel of the Lord rolling the
stone away from Christ’s tomb? (Matthew 28:2)
Genesis 29:15 ¶
And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou
therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be? 16 And Laban had two daughters: the name of the
elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was
beautiful and well favoured. 18 And
Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy
younger daughter. 19 And Laban said, It
is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man:
abide with me. 20 And Jacob served seven
years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had
to her. 21 And Jacob said unto Laban,
Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her. 22 And Laban gathered together all the men of
the place, and made a feast. 23 And it
came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to
him; and he went in unto her. 24 And
Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an handmaid. 25 And it came to pass, that in the morning,
behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me?
did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?
26 And Laban said, It must not be so
done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. 27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this
also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her
week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also. 29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah
his handmaid to be her maid. 30 And he
went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served
with him yet seven other years.
Laban
calls Jacob his brother, which
clearly in this context means a close relation, as Jacob is his nephew. Brother can easily be used to refer to
someone who is a comrade or a fellow believer in Christ. It can also refer to
the brotherhood of mankind as in Genesis 9:5.
Jacob,
the trickster, is now going to be tricked. Laban is a very clever man. He
allows Jacob to work seven years under the promise of Jacob receiving Rachel as
his bride. Instead he gives Jacob Leah, her older sister. Notice that the
wedding ceremony is a feast at the end of which the father just gives his
daughter to the husband-to-be. Not very romantic from the point of view of
today’s woman.
Laban’s
excuse is that the custom of the country is for the older to be married before
the younger but it seems more likely that Laban probably worried that his
oldest, not so beautiful and well
favoured, would not find a husband. As Leah is tender eyed, which carries with it the implication of weakness or
deficiency in Early Modern English and in the Hebrew text, perhaps she was a
bit cross-eyed, who can say. Jacob was drawn to the prettier daughter. This
type of carnal attitude seems more worthy of Esau and marriages based on this
do not have a good foundation. But, let’s give Laban the benefit of the doubt
and agree it was the custom not to marry the younger before the elder. He still
tricked Jacob, the clever deceiver. You have to wonder if he did not know whom
he was consummating a marriage with that perhaps this feast included a liberal
supply of wine as one could reasonably assume that her veil would be taken off
when the marriage was completed.
It
appears from a literal reading of the text that Jacob gave Leah a week of being
the only wife and then received Rachel, for whom he worked an additional seven
years to pay off her father. Notice the difference here between Jacob and
Isaac. In the Ancient Near East a bride did not just marry a husband but joined
another family, leaving the family of her birth. Rebekah was brought to Isaac.
Here, Jacob is in bondage to his brides’ father. Also, while we might wonder about
the dowry given by the bride’s family there was also the ancient “bridewealth”
given by the groom’s family. Here, Jacob’s servitude for fourteen years serves
that function and he will leave with wealth after another six years.
Jacob
has worked for Laban up to this point and acquired two wives with their
handmaids and his living in the process.
Genesis
29:31 ¶ And when the LORD saw that Leah
was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren. 32 And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she
called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my
affliction; now therefore my husband will love me. 33 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and
said, Because the LORD hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me
this son also: and she called his name Simeon. 34 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and
said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him
three sons: therefore was his name called Levi. 35 And she conceived again, and bare a son: and
she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and
left bearing.
See
comments on chapter 25:29-34 for an explanation of how hate can be used as to hold in low esteem or to hold in contempt or
just to love less. God gives His blessing on Leah by making it possible for her
to conceive as she is held in lower esteem by Jacob than Rachel. But Rachel was barren in that she could
not conceive. In gratitude Leah named her first born, Reuben, which means, “Behold,
a son,” according to Strong, while the context would imply God seeing Leah’s
misery, her affliction. In fact, there are those other than Strong’s who define
this Hebrew name as, “who sees the son,” or, “the vision of the son.” Another
Jewish source has it as, in opposition to Strong’s view, is, “He has seen my
affliction (misery.)” Look at the context and think for yourself what Reuben’s
name means. Strong’s, while depended upon by most Bibles today is not the
absolute source of definition for Bible words and names. The Bible itself is. I
would presume that the Holy Spirit knows what He wants a word to mean in
context.
Leah
and Jacob’s second son is named Simeon. In the context meaning, “he has heard,”
also confirmed by Jewish sources. Levi, the third son, would then mean, “joined
to,” and Judah, from whom the line of Christ comes, would mean, “praise.” We
might think of these four births as saying, “God has seen my misery. He has
heard me. Now, my husband and I will be united and I will praise God.”
Genesis,
chapter 30
Genesis
30:1 ¶ And when Rachel saw that she bare
Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me
children, or else I die. 2 And Jacob’s
anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath
withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? 3
And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear
upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. 4 And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife:
and Jacob went in unto her. 5 And Bilhah
conceived, and bare Jacob a son. 6 And
Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given
me a son: therefore called she his name Dan. 7
And Bilhah Rachel’s maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.
8 And Rachel said, With great wrestlings
have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name
Naphtali. 9 When Leah saw that she had
left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife. 10 And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a son.
11 And Leah said, A troop cometh: and
she called his name Gad. 12 And Zilpah
Leah’s maid bare Jacob a second son. 13
And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and
she called his name Asher.
Rachel
envied her older sister’s success at giving their husband four sons. She holds
Jacob responsible for her infertility. Jacob angrily states that it is God who
has withheld a baby from her, which is true. God is in complete and immanent
control of conception and birth, the entire process.
Here,
she does something entirely alien to us, a repeat of Sarah’s behavior with
Hagar. She offers her handmaid, who obviously has no rights to herself, as a
surrogate for herself as a wife. This, what we would consider adultery, must
not have been uncommon in the ancient world. Here, and elsewhere, we get a
picture of the method of childbirth used in this part of the ancient world. …she shall bear upon my knees. Note the
following;
Exodus
1:16 And he said, When ye do the office
of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son,
then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
The
modern child-bearing position is on your back. The ancient was sitting on
someone’s knees or a stool, a birthstool, pictures of which relics can be found
on the internet if you are interested. I have read, though I cannot confirm,
that birthstools were used in Europe during the Middle Ages. One Jewish source
I read reported that ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics show the development of a
chair type device with a hole where the seat is normally, much like a toilet
seat today.
Bilhah
does conceive and bear a son whom Rachel called Dan. The power to name is the
power of dominion over someone or something as we saw from Adam. Rachel owns
Bilhah and counts her children as her own. Dan, from the context, means judge
and Strong’s confirms this. The Hebrew word also comes from a primitive root
meaning to plead a cause before a judge so that we can see from the context, if
we do not go to Strong’s, what God wants the name to mean.
Again,
Bilhah, on behalf of Rachel bears Naphtali, whose name means wrestling. Then,
Leah, realizing that she was no longer having children, gave her maid, Zilpah,
to her husband. She then conceived and bore Gad, whose name means a troop.
Certainly, their family was becoming a troop. Zilpah then bears Asher for Leah
and Jacob. The word blessed here is
defined as being happy in something you
have received at the hand of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment