BIBLE READING NOTES

February 2006

Friday, Feb 24th - Genesis 28: 13
      Above the ladder, Jacob beheld the Lord standing.  The fact that God is pure spirit, invisible, and without a body, as our Westminster Confession of Faith rightly teaches (WCF II.1.), does not mean that God cannot represent Himself visually to man, as when the Holy Spirit was seen at the baptism of Jesus to descend like a dove.  The fact that the Lord’s is standing indicates His readiness to attend to the needs of His chosen man, as when the martyr Stephen, who stood faithfully for Jesus amidst murderous opposition, saw the heavens opened and Jesus standing at the right hand of God to receive his spirit (Acts 7:56,59).  If our Lord stands for us as our helping advocate, who or what can stand against us?

Saturday, Feb 25th - Genesis 28: 13
      The Lord reveals Himself to Jacob not only in the visionary standing posture—a stance that in itself could signify His standing in opposition against as readily as it could indicate His standing for this son of Isaac.  The Lord more clearly reveals Himself to Jacob through His Word of self-designation.  He declares Himself to be the Lord, meaning the sole divine and supremely sovereign King of heaven and earth.  Implicit in the designation, Lord, is also the covenant mercy and lovingkindness of God.  This covenantal feature is elaborated in the further divine self-designation in which the Lord declares Himself to be the God of Abraham and Isaac.  Thus, the divine One Jacob sees standing, declares Himself to be the One who had promised and proven Himself to be the mighty protector and provider, as well as the merciful redeemer of Jacob’s grandfather and father, just as He would be for Jacob and all of his spiritual descendants.

Sunday, Feb 26th - Genesis 28: 13
      As He had done with Abraham and Isaac, so the Lord does now with Jacob, promising him the land upon which he was then lying as a sojourner between Beersheba and Haran (Gen. 12:6,7; 26:3).  The gracious, sovereign, and almighty determination of the Lord makes His people not to be strangers and exiles in the earth, but rather ones destined to inherit a new earth and a new heaven.  This vast and ultimate inheritance of the children of God is here typified by the land of Canaan that the Lord promises to give to Jacob.

Monday, Feb 27th - Genesis 28: 14
      The land God promised to Jacob would not be a lonely place lacking inhabitants or filled with a population inimical to Jacob.  The Lord reiterates the covenant promise He had made to Abraham and to Isaac, now telling Jacob as He had told them that he would have a multitude of descendants who would possess the Promised Land and beyond.  This divine promise encompasses the tribes of Israel who would descend naturally from Jacob, as well as multitudes of Gentiles who, by their saving faith and spiritual circumcision of heart, would prove to be spiritual descendants of Jacob, dwelling in every nation of the earth as more than conquerors through their apprehension of the love of God in Christ.

Tuesday, Feb 28th - Genesis 28: 14
      The Lord’s promise of an abundance of children for Jacob implicitly guaranteed the rightness and success of Jacob’s mission to Haran to find a wife.  The blessedness of Jacob’s personal and domestic life are explicitly contained in the divine promise that in Jacob and his seed all the families of the earth would be blessed.  Regarding this blessing, Jacob and his spiritual descendants would be conduits of the redemptive blessing of which Christ, the ultimate seed of Abraham, is the source (Gal. 3:16).

Wednesday,  March 1st - Genesis 28: 15
      The guarantee of the great and precious promises that the Lord gave to Jacob was the person, authority, and power of the Lord Himself.  The divine pledge that God would be with Jacob ensured that no one or nothing could prevail against him so as to prevent the fulfillment of these covenant promises.  The God of infallible wisdom, infinite power, and immeasurable love would be the guiding shepherd to Jacob, protecting and providing for him wherever he went, causing all things to work together for his blessing.  It would not be Jacob’s desire or determined effort, but rather would be the Lord’s power and timing that would bring Jacob back to the land he for a time was leaving.  The promise, no doubt, was a comforting assurance to Jacob as he dwelt and labored for some 20 years in Haran (Gen. 31:38).  It should be our supreme comfort that we know that our risen Redeemer will never leave or forsake us (Mt. 28:20).

Thursday,  March 2nd - Genesis 28: 15
      The holy will, infallible wisdom, and almighty power of the Lord are all committed to the fulfillment of the divine promises given to Jacob and his descendants.  Therefore, the patriarch and we who are his spiritual descendants can best discern the Lord’s will for our lives by our diligent study and discerning understanding of the great and precious promises given to us by our gracious God.

Friday,  March 3rd - Genesis 28: 16
      Jacob awoke from his sleep with greater insight and understanding of his waking life than he had before his sleep wherein the Lord appeared to him.  By the closing of his physical eyes, the eyes of his heart were opened, so that he knew not only that the Lord was in his sleeping vision, but also had been and continued to be in the place where Jacob had laid himself for a night’s rest on his way to Haran.  Jacob’s waking awareness did not, before his night’s vision of the Lord, perceive that the Lord was in the place that had been strange and seemingly without comforting provision for him.  After his eye-opening sleep, the sojourning patriarch had the sure and comforting insight and understanding that the Lord was with him in that place and would be with him wherever he went.  It is for such an awakening to the knowledge of the promises, provision, and presence of the Lord that we should pray for ourselves (Eph. 1:18ff; Col. 1:9ff).

Saturday,  March 4th - Genesis 28: 16, 17
      The place that had been strange, dark, and dreary to Jacob before his nocturnal vision was rightly perceived by him to be awesome and sacred and full of blessed significance and promise for him now that he had awakened from the sleep of his spiritual blindness.  By this vision, Jacob beheld through the appearance of a desolate place, the glorious house of God and the gate of heaven to which he had been brought near.  What made this place to be such as Jacob beheld it to be was the near presence of his covenant God.  The fact that the Lord had promised to be with Jacob wherever he went also made him see by faith that every place in which he would ever be was also a glorious divine abode.  The same is true for us about every place we go, for our Savior has promised to be with us to the end of the age (Mt. 28:20).  This truth is elaborated throughout the Book of Revelation, where the Apostle John, having been banished to the island of Patmos, saw in the Spirit the heavens opened to show him that the sure presence and prevailing power of the Lord would ever be with His people in every age.

Sunday,  March 5th - Genesis 28: 18, 19
      The Lord awakens people to a new life and a new walk.  Such divinely awakened ones perceive and perform all things in a new light and by a new power.  Hence, Jacob, who was fleeing from his brother’s wrath and lay down upon a comfortless stone in the middle of his journey from Beersheba to Haran, upon seeing the Lord and hearing and believing His words of covenant promise, awakens to walk in a new light.  The place that once was strange to him, he now rightly sees and testifies to be the house of God and the gate of heaven.  The comfortless stone upon which he had placed his weary head now is made by Jacob into a memorial pillar, a treasured token of the Lord’s gracious presence and great promises.  When we spiritually awaken, vitally to believe the divine promises that are all yes and amen to us in Christ, we too shall treasure all the things that our God has caused to work together for our good—even the painful thorns in our flesh.

Monday,  March 6th - Genesis 28: 18, 19
      Jacob pours anointing oil upon the memorial pillar he had erected in gratitude for the Lord’s gracious dealings with him.  Hereby he marks this common stone as a sacred testimony to divine grace.  The oil may also be taken by us to signify healing in Jacob as he now rightly apprehended that his security and blessing were in the Lord and not in the home and family so familiar to him.  Nor were his security and blessing threatened, still less destroyed, by the wrath of men such as Esau.  Our souls find their deepest and most lasting healing when we by faith find our help in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth.

Tuesday,  March 7th - Genesis 28: 19
      Jacob saw not only his stony pillow in the new and true light of divine blessing, he also saw the place where he had stayed that night in a new and true light.  The name of the place was Luz, meaning, almonds—a pleasant enough designation.  But in an act of authority, whereby one names a thing not in accordance with its appearance, but in accordance with its true essence, Jacob changes the name of the place to Bethel, meaning house of God.  As God, by His creating Word, called into being things that were not, so, through the exercise of our faith in the Lord, we see and declare to be things that are, but that men in their natural blindness thought were not.

Wednesday, March 8th - Genesis 28: 20-27

      These verses sketch for us the prominent details of Jacob’s vow to the Lord, made in response to the eye-opening vision God gave to the patriarch while he slept on a stone in the vicinity of Luz.  A vow is a committed promise one makes to God.  Whenever the Lord commits Himself graciously to us through His Word of great and precious promise and provision, we respond appropriately only when we gratefully commit ourselves to Him through vows and other forms of holy dedication.

Thursday, March 9th - Genesis 28: 20, 21

The basis of Jacob’s vow is the gracious, covenant promise of the Lord.  Thus, Jacob begins by taking the Lord at His Word, declaring that if—or it could read since—God would keep His Word and would be with Him and bless him, then Jacob would own the Lord as his God, and would worship and serve Him accordingly.  It is not only true that we love because our Lord has first loved us (1 Jn. 4:19), but it is also true that we desire and are enabled to give because He first has given to us.  Let us, then, learn better to search the riches of His gracious giving to us, so that we might increase not only our gratitude, but also our giving of ourselves to Him and for His service.

Friday, March 10th – Genesis 28: 20, 21

      Jacob rightly reckoned that if God would be with him, as He had promised to be, then divine protection and provision would be his.  The Lord would guard and guide him with infallible wisdom and almighty power; the Lord would make provision for his physical necessities from His creating, preserving, governing, and multiplying hand; the Lord would return him to his father’s house in safety and peace, having healed all wounds and reconciled all sinfully caused ruptures within his family.  Jacob rightly reckoned that if this God were for him, nothing and no one could prevail against him.  We should reckon in the same way (Rom. 8:31).

Saturday, March 11th - Genesis 28: 20-22

In response to the divine promises, apprehended and relied upon by Jacob exercising his faith, the patriarch dedicates himself to the Lord.  Through his holy vow, Jacob devotes himself to the person of God, receiving and relying upon Him as his highest good and the one thing necessary in his life.  Only the most blind, perverse and suicidal of persons would not choose the Lord as his infinitely good portion that would never be taken from or disappoint him.

Sunday, March 12th - Genesis 28: 20-22

      Jacob dedicated his own person to the person of the Lord when he declared:  the Lord will be my God.  Jacob then proceeded to dedicate to the Lord the place where he had found his night’s rest and so much more to encourage and empower his working endeavors.  He who slept as a sojourner awoke conscious that he had title to and authority over the place where he was.  Therefore in an act of authority, he changed the name of the place to Bethel, designating it as the house of God.  The stone on which he had rested his head he declared to be the cornerstone of the Lord’s dwelling place.  For Jacob’s vision of the ladder was a vision of Christ, the Mediator between God and man, and, as such, the chief cornerstone of the Church (Ps. 118:22; Mt. 21:42; Acts 4:11; Eph 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:6,7).

Monday, March 13th – Genesis 28: 20-22

      Jacob’s vow wherein he dedicated the place of Bethel to the Lord was accepted by the Lord as an appropriate act of devotion, as we learn from Gen. 31:13, where the Lord again appeared to Jacob and designated Himself as the God of Bethel.  Jacob not only vowed to dedicate this place to the Lord, but also vowed a tithe of all his possessions to the Lord.  In this consecrating a tenth of his possessions to his God, Jacob was following the holy precedent set by his grandfather, Abraham, when he gave a tenth of his possessions to the Lord’s priest, Melchizedek (Gen. 14: 18-20).  The grace of the Lord poured richly upon us should beget in us grateful giving to our Lord guided by the godly examples of those who preceded us in the world of the Lord’s saving grace.

Tuesday, March 14th - Genesis 29: 1-5

      In chapter 28 the gracious promise of God was given to Jacob, and the son of Isaac responded with a grateful vow dedicating himself, the place of his vision, and a tithe of his possessions to the Lord.  Now, in chapter 29 we have an account of the providence of the Lord in fulfillment of the divine promise to Jacob.  We perceive, throughout this chapter, that there was a remarkable efficiency and fruitfulness in Jacob’s journey to Haran.  Truly, when God is with a man, not only can nothing prevail against him, but also all things work together for his good.

Wednesday, March 15th - Genesis 29: 1-5

      We note the remarkable efficiency of Jacob’s journey at several points in this passage.  First, he headed in the right direction when he aimed for the land of the sons of the east.  Surely some directions had been given to Jacob (Gen. 28:2), yet Jacob had never been to Paddan-aram before, and he, being not an outdoor and active man like Esau, but a domestic and contemplative man, could easily have lost his way.  Yet, his lack of traveling experience did not prevent him from finding the right place.  He walked toward it in obedience to his father’s directions and with confidence in the Lord’s promise and blessing presence.  Our lives will be more simple, satisfying, and successful if we walk and work in obedience to our godly leaders and with confidence in our Lord’s precious promises and blessing presence with us.

Thursday, March 16th - Genesis 29: 1-6

      The first thing we are told that Jacob saw in Haran was a collection of three flocks lying beside a sealed well.  The reason for the flocks waiting near the well is explained in v. 3.  Jacob does not pass by this curious gathering without offering the shepherds a gracious salutation and asking them about their homes.  Their response indicates that Jacob had been led to the very place of his proper destination.  Jacob may have given his greeting and asked about the shepherds because he was thirsty and hoped to get some water, or because he hoped to get some directions, or because he simply was filled with a genuine, gracious care for others as a result of his having been filled by the gracious promises of the Lord.  Probably all three things prompted Jacob’s conversation.  However, the last thing Jacob expected to find at this point was the wife he was seeking.  Yet that is the very thing God provides, which is above what Jacob asked or thought.  Who would not rely upon, trust, obey, and rejoice in such a giving God?

Friday, March 17th - Genesis 29: 1-6

      Jacob not only sees, but he also speaks to the shepherds.  They who were strangers he hails as brothers.  When the Lord is with a man, that man is graciously reconciled to other men.  He who knows God’s grace and love shares them with others.  The result is that Jacob, who blesses these shepherds by his gracious greeting, is blessed by their being able and willing not only to tell him the way to Laban’s house, but also to take them there.

Saturday, March 18th - Genesis 29: 4-6

      When the shepherds responded to Jacob’s questions, telling him that they were from Haran and knew Laban, things would seem to be most propitious for the son of Isaac who had been directed to the house of Laban (Gen. 28:2).  And yet, Jacob was about to meet his future wife at this sealed well, before he ever arrived at Laban’s house.  When the Lord is with a man, it may seem to him that the best wine has been served, until he finds to his surprise and delight that the very best wine is served with the next course of divine providence.  The best is always approaching the believer, who’s every step and hour spent take him closer to the marriage feast of the Lamb of God in eternal glory.

Sunday, March 19th – Genesis 29: 6-10

      When Jacob first sees Rachel, who would become his wife, she was busy fulfilling her domestic duties.  In this regard, she was like Ruth when Boaz first saw her working to glean in his fields (Ruth 2:2-7).  Neither of these spiritual women was attending marriage seminars or singles conferences in hopes of their finding husbands.  The best way for a man and a woman to find each other and develop their matrimonial prospects is for them to devote themselves in trusting obedience to the Lord, who not only instituted marriage, but also brings those to be equally yoked in and by Him together in the best way and at the best time.

Monday, March 20th - Genesis 29: 6-10

      Jacob was where he was in obedience to both his earthly father and his heavenly Father.  Rachel was where she was due to her obedience to her earthly father, and, presumably to her heavenly Father as well.  When two such people seek first the Lord and His kingdom and righteousness (that includes honoring one’s parents by obeying them in the Lord), then the Lord will add the blessing of holy matrimony to them, if it is according to His will, and crown their fulfillment of duty to their parents with delight in each other.

Tuesday, March 21st – Genesis 29: 7-10

      Jacob makes inquiry and learns of the custom of having the flocks gathered at the well so that they all could be watered together.  However, when he sees Rachel approach with her father’s sheep, he springs into action.  For Jacob, it was surely love at first sight that prompted him to transgress the custom and open the well for his beloved.  True love has highest regard for its object, and transcends customs of mere habit or convenience to accommodate the welfare of its object.  Here is an instance of the erstwhile selfish and sneaky supplanter openly doing a gallant, courageous, and caring thing.  It is the first recorded instance of Jacob showing loving concern for others.  The enriching promises of God freed him from an insecure self-regard and prompted him to devote himself to the interests of others (Phil. 2:3,4).

Wednesday, March 22nd - Genesis 29: 11, 12

      Jacob’s kissing of Rachel may seem rash and immodest.  Yet, it surely was not so much an erotic expression as it was a gesture of familial love.  It also was a pledge of future intimacy.  His kiss was accompanied by his tears of weeping.  His seeing this relative reminded him of how painful was his separation from his family, while also expressing his joy at meeting other family members.  The tears also surely issued over the wonder and profound gratitude that Jacob felt in response to this provision of God.  Faith discerns loving divine provision quickly and prompts the one exercising such faith to respond to such provision with bold and resolute love and joyful gratitude.

Thursday, March 23rd - Genesis 29: 12

Rachel responded to Jacob’s bold and loving demonstration and declaration by returning to her house to prepare the way for him.  Like the woman at the well in Samaria (Jn. 4), who, after she met Jesus, left her water pots and ran back into her city to tell of her encounter with the Savior, so Rachel left her father’s flock and ran home excitedly to declare Jacob’s coming.  She rightly knew that Jacob would care for the sheep while she shifted her care from her father’s interests to those of the man she obviously loved at first sight and would one day marry.  The love of holy matrimony is one wherein the parties forsake all others and regard most highly the interests of each other.  Such love is a reflection and fruit of Christ’s love for His Church and the love of the Church for Christ.

Friday, March 24th - Genesis 29: 12
We know that the Lord was with Jacob as He had promised to be (v.15).  The union Jacob had with his God was transforming the man who had been a selfish supplanter into the loving, gracious, giving, and serving likeness of the God of Jacob.  Such godly character was no doubt what Rachel found most attractive about this man.  It was in Jacob the light that also shines from us when we love the Lord with all our hearts because we apprehend His lavish love for us.  Such love of God and for God invariably makes us lovers of others and lovingly attractive to others.

Saturday, March 25th - Genesis 29: 11, 12
      The threat of murder at his brother’s hand painfully compelled Jacob to leave his home and family.  Jacob, by his deceitful scheming, had sinfully brought that threat upon himself.  Yet, the Lord overruled this thorn in Jacob’s flesh, making it to serve as a prod to drive His chosen man to the Lord and to the wife of the Lord’s providing.  The purposes of the Lord with respect to His chosen people spring from love and lead, through many tribulations, to love.