If

Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him and commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. (Genesis 28:1. NIV 1984).

My Musings – On his way to Paddan Aram, Jacob stopped for the night. “He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven…There above it stood the Lord, and he said: ‘I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.'” (Genesis 28:12-14, NIV 1984).

And so, the promise that God made his grandfather Abraham, and his father Isaac was reaffirmed. God had not forgotten. But Jacob, did not appear to be so sure. “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my God.” (Genesis, 28:20–21, NIV 1984). If. A small word that makes a big difference.

God’s promise was unconditional. But not Jacob’s, still looking after his own interests. If is used to begin a conditional phrase. It is a word used to say that a particular thing (“the Lord will be my God“) will happen only after something else happens (“God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely“). Actually, in Jacob’s case six things.

He had the maneuvered to obtain his brother’s birthright and father’s blessing. Such that the promise that was first given to Abraham would flow through him. Now He was putting conditions on God. Which meant that at this point he did not trust God enough to simply count on His word. He had a lot of growing to do.

My Advice – It’s easy to get down on Jacob for this. But “you who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?” (Romans 2:21–23, NIV 1984). You who say, “don’t put conditions on God,” do you put conditions on God? Let’s be careful about casting that first stone.