Hebrews 11 - Jacob
Readings for this week August 21 - 25
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Day 1 – A Show of Character
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Matthew 1:1-2
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are three of the most famous and significant people in the Hebrew Bible. All are mentioned in Hebrews 11 because of the important roles they played in the founding of God’s chosen family, a family that would ultimately lead to Jesus himself. Jacob, our focus this week, like all the people we’ll meet in this series, was human, very human. Much of what we read in his life is a litany of how not to be good son, a good brother, a good husband – a good human. While he shows determination to get what he wants, and demonstrates astute business sense to become wealthy, he did tend to seek wealth for the sake of it, and he didn’t hesitate to lie and cheat his way towards what he wanted. He was often self-reliant to the exclusion of being God-reliant.
Jacob played a crucial role in the creation of the nation promised to Abraham. God used Jacob as an important link in his plan, though often such use seemed to be in spite of Jacob rather than because of him. Yet despite his foibles and failures, his selfishness and his sin, God still loved him and used him. Why? More because of God’s character than Jacob’s. God is merciful and loving. God is faithful to his promises. When we mess up and stray, that isn’t the end of things, for God still longs for us to return to him and be a part of his work in this world. When we are less than heroic, God remains the hero who always welcomes his people back.
Question to Consider
When has God used you despite your failures and foibles? How did this give you a greater insight into his ways and into yourself?
Prayer
Lord God, your word is full of people being mightily used by you even though they stumble and fall. Thank you for not giving up on us, thank you for still using us and giving us a part to play. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 2 – The Power of Paraprosdokian
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Genesis 27:1-29
Paraprosdokian is a Greek word that means “against expectation,” when a sentence changes meaning halfway through and needs to be reread and reinterpreted from the beginning. “Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana,” for example. Or Groucho Marx’s saying, “I’ve had a wonderful evening, but this wasn’t it.” The Bible is full of second sons and younger children usurping the place of the older son. Abel’s sacrifice accepted over Cain’s; Joseph favoured ahead of his older brothers; Samuel bypassing the older, more accomplished sons of Jesse in favour of the youngest, David. And of course, perhaps the most famous example of such sibling displacement is Jacob, born grasping the heel of his older brother Esau, eventually growing up to sneakily steal Esau’s birth right.
God is a God who confounds assumptions, who can choose the unexpected, who can make the seemingly impossible happen, who advocates for the undesirable and ignored and chooses those not noticed by others. Jesus himself promised that the first shall become last and the last become first. Whatever we might think of some of the methods Jacob used (and we certainly don’t endorse deceit and outright fraud), this cunning younger brother was the one God favoured, the one whose family he chose and blessed, the one whose people he chose, the one through whom he brought his son into the world. Not a king, not a lord, not from a palace or a castle, but a baby born to a young couple in the middle of nowhere. Jesus is the ultimate paraprosdokian.
Question to Consider
How has God moved ‘against expectations’ in your life? How is God asking you to live against the expectations of the society around you?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me not follow the crowd, the expected, the normal. You are the God of the unexpected and unlooked for. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 3 – The Trickster Tricked
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Genesis 29:18-30
What goes around, comes around. The cheater is himself cheated, duped out of the bride he thought he was labouring for. Jacob has met someone who might be his equal in manipulation and deceit. (There are many echoes of the trickster tricked throughout Jacob’s life. The hands of Isaac, fooled by the rough skins worn by Jacob in imitation of Esau, will later be matched by Jacob’s own deceived hands into which his own sons will place the bloodied robe of Joseph, his youngest.) In many ways, Jacob reaps what he sows. Laban has fooled him and now he is told he must work another seven years to finally have Rebekah as his wife. With hard work behind him, Jacob suddenly finds more hard work ahead too.
But Jacob doesn’t despair. Rather, it must be admitted he exhibits a noble character trait (for once). He doesn’t abandon his goal or lose sight of the vision before him. He doubles down (literally) and continues working, continues pouring himself into the task at hand. He shows determination and perseverance. Though things have not gone smoothly or according to plan, nevertheless he shows himself faithful and continues on the path before him, not giving up, not turning away. Sometimes faithfulness is just hard work. It is just continuing on, one foot in front of the other, until the task is done. Sometimes circumstances will be against us, but God will not. His faithfulness is steadfast and constant; a model for our own trust and faith in him when times are difficult.
Question to Consider
What does persevering in faith look like for you? When have you had to persevere before? How did God reveal himself to you in this time?
Prayer
Loving Lord, give me patience and steadfastness in the face of opposition and setback. May I have the courage to continue and the faith to face up to whatever comes. Thank you for your constant presence. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 4 – Wrestling with God
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Genesis 32:22-32
Biblical name changes are not uncommon. Jacob, which means “supplanter, usurper” – one who pushes aside and replaces, which is exactly what Jacob does to his older brother Esau – got given a new name. After his encounter with this divine stranger, the stranger, as well as giving Jacob a hip injury, also gave him a new name. The name Israel means “one who struggles with God,” a name well-deserved considering the persistence Jacob showed in wrestling all night until he was blessed. We would do well to remember the meaning of the name Israel. This is the name taken by God’s family, representing all of God’s chosen people – those who struggle with God. Is there an element of tongue-in-cheek in the giving of the name: divine acknowledgement that God will spend much of his time wrestling with these people, and they with him? At the very least it suggests that God welcomes the struggle, welcomes the chance to get down and dirty and close to us in the mess and muck of life.
Having faith means wrestling with God, struggling with him, making demands, holding on and not letting go. We all have times when this is what the life of faith feels like, when life is unsatisfactory, answers unacceptable or perhaps even absent altogether; when frustration and anger take over and we want explanations. We should not be afraid to wrestle with God at these times; he is not afraid to wrestle with us. Being faithful means taking God’s gift of life seriously enough to relentlessly question him about it until he acknowledges us and hears our cries.
Question to Consider
When have you wrestled with God? How did your faith grow?
Prayer
Almighty Father, thank you for hearing me and welcoming me when I come to you, even if I come in tears or in wrath or in despair. Thank you that nothing is hidden from you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 5 – From Generation to Generation
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Genesis 48
After all he has been through in his long life, after everything he has put other people through, both good and bad, both blessing and curse, Jacob now comes to his end. An old man with failing sight, supported and led by others, he comes to the moment of offering his final testament. Much in his life has not gone well. After all his scheming and plotting to usurp his brother’s inheritance, he ended up losing his favourite child (so he believed) and facing famine and displacement. But here, at the end, he blesses his sons (chapter 49) and also Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons of his newly restored favourite, Joseph. Yes, Jacob continued the Genesis theme of giving precedence to the younger son (perhaps in anger at the behaviour of his own first sons Reuben and Simeon). But in his last act, his sons’ generation and the generation after are both blessed.
This is faithfulness, the passing down of faith from one generation to the next. Jacob had faith that God was still with his family, still working out his purposes for the world and still - despite everything – using his family as a vehicle for those purposes. And God does so because he does not waver even when our faith does. Are we passing our faith in our forever faithful God on to others: our children and grandchildren, but also the generations of lost and hurting and lonely people? Have we got a faith like Jacob’s that we are sharing and passing on to others? Are we blessing others? Are we making disciples? Are we faithful to the one who is always faithful to us?
Question to Consider
What does passing your faith on to the next generation or to others mean for you? What does it look like? Why is it important?
Prayer
Gracious God, help me remember that I do follow you for the sake of others. Help me be firm and faithful in speaking of you and teaching others about what it means to love and follow you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)