Feb. 3 Devotion: Jacob’s Final Words

JACOB’S FINAL WORDS

Genesis 48:15-16 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,

[16] The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

Genesis 49:33 And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.

As we read the end of the book of Genesis, we come to the end of Jacob’s life in chapter 49 and the end of Joseph’s life in chapter 50. Every time I read these chapters I am moved in my soul as I begin to imagine what this moment will be like when it comes time for me to go home. As Jacob knows he is nearing the finish line of his life, he takes this moment we see here in scripture to reflect over the years of his many days. Then he charges his sons as his way of blessing them and passing the torch for them to carry on. Notice, in verse 15 above, Jacob says to his sons “the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,” What a testimony and my, what a closing speech to share with your sons on the goodness and faithfulness of God.

The life of Jacob is one of the most powerful testimonies of grace and resiliency in the pages of the Old Testament. When you first meet Jacob, he is grabbing hold of his twin brother’s foot while coming out of his mother’s womb! From the very beginning, Jacob wanted to have his blessings his way, even if it meant lying and cheating to get it. He wanted to be first; better and greater than his brother Esau. In the end, that drive for success would cost Jacob 20 years of separation from his family. It was 20 years of running and hiding from his brother, who was bent on killing him for the evil things he had done. We never really think about just HOW MUCH our sin will cost us when we are wallowing around in it. It’s a mystery as to why we’re always shocked when it’s time to reap what we have sown and the bill comes due. We know our sin is going to cost us before we do it and we willingly agree to pay for it by continuing in our sin.

Jacob was no different. In Genesis Chapter 32 we read the account of Jacob at the Jabbok River, left alone in the dark of night. He was headed back home after all those years of running. He had to come face to face with his past in order to secure his future. This meant acknowledging just how much his sins had cost him and the potential it had to destroy his future. Jacob knew that it could cost him his very life because of his brother Esau’s hatred for him, but he also knew that he must obey God. Jacob was no longer the selfish brother out to get things his way. The Lord had done a deep work in the heart of Jacob, but even though the work had been done, there was still an even greater work yet to be accomplished. He needed to make amends with his family and relinquish his past into the hands of God. There were even greater battles ahead to surrender; greater than this one with his brother Esau.

Jacob would end up losing his son Joseph for many years, and even for a time, lose his youngest child Benjamin. However, in the end, Jacob is gathered together with all of his sons, and before his going home, we hear this great patriarch speaking these words; “the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,”…Even though Jacob had been a scoundrel; though he had cheated, lied, deceived and lived selfishly for many years of his life, he had come to understand that even on his worst day, God had still been his Shepherd. When Jacob had failed to be the sheep, the Lord never quit shepherding. Why? Because God loves us even when we are at our worst! Hallelujah!

We have a God who is faithful even when we are unfaithful. HIS love is so relentless, so heart strong and committed, that HE will never loosen HIS grip upon us. Sometimes it takes years separated from our failures to bring us to a place where we are ready to surrender the whole of us to God. No matter what is found on the road of our past, God’s hand has guided us safely through and will lead us on into the land of plenty, just as HE did Jacob. The Lord never quits on us and HE absolutely will never fail to keep HIS promises, even when we fail to keep HIS. When Jacob is dying, he wants his sons to know that he has only come to this blessed ending of his life because God was his end. My Christian friend, when God is our end, our past can never rob us of our future! It’s my hope, that Jacob’s Final Words would inspire you today to know that our God is Faithful, even when we are not!

Bro. Lawrence Longworth

Isaiah 61:1 “the opening of the prison to them that are bound;”