Genesis 28:16-22

2008.Oct.31 05:20

Jacob’s Response

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Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it." 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." 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. He called the name of that place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz. 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, and I return to my father's house in safety, then the LORD will be my God. "This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You."
(Genesis 28:16-22, NASB)

Jacob’s response is…difficult. On the one hand, I think his intentions are (by and large) positive. On the other, I get distracted by the “little things.” What little things? Well…

1. He concludes that Bethel (at that time Luz) is itself a special location, offering some particular access to God and heaven. There’s nothing else in the Bible that gives me any reason to value that apparent conclusion, though given what little I know about the religions of his day, it’s not an absurd conclusion. I’m just pretty sure it’s completely wrong.
2. It’s hard to say, but I have the impression that to an extent Jacob’s worship, such as there is, is directed to the place instead of to Yahweh.
3. Jacob makes an if/then vow. These always strike me as both arrogant and dangerous.
4. “This stone…will be God’s house.” Uh, Jacob…no. Sorry.

There’s a feeling that Jacob may think he’s happened into this encounter with Yahweh, rather than that Yahweh sought him out on account of his grandfather’s faith (which is what I conclude has happened; in as much as “sought him out” should not imply any difficultly in doing so on Yahweh’s part). More than that is the indication that Jacob does not particularly understand Yahweh. Perhaps he considers Yahweh as a local diety, although one particularly worshipped in his family. The comment about the stone being God’s house speaks of a belief of having some control over and/or something needed by dieties. This is not a “You are the creator of the universe who has become personally involved in my life. Whoa” reaction. But it’s promising.

As an aside, this is (I think) the second reference to a tithe in the Bible, after Abraham’s gift to Melchizedek. But I don’t have anything particular to say on that point.

Genesis 28:13-15

2008.Oct.24 03:00

Reiterate the Promise, Again

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The LORD was standing beside the ladder and said: I am the LORD God who was worshiped by Abraham and Isaac. I will give to you and your family the land on which you are now sleeping. Your descendants will spread over the earth in all directions and will become as numerous as the specks of dust. Your family will be a blessing to all people. Wherever you go, I will watch over you, then later I will bring you back to this land. I won't leave you–I will do all I have promised.
(Genesis 28:13-15, CEV)

The narrative of the Jacob’s Ladder story notes first the angels and the stairway, and then, almost as an aside (certainly in the way I remember it from various “kid’s church” lessons as a child), notes that Yahweh is standing beside the ladder!!! “Oh, yes, I had this nice dream, angels, stairway, lots of stuff interpret. Oh, yeah, and the creator of the universe was standing there, wanting to talk to me.”

We do, as humans, get blinded by the flair.

Yahweh is here to reiterate a promise, that the descendents of Abraham, now through Isaac and then Jacob, will possess Canaan. They will be many, they will be watched over by Yahweh, and (this is important) they will be a blessing to others. God will not leave Jacob or his descendants. His promise is certain, but it is not accomplished yet. Nor does Yahweh specify the timing. It is includes in this version, an acknowledgment that Jacob’s descendants will go out from the land (not noting for what reasons), but that God will bring them back together.

Yahweh seems to do this a lot, making a promise, reiterating it, only fulfilling it in his time, which may be a long way off. This is only a problem if I do not believe his promises. Yes, I must be patient, but I can be relieved completely of worry. And, very cool, he encourages us with reminders of his promises, throughout the Bible, and often in other ways.

Genesis 28:10-12

2008.Oct.17 13:40

The Ladder

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Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 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. 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.
(Genesis 28:10-12, NASB)

Hey, it’s Jacob’s ladder! Wow. I love this story. Do you know why? Because every bloody Sunday school teacher and kids’ church leader teaches this story. But I can’t think of anytime that someone told me what it was about. So what is about? Beats me. A bunch of angels climbing up and down stairs.

Backing up.

Jacob, who I won’t say is the model of obedience and high character, is now actively obeying his mother and father, by heading towards casa de Laban. Night comes, and Jacob lays down, using a stone (!!!) as a pillow. And he has a dream. The dream is the famous “Jacob’s Ladder” dream, and it’s really the second part of the telling that matters.

I really think that the ladder bit is mostly mood and setting. Yahweh’s promise would not have changed had this introductory bit been left out. Then, it may have been meant more as an attention getter: both Jacob’s and ours. Yahweh is about to reiterate a major promise, that of Israel’s possession of Canaan, and Yahweh’s dependability. It’s not something we should overlook.

Other things one can suggest the ladder does:

1. Shows that God and his servants are active in the affairs of earth.
2. Implies there is a method for joining Yahweh in his paradise, even after Adam and Eve blew the earthly paradise.
3. Reveals that God is pretty creative is his presentation of dreams. Which will prove to be a relevant point as we continue.

Genesis 28:5-9

2008.Oct.10 17:50

Missing the Point

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Isaac then sent Jacob to stay with Rebekah's brother Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean. Esau found out that his father Isaac had blessed Jacob and had warned him not to marry any of the Canaanite women. He also learned that Jacob had been sent to find a wife in northern Syria and that he had obeyed his father and mother. Esau already had several wives, but he realized at last how much his father hated the Canaanite women. So he married Ishmael's daughter Mahalath, who was the sister of Nebaioth and the granddaughter of Abraham.
(Genesis 28:5-9, CEV)

Esau starts to clue in that his parents did not want him marrying a woman from Canaan. Too late, though, because he has already done so at least twice. Now, while I agree that Esau needs to honor his parents and should certainly have sought their advice in his marital decisions, it’s a little funky that this grown, married man–who has apparently not much cared in the past–is trying so hard to win his parents’ favor.

The solution chosen by Esau is not to follow his brother to Laban’s home, which is probably a wise abstention, but to marry one of his paternal cousins, Mahalath, daughter of Ishmael (and, the Bible notes for us, sister of Nebaioth, whoever that is. I’d look it up, but alas, I am without internet connection today).

But I think the point Esau continues to miss is obedience. He doesn’t so much see (reading between the lines) that Jacob “obeyed his father and mother,” but rather the results of a particular act of obedience. Esau, I think, is still trying to find a good equation or system for pleasing others and getting through life. But he does appear interested in lifestyle changes, in placing correct values on things, in continually honoring his parents, in obeying Yahweh and his elders (where appropriate regarding the elders). Esau wants one off, quicky solutions. Which have nothing to do with the kingdom of God.

Genesis 28:1-4

2008.Oct.03 12:15

Extending the Blessing

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So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him and commanded him: "Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother's father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien, the land God gave to Abraham."
(Genesis 28:1-4, NIV)

Isaac, after having been tricked, more or less, into giving the first-born blessing to the younger of his twins, now goes ahead and gives a similar blessing to Jacob, now explicitly adding that Jacob–not necessarily to the exclusion of Esau–shall inherit Yahweh’s promise to Abraham: he will have many descendents; they will possess the land of Canaan. In which the descendents of Abraham are aliens. Which is an increasingly difficult point to argue.

But Isaac takes the opportunity to give, if not a condition to the blessing, at least a clearly related instruction. “Jacob, go home,” he says, “and marry one of your cousins.” Or, more generally, do not marry a Canaanite. This particular point only comes up fifty thousand times in the Old Testament, so I won’t dwell on it here. At least, it now occurs to Isaac to state this desire, where I’m not sure it did in the case of Esau. Isaac, I am concluding, is not a great example of a father.

It’s also interesting that, in Genesis 24, Abraham made it clear to his servant that he did not want Isaac to leave Canaan at all, whereas Isaac explicitly sends Jacob off. It would have been interesting to see interaction between Laban and Isaac.