But what an arresting response it was, for it tells us what we may read into the narrative. Nov 08, 2022 Throughout Scripture, God is identified by different names. Ask for him also the kingdomfor he is my older brothereven for him, for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah! Then King Solomon swore by the LORD saying, May God do so to me and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life. These are the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram (Genesis 35:21-26). No mention is made of her youthfulness or attractiveness. He blessed him there (Genesis 32:29). (Check all that apply.) Galatians 6:7). Moses, under inspiration, wrote in this fashion to suggest something significant for us from the life of Jacob. . 35 Then God said to Jacob, "Go to Bethel and live there. [4] Nevertheless, the same word is used elsewhere to denote divine messengers in several Old Testament passages that deal with angels or heavenly beings who are sent to convey revelation. He was buried with his family by his sons Esau and Jacob. 36. The Way Back (Genesis 35:1-29) Thus, the great blessing Jacob received that night was no less than the ultimate theophany of his (or anyones) lifehis being privileged to enjoy the literal presence of God and to have every promise of past years sealed and confirmed upon him. He stood in the place his grandfather Abraham had stood when God asked for the life of Isaac, and Abraham could not see how the promises of the covenant (specifically the promise of a great posterity) would be fulfilled. or angels who appear at first only as men [but] afterwards speak with divine authority (Gen. The angelic ministration during Jacobs return trip appears to have been a sign and a reminder of divine protection and assistance in what surely must have seemed to Jacob an inevitable and intense confrontation with Esau. Then, with the provisions set in order, Jacob was left alonealone in terms of mortal companyto ponder, pray, and prepare. God loves to reveal Himself to usHis beloved peoplein a variety of ways. He concluded his affirmation with a promise to tithe all that he would come to possess (see Genesis 28:1822). Bible Survey Exam 1 Flashcards | Quizlet The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted (Proverbs 29:25; cf. Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, why the elaborate ruse? Genesis 28:16 Commentaries: Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said One reason may have been that Rachel, his favorite, had set the precedent when she took with her the household gods of her father (31:19). With this blessing fresh on his mind, Jacob left Beer-sheba on what would prove to be a journey of many years. . After intense persistence and endurance, Jacob was rewarded with an endowment of power as the divine minister said, for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men (Genesis 32:28). What could be done to prevent what had already happened? Jacob was not to go up to Bethel to live (Meek). After Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father, he took another wife from the lineage of Ishmael, Abrahams posterity (Genesis 28:89). From now on your name is Israel (God-Wrestler).. In fact, these adversities and afflictions are the very things which draw us nearer to God and strengthen our faith (cf. Part of the explanation for this is the fact that many foreigners had been added to Jacobs household. Whenever the people of God choose to go their way, they must always return to the point where they departed from the revealed will of God. Genesis 35 CEB - Jacob establishes worship at Bethel - Bible Gateway Not many years after the Israelites read of the burial (literally, hiding) of these pagan artifacts, they would be called upon by Joshua to put away their foreign gods. Finally, Jacobs renewal involved reconciliation with those who had been injured and offended by his sins. She said she would die if she could not bear children. As they journeyed, there was a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. As God did with Jacob, He reveals Himself to humanity, calling and challenging us to recognize and admit who we are: individuals who seek our own desires, even at the expense of others. He is the God of Jacob. and the Lord will teach him face to face, and he may have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God; and this is the state and place the ancient Saints arrived at.[14]. The significance of Jacobs first vision was at least sixfold. We may be like those in the church at Ephesus, who have lost their first love (Revelation 2:4), or those at Laodicea who, due to their wealth and security, considered themselves to be doing well spiritually when they were destitute, cold, and indifferent (Revelation 3:15-17). Life seemed to hang in the balance. And so, on the other hand, it may be that the most acceptable manner in which they can serve God will be, not by engaging in something unattempted before, but by doing our first works, by reminding ourselves of our covenant vows, and seeking anew that spiritual communion which is the life of our souls.22. Surely, the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not; . 31:41). Lesson 59: Broken, But Blessed (Genesis 32:22-32) | Bible.org . about 108 years. rev. These Canaanites undoubtedly kept their gods with them (or made new ones) when they were taken captive. When David became old and it was time for him to designate who was to replace him as king, he delayed. Answer In about a dozen places in the Bible, the Lord God is referred to as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (e.g., Genesis 50:24; Exodus 3:15; Acts 7:32 ). Christians seem to ever be seeking some new and exhilarating experience. 12 We can deduce that some time has passed from two lines of inquiry. Theophanies in the Old Testament | Answers in Genesis His wrestle resulted in, to use President Brigham Youngs poignant words, the Lord burst[ing] the veil . In this passage, God revealed Himself to Jacob through a dream. Far worse, it had been ten years since Jacob had left Laban and returned to the land of promise. . . It is also reasonable to suppose that Jacobs opponent that night was a being from the unseen world of heavenly messengers, a divine minister possessing a tangible but translated body, because he was able to wrestle all night and throw Jacobs hip out of joint (see Genesis 32:2425). And he [the visitor] said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? Gods greatest promise to us begins with His calling. He did so by asking Bathsheba to intercede with David for one seemingly harmless and innocent request: Now Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. What would have been done with it? Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and she suffered severe labor. God wanted Israel to serve as a model nation. God did not appear when He commanded Jacob to return to Bethel in verse 1, it would seem, but only spoke to him. "I am the Lord, your God, Who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 10 Times Jesus Showed Up in the Old Testament and What They Reveal Soon they must take up the torch of faith, and the purposes of God will be carried on through them. Jacob has finally been broken. 16-17They left Bethel. And the being could not have been a one-time mortal who was now a resurrected being because Christ was the firstfruits of the Resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20), the first of our Heavenly Fathers children on this earth to be resurrected. The best value in digital Bible study. He was brought to the brink of his faith and understanding. Suddenly he saw that God was the lion and Jacob was the mouse. But Isaac was sixty years old when Jacob was born; 108 + 60 = 168 = Isaacs age when Jacob returned home. Why Did God Choose Israel? - Life, Hope and Truth He is all alone, he has exhausted his own resources and has to face Esau alone. He intended his own glory: Ye shall know that I am the Lord. Verses 16 and 17 explain that Jacob awoke from his sleep and realized the gravity and specialness of his dream. . It is possible that she came bearing the news of Rebekahs death and then stayed on with Jacob. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. This name of God emphasizes the covenant that God made with Israel and the Israelites' special place as God's Chosen People. But was it not needful that Jacob return to his father to be reconciled to him and to be with him before his death? This is a lesson which Jonah had to learn the hard way. No Christian ever suffers the penalty for sins, for Jesus Christ has borne our sins on the cross. The Christian does have a free will in the sense of being able to choose whether or not he (or she) will obey that which God has commanded.13 We can resist the commands of God, but we cannot thwart His ultimate purposes.14 God allowed Jacob to go his own way and to reap the consequences of his disobedience. In Genesis 35:1 Jacob was commanded to return to Bethel, where He had appeared to him. The Doctrine and Covenants tells us that these patriarchs have entered into their exaltation, according to the promises, and sit upon thrones, and are not angels but are gods (D&C 132:37). 13:3ff. And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, And I will give the land to your descendants after you. Then God went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him. While still dreaming, Jacob heard God speak from the top of the ladder and introduce Himself as the same God that his father and grandfather worshipped. Isaacs death is now reported, though it did not take place for another twelve or thirteen years. The second lesson which Christians need to learn is that even when we do renew our relationship with God, all things will not go smoothly for us. They wrestled all night, and Jacob would not let the celestial sentinel go until he gave Jacob the requested blessing. . Paul said in Romans 1:19-20 that, ever since the creation of the world, God has made the knowledge of Himself evident to all people: "They know the truth about God . His daughter had been raped, his sons had put the men of Shechem to death, and it appeared that neither he nor his family could live safely in that region any longer. Jacob would henceforth be called Israel. Jacob dedicated the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel (Gods-House). During his sleep, Jacob dreamed about a ladder reaching into the heavens. There seems to be little question but what Bilhah was a woman who was far from young. Joseph Smith said, apparently to help us understand his own visions: Paul ascended into the third heavens, and he could understand the three principal rounds of Jacobs ladderthe telestial, the terrestrial, and the celestial glories or kingdoms, where Paul saw and heard things which were not lawful for him to utter. Thus, the other, and likely, possibility regarding the identity of Jacobs visitor is that it was God Himself. THEISM THEISM How God Reveals Himself People sometimes wonder whether God exists because they cannot see him. What did I find? Further, he seemed to be content to do nothing about them until now. They wrote not: EGO EIMI HO PANTOKRATOR - I am God Almighty. In Genesis 28:15 God told Jacob that He would look after him and bring him safely back from his journeys. The final event of the chapter seems to have been inevitablethe reconciliation of Jacob, his father Isaac, and his brother Esau: And Jacob come to his father Isaac at Mamre of Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. Perhaps that detail is mentioned precisely to show that his wrestle was a literal as well as a metaphoric occurrence. Verse 9 takes us somewhat by surprise, for it seems to suggest that God may have made several appearances to Jacob since he had come up from Paddan-aram. . The place he stopped to sleep was a Canaanite city named Luz that was later renamed Bethel (verse 19). For when he got to the place he would later name Bethel, he settled down to spend the night and, while asleep, a marvelous vision was opened to him (see Genesis 28:1115). A paralyzing fear descended on all the surrounding villages so that they were unable to pursue the sons of Jacob. Now, Jacob was returning and carrying with him those troubles incident to the brotherly conflict with Esau, which had been partially responsible for his flight from Canaan in the first place. Rachels death should be viewed from the vantage point of two previous events: Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, Give me children, or else I die (Genesis 30:1). The visitor answered Jacobs question with another question: Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? (Genesis 32:29). . And Israel heard of what he did. We cannot thwart the purposes of God for our lives. The implication is that Esau was concerned about one pursuit to the exclusion of other important considerations. Jacob would have a long time to prove his loyalty and secure for himself the unconditional guarantee of all the terms of the covenant. [2] Marion G. Romney, TemplesThe Gates to Heaven, Ensign, March 1971, 16. 50+ reference books. This report is given to us here because it fits into the chronological scheme at this point, and it prepares us for the time when Jacob will take away from Reuben the rights of the firstborn (Genesis 49:34). Sometimes, those spiritual wrestles or struggles of tremendous magnitude have become intensely physical even though they have not encountered a tangible being as Jacob did. Whether this is done the hard way or the easy way is determined by our resistance or cooperation, but Gods purposes will be achieved (Romans 8:28-30). 1. Perhaps he was really asking what name or personage the visitor represented and by whose authority he, the visitor, bestowed the new name and new power. More careful calculations inform us that there was something like ten years or so between Jacobs return and his fathers death.21 Moses simply did not care to stress this fact. The inference I see here is that those ten years were of little or no spiritual value. . His life is a mess. Above the ladder was the Lord Himself, whom Jacob heard and with whom he would make the very same covenant that his grandfather Abraham had madethe same covenant his father, Isaac, had prepared him to receive. President Brigham Young said that all of us are situated upon the same ground, in that we must struggle, wrestle, and strive, until the Lord bursts the veil and suffers us to behold His glory, or a portion of it.[12] And so it was with Jacob on that lonely night near the River Jabbok, when he began to wrestle with a divine visitor for a blessinga blessing that would, in President Youngs words, burst the veil and shower down on him greater light and glory from God. And he built an altar there, and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him, when he fled from his brother. Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook (Orem, UT: Grandin Book, 1991), 41. New Living Translation I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El-Shaddai'God Almighty'but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them. Jacob would later use that key to unlock a spiritual door. The steps of a man are established by the LORD; And He delights in his way. But in closing the life of Isaac it is proper to mention his death, though in reality this did not occur for another twelve years. 2022 14 Sep The Bible reveals the story of a loving God who's been pursuing His children since the beginning of time. We do not know how long Jacob prayed that day at the river Jabbok, but surely his prayer was intense. He, like Adonijah, could, by this act of possessing the harem, assume the headship that seemed to be his by virtue of being the eldest brother. How could the covenant continue if the bearers of the covenant were destroyed? I Am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and The God of Jacob All day long he is gracious and lends; And his descendants are a blessing (Psalm 37:23-26). Second, the nature of Jacobs encounter was of special and profound consequence. Once the Israelites possessed this land, it would become known by the name which Jacob had given it. On his journey to visit his uncle Laban, Jacob stopped for the night. Jacob likewise was obedient in the face of his ordeal and desired a blessing to strengthen his resolve and faith. Secondly, we know that Joseph was 17 when he was sold into slavery, and this seems to be not too long after Jacob went to Bethel for the second time (37:2). God told Jacob that his descendants would spread throughout the world and be innumerable (verse 14). And so this chapter not only describes the way back for Jacob, but it also outlines the way back for any believer who has grown cold and indifferent by failing to walk in the path which God has made clear. Jacob proposes a solution in which he would stay and . 2 Jacob said to his household and to everyone who was with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you. The sequence of events up to this point is clear: 1. An incident later in the history of Israel helps us to grasp what prompted this act and the penalty exacted by Jacob. After his dream and God's words to him, however, he was a man with a future. Exodus 15:16; 23:27; Deuteronomy 2:25). Thus, Gods appearance to Jacob the second time is recorded as though it happened shortly after he returned to the land of Canaan. Im going to build an altar there to the God who answered me when I was in trouble and has stuck with me everywhere Ive gone since.. He shows us more of His ways in nature, in Scripture, and in prayer when we become more aware of God's dealings with us. and ed. Then God said to Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau. So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments; and let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and has been with me wherever I have gone. So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which they had, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem. So Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel (Genesis 35:9-15). THEISM - TheBible.net He and his people wrought righteousness, and obtained heaven, and sought for the city of Enoch which God had before taken (JST Genesis 14:34). God seems to have overlooked this one, too hastily made by Jacob. What is Revelation? How Does God Reveal Himself? Jacob had to be aware of the presence of the foreign gods in his camp. . The Way Back (Genesis 35:1-29) | Bible.org Nearly thirty years have passed since Jacob vowed to return to Bethel, where God had revealed Himself to him during his flight from Esau to Paddan-aram. 14 Elsewhere I have referred to the commands of God as His declared will, the expressions of the desires of God as His desiderative will, and the decree of God as His determined will. Only the last of these is inviolable. Perhaps this explains, in part, his reluctance to go up16 to Bethel before now. At Jabbok, Jacob faced a crossroads. Years later, as he was blessing the sons of Joseph, the aged patriarch referred to events on the night of his wrestle when he mentioned the Angel which redeemed me from all evil (Genesis 48:16). Jacob had every reason to fear some kind of reprisal from the relatives of those Shechemites who had been put to death by his sons. Following our Lord has always been costly, and men should not do so without counting that cost (cf. Man cannot first choose God, for he is born at enmity with God. Do faithful parents of any gospel dispensation ever not worry about their Esaus? Significantly, Moses added that this pillar was still standing in his day. The events of the past were intended to be remembered and commemorated. It matters a great deal. Verse Concepts. Leupold removes our difficulties by explaining the meaning of dwell or tarry: He should tarry (shebh, imperative from yashabh; here not in the sense of dwell but tarry) just long enough to carry out the injunction laid upon him. . Jacob saw a ladder on the earth, which reached to heaven. Jacob agreed to allow his children to inter-marry with the Canaanites in order to preserve peace and to enhance his prosperity (34:8ff.). Neither does the text say that Jacobs dealings with the Lord constituted the ultimate theophany, or revelation of God, which the scriptures promise to the faithful. Nowhere are we told that Jacob gave a tithe, as he had promised years before (28:22). a son of Abraham and Sarah, and father of Jacob. B. God's breaking process reveals to us the power of our God. Jacob was preoccupied with prosperity and security at the expense of purity and piety. 35 God said to Jacob, "Get up, go to Bethel, and live there. It need not concern us here, except as it points out Jacobs patience and loyalty to God in the face of frustrations, challenges, and manipulations. That is precisely what happened here, in my estimation. Jacob set up a pillar to mark her grave. . God did not remind him of this promise as He did of the commitment to return and build an altar. 2. While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went and slept with his fathers concubine, Bilhah. The deeper significance, I believe, is to be seen in her position as Jacobs concubine, not in her personal beauty. Why did God choose Israel to be His chosen people? Jacob's Odd "Breeding Program" of Genesis 30 Our security will never come from the arm of the flesh, but only from the Sovereign God Who cares for His own (cf. The relatives of those who were killed and those taken captive were not inclined to take the actions of Jacobs sons lightly. [4] Joseph Fielding Smith thought it more than likely that the visitor was a messenger but not an angel. God also said to him, I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come forth from you. There is not so much as a hint that Esau still intended to carry out his threat from years past that he would get even with Jacob once his father died (cf. When Jacob arose in the morning, he sanctified the site of his vision with anointing oil and vowed, or covenanted, to live in complete harmony with Gods will. Jacobs journey home was remarkable for its continuing theophany. In fact, one of the assumptions of the Lord's Prayer is that we must be forgiving people if we would dare to ask Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham" ( Genesis 26:24 ). Jacobs life after the vision at Bethel (see Genesis 2931) is one of the best-known biblical love stories, set as it is against the background of a manipulative uncle turned father-in-law. Since we know that Joseph was born at the end of Jacobs 14-year contract with Laban (30:25-26), he would have been about six years old when Jacob left Paddan-aram (cf. Jacob was then presented with a new name. On the way back, Jacob meets angels of God, and in his prayer before encountering Esau, he thanks God for His care.