Old Testament - Genesis 28 - February 28, 2022

 2/28/2022 – Genesis 28

I want to start out with President Marion G. Romney’s explanation as to why this vision of heaven was shown in the form of a ladder and why the name of the place where it happened was, for that time on, called Bethel. 

“When Jacob traveled from Beersheba toward Haran, he had a dream in which he saw himself on the earth at the foot of a ladder that reached to heaven where the Lord stood above it. He beheld angels ascending and descending thereon, and Jacob realized that the covenants he made with the Lord there were the rungs on the ladder that he himself would have to climb in order to obtain the promised blessings—blessings that would entitle him to enter heaven and associate with the Lord.

“Because he had met the Lord and entered into covenants with him there, Jacob considered the site so sacred that he named the place Bethel, a contraction of Beth-Elohim, which means literally ‘the House of the Lord.’ He said of it: ‘… this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’ (Gen. 28:17.)

“Jacob not only passed through the gate of heaven, but by living up to every covenant he also went all the way in. Of him and his forebears Abraham and Isaac, the Lord has said: ‘… because they did none other things than that which they were commanded, they have entered into their exaltation, according to the promises, and sit upon thrones, and are not angels but are gods.’ (D&C 132:37.)

“Temples are to us all what Bethel was to Jacob. Even more, they are also the gates to heaven for all of our unendowed kindred dead. We should all do our duty in bringing our loved ones through them.” (“Temples—The Gates to Heaven,” Ensign, Mar. 1971, p. 16.)

Isaac blesses Jacob and his seed with the blessings of Abraham. Isaac also cautions Jacob to not marry a Canaanite. Jacob is to go to his mother’s, Rebekah’s, family and “take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother’s brother.” (v 2) Isaac then continues to pronounce blessings upon Jacob. As I read these blessings, I thought of my patriarchal blessing.  I keep a small copy of my blessing in my scriptures. This reminds me that I should read the blessing that was given especially to me, at least as much as I read the scriptures given to the world at large!

In v 8 we read that Esau was angered by the fact that his father was not happy with the fact that Esau had married a Canaanite. We don’t know if Esau realizes that by marrying a Canaanite, who grew up as an idol worshiper, and had other practices that were offensive to the Lord—that this could very likely make his religious beliefs and practices more difficult to keep and to pass on to their children, making it impossible for he and his wives to keep temple covenants. Esau then acted out of anger and rebellion by going to Ishmael and taking from his family another wife—which actually would take Esau even further from Heaven Father’s ways.

As Jacob made his journey to Rebekah’s family he dreamed a dream, and heard the Lord speak to him, giving him great promises for both him and his descendants. The Lord also promised “And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. “ (v 15)

Jacob woke and knew that he had been shown “the gate of heaven.” (v 17) He “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 of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.”(v’s 20-22)

We’re soon to read that Jacob was not treated well by Laban, but we also see that Jacob (as Isaac had done so often in his life) did not fight back at Laban’s unfairness, but Jacob continued to live according to his commitments to the Lord. 

The scriptures are full of examples like this. The Lord’s promises of blessings and protection do not stop life’s problems and frustration, but His promises of being with us through our difficult times never falters as long as we are working, on a daily basis, to bring ourselves closer to Him.  And the other interesting thing is that our working through these problems and frustrations also give us opportunities to learn and grow in our efforts to be more Christ-like.