Encounter and Transformation

This week we’re thinking about another aspect of what it means to be All-In as a member of Central: that is committing to serving God and one another. The chapter we’re reflecting on this week is at the start of the Book of Nehemiah. Nearly 450 years before Jesus, the people of Israel had returned to their land in the time of Ezra. They had restored their Temple and started to worship and serve God again. However, during this time, the people had failed to repair the walls of Jerusalem, were living “in great trouble and shame” (Neh. 1:3) and were struggling to protect themselves from their enemies and live faithfully for God. In this chapter we are introduced to a prominent Jewish man called Nehemiah who still lived back in the city of Susa in the Persian empire. God places a great burden on his heart to do something about this situation and his story is of how God used him to mobilise the people of Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of the city, and hence to serve God by doing this together.

In this chapter, David has just received plans from the Lord for the building of the Temple (see 1 Chron. 28:12). David’s son, Solomon, would eventually oversee the actual construction and witness God’s glory (or presence) descend and fill the place. But here we also learn some basic principles about giving based on the words and actions of David. After he outlines what he will give personally, we then see how the leaders act and, finally, the response of the rest of the people. Also, this week, we’ll be thinking about how to give, what we should give and why we should give towards supporting the work of God.

We are considering, now, the second major event that happened to the people of Israel after they left Egypt – the giving of the Ten Commandments, and the instructions about the Tabernacle. These two events were to teach Israel the importance of centering their lives on God’s word (or his teaching/ instruction) and God’s presence in the midst of them. The Ten Commandments were a summary of what Israel referred to as the Torah, and the Tabernacle was a visual reminder to them of God’s holy presence among them and how they could draw near to God in worship. As followers of Jesus, we see the ultimate fulfillment of these in him.

This month we are turning our focus to Israel (the tribes and descendants of Jacob) and, in particular how God shaped them into being his holy people. We will look at three key incidents in their early years in which they encountered the LORD in dramatic ways, and how these helped to form them as God’s people, redeemed by him, centered on him and on a journey with him going before them. The first key moment is arguably the most significant in their history as they celebrate the Passover and then experience God delivering them from slavery in Egypt and bringing them through the Red Sea. These two events (much like the death and rising of Jesus for us) were foundational to who they were and how they, ever after, thought of themselves.

How Jacob was transformed through his developing relationship with the Lord, and specifically how he wrestled with God and received a new name and a new heart.

Families can be complex and broken, but God meets us in whatever family situation. God loves us; there will be a day when there is no more pain and suffering; God has adopted us into his family - the church.

In this section Jacob, now fleeing from his brother Esau, heads north to the region of the Arameans, around the city of Haran, where he would end up staying with his relative Laban (the brother of his mother, Rebekah) for the next 20 years. On the way, Jacob has his first encounter with the LORD at a place called Bethel, where God reveals himself to Jacob. The rest of these chapters record how Jacob’s family were born. Through this encounter with Yahweh, and what he experiences during the years in Laban’s household, God starts to transform Jacob.

In this section we are introduced to Jacob, along with his brother Esau and his father Isaac. As well as the dysfunctional family dynamics that are described in this story we are given glimpses, in particular, into the character of Jacob – a man who always seems to be grasping after things whatever the cost. The author is trying to show us how much Jacob needed to encounter the God of his father Abraham and, hopefully, experience transformation.