UNROLL
A bare, stony hilltop at deep blue dusk, a flat stone lying on the ground beside a rolled wool cloak and a wooden staff, the first faint stars above.

The Book of

Genesis 28

Jacob leaves home with a staff and his father’s blessing. On a bare hill, with a stone for a pillow, heaven opens.

22 verses≈ 4 min3 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–11BeginningsCreation, fall, flood, Babel
  2. 12–24AbrahamThe call and the promise
  3. 25–36Isaac and JacobThe promise passed onChapter 28
  4. 37–50JosephGod meant it for good

Jacob’s Departure

So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him.

Isaac

“Do not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” he commanded. “Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel, and take a wife from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.

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May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples. And may He give the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants, so that you may possess the land where you dwell as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.”

So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Esau Marries Mahalath

Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to take a wife there, commanding him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,” and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and gone to Paddan-aram.

And seeing that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women, Esau went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, in addition to the wives he already had.

Question

Quick question

Esau sees that his father disapproves of the Canaanite women, so he marries again.

Whose daughter does Esau marry?

Jacob’s Ladder

Paddan-aramBeershebaBethelHaran

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

Beersheba to Haran

“Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran,” the town where his mother’s family lived, in Paddan-aram. The road ran north through the hill country past Luz, later Bethel, and on toward the Euphrates: some 500 miles on foot, alone.

Meanwhile Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. On reaching a certain place, he spent the night there because the sun had set.

And taking one of the stones from that place, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.

And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down the ladder.

God

I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you

Genesis 28:15

When Jacob woke up, he said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was unaware of it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven!”

Reflect

And I was unaware of it

Jacob lay down on a bare hill thinking he was alone, and woke saying, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was unaware of it.” Think back over the last week. Where might God have been with you, keeping His word, while you never noticed? Write down one place or moment.

The Stone of Bethel

A young man seen from behind kneeling before a single upright stone on a hilltop at sunrise, pouring olive oil from a small horn flask over its top.

Early the next morning, Jacob took the stone that he had placed under his head, and he set it up as a pillar. He poured oil on top of it, and he called that place Bethel, though previously the city had been named Luz.

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Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, and if He will provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear, so that I may return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God.

And this stone I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give You a tenth.”

Pray

Wherever you go

God made Jacob a promise he did nothing to earn: “I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go.” Jacob answered as well as he could, with a stone, some oil and a vow. Thank God that in Christ the same faithful God goes with you. Name the road ahead of you this week, and ask Him to keep you on it.

You’ve experienced

Genesis 28

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A verse to carry with you

Look, I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.

Genesis 28:15

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