| Scripture |
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 Paddan-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. |
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| 3 And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a company of peoples; |
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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 of thy sojournings, which God gave unto Abraham. |
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| 5 And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Paddan-aram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esaus mother. |
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| 6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-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; |
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| 7 and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Paddan-aram: |
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| 8 and Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father; |
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| 9 and Esau went unto 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 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 one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, 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, Jehovah stood above it, and said, I am Jehovah, the 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 whithersoever 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 awakened out of his sleep, and he 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 awesome is this place! this is none other than the house of God, and this is the 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 rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, 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 the city was 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, and Jehovah will be my God, |
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| 22 then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give a 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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