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.
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