LEANING ON THE TOP OF HIS STAFF
By Pastor Jim May
Scriptures used: 1 Samuel 17:40, Psalms 23:4, Exodus 12:11-12, 2 Kings 4:29-34, and primary verse – Hebrews 11:21
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, as we mentioned last Sunday night, 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. 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 become to understand what it meant to walk with the staff of God on his side.
God has a staff! It’s a staff that all of us must carry if we are going to live a life by faith that is pleasing to God.
Perhaps I better explain what a staff is before we try to continue. What is a staff?
1. A stick carried in the hand for support or defense by a person walking; hence, a support; that which props or upholds.
2. A stick or club used as a weapon.
3. An ensign of authority or a badge of office.
4. A pole erected to display a flag or banner.
What can the staff mean to you and I, 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.
One of those was David.
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 Samuel 17:40 and let you see that there was something else that David carried into that battle. The stone that was thrown by his sling, representing the Rock, Christ Jesus, 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.
I am reminded of the TV commercial of a major credit card company that says, “Don’t leave home without it.” It seems that God is saying to David concerning his staff, “David, don’t face the giant without it; and don’t try to defeat the enemy without it. David you need the staff.”
I Samuel 17:40 says, "And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine."
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. 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.
David leaned on that staff. 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.
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. Psalms 23:4, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."
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.
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. It was the staff that Moses carried that parted the waters of the Red Sea. Everywhere that we see Moses, there is a staff present.
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 Lamb. The blood of that Lamb was to applied to the doorposts of the house where every Hebrew lived as a sign that caused the death angel to pass them by. They were then to cook that lamb and eat it and this is how it was to be done.
Exodus 12:11-12, "And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD."
Why did God require them to be dressed for traveling, eat the Lamb in haste, and keep the staff in their hand?
God was getting ready to perform a miracle of deliverance. Pharaoh would finally be convinced to “let God’s people go” and when the order came to leave, Israel was ready to go. They had prepared for the journey, prayed for deliverance and now, by holding on to the staff of God’s promises, their time had finally come.
The staff may have not looked like anything as we look at it, but a shepherd’s stick but it represented so much more to Moses. It was his “ever present help in time of need”. Whenever he needed a weapon to fight off the wolves it was there! Whenever he needed a weapon to attack the enemies of the sheep it was there! Whenever he needed help in going down or climbing up, it was there! And he wasn’t about to leave it now!
It was a symbol of the very call of God on Moses’ life. It was a symbol of God’s protecting power and God’s badge of authority in Moses’ life. Moses too, couldn’t leave home without it!
Moses leaned on that staff! Moses lived by the things that his staff stood for; the very presence of God in his life.
Another man whom we can read about who knew what a staff stood for was Elisha!
In the Book of 2 Kings, chapter 4, we have the story of Elisha and the Shunammite woman. Because of her faithfulness to the man of God, God gave the Shunammite woman a son when she had been barren. Then the son fell dead, apparently from a heat stroke, as he was with his father working in the fields. That Shunammite woman didn’t lose faith in the face of death. Instead she remembered the Man of God. She left her dead son and ran to get Elisha. Now listen to what happens next as Elisha begins to see her and hear her story.
2 Kings 4:29-34, "Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child. And the mother of the child said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her. And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked. And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD. And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm."
Elisha knew what that staff stood for! It was the symbol of God’s presence, God’s promises, God’s faithfulness and God’s power in the prophet’s life. He knew it wasn’t the stick! The stick was just a stick! But it was the power behind that staff that counted.
Elisha had depended on that staff all of his life. He carried that staff everywhere and it never left his side. In his life too, that staff was an ever present help in time of need.
Now let’s get back to Jacob. Jacob had his staff also. He never left home without it. Now he was nearing the end of his life and he was reflecting upon the life that he had lived. He remembered the time that God changed his heart and his life. He remembered the Promised Land and God’s promise that Jacob would return to his home.
Jacob called Joseph’s sons to his side and made his final request to be carried back into the Promised Land to be buried with his fathers. When the arrangement was made, Jacob knew it was time to go. He knew that his faith in God had not been in vain. And so se read in Hebrews 11:21, "By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff."
Jacob’s final hours were marked by faith. God included this man Jacob, who had been such a deceiver in his early years, as an example of a man of faith in his death.
But to "die" by faith, Jacob had to first live by faith and his faith was represented in his staff!
Jacob’s staff was more than a stick to him too. It represented the presence of God in his life. It represented the power of God to change his heart. It represented the faithfulness of God. It represented to Jacob the coming Messiah of Israel and the Savior of his people. Jacob depended completely upon that staff and, so, at the end of his life, it is no surprise that he should make his final arrangements with his family, then lean on the top of his staff and then worship God.
Do you carry that staff today? Oh, I know you don’t carry around a shepherd’s staff, or a king’s scepter in your hand, but you still carry what that staff represents. The only difference is that you don’t have a physical emblem in your hand to represent what the staff represents. Instead, you carry that staff in your heart by faith!
What is that staff in your life? It’s the Cross of Calvary!
It’s the badge of honor and of victory over my sin and your sin that Jesus bore upon the cross when he shed his blood for us!
It is the badge of authority by which I claim victory over sin, power over the devil, and deliverance from every power of darkness.
It is the cross upon which I lean and depend for my salvation!
It is the symbol of the very presence of Jesus Christ in my life.
It is a symbol of God’s very present help in my time of greatest need!
It is the cross that became the weapon that Jesus used to defeat all the powers of Hell!
It is the cross that gives me the victory and brings to me eternal life when I find myself in the Valley of Death!
It is that Rod and that Staff that comfort me in times of sickness.
The Cross of Christ is the Staff upon which I lean.
When this life is over and the time has come to call us home, let us go home to be with Jesus while we are leaning on the top of that staff!
Let us face that hour by placing our faith and trust in the Cross to bring us home through the shed blood of the Lamb!
