Tues.’s Devo - God’s Package

Read: Genesis 32:13-34:31; Matthew 11:7-30; Psalm 14:1-7; Proverbs 3:19-20
The next great feat for Jacob was meeting Esau. He had a sleepless night fighting the Angel of God and came out of it with a limp and a new name. Jacob, the supplanter, was changed to Israel which means “he will rule as God”.
All of Jacob’s fears were for naught because Esau met him with open arms and a heart of forgiveness. They had both been blessed but Jacob insisted Esau take his gifts of cattle. It was his way of paying him back what he had stolen from him. Esau finally accepted and they went their own way.
Jacob, now Israel, went to Succoth and built a house for himself and booths for his cattle. This was Israel’s first place that Israel or any of the patriarchs built a house as a permanent dwelling. This was a very significant act. Succoth would be the first place the children of Israel would travel to on their way out of Egypt. Here they would eat unleavened bread. Succoth means “booths” and became the name of the last feast, the Feast of Booths, or the Feast of Tabernacles. It is symbolic of our dwelling with the Lord - living in him. For Jacob, it meant that he was free of all his past and now had a place of his own. For the children of Israel it meant that they had finally escaped the slavery of Egypt and were on their way to their new land and a new way of living. To us, it means that we came out of sin and now live in Christ. One day it will mean that we will live in a new earth with Christ as our king.
Unleavened bread has to do with sinlessness. On the Feast of Tabernacles, sin is gone and we are forgiven and righteous.
The story of Dinah is a tragic one. She was defiled by a Canaanite man named Shechem. His father was Hamor which means “an ass”…need I say more. Anyway, Levi and Simeon took out revenge on Shechem’s family and the whole town in a very violent and cruel way. They were condemned and cursed for it in Israel’s last prophecy in Genesis 49:5-7.
In Matthew, Jesus reached out to John’s disciples. He tried to win them over, explaining John’s mission. It was not to bring the attention to himself, John, but it was to point the way and prepare men’s hearts for him, Jesus. Jesus honored John and said that he was the fulfillment of the ministry of Elijah.
He went on to show that there were people who couldn’t receive John, who didn’t drink wine. They said he had a demon. They couldn’t receive Jesus because he did drink wine. They called him a drunkard. The point he was making was that people can’t be pleased unless God comes in the package they want him to come in. But God doesn’t do that on purpose. Jesus didn’t come with a bunch of laws they had to follow, his yoke is easy and his burden is light.
Lord, help us to see you in the package you come to us in.