JACOB'S DEATH #4 | JACOB'S LEGACY
Pastor Christopher Choo
Lesson 3678
JACOB'S DEATH #4
JACOB'S LEGACY
As a tribute to Jacob's legacy, I have a few observations to make.
The process of spiritual maturity began for Jacob in his exile experience at Laban's home and later at Shechem.
Jacob is the first of the two other patriarchs with a true, lengthy, exile experience since Isaac never left the land and Abraham’s excursions were clearly temporary.
Thus Jacob became the role model for all Jews in exile especially those in the Diaspora.
His spiritual maturity is shown in his return from exile to the Promised Land in obedience to God's plan and purposes.
At a place near the Jabbok River in modern-day Jordan, Jacob encountered angelic beings. He named it "Mahanaim” (Genesis 32:3) which means “Two Camps."
It was there that he sent out his family and retainers into two groups to meet Esau who came with 400 fighting men.
Many read this as a cunning attempt to buffer himself in case Esau proved hostile. Leading his group like a backseat general, he was alone when he wrestled with the angel of God when all his earthly props were gone.
But his division of his family and retainers into two camps has prophetic lessons to teach us.
1. He instructed his servants to carry his peace offerings to meet Esau first.
It was an attempt for peaceful reconciliation rather than to react in the flesh in a counter-attack or a defensive move.
2. Instead of describing his material success and offering gifts, he instructed his servants to tell Esau,”I was a GER (sojourner, resident alien) with Laban” (Genesis 32:5, “GARTI IM LAVAN”) these many years.
Rather than stress his material and familial success, the summation of his experience was, “I now know what it is like to be dispossessed of power and control.”
This humble approach showed less guile as he identified himself with exiles from their homeland.
Thus far in this episode, he showed two things: the limits of violence to solve the conflict, and by his identification with vulnerable, disenfranchised "gerim" (strangers), he showed unusual empathy.
These lessons still have resonance for Jews the world over.
Jacob’s moral universe has shifted from the heel-grabbing, birthright-snatching materialist to one who would attempt to resolve conflict non-violently as a matter of first priority and a concern for the lives and safety of others.
When the servants returned without success and warned Jacob of Esau’s approach with 400 men, Jacob’s emotional response and then his actions give two more hints of his progress and development.
We learn that he was both afraid and distressed (32:8) — afraid, that he might be killed, but also distressed that he would be involved in killing others, according to several commentators.
Jacob feared that this group was meeting him to take revenge for cheating Esau out of the family blessing 20 years earlier.
Jacob was so afraid that he splits his company into two camps, even as he prays for deliverance. He also prepares an enormous gift to appease Esau.
Finally, while alone in the dark, Jacob is unexpectedly forced to wrestle a mysterious man, who turns out to be God Himself in some manifested form. In a profound moment of symbolism, God forces Jacob to state his own name, which God then changes to Israel.
Even so, his prayer of faith is worth noting. Genesis 32:9, ESV: "And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’"
He was in effect reminding God of His covenant with Abraham and Isaac that he in turn would posess the Promised Land.
But from this life-changing encounter, he bore a limp like a scar for the rest of his earthly life.
It was an objective lesson to bow before God in humility - to be wholly dependent on Him and no longer on his self-will and ways.
It was also a singular reminder to take care of others like the weak and the "lame" ( those in his retinue who could not as it were "stand on their own two feet").
We think of leaving an inheritance for our children, but there is an inheritance that is worth more than all of the riches of this world.
Have you taught your children through your words and example that nothing is worth more than a life rich with faith in God?
Go to God; pray that He will give you a vibrant testimony of faith in Him. Only by His grace are you saved, through faith in Christ; and only by His grace and faith in Him can you live a life of faith. That is the richest and most powerful legacy you can leave!
Just as the legacy of Jacob was one of faith in God, so let us think of an eternal legacy for our families, and not just a temporal legacy!
