Jacob’s Vow
Background and Printed Text: Genesis 28:10-22
Genesis 28:10 And He-Will-Heel (Jacob) exited from Well-Of-Oath (Beersheba). And he walked toward Charred (Haran). 11And he reached in a place. And he lodged there because the sun came. And he took from the stones of the place. And he put his headings. And he lay down in that place.
12And he dreamed. And behold, a ladder is positioned landward. And his head touches the heavensward. And behold, messengers of Elohim are ascending and descending via him! 13And behold, Yehovah positioned upon him. And He said, “I am Yehovah Gods of Father-Of-A-Crowd thy father and the Gods of He-Will-Laugh. The land on which thou liest—I will give her to thee and to thy seed. 14And thy seed shall be as dust of the land! And thou shalt spread seaward and eastward and northward and southward. And all families of the soil shall be blessed via thee and via thy seed. 15And behold, I am with thee. And I will guard thee in all that thou shalt walk. And I will return thee unto this soil. For I will not forsake thee unto that, if I did what I spoke to thee!”
16And He-Will-Heel (Jacob) awoke from his sleep. And he said, “Indeed there is Yehovah in this place! And I, I didn’t know!” 17And he feared. And he said, “How fearsome is this place! This is not but rather House of Gods! And this is a gate of the heavens!”
18And Jacob early-rose in the morning. And he took the stone that he put his headings. And he put her a pillar. And he poured oil upon her head. 19And he called the name of that place House-of-Mighty-One. And contrarily, Perversion is the name of the city to her head. 20And Jacob vowed a vow to say, “If Elohim will be with me, and He will guard me in this way that I am walking, and He will give bread to me to eat and a garment to put on, 21and I will return in peace unto my father’s house, and Yehovah shall be to me for Gods, 22and this stone that I put a pillar will be House of Gods! And all that Thou shalt give to me—I will-tenth him a tenth to Thee!”
I. Jacob’s Depressed Journey (verses 10-11)
This was a very sad time for Jacob. He had quickly departed from his family. He loved his family. His father had blessed him, and his mother had shown him real graces. His brother hated him, and Jacob did not know how long this would last.
Jacob did as his parents commanded, journeying toward Haran, the place where his uncle Laban lived. On the way there, he came to a place that seemed ordinary. The sun had ‘come’ (set), and he wanted to stop. Sleeping on the ground can be uncomfortable, but he took from the stones of the place and formed them into his ‘headings’ (pillows for his head). He lay down and went to sleep.
Questions
1. Was Yehovah already leading Jacob?
2. Why does the Hebrew language describe the sun as coming when it is setting?
3. How could stones be good for ‘headings’ (places to put one’s head)?
4. Why didn’t he leave home with his pillow?
5. Why didn’t Isaac give Jacob an animal to ride and another animal upon which to carry his stuff, instead of Jacob leaving on foot with just what he could carry?
II. The Dream (verses 12-15)
Jacob dreamed. He saw a ladder set up toward the land. Its head touches the heavens. This ladder was extremely tall. Messengers, which are angels in this case, are ascending (going upward) and descending (going downward) via the ladder. Jacob saw Yehovah positioned on the ladder. He began to speak to Jacob.
Yehovah first identified Himself: “I am Yehovah Gods of Avraham thy father, and the Gods of Isaac.” He then gave the same promise to Jacob that He had given to Avraham and to Isaac—that the land will be his and his seed’s property.
Jacob’s seed will be as the dust of the land. They will spread out to live in all four directions. (The Mediterranean sea, ‘seaward,’ was to Jacob’s west.)
All families of the soil will be blessed by means of Jacob and Jacob’s seed.
Yehovah next assured Jacob, who was running from his murder-planning brother, that He (Yehovah) is with Jacob. He will guard Jacob in all things that he will walk. Yehovah will return Jacob back to this very soil. He will not forsake or abandon Jacob even unto the point that He has done what He promised.
Questions
1. Was this dream from Elohim?
2. Why was a ladder a necessary part of this dream?
3. Do other texts explain about this ladder? (If so, what is the explanation?)
4. What business did the messengers have so that they needed to ascend and descend the ladder?
5. Is there really one place where there is an invisible ladder with angels ascending and descending on it?
6. Why is the word Gods plural? Is there not only one God?
7. Why did Yehovah identify Himself as “I am Yehovah Gods of Avraham thy father and the Gods of Isaac”?
8. What did Yehovah mean by “the land on which thou liest”?
9. Who is Jacob’s seed?
10. In what way(s) will Jacob’s seed be as dust of the land?
11. How will Jacob spread seaward and eastward and northward and southward?
12. How will all the families of the soil been blessed because of Jacob?
13. How will all the families of the soil be blessed by Jacob’s seed?
14. What does “I am with thee” mean?
15. Is He with all Christians?
16. What does “I will guard thee in all that thou shalt walk” mean?
17. Does Yehovah guard all His children?
18. What is so important about Yehovah returning Jacob to this soil?
19. What does “For I will not forsake thee unto that, if I did what I spoke to thee” mean?
20. Will Yehovah ever forsake Jacob or his offspring?
III. Jacob’s Realization (verses 16-17)
Jacob awoke. He then realized that Yehovah is right there, in the place where Jacob was sleeping! Jacob didn’t know that!
Jacob became fearful. It was frightening for him to realize that Yehovah was right there! Then he realized something else. This is the very place where Yehovah lives. It is His House! The ladder showed him that this very location was the gate of the heavens! This place was very important to God, and will be very important to Jacob and to his seed.
Questions
1. Why didn’t Jacob awake and figure that he had just had a bad dream?
2. Why did Jacob conclude that Yehovah was in that place?
3. Isn’t Yehovah everywhere?
4. Why didn’t Jacob know that Yehovah was in this place before he dreamed?
5. Why did Jacob fear?
6. Why would the place be fearsome?
7. What is a House of Gods?
8. What is a gate of the heavens?
IV. The Vow (verses 18-22)
Jacob did not sleep long after this. He rose early in the morning. The stone that he had put for his head now had a very important meaning. He stood the stone up on one end forming a pillar. He then took oil (likely olive oil), and he poured oil on the top part of the stone as if it were a person. This is called anointing something.
Jacob named the Place House-Of-Mighty-[One] the name is used to this day. The place originally (at her head) was called Perversion, but now it would be named something good.
Jacob vowed to Yehovah. He started out with the word if. He said that if God would do certain things, he would do certain things. Jacob’s vow included the following: if
(a) Elohim (God) will be with him
(b) Elohim (God) will guard him in this way that he is walking
(c) Elohim will give him bread to eat
(d) Elohim will give him a garment to put on
(e) Jacob will return in peace unto his father’s house
(f) Yehovah will be Jacob’s Gods
(g) The pillow stone will be House of Gods
(h) Jacob will take a tenth of all that Yehovah will give to him, and Jacob will give it back to Yehovah.
Will Yehovah do as Jacob said in his vow? Lessons later on will let us know.
Questions
1. Why did Jacob rise early in the morning?
2. What does “he put her a pillar” mean?
3. Why did he set the stone up as a pillar?
5. Why did Jacob pour oil on the stone?
6. How can the stone be a picture of a person if it is feminine in gender (“upon her head”)?
7. Why did he call the name of that place ‘House of Mighty One’?
8. What is a house in the Bible?
9. What does “Perversion is the name of the city to her head” mean?
10. What is a vow?
11. Why did Jacob vow? Did he feel like he had to vow?
12. If Elohim is with anyone, what does this mean?
13. If Elohim guards anyone in the way in which he is walking, what does this mean?
14. Why would Jacob need to mention bread and a garment?
15. Why was returning in peace unto his father’s house important?
16. Jacob said, “Yehovah shall be to me for Gods.” Was Jacob a Believer and born of God at this time?
17. How can a stone be (or become) the House of Gods (House of Elohim)?
18. Jacob vowed to give a tenth. That is the same as tithing—giving a tithe. Why did he vow to do that?
19. Where would he give Elohim one tenth of all his things (that Elohim will give to him)? He did not attend church. How would he get these things to God?
20. Though this is not part of the Genesis 28 text, please answer it: What form was the tithe that Yehovah later commanded to Israel?