Genesis 28

1Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m sick and tired of these local Hittite women! I would rather die than see Jacob marry one of them.” 2So Isaac called for Jacob, blessed him, and said, “You must not marry any of these Canaanite women.?Instead, go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of your grandfather Bethuel, and marry one of your uncle Laban’s daughters. 3May God Almighty* bless you and give you many children. And may your descendants multiply and become many nations! 4May God pass on to you and your descendants the blessings he promised to Abraham. May you own this land where you are now living as a foreigner, for God gave this land to Abraham.” 5So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to stay with his uncle Laban, his mother's brother, the son of Bethuel the Aramean. 6Esau knew that his father, Isaac, had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to find 32? 99.4 a wife, and that he had warned Jacob, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman.” 7He also knew that Jacob had obeyed his parents and gone to Paddan-aram. SIt was now very Clear to 28:8 45 Esau that his father did not like the local Canaanite women. 9So Esau visited his uncle Ish- 5... mael’s family and married one of Ishmael’s daughters, in addition to the wives he already Gen 36:2 had. His new wife’s name was Mahalath. She was the sister of Nebaioth and the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son.

F. THE STORY OF JACOB (28:10—36:43)

Jacob did everything, both right and wrong, with great zeal. He deceived his own brother, Esau, and his father isaac. He wrestled with an angel and worked fourteen years to marry the woman he loved. Through Jacob we learn how a strong leader can also be a servant. We also see how wrong actions will always come back to haunt us. 1. Jacob starts a family

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

1010Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. 11At sundown he arrived ata good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. 12As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway. 13At the top of the stairway stood the LORD, and he said, “I am the LORD, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. 14Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. 15What's more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” 16Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD isin this place, and I wasn't even aware of it!” 17But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!” 18The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it. 19He named that place Bethel (which means “house of God”), although the name of the nearby village was Luz. 20Then Jacob made this vow: “If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey,and if he will provide me with food and clothing, 21and if Ireturn safely to my father’s home, then the LORD will certainly be my God.

22And this memorial pillar [have set up willme, I will follow you.” Whether Jacob was bargaining or pledging,God blessed him. But God also had some difficult lessons forJacob to learn.

become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me.”