Of all that you give me I will surely give one-tenth to you. Genesis 28: 22
In the context of today’s Watchword, we see that Jacob had left Beersheba, where his father and
mother were, and was going back to Haran, to find a wife. It was a long and potentially
hazardous journey, yet he slept on the way. While sleeping, God appeared to him in a dream
(above what has come to be known as “Jacob’s Ladder”) and told him that He would be with
him, bless him, protect him, and bring him back to the Promised Land. Verses 20-22 of Genesis
28 are Jacob’s response to the appearance of God in the dream, and the promises that God made
to him
Jacob speaks about giving to the Lord, and in his response, we glean some insights:
- Giving begins with a personal commitment to God: Verse 21 says: “Then Yahweh will be
my God.…”. Jacob understands that any act directed to God ought to begin with a personal
commitment. What must drive our response to God’s grace to us is a personal deliberate decision
to build a relationship with God, where God is our God and we are His people. - Giving recognizes God’s provision: Verse 22 “…and of all that You give me…” Jacob
recognizes that whatever he would come into in the days ahead, in wealth, in property, in
provision, would come from God. James 1:17 says, “Every good thing given and every perfect
gift is from above, coming down from the Father.” God is the source of all that is good. Even
when a good thing comes through some other intermediate agency – a person, institution or other
source – we need to realize that God is the ultimate source of it. We need to recognize how much
we are dependent on God’s grace. One of the ways that we demonstrate that we recognize that
what we have comes from God and we are thankful for it, is by giving back from what He has
given us. When we give, we ought to be saying: “God, I know that everything I have comes from
You, thank You. Here is this small portion, and anything else You want, it is Yours too. It’s all
Yours.” - Giving begins with the principle of the tithe: Verse 22 “… I will surely give one-tenth to
You.” So, Jacob’s response to God’s provision is to give back one-tenth. Where did he get that?
Evidently it had been passed down to him from his grandfather Abraham (Genesis 14:20). The
New Testament focuses on grace giving, so we should give voluntarily and cheerfully, under the
grace of Jesus Christ. The central issue has to do with our attitude towards giving. Giving should
be from a willing and grateful heart. Giving back to the Lord and His work should be priority. - Giving is a mark of lordship: Jacob says that after his personal experience with God,
Yahweh was now going to be the Lord of his life. To Jacob, his giving was a response to the fact
that God was now his Lord. It was a mark, an outward sign, of God’s ownership, God’s
Lordship, of his life. So, when we give to the Lord, we are declaring our relationship with God,
and giving is one of the signs of genuine discipleship. In the same way, what we give to reflects
our priority and interests. Jesus says it best in Matthew 6:21: “Where your treasure is, there will
your heart be also.” Amen.
Jermaine Gibson