REVIVAL – JACOB’S JOURNEY
Week 3: The Bigger Picture
During this study, we will be doing a ‘deep dive’ into a scriptural passage. It is strongly encouraged that you study the passage and entire chapter ahead of the study. Also be prepared with your research tools, for example Google or your study Bible, as you will need to reference it during the study. Spend time answering and discussing each question with the intention to gain sufficient understanding to help your own private Bible study as you further explore these topics.
Study Chapters: Genesis 27-28
Pilot text
Genesis 28:10-15 10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
Discussion Points
How do we situate this scripture within the wider context of the scripture as a whole and God’s covenant with His people?
Jacob’s dream was not about himself, but Someone much bigger in our salvation story – God was speaking to Jacob about Christ. Jesus referenced Jacob’s vision in John 1:51, in essence declaring Himself to be the ladder that Jacob saw in his dream.
God’s faithfulness does not depend on ours, the righteousness of God in us is not a result of anything we have done. God knew that Jacob was not going to fully commit to him immediately (see v 18-21). But right from the beginning, He showed the unconditionality of His own commitment in verse 15.
God is committed to take us through the journey to find purpose in Him. Even when it seemed that God was silent in Jacob’s life, He was there. God’s commitment to bring fulfil in Jacob everything He had promised Abraham and Isaac was not just a commitment to a better future. It was also a commitment to working in Jacob until he became the person that God had called him to be – no matter how long it took. In a sense, this was a commitment to reviving the promise that was buried deep within Jacob. When God was done with Jacob, he was a different person.
Closing thoughts: We can be reassured that God is not intimidated by our back story, no matter how messy. Jacob’s beginnings do not paint a picture of the person he later becomes – Israel, one who prevails with God. Jacob started life disadvantaged in a sense (with his name and family dynamics), and always had to fight to make something of himself. In so doing, he got himself into all sorts of challenging situations. But through it all, God was there – and using that experience to shape him into Israel, the person after whom the nation today is named.
