Transcription
All right, let's go to Genesis chapter 28. Uh, we left off at verse 10.
And Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So, remember that Jacob lives in the terrain of Beersheba. So, if you recall, his parents sent him away. So, the verse is saying that Jacob went out, he left Beersheba, and then he's going toward the direction of Haran because that's where his other relatives are at.
Verse 11: And he lighted upon a certain place and tarried there all night. So, he lighted upon a certain place. So, it seems to show right here that he may have been riding on a horse or a camel or something. So, he's lighting his luggage off of himself or off the animal. It's possible he could have traveled by foot. So, he just lighted off his own baggage. And then it was at a certain place. He doesn't know where that place is. So, the Bible says it's at a certain place. And then he stayed over the night. That's what tarried means. So, he's stayed over the 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. That's pretty much self-explanatory. But what it's saying is that because the sun was about to set, he had to stay there for the night and rest. He gathered stones from that place and then put them up like he was going to use for his pillows. And then he lay down on that heap of stones for his pillows and then he laid down in that place to sleep.
Verse 12: And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. When he was sleeping, he dreamed a dream. And lo and behold. So, remember that word "behold" is all over Genesis. So, the author, he seems to always write that "behold" is a word that always is like introducing to you, "Hey, pay attention to this part." That's the idea. Usually, when the Bible uses "behold" in the Book of Genesis. So, it says right here, "and behold a ladder set up on the earth." So, then in his dream, he sees a ladder that's set up on the earth. And then the top of that ladder reached up to heaven.
And behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold again. So, then the author is pointing out right here to pay attention to this part again. Not just the ladder, to pay attention to, but also there are angels of God ascending, going up, and descending, going down, on this ladder that goes from Earth to heaven. So, uh, I don't know how well you can see it because it's in yellow, but this ladder right here, it's set up on the earth. The top of it reached to heaven. And then you'll see right here, angels going up and down on it.
Now, this place, as we're covering deep doctrine right here, this place could be that portal that opens up the gate to heaven, you might say. Do I believe? Do you believe in portals? Preacher, absolutely. I believe in portals. If you recall in our Genesis chapter 11 study about the Tower of Babel, I'm not going to explain too much over here, but I've explained convincingly that there is clearly a portal up in heaven. That would make a lot of sense. Passages included Revelation chapter four. It's plain as the nose on your face, a door opened up in heaven.
Genesis chapter 11. God, he said that nothing would stop what they're doing. So, the people in the Tower of Babel, they were planning to build a tower that would reach up to heaven. Why would God say nothing would stop them from what they're doing if it's ridiculous, if it's impossible? And then I have explained to you from a, I think it was a Greek historian, which was very interesting. He explained that the people, the people from the Tower of Babel area, they believed that when you build up that tower, what happens is you're summoning a god from out of heaven. And then that god comes down. You put a beautiful virgin up there to entice that god, and then the god can come down on the earth. Now, why are they repeating something in Genesis 6? During the days of Noah, see, there's something going on. And God doesn't want anything like that to happen again. So, all of that was just a summary. If you're interested in that, then you have to go back to my commentary on Genesis 11. I'm not going to do it here. But I do want to build upon that summary even more.
So, I think I know the reason why God had to put a stop to that in trying to build a portal up to heaven. I think, and I keep saying "I think" because it could be my own opinion. All right, so I'm not saying this is doctrine. It's just my opinion. And then you're gonna have to let the Lord lead upon your heart. And if you have a different opinion, praise the Lord. Okay, at least you're studying. So, I'm just going to say my opinion. My opinion is that I think that His deity could be blasphemed right here. So, because His deity could be blasphemed right here, that's the reason why God had to put a stop to this.
First of all, who is this ladder that angels ascend and descend on? Go to John chapter 1. John chapter 1. The Bible says the angels ascending, descending when they communicate with God, right? When they go to the throne of God. Well, Jesus explained to you who that ladder is. Go to John chapter 1. Notice the last verse, verse 51. John chapter 1 and verse 51. That ladder is Jesus Christ. That ladder is Jesus Christ. Go to John chapter 1, and then we'll look at the last verse. It says, "And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open." Right, like Jacob's case, he saw heaven open. "And the angels of God ascending and descending upon who? The Son of Man." Jesus Christ.
If you go back to Genesis, go back to that text. We're going to go back and forth that way we can compare scripture with scripture and see if, uh, the conclusion lines up. Well, if you go to Genesis chapter 28 again, notice verse 12, "a ladder set up on the earth." And then verse 12 shows that heaven opened up, right? And then notice, "angels of God ascending and descending on it." So, that ladder is clearly Jesus Christ. Now, when you see John chapter 1, it says, "Heaven opened." Right? So, you see kind of like Revelation for, "a door opened in heaven." So, that portal is opening up. Well, then the angels have to ascend and descend on Jesus. He's that ladder.
Now, isn't it very interesting here when you look at this ladder that it looks like steps going up? It's one thing when you have a ladder up like this, but when you slant it a bit, it looks like steps, right? Like a stairway to heaven, so to speak. If you think about the Tower of Babel, it's interesting that even liberal historians, if you go to the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, when they're talking about the Tower of Babel, they all have to put steps around it, not just a tower. They could have just built it like an Eiffel Tower or like the Twin Towers in New York. But then all, nearly all historians have to put steps, and they admit there were steps in the Tower of Babel. Isn't that very strange and very interesting? So, there's something going on.
Go back to Genesis 11. Let's look at that Tower of Babel. Genesis chapter 11. Now, I mentioned right here that it could be His deity is blasphemed, which is why God put a stop to that. You might say, "Why is that?" Well, notice what's in their hearts. Usually, by their, by people's actions, it comes from their heart, correct? All right, by people's actions, it comes from their heart. By their actions in building the Tower of Babel, what's in their heart? What's in their heart? "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh," right? Look at Genesis chapter 11, verse 4. Doesn't this sound like they want to be like a god or something? Verse 4. Go to: "Let us build us a city and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." Isn't that elevating mankind? That language. So, you can see right here, they're trying to elevate themselves like, "Hey, let's play God. We can reach up to heaven." That's the kind of language. That's the kind of spirit that you can tell in Genesis chapter 11 and verse 4.
Here's another one. Let's go to John chapter 14. John chapter 14. Now, if Jesus, that's temporarily forget the Tower of Babel. Let's just go to Jesus being the ladder, okay? If Jesus is the ladder between Earth and Heaven, then what does that really show? That really shows there's only one way to heaven. That really shows the one way to heaven that can bridge mankind to God is Jesus Christ. That's why you'll see a lot of these paintings about the cross that, or songs about a cross that bridges Earth to heaven, and hell is underneath it. I mean, where do they get all this ideas from? See, this matches up scripturally. John chapter 14, verse 6: "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life." Now, look at the last part that's very important: "No man cometh unto the Father." Genesis chapter 11, these people were trying to go to the Father up in heaven. But Jesus, "No man comes to the Father, but by what? Me." He's the ladder to go, and the only way to go to heaven. No other ladder, tower, or step is allowed, period.
Now, isn't this very eye-opening? I think this builds upon a little bit more concerning about the doctrine in the portals of heaven of Genesis 11. Why God had to put a stop to this? Why? Because His deity is being blasphemed. Why do you think in Isaiah 14, God put a stop to Lucifer when he said, "I will ascend to heaven, I will be like who? The Most High." He wants to play Jesus. This becomes even more eye-opening when mankind right now, they're trying to play God by trying to go up there to outer space, try to go up to heaven. And with all the weird UFO activity just happened to be in Arizona and New Mexico and around those regions, they have a telescope where they can play God to reach to heaven. And the name of that, you know what I'm talking about, right? Isn't it coincidentally Lucifer? Yeah, by the Vatican, who claim that, uh, Jesus Christ is not the only mediator between God and men, but you have to go through them. Okay. Am I connecting dots? I'll just stop right there. That's just too much. That's just too much. But I, I see all of this connected. I see clearly all of this is connected. And a coincidence that thing is called Lucifer for a reason when they're trying to reach heaven and play God.
Go to John 10. This is very plain. Even Jesus Christ mentioned this. Even Jesus Christ mentioned that there are people out there, that there are beings out there who try to go to this door, this portal opened in heaven, some other way aside from Jesus Christ. Look at John 10. Now, John 10, as many of you know, is the famous passage for the rapture, being raptured up to heaven. John 10:3: "To him the porter openeth." See that? "A door opened in heaven." And "the sheep hear his voice and he calleth his own sheep by name and he leadeth them what? Out." So, then we know this. A lot of Bible believers know this passage to be God calls you by name and then takes you out of this world. And then the sheep hear his voice and they go up to where the porter is, where God is, up in heaven.
Now, look what God says at verse 1: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold." Now, who is that door? Who is that entrance? Who is that only way? Jesus, right? Or the ladder, right? Okay. If you enter not through Jesus, but climbeth up some other way, isn't that what Genesis 11, they were doing the Tower of Babel? That's what they were trying to do. And God considers them what? The same as a what? Thief and a robber. Now, that makes sense why He split them up. He sees them as thieves, as robbers. You're trying to rob My glory. That's important right there. So, that gives a lot of explanation to why God put a stop to the Tower of Babel in Genesis chapter 11.
Let's go back. Let's go back to Genesis chapter 28. But Jacob himself, his statement will even affirm about this dream that he had is matching up with the Tower of Babel. Now, like I've told you before, it is very interesting. God has a play with words, right? He's such a genius. They called it Babel because what the Lord shows is it means confusion in Hebrew. But originally, originally, through, I think it was Akkadian sources or whatever that culture is in the Tower of Babel, in their own tongue, Babel meant "gateway to the gods," "gateway of the gods." So, that's clearly they're trying to open up some portal or gateway to heaven. There's no doubt about that. They want to summon the gods down. And there are historical sources that point out about it. There are too many biblical references that really show why they want to worship, uh, their gods or their idols in high places. There's just too much, way too much of a connection with all of this. It's not just coincidence right here.
But even Jacob's statement himself will affirm it because notice what he says at verse 16. In 16: "And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not." And he was afraid and said, "How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God; and this is the what?" He said, "Gate of Heaven." There's just way too many, uh, connections right here. Way too many connections. So, the place where Jacob was at was considered a gate to heaven.
Let's continue on. Let's continue on at verse 13. Okay, there was your deep doctrine. Let's go to Genesis 28 and then verse 13.
"And behold the Lord stood above it." So, notice how the author keeps saying "behold." Like this is the third time, meaning that this is something really, lo and behold, to wonder, to pay attention to. That he's trying to give that idea. "The Lord, the Lord, He stood above that ladder and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac." So, God is speaking above this ladder. He's saying, "I'm the Lord God of your father Abraham, and I am Isaac's God as well." Now, obviously, Abraham is not his father, but it's talking about his forefather. That's the idea from that language.
"The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed." If you look at verse 13, it says, "the land whereon you lie." So, isn't that self-explanatory? All right, so whereon, it's not that hard to understand. So, on that land where you're lying at, where you're laying down, to you, I'll give it, and to also your offspring. That's the idea.
Verse 14: "And I see shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south." So, God's saying that your seed is going to be like the dust of the earth. Dust is so numerous, and then dust, it easily spreads out and travels, right? So, because dust, when you throw it up in the air, it can travel. It's pointing out right here, you, like the dust, are going to spread abroad. It's going to spread around to the west, to the east, to the north, and to the south. You're going to be everywhere.
"And in the and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." So, God's saying, "In you and your offspring, every family on Earth is going to receive a blessing." Now, notice this is repeating the Abrahamic blessing. Gentile nations, Gentile families, they're going to receive the blessing if they are supportive of Jacob's own nation. Let's go to Genesis chapter 12. Genesis chapter 12. So, you can't get rid of that Abrahamic Covenant, that Abrahamic blessing. Go to Genesis chapter 12. As a matter of fact, I want you to keep note of this because this is probably the most powerful against replacement theology.
Now, for some of you who don't know replacement theology, replacement theology, apparently they've just been upset because they watched too much conspiracy theories and then they just get mad at the Jews and blame everything at the Jews. Now, I do know that there are a good amount of elites from that nation. There's no doubt about it. But, uh, come on, let's be honest. The devil will always go for God's people. And then he wants, uh, God's people to join his team and his side. So, before you pick on that nation, you got to look at a bunch of Christians as well that the devil has used. So, there's an overflowing number of Christians as well. So, you can't just blame, you're not going to blame the whole Christian just because of a, just because of a number of Christian elites, right? You're not going to do that. Well, the liberal media is doing that, aren't they? They find a handful of Christians and they just blame the whole Christian church for that problem. That's what they're doing. Finding a handful of Jewish elites and then they just think that all the Jews are just horrible, bad people. All right.
So, in replacement theology, they believe that the church replaces Israel, that the church claims the Abrahamic blessing. So, whenever you hear that, run away. Okay, run away. Because in that passage, uh, you have to be on the side of the nation, not on their sins. Obviously, not on their sins. You never support them on their sins. However, you don't want to go against that nation. A lot of people just put their hands against that nation, and then God says that because of that Abrahamic blessing, that is not a good idea. Well, what about their sins? Don't you think God will thoroughly take care of their problem? All right, I think God would do a better job than you. So, don't worry. Okay.
So, in, when the church replaces Israel, that is heresy. They do not claim the Abrahamic blessing. Their basis is this. Their basis is because Israel rejected the condition. So, because they didn't follow the condition due to their sin, right? So, because they violated the condition based on their sin, that's the reason why it happened that way, that they lost the Abrahamic blessing based on their sin. It, uh, they broke off the condition, they lost the Abrahamic blessing. You know who the greatest evidence is? Jacob. Jacob is a liar. He's a deceiver. He's a sinner. I mean, he just keeps messing up his life in wickedness. He doesn't follow conditions. Well, he doesn't follow his walk with God very well. As a matter of fact, even after this, he's still, he's still a liar and a deceiver, and God had to break his leg, basically. But notice that he still has that Abrahamic blessing, even though he messed up in his own walk with God. I don't think he followed conditions very well.
Look at Genesis chapter 12, verse 2: "And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless him that blesseth thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee, notice it's repeating what he said to Jacob, shall all families of the earth be blessed." There is no doubt the Abrahamic Covenant is an unconditional, unconditional promise. Now, when they're trying to dig up conditions, you know what they're looking at? They're looking at the Mosaic Covenant. All right. The Abrahamic Covenant is different from the Mosaic Covenant. As a matter of fact, the Mosaic Covenant, you got to realize it is, we admit, broken. It is replaced. We do admit that God has to put in a New Covenant sometime in the Millennium that replaces the Mosaic Covenant for the nation of Israel. He will reinstate the laws, the Jewish practices that Moses expounded, but it's going to be even better. Why? Because they broke the conditions. But the Abrahamic Covenant, that's unconditional. You know what that is? That's called dispensationalism. What is dispensationalism? You rightly divide things. So, they only think of one thought. But notice, we rightly divide. No, there are two different things going on here. The conditions you're thinking about is the Mosaic Covenant. And they will pull up tons of verses in the Old Testament that have to do with the Mosaic Covenant, but not the Abrahamic Covenant, not the Abrahamic Covenant. As a matter of fact, based on that Mosaic Covenant, that's why God can break off, that's why God can cast aside and then punish His people. But it's a temporary basis because of that Abrahamic Covenant, and He has to fulfill that oath and His promise.
Okay, let's go to Genesis chapter 28 again. Genesis chapter 28. Verse 15: "And behold I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest." Isn't that something? Even if Jacob messes up his life, God says, "I'm going to still be with you." And there are Christians who believe in replacement theology who say, "If you, uh, get out of your walk with God when you sin, God leaves you." How about that? So, this debunks their Christian ideology and their Jewish ideology, basically. If you're replacement theology, you're just bonkers. You're just totally wrong. But when you're dispensational, everything makes sense. Everything makes sense.
So, notice that Jacob, that he gets the unconditional promise in verse 15. Basically, God's saying, "Behold." So, pay attention to this part. That's what God's basically saying. "I'm going to be with you and I'm going to keep you in all places wherever you go." So, I'm going to protect you. Keep means to guard, keep. It's like a keeper, a guardian, right? So, that's the idea. And God promised in verse 15: "And 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." Now, that's powerful against replacement theology. God says, "I'm going to bring you back to this land." Even if Jacob messes up his life and he's out of his walk with the Lord, God's going to still bring him back to the land. And God will never leave him until He performed and completed what He spoke to Jacob. That's powerful.
Verse 16: "And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not." So, that's self-explanatory. Jacob, uh, wakes up out of his slumber. And then he says, "Man, certainly it's for real. The Lord's got to be certainly in this place, and I had no idea about it."
Verse 17: "And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God; and this is the gate of heaven." And Jacob also says, "This is the gateway to heaven."
Verse 18: "And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar." So, Jacob, he got up early in the morning. Then he took the stones that he had for his pillows. And then he put it up as his pillar. He set it up like a pillar.
"And poured oil and the Bible says, and poured oil upon the top of it." So, he pours oil on the top of it. Now, because it says singular at verse 18, "stone," it could be this one large stone out of many stones that Jacob had for his pillow. And then he took this one large stone and then used it as a pillar because the wording here is singular. You'll see "pillar" singular, "stone" singular.
Verse 19: "And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first." So, he called the name of the place where he slept at Bethel. Bethel means "House of God." Bethel means "House of God." And then, but originally, the name of that city was actually Luz. And Luz was actually means "almond tree." Almond tree.
Now, I have another crazy theory about that, but I'll just say it in just a few sentences. I'm not going to really expound on that. But if you remember, I did a deep doctrine on trees, you might recall that. And why is it that angels want to go on top of trees? And they see that like on top of pyramids? That has something to do with connecting to the heaven. And here, coincidentally, in this place, it has some kind of connection to the top of heaven. And it's called almond tree. That place there might be something there. Anyway, different Bible study. Okay. But there might be something to that. Bypassing that.
Verse 20: "And Jacob vowed a vow, saying." So, Jacob is going to vow something to the Lord. And he says in his vow, "Sure, you can take the word of a trickster. You can take the word of a trickster. You know, I promise you, yeah, you can, you can sure trust this guy. I'm sure the Lord trusted whatever everything Jacob said."
"If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go." So, Jacob's praying, "If God's going to always be with me, and He's always going to guard me in the way that I'm, uh, going or where I'm heading towards."
"And will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on." So, he's going to always give me bread to eat. The idea is, he's going to give me food and clothes to wear. Raiment to put on. That's what it's referring to.
Verse 21: "So that I come again to my father's house in peace." So, "If God, basically, if God always takes care of him, so that until he returns to his father's home, Isaac, in peace and, you know, well taken care of, then shall the Lord be my God." So, God, so the Lord is going to be my God if he does that.
Well, God promised you, Jacob, you know, he vowed to you. Your vow is not really worth anything. It's amazing that now this can preach, right? Isn't it amazing that Jacob would trust his own vow more than what God vows? That speaks volumes about human nature, about us. We trust a lot of what we believe in, what we would say, what we would promise, more than God. Now, that's quite a sermon. Anyway, let's bypass that too. Let's not expound that.
Verse 22: "And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house." So, Jacob says, "The stone that I set up as a pillar, it's going to be Your house, God."
"And of all that thou shalt give me." Well, before I continue reading that part, notice in verse 22. So, Jacob, he has some wrong ideas right here, okay? So, he says that he insists that the pillar is going to be God's house. But, uh, you can't build a house for God. If you recall in Isaiah, go to the book of Isaiah. I mean, the earth is God's footstool, pretty much. You have to realize. Look at the last chapter in Isaiah. The last chapter in Isaiah, Isaiah 66. Isaiah 66, in verse 1. And then I want you to go to 2 Peter 2, or 1 Peter 2. First Peter chapter 2. Now, we have to realize that Jesus Christ is the rock, is the stone. Jacob, he sees something more valuable with the pillar and thinks that that's God's house. But no, that's not the case. The rock should be Jesus Christ, God Himself.
Look at Isaiah 66, verse 1: "Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?" So, that's a rhetorical. You can't go to First Peter chapter 2. Now, what Jacob was doing, he probably has no idea. So, if you look at this picture right here, all right, when Jacob is setting up a stone, what he's doing is laying a picture for you. So, the stone itself is not the spiritual, magical valuable thing like Catholics do, right? They have images of stone and they treat it as something valuable. No, it's not the stone itself. It's what it's picturing, representing.
Now, if you recall, Moses violated that picture with the rock because it's supposed to picture Jesus Christ. What Jacob was doing about building the house of God was, he's showing right here a picture that Jesus Christ is the rock that the church is built upon. And the rest of the house is built upon. That Jacob said the stone was to be the house of God, but, you know, he had a different thought in mind. Look at First Peter chapter 2, verse 5: "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house." But who's the cornerstone? Who's the, uh, who's the rock that all the other stuff is built upon? The house is built upon. Look at verse 7, verse 6, verse 6: "Wherefore also it is contained in the scriptures, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded." That's clearly Jesus Christ.
First Corinthians 10. First Corinthians 10. That's why God took it very seriously what Moses did as a violation because that rock was supposed to picture, represent Jesus Christ. Look at First Corinthians chapter 10. It also explains why God wanted Moses to strike the rock at the beginning, and then later on speak to the rock. He could have used a lot of other ways, but he remembered what Jacob did. You remember what Jacob did? And he was seeing something in the future. What Jacob's action would picture in the future. First Corinthians chapter 10, verse 4: "And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ."
All right, going back to Genesis. Going back to Genesis chapter 28, verse 22. The last part of that verse says, "And of all that thou shalt give me." So, everything that God gives to me, get ready to laugh really hard. "I will surely give the tenth unto thee." Your mother's mustache. No, you're not. So, Jacob's claiming, "I will surely, I promise, I'm going to give a tenth to you." Tithing. I'm going to tithe to you. How many Christians you hear that nowadays?
In verse 20 through 22, you hear the typical Christian giving a selfish prayer. "God, if you're going to do this for me, if you will do this for me, if you'll do this for me, then I'm going to do this for you." And they hardly do it. That's a majority of Christians in America today. Selfish prayer. Selfish prayer. "God, give me this. God, give me that. And I'll do this for you." And then they hardly tithe. Well, there are two passages to show this. All right. Go to First Chronicles 4. First Chronicles 4. Now, there are people who will use the Prayer of Jabez as something as a good example to learn from. But Pastor Donovan believes that it's actually a very bad example. Now, I believe that you could learn something from Jacob and Jabez's prayer. All right, even a bad prayer, you can learn something good in there, right? So, even within a bad prayer, you can learn something good in there. But overall, it is a bad prayer because it shows the selfish tendency, what you want, human nature.
First Chronicles 4:10: "It's very similar to Jacob's prayer." Verse 10: "And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me. And God granted him that which he requested." It is true. God can grant the request. But when you think about it, when God granted the request, that you are begging God because, "Lord, don't take this away from me. Lord, this is important to me. Lord, give me this." You regretted it later on. That did happen, right? That did happen. That's why be careful what you pray for. You might just get what you asked for. It's like to a father who loves a child. If the child just keeps begging and pleading, and the father says, "No, that's not good for you." But you just keep begging and pleading, and the father gives it to you, even though it's not for your own good. That can happen.
All right, the next one is Genesis. Go to Genesis chapter 31. Genesis chapter 31. Clearly, there is no doubt. In Genesis 31:41, Jacob reaped what he sowed. Jacob says, "I'm going to give a tenth to you." He never gave a tenth to God. Abraham, his grandfather, did. But Jacob never did. And Abraham gave a tenth to God without asking God to give him something first. Jacob asked for God to give him something first and didn't give him a tenth. So, you know what God did? He took it back from him. You know how? Through Laban. Laban was his reaping and sowing. Genesis chapter 31, verse 41: "These twenty years have I been in thy house." This is Jacob speaking. "I served thee fourteen years for thy daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages how many times? Ten times." He didn't give the money to God. So, God made him reap what he sowed, ten times with this money. All right, going back. Going back. God will get it out of you one way or the other. You reap what you sow. Jacob is clearly the best example of a Christian, uh, who is saved, kept by God, but he reaps what he sows. Jacob is the best example of that.
Genesis chapter 29, and then we'll look at verse 1.
"Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east." So, Jacob continued on his journey, and then he's now in the land of the people of the East. So, if you recall, uh, I didn't draw the map, but if you recall, in this side right here is, uh, Beersheba. So, Beersheba, Haran, excuse me, not Haran. Beersheba is where his family, where Isaac used to live. And if you look at the map of Israel, it's right here. The western side. Syria is toward the eastern side. And then, if you recall, Jacob was heading toward the eastern side, right? So, he is heading toward the land of the East. He is heading toward this direction. So, he's reaching his uncle's place of the, in the eastern side, the Syrian region.
Verse 2: "Let me know if I'm cut off, okay? And he looked, and behold, a well in the field." So, he looked up ahead as he was journeying. And lo and behold, that's the idea of what "behold" means. He saw a well in the middle of, in the middle of the field there.
"And lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it: for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon the well's mouth." The reason why the sheep, the three flocks of sheep, were lying by this well is because out of this well, that's where they water their flocks. And there was a great stone on the well's entrance. So, the well's mouth is the well's entrance. This great stone, they say, is like a flat stone. It's a large, flat stone. And it covered the top. Whatever that stone was, it was blocking the well's entrance, so they can't drink.
Verse 3: "And there were all the flocks gathered, and they rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well's mouth in his place." Okay, so explaining every word right here. Is it at that place right there? That's the idea of the word "thither." That all the flocks gathered together. They rolled the stone out of the well's entrance to water the sheep, and then they put that huge stone back again in the well's entrance, back in its place again, back into place.
Now, in verse 3, they're not doing that right now, okay? So, you would think from verse 3 they were doing that right now. They were just removing the stone and watering the sheep. No, they're not doing that. They're still waiting. Verse 3 is simply explaining what they did with that well. So, let me explain that again. What they did with that well, that's the language. That's the idea of verse 2 and 3. In other words, whenever they went to that well, this is what they did. This is what they always did. So, it's just telling you, it's just explaining you what they do with that well. Usually. Does that make sense? So, it's not happening right now. It happened in their past. Now, the evidence is because of the next verses. If you look at, uh, verse 7, Jacob's telling them, "Why not just water the sheep?" So, they haven't watered their sheep yet, see? So, they're not doing that right now. Verse 8: "They said that we can't do that now until somebody comes and removes the stone out, out of its place." All right, understanding that, we'll go to verse 4 now.
Verse 4: "And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence be?" So, Jacob, he speaks, uh, to the shepherds in charge of those three flocks. He says, "Uh, uh, my friends, or my brothers, where are you from?" And they said, "Of Haran are we." The shepherds reply, "We come from Haran." So, remember that's where Jacob is heading towards. So, he's saying, "Oh, okay. So, I've came across the right place. I'd come to the right place."
Verse 5: "And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him." So, he says to them, "Do you know Laban, who is Nahor's son?" They answer him that they do know him. Now, if you recall, go to Genesis 22. Laban is not Nahor's son. The language again, as we've seen so many times in Genesis, when it says "father, son," it's basically saying, you know, it could refer to a grandson or a great-grandson, or a father, or a grandfather, or a great-grandfather, basically within that lineage.
If you look at Genesis 22, we can see Nahor is the grandfather. Genesis chapter 22, verse 20: "And it came to pass after these things, I was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor." Now, look who Nahor gave birth to. It says right here in verse, uh, 21: "Huz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram, and Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel." See that? Bethuel is from Nahor. Then Bethuel, in verse 23, gives, "Make sure that Rebekah is born." Now, remember Laban is Rebekah's brother, right? So, Laban is Bethuel's son. Then in verse 23: "And Bethuel is the son of Nahor." Verse 20. Meaning then Laban is the grandson.
Going back to Genesis 28, uh, 29, excuse me, going back to Genesis 29 passage reads here, uh, verse 6: "And he said unto them, Is he well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep." So, Jacob says to those shepherds, "Is Laban's, uh, is Laban in good health? Is he well?" They answer, "He's in good health. He's doing well. And look, Rachel, his own daughter, is coming with the sheep."
Verse 7: "And he said, Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together." So, Jacob says, "Hey, so remember, lo and behold, the idea is, can I have your attention, please? That's the, those are the two words that always introduces that part." He says, "Hey, look, it's the day is still, it's still high day. So, in other words, it's a greater part of the day. There's a lot that still remains out of daylight. And it's not even time that the cattle should be gathered together." And if you know the history of that time, or, uh, you've taken care of flocks or cattle before, uh, usually, uh, during the old days, in evening time, that's when they gather when the sun's about to set, right? But Jacob's saying that, "Look, it's not even close to that time where we're hitting evening, the sun's about to go down, and you have to gather in the cattle. It's still high day."
"So why not in the last part of verse 7, water ye the sheep, and go out and feed them?" So, he's saying, "Why don't you just water the sheep, and then after the sheep get watered, usually, all right, usually during those old days, I'm, I don't know much about farming, so maybe it does application today as well, but usually once you water them, then, uh, they go out to the pasture and eat, uh, the greenery of the pasture." That's how it usually works. Once you water them. So, think about it. If they water the sheep, they have, they let their sheep go to eat out in pastures, then the other flocks and the other shepherds, they're going to have problems where their own sheep is going to have problems finding, uh, pure green pasture to eat, right? Which is why they respond right here that, "We cannot water the sheep and send them out to eat out in the pastures yet."
Because in verse 8: "And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together." So, there's the shepherds are saying, "We can't because we have to wait till all the other remaining flocks, all the other remaining shepherds and the teams gather together." That way, it's a, that, that way, it's more fair. They all share the water, and then they can eat the pasture together. Fair share. Keep reading onwards here. "Until they roll the stone from the well's mouth, then we water the sheep." So, until the remaining shepherds come to roll that stone away from the well's entrance, then we can water the sheep.
Now, here's another interesting thing. If Laban is the one in charge of that region, or kind of like almost a ruler of that region, it would make sense that those shepherds can't drink from Laban's well if that does belong in his territory. They can't drink from, uh, they can't let their sheep drink from Laban's well yet because in verse 6, they said, "His daughter is coming with Laban's sheep." So, they have to give respect to their leader first. So, they have to wait for, uh, his daughter to come with Laban's sheep, then they can partake in Laban's water. So, that's probably also the reason why. So, there are two reasons again. One is, uh, let me write it down here. So, one reason is because of the property belongs to Laban. It's Laban's well. That's the reason why they have to wait. A second reason is because, uh, there aren't no arguments, no hoarding. So, there's no hoarding of it.
Okay, let's go to Genesis chapter 29, and then we'll look at verse 9.
"And while he had spake with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep: for she kept them." So, while they were talking, Rachel came with her father, Laban's sheep, because she was the one who took care of the sheep, kept them, guarded the sheep.
Verse 10: "And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother." So, "and it came to pass," remember that's a phrase meaning it just so happened to be. That's the idea. When Jacob sees Rachel, and the Bible calls Rachel the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother. So, that's self-explanatory. "And the sheep of Laban his mother's brother." So, he sees the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother.
"That Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother." Jacob, once he saw Rachel, the sheep, then he went near them, and then he rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and then he also watered the flock of Laban, his mother's brother. Now, it's possible right here that if Jacob was able to roll that stone at verse 10, then it shows that a person could be able to roll the stone away. Some people mentioned that the reason why they couldn't water their flock is because the stone is very heavy. However, right here in verse 10, it wouldn't make sense because Jacob was able to roll the stone away himself. So, I think that these two, uh, possibilities would make more sense. The third one could be, it could be that because once Jacob saw Rachel, you know, he started to get all manly up and he's like, "I'm going to be Superman. I'm going to win her heart." And then so you see some of these Bible movies, you know, where Jacob, you know, is trying to be like a prince charming or Superman or something like that to woo the woman. He's like, "I moved the stone." You know, and Rachel's like, "Oh, oh, like that." So, some people do it that way. Me, I think that's just because directors, you know, want to, want to make it over dramatic. That's what I think. I don't think that's realistic.
In verse 10, it is very interesting though that the Bible says "his mother's brother." You notice that three times in one verse? There's a reason for that. There's a reason for that. Notice what's going on in Jacob's mind in verse 10. Jacob sees Rachel. That's Laban, my mother's brother. The sheep is Laban, my mother's brother. I'm going to water the flock of Laban, my mother's brother. Why? What's going on in his mind? Is because he longed to be with that family. And I think the evidence is given at verse 13. If you, uh, verse 11.
Verse 11: "And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept." See that? He wouldn't be doing that unless there was some longing in there, right? So, in verse 11, that's normal that, uh, when you greet, uh, the people during the old days, that the Semites, that they would greet through kit, through kissing each other. So, Jacob kisses Rachel, and then he gives a loud cry, and then he wept because he went on a long journey. You might recall and remember he's scared of his older brother, and he's all alone. He left home. So, perhaps that longing of kinship or something that's family is the reason why in verse 10 that was what was going on his mind. "My mother's brother, my mother's brother, my mother's brother." Also, it shows his value. How much he valued his mom, right? He showed also how much he valued his mom, which is a no-brainer, as you've learned from previous Genesis studies, that Jacob was a mama's boy.
When we look at verse 12: "And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's brother, and that he was Rebekah's son: and she ran and told her father." So, notice that verse 12 lines up with the context pretty well at verse 10 and 11, right? That, "Hey, I belong, uh, that your father belongs, uh, as a brother to my mother, and I'm her son, her son." So, see that family bond is in there. That's throughout the entire context. So, Jacob tells Rachel that he's, uh, her father's brother. And that he was Rebekah's son. So, in other words, when it says right here that he was her father's brother, again, we're not thinking that, uh, Rachel's dad, Laban, uh, was, let's see right here, that he's the brother to Laban. It's showing again kinship, right? It's showing kinship, family. So, that's what you see with son, father, and brother. And that he was Rebekah's son. So, he, that's self-explanatory. Jacob's Rebekah's son. And so, Rachel, she ran and she told her father, Laban, about what happened.
Verse 13: "And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister's son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house: and he told Laban all these things." Self-explanatory. Verse 13, it's saying, "It just so happened to be when Laban hears about the news that Jacob, which is his own sister's son, so his nephew, is here, he runs to meet Jacob, and then he hugs Jacob, and then he kisses him." That's the greeting. Then takes him to his house. And then Jacob explains to his uncle, Laban, everything that happened to him.
"And Laban said to him." So, Laban says to Jacob, "Surely thou art my bone and my flesh." And he abode with him the space of a month. So, Laban, his uncle, says to Jacob, "You're, uh, you're truly a part of me. My bone, my flesh. You are one, uh, you are from my, uh, you are from my family line. You are a part of me." That's the idea. That family bond. When he says, "You are my bone and my flesh." And Jacob, uh, stays with Laban for about a month's time. That's the idea about the space of a month. So, it's about the time, the time gap is about a month long. And then the very next verses we read, Jacob lived happily ever after.
All right, next Bible study, we're going to see his reaping and sowing and some interesting things here we can learn from his life. Father God, I pray that today's Bible study has been a blessing to the people. We've understood every word, uh, got an idea, Lord, got a better gist of how the Holy speaks to us through Your book. And, uh, thank You so much for the doctrines that we can learn. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.