Genesis Part 045

Unlike Esau, who married foreign women, it remains the consistent theme that the parents, Isaac and Rebekah, do not want Jacob to take a foreign wife who could turn his heart away from following God.  He is told to go to some family members to obtain a wife.  This plan would also allow Jacob to have distance from vengeful Esau. Isaac blesses Jacob again, this time knowing full well who he was talking to.   

In Genesis 28:6-9, Esau hears of the guidance Isaac gives to Jacob to take a wife from his own people and not from foreigners. Esau sees Jacob’s obedience to leave home and follow this advice. He could also clearly see that his actions had not pleased his parents, and in verse 9, it appears at some level this hits home. Jacob would end up marrying his mother’s niece (Laban’s daughter) while Esau would end up marrying his father’s niece, as he took more wives for himself.  

In verse 14, we see God now extend the same promise that was given to Abraham (Genesis 12:3), then Isaac (Genesis 26:4), now to Jacob. 

While Jacob is traveling to Haran, he stops in a place called Luz, later renamed Bethel. There, Jacob sleeps on the ground with a stone at his head (Genesis 28:11). While sleeping, he has a dream. In his dream, God assures Jacob that He would be with him and return him to Canaan, and God also reaffirms the Abrahamic Covenant to him. When Jacob wakes up, he takes the stone at which his head rested and anoints it, setting it up for a “pillar” or sacred stone.  

It appears that Jacob took this stone with him on his travels, especially since he mentions the stone in the context of returning to Isaac (verses 20-22). Jacob set it up and anointed it again in Bethel later (Genesis 35:14-15), and still later, at the end of his life, he seems to have prophesied that it would be with the descendants of Joseph in the end-times (Genesis 49:24). If Jacob did take the stone with him, as would be likely, there would have been a physical, typical stone going with Jacob, paralleling the spiritual, antitypical Stone (i.e., God) who had promised that He would be with Jacob and not leave him (Genesis 28:15). 

Jacob also promised that if God would return him to his father Isaac, then God would be Jacob’s God and Jacob would faithfully tithe. These statements appear perplexing, but careful attention to the development of Jacob’s character would seem to resolve any confusion.  

Jacob surely knew of God. Isaac had never worshiped any other but God, and he had learned this from Abraham. But it appears that Jacob, although certainly worshiping God, likely did so mainly because he believed it to be materially advantageous. Jacob, as we’ve seen, had a grasping personality; he was someone who used others to further his own ends, and perhaps God was no different to him. Jacob, it appears, served God for selfish advantage.  

The story of Jacob will show that over time, Jacob was transformed from being a manipulator into being one who sought righteousness through his actions, and finally into one who became wholly submissive to God and served Him out of love and devotion. Jacob’s statement that God would be his God is another way of saying that he would rely on God alone; his promise to tithe is another way of honoring God by recognizing His sovereign lordship. Thus, the promises essentially boil down to exclusive devotion to God. 

In many ways, each of us is like Jacob. We all start out grasping, self-oriented, and concerned with our own needs. As we grow, we become less self-centered and more motivated by principle. But as we become mature, we learn to love God and act out of devotion to Him. We must learn to live with God, and along the way, our character is changed, shaped, and molded, going through various phases as we become more like God Himself. For this reason, the character development of Jacob is one of the most interesting studies of the book of Genesis. 

UYA Team | uya@ucg.org  

United Young Adults (UYA) primarily serves the 18–32-year age group for the United Church of God. There are three main areas of contribution to the lives of the young adults: Promoting Spiritual Growth, Developing Meaningful Relationships, and Making the Most of Your Talents. The Know Your Sword series is a daily expository message introducing God’s Word from a trusted perspective.