One of my favourite psalms is Psalm 27 where David declared that, “the Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear…..”
“For he will conceal me in his shelter on the day of trouble; he will hide me in the folds of his tent (tabernacle) he will set me on a rock.” (Ps.27:5)
The day of trouble is no gentleman, and though it may be an unwelcome stranger, we will see in our Torah portion for this week how we can know the reality of these words proclaimed by David, in and through the deep and unfathomable riches of His love. For there lies the knowledge, the fiercest statement of faith and ultimate response in the darkest of times that carries us from moment to moment that’s strengthened by His all-surpassing greatness!
God’s promises are unswerving; in a crisis and in restoration and transformation, in the shadows and in the fullness of glory. Whatever circumstance we may find ourselves in He deserves every vestige of our praise, worship, and thanksgiving as expressed in the totality of our lives lived unto Him!
In Ps.27 we see something contained that transcends the beauty of words, an exquisite treasure manifested in the furnace of affliction which we will see as we reflect upon Jacob’s trials and tribulations a little later.
No enemy is allowed access in the secret place of God’s tabernacle; it is a place as safe as the holy of holies, that is termed God’s secret place in Ezeki 7:22 where no-one could enter except the high-priest and then only one day a year at Yom Kippur.
In this psalm, David is referring to people who flee to the tabernacle for safety. “He shall set me upon a rock” a place that’s high and inaccessible, strong and impregnable, out of reach of my enemies.
But the safety of believers is not in the walls of the temple, but in the God of the temple. “Therefore will I offer sacrifices of joy” — The Hebrew, תרועה, terugah, speaks of proclaiming loudly thanksgiving and praise to the accompaniment of the shofar and other instruments.
VAYETZE (And He departed) Gen. 28:10–32:2; Hos. 11:7–14:10; Jn.1:47-51
By Raphael ben Levi
Jacob had just just received an amazing blessing from his father Isaac that would include “…heaven’s dew and earth’s richness, an abundance of grain and new wine,” and that “…nations would serve and bow down to him and to his descendants.” (Gen.27:28–29).
We are all familiar how Jacob deceitfully obtained Isaac’s blessing of a first born’s inheritance through an elaborate plan hatched by Rebekah. This was a wrong thing to do and demonstrates that even when God reveals His sovereign plans to us we need to trust Him for doing it in His way and timing otherwise we might end up with a big mess as was the case with the conspiracy hatched by Jacob and Rebekah.
Was the collusion between them justifiable? Is deceit ever justifiable? And yet God even used the mess that had been created to facilitate HIs eternal purposes that ultimately led to the formation of Israel as His covenant people from whom the promised Messiah would be directly descended.
Sadly, whenever there is deception there is chaos and here was no exception. If only Jacob and Rebekah had allowed God to do things His way it would have avoided the negative consequences. All of Isaac’s family were in turmoil following the incident immediately it became exposed. Once a blessing had been given, it couldn’t be retracted. The whole conspiracy contrived by Rebekah was successful but also a failure because it resulted in a schism between Esau and Jacob that only widened with the passing of time. Whenever a person seeks to manipulate God let’s remember Jacob and Esau.
The Bible never criticises Jacob for desiring his brothers birthright or for obtaining it through trickery because it was so obvious that what he had done was wrong and the consequences speak for themselves.
Jacob fled for his life from Beersheva with only the clothes on his back whilst Esau was breathing death threats. Family relationships had reached an all time low and to say that things were toxic was no exaggeration!
Jacob must have felt overwhelmed as he fled for his life and the suddenness of it all – events that had transpired did not go as he had anticipated and yet Scripture never records that he ever complained which would indicate that he took upon himself full responsibility for his actions. In fact events that were to follow indicate how He accepted his hardships and trusted God patiently in the many challenges he faced. Things really looked bleak as he journeyed to Haran where his grand-father, Terah lived. And although he must have felt discouraged, one thing Jacob took with him was God’s promise which could never be revoked. (Gen. 27:28–29)
Jacob learned that there is a special area reserved for broken hearts in the Kingdom of God where even angels fear to tread. For there, buried deep, awaits the moment of a new beginning within the dying embers that come alive with the breath of discovery that God alone is the only One able to put all the pieces back together again and make things beautiful in the fullness of His time!
God, who knows our deepest needs and innermost thoughts, came to Jacob in a dream that night and it was there that his life took a radical turn for the better. “And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.” (Gen.28:12)
Standing at the top of a ladder that reached the heavens, with angels going up and down, God promised again to give Jacob the same inheritance He promised to Abraham and Isaac—the real estate upon which he was laying:
“And, behold, the LORD [YHVH] stood beside him, and said: ‘I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The land upon which you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed.” (Gen.28:13)
Then God continued: “I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Gen.28:14-15)
God passed on the blessing of Abraham to Jacob:
– the God of Abraham and Isaac also became the God of Jacob (v. 13);
– the Land of Israel was the permanent residence for Jacob and his descendants;
– Jacob’s offspring will be plenty and beyond number;
– Israel would spread to the corners of the earth, but God would protect and return His people back to the Land;
– all nations would be blessed through Israel;
– God would not leave Jacob, and would remain faithful to His promises.
Jacob slept the sleep of a deeply troubled and broken man but awoke from his dream with renewed hope. God is a suddenly God who can transform situations in an instant and when we least expect it! In Jer.29:11 God told the Jewish people,“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” From Abraham to Isaac, to Jacob, the Israelites, the Jewish people past, present and future, God’s covenant promises have remained steadfast and immovable. And so too are the promises made for each true believer. All His promises to us are “Yes” and “Amen” in Messiah Yeshua!
In the future Jacob would look back and testify to the faithfulness of the Living God: “Surely the LORD is in this place-and I did not know it!” In other words, God will never forsake us! These words of encouragement propelled Jacob and prepared him when he would face severe challenges in the future. Jacob encountered the living God in the, “Howling wasteland of a wilderness.” (Deut.32:10) Even when Jacob thought he had lost everything he acquired something of infinite and eternal value.
Jacob’s life was changed entirely by the grace of God. He was shocked by His sovereign intervention by understanding that He can use any person at any time to fulfil His purposes whenever He chooses.
Jacob committed to memory this definitive life-changing event through a memorial he built at a place called Luz and renamed it “Bethel” (House of God) which was situated on Mt. Moriah where his grandfather Abram had been commanded to sacrifice his father Isaac and where many centuries later Yeshua was crucified.
What began as a journey into exile now became a journey with God who told him: “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Gen.28:15)
This was the first occasion where Jacob experienced a direct encounter with God. God doesn’t have grandchildren. Jacob had to experience God for himself and develop his relationship with Him first-hand not second-hand.
Jacob told God: “This stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will give You a tenth.” (Gen.28:22) What he was saying was, “Look, I have no possessions at the moment to give you, but whatever You bless me with, I will give You back 10% – But in the meantime I will give You 100% of my life that You may do what’s pleasing in Your sight.” This was his statement of intent and the reason, I believe why Jacob never complained from that moment on.
Tithing in ancient times was a common thing as a one-time act of gratitude such as with Abraham who offered a tithe from the spoils of war after the defeat of the kings (Gen.14). Jacob was giving God a rain cheque. But again, what we see spiritually, was an initial spiritual deposit from a symbolic 10% deposit to what became 100% forged over time in line with every believer’s spiritual growth. Although at this stage Jacob still did not understand the principle of giving his entire life to God, his action was a quantum leap in what would be a long journey with many hard lessons ahead of him. It was a process where he faced deceptions from others no different to those he had sown in his own life that would dog him at different stages in the future:
- Laban would deceive him into marrying Leah after he had worked, as had been agreed, for seven years for the love of his life, Rachel. (Gen. 29:21-23 21)
- His wife, Rachel, would deceive him by carrying the pagan gods of her father with her when they left Laban’ s house to return to Canaan.
- His ten sons would deceive him into believing that some wild animal had killed his son Joseph.
Until this point of Jacob’s journey there was nothing one could say was exceptional about him. Why would God choose someone like Jacob to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather? He wasn’t a person of great faith like Abraham, or of great humility like Isaac, and he was filled with all manner of imperfections – definitely high maintenance and most certainly a work in process. Yet he is named as one of the three Patriarchs, which is puzzling until we realise that all of us have something of Jacob within us that God needs to redeem. It puts a human face upon the patriarchs that actually gives us hope because who could ever model a person like Abraham or have the faith of Isaac – but Jacob? Maybe, yes! He was someone whose humanness we can identify with. He is the patriarch who reminds us that God never gives up on us with all our imperfections and will fulfil His purposes in our lives when we permit Him access.
God ‘trapped’ Jacob who became a sort of refugee, fleeing from his home and family to an unknown destination with a future filled with unknown dangers. And at his lowest point, God appeared to him in a dream that began a process that resulted in him becoming a hero of faith and one out of the 3 patriarchs. Jacob gives us hope, because he is an illustration of a no-hoper who made good. God is not so much concerned about the raw material but whether we allow Him to transform our messy lives into an instrument meet for His purpose.
Sometimes, our deepest spiritual experiences come when we least expect it at a point of maximum vulnerability. He is a God who lifts us when we fall, forgives us when we fail, and weeps with us as we finally realise that we have nothing else to hold on to beside Him. (“Whom do I have in Heaven…)
Our NT portion contains an unlikely link between the story of Jacob and the calling of Nathaniel in Jn.1:47-51. Lets take a look:
“47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter[a] you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
Yeshua made a stunning declaration to Nathaniel through a word of knowledge which transformed his life. Nathaniel was a Galilean who made a derogatory statement about Nazareth that was the hometown of Yeshua. Nazareth was a cross-roads and trade route for travellers, where the Galileans and Gentiles intermingled, that was something unthinkable and a defilement to the Judeans. In addition, Nazareth was a focal point and feeding ground for radicals.
Yeshua claimed to know Nathaniel even though He had never met him before: “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” (v.47)
Yeshua was making a direct reference to the patriarch Jacob describing Nathanael as an honest “Israel” in contrast to a deceitful Jacob. Nathaniel responded with shock, “How do you know me?” Yeshua replied, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathaniel immediately responded: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Isra’el!”
What happened? After the Babylonian Exile the fig tree became a messianic symbol familiar to everyone, and bearing fruit signified the coming of the Messiah. Figs feature prominently in several biblical prophecies, for example, in Micah 4:4: “But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken it.”
Yeshua spoke a word of knowledge to Nathanael how he was reflecting upon the coming Messiah at the moment when Yeshua called him to be His disciple. When this fact was revealed to him it was all the confirmation Nathaniel needed. He declared in awe, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Isra’el!” Yeshua’s words pierced Nathaniel’s heart with a word of knowledge so personal that only Nathaniel himself understood and instantly provoked him to make his amazing response. Sometimes God transforms our lives with a rhema word that pierces us like a sword. Yeshua told Nathaniel, “…You believe all this just because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than that!” Then he said to him, “Yes indeed! I tell you that you will see heaven opened and the angels of God going up and coming down on the Son of Man!” referring again to Jacob’s dream implying that He himself was the ladder by which all future generations could be transformed from a Jacob to an Israel.
With all his negative traits, God was actively at work in Jacob to transform him into the person God had created him to be. Jacob encountered the living God in the, “Howling wasteland of a wilderness.” (Deut. 32:10) It could never have happened in the familiar surroundings of the environment he was immersed in. God had to take him out of his comfort zone to fashion and mould his identity. God ‘trapped’ Jacob and brought transformation at the point where to go back was impossible. And so it becomes clearer why God ordained Jacob to be the younger twin rather than the older. Had he been the firstborn, Jacob would have remained Jacob (deceiver) but God needed to transform him and it began with a name change from Jacob to Israel (prince with God). God needed to take him through a prolonged series of bruising experiences in exile over a couple of decades that would have almost certainly not occurred had he been the elder son.
Things did not look good for Jacob as he set out for Haran where his grand-father Terah settled and remained until his death. But Jacob had God’s promise: “May peoples serve you and may nations bow down to you. Be master over your brothers. May your mother’s sons bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and may those who bless you be blessed.” (Gen 27:28–29) At that point God’s promise seemed far removed from reality but here was Jacob’s first lesson in trusting the Lord where in His perfect timing at the end of his life Scripture tells us that, “21 By faith as he was dying, (he) blessed each of the sons of Joseph,(that became established as the 12 tribes of Israel) and he bowed in worship while leaning on the top of his staff.” (Heb.11)
Jacob started life as a ‘deceiver’ but ended as a hero of faith and one of the 3 patriarchs of the Jewish people. And it began when all the creature comforts and securities were stripped away, where he experienced his initial life-changing encounter. God invaded the darkness at the lowest moment of Jacob’s life and it happened when his mind was focused chaotically upon survival.
Are there things which God has promised us that still await fulfilment? There may be a lot of ground in between before we see its realisation but that does not invalidate His word, it simply means we need to be patient.
Jacob thought he had lost everything, but it was at this point that he acquired something of infinite value – that, ‘pearl of great price’ where he discovered that “The LORD is in this place-and I did not know it!”
Jacob started out life as a ‘deceiver’ but ended up as a hero of faith and one of 3 patriarchs to the Jewish people. God transformed him in the same way He delights to transform us when in the fullness of time will “… we will with unveiled face, behold the glory of the LORD in a mirror, being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the LORD.” (2Cor. 3:18)
