Genesis 28:20, commentary and pictures

Fleeing for his life after wrongfully taking the blessing, lonely and fearful in the wilderness with only his staff, Jacob awoke from the dream of the shining ladder reaching to God's throne and vowed that if God would stay with him and keep him on his way, feed and clothe him and bring him home in peace, then the Lord would be his God, the anointed stone would be God's house, and he would give back a tenth of all given him. He was not bargaining for prosperity already promised, but pouring out a heart filled with gratitude and love for the assurance of God's presence, mercy and help. His vow teaches that every special token of divine favor creates a claim that must be answered not only with thanks but with tangible return of time, talents and property devoted to God's service. Though long years passed before he could return, he did not excuse himself as merely excited by a dream but faithfully paid the tenth of all he had gained, even reckoning its use while in a heathen land, for the larger the trust the larger the return required. His experience is the pattern for all who receive deliverance and unexpected favor, whose hearts softened by the Spirit and freed from selfishness pledge self-denial and sacrifice for God and souls while angels are present.

Flight and Night Vision

Jacob vowed while fleeing for his life from Esau after sinfully seizing the blessing God had already promised him, an act showing great lack of faith in God's power to carry out His purposes. With only his staff in his hand he traveled hundreds of miles through desolate country, his courage gone and filled with remorse, timidity and fear, avoiding men lest his angry brother trace him. Without God's peace and harassed by the thought that he had forfeited divine protection, he felt his sin had separated him from God and heaven, repentant and troubled by the consequences.

It was night in the wilderness, daylight gone and darkness over him, sleeping with a stone for a pillow. He awoke in the deep stillness of night after the shining forms had disappeared, with only the dim outline of the lonely hills and the heavens bright with stars before him. Yet with a solemn sense that God was with him and an unseen presence filling the solitude, he declared the place to be the house of God and the gate of heaven. With thoughts bright with praise he raised Bethel out of his stony griefs, so that his cross and woes became what raised him nearer to God.

In response God gave him a dream of a ladder of shining brightness with its base firmly planted on the earth and its topmost round entering the throne of God, with angels shining in brightness on every round and descending on that ladder. Jacob recognized it as the gate of heaven to his soul and answered with his vow to the Lord.

The ladder reaching from earth to heaven symbolized the way upward that all who love God will climb. That night Jacob experienced the new birth and became a child of God, comforted by God through the vision and given confidence in His care. The light of the vision was precious to him, and the hard stone seemed the most desirable pillow he had ever had. The ladder means that God sends angels whose whole work is to draw those who shall be heirs of salvation, that whenever one takes a step toward Jesus He takes steps toward him, and that the angels keep back the powers of Satan. God sent angels to instruct, comfort and protect him in his time of need, turning cross and woes into what raises one nearer to God.

Vow and Its Meaning

Awakened and grateful for the assurance of God's presence, Jacob vowed that if God would be with him and keep him in the way he went, give him bread to eat and clothing to put on, and bring him back safely to his father's house in peace, then the Lord would be his God, the anointed stone pillar would be God's house, and he would surely give God a tenth of all that God gave him. The vow recalled God's promises of mercy and His presence with him in the way he went.

He was not seeking to make terms with God, for prosperity had already been promised him. His vow was the outflow of a heart filled with deepest gratitude and love for the assurance of God's love, mercy, presence and help. The verse means that special tokens of divine favor create claims upon him that must be acknowledged with a corresponding return. Every blessing bestowed calls for a response to the Author of all mercies, not only gratitude but tangible giving, with time, talents and property sacredly devoted in trust to His service.

As an exile and penniless wanderer at Bethel, his promised tithe was a voluntary response to God's care, not a compelled offering. It illustrates that giving to God in gratitude for His blessings existed before the Mosaic system.

Keeping Vow Today

Jacob made his vow while refreshed by the dews of grace and invigorated by God's presence and assurance after the vision of the ladder. After the divine glory passed he met temptations just as people do now, but he stayed faithful to what he had promised. He did not excuse himself by reasoning that the revelation had been only a dream or that he had been unduly excited when he vowed. Long years passed before he dared return to his own country, yet all the while he treated what he had pledged as belonging to the Lord and not to himself.

When he did return he had become wealthy, and he faithfully discharged his debt so that a very large amount of property passed to the treasury. He gave the tenth of all that he had, and then he reckoned the use of the tenth and gave the Lord the benefit of what he had used for his own interest during the time he was in a heathen land and could not pay his vow. What he had vowed he did not regard as his but as the Lord's, and he did not hesitate even though the sum was large. According to the amount bestowed will be the amount required, and the larger the capital entrusted the more valuable the gift required in return.

The promises made to him in exile were fulfilled, for angels were sent to instruct, comfort, and protect him in his time of need. The prayer in the vow to be brought back in peace was granted when he crossed the Jordan and arrived in peace at Shechem in the land of Canaan. These promises given in the night vision at Bethel he later pleaded as covenant promises. From his experience Joseph learned that the God of his fathers could be trusted as his own God during exile.

His example is for all who receive special deliverance and unexpected favors, showing them to pledge to the Lord in return rather than receive them with indifference and thankless hearts. The circumstances that prompted his vow are the same kind that prompt men and women to vow now. His solemn pledge is linked with pledges made from a heart moved by God's Spirit to deny self and sacrifice for God's cause. Christians should often review the past life and recall with gratitude the precious deliverances wrought for them, the support in trial, the opening of ways when all seemed dark, and the refreshment when ready to faint, recognizing them all as evidences of the watchcare of heavenly angels. In view of these innumerable blessings they should often ask with subdued and grateful heart what to render for all His benefits.

Such a pledge is made when the heart is softened by the presence of the Spirit, when divine light shines into the mind with unusual clearness and power. Then the feelings of the natural man are overcome and selfishness loses its power upon the heart. Love for God and love for souls triumph over selfishness and love of the world. Desires are awakened to imitate Christ in self-denial and benevolence and to become kind and pitiful toward lost sinners. Heavenly angels are present on such occasions.