06/10/2008 Genesis 28:1

06/10/2008

Genesis 28:1 - 4 (HCSB) ¹Isaac summoned Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him: “Don’t take a wife from the Canaanite women. ²Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father. Marry one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. ³May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you so that you become an assembly of peoples. ⁴May God give you and your offspring the blessing of Abraham so that you may possess the land where you live as an alien, the land God gave to Abraham.”

Genesis 28:10 - 15 (HCSB) ¹⁰Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. ¹¹He reached a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from the place, put it there at his head, and lay down in that place. ¹²And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground with its top reaching heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down on it.

¹³The LORD was standing there beside him, saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land that you are now sleeping on. ¹⁴Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. ¹⁵Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

In this passage, Isaac a second times blesses Jacob. But this time, he is well aware of who it is. The earlier blessing was bestowed by deception, but Isaac was intending to bless Esau because that was his favorite son--not necessarily because it was the one chosen by God. Remember how Isaac trembled with fear after he discovered the deception. It is my impression that Isaac was aware of Jacob’s destiny and now, in line with God’s plan, blesses the son chosen by God.

Because Jacob was blessed and Esau received a curse, Esau conspired to kill Jacob as soon as Isaac died. For this reason, Jacob left for the region of Haran, the people of his mother Rebekah. Along the way, he stops to spend the night and has this dream of a ladder ascending from earth to heaven and angels ascending and descending. In his dream, the Lord also reaffirms the promise made to Abraham with Jacob.

Since the promise had been made to Abraham, there had been Ishmael, and other sons born to Abraham, and then Isaac, and his sons, Esau and Jacob. There were many sons to whom the promise could have extended, or perhaps to all of them. But God reaffirms the promise specifically through Jacob.

Just like Isaac, we often try to do things our own way, ignoring God’s plan. Isaac wanted to bless his older and favorite son (even though the difference in age was mere minutes), but God had a different plan. There may be more details about these two boys that we are not told. I am sure that God’s plan was based more on the boys’ hearts rather than their order of birth.

We need to remember that God’s plan sees things we cannot see and when we make even the smallest decisions, we need to be sensitive to His plan. In everything you do, ask God to reveal His plan so that whatever you do will bring glory to Him.

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