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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Gal 5:22 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for collecting daily manna), make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Monday, June 19, 2017
Today's Passage : Today's Passage: Subject: The Story of Jacob [2] - Jacob’s Vow Bible Verse:Genesis 28:16-22 (DPB) "Then Jacob woke up. “God lives here!” he exclaimed in terror. “I’ve stumbled into his home! This is the awesome entrance to heaven!” The next morning he got up very early and set his stone headrest upright as a memorial pillar, and poured olive oil over it. He named the place Bethel (“House of God”), though the previous name of the village was Luz. And Jacob vowed this vow to God: “If God will help and protect me on this journey and give me food and clothes, and will bring me back safely to my father, then I will choose Jehovah as my God! And this memorial pillar shall become a place for worship; and I will give you back a tenth of everything you give me!” " Message:
(Editor’s Note: Having studied the lives of Abraham and Isaac, it was a temptation simply to skip over Genesis 29-36, for it is in Chapter 37 that we begin the interesting and important story of Joseph. But although in many ways these chapters are less meaningful to the modern Christian — Genesis 36 contains nothing but a long list of Esau’s descendants, including the Kings of the Edomites — they contain the story of Jacob. Jacob was and, in some senses, still is Israel; his sons’ names live on as the names of the 12 tribes. So, we are going to compromise and hit the highlights of Jacob’s life before we move onto Joseph and, thus, to Moses.)
We pick up today where we left off on June 9. Jacob has just had a vivid dream, in which he saw angels walking up and down a ladder to heaven. He named the spot Bethel, “House of God,” and one would expect it to have become a center of later Judaism. But here, we see the sharp difference between the two great patriarchs of the Bible, Abraham and Moses.
Abraham was one man, and his relationship with God passed down to one son. We might think of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as “Phase One” in God’s plan of salvation through the Jews.
Consider the enormous differences between the two periods. God’s promise to Abraham’s seed was in the singular; it was a promise to his heir, not to his heirs. Moreover, Abraham did not live under much in the way of rules. The general obligations God placed upon him were, primarily, that he was obligated to worship God and to circumcise all the males in his household. Most of God’s commandments to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were a single direct order, such as the notable command to Abraham that he sacrifice Isaac.
Moses, although he had a direct speaking relationship with God, fulfilled a much different role. Moses ultimately became a vehicle through whom God made His general covenant with the Jews. Moses was a lawgiver, the vehicle through whom God spelled out the lengthy and complex Law. This was not intended for a single man, but rather for all the descendants of Jacob's 12 sons. In Moses, Judaism became an organized religion for a great mass of related people. Moreover, it became more a religion of laws, whereas Abraham's religion was one almost entirely of simple faith.
The Law required the building of a temple, which was eventually accomplished under Solomon in Jerusalem. Thus, Jerusalem became the fixed center of organized Judaism after the conquest of Canaan had been completed. Jacob’s Bethel was subordinated and ultimately forgotten, except as an historical place mentioned in today’s passage. We might even speculate that, when Jacob believed he had found the entrance to heaven, that entrance was Jacob himself, rather than the physical location where he happened to be. For there would be an heir of Abraham (and Isaac and Jacob) who was once again a single person, and who would once again emphasize grace through faith, rather than compliance to laws, as the means of salvation: Jesus of Nazareth.
Meditation : [If you love Him, why not serve Him?] Prayer : May the God of peace, who declared victory over death by the resurrection of His only Son, Jesus Christ, make me perfect in every thought and act through His grace, that my life might be pleasing in His sight and that I might share the perfect peace that is only possible through Him, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen |
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