Genesis 28

Sunday Morning Bible Study

June 17, 2007

Introduction

Many years ago, a man’s father was visiting America, from Europe, for the very first time. He said he wanted to go with him to the supermarket, so he invited him along. As he went up & down the aisles with him, at the local Giant Food Store, he constantly asked his son questions about products he saw. “Vas diss?? Powdered orange juice??” asked the father <pointing at Tang>. He said, “Yeah, Dad. You just add a little water, and you have fresh orange juice.” A few minutes later, in a different aisle, Dad blurted out, “Und vas dis?? Powdered milk?” <pointing at a box of Carnation>. He said, “Yeah, Dad. You just add a little water, and you have fresh milk!” A few minutes later, in a different aisle, the father yelled out, “Und give a look here!! Baby Powder!! Vat a country, vat a country!”

Being a dad is a little more difficult than just adding water. Being a dad can be difficult at times. Things can get messy. Nobody knows the mess better than Isaac.

Last week we read about Jacob’s deception in stealing the family blessing. His father Isaac was intending to give the blessing to his brother Esau, but Jacob followed his mother’s advice, tricked his father, and got the blessing. Esau found out and decided he would kill his brother. Jacob’s mother, Rebekah, has decided it’s best for Jacob to go live with her brother Laban. Rather than telling Isaac the real reason why she wants Jacob to go away, she tells Isaac a partial, convenient truth:

(Gen 27:46 KJV) And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?

:1-5 Isaac sends Jacob away with blessings

:1 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: "You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.

:2 "Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.

:3 "May God Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples;

:4 And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land In which you are a stranger, Which God gave to Abraham."

Before Jacob stole the blessing, Isaac wanted Esau to be the blessed one. But it sounds now to me like Isaac has realized that God’s blessing is indeed going to be on his younger son Jacob.

:5 So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Padan Aram – a journey of close to 500 miles, taking at least a month or so.

:6-9 Esau marries again

:6 Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, "You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,"

:7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram.

:8 Also Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac.

:9 So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.

We see here an interesting snapshot of human nature.

Esau wants his father to be happy with him.

For some reason, Esau has concluded that a daughter of Ishmael would make a better daughter-in-law than a Canaanite. It seems that he thinks his father would be happier marrying someone within the family. But in a bigger sense, in God’s eyes, it’s kind of tweaked thinking. We often see both Esau and Ishmael as being examples of men who live after the flesh. He’s only going from one fleshly choice to another one.

Lesson

Pleasing Dad

Let me say that I’m not a psychologist, and I’m not going to pretend to be one. But I have some ideas bouncing around in my head that I think have some value. If know more about these things, you may certainly correct me, these are just ideas that I wonder about…

A few years ago we showed a video series on “Bringing up Boys” put out by Focus on the Family. In the series, they suggested that research shows that there could be several contributing factors found in the life of men who turned toward homosexuality. One of the factors seemed to be the lack of a father’s approval, either by a father figure being absent from a son’s life altogether, or a father figure who doesn’t give his approval to the son – the son can never do anything to please his father.

It’s not just a “boy” thing either. I know there is an idea that some gals are living their lives in such a way as to gain their father’s approval, even long after the father is gone.

I don’t know that it’s a bad thing to want to please your father. It seems that there is born within us this drive to please our father.

(Prov 17:6 KJV) … the glory of children are their fathers.

The idea seems to be that we have this natural pride in our father, and it seems coupled with a desire to have your father’s approval.

That’s an okay thing if you have a good dad who returns your desire to please him by giving his approval. But difficulties arise when you never feel you can please your father.

The point: Dads – don’t be stingy with your approval. Hand it out freely.

Lesson

Changing Dads

For some, there’s nothing you will ever be able to do to please your dad. Nothing will never be enough. I’d like to suggest you try pleasing another Father.

Jesus demonstrated this desire to please His Father, but it wasn’t His earthly father that He aimed to please. We see it starting at a young age when his parents lost him on one of their family trips to Jerusalem…

(Luke 2:46-50 NKJV) Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. {47} And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. {48} So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, "Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously." {49} And He said to them, "Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?"

Jesus’ whole life seemed aimed at pleasing His heavenly Father.

(John 8:29 NKJV) "And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."

The healthiest thing we could be doing in our life is learning to please our Father in heaven.

(1 Pet 1:13-19 NKJV) Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; {14} as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; {15} but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, {16} because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy." {17} And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; {18} knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, {19} but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

God is not a Father who never does anything for His children. He has spent extravagantly on us, paying for us with the most precious element in the universe, the blood of His own Son.

Perhaps this Father’s Day we ought to honor God.

:10-17 Jacob meets God at Bethel

:10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran.

This first recorded stop will be about sixty miles north of Beersheba. If he makes this on the first day, he’s traveling FAST! Normally it would be a two to three day journey. Why so fast? He’s running from Esau.

:11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep.

:12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

ladder – some translations have “stairway”. Stairway to heaven???

When Jesus first began calling His disciples to follow Him, He said something interesting to Nathanael…

(John 1:51 NKJV) And He said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

Jesus was referring to this dream of Jacob’s, we call it “Jacob’s ladder”. Jesus was claiming to be the ladder in the dream.

The picture in Jacob’s dream is that these angels are going back and forth between heaven and earth on the only way between the two – a ladder.

Jesus is that only way. He is the only way to heaven. He said,

(John 14:6 NKJV) Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

He said this because He is the only one who took care of the problem that keeps man from getting to heaven. He died for our sins.

Years ago we used to pass out tracts that showed a picture of a great gulf between God and man. Then the tract showed a picture of the cross bridging that gap. Jesus is the ladder, the stairway to heaven.

:13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: "I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.

God is promising to give the land to Jacob, just as He promised to give it to Abraham and Isaac. God will become known as the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”.

:14 "Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

all the families of the earth – this is the promise of the Messiah. Jesus as the descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, would be the one who would bring blessing to the entire world.

The Gospel – Jesus would become the sacrifice that would pay for the sins of the world. God in human flesh, laying down an immortal, eternal life. A perfect life given as a sacrifice.

(John 3:16 NKJV) "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Without Jesus, you and I would have to face a certain judgment before God. Without Jesus, you and I would have to pay for our own sins. Paying for our sins doesn’t mean a three day stay in the county jail. It means going to hell for eternity – because that’s how awful our sin is.

For some of you, God wants to get it through your head that you need Jesus. You need the forgiveness that Jesus brings. You need to open your heart to Jesus. You need to do it today. There is no guarantee that you’ll have the chance to do it tomorrow.

:15 "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 spoken to you."

What I love about this promise of God is how unconditional it is. God promises to do all these things for Jacob, and why? Because Jacob had cleaned up his life? Because Jacob was a good guy? No, simply because God has chosen Jacob and loves him.

:16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it."

Lesson

Aware of God’s presence

Do we often miss out on God’s presence?

Illustration

There was on old episode of Star Trek where two of the characters had some accident happen where they got knocked “out of phase” or something like that. What happened is that they could see everyone else on board the Enterprise, but nobody could see them. Everybody thought they had been zapped and killed, yet here they were walking and talking, but not being seen. They spent the entire episode trying to figure out a way of getting the attention of their crew mates.

I don’t know about science fiction, but the truth is there is another reality that currently coexists with our own. It is the realm of the “spirit”. Right now there are angelic beings all around us observing us, helping us, and protecting us. Just because we don’t see them, don’t think they’re not there. Every once in a while a sort of door opens to the spirit realm and we have records of people getting a glimpse of what happens in the realm of the invisible. Prophets have recorded glimpses of God’s thrown. Others have seen glimpses of the angelic armies around us. Some prophets referred to themselves as those whose eyes were opened.

When the king of Syria had sent his army to capture Elisha, Elisha didn’t seem worried. His servant Gehazi couldn’t understand why Elisha was so calm…

(2 Ki 6:17 NKJV) And Elisha prayed, and said, "LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Let’s suppose that something happened to you and you suddenly had your eyes opened. And all of a sudden you became aware that you were standing in the very presence of God Himself. There He is sitting on His throne, majestic, awesome, huge, powerful, blinding light, glorious, pure, all knowing, and there you are all tiny, dirty, and puny. Around God’s throne you get glimpses of the vast angelic armies, huge angels with fierce countenances, blazing weapons, and awesome power, all bowing in awe and reverence before the mighty King upon His throne, each one yielding to the bidding of his Master.

If this were to happen to you, how do you think you’d respond? I would imagine each of us would respond the same way every person has responded when they’ve caught a glimpse of God’s throne. We’d fall on our face like a dead man.

This is just a glimpse of how worship is to take place. Worship is our response to the very presence of the Almighty God.

The problem is … some of us don’t quite realize we’re even in God’s presence.

We’re like that kid in grade school who is pulling on the little girl’s pigtails in front of us, only to realize that the teacher is standing behind us watching us.

We’re like the guy in the office who is so busy looking at bad stuff on the internet he doesn’t pay attention to the fact that his boss is standing over his shoulder.

Whether we are aware of God’s presence, we’re in it. We need to learn to live as if we’re in God’s presence, because …we are.

God promised Jacob:

(Gen 28:15 NKJV) "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go…

God has promised us:

(Heb 13:5 NKJV) …"I will never leave you nor forsake you."

Jesus said,

(Mat 28:20 NKJV) …and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

David wrote,

So how will you respond to God’s presence? He is here.

:17 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!"

house of God – the Hebrew phrase for this is “Beth-elohim”, or we’ll see it shortened to “Bethel”. He called it this because he met God here.

Bethel is a pretty rocky, barren place located in the Palestinian “West Bank”. There is nothing geographically to suggest the presence of God. But any place you meet God is an awesome place.

:18-22 Jacob’s vow to God

:18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.

This is the act of consecrating an altar, making it a holy place.

:19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously.

Lesson

Turning the place into an idol

For Jacob, Bethel was a special place where he met God, apparently for the first time.

Over the centuries, Bethel would become a place of idolatry. When Jeroboam split the kingdom after Solomon, he turned Bethel into one of the alternate places of worship so the people wouldn’t be tempted to worship God in Jerusalem like they were supposed to. Jeroboam set up one of his golden calves in Bethel and built a temple there.

In the Old Testament, God told the people that He would one day pick a single place out where He was to be worshipped. That place would eventually be known as Jerusalem, not Bethel. Yet later the people would worship other places like Bethel.

In the New Testament, the place of worship changes. Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman about the differences between Samaritan worship and Jewish worship:

(John 4:21-24 NKJV) Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. {22} "You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. {23} "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. {24} "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

The day has come when worship doesn’t have to be done in Jerusalem. Worship is what takes place in your heart, no matter where you are.

For us, the danger comes when we encounter God in a certain place, that we can get caught in thinking that it’s the place that’s special (like my times as a youth at First Baptist). We get attached to places like the people got attached to Bethel. God doesn’t want us attached to places, He wants us attached to Him.

:20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on,

:21 "so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God.

:22 "And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You."

It sounds as if Jacob isn’t too sure about how serious he wants to be about God. It seems as if Jacob is going to put Yahweh to the test. If Yahweh does all that He says He is going to do, then Jacob promises to follow Him. What is so amazing is that God takes him up on it.

Will you give God a chance to work in your life? Will you put God to the test?

(Psa 34:8 NKJV) Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

Introduction

Being a dad is a little more difficult than just adding water. Being a dad can be difficult at times. Things can get messy. Nobody knows the mess better than Isaac.

(Gen 27:46 KJV) And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?

:1-5 Isaac sends Jacob away with blessings

:1 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: "You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.

:2 "Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.

This is following a similar pattern to how Isaac got his own wife. Except Abraham didn’t send Isaac to the old country, Abraham sent a servant to bring back a wife. Abraham made it very clear that under no circumstances was Isaac allowed to go back to the old country (Gen. 24:6,8)

Why wasn’t Isaac concerned about Jacob going back to the old country?

It could be that he feels Jacob is old enough to handle himself. Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah. Jacob is now 77 years old.

Maybe he’s glad to see Jacob and Esau separated for a while?

Maybe he thinks it’s better to listen to his wife.

:3 "May God Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples;

:4 And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land In which you are a stranger, Which God gave to Abraham."

Before Jacob stole the blessing, Isaac wanted Esau to be the blessed one. But it sounds now to me like Isaac has realized that God’s blessing is indeed going to be on his younger son Jacob.

:5 So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Padan Aram – a journey of close to 500 miles, taking at least a month or so.

:6-9 Esau marries again

:6 Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, "You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,"

:7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram.

:8 Also Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac.

:9 So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.

We see here an interesting snapshot of human nature.

Esau wants his father to be happy with him.

Lesson

Pleasing Dad

Let me say that I’m not a psychologist, and I’m not going to pretend to be one. But I have some ideas bouncing around in my head that I think have some value. If know more about these things, you may certainly correct me, these are just ideas that I wonder about…

It’s not just a “boy” thing either. I know there is an idea that some gals are living their lives in such a way as to gain their father’s approval, even long after the father is gone.

I don’t know that it’s a bad thing to want to please your father. It seems that there is born within us this drive to please our father.

(Prov 17:6 KJV) … the glory of children are their fathers.

The point: Dads – don’t be stingy with your approval. Hand it out freely.

Lesson

Changing Dads

For some, there’s nothing you will ever be able to do to please your dad. Nothing will never be enough. I’d like to suggest you try pleasing another Father.

Jesus demonstrated this desire to please His Father, but it wasn’t His earthly father that He aimed to please. We see it starting at a young age when his parents lost him on one of their family trips to Jerusalem…

Jesus’ whole life seemed aimed at pleasing His heavenly Father.

(John 8:29 NKJV) "And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."

The healthiest thing we could be doing in our life is learning to please our Father in heaven.

:10-17 Jacob meets God at Bethel

:10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran.

This first recorded stop will be about sixty miles north of Beersheba. If he makes this on the first day, he’s traveling FAST! Normally it would be a two to three day journey. Why so fast? He’s running from Esau.

:11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep.

:12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

ladder – some translations have “stairway”. Stairway to heaven???

When Jesus first began calling His disciples to follow Him, He said something interesting to Nathanael…

(John 1:51 NKJV) And He said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

Jesus was referring to this dream of Jacob’s, we call it “Jacob’s ladder”. Jesus was claiming to be the ladder in the dream.

The picture in Jacob’s dream is that these angels are going back and forth between heaven and earth on the only way between the two – a ladder.

Jesus is that only way. He is the only way to heaven. He said,

(John 14:6 NKJV) Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

He said this because He is the only one who took care of the problem that keeps man from getting to heaven. He died for our sins.

Years ago we used to pass out tracts that showed a picture of a great gulf between God and man. Then the tract showed a picture of the cross bridging that gap. Jesus is the ladder, the stairway to heaven.

:13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: "I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.

God is promising to give the land to Jacob, just as He promised to give it to Abraham and Isaac. God will become known as the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”.

:14 "Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

The land of Israel is often described as “from Dan to Beersheba”. The place where Jacob is staying for the night is about twenty miles south of the midway point. He’s pretty close to the center of the land.

all the families of the earth – this is the promise of the Messiah. Jesus as the descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, would be the one who would bring blessing to the entire world.

The Gospel – Jesus would become the sacrifice that would pay for the sins of the world. God in human flesh, laying down an immortal, eternal life. A perfect life given as a sacrifice.

(John 3:16 NKJV) "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Without Jesus, you and I would have to face a certain judgment before God. Without Jesus, you and I would have to pay for our own sins. Paying for our sins doesn’t mean a three day stay in the county jail. It means going to hell for eternity – because that’s how awful our sin is.

For some of you, God wants to get it through your head that you need Jesus. You need the forgiveness that Jesus brings. You need to open your heart to Jesus. You need to do it today. There is no guarantee that you’ll have the chance to do it tomorrow.

:15 "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 spoken to you."

What I love about this promise of God is how unconditional it is. God promises to do all these things for Jacob, and why? Because Jacob had cleaned up his life? Because Jacob was a good guy? No, simply because God has chosen Jacob and loves him.

:16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it."

Lesson

Aware of God’s presence

Do we often miss out on God’s presence?

Illustration

When the king of Syria had sent his army to capture Elisha, Elisha didn’t seem worried. His servant Gehazi couldn’t understand why Elisha was so calm…

(2 Ki 6:17 NKJV) And Elisha prayed, and said, "LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

If this were to happen to you, how do you think you’d respond? I would imagine each of us would respond the same way every person has responded when they’ve caught a glimpse of God’s throne. We’d fall on our face like a dead man.

This is just a glimpse of how worship is to take place. Worship is our response to the very presence of the Almighty God.

The problem is … some of us don’t quite realize we’re even in God’s presence.

Whether we are aware of God’s presence, we’re in it. We need to learn to live as if we’re in God’s presence, because …we are.

God promised Jacob:

(Gen 28:15 NKJV) "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go…

God has promised us:

(Heb 13:5 NKJV) …"I will never leave you nor forsake you."

Jesus said,

(Mat 28:20 NKJV) …and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

David wrote,