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.” Genesis 28
God is Faithful at every stage and every step of the way on our life’s journey!
Over many years and in different circumstances God was Faithful to Jacob.
10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I HAD ONLY MY STAFF WHEN I CROSSED THIS JORDAN, but now I have become two camps. Genesis 32
Jacob’s first journey was alone with only his staff, he walked from Beersheba to the land of his uncle, in the north. He was a young man and God met with him at the beginning of his journey and gave him His Promise to go with him.
Twenty years later God spoke to Jacob and told him to return to the land of Canaan.
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 31
13 But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. 14 So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I MOVE SLOWLY AT PACE OF THE FLOCKS AND HERDS BEFORE ME AND THE PACE OF THE CHILDREN, Genesis 33
Jacob was no longer a young man, alone and moving quickly, now he was constrained by children and livestock, he moved more slowly, though he was making the same journey in reverse. Time changes the way we undertake the stages of our journey.
3 “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 4 I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”
5 Then Jacob left Beersheba, and Israel’s sons took their father Jacob and their children and their wives IN THE CARTS THAT PHARAOH HAD SENT TO TRANSPORT HIM. Genesis 46
Jacob was 130 years old when he met Pharaoh in Egypt, now an old man. Genesis 47:9 But the God of his fathers who appeared to him at Beersheba, provided the older Jacob with transport for the long trip down to Egypt.
God also promised Jacob that, ‘Joseph would close his eyes’.
29 When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but when I REST WITH MY FATHERS, CARRY ME OUT OF EGYPT AND BURY ME WHERE THEY ARE BURIED.” Genesis 47
The final journey of Jacob’s life was also marked by God’s provision, he was brought back to the land of his fathers. WE SERVE A FAITHFUL GOD, EVEN AFTER OUR LIVES ARE OVER.
IMMANUEL, Stay Strong, God is with us.