Genesis Chapter 28 Deep-Dive: Jacob's Ladder

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Gen 28

1Then Isaac (SEEMINGLY IN RESPONSE TO REBEKAH’S DIRECTION THAT SHE DOESN’T WANT ANYMORE HITTITE OR CANAANITE WIVES FOR ESAU OR JACOB IN HER LIFE) called Jacob and blessed him and directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women. 2Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. 3God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. 4May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!” 5Thus Isaac sent Jacob away. And he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.  VERY INTERESTING THAT ISAAC DID NOT DISCIPLINE JACOB FOR DECEIVING HIM, HE ACTUALLY REPEATS AND REINFORCES ABRAHAM’S PROMISE AND BLESSING ON JACOB … ISAAC ALSO RESPONDS TO REBEKAH’S REQUEST ABOUT A WIFE FOR JACOB.  REMEMBER, ESAU AND JACOB ARE TWINS BUT AT THIS POINT ESAU ALREADY HAS TWO WIVES … JACOB NEEDS TO MARRY AND HE NEEDS TO MARRY SOMEONE FROM ABRAHAM’S FAMILY SO THAT SHE WILL BE A WORSHIPPER OF YAHWEH.

6Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” 7and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram. 8So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father, 9Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.  DID HE THINK THIS WOULD BE BETTER THAN THE CANAANITE WIVES?  ISHMAEL IS OF THE SEED OF ABRAHAM, SO HE’S MARRYING SECOND COUSINS BUT HE’S STILL NOT REALLY GETTING IT…

10Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. THIS IS GOING TO BE A LONG TRIP … THE SAME TRIP ELIEZER MADE WHEN HE GOT REBEKAH TO BE ISAAC’S WIFE, AT LEAST A WEEK EACH WAY BUT IN THIS CASE IT’S NOT A CARAVAN, IT’S JUST JACOB MOST LIKELY ON FOOT.  11And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. 12And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!  THE GREEK WORD USED BY THE SEPTUAGINT TRANSLATORS HERE MEANS SOMETHING WITH STEPS, HOWEVER, THE HEBREW WORD MEANS “TERRACED THING” … LIKE A ZIGGURAT, WHAT THE TOWER OF BABEL WAS … JACOB SAW THE ACTUAL MOUNTAIN WHERE YAHWEH HAS HIS THRONE … WITH THE ANGELS TRAVERSING UP AND DOWN THE STEPS.  SIMILAR STRUCTURES EXISTED THROUGHOUT ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS AROUND THE GLOBE, THEY’RE ARTIFICIAL MOUNTAINS WHERE THE ANCIENTS PLACED TEMPLES … THEY BELIEVED THE GODS LIVED ON MOUNTAINS … THESE ZIGGURATS WERE THE GATE OF HEAVEN … THIS IS WHAT JACOB IS SEEING; THE MOUNTAIN / THRONE / TEMPLE OF YAHWEH, THE GOD OF ABRAHAM AND ISAAC. 

OK, SO, BIBLE BONES AND LIGAMENTS, WHERE ELSE IS THIS SCENE REFERENCED IN SCRIPTURE … JESUS SPOKE ABOUT JACOB’S VISION WHEN HE WAS SPEAKING TO NATHANIEL IN JOHN 1:51And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”  AND LATER WHEN SPEAKING TO THE PHARISEES IN JOHN 2:19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

THAT JESUS WOULD EITHER BE THE MAN-SHAPED GOD (YAHWEH) AT THE TOP OF THE ZIGGURAT-TEMPLE, OR THAT JESUS WOULD BE THE ZIGGURAT-TEMPLE HIMSELF … CLEARLY A REFERENCE THAT JESUS (THE SON OF MAN, THE ANGEL OF THE LORD) WAS DIRECTLY / PERSONALLY ASSOCIATED WITH YAHWEH IN A WAY THAT WAS DIFFERENT THAN ANYONE ELSE … CLAIMING DIVINITY … THE DIVINE-HUMAN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF YAHWEH.

BACK TO JACOB IN GEN 28:

13And behold, the Lord stood above it THIS IS YAHWEH APPEARING IN HUMAN FORM … THE MESSENGER / SPOKESMAN OF THE LORD WHO SPEAKS IN THE FIRST PERSON … JESUS … AND SINCE IT’S A VISION OF THE ACTUAL MOUNTAIN OF GOD THIS IS MOST LIKELY A TEMPLE / THRONE-ROOM SCENE SIMILAR TO WHAT ISAIAH AND DANIEL EXPERIENCED … IT DEFINITELY MADE AN IMPRESSION ON JACOB … THIS IS A VERYBIGDEAL 13And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac.  ABRAHAM AND ISAAC BOTH HAD VISIONS SIMILAR TO THIS, NOW THE LORD IS CONFIRMING THE BLESSING THAT ISAAC GAVE TO JACOB EVEN IN THE MIDST OF DECEPTION … BACK TO YAHWEH SPEAKING FROM HIS MOUNTAIN … The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 14Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15Behold, 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 promised you.” 16Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17And 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.”  FEAR … AN APPROPRIATE RESPONSE TO A VISION OF GOD.  AGAIN, THIS IS GOD CHOOSING TO IDENTIFY HIMSELF WITH A PERSON WHICH WAS UNHEARD OF IN THE ANCIENT WORLD BEFORE NOAH, ABRAHAM AND ISAAC … MOST GODS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH AREAS, CITIES, KINGS, OR POWERS LIKE THUNDER OR STORMS, IN THIS CASE IT’S THE CREATOR GOD MAKING PROMISES TO A SINGLE NOMADIC HERDSMAN WHO’S WANDERING AROUND CANAAN, THE PROMISE APPLIES TO THE WHOLE EARTH IMPLYING THAT HE’S THE CREATOR, GOD OF THE WHOLE EARTH, AND IN THIS CASE THE PROMISE IS NOT CONDITIONAL ON JACOB’S OBEDIENCE … GOD IS NOW ON THE THIRD GENERATION OF HIS PLAN, ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND NOW JACOB … YAHWEH IS GOING TO MAKE THAT PLAN HAPPEN …

THIS IS THE FIRST PLACE IN GENESIS WHERE GOD COMMUNICATES THROUGH A DREAM.  IN THE ANCIENT WORLD THE MIND (gk NOUS) WAS CONSIDERED A SENSORY ORGAN (NOSE FOR SMELLING) WITH WHICH AN INDIVIDUAL COULD PERCEIVE THE SPIRITUAL WORLD BUT IT HAD TO BE PURIFIED THROUGH GOOD DEEDS, OR MEDITATION OR SOME SIMILAR “SPIRITUAL” TECHNIQUE.  EX, JESUS … BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD.  THINK; “THE EYES OF THE HEART”  THINK OF ELISHA AND GEHAZI SURROUNDED BY ENEMIES WHEN ELISHA PRAYS THAT GEHAZI’S “EYES WOULD BE OPENED” AND GEHAZI SEES THE FIERY ANGEL ARMIES OF GOD SURROUNDING AN PROTECTING THEM … THEN THINK THAT ELISHA SAW THAT SPIRITUAL / SUPERNATURAL WORLD ALL THE TIME.  ANCIENTS BELIEVED THAT SOMETIMES WHEN YOU SLEPT YOUR MIND-NOUS REMAINED ACTIVE AND WOULD PERCEIVE THE SPIRITUAL/SUPERNATURAL WORLD AND GIVE YOU INSIGHT.  IN THIS CASE IT’S JACOB INTERPRETING HIS OWN DREAM … BACK TO GEN 28

18So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19He called the name of that place Bethel HOUSE OR TEMPLE OF GOD, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. 20Then Jacob made a vow, HIS RESPONSE TO THE VISION saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, 21so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, 22and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. LET’S LOOK MORE DEEPLY AT THIS STONE PILLAR THAT JACOB SET UP.  THE ANCIENTS IDENTIFIED SPECIAL PLACES WITH PILLARS, ALTARS, STANDING STONES, ETC … JACOB IS IDENTIFYING THAT GOD’S THRONE / MOUNTAIN WAS LOCATED THERE.  IN THE ANCIENT WORLD FOR A PERSON WOULD “REMEMBER” AN EVENT LIKE THIS BY RETURNING TO THE LOCATION WHERE IT OCCURRED … IT’S MORE THAN JUST FONDLY REMEMBERING THE EVENT OR LOCATION … FOR JACOB TO “REMEMBER” THIS LATER IN LIFE IT WOULD INVOLVE HIM RETURNING TO THIS LOCATION AND ANOINTING THIS STONE PILLAR AGAIN WITH OIL TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EVENT AGAIN.   EX; YAHWEH INSTITUTED THE PASSOVER AS A MEMORIAL AND WHEN THE ISRAELITES CELEBRATED THE PASSOVER THEY LITERALLY “RE-LIVED IT" THE DIALOGUE INVOLVED IN THE CELEBRATION CALLED FOR EACH SUCCEEDING GENERATION TO STATE; “WHEN WE WERE BROUGHT OUT OF EGYPT AND PASSED THROUGH THE RED SEA…” IT’S THE SAME THING IN THE NT WHEN JESUS SAYS DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME, OR, “DO THIS AS “MY REMEMBRANCE” … THE EUCHARIST OR WAFER AND WINE RECONNECTS US TO JESUS IN A SPIRITUAL WAY BEYOND SIMPLY “REMEMBERING” WHAT JESUS DID FOR US … IT’S A PARTICIPATION IN THE SACRIFICE CHRIST MADE FOR US … TO MAKE IT REAL AGAIN.

BACK TO JACOB SPEAKING IN GEN 28:22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”  REMEMBER ABRAHAM ALSO TITHED A TENTH TO MELCHIZEDEK ... THINK JACOB KNEW THAT STORY ABOUT “GRANDPA ABRAHAM” ?  THIS IS JACOB’S RESPONSE TO THE DREAM … HIS COMMITMENT TO TITHE AND CONSIDER BETHEL TO BE THE HOUSE OF GOD.  THIS WAS JACOB’S FIRST VISION FROM GOD.

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