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.” (A LIFE PROMISE FOR JACOB) Genesis 28
We saw yesterday that God’s Provision was there for every stage of Jacob’s journeys – even after death his body was carried back to Canaan, God’s Promised Land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Jacob didn’t only receive God’s Provision, but he had Encounters with God and/or angels AT STRATEGIC TIMES. God reassured Jacob in person of His commitment at each stage of his journey. (On a personal note, I also received the above promise Gen. 28:15 at our wedding; my late wife is now with the Lord.)
GOD OFTEN MEETS US AT IMPORTANT TRANSITIONS TO REAFFIRM HIS PROMISES AND ASSURE US OF HIS PRESENCE WITH US!
3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “GO BACK (NEW PHASE OF HIS LIFE’S JOURNEY BEGINS) to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I WILL BE WITH YOU.” Genesis 31
14 Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father’s estate? Genesis 31
Rachel (named first) and Leah confirmed Jacob’s Change of Direction and that’s important confirmation for their lives would be changed forever. GOD ONLY SPOKE TO JACOB and he in turn told the others what God had told him.
32 Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2 When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim.
Jacob had faced the threat of Laban coming behind him, now he had to meet his estranged brother Esau with 400 men coming to meet him.
24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Genesis 32
Jacob wrestled with God and received a name change to signify his struggle. So he crossed back into the land in pain from his hip and with a new name, Israel, the name of God’s coming people.
35 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel AND SETTLE THERE AND BUILD AN ALTAR TO GOD, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.” Genesis 35
God told Jacob where to live in the land, GOD HAS A PLACE FOR EACH OF US IN THESE DAYS.
11 And God said to him, “I am God Almighty (El-Shaddai); be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants. 12 The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.”
AFTER JACOB HAD BEGUN TO MOVE DOWN TO EGYPT, God again reassured him that He was with him and would bless him. GOD WILL CONFIRM HIS DIRECTION AND PURPOSES FOR OUR LIVES AS WE STEP OUT IN FAITH TO OBEY HIM.
2 And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
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 nationthere. 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.”
Immanuel, Stay Strong, Almighty God is with us.