Middle of NOWHERE
Pastor Ryan Hurd
Part of Jacob—Deceiver & Dreamer
May 15, 2022

On the Run

When the words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you. So now, my son, listen to me. Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran, and stay with him for a few days until your brother’s anger subsides—until your brother’s rage turns away from you and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose you both in one day?” So Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m sick of my life because of these Hethite girls. If Jacob marries someone from around here, like these Hethite girls, what good is my life?” —Genesis 27:42–46 CSB

Bereft of his inheritance and blessing — the two prerogatives of the eldest son — Esau is enraged. His only — albeit misguided — solace was knowing that his father was nearing the end of his life, and once he died, Esau could avenge himself by killing Jacob.

Once Rebekah hears of Esau’s plans, momma springs into action to protect her favorite son by concocting a story about her hatred of Esau’s Hittite wives and her desire for Jacob to marry someone from her own family.

A Father’s Blessing

So Isaac summoned Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite girl. Go 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. May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you so that you become an assembly of peoples. May God give you and your offspring the blessing of Abraham so that you may possess the land where you live as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.” So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. —Genesis 28:1–5 CSB

As he moves towards an uncertain future in Haran — a place he’s never been — he must have wondered if the God of his ancestors would follow him into this unfamiliar land, or has he simply gone too far this time?

Into this fear and uncertainty, Isaac speaks and pronounces a blessing upon his son, bidding him farewell with instructions to find himself a wife from among Rebekah’s family.

Nearly every phrase repeats words of the blessing given to both Abraham and Isaac.

Middle of NOWHERE

Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He 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. And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground with its top reaching the sky, and God’s angels were going up and down on it. The 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 on which you are lying. Your 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. Look, 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.” When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven.” Early in the morning Jacob took the stone that was near his head and set it up as a marker. He poured oil on top of it and named the place Bethel, though previously the city was named Luz. —Genesis 28:10–19 CSB

Jacob gets a glimpse into this divine activity where angels traverse back and forth between the divine realm and the earth to do God’s work.

The word “Bethel” — beth el — in Hebrew means, “house of God.”

Yahweh’s words to Jacob take us to the central message of the passage — The God of Abraham and Isaac reaffirms His covenant with the patriarch’s descendant and makes five promises to Jacob.

These promises should have offered Jacob the comfort and confidence he needed as he moved into this new season of his life, but as we will see, not even these would be enough for this reluctant deceiver.

Jacob awakes in the middle of NOWHERE to discover that the Lord — the God of his father Isaac, and his grandfather Abraham — the God who established His covenant with Abraham and passed it down to his Isaac — is NOW HERE.

Negotiating With God

Then Jacob made a vow: “If God will be with me and watch over me during this journey I’m making, if he provides me with food to eat and clothing to wear, and if I return safely to my father’s family, then the Lord will be my God. This stone that I have set up as a marker will be God’s house, and I will give to you a tenth of all that you give me.” —Genesis 28:20–22 CSB

In response to Yahweh’s promise, Jacob offered a conditional bargain and vowed to make Yahweh his God if—and only if—He fulfilled Jacob’s expectations.

When the God of heaven approached him at Bethel—declaring promises of protection, blessing, and prosperity—Jacob was in awe, but he still wasn’t ready to trust Him.

What Jacob didn’t yet realize was that God will be God, regardless of whether we “let” Him.
As everything comfortable and familiar crumbled around him, Jacob would learn that God can indeed be trusted.

Summary

Unlike Abraham, whose faith carried him to an unknown land, Jacob fled to a faraway place to escape a dangerous situation his own misdeeds had created. When the God of heaven approached him at Bethel—declaring promises of protection, blessing, and prosperity—Jacob was in awe, but he still wasn’t ready to trust Him. It’s one thing to hear about what God can do; it’s another to experience it in our own lives. So the longsuffering God of Abraham and Isaac took Jacob on a long journey of letting go. As everything comfortable and familiar crumbled around him, Jacob would learn that God can indeed be trusted.