Signed, Sealed, Delivered

While praying a thought occurred to me regarding the promise(s) God gave to Jacob in Genesis 28: 15:

I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. And I will bring you back to this place land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.

On its face value this promise appears temporal due to the conditional phrase “I will never leave you until…” However, when placed against the backdrop of God’s nature and character, could this be, instead, a promise of perpetual fidelity of God’s presence and unceasing grace beyond Jacob’s existence and to his posterity? I strongly believe the latter is the case here.

I have often pondered over, even troubled by, the addition of the prepositional and conjunctive word until placed towards the end of this promise, “I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Will God indeed abandon Jacob to his own devices after He has performed His promises? It is unimaginable to envision the departure of the Lord after His blessings. Oh no, I do not want any blessing without the Blesser. I will rather have the Lord than any promise because the Lord is my everything: portion, inheritance, heritage, shield, stronghold, high tower, refuge, and Rock. Yahweh (Jesus) is my life (Deut 30:20; compare Col 3:4).

Many of us have experienced some form of loss, some more tragic than the other, especially the loss of a child, parents, relatives, and friends; those who had played major roles in our lives whom death, prematurely, snatched away from us. Sadness is an understatement when describing such griefs, we often feel devastated, robbed, despondent, even angry.

Several decades ago, I attended the marriage ceremony of one of my friends’ older brother and his college sweetheart. Customarily, in an African wedding, an entourage comprising of representatives from the husband’s family and his close friends will visit the in-laws with the singular purpose of escorting the bride to her anxiously waiting groom and relatives. But, before the bride can depart, the bride’s family must gather to, individually, pronounce a blessing upon the bride (see Rebecca’s wedding in Genesis 26).

Something strange happened while the elderly women were blessing the bride, I found people were sobbing. I thought it was just the emotional response to the departure of their daughter, but only to realize that one of the bride’s parents was deceased. The occasion reopened the long-buried memory of the deceased who was no longer around to witness the daughter’s most joyous moment. There were no dry eyes in that place on that day including myself. Such is the sense of earthly loss that we feel, how much more if the Ancient of Days were to leave a person (for example, God’s Spirit left king Saul in 1 Sam 16:14).

So, I empathized with them because about thirty-three years ago, in my final year of university, I also lost my Dad. I felt shattered and hopeless. On my graduation day, my late father was conspicuously missing while many other students had their parents rejoicing with them. As humans we have such a profound emotional reaction to loss, so when I read God’s promise to Jacob: “I will not leave you until,” the word, “until” used to bother me a great deal.

The disciples of Jesus were not immune against loss either, they were extremely bothered by the idea of Jesus leaving them, even for awhile. They were sorrowful, the Bible tells us, and not even the promise to send another comforter could assuage their feelings of despair. Of course, they were to realize much later that Jesus Christ was the “another Comforter” to come (in Spirit form). Also, once, my wife and I visited a family friend whose child wept and wept when it was time for us to leave. Why? He did not want us to leave, he enjoyed the company. My point here is that departure is hard to cope with, arrival is easier to handle.

Even Naomi who had left Bethlehem for Moab with her husband and two sons returned later emptied of her family. And so deep was her sorrow that she begged the women of her hometown to stop calling her Sister Pleasant (Sweetie) instead she suggested Marah (bitter) because, paraphrasing, far from being sweetener God has handed her bitter lemon. However, later, when Naomi saw how intricately God had providentially worked out a husband for Ruth, her daughter-in-law, she exclaimed, “God has not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead” ( Ruth 2:20 KJV).

In prayer, the Lord showed me that His promises persist beyond life and the grave. Isaiah says, “I will still be the same when you are old and gray, and I will take care of you. I created you. I will carry you and always keep you safe” (Isa 46:4 CEV; Hos 13:14). God’s promise is signed, sealed, and delivered. The Lord is yours sincerely. He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother and as Paul echoed in the New Testament nothing can come between us and the love of God in Christ Jesus (Prov 18:24; Rom 8:).

Paul also says, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Cor 4:8-9). So, the first part of Jacob’s promise is what you should burn deep into your heart “I will not leave you,” the “until” is up to you. How much of God do you want because God has no limits? This is for those who often feel forsaken, abandoned, as if they are all alone. No one sees anything interesting in what they do or have to say. Jesus Christ is telling you today, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (Jn 14:18). Rejoice, if God is for you you need no one else. God’s faithfulness, His love and commitments to you are signed, sealed, and delivered.