Genesis 28: 17-22: “And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.”
In Psalm 111: 10 and Proverbs 9: 10 we read that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It is important for us to fear the Lord as then we will come to Him with the correct attitude. The first time that we read about fear in the Bible is in Gen 9: 2 where we discover that every animal on the earth has a fear and dread of man. We know that fear is associated with dread and that this is associated with being under another’s authority. In Revelation 19: 5 we read that everyone is to fear the Lord. This reminds us that it is proper to understand that the Lord has, by right, authority over us and we do well to submit to that authority. Jacob wanted to have the benefits of the Lord’s blessing and to inherit the eternal promises but he didn’t trust the Lord to take control of his life and bring these things about. He schemed and plotted to get something that the Lord had promised to give him while he was still in his mother’s womb. However, in order to have wisdom, he had to learn to submit to the Lord and to trust Him to deliver what He had promised. Jacob went through many years of hardship before he finally reached the place where he submitted to God but this was the first step in that process. He learnt to fear the Lord and to understand that the Lord is holy, even though He is also gracious. Jacob began to learn that lesson but he also wanted to be in control of the situation and tried to make a deal with God by saying that he would submit to the Lord if the Lord did what he wanted the Lord to do. This is not the proper attitude to have when you come to the Lord.
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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