FRIDAY, MAY 11
Scripture: Genesis 28:16-21

In verses 16-21 Jacob awakes, and he starts talking to himself. He says, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” Jacob’s initial reaction is that of fear. He thinks about the awe of this place and identifies it as the house of God and the gate of heaven. So he anointed a stone with oil and declared, “The name of this place is Bethel.” This was the house of God. He was going to vow to God the five promises of God that the Lord showed to him in his dream and in doing so he reordered them. I suspect he reordered them according to the importance based on his own circumstances and the fact that he had just run from his family. He was alone and desperate for help. Perhaps because of it, the most important promise to Jacob was, ‘God, You be with me.’ The second most important was, ‘God, keep me in the way.’ That was a call for protection. The third was, ‘God, give me bread to eat,’ calling on God for His provision. The fourth was Jacob’s request for clothing and shelter. The fifth was Jacob’s cry to one day return to his father’s house in peace, in order to experience fullness of destiny. Suddenly a new covenant has been born! It is born out of a dream. What is amazing about this process is that Jacob was around when his father, Abraham went to war and when he tithed to Melchizedek. Jacob likely witnessed the tithe being paid and heard Abraham’s declaration, “I will not take anything that is yours, lest you say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’” But in Genesis 28, Jacob was grown and on his own. He had to depend on God for himself, just as his father had. Jacob accepted the covenant and vowed to tithe! Have we accepted God’s covenant? Jacob proved God to be faithful!