God Meets the Schemer

Jacob left Beer-Sheba and went toward Haran. He reached a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from the place, and put it there at his head, and lay down in that place. And he dreamed. A stairway was set on the ground with it's top reaching heaven, and God's angels were going up and down on it.
Yahweh was standing there beside him, saying, "I am Yahweh, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land that you are now sleeping on. Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out towards the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the people of the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have " When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, "surely The Lord is in this place, and I did not know it." Genesis 28:10-18

God continues His contact with the line of Abraham. He met with Abraham and built a relationship with him, then Isaac and now Jacob. We can see that Gos is no respecter of persons. Jacob had deceived his father and stolen from his brother and yet God did not say, "Not good enough." Jacob was the chosen one, the one to carry the lineage and that was that.

When we look at the difference between Esau and Jacob we see in Esau a basic man of the land but one who did not care for the ways of the family. He did not seek out the family way to find a wife, he chose from before his eyes. He was driven by his appetite. We see this in his willingness to give up his birthright for a bowl of stew and then taking wives from the Hittites in the land where they lived. When Jacob stole his blessing as well he purposes to kill him. Jacob had a little more thought and restraint.

That God chooses what we would not choose constantly amazes us, but that He goes on the mould and form in that person a work of art is also amazing. We see later that Jacob is an inspired man and a man willing to wait for what he wants and also a man of faith. God can work with that.

I am grateful to God for Jacob, Jacob being the schemer he is gives us hope. Not that we should remain schemers or frauds but that God can meet us where we are at and work on us to create a person He delights in. Amen!

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