Becoming A Jacob Generation

Becoming A Jacob Generation

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaamIIqonZU

What is a Jacob Generation, and why is it important? Well, it has to do with what David talked about in Psalm 24.

“Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.” (Psalm 24:3-5 NKJV)

The Lord is describing something we all want, that is to stand before the Lord, to be before His presence. But there’s a condition attached, and that is, we need to be forgiven, that is, to have clean hands and a pure heart, and to repent, that is, not bowing down to false gods nor being deceitful.

And the end of such actions and such a life is God’s blessings and righteousness, not to mention the greatest of all gifts, salvation. And this is available to every generation and to all people who come to belief in Jesus Christ, as their Savior and Lord.

And Jesus said that there is no other way. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6 NKJV)

And so, if we want to stand before the Lord God Almighty and be in His presence, to have our sins forgiven and repent thereof, all this is available in and through Jesus Christ alone.

But I love what David went on to say about all these generations who have taken this path, that they are a part of the Jacob generation, a generation that seeks after God, thus making the Lord our first priority.

“This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face.” (Psalm 24:6 NKJV)

So, why use Jacob to describe such a generation, because when we think about Jacob, this is really the last things we think about.

Jacob was the second child born to Isaac and Rebekah. Actually, he and his brother, Esau, were twins. Esau came out first, but not without a fight. The Bible tells how they both wrestled in Rebekah’s womb, and they were still wrestling as they came out because Jacob was trying to pull Esau back in. As Esau came out, Jacob’s hand was holding onto his heal.

That is actually the meaning behind Jacob’s name. Jacob in the Hebrew means, “heal catcher,” or “supplanter,” meaning someone who wrongfully or illegally seizes the place of another.

This was who Jacob was; he was a liar and a deceiver. He got Esau to sell him his birthright, and then he deceived his father into giving him Esau’s covenant blessing. Thus, he fulfilled what he tried to accomplish in the womb, and that is to wrestle away God’s blessings from Esau. So instead of being the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Esau, it’s the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

But is that the Jacob generation that we are to be like? If it is, then our society certainly has done its part. We live in a generation that lies and cheats. We live in a generation that deceives and connives to get what it wants. This generation is definitely a Jacob generation as it regards this part of Jacob’s life.

But this is not the type of generation God wants us to be. God wants us to be a generation marked by a new beginning like it was for Jacob when God changed his name to Israel.

So, what happened to Jacob, and how did a deceiver become a seeker?

As Jacob was coming back to the land of his father with his family and flocks, he gets a report that his brother Esau was coming with 400 men to wipe him out.

So, Jacob left his family and flocks on one side of the River Jabbok and passed over to the other side to seek God. There he met God and wrestled with Him throughout the night. It was then God changed his name from Jacob, or “heal catcher,” to Israel, “one who prevails with God.”

It is this part of Jacob’s life that God wants this and every generation to be. God wants us to be a generation, like Jacob, who seeks earnestly after the Lord.

And I believe it is such a generation that will see revival break out. But why is revival so important, especially seeing the immanency of Christ’s return. If this is true, then shouldn’t we just be watching and waiting? And the answer is yes, but what we also need to know is that the Lord God wishes none to perish, but for everyone to come to salvation, for everyone to be a part of this Jacob generation, a generation that seeks after God.