- Be With and Not Leave
Genesis 28:15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whether 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.
In addition to the threefold promise to Abraham, the Lord, at the ladder, adds the promise to Jacob “I am with you and will keep you in all the places you go and will bring you again to this land.” While Jacob is away from home and from the land God will be with him and keep him. God was with Jacob where he went to, and He did bless him with wives, sons, and flocks of sheep; then He brought him back home.
The Lord also promises Jacob that He will not leave him. Jesus promises the same thing for us in Hebrews: “I will never, ever, no never, not ever, leave you nor forsake you.” Not only will the Lord be with us wherever we go until the end of the age, but also He will never leave us until we stand before the throne and the Lord lives with us forever. There is always danger and threat when we are outside the safe confines of our own home. We are always under the threat of danger and fear while we live in this foreign land, the world.
We are also on a sojourning journey away from home, the land, the kingdom, for a period of time in this world. While we are not at “home” Jesus comes to live with us and make His home in our hearts. Thus we carry home with us wherever we go, and then He will be with us forever. By faith we see the homeland in our hearts; by faith we see our city afar off in our future; by faith we make the promise real and present; by faith we converse with our Lord who is always there, here, with us, making a home in the heart; by faith we receive the promise of life and a kingdom.