Well, really the subject on my
mind tonight, and it's a very vast subject, we can only just
touch a little on it, is about God leading his people. And we can read on many occasions
in the Word of God how God led them. And we're thankful to know
that our God still reigns today. and that he is still leading
his people as he led his people of old. And we read this account
this evening because it speaks about Jacob. And we know a little
about Jacob's life as we recall his situation and how he deceived
his father, although in one sense It wasn't deceiving because he
had obtained the birthright from Esau who had sold it for a bowl
of pottage and therefore in one sense he did deserve to have
the birthright. But we're told here in this little
account about the Lord's portion is his people. Jacob is the lot
his inheritance and that's really a wonderful statement isn't it
we just ponder it to think the Lord's portion we are the Lord's
portion is his people and then he gives the illustration Jacob
is the lot of his inheritance he found him and all his people
the Lord finds wherever we are There is an appointed time when
God comes and finds us. It's a wonderful blessing, isn't
it? And so we're told, he found him
in a desert land and in the waste howling wilderness. He led him
about. He instructed him. He kept him
as the apple of his eye. And he was led about, wasn't
he? We follow Jacob's life, we see how God led him in quite
a remarkable way, in quite a wonderful time is illustrated when God
appeared for him. And so we can be thankful to
know that here we have an evidence of God's leading. May such statements
encourage us And he tells us, as an eagle stirreth up her nest,
fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them,
beareth them on her wings. So the Lord alone did lead him. It's a wonderful blessing to
have God leading us. And so did Jacob. He left his
home with his father and mother, but God was with him, and God
led him. So the Lord alone did lead him. And there was no strange God
with him. He made him ride on the high places of the earth,
that he might eat the increase of the fields. And he made him
to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock. And so it goes on, butter of
kine and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs and rams of the
breed of Bajan and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat.
And now let's drink the pure blood of the grape. Well, it's a very good account
to be able to read and to recognize how God graciously led his servant
Jacob as he led his father Isaac as he led his grandfather Abraham. And the great blessing for us
today is that we have the same God. God who has said I change
not and who says I am the same yesterday and today and forever. therefore we have a God that
we can come to, a God that we can rely upon, a God that we
know is faithful to his promise. Well just one or two other references,
first of all in Psalm 78, which of course is a wonderful Psalm
giving a history of the children of Israel, and it tells us in
this Psalm in verse 14 of Psalm 78, in the day time also he led
them with a cloud and all the night with a light of fire. How wonderful it was. There were
the children of Israel in the wilderness and God was to lead
them and he would never fail them. until they got to the promised
land and there was no need anymore then for that wonderful direction. And so we're told so clearly
here, He led them. Moses didn't decide, I think
I'll go this way today, I think I'll change my path and go there. Not at all. God sovereignly led
them. And night or day, when the Lord
directed the cloud in the daytime and the pillar of fire by night,
Israel had to move. They had to go in that path that
God had directed them in. And then in that same chapter
also, We read about them being led when they came across the
sea, the Red Sea, and he led them on safely, so that they
feared not, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. And that appeared
an impossibility, hedged in all around, and God was leading them,
and God doesn't make any mistakes. He didn't make any mistakes with
Israel. And it's very humbling to think.
He doesn't make any mistakes with us today. What a wonderful
God we have. How kind and gracious and merciful. And He it was that led them on
safely. Ponder that. We have it again
in the 106th Psalm where David tells us He rebuked the Red Sea
also, and it was dried up. So he led them through the depths
and through the wilderness. And God led them through that
sea safely. And we perhaps fail to realise
sometimes that Lord God gave them that faith. There was the
Red Sea. We don't know how deep it was,
but it was obviously of some depth. And there was the waters
parted and stood up on one side. It was a wonderful demonstration
of the power of God. And therefore they went over
safely. But the enemies were overwhelmed. All of them, not just one or
two, all of the Egyptians perished in that Red Sea and were told
the Israelites saw them no more. The power of God. What a mercy it is to realise
that we have such a God. And then we have that well-known
verse in the 107th Psalm, which is so comprehensive. It tells
us in the seventh verse, and He led them forth by the right
way. As I've said, God never makes
a mistake. Sometimes we may think God has
made a mistake, but God knows the end from the beginning. We
only know the present situation. What a mercy to be able to commit
our way unto Him, who knows all about us. He knows the path that
has been planned for us from before the creation of the world,
in time past. Well it's a wonderful truth to
meditate upon and to realise this God led them forth by the
right way and the purpose was that they might go to a city
of habitation. And that word is still true today
for you and me. We don't have a physical city
in one sense to go to, as they went to Canaan and God led them
safely through to that place. But we're on a journey. we're
on a journey through this world and we don't know the direction
that God leads us but we we do know that through his mercy he
will lead us he led them through the depths as through the wilderness
and sometimes we have to go through the depths but nonetheless if
God is with us who can be against us. So what an encouragement
it is to realise that the Lord leads us the right way, that
we might go to a city of habitation, that holy city of heaven at last. Well we can thank and praise
God for it and then Isaiah in his prophecy, the 48th chapter,
in the 21st verse we read, And they thirsted not when he led
them through the deserts. He caused the waters to flow
out of the rock for them. He clathed the rock also, and
the waters gushed out. God knew what he would do. God
knew what he would, how he would provide for Israel. And that's
the same for us today. God knows how He will provide
for us. He leads us. He will provide
for us. He will not leave us. And He
will not forsake us. Because He is a God that never
lies. He is truthful in all His dealings. Well, Isaiah therefore picks
up this just to illustrate the greatness and the power and the
wisdom of Almighty God. And then Jeremiah, in his prophecy
in the second chapter, he says this, Hast thou not procured
this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God
when he led them by the way? Israel were departing from God
in so many ways and therefore Jeremiah under the influence
of the Holy Spirit raises this question for them to make them
understand and sometimes we need to be reminded and brought back
and understand hast thou not procured this unto thyself in
that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God it's very easy for us
to forsake the Lord our God. We're very sinful creatures,
we're very evil creatures, and yet what a merciful God we have,
who still leads us, he still directs us, he still surrounds
us with his love and mercy. This is the great God that we
adore. And then finally, just one last
comment, when the Lord Jesus left this earth when he ascended
up to his father on that memorable and wonderful occasion. We're
told in Luke's Gospel, the 24th chapter and verse 50, and he,
the Lord Jesus, he led them out as far as Bethany. There was
an ordained place God knew where he was leading the people. We
don't know exactly how many people there were. We know there were
the disciples, the eleven disciples, and we know there were the two
that went on the Emmaus Road and there were others. We're
not told precisely the numbers, but we do know there was a company
there and they were wonderfully blessed. Because we're told,
he led them out as far as Bethany and He lifted up his hands and
blessed them. And while he was doing that,
he was taken up into heaven. Well, we have a great God. We have a God who's able to do
far more exceedingly abundantly than you and I can ask or even
think. And to recognize that this God
has always led his people from the days of Adam and Eve up to
the present moment of time and right down to the end of time
until time will be no more. Well, may we rejoice in the truth
that we have a God who leads us in the right way.