One of the most interesting people in the Old Testament is Jacob, a cheating, deceiving, manipulative man. Yet God loved this man dearly.
Jacob had tricked his brother Esau out of his birthright. When a famished Esau came in from hunting, Jacob offered him a pot of stew in exchange for his birthright. In their culture, the birthright was the right of the firstborn male to be the head of the clan. This included a “double blessing” — that is, receiving a double portion of all their father’s possessions. More importantly, whoever had the birthright was to be the progenitor of the patriarchal seed through which Christ would come: “And in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 28:14).
Jacob had also stolen the patriarchal blessing from his father, Isaac — a blessing that belonged to Esau — by pretending to be Esau. When Esau learned that Jacob had stolen his blessing from their father, he was determined to kill him.
Their mother, Rebekah, persuaded Isaac to send Jacob away to where her brother Laban lived. She wanted Jacob to find a wife there and live peacefully. While Jacob was on his way, God gave him an incredible vision. He saw a ladder descending from heaven down to earth, with angels going to and from the throne of God, doing His bidding (see Genesis 28:12).
God was drawing back the curtain and showing Jacob divine activity that was going on all the time. All those angels were on assignment — going back and forth to the earth to guide and lead God’s people, minister to them, camp around them, warn them, protect them, guard them, provide for their needs.
Beloved, that ladder is still there! And those same angels have not aged a single hour since Jacob saw them. In fact, they are still working and ministering on our behalf today.
To Jacob, and through him to us, God then said, “I am with thee, and will keep thee in all the places whither 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” (Genesis 28:15).
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David Wilkerson (1931 – 2011)
Founder of Times Square Church in New York City with over 100 different languages spoken in the congregation. Wilkerson wrote many powerful books such as: The Vision and Cross and the Switchblade. His ministry was prophetic as God called him to be a watchman to the Church in North America. He gave clear messages on repentance to the Church.Wilkerson also founded Teen Challenge where there are hundreds of centres for Christ-centered drug recovery and addiction recovery. He also organized and spoke at pastors gatherings in many countries where he gave prophetic strong messages to encourage pastors and leaders.
Recommends these books by David Wilkerson:
The Vision and Beyond, Prophecies Fulfilled and Still to Come by David Wilkerson
Knowing God by Name: Names of God That Bring Hope and Healing by David Wilkerson
God's Plan to Protect His People in the Coming Depression by David Wilkerson
David Wilkerson is an American Christian evangelist, most well-known for his book The Cross and the Switchblade. He is also the founder of Times Square Church in New York, an interdenominational church.
Wilkerson is well-known for these early years of his ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. He co-authored a book about his work with the New York drug addicts, The Cross and the Switchblade, which became a best-seller, selling over 50 million copies in over thirty languages since it was published in 1963. The book was included among the 100 most important Christian books of the 20th century.
For over four decades, Wilkerson's ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. He has authored over 30 books.
David Wilkerson is the founder and president of World Challenge, Inc., a nonprofit organization incorporated on September 22, 1971. Reverend Wilkerson, the author of over thirty inspirational books, is perhaps best known for his early days of ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. His story is told in The Cross and the Switchblade, a book he co-authored which became a best-seller. (The story has been read by over 50 million people in some thirty languages and 150 countries since 1963. In 1969, a motion picture of the same title was released.)
For over four decades, Reverend Wilkerson's evangelistic ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. Throughout that time a distinctive characteristic of his work has been his direct efforts to reach the neediest members of the population with help for both body and soul. Even now, the almost 70 year-old minister often goes out alone or sometimes with an assistant to walk through the streets of New York City, along Broadway and Eighth Avenue or down 42nd Street and nearby "Crack Alley" on 41st Street. His mission is always to seek out the lost, the disoriented, and the addicted , to tell them of the power of the risen Christ to set them free.
David Wilkerson, born in Hammond, Indiana on May 19, 1931, was married in 1953 to Gwen Carosso. The Wilkersons' two sons are ministers, and their two daughters are married to ministers. They have 11 grandchildren. The Wilkersons served small pastorates in Scottsdale and Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, until Reverend Wilkerson saw a photograph in Life magazine of several New York City teenagers charged with murder. Moved with compassion he was drawn to the city in February 1959. It was at that time he began his street ministry to what one writer called "desperate, bewildered, addicted, often violent youth.