Insights from Relatives Genesis 35, 36

Sermon Nuggets Tues Oct 30 

Gen 35 & 36

Genealogies

            I was in one computer store one day when they were trying to get rid of software that wasn’t selling very well. Each program was $10 so I bought a computer program that helps put together my family tree. I come from a relatively small family. I have one brother. My Father had one sister. My mother had two sisters. So as far as Aunts and Uncles I only had to look at three families. All my first cousins I count on my one hand. My sons have only one cousin on my side of the family. We can have family reunions in our living room.

            Judi on the other hand almost needs two hands just to count herself and brothers and sisters. Just their offspring, nieces and nephews number 17. To have a family reunion requires an outdoor party. Now annually that number increases as nieces and nephews get married and have the third generation of kids. I think that number is 33!

            But after I started putting together the family tree I was very surprised at some things. First, if you go back far enough and look at the different branches of the tree there are lots and lots of leaves. My parents had first cousins who had kids who had kids. Some of those folks like Judi’s parents knew how to have kids. So when I get to second and third cousins calculators are needed. It doesn’t take long for me to realize that my great great grandparents on both sides had lots of descendants. And of course, if you go back far enough to Adam and Eve- or make it simpler, to Noah and his wife everyone is kin.

            We believe each child is hand picked by God. As Psalm 139 tells us He knew us while we were still in our mother’s womb. Although there are various circumstances regarding births, life is valuable to God. For  a number of reasons a child may not be best cared for in their birth home, but the value of adoptions is that for the most part children can be brought up in a loving home.

The writer of Ecclesiastes wrote that there is a time to born and a time to die. And then next verses talk about the various times in our lives. That is what we see in these  next two chapters, as we reflect on our life on this earth graciously given to us by God.

Pastor Dale

 

Sermon Nuggets Weds Oct 31 

Gen 35:1-14 35 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”

² So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. ³ Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” ⁴ So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem. ⁵ Then they set out, and the terror of God fell upon the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.

⁶ Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. ⁷ There he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel, because it was there that God revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.

⁸ Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel. So it was named Allon Bacuth.

⁹ After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. ¹⁰ God said to him, “Your name is Jacob,but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel.

¹¹ And God said to him, “I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body. ¹² The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.” ¹³ Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him.

¹⁴ Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. ¹⁵ Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.

A Time to Return

            Last week we saw what resembles many of our lives. Jacob begins by walking in the light as he lets God lead and direct. Then continues to worship and relate to God on one side while making some decisions that are contrary to God’s will on the others. I called that walking in the shadows. In Chapter 34 we see the results of living lives without the light and walking in the darkness and the results that sin has on innocent people as well as others that are not so innocent. There are consequences that happen sooner or later when God is ignored.

            Now we begin chapter 35 will the direct command of God again to Jacob. Why did God wait so long to instruct Jacob to get on with the matter of returning to Bethel, as He had clearly commanded him earlier?” To me, the answer is quite simple—until now Jacob wasn’t listening.

Do you wonder why some people have to have God smack in the head before He gets their attention? That seemed to be Jacobs experience too. Now he was willing to listen.  The tragic and painful events of chapter 34 greatly improved Jacob’s ability to hear and obey God. His daughter had been raped, his sons had put the men of Shechem to death, and it appeared that neither he nor his family could live safely in that region any longer. You see, while all of the men of the city of Shechem had been put to the sword, the women, children, and cattle had been taken as slaves. Jacob was fearful in staying in the area due to retribution by the neighboring towns. Now he was willing to listen to the voice of God. And he obeys fully.

In this chapter the name God appears 11 times and is also present in the names Israel, Bethel  and El Bethel; and another time in the name El-Shaddi (God Almighty” in contrast with the last chapter where his name isn’t mentioned at all.

            Jacob was told to go to Bethel. Don’t you wish God would direct you that way? “Hey, I want you and your family to go move to Rochester Minnesota. After 7 years I want you to take a job in Minneapolis and then retire in Stanchfield and buy a house.” Sometimes I wish God would lead that way. There aren’t many who get that style of communication with God, but Jacob did. Of course he didn’t have a Bible either. He was to return to the place where he met God in a personal way.

            Maybe for some people we come back to the place of our conversion and say it was shortly after that meeting with God I went my own way and now later in life and because of some of the circumstances I need to return back to God. Not talking about the physical place, but rather the spiritual place.

            For Jacob it was both. It was at Bethel God appeared to him and gave him a vision of a ladder stretching form heaven to earth. He was so impressed he looked up to heaven and said, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am talking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’ house, and all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

            I wonder if you have been living your life apart from God if you don’t need to remember the day you met Christ and remember how your life changed. Are things better now with God or not? Maybe you need to recount the circumstances and people that God used to lead you to Him. Maybe you need to re-read a book that stirred your soul. Sometimes people will return to their home church, or camp, or place of some personal spiritual decision or experience and in their hearts repent of the sin in their lives and seek renewal of heart to God. In a spiritual sense that is going back to Bethel, or the meeting place with God. 

            Jacob wanted to purify himself and his family. It was time for dedication. Returning to God was demonstrated by getting rid of foreign gods and idols. That was something God hated. It is an offense to the Lord to think that all his mighty works and deeds, his power and love, his involvement in lives, is to be replaced with a chunk of wood or stone. How offensive!

Returning to God is turning from those things and going to God in obedience and worshipping him out of love and commitment to faithfulness. You might remember that when Laban pursued Rachel his, daughter, she had stolen the household idols. It seemed others had idols as well. While all of the men of Shechem had been put to the sword, the women and children were taken alive. These Canaanites undoubtedly kept their gods with them (or made new ones) when they were taken captive. Finally this idolatry had to be reckoned with. Even the earrings had to go. Now I am not thinking this has to do with common jewelry but rather outward adornment for their gods.

Hindus in India wear marks on their foreheads to indicate which gods they worship. Many of the decorations in houses weren’t just cute little carvings of the culture as art, but as part of their religion. That had to go. Even when we went to other Christian homes in India sometimes the owner had something outside to ward off evil spirits. We asked our translators why Christians have that. We were informed that they were really nominal Christians. They said they believed in Christ, but just in case they’ll use other things to scare the evil spirits away.

Where might we be nominal Christians? Following horoscopes, fortune telling, knocking on wood? Or following other superstitions that replace the glory of the power and work of God in our lives? 

 Jacob knew that there could be no approach to God in an impure condition. There is a song which says, “… whatever it takes to be closer to Thee, Lord, that’s what I’ll be willing to do.” Anything that takes our attention away from God, Anything that causes us to give less devotion and worship to God, Anything that has more influence in our life than God does is an idol!

There are many kinds of things that stand between us and the Lord. Idols of personal power (obsession with work, advancement, making money, being controlled by issues of material gain) Idols of pleasure (governing our life by "what is enjoyable, pleasurable, or feels good". It is allowing our feelings and emotions override God's direction; it can be a habit, a recreational activity, a relationship) Idols of undue influence (giving the television, a personality, a philosophy the position of influence that belongs only to God in our lives.) 

In our lives we need times of review and returning back to where God wants us to be.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Thurs Nov 1 

Genesis 35:16-29

¹⁶ Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty. ¹⁷ And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you have another son.” ¹⁸ As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.

¹⁹ So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). ²⁰ Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb.

²¹ Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. ²² While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it.

Jacob had twelve sons:

²⁷ Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.²⁸ Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years. ²⁹ Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

 A Time to Remember

            There are three deaths recorded in this chapter: Deborah (vs.8), Rachel and Isaac. Deborah was one of the women who left Haran with Rebekah, Jacob’s mother.  There wasn’t much detail given to us regarding her so frankly we have to surmise. When Jacob returned to the area of his father and mother nothing is said of his mother, Rebekah, so we must presume she is dead. However, her special attendant for years was Deborah. It could have been she was the nursemaid for the twins when they were growing up. She might have been the one who cooked and clothed them, as his parents had servants. She was valued by the family and thought well of. Now at Jacob’s return he honors her and brings her with him, probably to take care of as an older woman. The epitath on her grave by the big oak tree was “Allon Becuth” meaning “Oak of weeping” There was great sorrow at the loss. He didn’t want people to forget.

But as we read on v. 16 we see more sorrow. His favorite beloved Rachael is going to have another baby. While in route in their travels again she starts to deliver and it is a hard delivery. The baby is born and the midwife informs her she is blessed with a son, but she knew she was dying and called him Ben Oni meaning son of my trouble.

She named her first son Joseph, which meant, literally, “add to me”, expressing her desire for yet another son. The mid-wife wanted her to know that God answered the prayer of her heart, but it also was her death. When she died. Jacob renamed him Benjamin meaning, son of my right hand. This was his way of saying Rachael was like his right hand to him. This is the son and he is the memory of her.

And at Bethlehem, which also has the name Ephrath, Jacob buried her and set up a pillar in her remembrance. And there was a marker for generations to follow to know of the love Jacob had for Rachael, which is still identified today to visitors. 

Moses wrote these first five books while the people were wandering in the wilderness. Can you imagine how they must have anticipated seeing these things when they were to enter into the Promised Land? They probably couldn’t wait to see some of these historical markers as tombs of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah and Rachel.

The events of the past were intended to be remembered and commemorated. Visual reminders had a great place in Old Testament times, not to mention the present.

Rachel’s death could be viewed with two previous events in mind: When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she became jealous of her sister, Leah; and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die” (Genesis 30:1). Out of jealousy she said she would die if she could not bear children. In truth, she did die in the bearing of children.

A second event was when her father approached the family while they were trying to run away from him and return to Canaan. Laban, not knowing that Rachel has stolen her father’s household gods thought it was Jacob. In response to this charge Jacob hotly retorted: The one with whom you find your gods shall not live; in the presence of our kinsmen point out what is yours among my belongings and take it for yourself

 Could this be one of the reasons she died early? We don’t know.

           

But thirdly there was another death and person to remember.  Perhaps the most difficult thing in the world for Jacob to do was to stand before his father, whom he had deceived in order to obtain the blessing. Personally, wonder if Jacob’s reluctance to return to Bethel stemming from his sense of guilt and shame before Isaac. But reconciliation with God and the renewal at Bethel necessitated the reconciliation described in verses 27-29.

            As funerals sometimes do, they bring families together again, even if siblings don’t get along. Ishmael and Isaac together buried their father Abraham. Now Esau and Jacob though different find the one thing that united them and together remember Dad.

Funerals are time for remembering. Cemeteries are places where the dead are buried and many will bring flowers, or set up stones as memorial to remember the loved ones who walked this earth. This also is a Biblical example that the death of people are far different that the death of any other type of life on this earth. Why? Because God is the author of life and life is not to be taken lightly.

In our community at the Union Cemetery in Cambridge a memorial site is erected to help remember the unborn children aborted or miscarried. Even though their remains may not be there, it was placed to honor the life that God created.

Maybe if you are woman who has had an abortion this is a wonderful place to go for healing and prayer and making it a place like Bethel to meet God and remember and be made whole, or to grieve over this particular loss. Or maybe God’s spirit moves you to just want to go there and pray for the many who have yet to understand God’s work in conception that we will see the day these atrocities will stop.

This is as much an honor to god’s work as it is to the events and circumstances of ones life while on the earth.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Fri Nov 2 

Gen 36

A Time to Reproduce

           

We have already gone through the genealogy of Jacob and now we have recorded the genealogy of Esau his brother. The reasons that this is put in the Bible are, first to show how the prophecy to Abraham was being fulfilled. He would have descendants as numerous as the sand and the stars. And secondly, to show the blessing of God by beginning the two nations, as God both commanded them to do and revealed this is what would happen.

            Each birth is of God. If a man tries to forget God, as Esau did, you would think that God would forget him. But that was not the case. Edom was the nation that came from Esau. He married the daughter to Ishmael the son of Abraham. So one of his wives was his cousin and a direct line of Abraham on both sides Isaac and Ishmael, Hagar and Sarah. Even though Esau was not interested in spiritual things, God nevertheless honored His promises concerning Esau. Human sin does not change God’s ultimate plan. He had a plan for Esau’s family and before Esau’s birth when the twin sons were struggling within Rebekah. “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger, and the older will serve the younger”.

            You might ask if God’s blessings are so abundant to those who are not chosen, like Esau, what is the magnitude of His blessings for those who are chosen?

The list gives the history of Esau when he was in Canaan, the land of promise while in the second list we are given is the history of Esau when he was living in the land of Seir. In Canaan, Esau had married three wives and from these had fathered five sons. The wives names in Gen 27 are different form Gen 36 and it is believed the same women, but more than one name perhaps for living in Canaan and other in the Hittite cultures.

            Two of Esau’s sons had 10 sons between them. All these sons became chiefs or leaders of influence in Edom.

When God gave the prophecy to Ishmael he said he would be the father of 12 rulers and make him into a great nation. This is what happened. The sons of Ishmael became the rulers of twelve peoples who settle in northern Arabia and spread out along the main caravan route between Egypt and Assyria.

            Edom was the territory bordering Judah to the east and south. It was situated along the trade routes between Syria and Egypt and was in a position to profit from this trade. It brought business and inhabitants grew rich from the caravans.

If we were to jump to the Exodus story about when the Moses led the people out of the wilderness you would find they wanted to pass through Edom, but the Edomites, descendants of Esau, refused to let them pass through. Moses even promised to harm nothing and even pay for whatever water they drank. They still refused.

Later God judged this nation by having King David conquer the Edomites in a great battle and the reign of Solomon had them subjected to him. Now the region has been virtually unoccupied except for the Bedouins; and in recent history military outposts of the modern state of Jordan. Indeed it has been brought to nothing, as the minor prophet, Obadiah, foretold.

            The later part of the chapter lists names of rulers of Sier, and Edom. Important historical references to marking history from the time Joseph was in Egypt until Moses led the people out of the wilderness 400 years later. Time was kept by marking off reigns of kings, chiefs and rulers.

            If your name were in the Bible you would look very proudly chapter and verse and say, see, there I am- That’s me. But what list is important for your name to be on. Certainly there is a list of those planned of God to be born. But there is even a more important list of descendants.

            I went through an exhibit of relics from the Titanic that brought to life images of that disaster. Pieces of china from the dining room, silver dinner service pieces, neatly folded pair of pajamas. You know the story of how people were partying the night away they were interrupted by the announcement that his unsinkable ship was in fact sinking.

            There was another more elaborate exhibit which toured our nation where visitors receive a replica ticket. On the ticket was the name of an actual passenger or crew member. As you made your way through the display the ticket served as a constant reminder that this exhibit is about real people whose lives were no different from ours. The ultimate impact awaits at the end of the tour. There is a large board were the names of all the people who were aboard was listed.

Life is a lot like a voyage on the Titanic. It offers all the glitter and excitement of that we’re expecting to be a safe ride all the way to the end. A few people cruise through life with first class accommodations, while the rest of us are divided into a variety of other classes and rankings based on birth, skill, education, and income. We all feel invincible. We dance our lives away forgetting there is an ultimate reckoning that indeed may come sooner than we think.

            As people looked at the ticket of the name of the person whose ticket they held there was a line across the board dividing the names of those who were SAVED and those were LOST at sea.

            The impact of that exhibit lingered with people for awhile when most identified a bit with their imaginations as to what it might be like to be in the shoes of the passenger whose name the visit held. When some saw the person perished, they cried, thinking more of what that person experienced those last hours on the ship for his was a life giving for a short time by God and ended in the chilly waters of that ocean.

Does it  really make any difference whether you are first class, second class, or crew?  The only thing that ultimately matters at the end of the voyage is whether you are saved or lost.

           

Does it matter if your name is in the Bible? Whose descendant you are? Who your great great-grandpa is? Not if you are on the lost list.

There is another list of descendants of Jesus Christ. If you place your faith in him you can be sure you are saved.  Jesus came to seek and save what is lost. The book of life have you name written on it, planned your birth and purchased your second birth. That the place to have your name listed? Is yours there?

Pastor Dale

Walking in Light and Darkness. Genesis 33, 34

Sermon Nuggets Mon Oct 22 Walking in Light and Darkness

Gen 33, 34

            There was an interesting news item in the Readers digest of the U.S. Space Command, which has millions of dollar’s worth of the latest computers and other electronic gear with highly trained employees. There was a problem that stumped them at the missile-warning center. To connect new computers at the center, wires had to be threaded through 40 food long narrow conduits. They tried different approaches and nothing worked. Finally, Lt. Col Randy Blaisdell had an idea. He tied a piece of yarn around Misty, his pet ferret. Misty dashed through the conduit, towing the yarn, and the yarn was then used to pull a wire. The cost was a Strawberry Pop-Tart. 

           

Sometimes solutions to problems are far different and in fact simpler than what we might expect. There is a proverb that teaches us, “unless the Lord builds the house, the Labors work in vain that build it.” So often we seek to do God’s work with our wisdom. That seems to be a prevent theme in the Old Testament stories doesn’t it. God had a plan for Jacob and Jacob tried to do it his way. That was why he had a wrestling match with God as we talked about last week. He needed to face his fears and frailty. He needed a new found faith and be given the hope of a future, not based on anything but Gods’ way of doing things.

           

We have been talking about the Proverbs in our Sunday School classes. That is the book with wise sayings pertaining to life. Wisdom is found in the fear of the Lord. Obeying God is wise. Going our own way is unwise.

There is an important bible verse in the Proverbs. 3:5,6 “Trust in the Lord with all you heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.”

           

As we look at these next two chapters from Genesis these truths become even for evident. The ups and downs of our lives are often related to who’s in charge and making the decisions.  It is important where and how we walk and where we dwell.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Tues Oct 23 Light

Gen 33: 1-12 Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two maidservants. ² He put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. ³ He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.

     ⁴ But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. ⁵ Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children.   

   “Who are these with you?” he asked.

Jacob answered, “They are the children God has graciously given your servant.”

⁶ Then the maidservants and their children approached and bowed down. ⁷ Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down.Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down.

       ⁸ Esau asked, “What do you mean by all these droves I met?”

       “To find favor in your eyes, my lord,” he said.

         ⁹ But Esau said, “I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”

      ¹⁰ “No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably. ¹¹ Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it.

     ¹² Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.”

 Walking in the Light

The problem that confronted Jacob was really Jacob. He was fearful God’s promise would not come about and his brother Esau was out to kill him and maybe his family. God had protected Jacob had blessed Jacob in his whole life, why couldn’t he be trusted now? The solution was so simple, but he made it so difficult. The solution was to trust in the Lord with all your heart. When you do you walk in the light as he is in the light and he takes care of the situation by changing us, changing others, or teaching us important lessons.

The messenger of God blessed Jacob at the end of the chapter. Now Jacob was crossing the stream as the sun began to rise. At that very moment, Jacob looked up and saw Esau and his 400 men appear on the horizon. Jacob divided his wives and children into groups, beginning with the maids and ending with Rachel and Joseph. Instead of being in the back like before, now Jacob went to the head of the group so that any harm done would be inflicted on him first. That was a change. As Jacob went out to meet his brother, he bowed repeatedly to the ground, a token of his newly found humility.

In the previous chapter Jacob had been taught that to prevail with God was to prevail with men as well. Now that Esau had welcomed him with open arms, Jacob saw that looking on the face of his brother was like looking on the face of God. (10) God was not only changing the heart of Jacob, but it was apparent to him that God was also working on the heard of Esau and showing Jacob the source of his new attitude.  Esau was no longer a foe, but a friend.

Esau now is also a magnificent picture of graciousness and forgiveness. His words of greeting to Jacob are remarkably similar to those of the father of the prodigal son at his return. The past sins are forgive and forgotten. There is no reason to have bitterness between them.

Jacob introduces his family, which is a wonderful surprise to Esau. Then he gives gifts to him, which Esau says are not needed, but Jacob wants to anyway. He sold his birthright and blessing. God marvelously blessed him with riches and now he wants to show his humility by being generous with his brother, as a means of restitution. Gift giving without strings attached is a form of expression of love.

What we see is that Esau is blessed as well. Now the prophecies also tell us that Esau was to be the father of a nation as well, which will be Edom.

When you walk with God you walk in the light and good things happen. I am not saying you won’t have temptations and struggles and problems, but when you trust in God you marvel at how he works things together for good. Time and again you learn that when we trust him there isn’t anything to worry about. It is a marvel to see how God works out problems and situations when we yield them over to him and let him be glorified. Now sometimes the consequences are for our learning or for our strengthened of faith. Sometimes we might not understand now why certain things are the way they are, but faith also trusts that in time God’s good and perfect will results in our awesome gratefulness and appreciation of what a great God we have. That is walking in the Light. It is trusting God to work out the details while we trust and obey.

           

Trusting in God naturally keeps you from sin if you really trust him. Gwen Shamblin asks “Why would you ever steal or cheat or lie if you believed in God? Don’t you believe that God will provide what you need, so you don’t have to be dishonest about anything? Do you take time to ask or wait? If someone did something against you don’t you know that God would make him miserable and there is terrible judgment now and later? You don’t have to hate if you really trusting and believed in God. Your job description is to love God and stay focused on Him. Watch how he brings about conclusions to difficult situations.

            Why would you ever want someone else’s spouse if we believed in God? When David sinned with Bathsheba he didn’t believe God could satisfy him in purity, so he took matters into his own hands and sought what he thought he wanted, and paid the consequences, It was a lack of faith and trust and patience. Why have a lust for money? Don’t you believe God will provide for you in various remarkable ways if you focus on his will for your life. Maybe he knows you can’t handle much money and has saved you from all kinds of worse hardships that you can imagine.”

           

Walking with God is going in His power and obedience and letting him work out the details or give you the wisdom or strength to face what needs to be faced.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Weds Oct 24 Shadows

Gen 33: ¹³ But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. ¹⁴ So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the droves before me and that of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”

¹⁵ Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.”

“But why do that?” Jacob asked. “Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.”

¹⁶ So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. ¹⁷ Jacob, however, went to Succoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Succoth.

¹⁸ After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city.¹⁹ For a hundred pieces of silver, he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. ²⁰ There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel.

Walking in the Shadows

When we look at this next portion it doesn’t appear that Jacob is being completely honest with Esau because he comes up with excuses not wanting to go with his brother. His family can’t take the trip. It would be too hard on the young ones and the young stock He tells Esau to go on and he’ll catch up. He doesn’t have to have escorts, they’ll be just fine. 

            Jacob is walking in the shadows by compromise. He does not reject Got, but he doesn’t completely obey him either. According to an earlier chapter the Lord instructs him to go to Bethel. But instead he returns back over Jabbok and sets off in a different direction than with his brother. He is on the outskirts of where God wanted him to go.

It is Derek Kidner in his commentary talks about Jacob’s journey to Succoth: “Succoth was a backward step, spiritually as well as geographically God had first appeared to Jacob at Bethel, and it was there that Jacob vowed to someday return to build an altar and give a tithe to God (28:20-22). When God instructed Jacob to return to Canaan, He identified Himself as the “God of Bethel” (31:13). Jacob was instructed to return “to the land of your fathers and to your relatives” (31:3). Succoth was in the opposite direction of Seir where Jacob had told Esau he was coming.

It seems that once this danger passes, Jacob becomes forgetful of the divine command and of his own vow to return to Bethel. A false sense of security made Jacob careless in his actions.

Walking in the shadows is having God in your life. Worshiping him, going to church, praying and reading the Bible, but not careful to obey and walk in faith. Walking in the shadows is going on your own power and wisdom. That happens when things are going as well. As Proverb says, “Do not rely on your own understanding, In all your ways acknowledge Him.”

I venture to say there are most things in our daily lives we do not pray for. Although he was teasing, Bruce Fleming talked about going to his first church which didn’t pay much at all. He and Astrid were barely making it when he got a call to go to Kiron, Iowa. They said what they could afford to pay him. He rushed back from the mail box and excitedly showed Astrid the letter. She wisely said, “But Bruce, shouldn’t we pray about this first?” His answer, “I don’t want to chance it”.

Well we know Bruce and his humor. He did pray about it and had a wonderful time in Iowa before coming to Stanchfield. (You must have paid him a little more.) The more we continue without personal prayer the more we rely on our own wisdom and ways of doing things.

 Jacob certainly continued to be religious. He continued to seek to serve God in many ways. He built an altar and before all the foreigners worshipped God. We do that as well. But even though there are many good things he is doing, he is not doing the best things. And when that happens in our lives we walk in the shadows.

It is easy to forget that God commanded that we are to "love the Lord our God with ALL our heart, soul, mind and strength." God does not ask us to serve Him at a level that we find comfortable and acceptable . . . He calls us to follow fully.

It is essential that we take time to evaluate our own commitment level? How do we do that? We need to examine our priorities. How do we do this? Look at your calendar, look at your checkbook; look at what you want to do when you have free time. These are the things that show you what is really important to you.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Thurs Oct 25 Dark

Gen 34:

Walking in the Dark

From time to time we run across a passage in the Bible that when you read it you immediately say, "what in the world am I supposed to learn from this? Why would God put this in the Bible? Shouldn’t this be R rated?”

This chapter records a sordid account of sinful humanity. But like every other passage in the Bible we need to remember Paul's words, "ALL scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, correction, and for training in righteousness." In other words, there are some things we can learn from this passage.

This passage is unique in the Bible because the name of God is not mentioned at all in this chapter. Look at what happens- Dinah was the seventh and final child and only daughter of Leah and Jacob. Dinah was probably around 14 or 15 years old in this chapter. She goes to have a ladies day out when Shechem raped and also apparently kidnapped Dinah. In verse 26 we read that Dinah was taken from Shechem's house. We do not know if Dinah was held against her will or not.

When Jacob heard about the situation he did nothing. It may have been because he didn't care enough or it could have been that he didn't know what to do. Shechem did want to make Dinah his wife. We are told that he "loved" Dinah. So Shechem and Hamor approached Jacob to arrange a marriage. They were willing to pay any bridal price and to welcome the family as part of their community.

The brothers of Dinah were shocked to know what happened with they returned from their work. They had to think about this when they were aware that this scoundrel raped their sister and now wanted to marry her. They came up with a horrible plan for revenge. They set up the people of Shechem telling them that they could not possibly allow their sister to marry into an uncircumcised people on religious grounds. Either out of love, fear or out of a desire for the economic benefit imagined by the joining of the two families, the men of Shechem all were circumcised. While in the pain and immobility following their circumcisions, the brothers of Dinah killed all the men of Shechem and then looted the town and took the women and children.

This is one of the passages pointed to when some of your critics to censorship point to the Bible and say, look at what an x-rated stories you have there. We are not showing or writing about anything you can’t read in the bible, maybe you should ban the Bible from the library or bookstore because of the horrible things in there.

Well this is not set up for entertainment, nor for people to emulate, but information and education. The Bible is an accurate record of what people are really like. But God also wants us to learn the lessons of what happens when we walk in the dark. There is the dark when the spirit of God is not shining in our lives or around us. Satan is the father of lies and darkness and to the world there is lots of darkness, evil and sin. If Jacobs would have gone to Bethel I don’t think there would have been innocent victims terrorized like they are. Tragedies happen and unjust war, prejudice and evil that man does to mankind is sometimes unimaginable. Sometimes God leaves people experience the consequences of disobedience and sometimes our loved ones experience the consequences of our sins or lack of faith.

The pagans of Seir live in lusts and see nothing wrong with taking what is yours and making in mine. They were in favor of intermixing marriages of different faiths for economic gain and engage in business more freely (vs 10). This again is something God forbids. So stories like this are for our leaning as well. The Bible wants to teach us from the negative example. God wants us to see the results when we go in our own wisdom.

Notice in our text how evil becomes attractive. Dinah longs to visit the women of the land.  Shechem seems to see nothing wrong with "taking" Dinah. The sons of Jacob think nothing of destroying an entire community for the sin of the one man. Look at the common denominator here:  One constant is that these people are being led by passion.

It doesn't take a brilliant brain to see that same thing taking place today.-people are angry because someone cut them off on the highway so they kill the other driver;. a person lusts for someone other than their husband or wife and call their actions justified because they have "fallen out of love"; we want what we want when we want it so we live under a mountain of financial debt; students get mad because they are excluded from a group so they kill their classmates. a pregnancy is inconvenient, so we terminate it someone makes an honest mistake and we take legal action to close their business. Leaders in our country and state tells us what they do in their private business is no one else’s concern. Live and act however you want as long as you do a good job.

Now, here's the baffling question: "Why are we surprised at the disregard for human life and the lack of control in the people around us?" Evil has become attractive to much of our society. When God is absent it is not surprising that the world goes the way of the Devil. But don't miss something here! These are not just pagans that are being sucked into the Devil's playground, these are also God's children! When we walk in the shadows long enough we don’t notice it gradually getting darker and darker until it is too late. We may not even see it happening. But before long, we no longer see anything wrong with "sex outside of marriage" or people living together, or people cheating on their spouses. "Oh, it's probably not the best way but  that's the way it is." we find ourselves agreeing that what the Bible calls sin may be better viewed as simply an alternate lifestyle.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Fri Oct 26 Dwelling

Gen 33 ¹⁶ So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. ¹⁷ Jacob, however, went to Succoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Succoth.

¹⁸ After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city.¹⁹ For a hundred pieces of silver, he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. ²⁰ There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel.

     34: Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. ² When Shechem son of Hamorthe Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and violated her. ³ His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her. ⁴ And Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as my wife.”

   34: 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city to speak to their fellow townsmen. ²¹ “These men are friendly toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours.22 But the men will consent to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised, as they themselves are. ²³ Won’t their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours? So let us give our consent to them, and they will settle among us.”

Dwelling in the Land.

More distressing than the direction of Jacob’s travels was the duration of his stay at Succoth. We know that Dinah could not have been older than 6 or 7 when Jacob left Paddan-aram, for she was seemingly born later to Leah. But by the time Jacob is at Shechem, she is of marriageable age, which would have been at least 12 or 13. Several years must, therefore, have passed between the meeting of Jacob and Esau and the events of chapter 34. This is further confirmed by the fact that Jacob built a house there rather than to dwell in a tent. He was not a sojourner here, but a settler. There is every indication that Jacob intended to “settle down” for some time. He purchased a piece of property from a man whose name he would some day like to forget.

Before we highlighted Jacob’s walk from light to darkness, from being in the will of God to compromising it, to the darkness. Now he dwells there. Although they keep their distinctions dwelling involves all the influences around them. It has spiritual implications. What does it mean to be in the world but not of it?

I wrote a letter to a secular counselor from 5 County Mental Health who told one from our church that a marriage license is just a piece of paper. If you love someone there is no problem expressing that by means of sexual intimacy like since 80% are doing it anyway.  After dwelling in the land of political correctness we are affected in thought and action. We no longer notice the way the constant exposure to sin and impurity in the media is numbing our hearts and minds. We find ourselves "enjoying" shows that promote godlessness.

I keep thinking TV cannot get worse, but unless you love violence and dead bodies most other shows are promoting immoral behavior. We are dwelling in the land. - Normally we would call improper behavior prostitution and voyeurism, but now it is acceptable Television in our society on reality shows. All the messages is that sex is good, anything goes and one can disregard engagement (not to mention marriage) as fast food containers.  In a world already filled with dishonest, adultery, betrayal, fornication, broken families why do networks feel it needs to add to our nations misery. Answer: Money, profits and ratings.

Jacob is dwelling in the dark when as the spiritual head of the family he says nothing when Dinah is violated. He lets his sons handle King Hamor. He does nothing to reign in the violence in the heart of his sons. When the events are all over Jacob wrings his hands and bemoans what his sons have done to him.

Today Christians do not find it easy to live in a dark world. We are attacked as narrow minded, judgmental, and arrogant, because we claim that there is a standard of truth that does not change and is not subject to public opinion. Which choice will you make?

 Closing our eyes to the problems will not make them go away. This is the common approach today. Christians are notorious for sticking their heads in the sand. Many will not go the polls in a week to vote. When you do not have the candidate you want then vote for the lesser of two evils. Be informed of where people stand on the issues.

The key to overcoming cancer (or any disease) is early detection. If we ignore the warning signs the problem grows and eventually can rob us of our lives. The same is true here. Address the problems early and fully or our society will disintegrate into an even more barbaric society.

The Proverb says do not trust in your own understanding, but in all things acknowledge God.  We must make time for prayer, Bible Study and worship We must make Christ, not the television, the center of our home. We must be disciplined in every area of our living because we realize that every Satan attacks us as soon as we let our guard down..

I don’t want to end this chapter without giving an ad for what is coming up next week. It is astounding isn't it that God takes this family of Jacob and turns them in to the heads of the twelve tribes who ultimately became the nation of Israel? The God who took this group of rebellious misfits and turned them into His agents can do the same for you. Just a sneak preview,  Look at 35:1.  Notice that after this chapter God tells Jacob to "Go up to Bethel and settle there." And Jacob makes an about face and goes back to obey God

God can, if you ask Him, turn your life around. He can guide you, protect you, and lead you to eternal life. And God can change our country. In fact, it is only God that can change our country. He brings about that change one heart at a time. The real issue today is not what God is going to do about the world around us. The question is personal. The real issue then is this: What will you allow God to do in you?

Pastor Dale

Wrestling with God Genesis 32:22-31

Sermon  Nuggets Mon Oct 15 

Verses Gen 32:22-24 ²² That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.²³ After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. ²⁴ So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 

Wrestling with God

When I was a youngster I would wrestle with my brother. It was not by any rules and I certainly wouldn’t call it a sport. It was sometimes play, but often our childish ways to express anger toward siblings. Our squabbles would escalate from verbal put downs, to physical scrapping.

Also during the late 50s and early 60s I watched wrestling on TV. I came to realize that wasn’t really a sport as much as it was entertainment for many who wanted to watch a fight. After awhile personalities were developed to have good guys and bad guys that people would want to see get beaten up. I did not continue to watch for it was so fake. 

The nation was refocused on professional wrestling when Jesse Venturia, the Body, was elected to be our governor of the state of Minnesota. Tough guy persona followed him into office where he would speak his mind and sound intimidating to his opponents. But this was far different than the sport we see in school or at the Olympics. Competition over strength with rules and regulations and strategy make competition a positive activity. Yelling and bullying, threats and prideful statements takes a different avenue. WWF makes lots of money when they realize people come to see celebrities tell a story with all the flash and dazzle of entertainment.

            Now it may surprise you that the first wrestling match every recorded is in the Bible. You will find that the match was between an angel and Jacob. Last week we talked about how Jacob was trying to make peace with his brother, Esau whom he hasn’t seen in over 20 years. The last conversation they had, Esau vowed to kill his twin brother Jacob and when he heard there were 400 people coming he was petrified. Jacob sought reconciliation, he sought restitution with his gifts, he prayed but now it was the night before they were to met. He could not sleep, so he got up, roused his household and moved them all across the river.

Now Jacob was left alone. Suddenly out of the dark a hand seized him. Was it a wandering bandit, or a member of Esau’s household? Was this a murderer or one of the jealous brothers in law? He found himself in hand-to hand combat, wrestling grimly as if his life depended on it.

Who was this intruder? Vs. 28 says that he wrestled with God. If you read in Hosea 12:4  says ‘He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favor, He found him at Bethel and talked with him there- the Lord God Almighty, the Lord is his name of renown.”  Some believe like the unknown visitor with Abraham this was the pre-incarnate revelation of Jesus. Perhaps he was. Either way Jacob fought God.

The struggle was not a dream or a nightmare. Never has a man awakened from such a “dream” with a limp! And it was a struggle, which God Himself initiated: “Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak” (32:24).

           

 Interestingly God was not coming to him to comfort him but to confront him. In this wrestling match it was not Esau who opposed Jacob, but it was God Himself. Notice the Bible did not tell us that God could not overcome Jacob, only that he did not. God had come to confront Jacob with some truth. God forced him to wrestle with the issues that had brought him here.

What are issues you are struggling with today? Do you feel at times you are in conflict with some of God’s principles? Do you feel as if to follow the Lord is a wrestling match over your will and His will? How would you describe some of your confrontations with God and His truth?

When Jacob met with the Lord in this match he was never the same.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Tues Oct 16 – 

Gen 32:7 ⁷ In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well. 

Facing His Fear

What are you afraid of? Sometimes the only way to get rid of our fears is to finally face up to the weaknesses within us. I think one of the things we wrestle with most is fear. We might wrestle with our emotions on the inside. We fear what others think or might say, or do to us. We might wrestle with fears of losing a job or break up of family or loss of house for financial reasons.

            Fear can paralyze us. Our imaginations can run wild as to all the things that could happen. Liberties are limited when we center so much of our thinking on protection  from possible attack that we do not pursue our dreams or risk adventure.

            I remember one missionary being asked a question in our church. Because of reports of danger in the country to which she was to return a member asked, “Aren’t you afraid of going back?” Her reply was, “If God called me there, I’d be afraid not to return.”

            There are people who refuse to share their faith because of fear. Who fail to go where God wants them to go because of what family or friends will say. Who are reluctant to tithe or give generously because of the fear of the economy. There are people who refuse to do projects for the fear of failure. And people who refuse to reach out to the needs of others for the fear of being taken advantage of.

            I read on Facebook yesterday a post that said, “Fear has two meanings: Forget everything and run or Face everything and rise.”

            Sometimes facing our fears is also a spiritual issue. It is not only finding the comfort, peace and rest in knowing God more, but struggling, suffering and being in conflict finding a stronger faith because of our situations that he sees us through it. Instead of yielding to fear and escaping the battle Jacob arises to face the foe and finds the one he is struggling with is God who was making him victorious.

            When we were raising  Judi’s sister, we were young. Married only 6 months and I struggled with the role of being a father figure yet a brother-in-law to a teenager. One afternoon we had a confrontation. She had bought a T-shirt that had one of those mixed messages on it. I said she needed to return it and not wear it because even though it had a different meaning to her it was not what others thought when they read it. She resented me for making her return it and ran away. It was one of the worst feelings of my life. I thought of her safety. I questioned if I should have just let her wear it. It was the first time I felt as if a knife was plunged into the stomach and was twisted around.

I felt a mixture of anxiety, fear, worry, and confusion as to what to do. I didn't know if I should call the police. Instead, I jumped into the car and rode around wondering if I should be glad to find her, or mad because of her stupidity. I called friends who didn't see her. Finally, several hours later I found her. The next day I realized I was wrapped up on fear of failure, inadequacy, and confronted by the Lord. I needed to face my fear and do what is right even if the consequences didn't come out that well. I needed to take responsibility for the role that was given to me to do the best I can do but leaving the results to the Lord. I realized in my prayer that her sister is not primarily my responsibility. She is God’s responsibility and what I needed to do was obey and follow God and provide Spiritual input to the best of my ability and I had to give her over to the Lord to take care of.

What Jacob did not realize was that he did not have to connive and scheme in order to obtain the promised blessings of God. Jacob was mistaken if he reasoned that Esau was the barrier to his entrance into Canaan and the blessings of God.        He needed to face his fears and realize that God was in charge of the situation and he also needed just to trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.            

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Weds Oct 17 

Gen 32:25-30 -  ⁵ When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. ²⁶ Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

²⁷ The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

²⁸ Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”

²⁹ Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

Facing His Frailty.

  

            How could God possibly imply, much worse clearly state, that Jacob had contended with Him and won? How can man prevail over God? And how can it be said that Jacob contended with men and won? Indeed, all of his efforts at self-help were wrong. Genesis 32 is the pivotal chapter so far as Jacob’s life is concerned. He is a vastly different man here from the person we have come to know in previous chapters.

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At this point the Angel disabled Jacob by dislocating his hip. This would be devastating to a wrestler. It would be like breaking the arm of a quarterback or the leg of a running back. Jacob was now unable to wage an offensive battle. He was helpless. All he could do now was to cling defensively in desperation. And this he did.

Jacob, at the very point of being incapacitated, seemed to gain the upper hand. The Angel pleaded with him to be let go, for the dawn was breaking. It looks as though the Angel did not wish to be seen in the daylight. The Angel implied to Jacob that he now had the winning edge (contrary to the reality of the dislocated hip). Jacob was tested and now encouraged to make a request of the Angel.

There are some that say this passage teaches us to wrestle with matters in prayer until God answers them. Well that might be good advice, but that really isn’t the meaning behind what happened. Like a butterfly seeking to break out of his cocoon, so Jacob is gaining strength of a different sort in this contest that is all planned of God.  Jacob is not on the offense, but the defense. His is clinging to Him in helpless dependence, not by trying to manipulate Him. He won not because he was the victor over the fight, but that he overcame the things in his own life that needed to be faced and God granted him the blessing that he wanted to give him all along. His life was spared and he realized that in vs. 28.

Have you ever had God wrestle with you when you have wanted your way or were persisting in some course that you knew displeased Him? I imagine you have since most of us have fought with God at some point in our Christian experience.  Isn’t that like sin? It refuses to give up. We have a hard time giving it up. Perhaps it is pride, or self-control, or plans or purposes that we have with our lives instead of yielding them to God.

Now I do not know all the answers as to why God touched his hip. But have you ever have your life put out of joint by God? Have you ever had your plans dislocated? You were trying to do something contrary to Gods’ will and suddenly out of the blue, God use sickness or loss of job or severe setback or a disappointment or bring you to the end of yourself and turn you to Him. I do not suggest that every sickness, loss or disappointment comes because we are out of the will of God. He sometimes has other purposes with these things, but sometimes, just sometimes he sues them to bring us to our senses.

            Charles Wesley expressed the clinging nature of faith in his hymn “Jesus Lover of My soul”  “Other refuge have I none, Hang my helpless soul on Thee; Leave ah leave me not alone, Still support and comfort me. All my trust on thee is stayed All my help from Thee I bring. Cover my defenseless head with the shadow of thy wing. “

It was not God’s intent to beat Jacob, but to bring him blessing by being on the throne instead of self. With a touch of his finger he could have destroyed Jacob’s life, but he didn't  His life is spared and he is blessed. The God, who had wrestled with Jacob, now walks with Jacob through life and wrestles for Jacob. With great relief and gratitude he acknowledges that he had been spared through God's gracious goodness, when all he deserved was to have been crushed thoroughly and completely. He had always thought of himself as a self-made man, a person who was in control of his life, but now he realizes that in God’s eyes he wasn’t some great hero of earth-shaking significance after all.

Sometimes God uses calamity, tragedy, or danger in our life so that we have no choice but to cast ourselves on His mercy. Sometimes God uses unemployment, bankruptcy, or poverty in our life so that we will cast our cares on him. Sometimes God uses conflict, struggle, or fights in our life so that we will look to him. Sometimes God consents to problems with our children so that we will depend on him. Sometimes God uses a crippling disease, a stroke, a cancer, a near fatal heart attack in our life so that we will learn to trust in him. God doesn't like to see us suffer. Yet, he will use all this if he has to. And, perhaps he already has for some of us here.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Thurs Oct 18 

Gen 32: ²⁹ Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

Facing His Faith.

We don’t usually see God as our contender. He is a benign friendly, loving, heavenly father to whom we turn when things get rough. Jacob believed in God. He used God to do what he thought God wanted him to do. He had been using God all his life, but like in our lives he needed another important lesson for his faith growth. There are experiences in our lives which so changes our understanding of ourselves and God that we live a different life. That happened to Jacob. God was more important to him now.

Have you ever been in a place so desperate - where you needed an answer so badly- that you felt like you couldn't get up off your knees until you had a sense of relief and peace? We want our answers quickly and easily. We don’t like the idea of a struggle. Our trouble is we’re used to wrestling in a lighter weight class. We can pin down most of the lightweight stuff pretty easy. We spend a little bit of time in prayer here and there and put a headlock on the small problems. But sooner or later, something big will face us and we find out we’re way out of shape. Wrestling with all that light stuff didn’t get us prepared. When we face a heavy weight problem we can’t expect the quick and easy victories we had before.

 Jacob faced life pretty much on his own acknowledging God’s help before, but now he needed more than God’s help. He needed to stop using God and letting God use him.

Finally, Jacob had come to realize that the only important thing in life is to be blessed of God. In the words of Proverbs, “It is the blessing of the LORD that makes rich, and he adds no sorrow to it” (Proverbs 10:22).

Esau could neither provide nor prevent the blessing of God. It was not Esau that stood in the way of Jacob’s blessing in the land of Canaan. It was Jacob himself, who by means of his trickery and treachery, his cunning and deceit attempted to produce spiritual blessings through carnal means. The blessing of God must be obtained from God himself

Do you realize that Jacob would have received the birthright and blessing anyway…that he didn’t even need to steal it? How do I know that? God spoke it when Rebekah became pregnant with Jacob and Esau. Genesis 25:21-23. These two brothers were already fighting inside their mother and Rebekah inquired of the Lord, “Why is this happening to me?” And God answered, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”
           

There it is! I don’t know how it would have happened but Jacob would have received the blessing/birthright some other way if he and his mother had waited for God to work things out His way, in His time! All the lying, cheating, deceiving…running, hiding, living in fear…guilt, separation from his family…all of it was completely avoidable. It was self-inflicted pain.

Having prevailed with God, Jacob was assured of victory no matter what opposition men might offer. This certainly and specifically included Esau. In the words of the apostle Paul: “If God is for us, who is against us?” (Romans 8:31). If God is on our side, we cannot be overcome. This is what verse 28 was intended to convey to Jacob. In learning how to prevail with God, Jacob had also found God’s means of prevailing with men. But in the end it was God and only God that mattered for his life.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Fri Oct 19

Gen 32: ³¹ The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. ³² Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

 Facing His Future

            The final picture is of the patriarch limping forward to meet Esau, limping because of the wound inflicted on his hip. It is a strong picture for now Jacob is moving forward at the command and in the power of God, not himself. This is the significance of his new name. Before Jacob mean heel grasper, and cheat, supplanter. Now his new name is Israel. He is striven, or struggled with God. He surrenders himself and able to go in the new strength as God’s man.

            The picture of the limping Jacob describes us. We limp as far as our own strength is concerned in the world eyes we are cripples. For Gods strength is made perfect in our weakness and when we are weak then he is strong and in that He is invincible. So may it be. It’s not always easy. It’s not intended to be. That limp throughout Jacobs life was no doubt like the thorn in the flesh in Paul’s life. It may have been a physical reminder of  many crippling decisions he had made when he insisted on doing things his way. Or it may have been the realization that we cannot go on our strength but in our weaknesses God makes us strong. It isn’t in our power but in our humility that future is bright. It isn't in our striving, but in our willingness to be open to His blessings that we find peace and a future.

        God wants to change you. He does not wish for you all the pain that comes from choosing your own way. He wants to bless you. You don’t have to fight for it…just obey. He wants to change your name – to write His name upon your heart. Jacob walked away from that place with a most unusual story. He had finally realized his dependence on the God who had continued to bless him. Are you depending on God?
       

            Bill McCartney from Promise Keepers tells of an experience in his book “Sold Out” He spoke at a large arena and when he stepped off stage he began asking his friends how he had done. There were high five’s, back slaps, encouraging compliments that he had hit a home run. He as quite pleased with himself.

            The next morning he went to his knees and writes ‘God wasn’t to be found.’

             “Lord where are you? I rose early to meet with You. I spoke of your wonder and glory last night I praised you with all of my heart. I thought You would be pleased. What have I done? Where are you?”

           

            In that very instant, He sense God asking him a Question; Last night when you finished your message why didn’t you ask Me how you did? You came to Me for anointing to speak, but you went to your friend seeking their opinions. “

           

            McCartney said it pricked his heart but it was true. He had spent week seeking Gods heart for that message at that time and the power of the Holy Sprit fell on the area. Not because of anything he said, but because God showed up. And yet when it was over who gets the credit and to whom does he go. The only one I've ever needed to please was God.’

The lesson for us is the same. Our warfare is a spiritual one and it cannot be won by carnal means. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

            But how do we prevail with God? We must come to the place of recognizing our own inadequacy and helplessness. We must come to the end of ourselves and recognize the futility of our own plans. We must trust in that which God has promised to do. Jacob did not prevail with God in some new and uncharted path. God had already promised in the Word to bless him, but now it needed to be done God’s way, not man’s way. That is how you face 2001. Lord here I am. Now do with me as you will for your glory and my blessing and if it takes a touched hip, or a broken spirit, so Lord, have your way with me.

            Sometimes the only way to get rid of our fears is to finally face up to the weaknesses within us. Face up to your frailty. Face up to your Faith and face up to your future. He can cause “old things to pass away.” You can become a new and different person. These experiences may be God’s way to give you a new life in facing a new year. Let Him have his way with you.

Pastor Dale