7/20/25 Genesis 28:10-19 or 22 “Jacob Doesn’t Deserve This!”

17 Jul 7/20/25 Genesis 28:10-19 or 22 “Jacob Doesn’t Deserve This!”

7/20/25       Genesis 28:10-19 or 22   “Jacob Doesn’t Deserve This!”

Sometimes during the week I like to listen to some of the good preachers that are on the radio only I listen to them on the internet.  Anyway, one time I was listening to Chuck Swindoll.  He was presenting a series on our churches and he made this point.  I don’t really know if this has anything to do with what I’m going to talk about but then again it might have to do with everything we talk about.  Have you ever thought about what you are worth?  Now, the first thing you will probably do is consider what you own.  Questions arise like ‘what is my house worth?’ or ‘what is my car worth?’ or whatever else you may have.  But that isn’t what I’m talking about.  What is your body worth?  After all, that is all that you really have.  Everything else is merely possessions.  When you add up the less than a shaker of salt, the magnesium, the water and so forth of what makes up your body, how much do you think it is all worth?  According to Chuck Swindoll, we are all worth about $.98.  Remember that next time someone asks you this question.  You are worth $.98!  However, that can be all changed.  All you have to do is add Jesus Christ to your life and you suddenly become priceless.  I hope that this is a comforting thought in your world.  You are priceless.  And that is what God is thinking about Jacob in today’s reading.  In our way of thinking, Jacob would be anything but a hero or someone that God would call upon.  But God’s ways are different than ours.  Let’s take a look at this scenario and see what it means to us.

Jeff Strite tells the story of a soldier being deployed to the Persian Gulf War with his destination Saudi Arabia.  As he was saying good-bye to his family, his 3 year old son had a hard grip on his leg and was saying, “No, Daddy, please don’t go!  Please don’t go!”  The child was devastated.  They were really beginning to make a scene when his wife, who was desperate to calm the boy down, said to the boy, “Let Daddy go and I’ll take you to get a pizza.”  Immediately the child loosened his death grip on dad, stepped back and in a calm voice said, “Bye, Daddy.”  I love stories of about children.  They can teach us so much.  But when grown-ups do this, it is a different story.   This is not unlike our story of Jacob.

Before we get started today, I would like to take a moment and refresh you as to whom Jacob was.  He was the youngest twin of Esau and Jacob.  If you remember from the birth story, Jacob was hanging onto Esau as they were born.  But somewhere along the line they grew apart.  Esau became a hunter but not Jacob.  He was more of a conniver.  As a matter of fact, he stole the birth right from Esau which was a big deal.  Then as Esau was out hunting he stole the blessings from their father Isaac which was an even bigger deal.

This makes Esau so angry that he is trying to kill Jacob.  This is where we find Jacob in our reading today.  Jacob is a not very nice person who is on the run from his brother who wants to kill him.  So we find him out in the middle of nowhere and it is night fall.  He has to find a place to rest as he has only gone a short distance on a long distance trip.  At this point we have to wonder why God would ever choose a scoundrel like Jacob to fulfill his plan.  This guy is anything but perfect and God still uses him.

To prove this, take a look at the last 3 verses.  Jacob has been shown and promised the land.  He has seen a vision from God about what will happen.  I would like to say here that if I ever had a vision like this, I would give everything I had to Jesus.  I would quit tithing and give all my fame and fortune to Jesus.  I would ask no questions.  But that is not what Jacob did.  He makes a vow, a conditional vow that if God does these certain things, then God will become Jacob’s God.  Then he will do things for God.

I really think that we set these types of conditions also.  We say ‘if you will make me rich, I will follow you’ or ‘if you heal my disease, I will follow you’ or ‘if you will give me that new house, I will follow you.’  Is there anyone here today who hasn’t done some bargaining like this at one time or another?  I’m sure we all have in some form.  Then, most of the time, we don’t keep our end of the bargain anyway.  It is because we live in such a broken world where everything is about ‘me.’  But don’t give up.  God still loves you anyway just like He loves the rascal Jacob.

Jacob is tired and he falls asleep using a stone for a pillow.  Now I like a nice firm pillow but I think this is a little out of my comfort zone.  Anyway, I guess that it wasn’t uncommon in those days to use a stone for a pillow.  Then Jacob has this wonderful dream where there is the staircase to heaven and all the activities happening.  Now God talks to Jacob during this dream.  God has a plan for Jacob and He will not be thwarted by some low down sneaky conniving thief like Jacob.

Jacob is on the run to his uncle Laban’s house which is over 400 miles away.  He doesn’t know if he will ever return to his homeland or what awaits him at his uncle’s house.  The world for Jacob has been turned upside down by his treachery, by his own doing.  I would just guess that we have all been in Jacob’s shoes now and then.  But I praise the Lord for who He is and for loving me through all the jams that I get myself into.  This is what He is doing for Jacob.

I think that there are 4 things that God is telling our wayward Jacob.  The first is that he is to remember the promises of God.  Jacob is running away from his homeland and God is reminding him of the promise he made to Abraham and his dad, Isaac.  God promised that their descendants will be like the number of grains of sand.  At this point Jacob has no descendants and things are looking pretty dim because of all the bad things he has done at home.  I would guess that when he lay down for the night, he might have been in some sort of depressed state.  God is giving him the reassurance to keep going.  This is not the end of the world.

It is just as important for us to remember the promises of God.  Now I don’t know exactly what God has promised you but I do know where you can find the promises.  Every time you open your Bible should be a new experience.  I have been reading the Bible for 25 years and there is always something new for me.  God’s promises come through His written word.  They also come through worship and prayer.  I try to stress these activities as much as possible because they are so important to you.  God loves you and has made promises for your life if you just follow Him.  It really isn’t too hard when you trust and obey.

There is something else that God tells Jacob even though Jacob is not worth it in our eyes and that is that God will always be with Him.  Now here is a man who has cheated his family.  He has broken up his family.  He is on the run in a strange place.  He lies down for the night on some foreign road.  He has done everything in his power to alienate himself from everyone.  He was not a nice man but God tells him that He will always be with him.  After all he had done, he still couldn’t shake God off his trail.

In Psalm 139 we read that no one can escape God’s Spirit.  Jesus told the disciples that He would always be with them.  In Hebrews we are told that God will never forsake us or leave us.  We just talked about a couple of the promises of God and here we have 3 of the many more found in the Bible that tell of God’s promise to be always with you.  People, this isn’t rocket science.  There is nothing you can do to get away from God.  He is always there.

I don’t know how many people I have talked to who just don’t understand this concept of God’s continual presence with us.  Mostly it is with non-believers but there are also some believers who struggle here.  People get so caught up in their troubles that they forget about Jesus.  He is there when you have 3 finals in one day.  He is there when your marriage hits a rough spot.  He is there when the crops fail or you lose your job.  He is always there and yet most people who I talk to in these situations never call on Him.  If Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, then maybe we should be in touch with Him in all situations and not just on Sunday mornings.

This leads us to the fact that God is always there to watch over us and protect us.  Jacob doesn’t deserve this.  You don’t deserve this.  But God is there for Jacob.  He promises him that he will someday return to his homeland even if it looks hopeless right now.  Even if all his family and friends hate him to the point they want to murder him, God will still protect him by taking him to his uncle Laban.

We do lots of things where we need protection.  Mostly we need protection from ourselves and that begins with a prayer life.  I guarantee that you will not come up with nearly as many dumb ideas if you bring all things to Jesus and then listen.  If you pay attention, God will protect you by helping you make the right decisions.

Of course we have many other things where we need protection.  We have fires, floods, wars and many other natural disasters that occur every day in some part of the world.  Now God doesn’t promise that He will keep us from hardships.  If you think about it, because we are all filthy sinners, we shouldn’t really expect God to protect us from anything.  We don’t deserve it.  However, He promises to be with us at all times, especially during times of disaster.  This is why people look to Christians for help in these times.  We will find some way to rise above bad things with the help of Jesus Christ.  We will find a way to serve the hurting world when no one else will.  When you remember that you are part of Jesus Christ, then you know that you have to be helping your neighbor, treating him as yourself.

We need to know that God doesn’t protect us in the way that we think.  He does this according to His ways.  Most of the time, we need protection from the devil and all the calamities that Satan causes.  If you remember that death is not the end but a beginning, then you will understand God’s plan a little better.  God will protect us and help us to be able to spend an eternity with Him.  This is the bottom line.

The last thing I want us to notice is something we could spend several sermons talking.  God will provide Jacob with all of this and much, much more.  He will provide this unmarried wanderer with a wife and descendants that will rival the number of grains of sand.  He will provide a way to get back to his homeland but it will be on God’s timing and not Jacob’s.  Once again, all he has to do is trust and obey.  This was not something that Jacob was good at but things were changing.  This dream sequence was going to be the beginning of life changes for Jacob.  He is going to be transformed into one of the good guys.  This is not unlike when we first come to Jesus.  It is life changing.

Take a look at what God has provided for you.  The list is absolutely endless.  Everything you have and all things around you are from God.  I just read a story about a man who just lost his wife in child birth leaving him with 5 young children to care for alone.  I had to raise 2 by myself and I can’t imagine 3 more.  But this is where God really shines.  This man was in a real bind when his church stepped up with food, childcare and just about anything else you could think of for raising children.  God worked through His people to bring some Sonshine into this poor family’s situation.

You see, God already provides all the good things we see about us.  But God also provides the things we don’t see, like the help to this family.  He has provided our churches with volunteers for people in hurting situations.  He supplies a rent check here, a car payment there, and just general relief from bills.  He shows us what real love is like as He gives us ideas for helping broken families.  He tries to lead us by giving His love in a radical way.  He has us gather clothes for children hundreds of miles away.  This is the God that most people don’t understand when they see Him.  This is the God that is working and we are taking all the credit.  This is the God who not only loves you but also loves all people of the world, especially the poor and the down trodden.

This passage is about God’s love for His people.  God had big plans for Jacob and He was not about to let Jacob not carry out those plans.  God also has big plans for each of you.  You may or may not know what they are but I think you are aware of them in some form or shape.  You also know that there are many hardships in life.  They are everywhere and at every turn.  When they happen, remember that Jesus has been there before you.  He has done all the work and now He is providing all the ways to get you out of these things.  That is His promise.  You may not get out the way you think, but you can guarantee that it will be for the glory of God.

Jesus will never leave us high and dry but we do have some responsibility in this process.  We need to love Jesus and love our neighbors as ourselves.  We do this by prayer, reading our Bibles and worship.  In return you will be ready for anything the world throws at you.  This is the love Jesus has for you, a love that never ends.  Thank you, Jesus, for not giving up on Jacob and not giving up on us.  We thank you for first loving us.  Let’s pray.