[And He Walks With Me] Genesis 28
1-2 Isaac’s command to Jacob – go… [and] marry one of the daughters of Laban – is at once reminiscent of the directive Abraham gave to Isaac and yet different. It is reminiscent because Abraham did not want his son to marry a Canaanite woman, and yet different because Isaac was specifically commanded to remain in Canaan. Instead, Abraham’s servant was sent to find Isaac’s wife. See Genesis 24. The difference is explained by the fact that Isaac was the only son, and if his father died while he was out of the land, there would be no heir present to maintain the claim on the land and possessions. In Jacob’s case, Esau was able to remain in the land.[59]
Notice the complementary commands here. Isaac issued the negative command, Do not marry a Canaanite girl and then immediately turned around and issued the same command in a positive form: Go… [and] marry one of the daughters of Laban. The use of both the negative and the positive was for emphasis, similar to how key words and phrases are repeated verbatim in various places throughout the Bible (e.g., Holy, holy, holy in Isaiah 6:3).
6-9 By commanding Jacob to not marry a Canaanite girl but to go… [and] marry one of the daughters of Laban (1-2), Isaac was implicitly condemning Esau’s marriages (see Gen 26:34-35). Esau may have been impulsive, but he was finally astute enough to realize that his father disapproved of the Canaanite women. Therefore, he went to Ishamel and married a third woman. That is, he attempted to fix one impulsive decision with another.
10-15 Jacob’s ladder is reminiscent of the tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-9, except in reverse. At Babel, people tried to build the tower so they could illegitimately ascend to heaven, but now we discover that there has been a link between heaven and earth all along. Moreover, God and his angels were actively using that link, going up and down on it to do God’s will in both heaven and on earth. Humans may not be able to get to where God is, but that has not stopped God and his agents from coming to where we are.
Jacob was keenly aware that he was about to leave both his inheritance and the Promised Land. It is ironic that he and Rebekah worked so hard to ensure he received both the birthright and the blessing, but now, he was leaving all of that behind. Moreover, with Esau intent on killing him (see Genesis 27:41), there was no telling if or when Jacob would be able to return, and even if he was able to return, there was no telling what the impulsive Esau would do with the inheritance in Jacob’s absence. In response to this uncertainty, God expands upon the promise he gave to Abraham and Isaac, vowing, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land. This promise was significant for three reasons. First, it assured Jacob that God was not limited by geography. Despite the common assumption that deities were limited to specific regions, Jacob’s God has no trouble crossing arbitrary human borders to watch over his people. Second, it assured Jacob that he would eventually return to the Promised Land and his inheritance. Third, and most significantly, this promise demonstrated that God knew and appreciated Jacob’s uncertainty and concern. God is not insensitive to our worries. Instead, he provides exactly the reassurance we need, exactly when we need it, if we are willing to receive it.
At first, it is curious that God would offer such wonderful reassurance to Jacob, who had not yet repented from his deceptive acts. Yet, it is important to recognize the timing of this dream and promise. Namely, it is sent as Jacob was about to leave the Promised Land and his inheritance in fear. No doubt, Jacob lay down that night recognizing that his deceitful, manipulative actions had precipitated this situation. This recognition put him in the perfect posture for God to reveal himself. Often, it is when we have recognized that we were wrong that God reveals himself to us, rather than when we believe we are right.
16-22 Jacob’s response to this vision affirms his posture. He regretted his actions and was open to change, even if he did not know what that looked like. This constitutes a posture of repentance.
The use of the word if does not indicate that Jacob’s repentance would wait until God proved that he was with [Jacob] and [watching] over [him] during this journey, etc. Rather, this was a statement of faith. Jacob was recognizing that God had made these promises, and he was trusting that those promises would be fulfilled. Therefore, his resolution that the Lord will be my God was to start immediately. Real faith does not wait to act in the future, after God has proven himself in the past. Rather, it trusts that God will prove himself in the future and therefore acts in the present.