In Succoth

Jacob rested for a while in Succoth, may be a year or so for all the animals and the children to recover after the escape from Laban and all these efforts when he met Esau, the camp needed to rebuild.

A piece of land

Then Jacob crossed the river Jordan and settled in front of the city of Shechem, the same place where Abraham entered Canaan many years ago. There Jacob settled and bought a piece of land outside the city, there he built an alter for sacrificing to his awesome God, YHWH. Now for the first time a child of Abraham owned a piece of the land promised to him.

Jacob presented his God to the people

Jacob entered a land of people believing in many gods, it was not a land of friends; it was a land with pagan rituals and low morale. However, Jacob didn’t hide his belief, he showed all the inhabitants of the land that his God was Abraham’s God and his name was YHWH by erecting this alter for everybody to see.

God’s enormous plan

This was a turning point in Jacob’s life when he called the alter El-Elohe-Israel, the mighty God of Israel. At that time, Israel was not a people, it was not a land, it was him, Jacob. There Jacob finally understood and accepted God’s enormous plan, making him both a land and a people. By the alter Jacob said that this God of mine is the God of Israel and I am Israel.

Question

1. Does God want you to think big?
2. Does God want you to hide your faith?