Almighty God

Genesis 35:11, 12 Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.”

This is the second time God introduces Himself as God Almighty. The first time was with Abraham (17:1) and now to Jacob. Both the instances have a common thing that is it was not the first time God speaks with them. The first time it was that I am your God but now God wants to introduce Himself as God Almighty which means I can do everything. But both these men had limited God’s abilities in their lives. Abraham did not think God can bring descendants through himself and his wife. God proved his might in Abraham’s multiplication by bringing forth a seed and a covenant.

This covenant is everlasting and God desires similar relationships with us to establish His being Almighty. God’s only intention is that we should have eternal life and live with Him. We can read this in 17:8. But we do not even try to go there. All we need is temporary solutions and pleasures. We should grow up to understand these do not matter.

In Genesis 35:12, we read that God giving the land of Canaan to Jacob personally. Jacob had good riches but God wanted Jacob to own Canaan completely which he was not working towards. So God mentions that “I am God Almighty. Go and own the land”. God wants us to be victorious completely and our life in this earth should be completely overcome. Satan, flesh or the earth should not have any authority in our life. For this victory God says “I am mighty and available for you to live that perfect life”. We need to have sufficient faith so that God is seen victorious.

In Jacob’s case he was well settled according to the world’s eyes. Jacob had eleven sons, sufficient property and money. But God still wanted Jacob to be fruitful and multiply. Jacob was multiplying well but he was not fruitful. God wants a fruitful person to multiply. Abraham was good at ninety nine years as he fell down at the Lord’s feet. Jacob chose to wrestle instead. Being fruitful in Jacob’s case should be that all the children are raised wear Godliness and discipline. But that was not what Jacob did. He was partial towards Joseph and ignored everybody including Benjamin. Jacob was silent when Dinah was violated. When children became violent and bad, Jacob did not do much about it. God wants us to be responsible parents first and that would be the first step of being fruitful. Multiplying without fruits is dangerous for the good children. Even in Christendom, if we plan to grow our ministry or plan new activities in church without proper fruits, it would not just spoil but be a disgrace to all our actions.

The other indication that Jacob did not understand God’s covenant is that he went to Rachel to multiply his family and lost her. He sincerely hoped that Benjamin was the chosen son and so named him “son of my right hand”. But God has chosen Judah already. The problem here also was that Jacob had limited God’s ability that God would only give him more children but not good descendants or nations. God had promised kings to come out of Jacob’s blood. But in the next chapter (Genesis 36) we read about Esau’s expansion and kings who come out of him. This is an indication that material and worldly blessings are not from God Almighty. In Chapter 37 we see a son who Jacob cherished is sold. In the next chapter we read how God had to kill sons of Judah who was God’s chosen one. These events are opposite to what Esau was seeing in his life. God disciplines and corrects us because we need to be fruitful.

In both cases of Abraham (17:22) and Jacob (35:13) we read that God left them and went above. This is how God wants to win. God promises that He will be present in a supportive way and wants us to bring that victory or product to Him. There is no profit if God uses His own authority and power for our victory and we do not participate. A good leader ensures that every follower participates and wins.

In the book of revelation we read the term Almighty in multiple instances. Twice we read it as “Who is, Who was and Who is to come.” In Rev 1:8 God adds the term I am the beginning and the end. God is the mighty person in our life. His power created us and His power saved us. Now we are sustained in His power and when he comes again as a Judge, He still will be almighty through our victory. The beginning is His and the end is His and both are eternal. We are living in a temporary small period that is in the middle where God wants us to make the right decisions. In Rev 4:8 we read the important character of the Almighty God as HOLY, HOLY and HOLY. His might is displayed when we who share glory with Him would become worthy.

Amen.

Why was Judah Chosen

Genesis 49:10 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.”

Of all the twelve sons of Jacob, Judah was chosen to be the rightful heir and son of promise. It is important for us to understand God’s divine choice in this.

Judah was not the first born in Jacob’s family and Rueben was the first. But Rueben was not a good person as he defiled his family (35:22). Jacob was silent at this action till his deathbed in chapter 49. This incident is very disgusting for us to hear but we easily ignore similar offences around us. This should be compared with people who steal God’s glory. The church has one sole purpose of existence which is to please its husband, Christ. But if it works hard to please any other person including the pastor, it becomes disgusting for both the Church and its leader. The problem here is that it is the leader who has more chances of this sin. But we have to understand what it means from God’s perspective to steal his glory. Rueben was a good person at times. We also have this thought that the leader is a good person except that he made some money for himself. No good deeds will be valid if we steal from God Almighty. Paul and this team were a good example where he tore his clothes when people honored him. (Acts 14:14)

Chapter 34 is one incident where pride and anger of Simeon and Levi cost them their opportunity. Jacob was also not right here by not acting against Shechem first. He was silently waiting for sin to happen. Just like false promises and hypocrisy, silence at wrong times can be very much destructive.

Now when the sons of Jacob saw this incident, they found that disgraceful “in Israel”. The whole chapter does not mention God anywhere but seeks to fulfill personal or local justice. Israel was not established yet and they have just arrived and are living outside a city. But the sons of Jacob had that developed that pride at this stage itself. Also, we read sexual offences throughout early history but this particular one was acted upon instantly because of this pride. We try to compare others with the sins that we just have overcome at many times. We also measure others with Christian standards which we ourselves are struggling. These actions which we may think are very righteous become the reason for our failure. Also Pride and Anger together becomes cruelty and caused Simeon and Levi to lose their positions.

Also this incident made them lose opportunities where a whole city could have turned to God. But Simeon and Levi used the same methods God used to save people for destruction. This has repeated in history many times like the Roman Catholic Church which had performed destruction at many stages because of its wrong understanding of doctrine. The sons promoted circumcision and not God anywhere in the chapter and it was their protocols that brought anger inside them.  Christians should be clearly aware that we should not judge others because God has made law very personal to us through the Holy Spirit.

When the brothers wanted to kill Joseph in 37:26, Judah says that it is not good have the blood on our hands. Rueben wanted to please his father but there is danger still for Joseph. Judah had compassion towards Joseph and had clearly instructed them that “He is their flesh and blood”. The verse quotes that “they listened”. This is a characteristic of a chosen one.

In Chapter 38 we read about Judah and Tamor which becomes a righteous deed because Christ was born in this lineage. Judah was immediate in accepting his mistake in 38:26.

Also we read Judah allowing himself to be blamed both with Jacob in Chapter 43:8 and with Joseph in Chapter 44:33. This submission is required to carry the burden of God. For God to perform His will and if we wish to carry it in our hearts, it is required that we allow ourselves as shields for the protection of others.

Amen.

A Wrong Enemy

Genesis 32:25 “Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.”

This is the only incident in the Bible where it is recorded that God could not prevail against man. The situation is so simple that Jacob had to come back to Bethel and live there. But he was so stupid to fear Esau who was living in Edom which is far and no way close to Bethel and wanted to make peace with him before settling down in Canaan. Isaac had blessed Jacob so that Esau would serve him. But in this situation Jacob keeps repeating the word “lord” when calling Esau.

This is one successful trait of the devil in diverting us towards false enemies. God had clearly removed Esau out of Jacob’s path and Esau had settled down elsewhere. It was just after angels of God had met Jacob at Mahanaim. Fear is so powerful that it makes us completely ignore God’s presence and communication with us. In Numbers 14:9 we read that we should not rebel against God and not fear men. Fearing men makes us try to be neutral, lame or tasteless. These men could be our own family members like a wife, parent or child who would have no demand but we try to please them in our own ways. Esau was very polite and was even trying to help Jacob which show how unnecessary was this fear. Satan’s deception and the strength of our flesh can become very successful that we would even wrestle strongly against God Himself and still prevail. Mark 6:5, 6 is another verse which shows how lack of faith can be devastating and is a serious problem. This lack of faith is a sin that God Himself did not expect from us.

The fear was so high that Jacob did not think about God who he was wrestling against. All he wanted was a blessing for that unnecessary problem. God had clearly spoken to Jacob in many instances and it was God who blessed Jacob while in Padan Aram. Every event in Jacob’s life was a clear evidence of God being beside him. But Jacob had chosen to get a blessing by wrestling with God. If faith was present there the whole incident would have been very constructive. But this wrestle did not contribute anything because hours later Jacob saw Esau who was meant to serve him and Jacob ridiculously worshipped him.

Verse 24 says that God initiated the encounter but could not prevail because of Jacob’s stubbornness. This means that we are disallowing God to do his will just because we are fearful. We need to fear this attitude of fear. This can be fatal and bring the greatest disgrace to God. The verse clearly says that Jacob got this limp only because God could not prevail against Jacob. As per Psalms 46:1,2 if we are in God’s side, faith would be the greatest action and obedience we would submit to God. In Mathew 25:26 we read Jesus calling to fear as wickedness.

In Gen 32:26-18 we read how the name Israel was given to Jacob only because of his persistence. Israel means “Prince with God” and it was given that Jacob at last realized that God was pitiful with Jacob and did not kill him after this encounter. Jacob did not fully inherit this name. Not once was the name Abram referred in the Bible after he became Abraham. But Israel was a name which he got at this incident and we can see many references to him as both Jacob and Israel in the Bible. Also, we read in Genesis 35:10 where God mentions that “Your name is Jacob, you shall not called be Jacob anymore.” God has to intervene and remind this change. If faith is not present God cannot complete his will in us.

Going back to Abraham we know how he was willing to sacrifice the only means of blessing without questioning. In Genesis 22:18 we read “Because you have obeyed my voice”. This voice is always heard in our life and this is very much visible in our time where The Holy Spirit resides within us. But lack of faith is one small disqualification which can make us fail. But presence of faith is something God is excited about and wants to come immediately and complete His will.

Since the arrival of Christ, the most important thing he emphasized was “being poor in spirit”, “deny yourself” and other similar teachings. This self-exaltation and selfishness is the enemy we need to be very careful for. Denying one’s self means ignoring all our needs and to focus on what God requires to fulfill in this world. That kind of sacrifice is very much required to us to succeed in this world. 1 John 5:38 says that being without sin is only safety not without temptation or pain.