Going Home

Genesis 32:1

Going back home after you have been gone for many years is somewhat challenging, things change, people change, but what is so difficult is how you are remembered and how you remember them.  Even as a grown man with a family, my mother often would treat me as if I was still the little boy who needed mother’s help to cross the street, and to my friends from school, I was still the goof-off who never wanted to be serious.  I had a boss who loved to tell his employees, “You made your bed, now you’ve got to live with your past actions.”  Past actions are heavy on the mind of Jacob, as he travels with his wives and children, his many servants and large flocks.

The first verse states, “Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.  And when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God’s camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.”  This is a good time to ask some questions; how did Jacob know they were angels?  Was Jacob the only one who saw the angels?  God is not offended by such questions, and my answer may or may not be correct, but could these have been the same angels he saw in his earlier dream?  It also seems that only Jacob saw the angels but no one else in the camp did.  The Bible gives this account of Elisha being surrounded by the enemy soldiers and his servant knowing they were going to die, when Elisha ask God to open his eyes and let him see, and the Lord opened his eyes and he saw the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2 Kings 6:16,17)  How often has God sent his angels to guide or protect you and me, but we have not seen them, and Jacob is no different than you or me, he’s walking in fear of what you and I call the future, he is walking in fear and God knows all of that; He also knows that Jacob needs to change his focus from the future to the now.  God knows the future, but will only abide with us in the present.  God sent his angels to let Jacob know that He is with him and will fulfill all the promises He has made to Jacob, no matter what he hears or sees.

How often our battles are with the past, with family, or someone who has hurt us or that we have injured, and we never stop to ask God to give us the faith to humble ourselves and be willing to be wronged and to forgive the past.  The other thing many of us battle with is the fear of men, but God has spoken, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5,6,) The middle of your Bible in Psalm 118:8, “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice