Genesis 28:1-22

Jacob having deceived his father Isaac to obtain his blessing, and angered his brother Esau to the extent he wanted to kill him, now flees to his Uncle Laban in Syria. This was a 530-mile trip over very difficult terrain. Jacob was also traveling alone, which was very different from when Abraham sent his servant in search of a wife for Isaac, who traveled with many others for protection (Gen. 24). This was one of Jacob’s darkest hours, because he was all alone, with his family fractured behind him, and complete uncertainty ahead of him. But this is the moment that the Lord shines His light upon this schemer to draw him unto Himself. Genesis now becomes the story of Jacob’s life and his children, and how God formed them into the 12 tribes of Israel. Scripture records, “Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: ‘You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may be an assembly of peoples; and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land in which you are a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.’ So, Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau” (Gen. 28:1-5).

Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him away.  Vs. 1-5

The desire of Isaac and Rebekah for Jacob was that he not take a wife from the Canaanites. This was a real issue for them, but in reality, this conversation with Isaac was Rebekah still trying to manipulate the situation (Gen. 27:46). Why do I say this? Because Rebekah knew that Esau had determined to kill Jacob for his deception, and this was her way of getting Jacob away from Esau. God didn’t want Abraham to stay in the land of Ur, because of the influence of the idolatry that was all around him. Likewise, Abraham sent his servant to obtain a wife for Isaac from the believers of his own family. Now Isaac chooses to do the same. I have written extensively in previous chapters concerning the importance of not marrying an unbeliever, so I won’t do so again here. Just remember to encourage and warn your family and friends, that marrying a non-Christian will always be in direct disobedience to God’s commands (1 Cor. 7:39; 1 Kings 11:1-10). Many will not take your advice when you speak to them about this subject, but you still need to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15).

The important thing to note in this section of Scripture is Isaac’s second blessing upon Jacob before he leaves for Syria. How interesting that Isaac now willingly and knowingly blessed Jacob with the Abrahamic blessing. Isaac declared, “May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may be an assembly of peoples; and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land in which you are a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.” Why did Isaac have a change of heart toward Jacob to now bless him as he should have? Scripture does not tell us. All we know is that Isaac chose to pronounce the blessing of Abraham upon him, that he would be fruitful and be multiplied with many descendants, and inherit the land of Canaan. This binding oath came to pass in every aspect. God faithfully fulfilled His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and in the chapters ahead, He will also show Himself faithful to Jacob. Why? Because He is the faithful one. Paul reminded the church that, “The Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one” (2 Thess. 3:3). God was now about to show Jacob just how faithful He is, by establishing him and protecting him from all evil. May the Lord reveal Himself to each one of us as we trust in His faithful Word!

Esau’s spiritual state.  Vs. 6-9

Again, in this chapter, there is a clear revelation of the spiritual state of Esau’s heart. The Scripture declares, “Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,’ and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram. Also Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had” (Gen. 28:6-9).

What Esau did at this moment by taking another wife from the people of the land, and not from his believing relatives, revealed his hardness of heart and contempt for his parents, and for the God of Israel. Esau realized that it did not please his father and mother that their children should take wives from the Canaanites, so he intentionally chose to do just that. Esau’s decision at this point in his life illustrates a very important principle concerning the choices we make every day.

There are two errors that you should never make in your decision-making. First, don’t make decisions because you are angry with people, or to try and get back at someone who has hurt you. Second, don’t make decisions solely based on trying to please or appease people. Make your decisions to please God! You will always make the right decision, if pleasing the Lord is your number one priority. Paul wrote in 1Thessalonians 4:1, “Finally then brethren, we urge and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God.” Paul is encouraging believers to their highest motivation in life, which is to please God.  

But Esau made a decision based on his anger and resentment toward his parents, and also his complete disregard for the things of God. The Apostle James taught, “My beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:19-20). Remember, anger and wrath in your heart will never produce righteous decisions. When you get angry, you need to slow your decision-making down. Don’t speak, but listen, which will greatly help you to not do something you will regret. Decisions made in anger will always be exaggerated, and will cause you to make very bad choices.

But the same thing is also true of making decisions just to please people. When you are willing to please people, you will many times not be pleasing to God. Paul made it very clear that if pleasing God is not our highest motivation, we will not be a servant of Christ. Paul taught in Galatians 1:10, “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.” So, if you seek to please men, you are not going to be a bond-servant of Jesus Christ. The first question you should ask is, what pleases the Lord in this situation before me? Doing what God commands will always please Him, and will work out for the best for you. These two decision-making principles are vital to implement in every one of our lives! 

Jacob’s vision.  Vs. 10-17

Jacob now begins his trip to Haran from Beersheba, which was over a 500-mile trip. Jacob gets about 3 days into his travel and stops for the night about 60-70 miles north of Beersheba. The Scripture declares, “Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: ‘I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.’ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.’ And he was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!’” (Gen. 28:10-17).

Note that the first thing that happened to Jacob, after he is separated from his family, was that God revealed Himself to him as he slept. Now, put yourself in Jacob’s shoes for a moment. You have to leave your home, because your brother wants to kill you; you are making a 500-mile trip to a place you have never been, and to people you have never met. You are all alone, running for your life, and have been traveling for several days. You lay down to sleep, and all you have to put your head on for a pillow is a rock. At this moment Jacob was probably not in a very good mood. He was tired, alone, and probably very anxious about what the future held for him. But this is when the LORD showed up to comfort and encourage him. What does the LORD say to him to strengthen Jacob? He promised His protection and His blessing upon him. God assured him that He would bring him back to this land, and his descendants would ultimately rule all the land of Canaan. In other words, God was telling him that he was going to be just fine, and everything was going to work out for the best (Rom. 8:28). Now if God was making these promises to him, this was probably what Jacob was questioning in his mind. God doesn’t tell someone that He is going to be with them, will protect them, and bring them home again if this was not their concern. Jacob had to be questioning, “Am I going to make it to my destination? Will I ever return home again? What is going to happen to me?” These questions would surely have been in my mind. This is the reason why God reached out to Jacob at this moment, and gave him this powerful prophetic revelation for his future.

This vision revealed so clearly the love of God, and His outstretched hand to this man. To speak to Jacob in this manner must have been so comforting and reassuring to him. This account clearly illustrates that God is the one seeking you and me. He is the one that is reaching out to us all the day long. God spoke to the Children of Israel and said, “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm” (Ex. 6:6). God redeemed them with His arm, just as He has redeemed us with His mighty arm. But the Lord also said, “I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, according to their own thoughts” (Is. 65:2). The greatness of God’s grace is that He even reaches out to rebellious people. Is this truth not amazing? Oh, what love! At this point in Jacob’s life, he was this rebellious and deceptive man that God was after.

Even in the New Testament Jesus said in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.” This is the God who is revealed at this moment in the life of Jacob. But the Lord is always the One who is seeking those who are lost. God did it here with Jacob, and He did it with you, because this is why you are a Christian today. God’s actions toward Jacob here reveal the depth of His grace and mercy. So, never forget, He is also the one reaching out to you all the day long! He wants to speak to you about your future, just as He did with Jacob. May you hear His voice, and come to Him. Remember, Jacob did not deserve God’s outstretched hand, and neither do we. But this did not stop His divine love. If there was ever an undeserving man of an outstretched hand it would have been Paul the Apostle. Why? Because Paul persecuted the church, and killed the followers of Christ (Acts 9). Paul knew he was totally undeserving of God’s grace which is why he wrote, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.  And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 1:12). Paul used the words insolent man in these verses, which literally mean an aggressive or violent man. Before Jesus confronted him on the road to Damascus, Paul had been imprisoning Christians and putting them to death for believing in Jesus. But this was the man Jesus sought to save and redeem. The grace of God was exceedingly abundant! His grace toward each of us is equally abundant above all that we can comprehend. How might God want to use you as an instrument of His grace? 

What did this night vision mean?

When the Lord said to Jacob, “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you,” He was essentially declaring the purpose of this vision. In other words, God was declaring, “Jacob you think that you are all alone, but I am with you and will keep you where-ever you go. I have a purpose for you, and I will not forsake you until this plan is accomplished.” I love this assurance that the Lord gives Jacob that He is near and watching over him. He was so near to him at this moment, and assured Jacob that He would be with him every step he took. This is very similar to the assurance God gave to his rebellious people many years later through the Prophet Isaiah. He said to them, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Is. 43:2-3). Jacob had many deep waters and flames ahead of him that he must endure. This was exactly why the Lord came to him in this vision.

Now you may wonder what was the point of this ladder that reached into heaven, and angels ascending and descending directly over him? Note the realization that Jacob had when he awoke from his sleep and remembered the vision. He declared, “‘Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.’ And he was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” (Gen. 28:16-17). Jacob realized that God’s angels are busy at work doing their job, and watching over him. He understood that this land was God’s land, and this place was the gate of heaven.

What is meant by the gate of heaven? Does it mean that this spot where Jacob laid his head was where you can get into heaven? Or, does the gate of heaven mean something very different? This is a very important little statement to understand. Jesus gave us tremendous insight into this account of Jacob and his ladder, because He discussed it in the New Testament. The Apostle John records, “Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!’ Nathanael said to Him, ‘How do You know me?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’ Nathanael answered and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Because I said to you, “I saw you under the fig tree,” do you believe? You will see greater things than these.’ And He said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man’” (John 1:47-51). It is interesting that Nathanael must have thought he was alone while he was under the fig tree, just as Jacob thought he was all alone. But Jesus was assuring him that he was anything but alone. Jesus declared that He was there with him under that tree. Then Jesus declared to him that he would see heaven opened, and the angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

What did all this mean? Jesus is the gate of heaven. He is the only way to the Father (John 14:6). He is the door into the sheepfold (John 10:9). There is no other name given among men by which we can be saved (Acts 4:12). Jesus is the only way someone can be redeemed and forgiven of their sins. Jesus is also the fulfillment of every Old Testament figure, including Jacob’s ladder. Christ is our great high priest, our sin offering, and the blood for our atonement. He also fulfilled every Old Testament feast. He is the Passover lamb, the first-fruits from the dead, and the One who will bring in the final harvest of mankind. He is also the only ladder into the presence of God!

Jacob also needed to understand this same fundamental truth. He needed to know the name of the God of Abraham and Isaac, Yahweh, was the only name that could help him and save him. The land upon which he slept, was Yahweh’s land. There was a way, a ladder into heaven, and Yahweh was the only way to get there. God revealed to him that His angels had been sent to minister to him as an heir of salvation (Heb. 1:14). What a glorious revelation this was for Jacob, and what assurance this encounter with God must have given him.

What did God promise Jacob in this night vision? 

This intervention into Jacob’s life was the first of seven times that God would reveal Himself to him. Each time God revealed a little more of Himself as He made promises to Jacob for what He would do in his life. What does God promise him in this vision? These promises are exactly what the Lord had promised Abraham and Isaac. He first told Jacob that the land on which he was lying was his, and it belonged to all of his descendants. God then told him that his descendants would be as the dust of the earth, and that they would spread out to the north, south, east, and west, and that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through his family. This promise of course referred to the coming Messiah who would die for the sins of the entire world (1 John 2:2). He was then assured by God that He would bring him back into this land, and that He would be with him until all that was promised was accomplished. These are some incredible promises!

These promises have been repeated over and over again to the Jewish people throughout their history. God means what He says, and He will accomplish these words of promise. Note a few examples of God declaring these truths through time. God promised through the Prophet Jeremiah to bring His people of Israel back into their land after the Babylonian captivity when He said, “‘For behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,’ says the LORD. ‘And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it’” (Jer. 30:3). Why did God promise this again after the people’s rebellion? Because this was the faithfulness of God speaking. Again, the Lord promised His people that they would be as the dust of the ground, and as the sand of the sea in multitude. Jeremiah declared, “As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me” (Jer. 33:22). In addition, in the midst of their captivity in Babylon, God promised, “Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, who disturbs the sea, and its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name): ‘If those ordinances depart from before Me, says the LORD, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.’ Thus says the LORD: ‘If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done,’ says the LORD” (Jer. 31:35-37). In other words, God is promising that if the sun, the moon, and stars cease to function, then His people will cease to exist. Therefore, it does not matter how much people hate the Jews, and what they try to do to destroy them, they will not succeed. Why? Because this is God’s promise to His people.

But that is not all God promised. He also promised that if men could ever measure the heavens, or search out the foundations of the earth, then He would cast off the Jewish people for all they have done against Him. Have men ever measured the heavens? No! Every time men develop a stronger telescope they increase their measurements of the heavens. Ptolemy in the 2nd century believed that there were 1022 fixed stars. Today with the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes, we can only begin to understand the trillions upon trillions of stars in the trillions of galaxies in the universe. The last calculation that astronomers have declared was that the universe was at least 91 trillion light years in diameter, and was still continuing to expand. So, has man succeeded in measuring the heavens? Not even close! Or, how about searching out the foundations of the earth? Has anyone ever gone into the core of the earth to study its molten center? No! This is why God used these images to make His point, that these are impossible tasks, just as it is impossible that He would break His Word to His people. We serve a faithful God!

Jacob’s response to this vision.  Vs. 18-22

Scripture records, “Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God. And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You’” (Gen. 28:18-22).
Jacob’s response was to immediately take the stone that he had used as a pillow and stand it up as a pillar or monument, and he made a vow to God. Now it is important to note that there was not a lot of faith expressed in his vow, but there was some faith. Why do I say this? Because Jacob begins his vow with the word if.  If God will truly be with me, keep me as He has promised, and bring me back to my father’s house, then He will be my God. Now, little faith, is better than no faith. Paul tells us that God has given to each of us a measure of faith (Rom. 12:3). What we do with this faith He has given us, is our decision. We can choose to place our faith in God and His Word, or we can place our faith in the wisdom and philosophies of men. If we choose to put our faith in God and His Word, we will grow in our faith, and our trust in Him will mature day by day. But you must act upon your faith in obedience to His Word. When the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith, how did He respond? He said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do’” (Luke 17:6-10). Jesus is simply illustrating the fact in this parable that servants are to do what they are commanded to do, even when they have the faith of a mustard seed. In other words, you don’t need a lot of faith, you just need to be obedient as this servant was, and do what you are commanded to do. If you put action to your faith, then your faith will naturally increase. This is why the church in Thessalonica grew exceedingly in their faith, because of their obedience to love and care for one another in the midst of their persecutions. Paul said to them, “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure” (2 Thess. 1:3-4).

Stones of remembrance.
The stone that Jacob set up there at Bethel was to be a stone of remembrance of his encounter with the Lord. This erecting of a standing stone, or a pile of stones, was a common practice in biblical times. You will see this practice many times in the Scriptures. You remember when the children of Israel came out of Egypt, and they entered into the land of promise, Joshua set up a memorial after passing through the Jordan River. He took twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan river and set them up on the land as a memorial of remembrance of the miraculous parting of the river. He also set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan where the feet of the people had walked (Joshua 4:8-9). He told the people that this was done so that when their sons and daughters asked why these stones are here, they could answer and tell the story of what God had done for them.

I believe these kinds of memorials are vital for every believer’s life. Can you remember those specific times that the Lord has helped you, revealed His direction for your life, or provided for you miraculously? Or, possibly when you have been fearful or depressed, and the Lord spoke to you His promises just as He did to Jacob? I remember the first time I traveled to Israel, and I walked to the brook in the middle of the Elah Valley where David slew Goliath. I was greatly moved by God as I stood there. I then stopped to pick up five smooth stones as David did from the stream bed. I did this as a remembrance of what David did there, but also to remind me of what God had spoken to me about that day. God had assured me that He would enable me to take down every giant in my own life, and that He would be with me as He was with David. So, remember those moments of God’s deliverance, provision, or personal revelation to you, because they will be an encouragement to your faith. Later in Jacob’s life he will return to Bethel, and I am sure God reminded him of these promises, and how He had fulfilled every word to Jacob. I can also assure you that the Lord has fulfilled every promise He made to me in the Elah Valley that day in Israel.

“Then the LORD shall be my God.”

Another response Jacob had to the promises made to him at Bethel, was to make his own personal commitment to the LORD. Notice that Jacob used the personal name for God, Yahweh, or Yehovah. Some people will try and convince you that Allah and Yahweh are the same God, but they are not. Yahweh is the personal name for the God of the Bible, and Allah is the personal name for the god of the Koran. Allah and Yahweh are very different, because they declare contradictory truth statements. Allah declares that he has no son, but the Yahweh declares that He sent His only begotten Son into the world to die for the sins of mankind (John 3:16; Quran 4:48). Allah declares that the Prophet Jesus did not really die on the cross, but Jesus said that this is the very reason He came into the world, to give His life as a ransom for the sins of men (Quran 4:157; Matt. 20:28; John 12:27). Salvation for a Muslim is accomplished by fulfilling the five pillars of Islam, (making a verbal profession of faith, daily prayers, alms-giving, fasting on Ramadan, and making a Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca). The God of the Bible declares that a person can only be saved by grace through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The salvation that the God of the Bible promises is not by any work or good deed performed by men; it is a gift of God (Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 3:23-26). The Quran teaches that heaven is a place of sexual pleasures for those whose deeds have been judged worthy, but Yahweh teaches that heaven will be a place where there are no marital relations, no more curse, and we will see Him face to face (Gen. 22:3-4). There is a big difference between the Allah and Yahweh. May each of us be as Jacob to declare that Yahweh shall be our God!

Jacob’s vow.

In addition to Jacob declaring that Yahweh would be his God, he also vows to give a tenth of all that God prospered him with throughout his life. This vow is called a tithe. Why is this significant? Because giving back to God from how He has prospered us is vital for all men and women of faith. However, many people in the church today say that a tithe is just something from the Old Testament Law and the time of Moses, but has nothing to do with us as Christians. But this passage here in Genesis calls this teaching into question. Why do I say this? Because hundreds of years before the tithe was instituted under the law of Moses, it is used here. Abraham also gave a tenth of all he possessed to Melchizedek in Genesis 14:20. So I believe that it is very important that these two men of faith, long before the law was given, chose to give a tithe to the Lord when they recognize Him as Lord of their lives. These passages reveal that a tithe given to God clearly preceded the law of Moses, and was chosen to be given by men of faith.

Others declare that if tithing is something we should do in the New Testament, then why didn’t Jesus ever teach on the subject? My response is that He did teach on it. In Matthew 23:23 Jesus warned the Pharisees, “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint, anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.” Note that Jesus is not putting down the idea of tithing here, He is just saying that they have put tithing above the weightier matters of the law which was justice, mercy, and faith. It is very important to notice that last sentence at the end of the verse, “These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.” He is teaching them to not leave their tithe undone, but to make sure that they prioritize justice, mercy and faith. I believe a tithe is the least someone should give to the Lord for all the blessings He has bestowed on them. In fact, there are many times you should give above your tithe with alms-giving to the poor, or in outreach giving to missions. As my pastor always used to say, “God will never be your debtor! He will always give back to you more than you will ever give to Him.”

It is also important to note that this is not the only passage in the New Testament where tithing is taught, because there are several others. You may ask, where are these verses? Paul used the example of Old Testament tithing for the basis and reasoning for why the church should pay their pastors. Here is Paul’s discussion on this matter. He taught, “Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working? Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock? Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.’ Is it oxen God is concerned about? Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more? Nevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:5-14). Note in this discussion that Paul appeals to the Old Testament illustration of tithing when he teaches, “Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar?” Just as under the Old Covenant, the priests lived by the tithe the people brought into the Temple, even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should also be supported. See also the apostle’s reference to tithing by the example of Abraham used in Hebrews 7:1-2.

One last thought on this topic, if you consider the majority of the passages in the New Testament on giving, that are often quoted to discourage tithing, these are in reality passages dealing with alms-giving to the poor (2 Cor. 8-9; 1 Cor. 16:1-3). Alms-giving to the poor or missionary giving should always be above your tithe. If people gave in this manner, there would never be an unfunded need in the church today. Think of the new churches that could be started, new missionaries that could be sent out, or school or hospitals that could be funded. May God give you wisdom and desecration on these matters.

Have you had a Bethel experience in your own life?

Let me close this chapter by asking you a very important question. Have you had a Bethel experience with the Lord? Have you had a personal encounter with the living God? Have you vowed to Him in surrender that He is your God? John said that each of us must personally acknowledge Him and receive Him by faith (John 1:12). Receiving Him by faith is essential for salvation. But Jesus not only wants to save your soul, He also wants to draw you into a daily fellowship with the Father. This is your privilege as a child of God. Paul said that he personally wanted to know Jesus and the power of His resurrection within his heart (Phil. 3:9-10). Christianity is not just going to church, or following rules and regulations, it is all about knowing and fellowshipping with the living God every day. Jesus said that, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). Salvation is having a Bethel experience with the Lord, and then continuing your fellowship with Him every day. Is this your experience in the Lord? If you are not sure you have a personal relationship with Him, or that daily fellowship, then I encourage you, cry out to God, and ask Him to come and reveal Himself to you. Tell Him you want a Bethel experience with Him. Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matt. 7:7-8). When Jesus promised, everyone who asks receives, He means it. That word everyone means you!