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Genesis Chapter 28 "Jacob Sent to Padan-aram, To Take a Wife." This
Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription/ location 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." Rebekah's wisdom worked, as she followed God's instructions. Genesis 28:2 "Arise, go to Padan-aram, 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." "Padan-aram" is on the plain of Syria, and this is the house, or family that Rebekah came from. Isaac chooses the house, but leaves the choice of picking his own wife up to Jacob. Genesis 28:3 "And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;" Isaac is reminding Jacob that he is the one that God has chosen, in that he has not mixed with the Hittites. It is you that that seed must come through. "That seed", of course is the promised Messiah. Isaac sort of forgot this part in Genesis 27:2, but we see now that he has remembered what God's promise to Abraham, and His plan from the very beginning was. "Almighty God" in the Hebrew text reads "El Shaddai". "El" is the name of God, where "Shaddai" gives us another look at the nature of the Almighty Father. El shows the source that the strength comes from, but in this light, it is one of forgiveness and grace; not as Creator, but as the Giver. Shaddai is the All-bountiful. Shaddai shows God's power to supply all of the needs of His people. Shaddai is always used following the title El, for that is the power behind the giving. Genesis 28:4 "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." This is not a fixed place, but an expanding place. It includes all places where the multitudes of Jacob seed migrate to. The promise God gave to Abraham included all the land on the horizon, as the ten tribed nations of the "House of Israel" spread around the world. Genesis 28:5 "And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padan-aram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother." Keep in mind that "Bethuel" was no Syrian by race, but by geographical location. Bethuel's father was Nahor, the brother of Abraham. Genesis 28:6 "When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padan-aram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying," Is Esau concerned about what either God or his mother thought? No, he is till trying to please his father. He still has him mind fixed on some part of the blessing. Genesis 28:7 "And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padan-aram;" Genesis 28:8 "And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father;" Esau is still trying to please his earthly father, rather than his Heavenly Father. Though we are to please our earthly father if it is possible, however; our eyes should be set on pleasing our Heavenly Father, who is the Creator of our soul. When we go against God, we will not receive the blessings that He would have for us. Genesis 28:9 "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." This shows Esau's ignorance, for Ishmael was Abraham's rejected son, by the Egyptian bond woman, who was rejected because the whole affair was outside the will of God. Ishmael was not part of any promise between God and Abraham and Sarah, and as such, he and his mother Hagar were sent away. The point here is that Esau is still chasing after things to please Isaac, and not God, and he to please in his own methods, and not God's. Genesis 28:10 "And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran." Genesis 28:11 "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." Jacob, who will be the father of the twelve Patriarchs, picked a stone to lay his head upon; and we will see later where this pillow stone, also called Jacob's pillar, will become important in the future. Genesis 28:12 "And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it." Jesus referred to this ladder in the gospel of 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." It is the windows of heaven that open, and the angels that come and go from God's throne are to the service of Jesus Christ. The ability to see this ascending and descending was conditional on the repentance of the nation, yet this time will still be seen. What it is saying is that Christ is the link between heaven and earth. It is by and through Christ that the angels descend and ascend. Christ is the link between God and man, for Christ is the tabernacle for man, to allow God to commune with man. This particular stone has been carried through the wilderness by the Israelites, and held through many centuries. It is the stone that the kings of Israelites were crown on, and today it sits in Westminster Abby in England, and the Kings and Queens of England are crowned upon. It is the stone that Queen Elizabeth II was crowned upon, and should there be another linkage in the royalty line, he or she will also be crowned upon "Jacob's pillar" [stone]. Genesis 28:13 "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;" God is the God of the living, and not the dead. God is the God of all souls, and the living souls are those souls that are in Christ, and did things God's ways; yes, even in the old testament. Genesis 28:14 "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." It will be through Jacobs family that Jesus Christ will be born, and it is through Jesus Christ the we receive all our blessings. It is through Jesus Christ that the souls of all mankind can receive eternal life of the soul. Christ is the only ladder by which all mankind can ascend to the throne of God, and His name is the authority for our approaching that throne in repentance and requests. This verse is also in reference to Jacob's sons become many nations scattered around the world, in geographic locations that would be a wealth to their peoples. Genesis 28:15 "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." This promise is to Jacob and all the generations that followed him, right up to our present generation. It is not just for the tiny land of Palestine, or Israel of today, but to all the migrations of the offshoot generations that sprang forth from Jacob. God's promises was for those ten tribes that came through the Caucasus Mountains in the seventh century B. C. and migrated westward to settle throughout Europe, and moved on to the Americas. The became known as "Caucasians" as a race of white people by tradition, However, this term is in reference to the event of migration of the "House of Israel"; the so called "lost house of Israel. This promise that God is giving to Jacob also includes the "House of Judah", which includes the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and part of the tribe of Levi, which was scattered throughout all the other tribes. So here we see God is presenting himself to simple Jacob, sleeping on his rock pile, and revealing to him what he will be in the distant future. Why would God chose Jacob for this blessing? Because he obeyed his mother and father, and did not marry from the daughters of the Hittites, but most of all he obeyed "El Shaddai", the Living God. 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." Our Heavenly Father has stated that "I will always be with you, I will not leave thee nor forsake thee". He stated this in the fifteenth verse, and today His Holy Spirit is also with each of us, and this promise is expanded especially in this end time generation. We will see God moving to intercede on behalf of His people as the events of the end times unfold before our eyes. Genesis 28:17 "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." This would be more accurately translated, "How awesome is this place." Jacob knew that this is the window to see right into heaven, and the gate to control the access right into heaven and the throne of God. Genesis 28:18 "And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillow, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it." Jacob anointed that stone, and later there would be huge rings placed in it, and it would be carried where ever the Israelites would go. That rock would be there as a reminder to the vision of Jacob, and the promises of God to him and the generations of his children that would follow. Today it is called "The Stone of Destiny". Genesis 28:19 "And he called the name of that place Beth-el: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first." "Beth" meaning "house", and "el" is "God". The name of the place then is the "house of God". "Luz" means "almond tree", or a reference in the Hebrew for birth to continue. Genesis 28:20 "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," Genesis 28:21 "So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God:" Jacob is in turn making a contract with God. God has spoken and promised Jacob a long and prosperous life, with many children, and that the Messiah would come through his offspring, Now Jacob is recognizing the fact of this promise, and in turn making a commitment back to God. We can test our Lord, as long as our challenging does not go against God's will, which is written in His Word. Genesis 28:22 "And the 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 set that pillar as God's house, to be a remembrance not only of God's covenant to him, but also Jacobs commitment to God. If you want a reason for the giving of the tenth back to God, this is the best that you can find. It is the keeping of the commitment made by father Jacob to God, that as God blesses you, you are bound by that commitment to "surely give the tenth unto Thee." That pillar exists today at the head chair of the crown of England in Westminster Abby in London. And it points out to each of us that Christianity is a reality and not a religion. Our Holy Bible is the official record by God of the Lineage whereby the Christ child would come, and it is a record also of the attacks by Satan to destroy that lineage. If you cannot understand this fact, much of the Bible will seem as strange to you as the records of the heathen religions. Satan has always tried to destroy that lineage by murder, lying, and even by sending a flood of his angels to destroy and pollute the seed of man through their daughters. Satan has always tried, and he has always failed; even with the use of his earthly sons, the Kenites, and the offspring of the fallen angels, the Nephilim, Satan will always fail and God's elect know the truth. God will always be with you and in you, as long as you ask him to stay by you. Our inheritance today is the continuance of this covenant God gave to Jacob, and in Christ there is no end to that Covenant.
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