1. Relate the means by which Jacob secured the blessing.
2. Was this honorable on the part of Jacob? "And he said, Your brother came with subtlety, and has taken away your blessing." (Genesis 27:35)
3. What is the meaning of the name "Jacob"? "And he said: 'Is he not rightly named Jacob [margin: "A supplanter"]? for he has supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he has taken away my blessing.' And he said: 'Have you not reserved a blessing for me?'" (Genesis 27:36)
4. How did Esau regard Jacob for his course in securing the birthright? "And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him." (Genesis 27:41)
5. What did he purpose to do? "And Esau said in his heart: 'The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.'"
6. What did Jacob's mother advise him to do? "And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, your brother Esau, as touching you, does comfort himself, purposing to kill you. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee to Laban my brother to Haran; and tarry with him a few days, until your brother's fury turn away; until your brother's anger turn away from you, and he forget that which you have done to him: then I will send, and fetch you from thence; why should I be deprived also of you both in one day?" (Genesis 27:42-45)
7. Into how many years did the "few days" expand? More than twenty.
8. What sort of a sleeping-place did Jacob have one night on his journey? "And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.
And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all 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." (Genesis 28:10-11)
9. What dream did he have there? And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it." (Genesis 28:12)
10. Who stood at the head of the ladder? "And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed." (Genesis 28:13)
11. What promise did the Lord make to him? "And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in you and in your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with you, and will keep you in all places whither you go, and will bring you again into this land; for I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken to you of." (Genesis 28:14-15)
12. What did Jacob say when he awoke? "And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said: 'Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.'" (Genesis 28:16)
13. What did he say of that place? "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." (Genesis 28:17)
14. When the Lord appeared to certain of his servants what did he say to them? "And he said: 'Draw not nigh hither; put off your shoes from off your feet; for the place whereon you stand is holy ground.'" (Exodus 3:5)
"And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose your shoe from off your foot; for the place whereon you stand is holy. And Joshua did so." (Joshua 5:15)
15. What may we learn from this? That the presence of God in any place makes that place holy.
16. Where has the Lord promised always to be? "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matthew 18:20)
17. What lesson should this teach us? That places dedicated to the worship of God are sacred, and should always be entered with reverence.
18. What did Jacob do in the morning? "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, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city was called Luz at the first." (Genesis 28:18-19)
19. What vow did he make? "And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that you shall give me I will surely give the tenth unto you." (Genesis 28:20-22)
20. What was the extent of Jacob's desire from the Lord? "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on." (Genesis 28:20)
21. Could he have asked for less?
22. Yet what did he purpose to do? "Of all that you shall give me I will surely give the tenth unto you." (Genesis 28:22)
23. Is it right to make vows or pledges to the Lord? "Vow, and pay unto the Lord your God; let all that be round about Him bring presents unto Him that ought to be feared." (Psalm 76:11)
24. When a person makes a vow, what should he be careful to do? "When you vow a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools: pay that which you have vowed. Better is it that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay." (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5)
25. Why should we be so careful to pay our vows? "When you shall vow a vow unto the Lord your God, you shall not slack to pay it; for the Lord your God will surely require it of you; and it would be sin in you." (Deuteronomy 23:21)
Notes:
God is able to make a small quantity equal to the largest amount. When the widow had only a handful of meal, and a small cruse of oil, the Lord made that small amount sufficient support for a family of three for a full year. (1 Kings 17:8-16) With only five loaves and two small fishes, the Lord fed more than five thousand people. (John 6:8-13) It may be said that these were miracles. So they were; and he who does not see a miracle in his being kept alive and provided with daily food, "knows nothing yet as he ought to know." (1 Corinthians 8:2)
"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning." (Lamentations 3:22-23)
Surely since God gives us everything that we have, working miracles daily for our support, and is able to multiply a handful of meal into many barrels, He may well be depended on to make a little go a great ways for one of His servants.
Some people there are who refuse ever to make a pledge for the Lord's cause. They profess to believe that it is wrong to do so. How they can think so in the face of the Scripture record is a mystery. Not only does the Scripture contain instances of vows that have been made, but it expressly commands us to make vows.
The man who refuses to make a reasonable pledge to the Lord's cause, for fear that when the time comes he may be unable to pay, is in the same condition as one who refuses to make a profession of religion, for fear he will not be able to hold out. Such ones show a total lack of confidence in God, indicating that they expect to have to do in their own strength all that is done. Their action is equivalent to saying: "I am afraid that the Lord will fail me; I dare not run the risk."
And yet those very persons who are afraid to promise to do what they know to be their duty, have no hesitancy in giving a note to a man, promising to pay him a certain sum of money at some future time. The sincerity of any who profess to think it wrong to pledge, may well be doubted.
The Lord has said: "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matthew 18:20)
Yet how many who go to the prayer-meeting, where there undoubtedly are more than two who have come in the name of Jesus, could say: "The Lord is in this place, and I knew it not"?
The Lord was at Bethel before Jacob had his dream; so the presence of the Lord in any place does not depend upon our recognition of it. We do not have to wait until the prayer-meeting is over, in order to be able to say that the Lord was present. Those who do so, lose a great deal of the blessing of His presence. But we should begin the meeting knowing that He is there because He has promised to be there; in that case we shall be prepared to receive the fullness of His blessing.--Signs of the Times, April 6, 1888--Lesson 16 - Sabbath, April 21--Genesis 27 to 28:22.
E.J. Waggoner