God With God

“I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again.”  Genesis 46:4

The news seemed too good to be true, and at first, a stunned Jacob couldn’t bring himself to believe, but twenty supply-laden donkeys and a wagon ready for the return trip to Egypt finally convinced his heart of what he had never dared to hope. “My son Joseph is alive.  I will go see him before I die”(Genesis 45:28).

“So Jacob set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac”(Genesis 46:1).  Beersheba.  The old family homestead.  His grandfather, Abraham, and his father, Isaac, had both lived there.  Both had dug a well there.  Both had worshiped God there.  And as Jacob rolled into town and remembered all the Almighty had said and done, he built his own altar and brought an offering.

Jacob knew God’s promise to Abraham about piles of descendants and a place to live, but the covenant concerned the land of Israel—not Egypt.  His thrill of seeing Joseph was tempered by the fear that he might be leaving when God wasn’t leading.  He hoped he was making the right move, but how could he be sure?

During the night God showed up and spoke up.  “‘Jacob! Jacob!’”

“‘Here I am,’ he replied.”

“‘I am God, the God of your father,’ he said.  ‘Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt for I will make you into a great nation there.  I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will bring you back again’”(Genesis 46:2-3).

When Jacob bowed in reverence, God blessed with reassurance.  “Don’t be fearful, Jacob.  I am faithful. Be confident in My power and comforted by My presence.”  So Jacob journeyed on to Egypt and spent the last seventeen years of life enjoying his precious son and his gracious God.

Life’s ventures become adventures when we give them to God.  Never take a step unless you’re certain He is leading.  But once you know, go—without fear and with great faith for He is with you.

Go with God.