Genesis 27-33

D. Scott Meadows

CHAPTER OVERVIEW

These chapters show Jacob (“deceiver”) as one in God’s favor, later renamed Israel as one who proves to be victorious by the grace of God (Gen 32.28).

27. ISAAC BLESSES JACOB. Aged Isaac intends to bless Esau (1-4). Conspiracy by Rebekah and Jacob (5-25). The blessing of Isaac upon Jacob (26-29). Esau’s shock and lament (30-40). Rebekah warns Jacob to flee from Esau (41-46).

28. JACOB’S FLIGHT. Isaac sends Jacob away in peace (1-5). Esau marries another wife to please Isaac (6-9). Jacob’s ladder dream and vow to serve the LORD (10-22).

29. JACOB’S MARRIAGES. He meets Rachel (1-12). Laban receives Jacob (13, 14). Jacob tricked into marrying Leah, also marries Rachel (15-30). Leah has four sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah (31-35).

30. COMPETITION WITHIN JACOB’S FAMILY. Rachel is barren and jealous, urges Jacob to marry her maid Bilhah (1-3). Bilhah has two sons: Dan and Naphtali (4-8). Leah gives another wife to Jacob, Zilpah, and she bears two sons: Gad and Asher (9-13). Leah has three more children: Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah (14-21). Rachel finally bears a son: Joseph (22-24). Jacob strangely enriched from Laban’s flocks (25-43).

31. JACOB LEAVES LABAN. Their relationship sours (1, 2). God directs Jacob to return to Canaan (3). Jacob explains to Rachel and Leah why they must leave (4-13) and they consent (14-16). Jacob flees secretly with his family and goods (17-21). Laban pursues and confronts Jacob (22-42). They covenant together at Mizpah (43-55).

32. GOD CALMS JACOB’S FEAR. Angels meet Jacob and he names the place Mahanaim (1, 2). Jacob sends messengers to Esau (3-5). Jacob distressed over Esau’s approach with 400 men (6-8). Jacob’s prayer for protection (9-12). Jacob sends gifts to Esau (13-21). Jacob’s wrestling match, being renamed “Israel” (22-32).

33. HAPPY REUNION OF JACOB AND ESAU. Their two caravans meet in the desert (1-3). Esau’s friendly greeting, inquiry, acceptance of Jacob’s gifts, and departure (4-17). Jacob arrives safe and sound in Canaan and worships God (18-20).

MAJOR DOCTRINES

1. Man Proposes, God Disposes. “God’s works of providence are His most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all His creatures, and all their actions” (#14, Baptist Catechism of 1693). Even before they were born, God loved Jacob and hated Esau (Rom 9.13). God announced Jacob the younger would be especially blessed. He would receive the birthright (right of the firstborn) and the blessing (a dying father’s best prayer for his favorite son). Against the wishes of Esau and Isaac, Jacob receives both! This was inevitable. Jacob should have patiently trusted the Lord instead of scheming and lying to get what God had promised. We cannot possibly thwart God’s eternal plan. He uses even human sin to accomplish His holy ends, while “He remains pure from every stain” (Calvin, ICR I.18).

2. God’s Covenant Faithfulness. God keeps the unconditional promises of His covenant; Jacob’s unbelief and unfaithfulness cannot cancel them. The covenants in Genesis progressively reveal the gospel and the covenant of grace, according to which God saves all His elect chosen from eternity.

MAJOR PASSAGES

1. Genesis 28.3, 4. The Abrahamic covenant undeniably passes to Jacob. It promises Jesus Christ, the Seed of Abraham, and the salvation of multitudes through Him (Gal 3.16).

2. Gen 28.12. “Jacob’s ladder” reinforces God’s promise to Jacob and the angels as ministering spirits for his salvation (Heb 1.14) through Christ the Mediator (John 1.51; 3.13). “It is in the ‘Son of Man’ that the mystic ladder, which Jacob saw at Bethel, has been truly set up, so that God visits man, and man is made aware of the saving presence of God” (Geerhardus Vos, Grace and Glory, p. 68).

3. Gen 32.28. The Lord knights Jacob as a man of spiritual valor (M. Henry). “The holy patriarch Jacob wrestled with the angel, who strained the hollow of his thigh out of joint, to show that his children should henceforth not boast of their fleshly birth, as the Jews do. Therefore he also received a new name, that he should henceforth be called Israel, as a patriarch who was not only Jacob, the father of fleshly children, but Israel, the father of spiritual children” (Martin Luther, “The Magnificat,” LW 21.350).