“Jesus Summarizes What the Hebrew Scriptures Are All About”

Luke 24:25-27; 44-48

 

We have been reading through the book of Genesis. This book contains the stories of the history of the Hebrew nation. It wasn’t until 1440, with the invention of the printing press, that the written Scriptures were made available for the common person to read. That is if they were literate. This means these stories were preserved in written scrolls, that were read in the synagogue and passed down from generation to generation by memorization. 

 

So far, we have read through the life of Abraham. One of the key figures in the Hebrew faith. The next character we will be focusing on in the story, although not always thought of as significant, is Jacob. He is born right in the middle of the Hebrew scrolls, for us in chapter 25, verse 26, 

“After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob.”

 

Jacob’s name and the word for heel have the same exact letters in Hebrew. So Jacob’s name means, “heel” which is an idiom for somebody who grabs the heel of someone to trip them. It’s an idiom to trick someone, or trickster. 

 

Do we live out the meaning of our name or does our name determine how we live? 

 

Jacob will remain in Genesis until the last chapter, that is where we read of his death. This means Jacob is a character in half of the book of Genesis. Once we begin the story of Jacob’s 12 sons it may seem like he is in the background, but he is still a prevalent figure. 

 

So even though he may not be the first character people think of when they think of the book of Genesis, he definitely takes up more air time. Jacob’s name is mentioned more than Abraham in both the book of Genesis and throughout the entirety of the Hebrew Bible. In case you decide to go home and begin counting, let me remind you that both Abraham and Jacob receive new names. Abraham was originally named Abram and Jacob’s name gets changed to Israel, after he “wrestles with God.” When you count up the times both of those names are used in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, you will discover that Abraham has a total of 543 times. As for Jacob, his names are referred to over 3,000 times in the Hebrew Bible and 27 times in the New Testament. This makes one think that the biblical authors, along with Jesus and the apostles, viewed the stories of Abraham and Jacob as hugely significant for us to understand who the Messiah was. 

It makes sense that the story of Jacob will be the tool used to demonstrate what will happen to his descendants. 

 

Jesus makes a point to reflect back on the Hebrew Scriptures in a well-known story at the end of the book of Luke. After Jesus had resurrected from the dead He was meeting with His followers who couldn’t believe He was alive. Jesus reminds them that He had been trying to explain to them all along that this was what would happen. In fact, He tells them they shouldn’t be so surprised if they had been paying attention to their Scriptures. The Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms told how the Messiah would come and what He would do. Jesus proceeds to summarize the storyline of the Hebrew Scriptures. God’s chosen anointed one would go into suffering, then death and then come out the other side, alive. 

He would then be raised to a place of honor so that forgiveness and life could be announced to all the nations, starting with Jerusalem. That’s Jesus' summary of the Hebrew Scriptures. 

 

Today, as followers of Jesus, the Israelite Messiah, I think it’s worth putting this in front of our minds as we continue to read through the book of Genesis. We will actually begin Jacob’s story in January, after Advent and Christmas. Today I will be offering an overview of what we will be focusing on. As we read through the remaining chapters of Genesis we will be looking for the following:

 

How does the story of Jacob fit into the story that Jesus saw in the Hebrew Scriptures?

How does this story about God’s chosen one reveal how He entered into suffering, is brought through suffering, to a place of life so that forgiveness can be released to many?

 

At least that’s how Jesus saw it, I suspect that we will discover it’s true. 

 

The story of Jacob reveals itself throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. Let’s look at a few places. Let’s go to the book of Hosea. Before Hosea came on the scene, the tribes of Israel had a civil war and split into two kingdoms. The Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. Hosea lived up north and prophesied to the priests, kings and rulers of the North. Hosea called the Northern tribes, “Ephraim.” The name of one of Jacob’s grandsons, one of Joseph’s sons. 

In chapter 12, Hosea laments the fact that he’s watching the family of Israel collapse into idolatry and injustice and he knows that this will end very badly for this family. 

 

1 Ephraim feeds on the wind;

    he pursues the east wind all day

    and multiplies lies and violence.

He makes a treaty with Assyria

    and sends olive oil to Egypt.

2 

The Lord has a charge to bring against Judah;

    he will punish Jacob according to his ways

    and repay him according to his deeds.

3 

In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel; 

 

Is Hosea talking about Israel or is he talking about Jacob?

Do you see the interplay? Hosea continues….

    as a man he struggled with God.

4 

He struggled with the angel and overcame him;

    he wept and begged for his favor.

He found him at Bethel

    and talked with him there—

 

So God speaking to Jacob in a wrestling match is somehow also God speaking to us. Hosea recalls the history of Jacob and sees his people’s story being reenacted in his day. The remembrance of Jacob’s story actually helps Hosea make sense of what was happening for the people of Israel at the time. 

 

Isaiah does a similar thing in chapter 29. Isaiah was anticipating the time when Israel would be exiled and defeated by Assyria and then Babylon. Isaiah was imagining what it would feel like to be in a time of exile. 

 

22 Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says to the descendants of Jacob:

“No longer will Jacob be ashamed;
    no longer will their faces grow pale.

23 

When they see among them their children,
    the work of my hands,
they will keep my name holy;
    they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob,
    and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

24 

Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding;
    those who complain will accept instruction.”

 

Isaiah describes a time of shame for Jacob, a time when Jacob no longer sees his children. Her children were sent away into exile in Babylon. Yet, there will come a time when Jacob, or in this case, Israel, will look up and despite the great shameful tragedy, they were able to be fruitful and multiply. In fact, a whole family that returns from exile. That’s exactly what happened to Jacob. He was exiled to his uncle Laban’s for twenty years. He slaved for his uncle during that time but ultimately he’s fruitful and multiplies and becomes the father of twelve tribes.

 

Centuries after the story of Jacob we see authors reflect on his story and see how it tells the truth about their present. It’s not just an interesting story to tell about the past. Future writers use Jacob’s story as a source of wisdom and guidance for the ways of God with His people. 

They provide understanding of their present and their future by reminding them of the stories of the past. Let us remember this as we read through the story of Jacob.

 

The stories of fathers and mothers being replayed and repeated and intensifying the failures of their parents and about God’s commitment to every generation of this family to work out His promises is a major theme in the book of Genesis. As we read through the remainder of Genesis let us try to put ourselves in context and try to see what Jesus would see. As we read about Jacob let us consider what Hosea and Isaiah would see when they meditated on the Scriptures. We can go so far as to look at Jacob's story and see what it is communicating to us and help us understand what it means for our families and world today. 

Check in time. 

We have managed to read through the first half of the book of Genesis and have met some famous characters like Adam and Eve, Noah and Abraham. Most of us have read about these characters before and have some familiarity with them. We have even managed to make some connection with them through the New Testament. Abraham’s name is brought up more in the New Testament than Jacob’s. I suspect most of us can see the connection Abraham has with Jesus, as we have read in the New Testament how his faith was credited to him as righteousness. We can connect his story of waiting for the chosen son to be born; the chosen one is surrendered to death; then he is brought back from the dead. We can see the Jesus story all over the place. 

Then we get to the second half of Genesis. It is a long, complicated, multi-generational story about this deceptive guy. 

Everybody in this family is trying to get ahead of the other and deceiving each other left and right. Somehow, God is in the middle of it all. The second half of Genesis is like a long episode of “Family Feud.” 

Here are some thoughts to prepare us for what we are going to read come the New Year. The remainder of Genesis will be about this one guy and his kids, yet it will be the key to understanding the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures. At least that is what Jesus said, Luke 24, verse 27, 

“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”

Beginning in January we are going to go through the whole story of Jacob and see how the pieces fit together. 

For now, this is a great segue into the Advent season. We will begin Advent a week early because in the middle we will share a Christmas Pageant. 

Advent is a preparatory season before the celebration of the birth of the Messiah, and of the second coming of Christ. Reminding us that the Scriptures are all about Jesus. I encourage you to set aside some time from now to Christmas and focus on what it means to you that Jesus is born and Jesus will return to take His children home. 

Let’s pray.