“Jacob”
[Hebrews 11:21]
October 13, 2013 Second Reformed Church
Let us remember that faith is
something that God gives us which enables us to receive what God said which
allows us to be assured of the things God tells us to hope for – the promises
He has made, and it allows us to be convicted of the things that we do not see
which God speaks of.
Last week, when we left Jacob, he
was in his late teens, now, he is 147 and on his death bed. Quite a lot is written about these
intervening years after Jacob ran to stay with his Uncle Laban:
On the way to Laban’s house, God
visits Jacob and gives him a vision of angels going up and down a
staircase. Once Jacob gets to Laban’s,
he begins working for him and falls in love with his cousin, Rachel. After seven years, Laban allows him to marry
Rachel, but tricks him into marrying her older sister, Leah. After seven more years, Jacob does marry
Rachel as well, and tricks Laban into giving him most of his flocks.
Rachel turns out to be barren, and
Leah takes joy in making fun of Rachel, which leads to Rachel giving Jacob her
servant to have children with, and then Leah gives him her servant to have
children with, and then God opens Rachel’s womb and she bears Joseph, Jacob’s
pride and joy.
Jacob become very wealthy, and heads
out away from Laban’s home. On the way,
he wrestles with the Angel of the Lord, and the Angel puts his hip out of
joint. After which, Jacob is renamed,
“Israel,” meaning “the one who prevails with God.”
Jacob then runs into Esau and they
make peace with one another.
Jacob shows Joseph favor over his
eleven brothers and one sister, and the brothers sell Joseph into captivity,
and Joseph ends up in Egypt, where, from a slave, he rises to the right hand
man of Pharaoh.
Rachel dies giving birth to
Benjamin, and Isaac dies shortly thereafter at 180 years old.
Jacob and his family moves to Egypt
to survive the famine and is well taken care of by Joseph and Pharaoh.
While Joseph is in Egypt, he
marries, and has two sons: Manasseh, the
older, and Ephraim, the younger.
And now, Jacob is 147 years old and
about to die, and our text tells us:
“By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed
each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.”
With all that happened in Jacob’s
life, the author of Hebrews turns to his death bed and tells us that by faith,
Jacob blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and by faith, Jacob bowed in worship
over the head of his staff.
In doing so, we see four things:
First, it is good to look back over
our lives, for it will strengthen us and others in the faith.
Second, in life and in death, we
ought to focus on God, giving thanks and praise to Him.
Third, if we are to have hope, we
ought to keep the Covenant before us.
And fourth, in life and in death, we
ought to be about worshipping God.
As an overview, we may ask, why is
this – of all the things that happened in the life of Jacob – that the author
of Hebrews focuses on as the place to see his faith?
First, it is good to look back over
our lives, for it will strengthen us and others in the faith.
The author of Hebrews directs us to
the death bed blessing by Jacob and his worship of God for a number of reasons:
First, it shows us that spiritual
strength does not need to dissipate in old age.
Even if the body is infirmed – falling apart and failing – that is not a
hindrance to faith. The gift of faith
that God has given all those who believe is empowered by God the Holy Spirit –
the same One God Who never changes and never fails – Whose power is Almighty. We can be powerhouses of faith, even if our
bodies are all but useless.
Paul talks about this as he writes,
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self
is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing
for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the
things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are
seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians
4:16-18, ESV).
We see this in Jacob – Jacob’s body
is failing, he is blind, but he takes hold of the unseen things he has received
by faith and applies them to his son and grandsons uncompromisingly.
And this touches on a second
reason: both for himself, and for his
descendants, Jacob was laying hold of the Covenant – the promises that God has
made to Abraham and all his believing descendants. Jacob was witnessing to the fact that God’s
promises to Abraham were for all the people that God would raise up through
Abraham and he believing descendants.
Jacob wanted to make sure that they
knew that the Covenant was true and in force, and that they should also lay
hold of it, believing by faith that God would multiply their people and bring
them into the land that God promised.
And also, as God promised our first parents, that there would be a day
when the Savior God promised would come to restore the earth and rid it and all
God’s people of sin and evil and all of their results – such as blindness and
death.
Third, as we will see, another reason
to focus here in Jacob’s life is that he looked back over all of his life and
gave God thanks – even for the times that he suffered – because there is
purpose in suffering. And we see that he
especially gives thanks for the Angel that he wrestled with Who put his hip
permanently out of joint. This Angel, he
tells us, redeemed him from all evil.
Here we have a Christophany – a pre-Incarnate appearance of the Son of
God. No mere angle could forgive a
person’s sins – this could only be the Son of God Himself.
So we see that it is good to look
back over our lives in faith – if we do so in faith – rather than in self-pity
– we will find our faith strengthened and not only ours, but others to who we witnesses
that work of God in our lives and how we have come to receive God’s Word
through faith – and ultimately, as we witness to the reception of salvation
through Jesus Christ Alone.
And
so now we turn to Genesis 48 to see what happened:
Second, in life and in death, we
ought to focus on God, giving thanks and praise to Him.
“After this, Joseph was told, ‘Behold,
your father is ill.’ So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
And it was told to Jacob, ‘Your son Joseph has come to you.’ Then Israel
summoned his strength and sat up in bed. And Jacob said to Joseph, ‘God
Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and said
to me, “Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of
you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you
for an everlasting possession.”
Joseph is told that his father,
Jacob, doesn’t have long to live, so he and his sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, went
to see his father – to seek what he had to say as he died. And they went into Jacob’s tent, and since
Jacob was blind, they were announced to him.
Israel – that is, Jacob – sat up in bed before them, and he thanked and
praised God.
He gave thanks to the God – the Almighty
God – Who appeared to him in the land of Luz – where Jacob slept and saw the
angels ascending and descending on a staircase, for God had appeared to the
snake – the overthrower – the supplanter – the cheat – all of these are
appropriate descriptions as we look at the life of Jacob – and God, in
faithfulness to the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and now Jacob, reaffirmed
that Jacob would be fruitful and multiply and that God would keep the Covenant
and give his believing descendants the land that God had promised.
As Jacob’s death came near and his
family was with him, the first thing that was on his mind was to thank God and
praise Him for His faithfulness to him – despite his sin and unfaithfulness.
Along similar lines, with death
possibly at his door, Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Yes, and I will rejoice,
for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ
this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope
that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always
Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to
live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means
fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard
pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is
far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.
Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for
your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to
glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again” (Philippians 1:18b-26,
ESV).
Paul tells the Philippians that, if
he had his choice, he would go on to receive the death penalty – which he
eventually would – because dying and being with Christ is better than
living. However, if God chose to spare
Him, then he desired to glorify Christ in his life, just as he would seek to
glorify Christ in his death.
The Christian ought to seek to
glorify Christ while he or she is alive – we ought to do everything we can to
make Jesus and His Gospel know and to live out our love for Christ by obeying
Him and not sinning.
Yet, when the time of our death is
upon us, we ought to seek to glorify Christ – we ought to do everything we can
to make Jesus and His Gospel known and to die showing our love for Christ in
this obedience, thanking and praising Him for our life and for this last
opportunity to show others Who He is.
Life and death take work. We need to rely on the Holy Spirit and strive
to be faithful sons and daughters of God.
That’s why Paul writes, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always
obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you,
both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13, ESV).
We are not striving to be saved –
our salvation is a gift of God – we are striving to live out our salvation in
thanksgiving and praise and proclaiming the Gospel in all that we do and say in
humble obedience to God.
Are you ready to live? Are you ready to take all that you are and
use it that God and our Savior would be known and glorified that you could
thank God and praise Him every day of your life?
Are you ready to die? Are you ready, in your last moments – if you
do not die suddenly – to sit up straight and use all that you are in those last
moments to make God and the Savior known and glorified – that you, yourself,
would take those last breaths to look back on your life and thank God and
praise Him and relish being brought into Paradise with Jesus?
How do we prepare to live to the
glory of God and in the proclamation of the Gospel? And how do we prepare to die to the glory of
God and in the proclamation of the Gospel?
Love God. Obey God. Let others know what the Gospel is that you
believe – that God came to earth in the Person of Jesus, lived a perfect life
under God’s Law, died for the sins of all those who would believe, and
physically rose from the dead and ascended back to His throne. Look back on your life – even now – and see
how God has worked in your life – how God has always been involved – in the
good times and the bad – and give private and public thanks and praise to God.
Third,
if we are to have hope, we ought to keep the Covenant before us.
“And
now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to
you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and
Simeon are. And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They
shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. As for me,
when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the
way, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, and I buried her
there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).’
“When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he
said, ‘Who are these?’ Joseph said to his father, ‘They are my sons, whom God
has given me here.’ And he said, ‘Bring them to me, please, that I may bless
them.’ Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So
Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. And Israel
said to Joseph, ‘I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me
see your offspring also.’ Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed
himself with his face to the earth. And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his
right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward
Israel's right hand, and brought them near him. And Israel stretched out his
right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his
left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the
firstborn). And he blessed Joseph and said,
‘The God before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has been my
shepherd all my life long to this day,
the angel who has redeemed me from
all evil, bless the boys;
and in them let my name
be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
and let them grow into a
multitude in the midst of the earth.’
“When Joseph saw that his father
laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his
father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. And Joseph
said to his father, ‘Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn,
put your right hand on his head.’ But his father refused and said, ‘I know, my
son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great.
Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring
shall become a multitude of nations.’ So he blessed them that day, saying,
‘By you Israel will pronounce
blessings, saying,
“God make you as Ephraim and as
Manasseh.’”
“Thus he put Ephraim before
Manasseh. Then Israel said to Joseph, ‘Behold, I am about to die, but God will
be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. Moreover, I
have given to you rather than to your brothers one mountain slope that I took
from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow’” (Genesis 48, ESV).
Jacob begins by telling Joseph that
Manasseh and Ephraim shall be his sons, as Joseph’s brothers are his sons. Why?
He tells him – for the sake of the inheritance – for the sake of the
Covenant. Joseph’s sons had been born in
Egypt – never having seen the Promised Land, and now Jacob was bringing them in
under the banner of the Covenant – the promises made to Abraham and all his
descendants who believed – saying that they are now Covenant children – members
of those who may lay their hopes on the Covenant.
He goes on to thank God that he was
able to see Joseph and his sons in this life – something he had not expected to
do. And with the boys before him, he
crossed his arms so his right hand lay on Ephraim’s head and his left hand lay on
Manasseh’s head. And then he blessed Joseph.
Then he changed course and blessed
the boys in the name of the Covenant and the Covenant God: he asked that the God before Whom he walked
would bless them, the God Who had shepherded his life would bless them, the
Angel Who had saved him from his sin – that is the then coming Savior – Jesus
Christ – would bless them, and that the promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
– the Covenant – would continue with and through these boys – that they would
grow into the promised multitude of followers of the One and Almighty God.
And Joseph noticed that his father’s
hands were reversed – the primary blessing normally went to the first-born son,
who was Manasseh, so the right hand should have been on him, and Joseph tried
to correct his father, but Jacob told him “no” – both sons would be blessed by
God and be a blessing to the world, but Ephraim’s blessing would be more greatly
multiplied. Jacob, by faith, had a
“conviction of things not seen” as given to him by God. And Jacob prophesied that it would become a
blessing which was said, “God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.”
Notice
the younger son precedes the older.
As we noted last week – there are
numerous times when God uses a barren women to achieve His purposes – as He did
in the life of Rachel – and God throws tradition on its head and switches the
birth order blessing – as He did in the placing Ephraim before Manasseh. Here, both boys are blessed and members of
the Covenant, but Ephraim has the greater blessing.
Also note that Jacob says he is
giving the inheritance of Canaan, not to Joseph, but to his two sons. To understand why, we need to look at the
rest of the book of Genesis, but the quick answer is that Joseph ends up dying
in Egypt, so Ephraim and Manasseh become two of the twelve tribes of Israel,
not Joseph. Again, God had given Jacob
insight and “conviction of things not seen.”
The Covenant is about being part of
the people of God – just as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were, and the eleven sons
of Jacob and the two sons of Joseph. It
was they who inherited the land (except for Levi, which is another sermon).
We do not inherit Canaan – Israel –
as Christians, we inherit the entire earth!
As Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew
5:5, ESV). We Christians are part of the
Kingdom of God which shall inhabit the whole restored earth. For now we exist in small communities which
make up a larger community called, “the Church.” We who believe are members of the Church –
let us consider one thing about that:
When people ask what you are a
member of, what do you answer? Do you answer
you are a Democrat or a Republican, or a member of the Rotary or the Chamber or
the Masons or the Elks, or the PTA, or PETA or Mercy for Animals, or the
Presbyterians, or the Baptists, or the Roman Catholics – all of these may be
true, but they are only secondary – our first membership – our greatest honor –
our greatest pride – is to be a member of the Church! A member of the people of God! The Bride of Jesus Christ the Only Savior!
If we told people we were members of
the Covenant, their eyes would probably glaze over – and we may have difficulty
explaining it – though we should learn what it means as we read and study our
Bibles. It would be clearer to say we
are members of the Church – we are believers in the Savior God sent.
But we don’t tend to say that, do
we? We don’t tend to say that the most
important membership we hold is being members of the Church, do we? Why not?
Some may not like to say it because
the Church is an institution which has not always done what is right. And that’s true – different people in
different denominations have sinned in the Name of God. But the Church, here, is not those sinful
institutions, but all those people that God has called to be His for eternity –
the people that God is changing and making into the Image of His Son – the
people who will be a holy and untainted Bride on that final day. We dare not be ashamed to be part of that
Church, for Jesus said, “but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before
my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:33, ESV).
The most wonderful membership in
existence – those for whom Jesus died – is the Church. Let us not be ashamed – first and foremost to
say, I am a member of the Church – those whom Jesus is saving and bringing into
glory with Him. Because that is what we desire
the most as Christians, is it not?
Fourth, in life and in
death, we ought to be about worshipping God.
“By
faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship
over the head of his staff.”
After
Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph, he bowed in worship of God, his Savior, over
the head of his staff. Why?
Commentators
are all over the map as to why Jacob bowed over the head of his staff. Some say it could be because he was old and
couldn’t get down on the floor to prostrate himself in worship. Some say that the staff was a symbol of his
authority and he was submitting his authority before God. Some say that staff was symbolic of his
pilgrimage, which was now coming to an end.
Whichever
of these or combination of these or even something else, the point is that
Jacob lived and died worshipping God.
Jacob found God worthy to be worshipped in his past, for his present,
and for his future. He put himself in
the most reverent posture he was able and humbled himself in thanks before God.
A
woman I once knew who claimed to be a Christian was going on and on about how
this was wrong and that was wrong and everyone and everything was against her,
and I dared to ask her if she had anything to be thankful for, and she screamed
at me, “I have nothing to be thankful for, no one has ever done anything to
help me!” I was shocked at her
ungratefulness and didn’t know what to say.
Granted
she – and all of us – have had bad things happen – either because of our sin,
or because this is a sinful world, or some combination of the two – but is
there nothing – nothing – to be thankful for?
Has God done nothing for you? If
you’re a Christian, might you remember that Jesus lived and died and rose for
you – is that nothing?
Well,
you might ask, what has He done for me lately?
Paul
tells us that the unrighteous – “For although they knew God, they did not honor
him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and
their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21, ESV).
And
on the other side of the coin: “And
whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17, ESV).
We
are not a people who are used to giving thanks.
Do you thank your mail carrier?
Do you thank the person who waits on you in the supermarket? Do you thank your boss – or your
employees? Do you thank God?
Some
of my doctors talk theology with me as well as my medical conditions. One of my doctors is an Orthodox Jew, and the
last time I saw him, he pulled out his prayer book to show me that there is a
payer for thanksgiving in there to be lifted up every time he relieved himself
– giving thanks to God that all of his bodily functions were working well to
eliminate waste. Have you ever thanked
God that your waste does not just get stuck in your body with no way to be
eliminated?
I
suspect that we all have enough to thank God for every day that we could be
giving thanks all day. Why don’t we give
thanks?
In
Jacob’s last moments, he is worshipping God, as he had in life, thanking Him
for being a faithful, Covenant and promise-keeping God, for saving him from his
sins, for all he has received, for being able to bless his grandchildren, and
so forth.
Is
God worthy of worship? Is God worthy of
being shown to be worthy?
Beloved,
there is nothing more worthwhile than to spend time – privately and publically
– worshipping God. Let us learn to
worship and to be thankful.
Spend
time looking back over your life – for it will strengthen you and others in the
faith. In life and in death, focus on
God, giving thanks and praise to Him. If
you would have hope, keep the Covenant – the promises of God – before you. And in life and in death, be about
worshipping God.
Let
us pray:
Almighty
God, we thank You for the example of Jacob.
We praise You that You would use such a scoundrel to be Your man of God
for the continuing of the line of the Church.
Help us to open our Bibles and read – cause the Hole Spirit to impress
upon us the joy of knowing You and Your promises, and help us to be a thankful,
praiseful, worshipful people, that we might be filled with joy – to the glory
of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For
it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
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