A time for everything

I learned a long time ago that everything has its right time, and that time and the goal both serve and wait on one another.
This reminded me of the story of Jacob's dream  (Genesis 28).
It took a long time before Jacob's dream was fulfilled. Despite the seemingly positive vision he'd received, Jacob's life quickly entered a downward spiral. He leaves the country, is separated from his family, flees from his brother, Esau, and fears for his future.

But we see Jacob reach terms with God. "If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, the the Lord shall be my God (Gen.28:20-21).

In effect, jacob places conditions on God:"Do You have a will? Do You want to be my God? Do You want to give me an inheritance? Well, I also have desires and a will. If You fulfill everything, then I, too, will fulfill my part in our covenant."

And what does Jacob wants? His demands are fairly basic: safety, food, clothes and a warm home. With this stipulations, Jacob begins his journey.

It is amazing to see how flexible and willing God is to negociate. God fulfills His part completely. He guards Jacob and his family, He provides food for Jacob and sees to his clothing. And then He waited for Jacob to do his part.

Waiting and patience are important elements in getting the timing right. It is not enough to know one's mission or goal, you have to be ready to realize it.
Life, marriage, children, work- it all seemed to make Jacob forget his part of the contract.

Something reminds us who we are, where we came from, and where we're going. It makes us realize that there is something better for us than were we find ourselves in the present. The birth of Joseph, to his beloved Rachel, seemed to be the beginning of Jacob's awakening. Jacob realized that he was living in a foreign country, working for foreigners, raising his children in a land that was not his own.
He was far from the land of his fathers, for from his God, and far from himself.

Jacob realized that he had nothing to bequeath to his heirs living whre he was. Then remembered the contract he had made with God, and the moment had come for him to do his part. He turned to God, to his life's goals and understood his mission once more.


Anat Schneider (Israel Today)

Restoration (Ezekiel 37:1-14)

God’s promises are so great that faith staggers before them. That’s how it was for God’s people in the time of Ezekiel. Jerusalem lay in ruins. Most of the people had fled or died. Those who survived were exiles in Babylon under a regime that had not intention of letting them go.

God’s people knew His promises. But the destruction of evil, the blessing of God on people from all nations, and the joys of the Davidic kingdom seemed like another world from the daily grind of God’s people, who struggled to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land.

God gave Ezekiel a vision in which he saw a valley of dry bones. It was a picture that fitted the mood of God’s people who were saying “Our bones are dried up and our hope in gone, we are cut off” (Ezekiel 37:11).

Ezekiel spoke God’s Word to the bones, and as He did, the bones came together. Then they were covered with tendons, flesh and skin. Then God breathed life into the corpses, just as He had breathed life into Adam. God was bringing new life from the grave.

Broad sweep of God’s promise.
- To create people in His image.
- To deliver His people from evil.
- To bring people from every nation into His blessing.
- To reconcile people to Himself through the sacrifice offered for our sins.
- To establish the Kingdom of His Son forever.
- To cause His people to walk in His ways, and now,
- To give new life from the grave.

Those who question the uniqueness of Jesus underestimate the promises of God. Who else could accomplish what God has promised?

God makes promises so great that only God Himself can deliver them. So God took human flesh. The Creator entered His own creation. God came and stood with us, acting for us, to fulfill His own promise. The Word who was with God, and was God, and by whom all things were made, became flesh and made His dwelling among us (John 1:2, 14).

All of God’s promises are sealed with His own ‘Yes’ in Christ Jesus, and you can add your ‘Amen’ with the full confidence that everything God has promised is yours in Him (2 Corinthians 1:20).



Colin Smith, Senior Pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church
thegospelcoalition.com