Visions of the Night

Reading:   Genesis 46:1-10

I love the idea that dreams are, "visions of the night."  Israel is asked to relocate his family and all that he has to dwell near Joseph; he does as he is bid but has some concerns...

GENESIS 48:1-3

1    And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.  

2    And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.  

3    And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: 

There are a couple of interesting, if not cool, things in these verses.  First, I don't believe the dream, I mean "vision of the night," was necessarily a subtle thing in that God had to say Jacob's name twice to garner his attention, no, he said it twice because Jacob needed a little parental reassurance.  Let me explain; it's like teaching your kid how to start a lawnmower - you show him numerous times how to do it and he successfully starts the mower several times in your presence; but, when it comes time for him to go it alone, he hesitates, starts to question if he is doing it right, falters a bit, and then returns to the house to get some clarification before attempting the actual start alone, "Brenner, Brenner, I have shown you many times, I know you can do it."

Get my drift?  I'm sure, positive even, that Israel (Jacob) prayed mightily to God before he ever lifted a finger in preparation to move.  God told him it was the right thing to do and all would be well and so he commenced with the "move to Egypt" operation.  Along the way, after days if not weeks of gathering and preparing and then moving forward, Jacob allows doubt to creep in and so he stops, prepares a sufficient offering, and asks God again, "Are you sure this is going to work out? We are not a small band and we travel with much supplies and our load is heavy...are we not too great a mass?  Will Joseph feel we are too much of a burden?"

How did God respond?  "Jacob, Jacob, I am God and have directed you in accordance with my will - you will be fine, in fact I'm going o make a great nation of thee...no need to worry...I am with thee."  A little reassurance that all will be well and the direction was true.

The second interesting thing is that on several occasions, not just this one, God reaffirms who he is, "...I am God, the God of thy father."  This is to say that he has not changed, "I am the same, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  I did not lead your father falsely, I have not led you falsely, and will not lead your sons falsely."  It is a great affirmation of faith, it was the same for Isaac when he faltered, and the same for Abraham when he questioned as well.

~Kipling