September 3 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Genesis 49:8–18

Devotional

It is remarkable that Jacob mentions these words after he has addressed Dan. Jacob has no blessing for this son. He had to declare a curse upon him.

“Dan shall be a serpent...” says Jacob. Dan seems to be pious, but he is ungodly. Jacob views in Dan the crafty squirming of the old serpent from Paradise—the devil with all his deceitful devices and abominations of sin. When this son stands before his father, it makes Jacob afraid. He feels the pain of sin and he longs for the place where there is no more sin. He has become so tired of sin. He feels that it is better for him to die than to live.

Jacob sees the poison of the serpent in his own child. He does not hate his child, but he hates the sin in his child. He knows also that it is his sin, for “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.” Jacob also had a life of sin behind him. He lied to his father Isaac. He deceived his brother Esau. He dealt slyly with Laban so that he could save himself and did not need God’s help. When the Lord asked him at Peniel what his name was, all he could say was, “My name is Jacob,” which means “I am a deceiver.” At that place his thigh was disjointed so that he could not support himself anymore on his own legs. His own strength was broken, and if God had not done it, there would have been nothing left of Jacob. To be able to die in a blessed state, one’s own strength needs to be broken. Therefore Jacob cannot say at this time, “I have waited for my salvation.” If it is about that little word “my,” then the only thing left for a sinner to say is: “my sin, my guilt, my depraved self.” Looking within, Jacob could better have said, “I wait for my condemnation,” and then God would have been just and righteous.

No, this salvation does not originate from himself. It is merely a gift of God’s mercies and Jacob knows this quite well. “Thy salvation.” He means to say, “I have ruined everything, but God has made all things well.” “Thy salvation.” This is the only foundation to live with and it is the final foundation on which to die. It is being saved because God desires it. When we learn what grace is, then we cannot find anything in ourselves; otherwise, grace is no more grace.

Jacob’s life ends in the faithfulness of God. “LORD,” he says. This is the Name of the unchangeable faithfulness of God, the name Jehovah, I AM THAT I AM. I shall remain faithful to an unfaithful people.

Although the love of God was present in Jacob’s life, he did not have an easy life. Matters always went different from what he had expected and pre-meditated. But because of God’s faithfulness all things worked together to salvation. Sometimes in this life God’s people say with Jacob, “All these things are against me.” But the Lord often sustains His people in the way of adversities. God knows what they need better than they do. This is also God’s faithfulness.

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.