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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. |
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| 2 Arise, go to Padan-Aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father, and take a wife thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother. |
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| 3 And the Almighty *God bless thee, and make thee fruitful and multiply thee, that thou mayest become a company of peoples. |
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| 4 And may he give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee, in order that thou mayest possess the land of thy sojourning, which God gave to Abraham! |
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| 5 And Isaac sent away Jacob; and he went to Padan-Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebecca, Jacob's and Esau's mother. |
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| 6 And Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padan-Aram, to take a wife thence, blessing him, and giving him a charge saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan; |
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| 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padan-Aram. |
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| 8 And Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the sight of Isaac his father. |
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| 9 And Esau went to Ishmael, and took, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife. |
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| 10 And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went towards Haran. |
Jacob – A Patriarch, neither Jew nor Christian. R5199:3
Practically a fugitive on account of his faith in the Abrahamic covenant. R3964:6
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| 11 And he lighted on a certain place, and lodged there, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of the place, and made it his pillow, and lay down in that place. |
Took of the stones – Following the custom of many in Palestine today. R5199:1
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| 12 And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to the heavens. And behold, angels of God ascended and descended upon it. |
Behold a ladder – The Lord Jesus, the connecting link between heaven and earth. R3483:6, R3965:1
"Hereafter ye shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." (John 1:51). D629
The re-establishment of peace and fellowship between heaven and earth. PD28/41; R5199:6
Communication between heaven and earth- the Messianic Kingdom. R5200:4
Behold the angels – Messengers of God, the "princes" of the new dispensation, including Jacob himself. D629
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| 13 And behold, Jehovah stood above it. And he said, I am Jehovah, the God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land on which thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. |
LORD stood above it – "All things are of the Father and by the Son." (1 Cor. 8:6). F3965:1
To thee – God recognized Jacob as the legal heir of the Abrahamic promise. R5199:2
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| 14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south; and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. |
Dust of the earth – The earthly seed, mentioned exclusively to Jacob, to whom Paul refers as a representative of natural Israel. R3965:3
One who receives such unqualified divine approval as did Jacob, ought never to be spoken of lightly. R2863:6
In thy seed shall – First through the "Isaac" seed, the New Creation; and secondly through the Ancient Worthies, developed in the ages preceding this age. Q196:2
All the families – Including the ante-diluvians. HG727:5
Be blessed – See comments on Gen. 12:3.
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| 15 And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places to which thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee until I have done what I have spoken to thee of. |
Into this land – A prophecy of the regathering of fleshly Israel to Palestine. R1630:2
Not leave thee – God has not let go of fleshly Israel from that time to this. R3965:4
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| 16 And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and said, Surely Jehovah is in this place, and I knew it not. |
And he said – Being content with the loss of all things since he was acknowledged of God as heir of the promise. R3965:2
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| 17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. |
The gate of heaven – "Wherever two or three are met" (Matt. 18:20) in the Lord's name, there R3965:5
The great Temple of God, composed of living stones, will be the gate of heaven, through which will come to mankind all of the things promised. R5200:1
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| 18 And Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had made his pillow, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. |
And set it up – It is now our privilege to set up the memorials of baptism and commemoration of the Passover. R3966:4
A pillar – A monument. R5200:4
Poured oil – Signifying its sacredness to God. R5200:4
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| 19 And he called the name of that place Beth-el; but the name of that city was Luz at the first. |
Beth-el – The house of God. R3966:4, R5200:1
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| 20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and keep me on this road that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and a garment to put on, |
If God – Since God, or, inasmuch as God. R1630:4
Bread to eat – Jacob did not wish for more than mere necessities and we should have the same disposition. R1630:4
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| 21 and I come again to my father's house in peace--then shall Jehovah be my God. |
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| 22 And this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that thou wilt give me I will without fail give the tenth to thee. |
The tenth unto thee – The consecration on Jacob's part was voluntary; not of constraint, but of love and gratitude. R1630:4
We, of the New Creation, gladly covenant to give all that we have, but we are fortunate if we are able to give directly to the Lord one-tenth of our time and means and other talents. R3966:4
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