Genesis 28:20-22 gives the account of a promise that a man (in this case Jacob) makes to God in response to God’s promise to him of giving him and his seed the land where in he was. Jacob vowed conditionally that if God was with him and if God keeps him in the way he should go and give unto him food (bread to eat) and clothes (raiment) to put on, then the Lord shall be his God and of all that God gives him, he will surely give the tenth back to God (Genesis 20-21).
The Lord God promised to be with him (Genesis 28:15).
The Lord God promised to keep him (Genesis 28:15).
The Lord God promised to provide for him (Genesis 28:13).
The Lord God identified himself to be the God of his grandfather Abraham and of his father Isaac.
Now Jacob is personalizing that this same Lord would also be his God (not just that of his fathers) (Genesis 28:13,22). Jacob also recognizes that the source of everything that he will get is God for he exclaims “and of all that thou (God) shall give me.”
Points to ponder:
God has given to all mankind his only begotten Son, Jesus (John 3:16).
Jesus promised to be with us, even to the ends of the age (Matthew 28:20).
Jesus assured us that if anyone believes in him, no man can pluck us out of his hand (John 10:28) – in other words, we are kept in Jesus’ hands.
Jesus assured us that we ought not to worry about what we shall eat or drink or wear, for the heavenly Father knows our needs and will provide for us (Matthew 6:31-33) and that we ought to seek God and his Kingdom first.
Jesus need not only be the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – he can be ours too. Have you asked him to be your God?
While we can never out-give God, we learn from the Holy Scripture that Jesus gave himself totally for you and me and he has given us eternal life – Are we willing to give back to him, our life, at least a tenth of it – if not more? Think about it and act on it.
Genesis 28:20-22 (KJV)
20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
21 So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God:
22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.
