Esau
hates Jacob. But it is quite “Esau-like”
in his plan to wait until his father dies before killing Jacob. Esau’s life revolves around the approval and
appreciation of his father (Gen. 25:28; 27:4,34-35). Even in today’s passage we see that Esau
seeks to make up for the grief he caused his father (26:34-35) by finding more
acceptable wives (28:6-9). While this
might seem like a good motivation, in fact it falls far short. His motivation needed to be to submit himself
to God. If God’s will was that the older shall serve the younger then
the entire family needed to submit to this.
Esau didn’t submit. But Isaac
did.
We
see again that Rebekah feels the need to go into action to protect Jacob. She seems a bit melodramatic in her words to
Isaac (27:46). But Isaac, who now
realizes he has a bit of a mess on his hands, not only agrees to send Jacob to Haran; he sends him with
his full blessing. If he did not
understand before, he understands now, that Jacob is the chosen son through
whom the Abrahamic Covenant will pass.
In the initial blessing Isaac had included a part of the Covenant (the
curse and blessing, 27:29). Now he
included the promise of descendants and the land of Canaan
(28:3-4).
What
happened to Jacob at Bethel
(v10-22) is critical to Jacob’s life and our understanding of the following
chapters. Having traveled almost 50
miles the first day (from Beersheba)
Jacob rests for the night. God meets him
in the dream. The dream reveals the
angels of God who are always available to serve Him. Their ascending and descending seems to
indicate that they are especially being a help to Jacob. God’s promise confirms this, that He, the God
of Jacob’s fathers, will do for Jacob what He had promised to Abraham and
Isaac. Further, God promises to be with
Jacob on his journey and to care for him and bring him back home safely after
accomplishing all He said He would do.
There
are 2 critical aspects to Jacob’s response when he awakens. First, he is fully aware that God has spoken
to him. He is afraid, fearful in the
reverential sense. This is “the gate of
heaven” he says. We might say this was
somewhat of a conversion experience
for Jacob. He has left home and is now
in direct contact with God, apart from the mediating role of his parents.
But
after worshiping God by building the monument to God, he then makes a bargain with God. One should take quite seriously the “if” in
v20. Perhaps Jacob is immature, not
knowing God sufficiently to simply take him at his word. That would be normal. But nevertheless his response is, “IF” you do
this, then I will worship you when I return.
This reflects the approach to life we see in Jacob already, in both the
purchase of the birthright and the stealing of the blessing. And it will be reflected in the chapter to
come. This is Jacob’s issue of
faith. He must come to believe that God
will do what He has promised. God’s
promise is unconditional, a promise of grace.
Jacob must receive that grace by faith.
Observing
Jacob’s journey will be good for us who, having believed the gospel, must learn
to walk in the same way we have received Christ (Col. 2:6).
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