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Jacob On the Run.

As we read through the pages of the Bible we meet with a large number of different individuals. Some of these are appealing characters and some are much more unsavoury. Even the attractive individuals are however flawed with weaknesses and failure while some of the less attractive ones are out and out baddies.

By the time we reach Gen.28 we have not really read anything about Jacob that might endear him to us – he is a twister and a cheat and generally we don't like cheats – witness the reaction to the goal in the recent France-Ireland football match.

And yet there is hope! Jacob, whose character is that of a schemer and a deceiver, can be transformed by the grace of God. The beginning of that transformation starts here in this chapter as God meets with him at Bethel.

Jacob didn't deserve the promises that God made to him but that is the wonderful thing about grace – it is given to the undeserving. And so as we read Jacob's story we can take heart – if God could deal with such as Jacob He can deal with the likes of us who similarly deserve nothing from Him!

Jacob, the home-loving boy, is now off on a journey away from home. Used to staying around the tents of his father's encampment surrounded by his father's servants etc., Jacob is now on his own moving into, what was for him, uncharted territory.

Yes, he has gone away with the blessing of his father – this time willingly given. That blessing would perhaps afford him a measure of protection as he fled to safety away from his irate brother Esau but still he was fleeing for his life!

And Jacob is on his way out of the Promised Land! The blessings that he had so desired from his father were bound up with this place. Had he really succeeded or was Esau, who was staying in the land, the real victor after all? Yes, his father had blessed him but hadn't he, Jacob, blasphemed the God of his father?

The journey he is undertaking on his own is a long one – some 500 miles was the distance between Beersheba and Haran – and the first night or two are passed over in silence. Moses is not interested in every detail of the trip but he is interested in one highly significant event. It occurred when Jacob had arrived at "a certain place" which we are later told is Luz or Bethel.

Normally a traveller would look for someone's tent or home where he could spend the night – but Jacob finds none and is forced to sleeping out in the open. He's tired – we can imagine the nervous energy expended over the last few days – not to mention the 50 or so miles he had covered since leaving the parental home in Beersheba. He finds a stone that might serve as a makeshift pillow, lies down and goes to sleep.

The night however is going to be out of the ordinary!

As Jacob sleeps he dreams. And his dream is no ordinary one – God has come to meet with him. Indeed this is the first recorded encounter we read of between God and Jacob.

We are looking at one of those "crisis" moments in the life of an individual. It was one of those moments when God draws near and reveals something of Himself and of His purposes to a man.

Jacob was passive. It was God who took the initiative and spoke to him. Indeed in times past this was one of the ways by which God spoke to our fathers (Heb.11:1). But even then this was pretty rare – Jacob will have another dream in which God speaks to him again but it will be some 20 years later!

It's tempting, isn't it, to envy the intense personal intimacy of God speaking in a dream? Wouldn't a similar experience somehow lift us on to a higher plain of assurance about our relationship with God? Well don't let others suggest you are missing out if you're not receiving such direct revelations from God. We have the completed Bible – and this is not just a record of revelations given to others it is God's revelation to us!

Do you want to hear God's voice? Then pray that the LORD will meet you as you read His word and as you hear it preached. That is how God speaks to us, moves us, challenges us and changes our lives.

The details of the dream that Jacob had are quite dramatic aren't they? Our attention is focused by the fourfold repetition of the word "behold" – look at this – pay attention to this!

v.12 "and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth and its top reached to heaven"

v.12 "And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!"

Here we have a vivid picture that shows us that what takes place on earth is of interest to heaven. God is concerned for what happens on earth – He is no distant absentee landlord – He sends His angels/messengers as ministering spirits to those who will inherit salvation.

The ladder is that which links heaven to the earth – it is this ladder that is the mediator and not the angels! There is just one ladder too.

In the NT Jesus refers to this episode as He speaks with Nathanael. As He makes reference to this event Jesus makes some highly significant changes:

Jn.1:51 "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

Do you notice that as Jesus speaks there is no mention of the ladder – the angels are now ascending and descending on the Son of Man? Jesus Himself is the "ladder" that links heaven and earth. He is the only Mediator between God and man. see 1Tim.2:5.

But Moses doesn't dwell upon the ladder nor upon the angels his focus is upon the One who stands "above" the ladder, the One who oversees all that goes on, the One in total sovereign control:

v.13-14 "And behold, the LORD stood above it and said "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed…"

v.15 "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."

Jacob is confronted by the LORD who reveals Himself clearly as the God of Abraham and of Isaac.

This is the very God that Jacob has so despised recently in disobeying His commands and in blaspheming His name.

Has God met with him now to bring him to book for all his misdemeanours? How will this God that Jacob has not met before deal with Jacob now?

The birthright had become his albeit through deception and he has received his father's blessing but what will God do? Well the LORD comes graciously to him. Word had already been given that this younger son would be more important than his elder brother. And now here the LORD speaks and confirms to Jacob, crooked twisted Jacob, that the promised blessings of the covenant will indeed continue through him.

Remember that Jacob is running for his life out of the Promised Land but God speaks and confirms to him that the land will indeed be his and the possession of his as yet unborn descendants. Jacob has no children but success is promised to him as he leaves in search of a wife – he will have many offspring. And the chief of the covenant blessings is also promised to him – all the families of the earth shall be blessed through his offspring: in other words the Messiah, the Seed of the woman, Jesus Christ, will be born of his line!

The grace of God is simply staggering. Would you act like this? Wouldn't you rather put such a man to one side and wait until a more worthy man comes along? But God has made His promises and His plans and will keep them. Jacob's restoration is under way as a result of God's grace!

There is a second behold for us to consider as the LORD speaks to Jacob. The first behold focused upon the identity of the LORD as the covenant LORD, God of Abraham and Isaac. This first behold included the reiteration of the covenant promises The second behold goes further.

As Jacob is headed away from the Promised Land the LORD gives him further promises that are so appropriate to his situation. Jacob is given assurances of:

1               the divine presence – the LORD no local deity

2               divine protection – the LORD strong, able and willing to keep His own

3               divine restoration – the LORD well able to lead His people

4               divine promise keeping – the LORD not forgetful of His promises nor hampered in any way in bringing them all to fruition.

As Jacob faces the journey away to places unknown, amidst people unknown, he can go with confidence and expectancy. He needn't fear the circumstances in the slightest. How we need those same encouragements as we move on into new situations with new threats and new challenges. As believers we too don't go alone but are assured the Lord's own presence!

Well if Jacob has no need to fear the unknown circumstances that lie ahead there is nevertheless One who must be feared! And Jacob trembles having met God!

Jacob wakes from his sleep and the transformation in his life has begun. Not so long ago he'd been happy to break one commandment after another of this God but now it is all so different. "The LORD is here! How awesome is this place!" he declares for this is the place where he has met with God. A genuine encounter with God does not produce levity or triteness but humility and respectful awe and wonder. Jacob is stunned by what he has learned through his dream – there is only one proper response and that he accomplishes – he worships.

The stone that had served him as a pillow is now erected as a monument to the events that have taken place. He has met with God and come to realise that God is intimately concerned with what takes place on earth. The stone has oil poured over it – Jacob wants to set this place aside, a special place.

And he names it Bethel, the House of God. It turns out he is in the place here many years earlier his grandfather Abraham had set up an altar and called upon the name of the LORD.

In this context of worship Jacob commits himself to the LORD with a vow.

Some commentators see Jacob as negotiating conditions for his future discipleship as though the old scheming Jacob is still trying to get the best for himself. If that were the case then we couldn't approve of his behaviour. It is not for us to determine the conditions of discipleship; we are in no place to barter like that.

But is that really what Jacob is doing? I don't think so.

Jacob is in fact picking up on the very promises that God has just made to him through his dream and bringing those very same promises back to God as the basis of his response.

If God… (since God is prepared to do such and such for me) then what other response can I possibly offer than to serve Him as did Abraham my grandfather and Isaac my father before me? The LORD shall be my God! This covenant making covenant keeping God will be the One that I will serve – Him and none other. Not only will He be my God but I will worship Him and I will honour Him by giving a full tenth of all I have.

My friend, God has made terrific promises and all those promises are yes in Christ! He promises you a full and free forgiveness for your sins, a new life, His constant presence and protection, a glorious hope for the future, a hope not of a piece of land in the ME but of a heavenly country wherein dwells righteousness. Further He declares that He will oblige every detail in every circumstance you encounter to work for your everlasting good. How do you respond?

The way to respond is not to add some list of your paltry conditions but to rejoice in all the blessings He promises and staggered by the greatness and majesty of His grace, His free and rich and unmerited favour and own Him as our LORD and Saviour.

Have you ever seen who you are outside of God's grace? We're all just as unworthy of God's favour as Jacob the Twister! Have you ever glimpsed something of His promises of blessing? If we have then our response should be the same as Jacob – amazement! The fear of awe and wonder. The commitment every bit as full as Jacob's. The offering of a tenth of all we have will seem small indeed when we understand just what He has done for us!   AMEN.