(vs20-22) “Then Jacob made a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You”.
We shall love the Lord God, if He loves us, and we shall do His will willingly from the heart.
First, the wicked comfort themselves by harming God's people, even refusing, banishing, and murdering the Son (Gen 27:41-42). We read, “And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, Surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you” (vs42). When the Lord healed the demoniac named Legion, casting many demons out of him, His holy power caused slavish fear and they requested that He depart from them. He did, and He does. We read, “Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid... then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region” (Mark 5:15-17).
The wicked, by lies, by murdering hands, and by pushing truth away, do all that they can to comfort themselves in this miserable life, because they know that God has blessed the Son.
Rather than obtaining mercy in the position of submission, rather than glorify God and His decisions, the rebel fights against God and proves the justness of his own destruction. God is blameless in His hatred of men. We read, “It was said to her, The older shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated”, for Jacob would be graced to want Christ, while Esau is punished for his own decisions” (Rom 9:12-13).
Bless God. We believe. The wicked hear the gospel and pervert it, persecute it, and stamp it out of their minds. We give everything that we have for it, cherishing Him above life and limb.
Secondly, if we're of God, then we're wise and obey Him (Gen 28:6-9). Children obey their parents, pastors FEED the churches, husbands love their wives, and we do those things that God says do. We read, “Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan, and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram”.
Jacob was blessed and commanded. The blessing is sure, and the commandment is non-optional. Esau shows his rebellion and wickedness, for which he is punished eternally. We read of his compromising spirit, “Also Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. So Esau went to Ishmael [not Padan Aram, his family, as Jacob was clearly instructed] and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son [by bondage and without the spiritual blessing], the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had” (vs8-9). Contrariwise, Jacob shows obedience and submission because he is eternally blessed. Do not disassociate obedience, which is for our good, and blessings, which insure that obedience comes.
Thirdly, it is fact, if God has blessed us, revealing Himself in mercies and promises, then He is our God indeed (Gen 28:20-22). Jacob vowed, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God” (vs20-22). We WORSHIP Him in return, even as Jacob gave a tenth of all he had.
Tithing isn't mandatory in the new covenant, but giving is, which is from a willing heart, according to what you have. We read, “For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints” (2 Cor 8:3).
Everyone who is saved WILLINGLY serves, so that grace produces devotion. We have freely received, so we willingly give ourselves to the Lord - our possessions, time, and talent. We make a return on Christ's grace, even as Paul said, “I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also” (Rom 1:14-15). The gospel makes the heart live for God.
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