And, behold, I [am] with thee, and will keep thee in all [places] whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done [that] which I have spoken to thee of.
15. I am with thee ] Cf. Gen 26:24, Gen 31:3. The personal promise to Jacob consists of (1) Divine Presence ( with thee): (2) Divine preservation ( keep thee): (3) Divine restoration ( bring again): (4) Divine fulfilment of promise ( until I have done).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Gen 28:15
I will not leave thee, until I have done all that which I have spoken to thee of
Renewed pledges
There are two very observable facts which may be gathered from the joint study of the Bible and our own hearts.
1. That we are prone to distrust the promises of God, though we know Him to be unchangeable.
2. That God so condescends to our weakness that He reduplicates His pledges, in order, as it were, to compel us into confidence.
I. God speaks to His people of sin blotted out; He speaks of the thorough reconciliation which Christ has effected between Himself and the sinner; He speaks of His presence as accompanying the pilgrim through the wilderness; of His grace as sufficient for every trial which may or can be encountered. The things of which God speaks to His people spread themselves through the whole of the unmeasured hereafter, and it must follow that the pledge of our not being left until the things spoken of are done is tantamount to an assurance that we shall never be left and never forsaken.
II. The text is thus a kind of mighty guarantee, giving such a force to every declaration of God, that nothing but an unbelief the most obstinate can find ground for doubt or perplexity. It does not stand by itself, but comes in as an auxiliary in declaring Gods glorious intention. It is a provision against human faithlessness, words which may well be urged when a man is tempted with the thought that, after all, a thing spoken of is not a thing done, and which bid him throw from him the thought that God is not bound to perform whatever He has promised. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Gods purpose and its fulfilment
1. God has a plan or scheme of life for every one of us, and His purposes embrace every part of that plan.
2. No words of God about our life will be left unfulfilled.
3. There is no unfinished life. The promise is a promise of–
(1) Presence.
(2) Intercourse.
(3) Fellowship. (S. Martin.)
The companionship of God
I. In what does the treasure of Gods companionship consist? It consists–
1. In the consciousness of Gods personality.
2. In the precious possessions he gives us–love, reason, conscience, will. To our conscience new light is given; to our love new spheres are open; our will receives new strength from the new example of His love and grace.
II. While these faculties are taken up the companionship of God becomes a reality of our daily life and our exceeding great reward. And then, besides, and with all this, we have the consciousness of communion with the Incarnate Word–Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; we know what to do and where to find Him. In this life we are to walk by faith. Our capacities are not intended to be satisfied here, but they shall be satisfied hereafter. (Bishop King.)
A fourfold comfort
Against his fourfold cross, here is a fourfold comfort.
1. Against the loss of his friends, I will be with thee.
2. Of his country, I will give thee this land.
3. Against his poverty, Thou shalt spread abroad to the east, west, &c.
4. His solitariness; angels shall attend thee, and thy seed shall be as the dust, &c. And who can count the dust of Jacob, said Balsam Num 23:10). Now, whatsoever God spake herewith Jacob, He spake with us, as well as with him, saith Hoses (Hoses. 12:4). (J. Trapp.)
Purpose in a promise
Every true mans life is charged with a purpose of God, which will mould it and master it, so as that it may best work out His glory. He who notes the fall of the sparrow sees, numbers, and knows each human soul. He has intrusted it with a certain office and privilege. He has created it that it might glorify Him. He has endowed that soul with existence that it might be guided into His all-wise purpose, and afterwards received to share with Him His glory.
I. Observe, then, carefully in the first place, that this being the chief end of man, there will always have to be some secondary and subordinate ends. These must be reckoned in; for they all tend towards the main end, and indeed receive their entire value from their connection with that.
II. Observe, furthermore, that if there be so many subordinate purposes in the one purpose of God, there must of necessity be many instruments also.
III. Observe, in the third place, that with a purpose so complicated as Gods is, in order to introduce every mans life into it, it will be possible that in some cases more than half the years which any given person lives will have to be spent just in rendering him ready to come in efficiently at the exact point when he is needed.
IV. Observe, once more, that if these varied instruments employed in carrying out the grand purpose are so many, and need so much preparation, there will be an evident necessity that a large number of teachers and trainers shall be kept at Gods service in instructing them. (C. S.Robinson, D. D.)
The Keeper of Israel
I. THE COMPANY. Jehovah Himself.
II. THE OFFICE. The Keeper of Israel.
III. THE MARCH. All places whither thou goest.
IV. THE ENGAGEMENT. I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. (J. Irons.)
Jacobs protector
I. GODS PRESENCE.
II. PROTECTION.
III. GUIDANCE.
IV. FAITHFULNESS. (C. Clayton, M. A.)
Four choice sentences
I. First, turn to the twenty-eighth chapter of Genesis, at the fifteenth verse, and read of PRESENT BLESSING. The Lord said to His servant Jacob, Behold, I am with thee.
1. Jacob was the inheritor of a great blessing from his fathers, for this sentence was spoken in connection with the following words, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac. It is an inexpressible privilege, to be able to look back to father and grandfather, and perhaps farther still, and to say, We come of a house which has served the Lord as far back as history can inform us. Descended from Christians, we have a greater honour than being descended from princes. There is no heraldry like the heraldry of the saints. Be not satisfied unless you yourself obtain such mercy as God gave to your ancestors, and hear the Lord saying, I am with thee.
2. This mercy was brought home to Jacob at a time when he greatly needed it. He had just left his fathers house, and he felt himself alone. He was coming into special trial, and then it was that he received a fuller understanding of the privilege which God had in store for him. Let me read the words to you–I am with thee. That God should send His angel with Jacob to protect him would have been much; but it is nothing compared with, I am with thee. This includes countless blessings, but it is in itself a great deal more than all the blessings we can conceive of. There are many fruits that come of it, but the tree that yields them is better than the fruit.
3. Why, when God is with a man there is a familiarity of condescension that is altogether unspeakable: it ensures an infinite love. I am with thee. God will not dwell with those He hates.
4. I am with thee–it means practical help. Whatever we undertake, God is with us in the undertaking; whatever we endure, God is with us in the enduring; whithersoever we wander, God is with us in our wandering. If God be for us, who can be against us? If God be with us, can we ever be exiled or banished? If God be with us, what can we not do? If God be with us, what can we not endure?
II. Now turn to the thirty-first chapter of Genesis, at the third verse, and read these words–I will be with thee. We will call this FUTURE BLESSING. It is almost unnecessary to take this second text; for if it is written, I am with thee, you may depend upon it that He will be with us, for God does not forsake His people.
III. I want to go a step further, and come, in the third place, to EXPERIENCED BLESSINGS. Let us look at Jacobs experience. Did Jacob find God to be with him? Turn to the thirty-first chapter again, and read the fifth verse. Up to as far as the time that he was about to leave Laban, he says–The God of my father hath been with me. I have read that testimony with great joy. I thought of Jacob thus–Well, you certainly were not eminent for grace while with Laban. You were plotting and scheming–you against Laban and Laban against you; and yet your witness is, The God of my father hath been with me. This is all the more encouraging as coming from you. Jacob seems to say of his God: It was He that gave me my wife and my children; it was He that prospered me in the teeth of those who tried to rob me; the God of my father hath been with me notwithstanding all my shortcomings. I trust that some of you can bear the like witness. Though you have net been all that you could wish in the Christian life, yet you can say, The God of my father has been with me. Now, we will look at him a little further on, in the thirty-fifth chapter, and the third verse: there we shall find him saying–Let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. As I have already said, he left Labans house; and it was a very venturesome journey, but God was with him: Jacob tells us that so it was. Poor Jacob was full of fear when he heard that Esau was coming to meet him. You can see that by the way in which he divided his flocks and his herds, and set apart so large a present for Esau. But God does not leave His people because of their fears. I am so thankful for that. There was a night of wrestling with Jacob. On that day, too, I have no doubt, Jacob was very much cast down, because he remembered his sin. He knew he had ill-treated Esau, and robbed him of the blessing; but, for all that, he came with a repentant heart to submit himself before his brother and to do what he could to please him. Because of this, God was with him. At the close of his life we find Jacob more fully than ever confessing that the presence of God had been with him. I read you the passage where he wished that the God that had been with him might be with his grandsons in the selfsame way–the forty-eighth chapter, at the fifteenth and sixteenth verses. He blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads. There is his last testimony to the faithfulness of God. He had lost Rachel–oh, how it stung his heart! but he says, God redeemed me from all evil. There had come a great famine in the land; but he says that God had fed him all his life long. He had lost Joseph, and that had been a great sorrow; but now, in looking back, he sees that even then God was redeeming him from all evil. He said once, Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away; all these things are against me; but now he eats his words, and says, The Lord hath redeemed me from all evil. He now believes that God had been always with him, had fed him always, and redeemed him always, and blessed him always. Now, mark you, if you trust in God, this shall be your verdict at the close of life.
IV. We have had present blessing; we have had future blessing; we have had experienced blessing three times over; and now we go to TRANSMITTED BLESSING; for we find Jacob transmitting the blessing to his son and to his grandson. Read in the forty-eighth chapter, at the twenty-first verse Behold, I die: but God shall be with you. I commenced by noticing the blessing which passed on from Abraham to Isaac; and now we see that Jacob hands it on to Joseph, Manasseh, and to Ephraim–I die: but God shall be with you. Blessed be the everlasting God–if Abraham dies, there is Isaac; and if Isaac dies, there is Jacob; and if Jacob dies, there is Joseph; and if Joseph dies, Ephraim and Manasseh survive. The Lord shall never lack a champion to bear His standard high among the sons of men. Only let us pray God to raise up more faithful ministers. That ought to be our prayer day and night. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 15. And, behold, I am with thee] For I fill the heavens and the earth. “My WORD shall be thy help.” – Targum. And will keep thee in all places, , in all this way. – Septuagint. I shall direct, help, and support thee in a peculiar manner, in thy present journey, be with thee while thou sojournest with thy uncle, and will bring thee again into this land; so that in all thy concerns thou mayest consider thyself under my especial providence, for I will not leave thee. Thy descendants also shall be my peculiar people, whom I shall continue to preserve as such until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of-until the Messiah shall be born of thy race, and all the families of the earth – the Gentiles, be blessed through thee; the Gospel being preached to them, and they, with the believing Jews, made ONE FOLD under ONE SHEPHERD, and one Bishop or Overseer of souls. And this circumstantial promise has been literally and punctually fulfilled.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Nor ever after; for so the word until is frequently used, as 2Sa 6:23; Mat 1:25; not so as to exclude the time following, but so as to include all the foregoing time, wherein the thing spoken of might be most suspected or feared; as here the worst and most dangerous state in which Jacob was, or was like to be, was this time of his banishment from his country and kindred, against which he is therefore particularly armed and comforted in these words.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And, behold, I [am] with thee,…. Though alone, at a distance from his father’s house, no friend to keep him company, or servant to attend him; but the presence of God here promised is abundantly more than an equivalent for all this:
and will keep thee in all [places], whither thou goest; from beasts of prey, in lonesome places through which he might travel; from thieves and robbers, to whom he might be exposed; from his brother Esau, and all his ill designs against him; and from being always under the bondage of Laban, into which he would be brought:
and will bring thee again into this land: the land of Canaan, which was entailed on him and his seed for an inheritance; but, as he would now soon be out of it, and continue in another land for many years, as he did, which would make it look very unpromising that he and his seed should inherit it, this is said unto him:
for I will not leave thee, until I have done [that] which I have spoken to thee of; made good all his promises to him: and the sense is, not that he would then leave him when he had done so, but as not before, so never after; for God never does, nor never will, utterly forsake his people.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
15. I am with thee, and will keep thee. God now promptly anticipates the temptation which might steal over the mind of holy Jacob; for though he is, for a time, thrust out into a foreign land, God declares that he will be his keeper until he shall have brought him back again. He then extends his promise still further; saying, that he will never desert him till all things are fulfilled. There was a twofold use of this promise: first, it retained his mind in the faith of the divine covenant; and, secondly, it taught him that it could not be well with him unless he were a partaker of the promised inheritance.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
DISCOURSE: 44
THE MANNER IN WHICH GOD DISPENSES HIS FAVOURS
Gen 28:15. Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land: for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
THE study of profane history is exceeding profitable, inasmuch as it brings us into an acquaintance with human nature in all its diversified forms, and thereby qualifies us to discharge all our own duties with more wisdom and propriety. But sacred history, besides that it sets before us incomparably brighter examples of virtue, has this peculiar advantage, that it brings God himself to our view, and exhibits him to us in all the dispensations of his providence and grace. The account which is here given us of his intercourse with Jacob, will serve to shew us, in a very striking point of view, in what manner he disperses his favours.
I.
He bestows them sovereignly
[Jacob had grievously sinned both against God and man, in personating his brother, in imposing on his father, in blasphemously ascribing to God what was the fruit of his own device, and in fraudulently obtaining his brothers birthright. Having incensed his injured brother, he was now fleeing, to avoid the effects of his indignation. And in what manner should we suppose that God would meet him, if indeed he should deign to notice such a miscreant? Would he not say to him, as he afterwards did to the fugitive prophet, What dost thou here, Elijah? Or rather, instead of noticing him at all, may we not suppose that he would send a lion to destroy him [Note: 1Ki 13:24.] ? But behold, for the displaying of the riches of his own grace, he revealed himself to him in a most instructive vision; he confirmed to him all the promises that had been made to Abraham and to Isaac; and even extended beyond all former bounds the manifestations of his favour.
A similar instance we have in the Apostle Paul; whom, at the very instant that he was labouring to extirpate the followers of Christ, God was pleased to stop, not, as might have been expected, with some signal judgment, but with singular expressions of his regard, conferring oil him the highest honours, and communicating to him the richest blessings.
And may not we also admire the sovereignty of God in the exercise of his mercy towards ourselves? Wherefore is it that we are favoured with the light of his Gospel, when so many myriads of our fellow-sinners are left in darkness and the shadow of death? If we have experienced in our souls the efficacy of divine grace, may we not look back with wonder to the period of our conversion, when we were either drinking iniquity with greediness, or proudly establishing our own righteousness in opposition to the righteousness of Christ? Let us deliberately consider our state when God first caused a ray of light to shine into our minds, and implanted his grace in our hearts, and we shall esteem ourselves no less indebted to the electing love of God, than Jacob, or Saul, or any other whom he has ever chosen [Note: 2Ti 1:9.].]
II.
He times them seasonably
[The fugitive patriarch was now in a very desolate and forlorn condition, wearied in body [Note: From Beersheba to Beth-el was about forty miles.], and distressed in mind. Probably his conscience now smote him, and he was saying with himself, as Josephs brethren afterwards did, I am verily guilty concerning my brother [Note: Gen 42:21.]. How welcome then must the tokens of Gods regard be to him at that season! What a support under his present trials! what an antidote against any future calamities!
Thus it is that God interposes on the behalf of his people, and repents himself for them, when their strength is gone, and there is none shut up or left [Note: Deu 32:36.]. When the contrite soul is bowed down, under a sense of guilt, and ready to say, There is no hope; then does God speak peace unto it, saying, Be of good cheer, I am thy salvation. Just as, in Hagars extremity, God sent his angel to point out to her a spring, whereby the life of her child was unexpectedly preserved, so in ten thousand instances he appears for us, when we are ready to despair of help: and though his interpositions on our behalf are less visible than these, yet every one of us has reason to acknowledge the truth of that proverb, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen [Note: Gen 22:14.]. Let us but review our lives, and call to mind the aids of his Spirit under temptations, trials, difficulties; let us see how marvelously we have been upheld when conflicting with sin and Satan, and we shall confess indeed, that he is a present, a very present, help in trouble.]
III.
He imparts them suitably
[It is probable that Jacobs reply to the advice of his mother was now, in his apprehension, about to be verified; and that he expected a curse rather than a blessing. His evil conscience now might well suggest to him such thoughts as these: God has forsaken me, and some great evil will come upon me. I can never hope to return again to my fathers house in peace, or to enjoy the blessing which I have so treacherously pained. To remove these apprehensions, God vouchsafed to him exactly such tokens of his regard, as were best calculated to allay his fears. In the vision, God shewed to him both his providential care, and his redeeming love: for doubtless, while he discovered to him the ministry of angels who were commissioned to protect him, he also shewed him that promised Seed, who was in due time to spring from him, and whom at that very instant he typically represented [Note: This is more fully opened in the preceding Discourse.]. In the promise, he assured him, that his presence should follow him; that his power should preserve him; that he would bring him back again to that very land; and that not one of all the promises that had been ever made to him, should fail of accomplishment.
In this respect also we may trace the tender mercies of our God towards all his people. His manifestations of himself to them, and his application of promises to their souls, are wonderfully suited to their several necessities. We cannot indeed justify those, who open the sacred records, and expect that the portion of Scripture, on which they cast their eye, shall be a kind of literal direction to them; (a most unwarranted and delusive method of ascertaining the mind of God!) but this we must affirm, that, whatever we want, whether wisdom, or strength, or grace of any kind, it shall be given us, if we ask in faith. And the experience of all the saints attests the truth of that promise, Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.]
IV.
He continues them faithfully
[God had given promises, not to Abraham only and to Isaac, but to Jacob also, while he was yet in his mothers womb. But instead of fulfilling them to him after this flagrant instance of misconduct, he might well have said to him, as he did to his unbelieving posterity, Thou shalt know my breach of promise [Note: Num 14:34.]: I said indeed, that thy house and the house of thy father should walk before me for ever: but now it shall be far from me: for them that honour me I will honour; and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed [Note: 1Sa 2:30.]. But he had spoken, and would not go back: for his words sake he would not cast off his offending child, or even suffer one jot or tittle of his promises to fail.
Thus to his descendants in future ages did God manifest his fidelity; insomuch that Joshua, after eighty years experience, could appeal to the whole nation, saying, Ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof [Note: Jos 23:14.].
To us also will he approve himself faithful. He will not cast off his people, because it hath pleased him to make us his people [Note: 1Sa 12:22.]. He has said, I will never leave thee, I will never, never forsake thee [Note: Heb 13:5.]. He may indeed hide his face from us for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will he have mercy on us: the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but the covenant of my peace, says he, shall not be removed: for like as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee [Note: Isa 54:7-10.].]
Improvement
1.
For caution
[We have seen that Jacob inherited the blessing which he had gained by treachery; and that, where sin had abounded, grace did much more abound. But shall we do evil that good may come; or commit sin that grace may abound? God forbid. We must never expect the blessing of God but in the way of duty.]
2.
For encouragement
[If through temptation we have fallen into sin, let us not flee from God, like Adam, but go to him in humble hope that he will magnify his mercy towards the chief of sinners.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
All promises are in Christ, and with Christ; all promises are connected. And Reader! do not forget how the Holy Ghost taught the church to apply his to all Christ’s seed. Heb 13:5-6 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 28:15 And, behold, I [am] with thee, and will keep thee in all [places] whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done [that] which I have spoken to thee of.
Ver. 15. See Trapp on “ Gen 28:14 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 30
JACOB AN OBJECT OF GRACE
“And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
Gen 28:15; Gen 31:3; Gen 31:5; and Gen 48:21
Here are four passages of Scripture, each revealing a specific aspect of the grace of God in the life of Jacob. However, if all we see in these texts is the history of Gods dealings with Jacob, we miss the purpose of God the Holy Spirit in giving us the inspired volume of Holy Scripture. These things were written for our spiritual learning, for our comfort, and to encourage our hope in Christ (Rom 15:4). Believers should always appropriate the Word of God to themselves. We should never look upon the Book of God as a mere record of either historical, or doctrinal, or prophetic facts. Therefore, as we look at these four passages of Holy Scripture and see the grace of God in the life of Jacob, the sons of Jacob ought to appropriate each text to themselves and see the hand of Gods grace in their own lives.
Present Grace
In Gen 28:15, Gods grace is set before us as grace for the present. The Lord God says to his servant Jacob, Behold, I am with thee, right now, presently. Grace is the present heritage of every believer. We rejoice to know that grace is eternal (Eph 1:3-6; 2Ti 1:9). Our hearts delight in the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ has by his blood purchased for his people all the inheritance of grace and glory. In Christ, grace is our purchased possession (Eph 1:11). And we thank God for past experiences of grace. Grace experienced in the past fills our hearts with sweet memories of Gods goodness to us. Grace sought us out of a fallen race. Grace called us from death to live. Grace revealed Christ in us and gave us faith in him. Grace caused us to come to Christ in the beginning; and grace has kept us coming to him. But living bodies cannot live on yesterdays bread. We must have some bread today. Neither can we feed our souls on yesterdays grace. We must have grace today. Child of God, I want you to see that grace is yours this very hour. God says to Jacob, Behold, I am with thee!
Jacob was the son of a long line of men chosen by God; and he too was chosen as the object of Gods grace (Gen 28:13). Grace does not run in blood lines; but sometimes God does call many from the same family. That was the case with Jacob. His father Isaac and his mother Rebecca were believers. His grandfather Abraham and his grandmother Sarah were believers. What a blessing! To have for your father and mother, for your grandfather and grandmother, men and women who walked with God is the most distinguished hereditary honor in the world. Well might Jacob rejoice to hear the God of his fathers say to him, as he had said to them, Behold, I am with thee. The believing sons and daughters of believing parents are possessors of an indescribably rich heritage. Yet, none should foolishly imagine that grace is a matter of heredity, passed on from father to son (Joh 1:11-13). Grace comes to chosen sinners according to the sovereign will and pleasure of God alone (Rom 9:16).
This word of grace, Behold, I am with thee, came to Jacob at a time when he greatly needed it. He had just left his fathers house. He was about to be faced with a very great trial. Nothing could have so effectually prepared him for twenty years in Labans house as this promise from God.
This word of grace came to Jacob when he needed it most. It was at the moment when Jacob was totally alone, a family outcast, friendless, and a pilgrim in a strange land, that God almighty spoke to him and said, Behold, I am with thee! I defy anyone to measure the height or depth, length or breadth of that infinite blessing. What more could God say than this – I am with thee?
When God is with you that guarantees infinite love, mercy, and grace. God will not dwell with those he hates. He is not with those to whom he is not merciful. He does not abide where he does not dispense grace. But to each of his people, he says, Fear not; for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mineI have loved theeFear not: for I am with thee (Isa 43:1-5). As a man delights to be with his friends, so our God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, delights to be with those whom he has chosen, redeemed, and called.
I am with thee means I will help you (Isa 41:10). C. H. Spurgeon said, Whatever we undertake, God is with us in the undertaking; whatever we endure, God is with us in the enduring; whithersoever we wander, God is with us in our wandering. If God be for us, who can be against us? If God is with us, what can we not do, or endure, or overcome? This is what Paul meant when he wrote, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Let every son of Jacob, every believer, hear the promise as a promise coming directly from God himself to you. God is with you, my brother, my sister, so completely with you that he is in you. The whole Godhead is with you, in the entirety of his Being!
When God says, I am with thee, he promises, with his presence, his sympathy. Our Savior is so touched with the feeling of our infirmities he feels what we feel, suffers what we suffer, and endures what we endure. If we have a load to bear, he is with us. If we have a work to do, he is with us.
How precious, rich, and full this word of grace must have seemed to Jacob as he lay under the stars in the wilderness. His bed was the cold earth. His curtains were the bushes around him. The heavens were his canopy. His pillow was a rock. He was alone, afraid, and helpless until the Lord God appeared to him and said, Behold, I am with thee! If you are a believer, if you are washed in the blood of Christ and born again by the Spirit of God, you are one of Jacobs sons; and God says, Behold, I am with thee. That is Gods present assurance of grace.
Future Grace
In Gen 31:3, we read Gods promise of future grace. He says, I will be with thee. Whatever else the future may hold for us, let every believer be assured of this, it holds grace, rich, free, abundant grace in Christ.
Were it not for the weakness of our flesh this promise would be unnecessary. When God says, I am with thee, you can count on it, he will be with you. God does not change. He will never forsake his people (Heb 13:5). Some people believe in a god who loves today and hates tomorrow, who pardons one day and condemns the next. Such a god is no God at all. Our God is the God of Jacob, who changes not (Mal 3:6).
Jacob had lived with Laban for twenty years. In those years he endured many troubles. It was now time for him to leave Laban and return to his home in Canaan. He needed the word of grace renewed to his heart, so the Lord God said to him, I will be with thee.
Jacob began to take root among the worldlings. So God called him away. Then he forced him to obey. Laban had begun to despise Jacob (Gen 28:2). Labans sons were envious of him (Gen 28:1). Those upon whom he had relied turned against him. Those whose good he had served opposed him. Those who were most indebted to him were envious of him. So it is with Gods elect in every age. Therefore, the Lord God said, I will be with thee!
The journey Jacob was about to take was a dangerous one, and he knew it. Laban would not willingly let him go. Esau was sworn to kill him. Such a journey with such a large family would be very difficult. But God called; and Jacob must obey. Therefore, the Lord God said to him, no matter what you have to face, I will be with thee Your future is full of grace!
Acknowledged Grace
In Gen 31:5, we see the grace of God experienced and acknowledged by Jacob. The God of my father hath been with me. Every believers life is, from beginning to end, an unceasing experience of Gods grace. Right up to the time that he left Labans house, Jacob said, The God of my father hath been with me.
He had not been a very gracious man; but God was with him nonetheless (Psa 89:30-33). The Lord chastened and corrected him; and the Lord protected and blessed him. Though Laban cheated him out of his wages ten times, God blessed Jacob! Everything done against him worked good for him. Our great God is a God who ought to be trusted with implicit confidence. He is faithful. His grace and his faithfulness are unconditional.
Poor Jacob, though he was a believer, though he had experienced so much grace, when he was fleeing from Laban and heard that Esau was coming after him, he was distressed and full of fear, yet the Lord was with him (Gen 35:3). Thank God, he does not leave his people because of their fears. If he did, we would have all been castaways long ago.
On the night of his wrestling with the Lord, when he was humbled, broken, and made to confess his name, the Lord God was with him. He says, God was with me in the way which I went! Jacob was the object of Gods everlasting love, the eternally chosen object of his grace (Rom 9:11-13). God was with him in his mothers womb. God was with him in his youth. God was with him when he fled from his fathers house. God was with him when he broke his thigh and broke his spirit. God was with him in Labans house. God was with him when he returned home again. And on his death bed, old Jacob confessed more fully than ever that the Lord God had been with him all his days (Gen 48:15-16). He had lost Rachel; but God was with him. He had endured famine; but God fed him. He had lost Joseph; but the Lord God was with him. At the time he said, All things are against me; but now he eats his words. He now realized that God had never been more fully for him! Now he says, The Lord God redeemed me from all evil. If you are a believer, this will be your verdict upon your life at the end of your days – God was with me! He hath redeemed me from all evil. Every believers life is from beginning to end, an unceasing experience of Gods grace!
Transmitted Grace
In Gen 48:21, we see the grace of God transmitted from one generation to another. Behold, I die: but God shall be with you. Those were Jacobs dying words to Joseph. He was saying, God will yet be gracious. So it shall be, from generation to generation, so long as the world stands. The grace we have received and experienced at the hand of our God shall be transmitted to the generation that succeeds us.
We all tend to fret and worry needlessly about the future. We fret about our children. We worry about the future of Gods church. We concern ourselves too much about what will become of those who depend upon us. God will not cease to be gracious when we die. He still has an elect remnant. He will be gracious to them. He will be with them as he has been with us.
This has special application to every believers family. We can and must trust our sons and daughters to the sovereign goodness of our God. Gods grace does not run in bloodlines. We cannot save our children, or oblige God to save them. But we can believe God. Long before my only child was born, I gave her to my God. On the night she was born, as I gave thanks to God for her, I gave her back to him. On the day my wife and I brought her home from the hospital, together we dedicated that child to our God and committed her to his hands. We trained her in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. What is the significance of that? Just this — God never has yet rejected a child given to him in faith. Samuel, Samson, Solomon, and John the Baptist all verify Gods faithfulness in this regard. I do not suggest that God has not cast away the children of believing parents. Elis sons and Davids children tell us otherwise. But I do say, God has never cast away any child given to him in faith.
This is what I am saying – I believe God. Anything we refuse to give to him he will take from us. Anything we give him for the honor of his name he will receive. Does the Word of God confirm this or does it deny it? Let no one misunderstand. The Book of God does not teach proxy faith. We cannot believe God for someone else, not even for our children. Each one must personally trust the Son of God for himself. Yet, God honors and uses the faith of others in bringing chosen sinners to himself. The Canaanite womans faith had something to do with her daughters healing (Mat 15:22-28). Jarius faith had something to do with his daughters resurrection from the dead (Luk 8:41-42; Luk 8:49-56). When the Lord Jesus saw the faith of four men who carried a desperately needy soul to him, he said to the palsied man, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee (Luk 4:20).
This also has special application to every gospel church. The time will come when the pastor will be taken away from his flock; but God will be with his church. The church of God does not depend upon the preacher. The cause of God, the truth of God, the kingdom of God does not depend upon any preacher, or any man, no matter how great, how gifted, or how useful he is in his day.
Someone once asked Mr. Spurgeon, What will become of the Tabernacle when you are gone? He replied, It will probably be the greatest of blessings when it happens. Many good men have clung to their places longer than they should have done, and have pulled down much that they had built up. It is well when the Lord says to such, Friend, come up higher. George Muller was once asked what would become of the great orphanage he had built for homeless children when he was gone. Muller replied – God will use George Muller as long as he likes, and when he chooses to put him aside, he will use somebody else. When Abraham dies, God will be with Isaac. When Isaac dies, God will be with Jacob. When Jacob dies, God will be with Joseph. When Joseph dies, God will be with Ephraim and Manasseh. And when we die, God will have a people to bear his name; and he will never lack a champion to bear his banner among them. And the Lord will be with them. When Elijah was taken up, Elisha picked up his mantle and cried, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? And God was with him.
1.Grace is ours now – God says, I am with you!
2.Grace shall be ours in the future. The Lords promise is, I will be with you!
3.Grace has been ours all the days of our lives. With Jacob we look over the days of our lives and say, The God of our fathers hath been with us.
4.And the grace of God shall be with those who follow us in faith – God shall be with you.
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
I am: Gen 28:20, Gen 28:21, Gen 26:24, Gen 31:3, Gen 32:9, Gen 39:2, Gen 39:21, Gen 46:4, Exo 3:12, Jdg 6:16, Psa 46:7, Psa 46:11, Isa 7:14, Isa 8:10, Isa 41:10, Isa 43:2, Jer 1:19, Mat 18:20, Mat 28:20, Rom 8:31, Rom 8:32, 1Ti 4:8
keep: Gen 48:16, Psa 121:5-8
bring: Gen 35:6, Gen 35:7
for I: Deu 31:6, Jos 1:5, 1Ki 8:57, Joh 10:28, Joh 10:29, Heb 13:5, Heb 13:6, Jud 1:1
until: Num 23:19, Jos 23:14-16, Mat 24:35
Reciprocal: Gen 21:20 – God Gen 21:22 – God Gen 26:3 – I will be Gen 30:25 – and to Gen 30:43 – General Gen 32:10 – truth Gen 48:21 – God Jos 1:9 – be not 1Ch 17:8 – I have been Isa 41:17 – I the God
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 28:15. Behold, I am with thee Wherever we are, we are safe, if we have Gods favourable presence with us. He knew not, but God foresaw, what hardships he would meet with in his uncles service, and therefore promiseth to preserve him in all places. God gives his people graces and comforts accommodated to the events that shall be, as well as to those that are. He was now going an exile into a place far distant, but God promiseth him to bring him again to this land. He seemed to be forsaken of all his friends, but God gives him this assurance, I will not leave thee.