Resolving conflict requires prayerful preparation that is accompanied by repentance and restitution...

This week, we have been looking at a story in the very first letter that is recorded for us in the Bible, called the book of Genesis. Wednesday, we saw a man named Jacob respond to his role in his unresolved conflict with his older brother Eau with repentance and restitution. Jacob recognized that to resolve this conflict, he would need to demonstrate that he had changed and had a desire to make things right as a result of those changes.

Today, as Jacob spent the evening pondering the changes that had occurred in his life over the past twenty years and how he need to demonstrate those changes to his brother in repentance for the wrong that he had committed, we see God enter into this story in an amazing way in Genesis 32:22:

 Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two maids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had. Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." But he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." He said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed." Then Jacob asked him and said, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved." Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh. Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because he touched the socket of Jacob's thigh in the sinew of the hip.

Now place yourself in Jacob’s shoes. You are camping out alone, pondering all the possibilities of what would occur the following morning and out of the blue a man shows up and jumps you and starts taking you to the ground MMA style? And after you fend him off, the guy does not give up, but comes at you all night long? What would you be thinking?

As Jacob wrestled with the man throughout the night, it became apparent to Jacob that this was not simply a man. And as the night moved toward day, this man demonstrated that he was not simply a man by using a supernatural MMA move that dislocated Jacob’s hip. You see, Jacob was not wrestling with a man; Jacob was wrestling with God who came to earth in the appearance of a man. Jacob was wrestling with an Old Testament appearance of Jesus.

Jacob, recognizing that he was in the presence of a supernatural being, responds by hanging on and asking for a blessing. Jacob is then asked his name, which seems weird, doesn’t it? I mean doesn’t Jesus already know who He is dealing with here? So why ask? The answer to this question is directly related to the meaning of the name Jacob. Jacob literally means trickster, supplanter.

You see, by having to say his name, Jacob is reminded of his past character and conduct as a deceiver. Jesus then gives Jacob a new name Israel, which means to strive and persist with God. Jacob receives a new name to reveal the new character, conduct, and destiny that should mark his life. Jacob then responds to this encounter by naming the location Penuel, which means face of God. After encountering God in a bod, and as morning dawned, Moses records for us what happened next in Genesis 33:1:

Then Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids. He put the maids and their children in front, and Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. But he himself passed on ahead of them and bowed down to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

As Esau approaches in the distance, Jacob places himself between himself and his family and bowed to the ground seven times. You see, Jacob had prepared himself for this encounter. Jacob prepared by having a plan if things went sideways. Jacob had prepared by praying to God and acknowledged his fear and God’s position and promises. And Jacob had prepared to demonstrate his sorrow and repentance by preparing to give Esau restitution for his wrongs.

Jacob puts his preparation into practice by bowing to humble himself before his older brother and to demonstrate his sorrow and desire to resolve the conflict between them and reconcile their relationship. Jacob had prepared and prayerfully taken the initiative, but how would Esau respond? We see Esau’s response to Jacob’s actions in verse 4:

 Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. He lifted his eyes and saw the women and the children, and said, "Who are these with you?" So he said, "The children whom God has graciously given your servant." Then the maids came near with their children, and they bowed down. Leah likewise came near with her children, and they bowed down; and afterward Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed down. And he said, "What do you mean by all this company which I have met?" And he said, "To find favor in the sight of my lord." But Esau said, "I have plenty, my brother; let what you have be your own." Jacob said, "No, please, if now I have found favor in your sight, then take my present from my hand, for I see your face as one sees the face of God, and you have received me favorably. "Please take my gift which has been brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me and because I have plenty." Thus he urged him and he took it.

Esau responds to Jacob’s demonstration of sorrow and repentance by extending grace and forgiveness to Jacob. And while Esau did not need Jacob’s gift, Jacob pressed Esau to take the gift. Jacob pressed Esau because the gift was not simply about providing material blessings. Instead, the gift was about demonstrating a desire to right a relationship that went wrong. And as Esau and Jacob engage in their first conversation in over twenty years, we see Moses give us a glimpse into that conversation in verse 12:

Then Esau said, "Let us take our journey and go, and I will go before you." But he said to him, "My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds which are nursing are a care to me. And if they are driven hard one day, all the flocks will die. "Please let my lord pass on before his servant, and I will proceed at my leisure, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord at Seir."

Esau responds to Jacob’s gifts by offering him land. However, Jacob responds to Esau’s offer by refusing his offer. Now a natural question that arises here is “why would Jacob refuse Esau’s offer? I thought Jacob wanted to resolve their conflict?” The reason why Jacob refused Esau’s offer was because his gift was restitution that was not to be reciprocated. In addition, while there was reconciliation between Jacob and Esau that does not mean that the relationship between Jacob and Esau was fully restored.

You see, while forgiveness and reconciliation is to be immediate, trust and restoration of a relationship to its previous condition is earned over time. And after over 20 years of distrust, the remnants of that distrust still lingered in Jacob’s mind. Also, God had directed him to travel to the land that He had promised them, which did not include Edom, which was the land that Esau was offering him. We see Esau make a second offer to Jacob in verse 15:

 Esau said, "Please let me leave with you some of the people who are with me." But he said, "What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord." So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built for himself a house and made booths for his livestock; therefore the place is named Succoth. Now Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram, and camped before the city. He bought the piece of land where he had pitched his tent from the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, for one hundred pieces of money. Then he erected there an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

Esau, concerned about Jacob and his family being vulnerable as they travel, offers Jacob some of his men to help provide protection for their trip back home. Jacob, however, declines Esau’s offer. Moses concludes this story by explaining that Esau returned to Edom, while Jacob entered into the land that God had promised his father and grandfather.

Upon arriving there safely, Jacob responded to the Lord’s presence, promises and activity in his life by building an altar. This altar was named El-Elohe-Israel, which literally means “God, the God of Israel”. Jacob responded to the Lord’s gift of His presence, promises, and a new name by embracing the Lord and his new name and destiny. And it is in this story that we see God reveal for us a timeless truth regarding the nature of conflict and how to resolve conflict. And that timeless truth is this: Resolving conflict requires prayerful preparation that is accompanied by repentance and restitution.

Just as it was for Jacob and Esau, just as it has been for humanity throughout history, conflict is not resolved by striking out in anger. And conflict is not resolved by walking out in fear. Instead conflict is resolved through prayerful preparation that is accompanied by repentance and restitution. Resolving conflict requires that we prepare ourselves by coming up with a plan that hopes for the best, but recognizes the possibility of the worst.

Resolving conflict requires that we prepare ourselves by praying to God in a way that acknowledges our fear and God’s position and promises. Resolving conflict requires that we prepare ourselves by repenting from our selfishness and rebellion against God and others that contributed to the conflict. Resolving conflict requires that we prepare ourselves by making restitution to the damages that we have inflicted on others as a result of the conflict. And resolving conflict recognizes that, while forgiveness and reconciliation is to be immediate, trust and restoration of a relationship to its previous condition is earned over time.

So how are you attempting to resolve conflict? Are you attempting to resolve conflict by striking out at others? Are you attempting to resolve conflict by walking out on others? How’s that working for you? Because resolving conflict requires prayerful preparation that is accompanied by repentance and restitution.

Praying for the Best...

This week, we are looking at a section of the very first letter that is recorded for us in the Bible called the book of Genesis. Yesterday, we saw a man named Jacob prepare to meet his older brother Esau, who he had not seen in twenty years as a result of an unresolved conflict between them.  Jacob responded to his fear and anxiety about this meeting by preparing for the worst. Jacob divided the people and possessions into two groups in order to best defend against Esau in the event that Esau responded to the conflict between them by striking out.

But not only did Jacob make preparations for how he would respond if the conflict took a turn for the worse. Today, we will see two more ways that  Jacob responded to this unresolved conflict in verse 9:

 Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, 'Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,'  I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. "Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children. "For You said, 'I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.'"

Here we see Jacob respond to the unresolved conflict with Esau by pursuing God in prayer. In his prayer, we see Jacob acknowledge three things. First, we see Jacob acknowledge God’s position in the conflict. Notice that Jacob refers to God as O God and as O Lord. While the phrase O God, recognizes God as Creator, the phrase O Lord, recognizes God as the One who is large and in charge of all of creation and over every situation.  Jacob is acknowledging God’s position as the sovereign Creator who is large and in charge of his life.

Second, Jacob acknowledges his fear about the conflict. Jacob asks God to rescue him from Esau because he is afraid that Esau will strike out at him in vengeance. Third, we see Jacob acknowledge God’s promises toward him. Jacob reminds God of His promises to prosper him. What is so interesting is that this phrase literally means to do good with you. Jacob is reminding God of the promise of His presence and provision in his life.

Now, does God need to be reminded of His position or promises to Jacob? Does God need to be reminded that Jacob is afraid? Do you think that God was up in Heaven saying “Oh thanks for reminding me of the promises that I made to you. And thanks for letting me know that you are afraid, I didn’t know”. No God did not need to be reminded.

 In his prayer to God, Jacob is relying on God’s promises by reminding himself of God’s’ promises as he prays to God. As Jacob prays to God, God is changing Jacob by aligning him with His promises and how he should respond to this conflict based on God’s promises and commands to him. You see prayer changes us by aligning us with God’s desires and direction. We see how God aligned Jacobs’s heart when it came to how he was to respond to his fears regarding this unresolved conflict in verse 13:

So he spent the night there. Then he selected from what he had with him a present for his brother Esau: two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milking camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. He delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, "Pass on before me, and put a space between droves." He commanded the one in front, saying, "When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, 'To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals in front of you belong?'  then you shall say, 'These belong to your servant Jacob; it is a present sent to my lord Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.'" Then he commanded also the second and the third, and all those who followed the droves, saying, "After this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him; and you shall say, 'Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.'" For he said, "I will appease him with the present that goes before me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me." So the present passed on before him, while he himself spent that night in the camp.

After preparing for the worst and praying for the best, we see Jacob respond to his unresolved conflict by preparing a large gift that was to be given, in stages, to his brother. The reason behind the large gift, and its delivery in stages, was to appease Esau. Now this word appease literally means to cover one’s face. This word is also translated to make atonement for. This word means to satisfy one’s wrath or anger.

You see, Jacob wanted to satisfy Esau’s response of anger that came as a result of being wronged by him. Jacob wanted Esau to accept him. Jacob wanted Esau to look favorably toward him. Jacob wanted Esau to extend grace and forgiveness to him. And to show that he was sorry; to show that he had recognized that he had wronged Esau; to show that he had changed his ways and that he wanted to resolve their conflict; Jacob is providing restitution for what he believed that he wronged Esau from receiving.

And it is here that we see Jacob respond to his role in this unresolved conflict with repentance and restitution. Now the word repent literally means to feel remorse that results in a change of one’s mind and heart. To repent means more than simply feeling sorry for something you did; to repent means that you feel sorry for what you did and the sorrow that you feel drives you to change something in your life. Repentance is an inward recognition of the need for change that produces outward results. Jacob recognized that to resolve this conflict, he would need to demonstrate that he had changed and had a desire to make things right as a result of those changes.

And as Jacob spent the evening pondering the changes that had occurred in his life over the past twenty years and how he need to demonstrate those changes to his brother in repentance for the wrong that he had committed, we see God enter into this story in an amazing way. We will find see how God entered into this story and discover a timeless truth that can powerfully impact our lives on Friday…

Preparing for the Worst...

For the past few weeks, we have been looking at a section of the very first letter in the Bible called the book of Genesis, where we have seen a man named Jacob begin learning the lessons from his selfishness and rebellion that resulted in him being married to two different women in eight days. This week, I would like to jump back into this section of the very first letter that is recorded for us in the Bible, called the book of Genesis. And as we jump back into the book of Genesis, we are going to discover another timeless truth that can powerfully impact our relationship with God and others. So let’s discover this truth together, in Genesis 32:1:

Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him. Jacob said when he saw them, "This is God's camp." So he named that place Mahanaim. Then Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. He also commanded them saying, "Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: 'Thus says your servant Jacob, "I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now; I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight."'"

Moses brings us back into the story of Jacob and his family by explaining that after entering into a covenant agreement between with Laban that born out of the jealousy and lack of trust between them, Jacob began his journey back to the land that God had promised to his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac. And as Jacob began his journey back to the land that God had promised him, Moses tells us that Jacob had an encounter with the angels of God.

 Just as the Lord appeared to Jacob 20 years earlier when Jacob left the promised land in fear of his brother Esau, here we see the Lord remind Jacob once again of the reality that He is ever present and ever engaging the world. The Lord wanted Jacob to clearly understand that regardless of his location, regardless of the direction he was traveling in, that He had not left him but was present with him. After encountering God’s messengers that reminded him of God’s presence, Jacob sent messengers of his own to his brother Esau, who was living east of the Promised Land in the country of Edom.

The message that these messengers carried to Esau, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “Dear Esau, this is your servant Jacob. I have been out of town living as a foreigner with our Uncle Laban. The reason I have been gone so long is due to the fact that Uncle Laban delayed my return. But now, I am no longer delayed and am heading back to mom and dads. I have sent these messengers ahead of my arrival because I want you to know that I have a large gift that I want to give to you once I get there. I hope that once I arrive and give this gift to you that I would be able to find favor with you”.

Now a question that arises here is “why is Jacob sending these messengers to Esau prior to his arrival? Why doesn’t he simply surprise Esau with the gift once he had arrived? And why doesn’t Jacob tell Esau about his wives and kids?” If those questions are running through your mind, I just want to let you know that those are great questions to be asking. And the answers to these questions are directly related to the history between Jacob and Esau.

As we discovered in the Promise series, twenty years earlier, Jacob had deceived his older brother Esau out of his birthright, which was the rights and rank that one had as a result of being the firstborn in a family. In addition, Jacob had deceived his father Isaac into giving the family blessing to him instead of Esau. As a result of the deception of Jacob, Moses tells us that Esau bore a grudge towards Jacob. And from the animosity that Esau harbored toward Jacob, Esau formed a plan to gain the birthright and blessing back by killing Jacob.

Jacob’s mom Rebekah then deceivingly convinced Isaac to send Jacob to live with his uncle Laban, where he had spent the past twenty years. However, even though it had been twenty years, Jacob still remembered the reason why he was sent to live with his uncle. Jacob still remembered the grudge that Esau bore against him. And Jacob recognized that his deceit resulted in a significant conflict that had never been resolved.

You see, instead of working through the conflict with Jacob, Esau wanted to strike out at Jacob in anger. Instead of working through the conflict with Esau, Jacob wanted to walk out from Esau in fear. And as a result, this unresolved conflict had lingered in the background of Jacob’s mind for twenty years.

How often do we act just like Jacob and Esau? How often can we find ourselves striking out at others when we have conflict with others? How often can we find ourselves walking out from others when we have conflict with others?

So now, as Jacob is following God’s command to head back home and God’s promise of His presence as he heads back home, Jacob longs for peace and reconciliation with Esau. However, Jacob has no idea how Esau will respond to his return. After all, it has been twenty years. So Jacob sends messengers to Esau to let them know that he is on the way home and the he desires to move past the history and move past the conflict. Moses records Esau’s response for us in verse 6:

 The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him." Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels, into two companies; for he said, "If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the company which is left will escape."

Moses tells us that Jacob’s messengers returned from their encounter with Esau with a simple message: Esau is coming to meet you and he is bringing four hundred men with him. Now imagine yourself as Jacob. Place yourself in his shoes. How would you respond to the news? Remember, the last time you saw your brother was twenty years ago, when you deceived him and stole his place and the family inheritance from him. And he was not happy with you. And now he is coming to meet you with four hundred men. How would you respond?

Jacob responded with fear and with anxiety. From Jacob’s perspective, even though Esau did not say he was coming to get revenge, Jacob assumed the worst from the messenger’s words. And Esau’s words provoked fear and anxiety over having to encounter Esau and the unresolved conflict between them. Jacob responded to his fear and anxiety by preparing for the worst.

Jacob divided the people and possessions into two groups in order to best defend against Esau in the event that Esau responded to the conflict between them by striking out. But not only did Jacob make preparations for how he would respond if the conflict took a turn for the worse.

Tomorrow, we will see a second way that Jacob responded to this unresolved conflict…

Our jealousy dishonors God and destroys relationships...

This week, we have been looking at a section of the very first letter in our Bibles, called the book of Genesis. Wednesday, we looked at the impact that jealousy had on the relationship between Jacob and his wives. We ended with Laban and his sons responded to Jacob’s prosperity by becoming jealous of Jacob. While there had always been tension between Jacob and Laban as a result of Laban’s deception, that tension was now replaced by animosity. You see Laban and his family wanted the prosperity that Jacob had and did not want Jacob to have the prosperity that he did have. Today, we will see the Lord enter into the situation in verse Genesis 31:3:

 Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you." So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to his flock in the field, and said to them, "I see your father's attitude, that it is not friendly toward me as formerly, but the God of my father has been with me. "You know that I have served your father with all my strength. "Yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times; however, God did not allow him to hurt me. "If he spoke thus, 'The speckled shall be your wages,' then all the flock brought forth speckled; and if he spoke thus, 'The striped shall be your wages,' then all the flock brought forth striped. "Thus God has taken away your father's livestock and given them to me. "And it came about at the time when the flock were mating that I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which were mating were striped, speckled, and mottled. "Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here I am.'  "He said, 'Lift up now your eyes and see that all the male goats which are mating are striped, speckled, and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. 'I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, leave this land, and return to the land of your birth.'"  Rachel and Leah said to him, "Do we still have any portion or inheritance in our father's house? "Are we not reckoned by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and has also entirely consumed our purchase price. "Surely all the wealth which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and our children; now then, do whatever God has said to you."

In the midst of the animosity that was fueled by jealousy, the Lord appears to Jacob and commands him to return to the land that He had promised his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac. The Lord here is reminding Jacob of his vow to the Lord that if the Lord’s presence, protection, and provision would be with him, then he would follow the Lord and worship the Lord at Bethel by giving back ten percent of all that he received from the Lord.

Now God is saying, it is time for you to fulfill that vow. It is time for you to head back to the land that I promised to your grandfather Abraham and your father Isaac. Jacob then explains to his two wives God’s command and reminder of the vow that he had made to God.

Rachel and Leah respond to Jacob by wholeheartedly agreeing with him. You see, Leah and Rachel both recognized how their father had used them to deceive Jacob. For twenty years, they had watched Laban deceive and mistreat their husband. Leah and Rachel both recognized that Laban’s jealousy of Jacob had resulted in them being thought of and treated as outsiders.

And as a result, they were ready and willing to bail on their father and their family to move to a place that they had never been before. You see, Laban’s jealousy resulted in the destruction of his relationship with his daughters. We see what happens next in verse 17:

 Then Jacob arose and put his children and his wives upon camels; and he drove away all his livestock and all his property which he had gathered, his acquired livestock which he had gathered in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. When Laban had gone to shear his flock, then Rachel stole the household idols that were her father's. And Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was fleeing. So he fled with all that he had; and he arose and crossed the Euphrates River, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.

As soon as an opportunity presented itself, Jacob secretly took off, taking his family and his prosperity with him. Moses tells us that as they took off, Rachel stole the household idols. Now a natural question that arises here is “why would Rachel steal the household idols?”

The reason that Rachel stole the household idols was simple. Rachel, after being used by her father, wanted to get back at her father. Rachel stole the household idols out of vengeance in order to get back at her father. We see Laban’s response to Jacob leaving in verse 22:

When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, then he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him a distance of seven days' journey, and he overtook him in the hill country of Gilead. God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream of the night and said to him, "Be careful that you do not speak to Jacob either good or bad."

Upon hearing that Jacob and his daughters had secretly bailed on him, Laban responded by hunting them down. After 7 days of pursuit, Laban caught up with Jacob. And while Laban had plans about what he was going to do to Jacob, those plans were overtaken by a warning from the Lord in a dream.

The Lord basically says to Laban “You better take heed and be on guard when it comes to what you have to say to Jacob, because I am present and I will be listening”. We see what happens next in verse 25:

 Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen camped in the hill country of Gilead. Then Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword? "Why did you flee secretly and deceive me, and did not tell me so that I might have sent you away with joy and with songs, with timbrel and with lyre; and did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now you have done foolishly. "It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, 'Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob.' "Now you have indeed gone away because you longed greatly for your father's house; but why did you steal my gods?" Then Jacob replied to Laban, "Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. "The one with whom you find your gods shall not live; in the presence of our kinsmen point out what is yours among my belongings and take it for yourself." For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two maids, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's tent. Now Rachel had taken the household idols and put them in the camel's saddle, and she sat on them. And Laban felt through all the tent but did not find them. She said to her father, "Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is upon me." So he searched but did not find the household idols. Then Jacob became angry and contended with Laban; and Jacob said to Laban, "What is my transgression? What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me?

Laban basically says to Jacob “Why did you take off without letting me say goodbye? And although I could do harm, your God appeared to me in a dream and told me to leave you alone and let you leave. I understand that you wanted to go back home, but how could you repay me for all the good that I have done to you by stealing my gods?” Jacob, unaware that Rachel had taken the gods, basically says “I bailed on you because I was afraid that you would deceive me and deal shadily with me, as you have done for the previous 20 years. And now you are going to accuse me of stealing from you after you have stolen from me all these years. Go ahead look through my stuff. You can kill whoever has stolen from you”.

As Laban begins to search through their possessions, Rachel realizes she is in deep trouble. Rachel, who has watched and learned from her father the art of deception, in turn deceives her father by hiding the idols in a pack that she was sitting on. After Laban came up empty, Jacob angrily confronts Laban. Jacob basically says “What is your problem? What evidence is there against me? This is how you have treated me for the past 20 years. You have deceived me over and over again. I do not trust you as far as I can throw you because you have used me, cheated me, and deceived me. If it was not for God, you would have taken everything away from me”.

Now that is some in-law drama, isn’t it? The jealousy and deception of this dysfunctional family destroyed their relationships. Actually there was no trust and there was no relationship, which we see as Moses concludes this story in Genesis 31:43:

 Then Laban replied to Jacob, "The daughters are my daughters, and the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters or to their children whom they have borne? "So now come, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me." Then Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. Jacob said to his kinsmen, "Gather stones." So they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. Now Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me this day." Therefore it was named Galeed, and Mizpah, for he said, "May the LORD watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other. "If you mistreat my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us, see, God is witness between you and me." Laban said to Jacob, "Behold this heap and behold the pillar which I have set between you and me. "This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass by this heap to you for harm, and you will not pass by this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. "The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us." So Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac.

Moses tells us that Laban and Jacob entered into a covenant, which is an agreement between two parties. And as with so many agreements this agreement was born out of the jealousy and lack of trust between Laban and Jacob. In this agreement, we see Jacob agree not to mistreat Laban’s daughters or enter into any additional marriages. In addition Jacob and Laban agree to stay separated from one another.

And to ensure that the two remain separated from one another, Jacob built a pillar of stones that would serve and a border and boundary between them. This pillar of stones, in the language of Aramaic or Hebrew, literally means a heap of witness. And this heap of witness would testify to the Lord, who would judge both men when it came to holding up this agreement.

 And it is here, in this story, that we see God reveal for us a timeless truth that can powerfully impact our relationship with God and others. And that timeless truth is this: Our jealousy dishonors God and destroys relationships. Just as it was for Leah and Rachel; just as it was for Laban and Jacob; just as it has been throughout human history, our jealousy dishonors God and destroys relationships.

When we act out of jealousy toward others, we dishonor God. I mean, do you think that the Lord was up in heaven going “good job Rachel and Leah; good job Jacob and Laban; way to make Me look good”. Of course not. You see, when we are jealous of others we dishonor God. We dishonor God because when we are jealous, we are basically saying to God, “God you screwed up.  You don’t know what you are doing. If you knew what you were doing you would have given me what they have. God you are not enough for me. God I want what they have and I don’t want them to have what they have because I know better that you what I need”.

And when we act out of jealousy toward others, we destroy our relationships with others. We destroy our relationships with others because we no longer want the best for them. Instead, we want what they have and do not want them to have what they do have. So instead of loving people we use people. Instead of building up others, we tear others down. And as a result of our jealousy, we destroy our relationship with them.

So here is a question to consider: Are you jealous of others? Do you want what others have and not want others to have what they have? Do you love and serve others to build them up, or do you use and tear people down in order to build yourself up?

God's Grace in the Midst of Jealousy...

This week, we are looking at a section of the very first letter that is recorded for us in the Bible called the book of Genesis. Yesterday, we looked on as Rachel’s inability to give birth to children resulted in her giving birth to something else. And that something else was jealousy. Rachel became jealous of her sister Leah.  Rachel responded by coming up with a plan instead of trusting God’s promises and plan. Rachel was so driven by jealousy with her sister Leah that she viewed her situation as a struggle for God’s favor. Leah jealousy responded to Rachel’s plan by copying her plan instead of trusting in God’s promises and plans.

Today, we will see Moses give us a glimpse into how dysfunctional this family had become as a result of the jealous competition between Rachel and Leah in Genesis 30:14:

 Now in the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes." But she said to her, "Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? And would you take my son's mandrakes also?" So Rachel said, "Therefore he may lie with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes." When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, then Leah went out to meet him and said, "You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son's mandrakes." So he lay with her that night. God gave heed to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. Then Leah said, "God has given me my wages because I gave my maid to my husband." So she named him Issachar. Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. Then Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good gift; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons." So she named him Zebulun. Afterward she bore a daughter and named her Dinah. Then God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and opened her womb. So she conceived and bore a son and said, "God has taken away my reproach." She named him Joseph, saying, "May the LORD give me another son."

Now to fully understand what just happened here, we need to understand what mandrakes are. Mandrakes are an herb that produced a plum sized fruit. Now this fruit was considered to be an aphrodisiac and were referred to as love apples. So mandrakes were the Viagra of the day. Rueben, who would be between 6 and 8 year old, brings his mother Leah some mandrakes. Rueben has no idea what mandrakes are; he just saw a nice plant with a flower and fruit and brought it to his mom.

However, Rachel, who is taking in the scene, knows what mandrakes are. So Rachel asks Leah if she could have some Viagra, I mean mandrakes. Leah harshly denies Rachel’s request and accuses her of stealing her husband. You see, Leah was not having children because Jacob was no longer sleeping with her. He was spending his nights in Rachel’s bed, not Leah’s bed. And Leah was jealous. However, at least Leah had children by Jacob. Rachel had no children. And Rachel was jealous.

So Rachel and Leah come to an arrangement fueled by their jealousy. Out of jealousy Rachel pays for the mandrakes by allowing Leah to have sex with Jacob. Rachel, once again, is attempting to help God out by coming up with her own plan that trusted in the mandrakes ability to enable her to have a child instead of trusting in God’s promise. And out of jealousy Leah pays for a night with her husband by giving Rachel the mandrakes, as though Jacob is a prostitute. And Jacob responds to this arrangement by saying “o.k., sounds good to me”. Really.

The result of this arrangement over time is the birth of three more children, named Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah. Moses then explains that God remembered Rachel.  Now, the word remembered here, in the language that this letter was originally written in, conveys that sense of remembering in a way that extends grace and mercy to someone. The word remember here is one of action, not intellect. God extended grace to Rachel and acted in her life in a way that resulted in Rachel becoming pregnant and giving birth to a son who she named Joseph. In spite of the jealous attempts to help God out by coming up with their own plans, God continued to extend grace to Leah and Rachel. 

Then in the rest of Genesis 30, Moses then tell us that after the birth of Joseph, Jacob, who now has 12 children through his four wives, confronts Laban with a request to leave after fulfilling his end of the agreement to work for 14 years in order to marry Leah and Rachel. However, Laban, recognizing the economic benefit that Jacob has provided him, attempts to work out a contract extension so that Jacob would remain his employee.

Jacob and Laban agree that Jacob would work for Laban in exchange for Jacob being able to keep all the spotted animals of Laban’s flock. And while Laban shadily attempted to reduce Jacob’s pay by separating and removing all the spotted animals from Jacob so that Jacob would end up with a smaller herd, Jacob, who by this time was an expert shepherd, practiced selective breeding techniques that, accompanied by God’s gracious provision, resulted in Jacob having an exceedingly large and prosperous herd. Moses then reveals how Laban and his relatives responded to Jacob’s prosperity in Genesis 31:1:

Now Jacob heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, "Jacob has taken away all that was our father's, and from what belonged to our father he has made all this wealth." Jacob saw the attitude of Laban, and behold, it was not friendly toward him as formerly.

Laban and his sons responded to Jacob’s prosperity by becoming jealous of Jacob. While there had always been tension between Jacob and Laban as a result of Laban’s deception, that tension was now replaced by animosity. You see Laban and his family wanted the prosperity that Jacob had and did not want Jacob to have the prosperity that he did have.

Friday, we then see the Lord enter into the situation and reveal for us a timeless truth regarding jealousy…

The Jealousy That Fuels Comparison and Competition...

At the church where I serve, we are spending our time together looking at a section of the very first letter that is recorded for us in the Bible, called the book of Genesis, where we are traveling on a journey with a man named Jacob and his family. This week, I would like for us to spend our time together by jumping back into this section of the book of Genesis, where we find Jacob now married to two women in the span of eight days.

 

Jacob remained married to Leah, who he did not love and married Rachel who he did love. And as we jump back into this tale of twisted deception, we are going to discover another timeless truth that can powerfully impact our relationship with God and others. So let’s discover this truth together, in Genesis 29:31:

Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. Leah conceived and bore a son and named him Reuben, for she said, "Because the LORD has seen my affliction; surely now my husband will love me." Then she conceived again and bore a son and said, "Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also." So she named him Simeon. She conceived again and bore a son and said, "Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons." Therefore he was named Levi. And she conceived again and bore a son and said, "This time I will praise the LORD." Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.

Moses brings us back into this story by revealing God’s knowledge of the situation. You see, the Lord was not surprised at what had happened. The Lord was fully aware of the reality that Jacob loved Rachel, while Leah was unloved. Actually, the word unloved, in the language that this letter was originally written in, means to be hated or slighted.

You see, Jacob did not want to put up with Leah, because he was not interested in her. Jacob was in love with Rachel and was only married to Leah because he had been deceived. And as a result, Leah was slighted by Jacob and was afflicted by the lack of love that she was shown by her husband.

Maybe you can relate to Leah. Maybe you feel unloved and slighted by those closest to you. The Lord, who was fully aware of Leah’s hurt and pain that was afflicting her, responded by enabling her to become pregnant. Rachel, however, who was the focus of Jacob’s affections, was barren. In other words, Rachel was unable to have children.

Moses tells us that Leah gave birth to a son whom she named Reuben. Leah thought that by giving Jacob a son, he would respond by falling in love with her. However, that is not what happened. Leah then gave birth to another son, named Simeon. But once again, Jacob responded with indifference.  Leah was then became pregnant and gave birth to a third son whom she named Levi. Leah hoped that God’s blessing of a third son would result in her experiencing a connection with Jacob. However, Leah was once again left unloved.

You see, Leah wrongly thought that introducing a child into the relationship would improve the relationship. Leah wrongly thought that her identity and worth was to be found in gaining her husband’s love and approval. Maybe you can identify with Leah. If you are in that place here is the thing: Leah learned the timeless reality that the introduction of children does not change the relationship between the husband and wife for the better. Instead, the introduction of children only amplifies the current state of the relationship.

Leah fell into the timeless trap of mistakenly thinking that having a child would win her the man. Moses tells us that after becoming pregnant a fourth time, Leah shifted her focus from her finding her identity by earning her husband’s love to finding her identity in God’s love. After giving birth, Leah named her fourth son Judah, which means praise. While Leah was praising the Lord for the blessing of her four children, Rachel had a far different response, which Moses reveals for us beginning in Genesis 30:1:

Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I die." Then Jacob's anger burned against Rachel, and he said, "Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?" She said, "Here is my maid Bilhah, go in to her that she may bear on my knees, that through her I too may have children." So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. Then Rachel said, "God has vindicated me, and has indeed heard my voice and has given me a son." Therefore she named him Dan. Rachel's maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. So Rachel said, "With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed." And she named him Naphtali.

Rachel’s inability to give birth to children resulted in her giving birth to something else. And that something else was jealousy. Rachel became jealous of her sister Leah.  Now jealousy or envy is a desire to want what others have and not want others to have what they do have. You see, Rachel wanted the children that Leah had and did not want Leah to have the children that she did have.

And Rachel’s jealousy fueled a ridiculous demand toward her husband Jacob: Give me children, or else I am going to die. Rachel’s ridiculous demand resulted in an angry response from Jacob: "Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?" You see, Jacob wasn’t the one who was preventing Rachel from having children. After all, Jacob did not have fertility issues; he had clearly demonstrated that he was able to produce children. The problem was not Jacob.

Rachel responded to Jacob’s angry response by coming up with a plan: This plan, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “Here is my servant Bilhah, marry her and have sex with her, and then if she has a child I will adopt her as my child”. Here we see Rachel, Just like Abraham’s wife Sarah, attempt to come up with her own plan instead of trusting God’s promises and plan. And just like Abraham, Jacob responds to Rachel’s plan by willingly participating in the plan.

Moses then tells us that the result of this plan was the birth of two more sons, who were named Dan and Naphtai. Rachel responds to the birth of these two sons by rejoicing over the plan’s success as though God had approved of her plan. You see, Rachel was so driven by jealousy with her sister Leah that she viewed her situation as a struggle for God’s favor. And as the story continues, in verse 9, we see Leah engage Rachel in this fight:

 When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. Then Leah said, "How fortunate!" So she named him Gad. Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. Then Leah said, "Happy am I! For women will call me happy." So she named him Asher.

Leah jealousy responded to Rachel’s plan by copying her plan instead of trusting in God’s promises and plans. And as a result of Jacob marrying and having sex with Leah’s servant Zilpah, two more sons, named Gad and Asher, arrived on the scene. Now, who says the Bible is boring? I mean you could not find such drama in a reality T.V. show. Can you imagine what family dinners looked like? Can you imagine the tension? The emotion? The body language?

Tomorrow, we will see Moses gives us a glimpse into how dysfunctional this family had become as a result of the jealous competition between Rachel and Leah…

The selfishness and rebellion that is taught to us will eventually teach us a lesson...

This week, we have been looking at an event that occurred in history and is recorded for us in a letter in the Bible called the book of Genesis. Wednesday, we looked on as Jacob journeyed to the land of his uncle Laban and met one of his daughters named Rachel. After greeting Rachel, Moses tells us that Jacob lifted up his voice and wept after recognizing God’s activity in his life. Today, we will jump back into this story as Rachel leaves Jacob to inform her father Laban of the news. We meet Laban and see his response to Jacob in Genesis 29:13:

So when Laban heard the news of Jacob his sister's son, he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Then he related to Laban all these things. Laban said to him, "Surely you are my bone and my flesh." And he stayed with him a month. Then Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?" Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. And Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face.

Laban responded to the appearance of Jacob by embracing him and welcoming him as part of the family. And for a month Jacob stayed with Laban and got to know Laban and the rest of his family. And like many family reunions, Jacob got to hear a lifetime of stories from Laban’s family. And Laban listened as Jacob shared a lifetime of stories from his family.

For a month, as Jacob helped out on Laban’s family farm, Jacob shared the story of his family. The story of being Rebekah’s favorite son; the story of the favoritism within the family; the story of deceit and deception; the story of Rebekah’s plan to rescue Jacob from Esau and find him a wife from Laban’s daughters. 

And as Laban listened on and recognized that Jacob was looking for a wife, Laban began to come up with a plan. You see, at this point Laban had no leverage over Jacob. Jacob has been helping Laban out as a relative and a volunteer. But if Laban hired Jacob, then he would gain leverage over him as his employer. So Laban offers Jacob a job and begins to negotiate the terms of his employment. Now Laban knows that he has two daughters that Jacob could marry; Leah, who was the oldest and her younger sister named Rachel.

Moses explains that Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face. Now when Moses says that Leah’s eyes were weak, this phrase literally means that her eyes lacked luster. This is a nice way to say that Leah was not a looker. Leah was not attractive. Rachel, however, was beautiful of form and face. In other words, Rachel was easy on the eyes. Rachel was a looker who was beautiful. Laban, with an understanding Jacob’s story and his sister Rebekah’s plan, comes up with a plan of his own in verse 18:

  Now Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, "I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel." Laban said, "It is better that I give her to you than to give her to another man; stay with me." So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her. Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife, for my time is completed, that I may go in to her." Laban gathered all the men of the place and made a feast.

Here we see Jacob and Laban agree to an employment contract between them. You see, while Jacob loved Rachel, Jacob did not have any money to provide a dowry which, in the culture of the day, was a monetary gift that was given to the bride’s family for the right to marry. So, instead of the traditional dowry, Jacob agrees to work for seven years as a dowry to Laban so that he could marry Rachel. Laban responds to Jacob’s offer by accepting the offer.

However, notice what Laban says to Jacob as he accepts his offer: "It is better that I give her to you than to give her to another man; stay with me." We will come back to that statement in a minute. Moses tells us that Jacob remained engaged to Rachel as he worked during those seven years. And his love for Rachel was so intense that those seven years seemed to fly by.

At the end of the seven years, Jacob demands that Laban fulfill his end of the agreement. Laban responds to Jacob’s demand by throwing a large wedding ceremony and reception. Moses then records for us what happens next:

  Now in the evening he took his daughter Leah, and brought her to him; and Jacob went in to her. Laban also gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you deceived me?"

To which we say “what!” Who says the Bible is boring? Now there are several questions that arise here. The first and most obvious question is “how could Jacob not know. I mean, Rachel was beautiful and Leah...not so much. How could Jacob not know that he was sleeping with Leah instead of Rachel”?

While Moses does not give us a great amount of detail about the wedding reception, I imagine that there probably was an open bar. And after seven years, there was probably a great deal of celebrating and partying going on. So Laban took advantage of Jacob’s intoxicated state and a dark tent to deceive Jacob by giving him Leah instead of Rachel. And as a result, Jacob had sex with Leah and consummated a marriage relationship with her. And here we see Jacob, who has been the deceiver throughout his life, end up being deceived. Here we see Jacob, who had been taught and who had gotten ahead all his life through deception, become the victim of deception.

Another question that arises here is “why would Leah go along with such a deceitful plan? And where was Rachel when all this was going on?” I will answer that question with a question: Do you think that Leah knew that she was the ugly duckling of the family? Do you think Leah was tired of watching Jacob fawn over Rachel during those seven years? Do you think Leah was lonely? Do you think Leah might have been jealous?

Another question that arises here is “how could Laban justify what he had done?” We see Laban’s response and justification recorded for us in verse 26:

But Laban said, "It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the firstborn. "Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you shall serve with me for another seven years." Jacob did so and completed her week, and he gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. Laban also gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid. So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.

Laban’s response, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: Hey Jacob, that’s not how we do things around here. And besides, I never agreed to you marrying Rachel. Remember I said “It is better that I give her to you than to give her to another man; I did say who I agreed to give you in marriage. I simply said that it would be better to give her to you in marriage. Tell you what I’ll do. If you complete the week long wedding reception and remain married to Leah, I’ll let you also marry Rachel. And instead of working another seven years in order to provide the dowry for her hand in marriage, I will let you marry Rachel, then work off the dowry”.

Laban was able to shadily justify his act of deception. And because Laban knew that Jacob was madly in love with Rachel, Laban was able to leverage that reality into seven more years of labor from Jacob. And as a result of Laban’s deception, Jacob ended up getting married two times in eight days. Jacob remained married to Leah, who he did not love and married Rachel who he did love.

And it is here, in this story, that we see God reveal for us a timeless truth. And that timeless truth is this: The selfishness and rebellion that is taught to us will eventually teach us a lesson. Just as the lifestyle of deception that Jacob leaned from his family eventually taught him a lesson as a result of being the victim of deception, the selfishness and rebellion that is taught to us will eventually teach us a lesson.

And intuitively we know this to be true, don’t we. We even have a phrase in our culture for this timeless truth: what goes around comes around. And all of us can probably think of examples where we have seen this principle plays itself out, can’t we?  Just like Jacob, we often learn how to express the selfish and rebellious desires that rage within us from others. Just like Jacob, we often put into practice all that we have been taught about selfishness and rebellion on others.

And just like Jacob, we often mistakenly think that we are exempt from this principle. We mistakenly think that while others are taught a lesson from the selfishness and rebellion that they have been taught, we will never be caught or taught a lesson from our selfishness and rebellion. And just like Jacob, we end up learning the hard way that the selfishness and rebellion that is taught to us will eventually teach us a lesson.

So here is a question to consider: How are you responding to the selfishness and rebellion that is being taught to you? Are you putting into practice the selfishness and rebellion that you have been taught by others? Do you mistakenly believe that you are exempt from this principle and that you will never be taught a lesson from your selfishness and rebellion? Or are you resisting the temptation to think that you are exempt and refusing to express what you have been taught about selfishness and rebellion on others?

The Lord's Presence and Promise in the Midst of the Unknown...

This week, we are looking at a section of the very first letter in the Bible, called the book of Genesis, where we see the seeds of Isaac and Rebekah’s dysfunctional favoritism and deception in their relationships with their sons bear fruit in the relationship between Jacob and Esau. Yesterday, we looked on as Esau’s jealousy of Jacob and favored status with his father drove him to attempt to please his father by marrying someone he thought his father would approve of.

However, Esau had already demonstrated, by his disregard of his birthright and blessings, that he was rebellious against God and God’s direction. And Jacob, who had favored status with his mother Rebekah, was now fleeing for his life from the land that God had promised him to a land and to relatives that he had never met. Today, as Jacob flees for his life in fear into the unknown, we see what happens next in Genesis 28:10:

Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place. He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. "Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth 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 promised you."

Late one evening, after a long day of travel, Jacob settled down for a fearful night of sleep. Now the phrase “he took one of the stones and put it under his head”, does not mean that he used a stone for a pillow. This phrase is used elsewhere in the Bible to describe the arranging of stones for protection. So Jacob, in the middle of the desert, afraid and alone, placed a circle of stones around his head for protection.

However, while Jacob felt alone, he was not alone. And to make sure that Jacob knew that he was not alone, the Lord appears to Jacob in a dream. In the dream, the Lord reveals the reality that He is not distant and disinterested up in Heaven. Instead the Lord is ever present and ever engaging the world. The Lord wanted Jacob to clearly understand that while he had left to travel far away from the land that God had promised Abraham, God had not left him.

In addition, we see the Lord reinforce the promises that He had made to Abraham. The Lord promises Jacob that the land in which he was sleeping would become his very own possession and that in what God was going to do through Jacob and Jacob’s descendants, all humanity would have the opportunity to find blessing as Jacob would have the opportunity to find blessing.

God promises Jacob His presence and protection as he traveled, along with the provision of the land that he was leaving. God, as the promise maker and the promise keeper, would bring Jacob back to the land that He had promised him. We see Jacob’s response to this dream in verse 16:

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it." 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." So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top. He called the name of that place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father's house in safety, then the LORD will be my God. "This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You."

Jacob built an altar and poured oil on it as a way to dedicate it as sacred and set apart to God. Jacob gave the name of the place where he stayed Bethel, which means house of God. You see, Jacob responded to his encounter with the Lord by worshipping the Lord. Jacob recognized that he was at the end of himself. Jacob recognized that, for the first time in his life, he was isolated, alone, and in desperate need of help. And for the first time in Jacob’s life, God had revealed Himself to Jacob in a personal and powerful way.

Jacob responded to his desperate fear and to God choosing to reveal Himself and reinforce His promises to him by running to God and worshipping God. As part of his worship, Jacob makes a vow to the Lord that if the Lord’s presence, protection, and provision would be with him, then he would follow the Lord. In addition, as part of the vow, Jacob promises that he would respond to God’s presence, protection, and provision by worshipping the Lord at Bethel and by giving back ten percent of all that he received from the Lord.

Here we see Jacob practicing what followers of Jesus practice today when we worship the Lord through giving. Just as Jacob responded to God’s provision, presence and activity in his life by giving back the first portion of what God had provided him, as followers of Jesus, we are to respond to God’s provision, presence and activity in our lives by giving back the first portion of what God had provided us. Moses then records for us how Jacob’s encounter with the Lord impacted his journey to find his uncle Laban in Genesis 29:1:

Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the sons of the east. He looked, and saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, for from that well they watered the flocks. Now the stone on the mouth of the well was large. When all the flocks were gathered there, they would then roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well. Jacob said to them, "My brothers, where are you from?" And they said, "We are from Haran." He said to them, "Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?" And they said, "We know him." And he said to them, "Is it well with him?" And they said, "It is well, and here is Rachel his daughter coming with the sheep." He said, "Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the sheep, and go, pasture them." But they said, "We cannot, until all the flocks are gathered, and they roll the stone from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep." While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess. When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother. Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted his voice and wept. Jacob told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and that he was Rebekah's son, and she ran and told her father.

Moses tells us that as Jacob journeyed to the land of his uncle Laban, he encountered a group of shepherds waiting to water their sheep. While it was not yet time to water the sheep, these shepherds had come early to be first in line. As Jacob questioned the shepherds, he discovered that not only did then know his uncle Laban; they also knew one of his daughters named Rachel, who just happened to be coming to water the sheep that she was watching.

Jacob, wanting to be able to approach Rachel in private, attempts to get the other shepherds to leave and come back later. When that approach is unsuccessful, Jacob, not wanting to waste his time waiting in line, gathers the strength to roll a stone that normally took several men to move away from the well.  Jacob takes the initiative to basically cut in line and water Rachel’s flock of sheep. Only after he waters her sheep does Jacob introduce himself to Rachel and then provides her a culturally appropriate kiss of greeting.

After greeting Rachel, Moses tells us that Jacob lifted up his voice and wept. Well that seems weird doesn’t it? Hi, I’m your cousin Jacob. bahhhhhhh! I have been sent here by your aunt Rebekah, who is my mom to find a wife.” I mean, why is Jacob weeping here?

Jacob is weeping here because Jacob has recognized God’s activity in his life. Jacob recognizes that this encounter was not coincidence. Instead, this encounter was the result of God’s providence. Rachel then leaves Jacob to inform her father Laban of the news.

Friday, we will meet Laban and see his response to Jacob that reveals for us a timeless truth about God…