GENESIS
CHAPTER 28
Isaac forbids Jacob to marry a Canaanite—He blesses Jacob and his seed with the blessings of Abraham—Esau marries a daughter of Ishmael—Jacob sees in vision a ladder reaching up into heaven—The Lord promises him seed as the dust of the earth in number—Also, that in him and in his seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed—Jacob covenants to pay tithes.
1 AND Isaac called Jacob, [ So we know that Isaac has asked for Jacob, he knows exactly to whom he is giving this blessing. His eyes are wide open. If he wanted to revoke any of the previous blessing bestowed on Jacob, now was the time to do so. But he does not do that, he confirms them on Jacob. ] and blessed him, [ Chapter 27 ended with Rebekah telling Isaac that we have to do something for Jacob this covenant son. What is the difference here between when Jacob received the birthright and giving Jacob a blessing here? When Jacob received the birthright there was a little subversion , as he had exchanged places with Esau and put on the coats of skin to decieve his father. Whether Isaac was really deceived or not we could debate, as the prophet he may have known through the spirit what he was doing. But either way that does not matter at this point, Why because he he calls Jacob specifically and give him this blessing knowing exactly who he is blessing. Do you suppose this would have meant anything to Jacob? I suppose that he would have felt validated, if he had any feelings of guilty or shame he would have now known that this was his mission, his calling. [In the second blessing here], Isaac confirms Jacob’s title to the birthright independently of the deception. Jacob is recognized to be the true heir to the Abrahamic covenant, which is why he must not marry outside of the family. ] and charged him, [ Gave commandments to him. ] and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. [ Isaac warns Jacob that he needs to be diligent and not marry a canaanite woman in order to continue to recieve the promised blessings. ]
2 Arise, go to Padan-aram,
[ Haran. ] to the house of Bethuel thy mother’s father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother’s brother. [ What were the purposes for sending Jacob away? !) to get him out of the reach of Esau who had threatened to kill him. So provide time for Esau to cool down 2) So he would marry someone under the covenant. Go to the right place to find the right person to marry. ]
3 And God Almighty bless thee, [ The blessings provided under the Abrahamic covenant are forwarded to Jacob. This blessing is explained as the familiar Abrahamic covenant. However, this aspect of the blessing is done in connection with the marriage of Jacob so that the rights/rites of this blessing might continue in the family lines. ] and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; [ Blessing number one the blessing of posterity. "µym[ lhql likhal ammim". There is something very remarkable in the original words: they signify literally for an assembly, congregation, or church of peoples; composed of every kindred, and nation, and people, and tongue. This is one essential part of the blessing of Abraham. ]
4 And give thee the blessing of Abraham, [ Isaac is confirming the blessing of Abraham upon his son Jacob. Suggesting that Jacob is indeed the one to whom the covenant should flow through as this time the blessing was given with no deception. So again, you wonder if we've got three different kinds of blessings: birthright, a father's blessing, and then here the leadership of the covenant blessing, or if this is all one, given there. You can argue both ways. ] to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.
5 And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padan-aram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.
6 ¶ When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, [ Or when he saw that Isaac had reconfirmed the previous blessings on Jacob. When Esau returns, Isaac tells him that the blessing given to Jacob will stand, and that Esau will be Jacob's servant. The Patriarch Isaac accepts that the blessing given was inspired and could not be rescinded. Jacob had met the requirements, having knowledge of the signs and phrases of recognition, and most important, having been prepared and presented by his mother as the birthright son. ] and sent him away to Padan-aram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;
8 And Esau seeing [ Esau is beginning to recognize his first mistakes through his fathers eyes. Maybe he is even beginning to see what the covenant means to his parents. ] that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father;
9 Then went Esau unto Ishmael, [ I think this is a time of change of heart for Esau. It's starting to dawn on him. "Wait a minute. I did this to myself." Esau changes direction and he marries one of Ishmael's daughters. In Chapter 33 we will see that the tranformation of Esau is complete when Jacob returns some 20 years later with his 4 wives and 12 sons and an unspecified number of daughters. Esau see Jacob coming from afar and he starts to send him out gifts. Then runs out to meet him, and kissed him and they wept. ] and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife. [ Once again Esau marries a woman to whom the priesthood cannot flow through. Showing once again his contempt to do what is righteous. Ishmael's mother was Hagar and she was an Egyptian. So her lineage came through Ham the son of Naoh and Egyptus. As a result they were not allowed to participate in the priesthood (Abr 1:21-26). ]
10 ¶ And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, [ Isaac's home. He's heading north. So he's going to travel about 50 miles before to Jerusalem and another 10 miles before he gets to Bethel. So that's probably three days travel, like it was for Abraham and Isaac. ] and went toward Haran.
11 And he lighted upon [ Stopped at. ] a certain place, [ This is the place that is talked about in Genesis 12 and 13, the hilltop where Abraham built an altar between the city of Bethel and the city of Ai. ] and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; [ The custom was to close the gates of the city at night and if a traveler was not within the walls of the city before the gates were shut then they would have to spend the night outside of the city walls. It is here that God actively begins to tutor and to prepare Jacob for his unique and essential mission in life. ] and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.
12 And he dreamed, [ The verb there, and he dreamed, is the term yachalom and that's this word right here. Okay. We'll put it up there so you can see it. It's the top word there. Yachalom and that is the word means he dreamed. Comes from the Hebrew term chalam but chalam and yachalom hold within them the value of vision as well as a dream. This is a visionary dream. This is a revelatory dream. Remember Lehi said, "I have dreamed a dream," Nephi said... In other words, he had seen a vision. That's this. This is a revelation. ] and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: [ The second word is ladder, speaking of Jacob's ladder everywhere. The Hebrew term there sulám and it is this word right here in the middle. It's an S and L and an M, pronounced sulám. And while it does mean ladder, and it's the modern Hebrew word for ladder, in ancient languages, including the Mesopotamian languages, the root of this actually doesn't mean necessarily something with two poles and rungs on it, but a stairway, a stepped stairway, or even a ramp, a sloped ramp. The ladder is used to connect two things together, vertical straight and narrow path, to make a path or a way for each to exchange. For example a way for God to come to earth, and a way for man to get back to God. The Savior in a way is the ladder, No man cometh to the Father except by me. The Savior brought the gospel and the ordinances to the earth as a way for us to be able to return and live with our Father in Heaven again. He did not see an elevator but a ladder. What is the symbolic mean of the runs of the ladder? We don't get back to heaven in one big step but a lot of smaller ones - the
line upon line principal. The Runs on the ladders are the ordinances
required to get back to Gods presence. President Marion G. Romney: "
Pondering upon the subject of temples and the means therein provided
to enable us to ascend into heaven brings to mind the lesson of Jacob’s
dream. You will recall that in the twenty-eighth chapter of Genesis there
is an account of his return to the land of his father to seek a wife
from among his own people. When Jacob traveled from Beersheba toward
Haran, he had a dream in which he saw himself on the earth at the foot
of a ladder that reached to heaven where the Lord stood above it. He
beheld angels ascending and descending thereon, and Jacob realized that
the covenants he made with the Lord there were the rungs on the ladder
that he himself would have to climb in order to obtain the promised blessings—blessings
that would entitle him to enter heaven and associate with the Lord.
Because he had met the Lord and entered into covenants with him there,
Jacob considered the site so sacred that he named the place Bethel, a
contraction of Beth-Elohim, which means literally “the House of the Lord.”
He said of it: “… this is none other but the house of God, and this is
the gate of heaven.” (Gen. 28:17.)
Jacob not only passed through the gate of heaven, but by living up to
every covenant he also went all the way in. Of him and his forebears
Abraham and Isaac, the Lord has said: “… because they did none other
things than that which they were commanded, they have entered into their
exaltation, according to the promises, and sit upon thrones, and are
not angels but are gods.” (D&C 132:37.)
Temples are to us all what Bethel was to Jacob. Even more, they are also
the gates to heaven for all of our unendowed kindred dead. We should
all do our duty in bringing our loved ones through them." (Ensign,
Mar 1971, p16) ◦ Joseph Smith: "Paul ascended into the third heavens, and he could understand
the three principal rounds of Jacob's ladder -- the telestial, the terrestrial, and the celestial glories or kingdoms,..." (TPJS, pp304-305). ] and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.< [ Old SLC Temple - the stairs and where do the messengers come and go to. Now this part of the process is only talked about in the endowment, but it is there, we can see the symbolism betwenne the temple experience of Jacob here and the modern day temple experience. Joseph Smith understood this. The term angels of God who are ascending and descending on that stairway or ramp. Okay. Now here's the last little bit of Hebrew there, mal'akh ‘elohim, the angels of Elohim, the angels of God. From the singular term mal’akh which is translated as angel about half the time you see it in the English Old Testament. Right out of the Hebrew Bible, mal’akh is translated maybe 50% of the time as angel, but the other 50% of the time, mal’akh is translated as messenger. Because that's what angels often are as messengers. For example, the name, mal’akhi, Malachi is my messenger. And he says that, of course, in the first chapter of Malachi. So mal’akh is messenger, as well as being angelic. And so you have these messengers going from heaven, down a stairway to Jacob at Bethel, and back up the stairway to heaven where Jehovah is. And Jehovah is speaking to Jacob and covenanting. Now that's fun from Hebrew, right? But now I want to read something to you from the prophet Joseph Smith who once said the following:"The three principle rounds of Jacob's ladder are the Telestial, the Terrestrial, and the Celestial glories or kingdoms." Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 305. So Joseph Smith understood what happened to Jacob while involved with the messengers going up and down on that stairway or ramp, to involve the three degrees of glory. Now, after that, of course, the Lord is at the top. So the Lord's doing the instructing. They're making covenants, and the covenant will include the covenant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That's key. This is the total covenant of Israel. At the end, of course, Jacob covenants that he'll pay tithing and do all these other things. With that understanding, Latter-day Saint's who are endowed should see what's happening to Jacob on that hilltop as A, he makes covenants and receives covenants, B, in a revelatory situation, C, with the Lord, while, D, angels or messengers are going up and going down from the presence of God to him. Marion G. Romney March 1971 Ensign "Temples: The Gates to Heaven". "Jacob realized that the covenants he made with the Lord there were the rungs on the ladder that he himself would have to climb in order to obtain the promised blessings, blessings that would entitle him to enter heaven and associate with the Lord." "Temples are to us all what Bethel was to Jacob." Jacob was learning of the three degrees of glory, while messengers went down a stairway and back up a stairway from the presence of God to him, that Jacob was experiencing the same thing we experience in our Bethel. Because when you get down, of course, to verse 19, it says, "He called the name of that place Bethel." Beth El is the short form of Elohim. Beth is house. Beth El is house of the Lord. A house of the Lord experience there on that rocky hilltop. ] [ What is the purepose of the temple? To provide the linkage for those beyond the veil to have their work done by those on this side of the veil. Angels attend by their coming and goings to participate in those activities. ]
13 And, behold, the LORD [ L-O-R-D in capitals, so that's Jehovah. ] stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; [ So as to say that I give unto you the same blessings that I gave unto Abraham. µyhla hwhy Yehovah Elohim, which we translate the LORD GOD. Hebrew - Yahweh ( or Jehovah which means "to become" or "to exist") translated as Lord; Elohim translated as God ("the Gods") which together the words mean "He will cause Gods to be". ]
14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, [ Just like Abraham's blessing which was that his seed would be numbered as the stars in the sky, and as the sands of the sea. ] and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: [ Lost Israel, for example, is not coming back only from the north countries. That's a misconception we often take out of section 133. Jeremiah said that the days would come that were greater than the Exodus, when God would gather Israel from the north countries and all the other lands where he had spread them. That's Jeremiah 16:15. And how will he do it? II will send forth many hunters and many fishers. The process is the gathering, is the missionary work. But here in verse 14, like many places in Isaiah, the scattering was to the south, east, north, and west. And the gathering, as in Isaiah 49, is from the south and the east and the north and the west. It's amazing. ] and in thee and in thy seed [ Jesus Christ was a descendant from the seed of Jacob. ] shall all the families of the earth be blessed. [ Same as the promise made to Abraham, this promise is given directly to Jacob. ]
15 And, behold, I am with thee, [ Septuagint. I shall direct, help, and support thee in a peculiar manner, in thy present journey, be with thee while thou sojournest with thy uncle, and will bring thee again into this land; so that in all thy concerns thou mayest consider thyself under my especial providence, for I will not leave thee. ] and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
16 ¶ And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.
[ I suppose that there is a great lesson here for us. The Lord does not alway provide revelation when and where we expect it. Here he does it on a 500 foot pile of rocks in a desolate place. The fact that Jacob was in a place that he could receive it is also of importance to us. The Lord will be in places you don't expect. Always conduct yourself appropriately. ]
17 And he was afraid, [ Filled with reverent awe. ] and said, How dreadful [ Wonderful, awesome. ] is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. [ “Because he had met the Lord and entered into covenants with him there, Jacob considered the site so sacred that he named the place Bethel, a contraction of Beth-Elohim, which means literally ‘the House of the Lord.’ (“Temples—The Gates to Heaven,” Ensign, Mar. 1971, p. 16.) The Chaldee gives this place a curious turn: "This is not a common place, but a place in which God delights; and opposite to this place is the gate of heaven." Onkelos seems to suppose that the gate or entrance into heaven was actually above this spot, and that when the angels of God descended to earth, they came through that opening into this place, and returned by the same way. And it really appears that Jacob himself had a similar notion. ]
18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, [ He placed the stone in an erect posture, that it might stand as a monument of the extraordinary vision which he had in this place. He took that big rock that he had used as part of his bedding, and he stood it upright as a pillar, and he anointed it with oil and blessed it. This is what was done by all cultures in the ancient Near East. It's a very Canaanite, very Near Eastern thing to do, to represent the presence of deity with a standing stone. So Jacob is doing something any Canaanite would do to represent the presence of deity, but here he's representing the presence of the true deity. He's leaving a memorial there. ] and poured oil upon the top of it. [ Symbolic of consecration - made the place holy. Since it is kind of obvious that he did not have a pillow, but used rocks to sleep on, we might assume that he was traveling with very light provisions, so the oil would have been an important staple for him, as he had nothing to waste. Signifing the importance to him of consecrating the rock. ]
19 And he called the name of that place Beth-el: [ A contraction of Beth-Elohim, which means literally ‘the House of the Lord.’ (“Temples—The Gates to Heaven,” Ensign, Mar. 1971, p. 16.). ] but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.
[ According to Strong’s Hebrew dictionary, Luz means an almond tree/wood, and the name of the city was possibly named such because of the almond trees in that region (Genesis 30:37), but Strong’s Hebrew dictionary also indicates that Luz could mean, to turn aside, depart, crookedness or perverseness, possibly because of the wicked people of the city. While either of these meanings are subject to human interpretation, what we ought to recognize from this account, is that where the Lord God is, and where there is a consecration of the place – then that is Bethel (House of God). ]
20 And Jacob vowed a vow, [ A vow is a solemn, holy promise, by which a man bound himself to do certain things in a particular way, time. In otherwords he made a covenant. A covenant to do what? See verse 22 to pay tithing. ] 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 raiment to put on,