Gen. 28:10-19(- 22)  July 17 First Cut

 

1) God works with all sorts of folks, even the manipulative Jacobs of the world.

2) God's message comes in a dream, maybe to keep away from the cunning of Jacob's rational faculty.

3) what do you make of someone who uses a stone for a pillow?

4) Is the ream to presage a new future to Jacob.

5( Even though he is on the run; he is also out to find a bride, a new beginning. Is the promise of presence an answer to some hole in the soul of Jacob? presence, keeping, return, not leave,: are they not linked?

6) angels means messenger in both Hebrew and Greek. is there a message contained in the ladder itself? What do you make of gate of heaven? Is this a thin place, where we touch the divine more readily?

7) Yes this is etiology, but it is also enacted prayer. Bethel=house of God. It places a prior claim on a city, granted. It also places a claim on the meaning of a sacred stone, a sacred site. Notice the tithe slipping in here.

8) What do you think of a vow that puts a condition on a previous promise? Where does it add to the promise?