Title: The Refuge of Jacob (Genesis 28:1)
Description Jacob left his hometown. It was on the way to Haran's uncle's house. From his hometown of Beersheba to Haran in the land of Paddan Aram was a long distance of 1,500 li. When he left the house and came to a place, the sun was setting. That place was called Bethel, about 250 li from Beersheba, the land of Jacob's hometown.
He had walked 250 li until the sun went down. I think that Jacob would have run rather than walked that long a day in one day. This clearly shows how impatient his heart was in running away from his brother.
In Genesis 28:11, we see that it is said, "The sun was setting in a certain place, and he took a stone, put a pillow on it, and went to sleep." The road he came to Tui must have been a desolate wilderness road and a mountain road. How dangerous it was to fall asleep on a mountain road with nothing to hide and nothing to cover. It was a dangerous road that wild animals might attack and Esau might pursue. But he fell asleep restlessly. It is not the most dangerous time of the day when a person is naturally asleep. It's also a time when you can't protect yourself. That's why sleeping time isn't about closing the door and locking the bar. But Jacob fell on a dangerous mountain road and fell into a deep sleep alone. In a dream he saw in a vision how God was protecting him and bless him.
Genesis 28:12: “Jacob saw in a dream a ladder standing on the ground, and its top reached to heaven, and behold, angels of God ascending and descending on it, and behold, the Lord stood on it, saying, I am the Lord your grandfather Abraham. God, the God of Isaac, I will give to you and to your descendants the land on which you lie, and in you and your descendants all families of the earth will be blessed.
I am with you, I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have accomplished all that I have promised you.” After seeing the revelation, he woke up and began to realize that God was with him. He poured oil and knelt before God, and what was the first thing he said when he woke up.
In Genesis 28:16, "Jacob awoke and said, Surely the LORD is here, and I did not know it."
This means that Jacob did not know that God was with him until he fell asleep. In fact, his heart must have been filled with fear, anxiety, loneliness, and tears until then. God sent his messengers to keep Jacob like that all night long. This is an allusion to the fact that ladders were placed in heaven and on earth, and angels of God ascended and descended, and the Lord was standing on them (see Acts 7:55).
What are the truths we learn from this? In fact, more often than not, we receive God's protection and grace when our faith deepens, rather than the opposite. In fact, when we forget God, we learn from Jacob that God rather seeks and protects us.
Jacob did not know that God was with him and fell down from exhaustion, but God stood and kept him all night.
how grateful this is Jacob got up and wept tears of joy, built a stone pillar, anointed it with oil, and called the name of the place Bethel. It means the house of God.
His heart was glad when he left there again, and you don't know how light his steps were. In Genesis 29:1, there is a saying, "Jacob went out to go to the land of the East..." The original text here means to go into the air. In other words, it means to fly. This shows how light his steps are. His heavy steps, trembling with fear and anxiety, are light, and his heart to serve the Lord is joyful.
Eventually, he reached Haran, the land of Paddan Aram, his destination, and stood by a well.
He had to be a shepherd in the field for 20 years, but even his maternal uncle, who was so kind, gradually changed his mind. He, too, tried to use Jacob, not to help. Therefore, his torment grew worse day by day. Genesis 31:40 says, "Likewise I endured the heat of the day and the cold of the night, so that I could not keep my eyes open." This is an expression of his 20 years of life in Laban's house in one word. .
He was truthful and endured the revenge of the day and the cold of the night, and had to spend day and night with the flock. Not only that, but he had to continue to be treated unfairly in Laban's house.
In Genesis 31:41, "During the 20 years that I lived in your uncle's house... you changed my wages ten times." It was very sad to see that it was written like this. He had to be deceived ten times by his uncle. The man who had deceived his father and deceived his brother now had to pay the price for what he sowed.
“Whatever a man sowed, he had to reap what he sowed. It was a long time ago, but he had to be deceived even by his own sons, and he had to live a sad day because of it (Genesis 37:31-34).
Also, as it is said in Proverbs 13:15, "The way of the deceived is rough," Jacob's life course was very difficult indeed. (See Genesis 47:9). It must be said that it was God's special training to change his character that he had to spend his whole life in such harsh days. In fact, he finally became a holy patriarch after all his suffering.
After 20 years of hard life in Paddan Aram, he finally longed for his hometown.
In Genesis 30:25, he finally pleaded with Laban, "Send me, that I may go to my hometown and my land." But he made him stay with several words.
In fact, Jacob was not free to leave at will. He was also a bound servant. But the time has finally come. In Genesis 31:2, "Jacob looked at Laban's countenance, and it was not as he was before", and his sons also complained about him harshly, saying, "We have taken away all that our father had" (31:1).
The environment has been so harsh that he does not know what kind of harm may come to him. At that very moment the word of God came to him, saying, "Return to the land of your fathers, to your people.
I will be with you.” He was also God's chosen and beloved Son, under the protection and guidance of God.
He fled quietly and left Laban's house. Toward his longing homeland of Canaan, however, there were still difficult days ahead of him.