Genesis Lesson 20 Genesis 27:1-28:22

Transcription

1 Genesis Lesson 20 Genesis 27:1-28:22 In Lesson 19, we saw "the account of Abraham's son Ishmael" which gave a short genealogy of the twelve tribes of Ishmael which only covered seven verses. Next, we began the account of Abraham's son Isaac which covers the rest of the book of Genesis. We saw the birth of Isaac's two sons Esau and Jacob. We saw the prophecy that the LORD gave their mother Rebekah that Jacob would be the one through whom the LORD's promise would pass. We saw the preference of Isaac for Esau because he was a hunter and brought his father wild game, and we saw the preference of Rebekah for Jacob because he enjoyed the life of the camp and gave his mother company. We saw the reason why the promise would pass through Jacob when Esau showed that he despised the birthright. Finally, we studied how the LORD tested Isaac in a similar way as Abraham. He brought a drought on the land, and when Isaac sought the protection of the Philistines in Gerar the LORD demonstrated that He could protect and prosper Isaac from physical danger and economic distress. He gradually moved Isaac back to Beersheba and away from the Philistines. Finally, we saw another example of the fact that Esau never followed the LORD: Genesis 26:34-35 "When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah." Genesis 27:1-2 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, "My son." "Here I am," he answered. Isaac said, "I am now an old man and don't know the day of my death. It is impossible to understand this full implications of this story without a correct Chronology of the lives of Jacob and Isaac, thus I have included the basis for certain important facts in the table below. 1 / 26

2 Data Scripture Years Age of Jacob at interview with Pharaoh Genesis 47:9 130 Years of famine at time of invitation Genesis 45:6 2 Years of plenty after Joseph's appointment 2 / 26

3 Genesis 41:53 7 Age of Joseph at time of appointment Genesis 41:46 30 Speculated time, from departure to first wedding (about three months). 1 Time Jacob spent with Laban from wedding with Leah to Joseph's birth - Genesis 31: / 26

4 Time from Jacob's flight to Pharaoh interview 60 Jacob's age at the time of the Esau incident 70 Isaac's age at the time of Jacob's birth Genesis 25:26 60 Isaac's age at the time of the Esau incident 4 / 26

5 130 Isaac's age at the time of his death Genesis 35: Years after Esau incident that Isaac died 50 The important facts derived from this table are that Isaac was 130 years old and would actually live for another fifty years, and that Jacob (and therefore also Esau) was seventy years old at this time. As I have stated before, we should probably divide the ages by two during this era to picture the effects of ageing on the individual. One of the greatest things that causes ageing is the bombardment of gamma rays on human cells. This causes a gradual degradation of cells as 5 / 26

6 they replace themselves during a person's lifespan. Evidently, during that era, something was causing a lower level of bombardment, so cells were not degrading as fast, and ageing was not as severe as it is now. This calculation would make Isaac about equivalent to a 70 year old, and Jacob to a 35 year old. Another detail to the story is that Isaac was still living in Beersheba (Genesis 28:10). Genesis 27:3-4 Now then, get your weapons--your quiver and bow--and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die." Although Isaac would probably remain blind for the rest of his life, and was confined to his bed at this time (verse 19), he would obviously recover his health. Another thing we should understand is what the blessing was that Isaac was planning to give. It was the blessing that the LORD had given first to his father Abraham: Genesis 12:2-3 "I will make you (Abraham) into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." And then to Isaac: 6 / 26

7 Genesis 26:3b-4 "I will be with you (Isaac) and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your seed as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give him all these lands, and through your seed all nations on earth will be blessed." The problem was that the blessing was not Isaac's to give. It was the LORD's to give. It did not belong to the eldest son or the favorite son. It belonged to the one the LORD elected. And the election always had to depend first of all on faith in the LORD. Genesis 27:5-7 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the LORD before I die.' Next, we see a familiar mistake of believers. Jacob and Rebekah were afraid that the LORD had either lost control of events or forgotten about His promise. They decided they needed to step in and help Him out even if it involved deceiving Isaac. We saw this mistake in Abraham's life when he and Sarah decided to help the LORD out with a new wife for Abraham, Hagar. In this case, Rebekah knew the LORD had promised that the blessing would pass through Jacob (Genesis 25:23), but it looked to her like He had fallen asleep at the switch and needed help. 7 / 26

8 The only blessing that counts for anything in this life is the blessing of God, not the blessing of man. God blessed Jacob, not because of Isaac's blessing, or Jacob's trickery, but because Jacob believed in God, and Esau didn't. What made a man a member of the election was not the flesh, but the Spirit. [a] The only thing that Jacob's trickery bought him was 20 years of servitude to his father-in-law and uncle, Laban. Rebekah's account of the Isaac's conversation indicates that she believed if Isaac gave the blessing "in the presence of the LORD," the LORD would be bound by Isaac's action. She was wrong. Genesis 27:8-10 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies." It was actually Rebekah that set the plot in motion. Of course Jacob went along with it and he was a man of mature years (70) so he has an equal share of the responsibility. You will note that the "tasty food" was not to be made of game meat like Isaac requested, and Esau later brought (vs. 31), but was made of the meat of young goats. I expect that Rebekah, who had probably supervised Isaac's meals for 90 years knew that Isaac, at the age of 130, could not tell the difference between one type of meat and another if it was seasoned properly. Genesis 27:11-12 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "But my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I'm a man with smooth skin. What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing." 8 / 26

9 Jacob foresaw another problem. He knew that if his father touched him he would spot him as an imposter immediately. He was afraid his father would curse him. This "curse" must have meant the possibility of being disinherited altogether. Certainly, it seems unlikely that they could think that Isaac could have brought the curse of God down on Jacob, because they clearly figured God had become passive in this affair. It would appear that not only Isaac's sight and taste were impaired, but also his hearing, as Jacob had no concern about Isaac detecting that his voice was not the voice of Esau. In the event, Isaac did detect a difference, but was persuaded by Jacob's hands covered with goat skin. Genesis 27:13 His mother said to him, "My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me." Rebekah told Jacob that she would take full responsibility if Isaac discovered anything. Genesis 27:14-17 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made. 9 / 26

10 Esau was Rebekah's son. I am sure she loved him in spite of his paganism. She probably knew better than anyone how Isaac would recognize Esau. It was not only his feel, but his smell. She took care of both. Her precautions indicate how very hairy Esau was. Genesis 27:18-20 He went to his father and said, "My father." "Yes, my son," he answered. "Who is it?" Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing." Isaac asked his son, "How did you find it so quickly, my son?" "The LORD your God gave me success," he replied. The context indicates that Isaac was sick in bed. First, Isaac's suspicions were aroused by how quickly Esau had returned. Here also Jacob (pretending to be Esau) spoke reverently of the LORD. Considering Esau's previous disregard of the promises of God, this may have aroused Isaac's suspicions even further. He expresses those suspicions in the next verse. It is may also be significant that Jacob (masquerading as Esau) called the LORD "your God" not "my God." This may have represented Jacob's interpretation of what the real Esau's attitude would have been. In Genesis 28:22 Jacob calls Him "my God." Genesis 27:21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not." 10 / 26

11 Isaac was definitely suspicious. He may have been aware of Rebekah's dream about Jacob and suspected that she might engineer something like this. Genesis 27:22-27 Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau." He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. "Are you really my son Esau?" he asked. "I am," he replied. Then he said, "My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing." Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come here, my son, and kiss me." So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, "Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed. In spite of the fact that Isaac seemed to catch a difference in the voice, Rebekah's full preparations came to bear. Jacob felt like Esau, he had the meat Esau had promised, and because he was wearing Esau's clothes, he smelled like Esau. Genesis 27:28-29 May God give you of heaven's dew and of earth's richness-- an abundance of grain and new wine. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons [b] of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed." [c] 11 / 26

12 Here we may ask the question, "Why was Isaac determined to give the blessing to Esau?" Although we know it wasn't his to give, why was he determined to give it to Esau? We know that Esau was the older, by minutes, and that he was Isaac's favorite, but that doesn't seem to be enough. The basis of his favoritism was very shallow. Esau was the one who loved to go off hunting, while Jacob stayed at home and learned and ran the family business. Perhaps we can find Isaac's reasoning in the fact that at this time Esau had been married to two wives for about 30 years, and doubtless already had many children and grandchildren. Jacob was 71 and still unmarried. From the human viewpoint Esau was the clear choice to be the one whose seed would be "as numerous as the stars in the sky" (Genesis 26:4). What Isaac forgot was that the LORD's election is always according to faith. The LORD ordained that all 75 generations in the biological line of Jesus Christ from Adam to Mary (the genealogy in Luke 3:23-38) would be believers. Consider the odds of that happening without the foreordination of God. Here, I will restate an important principal I have found in understanding parts of the Old Testament, particularly prophetic passages. Individuals such as Esau and Jacob can represent three things. First, they represent the individuals themselves. Second, they represent the nations that come from them. In the case of Jacob and Esau, the nations that came from them were Israel and Edom. Third, they represent the currents of history and thought which those individuals or nations represent. In the case of Jacob and Israel, they represent the LORD's plan to redeem the word through the gracious gift of Jesus Christ. In the case of Esau and Edom, they represent those who despise God's grace and oppose it. They are very much the instruments of Satan. This is a principal that must be kept in mind when pondering why the Bible selects just a few stories to represent the history of centuries. Those stories are often used to establish or continue "types" which reflect the great story and conflict which is the center of history. Genesis 27:30-32 After Isaac finished blessing him and Jacob had scarcely left his father's presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, "My father, sit up and eat some of my 12 / 26

13 game, so that you may give me your blessing." His father Isaac asked him, "Who are you?" "I am your son," he answered, "your firstborn, Esau." Jacob had barely left the tent when Esau showed up. He had obviously had great luck in finding the game he wanted, since when Jacob had arrived not long before, Isaac had been amazed at how quick he had come back. This brings us to a question. Why hadn't the LORD ordained that Esau come back before Jacob had pulled the trick. Although what Jacob and Rebekah had done was not a demonstration of faith, I suggest that the LORD used what happened to accomplish his plan. He permanently separated the people of Jacob and the people of Esau. Genesis 27:33-35 Isaac trembled violently and said, "Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him--and indeed he will be blessed!" When Esau heard his father's words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, "Bless me--me too, my father!" When Isaac and Esau discovered what Jacob had done, they were both upset. Isaac said he couldn't take back the blessing. Genesis 27:36a Esau said, "Isn't he rightly named Jacob? 13 / 26

14 The Hebrew name Jacob has often been translated by the word "supplanter." It literally means "one who follows at the heels," and came to refer to someone who followed at the heels of another with the purpose of taking what had been given to him. Of course Jacob had been born holding on to the heel of Esau (Genesis 25:26), which is why he had been given the name. Here Jacob seemed to be fulfilling the figurative meaning of the word, although God had already guaranteed that Jacob would be the one through whom the blessing of Abraham and Isaac would pass (Genesis 25:23). Genesis 27:36b He has deceived supplanted me these two times: He took my birthright, and now he's taken my blessing!" The correct translation is important here as we know that Jacob did not "deceive" Esau about the birthright. He had sold his birthright to Jacob for some lentil stew. Of course, what Esau really coveted was his father's wealth and the preeminence over Jacob which he thought would come to the one who got the blessing. He could not see the spiritual and despised it. Although Jacob had received Isaac's blessing, in fact, what Esau was interested in came to him. Do you remember Isaac's blessing? "May God give you of heaven's dew and of earth's richness-- an abundance of grain and new wine. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you." 14 / 26

15 As we shall see later in Genesis, Jacob and his entire family bowed down to Esau (Genesis 33:3-7). As far as his father's wealth was concerned, by the time Isaac died 50 years later, it didn't really matter. Both Esau and Jacob were wealthy in their own right long before Isaac died. I suspect that much of Isaac's wealth had wasted away as both his sons had left him to follow their destinies years before. The inheritance that mattered had already been promised to Jacob by God in His word to Rebekah. It came by the LORD's election through faith and not by seniority or the gift of Isaac. Genesis 27:36c-37 Then he asked, "Haven't you reserved any blessing for me?" Isaac answered Esau, "I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?" It seems like the words Isaac spoke here were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and thus were recorded in scripture (much like the prophecy of Noah about Shem and Canaan in Genesis 9:25-27). Grain and new wine speak figuratively of the body (life) and blood (death) of Christ. It was through Jacob that Christ would come. Genesis 27:38-40 Esau said to his father, "Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!" Then Esau wept aloud. His father Isaac answered him, "Your dwelling will be away from the earth's richness, away from the dew of heaven above. You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow 15 / 26

16 restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck." Isaac continued with an accurate prophecy about the destiny of Esau's progeny (Edom). As with the angel's prophecy about Ishmael (Genesis 16:12) and Jacob's prophecy about his sons (Genesis 49:1-28), this prophecy related not to Esau, but to the peoples that would come from Esau, that is the Edomites. They became subject to Israel in the time of David (2 Samuel 8:14), and were a subject people until the time of Jehoram (2 Kings 8:20), a period of about 150 years. Of course both prophecies related to the distant future. In the life time of Jacob and Esau, Esau was the more powerful, with his own land. Jacob never had a land of his own. We also know that both these "blessings" of Jacob and Esau were to be based on something God must have revealed to Isaac at that time, because Hebrews 11:20 says: "By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future." Genesis 27:41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob." So Esau decided that after his father died, he would kill Jacob. Everybody thought that death was imminent. It wasn't. 16 / 26

17 Genesis 27:42 When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, "Your brother Esau is consoling himself with the thought of killing you. When Rebekah heard, she feared for Jacob's life. Genesis 27:43-44 Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. Stay with him for a while until your brother's fury subsides. Although Jacob was a powerful man, Esau was expert in weapons which kill at a distance like the bow. Jacob would never stand a chance. Genesis 27:45 When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I'll send word for you to come back from there. [d] Why should I lose both of you twice in one day?" 17 / 26

18 I have substituted the literal translation of the last sentence. Rebekah was saying that the day Isaac died, Esau would kill Jacob. Thus she would "lose twice in one day." Genesis 27:46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I'm disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living." Rebekah thinks it will be good to get Isaac to send Jacob to Haran, so she gives Isaac a reason based in fact. Both she and Isaac were not pleased with the pagan wives that Esau had married. Furthermore, at seventy, it was past time for Jacob to be married. A trip to her brother might just result in matrimony to an acceptable woman and some grandchildren. Genesis 28:1-2 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. According to Rebekah's plan, Isaac sent Jacob away. 18 / 26

19 Genesis 28:3-4 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." Here at least, Isaac had come to understand that the blessing was God's to give, not his. Genesis 28:5 Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau. Evidently, Jacob left somewhat surreptitiously. Whether a hurried departure in fear of his life was the reason, or Isaac's resentment for being deceived by Jacob, Isaac sent Jacob off, unaccompanied, on a long journey through territory which was infamous for thousands of years of being the habitat of bandits and cut throats. Even the towns were not safe for foreigners. In that day, if you wanted to be safe, you always traveled in caravans. A lone traveler was in constant peril from not only human predators, but wild beasts as well. Whether, Jacob was on foot or mounted on a camel is not expressly stated here, but Genesis 32:10 states that all he had with him was his staff. He must have fled the camp and his brother's vengeance secretly on foot without the kinds of supplies he would have been able to carry on a camel. We find Jacob completely alone on a journey of 430 miles as the crow flies (at least 500 miles by the existing routes). Besides that, we see that he had been sent on a mission to get a bride, yet without any 19 / 26

20 gifts. Do you remember the ten camels of precious goods that Abraham had sent for Rebekah. It is possible that Isaac expected Laban to be happy to be sending one of his daughters to be the princess of Isaac's tribe. In actual practice, usually, these bride-prices were considered the property of the daughter on their marriage. [e] Genesis 28:6-7 Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, "Do not marry a Canaanite woman," and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. This tells us that Esau only learned of Jacob's departure after he had left. I suspect that Rebekah arranged it so that Jacob could get a good head start. He also learned of their express desire that Jacob not marry a Canaanite woman as Esau had. Genesis 28:8-9 Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, [f] the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had. When it says "he went to Ishmael" it is speaking of the people of Ishmael, not Ishmael the individual. According to my calculations below, [g] Ishmael himself was already dead. By the language usage, Mahalath could have been a daughter, granddaughter, or etc. 20 / 26

21 Genesis 28:10-11 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. The story seems to indicate that Jacob left secretly at dawn and travelled until the sun went down. From Beersheba to Bethel is 55 miles. By the paths available it was probably at least 60 miles. This indicates a headlong flight at as fast as a man could walk. It is not safe to walk in that terrain without light, so Jacob probably collapsed. Going into a town, a lone stranger, in those days was not safe, so Jacob slept in the fields. Genesis 28:12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. That night, God gave him a prophetic dream. Genesis sees fit to mention that Jacob put his head on a rock. Remember that rocks or stones are often symbolic of Christ: 1 Corinthians 10:3-4 They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for 21 / 26

22 they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 1 Peter 2:6-8 "For in Scripture it says: See, I lay a stone in Zion, an elect and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.' Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, The stone the builders rejected has [h] become the capstone,' and, A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.'" [i] So what was at the foot of the stairway to heaven? Jacob, who would become Israel, and the stone on which he rested. Both pointed to Jesus Christ. Jesus completed the connection of Himself with this prophetic dream very early in His ministry in his conversation with Nathanael in John 1:51: "He (Jesus) then added, I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.'" Genesis 28:13 There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants seed the land on which you are lying. After the prophetic vision, the LORD Himself gave the blessing to Jacob that Isaac was not qualified to give. The LORD gave him the blessing that had belonged to Abraham and Isaac. It fulfilled the prophecy made about Jacob to Rebakah at his birth. Genesis 28:14 Your descendants seed will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out [j] to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring seed. 22 / 26

23 Again, the Hebrew word here is [r"z < {zeh' rah} which means "seed" and is in the masculine singular. The same is true for the word translated "descendants" and "offspring" in verse 13. The comment of Paul in Galatians on this word in the promise to Abraham applies equally here. Galatians 3:16 "The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say and to seeds,' meaning many people, but and to your seed,' meaning one person, who is Christ." Genesis 28:15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." Besides, giving him the blessing, the LORD tells him he is supposed to come back to the land of promise. Genesis 28:16-17 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it." He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven." Notice that Jacob did not understand the vision. How could he? It was not the place that was gate of heaven, but Jacob's destiny and the rock. The one who is called "the Rock" who would come from Jacob was also called "the Gate." [k] However, is should be noted that the Northern Kingdom used this verse to claim that the Temple they built at Bethel was the legitimate Temple. This was part of "the great sin of Jeroboam" after Solomon's time. [l] 23 / 26

24 Genesis 28:18-22 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, then the LORD will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth." As you would expect from one who had tried to win the blessing by deceit just a few days before, Jacob still had a long way to go spiritually. Jacob's attitude here was "Bless me and I will worship you." God blessed him but not in the way Jacob was looking for. Jacob hoped God would bless him on his journey to get a wife and bring her back to his father's house. Things didn't turn out quite that way. It was 20 plus years before he returned to the land of the Canaanites. Jacob never set up a house of God on that stone. However, the LORD set up the LORD's house on that spiritual stone. It was on that rock He built His Church (Matthew 16:18). Jacob, wrestled with his faith in God the rest of his life, and only finally really learned to rest in God's blessing near the end of his life. May we not be so hard to teach. [a] Romans 2:29 "No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God." [b] Remember, brothers can mean "kinsmen" and "sons" can refer to any generation - sons, grandsons, etc. [c] This blessing was later applied to the nation of Israel (Jacob) by the LORD in Numbers 24:9 in the prophecy He gave to Balaam. [d] Rebekah never did send word although Esau had long since forgiven him. God told Jacob to come back. For that reason it is a reasonable conjecture that Rebekah died during Jacob's 20 years with Laban. [e] The papyri of Elephantine show that the mohar (dowry) was considered the property of the woman, even though usually it was given to her father. The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Marriage. [f] Incorrectly listed as Basemath in Genesis 36:3. See footnote there. [g] Age Event 24 / 26

25 0 Ishmael born 14 Isaac born 54 Isaac marries 74 Jacob and Esau born 89 Abraham dies 137 Ishmael dies 144 Esau marries Ishmael's granddaughter (or great granddaughter, etc.) Based on age of Jacob when he fled to Laban. See footnote, Genesis 27:2 [h] Psalms 118:22. Better understood as "the foundation stone." In Christ's time, the foundation stone was the stone in the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant should have stood. However, since the Ark was lost at the time of the destruction of the first Temple, the foundation stone was where the Blood was poured on the Day of Atonement. The Ark of course stood for Christ as did the stone which substituted for it later. [i] Isaiah 8:13-14 [j] That is, Jacob (you) "will spread out" by means of Him (the seed). The verb is in the second person singular. [k] John 10:9 "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved." [l] I Kings 12: / 26

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