We are rolling into chapter 46 of Genesis with our word for today. מַרְאָה vision, apparition, mirror, a looking glass. It is used 12 times in the Old Testament. We see it used in the sense of a supernatural appearance that imparts a message often in dreams. Most of the uses of our word are found in Ezekiel and Daniel. This form of communication used by God is very creative and engages the imagination which helps one to remember it. Ezekiel 1:1,13-16 The heavens were opened and I saw מַרְא֥וֹת visions of God…The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it. Daniel 10:5-8 I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude. I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the הַמַּרְאָ֔ה vision.
This is the same sense of a supernatural appearance that imparts a message often in dreams that we see it used in our chapter today. God communicates to Jacob this way to reassure and reconfirm with him that he is accomplishing all that he had promised him earlier. Genesis 46:2-4 And God spoke to Israel in בְּמַרְאֹ֣ת visions of the night and said, “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again.” If we recall this was not the first time God communicated to Jacob in this way. Genesis 28:12-16 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Jacob clearly identifies this as God talking to him. And his message contains the same promise as God is reminding him of today.
This form of communication used by God is very creative and engages the imagination which helps one to remember it is also used in the New Testament. I’ll close with this amazing vision given to John about our future with Christ. Revelation 1:12-16 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. Revelation 21:1-5 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”…I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God…And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
