Genesis 28:10-22

1
God is With You

• Genesis 2810-22

2
Genesis 2810

• Then Jacob set out from Beersheba and went to
  Haran.

3
Genesis 2811

• And he struck upon a certain place and remained
  there for the sun had set. He took stones from
  the place and put it near his head, then he laid
  down in that place.

4
Genesis 2812-13a

• He had a dream
• A stairway was set up from the ground and its top
  reached the heavens
• Angels of God were ascending and descending on
  it.
• Yahweh was standing upon it.

5
Genesis 2813b

• Then he said, "I am Yahweh the God of your father
  Abraham and the God of Isaac. The ground on which
  you are lying upon it . . . to you, I will give
  and even to your offspring.

6
Genesis 2814

• Your offspring will be like the dust of the
  earth. You will scatter out to the west and to
  the east, to the north and to the south. All the
  families of the earth will bless themselves
  through you and your offspring.

7
Genesis 2815

• "I am with you!
• so I will protect you wherever you go
• so I will bring you back to this land
• For I will not leave you until I have done what I
  told you.

8
Genesis 2816-17

• Then Jacob woke up from his sleep and said,
  "Surely Yahweh is in this place.
• And I did not know it!"
• He was frightened.
• And said, "How awesome is this place! This is
  none other than the house of God, that is the
  gateway to the heavens."

9
Genesis 2818-19

• Early in the morning, Jacob took the stone that
  he had put near his head and set it up as a
  pillar. He poured oil on the top of it.
• He named that place Bethel, but Luz was the
  former name of the city.

10
Genesis 2820-21

• Then Jacob vowed a vow, saying, "If God will be
  with me and guard me in this journey that I am
  making, and will give to me bread to eat and
  clothing to wear, and I am returned safely to the
  house of my father . . . then Yahweh will be my
  God!

11
Genesis 2822

• This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will
  be God's house and of all that you give me, I
  will tithe a tithe to you.

12
The Beginning of the Story

• Gen 28.5 Now Isaac sent Jacob off, and he went
  to Paddan Aram, to Laban, son of Bethuel the
  Aramean, brother of Rebekah, mother of Jacob and
  Esau.

• Gen 28.10 Jacob set out from Beersheba and went
  to Haran.
• The trip was about 460 Km.
• Isaac (28.5) and Rebekah (27.43) had sent him out
  to find a wife from his relatives.

13
The Background to the Story

• Jacob was afraid of Esau, so he ran away. . . .
• Gen 25.29-34 Esau has sold his birthright to
  Jacob for a bowl of lentil stew.

14
The Background to the Story

• Jacob was afraid of Esau, so he ran away. . . .
• Gen 25.29-34 Esau has sold his birthright to
  Jacob for a bowl of lentil stew.
• Gen 27.1-40 Jacob has deceptively stolen Esau's
  blessing.

15
The Background to the Story

• Jacob was afraid of Esau, so he ran away. . . .
• Gen 25.29-34 Esau has sold his birthright to
  Jacob for a bowl of lentil stew.
• Gen 27.1-40 Jacob has deceptively stolen Esau's
  blessing.
• Gen 27.41-45 Esau had made a vow to kill Jacob.

16
The Place

• The "place" is mentioned in 28.11, 16, 17, 19 a
  total of 6 times.
• "he struck upon" (pg') has a semantic field
  including "to attack" and "meet, encounter."
• "the sun had set" has its counter part in Gen
  3231 where it says, "the sun arose."
• He used some rocks that were in that place to
  protect his head.

• Gen 28.11 And he struck upon a certain place and
  remained there for the sun had set. He took
  stones from the place and put it near his head,
  then he laid down in that place.

17
Gen 32.22-32 The Incident at Peniel
18
He Dreamed

• Gen 28.12-13a He had a dream A stairway was set
  up from the ground and its top reached the
  heavens Angels of God were ascending and
  descending on itYahweh was standing upon it.
• Gen 15.12 Abraham also dreamed

19
He Dreamed

• He had a dream hinneh A stairway was set up from
  the ground and its top reached the heavens
  hinneh Angels of God were ascending and
  descending on it hinneh Yahweh was standing upon
  it.

20
The God who Promises

• "I am Yahweh the God of your father Abraham and
  the God of Isaac."
• The God of the Patriarchs is a God who is
  self-revealing.

21
The God who Promises

• "The ground on which you are lying upon it . . .
  to you, I will give and even to your offspring. .
  . .
• Promise of Land
• Promise of progeny
• Gen 28.1, 3-4.

22
The God who Promises

• "All the families of the earth will bless
  themselves through you and your offspring."

23
God Special Promise to Jacob

• 4th hinneh section.
• Jacob is given a unique promise unlike those of
  Abraham or Isaac. (Gen 26.3, 24 28.15, 20 31.3
  32.10 46.3)?
• "to protect" or "guard" is like Num 6.24
• "not leave" is unique in Genesis.

• Gen 28.15 "hinneh I am with you!
• so I will protect you wherever you go
• so I will bring you back to this land
• For I will not leave you until I have done what I
  told you."

24
I Am With You!

• Psalm 91.11-12
• For his angels he will command for you,
• To guard you in all your ways.
• In palms they will lift you,
• Lest you strike a stone with you foot.

25
I Am With You!

• Moses Exod 3.12
• Joshua Josh 1.5
• Gideon Judg 6.16
• Promise to King Ahaz Isa 7.14
• Psa 121 23

• Hebrews 13.5b for he himself has said, "I will
  never leave you, nor will I abandon you." (Deut
  31.6)?

26
Not Knowing

• Gen 28.16-17 "Surely Yahweh is in this place.
  And I did not know it!"
• He was frightened.
• "How awesome is this place! This is none other
  than the house of God, that is the gateway to the
  heavens."

27
Not Knowing

• Lao-tzu
• To know that you do not know is the best.
• To pretend to know when you do not know is a
  disease.

28
Not Knowing

• Lao-tzu
• To know that you do not know is the best.
• To pretend to know when you do not know is a
  disease.
• Socrates
• "I know that I don't know."

29
Knowability of God

• Karl Barth
• 1. God is infinitely transcendent, therefore
• 2. Human beings are not able to comprehend God
  through their natural faculties.
• 3. Only through God's self-revelation is it
  possible to "Know God."

30
Vowing a Vow

• Gen 28.20-21 Then Jacob vowed a vow, saying, "If
  God will be with me and guard me in this journey
  that I am making, and will give to me bread to
  eat and clothing to wear, and I am returned
  safely to the house of my father . . . then
  Yahweh will be my God!

• A Vow like Jephthah (Judg 11.30-31) Hannah (1
  Sam 1.11) Absalom (2 Sam 15.8).
• However Jacob's vow is based on what God already
  promised him.
• Jacob the "suspicious bargainer" a "wrestler"
  with words (Alter)?
• Part of the "not knowing"

31
The Message of Gen 28

• God is with you
• Knowing not Knowing