Word of Encouragement (05/12/2022)

“I wait for your salvation, O LORD.” (Gen. 49:18)

Before Jacob moves on to his prayer for Gad, he takes a short break and prays, “I wait for your salvation, O LORD.” As many commentators suggest, this may show how old and feeble Jacob was when he uttered these prayers. We read at the end of this chapter, “When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people” (v. 33).

This may be an obvious point, but we should ask what kind of salvation Jacob was praying for at this moment. He was on the brink of death. He knew it. That is why he gathered his sons around his deathbed and offered these prayers for them. And it seems he died almost immediately after he finished praying (v. 33). We can imagine him speaking slowly, taking strained breaths in between. What kind of salvation could he be praying for in that kind of condition? Was he praying for his life to be prolonged for many more years? That’s unlikely when we consider what he was doing at that moment. He was offering his last prayers for his sons because he knew that his time on earth was quickly drawing to an end. Was he praying that the LORD would sustain him long enough to finish his prayers for his sons? Quite possibly. But he would not call that “salvation,” would he?

Jacob was talking about his eternal salvation, not the restoration of his health or extension of his life on earth. Now that he was united with his favorite son, Joseph, whom he thought was dead, he was ready to die (Gen. 46:30). Even though he had been blessed by God and became rich, his answer to Pharaoh’s question about his age was, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life...” (Gen. 47:9). His life was not easy. When he was, he was obsessed with acquiring Esau’s birthright, willing to do anything to get it. With much scheming and deception, he was able to get it. But as a result, he had to flee from home and suffered much. Even when we came back to the land of Canaan, he still had to live as a stranger and alien. Now his tumultuous life was coming to an end.

And, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Jacob was praying for each of his twelve sons. He was allowed to look down the corridor of history and see what his sons and their descendants would have to go through, both the good and the bad. Was that a good thing or a bad thing—this insight into the future of his children? Could it be that it added the burden of life he was feeling as he neared his end?

After all the riches he had gained and all the struggles he had had throughout his life, and as he surveyed the checkered future of his children, what was the last prayer he uttered for himself? “I wait for your salvation, O LORD!” What would be the most important thing in our minds as we lie dying? Jacob’s prayer gives us the answer. And if the matter of our salvation is the most important thing on our deathbed, it should be the most important thing in the entirety of our lives.

How blessed it is to have the assurance of salvation in Jesus Christ! But if we have that assurance already, what should we live for? Peter commands us to “be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election” by cultivating Christian virtues through all that we do (2 Pet. 1:5-10). And doesn’t it only make sense that we should share the good news of Jesus Christ with those we love and care about and pray for their salvation?

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