“...I will make an altar unto God, who answered me in the say of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.” - Genesis 35v3
It appears that Jacob finally has thing sorted out properly. The focus of Genesis is about the switch to one of his sons. We are going to see that he is not yet perfect, but he does finally have some major things sorted out in his life.
After all of his trickery and deception Jacob returned to Bethel, the house of God. When he got there he did a few things that let us know where he stands.
- He acknowledged that God was worthy of worship.
- He acknowledged that God had answered his prayers.
- He acknowledged that God had been with him.
He built an altar at Bethel as an act of worship to God. An altar always required a sacrifice and This was no different. Jacob had learned that there truly was One who was worthy of his worship.
He knew that God had answered him. There could be no questioning that he had what he had because God had heard his prayer and listened to him.
He knew that God had been with him. I think this became clear in his encounter with Esau. He knew what he deserved, but God intervened for him and was with him the whole time. Jacob's Bethel prayer had been this, “If God will be with me, if He will keep me, if He will give me food to eat and clothes to put on, if He will let me return in peace – then He will be my God.” In Jacob's mind God had kept His end of the bargain. Now, to Jacob's credit, he kept his end of the bargain.
While we should never put ourselves in the position of bargaining with God, we should have a heart which acknowledges when God is working in our lives. Jacob's view is finally God focused.
No comments:
Post a Comment