Studies in Genesis

Studies in Genesis Presentation 43

Discovering God Gen 27v41-28v22 Presentation 43

Introduction The will of God is like an anvil used to shape our lives. In the same way that a bar of metal can be bent on the anvil and made into something useful so too our human wills can be bent on God's anvil. In this way we become useful instruments in God's service. The story of Jacob is the story of a bar of metal gradually being bent into shape. We have already seen Jacob’s stubborn self-will and his capacity to deceive in order to get what he wanted. He was discovering that, when we attempt to secure the blessing of God in the wrong way we end up impoverishing our lives instead of enriching them. Presentation 43

Contingency Plans Jacob had outwitted his father and enraged his brother with his deception in 27.18ff and there was a terrible price to pay. Esau planned to murder Jacob once their father was dead. Isaac may have submitted to the will of God and recognised Jacob was God’s choice for the blessing, but there is no such submission in Esau’s heart! Instead his festering hatred was contemplating murder! Imagine the distress that this caused Rebekah. Her favourite son was sitting on a time bomb! She needed an escape plan! Presentation 43

Contingency Plans Rebekah had learned nothing from her previous deception. She sets out to deceive her husband for a second time. Instead of voicing her fears for Jacob's safety, she expresses concern that Jacob might make a bad marriage. She wanted her son to marry a believer v46. She was right to be concerned about whom Jacob married but wrong to disguise her real motive. Had deceit taken such root in Rebekah's heart that it was more 'natural' for her to deceive than to tell the truth? Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him away. Esau, believing he had been badly treated, did what he knew would upset his parents – he married a Canaanite. That is often the reaction of anger, it is more concerned to harm the object of its fury than ask what harm it might do to itself. Presentation 43

Revelation of God’s Grace Jacob left the family home with a heavy heart and fearfully began a journey of 500 miles through a dangerous desert. He must have thought he was abandoning the very blessing he had schemed so hard to secure. As the sun set that evening did he think that the light had gone out on all of his dreams and aspirations? However, God planned in the succeeding years to prepare and equip Jacob. God was going to bless Jacob in spite of Jacob. Jacob was about to discover the truth of Shakespeare’s words, 'There is a divinity which shapes our ends rough hew, them how we will.’ ln God’s school, we frequently discover things being torn from our grasp until we learn to hold them in an open hand. God's grace gifts are to be used in his service and are not our possessions to be selfishly guarded. Presentation 43

Revelation of God’s Grace God is intent to reveal his grace to Jacob. Notice the timing of this revelation. God comes to Jacob, when he is most aware of his vulnerability, isolation and danger. Jacob was in a mess of his own making and he knew it. His circumstances were unenviable. It is at precisely this time that God makes himself known. Why? Because then Jacob was at his most receptive. He had begun to see just how frail the tower of self-reliance really was. The purpose of God’s approach was to say, 'Jacob, I do not need your assistance in order to fulfil my promises to you, indeed this is a Promise, which is going to be fulfilled despite the mess of complications you have injected into the situation.' Presentation 43

Revelation of God’s Grace Secondly, note the method God chooses to reveal himself to Jacob and what it signifies. God exercises tremendous restraint and sensitivity, when we are crushed by failure Goes does not rub our faces in it. He does not begin by berating Jacob for his deception and impatience. He begins by demonstrating that he is neither inaccessible nor remote. This is the significance of Jacob’s vision of a ladder stretching up to heaven. God reaches down to men in their deepest need. This is what lonely Jacob needed to know . He might be cut off from his mother and family home but God remains accessible. The accessibility of God is one of the greatest encouragements to the broken and crushed in spirit. God does more that provide Jacob with a vision of significant symbolism. Presentation 43

Revelation of God’s Grace God also spoke a powerful word of promise. The promise made to Rebekah concerning Jacob is now made directly to him but now it is far more comprehensive in its content. It is tailor made to meet Jacob at every point of his need. Have you ever tried to wrap up a present only to discover that the paper you are using is too small. It doesn't quite do the job. Well God is saying to Jacob, “you will never be able to think of me in those terms”. I will meet you at every point of your need. I have covered every contingency. What were those needs? First, there is the promise of God’s presence 'I am with you...’ This word from God must surely have refreshed Jacob in his desperate loneliness. We may at times feel lonely but we are never alone. Matt 28.20 Presentation 43

Revelation of God’s Grace Secondly, there is the promise of divine protection, 'I will watch over you ...’ Jacob alone in the desert was more conscious than ever before of every sound and every shadow. Did he imagine Esau jumping out from behind every rock? Again God met Jacob at the point of his need. The Almighty God promised him his protection. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” Ps 23.4 Presentation 43

Revelation of God’s Grace Thirdly, there is the promise of divine provision 'I give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying’. We know that Jacob came from a very wealthy family cf. Gen. 25.13 14. One day, Jacob had possessed all that he could ever have wished for and the next all he had was a few possessions. He was impoverished but into his impoverishment came the promise of divine provision. Believers are heirs to indescribable riches in Christ Jesus and have been promised not a parcel of land on earth but an eternal home in heaven John 14.3. Presentation 43 Presentation 43

Revelation of God’s Grace Fourthly, Jacob was haunted by a sense of shame and disgrace. News of his deception and exile would have reached the ears of the many family servants. And into that situation God spoke a word to lift up his head, 'All peoples of the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.' This promise indicates that no matter how badly we have acted in the past, God is able to begin with us anew. Is there a skeleton in your past that keeps trying to pop out of the cupboard? God is a God of new beginnings not only for Jacob but also for you. Presentation 43

Jacob’s Response of Submission How did Jacob react to this revelation of God? A true encounter with God will always produce a sense of awe and godly fear. It will either mark the beginning of a relationship with God or cause men to shy away from following him. Here is how A. W. Tozer describes the matter: ‘Just as some men shy away from marriage when they realise what it involves, so men shy away when they, suddenly, realise that being a Christian involves a relationship with…..and no printed words can convey the awe and the wonder that should be in our voices when we say the last word of this sentence… with GOD’. Presentation 43

Jacob’s Response of Submission Jacob did not shy away from God. From this point on he entered into a personal relationship with him. His knowledge of God was no longer second hand. It was no longer mere facts that he had picked up at home. His knowledge of God was for the first time experimental and personal. Notice that God was prepared to enter into a personal relationship with a man as twisted and deceitful as Jacob was! He did not wait until Jacob improved before closing in on him and drawing him to himself! Isn't that marvellously reassuring? Presentation 43

Jacob’s Response of Submission A true encounter with God has a transforming effect. It subdues our hearts. John Calvin the great reformer and preacher was a prolific writer. To the best of my knowledge he has only provided one personal reference to his conversion. He writes: 'God by a sudden conversion subdued my heart to teachableness'. That says it all! After this encounter with God he was never the same man again! He had once possessed a rebellious, unsubdued and unteachable heart but his encounter with God transformed him. He recognised a new authority in his life and the key of his heart was handed over to God. Presentation 43

Jacob’s Response of Submission In some measure Calvin's experience was Jacob's experience. Jacob's heart is subdued. And part and parcel of that submission is found in the vow, which he makes in v20.... "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, then the LORD [a] will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth." There is a real measure of immaturity associated with this vow. Jacob has not yet understood the nature of God's grace in his covenant promise. Grace seems too good to be true. His scheming nature is not completely subdued hence his vow is based on a bilateral bargain; 'You do this for me and I will do that for you'. God is measured by his standards. He is thinking of a partnership which has mutual benefits! Presentation 43

Jacob’s Response of Submission Despite Jacob's failure to grasp the nature of the grace relationship, God nevertheless begins to deal with Jacob at his level of understanding and experience. Jacob is yet to learn that under the name of ‘grace’ all spiritual blessing is wrapped up. Here is the condescension of God. He is prepared to stoop down and begin with our imperfect grasp of who he is and how he works. He knows how to school his saints and how to produce a deeper submission to his rule in their lives. Presentation 43

Jacob’s Response of Submission Jacob sets up a memorial stone at Bethel to remind him of his encounter with God. It was a tangible reminder of his intimate dealings with God. Memory is such a defective thing. We can distort events or become selective in the things that we remember. For this reason Christians of a former generation kept journals to record God's dealings with them. Some have done this for a number of years and then their hearts have grown cold and their obedience has waned. But years later as they have read their spiritual journals their memory has been quickened and their appetite for God freshly kindled. In the same way the stone, which Jacob raised would remind him of God's intimate dealings with him in years to come. Presentation 43

Conclusion We cannot leave this passage without referring to a N.T. reference to this incident namely Jesus words to Nathaniel in Jn 1.41ff. Nathaniel's early scepticism was overcome and he confessed his faith in Jesus. Then Jesus said, 'You believe because I told you I saw you under a fig tree, you shall see greater things than that… I tell you the truth and you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.' Jesus applies the teaching significance of Jacob's vision to himself by implying, ‘I am that heavenly stairway, I am the ladder that spans from heaven to earth. It is through me that the blessings of God are mediated. It is in and through me the promises of God are kept.' Presentation 43

Conclusion God is still letting down his ladder. He continues to come to us in the consciousness of our failure, sin, isolation and brokenness. Through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, he is eager to apply the rich promises of his grace to our lives. If God chooses to break in on our lives in this way then we must not be surprised if something of the awe that Jacob experienced also grips our hearts so that we too find ourselves saying, 'Surely the Lord was in this place and I was not aware of it'. Presentation 43

Studies in Genesis