Word of Salvation – Vol. 15 No.12 - Mar 1969
On The Look-out
Sermon by Rev. J. F. H. VanderBom, B.D. on Genesis 49:8
SCRIPTURE READINGS: Genesis 49:8-18, Revelation 7:9-17
PSALTER HYMNAL: 299; 301:2; 174:3; 274; 58; 316
Brothers and sisters in the Lord, boys and girls,
Somebody has said: man is constantly on the look-out.
And don't you think, he was right? Man is always waiting, planning. It makes no difference whether he is fifteen or fifty or seventy-five: he remains on the look-out.
Just listen to little Peter who is only three: 'But when I am big, I will go to school', he says. Peter is on the look-out.
And his sister Mary is just fourteen. But she thinks of her next move: 'Just wait,' she tells herself, 'just wait, when I'm married...!”
And their parents are still on the look-out. You would be surprised if you could read their thoughts, their dreams, and what they planned and schemed for their children. And after the children have grown up and left the home, dad and mum are on the look- out again. Their next move may be a round-the-world trip!
Do you know what you should do, girls? This afternoon, or during coffee after church, ask your mother to show you her old photo album. I am sure that on every page you'll see somebody on the look-out.
On the first page of the photo album: Mum when she was very small, still on the look-out for her first walk. Or later on: Mum as a schoolgirl on the lookout. Later on, the next move: the first photo with her boyfriend, now your father. And later on a wedding photo... but always on the lookout.
* * * * *
Did it ever strike you that in the Bible we have a beaut photo album? Especially in the first book, Genesis, we have a large collection of photos, of the generation of the patriarchs. How many photos we have of Jacob! Jacob was always on the lookout from when he was a little boy, playing with his brother, and Jacob as his mother's pet! But there are also the pictures of Jacob when he had grown up – a man, a father and a husband.
Still there is one thing we don't like very much. Looking at Jacob's photos, even his wedding photo, always gives us the unpleasant feeling that we really do not know the man. You have seen him so many times. And still you wonder what he'll be like the next time...!
I don't like that. It is bad, when, after I have seen a person many times I still have to ask, "Who is he? I do not know him." And this is VERY bad when such a person calls himself a Christian, a believer,
Jacob WAS a believer. We even possess a picture of Jacob on his knees, in prayer before God, in Bethel. But there he puzzles us more than ever, because even there we have reason to ask: Jacob what are you doing now, do you even try to scheme and strike a bargain on the lookout with God?
The Bible is a very honest book. We called the Bible a photo album. But its photos are not flattering. Why did the Bible leave us all these pictures?
The answer is very simple, brothers and sisters. They were given for our salvation. "Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have HOPE!" (Romans 15:4). We who are puzzled by the photo album of Jacob, should also know the God of Jacob. And knowing Jacob's God will puzzle you even more!
* * * * *
A minister who was executed during the last war has compared this life with a game of chess. He said: sometimes it is a very puzzling game. However there is the one lesson that we get to learn. The game is not ours. It is not we who move. God moves. He moves in a mysterious way. Sometimes we wonder what his next move will be. But we can be confident. We may trust that the white king will win the game. A checkmate for the black king will be the end.
Now this was the lesson which also Jacob had to learn. And to learn this lesson is what we call: salvation. And this became also Jacob's salvation. At long last he had to give up his game.
Jacob had always been scheming. Everybody was puzzled about him, wondering what his next move would be. Yes, Jacob had been moving in a very mysterious way indeed. But the moment had come (and this was his salvation) that Jacob had to leave the next move to God. This is what happened, as you remember, at Peniel (Genesis 32): the photo of a broken man...! A man who could not think of any other move but the move of complete surrender, a cry for a complete take-over, a turning of 180 degrees on the road. "I will not let you go unless you bless me." From that day, Jacob was waiting for God's salvation.
* * * * *
But for today we have chosen the last photo of Jacob's album. In Genesis 49 we have a large and impressive family photo. It moves us very deeply when we begin to count the faces. No, it is true, no daughters were present. However, here at Jacob's bedside we find the whole group of Jacob and his twelve sons. Had you ever expected such a good and happy ending? Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Judah... they are all there, twelve strong and bearded men, who are now themselves old fathers and patriarchs. One of them has a very high position in Egypt, as you know.
And still they are all here to say farewell, and to receive the blessing of Jacob, and of the God of Jacob. Isn't this beautiful?
And Jacob tells his children that he waits for the Lord's salvation. Yes, we say, whatever Jacob's past has been like, his end is not a question-mark. His end is not: silence. Silence can be very frightful at a deathbed. So often there is only silence because we don't know what to say.
But Jacob speaks of salvation...!
However, we must not draw the wrong conclusion. Will you, please, give your attention to the fact that this beautiful word was not spoken at the end. Jacob did not say this as sort of an ‘Amen’, at the close of his address, after he had blessed all his children. "I wait for Thy salvation, Lord," was not a summary.
We'd rather call it a cry. Jacob said this all of a sudden, right in the middle. It came like an exclamation. And we are not far from the truth when we say that the old man was very upset when he said this.
Or don't you know what had happened?
This is what happened, that father Jacob when he began to look at his sons remembered all his former sins.
So when Ruben came forward, and then Simeon, and then Levi, he couldn't possibly bless them. He simply couldn't. Their life stories were so filled with cruelties and crimes. Poor old Jacob could only turn his face away from them...! No blessing for them...!
* * * * *
We say sometimes that we are lucky because we cannot look into the future. We say this very easily, sometimes. In our troubled world we console ourselves with the fact. "It is good that no one can look into the future," we say.
Still we may wonder whether this is true.
At least in Jacob's case, it was not true at all. And to a certain extent I don't think it is true for any Christian father and mother.
Because God has made us to stand on the look-out. We were not made to be silent. But we are here to look into the future, to know the future and to speak to our children, leading them into the future, and blessing them with our knowledge.
And Jacob knew what could be expected from his children. When the books were opened, this made him very upset. Reuben, Simeon, Levi... he could not bless them.
"Lord, if Thou shouldst mark our iniquities, Lord, who can stand...?"
But no, there is salvation. Then came Judah. Yes, there is the mystery of grace. "Judah, your brothers shall praise you.” Praise God for Shiloh comes, the One to Whom it all belongs. No, Jacob's life has not been in vain. God's promise to the patriarch has not been empty. Shiloh, the rest-bringer comes. And here remains a blessing for the house of Jacob. A blessing, however, which they must find apart from themselves...
However, this was not yet the end. Then came: little Dan. And we believe we are not far from the truth when we say that Jacob, when looking at his son Dan has felt more horrible than ever. Dan was, as you know, the first son of his favourite wife, Rachel. Or, rather, he was the son of a plot, he was born of Rachel's slave girls. Was this visible in Dan's behaviour, that he was just a product of scheming and plotting? Anyhow, Dan makes Jacob think of a serpent in the way, and of a little horned viper that bites and terrifies the horse. Biting and bruising the horse's heels so that his rider falls backward...!
This reminds you of the serpent in Paradise, doesn't it? A serpent, yes, a devil in the family of Jacob...!
It is impossible now to elaborate on the whole story of Dan. Only one reminder: Samson would be born of this tribe of Dan. And Samson would be another example of horrible ambiguity.
Does it surprise you that Jacob became very upset? To discover that your own son will be a heel-biter, a serpent. .More than this: his son Dan would be exactly what his own father had been, a heel-biter, the tricky-one, Jacob! “O Lord, I wait for thy salvation...!”
After what has been said there can be no doubt about what Jacob meant with his exclamation. It is very simply this, that for a child of God there would be very little comfort if in the end he would have to look at himself and at his children. Because our children are exactly what their fathers were. And when we look into the future it is not in the first place war, or political troubles that should worry us. This is the main worry for a child of God: that my sin would be there, reviving in my children – the consequences of my own sinful heart. A long life of 147 years has not been able to change that. In his children Jacob sees that they will have to go through the same strife. They are just flesh of his flesh.
* * * * *
But: I wait for Thy salvation, O Lord.
If we did not believe in salvation, then we'd better say, what a man said during the last war: 'I would hate myself if I put any children into this rotten world.' Wasn't this man right? How do people dare to think of marriage and responsible parenthood, as long as they have not committed themselves to Christ for salvation?
But: happy is the man who chooses Jacob's God to be his aid. Our Psalter Hymnal has, incorrectly, "Israel's God." It should be ‘the God of Jacob'. For here is the mystery of His grace. When Jacob does a balance of his life, and when he looks at his children who are exactly what their father has been, then there is still a lookout left for him. I wait, Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob....!
I wait...! The end of Jacob, the tricky one – the schemer – is not a question mark. The end is not the silence of death. The old man may prophesy. He waits on the lookout and witnesses. The God who moves on the chessboard is Jacob's salvation.
Now Israel may say, and that in truth, if that the Lord had not his word maintained. The Lord is my help and my salvation. (Psalm 124).
However, there is more to this. Salvation means, in the first place, help. To Jacob God had been a very present help in all his trouble. When looking at his children and standing on the lookout, Jacob must confess: how great is Thy faithfulness, O God, our help of ages past.
But salvation means also: deliverance, redemption. 'Or how shall He, who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, not freely give us all things with Him?’ This is salvation, that in Jesus Christ we have our part and place in God's glorious redemption plan. God's Word often uses 'salvation' to indicate an eternal deliverance; everlasting salvation. And there is no doubt about it that for Jacob, since his Peniel experience, the word salvation has gained a very deep meaning. If there had not been the divine initiative, then there wouldn't have been any hope at all left for him. But: ‘I wait for Thy salvation’, means: my hope is in the Lord, the God who fulfils his purpose for me (Psalm 57).
There is still more in this word salvation. It means that God is a very present help. It also says that He is the God of my deliverance. But salvation stands also for 'victory'. It means: the Lord has wrought a great salvation for his people. There is in the lives of God's children that wonderful triumph of grace. I wait for Thy salvation, O Lord.
Jacob stands on the lookout. His glory is not in what his own hands have done. But he waits to see the Sun rise. And the sun of righteousness will arise. The victory will be for the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
* * * * *
And what is your photo album like?
May we say, that with all the differences, there is only very little difference between the life stories of God's children? The story of every one of us will be a story of many hopes, and a story of disappointments and frustrations. We are always on the lookout. And still we would like to go into hiding very often. Because there is one thing that makes us suffer more heavily than anything else. It is to see the consequences of our own sins shining through in the lives of our children. But then: we do not preach ourselves, says Paul, but Jesus Christ as Lord. And the God who from the beginning has said: let light shine out of darkness, is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
This means a checkmate for the black king. The white king wins. The victory of the 144,000 is a wonderful surprise! Who are they, and where did they come from? This is the surprise of all the ages, to see them, with the palm branches of victory in their hands! They sing: Salvation!
I wait, Lord, my soul does wait.
This is what we must tell our children. The struggle will be so hard for them, because they are of my flesh and blood, so weak and unreliable. Still they are the carriers of His promise. Judah, your brothers shall praise you. And the church of Jesus constant will remain.
The Christian may stand on the lookout with a smile. Watchman, what of the night? And the answer is:
By day the Lord commands his steadfast love.
And by night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
Why are you cast down, o my soul, and why disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, my help and my God.
AMEN.