Genesis 31 - 2009 - Skip Heitzig

[Music] so we find ourselves tonight in Genesis chapter 31 would you turn to Genesis 31 you will notice if you have read it that it's a long chapter so any idea that we're gonna do more than one chapter would just be unrealistic let's pray our Father we now settle our hearts and bring them in an upright position a posture of of worship a posture like the young prophet Samuel who when you called his name he said speak Lord your servant hears and we your servants younger and older male and female with all of the different backgrounds and all of the different cultures even perhaps and all of the different experiences we've had through this week we come before you and we ask you to speak to us and speak into our lives and into the various circumstances and cause us to grow as we read together and consider together what is inspired by the Holy Spirit and every bit as much the Word of God as any other portion Lord caused us to learn the lessons that as Paul said we're given for our admonition thank you that we can be here tonight thank you for those who have gathered around us and for those Lord who aren't here we pray a special blessing on them that you'd keep them in Jesus name Amen we've noted something about Genesis it's a book of beginnings it tells us the beginning of God's creation of the heavens and the earth it tells us the beginning of mankind as God placed man upon the earth it gives to us the beginning of sin the fall of man and sin entering into the bloodstream and perverting everything and everything becomes depraved after that Genesis also reveals to us the beginning of God's plan to heal the sin that is in the bloodstream and his plan includes in Genesis chapter 3 the seed of the woman that would crush the head of the serpent we see the beginning of human government we see the beginning of marriage we see the beginning of a nation which includes the patriarchs Abraham Isaac and Jacob and now we've already entered into the next phase the twelve sons of Jacob which become the twelve tribes of Israel so once again by way of reminder for those of us who may not have it on the tip of our minds the book of Genesis is divided as we mentioned into two sections chapters 1 through 11 primeval history chapters 12 through 50 patriarchal history a patriarchy meaning a male leader Abraham Isaac Jacob were patriarchs and one of the things we noticed about all three of these guys is they were highly imperfect characters which causes us to rejoice because we relate to them we are we see ourselves in them with a god use these nerds boy is there hope now with Jacob we saw that from the beginning he was a manipulator right even from his birth his name was really prophetic of what his character would be for he came out second after esau grabbing Esau's he'll heal as if to trip him so he was given the name Yaakov which means one who trips or he'll catcher or manipulator or mr. con artist and he was good at it he stole his brothers blessing and for a bowl of stew his brother Esau traded the spiritual heritage the right of the firstborn to the second born to jacob jacob gotta as soon as he got it and as soon as he got the blessing later on conferred on him by his father isaac he had to flee he ran away from home he was scared that his brother was going to murder him keep that in mind for next week when he sees his brother again after 20 long years he has to run he has to flee and in the middle of the wil wilderness in a barren spot he's feeling all alone he's feeling rejected he thinks I'll never see my family again and he must have felt alienated even from God until that night he had a dream the Bible says he was tired he went to a place called love and he pulled up a rock for a pillow under his head and he fell asleep and he saw a vision of the angels of God on a ladder from earth to heaven they were descending coming down and ascending going up into heaven he woke up the next day and he went wow this place is awesome he was from California awesome and then he said the Lord is in this place and I knew it not I know it now but I knew it not and it's not the Lord was but the Lord is in this place but he's still on the run he builds a pillar pours oil on it makes a covenant with God God says go and I'll protect you and you'll come back so he goes to a place we know today as Iraq northern Iraq a place called paddan-aram back then one of the northern Mesopotamian provinces were Laban lived and he fell in love with a beautiful young girl named Rachel you know the story so he won't get too much into it but he got I was gonna say it a two for the price of one deal got two wives but he really it was two for the price of two and what a steep price it was he served Laban 14 long years for Leia and Rachel though he really only loved Rachel he ends up staying another six years he wanted to go he said I'm leaving back in chapter 30 verse 25 he said I'm going back to my father's place and Laban says please don't go please stay for I know that the Lord has blessed me just because you're hanging around me and I want you to hang around me so you name your wage and you can have whatever you want so he stays for another six years and all that he said he wanted was the ability to have what Laban would consider the castaways the leftovers of his flock Jacob as we saw last week came up with a very interesting way of reproductive management of his flocks he took these pieces of wood from poplar trees chestnut trees and almond trees and he peeled back the bark made little strips on them and put these pieces of wood into the watering troughs of the Sheep believing that when the sheep saw them and they would conceive that the Lord would stack the odds in his behalf and his flocks would grow giving them the kind of speckled and streaked animals that he said that he wanted from Laban now I mentioned last week that that was probably a superstition on his part however as I think about it a little more deeply it could have been superstition or a possibility just a possibility it could have been a revelation because in this chapter he's going to say that the angel of the Lord revealed something to him in a dream and though he doesn't spell all of that out what he did in the last chapter it could be that the angel said now if you do something that's gonna sound really stupid and there's really no scientific reason why this should work but if you do it by faith and trust the Lord will increase your flocks whatever it was exactly the Lord increased his flock and that's where we come to now in chapter 31 as I mentioned it's a long chapter there are 55 verses in this chapter I've divided it up into three sections and we'll go through all three of the sections in one chapter tonight beautiful lessons in chapter 31 beautiful lessons there is first of all a heavenly confirmation in the first section a heavenly confirmation as God confirms his will to Jacob to go back home number two there is an earthly confrontation now I don't know what the relationship is like with your father-in-law but no matter how bad it might be it couldn't come close to this one Jacob and his father-in-law had been at tense odds for years and that confrontation comes to a head and then third and finally there will be a carnal cooperation and that's how the chapter ends so beginning in chapter 31 in verse 1 now Jacob heard the words of Laban sons saying Jacob has taken away all that was our fathers and from what was our fathers he has acquired all of this wealth and Jacob saw that the countenance of Laban and indeed it was not favorable toward him as before the body language the way Laban looked at Jacob had changed in communication it's not just what we say it's how we say it right body language can convey much more than even words for instance you can say something but by the tone of your voice or the stiffness of your posture or the rigidity of your lips you can mean something completely different you could say for instance to your wife you look great that will mean one thing to her if she says honey how do I look and you glance them about you look great that will mean something different to her and if you were to even take it a step further and say well don't you look great that will mean something and I suggest you don't it means something wholly different than the first two now twenty years there had been a tension between Jacob and Laban attention and agreement but attention they were both con artists and and Jacob was great at lying and manipulating and being a con artist as I mentioned but el manipulate or numero uno was Laban he was a pro at it and they would go back and forth and have this long contest to see who would outwit each other and it continues tonight but in the midst of that contest between con artists to see who would outwit each other there seemed to adjust to the tension you can adjust to any kind of tension in a relationship in fact if you think about it sometimes out of great tension can come great harmony opposites attract probably what drew you to your wife or your husband has also become a source of conflict but even out of that tension can come great harmony example is a piano in this well piano got raptured it's a selective rapture now that's it's behind the stage but a piano has up to 12,000 moving parts and can exert the pressure of those tight strings on that harp of two tons two tons of pressure on a metal harp but out of great tension can come beautiful harmony so this tension between them for seven years for one wife seven more years for another wife six more years to get the flocks he wanted tension but now we see something different the tension moves into friction and the friction is the jealousy that Laban sons in fact Laban himself has toward Jacob because he's so successful God is blessing him now in the previous chapter he tells Jacob don't go man I love having you around because I'm blessed because you're with me so whatever it takes oh you name your wage but things have changed he's so successful and it's so showing off or up Laban the body language has changed and I'm sure he was coal tomb Jacob Oh Aria very formal very aloof very stiff but he could see that something has changed so the sons accuse him in verse one Jacob is taken away all that was our fathers and from what was our fathers he has acquired all of this wealth now that's a false accusation Jacob saw that the countenance are literally the face of Laban indeed it was not favorable toward him as before if you're a public speaker you can appreciate the value of not getting hung up on looking at people's faces it's an interesting view from this angle looking at all of you looking at a crowd looking at a group a person's face can be very unsettling you don't know it but when people listen they don't always do this sometimes they do this that can be unsettling to a speaker or sometimes they do this or they get up or they they look contemplative and they're truly just concentrating and contemplating but the look of contemplation on a person's face can sort of look grumpy so that's why public speakers will often scan the crowd to find the happy faces the yes faces rather than the no faces the faces that smile those that take notes now no wonder when God called Jeremiah the Prophet who was a teenager when God called him and sent him as a prophet to the nation he said I've called you do not be afraid of their faces because I will be with you it would be a temptation as a prophet as giving a heavy message and people are scowling at him to look at the face and get all freaked out and not want to go through with the boldness that God prompted you to have I was once in New York City I was teaching preaching at a church in Manhattan and somebody in the crowd caught my attention because he had a smile not only to have a smile he was taking notes taking notes taking notes like like it's like the first time he ever heard a Bible study in his life so I was concentrating on him a lot and then afterwards I asked the pastor I said who was this it was an old guy who is this old guy he said interesting this guy is a man by the name of John DeLorean John DeLorean was a guy who developed several cars including the DeLorean car used in Back to the Future and was indicted for 25 million dollars worth of drug smuggling and put into prison and while he was anything the charges he was cleared but when he got released from prison he showed up at Mike's church every week and he could not get enough of Bible study and just soaked up God's Word until he died but fulfill it filled with truth filled with God's Word and the countenance on his face was so wonderful to look at so I digress let's get back to the story verse 3 then the Lord said to Jacob return to the land of your father's and to your family and I will be with you it's worthy to note how God prepared Jacob to move from paddan-aram back to the place he left 20 years before and I want you to note it because I think it's an important principle in your life the first thing that God did is put a desire in Jacobs heart to go back six years before this six years before this in chapter 30 verse 25 he announces to Laban after Joseph was born I'm going back I need to go back home my heart is there I need to be back in the covenant land of Abraham and Isaac I've got to go back he didn't go back he was talked into staying and he did stay for six more years but that desire never left him it was a desire deep in his heart he didn't react or act too quickly on it but God put a desire in his heart and that's the first step that God uses to move us from one experience to another or one place to another he puts a desire deep within David writes in Psalm 37 if you delight yourself in the Lord he will give you the desires of your heart I don't think that means God will give you your heart's desire whatever little feeling you have in your heart at that time I really want that okay I'll do it I think what it means is that when you delight yourself in the Lord the desires that you have are the desires that God plants with your heart where did this desire come from it came from the Lord he put that desire in your heart now that desire that you have has to be confirmed you don't want to act on every desire you have it might be impetuous might be impulsive so the second thing that happens are circumstances he has a desire to go back but he stays but now the circumstances go from tension to friction and in a listen carefully the circumstances tour Jacob are not favourable they're unfavorable there's jealousy there's accusation there's lies in other words the nest is getting stirred up for Jacob by the circumstances around him he has a desire but now the circumstances are against him so he thinks it's time to get out of here I really need to leave what I feel in my heart is now being confirmed by the circumstances that the Lord has placed around me now keep that in mind when things turn sour in your life you're apt to complain God can't be in this don't be so sure Oh God why would you allow this to happen I can just hear the Lord sometimes going you really you're gonna ask me that you've been praying for two months that something would change in your life so now you got fired it's about to change in your life you had that old job you didn't even like it now you got fired now you're in a position of looking for a new job I'm gonna give you a new job and so the Lord stirs things up by circumstances and they may not be favorable and that could be the Lord doing something to move you along the third thing that happens is the word of the Lord comes to him says in verse three the Lord said to Jacob now the word confirms what he felt in his heart and what the circumstances were telling him God says return to the land of your father's so when life turns sour God may have some sweet blessings right around the corner don't complain don't moan to say great what opportunities might God have in store if I trust him and I move forward so the friction causes him to seek a new direction verse 4 Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field to his flock and he said to them I see your father's countenance that it is not favorable toward me as before but the god of my father has been with me and you know that with all my might I have served your father and yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times what would you do if your employer changed your wage ten times not in that direction oh then you go thank you Lord what if it goes in that direction notice what he says 10 times he's done it but God did not allow him to hurt me evidently or at least probably Jacob took his flocks that had grown substantively and moved them out toward the west toward the road that would lead back to the land of promise where he felt the Lord wanted him to go but before he left he was smart he called his wives out and conferred with his wife wives honey number one and honey number two I feel the Lord wants me to go back home your dad has spooky eyes looking at me and I think God has spoken to me so what do you say he confers with him he says he's changed my wages ten times but the Lord has been with me God did not allow him to hurt me verse eight if he said thus the speckled shall be your wages then all the flocks poor speckled and he said thus the streak shall be your wages then all the flocks bore streaked there's something that I noticed this week and it spoke to my heart he was mistreated by his employer that's not it's not new to our culture it's not novel in our generation he was mistreated by his own father-in-law but also by his own employer but notice what he appeals to there was no HR department back then to appeal to he didn't level a complaint or sign a petition or go on strike he appealed to God and God took care of them now I know this is gonna sound really simplistic to some if you want to live your life at the level of the world God will let you if you want to complain and file a report and sign a petition have at it what a miserable way to live or the most exciting way to live is to simply trust and to trust simply trusted God I've lived above reproach and God has done this God has increased my flocks this is how it came down and the Lord has not allowed him to hurt me and so God has taken away verse 9 the livestock of your father and given them to me has increased and it happened at the time when the flocks conceived that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream and behold the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked speckled and gray spotted and then the angel of God spoke to me in a dream saying Jacob and I said Here I am and he said lift up your eyes now and see all the Rams would sleep on the flocks or streaked speckled and gray spotted four I have seen all that Laban is doing to you I am the God of beth-el where you anointed the pillar where you made a vow to me now arise get out of this land and return to the land of your family then Rachel and Leia answered and said to him is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house are we not considered strangers by him for he has sold us and also completely consumed our money for all these riches which God has taken from our Father are really ours and our children's now then whatever God has said to you do it Laban was a really bad manager of his personal finances he was not good at money and it was bad because he took what was the dowry remember the dowry was money that was given for the bride and money that was given to the father for the bride was to be kept by the father of the bride as the as the future basis for the financial security of those women it was to be kept aside if something happened if the husband died or if the husband left her there's financial security provided in advance in a dowry and the father kept it he spent the dowry he emptied their piggy banks and wasted all the money so they're putting two and two together it's not like they're going no I can't leave I've never gone to this crazy land that you're from I don't want to go 300 miles to the west they said well you know what our father hasn't treated us very well and if God has spoken to you let's go for it now there are some people like Laban they make money but they don't know how to keep it they make it but as soon as they make it it leaves no matter how much they make they just need basic budgetary skills otherwise it's gone I thank the Lord for my father my father was very keen at his finances and at saving money so that when I came to a place here in Albuquerque where Lenny and I wanted to buy a home my dad surprised us and said well I've saved up for this day and I have the downpayment for your home he did that with all of the boys he was thinking in advance a way to prepare for the future knowing that when you're young and you start off married you don't have much so he prepared for that inevitability but the girls give him the go-ahead if you want a marriage to work here's a little principle before we move on you should consult with your wife you should listen to your wives they may not agree with your decision but you should at least listen to them also a key in marriage women is to allow your husband to lead I've met women who say all I want in my home is a leader of the home but as soon as the husband starts to make a choice to lead and make a decision they go what a dumb choice that was how can I follow that so while they're barking that he's not leading as soon as he assumes leadership they complain about that it's not fair the Bible says and it's the dreaded word of this generation wives submit to your husbands just like you would submit unto the Lord I know what you're thinking you might be gritting your teeth even and saying are you kidding what if he makes stupid choices that's okay that's not your responsibility God won't hold you responsibility for the idiotic choices your husband makes he will hold him responsible for the idiotic choices that your husband makes he will hold you responsible for submitting to your husband or not and as I look at Jacobs life and the lives of his wives it seemed that God was taking care of him and again as I said if the husband is smart he's gonna he's going to listen and consult his wife encourage your husband's then Jacob arose now they're gonna go and set his sons and his wives on camels oh man no cars no trains no buses no 747s here's a plane ticket have you ever ridden a camel okay some of you went to Israel he had a little camel ride I took a camel ride around the pyramids in Egypt and I thought how on earth did people do that put everybody on a camel and he carried away all of his livestock all of his possessions which he had gained an acquired livestock which he had gained in paddan-aram to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan now Laban had gone to share his sheep and Rachel had stolen the household idols there were her father's now what is up with that this is Rachel this is the wife of the great patriarch Jacob Abraham Isaac Jacob and here's Rachel who is married to him for all of this time and he was under this covenant relationship with the Yahweh the God of the patriarchs what's the household idols all about the word in Hebrew is teraphim and they were little statues that resembled people and it was used some believed that they were to remind them of their ancestors or that their spirit of their ancestors lived within them others believed that deities would be working behind the statues and and so people in those days would actually consult the statues to get Direction for their lives can you imagine how ridiculous that is excuse me mr. Idol I'd like to know if I should go on this journey or not now why is that ridiculous because the idol the statue has no capacity to hear or to speak David writes about it in psalm 115 the idols of the heathen are futile they have mouths but they can't speak they have eyes but they can't see they have ears but they can hear they have hands but they can't touch they have feet but they can't walk they have mouths but they can't speak so you can pray to a little statue but the statue is not going to say hey turn right the eyes were painted on by a person so whenever you make a god you have made a god less than yourself because you can speak you can see you can hear and the idol the statute that you made can't it's absolutely ludicrous but it was believed that these little statues would give direction and would give protection now when I grew up my mother would place in her car a little statue on the dashboard I remember seeing this is a kid a statue of a saint or of Mary and I'd see it had a little magnet on it and this dashboard was metal in those days so it stuck to it but but as a kid I even used to notice I said now she's got these statue facing her and yet she's going in that direction I mean it only makes sense mom turned the statue around it at least can see where you're going even I had that much sense back then she didn't want to listen and Jacob stole away verse 20 unknown to Laban the Syrian in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee so he fled with all that he had and he arose and crossed the river and headed toward the mountains of Gilead if you were with us a couple of weeks ago in Israel do you remember the day we were going to bet she'an and going then down the Jordan Valley toward Jerusalem as you're going down the Jordan Valley on the left-hand side or the eastern side of the Jordan River were the mountains of Gilead a landmark that's where he was headed 300 miles to the west of Iraq by the way something else the there's a town in northern Iraq called newsy nuz I and there have been archaeological excavations and they found documents tablets at newsy that talked about household gods little teraphim they're called in Hebrew that whoever had them proved that they had the legal right of the inheritance of the family and probably that is why she took them because she was the daughter of Laban but this having these things would in the future prove that all that he has was under the legal jurisdiction because she had the household idols that's revealed in the documents found at newsy so just a little fYI on that one so um Jacob notice how he leaves Laban middle-of-the-night didn't tell him he flees which was his MO right that's how he left home in the first place that's how he left his brother Esau and his dad and his mom under the stealth and the cover of night and Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled and then he took his brethren with him and pursued him for seven days journey and he overtook him in the mountains of Gilead okay Jacob had a three-day head start but he had lots of flocks and lots of people that he was driving across the wilderness so at best he was maybe going 20 miles a day and that's a good pace but Laban without the flocks and without the huge entourage he had some men but he could drive it hard all day long and one evening he saw the encampment of Jacob and he camped there that evening and was getting all ready to get in the next day and confront him I believe that Laban wanted to kill him and you'll see why in just a moment verse 23 he took his brethren with him pursued him for seven days journey overtook him in the mountains of Gilead but God had come to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night and said to him be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad or literally from good to bad don't let this conversation be impassioned with your own desire don't let it go from good to bad I believe he had fully intended to kill Jacob and you'll hear some of the language that he uses in the confrontation now from verse 22 onward is the second part of the chapter it's the earthly confrontation after the heavenly confirmation he goes now the earthly confrontation he catches up with him so Laban overtook Jacob Burres 25 now Jacob pitched his tent in the mountains and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mountains of Gilead and Laban said to Jacob what have you done that you have stolen away unknown to me and carried away my daughters like captives taken with the sword always so melodramatic why did you flee away secretly and steal away from me and not tell me for I might have sent you away with joy and songs with timbrel and harp yeah sure you would have I'd have thrown a big party man cake and music and really cool stuff you have deprived your own family of a party and you did not allow me to kiss my sons and daughters now you have done foolishly in so doing it is in my power to do you harm bullies love to throw that out but the god of your father spoke to me last night saying be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad of course it doesn't sound like he's listening and now you have surely gone because you greatly longed for your father's house but why did you steal my God's what a great question how would you like to have gods that could be stolen what a worthless God I can't find my gods did you steal my God's my gods have been kidnapped not much of a God if you have to watch it if it can't watch you if it can't take care of you keep you from getting lost you have to keep it from getting stolen why have you waited to steal my God's I can't get over that verse Jacob answered and said to Laban because I was afraid that's an honest statement for I said perhaps you would take your daughters from me by force fear is an awful taskmaster fear will keep you from fulfilling all of the potential God has for you it's a self imprisonment 63 times the Bible says fear not and that's worth the study by the way go to your concordance or your computer and type that in fear not and notice all the times the Lord commands his people not to be afraid one of the most notable ones is the daughter of the synagogue in Capernaum she fell sick she was at the point of death and the ruler of the synagogue came to Jesus in Luke chapter 8 and said O Lord please you've got to come and heal my daughter he had just a little bit of hope and the hope was in Christ alone but he just had that then thread his daughter's about to die but then the hope vanished when somebody came to him and said don't even bother the master your daughter is already dead now at that moment great fear filled that man Jesus turned to him and said do not be afraid only believe do not be afraid only believe the cure for fear is faith in fact they're mutually exclusive if you are a fearful person you don't have faith if you're filled with faith you won't be filled with fear one cancels out the other don't be afraid only believe jesus healed that young girl he said I was afraid I said perhaps she would take your daughter's from me by force now listen to what he says listen nobody gets with whomever you find your gods do not let him live Oh in the presence of our brethren identify what I have of yours and take it with you for Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them and Laban went into Jacob Stanton to lay his tent into the two maids tents but did not find them and he went out of Laius tendon and to Rachel's tent he's getting warmer now Rachel had taken the household idols and put them in the cattles cattle the camels saddle a camels saddle was probably simply a blanket or a cloth folded up and placed on the camel back then and that's what she was seated on and she sat on them and Laban searched all about the tent but did not find him now watch this and she said to her father let it not displease my Lord that I cannot rise before you for them manner of women is with me in other words dad I'd love to get up but you know it's that time a month I'm having the menstrual period and otherwise I'd love to give you the customary greeting so where do you think she learned all of these lies from dad and from hubby I mean this whole family is in meshed in this nonsense and he's searched but did not find the household idols and then Jacob is angry now he's gonna just light in to Laban Jacob was angry and rebuked Laban the word in Hebrew for angry means to glow or to burn he's just hot under the collar and he rebuked Laban that means to lash out or contend so both inwardly and outwardly he just let it go he answered and said to Laban what is my trespass what is my sin that you have hotly pursued me all that you have searched all of my things what part of your household things have you found set it here before my brethren and your brethren that they may judge between us these twenty years I have been with you your use and your female goats have not miscarried their young and I have not eaten the Rams of your flocks that which was torn by beasts I did not bring it to you I bore the loss of it you required it from my hand whether stolen by day or stolen by night now in those days even up to this day if a shepherd keeps the flocks of an owner if one of the little lambs gets attacked by a predator the Shepherd has to prove that he didn't steal that missing lamb that it was indeed attack how did he do that he would bring whatever body part was left an ear a head a limb the fur and prove I didn't steal it this is what happened to him here's the blood and here's the carcass what Jacob is saying I didn't even bother you with that I assume the loss replacing it from my own flock I went above and beyond the call of duty there I was in the day the drought consumed me and the frost by knife of my sleep departed from my eyes thus I have been in your house 20 years I served you 14 years for your two daughters and six years for your flock and you have changed my wages ten times he's brought that up a few times now hasn't he he hasn't let this go has he this whole wage thing really bugs him unless the god of my father and the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac had been with me surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night stop for just a moment before we finish the chapter and close Jacob felt totally justified in getting angry inwardly and contending outwardly with Laban did he not he felt justified he felt righteous a righteous indignation he felt this was right to rebuke him but was it right to rebuke him no it wasn't he didn't have all the information though he thought he did he didn't have all the information he is working on the premise that no one in his family has stolen anything from Laban but did someone steal something sure Rachel did he doesn't know it yet but he's just hot under the collar not having all the information getting in getting in his digs and lashing out at Laban he was not right he was not justified next time you are ready to lash out at a person and you think I have all the information I need you think twice in fact you think back to this chapter when you're thinking how could she why did he I've got the documentation you may not have all the story and when you're ready to get in those digs you're just being Jacob all over again you see the Bible says we see through a glass darkly there's only one that I know of who knows everything about everything everything about every situation who knows about every person's motive and exactly what happened at what time and that would be God Himself the writer of Hebrews says all things are naked and open before the eyes of the one with whom we have to give an account you don't have all the facts and so if you or I mouth off in judgment against somebody be very careful you're pointing the finger having three fingers point back at you he was not justified he was wrong unless the god of my father the God of Abraham he's being very spiritual that's true of course but he's feeling very righteously indignant had been with me surely now you would have sent me away up T handed God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night you know what Laban was for Jacob and Jacob didn't see it you know what Laban was for him a mirror when he looked at Laban he saw himself that's what angered him isn't it amazing haven't you found it amazing that when we're so quick to spot a Fault in somebody it's typically most often usually because we have that Fault in ourselves we spot something we sniff something something's foul ice melted before sure you live with it every day Laban was a mere reflecting who Jacob really was have you ever met a nice person I mean think really hard of a real authentic genuinely no guile nice person I think of my mom you know my mother I never remember speaking ill of people in fact when I would say something about someone I remember she'd say now you may not have all the facts you don't know they're probably really meant well in their hearts you'd always correct it and never see the flaws and all of the bad stuff that we boy saw but typically you see whatever you're guilty of or whatever flaw is present in your own life life Laban answered verse 43 we'll make it on time Laban answered and said to Jacob listen to listen to Laban now here's the third part of the of the evenings message and this is a carnal cooperation they're going to make an agreement but it's not on the highest level Laban answered and said to Jacob these daughters are my daughters well last time I checked they were his wives though and these children are my children and this flock is my flock he's sleeping at a lot of details all that you see is mine but what can I do this day to these my daughters or their children whom they have borne now therefore come let us make a covenant you and I and let it be a witness between you and me so Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar and Jacob said to his brethren gather stones they took stones and made a heap and they ate there on the heap that is they had a covenant meal they cut the Covenant they sacrifice and animal blood was shed they cut the covenant they ate a meal that night by the pile of stones and laban called it llegar sha sha ha Duta and jacob called it gallied I like Jacob's name better easier the first is an aramaic term the second is a hebrew term the aramaic and the hebrew term mean exactly the same thing a monument of witness a monument of witness by the way llegar shahe do thoug that little aramaic construction is the only time the aramaic language is used in the Torah the first five books of Moses he's using the language from Iraq from where he is from and he calls it the the pile or the heap or the monument of witness Jacob called it Ghalib means the same thing and Laban said this heap is a witness between you and me this day therefore its name was called gullied also Mizpah which means to watch or to witness Mizpah because he said may the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent from one another unfortunately this little verse that we just read which sounds so beautiful and so sweet and so spiritual and so romantic has been sentimentalized and romanticized by the Christian Church in fact there's something called the Mizpah blessing it shows up in some of the ancient hymns I've seen little pendants that's called the Mizpah blessing the Lord watch between you and me and it's seen as this romantic little pendant that you'd give somebody a blessing a benediction saying you know we're not going to be together all the time so we just trust that the Lord will watch over us that couldn't be further from the intent of the passage this is not a benediction this is a malediction what he's saying is you're a jerk I don't trust you further than I can spit and these stones are a witness I can't keep my eye on you any longer so God's gonna keep his eye on you that's the point that's the point so it just shows the propensity that many times we have as Christians to sacrifice the meaning of the text to give a sweet romantic little been addictive blessing when this was not meant to be a blessing at all in fact he says in verse 50 if you afflict my daughters or you take other wives beside my daughters although no man is with us see God is witness between you and me now you have the meaning of the text Laban said to Jacob here is the heap and here is this pillar which I have placed between you and me this heap is a witness and this pillar is a witness that I will not pass beyond this heap to you and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me for harm you get it here's the line in the sand right here you've come all the way to Gilead here's the line you will not go over this little pillar this line and come on my side and I'll stay out of your side and if you dare cross this God is watching you and this pile of stones is the witness the God of Abraham the god of nahor the god of their father Judge between us and Jacob swore by the fear of his father Jacob and Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and called his brethren to eat bread and they ate and they stayed all night on the mountain and early in the morning Laban arose kissed his sons and his daughters any mention of him giving a kiss on the cheek of Jacob no why would he he probably looked at him and glared at him or maybe nodded at him hey and then Laban departed and returned to his place this is the very last time you will hear of Laban in the scripture he passes away from the text he passes away from the story and no love is lost the story continues with Jacob in the very very next chapter in a chapter xxxii which obviously we won't get to tonight is a turning point in the life of Jacob he has just left Iraq and he's coming toward from Gilead now over the Jordan and his brother is gonna be there his brother Esau whom he betrayed so if I were to give chapter 32 a title I would call it between a rock and a hard place but but we'll get to that we'll get to that next week now no-no-no that was a cheap shot question for you have your circumstances and life been moving there unfavorable it's not pleasant here you have been praying that God would do something different and great and move powerfully and yet this happened ever thought that this could be part of the answer to that prayer the God is going to put something in your heart or perhaps already has the circumstances are lining up with that desire and now let God speak through his word and confirm it with his people even as Jacob brought his wives out and they confirmed what he heard from God and felt in his heart and circumstances around him they agreed so let God move and there's the fourth principle after God putting something in your heart after the circumstances lining up after hearing the voice of God through his word principle of Scripture the fourth is the confirmation from the family God's family the Bible says in the multitude of counselors there are safety get counseled I don't mean a counselor you have to pay fifty bucks a session for just the family of Christ the body of Christ just run it by somebody who has maturity and insight and and weigh all that together further as we close could it be that God has been moving you to him that up to this point you've been sort of meandering through life not really walking with God and God has been moving things in your life to get your attention to bring you under the Covenant of the God that you have not up to this point had a covenant with you haven't committed your life to Christ yet you've heard about him you're on the periphery you're looking and you're singing the songs are going to church all good stuff something's missing and God has been moving things around in your life to get your attention to bring you to that place of surrender then let tonight be that place let's bow our heads father we thank you for the time we've had in your word and these wonderful principles seen in this lengthy chapter but very practical and important chapter of Genesis 30:1 Lord I pray that you would direct us guide us with your eye keep us in your perfect will we trust that when we don't understand all that is happening or why it's happening that you're directing us you're keeping us you're moving us and even as Jacob waited six years before he made that move help us to be patient and wait on you for the right timing father I also pray for those who have come there seeking they have sought before but their life has been moved and now they're at a place tonight where they need to and want to let go to surrender to quit fighting against you and to be in your team tonight I pray Lord you draw them as our heads are bowed as our eyes are closed if that represents you tonight if you haven't given your life to Christ yet but God has spoken to your heart he has been for some time maybe through relatives or friends or circumstances but your restless and you want the peace of God the peace that passes understanding to know that God is in control of your life but up to this point you haven't really let him in and taking control if you want to do that tonight and you're willing to give your life to Christ or come back to him I want you to raise your hand up in the air as I close this raise your hand up so I can pray for you before we close and you're saying skip pray from me I want to give my life to Christ tonight I'm gonna let him in I'm gonna let him be in charge if you haven't done that yet raise your hand up god bless you sir and you ma'am and you toward the back I see your hand right there in the middle on the left and way on the left five or six of you tonight anybody else anyone else way in the back I see your hand anyone else father we thank you for those and we trust in Jesus name that the work that you have begun you will continue until that day of Christ in Jesus name Amen would you stand to your feet as we sing this final song I'm gonna ask those of you who raised your hand I saw about six or seven of hands go up I'm gonna ask you to get up out of your seat find the nearest aisle and walk up to the front and allow me to publicly lead you in a prayer why Jesus so often called people publicly and I'm gonna call you tonight like Jesus so often did to call you to leave whatever nets you've been hanging on to and make a public commitment it's gonna do something in your heart when you're willing to make a stand in front of God's people like this don't be afraid of that don't wait for somebody else to take the first step just if you raise your hand get up from your where you're standing and come write it to the front come right now [Applause] those of you who have come forward and a bunch of you did I'm so thankful to God for that I'm gonna lead you in a prayer I'm gonna ask you to say this prayer out loud after me from your heart to the Lord I know you're amongst a lot of witnesses here tonight but if it's possible try to tune us out and say this from your heart authentically in the ears of God but say it publicly say it out loud this is you giving your life away to him let's pray lord I give you my life I know that I'm a sinner please forgive me I believe Jesus died on the cross that he shed his blood for me and that he rose from the dead I turned from my sin I turned to you as Savior I want to live for you as Lord fill me with your Holy Spirit and help me to do that in Jesus name Amen yeah

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

Views: 8,842

Rating: 4.7593985 out of 5

Keywords: Calvary, Albuquerque, Skip, Heitzig, Jesus, Genesis, Sermon

Id: 0xN9aNGT5Lk

Length: 65min 54sec (3954 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 19 2018