In the lives of His own as recorded in Scripture, God sometimes shows us His ways by highlighting events with natural markers. We find this in the lives of some of the patriarchs, for we find that Abraham had four altars, Isaac had four wells, Jacob had four pillars, and Joseph had four garments. Of course, others had some of these same things, but in the lives of Abraham and his descendants, we find these four entities especially noted of God.
Since our issue concerns Jacob, let us look at the four pillars mentioned in his life. A pillar brings before us something that is lasting, and that serves as a permanent mark or documentation. It may be of some event or perhaps some record of distance covered, as in a “mile marker.” We find that Jacob set up four pillars during his life, each one indicative of a decision or position taken and the spiritual state associated with it.
Confidence in the Flesh
The first pillar that is mentioned was set up at Bethel, where Jacob spent his first night away from home, when he was compelled to run away to Padan-aram, to escape the anger of his brother Esau. God had graciously shown him the ladder reaching up to heaven, and He had made unconditional promises to him. Jacob had real faith and valued God’s promises, but he had a bad conscience, and this bad state of soul diluted his faith, making him uncomfortable in God’s presence. Because he valued God’s promises, he set up a pillar of stone, pouring oil on it — a type of the Spirit of God. But then he proceeded to attempt to make a bargain with the Lord, for his scheming nature had not yet been judged in God’s presence. He continued to count on his own cunning and his own strength, rather than completely trusting the Lord. I would call this pillar the pillar of confidence in the flesh.
No Confidence in the Flesh
The second pillar comes more than twenty years later, after Jacob had spent time working for Laban, had married his two daughters, and had become a wealthy man. Still he had not gotten right with God. As a result, he had spent twenty years in fleshly energy, he and Laban each seeking to outmaneuver and outwit the other. Now he had obeyed the word of the Lord and was returning to the land of his fathers. When the Lord told him to do this, He reminded Jacob that He was the same God who had met him in Bethel, where he had anointed the pillar and made the vow. What wondrous grace! When Laban pursued after and caught up with him, a heated exchange occurred, with each man accusing the other, while defending his own conduct. When Laban suggested making a covenant, it was Jacob that set up a stone for a pillar. Other stones were added to make a heap, which became a witness between Laban and Jacob.
This pillar testifies to the breakdown of natural relations, for neither Jacob nor Laban could trust the other. The flesh cannot be trusted, and thus Laban calls on God to be a witness and to watch over Jacob. He is saying, in so many words, that he cannot trust Jacob out of his sight. Likewise Jacob had learned not to trust Laban, for each man was scheming and plotting for himself. Let us call this the pillar of no confidence in the flesh.
Confidence in God
The third pillar comes several years later, after further trouble had come to Jacob’s family. During this time, Jacob had wrestled with the Lord and learned that he could not get the blessing by his own strength, but only by clinging to the Lord. He was slowly learning what it was to trust God for everything. But then he built a house in Succoth, and after moving on to Shalem, he bought property, both of which were not in keeping with the call of God and his pilgrim character. Along with these actions, his family came into contact with the world. His daughter became involved with Shechem, the son of Hamor, and the resultant fornication and subsequent bloodshed was a sad blot on Jacob’s testimony. It was only after all this that Jacob finally put away the idols from his household, and at the Lord’s command he went back to Bethel to build an altar there. For the second time the Lord tells Jacob that his name was no longer Jacob, but Israel. Again Jacob sets up a pillar in Bethel, but what a difference now! Through hard experience he has learned to trust only in the Lord, and with this pillar, he not only anoints it with oil, but he pours a drink offering on it.
The drink offering has a twofold meaning. It speaks of joy — the joy that God has in Christ in view of the work He did on the cross, but also the joy of the believer who is in communion with God as a result of that work. Coupled with this, the drink offering speaks of perfect submission to the will of God and a willingness to be “poured out” before Him. We see this same application in Philippians 2:1717Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all. (Philippians 2:17), where Paul is willing to be the drink offering, poured out on the sacrifice of the Philippian saints. This pillar is a “milestone” in Jacob’s life and marks real progress in his relationship with God. We may call this pillar the pillar of confidence in God, in contrast to the first pillar he set up in Bethel.
Giving up the Past for the Future
Finally, in the same chapter (Genesis 35), we have the pillar Jacob sets up on Rachel’s grave. Right from the first time that he had laid eyes on her, Jacob’s life had centered around his beloved Rachel. It was she whom he had first loved, for whom he had worked seven years, and whose children were closest to his heart. When he went to meet Esau, it was she and her son Joseph whom he put in the rear of his company, seeking to protect them above all the others. But now she dies in childbirth — the dearest object he had on earth. He was forced to let her go, yet his faith triumphed even in this severe trial.
First of all, he is able to change Rachel’s second son’s name from Benoni (son of my sorrow) to Benjamin (son of the right hand). This showed real faith and a heart that looked toward God Himself, who would bring blessing out of all this sorrow. Second, when Rachel is buried “in the way to Ephrath,” the comment is added, “which is Bethlehem.” Although Jacob doubtless did not know the details at the time, yet his faith looked on to future blessing in the One who would be born there. Micah 5:22But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. (Micah 5:2) tells us concerning Bethlehem, “Out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting.” Benjamin is a type of Christ here, as the one who is first the “son of my sorrow,” but later triumphs as the “son of the right hand.” If Jacob must let go of that which was dearest to him on earth, God fills his heart, first with Himself, and then with a vision of future blessing, so that it is recorded in Hebrews 11:99By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: (Hebrews 11:9) that he, along with Abraham and Isaac, were “heirs . . . of the same promise.” This last pillar, then, is the giving up of self and earthly desire. Rachel is replaced with Benjamin.
The Lord’s ways with Jacob have borne fruit, and from this point on he grows as a worshipper. He passes the last years of his life in peace, although having to own before Pharaoh that “few and evil have the days of the years of my life been.” But all this was in the past; the discipline of God had produced in his heart a fullness of joy and a vision of glory.
W. J. Prost