Genesis 28:1-22
Bread, Raiment and Peace
June 23, 2019
Lynchburg, Virginia
EXORDIUM
Our Lord has promised to take care of us. He keeps His promises. We have not seen the righteous begging for bread. The fact that God promises to take care of us is one good reason to walk in faith. Of course, the Lord provides food, drink and shelter for us, the basic necessities of the human body. But His general promises are also true. Those who serve Him know that you reap what you sow. If you work hard, the Lord provides a bountiful harvest. If you trust Him with your riches, particularly in tithing, then you always have enough money. If you trust Him with your time, particularly by setting aside one day in seven as a Sabbath to the Lord, then you always have enough time to accomplish whatever the Lord has called you to.
But we do not serve the Lord merely for what He can provide for us. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. But He keeps His own in perfect peace.
EXEGESIS
28 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. 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.
Isaac has now come to his senses and seeks to bless Jacob. He knows that Rebekah is right concerning Esua’s wives. They are a grief and are the potential downfall of the family. Furthermore, Esau is plotting the murder of Jacob, so Rebekah is planning his escape to safety.
It seems that Isaac is still not willing to hold Esau accountable. If he did, Rebekah would be able to reveal the plot against Jacob and Isaac could set Esau straight, send him away, or strengthen Jacob to protect himself. Instead, Jacob is driven away and Esau remains in the good graces of his father.
3 And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; 4 And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land hwherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.
Isaac at least realizes that Jacob is the one chosen by God. Although he is sending him away, he puts the blessing of Abraham upon Jacob. This blessing includes offspring and land.
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.
Isaac sends Jacob to the same place that he found a good wife, to Laban, Rebekah’s brother. This turns out well for Jacob but not after a great deal of shrewd dealing by Laban.
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, 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 Padan-aram;
Esau sees the writing on the wall. Jacob obeys his father and mother. He knows that the displeasure of his father and mother rest upon him because of the wives that he has chosen.
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.
Calvin points out that Esau sees the that the birthright of blessing is of value. He wants the blessing without the obedience. This is like the magician who thought he could by the power of the Holy Spirit. It was something he valued monetarily but not spiritually.
Esau now tries to make amends with his father and mother by improving his marital situation. Like a son of the flesh, he does not make wise decisions. Instead of taking a wife from the Canaanites, the original pagans of the land, he chooses rather a daughter of Ishmael. He hopes to show in this way that he, too, is a son of Abraham. However, his fleshly wisdom prevails. He chooses the rejected Ishmael, showing that he, too, is the son of the flesh and not of the promise. When the sons of flesh seek to do right, even their goodness is bad.
10 And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, 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 forhis pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.
Did you ever try to use a stone for a pillow? No doubt he covered it over with a blanket to make it soft.
Jacob had escaped from his brother, Esau, was all alone and there sat down to sleep. It was like a death. He was all alone and none to help him.
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 Lordstood above it, and said, I amthe LordGod 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 amwith thee, and will keep thee in all placeswhither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done thatwhich I have spoken to thee of.
Our Lord Jesus, too, was driven into the wilderness and there tempted of the devil. He was not alone but the Spirit of God was with Him. And there, angels ministered to him.
What Isaac declared in blessing Jacob, God now affirms in a prophetic dream. There is a ladder reaching from heaven to earth. The angels of God ascend and descend on it. The Lord God is at the top of the ladder in his throne room in heaven.
God again grants the promise, descendants and land. The very land Jacob is lying on will be his. He is now on the run from his brother and a stranger and wanderer in the land. But God will make him a great nation. The very pillows of stone on which he lays his head, are a testimony of God’s promise to him.
He will not simply be given descendants, but in him and in his seed, shall all the families of the earth be blessed. This is that saying that every tribe and tongue and nation will serve the Lord.
God promises to be with him and bring him back to the land. God says that He will do what He said He would do. We must believe God when He speaks.
Jesus’s words to Nathaniel- John 1:51 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” [1]
16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lordis in this place; and I knew itnot. 17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful isthis place! this isnone other but the house of God, and this isthe gate of heaven.
When you are in the place where God resides, it is a dreadful place. This means that we should be fearful. God is awesome. That means he inspires our awe. We can hardly stand in His presence. Jacob has the normal reaction here to an encounter with God or one of His angels. That reaction is fear. At the house of God, at the gate of heaven, we should feel awe, fear, dread.
Jacob did not find the gate of heaven. The gate of heaven found him.
18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put forhis pillows, and set it up fora pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. 19 And he called the name of that place Beth-el: but the name of that city was calledLuz at the first.
Jacob consecrated this place. He made a pillar marking the place where God appeared. He poured oil on it to consecrate it for a special use. He worships God in this place. He renames the place Beth-el, the House of God.
The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief of the corner. They drank from the rock that is Christ. The rock was with them in the wilderness and that rock was Christ. Jesus was tempted to turn the stones into bread but He chose rather to rely solely upon the grace of God.
Jacob sets up a pillar of stone and pours oil on it. The oil is a sign of consecration that represents the Holy Spirit.
Beth-el, the house of God. The house of God is wherever God dwells, where His angels ascend and descend, where His Spirit is. And that place, is wherever God meets His Church, makes promises to her and keeps her from the hand of her enemies.
EXHORTATION
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, 21 So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the Lordbe my God: 22 And this stone, which I have set fora pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.[2]
This stone, upon which I lay my head, has become the chief cornerstone. The Spirit of God is poured upon Him.
Jacob is not bargaining with God. IF you will keep me, I will serve you. He is saying, If I am the one you have chosen, to keep me in the way that I go,, to give me food and raiment and return me in peace, then I will serve you all my days.
Jacob was unsure of God’s blessing upon him but God appeared to him and assured him that He is indeed Jacob’s God and that Jacob is His beloved son. Jacob then responds to God’s choice in faithful obedience.
Food, Raiment, Peace- We ought not to be satisfied with food and raiment. Esau was. Without the peace of God, all of our possessions are a potential temptation.
Jacob was reduced to absolute trust in God. He was all alone and the promises of God once again looked as if they were never going to happen. They were down to one man and him as good as dead, lying on a stone in the wilderness.
In such a place of desperation and hopelessness, we must find God but we don’t even know where to look. The reality is that He must find us. Thank God, that in Christ, the stone upon which we lay our heads, His promises to us are yay and amen. We are never so sure of His love, as when we fear that we are all alone, and yet the angels ascend and descend upon us, sent by God, the Father, who watches over us. In such a place, we may lay our head in perfect peace.
[2]The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Ge 28.
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