Genesis continues:   Names and their meaning in Genesis! Abram Exalted Father   Abraham Father of a multitude   Sarah Princess   Ishmael God hears   Isaac He laughs or laughter   Rebekah A noose or heifer   Esau Hairy   Jacob Supplanter or deceiver   Israel (Jacob) Contender with God   Leah Weary   Rachel A ewe   Genesis 26   There was a famine and Isaac was directed by God to live for a time in Gerar.  Like father like son, and Isaac tells King Abimelech of the Philistines that Rebekah was his sister.  (Probably not the same King Abimelech)  The King found out the deception and confronts Isaac.  God tells Isaac He will multiply his descendants as the stars of the heavens.    Isaac sows seed and received a great harvest.  Isaac became wealthier and Abimelech asked Isaac to move away.  There are arguments over wells.  Isaac dug a second well and there were further arguments.  He named this well Sitnah (enmity).    Abimelech and Isaac took oaths with curses for whoever would break it.  They ate and drank together.  Isaac dug another well and named it Shibah (well of the oath).    Esau was 40 years old and took a Hittite wife.  And this marriage made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah. Historical Insert: “All this Genesis material dealing with the problems of immigration, of water-wells and contracts and birthrights, is fascinating because it places the patriarchs so firmly in their historical setting, and testifies to the Bible’s great antiquity and authenticity.”  (Johnson, p. 15)   Genesis 27   Isaac is now old and can barely see.  He called for Esau, the elder son.  Isaac asked Esau to hunt for him and prepare him a favorite meal before giving his blessing to Esau.    But Rebekah heard of this and directed Jacob to deceive his father.  Jacob dressed as Esau, even wearing his clothes, and deceived Isaac.  Isaac blessed Jacob believing him to be Esau.    Esau returned and found out about the deception.  Esau asked his father for blessing but was basically told Jacob had been blessed and that Isaac had made Jacob Esau’s his lord and master.  And Esau hated Jacob and plotted to kill him.  Historical Insert: This is the beginning of a feud that will take countless lives in coming centuries.  Esau’s descendants, the Amalekites, (link:   Amalekites)  became the first enemies to obstruct the passage of the Hebrews from captivity in Egypt on their way to the Promised Land.  An Edomite (link:   Edomites ) nearly caused the death of King David (1 Samuel:21-22).  Many bloody feuds took place between the coming nations that descend from Esau and Jacob.   King Herod, a descendant of Esau, had all the male infants killed in a failed attempt to kill the Christ child.  (Josephus, link:  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus)  Here is more on King Herod ( Herod the Great) So Jacob now has Esau’s birthright (sold by Esau for a bowl of stew) and Isaac’s blessing.  Rebekah told Jacob to flee and find a wife, but not a Hittite wife as those Esau has taken.   Genesis 28   Isaac told Jacob not to marry a woman of Canaan but to go to Padn-aram to find a wife from the daughters of Laban who was Rebekah’s brother.  Isaac prayed that God would give the blessing of Abraham to Jacob and then sent him away.  Jacob obeyed his father.  His mother Rebekah never saw her son Jacob again.   Esau went to Ishmael and took another wife, Mahalath, daughter of Ishmael.    Jacob’s ladder   Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran.  In a certain place, he stopped and took a rock as a pillow for his head and slept.  During the night, Jacob had a prophetic dream about a ladder that reached from the Earth to Heaven with angels of God going up and down the ladder.  And God spoke to Jacob and made a promise to Jacob that he truly had the blessings of Abraham.      From Matthew Henry, p. 47. regarding Jacob's Ladder! The ladder represents:    “1.  The providence of God, by which there is a constant intercourse kept up between heaven and earth.  This let Jacob know that he had both a good guide and a good guard.  2.  The mediation of Christ.  He is the ladder; the foot on earth in his human nature, the top in heaven in his Divine nature.  Christ is the Way; all God’s favours come to us, and all our services go to him, by Christ, John 1:51.  By this way, sinners draw near to the throne of grace with acceptance.  By faith we perceive this way, and in prayer we approach by it.  In answer to prayer we receive all needful blessings of providence and grace.  We have no way of getting to heaven but by Christ.  And when the soul, by faith, can see these things; then every place become pleasant, and every prospect joyful.  He will never leave us, until his last promise is accomplished in our everlasting happiness.  God now spake comfortably to Jacob.  He spake from the head of the ladder:  All the glad tidings we receive from heaven come through Jesus Christ.  The Messiah should come from Jacob.  Christ is the great blessing of the world.  All that are blessed, are blessed in him, and none of any family are shut out from blessed-ness in him, but those that shut out themselves.” Then Jacob arose, named the place ‘Bethel,’ and made a vow to God.  Jacob understood he would receive from God and promised to give a tenth back (a tithe) of all he gained. Genesis 29-32 Continued! Sources Used here