The Limp Felt Round the World
Genesis 32:1-32
November 30, 2014

Well this morning we come upon
Another one of those familiar stories in the Bible.
Jacob wrestling with God.

And quite frankly, I don’t know why this story surprises us.
Certainly by now we know that Jacob is precisely that type of strong-willed individual that hardly ever just submits the first time.

• Jacob is self-reliant
• Jacob is head strong
• Jacob generally only consents after there is no other option

And just in my saying that
Jacob just became many of your favorite Old Testament saint
Because you just realized how well you identify with him.

Jacob never seemed to come without a fight.

And this morning we finally see the event
That has been necessary since the day Jacob was born.

WHAT DAY WAS IT?
They day God finally broke Jacob.

Brokenness is not necessarily a term that we like to think about much in our Christian walk, but it is certainly a necessary one.

Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

If you aren’t spiritually broken and bankrupt,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

You also have to hate what you were.

Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.”

The word meek there means “strength under control”, it means submissive.

The person who never becomes broken over their own condition and submissive to God is a person who will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

• If you’ve never come to the end of your self…
• If you’ve never realized your own failure…
• If you’ve never seen that you are hopeless and helpless…
• If you’ve never reached that sort of spiritual depression and bankruptcy…
• THEN YOU’VE NEVER COME TO CHRIST.

Because we meet Christ at the end of our self.
And now I think you know where we are with Jacob.
God has been calling him, molding him, teaching him.

This morning God is about to break Jacob
And begin the transformation process in Jacob’s life.

It is a glorious picture!
And it all centers around Jacob meeting Esau.

If you’ll remember, Esau was the reason Jacob left in the first place.
Well, now it’s time to meet again and God will use this event to finally turn Jacob into a man who relies on God and not himself.

There are 5 main points to help us give some structure to the chapter.
#1 A SPIRITUAL CERTAINTY
Genesis 32:1-2

This is such an important revelation that comes to Jacob from God.
It is not different than either of the other two revelations Jacob received.

When Jacob was fleeing to Haran God showed him the vision of the ladder from heaven that Jacob might know that God was working for him regardless of what he was about to face.

When Jacob was about to flee from Laban God showed him in a vision how all the male goats had become speckled and striped and mottled and reminded Jacob that He would be with him as he fled.

And now as Jacob prepares for another scary incident
Here is God once again to remind Jacob at the outset
That He has it all under control.

(1-2) “Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him. Jacob said when he saw them, “This is God’s camp.” So he named that place Mahanaim.”

Just like the vision of the ladder from heaven,
Jacob is here granted the right to see
What is otherwise invisible to the human realm.

God allowed Jacob to see “the angels of God” camped about him.
Some render it “This is God’s company” as if to say, “God’s army”

Jacob was about to face Esau
Certainly Jacob was filled with anxiety over this encounter,
And yet God is assuring Jacob before they ever meet
That regardless of what may come to him,
God is present to protect him.

Chris Tomlin sings:
“You hear me when I call, You are my morning song. Though darkness fills the night, it cannot hide the light. Whom shall I fear? You crush the enemy underneath my feet. You are my sword and shield though troubles linger still. Whom shall I fear? I know who goes before me, I know who stands behind. The God of angel armies is always by my side. The One who reigns forever, He is a friend of mine. The God of angel armies is always by my side.”

The Psalmist said:
Psalms 34:7 “The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them.”

Perhaps you remember the story of Elisha and his servant.
The king of Aram was enraged at Elisha for always disclosing his position and plans.

When the king of Aram decided to capture Elisha,
He had his troops surround him at Dothan.
When Elisha’s servant went outside and saw the surrounding armies he was frightened.

2 Kings 6:15-17 “Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”

This concept of God’s angels camped around the righteous
Is a true spiritual reality.

Those who talk about having a “Guardian Angel” are selling God short.
Those who fear the Lord have a “Guardian Army”.

So Jacob actually sees the army of God that is camped about him.
• He actually sees just how much God is for Him.
• He actually sees his protection.

God wants Jacob to know that regardless of what is on the other side of the river, God is with him.

A Spiritual Reality
#2 A SUPPOSED CRISIS
Genesis 32:3-8

On one hand we have what is certain and concrete and absolute.
We know that God and His army are with Jacob.

Now we move to what Jacob did not know, and what was not certain

(3-5) “Then Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. He also commanded them saying, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: ‘Thus says your servant Jacob, “I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now; I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.”‘”

Now I don’t mind telling you that
I don’t really have a problem with Jacob’s approach here.

The writer of Proverbs said:
Proverbs 15:1 “A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.”

Proverbs 15:18 “A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, But the slow to anger calms a dispute.”

In the New Testament, Paul said:
Romans 12:18 “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.”

That being said, it doesn’t bother me that Jacob presented himself to Esau calling him “my lord” and calling himself “your servant”

It also doesn’t bother me that Jacob spoke of the wealth he had acquired
As if to set Esau at ease since Jacob was insinuating that
He was not coming to take what Esau had.

Everything about what Jacob does here is to calm a potential fight.
And that is fine with me.
In fact I think it is probably wise.

But it is the word Jacob receives back that causes him to panic.

(6) “The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”

And what is Jacob’s assumption?
Esau is coming to kill me just as he promised before I left.

(7-8) Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels, into two companies; for he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the company which is left will escape.”

Now I’m not saying I wouldn’t be afraid in such circumstances,
The truth is, I would probably be afraid as well.

However, that fear is absolutely uncalled for – WHY?
Because God is camping about Jacob.

Jacob only assumes that Esau is coming to fight,
But Jacob should know that God is there to fight.
But none the less, Jacob is in a scary spot
And I think God has certainly allowed that.

A Spiritual Certainty A Supposed Crisis
#3 A SUBSEQUENT CRY
Genesis 32:9-12

Here is Jacob’s prayer and it is a wonderful prayer.

We’ve talked about prayer on Wednesday nights
And how God loves that “Prayer of Faith”.
Well, here is an excellent example!

Now if you recognize the bookends of this prayer you will notice that Jacob both begins and ends with the promise God made to him.

(9) “Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,’”

(12) “For You said, ‘I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.'”

The main thrust behind Jacob’s appeal to God is that
God is the One who said Jacob should return
And that He would be safe in doing so.

And Jacob is reminding God of those promises.

And not only is Jacob reminding God of those promises,
But Jacob lets God know that he would really like for God to keep them.

(11) “Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children.”

Jacob feared the absolute worst from Esau.
To attack “the mother’s with the children”
Was a cruelty that goes beyond a grudge.

And so Jacob is crying out to God, that God not let that happen.

And here is my favorite part.
It is WHY Jacob is crying out to God.

Jacob is praying to God based on God’s promises,
Not because Jacob thinks he deserves it.

You have to love verse 10
(10) “I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies.”

Look God, I know that I absolutely do not deserve the loyalty [HESED]
And faithfulness you have chosen to show me.

I was nothing but a poor man fleeing from his angry brother,
And yet You have taken an interest in me and blessed me.

And not only that, but it wasn’t me who came to You asking for all this prosperity, it was You who came to me saying You were going to give it.

“So God, even though I am unworthy,
I am asking You to please do what You said You would.”
That is what we call a prayer of faith.

It is a prayer that trusts in the nature and promises of God,
And not in our own worth as the reason our prayers should be answered.

And at this point in the game that prayer is really expected.
Jacob is afraid, so he most certainly should pray.

Philippians 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
SO JACOB PRAYED
The problem is that this is not all that Jacob does.

A Spiritual Certainty A Supposed Crisis A Subsequent Cry
#4 THE SAME OLD CONCLUSION
Genesis 32:13-21

As soon as Jacob is finished praying, he immediately springs into action.
He has a plan!
(There is that same old Jacob, always with a plan)

The plan is to appease Esau with gifts,
And to do it gradually so as to calm him down over time.
Jacob has “a present for his brother Esau”

This present would consist of five waves of gifts.

1) “two hundred female goats and twenty male goats”
2) “two hundred ewes and twenty rams”
3) “thirty milking camels and their colts”
4) “forty cows and ten bulls”
5) “twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys”
So Jacob is going to calm him down with gifts.

(20) “For he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.”

BUT REMEMBER, JACOB DOESN’T EVEN KNOW IF ESAU IS ANGRY

Jacob was running ahead again and trying to fix things
By his own ingenuity and ability.

Now look, it is NOT sinful to give a gift to your brother.
There was nothing immoral or wrong with what Jacob did.

It’s NOT even like Jacob specifically did something
That God told him not to do.
So we aren’t even going to charge Jacob with disobedience, or even a lack of faith here.

The problem however is that when push comes to shove,
Jacob still trusts in his own abilities and plans to win the day.

Jacob will = recognize God, pray to God, and even honor God,
But Jacob’s final hope is not God, it is his own ability.

Jacob’s safe zone is his own ingenuity.
Jacob doesn’t like to surrender control.

20 years in Haran and Jacob still wants to fix things himself.
CAN YOU SAY STUBBORN?

CAN YOU IDENTIFY WITH JACOB?

Well, enough is enough, this has to go.
A Spiritual Certainty, A Supposed Crisis, A Subsequent Cry, The Same Old Conclusion
#5 A SEVERE CORRECTION
Genesis 32:22-32

Now this portion of the story begins with
Jacob crossing one of the forks of the Jordan river (“the Jabbok”)

And then Jacob sends his family on a little further until he is left alone.

And here comes the story Jacob is most famous for.
(24-29) “Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there.”

Now I don’t know how you’ve had that story explained to you in the past,
But I can tell you how it was often explained to me.
“JACOB WRESTLING WITH GOD IN PRAYER”

Jacob was afraid of Esau
Jacob sat down and wrestled with God in prayer until God agreed to protect Him

And the story is likened to Jesus praying in the garden
Or us striving in prayer.

Now striving in prayer and praying fervently and praying with faith
And praying without losing heart are in fact all Biblical realities.

Colossians 4:12 “Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.”

Romans 15:30 “Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me,”

Certainly there is an element of prayer that is work
And I do not wish to minimize that.

But you are going to have a very difficult time applying that concept
To what is happening here with Jacob.
WHY?

Well FIRST of all, it was not Jacob who approached the man, it was the man who approached Jacob.

The Scripture does NOT say “And Jacob wrestled with God…”

It says, “Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.”

Any notion of Jacob approaching God
And wrestling until God should finally give in is a little faulty.

SECONDLY the passage says that the man “saw that he had not prevailed against” Jacob.

So what are we to assume?

Jacob was wrestling with God for protection from Esau and a blessing,
But God was unwilling to do that until Jacob outwrestled him?
If you’ve read the story of Jacob at all,
You’d know God was NOT resisting the notion of blessing Jacob.
That was precisely God’s plan.

Beyond that, God had already given him a flock,
And was now encamped around him.

To assume that Jacob was trying to force God
To protect and bless him, is to read this passage in a vacuum.

SO WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?
The wrestling match you see here
Is that of God trying to get Jacob to quit being so self-reliant.

• God is holding Jacob down…
• God is putting his arm behind his back…
• God is pinning back his legs…
• In effect God is saying, “Cry Uncle”…

God is trying to get Jacob to let go of this constant desire
To do it on his own and be so self reliant.

THE PROBLEM?
Jacob won’t give in

And regardless of the battle all night long, Jacob just won’t let go and the man “saw that he had not prevailed against him.”

But God has plans for Jacob and He is not about to
Let Jacob remain self-sufficient and self-reliant.

So when Jacob refuses to consent, what does the man do?
“he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he was wrestling with him.”

This man who was wrestling with Jacob actually crippled Jacob.
Because Jacob trusted in his own strength, God actually made him weak.

AND THIS IS WHERE THE STORY TURNS.
It is obvious that after this happens that Jacob realizes who he is wrestling with,
And although he can no longer out wrestle, Jacob does choose to hold on.

“I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

And please notice the answer.
(27) “So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”

Now why would this man ask Jacob that?
Jacob’s name meant, “one who takes by the heel” or “one who supplants”
Jacob’s name revealed him as a man who does it on his own,
A self-reliant man who takes what he wants.
(GOD JUST FORCED JACOB TO LOOK AT HIMSELF)

• The reason you have difficulties…
• The reason you are constantly in a mess…
• The reason you struggle with me…
• The reason I had to cripple you…

IS BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS INSIST ON BEING A JACOB!
You continually hold to your own ability, even over God’s.

But now that you are crippled and in need of my blessing,
You won’t be a Jacob anymore. Now you are going to be “Israel”

“Israel” can either mean “he who strives with God”
Or better in Jacob’s case, “God strives”

Where as Jacob meant “You fight”
Israel means “God fights”

“Your name shall not longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”

This does not mean that somehow Jacob defeated God.
It means that Jacob finally overcame what was holding him back.

When the fight started, Jacob was a strong man
Who could resist what God wanted in favor of his own strength.

But after God crippled him Jacob was a cripple
Who could only hold on to God wanting God’s help and blessing.

And when Jacob reached that point, God said – “Now you’ve overcome”
NOW YOU GET IT

Jacob then wants to know the man’s name.
“But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?”

He wouldn’t share his name because it wasn’t revealed yet.

Remember when Samson’s dad asked the same question?
Judges 13:18 “But the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?”

This name is the name above every name.
It is the highest name.
DO YOU KNOW WHO JACOB IS WRESTLING WITH?

It is a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ.
Jesus even said:
Matthew 13:17 “For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

Jacob was wrestling with Jesus

After that Jacob named that place “Peniel for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.”

Jacob realized that God could have done far worse than cripple him.
God could have killed him for his stubborn wrestling.

And in the final verse Moses reminds us that this incident was commemorated throughout the ages among the children of Israel as they would not eat the “sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh.”

It was a perpetual reminder.
A REMINDER OF WHAT?

That oftentimes God has to break us
Before we can ever be what God intends for us to be.

Need a New Testament reference?
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me — to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Paul was learning that he could never be truly strong in his own strength,
It had to be God’s.

1 Corinthians 1:25 “…the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

Think about Paul – no doubt he would rest in his own ability.

Remember what he wrote to the Galatians?
Galatians 1:21-24 “Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; but only, they kept hearing, “He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.” And they were glorifying God because of me.”

It was clear that Paul’s reputation of a persecutor turned preacher was quite the tool in his ministry, AND YET GOD TOOK IT AWAY.

WHY? HOW COULD HE?
Because God had a greater strength for Paul beyond that.

And when Paul learned that, he said:
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

That is the same thing Jesus is doing to Jacob.
• Jesus wrestled with Jacob
• Jesus broke Jacob
• And the end result was Jacob clinging to Jesus.

Now let me ask you…HAS GOD EVER CRIPPLED YOU?

What God did to Jacob wasn’t unique to Jacob.
Jacob’s limp is a limp many of you have felt.
It is “The Limp felt round the world”

• Your limp may have been financial…
• Your limp may have been emotional…
• Your limp may have been reputational…
• Your limp may have been mental…

And I realize that it can seem cruel for God to take the opportunity to actually inflict pain upon you.

But the honest truth is that if God were not willing to do that,
It is quite possible that you and I would never leave that crutch behind and learn to rely on Him.

What I want you to realize this morning is that
God did not cripple you that he might make you weak.
God did it so that you might be strong by trusting in his strength.

• Can I remind you not to trust in yourself?
• Can I encourage you to quit wrestling with God?
• Can I tell you that God can always push harder?
• Can I promise you that He loves you enough to certainly do it?

Don’t think for a second that Christ would refuse to make you limp if it might save your soul?

HE WILL NOT LET HIS PLAN TO SAVE YOU FAIL
HE BREAKS THOSE WHO COME TO HIM
THAT HE MIGHT REBUILD THEM EVEN BETTER.

Jacob’s Hope
Genesis 30:25 – 31:55
November 23, 2014

I realize this is a really long section of Scripture to cover in one sermon, and I promise I won’t walk you through every specific detail of the chapter.

But as I studied it, it became more important to me
That you see the overall theme, than to try and make some “sermonized” point based on a few verses.

What is happening here is the completion of Jacob’s time in Haran,
And it is important that you see what Jacob learned.

You will remember that God sent Jacob into Haran with a promise:
Genesis 28:13-15 “And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. “Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

And as we said back in the study of that text,
That was such an important word for Jacob to receive,
Because we knew what lay ahead of Jacob.

Jacob was about to endure “Laban’s University”
20 years of deception, manipulation, strife, corruption, and struggle

And Jacob needed to know ahead of time that God wouldn’t leave him.

Well, the first 7 years weren’t too bad.
Genesis 29:20 “So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.”

But at the end of that 7 years things took a drastic turn for Jacob.
Laban deceived him with Leah and squeezed another 7 years out of Jacob for Rachel.

Anyone else think the second 7 years was a little longer than the first?

GOD FIRST CRUSHED JACOB’S SELF-RELIANCE

Following that we had the incident of the feud between sisters each trying to bear Jacob’s sons.

The real telling moment of the entire incident came
When Rachel through a fit that she had no children.

Genesis 30:2 “Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
There Jacob learned another important lesson:
He is not God.

And you must admit that in 14 years those are two very basic lessons.
You can’t – only God can.

And those are basic lessons,
But they are essential truths that you have to learn.

And let me go one step further and remind you that it is one thing to know them in your head, and another to believe them in your heart.

There a scores of people who know the right answer.
They will tell you that they can’t and God can,
But their actions continually prove that they don’t really believe it.

Their lives are still filled with all the strivings and works and struggles
Of trying to earn and secure what only God can give.

It took Jacob 14 years to finally learn that lesson,
Sadly it takes some even longer.

What we see this morning is Jacob finally taking that next step.
He’s about to give God a try.
(He isn’t at full saving faith yet, as you will see,
But he is going to give God a chance to prove Himself.)

Again, I realize it is a large chunk of text,
But I think it is important that you see it all together.

There are two main points:
#1 JACOB’S HOPE
Genesis 30:25 – 31:21

The main thing I want you to recognize here is
What a different person Jacob has become in the last 14 years.

We all remember him coming out of Canaan.
• Deceptive, scheming, conniving
• Self-Sufficient, Self-Confident

What you’ll notice here is that Jacob has been tamed.
He’s no longer that “take matters into your own hands” kind of guy.

Now the whole story begins with
Jacob fulfilling his 14 year commitment and wanting to go home.

(30:25-26) “Now it came about when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my own country. “Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me depart; for you yourself know my service which I have rendered you.”

It is obvious that Jacob wants to leave.
He would love to “get the heck out of Dodge”

THERE IS ONLY ONE PROBLEM – LABAN

You’ll see throughout this passage that
Jacob knows if he tries to leave that Laban will take from him everything he has, including his wives and children.

In fact, later on when Laban pursues Jacob, Jacob will say:
Genesis 31:42 “If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, so He rendered judgment last night.”

It’s not just a matter of Jacob wanting to leave and leaving.
Laban is standing in his way.
Jacob wants to leave, but he needs help.

And so as Jacob asks to leave, Laban says “no”.
(27-28) “But Laban said to him, “If now it pleases you, stay with me; I have divined that the LORD has blessed me on your account.” He continued, “Name me your wages, and I will give it.”

Trust me when I tell you that this is no “request” on the part of Laban.
He is telling Jacob “No” here.

And the reason is because Jacob has been good for business.
Laban can see that Jacob has made him prosperous.

So instead of letting Jacob leave,
Laban instead tells him that he will pay him.

And we don’t have a lot of time to dive into it,
But Jacob knows that this is not a good deal.

Laban is a cheat and swindler.
Jacob knows that wages mean nothing to him.

So in order to leave, Jacob devises a plan,
And what I want you to see is that
Jacob does not devise a plan based on his ability, but on God’s.

1) JACOB’S PLAN (30:25-43)

PARAPHRASE:
Jacob tells Laban, here is the deal.
I’ll take all the “speckled”, “spotted”, and “black” sheep
And the same among the goats as my wages.

All the lambs born like this are mine, all the others are yours, and may it be that if you find with me any sheep not in this description you can consider them stolen.

Now, because speckled and spotted and black sheep are not the norm, Laban jumps at the deal.

And to further secure his success,
Laban quickly rounds up all the spotted, speckled, and black sheep,
Gives them to his sons and moves them 3 days away from Jacob.

So Jacob is stuck with a flock of pure white sheep that belong to Laban
And the goal is to produce speckled and spotted and black ones.

SO WHAT DOES JACOB DO?
(37-39) “Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white which was in the rods. He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the gutters, even in the watering troughs, where the flocks came to drink; and they mated when they came to drink. So the flocks mated by the rods, and the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted.”

Did you catch that?
Jacob whittled on some sticks, showed them to the sheep,
And expected that their offspring would match the sticks.

I didn’t realize that in order to secure certain types of offspring
All you must do is show the parents
A picture of what you want the offspring to look like.

Of course not!
That sheep has no control over the color of its offspring, just like you had no control over the color of your child’s hair.

Sure there is a genetic contribution, but Jacob was already behind the 8 ball here since all of his starting sheep where white.

And yet “the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted.”

I wonder who was causing that.

Furthermore Jacob would only lay those rods out when the strongest of the flock was breeding and thus his flock became stronger than Labans.

All this is summarized in verse 43:
(43) “So the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks and female and male servants and camels and donkeys.”
The point being here is that Jacob’s plan
Was to put everything on the back of God.

Jacob was no doubt a fine shepherd, but even the best of shepherds
Can’t make their sheep produce spotted lambs as will.

Jacob was no longer a man leaning on his own ability,
Jacob was now a man leaning on God.

You see Jacob’s faith in his plan.
2) JACOB’S PERSEVERANCE (31:6-8)

Now this occurs after God tells Jacob to leave, and Jacob is explaining to his wives what sort of scoundrel their dad has been.

What I want you to see is that even when Laban started cheating,
Jacob still didn’t take matters into his own hands.

Even with Laban working to undo Jacob’s prosperity,
Jacob just kept right on trusting God to do what only God could do.

(6-8) “You know that I have served your father with all my strength. “Yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times; however, God did not allow him to hurt me. “If he spoke thus, ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flock brought forth speckled; and if he spoke thus, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock brought forth striped.”

You certainly have to like the fact that
Not only did Jacob devise a plan that depended on God,
But Jacob stuck with that plan even when Laban cheated.

Jacob’s Plan, Jacob’s Perseverance
3) JACOB’S PERCEPTION (31:1-16)

And this is certainly a different Jacob than we are accustomed to.

The old Jacob acted on his own, trusted in his own strength,
And assumed all the credit.
NOT THIS JACOB.

Jacob was convinced where his prosperity came from.

(5) “and said to them, “I see your father’s attitude, that it is not friendly toward me as formerly, but the God of my father has been with me.”

(7) “Yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times; however, God did not allow him to hurt me.”

(9) “Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me.”

I think it is safe to say that the old self-reliant man is a thing of the past.

Jacob knows where his prosperity is coming from.
• He made a plan that trusted God
• He stuck with that plan even through hardship
• And he is giving God all the credit for that plan

And one final action reveals Jacob’s new found hope in the Lord.
4) JACOB’S PARTICIPATION (31:17-21)

God told Jacob to go back to Canaan.

Genesis 31:11-13 “Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am.’ “He said, ‘Lift up now your eyes and see that all the male goats which are mating are striped, speckled, and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. ‘I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, leave this land, and return to the land of your birth.'”

This is significant because we already established that
It wasn’t as easy as just up and leaving.
Laban didn’t want him to go and Laban had the ability to stop him.

This was tremendously risky.

But Jacob isn’t walking by his own logic anymore.
Jacob is giving God’s will a chance.

(17-18) “Then Jacob arose and put his children and his wives upon camels; and he drove away all his livestock and all his property which he had gathered, his acquired livestock which he had gathered in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac.”

So obviously Jacob has done a lot of growing while in Haran.
He has come to the end of his pride and self-reliance
And is now learning to trust God.

Now at this point, we come across a strange piece of information.

(19) “When Laban had gone to shear his flock, then Rachel stole the household idols that were her father’s.”

• Some commentators take the high road and say she took them to break Laban
of his idolatry.
• Some say they were graven images of past relatives and she took them for
sentimental sake.
• But I think she took them because she thought they could help.

It is true that Jacob didn’t know she took the idols,
But don’t let that cause you to assume that
Jacob would have absolutely put a stop to it.

Jacob is doing better, BUT HE HASN’T FULLY ARRIVED.

Allow me to fast forward you chapter 35.
• Chapter 35 is where Jacob gets his name changed to Israel.
• Chapter 35 is where Jacob finally becomes solely devoted to God.

Genesis 35:1-3 “Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments; and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”

That is where Jacob finally determines that God will be his only God.
I would say that that is the point of Jacob’s salvation.

What we have here is Jacob still feeling out God.
• Remember when Abram agreed to leave Ur and head to Canaan?
• Remember when Abram built an altar in Canaan and called on the Lord?
• Remember when Abram worshiped again after coming back from Egypt?

And yet Abram wasn’t saved yet,
That didn’t happen until a few years later in chapter 15.

So it is with Jacob.
Jacob is beginning to trust God to see if God delivers,
But he still has a way to go.

Moses includes the issue of their idolatry
To show you that they haven’t fully arrived.

But, Jacob has come a long way in that
He is at least giving God a chance to come through.

So Jacob’s hope is that God will do all that God said He would.

SO THE REAL QUESTION NOW IS – WILL GOD COME THROUGH?

#2 GOD’S HAND
Genesis 31:22-55

Here we see that so far as Jacob has trusted God,
God will not allow him to be disappointed.

SO HERE WE GO:
Naturally with Jacob fleeing, Laban is angry and decides to run Jacob down.
He is chasing him to take back the flock, take back his daughters,
And take back his grandchildren.

And if he would let Jacob leave, then he would only let him go empty handed.

So Laban is in hot pursuit.
But notice that God is working for Jacob.

(22-24) “When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, then he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him a distance of seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the hill country of Gilead. God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream of the night and said to him, “Be careful that you do not speak to Jacob either good or bad.”

That is God protecting Jacob from Laban before they ever even meet.
Laban is mad, he’s ready to fight, and God intercepts him and tells him
That he had better be careful, for he is on dangerous ground.

And you’ll notice that it obviously got to Laban.

(25-29) “Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen camped in the hill country of Gilead. Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword? “Why did you flee secretly and deceive me, and did not tell me so that I might have sent you away with joy and with songs, with timbrel and with lyre; (yeah right) and did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now you have done foolishly. “It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob.’”

And don’t you love that last statement from Laban?
I could really work you over if I wanted to,
But God told me to be careful how I treat you.

I think that must have been a huge sigh of relief to Jacob.
• God was fighting his battle for him.
• God was honoring his promise to never leave him.

Laban showing up would have been a terrifying thing to Jacob
And yet God had it all under control.

And God continued to protect Jacob even throughout their conversation.

Laban throws out an accusation against Jacob.
He accuses Jacob of stealing his idols.

WHY?

• Well, for one, Laban’s idols were stolen.
• But also, if he can catch Jacob red-handed, then he has grounds for forcing him back to Haran and even into disciplinary service.

If Laban finds the idols, Jacob is in deep trouble.

And all we can say here is that GOD IS MERCIFUL
• Although we know what God thinks of idolatry
• Although Rachel taking those idols was a slap in His face

Yet God did not treat them as they deserved,
And instead chose to protect them from Laban
Despite their lack of faithfulness.

It is yet another obvious illustration
Of God being faithful when His people are not.

2 Timothy 2:13 “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”

God covers Rachel’s back.

And as a side note, in order to make a good contrast.
What sort of god allows himself to be stolen, hidden, sat on by an “unclean” woman, and can’t even call out for help?

Jacob’s God could warn Laban before a meeting,
Laban’s god couldn’t even disclose his location.

But the overwhelming point here is that Jacob has placed himself in God’s hands, and God isn’t disappointing.

And again Jacob gives the credit to God.
(READ 36-42)

Jacob summed up the pitiful 20 years that he spent with Laban.
He was continually cheated
He was continually wronged
And were it not for God that injustice would continue.

But Jacob recognized that
The God who made promises to him upon entering Haran
Had undoubtedly kept up his end of the bargain.

God had intervened to protect Jacob, to bless Jacob,
And to bring Jacob back to Canaan.
It is nothing short of a testimony to God’s faithfulness.

So God protected Jacob before the meeting, during the meeting and then even AFTER the meeting.
In verses 43-55 Laban asks for a strange thing.
Laban asks for a covenant with Jacob.

They are to set up a pillar and a pile of stones as witness to one another that neither will cross that pillar in order to do harm to the other.

DOES THIS SOUND STRANGE?
• Laban was the one in hot pursuit…
• Laban was the one running down Jacob…
• And now all of a sudden Laban is worried that Jacob might harm him?
YES

But Laban isn’t afraid of Jacob, Laban is afraid of Jacob’s God.
Laban has realized that God is with Jacob
Laban has realized that God is protecting Jacob
Laban has realized that God even gave Jacob his flock

Laban’s fear is that with God so clearly “for” Jacob,
What if Jacob decides to come back and take it all.

So Laban asks for a covenant to keep Jacob from doing that.

Now, if you’re keeping score,
This is the third time we’ve seen this very thing.

Remember how Abimelech mistreated Abraham?
• But remember how Abimelech changed his tune?
Genesis 21:22-23 “Now it came about at that time that Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do; now therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my posterity, but according to the kindness that I have shown to you, you shall show to me and to the land in which you have sojourned.”

Remember how Abimelech mistreated Isaac?
• And then again how he changed his tune?
Genesis 26:28-29 “They said, “We see plainly that the LORD has been with you; so we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, even between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD.'”

And here we have the same thing happening again.
God’s favor is so apparent on Jacob that even Jacob’s enemy
Wants to draw up a treaty for peace.

And then we are again reminded:
Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”

Now obviously this story is getting a bit redundant.

• We saw God choose Abraham, and then mold him, and then bless him, and make that blessing known to others.

• We saw God choose Isaac, and then mold him, and then bless him, and make that blessing known to others.

• We saw God choose Jacob, and then mold him, and then bless him, and make that blessing known to others.

This is the same the story over and over and over.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS THE STORY OF?
It is the story of God’s grace.

AND THE STORY CONTINUES…

Look at the children of Israel.
• Chosen, mistreated in Egypt, and then God delivered them.
• When they left, they left rich – like Jacob
• When they left, they were pursued – like Jacob
• But God intervened with their pursuer – like Jacob

This is not a new thing God has been up to.
Time after time after time after time we see God at work in the lives of those He has chosen to sanctify them, and then glorify them.

I don’t mean to constantly hit you with this reoccurring theme,
But it is obvious to me that Moses wants to make sure you get this.

AND WHAT ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE LEARNING?

GOD IS FAITHFUL
He will do what He promises!

Moses is certainly preaching this message to Israel:
Deuteronomy 4:31 “For the LORD your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.”

Deuteronomy 7:8-9 “but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. “Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;”

Without a doubt Moses is telling Israel the story of her history
So she will see that God has been faithful to them
From generation to generation to generation.

 

As Paul said:
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”
GOD IS FAITHFUL!
WHY DO YOU NEED TO KNOW THAT?

So that like Jacob, you will place your life in His hands.
• So you’ll quit trying to trust in your own abilities
• So you’ll quit trying to trust in your own ideas
• So you’ll quit trying to trust in your own resources
And you’ll learn to trust God

Is that not the most foundational lesson you should learn?
We work and strive and worry and think and plan and work some more.
And all along God is saying, “I’ll do that if you’ll just trust Me”

He knows what He is doing
He knows where He is taking you

• When you walk into your trials – trust Him
• When He tells you to do something – trust Him
• When He tells you to quit doing something – trust Him
• When He tells you He’s got it under control – trust Him

How does the hymn go?
Have faith in God when your pathway is lonely.
He sees and knows all the way you have trod;
Never alone are the least of His children;
Have faith in God, have faith in God.

Have faith in God when your prayers are unanswered,
Your earnest plea He will never forget;
Wait on the lord, trust His word and be patient,
Have faith in God. He’ll answer yet.

Have faith in God in your pain and your sorrow,
His heart is touched with your grief and despair;
Cast all your cares and your burdens upon Him,
And leave them there, oh, leave them there.

Have faith in God though all else fall about you;
Have faith in God, He provides for His own:
He cannot fail though all kingdoms shall perish.
He rules. He reigns upon His throne.

Have faith in God, He’s on His throne
Have faith in God, He watches over His own;
He cannot fail, He must prevail,
Have faith in God, Have faith in God.

Can you see that point thus far in how God has worked
In the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

I can almost see Moses
• Standing over the congregation of Israel
• Telling them story after story of God’s faithfulness
• Pleading with them to leave their self-sufficiency and their idolatry and their disobedient ways behind.

You can almost hear Moses begging them to start trusting God
And to quit attempting everything by their own logic.

And that message hasn’t changed in over 3,000 years.

So do me a favor this morning
And take a trip down memory lane for a second.

See the great victories in your life…
See those moments of intense trial…
Can you not see that God was in the middle of all of those?

Maybe you are in the middle of your trial right now –
You’ve been 18 years in Laban’s university.

Trust me when I tell you that God will not fail you,
He is using this trial to mold you into the person you must become.

He is faithfully working on your behalf.
Trust Him – Obey Him

Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”

Faith You Can See – Part 2
James 2:14-26 (19-26)
November 16, 2014

Well last time we met we started looking at
This very penetrating passage in the book of James.

James is concerned about one thing primarily, and that is that you
“BE REAL”

It is important to him that those who claim to follow Jesus actually live like Jesus.
• He wants them to count their trials as joy
• He wants them to walk in wisdom
• He wants them to endure through temptation
• He wants them to hear the word of God and do it
• He wants them to serve the least
• He wants them to not show favoritism

And obviously those are all attributes of Christ.
And from James’ perspective, those aren’t just things Jesus taught,
That is exactly how James saw Jesus live His entire life.

And now that James has come to the faith
He expects other Christians to walk like Christ.

AND IN THIS PASSAGE JAMES IS TALKING ABOUT YOUR FAITH.

And the main point to this passage is that
If you have faith, it ought to be evident.

Your faith ought to be verifiable.
James wanted nothing of this concept of a “private faith” or a “private relationship”

• James understood that true light is not hid under a bushel
• James understood that true salt was meant to be tasted
• James understood that as Christians our faith should be evident to all.

And if it isn’t, then maybe you don’t have genuine faith.

And we even talked about a little last week that
THERE IS SUCH A THING AS FAITH THAT DOES NOT SAVE.

• We saw in John 2 those “believers” whom Jesus would not entrust Himself to.
• We saw in John 8 those “believers” who turned out to be children of the devil.
• We saw in John 12 those “believers” who would not publicly confess Him.

In all of those passage we saw people who claimed to “believe” in Jesus,
But their works clearly evidenced that whatever they had, it wasn’t faith.
And this has always been a real “hot-button” issue with me,
Especially since I lived 11 years of my life just like that.

At 8 years old I asked Jesus into my heart.
• Did I believe He was real? Yes
• Did I believe He died on the cross? Yes
• Would I tell you I believed in Him? Yes

But I wasn’t saved until I was 19.
(even though countless people would tell me I was)

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOUR SALVATION OCCURRED?

That is easy
The presence of the Holy Spirit, and the evidence of a changed life.

We have done people a real disservice in Baptist circles in that all we really every ask people is “do you believe in Jesus?”

And when they say “Yes” we say, “Then you are saved.”

Will it surprise you if I tell you that claiming to believe in Jesus
Is NOT sufficient proof of salvation?

I mean, James is going to prove that here in just a second:
(19) “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”

Believing that Jesus lived, died, rose, and ascended
Only goes so far as to put you in the company of the demons.

Claiming to believe is NOT the Biblical evidence of a saved life.

The presence of the Holy Spirit is.
Romans 8:14 “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you — unless indeed you fail the test?”

The presence of the Holy Spirit is the validation of
Whether or not your faith is saving faith.

Ephesians 1:13-14 “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

Genuine saving faith results in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

And here is the important part.
The Holy Spirit will change your life!

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

My point to all that is this.
• Simple belief in Jesus is not what we are looking for.
• We are looking for a life transformed by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

That is how we know a person is saved, not by their claims.

Now we started this concept last week as we looked at the first point of James.
#1 EFFORTLESS COMPASSION REVEALS DEAD FAITH
James 2:14-18

Here was a person who “says he has faith but he has no works”
And James wants to know “Can that faith save him?”

In other words, do you really suppose a faith that doesn’t evidence itself in a changed life is a faith strong enough to save your soul?

You shouldn’t

And then James gave an example of this type of faith.
(15-16) “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?”

James gives a hypothetical situation where you have a genuine believer
Who is totally void of daily essentials for living.

This isn’t a discontent brother, this is a poor brother.
And he needs enough to get by today.

But instead of giving him what is necessary, you say, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,”

Instead of helping him, you chose to speak a blessing over him.

Now if you want the full effect of James’ point, reverse the roles.

Let yourself be the starving naked brother and you go to someone for help and they say, “Go and may God bless you”

SO WHAT DID THEY DO FOR YOU?
(nothing)

Then comes James’ point:
“EVEN SO faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”
If your faith isn’t verifiable by works, then it is nothing.
It is as useless as a blessing to a starving man.

Furthermore it is easy to punch a hole in your faith.
• Because anyone can come up to you and say, “So you have faith? SHOW ME”
• Now you can answer, “No, my faith is a private affair.”
• And they will answer, “I will show you my faith by my works.”

So James’ first point is clear.
There is a verbal faith that has no power at all.

It is just about as powerful as effortless compassion.
It is a DEAD faith.
And we covered that last Sunday night.

Tonight we want to move on to James’ next point.
#2 EMPTY CONFESSION REVEALS USELESS FAITH
James 2:19-20

James is still speaking of that faith with no works.
He is talking about that man who “says he has faith but he has no works.”

And James really squares in on the religious here.

He is referring to people who make an outward claim “that God is one”

Where did he get that statement?
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Israel was steeped in a world of polytheism.
All of their neighbors believed in numerous gods

Even in Egypt (where they had just left)
There were various gods for almost everything.

And God told Israel – There is one God, Me! And you should give Me all your love.

So a good Jew quickly learned that “God is one”
Or that there is only one God.

James’ problem was not their lack of belief in Deuteronomy 6:4,
It was in their LACK OF adherence to Deuteronomy 6:5
In which they were to love God with all their heart, soul, and mind.

That was the problem.
And it is a real problem even today.

People all over our culture, people all over our churches who say,
“I believe in God”

James says “You do well;”

Of course the problem is this:
“the demons also believe”

I’ll tell you something about Satan and his demons.
They are monotheistic.

• They believe in the one true God.
• They know God is real.
• Satan is more sure of the nature and work of Christ than anyone.

If you tell a demon there is only one God, they will agree.

But where a condemned demon goes even farther than most who claim to believe in God today, at least they “shudder”

At least they fear God.

Matthew 8:29-31 “And they cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. The demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.”

Mark 5:7 “and shouting with a loud voice, he said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!”

Those demons believed in Jesus, they believed in the judgment,
They knew there was only one God – they even swore by Him.

And James’ concern is that most of the “believers” he sees
Don’t even do that.

(20) “But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?”

And boy does James hit the nail on the head!

What he reveals is precisely the problem
People are unwilling to “recognize”
That faith without works cannot save.

People so badly want to pronounce their friends and family “saved” simply because they claim to believe.
But their friend of family member
• Exhibits no love of Christ,
• No faithfulness to His church,
• No commitment to His word,
• No desire to share His truth,
• No concern for His commands.
• No evidence of His Spirit
• No hunger for His righteousness

But they hold relentlessly to the fact that one time in VBS as a child
They claimed to believe and was even baptized.

They are unwilling to even consider the possibility
That their faith may not be genuine.

And James says that is “foolish”

That is to make a mockery out of faith
That is to disregard the requirements of God
That is to dispense false assurance by the bucket loads

And attitude like that won’t glorify God or save the lost – it is foolish!

Instead you ought to recognize what Scripture teaches,
And that is that genuine saving faith is accompanied by works.

1 John 2:3-6 “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”

John 15:5-8 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”

Deuteronomy talked of loving God, well that is evidenced by works too.

John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

John 15:10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”

1 John 5:1-3 “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.”

2 John 6 “And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.”
And the fact of the matter is, that God doesn’t just expect some sort of intellectual sentimental faith from you, He expects works.

Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

Titus 2:11-14 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

And if you don’t have those works, I don’t see any way in the world
You can actually believe your faith is real.

In fact it would be “foolish” to assume it is.
James says the faith that you have is “useless”

Effortless Compassion reveals Dead Faith
Empty Confession reveals Useless Faith
#3 EVIDENT CONVICTIONS REVEAL PERFECT FAITH
James 2:21-26

Now here comes the fun part of the text.
(In fact these verses nearly kept the book of James out of the New Testament)

On the surface it can seem very contradicting
To other passages of Scripture.

For example:
(21) “Was not Abraham our father justified by works..?

Romans 4:1-5 “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,”

Paul said Abraham was justified by faith,
And James just said he was justified by works.

(24) “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

Romans 3:28 “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.”

And if we wanted to go farther we could talk about how both Abraham and Rahab are listed in Hebrews 11 in that “Faith Hall of Fame”

About those people the writer of Hebrews said:
Hebrews 11:1-2 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.”

The writer of Hebrews said they gained approval by their faith.
And yet James here says it is by works.

You have to admit it appears to be quite a contradiction.

But it isn’t.
In fact I would go so far as to tell you that Paul, James, and the writer of Hebrews would all stand in perfect agreement with one another.

TURN TO: HEBREWS 11

Now you know the writer takes you through
Example after example of people with faith.

Let me ask you a question as we look over this group of people.
HOW DO YOU KNOW THEY HAD FAITH?

Abel (4) – “Abel OFFERED to God a better sacrifice”
Enoch (5) – “he OBTAINED the witness…”
Noah (7) – “PREPARED an ark”
Abraham (8) – “OBEYED by going out”
Abraham (9) – “LIVED as an alien”
Sarah (10) – “CONCEIVED”
Abraham (17) – “OFFERED up Isaac”
Isaac (20) – “BLESSED Jacob and Esau”
Jacob (21) – “BLESSED each one of the sons of Joseph & WORSHIPED”
Joseph (22) – “GAVE ORDERS concerning his bones”
Moses’ Parents (23) – “HID Moses”
Moses (24) – “REFUSED to be called the son of…”
Israelites (29) – “the PASSED through the Red Sea”
Rahab (31) – “she had WELCOMED the spies”

And the writer goes on and on.
DO YOU CATCH THE POINT?

The writer of Hebrews certainly believed that it was by faith
That the saints of old gained approval before God.

But he was under no misconception that their faith
Was some sort of empty, useless, dead, intellectual claim.

Their faith had weight, it was verifiable, you could see it.
And Paul would have been right on board with this.

I read it to you earlier, but Paul said:
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you — unless indeed you fail the test?”

Well what do you think you were supposed to test?
What do you think you were supposed to look at?

All of these men believed in verifiable faith.

SO HOW DO YOU SETTLE THE APPARENT CONTRADICTION?

Here it is:

Both of those men would wholeheartedly agree
That you are justified before God by faith.

What James wants you to know is that you don’t have works,
Then you don’t have the type of faith that justifies.

When James talks about being justified by works, he is not talking about how to be saved, but rather, how to tell if your faith is real.

And that is what he is about to show you.

He gives two examples.
(21-24) “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

James first brings up that famous event in Abraham’s life.
He brings up the event where Abraham offered up Isaac on the altar.

James says that when Abraham did that, “the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”

In other words, what Abraham did on Mt. Moriah
Proves that Abraham really did believe.

Now we’ve been in Genesis for a while now,
But turn back with me and let me remind you of the time frame here.

TURN TO: GENESIS 15
(Read 15:2-6)

That is the day when Abraham was saved. We know that because that is the day that God gave him righteousness.

Now, God can see the heart and so He knew Abraham’s faith was real.

But if God hadn’t said so, based on that passage, how would you know that Abraham really believed God?

You wouldn’t.
In fact, if God hadn’t said so, you’d be really concerned about Abraham
Based on what is coming next.

• Chapter 16 he goes in to Hagar
• Chapter 17 he laughs when God tells him Sarah will conceive
• Chapter 20 he passes off Sarah again
• Chapter 21 he tries to keep Ishmael even though Sarah knows he has to leave

I mean let’s face it, if God hadn’t said he was justified, we would see nothing in his life that gave us any indication that it was true.

But then we come to CHAPTER 22, and God gives that command to sacrifice Isaac, which Abraham does.

And look down to verses 10-12

Did Abraham save himself when he offered up Isaac?
No, Abraham proved that he was saved.

In that act of obedience “the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”

And to that James says, (24) “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

That is to say, WORKS ARE ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY
AS A VALIDATION OF YOUR FAITH.

If you don’t have works, then you don’t have faith.

And that is where we place things like baptism, or evangelism, or assembling with God’s people, or reading your Bible, or prayer.

None of those things can save you regardless of how often you do them.
But, if you don’t do those things, can you really claim to have faith?

I’ll never tell a person that they need to get baptized so they can be saved,
But a person who claims to be saved that won’t get baptized, is confused.
Do you see?

Well, let’s look at the next example:
James is making that same point again, “In the same way…”

(25-26) “In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”

Take Rahab for an example.
She “received the messengers”

Did that save her before God? No
(It did save her from destruction)

But Rahab’s actions were because of her faith.

Let me show you:
Joshua 2:8-13 “Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. “For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. “When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. “Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a pledge of truth, and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.”

She believed, she trembled, and her action proves that.
Her faith was proved real.

And the reality is that James could bring up every single person
In the faith hall of fame and ask the exact same question.

• Was not Able justified by works when he offered up a better sacrifice than
Cain?
• Was not Enoch justified by works when he lived righteous in a pagan land?
• Was not Noah justified by works when he built the ark?

Do you see?

Through their works “faith was perfected”

And then comes the conclusion:

(26) “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”
And what an analogy.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT WE CALL A “BODY WITHOUT THE SPIRIT”?
A corpse.

And with that you understand his point.
“What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?

It is a question geared at the mass of people who claim to be Christians,
Who claim to believe in God,
But whose lives have no verifiable evidence of that claim.

And the question is,
Are you prepared to ride that type of faith into eternity?

Tonight let me simply encourage in this manner.
• Don’t say you trust Christ – trust Him
• Don’t say you believe God – believe Him

Do what He says, follow His leading, give Him control

Don’t proclaim your faith, practice it!

Otherwise you are nothing more than a dead body
Covered in makeup
That “sure looks good”
But has no actual life in it whatsoever.

Twisted Sisters & The Transcendent God
Genesis 29:30-30:24
November 16, 2014

Well, if you’re a person who likes all the intrigue and drama of a messed up life then I trust you are enjoying the life of Jacob.

Jerry Springer had nothing on the patriarchal families in Genesis.

• Abraham passing off Sarah as his sister (twice)
• And then Isaac doing the same
• Sarah giving her maid to her husband (and two sisters here following suit)
• One brother dressing up like the other to deceive his blind father
• A dad dressing up a daughter to marry off instead of the other

Here we have two sisters, married to the same man, scratching, clawing, manipulating, and bribing just to see which one can get him into their bed.

Just when you think you’ve heard it all.

And if that’s not enough, factor in the reality that during the 7 year span when all this occurred Jacob was between 84 and 91 years old.

If the only purpose was to reveal to you the lineage of Israel,
Moses simply would have said,
“And Jacob had twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel.”

But just like all the stories of Genesis, Moses has a point to make,
And this story makes it to a “T”.

I’ve told you that presently Jacob is in “Laban’s University”
As we saw last week, he entered Haran as a fully self-reliant man.

Jacob was the type of individual
Who had grown accustomed to always landing on his feet.

• When he wanted a birthright, he made a plan and achieved it
• When he wanted a blessing, he made a plan and achieved it
• When he wanted a bride, he made a plan and achieved it (nearly)

God sent this self-reliant man into Haran to teach him that
Depending on his wits would get him nowhere.
For in Haran Jacob met Laban and literally met his match.

As I told you, Jacob entered Haran self-reliant,
But he’ll come out of Haran fully dependent on God.

In fact in chapter 32 Jacob will have Laban (who he cheated) behind him and Esau (who he cheated) in front of him and Jacob is going to grab ahold of God and refuse to let go until God blesses him.

In short, Jacob goes into Laban’s university dependent on self
And he comes out dependent on God.

And as we said last week, this is a work of grace in his life.
God is using this 20 years with Laban
To mold him into the father of a nation.

Now, with that being said we turn our attention to this peculiar story.
These two sisters are about to duke it out for Jacob and through this event God is about to teach Jacob two very important truths.

GOD IS TRANSCENDENT GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY

When you read this story, you have to notice that
The narrative flows through Rachel.
It is more about her struggles even than Leah’s success.

We have one futile attempt after another by Rachel,
And yet success just falls in Leah’s lap.

There is a divine reason for this.

Genesis 29:30-31 “So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years. Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.”

Now I certainly don’t want to minimize the compassion of God here.

But honestly if you are reading this passage
As though God was making up for Leah’s marital troubles
By making her fertile then you are missing the point.

If granting children was merely an issue of God’s compassion then infertility would not exist, and to assume that the only reason Leah conceived is because God felt sorry for her does a severe injustice to women around the world who can’t have children.

There is a different reason why God opened Leah’s womb.
He did it because she “was unloved”

Again, not compassion, but rather because
She was the bride that Jacob wasn’t trying to conceive with.

This was all about Jacob, this was about God accomplishing His promise
In a way that Jacob would know it was God and not him who had done it.

Now what was God’s promise?
Genesis 28:14 “Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”

God had promised Jacob that he would make his descendants
“like the dust of the earth”

But it was important that Jacob know
That God was the one who did it, and not him.

And God’s means of teaching Jacob this lesson
Was to cause children to come through the wife he wasn’t trying with.

Of the two sisters, which one do you think Jacob tried to have kids with?
• Of course it was Rachel!
• Jacob “loved Rachel more than Leah”
• In fact Moses says that “Leah was unloved”

Jacob wasn’t trying with her – that’s why God specifically chose her.
Jacob had to know this was God’s doing and not his.

You’ll see in a moment that Jacob will get the message loud and clear.

I want to show you Rachel’s failed attempts at child-birth,
And these are testimony to the absolute inability of man
To secure the promises of God.

#1 SEDUCTION
Genesis 29:30-35

Now really this is effort by Rachel is really just heavily implied,
But it is not specifically stated.

What we know is that Jacob “loved Rachel more than Leah”

And thanks to the text last week we even know why.
Genesis 29:17 “And Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face.”

Jacob was captivated by Rachel very early, and while we certainly think that by now he loved other things about her, we’d be foolish to forget that she won his heart quickly.

She was always his choice
In fact he worked a total of 14 years just for the right to marry her

And it is obvious that when it came time to start having children
That Rachel was undoubtedly able to keep Jacob in her corner.

That is what Moses is talking about that “Leah was unloved”

And this is specifically why God blessed Leah.
God was purposely working in a manner in which Jacob was not.

And God’s plan is working perfectly.
Rachel may have Jacob’s heart, but Leah has his sons.

REUBEN, “Because the Lord has seen my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.”

SIMEON, “Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.”

LEVI, “Now this time by husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.”

JUDAH, “This time I will praise the Lord.”

Clearly God did an amazing work through Leah (the unloved),
And Leah knew it.

The Firstborn
The Head of the Priestly Tribe
The Head of the Messianic Tribe

So despite Sarah’s ability to win Jacob’s heart,
It did not help her in her attempts to bear Jacob’s sons.
(It is a testimony to the weakness of human effort)

So, Sarah moves on to PLAN B

Seduction
#2 STRENGTH
Genesis 29:35, 30:15

Now by this I mean that Sarah “muscled” her will in here.
She became demonstrative, defiant, strong willed.
She pushed her desire and forced Jacob to adhere to it.

You will notice at the end of verse 35,
Moses says about Leah, “Then she stopped bearing.”

And the initial assumption is that Leah’s time had passed.
• Maybe she became too old
• Maybe she had some other complication

We don’t know, we just easily assume that nature
Has made her no longer able to have children.
But that wasn’t what happened.

Look down to chapter 30, verse 15

This is the bartering that Rachel and Leah do over Reuben’s mandrakes.

Genesis 30:15 “But she said to her, “Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? And would you take my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Therefore he may lie with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.”

And of course if you read on, you’ll find that Leah’s womb was not closed, in fact she gave birth to two more sons and a daughter.

The question then becomes:
Why did Leah stop bearing children back in 29:35?

The answer is because Rachel cut her off from Jacob.

You will see in 30:1 that Rachel “became jealous of her sister”.
Rachel, who had Jacob’s heart, no doubt played the shame card
And kept Jacob away from Leah.

That is why Leah accused Rachel of taking her husband
And why Rachel had to give permission for Jacob to go back to her.

This is Rachel’s second attempt to try and get children for Jacob.
She hoarded Jacob all for herself in hopes
That eventually she would be the mother of his sons.

But of course you notice that this did not work.
She just wasn’t able to conceive.
She could stop Leah, but she couldn’t make herself pregnant.

So, let’s move to PLAN C
Seduction, Strength
#3 SYMPATHY
Genesis 30:1-13

It’s very important that you notice here
The conversation between Rachel and Jacob.

It is something that Jacob is learning.
“Now when Rachel saw that she bore no children, she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die.” Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”

You recognize Rachel’s little pathetic fit.
She’s just going to die if she can’t get children.

That little temper tantrum was all part of the request she is about to ask.

She’s about to ask Jacob to go even further into polygamy and take her maid as a wife (a.k.a. Sarah and Hagar), and in order to get Jacob to go along with it she first has to prove to him how desperate she is.

But before we get to the point, we must recognize Jacob’s response.

Jacob recognized that the reason he couldn’t make her conceive
Was because he was not God.

This may just be one little sentence in the entire narrative,
But it is such an important lesson for Jacob to finally learn.

Last week we saw that Jacob was a self-reliant man and we saw that confidence absolutely crushed as Laban got the better of him.

Here we find Jacob learning that despite his efforts and despite his ability, he will always be at the mercy of God.

In short, there is a God and Jacob is not him.

I have no doubts that Jacob would have done everything in his power to give children to Rachel.
• He would live with Rachel
• He would cut off Leah
• He would even go in to Rachel’s maid if that pleased her

But Jacob wasn’t God and he could not make her conceive.

And again can I remind you that this is a very important lesson
That you must learn?

YOU ARE NOT GOD – in fact you aren’t even close!
• You aren’t as wise as Him
• You aren’t as strong as Him
• You aren’t as good as Him
• You aren’t as pretty as Him
• You don’t even smell as good as Him

And you must grasp this so you’ll quit trying
To earn by your efforts what only God can accomplish.

It is the flip-side to self-reliance.
You must learn you can’t, and that only God can.

You cannot, by your own efforts, secure any one of the promises of God.
• You can’t save yourself
• You can’t secure your salvation
• You can’t satisfy your soul
• You can’t bring in blessing

YOU AREN’T GOD
AND GOD’S PEOPLE ROUTINELY HAVE TO LEARN THIS LESSON

Take Job, who got a little big for his britches, and actually felt the need to call God to appear before him to answer for Job’s injustices.

From Job 38-41 God showed up to talk to Job
And over those 4 chapters God reiterated time and time again
The exact same point – YOU ARE NOT GOD!

And throughout those 4 chapters you’ll find God asking Job:
• Did you create the heavens?
• Can you restrain the oceans?
• Do you even know the depth of the sea?
• Do you watch over the mountain goat?
• Do you know why the horse is brave or strong?
• Can you teach the hawk to fly?
• Can you control the wild ox?
• Can you capture a Hippo?
• Can you tame a crocodile?

And all of these things that Job can’t do are easy for God.

Job learned that he was not God.
Job 42:1-6 “Then Job answered the LORD and said, “I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ “Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” ‘Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.’ “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.”

Consider Nebuchadnezzar, a man who also got too big for his britches.

God sent him a dream to warn him
That he was too arrogant about his own abilities.

Daniel interpreted that dream:
Daniel 4:24-25 “this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king: that you be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.”

Nebuchadnezzar didn’t listen – the dream was fulfilled

When God restored his sanity, Nebuchadnezzar said:
Daniel 4:34-37 “But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, ‘ What have You done?’ “At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me. “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”

Consider Peter
After Jesus pulled in a large catch of fish:
Luke 5:8 “But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

Or after Jesus was transfigured:
Matthew 17:6 “When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified.”

The word we are looking for here is TRANSCENDENT
It means that God is “beyond the range or grasp of human experience, reason, or belief”

Romans 11:33-36 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

It’s always been important that God’s people know their place before God.
He is transcendent
HE IS ABOVE US IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY!

Throughout Israel’s history one of the biggest sins they committed
Was the sin of forgetting this.
(They instead dumbed God down with graven images)

Isaiah 40:18-26 “To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him? As for the idol, a craftsman casts it, A goldsmith plates it with gold, And a silversmith fashions chains of silver. He who is too impoverished for such an offering Selects a tree that does not rot; He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman To prepare an idol that will not totter. Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble. “To whom then will you liken Me That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.”
Through their graven images they robbed God of His transcendence.
They sought to bring God down to their level.

When you rob God of His transcendence, you only harm yourself,
For you end up with a god who looks the way you want him too,
But you ultimately end up with a god who can’t help.

It is essential that you come to the place in your life
Where you realize your weakness and His greatness.

Well Jacob is learning this.
As he witnesses Rachel’s struggles despite their efforts,
Jacob is figuring this out.

But obviously he hasn’t fully grasped it yet,
Because Sarah still has another plan for children they are going to try.

She wants to give her handmaid to Jacob, and because Jacob is in the mode of consenting to Rachel, he gives in and furthers iniquity by going in to Bilhah.

And to some extent the plan works.

DAN is born and Rachel says, “God has vindicated me, and has indeed heard my voice and has given me a son.”

Rachel’s statement is certainly a bit of a stretch.
God did grant the birth of Dan, but it was hardly as a reward for Rachel.

Then NAPHTALI is born and Rachel says, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed.”

This doesn’t mean that she outdid her sister (she clearly did not).
Rather Rachel is saying, “I have wrestled the role of child-bearer away from my sister and I have won! Now I’m the child producer!”

RACHEL THINKS HER EFFORTS FINALLY WORKED

The problem is that two can plan at her game.

(9-13) “When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad. Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. Then Leah said, ” Happy am I! For women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher.”

GAD “How fortunate!” (I think you can feel her take a shot at Rachel there)
ASHER “Happy am I! For women will call me happy.”

Both of those names sort of look at Rachel with a sneer as though to say, “Oh, looks like you didn’t win after all!”

So Sarah has tried three tactics to have children and she is unsuccessful.

Let’s move to PLAN D

Seduction, Strength, Sympathy
#4 SUPERSTITION
Genesis 30:14-21

Little Reuben (4 or 5 years old) was out playing in the field and found some “mandrakes”.

The reason these were a hot commodity is because they were supposed to help with fertility. It was a superstition; a wife’s tale.

And Rachel sees another opportunity for a chance.
If she could get those mandrakes then surely she could conceive.

The cost for them would be to lift her sanction between Leah and Jacob.
Rachel did.

She received the mandrakes, but Leah had the children

ISSACHAR “God has given me my wages because I gave my maid to my husband.”

Again, God did grant the child,
But Leah is way off in her reasoning as to why.

ZEBULUN “God has endowed me with a good gift; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.”

Leah even threw in a daughter named “Dinah” who we will learn of later.

But the point is, that Rachel has tried every human effort imaginable to have children, but she can’t.

WHY?
BECAUSE GOD IS TEACHING JACOB
THE INABILITY OF HUMAN EFFORT.

You are supposed to read this chapter and see that the children Jacob had were only because of God and no one else’s efforts.

Notice all the references:

Genesis 29:31 “Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.”

Genesis 30:2 “Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”

Genesis 30:17 “God gave heed to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.”

Genesis 30:22 “Then God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and opened her womb.”

Clear isn’t it?
Not to mention all the times that Leah gives God credit for her sons.

And what is clear is that like Jacob, RACHEL FINALLY LEARNED THAT.

(22-24) “Then God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and opened her womb. So she conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” She named him Joseph, saying, “May the LORD give me another son.”

So when you read that story as a whole there is no doubt the point that Moses is making.

• God had promised to multiply and bless Jacob’s descendants.
• God was fulfilling that promise.
• God was doing it in such a way that no one but Him could receive
credit.

And it is the other lesson Jacob is learning.
Not only is God transcendent, GOD IS ALSO TRUSTWORTHY

God is doing what He promised.

And here is the part we have to love:
GOD IS DOING THROUGH AND IN SPITE OF SINFUL PEOPLE

And this has been true throughout the Genesis account.
• Abraham is leaving the Promised Land, passing off his wife, going in to Hagar, trying to hang on to Ishmael, and despite all that God still fulfills His promise.

• Isaac passes off his wife, ignores the divine oracle about his sons, tries to bless the wrong one, and despite all that God still fulfills His promise.

• Jacob cheats his brother, lies to his father, commits polygamy, and despite all that God still fulfills the promise.

And here is what we learn.

GOD IS FAITHFUL – HE FULFILLS HIS PROMISES
AND NOT EVEN SINNERS CAN THWART HIS WILL
This morning, I want you to read this story through Jacob’s eyes.
• A man who messed up his plan for a wife
• A man who couldn’t control who bore his children
• Caught in a web between two bickering women

BUT IF HE’LL STEP BACK HE’LL SEE
God is systematically fulfilling His promise in spite of Jacob.

Do you know what we call that?
GRACE

It’s the song Peggy sang last week
“Were it not for grace, I can tell you where I’d be; wondering down some pointless road to nowhere, with my salvation up to me. I know how that would go, the battles I would face, forever running, but losing the race; where it not for grace.”

Friend this morning I want to encourage you that
The God who promised salvation to you is a Transcendent God
Who is Faithful to fulfill that promise in spite of your mistakes.

Am I saying that mistakes don’t matter?
No

Throughout history God’s people have brought much grief and pain to their lives because of their sin.

Take Israel as the prime example.
They worshiped other gods, they forsook God’s law and as a result God raised up Babylon to destroy them and removed them from the land for 70 years.

But even as Israel marched to Babylon, God promised that He had not forgotten them and that His promise would still be fulfilled.

Jeremiah 29:10-14 “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’”

Or take Israel rejecting Christ and thus bringing upon themselves all sorts of pain and anguish, even being temporarily broken off.

And yet know:
Romans 11:28-29 “From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

So I’m not saying disobedience or sinful living doesn’t matter – it does.
Those poor decisions can bring tremendous pain into your life.

But what I am saying is that the overall promises that God makes
Are never put in jeopardy by the weakness of His people.

Philippians 1:6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

God will fulfill them in spite of you.
And that is easily seen here.

THAT IS GRACE.
It is the transcendent God at work on you, through you, and many times in spite of you, to faithfully fulfill all His promises to you.

So worship Him
So rest in Him
So trust Him