Choices and Decisions Genesis 28

Sermon Nuggets Mon Sept 10 

Verses: Gen 28:1-22                          

Choices and Decisions

            Every day in our lives we are confronted with many choices and decisions. We are asked as a nation to elect a new president, as well as other government officials. We are asked to chose something as important as a mate for life and as simple as if we want paper or plastic at the grocery store; choices of a job, or home as well as what to wear.

            I was told a story many years ago of twin brothers who went into the army. They were very different as one arose high in the ranks to become a general. The other never made it out of perpetual KP. The stresses of life followed them and they had nervous breakdowns and met again in a psych ward. The younger asked the older why he was there. He said life as a General has many decisions. “Decisions, decisions, decisions. I never knew how to decide. How about you?”

“ Same thing. My sergeant asked me to peal the potatoes and put them in three piles, small medium and large. Decisions, decisions, decisions.”

           

There is a book out called don’t sweat the small stuff.  Someone added, Everything is small stuff. Perhaps an eternal perspective helps us understand that sometimes we major in the minors and minor in the majors.              

As we looking at the choices and decisions made and implied in this passage we see a very different direction for Esau than Jacob, though we acknowledge both are sinners and fall short of the glory of God. Judas and Peter were the same way you know. Both fell short of the glory of God. But they handled their sins in different ways. One through repentance and the other through remorse. One  through coming to Christ for forgiveness and the other taking matters into his own hands to pay for his own sins. 

What decisions are you facing this week? Are you open to God’s leading? How might He best guide you? Do you really want His best even if you do not know how to decide?

We are often faced in life with many choices and decisions. What are the principles that help guide us?  Prayer, Scripture, advice, and peace of heart are all part of that. I see some contrasts that motivate the lives of Esau and Jacob in their choices.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Tues Sept 11 

Gen 28:1-9 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him and commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman. ² Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. ³ May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. ⁴ May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the landwhere you now live as an alien, the land God gave to Abraham.” ⁵ Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

⁶ Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,” ⁷ and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. ⁸ Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; ⁹ so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.

Pleasure or Purity

            There is nothing wrong with pleasures, and may I add there is nothing wrong with purity. But given the two options most in our culture would choose pleasure over purity. Pleasure crosses the line when it is sin or it hurts other people. Pleasure is self centered; purity is God centered. But when we are God centered we find a pleasure that is longer lasting and deeper than the pleasures offered in this world.

            Our society says the pleasure is the greatest goal in our life. Whether it is drinking beer, having sex, feasting on pornography, involved in gluttony. Whether it is passing on gossip, or over indulging in sports or hobbies.

                       

As we look at the passage now, Isaac agrees with his wife Rebekah that it  is God’s will that Jacob marry, have children and be the ancestor of the promised line blessed of God. He changes his attitude toward Jacob now when he realizes he was wrong in trying to do God’s will his own way.

There was no question that when Isaac was to find a wife she was the bride of God’s choosing. Abraham directed his servant to go to his relatives Haran and the Lord directed his father’s servant. They looked in the right place for the right reasons and sought Gods direction and the Lord provided the right spouse.

Now you might think, since this was a marriage made in heaven that they wouldn’t have any conflicts. Just like Christian couples who pray and sense clearly Gods’ direction for them to marry for all the right reasons and find to their surprise their spouse isn’t perfect. Neither were Isaac and Rebekah. We saw they had conflicts mostly over their children and showing favoritism. Married couples will face times of adjustment and conflict. Part of the commitment in marriage is the faith to trust God  they will be worked out, or grace to live with them.

            So Jacob obeyed and sought God’s will and his parents blessing by leaving for the land of his ancestors for a wife.

            Esau was not concerned about God’s will for his life in finding a spouse. He knew about the teachings of his grandfather, since Esau and Jacob were 14 years old when Grandpa Abraham died. He knew about the example and teachings and stories of his father.  But the pleasure of a good time were more important than spiritual concerns or seeking to live a godly life. He was looking for pleasure. The women that satisfied him and his desires motivated him to marry two Hittite women which met with the disapproval of his parents. Now remember, as we said before in another sermon,  it was not the race as much as the false faith of the people that is the Biblical objection as we see many exceptions to the racial issues.

Many people live for pleasure only to find they compromise their purity. We too often find that happiness defined by our culture is pretty shallow and not fulfilling. Jacob is willing to wait for the right woman rather than meeting his fleshly desires and making choices that aren’t God’s best. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because it is fun doesn’t mean its right and just because it is right doesn’t mean it isn’t fun.

I have been surprised often of people thinking all Christians do is sit home read the Bible, looking for reasons to criticize others, and look for ways to squelch fun. Yet after they come to the Lord and gotten involved in activities I have heard over again “I didn’t know Christians could have so much fun.” 

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Weds Sept 12 

Gen 28: 8-17 ⁸ Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; ⁹ so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.

   ¹⁰ Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. ¹¹ When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. ¹² He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.¹³ There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. ¹⁴ Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. ¹⁵ I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave youuntil I have done what I have promised you.”

¹⁶ When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” ¹⁷ He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

Pleasing others or Presence of God.

Esau has learned at least one of the reasons why he felt unloved: his wives displeased his parents. I say “parents,” but you will observe that Esau is not reported to have cared about his mother’s sentiments toward him, only his father’s.  Desperately he sought to win the approval of his father. If having a non-Canaanite wife was all that it took to please his father, then that was a small price to pay for the approval he craved. Failing to see any problem in his actions, Esau took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael (verse 9). This woman was no Canaanite; she was of the family of Abraham. What could be more pleasing to Isaac than this?

But Esau did not understand the matter of purity or the presence of God. Ishmael had been rejected to carry out the line of Abraham because he was a child of human effort. He was a product of human ingenuity, not spiritual dependence. Marriage to a descendant of Ishmael was done it seems to please dad and others. Without realizing it, he typified in this act the very thing which God most condemned. Don’t things to please others instead of God. Just as Abraham acted on his own to achieve a son, so Esau acted one his own win the approval of others. Ishmael also represents the man’s way, the way of the slave and not the way of grace.

Perhaps I can comment on in-law relationships. I believe that Isaac and Rebekah knew what they were talking about when they wanted to prevent Esau from marrying Caananite women. They knew they would not help spiritually. They knew the culture around them and the ties that compromise faith. As you have heard there were many cultures including the Jewish culture where arranged marriages by parents were prominent. Listen to your parents, even if you don’t agree with them you can be sure of two things, they love you and have your best interests in mind generally, and they have had experience.

            Also remember when the Bible says “a man shall leave your father and other and be joined to your wife and the two shall become one flesh.” There is a place to realize that your mate is the most important person in your life, and your commitment to your spouse is to be above your parents. There are many unhealthy in-law relationships because of interference in areas where parents have no right.

           

Thirdly, a healthy relationship is when it is not competing for power, attention, or love. My advice is make the very best of your in law relationships as you possibly can.  The best type of relationship is where there is acceptance, communication, respect and love. Do what you can to make that happen for our spouses sake. Don’t force your mate to not have contact with his or her parents. For both parents and children, as well as sisters and brothers in law, the Bible says as much as it is up to you, live in peace.

Esau in seeking to be popular and pleasing others also loose the close presence of God.  Many of our choices and decisions are influenced by other people. Now there is no problem with trying to please others if it is also moral and ethical. For an employee to please a boss by doing good work is commendable; for a salesperson to achieve notoriety by working hard and making more than his quota and please his supervisors is worthy as long as it is done honestly. A husband or a wife who do certain things to please their spouse makes for strong marriages. For a student to please a teacher or a soldier to please his officer can bring delight.  But once pleasing others conflicts with pleasing God it will hinder the presence of God.

Politicians will try very hard to please the people in a popularity contest to get elected. But sometimes to please others means you compromise principles and values. Pastors can be tempted to please the people of his church at the compromise of truth or rebuke that is Godly. It is never popular to be a prophet. But to declare the whole truth of God is to be blessed of the father.

While Esau had lots of people around him and would not be considered lonely with three wives and host of servants. Here is Jacob all by himself, going where he is never known or loved. It is an unpopular place to be. But in this setting he has a meeting with God. This is a story of grace revisited. God meets him while he is by himself seeking to obedient to he call and finding a wife among the family of his mother a different line from his Grandfather Abraham.

            And what a meeting it was. He sees the angel coming up and down from heaven and the revelation that all that was promised to his Grandfather and father would now be his. The vision represents, symbolically, what the divine promise declared in words (verses 13-15) and forms a bridge between heaven and earth. At the foot was a poor, helpless and forsaken man. Jacob here represents human nature with its inability and helplessness. The angels of God ever descend to bring help and give deliverance. This forsaken and helpless man is to become the source of blessing and medium of salvation to the whole world.

As we today look back on the fulfillment of the promise of blessing, we know that this blessing was to be accomplished by the descent of the fullness of the personal God into helpless and unworthy human nature, through the incarnation of God in Christ.

In the immediate sense, the Lord seems to make a particular application to Jacob and speaks as though that ladder were placed between heaven and earth for Jacob only. "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go." and "I will not leave you." The Lord reveals to us what we call His particular providence over those who are His servants. Wherever we are, he declares He sees us; He tells us He is with us. He assures us He cares for us and pledges to keep us.

Jacob was about to leave the land of promise for a twenty year sojourn in Paddan-aram. He might be tempted never to return to this land again. By means of this dramatic vision God impressed Jacob with the significance of this land. It was the place where heaven and earth met. It was the place where God would come down to man and where men would find access to God. It was, as Jacob asserted, “the gate of heaven.”

Throughout those twenty years Jacob would never forget this dream. He would realize that ultimately, to be in the will of God, he must be in the place of God’s choosing, the land of promise. It was in the land that God’s blessings would be poured out upon God’s people. While Jacob must leave, he must surely return.

Do you remember a similar picture described in the New Testament? Jesus was picking his disciples when he came across Nathanael sitting “under the fig tree” He said here is one without guile.  Nathanael questioned him how any good could come from Nazareth. And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you shall see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man” (John 1:51). Nathanael had put too much stock in place. How could Messiah come from Nazareth? Jesus had been born in Bethlehem. Don’t put the emphasis on the land, but on the ladder.  He, Jesus of Nazareth, was the ladder.

Jacob saw God above the ladder; Jesus revealed God as the ladder. Ultimately it was Jesus Christ who bridged the gap between heaven and earth. It is through Him that God has come down to man. It is through Him that man will have access to God. Jacob saw what he needed to see at that moment in his life. Jesus revealed to Nathanael that there was much more to be seen than what Jacob had perceived in his day.

Jacob rather than seeking to please others found himself in the presence of God and that was more blessed. Which would you pick and why?

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Thurs Sept 13 

Verses Gen 28:18-21¹⁸ Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it.¹⁹ He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.

²⁰ Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear ²¹ so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my God ²² and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

Prosperity or Peace.

There is another ingredient that is in play with our choices and decisions. It has to do with possession or prosperity instead of peace of mind and trust in God. This is implied more than stated with Esau, but he had plenty compared to Jacob who left it all at this point.

In Jacob’s meeting with God there were some very important promises: "I am with you. Wherever you go, whatever you do, whatever your circumstances are, I am with you." And he underscores this by this vision of the stairway. "Jacob, utter your needs, and I will respond. Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you." This represents a continual supply; whatever our need is, God meets that need. This is what the Lord wanted Jacob to know. Wherever he went, he had this same sort of access to God.

Actually, this had been true in Jacob's life for seventy-seven years. The Lord had been that kind of God to Jacob. Whatever his need was, he met it. But it was only now that Jacob saw it. The veil was torn away from his eyes so that, for an instant, he saw spiritual truths which ordinarily are hidden--because we humans live, for the most part, in the physical dimension-but which are none the less true.

The blessing of his two sons was the last we have in the active life of Isaac. Jacob now becomes the leading figure in the sacred history. Abraham’s life was one of authority and decision, Isaac’s of submission and quietness, and Jacob’s one of trial and struggle. There was no accumulation of wives, no material blessings yet for Jacob. Esau’s household grows and the more wives you have the more in the culture in which you live looked upon you as wealthy. The things of this earth become important to so many and possessions become so important- unfortunately more important than peace.

All of Jacob’s efforts to achieve the blessing of God are in vain as well. It was only by entering into a relationship with the covenant God of Abraham and Isaac that Jacob could experience the blessings of God. The basis for such a relationship was the revealed word of God.

I find it amusing that while Jacob could not find God by striving, he was found by God while in his sleep. Surely God is trying to tell us something by this. It is by resting in Him and in His Word that we can be blessed. This does not mean the absence of activity on our part, but it does mean that self-effort will always be futile.

           

What is Jacob request? Vs. 20-21. If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I may return to my father house, then the Lord will be my God.”. What will bring Jacob peace? Not possessions or prosperity but knowing God, resting in his protection, having food and clothes. That would be it. Anything else is a tremendous blessing.

1 Tim 6:8 “But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.”

 Heb 13:5 “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.".

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Fri Sept 14 

Gen 28:20-22 ²⁰ Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear ²¹ so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my God ²² and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

Performance or Promise

Ultimately the question of faith is – do I trust what I’m going to do for God, or do I trust God and His promises? Back in the mid 1960s, three out of four Americans said they trusted the federal government to do what is right all or most all the time, according to Gallup. Twenty years ago that figure had dropped to 44%.  Ten years ago only 19% have that kind of faith in the government. Last year according to CNN only 15% people polled trust the federal government to do what is right.

Last year the Gallup poll showed 75% of the people trusted the military and 45% trusted the church or faith communities.

Many do not live in trusting anyone or anything because they have been disappointed. People who have been burned aren’t sure they can trust much again.

 Judge “How could you swindle those people who trusted you so?”  

Con man: You can only swindle those who trust you.”

God promises to be our God, our Savior. We do not have the same call as Jacob did, nor Abraham, nor Sarah, nor Hannah. What is God’s call and promise in your life? “I will never leave you, nor forsake you- therefore you can confidently say, the Lord is my helper, Why can man do to me?”

 Many times in our lives God allows us to experience the results of our choices and our decisions even though we think we are doing them for God, to find that we need only accept the promises laid out before us. 

I believe when we accept God at his word, then it is a response, not a performance that comes from the heart, not obligation to express our love back to God in wanting to live for him and in worship and service. That is the vow that Jacob makes, to put a marker of his faith commitment at the place of meeting with God and promises by means of giving God 10% of all he has or will have which is symbolic of giving himself. Even our choices can be selfish, or made to be a performance, but the promise of God come as a gift to us even while we are sinners, or lack faith, or lack understanding.

I don’t believe there is anything special about that spot except that is where God meet Jacob, not the other way around. The reason God was there was that Jacob was there. Wherever Jacob went, God would be there. Jacob was on his way up to Haran, which by this time had become idolatrous. The people there had rejected the truth and worshiped another god entirely, as becomes apparent later on. He was going to be in a situation where people were deceitful, cruel, vicious, and untrustworthy. But wherever Jacob went, that would be "Beth-el," "the house of God," that would be the gate of heaven. There would be access to God there. God would be there, because Jacob would be there.

I like what one preacher said, “We have a tendency to invest certain places with religious significance, because we feel that is where God is. God does not live in this church building. He is here when we are here. But when we are gone, this is not a holy site. Wherever you go, that is the house of God- that is the gate of heaven. This means that your house -- which may seem a cold and loveless place to you--is the house of God. There are angels ascending and descending upon you as you move about in that house. Your kitchen sink is the house of God, when you are there. That ought to change your attitude about washing dishes! When you have been cooking all afternoon, have served up a fine meal, and then everybody has gone off to watch TV and you are left to wash the dirty dishes, remember, that is the house of God. God is available to you right there. For some of you businessmen, your car is your office, and in it you go from place to place. And because of the state of the economy, you are really suffering. Remember, that car is the house of God. Your office or workbench, or wherever you are throughout the day, is the house of God.” (I lost the source of the quote)

 At times of deliverance from life’s disparities we vow our future faithfulness to God; yet our futures are marked with the grief and guilt of vows forgotten and contracts broken. God yearns for a fellowship with us in which we are committed to Him in devotion, service and faithfulness to our vows. It is profound that God is faithful to us in our unfaithfulness to Him.

Entering into a relationship with God does not guarantee only good times and happy experiences; but it does assure us of the forgiveness of sins, the hope of eternal life, and the presence of God in our everyday lives. Based on that it is worthy to make choices and decisions based on faith in God rather than pleasures, prosperity, pleasing others, or performances. How about you?

Pastor Dale

Stolen Blessing Genesis 27

Sermon Nuggets Mon Sept 3 The Stolen Blessing

Verses :Gen 27

We had an interesting dilemma occur in the politics of India when I was there. There was a modern day Robin Hood, a criminal and his band of merry men who would give food and material goods to the poor, while robbing the rich. As a result in the woods and forests around the area people would protect him from arrest from the government officials. While I was in Bangalore he kidnapped a very popular movie star which started rioting in the streets. The people were faced with a dilemma. Shall we turn him in for kidnapping our movie star, or not because he provides us with goods? Because he does some good, shall we go ahead and let him continue to do evil?

We are all faced sooner or later not so much always as what is right or what is wrong, but what is the lesser of two evils. Does the ends justify the means?  I know of evangelists who knowingly tell false stories in their sermons in order to convince people they need salvation. Since pe00ople get saved is it okay for him to tell false stories?

I know many Christians and churches that will be dishonest with people in order to raise and get money for various projects they think are important for the advancement of ministry. Some pastors will manipulate and misrepresent their beliefs in order to get a church call.  I am sorry to say I know of some of our own conference denominational leaders who purposely mislead in order to be in positions of political power.

I wonder if they don’t take Jacob and Rebekah as their examples instead of Jesus Christ. I wonder if we aren’t more tempted to do good things in bad ways because it seems to work instead of the way God wants us to follow him.

When you study Romans 3 sometime make a close examination of verses 7-8. In those verses Paul condemns those who say, "Let us do evil, that good may come." He is saying that doing wrong does not make things right.

That is the setting for our story today from the Bible as we look at the interplay of deceit among Isaac’s family and the passing on of the blessing. We will look at the problems. 

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Tues Sept 4 Our Will

Gen 27: 1-7 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.”

“Here I am,” he answered.

² Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. ³ Now then, get your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. ⁴ Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.”

⁵ Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back,⁶ Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, ⁷ ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.

The Problem with Seeking to accomplish Our wills

Let me remind you of three important incidents from Isaac’s life as we now begin to look at the life of Jacob. First, God's intent was that the older son, Esau, would serve the younger son, Jacob. Genesis 25:22-23

            Secondly, Isaac loved Esau because of the venison he prepared, because he was a man’s man, because he was an outdoorsman and Isaac favored and loved Esau more than his twin brother Jacob. Likewise, Rebekah, the mother, loved Jacob, who became sort of a Mommies boy growing up. Favoritism breeds discontent in every family. But don’t be manipulated parents because every kid believes another is treated better than he or she is. That is part of human nature.

Thirdly, Esau despised his birthright and because of hunger sold it to Jacob. Jacob took advantage of Esau in order to gain the benefits of the birthright. Under God's plan, the birthright would be Jacob's. But Jacob went about getting it the wrong way.

Now recognizing those key elements we know that Isaac knew what God’s will was. Rebecah knew what God’s will was. God revealed the heart of Esau when he willingly gave up spiritual thing for a bowl of stew.

            Isaac is old when this occurs. He is probably 137 years, the same age at which his half-brother Ishmael died. Here he is taking to bed, complaining of his coming death and willfully determining to pass the blessing to Esau his favorite son, in spite of Gods’ earlier announcement that it should go to Jacob. Isaac was conniving to keep secret from his wife and youngest that he would go against God’s will in order to accomplish Gods’ blessing by doing it his own way.

           

Normally the blessing would have been given before the entire family because it was, in reality, an oral will which legally determined the distribution of goods and responsibilities. In spiritual homes there were also prophecies given in certain incidences.

Normally the birthright belonged to the eldest son. This entitled him to a double share of the property in addition to the privilege of assuming the father’s position of headship in the family. For the descendants of Abraham it determined the one through whom the covenant blessings would be given. But here, Isaac and Esau wanted to do this official blessing without the presence of Rebekah and Jacob because what they were seeking to do was wanting God to bless their wills rather than obey God’s will.

            Isaac wanted God to bless what he wanted, not to obey what God wanted with his eldest. Does that every happen to you? Do you pray asking God to bless your marriage without first seeking a godly spouse? Do you ask that God take care of your possessions without seeking if what you have is honoring to the Lord and being faithful steward of what He has allowed you to have? Some people pray more about getting a deer or a fish than seeking to win a neighbor or loved one to Jesus Christ. Some will ask prayer for their sports team to win and be faithful in attendance, but do very little to help in the church to assist in local ministry or seek to advance God’s Kingdom in missions? Do you want God to bless your will and wants, instead of obey his will and wants?

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Weds Sept 5 Our Ways

Gen 27: ¹¹ Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I’m a man with smooth skin. ¹² What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.”

¹³ His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.”

¹⁴ So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it.¹⁵ Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. ¹⁶ She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. ¹⁷ Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.

¹⁸ He went to his father and said, “My father.”

“Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”

¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing.”

²⁰ Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”

“The Lord your God gave me success,” he replied.

²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”

²² Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³ He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. ²⁴ “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked.

“I am,” he replied.

²⁵ Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.”

Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. ²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”

²⁷ So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,

“Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.
²⁸ May God give you of heaven’s dew  and of earth’s richness—
    an abundance of grain and new wine.
²⁹ May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers,
    and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed  and those who bless you be blessed.”

Seeking to Accomplish God’s will by Our ways

Esau knew that what his father was requesting was taken from him many years ago when he for a bowl of portage sold his birthright. Esau thought he could pull a quick one over on his brother and receive God’s blessing also. He went to get the wild game and cook the delicious meal and sneak one past his brother whom he didn’t like much anyway.

The final and compelling evidence of Esau’s disqualification for spiritual headship is his marriage to two Canaanite wives:And when Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite (Genesis 26:34). That was totally disdaining spiritual purity, Esau did not hesitate to intermarry with the Canaanites. God’s purposes for His people could never be achieved through such a person.

            Have you noticed how no one in the household trusted anyone else? Isaac did not trust his wife, nor did she trust her husband. Jacob knew that his father would not trust him. Neither of the two sons trusted the other. And Rebekah is listening and watching through the keyhole as Isaac and Esau have a conversation. Rebekah is correct  in clinging to the promise of God. Isaac was willfully rejecting that promise in favor of Esau, but she failed to trust God to bring the blessing to Jacob in his own time and His own way. So they were clearly illustration of doing God’s work in Man’s way instead of Gods’ way.

            Rebekah could easily have met the job requirements for a position with the CIA. She served as a counter-spy in the service of her son. She posed as the faithful, loving wife, but under all of this she sought to further Jacob’s interests going against her own husband. Rebekah, not Jacob, was the true mastermind behind the mission of outwitting Isaac and obtaining his blessing for Jacob. The text tells us that she “was listening.”

When you stop to think about it, the plan was an incredible one. How could Jacob whose whole personality, disposition and physical appearance so different from Esau manage to convince his father that he was his older brother?

Jacob can be praised for at least valuing spiritual things more than his brother,  But when you see how he operated I am disappointed. Now you might think he was only  submitting to his mother’s scheme. But he was no child. He adds to the scheme by lying and dragging the name of God into the deception.

People will often do things and not do things on whether it works more than whether it is right. Too many Christians are of the mistaken belief that if it works then it must be of God. That is a lie. “If it works God must honor it.” Not if it isn’t right. Not if it is inconsistent with the Bible. Because some churches are full of people doesn’t not necessarily mean they are in God’s will.

           

Notice how the sin progressed the more they got involved. First, he clothed himself in the skin of a goat. Then they stole the robes of Esau. Jacob lied with his lips and betrayed his father with a kiss just like Judas.

            Perhaps Jacob never intended this lie to become as big as it did, but nevertheless, it grew bigger and bigger with every statement he made. It began with the words “I am Esau your first-born” (verse 19). From this, lie began to be piled upon lie: “I have done as you told me” (verse 19); “eat of my game” (verse 19). In response to Isaac’s penetrating question, “Are you really my son Esau?,” Jacob replied, “I am” (verse 24). However, the lie that concerns me most is found in verse 20:And Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the LORD your God caused it to happen to me.”

            Jacob invokes the name of God in his own deceit. That happens a lot. People will sound holy, all the while doing wrong. God never allows for unholy ways to further His own holy purposes. Jacob excused his sin by claiming that God was his partner. That is certainly using the name of God in vain.

We frequently say, “The Lord led me to …” when often it is something we have always wanted to do and we have finally worked up the courage (or the folly) to go ahead with it. “The Lord told me to …” “The Lord has blessed us by …” Be careful with such statements. They may be evidence of the same kind of thinking that caused Jacob to tell his father God had prospered him by giving him a goat rather than wild game. With what pious words we seek to conceal our sin!

Too often we think God needs our help to get His will done. He uses us to be sure, but how often do believers get ahead of God. We go places he hasn’t led us and make decisions we are sure are right without prayer. We have seen far to many churches apply church growth principles instead of dependence upon the power that comes from above.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Thurs Sept 6 – Results of Waywardness

Gen 27: ³⁰ After Isaac finished blessing him and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. ³¹ He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”

³² His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”

“I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.”

³³ Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!”

³⁴ When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!”

³⁵ But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”

³⁶ Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”

³⁷ Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”

³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.

³⁹ His father Isaac answered him, “Your dwelling will be  away from the earth’s richness,  away from the dew of heaven above.
⁴⁰ You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.”

⁴¹ Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

⁴² When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is consoling himself with the thought of killing you. ⁴³ Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. ⁴⁴ Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides. ⁴⁵ When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

⁴⁶ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”

Consequences of our Waywardness

            This is such a sad story as the results of seeking blessings turns into a broken and dysfunctional family. They each went their own way instead of the way of the Lord. They each sought to go a different route than how God would have go. But hindsight is better than foresight.

The first thing Rebekah should have done was to speak honestly and forthrightly to her husband about his contemplated sin. Under God he was suppose to bless Jacob, but instead wanted that birthright blessing to go to his eldest and favorite. Submission to authority never includes silence toward evil. We are to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15), even to those in authority over us (cf. Acts 16:35-40). Having fulfilled her responsibility to warn her husband of the consequences of the evil he had planned, Rebekah should have been content to leave the disposition of the matter to God, Who is all-powerful and all-wise. But her actions betrayed her lack of faith in the sovereignty of God.

If God is God, then let Him act on His own behalf, particularly in those times when we are unable to act in a way that is consistent with His Word.

The good that Rebekah tired to do was not accomplished. The blessing did go to Jacob which God would have arranged anyway, but the price was 20 years of unexpected exile for Jacob. Rebekah loved Jacob deeply, perhaps more than Isaac. She sought his success even with deception and deceit. But the consequence of her actions cost her separation from her son, which appears to have lasted for the rest of her life. So far as we can detect, once Jacob left for Haran he never saw his mother again. Rebekah underestimated the consequences of this sin, for she thought that Jacob would only need to be gone for a short time—until the death of Isaac.  But Isaac lived for a good forty years more until he died.

Jacob faced the inevitable results of sin also. He experienced an alienation from his father. He now had a brother who despised him and who looked for the day when he could put him to death (verse 41).

One Sunday School teacher asked her class if there were any commandment in the Bible as to how to get along with your brothers and sister. One boy thought and answered, “I know..Thou shalt not kill.” Well that is exactly what Esau proposed to do in his mind. He was so embittered and Jacob suffered the threat of his life.

And worst of all, everything he had gained in a material way he was unable to enjoy because he had to leave it behind to flee for his life. Sin does not pay!

If you are not trusting in God and are trying to do your own will instead of Gods or even God willing your own way, learn that the plotting of sin never work out and the paths of disobedience always has consequences and broken relationships with God and others.

           

But do you also remember what happened in actuality with Jacob and Esau in later years.  The blessing that Jacob stole said that he as to be lord over his brother and that the sons of his mother were to bow to him. Yet before Esau called Jacob his lord, Jacob thus saluted him in chp 32 and before Esau ever bowed to Jacob, Jacob bowed low before Esau Gen 33.

The of the conspiracy of Isaac and Esau are seen sooner. Isaac had sought to give all to his favorite son. Instead, he gave all to Jacob at Esau’s expense. Isaac set his heart on that which was contrary to the revealed will of God, and because of this his world came crashing down upon him when God’s purposes prevailed. Esau despised spiritual things and thus sold his destiny for a dinner. Then he attempted to get it back by renouncing his solemn oath and conspiring with his father to dishonestly regain what he had lost through his own profanity. Esau learned that there comes a point of no return in every man’s life when regret cannot bring a reversal of past decisions.

Indeed, all who have rejected Christ as Savior will live in eternal regret and remorse, but this will not overturn the consequences of living with their decision to live in independence from God .

           

Esau is taken by bitterness, Isaac by disappointment, Rebekah by loneliness, and Jacob as an exile. All because they want to do man’s will man’s way instead of God’s will God’s Way.

           

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Fri Sept 7 God’s Way

Verses- Heb 12: 15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. ¹⁶ See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. ¹⁷ Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.

Remembering God’s Way

      After seeing mans way of trying to accomplish God’s work and promises, we have the opportunity to see the whole story as presented in the Scriptures. God redeems. God forgives. God keeps his promises. Even when mankind by his efforts fail and face consequences, God continues with his larger plan and program. Don’t lose sight of the redemption that will happen. God takes what is and carries out his will bringing about reconciliation to himself and eventually to one another.

 God’s grace is evidenced in man’s sinfulness. The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps (Proverbs 16:9).Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the LORD, it will stand (Proverbs 19:21).

This is not to say that God makes man sin in order to achieve His purposes. Nor is it even to imply that God regards disobedience any less sinful because He turns evil into good. The sins of each party in this chapter are not glossed over or excused. No one has passed the responsibility for their actions on to God. No one can place the burden of guilt on God because of His decree. Sin is due to man’s depravity.

Sin always produces separation. It separates men from men, and men from God. Although he received the blessing, it did not make things right. Jacob had to flee for his life, and he ended up being deceived by his father-in-law. It wasn't until Jacob finally humbled himself before his brother that things were made right.

            God had only two to pick from -Esau and Jacob, and which one would you pick? The one who was careless about Gods’ grace because he was too wrapped up in hunting and fishing, sports, and entertainment, or one who wanted the birthright so badly he would deceive, misrepresents, manipulate, and lie to get it?

            Like so much of Scripture this true story is also a prophetic story that involves us all, not just Esau and Jacob. Heb 12:15-17 uses these brothers as an illustration of the salvation by grace giving by God. Although God is exceedingly gracious and is forever tempering justice with mercy there are nevertheless choice in life that cannot be undone and consequences of sin that are thereafter unavoidable. If you reject the grace of God in Christ now, who knows that you will ever again experience a spiritual melting heart and have an opportunity to turn to Him? If you reject the revealed Word of God and do what you know to be wrong,  you may never have a chance again to make it right.

            Tears mean nothing. Esau wept, but his tears were of frustrated selfishness and not repentance. For repentance is turning from sin to do what God desires, stop doing man’s will and mans way, but the will of God becomes the will of man and the ways of God become in obedience and faith the ways of man, therein his true blessing both in the end and in the means. God desires to show Himself faithful.

            The point is Gods’ sovereign will is done in spite of our and any other persons’ opposition to it, or even misguided will or ways or wisdom. God accomplishes his will in spite of the workings of sinful people

           

Margie Haack writes in World Magazine of her story. Her husband’s grandmother died and his grandfather remarried later in life. The woman moved into his home sold her house, gave her money to her children. But when Grandfather died his wife quickly sold the house and had an auction to sell all the things including his stuff that should have gone to his children and grandchildren. It was at the auction that Margie and her husband bid to get some Red Wing Pottery, stoneware of the last century. It was an appreciation piece given to customer who traded at his great grandfather small town store. Now they were rare collectibles. And these were promised as an inheritance to them. But as they bid on their items an antique dealer with more money kept the price higher than they could afford and with deep hurt feelings they didn’t get any of the items which was their inheritance.

           

1 Peter 1:4 says, There is an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade- kept in heaven for us. No one can steal it. No one can trick us out of it. It is glorious All the pottery and all the material goods of Jacob or Esau are paltry, but the promise represents a greater inheritance from God that points to a family of God comprised now of Jew and Gentile, Black and white, rich and poor, and all the tongues of the earth. It was purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross and it is offered to you and to me to receive by faith. That is God’s will that is Gods’ way. That is grace even that overcomes all our sin.

            Is your name written down to receive this inheritance from above? We’ve seen the problems of men doing things mans’ way. Now go God’s way and see how He works in your life and in he world.

Pastor Dale

Following Abraham's Footsteps Genesis 26

Sermon Nuggets Mon August 27 

Gen 26: ³ Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. 

Following in Father’s Footsteps                                

            One young father left his house to walk to the bar. It was winter time and he left his footprints in the snow. He heard a noise behind him and turned around only to find his son placing one foot after another in his dad’s footprint.  ‘What are you doing?’ he asks his pajama clad youngster. “Daddy, I’m following in your footsteps.”

            The dad told him to go back into the house. As he continued on the way he realized where those footprints were leading and wondered if that’s where he wanted his son to be. He returned back into the house mindful that parents do lay down paths for kids to follow whether we mean to or not.

                       

                        Search institute reported from a survey conducted in the Braham High School. It has identified 40 positive assets and values that are important in developing character and adjustment as a meaningful member of society.. Kids with over 30 of the 40 assets do very well in adjustment to society as a responsible citizen. The results of this survey showed some sobering statistics. There were many positive signs among some students, but many concerns that are exhibited as well. As we talked there was an agreement among the pastors that there were no fast and quick answers. We needed the power of God and commitment to pray together for our community. I hope that you feel burdened to pray for our young people.

            What also became apparent to us was that we have more of an adult problem than a kid problem because much of what we see demonstrated stems from home and family life. We have witnessed parents cursing their children, telling them they are no good. Only 20 % of those surveyed feel as if the school cares. Only 48% say they have a significant adult role model. What we see happening is that we are slowing seeing the results of a society that has little time for God and what He says will make a blessed and happy life, and trading it in with lies from the world.

            11% of the sixth grade class last year admitted to either having tried or seriously considered suicide.  Dear people we need to look inward and ask God what part we as a church, community and parents play in being an example. We need to confess where we have done wrong and seek Gods’ help in changing.

As we look at Isaac’s life now we see how much he followed in the footsteps of his father Abraham. We look at the importance of the footprints we leave behind.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Tues Aug 28 

Gen 26: Now there was a famine in the land —besides the earlier famine of Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar. ² The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live.³ Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. ⁴ I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, ⁵ because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws. ” ⁶ So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

Footprints Resting in the Will of God-  

            In the passage we read God gives Isaac a direction and revelation of his will. The account begins with a famine similar to the one which induced Abraham to leave the land of Canaan and go to Egypt.

Let’s face it regardless of how good things go there will be hard times that come upon us. Famine is one thing over which we have no control. Famine examples in the Bible is frequently associated with faith, at least figuratively. In fact, you cannot be a man or woman of faith and not have famines or dry times in your life. There are times when, for no particular reason that you can think of when things begin to go wrong-you feel barren and fruitless, feel that God is not accessible, that he does not care. Everyone goes through these times. It was true in the life of Abraham, and true in the life of Isaac.

Isaac followed the precedent his father Abraham set. He started to go to Egypt. It seemed the thing to do. There were resources in Egypt, for, unlike Canaan, Egypt was not dependent upon rain. Its economy was based on the annual flooding of the Nile, and often Egypt had supplies of grain when no other part of the Near East could feed its people. So Isaac left the land.  It seemed the reasonable thing to do to meet needs, but it wasn’t God’s will for his life.

God tells us that he is going to supply our needs according to his riches in glory. But when a time of pressure comes, when famine strikes us, immediately we begin to look around for an alternative to faith, and we forget that God is true to his word. Now God gives again to Isaac what his will is. He was to stay in the land and trust the Lord to provide. He was given the same word already promised to Abraham. Now obey, like Dad.

While we were traveling one summer we listened to audio books in the car. One book was one of C.S. Lewis' novels, The Silver Chair, from the Narnia series. Many of you are familiar with they way he weaves in Biblical theme through the mystical land of Narnia as various characters symbolize the spiritual warfare going in the Bible. In this story two children were commissioned by Aslan, the lion, to seek to find the son of King Caspian who had been lost for some years. Aslan gave the kids four signs to follow which would lead them to the prince. It was very important that they do exactly what they had been told.

“But, first, remember, remember, remember the signs. Say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night, and when you wake in the middle of the night. And whatever strange things may happen to you, let nothing turn your mind from following the signs. And secondly, I give you a warning. Here on the mountain I have spoken to you clearly; I will not often do so down in Narnia. Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. And the signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look, when you meet them there. That is why it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances. Remember the signs and believe the signs. Nothing else matters."

Well, they did have trouble following the will of the lion just like we do now. We have the revealed word of God. We have the fellowship of believers. We have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but we live in a world which is satanically full of smog. The air is thick in the valleys of Narnia. And it is easy to forget the truth which is revealed in a clear and unmistakable way on the mountain. Therefore we need to go back again and again and again to the promises-rehearse them, remember them, cling to them. "Remember the signs...nothing else matters."

Isaac forgot the signs, and he fled away from the promised land toward Egypt. So God gives him a clear direction of his will.

“Isaac I told you once this is the land I have for you. Now stay here and I will bless you.” Gerar also was a place of his childhood home. Abraham and his family were close to the royal family, and it was from a former Abimelech (which appears to be a title, like Pharaoh or Caesar) that Abraham received the deed to certain parcels of land near Gerar, and the right to dig wells and maintain them. So Isaac had the right to settle there, and felt comfortable with these people.

Now Isaac could rest in the will of God. He could have peace that every thing would turn out alright because he had a promise from God and He was in God’s hands. That is the solution to our famines. Go to the word and trust and believe that God will do what he says he will do. In that will we will have peace.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Weds Aug 29 

Gen 26:7-10 ⁷ When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister, ” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”

⁸ When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. ⁹ So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? ”

Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.”

¹⁰ Then Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”

Footprints Reacting in the Fear of Man-   

We realize that just like his father Abraham, Isaac is now following in the same footsteps that are led by fear instead of faith, of selfishness instead of purity. Just like Abraham, a number of years earlier, told the older Abimelech that Sarai was his sister, so now Isaac is telling he people under the leadership of Abimelech the younger that Rebekah is his sister.

Those women are very beautiful. I am impressed that both women are older, but real knock outs. Both husbands feared for their lives believing that if the Philestines knew they were their wives they would be killed so they could take these women as their own. Can you imagine the danger these husbands put their wives under? That certainly is not faith. He is not taking the responsibility to love, cherish and protect.

Even when you are walking in the will of God you can still fall back in other areas in the flesh and in fear.  The things you say you will not do you end up doing. Even though Isaac was in the place God wanted him to be, he was not living like her should.

That fear was seen in his father. This is a sobering thought for those of us who are fathers: our children will face fears, and commit mistakes and be sinful just like we were because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Even as Christians we will sin and should not be surprised when our children will learn the lessons the same hard way we do.

Abimelech saw clearly that had any man taken Isaac's wife, he would have been guilty of adultery. We often think of the Israelites as living in an island of morality surrounded by a sea of gross immorality. But that was not always the case. Many times in Scripture we find people outside of Israel rebuking the patriarchs for their moral failures.

I wonder if Abimelech didn’t also learn this from his father. His father had a very great regard for Abraham and his family. He no doubt heard the stories about how his God provided and protected and blessed and they wanted a good relationships. He no doubt also got from his father, how you should take another’s wife and He made that a law.                            He learned Rebekah was Isaac’s wife when he observed their private moments. He knew brothers don’t treat their sisters in that romantic manner and therefore confronted Isaac and warned his people, as God once again protected the women from danger.

            Why do we have such a hassle when it comes to a judge putting up the 10 commandments in his courthouse? Why does the nation rise up and scream this is wrong. Does not Scripture teach us that even when the ungodly follow the ways of the Lord in life, even if they do not accept Christ, it will still go better for them?

           

As we have been seeing in the film series “Speechless” being shown during Sunday School reactions in our political correct society will attack any public reference to God or the moral teachings from the Bible. The homosexual coalition has put pressure on companies, like Chick-fil-a to be quiet about their support for traditional marriage, and pressure other companies, like Home Depot to give large donations to their cause. People that express disapproval against sin soon  must find themselves the object of ridicule and harassment. We see the television programs continually being replaced by vulgar and offensive shows. The increase in the last couple of years of nudity on prime time TV has increased over 400%. In spite of voices of  parents protesting in favor of censorship and want trash off the air the network officials claim freedom of speech allows and even promotes the rights of views of lewd behavior to be broadcast. There is something amazingly confusing that Hollywood can censor people who stand up for moral behavior, but promote violence, explicit sex and say we must be broad minded about this. There used to be a national respect for things of God even though people were not Christians, No more. It is an offense to our society, and we are paying the consequences and people are wondering why.

Isaac was  reacting to the fear of men. It is about time we stand up and be ridiculed for righteousness sake, and repent of our sins of silence and indeed of even participating in evil and calling it good, because we do not want to offend anyone. Our job is it to save our society. For to say no more is also an act of love.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Thurs Aug 30 

Verses Gen 26: 12 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him. 13 The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. 14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. 15 So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.

16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.”

17 So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. 18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.

19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him. 21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. 22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”

23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”

25 Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.

Footprints Reaping in the Blessing of God- 

           

Just like God protected Sarai from harm, so God protected Rebekah from harm. Both father and son in their respective generations were rebuked by the Kings for their lying. And they go back to live life the way God intended and get this; God blesses them for returning to faith. There is blessing on the way back to God.

            There are people Satan wants to believe that when you have blown it and failed that God is done with you. You’ve had your chance now there is no more. If there is anything you see the in Old Testament stories it is the patience and long suffering of God who wants us to come back to reap his blessings.

            Now if I were a preacher of wealth and health this would be a key passage I would point everyone to and say blessings dear people mean that God will make you wealthy. Look what happened to Isaac when he repented and returned to the Lord. Repent and turn to the Lord and you will find more money than what you know what to do with.

            When we look at the Word we want it to say what it says not what we want it to say. What does it say? Isaac did his part. He worked the land, got the seed, planted the crops- blessing doesn’t just fall on our laps, without responsibility to show our faith and our part in depending on God. What we don’t have control over is how fruitful the crops are going to be, how cooperative the weather. How the machines stand up with appropriate maintenance. I don’t know how wealthy Isaac got, but with wealth comes power and influence and that is what concerned the people living around him. Jealousy crept in and they didn’t want him around. They tried to outdo Isaac and it didn’t happen.

            Now there was vandalism done to the wells, and no doubt racial slurs that happen with jealousy. The complaints came even from the King who should have known better, but it was clear- It’s time to leave.

            There is a hymn we sing. Count your many blessing name them one by one. Count your many blessings and see what God has done.

            Isaac lived in a culture where wealth was a sign of divine blessing to the people around. I am wondering if that wasn’t why God gave materially, with crops, and servants, and hired hands- so the people could see the work of God in his life.

            Although Abraham was a warrior when it came to protecting his rights, he gave up his rights to Lot and his family when there would be a family quarrel and tension among the servants. Isaac now finds these very wells are becoming a problem once again only this time with his neighbors who are jealous of his wealth.

In the first case his herdsmen found a well that belonged to Abraham, removed the dirt and debris from the well, and found a fresh spring. And it was theirs. These wells belonged to Isaac. He had every right to these wells. Abraham had secured them through a treaty with Abimelech, and Isaac bore the title deed to these wells and the parcels of land which went with them But Abimelech's herdsmen quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, so Isaac abandoned the well.

Well digging in that part of the country is no insignificant task. Water lies 40 or 50 feet beneath the surface, and usually the digging is through many feet of hard rock. So it is one thing to find a well which already has been dug and remove the dirt. It is quite another to dig a new well. Isaac did not know if he could find another well, but he abandoned this one. He called it "Esek", meaning, "injustice. He could have kept it--either by force, or by insisting upon his rights--but he did neither. The account also says that Isaac was stronger than the Philistines. He could have taken these wells at any time and held them. But he chose not to. They were his by right, but he chose not to defend his rights.

He moved about fifteen miles away in the valley of Gerar and dug another well. The Philistines contested this one, too, so he called it "Sitnah" or "adversity". Our word "Satan", or "adversary", comes from it. He did not fight over this well, either; he left it and went to another place and dug another well. By this time he was about 25 miles away from Gerar, and the herdsmen of Abimelech left him alone. He named this well "Rehoboth," "broad place"--"because," he said, "at last the Lord has brought us into a broad place, has made room for us." He could have fought for his rights, but he did not; he laid them aside. He let the Lord fight for him, and the Lord brought him into a broad place.

While Isaac may not have realized it for some time, it was the disputes over the ownership of the wells he dug or reopened that served to guide him in the direction of the land of promise.

Notice up to this time Isaac’s decision as to where he should stay was based upon the finding of abundant water and the absence of hostilities. But now we are told that he moved on to Beersheba, with no reason stated for this move.  Beersheba was the first place that Abraham had gone with Isaac after they came down from the “sacrifice” on Mount Moriah God had been guiding him back to the land of promise, back to those places where Abraham had walked in fellowship with God. The decision was shown to be the right one, for God immediately spoke words of reassurance: vs. 24.

Notice especially the order in which Isaac set up residence in Beersheba: First he  built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD, secondly he pitched his tent there; and lastly his servants dug a well v25.

Previously the touchstone for knowing the will of God had been circumstances—in particular, Isaac stayed wherever he dug a well, found sufficient water, and was not opposed. Yet in this verse the sequence of events is reversed. The place for God’s people is the place of God’s presence. The place of intimacy, worship, and communion with God is the place to be. Material needs are thus considered last, while spiritual needs are primary. But seek first His kingdom, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you (Matthew 6:33).

We have rights, legitimate rights which often are taken from us by oppression and injustice and adversity. And if we fight for them and insist upon them, we create havoc, and destroy relationships in the process. We may get what we want, or at least partially what we want, but what a wake of wreckage and destruction we leave behind! Isaac did not fight for his rights, and God supplied his needs.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Fri Aug 31

Verses: Gen 26:26-34²⁶ Meanwhile, Abimelech had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces.²⁷ Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?”

²⁸ They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you ²⁹ that you will do us no harm, just as we did not molest you but always treated you well and sent you away in peace. And now you are blessed by the Lord.”

³⁰ Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. ³¹ Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.

³² That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” ³³ He called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.

³⁴ When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. ³⁵ They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

Footsteps Revealing the Work of God

God supplied Isaac's needs out of his riches in glory. The people saw how Isaac reacted. Instead of fighting he was willing to leave things up to God and God continued to bless in such a way the people realized it was God’s doing. They came to ask forgiveness and make amends and form a treaty of peace. Should Isaac forgive or not? What would you do? Isaac signed the treaty and the peace was greater than just not fighting anymore.

            Jesus said it, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  If the Lord forgives us our debt of ten thousand talents, we must be willing to forgive our fellow-servant his debt of a hundred pence. If any of you have had a squabble with any other remember the rights that are given over to God. And the forgiveness that is granted. How can you do otherwise having received blessing and grace of God in your lives? 

If you are going to pick friends the best ones to pick are those who are friends of God. Abimelech was not dumb. He reasoned “If God is with him, I better be too.”

I believe that God has much to teach us by observing that Isaac’s life as he followed in the footsteps of his father. Both rested in the will of God, reacted in the fear of man, received the blessing of God, released rights to God, and realized their witness to others about God. The similarities seem to go on and on.

There is a process, a long and extensive one, which God uses to bring a person first to Himself and then to maturity. It began for Abraham and Isaac in a covenant relationship with God. For Christians today it is the new covenant instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ when He shed His blood on the cross of Calvary in order to provide for our forgiveness of sins and for our salvation: This new covenant is in Christ’s blood by death.

Everyone must begin his relationship at this very place, the place of personal relationship with God through acceptance of the covenant He has offered. And from this beginning we embark upon a spiritual voyage that is, in many ways, very similar to that of Abraham and Isaac. When we are able to look back over our lives from the vantage point of eternity and see the footprints we leave I wonder how much they are in the imprints left by our patriarchs. Times of fear, times of sin, times of renewal, times when in maturity we give our rights to God

The way we can best help our own children is by making certain that our footsteps are such that we would want our children to walk in them. If Isaac’s experience was, to some degree, a reflection of his father’s life, what a frightening thought that is. If our children’s lives are to mirror our own, what an awesome responsibility we have as parents to walk a path of obedience and submission to the will of God.

 The root sin, as I perceive it, was unbelief or lack of faith. In each case of deception, Abraham and Isaac lied out of fear. This fear was the result of an inadequate concept of God. They did not grasp the sovereignty or the omnipotence of God in such a way as to believe that God could protect them under any and every circumstance.

God’s desire is blessing dear people. It is not that you will be wealthy necessarily in the things of this world. Too often those things keep our focus off of God and our ourselves. Often His intent through the famines and through the oppositions make us more dependent upon Him that we might be usable for His service as a witness to others of the greatness of our God. And that our children follow us in that blessing.

In time in all of life we can see the work of God in his grace, love, discipline and mercy.

Pastor Dale