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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. |
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| 2 Arise, go to Padanaram, 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. |
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| 3 And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; |
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| 4 And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham. |
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| 5 And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother. |
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| 6 When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padanaram, 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; |
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| 7 And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padanaram; |
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| 8 And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father; |
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| 9 Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife. |
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| 10 And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went 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 lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. |
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 set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on 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, the LORD 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; |
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 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. |
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 awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD 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 up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon 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 Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.
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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 will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment 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 So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: |
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| 22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.
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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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