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Tag: God is just

Seeing God in life’s situations, for God sees you

Genesis 31:4-13 gives account of what Jacob told his wives, Rachel and Leah, after God asked him to leave his uncle and father-in-law, Laban’s house and return to the land of his family to his relatives.

He called Rachel and Leah to the field where he was looking after the flock and told them, “I have noticed that your father’s attitude toward me has changed, but the God of my father has been with me.”

He then told them, how hard he had worked for their father, and yet Laban had cheated him by changing his wages, not once but ten times, but God had not allowed Laban to do him any harm. He said, that God had taken what was their fathers and had given it to Jacob, because whatever was agreed upon between Jacob and Laban is what God made to happen, in Jacob’s favor. If the speckled animals of Laban was to be Jacob’s wages, then the whole flock began to produce speckled young and if Laban changed his mind and said, the striped animals will be your wages, the the whole flock produce striped young.

This he said was revealed to Jacob, in a dream, by the angel of God, who called to Jacob and when Jacob responded, “Yes, here I am.”, the angel of God told him to “Look up, and see that the male goats were mating with only the females that were streaked, speckled and spotted”, the produce of which were streaked, speckled or spotted, hence belonging to Jacob and not Laban. Why?, because God had seen how Laban had unfairly treated Jacob.

The angel of God is a theophany of the pre-incarnate Christ, for the angel of God identifies himself as the God who appeared to Jacob in Bethel (meaning House of God), the place where Jacob anointed the pillar of stone and made a vow to him. Jacob then told his wives, that God had told him to get ready right away and leave the country that they were in and return to the land of his birth. 

Lessons we can learn from Jacob’s conversation with Rachel and Leah are:
1. God was with him.
2. God did not allow any harm to come to him.
3. God took what was justly his and gave it to him by divinely intervening.
4. God saw his mistreatment.
5. God called him by name and waited for him to respond.
6. God asked him to “Look up and see”

Points to ponder:
God is with his people and will not allow any harm to come to them. God is Just and will restore unto those who have been unfairly treated, for God watches over the affairs of man. God calls his people by name and wants us to respond to him. God wants us to “Look up” and focus on his miracles and provisions, even when life situations may make us downcast. When God calls you, will you respond as Jacob did – “Yes, Here am I.”?

Genesis 31:4-13 (KJV)
And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock,
And said unto them, I see your father’s countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me.
And ye know that with all my power I have served your father.
And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.
If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle ringstraked.
Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me.
10 And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled.
11 And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.
13 I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.

Emptiness can breed Envy

The account in the 30th chapter of the book of Genesis begins with a sad state of affairs within a family – the family of Jacob. Rachel the second wife of Jacob who was relatively loved more by Jacob was barren, while Leah, Rachel’s sister and first wife of Jacob, had borne him four sons (Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah) for the Lord had opened her womb. And when Rachel saw that she was empty, instead of seeking God for his blessings and praising God for her sister’s fruitfulness, she envied her own sister (Genesis 30:1).

Points to ponder:
Sometimes when life situations make us feel barren and empty, we can easily react as Rachel did.  Instead of seeking God for his blessings we can end up becoming envious of those whom the Lord God blesses bountifully, including our loved ones. What this demonstrates is not God’s character for he is just, but our own selfish character. It shows that we do not trust God of his sovereignty and that we do not rely on God for his provisions. It demonstrates that we do not love, for love does not envy (1 Corinthians 13:4).
Emptiness can breed envy. In other words, it can breed hate. The question that remains then is – will you let it to?
Love is patient, Love is kind, Love does envy.

Genesis 30:01 (KJV)
01 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.

When God says “I cannot do anything till …”

When one thinks of God they are not usually expected to think of God saying “I cannot do anything till …” and yet here, as Lot is commanded to escape from the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Lord God tarries his punishment until Lot is in a safe place, where he won’t come under the indignation and judgment of God. God is willing to wait until Lot and his family are safe.

Points to ponder:
God does not want anyone to perish, especially the righteous who have put their faith and trust in Jesus, accepting him as their Lord and Savior and King. God cannot do anything till the righteous are safe, for he is a Just God and won’t punish the righteous with the wicked.

The Bible teaches us that while the return of the Lord as Judge and King may seem like it is not near, let us be careful to not take the longsuffering (patient) nature of God as one of slackness (2 Peter 3:9). He tarries to bring punishment so that the wheat is not burnt up with the weeds and God is not willing that any should perish (just as he did not want Lot and his family to perish), but he wills that all come to repentance.

Genesis 19:22 (KJV)
22 Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

2 Peter 3:9 (KJV)
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Nahum 3:1-4 – Whoredom and Witchcraft

Nahum chapter 3 highlights the justice of God against Nineveh (Assyrians). The verdict on Nineveh is that it was a bloody city, full of lies and robbery, always victimizing (preying on) other nations and afflicting the people of God (Nahum 3:1). It was known for its whoredom and its witchcraft (Nahum 3:4); whoredom of enticing nations to put their trust in her, instead of on the true God (2 Kings 18:28-36) and witchcraft by incanting messages that lured the nations to a false hope of security (2 Kings 18:31), but in the end leading to their death (2 Kings 19:11, Nahum 3:4). So God assured his people that he was raising the Medo-Babylonian armies who will come charging on their battle horses with whips, bright swords and glittering spears, who will destroy the Assyrians, so much so that there will be no end of their corpses (Nahum 3:2-3).

Points to ponder:
The world today is a sinful, a generation engaging in whoredom (adultery/harlotry) (Mark 8:38). It attempts to draw us away from Christ Jesus (1 John 2:15-17) by its incantations of false hope and woe is anyone who gets enticed by such witchcraft. Let us be in the world but not of the world (John 17:14-15; John 15:19; Romans 12:2) and let us not be enticed and lured into putting our trust in anyone or anything else, except in Jesus Christ. Let us love not the world but Love God with all of ours.

Nahum 3:1-7 (KJV)
1 Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;
2 The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots.
3 The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:
4 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.

1 John 2:15-17 (KJV)
15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

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