1 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

2Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughers of Laban thy mother's brother.

3And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;

4And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

5And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.

6When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padanaram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughers of Canaan;

7And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padanaram;

8And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father;

9Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.

10And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.

11And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.

12And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

13And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;

14And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

15And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

16And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.

17And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

18And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.

19And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.

20And Jacob vowed a vow, 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 raiment to put on,

21So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:

22And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

COMMENTARY by Dr. Dave Burnette

Written By: God through Inspiration

Penned By: Moses

Date Penned: (1450-1410 BC)

Overview: The Record of God's Chosen People (c 23-50)

Theme: The Story of Isaac (c 25-28)

Message: God Blesses Jacob (v 1-46)

Genesis 28 Commentary

(28:9) Esau Marries Into Ishmael's Family - Ishmael was Isaac's half brother, the son of Abraham and Hagar, Sarah's servant (16:1-4, 15). After marrying two foreign girls (26;34), Esau hoped his marriage into Ishmael's family would please his parents, Isaac and Rebekah.

(28:10-15) God's Covenant is Offered to Jacob - God's covenant promise to Abraham and Isaac was offered to Jacob as well. But it was not enough to be Abraham's grandson; Jacob had to establish his own personal relationship with God. God has no grandchildren; each person must have a personal relationship with him. It is not enough to hear wonderful stories about Christians in your family. You need to become part of the story yourself (see Galatians 3:6-7).

(28:19) Bethel Becomes a Place of Worship - Bethel was about ten miles north of Jerusalem and 60 miles north of Beer-sheba, where Jacob left his family. This was where Abraham made one of his first sacrifices to God when he entered the land. At first, Bethel was an important center for worship; later, it became a center of idol worship, and the prophet Hosea condemned its evil practices.

(28:20-22) God Blesses Jacob - Was Jacob trying to bargain with God? It is possible that he, in his ignorance of how to worship and serve God, treated God like a servant who would perform a service in exchange for payment. But more likely, Jacob was not bargaining but pledging his future to God. He may have been saying, in effect, "Because you have blessed me, I will follow you." Whether Jacob was bargaining or pledging, God blessed him. But God also had some difficult lessons for Jacob to learn.

LIFE APPLICATION by Dr. Dave Burnette

Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter making an application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Many applications can be made from each day's text. Today we Continue in the book of Genesis with Chapter 28 and in today's text we see our focus move toward Jacob as Issac charges and instructs him to move forward in his adult life. Many applications can made from today's text. What catches my eye is God's covenant promise offered to Abraham and Isaac was offered to Jacob as well. Jacob quickly came to the realization though that it wasn't enough to just be Abraham's grandson: Jacob had to to establish his own personal relationship with God. As he dreamed he realized who God is and his relationship to Him. Jacob realized that God has no grandchildren. To be a Christian today you have to come to the same realization that God has no Grandchildren, but rather, only children who have been born again through salvation in Jesus-Christ. You can't go to Heaven because your mom or dad is a Christian. You have to come to Jesus-Christ repenting of your sin and receive the salvation only He can provide. How about you? Are you saved? Have you trusted Christ personally or are you trusting in your parents relationship as Christians to believe you will go to heaven when you die. The Bible clearly teaches that YOU have to be born again to be Saved.

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