(Genesis) Genesis 27-28:15 — Joe Focht

Isaac’s Attempt to Bless Esau

We have come to chapter 27. We ended with a note there that Esau, at 40 years old, was married and took two wives that were Hittites that were a grief to Rebekah, his mother. We're not given the details, but we can imagine if they're Hittites, they probably brought back from the honeymoon their idols and their little gods that they wanted to stick around the house there that I'm sure Isaac and Rebekah were not happy about.

So Esau still showing that he has no regard for the birthright, which was directly related to the one true living God, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac, and Jacob being the one still that has his heart set on, as it were, higher things.

It begins in chapter 27 by saying, It came to pass that when Isaac was old, his eyes were dim so that he could not see. He called Esau, his eldest son, and said unto him, My son. And he said unto him, Behold, here am I.

And he said, Behold, now I am old. I know not the day of my death. Now, therefore, take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver, thy bow. Go out to the field and take me some venison and make me savory meat such as I love and bring it to me that I may eat and that my soul may bless thee before I die.

Now, Isaac is 137 years old at this point. That is the same age that Ishmael, his brother, died at 14 years earlier. So he's feeling the progress of age in his body. He is blind. He is 137 years old. He will live for 43 more years, by the way, but he's saying now he's got the feeling he's going to die.

And with that in mind, he wants to bless or pass the blessing upon Esau. Now, again, we don't understand because certainly Rebekah had told him that the Lord spoke to her and said the elder would serve the younger.

He already knows that Jacob has the birthright, and you can't have the blessing without the birthright. They're intertwined. They go together. And yet again, for the wrong reason, this man, Isaac, is desiring, and maybe it's because Esau has two wives and children already.

We don't know. Jacob is somewhere between 70 and 77 and still is not married. And maybe because of that, maybe there's grandchildren involved that he wants to pass the blessing, but he wants to pronounce this blessing before he dies.

Now, we know from ancient inscriptions that date from this period that when a patriarch, the oldest member of the family, was passing, whatever blessing he pronounced before his death was considered binding.

And it was a capital crime to break that blessing that was pronounced. They held a lot of regard for it and believed whatever their gods were, of course this is a true and living God, that this blessing would become a reality.

So he is now calling Esau to go get him some of this savory venison. I can't believe after all these years he's still got this thing for venison. And come and feed me and then I will bless you before I die.

Now, it says that Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau, verse 5, his son, and Esau went to the field to hunt for venison and to bring it. Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son. Now notice this, in verse 5 it says Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son.

So Esau is Isaac's son. In verse 6 it says Rebekah spake to Jacob her son. So somehow these guys are twins, but Esau is Isaac's son and Jacob is Rebekah's son. And this never bears good fruit in a family.

The interesting thing as I study these guys, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, you can really see the bent of the parents being passed where Abraham favored a particular son over another. We see Isaac favoring a son in a wrong way.

We see ultimately as it comes Jacob favors a son and the other brothers end up hating Joseph. And it's interesting to see the sins passed. We see Jacob putting hair on his hands to deceive his father.

We see then Jacob's own sons bringing a bloody garment unto his father, Joseph's garment, saying a beast devoured your son. I mean, it's interesting to see the sins of the parents being passed on here.

And the Bible portrays them as all too human. You know, it's interesting. So we know in this family Esau is Isaac's son and Jacob is Rebekah's son. So she says to her son, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother saying, bring me venison and make me savory meat that I may eat and bless thee before the Lord before my death.

Now, my son, obey my voice, according to that which I command thee, go now to the flock and fetch me from there two good kids of the goats. And I will make them savory meat for thy father such as he loveth.

Now evidently not only his eyes are bad but his taste buds are going bad too because he can't tell the difference between goat and venison anymore. And thou shalt bring it to thy father that he may eat and that he may bless thee before his death.

And Jacob said to Rebekah's mother, behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man. I'm a smooth man. Conjures up pictures, doesn't it? My father perhaps will feel me and I shall seem to him as a deceiver or more properly a mocker.

You know, he says dad's blind. You want me to come in and act like Esau. He's hairy. I'm not. Dad's going to feel me and immediately he's going to think I'm mocking him. And he says and I shall bring a curse upon me which he was afraid would be binding instead of a blessing.

And his mother said unto him, let the curse be on me. You can hear this is my mom, you know. Upon me be thy curse, my son. Only obey my voice. Go fetch me them. And he went and he fetched and brought them to his mother.

And his mother made savory meat such as his father loved. And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau which were with her in the house and put them on Jacob, her younger son. And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands.

Now the Hebrew word means up to the elbows. It's hands, wrists and forearms up to the elbows. And upon the smooth part of his neck, goat skin. And she gave the savory meat and the bread which she had prepared into the hand of her son Jacob.

And he came in unto his father and said, my father. And he said, here am I. Who art thou, my son? And Jacob said unto his blind father, I am Esau, thy firstborn. I have done according as thou biddest me.

Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said unto his son, how is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? He's a little suspicious. How did you get the deer that fast?

He says, now he's dragging the Lord into it. Because the Lord thy God brought it to me. You know, this is intrigue, I'll tell you. This is like one of those novels, you know. These brothers don't get along.

The family's split. They're split with favoritism one towards another. Now the mom's saying to the 70-year-old son, go on in and do this and pretend your brother gave the blessing. Deceive your blind father.

And he's saying, well mom, he can pronounce a curse on me. And then the mom's saying, oh, you're 70 years old, grow up, I'll take the curse, you know. Just go listen to me. So he goes now and covers his hands on his forearms with the skin of a goat and his neck and goes into his father.

And then the father says, Isaac says, how did you get the deer so fast? He said, oh, the God gave it to me. So now he's taking the name of the Lord in vain. He's dragging the Lord in. And Isaac said to Jacob, come near.

Well, he's suspicious. Maybe because Esau never mentioned the Lord before. Now all of a sudden he's saying the Lord gave me the deer. Isaac said unto Jacob, come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not.

And Jacob went near unto Isaac, his father, and he felt him. And he said, now he's confused, the voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Harry. That's what Esau means. Now this guy, you know, I mean, I'm a little troubled as I read through this, because this guy now has covered his hands with goat skin.

Now you've seen a goat before. I mean, you know, it's one thing for a man to be hairy. But this is like capital H, Harry, you know, this guy's got goat, he's covered with goat skin and Isaac's going, it sounds like Jacob, but that's Esau, nobody else is that hairy.

Amazing. I wonder if the Hittite woman he married were hairy. Imagine what their kids look like. Maybe that's why they were a grief to Rebecca, we're not sure. So he says, the voice is Jacob's, but the hands are Harry's.

And he discerned him not because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands. So Esau's as hairy as a goat. So he blessed him. And he said, Are thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am. And he said, Well, bring it near to me and I will eat of my son's venison that my soul may bless thee.

And he brought it near to him and he did eat. And he brought him wine and he drank. And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now and kiss me, my son. I think he's still suspicious. And he came near and he kissed him and the smell, he smelled the smell of his rain in his clothing and blessed him and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field.

So his son is hairy and smells like a field. That's quite a man. See, my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed. That's good, I guess. Therefore, God give thee. Now here he begins to pronounce a blessing upon Jacob.

The blessing would have been Jacob's. How would it have worked out? We will never know. Because Rebecca and Jacob connived their way into the blessing. The blessing would have been his. And now Isaac pronouncing the blessing, believing it to be Esau.

When Esau comes in, we'll see that Isaac begins to tremble and he realized what's happened. But at that point, no doubt under conviction because he will say to Esau, And indeed, your brother will be blessed because he must have known all along.

That God had spoken that Jacob would be the one that would carry on the birthright and the blessing. And he must have come under conviction then that he had gone against the will of God. So now verse 28, he pronounces his blessing.

Therefore, God give thee of the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and of wine. Let people serve thee and nations bow down to thee. Be Lord over thy brethren and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee.

Cursed be everyone that curseth thee and blessed be he that blesseth thee. And it came to pass as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

Esau Discovers the Deception

This would make a great movie, wouldn't it? No, the book is better than the movie, obviously, but it would make a good movie. And he also had made savory meat. Then he brought it unto his father and said unto his father, Let my father arise.

Now he comes in all happy. He's done hunting, cleaning the deer, cooking it. Let my father arise and eat his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac his father said unto him, Who are you?

And he said, I'm your son, your firstborn, Esau. And Isaac trembled very exceedingly and said, Who? Where is he that hath taken venison and brought it to me? And I have eaten of all before thou came and have blessed him, yea, and he shall be blessed.

No doubt Isaac sensed the Spirit of God as he had pronounced the blessing on Jacob. And when Esau heard the words of his father, now Esau doesn't have to wonder at all who it was that came in dressed like him, hairy and with venison.

He knows exactly who it was. Esau heard the words of his father. He cried with a great exceeding bitter cry and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, my father. And he said, Thy brother came with subtlety and hath taken away thy blessing.

That's wrong. It was not Esau's blessing. It was his own blessing that he took. And Isaac should have been yielded to that. You know, it's interesting, and maybe before we get through Genesis, we'll just take on Sunday morning one snapshot of Isaac.

Because Isaac is an interesting man in that when we observe him, again, seven times we find him by a well. And he seems to be a man who enjoys the quietness of the desert, the southern part of the country, and is always seated by a well.

We hear of him meditating, but twice now as we study onward, instead of God, God is called the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac. And it seems that the first experience that Isaac had with the living God was on Moriah.

Whereas God had appeared to Abraham in Ur of the Chaldees before he ever came into the land, God had appeared to Abraham a number of times. Seven times, it seems, Abraham had a genuine experience with the living God.

And it seems the first time Isaac experienced the presence of God was when his father's hand was raised with a knife in it. And the angel of the Lord there came and stopped his father. And it seems, you know, first impressions are lasting.

And I wonder if Isaac often thought, man, if God hadn't stopped him, I wonder if he'd have brought that knife. You know, Dad, would you have done that? And Abraham's saying, oh, sure. You know, God told me if necessary he'd even raise you from the dead and from the ashes because I'd have burned you after I stabbed you.

You know, we're laughing about it, but I think the impression made upon Isaac and the impression that stayed with Isaac, in one way, you know, Abraham is called the friend of God. And in one sense there is a familiarity and a depth of relationship that seems to be more grounded in grace and in blessing and in friendship.

And yet there seems to be on the part of Isaac a genuine belief and a genuine man of integrity. But there seems to be a lacking in the communion that his father Abraham had enjoyed with the living God.

And Isaac, in this circumstance, for as remarkable of a man as he is, seems not to have been yielding to what he knew in his heart was God's design for these two boys. Verse 36, he said, it is, you know, let me back up to 35.

It seems Isaac saying, thy brother came with subtlety, and hath taken away thy blessing. And then Esau says, is not he rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, which is not true, because Esau despised that birthright and gave it away for a pot of lentils.

Behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. That wasn't his blessing either. And he said, hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? Now, this is the verse that takes us to Hebrews 12. And in fact, you don't have to go there, let me read it.

It warns us that none of us would be a profane person such as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. That's when he traded the birthright away for the lentils. For you know how that afterwards, after that incident, when he would have inherited the blessing, which was a separate thing from the birthright, he was rejected, for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it, that is the blessing, carefully with tears.

It doesn't say, again, that Esau could not have repented of his sin before God, because any man can do that. What it says is Esau, the carnal man that he was, is now repenting with tears, asking Isaac for a blessing.

Now, he had traded away the fullest blessing, he gave away the birthright. Now, when all that's over, he's more concerned about the carnal part of all of that, which was the blessing, the double inheritance given to the firstborn, the greater blessing, and he's more concerned about the material part of that blessing than he was about the spiritual part of it, which was the birthright.

And now he's seeking that blessing with tears. It says he's weeping. Haven't you saved a blessing for me? And it says he found it not, that is the double portion, though he sought it with tears. It's not that he didn't find repentance.

Any man can find repentance before God, even Manasseh. So he's seeking now. Haven't you saved a blessing for me? Verse 37, Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants.

And with grain and wine have I sustained him. And what shall I do now unto thee, my son? And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth. Now there is a partial blessing that comes. It tells us in Hebrews 11 .20 that before Jacob died, he blessed his sons, plural, Jacob and Esau.

So Esau does receive a blessing, but not the blessing of the firstborn. He says, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above. And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother.

And it shall come to pass when thou shalt have dominion that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck. There's a point coming when you'll be free from your brother Jacob and from this bitterness and so forth.

And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessings wherewith his father blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Dad's ready to die. Then will I slay my brother Jacob.

And these words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebekah. So evidently one of the servants in the house heard Esau telling his servants or those that were close to him, when dad dies I'm going to kill Jacob.

And she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said unto him, Behold thy brother Harry, as touching thee doth comfort himself purposing to kill thee, saying when dad dies I'm going to kill Jacob and then I'll have a little bit of consolation here.

Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran. And tarry with him a few days. Twenty years. Until thy brother's fury be turned away. Now by the way, Rebekah would never see Jacob again.

She loved Jacob. There are many difficult situations that arise out of the conniving in this situation. God certainly redeems it all. It's more than a few days. It will be twenty years. She will die in his absence.

Until thy brother's anger be turned away from thee and he forget that which thou hast done unto him. What do you mean, mom? You said, what do you mean what I've done? You told me to do it. Well, you're seventy years old.

Make your own choices. Now she's saying it's what you did to him. Then I will send and fetch thee from there. Why should I be betrothed also of you both in one day? So she's afraid that if Esau kills Jacob then she'll lose Esau and both sons.

And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. Esau's Hittite wives. If Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?

I can't go on. You know, Jacob, don't let... I mean, Isaac, don't let Jacob marry one of these wenches. And Isaac... Well, that's what it seems to be saying. And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

Jacob Sent to Paddan-Aram

Now, I think Isaac, realizing that God has intervened, as it were, given the blessing to Jacob that he should have been in cooperation with that plan all along. Isaac now is remembering when Abraham his father took aside Eleazar and said, Eleazar, I do not want my son to marry one of the unbelievers of the land, what every good parent desires.

I want my son to marry someone with integrity, someone worthwhile. I do not want my son to marry the unbelievers of Canaan, one of the Canaanites. And Isaac is remembering how that had played in his life and how Abraham had sent a servant and how God had worked and been supernaturally involved with Eleazar meeting Rebekah at the well and so forth.

And no doubt under conviction now, Isaac involves himself and encourages Jacob now to go to Paddan-Aram. Arise and go to Paddan-Aram to the house of Bethuel, which means the dweller of God or dweller with God, thy mother's father, and take thee away from thence of the daughters of Laban, thy mother's brother.

And God Almighty bless thee, now he's pronouncing another blessing, and make thee fruitful and multiply thee that thou mayest be a multitude of people. And give thee the blessing of Abraham to thee and to thy seed with thee that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger which God gave unto Abraham.

The family legacy now. And Isaac sent away Jacob and he went to Paddan-Aram unto Laban, the son of Bethuel, the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother. Now, Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-Aram to take him a wife from there.

And that as he blessed him, he gave him a charge saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother and was gone to Paddan-Aram. And Esau, seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father, then went Esau unto Ishmael, to the family of Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had, adding to his present wives, Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, Abram's son, and the sister of Nabajoth, to be his wife.

So, he goes now to Ishmael's family thinking, well, this is part of the family. Mom and dad are not pleased with my wives. Interesting to see this side of Esau. They've sent Jacob away to Paddan-Aram to take a wife from there.

Jacob has obeyed. They seem pleased. They are agreed with my wives from Canaan. Now evidently in an attempt to please Isaac and Rebekah, Esau goes and takes one of the wives of the family of Ishmael, Isaac's brother, hoping evidently that that would please his parents.

You know, there's a spiritual bond. It says in Proverbs that the glory of children is their father. And I believe, by the way, that's a spiritual bond. We have had children come through the church from foster care systems where they've been abused by their fathers and still want to go back to those fathers.

Be burned by cigarettes and not want to tell the caseworker what was going on and who was doing it. Because I believe there's a spiritual bond. And as crazy as it is, you know, when a family breaks up, it's so difficult.

And here even Esau seeking to please Isaac and Rebekah. Very interesting to see that side of the situation. Now, Jacob went out from Beersheba and went towards Haran. Now, Haran is about 500, between 460 miles and 500 miles depending which way he goes.

And he lighted upon a certain place and tarried there all night because the sun was set. And he took of the stones of that place and put them for his pillows and lay down in that place to sleep. Now, it's interesting.

Jacob’s Encounter with God at Bethel

Jacob will at the end of his life, and one of my favorite passages in the Bible is Jacob at the end as he prophesies over his 12 sons. I think what a way to die. What dignity. He props himself up on the edge of his bed filled with the Holy Ghost, opens his mouth and prophesies over his 12 sons.

And then it says he lifted his legs up into the bed and gave up the ghost. You know, what a way to go. What an amazing guy. But at the end of his life, he will talk about the Lord who led me all these years in hindsight.

And he uses the phrase there where we're speaking of Jehovah-Ra, the Lord is my shepherd. David will pick that up, that idea. And Jacob will realize at the end of his life in hindsight that there were no pathways that I walked on that were happenstance, that were by mistake.

Even today, the Orthodox rabbis in Israel say coincidence is not a kosher word. And the idea is Jacob in hindsight will realize here it says he happened upon a certain place. He did not happen at all upon that place.

He was shepherded. He was led. And God will appear there to him and tell him that very thing. He doesn't say, Behold, I will be with you. He says to Jacob, Behold, I am with you. And he didn't just happen upon this place.

To him, he seemed that way. He's running. He's got fear in his heart in regards to Esau. There are great uncertainties in his life. Not understanding what this birthright and blessing are all about at this time.

Saying he's going to get wives in Padinarum. But there's much more than that involved because he's trying to save his own hide at the same time. I am sure that he's under conviction. Imagine being alone out there and wondering what this is all about.

And sometimes, you know, when God gets us alone, and I mean alone, it's the only place that we can really see who we are. And you know, it is interesting that God has this ability to get us alone even in the middle of a crowd.

Maybe you have noticed that. That sometimes, depending on where your heart and your mind are, you can be in the midst of a crowd of people and just feel like, I do not fit in here. People are talking to you and there's lots of noise around, and just in your heart, you know, I am alone.

I'm in the midst of all of this and I just, I don't belong here. I'm a stranger. I just, I don't fit in. And you have that sense that God has separated you even though you're in a midst. And this is, you know, one of those places, I think, where Jacob will be ascertaining his own character.

Now, at the end of the 20 years, and one of the guys mentioned to me this morning, when he will wrestle with God, God will say to him, what is your name? And it's very similar to the expression that Isaac used when he said, you know, you smell like Esau and you're hairy like Esau.

But are you indeed, you know, who are you? What is your name? And he lied to his father. But he will come to the place where he will own his name and he will say to God Almighty, my name is Supplanter.

My name is Conniver, Heelcatcher. And sometimes God takes us to those places alone. Now, you know, I think that a lot of good can come out of that because as we re-evaluate ourselves, I think we weigh ourselves in light of His presence.

You know, it tells us in Ephesians that anything that doth make manifest is light. Jesus says that worldly people don't come to Him because their deeds are evil and they don't want to bring them into the light.

In fact, He says they love, and it's very interesting, they agape darkness more than light. They have a dedication to the world and to things of the world. Whereas God is constantly trying to draw us into the light.

You can sit and tell people about all kinds of things, music and martial arts and whatever. Anything that makes them something that you find when you're on the street, if you go witnessing or you're sharing with people down the shore, as soon as you talk about Jesus, the crowd bleeds, you know, many times because immediately there's light.

And when you mention the name Jesus, you're mentioning the word Savior. When you're mentioning the word Savior, you're mentioning the word sin. And all of a sudden, there's light there. And it's funny how quickly people move away from that.

And how adamant what is supposedly politically correct today is against the morality of biblical Christianity because it's light. And it brings us into the light for what we are. And when we come into the light, and we see what we really are, we can handle that if we have a Savior.

Because I find the more I go on with Christ, the less I sin, but the more I repent. I find the longer I walk with Him, the more I understand my depravity and how I deserve hell. I deserve nothing. And the more I appreciate what a wonder it is that the blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient to wash us from all of our sins.

And the more we draw close to Him and come into His presence, the more apparent it is what He has provided for us to live eternally and that all the glory belongs to Him. And those times alone in His presence are necessary, and Jacob is being drawn to that place because Jacob has known about the God of Abraham, and he's known about the God of Isaac, but that's not enough.

It's not enough. You may know about Billy Graham and appreciate him and know all kinds of information, but it's much different to be Billy Graham's daughter or son and know Billy Graham. There's a big difference between knowing about somebody and knowing someone.

When Gigi Graham was here and we got to sit and talk with her a little bit, you get to hear family stories. I'm mesmerized just to listen and to hear. And there's just such a difference between knowing someone and knowing about someone.

Well, Jacob knows about the God of Abraham and Isaac, but does not yet know personally the God of Abraham and Isaac. And he is being now drawn to that place. And he's drawn to that place. One of the things that's necessary to come and know the true and living God is to know ourselves also.

Repentance and Knowing Christ Personally

When we come to Christ, it's necessary for there to be repentance for us to see who we are and what our need is. People come up sometimes and say, pray for me, my girlfriend's leaving me. And I say, well, wait a minute, are you here to get saved?

And they say, yeah, I want to ask Jesus into my heart because my girlfriend's leaving me. I have to say, no, no, no, no. This is not a dating service God. You need to come up here and ask Jesus into your heart because you're a sinner and you're going to hell.

Not because there's a hard thing in your life right now. If you have a plumbing problem, you get a plumber. If you have an electrical problem, you get an electrician. If you have a sin problem, you need a Savior.

And that's what Jesus is. And I think when we first come to Him and we're saved and He reveals Himself to us and we no longer at that point know about Him, we know Him, it's because we've seen ourselves and our great need and we see Him, that He is the Savior, He's the answer for all that.

And I think then there's a continual process of us seeing who we really are, coming into the light, measuring ourselves alone in His presence and of His glory and His majesty growing in our appreciation and our perception.

Jacob is about to enter into that experience. He lighted upon a certain place. He tarried there all night, took stones and made a pillow. I would not sleep too good on that. I like to fluff mine up. And he dreamed, behold, a ladder set upon the earth and the top of it reached to heaven.

And behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it. Now, it isn't a ladder, it is a stairway. It's the only time the word's used in the Bible. And it more indicates a broad passageway threshold, a stairway, not a ladder.

So, Jacob sees the involvement of heaven with earth. He's in this dream. He looks up and he sees this scene. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father and the God of Isaac and the land whereon thou liest.

To thee will I give it and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth. Thou shalt spread abroad to the west, to the east, to the north, and to the south. And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

And behold, or consider this, I am with thee. Not I will be. I am already with you and will keep you in all places whither thou goest. So, he's going to be his God and to be with him wherever he goes.

Which was remarkable because the pagan deities that were worshipped, the idolaters in the land believed that their God was a God of a particular region. We will read in Judges that they were trying to figure out whether the God of the Jews was the God of the hills or the God of the valleys.

And we read that when the Assyrians were carried away to Samaria and then brought some of their own people there and they were being eaten by lions and so forth, they sought some of the priests of Israel out.

They said, we don't understand how the gods of this land work and we need to find out the right way to worship them. So, they believed in local deities. Now, this is remarkable. He's hearing, I am with you wherever you go.

God is not a local blessing. Wherever you go. Wherever you go, I will bring thee again into this land. For I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. And this is amazing as you look at this.

There's not one word of rebuke. I mean, here's a guy who had gotten the birthright and the blessing the wrong way. He had connived and lied and deceived his blind father, going through all this. And God doesn't stand at the top of the steps and say, you know, you blow my mind.

If you'd have just been patient, we could have written much better chapters and all the Christians that would have read it, it would have been a better example for them. And look, you just make all of this difficult, Jacob.

There's no reproof. There's no rebuke. And I wonder what he expected to hear. And I believe that as he looked up and he saw the God of Abraham and Isaac standing at the top of that stairway, that the love of God poured over his life.

And I believe that it would spoil him for the rest of his life. Again, the Bible says, taste and see that the Lord is good. And you know how when that happens, you're spoiled for this world. It tells us clearly in Ephesians that Paul prays that we might know what is the hope of our calling and the riches of his inheritance in us, in the saints.