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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And Isaac calleth unto Jacob, and blesseth him, and commandeth him, and saith to him, 'Thou dost not take a wife of the daughters of Caanan; |
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| 2 rise, go to Padan-Aram, to the house of Bethuel, thy mother's father, and take for thyself from thence a wife, of the daughters of Laban, thy mother's brother; |
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| 3 and God Almighty doth bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and thou hast become an assembly of peoples; |
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| 4 and He doth give to thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee, to cause thee to possess the land of thy sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.' |
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| 5 And Isaac sendeth away Jacob, and he goeth to Padan-Aram, unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramaean, brother of Rebekah, mother of Jacob and Esau. |
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| 6 And Esau seeth that Isaac hath blessed Jacob, and hath sent him to Padan-Aram to take to himself from thence a wife in his blessing him that he layeth a charge upon him, saying, Thou dost not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan |
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| 7 that Jacob hearkeneth unto his father and unto his mother, and goeth to Padan-Aram |
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| 8 and Esau seeth that the daughters of Canaan are evil in the eyes of Isaac his father, |
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| 9 and Esau goeth unto Ishmael, and taketh Mahalath, daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, sister of Nebajoth, unto his wives, to himself, for a wife. |
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| 10 And Jacob goeth out from Beer-Sheba, and goeth toward 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 toucheth at a [certain] place, and lodgeth there, for the sun hath gone in, and he taketh of the stones of the place, and maketh [them] his pillows, and lieth 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 dreameth, and lo, a ladder set up on the earth, and its head is touching the heavens; and lo, messengers of God are going up and coming down by 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 lo, Jehovah is standing upon it, and He saith, 'I [am] Jehovah, God of Abraham thy father, and God of Isaac; the land on which thou art lying, to thee 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 hath been as the dust of the land, and thou hast broken forth westward, and eastward, and northward, and southward, and all families of the ground have been blessed in thee and in thy seed. |
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 lo, I [am] with thee, and have kept thee whithersoever thou goest, and have caused thee to turn back unto this ground; for I leave thee not till that I have surely done that which I have spoken to thee.' |
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 awaketh out of his sleep, and saith, 'Surely Jehovah is in this place, and I knew 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 feareth, and saith, 'How fearful [is] this place; this is nothing but a house of God, and this a gate of the heavens.' |
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 riseth early in the morning, and taketh the stone which he hath made his pillows, and maketh it a standing pillar, and poureth oil upon its top, |
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 calleth the name of that place Bethel, [house of God,] and yet, Luz [is] the name of the city at the first. |
Beth-el – The house of God. R3966:4, R5200:1
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| 20 And Jacob voweth a vow, saying, 'Seeing God is with me, and hath kept me in this way which I am going, and hath given to 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 when I have turned back in peace unto the house of my father, and Jehovah hath become my God, |
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| 22 then this stone which I have made a standing pillar is a house of God, and all that Thou dost give to me tithing I tithe 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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