THROUGH THE BIBLE IN THREE YEARS
This program of daily devotions is designed to take you through the Bible in three years. It is our desire to help you gain a better general understanding of God's Word.
Please understand that in a study this brief, we will be concerned with only the major emphases and context of the Scriptures.
Each day a devotion for one or two chapters is posted, beginning with chapter one of Genesis and going through chapter twenty-two of Revelation. You are free to print each page as it appears.
Bruce McGee,Pastor
205 Adams
Columbia, LA 71418
GENESIS
CHAPTER 28
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. 2 Arise, go to Padan-aram, 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.
Now Isaac again blesses Jacob and sends him to Laban, Rebekah's
brother, in Mesopatimia. That's where Abraham came from.
When dissension in the home causes an impossible situation
it is better to move than to lose a brother.
3 And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; 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. 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.
Isaac, having now seen the hand of God in all that he does,
passes on the blessing of Abraham to Jacob.
When God shows us the right way we need to "walk in it."
6 When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, 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; 7 And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padan-aram; 8 And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father; 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.
Essau, still jealous of Jacob (and perhaps seething in anger), goes
to take a wife from the daughters of Ishmael. What he did
in righteousness, he did a little late. And it added folly; because
now he has THREE wives.
Oh! How treacherous is the way when we seek to please father
and mother and friends, but not GOD! (see Col. 3:23)
I have a pastor friend who once preached a sermon named
"SOME PEOPLE JUST DON't 'GET IT'!" Essau was one of those.
Just because others are doing it; or just because someone wants
you to do it - doesn't make it RIGHT! The BEST way
is GOD'S way!
10 And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. 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. 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.
Once, after a teacher had been explaining this passage of
Scripture, a child asked, "Why did the angels walk up and
down the ladder? Don't they have wings?"
Well, I think the real meaning of this passage is that
there is OPEN COMMUNICATIONS with God, and sometimes
angels assist.
That doesn't mean we pray to angels, or through angels. But
it does mean that sometimes angels may PROD
us to pray! And sometimes we NEED prodding!
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; 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. 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.
God, through this vision, promises Jacob the blessing of Abraham.
All that Isaac had prophesied through his blessing is now
promised by the Lord Himself.
Notice in verse 15 that God promises His PRESENCE.
He will NOT leave Jacob until what He has promised
happens.
Neither will God leave us until He has accomplished His
purpose in us. Then He doesn't leave us, He takes us HOME!
(See Eph. 1:13-14)
16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. 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.
It is natural for man to FEAR the presence of our
AWESOME and ALMIGHTY GOD!
Do you remember where you first MET God? Was it FEARFUL?
Did sin make you feel dreadful?
Yet it is THERE, when we first meet God, that He promises
His blessing of eternal salvation.
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. 19 And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.
"Bethel" means "house of God." What a special place
this was to Jacob.
What a special place it should be for US!
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, 21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: 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.
Note these three promises of Jacob. If God will do all He said:
1. Jacob will "own" (claim) Him as the One and ONLY God;
2. Jacob will acknowledge this place as the "house of God;"
3. Jacob will give one tenth (tithe) all He has to God.
The promise of 1/10th was an act which acknowledged God's
SUPERIORITY; it was not a way to "buy" blessings.
Jacob, who was very deceitful, will be severely tested
in his promises. We should know that God, Who is merciful
to forgive, also TESTS us. His testing is the same as when
a blacksmith "tempers" the metal. First, he puts it into the
fire, then into the water, then back to the hammer, the fire
and the water. Again, and again he does this until the
metal is proven STRONG and can be used properly for the
purpose of the blacksmith.
God does not TEST us to see if we will endure. He tests us
to show US that we will endure! And His testing tempers us like metal and makes us stronger.
Please continue to follow along in Bible study with us.