Behold, Yahweh stood above it, and said, “I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. I will give the land you lie on to you and to your offspring. Your offspring will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your offspring, all the families of the earth will be blessed. Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken of to you.”
Jacob awakened out of his sleep, and he said, “Surely Yahweh is in this place, and I didn’t know it.” He was afraid, and said, “How awesome this place is! This is none other than God’s house, and this is the gate of heaven.”
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 on its top. He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. 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 clothing to put on, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, and Yahweh will be my God, then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, will be God’s house. Of all that you will give me I will surely give a tenth to you.”
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv13–22 13. I am the Lord God of Abraham. This…
13. I am the Lord God of Abraham. This is the third point which, I said, was to be noticed: for mute visions are cold; therefore the word of the Lord is as the soul which quickens them. The figure, therefore, of the ladder was the inferior appendage of this promise; just as God illustrates and adorns his word by external symbols, that both greater clearness and authority may be added to it. Whence also we prove that sacraments in the Papacy are frivolous, because no voice is heard in them which may edify the soul. We may therefore observe, that whenever God manifested himself to the fathers, he also spoke, lest a mute vision should have held them in suspense. Under the name יהוהJehovah God teaches that he is the only Creator of the world, that Jacob might not seek after other gods. But since his majesty is in itself incomprehensible, he accommodates himself to the capacity of his servant, by immediately adding, that he is the God of Abraham and Isaac. For though it is necessary to maintain that the God whom we worship is the only God; yet because when our senses would aspire to the comprehension of his greatness, they fail at the first attempt; we must diligently cultivate that sobriety which teaches us not to desire to know more concerning him than he reveals unto us; and then he, accommodating himself to our weakness, according to his infinite goodness, sill omit nothing which tends to promote our salvation. And whereas he made a special covenant with Abraham and Isaac, proclaiming himself their God, he recalls his servant Jacob to the true source of faith, and retains him also in his perpetual covenant. This is the sacred bond of religion, by which all the sons of God are united among themselves, when from the first to the last they hear the same promise of salvation, and agree together in one common hope. And this is the effect of that benediction which Jacob had lately received from his father; because God with his own mouth pronounces him to be the heir of the covenant, lest the mere testimony of man should be thought illusive.
The land whereon thou liest. We read that the land was given to his posterity; yet he himself was not only a stranger in it to the last, but was not permitted even to die there. Whence we infer, that under the pledge or earnest of the land, something better and more excellent was given, seeing that Abraham was a spiritual possessor of the land, and contented with the mere beholding of it, fixed his chief regard on heaven. We, may observe, however, that the seed of Jacob is here placed in opposition to the other sons of Abraham, who, according to the flesh, traced their origin to him, but were cut off from the holy people: yet, from the time when the sons of Jacob entered the land of Canaan, they had the perpetual inheritance unto the coming of Christ, by whose advent the world was renewed.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv13, 17, 18, 19, 20 He felt the force of this promise only by…
He felt the force of this promise only by faith: for all his lifetime he was but a stranger in this land.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv13–20 Gen 28:13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it,…
Gen 28:13 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;
Ver. 13. I am the Lord God of Abraham, &c.] What an honour is this to Abraham, that God was not ashamed to be called his and his son’s God! Eusebius the historian, was called Eusebius Pamphili, for the love that was between him and the martyr Pamphilus, as St Jerome testifieth. "Friend to Sir Philip Sidney," is engraven upon a nobleman’s {a} tomb in this kingdom, as one of his titles. Behold the goodness of God, stooping so low as to style himself "the God of Abraham"; and Abraham again, "the friend of God."
Read full note →
{a} The old Lord Brook.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv14–22 i.e. The nations of the earth, as that word…
i.e. The nations of the earth, as that word is used.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v16 God manifested himself and his favour to Jacob when…
God manifested himself and his favour to Jacob when he was asleep and purely passive; for the spirit, like the wind, blows when and where he listeth, and God's grace, like the dew, tarrieth not for the sons of men, Mic 5:7. But Jacob applied himself to the improvement of the visit God had made him when he was awake; and we may well think he awaked, as the prophet did (Jer 31:26), and behold his sleep was sweet to him. Here is much of Jacob's devotion on this occasion.
I. He expressed a great surprise at the tokens he had of God's special presence with him in that place: Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not, Gen 28:16. Note, 1. God's manifestations of himself to his people carry their own evidence along with them. God can give undeniable demonstrations of his presence, such as give abundant satisfaction to the souls of the faithful that God is with them of a truth, satisfaction not communicable to others, but convincing to themselves. 2. We sometimes meet with God where we little thought of meeting with him. He is where we did not think he had been, is found where we asked not for him. No place excludes divine visits (Gen 16:13, here also); wherever we are, in the city or in the desert, in the house or in the field, in the shop or in the street, we may keep up our intercourse with Heaven if it be not our own fault.
Read full note →
II. It struck an awe upon him (Gen 28:17): He was afraid; so far was he from being puffed up, and exalted above measure, with the abundance of the revelations (Co2 12:7), that he was afraid. Note, The more we see of God the more cause we see for holy trembling and blushing before him. Those to whom God is pleased to manifest himself are thereby laid, and kept, very low in their own eyes, and see cause to fear even the Lord and his goodness, Hos 3:5. He said, How dreadful is this place! that is, "The appearance of God in this place is never to be thought of, but with a holy awe and reverence. I shall have a respect for this place, and remember it by this token, as long as I live:" not that he thought the place itself any nearer the divine visions than other places; but what he saw there at this time was, as it were, the house of God, the residence of the divine Majesty, and the gate of heaven, that is, the general rendezvous of the inhabitants of the upper world, as the meetings of a city were in their gates; or the angels ascending and descending were like travellers passing and re-passing through the gates of a city. Note, 1. God is in a special manner present where his grace is revealed and where his covenants are published and sealed, as of old by the ministry of angels, so now by instituted ordinances, Mat 28:20. 2. Where God meets us with his special presence we ought to meet him with the most humble reverence, remembering his justice and holiness, and our own meanness and vileness.
III. He took care to preserve the memorial of it two ways: 1. He set up the stone for a pillar (Gen 28:18); not as if he thought the visions of his head were any way owing to the stone on which it lay, but thus he would mark the place against he came back, and erect a lasting monument of God's favour to him, and because he had not time now to build an altar here, as Abraham did in the places where God appeared to him, Gen 12:7. He therefore poured oil on the top of this stone, which probably was the ceremony then used in dedicating their altars, as an earnest of his building an altar when he should have conveniences for it, as afterwards he did, in gratitude to God for this vision, Gen 35:7. Note, Grants of mercy call for returns of duty, and the sweet communion we have with God ought ever to be remembered. 2. He gave a new name to the place, Gen 28:19. It had been called Luz, an almond-tree; but he will have it henceforward called Beth-el, the house of God. This gracious appearance of God to him put a greater honour upon it, and made it more remarkable, than all the almond-trees that flourished there. This is that Beth-el where, long after, it is said, God found Jacob, and there (in what he said to him) he spoke with us, Hos 12:4. In process of time, this Beth-el, the house of God, became Beth-aven, a house of vanity and iniquity, when Jeroboam set up one of his calves there.
IV. He made a solemn vow upon this occasion, Gen 28:20-22. By religious vows we give glory to God, own our dependence upon him, and lay a bond upon our own souls to engage and quicken our obedience to him. Jacob was now in fear and distress; and it is seasonable to make vows in times of trouble, or when we are in pursuit of any special mercy, Jon 1:16; Psa 66:13, Psa 66:14; Sa1 1:11; Num 21:1-3. Jacob had now had a gracious visit from heaven. God had renewed his covenant with him, and the covenant is mutual. When God ratifies his promises to us, it is proper for us to repeat our promises to him. Now in this vow observe, 1. Jacob's faith. God had said (Gen 28:15), I am with thee, and will keep thee. Jacob takes hold of this, and infers, "Seeing God will be with me, and will keep me, as he hath said, and (which is implied in that promise) will provide comfortably for me, - and seeing he has promised to bring me again to this land, that is, to the house of my father, whom I hope to find alive at my return in peace" (so unlike was he to Esau who longed for the days of mourning for his father), - "I depend upon it." Note, God's promises are to be the guide and measure of our desires and expectations. 2. Jacob's modesty and great moderation in his desires. He will cheerfully content himself with bread to eat, and raiment to put on; and, though God's promise had now made him heir to a very great estate, yet he indents not for soft clothing and dainty meat. Agur's wish is his, Feed me with food convenient for me; and see Ti1 6:8. Nature is content with a little, and grace with less. Those that have most have, in effect, no more for themselves than food and raiment; of the overplus they have only either the keeping or the giving, not the enjoyment: if God give us more, we are bound to be thankful, and to use it for him; if he give us but this, we are bound to be content, and cheerfully to enjoy him in it. 3. Jacob's piety, and his regard to God, which appear here, (1.) In what he desired, that God would be with him and keep him. Note, We need desire no more to make us easy and happy, wherever we are, than to have God's presence with us and to be under his protection. It is comfortable, in a journey, to have a guide in an unknown way, a guard in a dangerous way, to be well carried, well provided for, and to have good company in any way; and those that have God with them have all this in the best manner. (2.) In what he designed. His resolution is, [1.] In general, to cleave to the Lord, as his God in covenant: Then shall the Lord be my God. Not as if he would disown him and cast him off if he should want food and raiment; no, though he slay us, we must cleave to him; but "then I will rejoice in him as my God; then I will more strongly engage myself to abide with him." Note, Every mercy we receive from God should be improved as an additional obligation upon us to walk closely with him as our God. [2.] In particular, that he would perform some special acts of devotion, in token of his gratitude. First, "This pillar shall keep possession here till I come back in peace, and then it shall be God's house," that is, "an altar shall be erected here to the honour of God." Secondly, "The house of god shall not be unfurnished, nor his altar without a sacrifice: Of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee, to be spent either upon God's altars or upon his poor," both which are his receivers in the world. Probably it was according to some general instructions received from heaven that Abraham and Jacob offered the tenth of their acquisitions to God. Note, 1. God must be honoured with our estates, and must have his dues out of them. When we receive more than ordinary mercy from God we should study to give some signal instances of gratitude to him. 2. The tenth is a very fit proportion to be devoted to God and employed for him, though, as circumstances vary, it may be more or less, as God prospers us, Co1 16:2; Co2 9:7.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv13–22 And behold, the Lord stood above it,.... Ordering, directing,…
And behold, the Lord stood above it,.... Ordering, directing, and overruling all things in Providence, for the glory of his name and the good of his people; and may signify, as the ladder may be a figure of Christ, that Jehovah the Father, is above him, as man and Mediator, and makes himself known in and by him, and delivers out all his blessings and promises through him, both temporal and spiritual, and such as follow:
and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: their covenant God and Father in Christ, who had made promises unto them, and bestowed blessings upon them; and the same was and would continue to be the God of Jacob, which is strongly intimated:
Read full note →
the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; meaning not that small pittance of land only on which his body then lay, and which it covered, but all the land of which it was a part, even the whole land of Canaan; hereby entailing it on him and his seed, and so explaining and confirming the blessing of his father Isaac; and by which it appears, that all that had been done was under a divine direction, and according to the will of God.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv14–20 In thy seed shall all the families of the…
In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed - Christ is the great blessing of the world: all that are blessed, whatever family they are of, are blessed in him, and none of any family are excluded from blessedness in him, but those that exclude themselves.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22 Verse 13. I am the Lord God of Abraham]…
Verse 13. I am the Lord God of Abraham] Here God confirms to him the blessing of Abraham, for which Isaac had prayed, Ge 28:3-4.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv14–20 Gen 28:14. In thy seed shall the families of…
Gen 28:14. In thy seed shall the families of the earth be blessed — All that are blessed, whatever family they are of, are blessed in Christ, and none of any family are excluded from blessedness in him, but those that exclude themselves.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv13, 16, 18, 19, 20 Thy father, or grandfather. God joins the dead with…
Thy father, or grandfather. God joins the dead with the living, to shew that all live to him, and that the soul is immortal. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv13, 16, 18, 20 The Lord stood above it, and said--That Jacob might…
The Lord stood above it, and said--That Jacob might be at no loss to know the purport of the vision, he heard the divine voice; and the announcement of His name, together with a renewal of the covenant, and an assurance of personal protection, produced at once the most solemnizing and inspiriting effect on his mind.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22 13. The Lord stood — A personal visional revelation…
13. The Lord stood — A personal visional revelation of Jehovah. The Targum of Onkelos reads: “The glory of the Lord stood above.” It was a theophany that impressed Jacob with a fearful awe. Gen_28:17.
The land… to thy seed — Compare the same promise made to Abraham in Gen_13:15; Gen_15:18.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv13–22 13. the Lord stood] Lit. “was set, established, stationed,”…
13. the Lord stood] Lit. “was set, established, stationed,” LXX ἐπεστήρικτο, Vulg. “innixum.” The appearance of Jehovah is mentioned, but not described.
above it] Better, probably, as R.V. marg., beside him. Both renderings are possible. We should perhaps prefer that of the margin. The preposition is the same as in the account of the appearance of the three men to Abraham, Gen_18:2 (“Lo, three men stood over against him”). On the other hand, the versions LXX ἐπʼ αὐτῆς, Lat. and Syr. Pesh., render as R.V. text. But the substance of Gen_28:13-15 is a personal revelation to Jacob. It is distinct from the vision of Gen_28:12, which, on a great and impressive scale, taught the general lesson of the union between earth and heaven. There is, therefore, reason for preferring the personal allusion, either “beside him,” or “over (i.e. bending over) him.” Jacob is lying down: Jehovah is standing by him. Jacob is made to realize the ever-protecting Presence, at his side, or watching over him.
Read full note →
and said] The blessing of Jacob consists of (1) the Divine personal revelation; (2) the promise of the land (Gen_28:13); (3) the multiplication of his descendants (Gen_28:14); (4) the world’s blessing through his seed (Gen_28:14); (5) the personal promise of Presence and Protection (Gen_28:15).
thy father] i.e. thy ancestor. Abraham’s name is mentioned as that of the first recipient of the Divine promise.
the land] The renewal of the promise to Abraham, Gen_13:14-16.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv16–20 (16) Surely the Lord (Jehovah) is in this place.—Jacob…
(16) Surely the Lord (Jehovah) is in this place.—Jacob was not unaware of the omnipresence of the Deity: what astonished him was that Jehovah should thus reveal Himself far away from the shrines where He was worshipped. Rebekah had gone to one of these to inquire of Jehovah (Gen_25:22), and probably to a shrine in the very neighbourhood of the place where Jacob was sleeping (Gen_12:8). But first Abraham, and then Isaac, had for so long made Beer-sheba their home, that Jacob probably knew little about the sanctity of the spot, and felt himself far away from all the religious associations of his youth, and from that “presence of Jehovah” which in antediluvian times had also been supposed to be confined to certain localities (Gen_4:16). But one great object of the dream was to show that Jehovah watches over the whole earth, and that messengers to and fro come from Him and return unto Him.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22 And, behold, dream-vision is so glorious that the narrator…
And, behold, dream-vision is so glorious that the narrator represents it by a threefold hGehi (Lange)the Lord stood above it, the change in the Divine name is not to be explained by assigning vers. 13-16 to the Jehovistic editor (Tuch, Bleek) or to a subsequent redactor (Davidson), since without it the Elohistic document would be abrupt, if not incomplete (Kalisch), but by recalling the fact that it is not the general pro vide nce of the Deity over his creature man, but the special superintendence of the God of Abraham and of Isaac over his chosen people, that the symbolic ladder was intended to depict (Hengstenberg)and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: thus not simply proclaiming his personal name Jehovah, but announcing himself as the Elohim who had solemnly entered into covenant with his ancestors, and who had now come, in virtue of that covenant, to renew to him the promises he had previously given themthe land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed given to Abraham, Gen_13:15; to Isaac, Gen_26:3.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv15–20 I will not leave thee, until I have done…
Gen_28:15
I will not leave thee, until I have done all that which I have spoken to thee of
Read full note →
Renewed pledges
There are two very observable facts which may be gathered from the joint study of the Bible and our own hearts.
1. That we are prone to distrust the promises of God, though we know Him to be unchangeable.
2. That God so condescends to our weakness that He reduplicates His pledges, in order, as it were, to compel us into confidence.
I. God speaks to His people of sin blotted out; He speaks of the thorough reconciliation which Christ has effected between Himself and the sinner; He speaks of His presence as accompanying the pilgrim through the wilderness; of His grace as sufficient for every trial which may or can be encountered. The things of which God speaks to His people spread themselves through the whole of the unmeasured hereafter, and it must follow that the pledge of our not being left until the things spoken of are done is tantamount to an assurance that we shall never be left and never forsaken.
II. The text is thus a kind of mighty guarantee, giving such a force to every declaration of God, that nothing but an unbelief the most obstinate can find ground for doubt or perplexity. It does not stand by itself, but comes in as an auxiliary in declaring Gods glorious intention. It is a provision against human faithlessness, words which may well be urged when a man is tempted with the thought that, after all, a thing spoken of is not a thing done, and which bid him throw from him the thought that God is not bound to perform whatever He has promised. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Gods purpose and its fulfilment
1. God has a plan or scheme of life for every one of us, and His purposes embrace every part of that plan.
2. No words of God about our life will be left unfulfilled.
3. There is no unfinished life. The promise is a promise of--
(1) Presence.
(2) Intercourse.
(3) Fellowship. (S. Martin.)
The companionship of God
I. In what does the treasure of Gods companionship consist? It consists--
1. In the consciousness of Gods personality.
2. In the precious possessions he gives us--love, reason, conscience, will. To our conscience new light is given; to our love new spheres are open; our will receives new strength from the new example of His love and grace.
II. While these faculties are taken up the companionship of God becomes a reality of our daily life and our exceeding great reward. And then, besides, and with all this, we have the consciousness of communion with the Incarnate Word--Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; we know what to do and where to find Him. In this life we are to walk by faith. Our capacities are not intended to be satisfied here, but they shall be satisfied hereafter. (Bishop King.)
A fourfold comfort
Against his fourfold cross, here is a fourfold comfort.
1. Against the loss of his friends, I will be with thee.
2. Of his country, I will give thee this land.
3. Against his poverty, Thou shalt spread abroad to the east, west, &c.
4. His solitariness; angels shall attend thee, and thy seed shall be as the dust, &c. And who can count the dust of Jacob, said Balsam Num_23:10). Now, whatsoever God spake herewith Jacob, He spake with us, as well as with him, saith Hoses (Hoses. 12:4). (J. Trapp.)
Purpose in a promise
Every true mans life is charged with a purpose of God, which will mould it and master it, so as that it may best work out His glory. He who notes the fall of the sparrow sees, numbers, and knows each human soul. He has intrusted it with a certain office and privilege. He has created it that it might glorify Him. He has endowed that soul with existence that it might be guided into His all-wise purpose, and afterwards received to share with Him His glory.
I. Observe, then, carefully in the first place, that this being the chief end of man, there will always have to be some secondary and subordinate ends. These must be reckoned in; for they all tend towards the main end, and indeed receive their entire value from their connection with that.
II. Observe, furthermore, that if there be so many subordinate purposes in the one purpose of God, there must of necessity be many instruments also.
III. Observe, in the third place, that with a purpose so complicated as Gods is, in order to introduce every mans life into it, it will be possible that in some cases more than half the years which any given person lives will have to be spent just in rendering him ready to come in efficiently at the exact point when he is needed.
IV. Observe, once more, that if these varied instruments employed in carrying out the grand purpose are so many, and need so much preparation, there will be an evident necessity that a large number of teachers and trainers shall be kept at Gods service in instructing them. (C. S.Robinson, D. D.)
The Keeper of Israel
I. THE COMPANY. Jehovah Himself.
II. THE OFFICE. The Keeper of Israel.
III. THE MARCH. All places whither thou goest.
IV. THE ENGAGEMENT. I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. (J. Irons.)
Jacobs protector
I. GODS PRESENCE.
II. PROTECTION.
III. GUIDANCE.
IV. FAITHFULNESS. (C. Clayton, M. A.)
Four choice sentences
I. First, turn to the twenty-eighth chapter of Genesis, at the fifteenth verse, and read of PRESENT BLESSING. The Lord said to His servant Jacob, Behold, I am with thee.
1. Jacob was the inheritor of a great blessing from his fathers, for this sentence was spoken in connection with the following words, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac. It is an inexpressible privilege, to be able to look back to father and grandfather, and perhaps farther still, and to say, We come of a house which has served the Lord as far back as history can inform us. Descended from Christians, we have a greater honour than being descended from princes. There is no heraldry like the heraldry of the saints. Be not satisfied unless you yourself obtain such mercy as God gave to your ancestors, and hear the Lord saying, I am with thee.
2. This mercy was brought home to Jacob at a time when he greatly needed it. He had just left his fathers house, and he felt himself alone. He was coming into special trial, and then it was that he received a fuller understanding of the privilege which God had in store for him. Let me read the words to you--I am with thee. That God should send His angel with Jacob to protect him would have been much; but it is nothing compared with, I am with thee. This includes countless blessings, but it is in itself a great deal more than all the blessings we can conceive of. There are many fruits that come of it, but the tree that yields them is better than the fruit.
3. Why, when God is with a man there is a familiarity of condescension that is altogether unspeakable: it ensures an infinite love. I am with thee. God will not dwell with those He hates.
4. I am with thee--it means practical help. Whatever we undertake, God is with us in the undertaking; whatever we endure, God is with us in the enduring; whithersoever we wander, God is with us in our wandering. If God be for us, who can be against us? If God be with us, can we ever be exiled or banished? If God be with us, what can we not do? If God be with us, what can we not endure?
II. Now turn to the thirty-first chapter of Genesis, at the third verse, and read these words--I will be with thee. We will call this FUTURE BLESSING. It is almost unnecessary to take this second text; for if it is written, I am with thee, you may depend upon it that He will be with us, for God does not forsake His people.
III. I want to go a step further, and come, in the third place, to EXPERIENCED BLESSINGS. Let us look at Jacobs experience. Did Jacob find God to be with him? Turn to the thirty-first chapter again, and read the fifth verse. Up to as far as the time that he was about to leave Laban, he says--The God of my father hath been with me. I have read that testimony with great joy. I thought of Jacob thus--Well, you certainly were not eminent for grace while with Laban. You were plotting and scheming--you against Laban and Laban against you; and yet your witness is, The God of my father hath been with me. This is all the more encouraging as coming from you. Jacob seems to say of his God: It was He that gave me my wife and my children; it was He that prospered me in the teeth of those who tried to rob me; the God of my father hath been with me notwithstanding all my shortcomings. I trust that some of you can bear the like witness. Though you have net been all that you could wish in the Christian life, yet you can say, The God of my father has been with me. Now, we will look at him a little further on, in the thirty-fifth chapter, and the third verse: there we shall find him saying--Let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. As I have already said, he left Labans house; and it was a very venturesome journey, but God was with him: Jacob tells us that so it was. Poor Jacob was full of fear when he heard that Esau was coming to meet him. You can see that by the way in which he divided his flocks and his herds, and set apart so large a present for Esau. But God does not leave His people because of their fears. I am so thankful for that. There was a night of wrestling with Jacob. On that day, too, I have no doubt, Jacob was very much cast down, because he remembered his sin. He knew he had ill-treated Esau, and robbed him of the blessing; but, for all that, he came with a repentant heart to submit himself before his brother and to do what he could to please him. Because of this, God was with him. At the close of his life we find Jacob more fully than ever confessing that the presence of God had been with him. I read you the passage where he wished that the God that had been with him might be with his grandsons in the selfsame way--the forty-eighth chapter, at the fifteenth and sixteenth verses. He blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads. There is his last testimony to the faithfulness of God. He had lost Rachel--oh, how it stung his heart! but he says, God redeemed me from all evil. There had come a great famine in the land; but he says that God had fed him all his life long. He had lost Joseph, and that had been a great sorrow; but now, in looking back, he sees that even then God was redeeming him from all evil. He said once, Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away; all these things are against me; but now he eats his words, and says, The Lord hath redeemed me from all evil. He now believes that God had been always with him, had fed him always, and redeemed him always, and blessed him always. Now, mark you, if you trust in God, this shall be your verdict at the close of life.
IV. We have had present blessing; we have had future blessing; we have had experienced blessing three times over; and now we go to TRANSMITTED BLESSING; for we find Jacob transmitting the blessing to his son and to his grandson. Read in the forty-eighth chapter, at the twenty-first verse Behold, I die: but God shall be with you. I commenced by noticing the blessing which passed on from Abraham to Isaac; and now we see that Jacob hands it on to Joseph, Manasseh, and to Ephraim--I die: but God shall be with you. Blessed be the everlasting God--if Abraham dies, there is Isaac; and if Isaac dies, there is Jacob; and if Jacob dies, there is Joseph; and if Joseph dies, Ephraim and Manasseh survive. The Lord shall never lack a champion to bear His standard high among the sons of men. Only let us pray God to raise up more faithful ministers. That ought to be our prayer day and night. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v19 i.e. the house of God. Cf. Gen 35:7.
Bethel
i.e. the house of God. Cf. Gen 35:7.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v16 Jacob’s Vow
Jacob’s Vow
v. 16. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. The presence of God was in this place, remote as it was from the spot where the true worship of God was fostered, namely, in his father’s house, and he had had no knowledge of it. Jehovah in His merciful grace was near to him, surrounded him even at this distance from his home with His kindness.
Read full note →
v. 17. And he was afraid, filled with reverent awe, and said, How dreadful is this place! Cf Exo 3:5. The associations of this place would ever afterward fill his mind with that holy fear and reverence which sinful creatures are bound to feel in the presence of God. This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. Where God reveals Himself, whether in a vision or in His Word, there is the place of His habitation, there His grace opens heaven itself to the sinner seeking only His mercy.
v. 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. He thus observed the usual ceremonies of consecration in setting apart this spot as one hallowed by the appearance of the Lord and setting up the stone which had sewed as his head-rest as an earnest of the sanctuary to be erected there in the future.
v. 19. And he called the name of that place Bethel (the house of God); but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. The name Luz was used by the Canaanites to designate both the city and the surrounding country, but the children of Israel, after the conquest, named the district Bethel, after the name that it bore since this happening.
v. 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,
v. 21. so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God;
v. 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. It was not a condition which Jacob here expressed, but a thankful acknowledgment of the divine assurance. By this vow Jacob accepted the promise of the Lord and declared what, in his estimation, was included in it. He had a definite event before his eyes, for the stone which at present served only as a reminder of the miraculous vision, would be replaced by a monument of the presence and dwelling of God with His people, and of the gifts of God which would come to him as a result of that promise he herewith dedicated the tenth part to the Lord in return. That is the proper form of trust in God, to accept His promises in simple faith, and to worship and serve Him in turn.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14, 16, 18, 20 General Information:
General Information:
God continues to talk to Jacob in a dream.
Read full note →
Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth
God compares Jacob's descendants to the dust of the earth to emphasize their huge number. AT: "You will have more descendants than you can count" (See: Simile)
you will spread far out to the west
The word "you" is singular and refers to Jacob. Here Jacob represents his descendants. AT: "your descendants will spread out to the west" (See: Metonymy)
you will spread far out
This means the people will extend the borders of their land and occupy more territory.
to the west, to the east, to the north, and to the south
This phrases are used together to mean "all directions." AT: "in all directions" (See: Synecdoche)
Through you and through your descendants will all the families of the earth be blessed
This can be stated in active form. AT: "I will bless all families on the earth through you and your descendants" (See: Active or Passive)
Behold, I am
"Pay attention, because what I am about to say is both true and important: I am"
for I will not leave you. I will do all
"for I will not leave you until I have done all"
I will keep you
"I will keep you safe" or "I will protect you"
I will bring you into this land again
"I will bring you back to this land"
translationWords
descend
bless
promise
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22 28:14 Jacob inherited Abraham’s entire covenant (see 22:17), which…
28:14 Jacob inherited Abraham’s entire covenant (see 22:17), which confirmed Isaac’s blessing (28:3-4) and stipulated a temporary exile (28:15; see 15:12-16).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.