WEBVTT

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Day 10, or January 10. Don't forget who comes

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first. Our thoughts today are in Genesis 28,

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verses 20 and 21. Then Jacob made a vow, saying,

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If God will be with me and will watch over me

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in this journey I am taking, and will give me

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food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return

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safely to my father's household, Then the Lord

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will be my God. First, the big picture surrounding

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these verses. As Isaac grows older and nears

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the end of his life, Esau is hoping that his

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action of selling his birthright for a bowl of

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soup has all been forgotten. Jacob, on the other

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hand, is very unlikely to do that. There's too

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much at stake. In fact, He is set on confirming

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it by getting his dying father's blessing, which

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will make him certain to inherit all that his

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father leaves. In a bold charade of dressing

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up to feel and smell like Esau, Jacob is confident

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he can trick Isaac into blessing him. And he

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does. Esau is furious, as you can imagine, and

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vows to kill him. Jacob suspects as much and

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runs for his life. He leaves at his mother's

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urging, and with his father's approval, even

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though Isaac must still be seething by the way

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Jacob has stolen all that should have gone to

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his favourite son Esau. Jacob runs north to Haran,

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or Nahor, where his mother comes from originally,

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looking for refuge. On his way, Jacob has a real

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encounter with God and dreams of a ladder linking

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earth and heaven and names the place Bethel,

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house of God. It's here that he tries negotiating

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with God. And now our action step for today.

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Jacob encounters God and makes a promise to him,

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but he has conditions. If God is with me and

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protects me and supplies me with food and clothes,

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then I will follow him. If God doesn't demand

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total faithfulness from us before he welcomes

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us as his children, and he doesn't, how dare

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we demand all he has for us before we agree to

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follow him? We cannot barter ourselves into a

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relationship with God, and the sooner we recognize

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that, the better it will be for all of us.