A Changed Man

Introduction

What has been the biggest change you have ever had to make in your life? That’s a difficult question to answer. For some it will be having children; or it may have been a move or the changing of a job or losing a spouse to death or a divorce or financial setbacks. But I suppose getting married would have to rank as one of the most significant changes many go through. Barbara and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary yesterday (July 10). She would tell you it has been the best 17 years of her life. I used the Bill Murphy system for celebrating and took her to the fish fry last night. Some know earlier than others how life changing marriage will be.

Life is filled with changes. Some are more significant than others. But as is often said, “change is the one thing we can count on.” Like it or not—and many of us do not like it—change is inevitable. I would suggest to you that the greatest change you have ever made in your life is still going on. I would suggest to you that the most significant change is the one that began the day you became a Christian and will continue to be the most significant change until the Lord Jesus returns. Today we are going to look at one final episode in Jacob’s life which highlights the importance of change.

Return to Bethel

God appears to Jacob once more. God tells him to return to Bethel. This is the place where God first appeared to Jacob. 20+ years after that first Bethel experience it is now time for Jacob to have a renewal. God tells Jacob that he wants him to settle in that area and to build an altar. Why Bethel? It was the place where God made his promise. It was the place where Jacob pledged himself to God (albeit that the pledge seems manipulative). God is calling him back to the beginning, back to the place where life was in disarray and uncertain. 20 years later, Jacob could look back at his life and see the hand of God. It was now time for Jacob to live up to his end of the deal.

Jacob must have understood something about the original promise and his part of that promise. Look at Genesis 28:20-22. All of these conditions were met. Now it is time for Jacob to make God his only God. So he goes to his household, all of his wives, children, and servants, and tells them that it is time to get rid of all the foreign gods. It certainly appears that worshiping idols was something that Jacob allowed in his household. But no longer. It has been 20 years in the making. The process which began with a stone for a pillow and a promise continues. Jacob and his household are changing.

Jacob has a new life and the foreign gods do not fit in with this new life. If God is going to be his God, then it is time for him to make God the only God in his life. But it has taken 20 years to get to this point. Sometimes we think that giving our lives to God means that we change instantaneously. But giving our lives to God means that we begin the process of changing. Perfection is not ours when we give our lives to God and it will not be ours in this life. But the process of changing means that we are on the lookout for the things in our life that need to be buried.

Jacob buries the idols. A fitting tribute to those things which are really not gods. Our idols need to be buried as well. Our baptism is a burial in which we die to self so that the Holy Spirit may come to live within us and give us real life. But we continue to be tempted by gods which are no god at all. Jacob buries the false gods. Hidden under the dirt that God created they are incapable of saving themselves or of bringing themselves out of the grave. God called Jacob to live according to the promise he made. Let’s sing songs reminding us that we too have been called and are called each Sunday to live according to the promises we have made.

A New Name

Jacob returns to Bethel and God again appears to him. God again tells Jacob that his name is to be Israel. And then in a verse never before seen in connection with Jacob, God introduces himself to Jacob. “I am God Almighty—El Shaddai.” Jacob had already been given the name Israel back in chapter 32. Perhaps it is that Jacob had a hard time taking on that name. God appears and confirms Jacob’s new name—Israel. But this time he not only receives a new name but God reveals himself with a name that has not been used with Jacob before.

The God who appeared to Jacob’s grandfather and father was not revealed in this way. Why this new revelation from God? I would suggest it is because Jacob needs it. For 20 years Jacob has lived by his own wits. He has looked to God to prosper him and to get him out of jams. He has looked to God when each child was born. He has looked to God when it was time to meet his brother. This time God speaks to Jacob. Go back to the place where this journey began. Go back to the place where you made a set of conditional promises. I did all you asked of me. Only God Almighty could do this. Not the false gods; not the buried gods. Only the God who has been with Abraham, Isaac, and now you; making the same promises could be the real God.

God spoke to Jacob and revealed himself and his character. He has revealed himself to us as well through the person of Jesus. For some, God is Almighty—the one who can keep promises and has the power to do so. For others God is comforter—the one who provides strength to go on in times of deep sorrow and pain. At other times, God is the one who rebukes and calls us back to him. But for all who come to him acknowledging sin and seeking relationship with him, God is Savior—the one who has paid the price so that we might be a part of his family. Every aspect of God is seen in the person of Jesus. Jesus never failed to keep a promise; Jesus comforted those who were suffering; Jesus rebuked those who needed to return to God; and Jesus saved.

By what name do you know God? In our lives, we know God by many different names. Each one speaks to a time in our life when we receive from God exactly what we need at the time. The process of becoming wholeheartedly dedicated to God takes a lifetime. And it is in that process that God reveals himself through Jesus differently. Thus, it is so important that we stay in the scriptures so that we can see God and understand more about him as we go through life. And every time we learn something new about God and our relationship with him, then there is another idol to bury; another part of our heart to turn over to God. Is there a part of your heart that needs to be turned over to God today?

Follow Jesus

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