Abraham’s Family Tree

Catch up:

Last week young Isaac was on the altar to our text today of Jacob fleeing…

Abraham sends his best servant to find a wife for Isaac from “my country, my relatives” in Haran
Rebekah is first person the servant encounters
Rebekah agrees to go to Canaan and marry Isaac
Isaac loved Rebekah – he “pleads” with God because Rebekah was barren
The LORD tells Rebekah that her twins are two nations and that the “older will serve the younger”
Isaac is Rebekah’s favorite; Esau (first born) is Isaac’s favorite
Esau sells his birthright to Jacob for a pot of stew
When Isaac is “old” and his eyes are blind – he calls Esau and directs him to hunt and then prepare a meal so that Isaac can bless him
Rebekah tells Jacob to deceive his father; Jacob does and it is Jacob who receives the blessing of the first born from Isaac instead of Esau
Esau is furious and wants to kill Jacob

Jacob’s Dream: God’s Presence and Promise Genesis 28

Isaac tells Jacob of God’s Call on his life (vs 1-4)

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’s Journey: Alone, Anxious, Reflective, Exhausted (vs 10,11)

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.

A journey of some 500 miles
Jacob does not know: he will never see his mother Rebekah again, he does not know he will meet and fall in love with Rachel, he does not know he will be away from home 20 years

God Encounters Jacob Personally (vs 12-14)

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.

John 1:51 JESUS is the LADDER!!!!!

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.

God’s plan for Abraham, Isaac and now Jacob: a LAND, a NATION, a BLESSING

to Abraham Genesis 12:1-3; 17:1-9
to Isaac Genesis 26:2-5; 24 & 25
to Jacob Genesis 28:13, 14 (Isaac had told Jacob - Gen 28:3 ,4)

God’s Promise (vs 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.”

Philippians 1:6
Psalm 139:7-12
Matthew 28:20
Hebrews 13:5

A “Place” vs the “PRESENCE (vs 16-18)

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. 19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously.

Bethel will eventually be turned into a high place for idol worship!

Jacob’s Vow (vs 20-22)

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.”

“IF”….”THEN….”
The LORD is not “done” with Jacob
There is still a lot of life change that MUST take place
The Lord is excellent at using suffering and sorrow to change us!

Two misnomers in the Christian Church today

Because I am a believer – then only good will come my way: blessing, answered prayer, good health, prosperity, etc.
Jesus DOES love us BUT is always working to change us more into His Image

“Come as you are, but don’t stay as you are” CeCe Bowers

Take Aways

How much of your day, your week is spent in quite reflection?
Are you living on the promises that others have told you OR are you walking out the promises that God has given you?
The Absolute Word of Truth – The LORD is ALWAYS with us, has ALWAYS been with us and will ALWAYS be with us the rest of our days!
Worship is not in a song, or a place or in a previous experience: Worship is all about HIS PRESENCE
 God is not finished with any of us – He will use suffering and sorrow to grow and mature us – so that there is less of me and more of Him! (John 3:30)