Thursday, April 21, 2005 Lenten Fast
Hieromartyr Januarios, Bishop of Benevento
6th Hour: Isaiah 65:8-16 1st Vespers: Genesis 46:1-7 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 23:15-24:5
Genesis 46:1-7, especially vs. 3: "And He says to him, I Am the God of thy fathers; fear not to go
down into Egypt, for I will make thee there a great nation." Repeatedly, the record of Holy Scripture confirms that God's
ways are beyond our human prediction and comprehension. How often the Lord achieves the unexpected, the unlikely, and
the improbable! How improbable that God directed Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac (Gen 22). How unlikely that
Isaac's second-born, Jacob, should come into possession both of his family's birthright and of his father's blessing (Gen
27); and who would expect that Joseph, the son of Jacob, apparently lost forever into chattel slavery, would rule in Egypt
(Gen. 37:28 and 45:8)? God regularly defies human logic, mankind's planning, "the wisdom of the wise, and the
understanding of the prudent" (Is. 29:14 LXX). Today's reading reveals again the improbable, wonderful nature of God:
how He changed people by His grace, how He used unfavorable circumstances to benefit His People, and how He
overcame seemingly impossible circumstances.
During a long exile in Mesopotamia, Jacob matured as a man of God. Then the Lord directed him to return to the land of
Canaan. On the return journey, he came to a ford across the river Jabbok. There he met and wrestled with God, and
prevailed (Gen. 32:22-28). The Holy Fathers understand that Jacob's victory in wrestling was an achievement in prayer.
For his victory, God renamed him "Israel," meaning, "he who wrestles with God." His new name signaled a change in
Jacob, one brought about by God. What was the character of that change? The Scriptures report that when Jacob and Esau
were born, Esau was delivered first. It is also recorded that Jacob followed so immediately that he was born grasping the
heel of his older brother. That grasping gave him his name, Jacob, "heel holder" (Gen. 25:26). Idiomatically, "Jacob" also
means "supplanter" or "deceitful," as Esau bitterly noted when he was supplanted as the first-born by Jacob and his mother
Rebekah (Gen. 27:36). God can change even deceivers and manipulators into devout servants. Saul, the persecutor and
"chief of sinners," became Paul the Apostle. Simon, who denied the Lord three times, became Peter, chief of the Apostles.
This present lesson also teaches us that God transforms unfavorable conditions into divinely appointed circumstances.
Always, the Lord effects such changes to bring about the salvation of His people. Notice: the Lord told Jacob, "fear not to
go down into Egypt" (vs. 3). Consider Israel's quandary: to leave the land and to expect that one's descendants would
inherit the land was contradictory. Still, famine pressed him to leave, while the presence of his son Joseph drew him to
Egypt. Yet, he would be an alien! God, however, understood the fear and repeated the promise, "I will make of thee there
a great nation." Israel, the man of God, had to accept contradiction before he could receive fulfillment. Death always
precedes Resurrection. A final lesson in today's reading reveals that God is One Who overcomes the impossible. What
chances were there for a family to migrate to a foreign land and hope to return to their country of origin as a mighty nation?
The prospect is improbable; but God always is at work. The Lord goes into life's Egypts with us: "I will go down with thee
into Egypt, and I will bring thee up at the end" (vs. 4). He overcomes what we cannot defeat, attains what we cannot
achieve, and provides what we lack. The disciples who fled into the night from the Garden became the victorious Apostles
of the good news of the Resurrection: "...let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, Whom you
crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36).
By Thy Cross all gifts have shone forth upon us. Wherefore, we all kneel, saying with joy, How great are Thy works, O
Lord! Glory to Thee!
