EPISODE · May 29, 2022 · 51 MIN
JACOB’S PILLARS – Genesis 35:13-20
from Providence Community Church · host Ken Carlton
Jacob has set up 4 pillars as recorded in scripture. We have noted that these stones serve as “monolithic monuments of covenant remembrance and testimony”. The use of stones to signify the important and the permanent is not unique to Jacob. We are reminded that the Lord Himself wrote His law on a set of stones with His very finger. Additionally, entrance into the promised land under Joshua was accompanied by the setting of stones as well. Moses gives specific instructions for this monument and ceremony in Deut chapters 27 & 28. In this instance the children of Israel are commanded to “set up large stones and plaster them with plaster. & you shall write on them all the words of this law when you cross over to enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” (27:2-3). In our text, as Jacob has entered the promised land and sojourned therein according to the covenant, he too has marked his journey with pillars of remembrance. There are 4 such events in the course of Jacob's life marking 4 monumental occasions. Each occasion presents a trial or challenge threatening the life and calling of the patriarch in some form. However Jacob's faith is strengthened with each divine intervention of the Lord on his behalf along the way. These moments of salvation inspire Jacob to commemorate the mercies of God with a touchstone or landmark. These stones remain standing in the record of scripture though the physical rocks themselves are long since lost to history. Let us “return” to these signal moments as the spiritual lineage of Jacob and glorify God for His grace, faithfulness, and watch-care of our covenant fore-bearers.
What this episode covers
Jacob has set up 4 pillars as recorded in scripture. We have noted that these stones serve as “monolithic monuments of covenant remembrance and testimony”. The use of stones to signify the important and the permanent is not unique to Jacob. We are reminded that the Lord Himself wrote His law on a set of stones with His very finger. Additionally, entrance into the promised land under Joshua was accompanied by the setting of stones as well. Moses gives specific instructions for this monument and ceremony in Deut chapters 27 & 28. In this instance the children of Israel are commanded to “set up large stones and plaster them with plaster. & you shall write on them all the words of this law when you cross over to enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” (27:2-3). In our text, as Jacob has entered the promised land and sojourned therein according to the covenant, he too has marked his journey with pillars of remembrance. There are 4 such events in the course of Jacob's life marking 4 monumental occasions. Each occasion presents a trial or challenge threatening the life and calling of the patriarch in some form. However Jacob's faith is strengthened with each divine intervention of the Lord on his behalf along the way. These moments of salvation inspire Jacob to commemorate the mercies of God with a touchstone or landmark. These stones remain standing in the record of scripture though the physical rocks themselves are long since lost to history. Let us “return” to these signal moments as the spiritual lineage of Jacob and glorify God for His grace, faithfulness, and watch-care of our covenant fore-bearers.
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JACOB’S PILLARS – Genesis 35:13-20
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