God's Exceptional Choice
God Calls Abraham's Family
The Faith of Abraham
Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5)
Genesis 28:10-22 The Voice10 Meanwhile Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. 11 As dusk approached one day, he came to a place where he could stay for the night. He saw stones scattered all around and put one of them under his head; then he lay down to sleep. 12 During the night, God gave him a dream. He saw a ladder set up on the earth, and its top reached to the heavens. He saw some messengers of God ascending and descending on it. 13 At the very top stood the Eternal One. Eternal One: I am the Eternal One, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you are now lying is the land I have promised to give to you and your descendants. 14 Your descendants will be as many as there are specks of dust on the earth. You will spread out to the west, east, north, and south. Through your descendants, all the families of the earth will find true blessing. 15 Know I am with you, and I will watch over you no matter where you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done all I have promised you. 16 The dream ended, and Jacob woke up from his sleep. Jacob (to himself): There is no doubt in my mind that the Eternal One is in this place—and I didn't even know it! 17 But even as he said this, a bit of fear came over him. Jacob: This place is absolutely awesome! It can be none other than the house of God and the gateway into heaven! 18 So early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had put under his head, set it up as a pillar, and then poured oil on top of it to commemorate his experience with God. 19 He named that place Bethel, which means "house of God." Before that the name of the city had been called Luz. 20 Then Jacob made a vow. Jacob: If God is going to be with me, keeping me safe on this journey and giving me bread to eat and clothing to wear 21 so that I return to my father's house in peace, then the Eternal will be my God. 22 And this stone I have made into a pillar will be the first stone laid in God's house. And Lord, of everything You give me, I will give one-tenth always back to You!
For Reflection
Jacob, the son of Isaac and Rebekah, duped his father into giving him the blessing that was rightfully his brother's. All of his life, Jacob grifted others for his personal gain and was widely known as a "schemer" and "usurper." Isn't it interesting that God would select Jacob as the father of Isreal? God is always doing the unexpected, the unpredictable.
God offers Jacob a challenge during a dream. Jacob recognizes the sacredness of the ground upon which he had the dream, anoints a marker, and names the area, Beth-El. Consistent with his character, Jacob sees the value of God's will and decides on a conditional "if-then" acceptance.
Over time, the "if-then attitude becomes "because-therefore." "Because you, God, are faithful, because you have made these promises…therefore I am trusting you to help me now. The change is not Jacob's doing but God's. God's gracious promises and God's faithfulness in fulfilling those promises transforms Jacob from a callow youth to the man who founds a nation and who, on his deathbed, claims the God "before whom my ancestors Abraham and Isaac walked" as also his God, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day.
Rather than a limited blessing won through defeat and humiliation of others, God extends a prodigal blessing to all the families of the earth through Jacob and his descendants.*
*(Genesis 48:15), Kathryn M. Schifferdecker, https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-16/commentary-on-genesis-2810-19a-4 PrayPray a prayer of thanksgiving for the transformative power of God. Commit yourself to God's will no matter how impossible or impractical God's call may be.
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