Here's What We Don't Know

When God told Jacob to head down to Egypt in Genesis 46 it feels as if God isn't being totally honest. He tells Jacob "I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again."

What God didn't tell Jacob was that after a honeymoon period the entire nation would be subject to slavery and oppression and genocide.

Do you sometimes think you hear God's direction, you follow it, and then you get into difficulty? Do you feel like God wasn't being completely honest with you to reveal the troubles that lie in that path He has you on?

Well, for one thing, I think Jacob probably wouldn't have gone if God had told him all that (and he actually had told Abram what was going to happen). For us it can be a comfort not knowing all the trials we are going to face because we probably wouldn't do half the things God tells us to do (I have some recent experience in that department).

But here's the deal. God was transforming a small clan into a mighty nation. He was also laying the foundation to be more than just an acquaintance but a God to these people. To do that work he had to bring them into slavery then rescue them out. Sometimes God has a mighty work to do through us but He first must do a mighty work in us.

The most important thing in Jacob's vision is this "I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again." As long as God is with us and as long as He is working in the situation then being led by God into trouble isn't such a bad thing after all.

Pastor Tom