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Genesis 28:6-30:24<\/strong><\/span> Today\u2019s Genesis chapter 28 readings begin Jacob\u2019s adventure as he leaves the land promised to Abraham and Isaac and heads for Paddan-aram to stay with his uncle.\u00a0 Jacob\u2019s dream at Bethel is awesome in this chapter! While this dream is often referred to as \u201cJacob\u2019s Ladder,\u201d many commentaries say it was probably stairs that Jacob dreamt of \u2013 similar to the stairs of a ziggurat (think tower of Babel) that winded around the outside of the tower on the way up.\u00a0 Have you ever had a dream anything like this one? \ud83d\ude42<\/span> I do have to admit \u2013 Jacob\u2019s story and the parallel stories of his uncle Laban, Jacob\u2019s wives, and his sons \u2013 culminating with Joseph in Egypt \u2013 is one of my favorite parts of the Old Testament.\u00a0 This is just good narrative!\u00a0 I think one thing that really opened my eyes to all of the small details of the story of Jacob is that I was in an amazing Bible study for about a year going through this part of Genesis.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve been in a group Bible study before?\u00a0 If not, let me encourage you to join one!\u00a0 They are incredible.\u00a0 You get so many different perspectives from each person in the group \u2013 similar in some ways to what you are getting here on this blog \u2013 but more personal and I think far better.\u00a0 You get to go through the text with other people and really dive into things \u2013 and even have some fun joking around about things.\u00a0 If the church you attend has some sort of Bible study, will you consider checking it out this month of January?\u00a0 I know you will be incredibly blessed by this decision!<\/span> I found verses 21 & 22 intriguing: \u201cThen Jacob made this vow: \u201cIf God will be with me and protect me on this journey and give me food and clothing, and if he will bring me back safely to my father, then I will make the LORD my God.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Do you notice the \u201cif\u201d \/ \u201cthen\u201d statement in this vow from Jacob?\u00a0 Jacob is putting some conditions on what it will take for him to make God his God.\u00a0 Do we do this in our lives sometimes?\u00a0 Do we try to put \u201cconditions\u201d on God?\u00a0 Does this really make sense to do?\u00a0 What if our conditions are not met?\u00a0 What if things don\u2019t go as planned?\u00a0 Will we still love God as our God, even if the \u201cconditions\u201d in our life are not met or are not ideal?<\/span> In Genesis chapter 29 Jacob arrives at Paddan-Aram, which was close to Haran.\u00a0 See this map below for where Jacob will spend the next 20 years of his life.\u00a0 \u00a0All 12 of his children besides Benjamin will be born in this land!\u00a0 Note that this map below shows arrows going from right to left \u2013 because it\u2019s really a map of Abraham\u2019s early journey.\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42\u00a0 But, you can see how far Jacob traveled from Bethel \u2013 where he had the dream discussed above \u2013 to Haran \/ Paddan-Aram at the top of the map.<\/span> In this chapter Jacob meets Rachel and Laban, and works for 7 years to marry Rachel \u2013 except for the fact that Jacob was deceived by Laban on the wedding night!\u00a0 Which is a bit ironic, as we have seen in recent chapters that Jacob did some deceiving himself\u2026\u00a0 I read one commentary that said for most of his life Jacob was so focused on getting the rights of the first born from his father Isaac \u2013 and now he must accept the rights of the first born in this surprise marriage to Leah!\u00a0 At the end of today\u2019s readings we see that Leah is beginning to have sons \u2013 including Levi who will be the ancestor of the Aaronic priestly line of Israel, and Judah who will be the ancestor of King David and ultimately Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Below is an oil painting from 1836 by Bohemian painter Joseph von Fuhrich of Jacob encountering Rachel with her father\u2019s herds in verses 9 \u2013 11:\u00a0 \u201cAs this conversation was going on, Rachel arrived with her father\u2019s sheep, for she was a shepherd. And because she was his cousin, the daughter of his mother\u2019s brother, and because the sheep were his uncle\u2019s, Jacob went over to the well and rolled away the stone and watered his uncle\u2019s flock. Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and tears came to his eyes.\u201d<\/em><\/span> Bible.org\u2019s commentary on today\u2019s readings in Genesis chapter 28 titled \u201cThe Seeker Is Sought\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link<\/span> and commentary on chapter 29 titled \u201cI Led Two Wives\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n Worship Video:<\/strong>\u00a0 Today\u2019s readings in Genesis about Jacob\u2019s dream and his many years of work for Laban reminded me of the FFH song \u201cCome Undone:\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
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