Genesis 27:41-28:22 – The LORD Promise to Jacob
Bethel Baptist Church – David Rising
Genesis 27:41-28:22; October 18, 2026 – Sunday PM
The LORD Promises to Jacob
When we last looked at Genesis 27, we went through that dramatic scene when Rebekah conspired to trick Isaac into giving Jacob the blessing rather than Esau. For whatever reason, Isaac was determined in his old age to give to Esau the blessing, but God had promised it to the younger.
Rebekah, who loved Jacob, was eager in her own way to make sure that the blessing came to her son, Jacob, and so we went through that ruse where Jacob dressed like Esau, smelled like Esau, felt like Esau, and so the game proceeded. In the end, Esau realized he had been tricked, and begs dad for a blessing.
The situation with this family was very tense when we stopped last week. Tonight, we will see how everyone reacts to this situation and what comes next in this dramatic unfolding of God’s promise to Abraham extended now through is children.
Amid the details of what we will see is the revelation by God to Jacob. In our study tonight we will see that indeed the LORD was the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. This will come into reality in the middle of a trip. Pray.
1. Jacob escapes (27:41-46)
41 So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
We could imagine that this would be Esau’s reaction to this. He was tricked twice, and he was not going to just let it go. He would wait until dad died, until all the emotions were settled, and then he would even the score.
Does this not remind you of what we saw with two brothers earlier in Genesis? We didn’t get the details we’ll see here, but Cain was not too pleased with Abel as God accepted Abel’s sacrifice, but not Cain’s.
But this was different in the sense that Jacob had been the deceiver and Esau had been the recipient of this action. Yes, we could argue that the outcome did end up in the right direction, but still we don’t endorse the actions, the lies, the deception.
And so this settled hatred and plotting is under the surface, but will become known as mother is very astute with what is happening in the home:
42 And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah.
Somehow word reached Rebekah’s ears about what Esau was thinking and apparently saying to others, and she now would take action. Mom always seems to know what is happening. After all, this is Jacob the one she loves, and she is not about to let an angry son seek revenge on her other son.
So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you. 43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban in Haran. 44 And stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away, 45 until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved also of you both in one day?”
Here again we see Mom commanding her son to take action. This one makes sense as he is in danger of Esau’s wrath. She tells Jacob to head north to family where he can take shelter until Esau calms down.
She thinks a few days will do the trick, for him to forget what has taken place. But that hardly seems possible.
And so she urges him to leave so that she does not lose them both on the same day. Why both? Most likely it would obviously be Esau killing Jacob, but then Esau facing execution for killing his brother. His plan was known to all most likely, and so he would not get away with it.
Certainly that would be a major loss for a mother, especially on the same day. Also, keep in mind that her husband Isaac is also close this own death, and so she has her hand full here.
Notice Mom’s further discussion in verse 46, now to her husband Isaac:
46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”
Here is Mother loathing her own situation in all of this. Clearly Esau’s marriage to those two Hittite women were giving her grief. Remember how Genesis 26 ends – that Esau’s wives were a grief of mind to both Isaac and Rebekah. Her concern with Isaac was probably a shared concern, and so notice what Isaac now says to Jacob:
2. Isaac blesses Jacob and sends him away (28:1-5)
28:1 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2 Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.
This is reminiscent of what Father Abraham had said to his servant as he instructed him to find a wife for Isaac. Isaac knew full well the importance of family in this context of promise, and so he speaks very clearly to Jacob. He charges him to keep away from the women of Canaan, but rather find a wife – like Rebekah – from the family of Laban, your mother’s brother – of our family.
Remember, that Laban was also family to Abraham, and so this was keeping it all within the larger context of Abraham’s family and promise.
Esau had done his own thing as Genesis 26:34 says. We don’t know if Isaac had given him any instruction, but we do know that these Hittite women were nothing but trouble for both Isaac and Rebekah.
And so now both Mom and Dad have given Jacob instruction to go to Laban’s house. From Mom’s perspective, it is to escape the wrath of Esau and live. From Isaac’s perspective, it is so that he can find an appropriate wife.
I get the impression that Rebekah is also working the angle a bit here when she complains out loud to Isaac about Jacob’s potential misstep in finding a wife. It is as if she set up Isaac to instruct Jacob also to head to Laban’s home.
And so after Dad has given Jacob instruction about finding a wife from Laban’s daughters, he now gives the details of his blessing:
3 “May God Almighty bless you,
And make you fruitful and multiply you,
That you may be an assembly of peoples;
4 And give you the blessing of Abraham,
To you and your descendants with you,
That you may inherit the land
In which you are a stranger,
Which God gave to Abraham.”
In all of the chaos surrounding these events, we see the continuing blessing of Abraham extended to his offspring. In order for Jacob to have that blessing continue he too needs to find a wife, have children, and see that blessing passed down his family.
And so Isaac blesses Jacob with these words which are very familiar. This is clearly a blessing from God to Jacob to continue the blessing given to Abraham. Verse 4 says this precisely, that it is the passing along of the blessing of Abraham.
It is a blessing for children, descendants. And it is also clearly a blessing to inherit the land – the land God gave to Abraham.
For Esau, this blessing he missed likely was only something he thought of in his own benefit, but clearly this blessing was very long-range. It was the determined will of God which would take place, regardless of all of the scheming we see here in this family.
And so, what takes place after all of these talks? Verse 5 of chapter 28:
5 So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
Jacob leaves and lands in the same place where Abraham’s servant came to find Rebekah.
Now notice that the text does not further develop this part of the story, but now turns the attention to Esau.
It is also interesting to note that Rebekah’s intent was to save her son, which did take place. And yet, as Genesis unfolds, we don’t find Rebekah and Jacob ever meeting again.
Not content with two wives, we see Esau adds another:
2. Esau’s third wife (28:6-9)
6 Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram. 8 Also Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. 9 So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.
Now, as we read this, we get the clear sense that Esau is becoming that sad and sorry son who is nothing but trouble for the family. In fact, it seems as if he is trying to be that troublemaker. For whatever purposes Isaac had in seeking to bless him, it is very clear that his heart is not right with God and that he is intent on bringing further grief to this family.
Perhaps about now Isaac understands that it would have been a mistake on many levels to issue to Esau the blessing.
Esau has digested all that he has seen and heard – his dad’s instruction to Jacob about a wife. He also seems to understand that the Hittite women are not bringing joy to mom and dad. Perhaps he think he has to find better wives, wives from family, a wife that would bring delight to mom and dad, and so he seeks out the family of Ishmael. After all Ishmael is family, right?
How ironic it is that Esau is seeking another wife from the family of Ishmael, the son of Abraham who is not named Isaac and thus is not of that same blessing.
Was Esau thinking that he could somehow get back within the promises of Abraham by marrying someone related to Abraham? If so, he clearly is not thinking theologically about his life but is merely thinking according to the customs of man.
In my theological mind, this shows the ultimate sovereignty of God in all of this. God had made promises to Hagar about Ishmael and his family, but they were not of the same promises that extended through Isaac.
And so Esau takes a third wife, Mahalath, Ishmael’s daughter. She is noted here also as the sister of Nebajoth, who in 25:13 is Ishmael’s firstborn son.
Both outcast sons – Ishmael, Esau – now connected through this marriage – and a marriage intended by Esau to bring joy and blessing to mom and dad.
Now we will leave Esau’s situation behind for a time, and focus now on Jacob.
Clearly, Jacob is the son of promise, but he has a lot of growing to do. He is also headed from the south to the north, and this account focuses on that transition:
3. Jacob’s Vow at Bethel (28:10-22)
10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep.
We don’t often get a story during their trips here and there, but this one was important. Heading from the deep south to the far north, he finds himself along the way stopping for the night.
He finds a place to rest and secures a stone for his pillow. We always wonder how this could be helpful, but nonetheless there it is. Of course, this unnamed location will become an important place in the future for the people of Israel, but Jacob has no idea about that. He is merely tired from the day’s trip and has put his head on a stone for the night.
12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
Here we have the famous dream of Jacob as he sees this ladder from heaven to earth where angels were going up and coming down. We might have dreams of our own, and as we wake we might wonder what in the world they were.
What we have here is a key moment in Jacob’s life where he receives from God the promise that began with Abraham, came through Isaac, and now will be given to Jacob, the son of promise. Remember, in time, especially for Moses in Exodus 3:6, the Lord will identify himself as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God would directly reveal himself to each of these in unique situations.
Here it is through a dream, a very strange dream. Seeing the angels going up and down, he sees the LORD Himself standing above it and declaring the promise to Jacob, repeating his identification as the God of Abraham and Isaac. This promise is repeating the same elements: children, the land – the land upon which he is resting his head – and the blessing extended to all families of the earth.
It is as if the world stopped for a moment and was captivated by this dream which announced essentially the future of the world in the person of Jacob.
God promised His presence with him and His keeping power wherever he would go. God promised to bring him back to the land, and God would not leave him until God had fulfilled His promise.
This is the dream, but Jacob understood what he had been given.
He wakes up in verse 16:
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 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 heaven!”
Upon waking he is amazed and fearful. He recognizes the presence of the LORD, and explains that he did not know this before. He was on his way to family, running from Esau. But God revealed Himself to Jacob and he got it.
He recognized that place as the house of God – Bethel. He understood it as the gate of heaven, where heaven came to earth, where earth can reach heaven. God was there, and so he sees it theologically.
These angels ascending and descending likely send the message to Jacob that he was not alone, that they would accompany him on his journey and keep him safe, as in the promise of God we hear clearly.
Notice now what Jacob does in response to this:
18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. 19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously.
We have in this unfolding drama of God’s promise the naming of another place. This is a continuing reality, and all of the names signify the importance of what takes place.
He takes the stone, makes it into a pillar, and consecrates it with oil. He then names that place – not the pillar – ‘Bethel’. It was Luz, but now Bethel. We already were given the definition before – the house of God.
What a great name for a church, aye?
It was not the pillar, the stone, that Jacob would worship, but it came to symbolize the vow he would now make:
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21 so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. 22 And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
This is indeed an interesting vow. It is as if he is making a deal with God – that God had to keep. In other words, he seems to test the Lord in a sense by holding Him to His words. His vow involves
(1) God’s presence with him. God had promised to be with him and keep him wherever he might go (28:15).
(2) God’s provisions for him – food, clothing. These would be presumed in all of the blessings noted, but he names them specifically here
(3) God’s peaceful return to father’s house.
His vow was that if God would do these things, as He promised, then “the LORD shall be my God”. He also vowed to convert as it were that stone pillar to God’s house, and that he would give back to the LORD a tithe of all God would give him.
He emphatically states this, that he would surely give this tenth to the LORD.
The chapter ends here and chapter 29 then continues with Jacob’s journey to Haran.
What have we seen that we can apply to our lives?
1. God is at work, in spite of all of the sin. Here is Jacob on the run, per Mom. He is going to family, per Dad. He is escaping Esau, per his actions. However he would explain his trip, it would become the trip where God meets him and officially announces to him the Abrahamic promise. God is at work in our lives, in spite of all of the corruption and foolishness that can characterize our situation. Is God only at work when we everything goes smoothly and we have no problems?
2. Esau illustrates to us the futile attempts to gain God’s graces by human means. It would seem that Isaac was trying to give Esau the blessing in his way, and Esau was eager to get it. Sure we could empathize with Esau as he was tricked and duped as it were out of a blessing, although a blessing that was never his from the start. Esau was furious that he had missed the promise, but it was not a promise he could have gained by anything he could have done. We can look to Romans 9 and say it was unfair, but it was God’s plan right from the start.
3. Our God is faithful and always keeps His word. He extended the promise directly to Jacob and now he would not have to rely upon his obtained birthright or the blessing of Dad. Sure, they were real and would come to pass, but now He heard directly from God and that relationship would now develop as time moved along. The idea of blessing now became the reality of blessing.
4. Jacob’s vow illustrates the importance of a personal relationship with God. Jacob made a promise to the Lord if the Lord would keep His word in three ways. Of course, the Lord would keep His word, and so we will see if in fact Jacob would keep His.
Knowing God and walking with Him is a personal matter and one that we see and learn from our believing parents, but a faith that we must personally have and develop by God’s grace. May the faith of our children become the faith they have in their God as they build and grow in their walk with Him.