Devotional: Genesis 28

<This is an excerpt from our devotional book for our current series through Genesis. Each book contains daily devotions and questions for reflection. For a free copy of our devotional books please visit our connect desk on Sundays, and to watch the accompanying sermon, click here>

Genesis 28:13-15

And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

The chief way God shows his love and commitment to Jacob, especially while Jacob is separated from his family and home, is by restating the covenant to him in Genesis 28:13-15. This is the same covenant God made with his grandfather Abraham in chapters 15 and 17. This is the same covenant God reminds his father of in chapter 26. God is a God that keeps his Word, and his Word is that he will bless this family, he will be their God and they will be his people, and that he will make a nation from their descendants. God is telling Jacob in this dream that he hasn’t forgotten to be faithful and honor his covenant with his family.

Covenantal love is how God expresses his love for his people. He enters into this contract with us, knowing that we can never hold our end of the bargain. He knows you have and will break it. He knows you have and will worship other things than him. He knows you have and will break his law and commandments. He knows you have and will neglect reading and meditating on his Word, praying to him, and loving others as you love yourself. He knows all this, and yet he still enters into a binding covenant with us.

Not so that when we fail he will receive a material gain. God is always the one doing the blessing in his covenants; he is always the one giving while we are always the ones taking. The only benefit he receives is the glory of his name for his faithfulness. The penalty of breaking the covenant is death, and although at times his people have experienced the consequences of their sin, he alone has taken the full penalty for our covenant breaking. He remains faithful when we forget to be faithful.

This messianic reminder to Jacob in Genesis 28, is fulfilled ultimately through Jesus, who is the arbiter of the new covenant made with us. Jesus is the final sacrifice, giving us his righteousness while he takes our sinfulness, paying for the penalty of our sins on the cross so that we will not ever be separated from God the Father. Although Genesis 28:13-15 is not about us, but rather Jacob (and Jesus), through Jesus we are also included in the promise sealed by God’s faithfulness.

REFLECTION & NOTES

1. What does it mean to you that God’s love is covenantal, rather than self-serving, careless, or thoughtless?

2. How has God shown himself faithful even when you forget to be faithful?

3. How is the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob fulfilled in Jesus and include you?