THE VOYAGE OF LIFE

 

 

 

 Hanging in the US National Gallery of Art is a series of four paintings by Thomas Cole called “The Voyage of Life”. Each painting depicts a stage of life. The first painting is of childhood. It shows a mountain with a dark cave at its base and a river flowing out of the cave. A beautiful boat glides out of the cave into a world of lush vegetation, flowers in bloom and peaceful water. Inside the boat is a laughing baby with a Guardian Spirit standing right behind. The painting shows childhood as a time of wonder and joy.

 The second painting is called “youth”. We see the same boat now traveled further downstream. The baby has grown into a teenage boy. He stands in the rear, confidently steering the boat towards a majestic white castle off in the distance. The Guardian Spirit stands on the banks, watching the young man boldly chart his course. The painting shows youth as a time of dreaming and absolute self confidence.

In the third painting the youth has become a man, the river has become a raging torrent, and the sky has become dark and threatening. The castle of dreams is nowhere to be seen and the boat’s rudder has broken. The man in the boat is caught up by forces he can’t control. With the rudder broken he cannot steer his boat. All he can do is look up to the sky and pray. Meanwhile the Guardian Spirit sits hidden in the clouds.  Adulthood is pictured as a time when the joy and wonder of childhood have been tamed by the difficult and tragic experiences of life; a time when the confidence and boldness of youth have been swept away by the harsh realities of life.

The final painting is called “Old Age”. The battered and weathered boat has finally reached the ocean. The dark clouds remain but the water is still. The boat’s occupant is now an old man, and his gaze is fixed firmly on the clouds above and the glorious light of heaven. For the first time in his life he sees the Guardian Spirit that has accompanied him on his journey.

If you want to find out whether a man has really had a glorious life and a beautiful voyage through this world, you take his whole life, from the cradle and follow him to his grave. So what kind of life did Jacob have? Jacob and Esau were twin brothers. Their mother Rebekah was told by the Lord that the elder shall serve the younger.  God chose Jacob while still in his mother’s womb to serve His purposes. His father Isaac loved Esau while his mother Rebekah loved Jacob. This fatal error led to real trouble.

Throughout the early life Jacob relied on himself to obtain what he wanted. He was cooking some stew when Esau came in from the field starving and requested to have some. Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright… Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Jacob should have allowed God to work out the details. God had already determined that Jacob would rise higher than his elder brother. However, he tried to help God out by stealing his brother’s birthright. We should never violate God’s principles in order to accomplish his will.

Esau vowed to kill him as soon as his father died. As a result, Rebekah convinced Jacob to flee. What Rebekah did not realize at the time was that Jacob would be gone for 20 years. It is likely she never saw him again. On the way to uncle Laban’s home God promised to go with him and to safely bring him back home someday. Jacob vowed to make him his God if God kept his part of the deal. Little did he know that God was about to start a long process of humbling him.

As cunning as Jacob was, he met his match in Laban.  He had to live with a woman that he never loved for the rest of his life. For about 20 years, Laban outwitted Jacob and turned him into a servant. He used craftiness and trickery to take advantage of Jacob. He kept changing his wages. In Genesis 8:22 God promised that as long as the earth endures seed time and harvest will never cease”. If we do good we shall harvest in due season (Gal. 6:9) and “those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it” (Job4:8).

God told Jacob to return home; He had this to say to Laban “unless the God of my father…had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed”. Jacob finally attributed his success to God. He prayed “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which you have shown your servant” (Gen. 32:10). Over the course of time, in every turn of event, little by little, Jacob had learnt to humble himself down in the mighty hand of God. He recognized that relying on his own ability and wit to acquire blessings was futile.

One night Jacob wrestled with God the whole night. At that point in time, Jacob knew that real blessings can only come from God and he was ready to go at any length to get them. On the other hand God wanted to know how badly Jacob wanted the blessings and how long he could perseverance. God “touched the socket of Jacob’s hip and it was out of joint”, but the pain did not deter Jacob. In pain, Jacob wept and begged for God’s favor (Hosea 12:4). Do you easily give up if prayer answers seem to delay?

When Jacob became a father he repeated the mistake his parents made when he was young- he favored Joseph more than his other sons. Because of this favoritism, the others developed hatred for Joseph and eventually sold him. Jacob was deceived once more when his sons, for years he lived with the false assumption that his son was dead. Even after this, Jacob still Benjamin, as his new favorite child. Parents possess great power to mold their children’s future. Whether they like it or not, their actions will speak louder than their words.

Joseph became second only to the Pharaoh in Egypt. He brought his family to Egypt during a great famine. Jacob lived another seventeen years in Egypt. Just before he died, he gave a special blessing to each of his sons. Jacob asked Joseph to swear that he would not bury him in Egypt. By faith he was sure his descendants would return to Canaan in fulfillment of God's promise to him. He died at a good old age.  

Although he got everything he wanted, none of it happened in the way he wanted. To Pharaoh he reflected on a life of more pain than contentment. Yet God was with him and he had at his disposal, all the resources that he needed to live a fulfilled life. Oh what peace, joy and fulfillment we often forfeit, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not know about or do not use, the resources that God has kept for us.

Jacob’s life should serve as a lesson to all of us. Christians are also subject to the law of cause and effect. Every action you take, be it good or bad, will eventually yield an effect. We must also realize that the consequences of our bad decisions would potentially remain in our lives even after we have remorsefully repented and regretted our actions. God can forgive us, but we may never be able to erase the physical effects. Always remember that this one thing holds true: sow goodness and you will reap goodness. Sow evil, and you will reap evil.

Jacob was not a man of faith, but his life illustrates the faithfulness of God, in spite of man’s unfaithfulness (2 Timothy 2:12). His story demonstrates how God keeps His promises. Jacob lived out “crisis Christianity.” He sought to succeed by outwitting others. And the irony of it all is that his deception and scheming contributed nothing to his success. It is only when his back was to the wall and he had no other choice that he called on God to rescue him. How many of us live much the same kind of life?

There are several very significant spiritual high points in his life (such as his dream at Bethel), but these did not seem to produce permanent change. There is no hint of a daily walk in fellowship with God. Because of this, he did not experience the joy of walking in obedience to God. His was not a good life. Near the end of his life, Jacob told Pharaoh “All the years of my life have been few and painful” (Gen. 47:7-10). What a sad summary of his life. This must never be the summary your life.

An Indiana cemetery has a tombstone, over 100 years old, which bears the words, “Pause, Stranger, when you pass me by, as you are now, so once was I. As I am now, so you will be, so prepare for death and follow me.”Some unknown passerby scratched this reply: “To follow you, I’m not content, until I know which way you went.” The Bible says, “It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Heb. 9:27). It also promises that if you are born again you will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). That’s the only solid hope in the face of death!