(Gen 28:1 NASB) So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, and said to him, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.
Gen 28:1: “Isaac called for Jacob” (KJV). It could be that Jacob was hiding. Isaac blessed Jacob. This confirms Jacob’s title to the birthright regardless of the deception involved.
“You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.” Isaac gave Jacob the same command that Abraham gave his servant in seeking a wife for Isaac (Gen. 24:1-4).
Once again, this is according to the law given by Elohim (Ex. 34:12-16).
(Gen 28:2 NASB) “Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.
(Gen 28:3 NASB) “And may God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples.
(Gen 28:4 NASB) “May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you; that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.”
Gen 28:4: The term in verse 3, “God Almighty” is “El Shaddai.”
Isaac is reaffirming the blessing and the birthright as being the property of Jacob.
(Gen 28:5 NASB) Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
(Gen 28:6 NASB) Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram, to take to himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he charged him, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,”
(Gen 28:7 NASB) and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram.
Gen 28:7: Esau watched what happened in sending off Jacob. He saw that his choice of wives was one of the factors that cost him his blessing. He is going to be pro-active in attempting to solve the problem.
(Gen 28:8 NASB) So Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased his father Isaac;
(Gen 28:9 NASB) and Esau went to Ishmael, and married, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.
Gen 28:9: Esau decided to expand his collection of wives. He decided to go to his father’s brother and pick a wife from among them. Jacob was told to go to his mother’s brother and pick a wife from among them.
(Gen 28:10 NASB) Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran.
(Gen 28:11 NASB) And he came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place.
Gen 28:11: On his way to Haran, Jacob stopped to sleep for the night. There, he would have one of the most unusual visions in Scripture.
(Gen 28:12 NASB) And he had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
Gen 28:12: This “ladder” is probably more like a stairway. This dream is going to assure Jacob that the blessings of Abraham and Isaac will pass through him. Thereafter, Scripture often calls Elohim, “the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Ex. 3:13-15).
Yeshua seems to tell us that Jacob’s dream is a picture of Him (John 1:51). What did Yeshua mean by that? He could mean that heaven will open up and He will return with His mighty angels in vengeance (2 Thess. 1:7-10).
The other obvious meaning is that Yeshua is the only way to the Father (John 14:6).
(Gen 28:13 NASB) And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.
(Gen 28:14 NASB) “Your descendants shall also be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Gen 28:14: Through the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
The passage says that the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be spread abroad to the west, to the east, to the north and to the south. When He brings all His people back to this land, He will bring us back from all those directions also (Isa. 43:5-7).
(Gen 28:15 NASB) “And behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Gen 28:15: He will bring His people back to this land. When Yeshua returns, He will land in Israel on the Mount of Olives specifically and all the saints will be with Him (Zech. 14:1-5).
(Gen 28:16 NASB) Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.”
(Gen 28:17 NASB) And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
(Gen 28:18 NASB) So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on its top.
(Gen 28:19 NASB) And he called the name of that place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz.
Gen 28:19: Jacob felt that this particular place was inhabited by Elohim and he did not realize it. He named the place “Bethel” which means “House of Elohim.”
(Gen 28:20 NASB) Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear,
(Gen 28:21 NASB) and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God.
(Gen 28:22 NASB) “And this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house; and of all that Thou dost give me I will surely give a tenth to Thee.”
Gen 28:22: On the surface, it would seem that Jacob is bargaining with Elohim. That is not the case here. Jacob was already promised those things that he mentions here.
This vow from Jacob is difficult to decipher outside the Torah of Elohim. Jacob is declaring total dependency on Elohim and His promises. Jacob, in return, is agreeing to follow the law of Elohim, including the tithe.
This vow being made is very similar in structure to the words of Yeshua in Matt. 6:25-33.
Patrick McGuire
Copyright 2014 Patrick McGuire and Beit Yeshua Torah Assembly All rights reserved, no portion of this Lesson may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews. Beit Yeshua Torah Assembly Fort Smith, Arkansas