Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“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 clothing to put on, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, and Yahweh will be my God, then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, will be God’s house. Of all that you will give me I will surely give a tenth to you.””
(Genesis 28:20-22)

Jacob was in his seventies. He knew OF God, but he did NOT have a relationship WITH God. Jacob wasn’t a follower of God. He wasn’t AGAINST God. He was neutral. But now he had had an encounter with God. Because of that, he made a vow. Since God gave him a promise, he was going to test it. If it proved true, he would devote himself to God completely. He would worship him, forsake all other gods, and be in a relationship with Him. Jacob was vowing that he would prove the shepherdship of God – and he did. He proved to himself God WAS a faithful shepherd and that God WAS leading, guiding, and protecting him. It changed his whole view of God and their relationship (Genesis 48:15). He wasn’t always perfect, but this is the point where his personal journey with God began.

If God proved to be faithful and true, Jacob was pledging not only to worship Him, but to tithe to him. He would have learned about the principle of tithing from his father and grandfather (who started it – Genesis 14:20). Tithing didn’t originate with the Law. It was part of the Law, but didn’t start there. Tithing existed before the Law. It exists in the renewed covenant as well. It is simply giving something back to God that He gave you in the first place (and isn’t always money). It is acknowledging His superior position to us in a physical way we cannot ignore or explain away. As a way to honour Him. As a form of worship. It isn’t about dollars and cents. It’s about position, the heart, and our love of Him. Our appreciation of Him. It’s worship, not obligation. It’s joyful, not codified percentages. It isn’t a bribe. It isn’t a ‘must do’. There’s no point in doing it if you aren’t worshipping Him through it. Yes, you rob yourself of benefits. Yes, you are failing to fully show Him what He deserves – that we hold nothing back in our love and devotion to Him. But He isn’t going to smite you if you refuse. It is for US that we have tithing, not Him. He doesn’t need it because He already has everything. It’s OUR response to HIS faithfulness. Just like with Abraham. Just like with Jacob. They did it willingly. They didn’t do it because they had to. It was their idea. And God honoured them for it. He will do the same with you and me.

The sage Ramban writes: ‘IF (‘IM’) G-D WILL BE WITH ME. Rashi comments: “If He will keep for me these promises which He made to me.” The reason for the condition is lest the sin cause the abrogation of the promises. And so the Rabbis said in Bereshith Rabbah, “Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Acha, ‘And behold, I am with thee, and yet it is written, If G-d will be with me! However, from here you infer that there is no assurance to the righteous in this world.’”
In line with the simple meaning of Scripture it is further possible that the word im does not indicate a doubt in the matter, but such is the way of Scripture when referring to future events, such as: until ‘im asithi’ (I have done). And so also: ‘Ve’im’ there shall be the jubilee of the children of Israel. In all these cases it means if there will come a time when the condition is satisfied, then the deed will be fulfilled, that is to say, ve’im does not mean “if it occurs,” but rather “when it occurs.” THEN THE ETERNAL SHALL BE MY G-D. This is not a condition, as Rashi would have it. It is rather a vow, and its purport is as follows: “If I will return to my father’s house, I will worship the proper Name of the Eternal in the Chosen Land at the location of this stone which will be for me a house of G-d, and there I will set aside the tithe.” There is in this matter a secret relating to that which the Rabbis have said: “He who dwells outside the Land of Israel is like one who has no G-d.”’

The sage Sforno writes: ‘אם יהיה אלוקים עמדי, to remove from me all the pressures which I am under, pressures which prevent man from giving his attention to matters which should receive his attention, i.e. to G’d and what He expects from man. What troubled Yaakov was what our sages in Eyruvin 41 described as the three problems which are liable to unbalance someone’s mind as well as his relationship to his Creator. They are: gentiles, being involved personally in natural disasters, and excessive poverty. ושמרני, from wicked gentiles who would force him to change his lifestyle; ונתן לי לחם לאכול, so that I will not be forced to violate both my own integrity and that ordained for me by my Maker. ושבתי בשלום, from all the problems besetting man, i.e. a reference to what the Talmud had called רוח רעה. והיה ה’ לי לאלוקים, then G’d will be a judge, and He can examine to see if I did not fulfill my vow to the best of my ability. The letter ו at the beginning of the word והיה, [where we would perhaps have expected Yaakov to use an ordinary future tense such as יהיה, Ed.], may be in lieu of the word הנה, meaning that Yaakov would already from now on act on the assumption that G’d would provide him with the necessities he had asked for and therefore he was willing to be judged by the attribute of Justice, not relying on the attribute of Mercy.’

The sage Rav Hirsch writes: ‘ושמרני וגו׳. As here — in contrast to the יברכך וישמרך :ברכת כהנים — the prayer for protection precedes that for blessing of food and clothes etc., the protection prayed for here can not refer to these external possessions — of which indeed he did not possess any — but for the guarding of the spiritual and moral possessions which he bore in himself. And these were the more easily endangered “on the path which he was treading, בדרך הזה״ the poorer he was in external possessions. Ever since the gates of Paradise had closed, gaining one’s daily bread, keeping one’s own home, the ונתן לי is such a difficult task, is interlocked with so many artificial conditions and external requirements that it does really need God’s support not to give up the whole of one’s better self to gain that piece of bread. Who can count the number of men who, before they had “to tread the path of earning their daily bread” were morally pure and honest, and to gain their livelihood and attain a position in civic life, denied God, gave up morality, had no consideration for their neighbour’s honour, or even respect for his marriage etc. etc. Not for nought do our sages say, that path is beset with לה״ר ,ש״ד ,ג״ע ,ע״ז, scandal and lies, murder, immorality and worshipping false gods. Jacob, who hitherto had been יושב אהלים, and now wanders forth to win a wife, and bread for wife and family, is so deeply conscious of this danger that he first prays to God for protection for his own character, that he be given strength not to forfeit any of his spiritual and moral integrity. Integrity is therefore the first thing that the first Jew, on the way to found a home, wishes for; and then לי לחם וגו׳, to me, i.e. an independent living, and בגד to be able to appear respectably clad in society, i.e. livelihood and position in civic life; thirdly, that which does live, and should live in every Jewish breast: שלום, the desire for peace; and finally בית אב, the indestructable attachment to family. If God grants me this: והיה ה׳ לי לאלקים (then the God of Love will be for me a God of Justice, Who judges me. I.L.) This, too, is a thought, that is henceforth to be continuously vivid with us, and to which the very last גאולה refers. If, in this struggle for existence, God protects and blesses people, then God reveals Himself as ה׳, in His מדת הרחמים, and every one in the world wishes and prays for that relationship of God towards himself. But it is only the Jewish conception which says והיה ה׳ לי לאלקים, then God Who showers all His Love on me shall be, to me, in my mind, a God Who not only gives, but Who demands, Who wants to know that with all that He gives His Will is furthered. To do homage to God, not merely as a Giver, but as a Lawgiver, to make every breath that you take, every penny that you spend, in accordance with His directions, that is the meaning of ה׳ לי לאלקים. Thus God says to the redeemed descendants of Jacob: “I have redeemed you להיות לכם לאלקים: so that ye shall regulate and live the human and social lives ye have regained in accordance with My Will.’