Jacob

Jacob

Matthew 7 verses 15 to 29

Genesis 48 verses 1 to 7

Jacob, or Israel, was one of the greatest men, by election, of God. He was a supplanter of his brother. He began with a passion for the blessing of God, his methods were crooked. He was a manipulator (his name means ‘supplanter). He rose in stature as he grew older. Here he is at the end of his life. It is the longest passage among which his death is dealt with in great detail.
He is the Israel of God. God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Here he is putting his life in order, he gives instructions on his burial, not in Egypt but in Canaan where his father and grandfather are buried.
He is physically weak (he was carried to Egypt and into the presence of Pharaoh. Joseph hears his father is very sick. Joseph was only second to Pharaoh, he was a very busy man. He did not have the same contact with Jacob but when he was told his father was very sick he comes with his two sons to see Jacob. Jacob is told his son has come with his two children. Jacob collected his strength, he rallied and sat up in bed. It is normal for aged men to do this at the end of their life. He gathers himself together. It is an astounding sentence for Jacob in his old age. He was always a driven man – he clashed with his brother in the womb and grasped his brother’s heal as he was born.
Here he has grown in spiritual stature as he aged. In chapter 46 he offers sacrifices on the way, he offers spiritual leadership. His joy at seeing his son is tempered by his spiritual due. In chapter 47 verse 31 he is highly and strong. He tells Joseph to take control of his own spiritual destiny. Joseph is a bystander and he wants Jacob to bless his older son first in verse 14. Jacob takes control and does as he knows he must. He tells of El Shaddai in verse 3, it is God ‘who sustains me’ – the first word that escapes his lips when he sees the beloved son of his most beloved wife Rachel. Jacob is God centred in spite of being weak in his body.
Jacob has mental and spiritual reserves, he is strengthened by God in his grace. Our lack of God centeredness in our lives is our greatest weakness. Peter tells us to grow in grace, we must be founded on God. This passage is a great challenge to us. Paul desired to bring every man to maturity like Jacob was. There is nothing more wonderful when the child of God has matured in faith. What is the secret of the strength of this supplanter? It is the command of God that we grow in grace, has this been our concern this week? It is our first duty ahead of the need to provide for ourselves.
a) Jacob built his life on the promises of God – verses 3 and 4. Jacob remembered what God had promised him in Genesis 28 as he fled from home and was on the way to Laban. He did not know what lay ahead of him, it was the worst moment of his life. God made promises to him. In his last moments he remembered these words. He calls God El Shaddai – God who sustains is. We must not put our hope in men who only have one breath. We depend on almighty God. Today men glory in themselves. We are like flowers or grass which fade away. We live in a fallen world, we are often coloured by the shades of the world. We are a holy people who are sustained by God. This was a revelation to Jacob in Genesis 17, it was a revelation to Abraham as well. God also sustained Isaac who tended to run from situations. What do we build on if we are not Christians? On religiosity – on being religious. Religion will not sustain us. God is our only sure foundation – see Matthew 7 verses 15 to 29. If we build on anything but God our life will be wasted when on Judgement day we are judged by God. Abraham looked for a city whose builder is God. Lot, a believer, stumbled and fell as a believer.
b) He continued in God – verse 3. Jacob went through many difficulties, often because of his deceitfulness and sinfulness. When he deceived Esau he had to flee from Esau’s murderous intent. When Danah, his daughter was attacked, he failed to provide leadership and his sons went astray and put the family in jeopardy. God delivered him from his troubles. God delivered him from Esau. Jacob was a great strategist, he put right what had gone wrong in the past as we must put things right in our lives so we can make spiritual progress. We are prone to wander and God alone keeps us. We drift downwards as Jacob did and God brings us back. Jacob had to live with the thought he had lost his favourite son and the lack of spirituality in his other sons. Every joy in this world has a fly in the ointment. Life in this world is tainted by the curse of God. Every moment of joy is followed by a moment of sadness. Only God brings real hope if we come back to God in repentance.
c) He continued to trust in God for the future – verse 4. He was a very old man here and was about to die. He had a powerful son in the greatest culture in the world. His sons were prospering in Goshen. Jacobs hopes were not in Egypt, which was against God, or in his powerful son but in the promises of God. Our hopes are not in Britain or the USA or anywhere else which will all bite the dust. Our hope is in God who will deliver us. Heaven is our home. We live in this land and we pray for it, this is not our home as Egypt was not Jacob’s home. He reminds his son of this too, his place is in the land of Canaan. We need to think of our true home – the New Heavens and the New Earth. We are too firmly cemented in the accursed age. We have eyes for the glitter and glamour of this age. It should not be so. If we continue this way we shall be weak. We will only grow in grace if we are God centred. We have to be wise.
d) Verse 7 – Jacob never got over the loss of his beloved wife. Many Christians never get over great losses unless they depend on God. Rachel could not have helped Jacob as God did. Our greatest friends cannot sustain us as God sustains us. We cannot bear losses unless God helps. We cannot find peace unless God gives us peace. Our deepest loves leaves us hurt at times. Evils hurt us in this fallen world. Only one guarantees us peace and sustains us – God. Are we building on religiosity, family, friends, jobs? They will all go, the only true rock is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God is the God of the second chance. While the outer man in perishing, the inner man is strengthening.