Up Close and Personal from Genesis 28:10-18

Today I am commenting on Genesis 28:10-18 which tells the story of Jacob’s repentance.

The 1972 Olympic Games in Munich will always be remembered for the horrific terrorist attack on the Israeli team, but that was not the only history-changing aspect of that Olympiad. 

The coverage of that year’s games by ABC Sports introduced short personality segments in which various athletes were interviewed and even followed by the camera during their training for the games. The idea was to give a glimpse into the competitors’ lives and allow the television audience to see them as persons rather than just athletes. These segments were called “Up Close and Personal” and it revolutionized modern sports coverage. This phrase is now in common use and it has become a part of our vernacular. 

While ABC used the phrase to introduce these segments, for Jacob, “up close and personal” would have had a totally different meaning!

Jacob was a Schemer:

Jacob was the kind of guy whom you would nickname “Slick”. He was not someone you would want to turn your back on. He was devious and deceitful. He knew what he wanted, and he found a way to get it.

 

To show exactly the type of man he was, he schemed to cheat both his brother and his father. He had tricked his brother into giving up his birthright. Next, he had tricked his dad into giving him the firstborn’s blessing. Now, he was on the run. Verse 10 tells us that, “Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran.”

I remember the announcer interrupting scheduled programming with breaking news during the OJ Simpson case. As corny as it sounds, the news anchor intoned that, “The Juice is on the lam.” In our passage today, it was Jacob who was “on the lam.”

It is obvious that Jacob’s scheming backfired. We can make plans and schemes, but we can’t control how they turn out. In the Army there is a saying, “No plan survives contact with the enemy.” Jacob learned the hard way that even a skilled schemer, like he was, can get caught-out.

So, how do we compare to Jacob?  Do we have a plan that we are following?  Whose plan is it? As a colleague of mine once said, “There is no right way to do the wrong thing!”

Jacob was Surprised by God:

Jacob got tired. Let’s look at verse 11: "He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. "

He’d been running and was physically tired. He was an outcast, so he was emotionally tired. He was spiritually isolated from God, so he was spiritually tired.

Jacob was in a dark place.

He was facing a dark night. He lay down in the open desert and used a rock for a pillow. He had real signs of being in despair. He was like the cartoon character Charlie Brown who would go home after an embarrassing experience to lie down in a dark room.

When Jacob quit scheming and running, God found him, as verses 12 through 15 tell us:

And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.  And the LORD stood beside him and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

In these verses, God revealed Himself to Jacob in a mighty way. He pledged His love and good intentions for Jacob.  He also revealed to Jacob a different purpose for his life. Instead of being a schemer, God wanted Jacob to be an agent of salvation.

What about us?  Have we gotten burned-out yet by following our own plans?  Have we been still yet so that God can confront us with His perfect plan for our lives?

Jacob Surrendered to God’s Will:

It is obvious that Jacob was tired of running. 

He saw that he had made a mess of his life; he was “sick and tired of being sick and tired.” He clearly saw that God’s way was better than his. He wanted to be carried up instead of sliding down.

Jacob made the best decision he could make at that time: he accepted God’s plan for his life: He saw what God wanted to do and he bowed his will to do it. He realized that God’s will is both sovereign and best and he gave into the inevitable. Let’s look at verses 16 through 18: 

Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place--and I did not know it!" And 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." So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.

The tagline for an old oil filter commercial was, “You can pay me now or you can pay me later.” Jacob saw it was better to pay up front with his repentance and his obedience.

So, how do we know he did this? Because his life changed. He worshipped God at that place, but in in later passages we see even more:

He quit scheming.

He followed God’s path for his life.

He worked diligently for fourteen years for his father-in-law Laban; in the past he would have just cheated Laban out of his flocks and of the hand of Rachel in marriage.

He confessed his sin and he reconciled with his brother Esau.

God blessed him and made him a great nation and God lifted him up and raised him to the heights.

Do we have high goals for ourselves or our families? Are we scheming to try to achieve those goals? Are we climbing over others to get what we want? Only God can lift us to the heights!

Conclusion:

The experience that Jacob had when he got “up close and personal” with God is what we call repentance. He was headed in a direction that was dark and destructive, but then he reversed course to go in a direction that was full of light and blessing.

Although Jacob had been a schemer, and although he would have to seek the forgiveness of his brother Esau, he was no longer the man he used to be. Instead of being a scoundrel, he became a saint of God’s people. What a turn-around story!

What about us? In what direction are we headed? Do we need to create a turn-around story of our own? If so, the Good News is that God has not changed. The same God that got “up close and personal” with Jacob is willing to do the same with us.

The only question is, are we tired of running yet?

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt