GOD MEETS JACOB AT BETHELPRIVATE 

GENESIS 27:1-28:22

KEY VERSE 28:20-22

** JACOB GETS ISAAC'S BLESSING (27:1-46)

1. a)  Why did Isaac think that he would die soon? (His death is recorded in 35:28,29)

He was losing his eyesight and became fatalistic and sorry for himself.  Actually, he wouldn't die for another 60 years.

b)  What did he want to do before he died?

He wanted to give his oldest son, Esau, the blessing.

c)  How did he iinstruct Esau to receive his blessing?

Read v. 3.

2. a)  What was Rebekah's counter-plan?

Read verse 9, "Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it."

b)  Why did she believe about Isaac's blessing?

Rebekah respected her husband as God's servant.  She knew that the one he blessed would indeed be blessed.  She believed that the blessing of the firstborn belonged to Jacob because it was God's will.  See 25:23.

3. a)  How did Jacob respond?

He was afraid he would be cursed if Isaac found out that he had been tricked.

b)  Of what was he afraid?

That Isaac would bring down a curse on him.

c)  How did Rebekah push him?

Read verse 13.

d)  What did she risk?

The curse.

e)  Why did she think this was so important (13-17)?

She considered getting the blessing as a matter of life and death because she wanted to obey God.  She was very determined.  She feared God and not obeying God's will more than her own life.  There was only one opportunity here.  If Jacob misses it, then he lost it.  There would be no second chances.  We must by any means get the blessing from God.  See Hebrews 11:6.

f) What were the good and bad things Jacob learned from her?

Good things: To get God's blessing.

Bad things:  Trickery and deceit.

4. a)  How did Jacob take advantage of his father's blindness and deceive him?

He had his hands and smooth parts of his neck covered with goatskin.  He brought the tasty meal to Isaac and even told him that he was Esau, his firstborn.  Read verse 19.  He lied.

b)  What was the blessings Isaac gave Jacob (18-29)?

The blessing of the firstborn.  He will inherit everything.

c)  Was this the covenant blessing?

Yes, it was.

5. a)  When Esau came in and identified himself, what did Isaac tell him?

Read verse 33b.  ".... I blessed him --- and indeed he will be blessed."

What did Esau say about Jacob?  

Read verse 36.  "Isn't he rightly named Jacob?  He has deceived me these two times; he took my birthright and now he's taken my blessing!…"

Was this correct?

Yes.  Jacob valued the blessing so much that he was willing to deceive his own father.

When he pled with his father, what blessing did Isaac give?

Read verses 39-40.  These are not positive blessings.

Why did his blessing anger him?

Because he would have to serve his brother and this hurt his pride.  See verse 40.

What did he resolve to do (32-41)?

To kill his brother out of revenge.  He held a grudge against Jacob.

a)  Why did Rebekah decide to send Jacob away?

She heard that Esau wanted to kill him.  See verse 42.

How id she suffer for what she had done?

Rebekah had no choice but to send Jacob away.  She decided to send him to her brother Laban for a while.  Rebekah taught Jacob the supreme value of God's blessing, but she also taught him to lie and deceive.  Lying and deception are never good and the means are not justified by the ends.  Because of Esau's wrath, Jacob had to leave home and live like an exile in a foreign land.

How did God use her actions in accomplishing his will?

God used this as an opportunity to send Jacob away to Paddan Aram where he could be trained by God through uncle Laban.  It was there, he could personally meet the God of Abraham and Isaac and have his own personal faith.

** THE GOD OF BETHEL (28:1-15)

a)  What instructions did Isaac give Jacob?

Verses 1 and 2.  "Do not mary a Canaanite woman." Was the first and most important command.  The second one was, "Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your motehr's father Bethuel.  Take a wife for yourself there from among the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother."

What blessing did he give him?

The covenant blessing.  Read verses 3-4.

Where did he send him?

Paddan Aram.

What does this reveal about Isaac?

He wanted his son to marry in the family of God.  He coworked well with Rebekah to help Jacob.

How did Esau interpret his father's actions?

He thought he too should not marry a Canaanite, but marry anyone else.  So he married an Ishmaelite in addition to other wives he already had.  See verses 8-9.

What does this show about him?

He married not to please God but perhaps to please his father.  He did not value spiritual things or a spiritual woman.  He was godless.

a)  How might Jacob have felt his first night away from home (1-10)?

Lonely, frightened and sorrowful, uncertain about his future.  He was in open country and away from home for the first time by himself.  He was afraid about the present reality.  From a human point of view, Jacob had become a wanderer because of his sins.  He had no roof over his head, only the stars.  

Describe what he saw in his dream. How did the Lord identify himself?

The Creator God, the Almighty God of heaven and earth came to visit him.  God didn't wait until Jacob surrendered to him and came to him, God came to him first.  The lonely wilderness became the gate of heaven.  Jacob's dream:  A stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.  Above it, stood the Lord.  He said, "I am the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac…."

What did he promise Jacob?

The covenant blessing.

What part of the original Abrahamic covenant and what part was especially for Jacob at this time?

God promised the lonely wanderer Jacob that he would be with him.  God had come to Jacob to plant a great hope and vision in his heart.  He promised to go with Jacob to Paddan Aram and bring him back safely.  When we are alone for the first time, it is the best time to meet God personally.

** JACOB'S VOW (28:16-22)

a)  The dream was so vivid that Jacob woke up.  What was his reaction to what he had seen and heard?

"Surely the Lord is in this place and I was not aware of it."  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."  He had a personal experience with God for the first time.  Have a personal experience with God and remember when we first met God.

What did he do the next morning?

He took the stone he had placed under his head and set up a pillar and poured oil on it.  He called the place "Bethel" which means "house of God."

How does this show his sense of history?

He had an awesome respect of God after this event.  He would not forget this meeting and place.  Later he would come back after 20 years to this place a different person.  Remember where and when we first met God.  This is an historic place.

a)  Describe Jacob's vow.  What does it show about his anxieties?

He wanted God to be with him.  He had a severe anxiety.  He was in a new and strange place and going to a new and strange place.  What he needed most was the assurance of God's presence.

Why didn't he mention the covenant promises?

He wasn't interested in God's plan at this time.  He did not think about God's redemptive work.  He was only concerned about his own urgent security problem.

What did he decide to give God?

He decided to make a vow and give God a tenth of all that God would give him.

On what condition?

That God watch over him on the journey, give him food to eat and clothes to wear and so that he returns safely to his father's house.

Why does he suddenly change to the second person ("you") in verse 22?

His faith is self-centered, worldly, but real.  He knew God was the living God.  In this vow, he started talking about God, then he started talking to God, "you", in verse 22.  His faith was elementary and conditional, but growing.  As he talked to God and made a vow to God, God became more real t him so he could address God as "you."

What does this suggest about him?

His little faith is beginning to take root and grow.  This can happen when we talk to the Lord and make a vow to him.

Why was this vow important in Jacob's life?

It was the handle by which God could take hold of Jacob's life and intervene in it.  God used this vow to train Jacob to be a father of many nations.  Making a vow is better than not making one.  God will use that vow as our sincere offering.  God accepted Jacob's vow and answered all his requests.

 

 

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