Genesis 27:46-28:22
Dear RTB’ers,
Today we see Isaac honoring his blessing of Jacob and agreeing with Rebekah’s wish, sending Jacob away: “Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. ” (Genesis 28:2) I’ve long had an interest in the geography of the Bible. Today we see Jacob leaving Beersheba, located at the very southern end of the Promised Land and on the same latitude as the southern border of the Mediterranean Sea and journeying to the northeast toward Paddan-aram, located on approximately the same latitude as the northern border of the Mediterranean Sea, nearly 500 miles away! It would take him probably a month to get there. If we reverse that journey, we get some sense of how far Abraham traveled when God asked him to leave his family: “Go from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you …” [and] … he departed from Haran. (Genesis 12:1-4)
Jacob’s dream. Do you dream? Does the Lord speak to you in your dreams? Not I. Although I do dream a lot, I’ve never sensed the Lord leading me one way or the other in my dreams. Not the case with Jacob! So Jacob got up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had placed as a support for his head, and set it up as a memorial stone… (v. 18a). Jacob somehow knew that the Lord speaking to him in a dream was actually the Lord directing his steps. His response was an “if-then” pairing, with a bunch of “ifs”: “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety… (Gen 28:20-21), and one major “then”: “…then the LORD will be my God.” (Gen 28:21b) and two lesser “thens” – the memorial stone and the tithe (Gen 28:22). Surprisingly, to me, God honored all of Jacob’s “ifs” and did return him to his father’s house.
Years ago (August 1969) I gave God my own “if-then” offer. He did not comply with my plan. Enough said. It was nearly six years later (May 1975) when He began to reveal to me His plan for me. His was a much better plan; I’m still living it out!! You?
Blessings!
See also: January 10 (2023) / Genesis 28-30