THE MIGHTY GOD OF ISRAELS - Scripture: Genesis 33:1-20
Can you imagine the scene with me ... traveling across perhaps desert terrain and you and your household 2 handmaids, 2 wives, 12 sons ranging from probably teens, even early adulthood, down to very young ones and one on the way ... Jacob then arranges the women and children with one of the handmaids and her children first, then another, then Leah and then the beloved Rachel with Jacob. Would you like to be that first handmaiden? Then you see it 400 men coming at you, you do not know what to expect ... then Jacob goes ahead of them as the man of the house humbling himself before his brother ... Esau runs to meet Jacob ... what are the thoughts running through your mind? What is he going to do to me ... then Esau grabs up Jacob (now Israel) and embraces him and weeps over him and kisses him ... BROTHER! Sweet reunion ... perhaps those angels Jacob sent ahead (Chpt. 32) had something to do with it?!? :)
v.10 "And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me." Jacob had not seen his brother in I believe about 20 years ... other than being red and hairy Esau's face had probably changed somewhat over the past 20 years ... a little more weathered perhaps, maybe fuller, but definitely a little different. As Jacob wrestled with "the man" in the previous chapter this verse gives us perhaps a clue as to what Jacob saw as he wrestled ... years of contention with his brother that began in the womb and continued throughout their lives. Twenty years had passed and they had not spoken to each other ... I'm sure as Jacob was out tending the flocks and herds on those cold nights that he spoke to Laban about that thoughts of his family and his brother were ever before him as he was left alone for days in the fields as well as other thoughts too I'm sure perhaps of his wives and handmaidens and all the babies :)
Jacob and Esau part again after their brief meeting. Esau for whatever motives tried to get Jacob to come with him or atleast take some of his men to help him, but Jacob refused. There were obviously still concerns on Jacob's part about the intentions of Esau ... for now Jacob would be glad that he was still alive and assured Esau that he and his family would follow slowly and would be along shortly.
Then we see Jacob moving about to different cities and finally ending the chapter with an altar called אל אלהי ישראל 'El 'elohey Yisra'el "the mighty (in strength and power) Elohim (ruler, judge) of Israel (overcomer)" ... there Jacob celebrated and worshipped God as a hero in might and strength and in power, one who prevailed. First he made camp in Succoth, interestingly enough this was also the first stopping place when the Israelites left Egypt after Passover. There Jacob set up a temporary dwelling place and booths. Next it said he came to Shalem (the place where Melchizadek who is thought in some circles to be Yeshua) in Shechem (Shechem being the place where his daughter was raped and her brothers took revenge). Shalem means "peace", so Jacob came to a "place of peace" physically and perhaps within himself. Shalem in Shechem is within the land of Canaan which means "lowland" from a root meaning "to be humbled".
Right before he builds the altar we are told he purchases some land from Hamor and spread his tent. v.19
O - Observations:
Spiritually speaking here is Jacob, he has wrestled all night with God which may in his vision had the face of his brother Esau. He struggles all night and perhaps deals with all the contention he had for his brother and all struggles they had dealt with through the years and perhaps how he would have done things differently. Whatever the struggle was it was done and now he comes and sees Esau and finds favor. Jacob finally in a manner of speaking comes to a place of peace after being humbled. Now he buys a little land and settles down to provide for his family. How can he do anything but praise the MIGHT of God who allowed him to prevail in all these situations, to find peace, to be granted land and a place for all that God has provided.
אל אלהי ישראל 'El 'elohey Yisra'el
A - Application for me today:
In recent weeks I have been wrestling and struggling and coming to a place of humbleness and peace in my eating and in learning to love my family as Christ does. It is not always easy to see those places in yourself that you know you need to submit to God. Often it takes a time of wrestling. But once you give up and say "Okay LORD not my will BUT YOURS be done" and you humble yourself before the MIGHTY GOD OF YISRAEL - your covenant keeping LORD - the peace comes ... you can "buy a little land" and settle in ... I will praise the Mighty One of Israel who is helping me overcome and prevail over the sins that have so easily beset me in the past. If I were doing this on my own strength I would be doomed to fail, but because it is HE at work within me I can have faith that these changes are lasting. May I keep my eyes on my Elohe-Yisrael.
P - Prayer in response:
You are the Mighty One of Yisrael. I praise you Father for taking someone like me, a sinner, and somehow working through me to overcome.
(Scroll down for today's Love Dare)
Reminder:
As the world celebrates Valentine's Day this week let's show the world the TRUEST form of love ... let Christ love through you by being patient today ... I Corinthians 13 says "Love is patient ...". Why would Paul list that first? Well the "dare" says it's fairly simple, but in and of ourselves I think, for me, it is one of the most difficult at times ... to me being patient means that I will trust God for the outcome of others. I've always said I couldn't change people and there are certain things I just don't try to change for instance in my spouse and even my children, but then there are others I try to mold like Play-Doh, squeezing and rolling and reshaping ... love is patient ... how do we try to mold others, by our words ... talking to them or as men see it "nagging" ... today I will with the Holy Spirit's help be patient with my spouse and children. I will try and avoid the temptation to be negative with my words. In another study I am doing I learned in the past few days that the Bible tells us to put off certain things and put on certain things ... if we are to succeed spiritually it is wise to put off the negative and put on the positive. For instance let us put off impatience and negative words and put on patience and POSITIVE words.
As followers of Christ we are told that we will be known as HIS disciple when we LOVE one another. So whether it's your spouse, friend, neighbor, child, whomever ... if you are willing come along with me on the next 40 days for a challenge to LOVE one another as Christ did, laying down our lives, wills and desires for HIS and with total abandonment and unconditional love.
We watched the movie Fireproof in our congregation the other day and I thought it was a pretty POWERFUL movie with a POWERFUL message that we have to choose to love other EVEN if (or when) they do not love us back. In the movie for the first 20 days of Caleb's dare his wife refused every attempt at love ... finally he came to the conclusion through a talk with his father that he would love her regardless and he really began to put his heart into the challenge and the dare. May we ask our Father to help us to love like this from the beginning, giving everything we have because of what HE gave us ~ EVERYTHING!
TODAY’S LOVE DARE: The first part of this dare is fairly simple. Although love is communicated in a number of ways, our words often reflect the condition of our heart. For the next day, resolve to demonstrate patience and to say nothing negative to your [spouse] at all. If the temptation arises, choose not to say anything. It’s better to hold your tongue than to say something you’ll regret.
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