Genesis 28:20-22

8. The Vow, Genesis 28:20-22.

Genesis 28:20A vow is a solemn promise made to God, by which we bind ourselves more strictly to necessary duty, or what indifferent things are calculated to promote it (Psalms 76:11; Psalms 119:106; Isaiah 19:21; Isaiah 44:4-5; Isaiah 45:23; 2 Corinthians 8:5; Deuteronomy 5:2-3; Deuteronomy 29:1; Deuteronomy 29:12-13; Joshua 24:25; 2 Kings 11:17; 2 Chronicles 29:10, 2 Chronicles 34:31-33; Ezra 10:3; Nehemiah 9:10; Acts 18:18; Acts 21:23-24), and that either in thankfulness for some mercy received (Jonah 1:16), or for obtaining some special benefit (Numbers 21:1-2; Judges 11:30; 2 Samuel 1:11; Proverbs 31:2) (SIBG, 260). This vow has often been presented in a light injurious to the character of Jacob, as indicating that his mind was so wholly engrossed with his present state and necessities that he felt no interest in the temporal blessings guaranteed to his posterity, or in the spiritual good which, through their medium, would be conveyed in remote ages to the world at large; and that, so far from having exalted views of the providential government of God, he confined his thoughts exclusively to his personal affairs and his immediate protection, as well as suspended his devotedness to the Divine service on condition of God's pledges being redeemed. But it should be borne in mind that it was in consequence of the vision, and of the promises made to him during the night, in the most unexpected manner, by the Divine Being, that he vowed his vow the next morninga view indicative of his profound feelings of gratitude, as well as of reverence, and intended to be simply responsive to the terms in which the grace of his heavenly Benefactor and Guardian was tendered. Nay, so far is he from betraying a selfish and worldly spirit, the moderation of his desires is remarkable; and the vow, when placed in a just light, will be seen to evince the simplicity and piety of Jacob's mind. Our translators have given rise to the mistaken impressions that so generally prevail in regard to Jacob's vow, by the insertion of the word -then-' in Genesis 28:21. But the apodosis properly begins in the verse following-then shall this stone,-' etc. (It should be noted that the versification is clarified in the ARV). The words of Jacob are not to be considered as implying a doubt, far less as stating the condition or terms on which he would dedicate himself to God. Let -if be changed into -since,-' and the language will appear a proper expression of Jacob's faithan evidence of his having truly embraced the promise. And the vow as recorded should stand thus: -If (since) 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; and if (since) the Lord shall be my God, then this stone which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house,-' where I shall erect an altar and worship Him (Jamieson, CECG, 201). Note that the conditions correspond with the Divine promise; that is, they are not really conditions at all, but a reiteration of the elements of the promise: (1) the presence of God, (2) Divine protection, (3) a safe return to his father's house, which naturally includes the provision of food and raiment. If God will be with me. This is not the condition on which Jacob will accept God in a mercenary spirit. It is merely the echo and the thankful acknowledgement of the divine assurance, -I am with thee,-' which was given immediately before. It is the response of the son to the assurance of the father: -Wilt thou indeed be with me? Thou shalt be my God-' (Murphy, MG, 388). Genesis 28:21 aowned and worshipped by me and my family, as the author of our whole happiness, and as our valuable and everlasting portion (SIBG, 260; cf. Exodus 15:2, Psalms 118:27-29). It should be noted again that Jacob said, How awe-inspiring is this placenot this stone Genesis 28:17. Indeed, this stone, said Jacob in reply, shall be God's house, that is, a monument of the presence of God among His people, and a symbol of the indwelling of his Spirit in their hearts (MG, 388). In enumerating protection, food, clothing and safe return Jacob is not displaying a mind ignorant of higher values but merely unfolding the potentialities of God's promise (Genesis 28:15), -I will keep thee and bring thee again,-' etc. When he said, -If Yahweh will be God to me,-' he is paraphrasing the promise (Genesis 28:15): I am with thee.-' Consequently, in all this Jacob is not betraying a cheap, mercenary spirit, bargaining with God for food and drink and saying, -If I get these, then Yahweh shall be my God.-' That would be about the cheapest case of arrogant bargaining with God recorded anywhere.. The Lord was his God. Jacob was not an unconverted man still debating whether or not to be on the Lord's side and here making an advantageous bargain out of the case. They who postpone his conversion to a time twenty years later at the river Jabbock completely misunderstand Jacob. Not only does the construction of the Hebrew allow for our interpretation, it even suggests it. The -if clauses of the protasis all run along after the same pattern as converted perfectsfuture: -if he will,-' etc., -if Yahweh will be, or prove Himself, God to me.-' Then to make the beginning of the apodosis prominent comes a new construction: noun first, then adjective clause, then verb (Leupold, EG, 780). (Genesis 28:20-21 form the protasis and Genesis 28:22 the apodosis). By the phrase, house of God, evidently Jacob does not indicate a temple but a sacred spot, a sanctuary, which he proposes to establish and perpetuate. Just how Jacob carried out his vow is reported in Genesis 35:1-7: here, we are told, he built an altar to Yahweh on this spot, this place (Genesis 28:17). Nothing is reported in ch. 35 about the tithe, perhaps because that is presupposed as the condition upon which the maintenance of the sanctuary depended. The silence of the Scriptures on, this latter point by no means indicates that it was neglected (EG, 781).

The second part of Jacob's vow was that of the tithe: Of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee (Genesis 28:22). Some authorities tell us that the case of Jacob affords another proof that the practice of voluntary tithing was known and observed antecedent to the time of Moses. Still and all, it is interesting to note that in Jacob's vow we have only the second Scripture reference to the voluntary tithe. The first reference occurs in Genesis 14:20, where we are told that Abraham paid the King priest Melchizedek a tenth of the spoils (goods) he brought back from his victory over the invading kings from the East. (Incidentally, the fact that this is one of the only two references to the tithe in the book of Genesis, enhances the mystery of the identity of this King-Priest, does it not?) The number -ten-' being the one that concludes the prime numbers, expresses the idea of completion, of some whole thing. Almost all nations, in paying tithes of all their income, and frequently, indeed, as a sacred revenue, thus wished to testify that their whole property belonged to God, and thus to have a sanctified use and enjoyment of what was left. The idea of Jacob's ladder, of the protecting hosts of angels, of the house of God and its sublime terrors, of the gate of heaven, of the symbolical significance of the oil, of the vow, and of the tithesall these constitute a blessing of this consecrated night of Jacob's life (Lange, CDHCG, 523)., The appropriation of this proportion of income or produce for pious or charitable purposes seems to have been a primitive practice, and hence Jacob vowed to give a tenth of whatever gains he might acquire through the blessing of Providence (ch. Genesis 14:20). It was continued under the, Mosaic economy, with this difference, that what had been in patriarchal times a free-will offering, was made a kind of tax, a regular impost for supporting the consecrated tribe of Levi (Jamieson, CECG, 201). I will surely give the tenth unto Thee. In the form of sacrifices (SC, 167). With regard to the fulfilment of this vow, we learn from chap. 3.Genesis 5:7 that Jacob built an altar, and probably also dedicated the tenth to God, i.e., offered it to Jehovah; or, as some have supposed, applied it partly to the erection and preservation of the altar, and partly to burnt and thank-offerings combined with sacrificial meals, according to the analogy of Deuteronomy 14:28-29 (cf. chap. Genesis 31:54, Genesis 46:1) (BCOTP, 283). A tenth I will surely give unto thee. The honored guest is treated as one of the family. Ten is the whole: a tenth is a share of the whole. The Lord of all receives one share as an acknowledgment of his sovereign right to all, Here it is represented as the full share given to the king who condescends to dwell with his subjects. Thus Jacob opens his heart, his home, and his treasure to God. These are the simple elements of a theocracy, a national establishment of the true religion. The spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind, has begun to reign to Jacob. As the Father is prominently manifested in regenerate Abraham, and the Son in Isaac, so also is the Spirit in Jacob (Murphy, MG, 388). (For the involuntarylegaltithes required under the Mosaic economy, see the following: Leviticus 27:30 ff.; Numbers 18:21-28; Deuteronomy 12:5-18; Deuteronomy 14:22-29; Deuteronomy 26:12-14; 2 Chronicles 31:5; 2 Chronicles 31:12; 2 Chronicles 31:19; Nehemiah 12:44; Amos 4:4; Matthew 23:23; Luke 11:42; Luke 18:12; Hebrews 7:5-8, etc. (See also especially Unger's Bible Dictionary, UBD, under tithe, p. 1103).

9. Summarizations

1. With respect to Jacob's pillar: The custom of the sacred pillar (-matzeba-') is one of the central foundations of the patriarchal beliefs, and many of them have been discovered. They are usually small rectangles, flat and thin, more like small and humble grave-stones of today. They appear to have been erected chiefly to commemorate a theophany, a vow or sacred covenant rite, or-' even an ancestor or important official. The recent excavations at Hazor and other ancient sites have produced sacred slabs of this sort (Cornfeld, AtD, 82). It should be noted, of course, that these sacred pillars are not to be interpreted as fetishes (i.e., as having magical powers), but as memorials. It is important that we keep this fact in mind. (Cf. the tendency to corrupt the significance of the Lord's Supper in this way by theshall I say, magical?dogma of transubstantiation).

2. With respect to Jacob's vow, note the following clarifying comment in Genesis 28:20-22: Jacob here was not expressing doubt as to whether God would keep His promise of Genesis 28:13-15; he used the particle if in the sense of -on the basis of the fact that-' (cf. Romans 8:31: If God is for us). Nor was he necessarily making a bargain with God, as if he would bribe Him to keep His word. He was simply specifying in the form of a vow the particular expression he would give to his gratitude for God's surprising and wholly undeserved favor. This became a customary type of thanksgiving in Israelite practice and was of ten solemnized by a votive offering (HSB, 47).

3. With respect to the dream-vision: The dream vision is a comprehensive summary of the history of the Old Covenant. As Jacob is now at the starting-point of his independent development, Jehovah now stands above the ladder, appears in the beginning of his descent, and since the end of the ladder is by Jacob, it is clear that Jehovah descends to him, the ancestor and representative of the chosen people. But the whole history of the Old Covenant is nothing else than, on the one side, the history of the successive descending of God, to the incarnation in the seed of Jacob, and on the other, the successive steps of progress in Jacob and his seed towards the preparation to receive the personal fulness of the divine nature into itself. The vision reaches its fulfilment and goal in the sinking of the personal fulness of God into the helpless and weak human nature in the incarnation of Christ (Gosman, CDHCG, 522).

4. On Jacob's response to the Divine Promise. If God is to me Jehovah, then Jehovah shall be to me God. If the Lord of the angels and the world proves himself to me a covenant God, then will I glorify in my covenant God, the Lord of the whole world. There is clear evidence that Jacob was now a child of God. He takes God to be his God in covenant, with whom he will live. He goes out in reliance upon the divine promise, and yields himself to the divine control, rendering to God the homage of a loving and grateful heart. But what a progress there is between Bethel and Peniel. Grace reigns within him, but not without a conflict. The powers and tendencies of evil are still at work. He yields too readily to their urgent solicitation. Still, grace and the principles of a renewed man, gain a stronger hold, and become more and more controlling. Under the loving but faithful discipline of God, he is gaining in his faith, until, in the great crisis of his life, Mahanaim and Peniel, and the new revelation then given to him, it receives a large and sudden increase. He is thenceforth trusting, serene, and established, strengthened and settled, and passes into the quiet life of the triumphant believer (Gosman, ibid., 523).

5. With respect to Jacob's character, most commentators hold that the experience at Bethel was the turning-point in his religious life. Hear the surprise in Jacob's cry as he awakened from his sleep.. What less likely place and timeso it had seemed to himcould there be for God to manifest himself? He had come to one of the bleakest and most forbidding spots a man could have chanced upon. It was no pleasant meadow, no green oasis, no sheltered valley. It was a hilltop of barren rock; and its barrenness seemed to represent at that moment Jacob's claim on life. He was a fugitive, and he was afraid. His mother had told him to go off for a few days, and then she would send and bring him home. But Jacob may have had a better idea of the truth: that it would be no -few days-' but a long time of punishing exile before he could ever dare to return. There was good reason to feel that he was alone with emptiness. When he had lain down to sleep, he was a long way off from the place of his clever and successful schemes. There was nothing to measure his own little soul against except the silent and dreadful immensities he saw from the height of Bethel: the empty earth, the sky, the stars. Yet the strange fact was that there existed in Jacob's soul something to which God could speak. Unprepossessing though he was, he was capable of response to more than the things of flesh and sense. He had not despised or ignored his inheritance. He knew that it was faith in God that had given dignity to Abraham and Isaac, and he had a hungereven if mixed with basenessto get his own life into touch with God. When such a man is confronted in his solitariness with the sublimity of the hills and the awful mystery of the marching stars, he may be capable of great conceptions which begin to take shape in his subconscious, In his dreams he sees not only nature, but the gates of heaven. Yet how many there are who fall short of Jacob in thismen in whom solitariness produces nothing, who will fall asleep but will not dream, who when they are forced to be alone are either bored or. frightened. Out of the aloneness they dread they get nothing, because they have not kept the seed of religion that in their hour of need and crisis might have quickened their souls (IB, 690).

He made a solemn vow upon this occasion, Genesis 28:20-22. When God ratifies his promises to us, it is proper for us to repeat our promises to him. Now in this vow, observe, 1. Jacob's faith. God had said (Genesis 28:15), I am with thee, and will keep thee. Jacob takes hold of this, and infers, -I depend upon it.-' 2. Jacob's modesty and great moderation in his desires. He will cheerfully content himself with bread to eat, and raiment to put on. Nature is content with a little, and grace with less. 3. Jacob's piety, and his regard to God, which appear here (1) in what he desired, that God would be with him, and keep him (2) In what he designed. His resolution is: (1) In general, to cleave to the Lord, as his God in covenant, Then shall the Lord be my God. (2) In particular, that he would perform some special acts of devotion, in token of his gratitude. First, -This pillar shall keep possession here till I come back in peace, and then an altar shall be erected here to the honor of God.-' Secondly, -The house of God shall not be unfurnished, nor his altar without a sacrifice: Of all that thou shall give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee, to be spent either upon God's altars or upon his poor,-' both which are his receivers in the world (M. Henry, CWB, 49).

With reference to Jacob's spiritual condition at Bethel, the other side of the coin, so to speak, is presented by the well-known commentator on the Pentateuch, C. H. Mackintosh, as follows: Now this vision of Jacob's is a very blessed disclosure of divine grace to Israel. We have been led to see something of Jacob's real character, something, too, of his real condition; both were evidently such as to show that it should either be divine grace for him, or nothing. By birth he had no claim; nor yet by character. Esau might have put forward some claim on both these grounds (i.e., provided God's prerogatives were set aside), but Jacob had no claim whatsoever; and hence, while Esau could only stand upon the exclusion of God's prerogative, Jacob could only stand upon the introduction and establishment thereof. Jacob was such a sinner, and so utterly divested of all claim, both by birth and by practice, that he had nothing whatever to rest upon save God's purpose ofpure, free, and sovereign grace. Hence, in the revelation which the Lord makes to His chosen servant in the passage just quoted, it is a simple record or prediction of what He Himself would yet do. I am ... I will give ... I will keep. I will bring. I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. It was all Himself. There is no condition whateverno if or but; for when grace acts, there can be no such thing. Where there is an if, it cannot possibly be grace. Not that God cannot put man into a position of responsibility, in which He must needs address him with an -if.-' We know He can; but Jacob asleep on a pillow of stone was not in a position of responsibility, but of the deepest helplessness and need; and therefore he was in a position to receive a revelation of the fullest, richest, and most unconditional grace. Now, we cannot but own the blessedness of being in such a condition that we have nothing to rest upon save God Himself; and, moreover, that it is in the most perfect establishment of God's own character and prerogative that we obtain all our true joy and blessing. According to this principle, it would be an irreparable loss to us to have any ground of our own to stand upon; for in that case, God should address us on the ground of responsibility, and failure then would be inevitable. Jacob was so bad, that none but God Himself could do for him (C.H.M., NG, 284-285). Again: We. shall now close our meditations upon this chapter with a brief notice of Jacob's bargain with God, so truly characteristic of him, and so demonstrative of the truth of the statement with respect to the shallowness of his knowledge of the divine character. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, 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 up for a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that Thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto Thee. Observe, If God will be with me. Now the Lord had just said, emphatically, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land, etc. And yet poor Jacob's heart cannot get beyond an if, nor in its thoughts of God's goodness, can it rise higher than bread to eat and raiment to put on. Such were the thoughts of one who had just seen the magnificent vision of the ladder reaching from earth to heaven, with the Lord standing above, and promising an innumerable seed and an everlasting possession, Jacob was evidently Unable to enter into the reality and fullness of God's thoughts. He measured God by himself, and thus utterly failed to apprehend Him. In short, Jacob had not yet really got to the end of himself; and hence he had not really begun with God (C.H.M., ibid., 287-288). (May I explain again here that God's election of Jacob was not arbitrary, but the consequence of His foreknowledge of the basic superiority of Jacob's character over that of Esau: afact certainly borne out by what they did in the later years of their lives and by the acts of their respective progenies. (For a study of the Scriptures, Romans 9:12-13, Malachi 1:2-3, 2 Samuel 8:14, Genesis 32:3, Gen., ch. 36, Numbers 20:14-21, Isaiah 34:5, see my Genesis, Vol. II pp. 241-243). God's grace is indeed extended to man fully and freely, but the application of its benefits is conditional on man's acceptance. One may try to give his friend a thousand dollars, but the gift is of no value unless and until it is accepted (cf. John 3:16-17; John 5:40; John 14:17; Matthew 7:24-27, etc.).

REVIEW QUESTIONS ON PART FORTY

1.

How reconcile the motive which is said to have prompted Rebekah with that which is said to have prompted Isaac to send Jacob away from home?

2.

To what place did they send him and why did they send him there?

3.

State the details of the blessing which Isaac pronounced on Jacob. Why is this designated the blessing of Abraham?

4.

What prompted Esau to take another wife? Who was she, and from what parentage? Why was she chosen?

5.

How many wives did Esau have? What is suggested by their names? What further demonstration of Esau's profanity was demonstrated by his marriages?

6.

One commentator writes that Esau did not do exactly what God required but only something like it. What reasons are given for this criticism?

7.

Can Jacob be regarded as a fugitive? Explain your answer.

8.

What does the term, the place, that is, where Jacob rested, probably signify?

9.

What reasons can we give for not regarding this as a cult-place?

10.

What function did the stone pillow serve on which Jacob rested his head?

11.

Is there any reason that we should look upon this as a charmed stone?

12.

Would not such an interpretation be importing superstition into this story?

13.

What is the commonsense interpretation of this use of a stone for a head place?

14.

What did Jacob see in his dream-vision?

15.

What physical conditions probably directed the course of Jacob's dream?

16.

What dream-image does the word ladder suggest?

17.

What spiritual truths are indicated by the ladder and by the angels ascending and descending on it?

18.

In what way was the ladder a type of Messiah?

19.

Where in the New Testament do we find this truth stated?

20.

Whom did Jacob find standing by him?

21.

What three general promises were renewed by Yahweh at this time?

22.

What was the renewed promise with respect to Jacob's seed?

23.

What did Yahweh promise with regard to Jacob personally?

24.

Recapitulate all the elements of the Divine Promise. Explain how it was a renewal of the Abrahamic Promise.

25.

What was Jacob's emotion on awakening from his dream?

26.

What is indicated by his exclamation, How dreadful is this place!

27.

What is indicated by his outcry, Surely Yahweh is in this place, and I knew it not?

28.

What is indicated by his two statements, This is none other than the house of Elohim, and this is the gate of heaven?

29.

Does the alleged dreadfulness of the place necessarily suggest any magical significance?

30.

What does the word suggest as to the being of the Deity?

31.

What did Jacob do with the stone head-place when he awakened?

32.

Did Jacob design that this pillar be an object of worship or simply a memorial of his experience there? Give reasons for your answer.

33.

What do we know about the worship of sacred stones among the ancient pagans?

34.

What significance is there in the fact that Jacob exclaimed, How dreadful is this place! rather than this stone?

35.

What was Jacob's purpose in pouring oil on the stone-pillar?

36.

What, according to Lange, is the distinction between using the stone for a pillar and anointing the stone-pillar with oil?

37.

For what various purposes was oil used among ancient peoples? From what tree did the oil come?

38.

What did the anointing with oil signify generally as a religious act?

39.

What did the use of the holy anointing oil in Old Testament times signify?

40.

When and where was it used for the first time for this purpose?

41.

What three classes of leaders were formally inducted into their respective offices by the ritual of the holy anointing oil?

42.

What did this ritual point forward to with respect to the title, Christ. What does this title signify?

43.

Why do we say that Christ is an authoritarian title, and not a mystical one?

44.

What name did Jacob give to this place? What does the name signify?

45.

How is the use of the related names, Luz and Bethel, to be explained?

46.

Give instances for a twofold meaning of a place-name. How is this to be accounted for?

47.

How does Dr. Speiser explain the problem of Luz and Bethel?

48.

What is Dr. Skinner's view of the problem?

49.

What is Green's appraisal of the sanctuary notion?

50.

How is Bethel associated with the name of Abraham, with the children of Joseph, and with the acts, respectively, of Jeroboam and Josiah?

51.

How does Lange account for the meaning of the name Bethel}

52.

What is a vow as the term is used in Scripture. Give examples.

53.

What were the two parts of Jacob's vow in this case?

54.

How does Murphy explain the if in each of Jacob's statements?

55.

How does Jamieson explain it?

56.

How does Leupold interpret it?

57.

What are the only two instances of the voluntary tithe prior to the time of Moses?

58.

What numerological import was attached to the number ten in ancient times?

59.

What legal (involuntary) tithes were required under the Mosaic economy?

60.

What does Cornfeld tell us about the sacred pillar in patriarchal belief and practice?

61.

What is the commonsense view of the purpose of Jacob's pillar?

62.

Explain how Jacob's dream-vision is a comprehensive summary of the history of the Old Covenant.

63.

What reasons are offered for the view that Jacob's experience at Bethel was the turning-point in his life spiritually?

64.

What reason does C.H.M. give for his view that Jacob, by his vow, was trying to bargain with God? What is your conclusion in regard to the motive back of this vow?

65.

What reason have we for saying that Jacob's election to the Messianic Line was not arbitrary on God's part?

66.

What is the derivation of the word holiness?

67.

What do we mean by the attributes of God?

68.

Where is the only Scripture in which the title Holy Father occurs, and to whom does it refer?

69.

What does Jesus have to say about calling any man father in a spiritual sense? Where is His statement found in Scripture?

70.

What are some of the titles which churchmen have arrogated to themselves for the purpose of clothing themselves with priestly and doctoral dignity?

71.

What attributes does the Holiness of God include?

72.

Why do we say that Absolute Justice is the over-all attribute of God to which even His love is subordinated? How does the doctrine of the Atonement prove this to be true?

73.

Explain Otto's teaching with respect to the dread-fulness of God. What Scripture passages support this view?

74.

Why do we say that in God absolute justice and holiness are practically identical?

75.

What are the religious lessons to be learned from the story of Jacob's ladder?

76.

What truths does this story reveal to us regarding the life and ministry of Christ?