Genesis 28:18

5. The Memorial, Genesis 28:18.

The Stone Head-Place Made a Pillar. Jacob knew God's omnipresence, but he did not expect a special manifestation of the Lord in this place, far from the sanctuaries of his father. He is filled with solemn awe, when he finds himself in the house of God and at the gate of heaven. The pillar is a monument of the event. The pouring of oil upon it is an act of consecration to God who has there appeared to him, cf. Numbers 7:1 (Murphy, MG, 387). Whether Jacob fell asleep again at the conclusion of the dream-vision, we do not know. In any case, he arose early in the morning, took the stone which he had used as a head place and set it up, it would seem, in a manner designed to make it stand out and hence to mark the precise spot where the dream had occurred: hence a statue or monument, not as an object of worship, a sort of fetish, but as a memorial of the vision (PCG, 350). (Cf. Genesis 31:45, Genesis 35:14; Joshua 4:9; Joshua 4:20; Joshua 24:26; 1 Samuel 7:12).

The Oil of Consecration was an integral part of this ritual. The worship of sacred stones (Baetylia), afterward prevalent among the Greeks, Romans, Hindoos, Arabs, and Germans, though by some regarded as one of the primeval forms of worship among the Hebrews, was expressly interdicted by the law of Moses (cf. Exodus 23:24; Exodus 34:13; Leviticus 26:1; Deuteronomy 12:3; Deuteronomy 16:22). It was probably a heathen imitation of the rite here recorded, though by some authorities the Baetylian worship is said to have been connected chiefly with meteoric stones which were supposed to have descended from some divinity, as, e.g., the stone in Delphi sacred to Apollo; that in Emesa, on the Orontes, consecrated to the sun; the angular rock at Pessinus in Phrygia worshipped as hallowed by Cybele; the black stone in the Kaaba at Mecca believed to have been brought from heaven by the angel Gabriel. That the present narrative was a late invention -called into existence by a desire-' on the part of the priests and prophets of Yahweh -to proclaim the high antiquity of the sanctuary at Bethel, and to make the sacred stone harmless,-' is pure assumption. The circumstance that the usage here mentioned is nowhere else in Scripture countenanced (except in ch. Genesis 35:14, with reference to the same pillar) forms a sufficient pledge of the high antiquity of the narrative (PCG, 351). Although this act of Jacob is the first instance of stone consecration on record, it was evidently a familiar and established practice in the time of the patriarchs. But the unction of stones was ere long abused and perverted even by the Hebrews themselves to idolatry.. This superstition of consecrated stones was both very ancient and very extensive, from the Graeco-Phoenician Bantulia, or Boetylia, the monolithic temples of Egypt and Hindostan, the lithoi liparoi of the Greeks, the -lapides informes-' of the Romans, the pyramids and obelisks of others, the cairns and cromlechs of Northern Europe, and the caaba of Arabia. That black stone of Mecca is described as -an irregular oval, about seven inches in diameter, with an undulated surface, composed of about a dozen smaller stones of different sizes and shapes, well joined together with a small quality of cement, and perfectly smooth-' (CECG, 200). Let it be emphasized here that there is no indication that Jacob regarded this stone pillar as a fetish: the idea of a fetish stone simply does not enter into this case.. Koenig has successfully refuted such claims by pointing out that Jacob says, -How awe-inspiring is this placenot -this stone-' (EG, 778). What happened here was simply the natural thing, as an expression of the profound reverence that filled Jacob's soul after such an experience: anyone in our day might react in precisely the same manner under the same or similar circumstances. The mere setting up of the stone might well have been just a future memorial to mark the spot: this practice, we are told, is still common in the East, in memory of a religious experience and vow. Having set the stone up, Jacob poured oil on the top of it. Oil is so much used in the east for food and for bodily refreshment that a supply of it invariably forms an important part of a traveler's viaticum. From its excellent material properties, it came to be used as a symbol for spiritual influences, and, still later, as a means for setting apart or consecrating anything to God (CECG, 200). The stone marks the place of God's presence. It becomes a beth El, a -house of God,-' and is anointed with oil as a formal act of worship. Practices of this kind were common in the Canaanite cult and in the Semitic world in general but were subsequently condemned by Law and Prophets, see Exodus 23:24. Even in this passage a more spiritual conception goes with the idea of a divine dwelling on earth: Bethel is the -gate of heaven,-' God's true home, cf. 1 Kings 8:27 (JB, 49). We must distinguish here between the stone for a pillar, as a memorial of divine help, as Joshua and Samuel erected pillars (Genesis 31:45, Genesis 35:14; Joshua 4:9; Joshua 4:20; Joshua 24:26; 1 Samuel 7:12), and the anointing of the stone with oil, which consecrated it to Jehovah's sanctuary, Exo. 20:30 (Lange, CDHCG, 522).

The oil mentioned in Scripture was from the olive-tree. The olive-berry is the most frequently mentioned source of oil in the Bible. The many olive-plantations in Palestine made olive-oil one of the most important and most lucrative products of the country. It was an article of extensive and profitable trade with the Tyrians (Ezekiel 27:17, cf. 1 Kings 5:11); and presents of the best grades of olive-oil were deemed suitable for kings. In fact, no other kind of oil is distinctly mentioned in Scripture, except in one instance (Esther 2:12, here it was oil of myrrh); and the different grades of oil referred to appear to have been only different kinds of olive-oil. Oil was used for many different purposes among the ancient Israelites and their neighbors. Special mention is made of it in the inventories of royal property and revenue (1 Samuel 10:1; 1 Samuel 16:1; 1 Samuel 16:13; 1 Kings 1:39, Genesis 17:16; 2 Kings 4:2; 2 Kings 4:6; 2 Kings 9:1; 2 Kings 9:3; 1 Chronicles 27:29; Chron. Genesis 11:11, Genesis 32:28; Proverbs 21:20), A supply of oil was always kept in the temple (Josephus, Wars, Genesis 28:13; Genesis 28:6), and an oil treasure was included in the stores of the Jewish kings (2 Kings 20:13; cf. 2 Chronicles 32:28). Oil of Tekoa was considered the very best. Trade in oil was carried on also between Egypt and Palestine (Ezra 3:7; Isaiah 30:6; Isaiah 57:9;Ezekiel 27:17, Hosea 12:1).

Oil was used for food (Jeremiah 31:12; Jeremiah 41:8; Ezekiel 16:13; Ezekiel 27:17; Luke 16:6 ff.), and its abundance was a mark of prosperity (Joel 2:19), It was used for cosmetic purposes (Deuteronomy 28:40; 2 Samuel 12:20; 2 Samuel 14:2; Ruth 3:3). The bodies of the dead were anointed with oil by the Greeks and Romans, and apparently by the Jews (Mark 14:8, Luke 23:56). Oil was in common use for medicinal purposes (Isaiah 1:6, Mark 6:13, Luke 10:34, James 5:14). It was used to produce light in homes (Matthew 25:1-8, Luke 12:35). It was used for ritualistic purposes (Leviticus 2:1-2; Leviticus 5:11; Numbers 5:15): the use of oil in sacrifices was indicative of joy or gladness; the absence of it denoted sorrow or humiliation (Isaiah 61:3, Joel 2:19, Psalms 45:7, Revelation 6:6). Tithes of oil were prescribed (Deuteronomy 12:17, 2 Chronicles 31:5; Nehemiah 10:37; Nehemiah 10:39; Nehemiah 13:12; Ezekiel 45:14).

The first instance in Scripture of the use of oil for strictly religious purposes is in the account under study here, that of Jacob's anointing of the stone which he had used as a head place on his way to Paddan-Aram (Genesis 28:18, Genesis 35:14). This evidently was designed to be a formal consecration of the stone, and indeed of the whole place in which the Divine visitation occurred. Under the Mosaic Law persons and things set apart for sacred purposes were anointed with what was designated the holy anointing oil (Exodus 30:22-33). This anointing with oil was the symbol of the conferring of the gifts and powers of the Holy Spirit by which certain persons were especially qualified for the respective ministries (offices) to which they were divinely commissioned. This was true especially in the ritual of formal induction of prophets, priests and kings into their respective services. (With respect to priests, see Exodus 28:36-41; Exodus 30:30-33; Exodus 40:13-16; Leviticus 8:10-12; Leviticus 8:30; Leviticus 16:32; with respect to kings, 1 Samuel 9:16-17; 1 Samuel 10:1; 1 Samuel 15:1; 1 Samuel 15:17-23; 1 Samuel 16:3; 1 Samuel 16:11-13; 2 Samuel 2:4; 2 Samuel 2:7; 2 Samuel 5:13; 2 Samuel 5:17; 2 Samuel 12:7; 2 Samuel 23:1-2; Psalms 89:20; 1 Kings 1:39; 2 Chronicles 6:42; 1 Kings 19:15-16; 2 Kings 9:1-13; with respect to prophets, 1 Kings 19:16; 1 Kings 19:19, etc.). The allusions to each of the three great kings of IsraelSaul, David, and Solomon, respectivelyas Yahweh's Anointed are too numerous to be listed here (e.g., 1 Samuel 24:6; 1 Samuel 24:10; 2 Samuel 23:1, Psalms 89:20, etc.). Jesus of Nazareth, the Only Begotten, was God's Anointed in a special and universal sense: hence He is the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16). The title Messiah (in Hebrew), Christos (in Greek), or Christ (in English) means The Anointed One. To accept Jesus as the Christ is to accept Him as one's prophet, to whom one goes for divine truth, as one's priest who intercedes for His people at the throne of heaven, and as one's Kingthe Absolute Monarch of His Kingdom which includes all the redeemed of earth (John 14:6; John 8:31-32; John 6:68; John 6:63; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:11-28; Hebrews 9:23-28; Hebrews 4:14-16; Acts 2:36; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Timothy 1:17; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28; 1 Timothy 1:17; Revelation 19:11-16; Hebrews 1:6-8; Psalms 2, etc.). To accept Jesus as Christ, then, is to accept Him as God's Anointed. Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, we are told, was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power (Acts 10:38). When did this Divine anointingmarking His formal induction into His threefold office of Prophet, Priest and King occur? Obviously, it occurred after His baptism in the Jordan River, when the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form, as a dove, upon him (Luke 3:21-22; Matthew 3:16-17) and the voice of the Father, at the same moment, avouched His Sonship (cf. John 1:29-34). In a special sense this conferring of the gifts and graces of the Spirit upon the Son was the great Antitype of the symbolism of the holy anointing oil as used in Old Testament times for the formal induction of prophets, priests and kings into their respective ministries (Luke 11:20; Matthew 12:28; John 6:63; John 3:34; cf. 1 Peter 1:10-12).

Review Questions

See Genesis 28:20-22.