“Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all the places where thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.” Genesis 28:15
Dear Ones:
God uses the most unusual, and least considered individuals to prove, to reveal, His blessed purposes, which always exceed what we can ask or think. So it was in the life of Jacob, a “supplanter,” a deceiver and robber. How is it that God could choose someone like this to continue His perpetual design towards the blessing of the entire world in the realization of the work of Calvary? It is simply because He is God, holy, and not a man.
The story is told of Michael Angelo, who went to a quarry to seek a large stone from which he would sculpt a figure. The custodian of the quarry only had a very odd-shaped stone in the back of the quarry that, apparently nobody wanted. Angelo would look and study the stone, then indicate he would buy it. His reason for doing so was expressed by his words: “…for I see an angel in it, and I must get him out.” The Apostle Paul learned the reality of God’s dealings with men to the intent that He would “…see the angel, and must get him out.” God is determined to “…conform us into the image of His Son,” (Rom. 8:29) This is why Paul would write: “…being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you WILL perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil. 1:6) How does God do this? He exposes us to the circumstances of His choosing, so that in those varied, changing circumstance, sometimes very difficult and “overwhelming,” He can reveal Himself in a very clear manner to the soul, and through the life. When God began working in Jacob, He began with a very odd-formed stone. Out of that stone, as the Master Sculptor would in His wisdom and mercy, chip away at the “oddness,” there was brought forth the man of faith that Jacob would become, even the heir of the promise: “…in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” (Gen. 28:14)
What of God’s dealings with him? We learn something of God’s dealings with Jacob when, before Pharaoh, he declares: “…few and evil (hard) have the days of the years of my life been.” (Gen.47:9) In examining he life of Jacob, we see, that in spite of his faults and weaknesses, God would bless, lead, provide for him, and bring him to a place of worship, and fellowship, that was very particular and most blessed. At one point, Jacob will say to God: “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which Thou hast showed unto Thy servant.” (Gen. 32:10) We see how God, with circumstances of blessing, keeping, provision, and also, suffering and loss, did shape him, change his name, and make him a blessing that endures to this day. Indeed, the very nation of “Israel,” Jacob’s new name, endures unto this very day. But the greatest blessing that God has blessed all the peoples of the earth by the sacrifice of Christ, this one born in the lineage of Jacob…Israel.
Dear Father, You have called us to entrust ALL to you, for time and eternity. We praise You, for in love, you take the hammer and chisel, and shape us with wisdom and care, always intent to not destroy, but to reveal “the angel within.” This angel is Christ, whom Thou hast placed within us by Thy Spirit. Give us grace to live at Thy feet Lord Jesus, believing in the Thee, the Father, and the Spirit, to “finish the work which Thou hast begun,” for Thy eternal glory, our highest good, and the greatest blessing of others. We praise and thank Thee in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad