Gone from Laban, Jacob soon has another experience with God. Knowing that his brother, Esau, is coming, and with “four hundred men” (Genesis 32:6), too. Jacob prays fervently to the Lord, even though he acknowledged that “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant” (Genesis 32:10, NKJV). Jacob, truly, was understanding better what grace was about.

And how did the Lord respond?

Read Genesis 32:22-31 and Hosea 12:3-4. What is the spiritual significance of this amazing story?

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Jacob is distressed, understandably so, by what was happening and, after doing what he can to protect his family, he camps for the night. He is, then, suddenly attacked by “a Man” (Genesis 32:24, NKJV). This is a term that can have special connotations, evoking the divine presence (see Isaiah 53:3). Daniel used it to refer to the heavenly priest Michael (Daniel 10:5); it was also the word used by Joshua to depict the “Commander of the LORD’s army,” who was the LORD YHWH Himself (Joshua 5:13-15, NKJV).

Indeed, amid the fighting, it must have become obvious to Jacob that he was struggling with God Himself, as his words, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” (Genesis 32:26, NKJV) revealed. Yet, his fervent clinging to God, his refusal to let go, also reveal his passionate desire for forgiveness and to be right with His Lord.

“The error that had led to Jacob’s sin in obtaining the birthright by fraud was now clearly set before him. He had not trusted God’s promises, but had sought by his own efforts to bring about that which God would have accomplished in His own time and way.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, Pages 197, 198.

And the evidence that he had been forgiven was the change of his name, from the reminder of his sin, to one that commemorated his victory. “Your name,” said the Angel, “shall no longer be called Jacob [the supplanter], but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed” (Genesis 32:28, NKJV).

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Genesis 32:22-31; Hosea 12:3-4; Jeremiah 30:5-7; Genesis 33:1-20; Genesis 34:30-35:29.

Memory Text: “And He said, ‘Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed’” (Genesis 32:28, NKJV).

The family saga of Jacob continues, both the good and the bad. Yet, through it all, the hand of God and His faithfulness to the covenant promises are revealed.

This week follows more of Jacob, now that he left Laban and, returning home, had to face Esau, the victim of Jacob’s treachery. What would his brother, so grievously wronged, now do to him?

Fortunately for Jacob, amid the fear of what was coming, the Lord God of his fathers appeared again to him in an incident that was a precursor to what would later become known as the “time of Jacob’s trouble” (see Jeremiah 30:5-7). And that night Jacob, the supplanter, became “Israel,” a new name for a new beginning, a beginning that would ultimately lead to the creation of a nation itself named after him.

In other words, despite all that happens, the story of the patriarchs and their family is told in Scripture in order to show us that God is faithful to fulfill what He has promised and that He will do so despite what, at times, seems to be nothing but His people doing all that they can to stop that fulfillment.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, June 4.

Sunday–>

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A while back, a woman writing to prisoners for her church ministry asked me if she would be dishonest if she does not use her real name. She wanted to hide her real identity for security purposes. I assured her a pseudonym was not being dishonest. After all, the Bible gives many names for God, so why can’t we have many names? 

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While living in the Dallas area during the mid ’90s Deion Sanders was playing for the Dallas Cowboys, so I decided it would be fun to invent “Deion” as my restaurant name. So for the last almost 30 years now, when waiting for a table or placing an order to be called out, my name has become Deion. Since then I have learned many people use pseudonyms when giving their names at a restaurant. It’s not being dishonest. The restaurants couldn’t care less what your real name is. They just need to know who to call when your table is ready. A pastor friend told me he uses the name “Wild.” That way when his table is ready the hostess calls out, “Wild party of four, your table is ready.” 

Name games can be fun, but the fact is that I love being me. God loves me being me too. I am glad God made me to be me. There is a difference between having multiple names and pretending to be a totally different person than I really am. I don’t need to wear a Deion Sanders jersey with his name on the back. I don’t have to be someone else to be happy. I love who God made me to be. 

While the name game at restaurants is fun, Satan plays a game that is no fun at all. He likes to make us think that the only way we can ever be happy is to be someone other than who God made us. This was his first deception with Eve. 

“God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” Genesis 3:5 NLT

There are two problems here with the serpent’s suggestion. First he is insinuating that Eve cannot be happy unless she becomes someone else. Sadly this is Satan’s deceptive suggestion to many people. You can’t be happy being you. You can’t be happy being who God made you to be. You have to become someone else in order to he happy. In this case Eve needed to be God. The second problem with this suggestion is that Eve was already made in God’s image. See Genesis 1:26. While Eve obviously was not God Himself, she was already created in God’s image, a truth the serpent’s suggestion seemed to deny.

I suppose that, since Lucifer thought he could not be happy just being himself, he suggested that no one could be happy just being themselves, but that suggestion is not true. We can be happy just being who God made us to be.  A lack of trust in God has led others to skew their own identities. In Genesis 12 Abraham skews his identity, claiming to be Sarai’s brother only, instead of her husband. In Genesis 26 Isaac does practically the same thing, changing his identity and relationship with Rebekah. In Genesis 27 Jacob does not trust God to bless him, so he puts his trust in a lie. That lie causes him to change his identity. Jacob thinks he has to be Esau in order to be blessed. 

David appreciated who he was when he exclaimed, 

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. Psalm 139:14 NLT 

David trusted God enough to be who he really was. Do we trust God enough to be who we really are? Do you realize how special you are to God? Friend, you are no accident. You are not just another face in the crowd. With the billions of beings already to grace the face of the earth, God was not content until He made you. He literally loved you into existence!

Don’t fall for Stan’s lie that you cannot be happy until you change your identity. Satan’s biggest lie to Eve and all humanity is that you can’t be happy unless you become someone you are not. Don’t fall for that lie. God is love, and God created you to be you because He loves you being you. Don’t try to become someone or something that God never loved into existence. You are you because you are what He loved into existence. Trust God enough to be the you that He created. 

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My Most Valuable Possession

By Theda Pienaar

As is my custom, I opened my Bible to read on a flight from Namibia to South Africa. Immediately, a young man beside me spoke up.

“Is that a Bible?” he said. He apparently was from Eastern Europe.

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“Yes, it’s a Bible,” I said.

“Do you believe in the Bible?” he said.

“Yes, with all my heart.”

He said his grandparents used to read the Bible to him but he didn’t believe the stories, especially Creation. I shared my life-changing experience as a person who had returned to God after 15 years on my own and was led by Him to a place of safety in the world. He was interested in my story.

“Can I hold your Bible, please?” he asked.

It was thrilling to see my Bible in his hands. It seemed go make a big impression on him. After he handed it back, I read out loud from Isaiah 43. He listened with interest to God’s promises of protection.

Before the plane landed, I asked, “Would you accept a gift?” In my bag, I had a copy of Steps to Christ. He didn’t want to take the book, but I assured him that I had another copy. “If you have any questions, please text me,” I said, writing my phone number inside the cover.

To my surprise, within a day of my arrival home in Ireland, he texted, “I’m home safely.” I prayed, “I don’t think this is a coincidence.” He wrote that he had met a woman in Namibia who prayed daily. “Seeing that, I started thinking about my grandparents reading the Bible, and then I met you,” he said.

“I don’t believe in coincidences,” I said. “Let God to speak to your heart.”

We texted every so often, and I sent Bible verses. One day, he sent me a picture of a church. “I live next to this church,” he said.

I replied that I wanted to mail him a history of the Christian church and, when I received his address, I sent him The Great Controversy.

Sometime later, someone sent me a video about the plan of salvation, and I passed it on to him. He responded, “This is so amazing.”

I prayed, “Lord, I need to know what might work in his life.” A strong thought came to mind: “He held your Bible. Give him your Bible.”

I have decided to mail my Bible to him. I have written a letter, saying, “This is my most precious possession. God gave His only Son, the most precious thing that He had, for our salvation. I hope you will read this, my most precious possession.”

This mission story illustrates Spiritual Growth Objective No. 5 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s “I Will Go” strategic plan, “To disciple individuals and families into spirit-filled lives.” Read more: IWillGo2020[dot]org.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

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Further Thought:

God chose Jacob, not because he deserved it, but because of His grace. And yet, Jacob worked hard to try to deserve grace, which itself is a contradiction. If he deserved it, then it wouldn’t be grace; it would be works (see Romans 4:1-5), which is contrary to the gospel.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

Only later did Jacob start to understand the significance of God’s grace and what it meant to trust God, to live by faith, and to be completely dependent on the Lord. Jacob’s experience contains an important lesson for the ambitious person: do not strive to promote yourself at the expense of others.

“Jacob thought to gain a right to the birthright through deception, but he found himself disappointed. He thought he had lost everything, his connection with God, his home, and all, and there he was a disappointed fugitive. But what did God do? He looked upon him in his hopeless condition, He saw his disappointment, and He saw there was material there that would render back glory to God. No sooner does He see his condition than He presents the mystic ladder, which represents Jesus Christ. Here is man, who had lost all connection with God, and the God of heaven looks upon him and consents that Christ shall bridge the gulf which sin has made. We might have looked and said, I long for heaven but how can I reach it? I see no way. That is what Jacob thought, and so God shows him the vision of the ladder, and that ladder connects earth with heaven, with Jesus Christ. A man can climb it, for the base rests upon the earth and the top-most round reaches into heaven.” — Ellen G. White Comments, The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 1095.

Discussion Questions:

<–Thursday

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