창세기 Chapter 28

Translation: ESV

1

Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him, 'You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women.'

Key Message

One who is to carry the covenant of God must choose a spouse who shares that faith.

▸Isaac officially calls Jacob and blesses him again with a deliberate, intentional blessing.

Isaac officially calls Jacob and blesses him again with a deliberate, intentional blessing. This time the blessing is conscious and purposeful. The command not to take a wife from Canaanite women transmits to Jacob the principle that Abraham established for Isaac (Gen 24:3).

Related Verses

I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell.
2

Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your mother's father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.

Key Message

God's guidance is specific; even the journey to find a faithful spouse is accompanied by God.

▸Isaac gives a specific destination and a particular pool of candidates for Jacob's wife — the daughters of Laban in Paddan-aram.

3

God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples.

Key Message

A blessing given in the name of God Almighty is accomplished beyond human ability.

▸Isaac pronounces the blessing in the name of 'God Almighty (El Shaddai).

4

May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!'

Key Message

God's covenant is transmitted from generation to generation through deliberate succession.

▸Isaac's blessing formally transfers the blessing of Abraham to Jacob.

5

Thus Isaac sent Jacob away. And he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.

Key Message

Even a journey within God's plan may seem lonely and distant, but God meets us along the way.

▸Jacob's journey toward Paddan-aram begins.

6

Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he directed him, 'You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women,'

Key Message

At times another person's right action becomes the mirror that reveals our own wrongdoing.

▸Esau observes the instructions Isaac gave to Jacob and begins to realize that marrying Canaanite women was against his parents' wishes.

7

and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram.

Key Message

True obedience is doing what needs to be done when you know it, without delay.

▸Esau witnesses Jacob obeying his parents' will.

8

So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father,

Key Message

The desire to please one's parents is good, but that desire must be expressed in timely action.

▸Esau confirms that his Canaanite wives do not please Isaac.

9

Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth.

Key Message

True change comes from inward transformation, not merely from outward behavioral adjustments.

▸Esau takes Mahalath, Ishmael's daughter, as an additional wife.

10

Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran.

Key Message

Even a journey of flight can become a journey of divine encounter.

▸Jacob's journey begins.

11

And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep.

Key Message

The most exalted encounters can take place in the lowest circumstances.

▸As the sun sets Jacob camps at a place using a stone as a pillow.

12

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

Key Message

There is no separation between God and humanity; God has always kept open a way to reach us.

▸In Jacob's dream a ladder (Hebrew sullam) stands from earth to heaven, with angels ascending and descending.

13

And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, 'I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.'

Key Message

God appears directly to us in our lowest, most solitary moments and calls us into his covenant.

▸God stands at the top of the ladder and speaks to Jacob.

14

Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

Key Message

God's blessing is directed not merely at one individual or nation but at all humanity.

▸The promises of the multiplication of offspring and the blessing of all peoples given to Abraham (Gen 13:14-16) and Isaac (Gen 26:4) are repeated to Jacob.

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 promised you.

Key Message

God is with us wherever we are, in whatever situation, and will never leave us.

▸God gives Jacob three promises: his presence, his protection, and his return.

16

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, 'Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.'

Key Message

God is present even in the moments we are unaware of him; the moment of realization transforms our lives.

▸Jacob wakes from sleep and recognizes that God was present in this place.

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.'

Key Message

Awe and reverence before the holy God is the beginning of true worship.

▸Jacob is filled with awe and declares, 'How awesome is this place!' The Hebrew yare' blends reverence and fear.

18

So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.

Key Message

After encountering God, immediate worship and dedication is the natural response of faith.

▸Jacob takes the stone that served as his pillow and sets it up as a pillar (massebah) and pours oil on it.

19

He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.

Key Message

An encounter with God transforms an ordinary place into a sacred memorial.

▸Jacob names the place 'Bethel (house of God).

20

Then Jacob made 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 clothing to wear,

Key Message

Faith begins with trusting God for the basic necessities of life.

▸Jacob makes a vow.

21

so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God,

Key Message

A personal profession of faith is the moment when the faith of one's ancestors becomes one's own.

▸The core of Jacob's vow is here: 'then the LORD shall be my God.

22

and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.'

Key Message

Returning a portion of what God has given to God is an act of confessing that God is the owner of all things.

▸Jacob's vow concludes with two elements: first, the stone pillar will become God's house; second, he will give a tenth of everything God gives him.