From Knower to Believer
“Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my God.” Gen. 28:20-21 (NIV)
Many are familiar with the story of Jacob. He was the son of Isaac, grandson of Abraham, and the father of the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel. Jacob had, no doubt, heard of the miraculous circumstances of his father’s conception and birth, and of all the promises made by God to his grandfather. Even his own birth and that of his twin, Esau, came as an answer to prayer after his mother had been barren for twenty years.
Jacob’s name means, “Supplanter.” He had a way of displacing people, moving them out of his way through cunning and trickery. In Genesis 20 he is fleeing from his home and his brother because of this supplanting. Jacob got Esau out of his way so he could receive from their father the blessing of the first-born. When Esau realized what happened he was murderously angry at Jacob. Jacob fled his parent’s home in Beersheba to find refuge with his mother’s family in Haran.
That first night of the journey he had an encounter with the Lord. He saw angels ascending and descending on a ladder and heard the voice of God speak to him. This was the same God his father Isaac and grandfather Abraham told him about, the family God with whom he was familiar. Jacob knew this God.
But the Bile clearly says that God called Himself the God of Abraham and Isaac, not of Jacob. This was Jacob’s father’s and grandfather’s God. Jacob knew of Him, had heard about this God, but this was not Jacob’s God. This first encounter was the beginning of Jacob learning God and believing God for himself.
It was twenty years before Jacob would retrace his steps and go back to his father’s house. During those years he perfected his cunning and trickery because of his uncle Laban. He worked for Laban faithfully, grew his family, and God blessed all that was under his care. But the day came when Jacob wore out his welcome with his cousins and uncle and God said it was time to head home. Jacob packed up all that belonged to him: wives, children, servants, livestock and left in the middle of the night hoping to avoid a confrontation with Laban.
Jacob knew he had to pass by where Esau lived and he hoped to avoid that confrontation too. Instead Esau, with 400 of his men, came out to meet Jacob. Jacob was able to handle his last encounter with Laban on his own, but Esau and his entourage terrified him. He was so afraid that he prayed, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac,” reminding God of two of His friends! That night Jacob was visited by the Angel of the Lord that wrestled with him all through the night. Jacob, the supplanter, was not able to get this guy out of his way. The Angel, likewise, was not able to overcome Jacob. As dawn broke the Angel of the Lord touched Jacob’s hip, changed his name to Israel and blessed him.
That was the turning point for Jacob, now named Israel. The next day he met Esau with humbleness and was protected by God for the rest of his journey.
“After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Cannan and camped within sight of the city. For a hundred pieces of silver, he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel.” Gen. 33:18-20 (NIV)
El Elohe Israel means, “God, the God of Israel.” The twenty years in Haran, the encounters with God, and hearing God’s voice speak to him, made Jacob into more than a knower. It turned him into Israel, a believer. Now God was not only the God of Abraham and Isaac, but He was also the God of Israel.
It is critical for all of us to come to this same point on our faith journey. There are many that know about God simply because they have been born into Christian families, or merely born in the United States. There are many “good people” who know about God and are satisfied. But knowing and believing are not the same thing. Believing is what opens the door for God to work in our lives, to make us different and better than we were before. Believing opens the door for the work of salvation. Believing allows us to humble ourselves and submit to Jesus’ Lordship and the teaching and leading of the Holy Spirit. When we are being cheated and treated unfairly by someone like Laban, when we are fearing the loss of what we hold most dear at the hand of someone like Esau, and when we are faced with our own limitations and flaws like Jacob, believing is what brings the blessing of a new name and a new future.
Today I feel the Holy Spirit beckoning you to go beyond knowledge and step into belief. I pray that you, like Jacob, will have a personal encounter with God and that you hear God’s voice speak to your heart. I pray that you take the step beyond knowing – to believing!
