God’s Presence

Genesis 28: 10-17

“10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11 He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. 12 And he dreamed that there was a stairway set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And the Lord stood beside him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring, 14 and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. 15 Know that 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 promised you.” 16 Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

Jacob met the God of his father and grandfather in an unexpected place in an unexpected way.  Before this encounter, he almost certainly knew of God and the covenant.  But in that certain place, that very holy place, the Lord stood beside him in a vivid dream, and he introduced himself to Jacob.

Jacob was a changed person after that encounter with God.  He was no longer the mamas boy, the wheeler dealer, or the swindler.  He was a man of God who would be led by God, who would listen to God, and follow God.

We cannot draw near to God and not be changed.  It simply is not possible.

God’s presence is the presence of transformation, changing the bad to good, the lukewarm to passionate, the doubt to certainty.

Seek God’s presence.  

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

God’s Way

 Genesis 27: 41-45

“41 Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42 But the words of her elder son Esau were told to Rebekah, so she sent and called her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you. 43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran, 44 and stay with him a while, until your brother’s fury turns away— 45 until your brother’s anger against you turns away, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

If you were raised in a family with other siblings, I am sure at on time or another you thought your mother or father showed favoritism to one of the other siblings.

Esau must have felt the same way.  Rebekah seemed always to be doting on Jacob.  Now their plotting and scheming had resulted in a real injustice to Esau.

Rebekah and Jacob stole the blessing that was rightfully Esau’s.  Rebekah and Jacob’s deception resulted in Esau hating Jacob and swearing to kill him when Isaac died.

In this story of Jacob and Esau, we are reminded of the story of Cain.  The outcome of the story of Cain and Abel was the death of Abel at the hands of Cain.   

In the story of Jacob and Esau, God intervened and brought peace between them.

God’s way is the way of peace and unity.

May the love of Christ be with you, 

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

I Am

 Genesis 27:15-24

15 Then Rebekah took the best garments of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob, 16 and she put the skins of the kids on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17 Then she handed the savory food and the bread that she had prepared to her son Jacob. 18 So he went in to his father and said, “My father,” and he said, “Here I am; who are you, my son?” 19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, so that you may bless me.” 20 But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the Lord your God granted me success.” 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22 So Jacob went up to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands, so he blessed him. 24 He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.”

For every sin there is a fork in the road.  The fork in the road appears just before the action.  This fork represents the choice of whether to sin or not to sin; whether to go the godly route or walk down the path of sin.

Jacob’s fork in the road came when his blind father asked him if he was really Esau.   Jacob replied, “I am”.  

We see the phrase “I am” used throughout the Bible (over 300 times).  God and Jesus used the phrase “I am” in order to identify themselves as God.  In fact, we refer to God as the “Great I Am”.

In this scripture, Jacob uses this phrase to identify himself as his brother, Esau.  He uses the “I am” to swindle his brother out of his blessing.  By saying. “I am” he lied to his blind father and became complicit in the plot of Rebekah. 

For Jacob, saying “I am” was a phrase that pinpointed his time of sin; the exact moment when his path diverged from the path of God’s will. 

As we approach our own fork in the road, which road will we take?

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Two Nations, Two People

 Two Nations, Two People

Genesis 25: 21-26

“21 Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife because she was barren, and the Lord granted his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived. 22 The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is to be this way, why do I live?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples born of you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other; the elder shall serve the younger.” 24 When her time to give birth was at hand, there were twins in her womb. 25 The first came out red, all his body like a hairy mantle, so they named him Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out, with his hand gripping Esau’s heel, so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.”

Our second granddaughter was born fourteen months after our first granddaughter.  They look almost like twins.  But I can see differences between .

Isaac and Rebekah’s children were struggling against each other even in the womb. Even though they were twins, they did not look alike or act alike. One would be stronger, and one would serve the other.  

When Jacob and Esau were born, the nations of Israel and Edom were born.  Israel and Edom would be enemies for centuries until the Edomites were defeated by King Saul in the 11th century B.C.

In the world today differences still exist between nations.  But Christ came to proclaim and establish the Kingdom of God in and among all people. 

Paul wrote that in Christ “There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

We are all one in Christ.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)