Genesis 47

And the days of Israel to die drew near. And he called his son Joseph, and said to him, If now I have found grace in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt. But I will lie with my fathers. You shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying-place. And he said, I will do according to your words.
(Gen 47:29-30)

Here we see a totally different Jacob than the one we started with, the one of old, the one that earned the name.

He used to be:
the dirty-rotten-sneaky-thief.
The Conniver.
The Con Man.
The Usurper.

Now He is:
Israel.
The One Governed by God.
The Prince of the Almighty.
The one who Prevails with God.

The man that once depended completely upon his own wit and wisdom, is now exercising true FAITH! This simple request demonstrates that he had finally come to a place of rest in the Lord. No longer was he attempting to make things happen, he was trusting the Lord to fulfill HIS promises. DO NOT BURY ME IN EGYPT. This is not our final resting place, nor is it the place where our nation will be. We will one day inherit the land God promised, and that is my home, that is where I belong. Though he couldn’t see how the return would take place, he knew God would make it happen.

What HOPE! What CONFIDENCE! What a way to encourage your family, your friends, the people around you… He was simply declaring that EGYPT was not his home… The land of promise was.

We have a promised land, and though we may not see it yet, we will soon be there. It is heaven, and the Lord has promised that there we will dwell with Him for eternity! Is your life telling people that “this is not your home”? Jacob told people that he belonged in the land of promise… are your actions communicating that your hope is in heaven?

Genesis 46

And God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob! And he said, here I am. And He said, I am God, the God of your fathers. Do not fear to go down into Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation. I will go down with you into Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again. And Joseph shall put his hand on your eyes.
(Gen 46:2-4)

Once again the Lord shares His great promise with Jacob. “I will make you a great nation.” We will see that this promise was incredibly true, but it wouldn’t come without some real pain and heartache. It wasn’t instant, this process of becoming a nation, nor was it pretty. There would soon come a time (we will see it at the beginning of Exodus) when they would be slaves to Pharaoh, doing HIS bidding, facing HIS awful laws… At one point all of their baby boys would be obliterated. This didn’t change the promise, nor the faithfulness of God.

The lord will keep His promises, but He never promises that the road will be easy. These people went from a family of 70 to a nation of about 2,000,000 while in Egypt. It was something only the Lord could accomplish. During those many years in Egypt I am sure there were many times when people doubted the promise, maybe even forgot it… but that never changed the fact that God would keep it. Difficult times will come, and we will be tempted to just say that God isn’t there and blame it all on Him. Don’t cave in to these kinds of feelings… The Lord knows the end from the beginning! We see it right here in this chapter, the fact that the Egyptians HATED shepherds and considered them an ABOMINATION, is the very thing that kept the Israelites from inter-marrying with the Egyptians. Often, the very trials that cause us to doubt the Lord in our flesh are the very means by which He accomplishes His promises in our lives…

So, if you feel hated, abused, attacked… If you look at the circumstances of your life and think, “how could God be working?” just remember the Israelites and what they went through… and the glory that was there’s in the end!

Genesis 45

And now do not be grieved, nor angry with yourselves that you sold me here. For God sent me before you to preserve life.
(Gen 45:5)

And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
(Gen 45:7)

And now you did not send me here, but God. And He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler over all the land of Egypt.
(Gen 45:8)

Three times in this chapter Joseph says, “God sent me here”. We all know the story of how Joseph ended up in Egypt, a truly awful story. Hated by his own brothers, thrown in a pit, sold into slavery… WHERE WAS GOD!?!?!

I have heard so man people talk that way… Where was God when THIS tragedy happened? Why did God allow THIS awful circumstance in my life? How could a good God who loves me treat me like THIS? If anyone had the right to talk this way it was Joseph… but here we see him at the end of the journey, and it all makes sense. God wasn’t ignoring those awful things that had happened, he was ORCHESTRATING THEM! God was using the evil deeds of Joseph’s brothers to put Joseph where He wanted Him.

Joseph recognized that the Lord had sent Him… all of those awful things were a part of the Lord’s master plan… a plan to save not just Egypt, but to eventually save men from every nation! Everything going on in our lives is for a reason… Romans 8:28 says, “and we know all thing work together for good, to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” What difficult things are going on in your life today? Are you wondering why God is allowing you to go through those difficulties? He has a plan, a plan we cannot even begin to imagine. So next time you feel like you are being driven by circumstances out of your control, remember Joseph… The Lord is sending you to do His work!!!

Genesis 44

POP QUIZ!!! Does anyone in their right mind ever really like hearing those words? No prep time, no chance to prepare, you just have to go for it right then and there. In this chapter we see a bit of a “spiritual pop quiz” for the sons of Israel, courtesy of Joseph. They can’t prepare, they can’t ask for a restart, or a postponement; their loyalty and love for Benjamin and Jacob is put to the test.

A silver cup… a simple silver cup, placed inside of Benjamin’s sack would help Joseph determine if his brother’s had changed, or if they were still the same dudes that threw him in a pit. I am happy to report that Judah and the boys pass with flying colors! They love their father, and Judah is willing to leave everything, including his OWN FAMILY to save Benjamin. What a change had taken place in their lives; no longer wanting to KILL the favorite, now they were willing to lay their lives down for him!

The Lord is in the business of changing people’s lives. He loves to transform people! As He does this transformation, he often sends us “tests” like this. In His own unique way in each of our lives, he drops the silver cup in our bag… He runs us through tests that will reveal our true character. Not so he can know what is going on in our hearts, but so we can know.

If the Lord “popped” a test like this on you today, would you pass? Where does your love and loyalty lie? Is it yourself you are looking out for, or those the Lord has called you to love? Every day the Lord gives us opportunities to demonstrate the change that is taking place in our lives by His hand. Is the transformation apparent to the others around you? Are you passing the test?

Genesis 43

And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this your younger brother of whom you spoke to me? And he said, God bless you, my son. And Joseph made haste, for his bowels yearned toward his brother. And he sought a place to weep. And he entered into his room and wept there.
(Gen 43:29-30)


His bowels yearned towards his brother… King James English is crazy! This basically means that when he saw Benny, his insides churned, overcome by emotion, sick with a desire to have fellowship with his brother.

The word bowels here could literally be translated “WOMB”. It speaks of the deepest part of who Joseph was… This was emotion of the deepest kind. The word “YEARN” literally means he was deeply affected with love for his brother. We could say it like this: “When I saw Benny, after all those long years, I couldn’t believe the emotion I felt. It was like a punch to the gut, it took everything I had to keep from falling apart. It was as if the deepest part of me was twisted and wrenched by love, I was overcome…”

In the New Testament there is another phrase used to communicate the same emotion in the life of Jesus. It is the phrase “Moved with Compassion”. The emotion Jesus experienced at times was so deep; He HAD to do something in response! I think we can all relate to this on one level or another … the question is WHAT moves you? What is it that you are intensely passionate about? Joseph was passionate about his long-lost brother… With Jesus, it was passion for a long-lost world.

Are you moved by the things that moved Jesus? Does this world every make you weep, not because of how it has wronged you, but because of its blindness? Do you ever look into the eyes of someone, and see the hopelessness there, and just wish they only knew the truth?

Our Lord was driven by a love for the lost. I pray that as we follow Him, the things that break His heart would break ours. Not just human emotion like Joseph experienced, but real God-given compassion that demands a response.

Genesis 42

Genesis 42

“Do this and live, for I fear God:” Genesis 42:18

Everything comes full circle. Here is Joseph, in charge of the Egyptian empire. He is the most invincible man in the world. He has no vulnerabilities. He is loved by all. He is in charge of the future of the world. Then enters Joseph’s secret past. This would make a great movie.

The 10 brothers were sent by Jacob to fetch food. Now consider this, Joseph is the second youngest brother. This means that all his brothers were grown men. Here comes this group of ten, who Joseph must have recognized immediately. They were there in that group, and for Joseph, they had not changed that much. Joseph was seventeen when sold into slavery. People often wonder how his brothers could not recognize him. Some say it is because he was adorned in Egyptian clothes. I sure this played a part, but how about, Joseph had grown up! He was now 37 years old. Twenty years had passed. Here is the emperor of the world and those who betrayed him. He was in a situation to do anything he wanted.

I doubt it was a perfect forgive and forget. I am sure there was some sort of thought of revenge. Maybe I am just evil, however, I do not think Joseph was just playing games when he threw them into prison for three days. I think he had to think things out. What was his conclusion? Observe verse 18, “Do this and live, for I fear God.” Sometimes I think we are driven to this place. It is a place where, the only reason we do what is right is because we recognize there is a God in heaven and we fear Him. Once again, when we let the Lord handle things look at what He does. As we will learn tomorrow, restoration was on the horizon.

I consider the Prodigal son’s brother. He never did anything wrong, therefore he could not allow restoration to take place. Maybe what had happened was not fair. Maybe Joseph’s brothers got away with something (God is just so we know they did not, but seemingly they did). I suggest in times when we are given the opportunity to administer grace, and it is hard for us, that we do it because we fear God.

Think about how many opportunities you have to do this with siblings, friends, and youth leaders. Think about if your respect for the Lord was measured by the grace you administered. Have a little grace; after all, Tommy is human too. Halleyujah!

Genesis 41

“So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace” (Genesis 41:16).

The Bible is one complete picture. The illustration goes as follows, we mess up, God restores. How does man mess up? The Lord tells us in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it.” Since man has embraced this “follow your heart” mentality it only makes sense that we are wicked and heading toward a wicked direction. How glorious it is that Jesus plants Himself in this same heart and cleans it out!

The point? What are you looking for? What is your drive? May it be Jesus. James 1:17 tells us that every good thing comes from the Lord. The good things of this world are gifts, and gifts from the Lord. We receive and we rest, He does the work. If every good thing is from the Lord, than that which is not good is not from the Lord. God does not tempt us, neither does He cast evil upon us. Look at Joseph and the situation that led up to this point. It was the fact that man is sinful that caused him to be put in that situation of imprisonment. It was the jealousy of his brothers, the lust of Potipher’s wife, and the selfishness of the Butler that caused Joseph to be betrayed, accused, and forgotten.

Now consider the words of Joseph, “It is not me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” God is a God of peace. Your choice to follow Jesus will bring you division from the world and division with the world, but ultimately peace with God.

“It is not in me…” What was not in Joseph? Power was not in Joseph. Power to interpret, power to solve the situation was far from Joseph. Once again, what is in the heart of man is ultimately evil!

“…answer of peace.” Our Lord came to create division from the world that we may know peace. I do not know how hectic your life can feel. I do not know if you ever feel over your head with burdens. Remember, it is not in you, but an answer of peace is coming. This answer may even come through you like it did Joseph. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, “I know the thoughts I think towards you,” says the Lord, “thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Genesis 40

And they said to him, "We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it." And Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Now tell it to me."
Joseph is made in charge of the prison. What a witness Joseph must have been. Joseph was falsely accused and thrown into prison. The one thing we know about his time in prison is what is told in this chapter. We are told that Joseph was 13 years old when sold into slavery and 30 when made in charge of Egypt. How many chapters for everything in between? There are only three. I wonder how much Joseph could have written about this time.
Do you ever feel like you are waiting for something? Do you ever feel like you are one of those stages in between chapters? There will be a lot to say of you down the line, and maybe a lot has happened to you in the past, but right now it just seems like you are in the middle. Imagine Joseph, interpreting the dream and having to go two years without hearing a word. Imagine the many years Joseph had spent in prison until this point. What are we to do in these situations?
Observe Joseph. He is caring for everybody just being a light. He was not worried about his feelings. He notices when others are down around him (40:6-7). He is ready to serve. What a witness! If you ever feel in a runt serve your brothers and sisters! Had Joseph been mourning about his current situation he would not have been able to notice the Butler and Baker at all. If he had been depressed, he would not have been so ready to reach out in faith and say, "Do not interpretations belong to God. Now tell it to me."

Genesis 39

“And Jehovah was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. And he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that Jehovah was with him, and that Jehovah made all he did to prosper in his hand” (Gen 39:2-3).”

For as much as the world hates God, I find it interesting that if you fall into favor with God most likely you will fall into favor with the world. Everyone likes a godly person. Why is this? Because what the Lord has given us is good, and everyone likes good. 1 Samuel 2:26 tells us, “And the child Samuel grew in stature, and in favor both with the Lord and men.” Luke 2:52 says, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”

Joseph was in a tough situation. He was backed up against the wall. He was taken to a new civilization, new culture, and was sold into slavery. How did Joseph respond? Joseph simply served the Lord. When Joseph thrown into prison for being accused of adultery how does he respond? He serves the Lord, and is made in charge of the prison. We need to have a one track mind in all situations. The most beautiful thing about the story of Joseph is, after all this trial, when Joseph is put in charge of Egypt, what did he do? He still served the Lord. Joseph, in good or bad, always had his eyes on the Lord. He did not allow his surroundings to distract him. He did not allow different situations to change his priority.

Want a good witness? Serve the Lord. Potipher had probably never heard of the God of Israel. Yet, we are told that somehow, Potipher acknowledged that Jehovah was with Joseph. Our goal is to win souls, and we do this by having two eyes on Jesus and following Him.

Genesis 38

Genesis 38

Judah and Tamar certainly is not a Sunday school favorite. We have this woman named Tamar. She is given over to this family in matrimony. She is first given to Er, who dies. Then Onan, who dies as ell. She is then promised the next available son when he becomes old enough. However, Judah betrays her and does not give the son over to her. Tamar retaliates by playing the harlot and finally getting her child. Interesting enough, she would end up having twins.

Remember when we were talking about Jacob and Esau and I mentioned that the Promised Messiah would not come from Rachel? The Messiah was not to come from Joseph, who we would certainly dub as the righteous one in the family. Instead, the Promised Messiah was to come from, Leah. He was to come from Judah. He was to come from Tamar. Read Matthew 1:2-3.

Three women are mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus. The first is Tamar. When you might think to yourself, “Why is this chapter in the Bible?” just consider, the entire Bible is pointing to Jesus. We Tamar, the harlot, as the first woman mentioned. I think this makes it very clear that Jesus was coming from sinners. He was not picking the most righteous group of people to come from. This is quite evident. Also consider this, Tamar is not Jewish. She is a gentile. Jesus came for the gentiles.

The other two women mentioned in Jesus’ genealogy is Rahab, the harlot, and Ruth, the Moabite. Rahab let the spies enter Jericho in Joshua 2. She is also not Jewish. To learn more about Ruth read the book of Ruth! Known as the “delightful book” of the Bible this story helps bridge the time between the judges and the age of the kings. Ruth and Boaz were King David’s great grandparents.

It is all pointing to Jesus. His whole genealogy is pieced together for us and we can see stories of His ancestors sprinkled across Israel’s history. Imagine what this story must look like to the Jew! It does not make sense. It only gives them a bad name. However, for us, it shows that Jesus came from sinners, did not sin, that we might have eternal life!

Righteous Jealousy

Righteous Jealousy

I had a Bible college professor tell me once that God is never jealous, but simply zealous for our love. To covet is wrong. To want what another has is wrong. The act of jealousy, typically, is a wrong thing. What then did Paul mean when he said, “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy. For I have espoused you to one Man, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ?”

1. Paul mentions this godly jealousy. In the Greek, the word jealous means “heat” or producing some sort of “warmth.” Have you ever had something on your mind that you begin to sweat? Maybe it is when you are anxious, or simply when something is bearing down on you. Well we know that Jesus sweat drops of blood. Think about this picture, the thought of us going to hell was “heat” in the Lord’s mind. It was something He worked out for us. There was sweat involved. We see salvation being planned out from the birth of sin in Genesis 3. God was going to make a way to get us back, and there was nothing that was going to stop Him. Our God is a jealous God, and the best word to translate jealous is indeed zealous. Our God wanted our love, He therefore made a way to, allow us, to make the choice to give it to Him.

2. If the heat was on the Lord’s mind, what are we supposed to do? Remember, the priests wore linen garments that we might not sweat when we serve the Lord. Remember that “all things work together for good…” Who is doing the work? Jesus is doing the work on our behalf. Therefore, if Jesus is working out our salvation, we simply need to rest and be anxious for nothing. Read Hebrews 4.

3. Lastly, how is that Paul had godly jealousy? Paul loved the church of Corinth so much. He only wished the best upon them. Read the context surrounding 2 Corinthians 11:1-4. Paul likens the church to this virgin, betrothed to one husband. Here they are all prepared, yet Paul fears that although they are all prepared on the outside, in the deepest places of their heart, they might still have this draw to the tricks of Satan. Paul is jealous that Satan would have such a hold on something so beautiful, when all he wants to do is point them to Jesus. It is the “simplicity that is in Christ.” Does Christ tempt? Does Christ provoke us to loving Him. No, of course not! Instead Christ did everything He could, including touch the history of our world through one nation, to make sure I can make an open and free choice to say, “I choose to love Jesus.” There was no temptation or drawing away. There was only love over the edge to the point that I could not say no. Jealous?

Genesis 37

Genesis 37

If there is one verse that can describe Joseph’s life it would be Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

Here we have Joseph, loved by Jacob. Why was he so loved by Jacob? Joseph and Benjamin were the sons of Rachel, Jacob’s beloved who he worked 14 years for. Joseph, being loved the most, is given this coat of many “colors.” The traditional translation for this coat tells us this might have simply been a coat with long sleeves. Only rulers had long sleeve coats in those areas. It was a sign that this person did not work with their hands but rather were in charge. Looking into the future, this coat could have been quite a prophetic thing. Picture being given this, then sharing about a dream where everyone bowed down to you. It is no wonder that his brothers wanted to kill him.

Some may have thought the actions of the brothers to be quite hostile. Remember, these are the kids of Jacob, Nephews to Esau. Esau wanted to kill Jacob when he stole the blessing from him, and these guys were no different. Their solution, after Reuben interceded, was to get rid of Joseph.

Jealousy is a very powerful thing. Check out these verses about jealousy: “For jealousy is the rage of a man; therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance” (Proverbs 6:34). “Set me as a seal on Your heart, as a seal on Your arm; for love is strong as death. Jealousy is cruel as the grave; its flames are flames of fire, a flame of Jehovah (Son. 8:6).

We are told that our God is a jealous God. Is there such thing as righteous jealousy? Paul says, “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy. For I have espoused you to one Man, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ (1 Cor. 11:2).

Let us truly love each other rather than grow jealous of one another. Let us pray for one another, right now, rather than meditate wrong for one another. “Love is strong as death. Jealousy is cruel as the grave…” It was the love of God that sent Him to the cross, and His righteous jealousy which had Him endure the cruelness of the grave. May we love with this love, and only grow jealous when we see a brother or sister take their eyes off the Lord.

Genesis 36

Genesis 36:6-8

Esau was a very wealthy man. Jacob was wealthy as well. We see another incident where two men were forced to go separate directions because of their wealth. As they split let us observe which directions these two were heading spiritually.

I appreciate Esau, and his willing to forgive. He originally sold his birthright to his conniving brother, lost his blessing to this brother, and then vowed to murder this same brother. Just as always, Esau could not even stay true to his hate. He loses his grudge to Jacob and rejoices when he has the chance to see him again. By now, Esau had taken a wife from the line of Ishmael. This is Basemath (Gen 36:2), who is also called Mahalath (Gen. 28:9). He had done this in an attempt to out due his brother and receive a blessing from his father. Unfortunately for him, the Lord had made his decision long before and the long of promise was certainly not coming from Ishmael, but from Abraham’s side.

We now look at Jacob. We know of Jacob’s early scheming ways. Out of all this, I honestly believe Jacob loved the Lord a sought what was right. In Bethel, he has a vision of a stairway to heaven. From that point on he seeks to know this God personally. He will later wrestle with God, which will leave him permanently hobbled physically, and permanently blessed spiritually. Esau took a wife rather quickly. Jacob went out and worked 7 years for his. As Tommy mentioned, the time just flew by for Jacob. He was so in love, “They seemed only a few days.” However, Jacob got duped, and ended up with Leah. The promised line would come from Leah and not Rachel. Jacob would have to work another 7 years. From there Jacob had to flee Laban. It was then that he would meet up with Esau again. All this had happened since that fateful day Isaac was to give the blessing. The ironic thing is, Isaac was still alive.

Now comes the parting of ways. One of them leaves as Israel, who prevails with God. The other would be known as Edom, or “red / of blood.” The only different between these two, which really stands out for me, is that one followed God. Esau reminds me of one of those good guys you know, who are not saved, but seem to be enjoying life all the same. Jacob reminds me of one of those brothers who seem to always be taking blow after blow, but they faithfully hold on to Jesus. Always prevail with God, no matter how tough the road seems. I would rather live a hard life for Jesus, then be given everything in gift-wrap and have a hole in my heart.

Genesis 35

Genesis Chapter 35

Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
(Gen 35:2-4)

Yesterday we saw just how important the decisions we make are. Today we see that it is never to late to turn those bad decisions around. Jacob had failed to lead his family in a Godly way. They had lived a worldly life, He had not properly taken action when the world acted against his family, and here we also see that they had become Idolatrous. The Lord gives Jacob a chance to make things right by taking his family BACK to the place where they had met the Lord. When we feel separated from the Lord, like we have been neglecting Him for a period of time, the best way to deal with it is go back to the place where you were right with Him. That is exactly what Jacob does, He returns with his family to the place where the Lord had met Him. He is going back to the altar to get things set straight once again.

Look what happens when they arrive at Bethel… They take all of the things that had come between them and the Lord, and bury them under this big tree. They took there Idols, those things that had occupied them, the things they had worshipped rather than the Lord. They took there earrings, symbolic of trying to find worth and substance in this world, satisfaction in it’s riches. They take these things and they bury them under the tree. What an example for us! When we find ourselves in a place we shouldn’t be, we need to come back to the tree and dump all of our junk there. All of the stuff the Lord wants to see us be rid of. The tree is symbolic of the cross. If we will come back to the cross, and bury the things there that have hindered us in our walk and relationship with the Lord, we can have a clean start. This is what the clean garments symbolized… a new beginning!

Genesis 34

Genesis Chapter 34

And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
(Gen 34:30)

The only word I can think of to describe this story is TRAGIC. I makes me so sad to read it, and I think that the most tragic think of all is the fact that it could have been completely avoided. In this story, and the events preceding it, we see several ways the whole scene could have been avoided.

1. They should have never been in Schechem. There was no reason for Jacob to be living here… In fact we saw yesterday that by being here he was breaking his promise.
2. Once he was there, he should have never allowed his children to wander around inside the city of Schechem… as God’s children they had no business being there.
3. Once the awful crime was commited, Jacob could have taken some sort of action. I believe his INACTION in the situation was another factor that made it even uglier.
4. If Simeon and Levi had not let hatred grow so strong and dominate there decision, the final outcome could have been avoided.

So we see that this awful tragedy was years in the making… it was the fruit of a series of FLESHLY DECISIONS. The final assessment was that these chosen people of God had now made themselves EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE to the very people God had called them to be a light to.

My exhortation to all of you this morning is simple: Don’t let your flesh control the decisions you make, and when the Lord leads you somewhere FOLLOW. There is nothing that will destroy our witness quicker than neglecting to listen to the Lords voice. So this morning, hear the Lord’s voice!!!

Genesis 33

Genesis Chapter 33

Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure, until I come unto my lord unto Seir.
(Gen 33:14)

And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him a house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth. And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan-aram; and pitched his tent before the city. And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred pieces of money. And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel.
(Gen 33:17-20)

Anytime we make a promise that we don’t intend to keep, it is a lie. When we say something just because we know it is what someone wants to hear, but we don’t mean it, it’s a lie. Deception can creep into our life so subtly, and once we begin to practice deception, it can be VERY difficult to stop.

Jacob is a vivid illustration of this principle here. He has just had this incredible experience with the Lord, his name has been changed and his walk has been changed. He has been reunited with his brother who wanted to kill them, and their relationship was restored. Esau wants Jacob to go to Seir with him, but for whatever reasons, Jacob simply doesn’t want to go. Instead of telling the truth, Jacob tells a lie. The old Jacob is showing his ugly head again. This is not the “new man”. This is not Israel, the one “governed by God”. This is a decision that is being made in the flesh!

He says, “we need to take it slow for the children and animals… I’ll catch up with you later.” Esau responds by basically saying, “that’s cool” and begins his journey. This is where things get sketchy, Jacob journey’s only as far as Succoth, headed the WRONG DIRECTION! Now it looks like he was here for a while… He builds a house! He builds booths for the animals… he puts down roots. It is commonly believed that Jacob stayed here for a good 5 – 7 years before heading further west (away from Edom where Esau lived) to Schechem. He had no plan of keeping his word with Esau, He was practicing deception. We will see in the next chapter that this choice cost him DEARLY.

It is so important for us to realize the importance of being men and women of our word. There will be times when the EASY thing to do is to tell a “little white lie” to avoid confrontation and get out of a sticky situation. This is exactly what Satan wants us to do… there is an old saying that goes, “oh what tangled webs we weave, when we practice to deceive.” Jacobs deception and compromise were weaving a web, and his kids were about to follow his bad example. God will always honor it when we tell the truth. No matter what circumstances we face, the truth is always the best choice. Not the easiest, but the best.

Genesis 32

Genesis Chapter 32

And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.
(Gen 32:24-31)

Wrestling with God. Just think about that phrase for a moment if you will. Wrestling with God. When I think about it, I can’t help but ask myself, “who in the world would want to wrestle with GOD?!” As crazy as that may seem this is where we find Jacob today. He is wrestling with God. In fact, he has been wrestling with God in a figurative sense for YEARS! This struggle between God’s way and Jacob’s way, between making things happen in the flesh and simply following the leading of God’s Spirit, is a divine wrestling match we have all engaged in from time to time.

Now look at the verses above… things change rapidly for Jacob. One second he is dead locked in a struggle with the Lord, fighting to do things HIS WAY. Then the Lord simply touched him, and everything changed. In a moment he goes from fighting with God to clinging to God. He says, “don’t leave me, I need Your blessing in my life.” How quickly the tune he was singing had changed. From, “let me do it my way, don’t stop me!” to “Oh Lord, Please help me!”

Now, as a result of this divine wrestling match 2 things in Jacob’s life were forever changed.

Jacob’s name was changed. – We have talked about this before, in Bible times a man’s named described who he was. Here we see Jacob (the dirty-rotten-sneaky-thief) turned into Israel (a man governed by God). From this moment forward, everything was different. No longer would he struggle in a deadlock with the Lord, the conniver had become a servant of the Lord. He was no longer “his own man” but was now a man doing the will of His master. A real encounter with the Lord will always change a man. Maybe you are a person who fights against the authority in their life, you struggle against parents, teachers, even the Lord. You want to do things your own way. You want to do what YOU want to do. The Lord can change you, and He can do it one of 2 ways. You can submit to Him, and ask Him to do it. Or you can fight against him, and have him do whatever it takes to bring you to submission. The Bible tells us that one day “every knee will bow”. Every person on this earth will one day fall before God. Will you do it willingly now, or wait until it is to late?

Jacob’s walk was changed. – After his encounter with the Lord, Jacob’s walk was different. “he halted upon his thigh”. Jacob limped for the rest of his life. This has signifigance in a couple of ways: Whenever a man truly encounters the Lord, his “walk” is forever changed. No longer the tall proud saunter of a man doing it HIS OWN WAY. Now the humble limp of a man who KNOWS he must depend on the Lord. The other thing this did was provide a constant reminder for Jacob of just who it was that was really in control. That limp was always with him, he would never forget what the lord had done to change him... Have you really met the Lord and had him forever change the way you live? What has He put in your life to remind you of your need to trust Him and Him alone?

Genesis 31

Genesis Chapter 31

And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's. And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled.
(Gen 31:19-20)

And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword? Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp?
(Gen 31:26-27)

And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?
(Gen 31:30)

Here in this chapter, we see a major family problem develop over the whole issue of STEALING. This family is almost destroyed by the choices of Jacob and Rachel. Though Rachel’s choice may have been the more clearly “wrong” choice, Jacob was equally as guilty. You see, in Laban’s eyes Jacob had hijacked his family and run off with them. It wasn’t that Jacob didn’t have a right to leave… he did! The problem is the WAY he left!!! I believe there are a couple of lessons to learn here, so let’s take a look at both Rachel and Jacob, and what they did to put Laban in such a angry state.

Let’s start with Rachel: She purposely stole away Laban’s false God’s. We have two problems with this, Both the act of stealing, and the object she stole. First of all is her choice to steal. Pretty simple, she decided she wanted something that did not belong to her, so she just took it. We all know this is a problem, so I don’t need to emphasize it to much. The circumstances don’t really matter, there is no good excuse. We should never take things that are not ours! Second we have the problem of what she stole. Rachel stole Idols, Images. These are FALSE GODS! This lets us know that she was “worshipping” things other than the Lord. If she had truly been worshipping the Lord, she would have never wanted the Idols at all, and stealing would not have been an issue. This is a great lesson for us to learn: When our relationship with the Lord is in the right place, (He alone is the object of our worship) temptation is a lot easier to deal with. If we don’t desire something, we won’t be tempted to choose it over God and His laws! This was Rachels problem here, she desired things that she should have never even considered, and it resulted in her commiting some major sin against her own family! We need to deal with the hidden desires in our own life, and reject those desires we may have that are not of the Lord. I say “hidden” because it is clear that Rachel’s desire to worship these Idols was hidden, not even her own husband knew about it! I have found that one of the best ways to deal with this sort of temptation is to let others know about it. If Rachel had told her husband that she was attracted to Idols, I am sure he could have helped her to put those desires to death! Our lesson from Rachel: DON’T ALLOW TEMPTATION TO CONTROL YOU!

Now, look at Jacob. He wasn’t worshipping Idols, or taking anything from Laban that didn’t belong to Him. In fact, He was doing what God TOLD him to do. The problem is this: he didn’t tell Laban what he was going to do. Lets take a step back here and look at the situation. Jacob had been living with Laban for 20 years, and one day he just DISAPPEARS! No warning, no goodbyes, Jacob packs up and runs off while Laban is occupied with other business. NOT A GOOD IDEA! You guys, this is NOT what the Lord had in mind. Though it was time for Jacob to be moving on, the Lord wanted Jacob to be a TESTIMONY, and not a spot or blemish on God’s reputation. Laban had Idols in his house, this makes me think that He did not really know the LORD! And here is Jacob, totally blowing his witness. It isn’t always what we do that is the problem, it is often what we DON’T DO. Jacob could have claimed that He did EXACTLY what God told him to, and really, he would have been right. It isn’t so much the following of the LETTER of the LAW that God is after, but living according to the Spirit of it. In all things God’s desire is for us to be lights to the world around us. When we do things our own way, to avoid confrontation or an unpleasant situation like Jacob did, we sin against the Lord… Even if we are following the command He gave us! As you follow the commands of the Lord, remember His heart… ask yourself this question; “Am I carrying out God’s commands in a way that glorifies Him?”

Genesis Chapter 30

Genesis 30

And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock: I will pass through all thy flock today, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire. So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me.
(Gen 30:31-33)

And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chestnut tree; and peeled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. And he set the rods which he had peeled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink. And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstreaked, speckled, and spotted. And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstreaked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban's cattle. And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.
(Gen 30:37-42)

Here we catch another glimpse of Jacob’s true nature… The supplanter, or as I like to call him, the “dirty – rotten – sneaky - thief”. Here he is, and instead of simply trusting the Lord to provide for him, he takes things into his own hands. As we read through the chapters in Genesis that cover Jacob’s life, we see more and more of this. From the birthright onward we see Jacob trusting his own sneaky schemes rather than leaving things in the hands of the Lord.

My challenge to you this morning is simple: as you go throughout your day today, and on into the rest of the week, take a hard look at why you do the things you do… Do you try and connive and convince your parents to let you do what YOU want, or do you trust things into the hands of the Lord? Jacob really had a difficult time with this, he was always leaning to his own devices. The Lord longs for us to trust Him, to abandon our own clever schemes, and lean on Jesus.

“Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all of your ways acknowledge him, and HE will direct your paths” Proverbs 3:5-6

Genesis 29

Genesis Chapter 29

And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.
(Gen 29:20)

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible, because it gives us a glimpse into the powerful way that love can change our perspective.

I don’t know if it is this way for all of you, but for me time often seems elastic. There are periods of time when things are great that just fly by… often those are the times I wish could last for ever. There are other times that seem to drag on for eternity, often times waiting for one thing or another… Those are the ones I wish could just end.

I think one of the things that really strikes me about this passage is that what I would tend to view as a difficult time, Jacob sees as a wonderful time. What I imagine to be a period of time that would have kept going, and going, Jacob sees as a “few days”.

What is it that makes a difficult time fly by for Jacob? LOVE… plain and simple, it is love.

There are 2 ways we can look at this:

Imagine if you will, Jesus in the position of Jacob, and us in the place of Rachel… Hebrews 12 tells us that, “For the JOY set before Him (that joy was us!), he endured the cross despising the shame…” Because Jesus loved us so much, and knew the joy that awaited Him in restoring us to a right relationship with Him, He endured all of the hardships of the cross.
Now flip flop that. Here we are on earth, serving the Lord. At times we can feel like it is long and hard, working here on the earth, serving the lord under difficult circumstances. All of the difficulty fades away though when we catch a glimpse of the Love of the Lord. When we realize His love for us, we are filled with love for Him. There is no greater motivator that I know of than God’s love!!!

It is a subtle shift that makes all the difference in the world. If I am serving God to gain His love; then life can seem hard, long, and tedious. But, if I am serving God BECAUSE HE LOVES ME, it changes everything. Now my service is a response, rather than an attempt at the impossible. Earning God’s love simply can’t be done. If we accept His love on the basis of His grace, and respond in love ourselves, everything changes… Like Jacob, those “7 years” will seem like a few days, and hard work will seem easy, all because we are motivated by love.