FROM NOW ON YOUR NAME WILL BE ISRAEL

Jacob was known as a deceiver!  He set a trap for his twin brother, Esau, and got him to barter away his first-born rights.  Then, later, as their father was about to die, Jacob deceived their father, Isaac, and stole his brother’s blessing.

In fear of Esau’s wrath, Jacob fled the land and returned to his mother’s family in hopes of finding a wife and getting a new start.  It was on this journey that God intervened and made Himself known to Jacob.

Jacob ends up in his mother’s homeland and begins to work for his uncle Laban.  Laban, however, is as much a trickster as Jacob was!  He gets Jacob to work for him for seven years to earn the right to marry his daughter Rachel.  But, after the seven years, Laban deceives Jacob into marrying his older daughter, Leah.  Angry, but still wanting to marry Rachel, Jacob agrees to work for Laban for seven MORE years!  

During all the years of Jacob’s stay with Laban, he ends up having twelve sons to his two wives and their personal servants. 

Finally, God intervenes and tells Jacob to return to his own homeland and family.  Therefore, he gathers up all his property and flocks and leaves Laban.  Laban pursues him with the intention to force him to return, but God warns Laban not to stop Jacob! 

As Jacob draws near to his homeland, apparently word of his return has reached his twin-brother, Esau.  Esau and four-hundred men are on their way toward Jacob and his entourage of wives, children, servants, flocks and herds.

Jacob is terrified that Esau intends to destroy him in anger!  He separates his camp so that if Esau attacks, at least some might be able to escape his wrath.  Then, Jacob sends waves of servants ahead of his family bearing very generous gifts for Esau: goats, sheep, camels, cows and bulls, and donkeys! 

With these preparations made, Jacob crosses a river with his two wives and their children where he wrestles all night long with an unknown man – seemingly a representative of God.  As dawn began to arise, Jacob refused to let the man go!  He consequently dislocated Jacob’s hip and informed him that he would no longer be called Jacob but Israel!

For the sake of finishing the narrative, Esau receives Jacob’s gifts reluctantly and embraces Jacob/Israel with affection.  Everybody loves a happy ending, right? 

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God began by calling Abram to start a new nation that would be as numberless as the stars of the sky or the sands of the sea!

Abraham lived with that promise until finally – at the age of 100 – his only son, Isaac was born!

Isaac also received the same promise from God that he would be followed by many generations.  But he only had two sons, and they became bitter rivals.

Jacob – the younger son – deceived his way into God’s favor, but lived a desperate life – mostly in a foreign land.  However, Jacob [now Israel] was the father of twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel!

God was clearly not in a hurry!  God is rarely in a hurry!  God values the individuals in the narrative and patiently works with them to accomplish His purposes! 

Today, Israel still exists as a nation. 

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This same God is just as concerned about you as He was about Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and his wives! 

He will patiently work with you and in you [if you’ll allow Him].  He has work for you to do.  He will guide you, protect you, provide for you, and use you to accomplish His purposes! 

Reach out to God today!  Allow Him to infuse your life with meaning and purpose! 

WALKING WITH A LIMP!

I'm captivated by the story of Jacob wrestling with God in Genesis 32.  It's a critical juncture of Jacob's life.  He now has wives and twelve sons and is setting out for his homeland to test his metal.  Up till this point, God has been the God of his father and grandfather.  But this day, God becomes real to Jacob in a very personal way.  

I've said before that we don't know for sure if this was a personal representation of God in a real physical wrestling match with Jacob or a spiritual wrestling that had a life-changing impact on Jacob's life.  But either way, Jacob walks away with a permanent limp.  His life will never be the same.  

Now, let's deal with this reality in Jacob's life.  Was he perfect after this encounter?  

No.  He still seeks to placate his brother before encountering Esau face-to-face.  He's still a conniver and a strategist.

We do wrong to expect perfection quickly from new believers.  During my Cornerstone years, because of the population we worked with, we had to repeatedly remind our congregation that drug abusers relapse.  We should anticipate that they will struggle to maintain sobriety.  We need to be a forgiving environment that continually loves and pursues them with the patience of God!  

Those of us who have walked with God for a lifetime expect too much growth and maturity too fast from people who have just made a commitment to Christ.  It took us a while to figure this new lifestyle out;  it will take others a while too.  

We shouldn't expect them to turn out like us!  The goal is not to reproduce us in them - the goal is to reproduce Christ in them!  Our God will work uniquely in every person's life to bring about a maturity that honors Him!  God's creativity is boundless.  

Here's the joke of it all:  We who consider ourselves mature still walk with a limp!  No one has it all mastered!  No one has all the answers.  No one is living the perfect Christian life.  That's why the Holy Spirit inspired John to write:  If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness  [I John 1:8-9].  

When I was leading the church at Jeannette, PA, I led a young woman to faith in Christ.  I knew it was unwise for me to try to disciple her, so I recruited Goldie to do so.  I had them meet me at the church where I introduced them.  Goldie was 78 and saintly.  Shirley immediately took to her with great admiration.  

During the meeting, Shirley praised Goldie by saying, "Goldie, I don't think I could ever live the kind of life you live."  Goldie stopped her and gently explained that they were in  very different places.  Goldie then explained that at her stage of the game, the sins change.  She said, "I don't wrestle with lying, stealing, using drugs, or drinking alcohol.  But I do struggle with pride and evil thoughts toward others."  

I never forgot that!  The sins change, but the sin remains.  The limp is real and persistent.

 Listen to how Anne Lamott describes her pilgrimage:

"My coming to faith did not start with a leap but rather a series of staggers from what seemed like one safe place to another.  Like lily pads, round and green, these places summoned and then held me up while I grew. . . .Yet each step brought me closer to the verdant pad of faith on which I somehow stay afloat today."  [Travelling Mercies, 3]

What I love most about this quote are the last seven words, "on which I somehow stay afloat today".  

I'm not saying that we don't develop greater confidence over time.  I think we do.  But perfection comes with glorification;  and glorification comes after death!  

I know people who exude deep confidence and near perfection.  They are admired by hoards of people!  I even admire them!  But somehow, I expect that there's a façade present that I know little of.  They may have mastered the disciplines of the Christian life, but mastering the wanderings of the mind and the lust for influence and power are a bigger force to reckon with.  

Some may disagree.  Perhaps they'll respond to this blog and enlighten us.   

I have lived with a fair degree of transparency.  I've messed up - A LOT!  I've had to apologize a lot!  I've found the way to be rocky and steep.  My walk is a daily walk in which I somehow - by God's grace - stay afloat.  

I'll close with a biblical picture of the Apostle Paul that is near and dear to my heart:

In the beginning of his ministry, this great man fought hard for recognition as an apostle.  He can be found repeatedly describing himself as "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ."

Later in his ministry, he had mellowed.  Now, he describes himself as "...the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God."       [I Corinthians 15:9]

Then, finally, in his old age he provides an even newer description of himself:  "the worst of sinners".      [I Timothy 1:15-16]  

This model of downward mobility is a precious reminder of how we ought to view ourselves and how we need to give grace to those around us who are struggling to maintain sobriety and faith.    

I had a seminary professor, Dr. Donald Joy, who gave a significant message while I was attending.  It was titled, "Confessions of a Hypocrite"  and shook the foundations of the seminary and students when he presented it.  

In true Covid form, perhaps we need to drop our masks and lead by confession rather than trying to lead by instruction and perfection?  

As for me, I'm limping my way toward Heaven.  Care to join me?

 

JACOB GETS A NAME CHANGE

Genesis 32 is transformational!  

God has nudged Jacob out of Haran and away from Laban and has headed him back to his homeland.  This ought to be a joyous thing, but Jacob knows he must soon face the ire of his brother, Esau, who had - twenty years earlier - threatened his life.  He was rightly fearful!  He had abused Esau and stolen something very precious and valuable from him.  

Ever the schemer, Jacob develops a plan to placate his brother - while also recompensing him for the damage Jacob had done earlier in life.  He wisely divides his large family and many flocks into two groups, thinking:  If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape  [v.8].  

Then, this maturing man prays an eloquent prayer:

O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, 'Go back to your country and your relatives and I will make you prosper,' I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant.  I had only my staff when I crossed the Jordan, but now I have become two groups.  Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children.  But you have said, 'I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.'  [vs.9-12]

Funny how a life-threatening situation can revitalize one's prayer life!   

After hearing that Esau is coming to meet him - along with two hundred men - Jacob prepares a magnificent gift for Esau and places it ahead of the two groups with very clear instructions:  When my brother Esau meets you and asks 'To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you? then you are to say, 'They belong to your servant Jacob.  They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.'  

The gift:

• 200 female goats
• 20 male goats
• 200 ewes
• 20 rams
• 30 female camels with their young
• 40 cows
• 10 bulls
• 20 female donkeys
• 10 male donkeys

Then, after securing his family, Jacob crossed the ford of the Jabbok and spent the night alone.  Make no mistake about it - he is afraid!  God - in the form of a man - came that night and wrestled with Jacob.  Whether this is real or metaphorical, I do not know, but it was real to Jacob.  When the man saw that he could not overpower [Jacob], he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled...Then the man said, 'Let me go, for it is daybreak.'  [vs.25-26]

But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."   Jacob knew he was wrestling with God!  

The man asked him, "What is your name?"  

"Jacob," he answered.'

Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."  [vs.26-28]

Jacob gave this place a special name and walked with a limp for the rest of his life as a reminder of this night!  His testimony:  I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.  [v.30]

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"God has chosen to do the impossible for those who enter the covenant.  He will literally and actually remake every person who will let Him.  This cosmic act of salvation produces a transformed individual, so different from the old person that it is awkward or impossible for him to answer to his old name."  [Webb Garrison, Reading the Entire Bible in One Year, p.23]

Revelation 2:17

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna.  I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.