Tuesday, Aug. 27
Genesis 28:10 – 29:30 Read it here
Jacob’s extended family would fit well into one of Shakespeare’s plays or a prime-time soap opera. Yesterday we saw Jacob and Rebekah tricking Isaac; now Rebekah’s brother deceives Jacob.
To protect Jacob from Esau’s anger, Rebekah created an excuse to send Jacob away, saying he should go to her brother’s family to find a wife. Jacob then travels to the land of the brother, Laban.
Along the way he sees a vision of angels ascending and descending to and from heaven on a staircase or ladder (the story behind the hymn, “We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder”). In that vision God repeats the promise that Jacob will be the father of a great nation through which all peoples on earth will be blessed.
Jacob is moved by this and sets up an altar. Even so, he isn’t yet able to let go of his human nature to turn things to his own advantage. The vow he makes to God is conditional: “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my God.”
Even after having seen God and angels, he is still not able to completely trust.
While the story about going to Laban’s land to find a wife seems to have been a pretext, it works out…though not without complications.
Jacob’s meeting with Rachel recalls Isaac’s first meeting with Rebekah. Where Rebekah had come to a spring to draw water, her niece Rachel is working as a shepherd and comes to a well to water her sheep—but in both cases they meet at a watering place for animals.
The story of Jacob marrying his cousin—actually two of his cousins—and failing to notice that one sister has been substituted for the other is foreign to us in just about every detail. It does, though, continue the theme of God being able to bring his will to bear in spite of unpromising circumstances.