Rev. Don Campbell
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, JANUARY 22, 2019: JACOB FINALLY GETS IT RIGHT [Gen 30-31]
Obediently following his mother’s lead, Jacob had stolen his brother’s birthright. He spent the next 20 years trying to match the duplicity of his father-in-law as each tried to outwit the other. Some see Jacob’s selective breeding methods as the Bible’s endorsing of superstitions (Gen 30:37-43), but Jacob knew the truth. Speaking to his wives about their father, Jacob said, “If he said, ‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped. Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me. In the breeding season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the goats that mated with the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled. Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’”
Jacob got it right when he emphatically said to Laban, “If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night” (Gen 31:42).
When Jesus sent out the disciples to preach, he said, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matt 10:16). We are not to match duplicity with duplicity, power politics with power politics, or venom with venom. We must trust that the God of Abraham is on our side, and that is much better than having Nationwide on our side.
CONNECTIONS
1. Paul wrote, “I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil” (Rom 16:19). However, he also cautioned about being naïve (v. 18). What is the difference between innocence and naivety?
2. Paul said, “Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret” (Eph 5:11-12). Influenced by Hollywood and Satan has the nation lost any sense of shame?
