Jacob and Laban

John 4:6
Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.

This is the same place where Isaac got his wife Rebekah
Nahor is where Laban, Rebekah's brother lived and where Jacob's well is

Genesis 24:29
And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well.

Genesis 24:50
Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the LORD: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good.

Genesis 25:20
And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.

Genesis 27:43
Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran;

(Genesis 28:1)
And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

Again, even if God were to not allow this or would allow it, the job of the parent is to train up the child correctly, in God's path
The land was theirs; the women were not
This is who not to marry

(Proverbs 22:6)
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

CHARGE, v.t.

To rush on; to fall on; to attack, especially with fixed bayonets; as, an army charges the enemy.
To load, as a musket or cannon; to thrust in powder, or powder and ball or shot.
To lead or burden; to throw on or impose that which oppresses; as, to charge the stomach with indigestible food; or to lay on, or to fill, without oppressing; as, to charge the memory with rules and precepts; to charge the mid with facts.
To set or lay on; to impose, as a tax; as, the land is charged with a quit rent; a rent is charge on the land.
To lay on or impose, as a task.
The gospel chargeth us with piety towards God.
To put or lay on; as, to charge a building with ornaments, often implying superfluity.
To lay on, as a duty; followed by with.
And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them: and they continued a season in ward. Gen 40:4
To entrust to; as, an officer is charged with dispatches.
To set to, as a dept; to place on the debit side of an account; as, to charge a man with the price of goods sold to him.
To load or lay on in words, something wrong, reproachful or criminal; to impute to; as, to charge a man with theft.
To lay on in words; to impute to; followed by on before the person; as, to charge a crime on the offender; to charge evil consequences on the doctrines of the stoics.
To lay on, give or communicate, as an order, command or earnest request; to enjoin; to exhort. In all this, Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. Job 1.
To lay on, give or communicate, as an order, command or earnest request; to enjoin; to exhort.
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded. 1 Tim 4.
In this sense, when the command is given in the name of God, or with an oath, the phrase amounts to an adjuration.
To adjure; to bind by an oath. 1 Sam 14:28.
To give directions to; to instruct authoritatively; as, the judge charged the grand jury to inquire respecting breaches of the peace.
To communicate electrical matter to, as to a coated vial, or an electrical battery.

CHARGE, v.i. To make an onset. Thus Glanville says, like your heroes of antiquity, he charges in iron; and we say, to charge with fixed bayonets. But in this application, the object is understood; to charge the enemy.

(Genesis 28:2)
Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.

Who to marry

(Genesis 28:3-4)
And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

This same promise to Abraham is hereby repeated, because this is the third generation of Abraham, and it is passed down

(Genesis 28:5)
And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.

This same promise to Abraham is hereby repeated, because this is the third generation of Abraham, and it is passed down
Re-entry for Laban, who is about to try to deceive Jacob the deceiver
Sending him away is letting go and letting God
There is no indication that Isaac charged Esau the same thing as he did to Jacob
He could have or could not have; it is not recorded

(Genesis 28:6)
When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padanaram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;

"When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob"....means something bad is about to happen, right there
He fully understands that this is a charge, not a suggestion

(Genesis 28:7)
And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padanaram;

Jacob obeyed to be obedient and to escape Esau.
Distance between them was a lifesaver
Unfortunately, in Jacob's mind, he would have known that Esau knew where he was going.

(Genesis 28:8)
And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father;

Here is the "Uh oh....."
They not only did not please his father, but they did not please THE FATHER (God)
This is the motive behind what he does next....

(Genesis 28:9)
Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.

He had free will and was deliberate, not consulting or advising his parents of his plans
He had the ability to go to Isaac or Rebekah and ask about taking a wife
He had the ability to go with Jacob to find a wife
If he was instructed by his father not to do this, it is worse
If he was not, he certainly overheard the conversation between his twin brother and his father on this matter.
Either way, he is culpable

(Genesis 28:10)
And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.

Abraham's brother was Haran
Abraham's family was there who he left when God called him

(Genesis 11:26)
And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

(Genesis 12:1)
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

(Genesis 12:4)
So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

(Genesis 28:11)
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.

Apparently he brought nothing soft for his hard head! Or he placed something soft on top of the rocks
To "light" means to land, like a butterfly lights on a flower

(Genesis 28:12)
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.

God has unlimited ways to reach man when He wants to.
This way is unique to God; and so is Jacob
Cold, tired, sore and sleeping on a rock-exactly where God deals with us.
Jesus claimed to be this ladder from Heaven to earth
This makes sense since there is no physical ladder between the two and the only way to Heaven is through Jesus Christ.

(John 1:51)
And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

(Genesis 28:13)
And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I amthe LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is not just a god....He is the Creator who formed Israel

This is the God who made a nation to then bring forth the Messiah to save mankind and fulfill His Divine Will.

The promise of land is repeated

(Genesis 28:14)
And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

The promise of a nation of people is repeated

The promise of the blessing of the Messiah is repeated "and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed."-means Gentiles, Greeks, the Church also

(Genesis 28:15)
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.

Promise of creation, deliverance, protection, land, proximity, forever

No better set of promises can we get from God as Christians also

Our land is in Heaven

KEEPS US

(1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

(1 Peter 4:19)
Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
IN ALL PLACES AND NOT LEAVE THEE
(2 Corinthians 4:9)
Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

(Hebrews 13:5)
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
OUR LAND
(John 14:2-3)
In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

(Genesis 28:16)
And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.

Jacob realizes that he was not feeling God's presence as he journeyed

He realizes that this was not just a dream where nothing happened. It is a reality that happened while he was asleep in a dream

(Genesis 28:17)
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.

Jacob realizes that being with God in that place makes that place holy ground

Any place we gather and Jesus is there is to God holy ground

(Matthew 18:20)
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

(Genesis 28:18)
And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up fora pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.

This was his tabernacle, his own house of God

The place of the ladder was for the angels to come up and down. The altar was faith, glory and worship to go to God

This whole elaborate altar, complete with anointing with oil, sprang from the promises given to him

(Genesis 28:19)
And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.

Bethel="House of God"

(Genesis 28:20-21)
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:

Food and clothing, and no place to live, wanderers, roaming the wilderness

To come again to his father's house in peace was to have peace with Esau

(Matthew 6:25-30)
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

(Hebrews 11:37)
They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

(Hebrews 11:8-10)
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

(Genesis 28:22)
And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

Giving back to God is no longer a tithe, but an offering

God owns our money as it is, so we are not giving, but giving back to God

God does not need our money; He uses it