The nested “if then”

“And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,

So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:

And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that Thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.” (Gen. 28:20-22).

Wow! Great vow! If Jehovah, the God of heaven and Earth would do this for me, and He would do that for me, and do three other things for me, then I will let Him be my God. And I will return a little of His wealth back to Him.

That’s being very generous, Jacob. Are you still a thief? A swindler? Are you still jewing others down like your father Abraham? Jewing even Jesus down?

Jesus is very tolerant to His wayward children. If they have a heart for Him, even 10 percent of a heart for Him, He is gracious to them. He sweeps them off their feet into His bosom with the rest of His children. Jesus knew the prostration of heart, the poverty of spirit that Jacob was suffering under.

“When, after his sin in deceiving Esau, Jacob fled from his father’s home, he was weighed down with a sense of guilt. Lonely and outcast as he was, separated from all that had made life dear, the one thought that above all others pressed upon his soul, was the fear that his sin had cut him off from God, that he was forsaken of Heaven. In sadness he lay down to rest on the bare earth, around him only the lonely hills, and above, the heavens bright with stars.” Steps to Christ, p. 19.

The heavens were bright with stars, but there was no God for Jacob. “He was forsaken of Heaven.” To that sorrow Jesus could minister. To that poor soul He could open all the storehouse of heaven with the promise, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:3).

“And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;

And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.” (Gen. 28:13-15).

“From the glory above, the divine voice was heard in a message of comfort and hope. Thus was made known to Jacob that which met the need and longing of his soul--a Saviour. With joy and gratitude he saw revealed a way by which he, a sinner, could be restored to communion with God. The mystic ladder of his dream represented Jesus, the only medium of communication between God and man.” Steps to Christ, p. 19.

    

When creatures give and vow to give, we might do it with all our heart, and our benevolence might seem big. But compared to God and His benevolence, ours is inconceivably small. If You do this for me, then I’ll do this for You. What we promise to God is not one for one, in an even trade off.

When the Queen of Sheba gave of her wealth to Solomon, he returned even more to her from his tremendous stores.

“And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart….

And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.

And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones.

And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the LORD, and for the king’s house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day.

And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,

Beside that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffick of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country.” (1Ki. 10:2,10-15).

“Hearing of his wisdom and of the magnificent temple he had built, she determined ‘to prove him with hard questions’ and to see for herself his famous works.’ Prophets and Kings, p. 66. “Solomon told her all her questions: there was not anything hid from the king, which he told her not." 1 Kings 10:1-3; 2 Chronicles 9:1, 2.” Prophets and Kings, p. 66.   

But, Solomon revealed to her more than she sought. “She talked with him of the mysteries of nature; and Solomon taught her of the God of nature, the great Creator, who dwells in the highest heaven and rules over all.” Prophets and Kings, p. 66.

 

Then he added even more to his gift to her by the presentation of his daily life. He had built a life that mimicked the heaven that surrounds the Most High God.

“And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house that he had built,

And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.

And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.

Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.

Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.

Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.” (1Ki. 10:4-9).

Above and beyond “all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty” (1Ki. 10:13), he gave her a powerful memory of good, of self-sacrifice from loyal hearts toward him, and self-sacrifice from his loyal heart toward all the people below him—an example for her to give in her treatment of her people. He gave her a greater knowledge of the true God, which brought her peace and surrender and the gift of God, the Holy Spirit.

This is exactly what His God desired to do for our world fallen into sin. He promised to

“Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.

The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.” (Jer. 31:2-4).

“At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.” (Jer. 31:1).

More than their nation being rebuilt and their fields being replanted, above and beyond all “with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb” (Gen. 49:25), “the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:… people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: … lord over thy brethren, and … thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee” (Gen. 27:28,29), there was the spiritual blessing—the gift of God, His reconciled Spirit.

“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:

The LORD make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

The LORD lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

And they shall put My name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.” (Num. 6:22).

This is God terms of our agreement with Him. They far outweigh what we agree to give to Him. We give Him all our puny heart, and He give to us all of His infinite heart. His promises are upon other promises, which are upon other promises. “For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” (2Cor. 1:20).

“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which My covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put My Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be My people.

And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is His name:

If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.

Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.

And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath.

And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the LORD; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.” (Jer. 31:31).

“Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath:

That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;

 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an High Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” (Heb. 6:17-20).

 “For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself,

Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.” (Heb. 6:13,14).

Christ guaranteed two immutable things. On top of His promise of blessing and multiplying He swore an oath by Him who none is greater.