The Flight of Jacob - Jacob Sermon Series # 2 - Genesis 27:41-28:22
Living by faith is really a strange way to live. It’s kind of like trying to talk to your child or husband when he or she is watching TV. The child doesn’t quite grasp everything you’re saying because he or she has his mind in another place. That’s how we live as Christians. Our minds aren’t focused on here. They’re focused on heaven. So when people try to talk to us about stuff in this life, it’s not really what we’re focusing on. In some ways faith almost makes us - what would you say - aloof - of it. It doesn’t bother us if the garage door doesn’t work quite right, our couch is twenty five years old, or our hair isn’t quite right. We don’t get all worked up over how our retirement accounts are going or whether we’re making a few thousand less than our brothers or neighbors or whether we aren’t really “getting ahead” in life. Why? Because we live by faith - our minds are on loftier - higher things - future things. With our eyes on the cross and the empty grave - in the big picture of heaven and hell, these things don’t really count for much.
Unfortunately, this isn’t always our attitude. The truth is that we do get worked up over whether our clothes coordinate. We spend a lot of time making sure the corners on our cabinets are just right, and we work hard to make sure that we can have the proper nest egg built up for retirement. Instead of focusing on our heavenly retirement, we end up either trying to hide from our past or to fix our future. And it never quite seems like we’re THERE - does it? There’s always something to do - some journey to take - before we’ll really be content. So God sees us running around from here to there like chickens with our heads cut off. As we see Jacob in the midst of flight, we’ll see how -
God Takes us from Flight to Sight to Delight
I. Flights aren’t fun, but they are necessary
Do you think Jacob was a happy camper when laid down in the desert on his way to Haran? Let’s review our history for a moment. In Episode I, Jacob had just taken part in the deception of his father Isaac. After having dressed up as Esau and disguising his skin, he received the double blessing of the Land and the Savior. He got what his mom told him was rightfully his - by the promise of God. You would think then that everything should have been great for him - it’s what he always wanted - and now he had it! You would expect that he would have had a huge smile on his face.
However, there was a problem - a big red hairy problem - by the name of Esau. Genesis 27:41 says, Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” Think about that. If Esau really believed in the blessing, why did he think that he could murder his brother? If he murdered Jacob, then he would also be murdering his hope of the Savior - which was to go through HIM! Yet Esau’s attitude was, “if I can’t have the blessing, then no one can!” “Vengeance is mine,” saith the heathen.
Genesis 27:42-45 continues. “When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is consoling himself with the thought of killing you. Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides. When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?” Rebekah told Jacob to run. Keep in mind now, what this meant for Jacob. He was now in his seventies. Jacob was no spring chicken. Haran was about 500 miles away in modern day Syria - far north of southern Israel where they were located. Jacob had lived among the tents of mom and dad his whole life. Laban, Rebekah’s brother - was not exactly a moral man either. All Jacob had was the staff in his hand and the clothes on his back. He fled immediately. Mom thought this would be for only a little while. It ended up being twenty years, and Jacob never saw his mom again. In the meantime, Esau was allowed to remain at home. His wives and children were able to inherit all that land. Nothing changed for him. With this blessing, everything changed for Jacob. He was uprooted and sent from home like a cursed criminal, instead of a blessed forerunner to Jesus.
There’s an important lesson for ALL of us in this little chapter of Jacob’s life. Just because you’ve been blessed with baptism, just because you have been given faith in Jesus, and just because you have the assurance of heaven and forgiveness in the Lord’s Supper - doesn’t mean that God is going to spoil you now. It doesn’t mean that God is now your sugar daddy, your little whipping boy, who is going to cater to your every need. Jacob needed to see and feel that what he did was wrong. He needed to understand that cheating and lying is not a way of life that God is going to reward. The same goes with us. Even if you aren’t doing things that deserve a five hundred mile and twenty year journey to Haran, you still need God’s judgment. Peter writes in 1 Peter 4:17-19, “For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” Don’t expect life as a Christian to be easy. Expect these kinds of journeys.
Why? One reason is that the Esaus - the unbelievers of this life - will hate you. They won’t want to forgive your sins. They’ll want to take revenge if you do wrong them. Another reason is that each and every one of us has an arrogant flesh that thinks that IT is in charge - that it must take matters in it’s own hand. A part of Jacob may have liked to justify his actions - to say it was ok to lie to Esau. If God does not discipline us when those things happen, then we will begin to think that lying and cheating is ok, that the end justifies the means, and that God doesn’t care about our sins. If God doesn’t keep on disciplining us, even in our 70’s and older, we’ll start becoming spoiled little brats and expecting more of God than He has promised. God’s message to Jacob - God’s message to us - it’s clear. He says, “it doesn’t matter how old you are. You still need a lot of training. You need to live by faith, not by flesh.”
II. Focus on the Future in the Midst of Your Flight
So Jacob left. Seventy miles and several days into his trip, he rested by a city named Luz - which is right in the middle of where Israel would be. Yet at this point Jacob was in the middle of a foreign country, tired and alone. How do you think Jacob felt at that moment? Was he a happy camper? I imagine he thought to himself, “What in the world have I done? Why did I listen to my mother? I shouldn’t have stolen the blessing and deceived my father. I am now separated from my spiritual family. Where is this blessing I am supposed to be getting? Maybe God is cursing me - maybe the blessing my father gave me really isn’t for me. Maybe I’m too old to ever get a wife and be the forerunner to the Savior. Maybe God has rejected me.” You can’t help but think that this man felt almost completely rejected and exhausted at such a trip.
At this point, God’s training had reached an important point. He had Jacob at a stage where he realized he was not in control of his destiny. He had Jacob at a point of despair. When Jacob wasn’t doing any work - but just sleeping - God decided to then strengthen Him.
“Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway a resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There 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. 14 Your 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. 15 I 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.” (28:11-15)
After Jacob finished seeing this vision he remarked in Genesis 28:16-17, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it. How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” At this most desperate point in Jacob’s life, when he felt all alone, God pulled back the curtain from his eyes, revealing to Jacob a whole different dimension of angels descending and ascending from heaven above. This stairway revealed what was going on behind the scenes - the angels were reporting back to God with the needs of His saints - and coming back to earth on specific missions from God Himself. Hundreds of years later Jesus used this same text to refer to Himself - in how the angels would be with Him through His ministry - at his birth, in the Garden of Gethsemane, at His resurrection, and also at His ascension. Later on Jacob would actually meet up with angels on his return home.
More importantly than this vision of angels, the LORD reiterated His blessing to Jacob. Jacob would indeed have many descendants, who would inherit all of the land that surrounded him. Most importantly, all peoples on earth would be blessed through his OFFSPRING - through Jesus Christ. If Jacob had any doubts as to whether his blessing was legitimate - there was no reason to doubt at this point. The LORD was saying, “it doesn’t matter how old you are. It doesn’t matter how far away you go. Don’t judge this situation by the looks of things. Just listen to what I’m telling you right now in this dream. You will return. The Savior will be born through you. I will be with you. I will make sure that all I have promised you here tonight - your dream - will come true.”
Maybe you came here today feeling like Jacob. You messed up, and somebody’s mad at you for good reason. You feel guilty - like God’s rejected you - because of some sins that you’re suffering for. If you feel that way, Heaven’s gate is open for you today. These gates were opened for you when the angels descended from heaven and announced to the Shepherds, “today a Savior has been born to you, He is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11) Hell was shut when Jesus declared “it is finished” on the cross. They were announced when the angels also said, “he is not here, he is risen, just as He said.” In these words Jesus promises US - “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) When Jesus speaks these words to His people, He wants us to regard it as if heaven itself were opening for us. What God wants you to do as you listen to His Word is to forget about your backaches, forget about that broken washing machine, put the projects on hold - all of the failures and sins you’re having to deal with and may deal with for the rest of your life - and just dwell on His words. Listen to Jesus talk to you. See the angels go up and down the stairway. Remember - God is in control of your future. You will inherit the Promised Land - through faith. Heaven is open to you by the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus. When you close your physical eyes and open your eyes of faith, it doesn’t matter if you’re sleeping on a rock for a pillow, when you’re standing on the Rock of your salvation. But you’ve got to go to the gateways that God has provided for you. You can’t expect Him to treat you like Jacob and just come in your dreams. When Paul said, “faith comes by hearing the message,” he was in fact saying, “the gateway to God is opened through the Word - not through sleep.”
III. Respond to the LORD when the Flight is complete
When Jacob woke up the next morning, he couldn’t help but respond to this wonderful encouragement from the LORD. What did he do?
Early 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. 19 He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz. 20 Then 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 21 so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God 22 and 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.”
The world would laugh at this “pillar” that Jacob put up. If it was his pillow, it couldn’t have been more than a few feet long at best. The world puts it’s importance on how big the pillar is - because it is impressed with power. Those of the faith however, realize that it’s not how big the pillar is that matters, but the significance of the words and the meaning behind it. From now on this place would be a reminder to the Israelites of the promise God had made to Jacob many years ago. That was the importance of the pillar.
Secondly, Jacob then made a vow. It seems rather strange - as if Jacob is striking a deal with God - making a bargain - that he would trust in the LORD as His God if all these promises came true. If this is so, it shows that Jacob’s faith was still weak. However, in the Hebrew, the “then” - the apodosis of the sentence actually may come at the beginning of vs. 22, meaning that Jacob would simply make this place an altar in response to the fulfillment of these promises which he was sure to happen. This makes more sense, for later on God said to Jacob -
Genesis 31:13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.’”
Genesis 35:1 Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”
It seems in these texts that God is reminding Jacob of the vow that he made to God, and the reason WHY he made that vow - as a way of proclaiming to his descendants that God had made good on all that he promised to do. He had left with only a staff, but he would return with much more - many reasons to praise God back at Bethel - the house of God.
As you go on your journey through this life - it is good for us to set up our Bethels in life - modern day reminders of where we’ve been. Keep your confirmation notes, remember your confirmation passage. Look at the promises that God made to you through your baptism and through the Word - and think about where He’s taken you since then. Consider how you can show God your appreciation if He does give you what you’ve wanted. Visit significant places of your past. Drive back through an old neighborhood you used to live in. Page through some old pictures - remember what you had - and where you are now. More often than not - I believe most of us will be driven to put an altar of praise up right where we are - and recognize the great blessings of God to us. The pillars of the past will make us realize that God has been more than generous with us through our lives. It will motivate us to praise God even more in our lives. Even if we do find ourselves physically “worse off” than we were before - who of us still can’t be content knowing that we still have a sure destiny of the Promised Land of heaven through faith in Jesus Christ. When you then return to those places you once came from, you too will be motivated to set up a pillar and say to God, “thank you for all the kindnesses you have shown me.”
No retreat. No surrender. Nobody likes to flee from a fight. It shows weakness. It shows desperation. It shows defeat. Yet plenty of people - even God’s people - have had to flee from danger. David had to flee from Absalom. Jacob had to flee from Esau. Jesus told the disciples to flee from Jerusalem when the judgment would come on it in 70 A. D. under the command of Titus. Running away doesn’t seem like the manly thing to do. It’s humiliating.
Yet time and again in life we find ourselves doing just that - fleeing from problems - from our own sins. Sooner or later, the past usually catches up, or we have to slow down. What happens then - when we finally quit fleeing for a minute - and are forced to slow down and contemplate what we’ve done with our lives? God has a word for us. He says, instead of saying, “you blew it! I caught up with you! You’re dead!”, what does God say? “Don’t panic. Look. I’m still here. I’m still in charge. I still died. I’m still risen. I still love you. I still forgive you. Your problems have already been paid for. I’ll take care of your future - you can be sure of that - you have my word on it. See through Christ the gateway to heaven is open for you. Stop your flight, and open your sight, and delight in it. For in the end, by believing in my Promise, you will be here with me.” Amen.
