“Arise, go to Padanaram to the house of Bethuel thy mother’s father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother’s brother.” (Gen. 28:2)
Could there be any wonder or amazement, after all that has transpired in this household, that Esau was furious with his brother Jacob to the point of wanting him dead? “And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob” (Gen. 27:41).
Jacob had deceived his father, stolen the birthright and usurped his brother’s position as head of the family. The anguish in Esau’s voice, as he speaks to Isaac, reflects a defeated and demoralized man, “hast thou but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice and wept." (27:38) This anger festered and seethed in the compost of Esau’s mind brewing an intense and putrid hatred for his brother. The planning of Jacob’s demise intensifies to such a fevered pitch that Esau swore an oath of death upon himself were it not accomplished. The word comes to Rebekah who, again, feels she must intervene to save Jacob.
This hatred indeed was manifested superficially, in time, due to the conduct of the ‘usurper’ and his mother against Esau (27:36) but the root cause of the matter is much deeper than just this series of events. It was demonstrated in the conduct and posture of the first born Ishmael toward the child of promise, Isaac. So great was the mocking of Sarah’s precious child by the child of the handmaid that she said, “cast forth this bondwoman and her son for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, Isaac” (Gen. 21:10).
It also has a kinship to another first born son who, after the riotous living and licentious behavior of his younger brother, was incensed against his father and his brother for, upon returning home, the father blessed the younger. He placed a robe upon him and a ring on his finger and made a great feast in his honour. The younger son became the preferred, because that which was lost had been found, and the older waxed great with anger, presuming that he deserved the blessing (Luke 15).
Again it is manifested, in a most magnificent type and foreshadow of God’s power and majesty over the house of the strong man, as the Angel of death came to the house of Pharaoh and slew the firstborn while delivering His people from Egypt. Pharaoh and his people had an acrimonious disdain for the children of Jacob because they were foreigners in their land. They also despised them because they tended cattle, which was an abomination to them (46:34) and finally they hated them, without cause, because they were so many. “And he said unto his people, Behold the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come now let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies and fight against us and get them up out of the land” (Ex. 1:9f). (Notice well that Pharaoh did not want the land cleansed of this infestation of Israelite vermin but rather that the insurrection would be subdued, contained and controlled. Showing forth his lordship and subjugating these chosen people is also demonstrated in Satan’s temptation of Christ. If he could have enticed the Head of the household to bow down to him in redress of pain and hardship then all His seed would have been answerable to that ‘anointed cherub that covereth’ (Ezek. 28:14).)
This hatred is founded and firmly established and unmovable, in the enmity between those whom God loved with an everlasting love, being His seed in Him and those whom He hated being the seed of the serpent. It is demonstrated in the daily lives and conduct of the earthen vessels throughout the time of their habitations. The one being afore prepared to glory, wherein dwells the Spirit of the Most High God, and the other vessels that He has outfitted for destruction, having the seed of the wicked that He has reserved unto the Day of Judgment. Esau could no more love Jacob than Cain could love Able, Ishmael could love Isaac or the children of the natural Israel of the first Adam can love and be at peace with the true children of Spiritual Israel of the seed of the second Adam, Jesus Christ. “If the world hate you, know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:18f).
Nor could Esau have any respect for that which his father had instructed him. Isaac and Rebekah had made it understood to Esau that they had no pleasure in the daughters of terror (Heth) or the daughters of the people of the (low) land (Canaan) or the daughters of their cousins, the children of Ishmael, to be taken as wives for their sons. Yet because of the enmity and animosity between the seed, Esau, being 40 years old, took Judith and Bashemath of the house of Heth which grieved Isaac and Rebekah (Gen. 26:34). Then, seeing this displeasure, he took wives of the daughters of the lowlands and wives of the house of Ishmael, Abraham’s son (28:8f). The words of his father had no meaning for him because he could not receive them and had no part in them. He had the knowledge of ‘good’ and ‘evil’, as all the sons of Adam received when he ate of the tree, yet he cannot comprehend the words of truth and life. His eyes were blinded and his heart hardened to the point of bitterness of heart, the overwhelming abundance of wrath and an all consuming passion to kill the child of promise. He was a man of the earth and was sustained by the field; therefore his ‘blessing’ from Isaac was “thy dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above” (27:39).
Sounds like a perfect match that the man of the field should be sustained by the field and it is an exact fit, joined in perfect harmony. The children of this world are at peace with the things of this world. They find delight in the politics, commerce and delicacies of the sumptuous fair of this temporal globe; “…for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” (Luke 16:8). This is a perfect union between the two, the natural man and the world, and being agreed, they walk together. Those that are in the world and of the world live by the world. They are fruitful and prosperous and flourish like the morning dew. But the glory of man, like that dew, vanishes away when the true light shines upon it and reveals that it is but a shadow.
Rebekah hears of the vow that Esau has sworn and concludes that the best thing to do is have Jacob flee the area until this malignance is dissipated. Let us not be critical of her motive or intentions even though she is incorrect in concluding that something must be done. God had separated these two nations from their mother’s womb and here in time He has ordered all events, even the emotions of mother Rebekah, to facilitate His decree. He ordered the scandal, gave Esau the hatred and caused Rebekah to hear the vow. He also turned the heart of Rebekah to devise the plan to send Jacob away so as to separate these two families for many years. Neither the plan, the course nor the place of Jacob’s journey, was left up to himself, his father, his mother or caused by his brother.
“Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, and said unto him; Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan” (28:1).
This fully grown and mature man was forbade of his aged and infirmed father from taking a wife of the indigenous people of the land and he obeyed. Consider the magnitude of that statement, especially in the light of this present evil generation. Our society today has undertaken a great crusade to establish and protect the ‘rights’ of the children while depriving the parents of any and all responsibility. The ‘think tank’ of culture and education has even made it a crime for a parent to scold, correct or punish the well deserving delinquent child in nearly any way. The liberal minds of the governmental system have replaced the family structure with a more ‘perfect way’ of raising and training children. They speak of ‘self- expression’ for the child and an encouragement toward independence rather than, “honor thy father and thy mother (which is the first commandment with promise)” (Eph. 6:2). This is the way of the world and the god of this world, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience, has been empowered, by the will of the Almighty, to present this as the civilized lifestyle while labeling the truth, “the rod and reproof give wisdom but the child left to himself bringeth his mother shame” (Prov. 29:15), as barbaric and cruel. But here was a forty year old man who was given an ear to hear his father and an heart to obey.
Once again the power of God’s sovereign command and complete control over the mind and passions of every thought, word and deed of the body is demonstrated. For forty years these two children had lived together in the same household and region, while growing up separately and distinctly different, and neither had taken a wife. Now Esau took of the daughters of the land and Jacob was not only commanded not to, but was sent away. Had he done wrong that he should have to leave? Indeed he had. Yet even though he had usurped the right as the first born and, by the word of God, the elder was to serve the younger, Esau stays put, in the land of Canaan which God had promised to Abraham and Isaac, to raise his family while Jacob is told to leave.
Jacob finds himself in a very fascinating position. He is the rightful heir to all the house of Isaac and, as the first born, is the leader and director of all the commerce and politics of the family. The promises that were given to Abraham and Isaac were his as a child of promise but now the natural inheritance of the house would pass on to him at the death of his father. He has every right to stay and order his contemptuous brother off his land even though he procured this right through less than scrupulous manners. It would be intriguing to try such an argument before the courts of this world to see who truly has the right to the sands of the deserts of Palestine for without the mind of God and knowledge of His will and ways and devoid of regard for the Word of promise, Esau has been swindled and is the rightful heir.
Esau has already married and has begun to build his family. These couples, being fruitful and multiplying will soon fill the land, dominate and subdue it. They will become the chief producers and consumers of the fruit of the earth but, if Jacob remains, they must serve him. The conflict that has been raging for over four thousand years over this ‘sand box’ plot of land is, at least for a moment, averted as God’s eternal purpose comes to pass in Jacob leaving the ‘promised land’ and Esau staying.
The world and modern religious eschatology are still squabbling over the sand of the sea and the dust of the earth of Palestine in quest of the manifestation of the Holy land, but, the treasure (the bride) is not there. She is in the field of the land of her father. She is a building not made with hands called the exalted house of God, or, Zion. Let Esau and his house have that land, since by the hand of God, they (and the house of Ishmael) had it first. They with all flesh are now and shall forever be in subjection to the First Born and His household. Not in subjection to the Jew, as some may erroneously conclude, for the 'Jew/Gentile’ feud had not yet begun since Jacob and Esau were of the same family. But rather, those who are of the earth and are sustained by the field of the earth are in subservience to the King of Kings and His people who are not of this world, yet in it; “The elder shall serve the younger”.
Isaac instructs Jacob to “arise and go” but he does not hand his son a map and a compass saying, ‘write if you find work’. He directs him in a specific direction, to a certain location for a definite purpose.
We could argue at length whether it was the need for a wife or the fear of imminent demise at his brother’s hand that urged him on his way but the final conclusion to the discussion must be that Jehovah was working in him BOTH to WILL and to DO. Therefore the circumstances at home made him ready to go, the power of God over the thoughts and intents of his mind, body and soul made him able to stand and willing to leave. No power in the heavens, on the earth or under the earth could have persuaded him to stay or could have altered his course one step. The next chapter of his life’s story, written with a pen of iron upon an adamant stone, was one of sublime instruction leading him to Padan-aram.
The first thing Isaac instructs Jacob is to “arise”. This was not an armchair transaction that could be accomplished from the comfort of his home. He must needs be actively involved in this matter by ‘standing up’ and leaving his father and mother. He could not send out correspondences inviting all prospective candidates for marriage to come to him for interviews and try-outs. He could not log on to some dating service or procure the services of a marriage broker to see what was available or any other of the many ‘scientifically proven methods’ for finding a mate. There was one and only one mate whom God had prepared as a suitable helpmeet for Jacob. She was in a foreign land and he had to get up and go to her. She could not come to him. She had no concept of him and was not seeking after him. No one came to her and told her of him encouraging her to ‘come unto him’. She had received no correspondences or even a picture of him. She was about the daily chores of her father’s house when he came to her and found her. “I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not:” (Is. 65:1).
Strange that Isaac did not send his son to the nearest city where he could find a refined and cultured lady of society to marry. He did not seek to raise his class or make political or economical advancement by marrying into wealth or power. Nor did he consult the local ‘yenta’ or matchmaker to help find the ‘perfect’ fit for his son. Rather he sent him to a field. Not just any field, mind you, nor to the same field that sustained his brother. He sent him to a specific field in ‘aram’ or Syria to the house of his mother’s family. Since the word ‘Syria’ means ‘exalted’ we may then conclude that Isaac sent Jacob, the child of promise to the exalted field where his wife awaited his arrival.
The field is exalted because it was part of the house of Rebekah’s father, Bethuel and her brother Laban. Laban, (white building, or made white), was the son of Bethuel the Syrian, (exalted house of God) and brother to Rebekah (ensnarer) and his daughter, Rachel (ewe lamb) was waiting for her husband, the ‘supplanter’ in the exalted field and her sheep were gathered together with her.
What a beautiful picture of Christ and His bride. No not these people we are speaking of, but the type. Christ left His father’s house, being sent into a foreign land to do the will of His Father and to ‘seek and to save that which was lost’. He came from the well of the completed oath (the everlasting love of the Father for His people, Jer. 31:3), since all these works were finished from before the foundation of the world (Heb. 4:3) and learned obedience, even unto death, and being found faithful above all the house, He went to the field and took His wife, completely paying the price for Her redemption. “Again the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field. The which, when a man hath found, he hideth and for the joy thereof goeth forth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth that field” (Matt. 13:44).
This ‘white building’, Laban, represents the garment of righteousness which each of the redeemed is clothed upon with as they stand before the throne of grace, seated together with Him in the heavenlies. They have forever been of the house of righteousness and though they become partakers of flesh and blood yet they have the treasure in the prepared earthen vessels. They have never been naked before the Lord. They have never brought forth a covering of fig leaves like Adam, never clothed themselves in the filthy rags of the works of righteousness of the law nor have they stood before Him without a wedding garment posing as a friend. These are the contrivances of the carnal mind of the old and natural man and while each of His people, in the limitations of this inhabitation set by the hand of Creator, dwell in the bondage of this corruption, yet they can never tarnish or remove that glorious garment. Though they are drawn away after the lusts and desires of the flesh and when that lust has conceived, it brings forth sin, yet, “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Even when they were dead in trespasses and sin He quickened them together with Christ and raised up each and every one, whose names were written in the Lamb’s book of life, in His resurrection and they live in Him. They have been covered by His eternal love as a bride adorned for her husband. “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints” (Rev. 19:9). “For whom He did foreknow, He did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He called, and whom He called them he also justified and whom He justified them He also glorified” (Rom. 8:29).
Isaac did not call his son aside and have a nice chat with him about the ‘facts of life’ and then tell him to go out and see if he could find someone to marry, quite the contrary. He saluted and praised his son and commanded him not to take a wife of the indigenous people of the land, and then he dismissed him or dispatched him on his journey. Whatever dealings the Holy Spirit had in the heart and minds of Isaac and Rebekah it is clear that nothing was to be arbitrary or spontaneous. Isaac gave Jacob a directive with strict limitations and definite parameters. He commissioned him for his journey and ordered him to fetch, lay hold of or receive his wife. He went forth having his work before him and his reward with him. She was in a foreign country waiting for him, though she knew it not. She had already been designated as his wife, through the divine providence of God, though she had never met him. She had been given a heart to love him and had been afore prepared to be the exact help-meet for him, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and adhere to his wife and they shall be one flesh” (Gen. 2:24).
It may be queried, How is it she was prepared for him having never met or corresponded with him and who prepared her for him? The same way as Eve was the one and only wife suitable for Adam in the garden, Sarai was for Abram, and Rebekah was for Isaac so Rachael was for Jacob. The God who has set the times of our habitations and the limitations thereof, had, according to His good pleasure which He ordained in Himself, ordered, from before the foundation of the world, that the lives of these two individuals, though geographically, politically or socially separated, would be mysteriously interwoven. Though they may wander about seemingly isolated from each other, at the appointed time, their lives shall intersect and the love, which He placed in their hearts for each other, shall become evident. These events would demonstrate as the years progressed that He had blessed them, causing them to be fruitful, and He multiplied them that they would be a multitude of people. He had made this proclamation to Rebekah when He declared that two nations were separated from her womb. Thus the Word of God, being eternally and firmly established, is revealed, in the fullness of time, according to His good pleasure in the lives of man.
This wonderfully exquisite plan began in the mind of God before the foundation of the world was laid. This plan was set in motion by the power of God, as He created all things, by Him, through Him and for Him, to the praise and glory of His Holy name. It became manifest in the creation of the heavens and earth as a place where man would dwell having all things necessary to sustain the frail earthen shells wherein he dwelt. The creation of man, having his seed in him including the ones which would enter the stage of time and be called Jacob and Rachael, began in the generation of Adam and all children. These two individuals, being raised and nurtured in complete ignorance of each other, God caused to find each other, by the ordered events that came to pass in the prescribed method necessary to facilitate His plan, in the designated place of His appointment at the exact time with the precise set of circumstances that He had decreed.
But before Jacob could meet up with his wife, he needed to go to school for a lesson in theology. He left out from ‘the well of the sevenfold oath’, Beer-sheba, and came to a ‘dried burnt place’, Haran. This was not an arbitrary rest stop at the end of a day of traveling; this was a ‘certain place’ where God had ordained an encounter to introduce Himself to Jacob by an extraordinary revelation.
Jacob did not have this encounter by the study of the ancient text, the observance of nature or the research of the natural sciences for he was asleep. He had not enrolled at the nearest university or theological school for a degree in comparative religion. He had not ‘logged on’ to wisdom of man for a degree in carnal understanding. He did not need any pamphlets, tracts or books for his reading pleasure, nor did he need the services of a preacher to expound the wonders of God unto him. He, like every child of grace, was to be taught of the Lord without the interference from anything pertaining to the things of the heavens, the things of this earth or the intrusion of Adam. He had been led by the hand of God to a specific place, for a pre-ordained meeting, at the exact time (“because the sun was set”), in a prepared state of mind (tired and ready to sleep), where he took the stones of the ground for his pillow “and he dreamed”. Shall we consult with the eminent Mr. Freud for a psycho-analytical pontification of meanings of our dreams? Or shall we, by the grace of God, stipulate to the fact that God speaks to His people in dreams and visions and is in complete control of even those thoughts we have in, what is called, our ‘sub-conscience region’, while we are fast asleep?
“And behold a ladder set up on the earth and the top reached to heaven:”
The first lesson in this divine curriculum was not ‘god loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life’. It was not a gentle stroll down some fictional ‘Roman road’, or a terrifying threat of damnation and torment unless he was obedient and it certainly was not a pharisaical lesson in the keeping of the law. It is the glorious lesson of the first principles of the doctrine of Jesus Christ, the Rock of our foundation, and the sovereignty of God. “Say among the heathen, the Lord reigneth” (Ps. 96:10). This is not the product of the combined wisdom of the ages or the cumulative strength of man in his attempts to walk uprightly and earn his access into heaven. This is a ladder ‘set up’ by God, through the power of His will and for His purpose. It is “not by might nor by power but by My Spirit saith the Lord of Hosts” (Zech. 4:6) for here the ‘ministering spirits’ of Jehovah ‘ascend and descend’ continually, demonstrating to Jacob and all His children, the never ending superintendence of the sovereign God over whatsoever comes to pass. “Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One and his maker. Ask me of the things concerning my sons and the work of my hands, command ye me. I have made the earth and created man upon it. I, by my hands, have stretched out the heavens and all their hosts have I commanded. I have raised him up in righteousness and I will direct all his ways. He shall build my city and He shall let go my captives, not for price or reward, saith the Lord of hosts” (Is. 45:11f). Just like Ezekiel’s vision, “as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel and when they went, they went upon all four sides and they turned not when they went” (Ezk. 1:16), so the uninterrupted conduct of the angels of the Lord is never altered or halted, in complete harmonious compliance with the never changing nature of God’s government. His purpose is singular and is the same purpose which He purposed upon the whole earth, (Is. 14:26), that He purposed in Himself, (Eph. 1:9) and the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord (Eph. 3:11).
This ladder is not the path for the ‘morning star’ (Lucifer) to travel back and forth to heaven for access to the throne (Is. 14:13) where the sons of God come to present themselves before the Lord (Job 1:6) and it is not Jacob’s ladder. No man has access to it or any right to lay his polluted hands on it and attempt to ‘climb’ upon it. (We are reminded of a ditty that was taught to us during our younger days which arrogantly presumed that, “we are climbing Jacob’s ladder, children of the Lord”, in our daily walk. This ‘cute’ rhyme was taught to children in their ‘vacation bible school indoctrination through mindless recitation programs’ and is blasphemous, presumptive and pompous. It represents the unscriptural doctrine of progressive sanctification as we ascend to God.)
This ladder is the ways and means of the government of Jehovah over the inhabitants of this world for, “behold, Jehovah stood above it” (28:13). Every last detail to the minutest essence is under the watchfulness and command of the sovereign government of our God, for, “the most high ruleth in the kingdoms of man and giveth it to whomsoever he will” (Dan. 4:25). The only ones ascending to Him and descending from Him upon this ladder set up are “all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Heb. 1:14). They are the chariots of fire which surrounded Elisha and his servant when the Syrian armies came for them (II Kings 6:17). They are they which bear up those who have refuge in the habitation of the Most High (Ps. 91:9f) and the ones sent to proclaim the advent of the Son of God, “a light to lighten the gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel” (Luke 2:32). These are the servants of God and even those angels, “which kept not their first estate but left their own habitation, (which) He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day” (Jude 6), cannot deviate from the appointed duties assigned unto them. “For by Him were all things created (even the father of all lies) that are in heaven and that are in the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created by Him and for Him” (Col. 1:16).
The second lesson given is the manifestation of God in His nature and characteristics. He proclaims to Jacob, “I am the God of Abraham your father” (28:13). He presents His credentials of eternality, immutability and faithfulness because He is the same God, and there is no other, who was before all things. He is the One who created all things, came to Abram in the land of the Ur of the Chaldeans and called him out of his father’s house to a land in which he would dwell as a stranger. He gave him both a temporal promise of the land (terra firma) and an eternal blessing of a city that hath foundations whose builder and maker is God. First He said He would make Abram’s “seed as the dust of the earth” which a man could not number and give them the land wherein he sojourned (Gen 13:16). Then He said “look now toward the heaven and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them, and He said, so shall thy seed be” (15:5). To this promise Abram was told his seed would have tribulation and distress upon this earth in the house of the strong man but God would have mercy upon His people and deliver them from bondage. These natural events were set as a type of the deliverance of Spiritual Israel from the bondage of sin and the return of the redeemed of the Lord unto Zion.
God did this based on His love for Abram as a child of grace. This love is the same eternal love wherewith He loved Isaac, the child of promise and Jacob, having not been born neither having done any good or evil. It is an uninfluenced compassionate bond that is best described to our natural minds as the love of a parent for their child. Nothing earned and no favor curried by preference; simply an inseparable bond because the seed within has been manifested as the child who is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. The moment a young couple discovers that they are entering into the wonderful fraternity of parenthood their whole life begins to change awaiting the coming revelation. They soon realize that they have a love for this child before they even see it or know its name and this bond continues, generally speaking, for their entire lives, no matter what the child does or doesn’t do. It is not based on performance or reciprocation but upon the unity of parent and child.
The same exists between God and His children. Since He and His knowledge are complete, all inclusive and eternal, so is His love for His family. His faithfulness to Himself demands that since they are of Him being His seed, He cannot deny them nor disown them, for He cannot deny Himself, and since He is immutable, they are safe and sure forever. “For I am Jehovah, I change not; therefore the sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Mal. 3:6). He does not love them because they love Him. Rather “we love Him because He first loved us” (I John 4:19). Nor does He love them in reward for successful adventures or obedience but “after those days, saith Jehovah, I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people” (Jer. 31:33). Nothing can separate them from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:35ff).
Abram left his father’s house believing God. This belief was not inherent in Abram the son of Adam, as his life well demonstrates, but was given to him by God. This faith was imputed to him for the purpose of righteousness and was the evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit within him, for faith is the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). By faith Abram went out, not knowing where he went and sojourned in a land where he was a stranger. By faith he trusted God having not seen Him, to protect him and his household and to provide his daily needs. He believed the promise given unto him even though he was old, his wife was barren and they had no children because he believed God and His faithfulness.
Although these lessons cannot be isolated and separated since they pertain to God who is one, the final segment of this course in divine revelation, is God’s declaration of Himself as ‘El Shaddai’, the Mighty God. He reveals to Jacob that, based upon the promises He gave to his father, Abraham, He would guard him and protect him. He would cause him to be successful in his endeavors and return from this trip he was undertaking, to the land which He promised him and his seed. He said, just as He would tell Joshua years later (Josh. 1:5) and as Christ would tell His disciples upon the mount of the ascension (Matt. 28:20), that He would be always with him. He would not fail, forsake, leave or abandon him no matter what until He had performed all that He had promised He would do (28:15). He did not ask for any help or cooperation from Jacob. He did not place any conditions upon him by saying He would do these things if Jacob was obedient. He did not dangle the proverbial carrot before his eyes in order to coerce compliance from Jacob, He told Jacob to “Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth” (Ps. 46:10).
Flesh and blood did not reveal this to Jacob and he did not learn this after the wisdom of the flesh nor comprehend it after the natural man as he would demonstrate conclusively throughout the remainder of his life. Jacob, the natural man, did not understand this glorious lesson and therefore he did not live by it.
“And Jacob awaked out of his sleep and said, Surely Jehovah is in this place and I knew it not” (28:16).
This fantastic revelation came to Jacob while all his faculties were in the sleep mode. He could not take notes or record for posterity what had happened. He could not interrupt and ask questions. He could not leave the room nor disrupt the class. There was no recess, lunch time or study hall. There were no final examinations to ascertain the assimilation of the subject matter, no standard aptitude test for uniformity and no final thesis of commentary written. Jacob stood, though in a supine position, completely helpless before the perfect school master who had meticulously prepared, accurately delivered and irrevocably implanted a tailor-made lesson plan exclusively for one “afore prepared unto glory”. No abstract theories which required the imagination of independent thought to fill in the blanks and discover the meaning, because of the presence of the Spirit. No seminary, college, university or any other man-made school of higher learning and no professor of Adam could even approach such majesty and perfection let alone the minions of pundits who aspire to graduate from these hallowed halls with their degrees in vanity. Let them have their diplomas, degrees and doctorates to cover the holes and blemishes on the walls, they cannot compare with one taught of the Lord.
“And he was afraid and said, how dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God and this the gate of heaven” (17).
The result of the manifestation of the glory and wonders of God by His Spirit to an heir of eternal life, is the fearfulness and timidity of the flesh. Isaiah fell upon his face when confronted with the Holiness of the Lord sitting upon His throne and lifted up with His train filling the temple and said, “Woe is me for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts” (Is. 6:5). Daniel was grieved in his spirit in the midst of his body because of the vision that he had (Dan. 7:15) and after Gabriel came to instruct him and cause him to understand the vision, he mourned three full weeks (10:2). The apostle Paul knew a man (whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell) who, when “he was caught up into paradise, he heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful to utter” (II Cor. 12:3f) and when John, who had been vanquished to the Island of Patmos, was lifted up in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day and saw the one standing in the midst of the seven candlesticks, he fell at His feet as dead. The natural man is incapable of comprehension and not properly equipped to be in the presence of God or understand His ways, so, when the communion of the Spirit happens from faith to faith, the flesh is fearful.
Yet Jacob is given to proclaim the truth that this was the place where God dwelt and that this dwelling place was the entrance to heaven. Even in his carnal ignorance he knew that this was not a natural event but that, in this place, God had made Himself known. He therefore builds a memorial of the stones he used for his pillow, anoints it with oil and venerates the site, calling it Beth-el, the house of God.
With all this he still does not have the assurance that the religious society of this world falsely proclaims is essential for a victorious Christian life. Even here he says, “If God will bring me and will keep me in this way that I go and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then shall Jehovah be my God” (20f). The Word of God had been made manifest in his sight. He had seen a great and wonderful vision and had heard the promise of the Almighty God and in his finite carnal logic he says, ‘IF’. And to complete the lab work on the frailty of man, he makes a conditional contract with God which he cannot keep and which God never mentioned, ‘Then shall Jehovah be my God”.
Jehovah is God and it matters not whether mortal man is cognizant of His plan, His methods or His operations; “The works of the Lord are great, sought out by all them that have pleasure therein. His work is honourable and glorious and His righteousness endureth for ever. He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered” (Ps. 111:2f). He performs all the thoughts and intents of His heart after the good pleasure of the counsel of His will and none can stay His hand.
This education could not have been given to Jacob while he was in his father’s house. A different lesson was being taught there and it involved a curriculum of a more subtle subject, namely, the sovereignty of God in and through the depravity of man. Once that lesson was concluded and the lab work realized, though it never really ends until the tabernacle of this dwelling is dissolved, a field trip brought Jacob to this classroom called ‘Luz’ (almonds) before the session began and then called ‘Beth-el’ (house of God) when it was time for the journey to resume.
The almond tree is the first to spring forth from the winter sleep as it precedes all other plants and trees in the evidence of life. It has a flower that is red like a rose which conceals the delicate and delicious fruit within. This is a beautiful type of Christ and His people. He is the first born from the dead and His blood is the covering of His precious seed. Jacob was led by the hand of God to this place and this type of His anointed where God would instruct him in all His ways. This type, representing the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world yet coming forth as the firstborn from the dead having His work before Him and His seed in Him, was the school. Here, in Christ Jesus, he could be taught because the bondage and limitations of this world’s existence were averted in the presence of the blood sacrifice and the risen Lord. The result of the lesson was ‘Immanuel’, the dwelling place of God; “Behold the tabernacle of God is with men and He will dwell with them. They shall be His people and God Himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death. Neither sorrow, nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed” (Rev.21:3f).
When he awoke, Jacob demonstrates the existence of the ever present land of Shinar once again, those two rivers, as he resorts to a bit of sacrilege and idolatry. First he takes the stone that he was using for a pillow, as if there was something special about it, and he anoints it. Then, to venerate and worship it, he says, “this stone which I have set for pillar (personal memorial), shall be God’s house”. Finally he makes a vow upon the stone to give a tithe back to God based upon how much God gives him. In the aftermath of this Holy revelation by the grace and power of God, Jacob focuses upon that which can be seen for his verification and memorial. Man looks upon the outward tangible things of this existence and not upon the “substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen” (Heb. 11:1). This is exactly what God told Samuel when he came to the house of Jesse to anoint David the true king of Israel, Man lives, moves and breathes upon the tactile sensual analysis of his understanding. He believes in what he can see and acts according to his perception of the facts as comprehended by his senses. The Apostle Peter reacted the same way as Jacob when he was confronted with the glory of the transfiguration as he blurted out, “it is good Lord for us to be here. If thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee and one for Moses and one for Elias” (Matt. 17:4). There is no coincidence that both Jacob and Peter spoke of a dwelling place or that they concluded that one constructed of the things of this earth would be acceptable as a memorial to God. This is the understanding of the carnal mind and it is still prevalent today.
The majority of the modern religious dogma is centered on a physical building to be erected by the hands of man and constructed of the elements of terra firma where the thrones and dominions of this world will come to do homage to Christ as He rules, three principles which seem to be in addition to the precepts of the scriptures. The temple of the Holy Spirit is the new man in which the fullness of the Godhead dwells (I Cor. 3:16), “whose house are we” (Heb. 3:6). “Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call His name Immanuel” (Is. 7:14) which being interpreted is ‘God with us’. Christ’s temple is His body and His body is His bride. It is comprised of members in particular yet is one body, “in whom all the building, fitly framed together, growth up unto an holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph. 2:21f).
So like unto his father Adam, and according to his nature, Jacob feels a need to commemorate the event and to invest in the future. But note what he said, “If God will be with me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so that I come again unto my father’s house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God” (28:21). God never said anything to Jacob about clothes and provisions. He did not mention bringing Jacob back to his father’s house at all, let alone ‘in peace’. Like his mother Eve, in the garden when confronted by Satan the serpent (Gen. 3:2), Jacob embellished the Word of God to make it more favorable to him. God had promised to guard, watch over and preserve him in all the ways he was to go and indeed this entailed providing for him in the way. Yet Jacob augments the wording and changes the promise into a binding contract. How pleased God must have been to find out that if He fulfilled the terms of this deal then would Jacob allow Him to be his God. Sounds strangely familiar to the modern phrases that are used frequently today in the labor camps of ‘Christendom’; “Surrender your life unto Christ and make Him Lord and Master of your life” or “give your heart to Jesus, come unto Him and He will be your God”. If the Lord God Omnipotent cannot be Lord and Master over all until man lets Him be so, then He is not God!
God revealed Himself to Jacob as El Shaddai and told him all that He would do. No bargain was made and no covenant was agreed upon. God is the author, giver, causer and finisher of all things and Jacob is the recipient of His works and His grace. Since God does not change the same must be true today and forever, He is God and there is none other. He performs the intent of His heart and none can stay His hand or say unto Him, what are you doing? He has created man to fulfill His will and nothing can prevent, deter or alter the work that He performs, “all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing and He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. None can stay His hand or say unto Him, what doest thou?” (Dan. 4:35).
“Then Jacob went on his journey and came into the land of the people of the east” (Gen. 29:1).
The lesson of Luz had been taught and understood by the Spirit within Jacob and the man Jacob had failed the final examination. Now it was time for him to move on into the next chapter of his journey. Once again, the exact time had come of age and all ingredients had been added to the mixture for him to move on. He could not have been a moment to soon or tarry one moment longer. He could not move a muscle before the appointed time and he could not linger for the Lord caused him to go. He had been forced from his father’s house, halted in the wilderness and was now ushered on to the well in the field. He had no compass, GPS or road map to guide him. The hand of God led him to the exact spot where there was a well of water covered by a stone at the precise time when Laban’s daughter Rachel was waiting to water her sheep. God had even ordained that a large rock be placed over the well to protect the precious water and no one could remove it until His servant arrived to perform the task. As an added ingredient to the setting of this incident, all the flocks of cattle had not yet been gathered together so that the sheep could be watered. Can this truly be explained as coincidence, change, fate or luck? Or do we recognize the exquisite hand of the wise master builder as He causes all events, even to the minutest subatomic particle and every thought, word and deed, to come to pass as He ordained? Which of these two options, if they may be justly called so, requires the greatest credulity and which is understood by faith?
Jacob had left the well of the sevenfold oath, Beer-sheba, and had come to the well of life. Here he would meet the one who was his wife. He did not need to date or court her for she was his and he was hers. Without any formal introduction, or conversation, “Jacob kissed Rachel and lifted up his voice and wept” (Gen 29:11). Not only had Jacob been prepared for this encounter but so had all parties involved. Every fabric of the tapestry was in place for the ordained pattern to be formed, every word of this beautiful sonnet to be spoken were uttered and every note of this most magnificent masterpiece was played in exact pitch and tonal quality as God displayed the good pleasure of His will in all things.
To be continued, Lord willing.
Your servant in Christ,
(Elder) Chet Dirkes
The Banner Of Hope
Volume 4, No. 3
July 2010
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