Jacob’s Ladder Dream

Chapter Twenty-Eight

28:1-5

ISAAC seemed quite agreeable with Rebekah’s insistence that Jacob should journey to Padan-aram thence to take a wife from among the daughters of his Uncle Laban. Padan-aram is identified by scholars as the plains of Syria, or, in the Greek language, Mesopotamia. It was clearly the Lord’s will that Jacob should not take a wife from among the Canaanites. Hundreds of years later, when the descendants of Jacob returned to Canaan from their long bondage in Egypt, they were forbidden by the Lord to take wives from among the Canaanites.

When instructing Jacob to go to Padan-aram for a wife, Isaac re-iterated the blessing which had previously been bestowed upon him and identified it as the “blessing of Abraham.” The Lord was undoubtedly overruling in all this, and here we see exemplified his almost universal custom of associating his promises with the instructions he gives to his people concerning what he wants them to do. In leaving home and starting out for Padan-aram, Jacob was faced with hardships unknown, so for his encouragement he was reminded of the great and eternal purpose of God concerning himself—that he was the chosen one to inherit the promises made to his grandfather, Abraham.

We see this principle exemplified in many instances. When God asked Abram to leave his own country and his father’s house, the promise was made that his seed would bless all the families of the earth. When Jesus was here on earth, having left the glory he had with the Heavenly Father and having come here on a mission of sacrifice which would entail suffering and death, God’s promises also sustained him. Paul tells us that “for the joy that was set before him [he] endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”—Heb. 12:2

28:6-9

In Hebrews 12:16,17, the apostle informs us that Esau sought repentance. The marginal translation is that he sought a change; that is, having discovered his great loss in the sale of his birthright, and that this transfer had been ratified by his father’s blessing upon Jacob, he endeavored to have the matter changed. But it was too late.

In these few verses we have what seems to be one of Esau’s efforts to get back into the good graces of his parents, and perhaps thereby recover the blessing. He had overheard Isaac’s instructions to Jacob concerning not taking a wife from among the Canaanites, and observing also that his parents were not pleased with his choice of wives he decided to take a wife from among his own people, so he chose a daughter of Ishmael. The account indicates clearly that he did this to please his parents.

What his parents thought of Esau’s decision to please them is not recorded, but it did not result in his securing the blessings which had gone irrevocably to Jacob. The daughter of Ishmael was not, of course, of pure stock, for her grandmother was an Egyptian. Perhaps in the illustrations of Jacob and Esau this might serve to remind us that some during this Gospel age are willing to make a real sacrifice and endure much hardship in their obedience to the Lord; while others are glad to please him if they can do it without too much effort, and are willing to compromise.

Ishmael’s daughter probably lived nearby, and since she was nominally of Abraham’s family, that “profane person” Esau was willing to take her for a wife hoping it would meet with his parent’s approval. Thus it is with compromising and worldly Christians who, in noting the faithful course of truly sacrificing followers of the Master, seek to imitate them, but only to the point where it doesn’t cost them too much.

28:10-22

Jacob’s first night away from home found him still in the land of Canaan. His journey to Padan-aram was not to be an easy one. It was slow and tedious, and doubtless ofttimes accompanied by dangers. At the close of the first day’s journey he was faced with the necessity of preparing a place to spend the night. The account is brief, emphasizing merely that he used a stone for a pillow.

Many tradition lovers and superstitious persons claim that this is the exact stone which now resides in London, England, and called the “Coronation Stone.” However, the directors of the “Geological Survey of Great Britain” have unanimously declared that “no stone of that kind was to be found in any part of the Holy Land whence it traditionally comes.” Prof. Ramsey also pronounced it as being “not known to occur in Egypt or in the rocks around Bethel.”

When Jacob fell asleep with a stone for a pillow, he had a wonderful dream. He saw a ladder reaching from earth to heaven, and angels ascending and descending upon it. The angels said nothing, but the Lord stood above the whole scene and identified himself as the God of Abraham and of Isaac.

What could have been more reassuring to Jacob than this! He had risked much to secure the birthright to the promise God had made to Abraham, and now the God of Abraham was assuring him that the birthright was indeed his. The promise, both of the land and that all the families of the earth were to be blessed through the “seed,” was here repeated to Jacob, who was assured that he would he the channel through which the seed would come.

At the moment, and in keeping with the Lord’s will, Jacob was fleeing from the land of promise, but the Lord assured him that he would return—“I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.” This is a promise which the Lord has given to all his faithful people. And with each one of us how often we would become discouraged and give up the struggle but for the promise, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”—Joshua 1:5; Heb. 13:5

Inasmuch as the Lord, in connection with this dream, reiterated his promise to bless all the families of the earth, it seems reasonable to conclude that the ladder stretched from earth to heaven and serving as a means of communication was intended to represent the fact that when God’s covenant with Abraham is fulfilled, oneness and harmony between God and men will be restored. On account of sin man has been alienated from God. There has been no communication between earth and heaven except in relation to the faithful few.

Of that faithful few during the Gospel age the Master said, “Their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 18:10) May it not be that the angels will also serve as messengers of communication for the entire restored human race when God’s promise to bless all the families of the earth is fulfilled through the faith seed of Abraham, The Christ, Head and body.

When Jacob awoke from his dream he said, “Surely … this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” This suggests that the house of God is where he meets and communes with his people. It is essentially the same thought as expressed by Jesus when, in explaining the change from the typical age of the Jews to the new age of the Gospel, he said that the time had come when those who worship the Lord must do so “in spirit and in truth.”—John 4:23,24

Jacob “vowed a vow.” As a member of Abraham’s family he had already evinced great interest in the God of Abraham, and in the promise that had been made to his grandfather and renewed to his father. Thus far, however, it had apparently been more or less a family affair. But now that God had spoken to him personally with respect to the blessing which was to come through the “seed,” Jacob was moved to make it an individual matter by entering into a covenant with the Lord on his own initiative, thus making his connection with the promises of God a personal responsibility.

This is a good lesson for all the Lord’s people. Let us never suppose that we can be pleasing to the Lord simply because we belong to a group of people whom the Lord has blessed with his truth. True, the Lord wants us to feel a closeness of relationship with all in the church, but he wants us also to realize that we must be individually faithful to him in order to remain in the church and later to have that abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.—II Pet. 1:11

The wording of the King James Version would almost indicate that Jacob made a bargain with the Lord, but this is not the case. God had just promised to care for Jacob and to bring him back to the land of Canaan. The fulfillment of this promise was to be irrefutable proof to Jacob that the one who had spoken to him was the true God, and surely Jacob wanted him to be his God.

On his own part, he promised to serve the Lord and to give him a tenth of all that the Lord gave to him. The law of the tithe was first mentioned in Genesis 14:20. Apparently the Lord had given some laws to his people prior to Sinai, and this was one of them. This law is expanded in the case of spiritual Israelites so that they covenant to give all they have, including themselves, to the Lord. He, in turn, makes them stewards of what they have given to him, and they are expected to be faithful in discharging their stewardship, directly or indirectly using all they have given to him in his service.

Jacob Serves for Rachel

Chapter Twenty-Nine

29:1-14

“Then Jacob went on his journey.” Thus in a few words is epitomized what was probably a very wearisome trek from Canaan to Padan-aram. But finally he arrived; and, like Eliezer when seeking a bride for Isaac, he first met his beloved at a well. Water evidently was not plentiful in the district, and several ranchers were compelled to depend upon the same source of supply, the same well.

Evidently there was a degree of order in connection with the use of the well, for those in charge of the three flocks already gathered were waiting for Rachel to appear before the well could be uncovered. Unlike the case of Eliezer when he met Rebekah at the well, Jacob was informed of the identity of Rachel and promptly made himself known to her, greeting her with the customary kiss. Her father was informed of Jacob’s arrival, and he too was happy.

29:15-20

Jacob was taken into Laban’s home and apparently made himself useful in doing whatever he could of the work on the ranch. Then Laban, satisfied that Jacob would be an asset on the place, suggested that they enter into some sort of agreement as to compensation for service rendered. This gave Jacob the opportunity to broach the matter which was on his heart, so he offered to serve seven years in return for Rachel, whom he wanted for his wife.

This seemed fair enough to Laban and he agreed to the suggestion, saying that he preferred to give Rachel to Jacob rather than to another man. Because of Jacob’s great love for Rachel, his seven years of service for her seemed but a few days. Apparently the hope of having her for his wife kept him encouraged and happy during those seven years, making the time pass quickly.

29:21-30

The custom of the time, or of the family, made it necessary that the elder daughter be married first. When Laban made the bargain with Jacob concerning Rachel, he probably thought Leah would be married to another before the seven years were up, but she was not, so it became necessary for Leah to be given first to Jacob as a wife.

Laban knew of Jacob’s great love for Rachel so he did not attempt to reason the matter out with him, but instead practiced a deception by seeing to it that it was Leah that Jacob found in the bridal chamber instead of Rachel. When Jacob demanded to know the reason for this deception, Laban explained, and apparently Jacob bowed willingly to the inevitable and agreed to serve another seven years for Rachel.

A careful study of the account, however, seems to contradict the popular idea that Jacob served the second seven years before Rachel was given to him. Verses 26-30 seem to indicate that Jacob dwelt with Leah exclusively only for a period of seven days, and that then Rachel was given to him, and that he had Rachel as his wife during his second seven years of service.

29:31-35

The chief lesson for us in the narrative of these verses is the fact that the Lord overruled in connection with Jacob’s children. It is to be remembered that the twelve sons of Jacob became the tribal heads of the nation of Israel, a nation of whom the Lord said, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.” (Amos 3:2) It is only reasonable to suppose that his overruling providence had much to do with the birth of these boys.

Chapter Thirty

Both Rachel and Leah gave their maids to Jacob in order that children might be born to them which they could claim as their own. This is what Sarah did in the case of Hagar. This was apparently quite in keeping with the custom of the times; and so far as the account indicates, the Lord did not especially condemn it. In any case, he accepted the sons born from these arranged unions as among the heads of the nation. Apparently if the wife made the arrangement it was considered to be all right.

30:14-21

In this narrative Leah charges Rachel with having taken away her husband. This may be related to the statement in the last verse of the preceding chapter where we are told that after Judah was born she ceased to bear children. However, in the Lord’s providence, other children were born to her later, in addition to the two sons which were born to her maid and which she counted as her own. She also gave birth to a daughter who was given the name Dinah.

30:22-24

If we are justified in making comparisons, it would be proper to say that Rachel was Jacob’s real wife. With this thought in mind, it is interesting to note the fact of her barrenness, for it was the same with Sarah, and also with Rebekah. In all three cases it required a miracle before they could give birth to children.

It was Joseph who was born to Rachel as a result of a miracle—the Joseph who later was to serve so prominently in the saving of his people from death by famine. While it was from the tribe of Judah that Jesus was born, yet the marvelous manner in which the Lord used Joseph clearly indicates that he prefigured Christ, the Savior of the world; and Jesus also was born into the world by a miracle.

30:25-36

God had blessed Jacob in the land of Padan-aram and on the ranch of his father-in-law, Laban. He had been taken into the family and now he had two of Laban’s daughters for wives. Under ordinary circumstances, one in that situation would have been content to remain with the thought of enjoying with the household whatever of security or wealth he was helping to create.

But Jacob did not go to Padan-aram with the idea of remaining. His heart was still in the land which God had promised to Abraham, and to Isaac and to him. The birth of Joseph may have had some bearing on Jacob’s decision that the time had come to begin making preparations for the return journey to Canaan. As matters stood, Jacob had no understanding with Laban except that which pertained to Leah and Rachel, and he knew that to return to Canaan with his wives and children it would be essential to have some way of providing for them.

With these thoughts going through his mind, he approached Laban and expressed his desire to be sent away that he might return to the land of his fathers. From this request Laban realized that Jacob had no intention of considering himself a permanent member of the family, that despite all the years he had been with them he was still as a hired servant. This, naturally, raised the question of wages in Laban’s mind.

This was as Jacob wanted it to be. Laban admitted that he had prospered while Jacob had been in the family. He even was willing to ascribe this to the overruling providence of Jacob’s God. Jacob was quick to follow through with this idea by emphasizing how much more Laban now possessed than before he arrived. Then came the proposition by Jacob as to a method of dividing the cattle, offering to take as his share the “ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.”—Verse 39

30:37-43

Jacob’s method of increasing the number of spotted and speckled cattle in Laban’s flocks in order that he might have more to claim for himself, would probably not, genetically speaking, be considered scientific today. It was apparently the Lord’s provision that Jacob acquire large holdings of cattle before he returned to Canaan, so we would be inclined to think that it was his overruling that increased the number of ringstraked and speckled, rather than the method which Jacob used to accomplish it.

It often happens that the methods employed by the Lord’s people to accomplish that which they think should be done, are in themselves futile; but if the Lord wants the thing done he overrules our lack of knowledge and accomplishes that which he designs.

| Home Page | Table of Contents |