Spiritual Growth

Sunday School curricula spend a lot of time talking about Jacob’s trickster nature and exposing the weaknesses of his character. Unfortunately, too often we miss out on a great lesson of Scripture by letting the rest of Jacob's life be eclipsed by the story of Joseph. The message we miss is that God can change the most unpromising people into saintly ones!

We are familiar with Jacob’s wrestling with God and his dialogues with God, which certainly are indicative of spiritual growth. As he ages and approaches death, we catch more glimpses of the man he became under God’s grace-filled hand. Everyone knows the story of the famine that stretched over the Middle East during Joseph’s time. It was the famine that providentially brought Joseph’s brothers to Egypt, and served as a means of reuniting Jacob’s family.

The Scriptures tell us that “Jacob was stunned” (Gen. 45:26) upon hearing the news that Joseph was alive and a ruler in Egypt. Imagine the thoughts that raced through his mind on realizing that he could be reunited with this beloved son! It’s significant to note, however, that as he set out for Egypt, he offered sacrifices to God. No longer would he run heedlessly to do his own will; he needed to hear the will and promise of God. With God’s assurance he set out for the great reunion.

The emotions described in Gen. 46:28-30 of the meeting between Joseph and Jacob are intense. All the years of loneliness that Joseph had experienced were finally released in this moving encounter! Certainly Pharaoh was curious to meet this family of nomadic herders that was related to his second in command and generously gave them pasture land. (Gen. 47:1-12) Jacob’s presentation to Pharaoh is most interesting. Not at all cowed by meeting this “sun god”, Jacob blessed him twice with the blessing of God Almighty. Jacob was completely secure in himself and in his God during this meeting with royalty and was a witness to the God he knew so well.

Jacob lived 17 years in Egypt, during which time his family grew and prospered. He realized that his death was approaching, and he made Joseph promise that he would be buried in the land of the promise, Canaan. (Gen. 47:27-31) In this request, Jacob affirmed his faith in God’s promise which was: “I am God, the God of your father…. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again.” (Gen. 46:3 and 4) As he obtained the promise from Joseph, the Scripture tells us that Jacob [Israel] worshipped as he leaned on the top of his staff—a fact for which he is commended in Hebrews 11:21. This elderly man, too frail perhaps to stand on his own, still stood in worship, supporting himself on his staff.

Jacob’s last recorded act is the blessing of his grandsons through Joseph, and words of prophesy about his sons. Deceitful Jacob has now become a prophet of the Most High God, and we see him peacefully being taken to his rest after these words of prophecy and instruction. “When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people." (Gen. 49)

Sometimes we despair that God will ever work to change lives and make us more like himself. The story of Jacob is an encouragement, and a reminder. In focusing on Jacob’s frailties, we often miss the spiritual growth that God brought about in his life. By the time of Jacob’s death, he had become a man whose life, thoughts and actions had been transformed by God. He had come to be an obedient servant, and indeed, one of the patriarchs—a follower of “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

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