Genesis 28

The highlight of this chapter, of course, is Jacob's vision of the ladder reaching to heaven, the whole chapter being built around that event. The background fact of Jacob's being sent away to Paddan-aram with Isaac's wholehearted and unrestrained blessing, and also Esau's belated attempt to please his parents with a proper marriage are also related.

Of special interest is Genesis 28:46 of the previous chapter, which we have included here because it gives a glimpse of the continued involvement of Rebekah in the crucial decisions of this family. It appears that she might, even here, have been less than candid with Isaac.

Genesis 27:46 says, "And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?"

There's not a word here of the knowledge that Rebekah had regarding Esau's intention of killing Jacob, nor of the previous decision Rebekah had already made to send Jacob to her brother's home in Paddan-aram; and, while what she said was most certainly the truth, it was far from all of the truth. She may have feared that Isaac was still hostile because of the deception she and Jacob had perpetrated against him, and, also, she may have desired to conceal from him what she had heard regarding Esau's expressed intention to murder Jacob, thus not aggravating a situation already deplorable. Despite this lack of candor, it is hard to fault Rebekah for the skilled manner in which she prevailed with Isaac, who promptly bestowed fully the blessing, without reservation, which the Word of God, long known to him, had plainly commanded.