Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. here above it stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of 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 out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 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.” When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the LORD will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”
—Genesis 28:10-22 (TNIV)
Here we see another wonderful case of God’s faithfulness to his promise and to his people. The story of Jacob is a classic and you really should take the time to read Genesis 28-32 to get the full impact of it. The name, Jacob, literally means “he deceives” and Jacob lived up to his name in spades. Here we see the beginning of some of it. Jacob has been forced to flee from his angry brother Esau because Jacob deceived both his father, Isaac, and him (at the behest of his mother, Rebekah, no less!). We see here a man in trouble and on the run, fleeing for his very life. It is in this context that God comes to him and promises to be with him, to deliver on his promises made to grandfather and father, Abraham and Isaac.
What a remarkable promise!
The faithful God promises to be with Jacob the deceiver! And what is Jacob’s reaction to God’s wonderful initiative grace toward him? He makes a conditional vow to make God his God if God delivers the goods! Classic!
How many times have we done likewise? We tell God we will obey him if only he answers our prayers or gets us out of a tough situation that has been caused by our own doing. This actually betrays a sinful pride and arrogance in us because implicit in this bartering is the idea that somehow God and we are on the same level, that God actually owes us something when in fact God owes us absolutely nothing.
I have heard critics of the Bible cite this story as another example of moral laxity amongst God’s people. As a result, these critics ridicule God’s word because this gives them an excuse to do so (but see Augustine’s comment about doing so here). But this misses the point of this passage altogether and betrays either a shallow reading/understanding of the text or a willful intent to deceive (no pun intended). The point of this passage (and the broader pericope of Genesis 28-32) is not about Jacob’s deceitfulness. Rather, it is about God’s faithfulness to his promise and his people despite the fact that we are deeply flawed and broken. It is a remarkable thing that God would continue to be faithful to one like Jacob, and even more so because Jacob represents fallen humanity; he represents each one of us. God does not condone Jacob’s moral laxity (nor ours) but rather uses it to accomplish his good promise. Our God is a faithful God!
What does this story have to say to us? It says to us that God is faithful to his word and promises to us. It reminds us that God pursues us relentlessly and continues to call us back to a life-saving and life-changing relationship with him, even when we stubbornly resist his call. It reminds us that we are not without or beyond hope. God does not condone sin but his great love for us can transcend our sin and brokenness and allow us to be part of his great life-giving promise in Jesus Christ.
I can love a God like that. Can you?