Jacob Makes a Vow (Gen. 28:16-22)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12-20-2006

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Jacob Makes a Vow

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                    Reference:  Genesis 28:16-22

 

            Message of the verse:  “16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it."  17  He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."  18  So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top.  19  He called the name of that place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz.  20  Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, 21  and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God.  22  "This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”

           

            As Jacob awakens from his dream he realizes that it was no ordinary dream, for his dream was from the Lord, and it was the Lord God who was communicating to him through this dream, and so Jacob begins to worship the Lord.  Jacob learns that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, as one of his distant relatives would write in Proverbs 1:7.  Jacob would rename the place where he was in from Luz to Bethel, and Bethel means the house of God, where as Luz meant almond tree.  Jacob poured oil on the rock that he had been sleeping on and this would later become significant in Hebrew life, and it would signify the pouring out of one’s life into devotion to the Lord. 

           

            Another thing that is worth mentioning here is that the word “if” in verse twenty can be translated as since, so Jacob was not making a bargain with God but affirming his faith and trust in the Lord who had promised the very things that God had told him in his dream.  Jacob does add that he would tithe to the Lord, and I believe this is out of a heart of worship to the Lord over what God had told Him He would do for Jacob.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, I would say that I too am to tithe to the Lord over the things, not only that He promised that he would do for me, but also over the things that He has already done for me on the cross of Calvary.  I can never pay back to God for what He has done for me, but I can be devoted to Him with a heart of gratitude and worship in my service to Him.

 

The Word of God has been refreshing to my soul as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I want to have the correct attitude in worshiping the Lord, and to do it out of a heart of gratitude and love over the grace and mercy that He has given to me, grace; giving me what I do not deserve or can ever earn and mercy holding back what I do deserve, and that is hell.

            I continue to trust the Lord with all of the things that are going on in my life and also that the Lord would continue to teach me contentment and to direct my path.