The story of Jacob, the epitome of tribulation(1)

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  Hebrews means “crossed over.”

Seen at Canaan, the Hebrew people came from across the Red Sea from Egypt, through the wilderness, and across the Jordan River.

In that sense, the meaning of crossing Hebrews and moving on to James is very significant.

From this arrangement of the Bible, we must find out the spiritual secret.

Therefore, readers of the book of James must first realize that they crossed the book of Hebrews and arrived at the book of James. James means Jacob.

Jacob's life is a life in which God's word is fulfilled by God's providence.

So, in the Bible, he comes out as a epitome  for tribulation (refer to Psalm 46).

If you divide Jacob's life into three parts,

There is a period of childhood and growth influenced by mother Rebekah.

Then there is a training period in Paddan Aram where he lives with his maternal uncle Laban.

And as th

e life after the Jabbok River, there is the period of Jacob's completion.

During his growth period, God's decree and love came upon him.

God said that he hated Esau and loved Jacob, so God chose and called him when he was already in Rebekah's womb (Rom 9:10-11).

He buys the birthright from Esau for a bowl of red bean soup and obtains the blessing of Isaac with the help of his mother Rebekah.

Then Paddan Aram's life for 20 years was the period when God was with Jacob and intervened.

That's why Jacob said the word Bethel (God's house) .

In the end, he sets out as Jacob and returns to Israel.

He returns to his hometown as God's a mighty warrior with  broken thigh bone (Genesis 32:25).

The God of Jacob is the God of Bethel and the God of Israel.

At Bethel, he saw a ladder reaching to heaven and received God's promise. He wrestled with an angel at the Jabbok River and finally received his blessing, overcoming God.

He becomes the ancestor of the 12 tribes and the starting point of the Israelites.

So from Genesis 12, the story of Abraham's calling and his faith, the story of God's selection and promise to Isaac and its fulfillment, and the story of guiding and training Jacob are all.

The story of Joseph is included in the life of Jacob.

So, the God of Abraham is the God of calling, the God of Isaac is the God of selection, and the God of Jacob appears as the God of providence in the Bible.

We call the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

It is an essential process for salvation to become spiritual Israel by being called into Christ like Abraham, being chosen like Isaac, being clothed with Christ through baptism that die and live again with Christ, and receiving providence in Christ as in the case of Jacob.

The book of James is the same paradigm as the Hebrews, the people who crossed the Jordan River, fulfilling God's Word through a life like Jacob.

In other words, it is the story of salvation accomplished in Bethel, the dwelling place of Immanuel, where the children of God, who came across through the message of the cross (Ho Logos), are together with God in Christ.

Hebrews are a chosen people. And for Jacob, the promise of God is being applied.

We can see God's hand and His zeal in fulfilling the promise fulfilled through Abraham and Isaac through God's intervention and providence to Jacob.

This is the story from Genesis 12 to 50.

God said ‘Parah’ in ‘Beresht’ under a clear will and plan (Genesis 1:1).

The Bible says that He is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

He appears to us as the same God.

In that sense, James is referring to the scattered 12 tribes.

The true Hebrew people are not only the 12 tribes of Canaan, but the true Christians scattered all over the world are Israel. (Rom 9:6)

Therefore, we must not think that the recipients of the Book of James are only the physical Hebrews.

We are called into Christ, we are justified by faith, we are called children of God in Christ, and we become heirs who call God our Father.

Like Jacob who finally crossed the Jabbok River through the long training of godliness to extract the slave spirit of the world through the word like in the wilderness, we firmly hold on to the cross of the Lord.

By thoroughly realizing that Christ, not me, I became true Israel, just as Jacob became Israel, and even though Jacob was a beggar with nothing, he had the cosmic spirit of blessing Pharaoh riding in a golden chariot, 

we also lose the things of the world in the tribulation of the world, but because we gain the Lord Jesus Christ and God again and again, we are becoming rich as those who sit in heaven looking down on the world and blessing everyone.

Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim.

Translated by  Nancy Chung

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