Genesis 28:1 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: "You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2 "Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother. 3 "May God Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples; 4 And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land In which you are a stranger, Which God gave to Abraham." 5 So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
Jacob has just received his father’s blessing, although, through deceit. Years early he bought the birthright from his twin brother for a bowl of lentil soup, who was born just moments before him. The scripture says He had his brother Esau heal in his hand when they were born. His name Jacob means one who supplants or deceiver. Now because of fear of Esau, his mother has him sent away to her native land to find a wife. His father commands him to go get a wife from his mother’s people; and Jacob obeyed.
Genesis 28:10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder [was] set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: "I [am] the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 "Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Jacob had lived with his father and grandfather in Beersheba. The place of oath and blessing; a place where often his father and grandfather received words and instruction from God. Now at the command of his father he is off on his life journey. The first night alone and God has a word for him via his dream.
Genesis 28:15 "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you." 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it." 17 And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!" 18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.
God reveals Himself to Jacob as a blessing and covenant keeping God. Jacob consecrated the ground upon which he encountered God by anointing it with oil. This none other than the house of God.
Genesis 28:19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21 "so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God. 22 "And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You."
Jacob names the place Bethel; amazingly his father and grandfather had encountered God in the same place. Jacob make a promise to God.
Genesis 31:3 Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you." 4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock, 5 and said to them, "I see your father's countenance, that it [is] not [favorable] toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me. 6 "And you know that with all my might I have served your father. 7 "Yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me. 8 "If he said thus: 'The speckled shall be your wages,' then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus: 'The streaked shall be your wages,' then all the flocks bore streaked.
We have now skipped 20 years of history and how Jacob received 2 wives, 11 children, much livestock. God speaks and tells him to return to the land of his father's.
Genesis 31:9 "So God has taken away the livestock of your father and given [them] to me. 10 "And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks [were] streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted. 11 "Then the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, 'Jacob.' And I said, 'Here I am.' 12 "And He said, 'Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks [are] streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13 'I [am] the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar [and] where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.' "
Jacob’s tells his wives and children about the faithfulness of the God he serves; and tells them the word he received from God. “I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.”
Genesis 32:9 Then Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the LORD who said to me, 'Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you': 10 "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies. 11 "Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me [and] the mother with the children. 12 "For You said, 'I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.' "
Now Jacob is going back to face the fear that drove him away, the fear of Esau. Jacob humbles himself before God and calls upon His name.
Genesis 32:24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. 26 And He said, "Let Me go, for the day breaks." But he said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me!" 27 So He said to him, "What [is] your name?" He said, "Jacob." 28 And He said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed." 29 Then Jacob asked, saying, "Tell [me] Your name, I pray." And He said, "Why [is] it [that] you ask about My name?" And He blessed him there. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: "For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."
Another God encounter, brings a name change!
Genesis 33:17 And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, built himself a house, and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth. 18 Then Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which [is] in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city. 19 And he bought the parcel of land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for one hundred pieces of money. 20 Then he erected an altar there and called it El Elohe Israel.
Now we find Israel making another declare that God was his God! God is the God of the newly created man. He is the God of the living not the dead.
Genesis 35:1 Then God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother." 2 And Jacob said to his household and to all who [were] with him, "Put away the foreign gods that [are] among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. 3 "Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone."
Jacob hears the voice of God again. God did not change his mind! He commands Jacob go up to Bethel and dwell there.
Genesis 35:4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which [were] in their hands, and the earrings which [were] in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which [was] by Shechem. 5 And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that [were] all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. 6 So Jacob came to Luz (that [is], Bethel), which [is] in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who [were] with him. 7 And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.
Jacob put away the foreign gods and false idol from his family and then he builds an altar. God is God of the house of God. What a revelation.
Genesis 35:9 Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. 10 And God said to him, "Your name [is] Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name." So He called his name Israel. 11 Also God said to him: "I [am] God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. 12 "The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land." 13 Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him. 14 So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it. 15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel.
Now God appears to Jacob and reminds him of his name change and commands him to not be called Jacob but be called Israel. Israel reaffirms Bethel is the meeting place with God. When you walk with who you are in Christ you can see God is the Almighty God. When you walk from the identity that God gives you your destiny can be fulfilled. The altar is often the place God speaks his words of affirmation, so we can live in the strength of the covenant we have been birthed in.
Jesus is the faithful God
God is good all the time!
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