The very first time I decided to read through the Bible, I began in the middle of the year with the New Testament. I finished Revelations in December and started reading Genesis in January. I was completely taken aback by the sharp contrast of seeing God in all His glory, worshiped incredibly at the end of the Bible and seeing the sin of man and his lack of worship on display in the beginning. I couldn’t help but wonder how or why Almighty God would ever want to deal with man! Have you ever wondered the same?

Jacob’s parents knew that their son, Esau, sought to kill Jacob so they sent him away. Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. Along the way, Jacob stopped for the night to sleep. He placed a stone under his head to use as a pillow. Do you find yourself wondering how Jacob is feeling at the moment? Was he sorry, worried, fearful (remember he was never the adventurer)?

While sleeping, Jacob dreams of a stairway that reached from the ground to heaven. Along the stairway, angels of God were moving up and down, and above the stairway, Jacob sees God who tells Jacob,

“I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread from the west to the east, from the north to the south. All people on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until my promise is fulfilled.”

When Jacob woke, “[he] took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top.  He called the name of that place Bethel…

 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey so that I may one day return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God and this stone I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house and everything that you give me, I will give back one tenth.”

Here’s the exciting messages Jacob has for us that we can hold onto to:

God never gives up on us!

Jacob is a perfect example of how sinful man/woman can be drawn nearer to God!  Jacob had made a mess of things because of his selfish desires and was NOT seeking God, but in spite of all Jacob had done... in spite of his evil intentions and heart, God came to him and gives him a precious promise, “I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread from the west to the east, from the north to the south. All people on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until my promise is fulfilled.”

Just like with us. God seeks US, and blesses us with great and precious promises when we are not worthy or deserving of any of it!

God is with Jacob no matter what, and He will also be with us!

We’ll see this scenario played out quite often in the Bible. Even though, up to this point, Jacob’s actions have been less than worthy of God’s grace, God reiterates his plan to Jacob. When God gave the message found in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you… plans for [your] welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” It was during a time of discipline to give them hope, which is exactly what God is doing here with Jacob.

God’s plans for us will always be fulfilled!

God reiterates to Jacob the covenant he made with Abraham and Isaac, promising them land and descendants. The path Jacob took to get where he was was full of deception but, God’s plan for Abraham’s people would still be fulfilled no matter what, and that’s also true in each of our lives. We can rest assured God’s plans will succeed no matter how we mess up.

Jacob makes a vow, but why was Jacob’s promise conditional?

There have been various translations of this section but most agree that Jacob’s vow appears to be conditional. However, they also agree that the emphasis does not necessarily have to be placed on the word “if”. Jacob could have meant something along the lines of “when I return home safe and alive, I will make him my God forever”.

In Jacob’s day, vows were as serious, and binding, as a written contract today. Jacob’s affirmation to follow God was a well-thought-out promise that he certainly intended to keep.

How about you? Have you vowed to follow God? Have you placed conditions on that vow? Or have you vowed to follow Him no matter the consequences? Would you today, build an altar to God and reiterate any vow you’ve made to Him and your intent to keep it!?