In the minds of many the thought of dying serves as a reminder of responsibilities they wish not to leave undone in life. They rightly desire their earthly affairs to be peacefully settled, their surviving loved ones to be amply provided for, and their wealth to be distributed for good causes. These things they hope God will accept for their entrance into heaven as their final reward for having lived a good life. But getting to know God their Maker is a thing of little daily concernment to them as long as they are able to enjoy life and health on earth. Others go even further, and like atheists attempt to drive from their minds all thoughts of God and of His moral law which binds their consciences to a standard of right and wrong conduct. The theologian Charles Hodge compared this skepticism to a pendulum which may be forced for a time to hang in an unnatural position, “But as soon as such force is removed, it is sure to swing back to its normal position. Whatever rouses the moral nature, whether it be danger, or suffering, or the approach of death, banishes unbelief in a moment. Scripture and experience is that the moral law as written upon the heart is indelible, and the moral law in its nature implies a lawgiver, one from whom that law emanates and by whom it will be enforced.”1
The life of Jacob may be cited to illustrate the realities Mr. Hodge spoke of. Jacob, in the estimation of some, would not be called a good person, nevertheless in the distresses brought upon him by his own sins he learned to seek and find God his Maker. By craftiness and lying Jacob as a young man dispossessed his brother Esau of both the birthright and the blessing that rightfully were his as the firstborn son of Isaac and Rebekah. When Esau threatened to kill him for these deeds, Jacob fled for his life, at which time God appeared to him in a dream, after which “Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. 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. 28:16,20-22). God answered Jacob’s prayers, blessing him with a large family and great possessions, and true to his vow he returned to his father’s house again. Yet, though twenty years had passed, Jacob was again in such distress about meeting Esau that he spent the night before wrestling with God in prayer, “And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.” (Gen. 32:26). God again hearkened to Jacob, causing Esau to be pacified and their meeting to be peaceable. Again, after two of Jacob’s sons had brutally murdered an entire city in revenge for a sexual crime committed against their sister, he was in fear for his life from the other inhabitants of the land, “And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name:” (Gen. 35:10). As Israel, God’s chosen servant, Jacob continued to follow his Maker the rest of his days.
Jacob’s life and the life of every true believer are beautifully described by the prophet Isaiah: “For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.” (Isa. 54:5). The psalmist also speaks of the tender care of God for His children: “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” (103:13,14). What folly, therefore, to contend with God, to rebel against His laws, and to despise faith in mankind’s one appointed sinbearer, the Lord Jesus Christ! Hear mercy’s pleadings: “behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (II Cor. 6:2).
1 Systematic Theology by Charles Hodge, Abridged Edition, pp. 102,103; Baker Book House.