If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the Lord will be my God
– Genesis 28:20-21
When Jacob ran away from home and arrived at Bethel, God appeared to him for the first time in a dream. Perhaps God felt Jacob was so awful that He couldn’t speak to him face to face as He did with Abraham. In his dream, Jacob saw a ladder connecting heaven and earth. God was in heaven above the ladder, and Jacob was on the earth. In his dream, God blessed him with the land, the seed, and His presence (28:13–15). When Jacob woke up, he said, “This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” (v. 17). He set up a pillar and poured oil on top of it (v. 18). However, in his prayer he forgot all about the land and the seed. He only thought about himself, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the Lord will be my God” (vv. 20–21). His following of God was conditional. He would believe in God only if He did according to his request. He didn’t want God; he wanted the things of God. He wasn’t like his father and grandfather who desired God.
Adapted from A Sketch of Genesis, by Titus Chu, page 139.
Tomorrow: “Having No Desire for God” (3)