How Did God Shepherd Jacob in Genesis 48:15?

      How many times have you read Psalm 23?  Usually when I'm struggling, I"ll read through this psalm, and it will fill me with the sense of Lord's presence.  Two weeks ago I was listening to a message on www.lsm.org on the Lord's shepherding.  

    I learned that God's shepherding started way back in Genesis  48:15 with Jacob:    "And he blessed Joseph and said, The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has shepherded me all my life to this day,"   The brother tied this word to Jacob's dream at Bethel (in Hebrew this means the house of God) which occurred decades earlier where he saw the angels ascending and descending on a ladder and Jacob pouring oil on a stone and saying:  "....How awesome is this place!  This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven" (Genesis 28:17).  What I heard made me realize that God's shepherding of Jacob was to bring him into the reality of Bethel.

   Through all the events of Jacob's life, the scheming for the birthright and the blessing, when he was ripped off by his Uncle Laban for 20 years, when his thigh was touched by God at Peniel, when he lost Rachel at Benjamin's birth, when he lost Joseph--so many heart rending experiences--all these events were God's shepherding of him!  He shared that the Lord's shepherding is not mainly to care for just our personal needs, but to take care of our needs for His house.    

Other Posts on the Life-Study of Genesis:
From the Life-Study of Genesis - What is the Focus of the Bible?
What Happened Between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2?
Why Did God Create Man in Genesis 1:26?
Why Did God Create Man With 3 Parts in Genesis 2:7?
Why Did God Put Man in Front of the Two Trees in Genesis 2?
Seeing God's Purpose of Life & Building in the Book of Genesis
What is the Story Behind the Story of Cain & Abel?
What Did Enosh Learn to Do in Genesis 4:26?
How Did Enoch Escape Death in Genesis 5:24?
Why Did Noah Need to Find Grace in Genesis 6:8?
What Does the Rainbow Symbolize in Genesis 9:13?
How Did God Call Abraham in Genesis 12:1?
How Did God Fulfill the Birth of Isaac in Genesis 12:7?
What Does the Marriage of Isaac & Rebekah Show in Genesis 24?
How Does the Story of Jacob Show God's Selection in Genesis 25?
Why Did Jacob Dream About a Ladder in Genesis 28:12?
Seeing Our Spiritual Journey in the Lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, & Joseph
Why Did Jacob Call theTwo Altars in Genesis 33 & 35 By Different Names?
How Do the Stories of Jacob & Joseph Mirror God's Purpose in Genesis 1:26?
How Did Joseph's Dreams Really Get Fulfilled in Genesis 41?
How Did the Lord Shepherd Jacob in Genesis 45:18?