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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. 24: 2-4
If we look back, we see that all three patriarchs married within the family of Terah (Who is the father of both Abraham and Sarah), grandfather of Isaac, and great grandfather of Rebekah. Jacob is the great grandson of Terah, and as we will see; Terah is the great great grandfather of both Leah, and Rachel, (Who are to become the wives of Jacob), Now I must remind the reader that God is Holy, the promised seed of the covenant that the Lord made with Abraham must be of a pure bloodline, undefiled, and Holy in and of itself. If one was to trace the family tree of Abraham all the way to the promised seed (Jesus Christ), they would see that this bloodline remains intact, undefiled, and Holy. Isaac commands His son Jacob to go to the family of Rebekah (His mother), Isaac is very specific to Jacob as to who he should marry: he must marry a daughter of Laban, (Who is Rebekah’s brother), so in essence Jacob is going to marry his first cousins. Yes it is incest by definition, but these marriages are ordained by God Almighty, in order to fulfill His purpose for mankind.
3 “May God Almighty bless you,
and make you fruitful and
multiply you, 26:4, 24
That you may be an assembly
of peoples;
4 And give you the blessing of
Abraham, 12:1-3
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. 27:43
Here is the first time we see Isaac passing down the covenant God made with Abraham. As I stated in the previous chapter, the blessing Isaac gave to Jacob was not the Abrahamic covenant of the promised seed, because it was only a blessing of prosperity, and ruler-ship over the family. it had none of the other aspects of the Abrahamic covenant in that blessing (Gen 22:15-18), In verse four Isaac says straight out that this blessing is the blessing of Abraham, giving to him by God Almighty when he was on top of Mount Moriah, ready to offer Isaac as a sacrifice to the Lord. But just as Isaac, in my opinion, this blessing is still not confirmed until God Himself gives this blessing to Jacob (Which we will see happen in verse thirteen of this chapter). Rebekah’s concern for Jacob’s well being can now be laid to rest. Jacob will be far enough away from his brother Esau so that He cannot kill him like he said he would do after Isaac’s death. However this will be the last time Rebekah will ever see her son Jacob again. All of Rebekah and Jacob’s deception, in order to gain the blessings that God promised, have indeed made this promise come to fruition, but at what cost? Rebekah and Jacob will never see each other again, Jacob will have to leave the land of his fathers, and all his family behind. As we will see, Jacob will get a very bitter taste of his own medicine while living in Padan Aram by his uncle Laban. Also as we will see that Jacob will always be worried about returning home, because in his mind it will be sure death by the hands of his own brother Esau. If only Rebekah and Jacob would have just trusted in the Lord their lives would have been so different. Human nature has not changed since creation. We are willing to do whatever it takes to have the riches of the world, not considering who we have to hurt along the way, or the consequences of our actions. God will humble Jacob in the long run, but he has lessons to learn along the way (Pro 20:17).
Adam Clarke’s commentary: Bread of deceit is sweet – Property acquired by falsehood, speculation, etc., without labor, is pleasant to the unprincipled, slothful man; but there is a curse in it, and the issue will prove it.
Mathew Henry concise commentary: Wealth gotten by fraud may be sweet, for the carnal mind takes pleasure in the success of wicked devices; but it will be bitter in the reflection.
6 Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,”
7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram.
8 Also Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. vv. 1, 2; 27:46
9 So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.
Esau is in ear shot Of the conversation between Isaac and Jacob. Wanting to please his father, and hearing this conversation between Isaac and Jacob, Esau assumes, and rightfully so, that his father is not pleased that he has taken for himself wives of Canaan. Esau goes to the descendants of Abraham’s son Ishmael, son of Hagar, who was Sarah’s handmaid from Egypt, born of the flesh (I will explain that in a minute), thinking that this will please his father Isaac. Since Esau heard this conversation between Isaac and Jacob, then that also means that he hears the blessing of Abraham given to Jacob. This is “THE” blessing, unlike any blessings Isaac has given to either son in the past. This blessing is the one that God himself swore to Abraham by Himself, As He could swear by no other name that is in heaven or on earth (Heb 6:13-14), Esau most assuredly knows of the blessing of Abraham in which Isaac is speaking of hear. Even though it is not said, This must just tear him apart. Esau figures that if he marries someone who is in the bloodline if Abraham that maybe this would please his father enough, so as to get a better blessing than the one Isaac has already given him. (this is just my Opinion), I can confidently say that Esau is definitely looking for approval from his father. The problem as I stated earlier is that Ishmael is born of the flesh and not the promise. There is no way Isaac is going to approve of this marriage. We read in Galatians the explanation of what I mean by Ishmael being born of the flesh. (Gal 4:21-31, ERV), Esau’s marriage to Mahalath is representative of Hagar the slave woman, and therefore cannot be part of the promise God made to Abraham of the son, which is to be born of the free woman (Sarah), This marriage is basically meaningless in the eyes of the Lord and therefore also in the eyes if Isaac.
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 upon the earth, and it’s 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. 13:15, 17; 26:24◊ 14 “Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
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.” Heb. 13:5
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 the place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
Sometimes i come to passages that are hard for me to understand. I always pray and ask for God to bless my studies before I begin. There are times when I do this I still have difficulty in understanding. It doesn’t mean that God does not hear my prayers. On the contrary, He does but He also knows that at this point in my spiritual growth that i am still a babe, not yet weaned from the milk, and mature enough for the “Meat” of spiritual understanding. So God reveals His word to me in other ways. This is one of those times that His spirit directs me towards His truth, (Not by my own understanding) but by like minded people in His church, that have been in His word longer than me, and are in the “Meat” of understanding. As I was searching for an explanation of this dream of Jacob’s I started with all the well known commentaries. Only Mathews Henry Concise Commentary came close to making any sense, but He does not give a plausible explanation how he came to his conclusion (Which for me is very important that my commentaries be scripturally sound). So I went to my own Churches website, and typed in “Jacobs Ladder” in the search bar. Lo and behold I found what I was looking for. I found a three part sermon series given by an elder (David Nunn) of the Oklahoma city congregation, on Jacobs ladder. On a side note there is something I must mention here. Mr. Nunn just gave the first part of this sermon dated Feb 4th 2017, and published on our website March 27th 2017. looking back I find that I started my studies on this dream on or about March 25th 2017. As I stated earlier; when we draw close to God He draws closer to us, I think it is no coincidence the way things transpired. Blessed be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In Mr. Nunn’s sermon he concentrates a lot on the comparison of Jacob laying his head on a stone to sleep that night. It is very interesting the comparison he makes between the stone (which is made by man) and the Tower of Babel (built of bricks made by men), I recommend to anyone reading this to go to the link I am posting to hear this sermon, and from this first sermon you can navigate to the other two parts if interested: http://://www.ucg.org/sermons/jacobs-ladder-part-1-babel-versus-bethel, My concern however was wanting to know what the Ladder and the angels ascending and descending from heaven symbolized. so in my commentary here I will discuss the dream itself. In Mr. Nunn’s sermon he does give a good explanation on the symbolism of the ladder but not of the Angels. I wrote Mr. Nunn about the angels and he gave me two thoughts on the subject, the one train of thought he gave me is a very good starting point and one that makes sense to me, and I can reference other scriptures to back this up. I would like to say though, that Mr. Nunn only gave me a starting point in regards to the angels, and therefore he, nor my church had any input on my commentary here, and are not responsible for it’s content. I will start with the symbolism of the ladder and conclude with the angels descending, and ascending to Heaven. In John 14:6 Jesus Christ says that He is the way, the truth, and the light, and that no one comes to the Father but thru Him (John 14:6), in Jacob’s dream he see’s a ladder sitting upon the earth, that reached up into the heavens, and at the top of the ladder, standing above it was the Lord. So the ladder in this dream represents the only way for Jacob (Or anyone for that matter), to come to the Father. In a sense, Jacob himself acknowledges this truth in verse seventeen when he states that the place where he slept is the house of God, and the gate to heaven. Up to now, for most of the recorded history of Jacob, he has been revealed to us as a deceiver in order to gain the blessings from his father (Which in reality are blessings that come from God), As we have seen Jacob has relied on his own cunning to gain these riches, and blessings, instead of trusting in the Lord. In the new Testament we are told of a story in Acts where such a man like Jacob tried to buy his way into receiving God’s blessing of the Holy Spirit, and he was rebuked by Peter (Acts 8:18-21), in Jacob’s instance it is not money, but deceit that he is using to gain the blessings of God. At this point in Jacob’s life, just as in Simon’s, his heart is not right in the sight of the Lord, and he has no part in Him. Jacob is beginning a long journey, he has left everything he holds near and dear to him behind. In this journey Jacob will indeed one day (After God has humbled him), get his heart right with the Lord (John 1:47), Let me begin with my hypothesis of verse twelve, and end with my opinion on what these angels symbolize in Jacob’s dream. Just a reminder to the reader; it was Mr. Nunn, whom I believe, led by God’s Spirit, helped me to understand this dream. however I want to emphasize that this is my opinion, and mine only. First lets start with the Strong’s Hebrew definition of Angel:
Strongs: (H4397): מַלְאָךְ
mal’âk
mal-awk’
From an unused root meaning to despatch as a deputy; a messenger; specifically of God, that is, an angel (also a prophet, priest or teacher): – ambassador, angel, king, messenger.
The scriptures confirm that they are both messengers and ministering spirits (Compare Heb 1:13-14, Ps 104:1-4), in Genesis chapter nineteen we read where two angels descended from heaven as messengers/Witnesses, and ministered to Lot(Rescuing him and his family from the destruction of Sodom), afterwards they ascended back to heaven having fulfilled their mission, or, if you will? their ministry (Gen 19:15), When God sent His angels to witness against the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, they were also sent to Fulfill God’s promise He made to Abraham: that He would not destroy the righteous with the wicked. They also were sent as messengers to Lot, to warn him of the destruction to come. Here we see the angels were sent as both messengers and ministers of God, for Lot and his family. Then in the book of Psalms we read a prophecy of angels coming to minister to our Lord Jesus Christ, when he was tempted by Satan in the wilderness (Ps 91:11-12), in the book of Mathew as well as the book of Mark we see our Lord Jesus Christ quoting this Psalm (Matt 4:5-11), in John chapter one we read basically the same description of angels ascending and descending, but this time the scriptures say that these angels are ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. In this Genesis account, the ladder symbolizing Jesus Christ, has the angels ascending and descending upon it (The ladder).
Joh 1:51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.
John 1:51 could be referencing the time of the Lords second coming as we see described in both Matthew 25:31, and Mark 8:38. Then in Luke chapter twenty eight we read that while Jesus was praying the night before His crucifixion that and angel appeared from heaven to strengthen him (Luke 22:41-43), now that I have broken down my hypothesis of the angels I would like to give my opinion on the matter. As we have read in Psalms ninety one angels are ministering spirits that help guide man in their life here on earth, so that we do not walk in the way of Satan, but in the way of the Spirit. I believe we all have angels that God has given charge over us, to protect us from danger, to lead us to that narrow gate, and to also strengthen us when we are weak, but the angels can do nothing without first consulting with God, I believe the angels descend and ascend from heaven (Maybe not necessarily in that order) with instructions from God; as in the case of our Lord Jesus Christ, once after being tempted by Satan in the wilderness, and then at the garden of Gethsemane right before his crucifixion. In verse fifteen God tells Jacob that He will be with him wherever he goes. The angels Jacob see ascending and descending from heaven in my opinion are the angels that God will put in charge over him to protect him lest he may cast his foot upon a stone as it is written in Psalms 91:11, 12. in chapter thirty two of Genesis, when Jacob returns from Padan-Aram we are told that angels met him along the way. All that is written about this meeting is what Jacob said when he saw the angels. there is no mention if the angels spoke to him. I believe God sent these angels to meet Jacob as a reminder of God’s promise to be with him wherever he should go, and to show Jacob that these angels, and the ones he saw in his dream ascending and descending from heaven, were a fulfillment of that promise, whom God put charge over him, and keep him in all his ways, whither ever he should go. The last thing I would like to discuss here is verse’s thirteen and fourteen. As I proposed the question earlier in chapter twenty seven, and here in verses three thru five I stated, the Abrahamic covenant God made in regards to the promised seed has to have God’s blessing put on it in order for Jacob to receive this special blessing. Even though Isaac had passed this special blessing on to Jacob (Just as Abraham passed it down to his son Isaac), it is not confirmed until God put’s His stamp of approval on it (If you will), Then just like the Ten commandments of God it is “etched in stone” (As the saying goes),the stones made of God and not of men.
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. 19 And he called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of that city had been Luz previously.
As I had mentioned earlier in this chapter, I was so intrigued by the dream of Jacobs that I completely overlooked these two verses and the symbolism of the stone Jacob laid his head on that night to sleep. It wasn’t until I listened to the sermon by Mr. Nunn that the scales were peeled from my eyes and I could see the significance of the pillar of stone. Mr. Nunn made pretty much a whole sermon about this pillar of stone (Which I already referenced), for my purposes here I will just give a brief summary of Mr. Nunn s interpretation. The Pillar of stone is a symbol of God’s creation, man did not make this stone, compared to bricks made by men, of clay and straw, as was the case of the Tower of Babel. By Jacob anointing this stone and calling this place house of God (built with stone), not made of men, is in contrast to what Nimrod was doing at the tower of Babel. In the case of the Tower of Babel the people were trying to build a pillar (Made by men, of bricks, of clay and straw) that reached into the heavens and therefore they could gain access to God. In Jacobs dream the ladder is the gate to heaven, the ladder symbolizing our Lord Jesus Christ, and the tower of Babel representing man trying to create for themselves there own access to God. so these two comparisons as to how man can gain access to God are in direct conflict with each other. One way is spiritual (the ladder), no one comes to the father, but by Jesus Christ (John 14:6), The Tower of Babel is mans way of circumventing this truth, which is the way of Satan. I will just leave it at that. As I recommended earlier, Mr. Nunn explains it so much better than I do and goes into great detail, which I don’t have the room for in this format. However I would like to address the stone that Jacob made a pillar of and poured oil on it, and I would like to do so by quoting Adam Clarke, in his commentary on the subject: Adam Clarke’s commentary: And Jacob – took the stone – and set it up for a pillar – He placed the stone in an erect posture, that it might stand as a monument of the extraordinary vision which he had in this place; and he poured oil upon it, thereby consecrating it to God, so that it might be considered an altar on which libations might be poured, and sacrifices offered unto God.
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.” Lev. 27:30, 32
God is calling Jacob, but Jacob is not yet ready to accept his invitation. He is bargaining with God saying to Him, “IF” if you do this and that, then you will be my God. The Journey Jacob is on, is not much different than the journey we as believers go through in our own lives. We try to do everything on our own, trusting in our own abilities to get ahead in life. Then one day, when we come to a point in our life, something in our head tells us that there has to be more to life than this. That something is God’s spirit calling us (Just like God is calling Jacob), God gives us an invitation, but we must chose to answer that call.