A while back I read through Jacob's story again. I was stuck by a certain resemblance between his journey and where I see the Church at this point in time. I haven't been able to get it out of my mind for some time now. I knew it was something that I really wanted to write about. Not so much because of where I see the Church, but because of where I have been and where it seems He is taking me in the last several years. I look at Jacob's journey and I see a man brought from a life of concern only for his own position to one that is completely overcome by the power of the sovereign Lord, Who doesn't just guide Jacob to Himself, but accosts Him and takes ownership of his life and future.
In Genesis 28:20 it says, "Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, 21 so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, 22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you."
After essentially getting kicked out of Dad's house for robbing his brother's birthright, Jacob makes a vow that is "me centered." He will make God his Lord if He continues to bless him. Jacob, like many of us, looks for God to provide his success in this life and gives God glory based on the blessing he receives. So, many times in our walk we will look to God when we need something or desire some sort of significance that is defined by our perception of success. But is this not shallow? Is this what God truly deserves? Is this maturity? Is it honoring to God if we look to follow His principals and Laws only for our benefit and as a means to a perceived positive end? It reminds me of when I fell away from the faith in my teens. Things didn't work out the way they were supposed to, and God didn't come through when He was supposed to. After all, I didi everything I was supposed to do to be blessed. So, when I wasn't, God was at fault, wasn't He?
But Jacob doesn't stay in this shallow state of belief in the Living God, but the change doesn't come as a result of any greatness in Jacob. It comes by the direct power of the Living God in His life, changing Him by divine power and authority.
First, we find a scene, in Genesis 32:22-32, where Jacob wrestles with an angel, and when, it seems, neither side can overcome the other, Jacob demands to be blessed in order to stop fighting. Isn't the grace of God amazing. We argue and wrestle, and yet God doesn't apply a smack down or cast us off. What He seems to do, in Jacob's case, is point to a future where Jacob will be consumed with the grace of God because of Who He is and not for what he can get from Him. However, Jacob is not yet there. He still demands and expects a blessing and will keep fighting for his way.
In Genesis 35 God again calls Jacob, but something is different in the way Jacob responds. It is not with any expectation for himself, but he purifies his household and recognizes the one true God. It is interesting how God calls to him. “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” Did you catch that? "Make an altar to THE GOD who appeared to you." It seems that Jacob had not truly honored his previous promise to God in 28:21. At the most, it seems, that Jacob made YHWH his highest God, because God has to identify Himself apart from the others. But still God blesses him and honors His end of the bargan.
Genesis 35 seems to be a sort of experience, not unlike Paul on the road to Damascus, where he is arrested by God and called beyond himself and his desires. The Jacob who says, "Bless me, bless me" is no more, now he is Israel, called and chosen by God for His purpose and glory. This all pointing back to the wrestling match with the angel. He gets blessed, but not on his terms. This is a far cry from the manipulator that was concerned with only how he was going to get his blessing. It doesn't seem to be about Jacob and his blessing anymore, but about God and His purpose. This is a story that provides a picture of what God means when it says, "He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." (Phil. 1:6)
This is where I see us in the church today. Our concern is what do I need to do to get my blessing, my promise, my breakthrough. Our concern is for ourselves and our glory, rather than the glory of God in Christ Jesus alone. Martin Luther called it "Soli Deo gloria!" Glory to God alone! If we really see Him, this will be the mark of our lives. We will be satisfied for nothing but God being glorified. Even if it means our suffering, not just our success.
So hear my cry in this. It's not to be another voice beating up on the Church for her idolatry and apostacy, but a recognition of my own as well. My cry is that the Father will arrest us all, and by His sovereign authority, through the power of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God through Jesus, cause us to come out of ourselves and into Him. That He will bring us to a place where we see ourselves as nothing, unconcerned with how we may benefit, but completely given to the only right that we have been given. That is to be Sons of God, and knowing that means we are slaves to the cross.
