“BETTER LATE THAN NEVER” (GEN 28:10-29:13)
A Chinese fable tells of the owl’s flight to the east to escape its neighbors, who were increasingly tired and vocal of the bird’s incessant noise in the night. As it was packing, the owl met a pigeon, which asked: “Where are you going? Why are you in such a hurry?”
The owl answered tersely, “I’m moving to the east.” The pigeon asked again, “Why are you moving there?” The owl moaned, “Because people here all complained about my singing. They cannot stand my hooting. I am going to move east so that they will have no reason to complain anymore.”
The pigeon then frankly told the owl, “Moving to another place is a good idea only if you change your voice. If you don’t, the people in the east too will complain about your singing.”
Kevin McHale, the legendary Boston Celtics basketball great, explained why troubles often follow many NBA players that discover newfound wealth: “I don’t think basketball is the answer to all problems. If a guy comes into the league with a ton of problems, and they pay him half a million dollars, then he’s a millionaire with a ton of problems.” (Los Angeles Times 1/3/93)
Jacob made a bad name and a horrible life for himself when he deceived his father (Gen 27:35) and angered his brother (Gen 27:45). The first act of deception in the Bible was not committed by the serpent (Gen 3:13), but by Jacob (Gen 27:35). The English word for Jacob’s and the serpent’s act of deception is similar in NIV but the Hebrew text correctly used the word “beguiled” for the serpent’s actions and “deceived” for Jacob’s. The conniving, selfish Jacob appeared to be leaving his problems behind, but he was just taking his troubles elsewhere, transferring them to others, and prolonging the agony. Jacob’s mother had sent him 500 miles away to Haran, where her brother lived. The sober Jacob had a lot of spare time to reconsider his ways. Though it took leaving his town, his family, and his past behind for Jacob to mend his ways, he was a truly changed man by the time he reached Haran. It was better late than never!
Why is a changed life better late than never? How are people changed and transformed from the errors of their ways? Is there hope for cold, calculative, and crooked people like Jacob?
COMPREHEND GOD’S PROVIDENCE TO YOU
10Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. 11When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13There above it stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Gen 28:1-14)
God works in mysterious, marvelous, and miraculous ways.
A friend who is a seminary professor in Hong Kong was converted watching the controversial, ultraliberal, and blasphemous movie “Jesus Christ Superstar.” When asked to repeat his testimony, he wrote: “In September 1978, when I was in a very desperate and low state of mind, I went to the Ocean Theatre to watch a movie called “Jesus Christ Superstar”. The Spirit of God spoke to my heart powerfully through that movie! As I looked to the life of Jesus, I found that Jesus loved me so much. I strongly felt that I was a sinner, Jesus still loved me and died for me on the cross. I still remember a shot showing Jesus’ painful look as he was hanging on the cross, but all of a sudden, Jesus prayed, “ Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34). I was cut to the heart by this prayer and my tears came out as much as it could. I accepted Jesus’ love and forgiveness deep down in my heart. Praise God! He saved me by this unusual means and through this unexpected incident. (Via email 8/13/00)
Jacob’s ladder was God’s brief but deliberate disclosure of His active involvement in the world, His avid interest in human affairs, and His astute intervention into people’s lives. Jacob was tired, lonely, and forlorn when he stumbled into Bethel. He had no company but the sun for his trip, no place but the ground for his body, and no pillow but a stone for his head, but he experienced God’s in a personal and mighty way. The door at home, to his family, and to Beersheba were slammed shut but the window of heaven was wide open to him. God literally threw down a ladder of hope to a down and out Jacob, who was mired in a pit of his own making. For a short while, God made apparent, available and accessible His presence, promise, and providence to Jacob in a powerful and unmistakable way. God confirmed to Jacob his destiny as the heir of God’s promise to his forefathers, to his descendants, and to the world. God reiterated to Jacob His promise to Abraham and Isaac, relayed to him the prosperity of his descendants, and reassured the fearful patriarch of His presence in the dangerous journey.
Strangely, God spoke to Jacob only in a dream, unlike His other appearances to Abraham and Isaac. God had spoken audibly on a few occasions to Jacob’s grandfather, Abraham (Gen 12:1, 13:14, 15:1, 17:1, 18:1, 22:1), and once to his father, Isaac (Gen 26:24). Abraham even dropped to his knees and fell facedown at the appearance of God (Gen 17:3). Wouldn’t God’s dramatic and glorious self-disclosure be a surefire way to change someone for good?
However, God is wise, righteous, and sovereign. God’s appearance in a dream was clear enough for Jacob to understand, but not necessarily convicting enough for him to change. He had made initial contact with the patriarch, but the rest was up to Jacob. God did not force a change in Jacob’s life through a glorious and dramatic appearance. He gave Jacob the leeway, the motivation, and the opportunity to make a change for himself.
CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE OF LIFE
16When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” 18Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz. 20Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God 22and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.” (Gen 28:16-22)
Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the outspoken 1999 Australian Open champion, who has a private jet and has earned more than US$18 million in his career when the incident occurred, received a rude awakening at the Australian Open from none other than Andre Agassi, the tennis brat turned diplomat. The Russian who turned pro in 1992 voiced that the prize money of US$473,385 for the winner in men’s tennis was way too low, describing the prize money in tennis as “ridiculous” in comparison to golfers at a low-level PGA tournament in the United States that received about 10 times as much as players in a similar tennis competition.
Agassi, the six-time Grand Slam winner who had given $2 million of his earnings to start a school in Las Vegas, remarked, “My feelings are he should take his prize money when he’s done here and go buy some perspective. I don’t speak for anybody but myself and I don’t like anybody speaking for me. I was clear with Yevgeny this morning that when he speaks for the players, say one phrase: ’Except for Andre.’ “I’d be hardpressed ever to spend time with a person who thinks making hundreds of thousands of dollars is not enough money.”
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/2001/australian_open/news/2001/01/19/agassi_kafelnikov_ap/
Jacob was a changed man, with a new perspective on life. The way he saw things and the values he held were different. Previously he used God’s name in vain and took Him for granted when he lied without batting an eye to his father: “The LORD your God gave me success” (Gen 27:20). God was in the second person and a second-hand experience to him. The previous actions of Jacob made God out to be a laughable, usable, and disposable Divine Being:
Now, Jacob vowed to make a change. He was the first person in the Bible to make a vow (v 20), but his vow was not designed to manipulate God or twist His arm. God had already made an unconditional promise to Jacob to watch over him and bring him back to this land (v 15). Jacob needed not do anything in return, but he offered to God an altar (v 18, Gen 35:3), a tithe (v 22), and a commitment. He did not ask for what God was not willing to give, which is His presence, care and guidance (v 15), including his safe return to the land. Instead of relying on his abilities, brains, and charm, he began to rely on God to supply His needs.
God promised to give the land to Jacob (v 13), but Jacob had no such grand ambition. He humbly settled for food to eat and clothes to wear (v 20). Jacob asked but for the basic necessities of life. Trumping his brother, inheriting the land, and succeeding in life were far from his mind. He recognized that his life was in God’s hands and his possessions were God’s to give (v 22). Mercy, and not merit, was on his lips. Survival and simplicity, and not success, were what he sought. Peace, and not proprietorship, was his priorities.
More importantly, for better or worse, he vowed to return to the Promised Land God spoke about in the dream and face his angry, raging, older brother, who was awaiting him. True to his word, Jacob not only returned to Canaan after his sojourn in Haran (Gen 31:12-13), he resided in Bethel, where God appeared to him, for a while after his daughter was violated at Shechem (Gen 35:1-3). Bethel was God’s shelter and sanctuary for his household, a place of refuge, rest, and recovery (Gen 31:12-13, 35:1-3).
CARE NOT ONLY ABOUT YOURSELF
4Jacob asked the shepherds, “My brothers, where are you from?” “We’re from Haran,” they replied. 5He said to them, “Do you know Laban, Nahor’s grandson?” “Yes, we know him,” they answered. 6Then Jacob asked them, “Is he well?” “Yes, he is,” they said, “and here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.” 7”Look,” he said, “the sun is still high; it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture.” 8”We can’t,” they replied, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep.” 9While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. 10When Jacob saw Rachel daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and Laban’s sheep, he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep. 11Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud. 12 He had told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and a son of Rebekah. So she ran and told her father. (Gen 29:4-11)
When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, probably the greatest college basketball player ever, was a Laker, he was often cold to even his own teammates, so much so that they called him “the Brother from Another Planet.” Outsiders were given worse treatment. They could stand right alongside him without being acknowledged.
A sportswriter noted that the difference between Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and another Laker player is that when you ask another player, “How are you?” his reply is usually: “Fine, how are you?” but when you ask Kareem, “How are you?” his reply is: “Fine.”
George Washington Carver, the famous American innovator, said: “How far you go in life depends on your being tender with young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life You will have been all of these.”
The new Jacob was friendly, helpful, and more importantly, real. He gently addressed strangers as “my brothers” (Gen 29:4), politely asked about his uncle’s welfare, and earnestly interacted with people. Jacob not only longed for relatives, he even cared for sheep! He readily helped strangers and relatives alike without being asked, worked for free without any introduction, and wept without mother’s coaching. Tears that he held back broke like a dam when he saw a relative.
Jacob broke down in the most unusual, foolhardy and involuntary way. He who had never expressed remorse to his only brother or concern for his aging father cried at the first indication and discovery of a distant relative. Relationships were now more important to him than riches.
Many Bible commentators, students, and readers doubt if Jacob’s transformation in the passage was genuine or meant. The education of Jacob was not complete, but it was off to a fair, if not creditable and meaningful, start. From now on, his priorities were God first, family and others next, and himself last.
Conclusion: John Newton the slave-trader turned hymn-writer after his conversion said: “Though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor yet what I hope to be, I can truly say I am not what I once was: a slave to sin and Satan.” Salvation from sin, transformation of lives, and reconciliation to God are made possible in Christ (John 1:51). Jesus Christ is the mediator between heaven and earth, between God and man, for Jews and Gentiles. Won’t you turn from your sins, turn to Him, and turn your life around?
Victor Yap
http://epreaching.blogspot.com/
www.riversidecma.org
www.preachchrist.com (Chinese sermons only)
