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So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” Genesis 35:2-3  (Genesis 34-35:15)

When Jacob returns to Canaan he buys a plot of ground near Shechem and makes his home there.  Jacob and Leah’s daughter, Dinah, was out walking when the Prince of Shechem raped her. He quickly asks for her hand in marriage but he was refused because the men of Shechem were uncircumcised.  So, all the men of Shechem are directed to have surgery to become like Jacob’s household. While they are in great discomfort from their circumcisions, Levi and Simeon, Dinah’s full brothers, kill every male in the city and then all her brother looted the community, rescue Dinah and take the women and children as slaves.

When Jacob discovered this horrific act of vengeance, he had no option but to pack up and leave. The shadow of his sons’ murderous act ruined any hope of abiding peace. The move brought him to Bethel, the place he first encountered God. Here, Jacob builds an alter, and God renews His covenant.

Jacob is not counted as saying much to his two sons about their behavior, but in chapter 49 he speaks to their minimized blessing as a result of their sin. Later, Levitical Law sets an-eye-for-an-eye as a standard judgement. No more no less.

Justice and revenge are not the same thing. The first is for the greater good, the later is borne of hatred.  God alone is the Perfect Judge. Retaliation leaves no room for justice and the miracles of God’s wisdom and love. God sees and knows all and He is Holy and just. Let Him handle it!

Have a Great Wednesday!

Gretchen

“I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups. Save me I pray.” Genesis 32:10-11a (Genesis 32-33)

Upon Jacob’s return home, news comes that Esau, the offended brother, is approaching at great speed with 400 hundred men. Jacob is terrified and prepares to protect his family and property as best he can. He calls out to God, (verse above) then sends his wives, concubines and sons ahead under cover of darkness. Alone in the dark Jacob once again encounters God. This time they wrestle and Jacob refuses to turn loose or be defeated. This struggle leaves Jacob crippled for life.  When the dust settles, God has renamed Jacob, Israel, and God has become his God rather than the God of his fathers. The former arrogant and entitled Jacob is gone and a humble servant has evolved.

Rather than approach his brother with vengeance, Esau offers a very generous reception. Jacob presents many gifts and when Esau accepts them, their reconciliation is complete and they part in peace.

Twenty years earlier Jacob left his home with nothing. Now, as angels welcome him home, he is a prince with an inheritance in the Promised Land. When he left he knew of the God of Abraham and Isaac.  Now he is home and The God has become his God.

The God wants to be your God, your peace, your provision, your hope, your friend!

Love,

Gretchen

It was also called Mizpah, because he said, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.”  Genesis 31:49

Jacob met his match when he encountered the deceit and crooked behavior of his father-in-law Laban.  Laban cheated Jacob of the woman he loved and broke every agreement made over wages. Still Jacob thrived and became independently wealthy. His brothers-in-law accused him of abusing Laban’s resources but Jacob knew it is by God’s power and authority he was successful.

God promised Jacob would return to his father Isaac after an extended exile.  The time has come and with discontent in Haran, Jacob packs up his household, wives, children, slaves and herds, and heads back home. The reality is, Laban’s prosperity came through Jacob’s wise management and farming ability, so he was not happy when Jacob secretly fled. He pursued and after negotiations, Jacob and Laban came to a peace agreement before going their separate ways. 

Jacob is heading toward a brother that wants him dead and a father he manipulated. He’s leaving a family-in-law that distrusts him. Who wants to live in a world that is crushing you with hatred and ill feelings? NO ONE!! Jacob and Laban did not conclude who was right and who was wrong, they consented to live in peace with each other. God was given charge of justice and security and all else became irrelevant.  In this way Jacob and Laban were able to move forward with clear hearts and minds.

Peace is a choice that honors God and His plan for your life.

Have a Wonderful Monday,

Gretchen

Another school year has begun and at the end of each day I am exhausted, and more inspired than ever.  I have taught many years, but for the past ten I have been in the Land of Canaan I call Kindergarten. The first children I led into public education, and a lifetime of learning, are now in junior high. This past week I was privileged to watch them walk down the hallways of our school as incredible young people. My breath paused as my heart pounded with pride.

Teachers of young children compare early days in the classroom to herding cats.  It is actually more similar to managing butterflies. One of my earliest frustrations was a certain young child’s propensity to dive across people and objects in an effort to be the first helper when minor mishaps occurred.  In the wake of this well intentioned move, more chairs, tables, cubby contents and people were toppled. I would get so flustered in my inability to redirect this habit of helping/not helping.  But last week I saw a most beautiful, radiant, giving and kind heart walking down the hallway, laughing with friends and I thought how close I came to missing this gift.

The hearts of children are universal in their transparency and goodness. Go to your local splash pad and watch them in action.  When they bump into each other because they are distracted by the delight of cool water on a hot summer’s day, they right themselves, smile and begin a new game with the friend they just met. Matthew’s Gospel,18:3 says, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”  These are the words Jesus spoke to His disciples in response to their question, “Who is the greatest?”

Watch children line up and travel from place to place. They help each other with correct ABC order and remind one another to get jackets, backpacks and lunch boxes. They stop when someone falls. (Trust me, no power on earth will make them leave a classmate behind!)  While learning the intuitive lessons of space, time and motor planning, arms, legs and foreheads often collide. Being five makes fixing things simple. The offender, goes to his lunch box, removes the icepack his mother sent to keep his food fresh and gives it to the one he harmed, saying, “I’m sorry, this will make you better.” I ask, “What healed? The cold compress or the kindness?”

The heroics of a kindergartener rivals those of their super heroes. The world has instructed them to be excited and eager, but they are scared. Mom is leaving them with a stranger, in a huge space, with many new faces. Everyone outsizes them in mass and knowledge and they know it!  Yet, they power through with brave, blind hope, believing this is what’s best. They live in submission to someone else’s vision for their well-being and joyfully march forward in faith!

So, if you asked me what I want to be when I grow up, I would say, “Five.” I want to live in the wonderful, innocent, kind and caring world of kindergarten where very little means so very much!

The hearts of children have no malice or prejudice until it is taught.  Among them there is a strong sense of community until it is disrupted by taking and/or hoarding in an effort to gain power and control. Jesus’ words in Matthew continued and warned against causing one of these little folks to stumble, so be careful what you model and teach, because one day an accountability will come.

Love them and LOVE LIKE THEM!

Gretchen

In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and maidservants and manservants and camels and donkeys. (Genesis 29 & 30)

Jacob traveled alone to the land of Haran, where his mother’s brother lived and the place his grandfather Abraham migrated from. There, Jacob begins to get as good as he gave.  He loved Rachel, but was tricked into marrying Leah, a woman he did not love, before he was finally given Rachel.  Rachel was barren, but Leah gave him six sons. Leah and Rachel’s maidservants both gave Jacob children as well and finally Rachel gave birth to Joseph. (Later she became the mother of Benjamin, but it is not part of this narrative.)  These men are important as they later, their families became the twelve tribes of the Messianic nation of Israel.

This polygamous family was a mess.  Jacob’s father-in-law was as conniving as Jacob once was, his wives’ bickering kept discord in his home and his sons were not the sort to make a man proud.  If anything validates Biblical writing as true, Jacobs story does, for we see him clearly, warts and all.

What can we glean from these characters that so clearly know God, but believe Him to be their servant rather than the other way around?  1. God is always at work for His good, for He is good. 2. God is extremely patient with man.

You cannot out sin God’s love.

Love,

Gretchen

May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. Genesis 28:3 (Genesis 26-28)

Through less than ethical behavior Jacob has taken his older brother’s blessing.  This blessing gave authority as heir and patriarch apparent of the covenant nation. With the help of his mother Rebekah, he tricked his aged and blind father and robbed the birthright from his older brother, thus, taking for himself, all that Esau would have received. As a result, Jacob’s life was in danger and he was directed to flea to the land of uncle Laban.

The consequences of Jacob’s behavior cost him tremendously.  In his exile he never saw his beloved mother again and home loving Jacob was completely alone in an unfamiliar land. Robbed of all security, in the middle of no where, with only a dark sky full of stars for a blanket, Jacob lays his head on a stone, sleeps and dreams of a staircase to Heaven. At the zenith stands God while angels ascend and descend. In this vision, God transfers the covenant promise to him and shows a direct connection from Heaven to earth. In Jacob’s loneliest moment, He finds God standing with him.

Even though Esau proved repeatedly that he cared nothing for his birthright and blessing, Jacob paid dearly for the fraudulent way he acquired what God has already laid a foundation for. Sin causes great pain and separates us from God and others we love.  However, it doesn’t have to be the end of our story. God doesn’t quit because we fail. Praise be to God!

Love,

Gretchen

But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.  Genesis 25:33  (Genesis 23-25)

Sarah died and Abraham, an alien in a foreign land, bought a cave and a field for her burial. He and Isaac mourned her death.  Today this cave is in a mosque under Muslim control. As the father of Ismael, Muslims hold Abraham in very high regard and Christians are not permitted to enter. In 1862 the Prince of Wales, by special permission, visited and saw the stone tombs of Sarah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rebekah and Leah. (Halley’s Bible Handbook, pg. 101) 

God’s covenant was dependent on a wife and children for Isaac. Abraham wanted to keep his family line free of idolatry, so he sent a trusted servant back to his own country to find a suitable mate. The servant prayed for God’s leading and wisdom and Rebekah returned to Canaan to marry Isaac. She was barren for twenty years and then gave birth to twins.  Esau the older, as his father’s heir, was entitled to birthright (money) and blessing (authority). However, he proved to be impulsive, reckless, willful and worldly. This combination cost him everything. During of a fit of hunger he sold his birthright to his younger brother Jacob for some lentil soup and a piece of bread. 

It isn’t entitlement that creates destiny or blessing, it is the action of obedience or lack there of. In the deepest, most intimate and secret places of our heart and mind, God is there. By this we know He alone is a Perfect Judge, and Trustworthy Leader.

Peace and Blessings,

Gretchen

Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together. Genesis 22:8 (Genesis 21:22-22)

Isaac, the long anticipated, promised son, is growing into adulthood. AND THEN!!!!! It seems that God has chosen to jeopardize His own plan for a covenant nation. He is demanding that Abraham give his son back as a child-sacrifice. This chosen and called man has had many shortcomings in his behavior, and disobedience has not been without its consequences, but to kill one’s off-spring makes no sense!

The demand Abraham awoke to that morning was puzzling and frightening, but this time Abraham followed God’s instructions without question or hesitation.  At some point Abraham released the impulses of his earthly being and began to walk exclusively by faith, knowing that all the future was God’s and God was good.  God didn’t need Isaac’s death to satisfy Himself, He wanted Abraham to understand the strength of a steadfast certainty. The History of the world rested on this defining moment.

God is not a God of pointless, ridiculous penance. What we relinquish and what we given to keep are designed to purify and perfect our hearts and our relationship with our Loving Protector and Provider. When a faithful God and faithful man stand together……….the world is forever changed!

Love,

Gretchen

P.S.  It is worth noting in chapter 21:8-20, that God shows kindness to Hagar, the slave, and her son outcast child, Ismael.  They have both been tossed and toiled at the whim of others, but God loves and provides. 

Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”  Genesis 21:6 (Genesis 21-1-7)

Sarai/Sarah is known as ‘Abraham’s wife,’ barren and childless. In straight terms, Sarah is insignificant.  In order to protect himself, Abraham twice asks beautiful Sarai to title herself as his sister, (which she was) and submit bodily to a ruler of a foreign state. The Bible doesn’t say how she felt, but betrayal and violation must have passed through her mind. Both times, God intervened and saved Sarah while inflicting pain and discomfort on her offenders.

Common culture allowed Sarah to give her handmaiden, Hagar, to her husband in order to secure a child and family line, but having done this with Abraham’s consent, Sarah was disappointed and grief-stricken. God wasn’t happy either. It wasn’t His plan. When God brought news that she would give birth to the father of the covenant nation Sarah laughed in disbelief. But when she held her precious baby in her arms, she realized God can do anything and her joy overflowed into laughter.

Sarah stands singularly unique as a Biblical woman who’s name was changed by God.  Her story isn’t perfect obedience, but it is a story of a faith that outweighed defeat. God’s divine promises have Sarah at the heart of them, and her marginal status became a very important part of the Israel’s history.

In the darkest moments of your story, God HAS NOT forgotten you.  He has a plan, but faith is the only means to experience it.

Have a Blessed Day,

Gretchen

He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my Lord, do not pass your servant by,” Genesis 18:3 (Genesis chapters 18 &19)

The culmination of God’s plan and timing has come together and while Sarah is way beyond the season of child bearing and Abraham is very old, 99 years in fact, God says, “In a year it will happen.”  In this, only God can claim glory and Isaac is born, the covenant son.  Lot’s family is threatened by the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah but Abraham intervenes.  Known as God’s friend, Abraham speaks on behalf of the innocent in the company of the wicked and we see that it goes against God’s nature to destroy and a final judgement is never a first option.

Three visitors came to Abraham’s tent, near the great trees of Mamre, in the middle of the day (during siesta) and Abraham offers them the highest hospitality. During this visit, the promise of a longed for son becomes a reality and Abraham, as a friend of God, pleads for the innocent people of two cities and the home of his nephew Lot’s family.  God shows His compassion for those who choose to live in righteousness. When we read the Biblical narrative it is easy to delete the freewill factor. It seems that everything is just God’s predestination and we are pawns in His game. It is not so! Do not fall into a trap of excusing bad things as fate, ill luck or karma and then denying gratitude for blessings because it is your due, or a happy coincidence. Abraham was called, and he went. The journey wasn’t without it’s real life episodes, but it is the story of a Trustworthy God and a faithful man.

Seek right and healthy relationships. Make wise promises and keep them. Ask for forgiveness, accept it humbly. Commit your life to God and walk forward in peace.

Love,

Gretchen