Jacob Worshipping Upon His Staff

HEBREWS 11:21 “JACOB WORSHIPPING UPON HIS STAFF”

A) Jacob was a man whose whole life had been changed by the grace

and mercy of God.

* He began his life as a deceiver, stealing the birthright of Esau – Later on, he was

converted as he wrestled all night long with the Angel of the Lord .......

* Until finally, at the break of day, he was given a new name, a new nature and a

new purpose. (Gen. 32:24)

B) From that time on we see a new Jacob.

* He is now a man of faith, love and charity – He is a man with the call of God,

and a purpose for living and a promise from God that would stand forever.

* He had come to understand what it meant to walk with the staff of God on his side.

C) God has a staff – It’s a staff that all of us must carry if we’re going to live a

life by faith that’s pleasing to God.

* Let me explain what a staff is before we try to continue – What is a staff?

D) A stick carried in the hand for support or defense by a person walking;

a support; that which props or upholds.

* A stick or club used as a weapon – An emblem of authority or a badge of office.

E) What can the staff mean to you and me, and what did it mean to Jacob?

* There are other times in the Word of God where carrying a staff was a part of the

call of God upon the life of someone.

(1) ONE OF THOSE WAS DAVID

A) Most of the time when we talk about David and Goliath, we only talk

about the smooth stones and the sling that David carried.

* But I want to read 1 Sam. 17:40 and let you see that there was something else

that David carried into that battle.

B) The stone that was thrown by his sling, representing the Rock, Jesus Christ,

as David’s Savior and Deliverer, became the instrument that killed Goliath.

* But before the sling could be used, and the rock could be thrown, David needed

his staff.

C) There is a TV commercial of a major credit card company that says,

“Don’t leave home without it.”

* It seems that God is saying to David about his staff, “David, don’t face the giant

without it; and don’t try to defeat the enemy without it.

* David you need your staff.” – 1 Sam. 17:40 says, “And he took his staff .......”

D) David had to have that staff with him ... It was not just an instrument to

be used as a weapon of offense or a weapon of defense.

* It was not just to be used to help him get down from the mountaintop and go

down the rocks and into the valley below to face Goliath.

E) That staff was much more than just a stick – It was a support, and a symbol

of David’s trust in the power of God.

* It was a symbol of the promises of God ... It was a source of strength for David,

for in that staff was the symbol to David of the very presence of his God.

F) David counted on that staff – David never lost sight of that staff.

* His staff was one of the most important possessions in his life.

* Later on, that staff was transformed from a shepherd’s staff to a king’s scepter,

but it was still a staff in his life and David never forgot what it stood for.

G) Later on in David’s life, he wrote many Psalms of praise to God.

* Listen to what he had to say in one of them – Psa. 23:4 “Yea, though I walk

through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art .......”

THE SHEPHERD’S STAFF AND SCEPTER WERE SYMBOLS

A) The shepherd’s staff and the king’s scepter were both symbols of

David’s trust in God.

* They both held up the banner of David’s God and they both became the emblem

of David’s faith in God and his badge of authority in God.

B) Another man in the Bible who knew what that staff meant was Moses.

* It was the staff that became a serpent that swallowed the serpents of Pharaoh’s

magicians and that parted the waters of the Red Sea.

* Everywhere that we see Moses, there is a staff present.

C) When the Children of Israel were getting ready for the passing of the death

angel in the last plague of Egypt when all of the first born of Egypt died .......

* God gave Moses some very specific instructions – They were to prepare the Passover