Genesis 35-36 - 2009 - Skip Heitzig

[Music] let's pray together Heavenly Father we thank you for a time of nourishment we pray a time of being enriched in our faith as we grow in the Word of God thank you Lord that we have a privilege the opportunity of living in a country where we can gather freely where we can worship freely where we can read the word the Bible and put it into practice and so as we begin tonight we want to say a special prayer for those of our brothers and sisters who are unable because of the countries in which they live in the political forces that be in their places they're unable to do the same strengthen them minister to them as you do us in Jesus name Amen turn to Genesis chapter 35 tonight and we have in view just so you know chapters 35 and 36 because because chapter 36 is a list of names that we're going to blow through since it's just a genealogy and I'll tell you why it's there and why we blow through it and why we do it but then this way we can begin next time with Joseph's life in chapter 37 so we want to finish 35 and 36 Lord willing you know we may not be able to do it that's happened before the Lord might come in the middle of the study that'll be fine if we don't finish it out but at least tonight we're in Genesis chapter 35 and 36 now once upon a time there was a scorpion and a turtle and scorpions as you know don't swim turtles do but one morning the scorpion got up and wanted to make his way across the pond so he found an unsuspecting turtle and said excuse me but could I hop a ride on top of you and get to the other side the turtle looked at the scorpion said you got to be kidding I know what'll happen I'll be out in the middle of the pond you on my back halfway across you'll sting me and then I'll drown the scorpion said well that's illogical because if I stung you and you drowned I also would go down with you so that flies against logic the turtle said well you got a point there hop on so they made it across the lake halfway and wouldn't you know it about halfway across the lake that scorpion aimed its stinger right at the neck of the turtle and gave it everything it could and stung it as the turtle started to sink he turned his head back and said to the scorpion do you mind if I ask you something you said that it would be illogical for you to sting me just a moment ago so why did you do it scorpion said has nothing to do with logic it's my nature and as you can tell both the Scorpion and the turtle did not live happily ever after all of us have a sin nature and that nature has a sting to it because we have been stung by sin it's poison within our system everyone born has that nature the sting of death as Paul said death has spread to all men all have sinned now Jacob as we saw was a rascal Jacob was a scorpion seemed whoever he got around he'd sting them he stung his brother Esau ripping off his blessing he stung his dad deceiving him he stung his uncle Laban and last week we saw that because he was so passive with what happened to Dinah his daughter he stung his daughter but we serve a God of second chances and third chances and fourth chances and fifth chances and 268 chances and tonight we see the second chance with Jacob the stinger the Scorpion he'll catch her by God bringing him back to Bethel and him getting a whole new do-over with the Lord now just remember back last week in our study we noted that chapter 34 was a godless chapter godless because the name of God wasn't even mentioned one time in the entire chapter it was filled with deceit lust murder shame God was absent from the chapter in name and in principle well if that was a godless chapter than chapter 35 is just the opposite it's a God filled a chapter in fact the name God appears eleven times in chapter 35 of Genesis and another 11 times in names like beth-el house of God El Shaddai God the mighty so a total of twenty-two times a radical departure from a godless chapter this is a God filled chapter and I believe the chapter 35 is the first revival in the Bible and it's a personal revival it begins within the heart of one individual that's Jacob and that revival spreads from the head of the household to the rest of the household now the word revive means to bring back from the dead or bring back to life or bring back to consciousness spiritually speaking Jacob really really needed a revival he had not obeyed God he had not gone back to beth-el as I'll show you tonight he was lingering far away from God until this chapter and here God brings him back charles finney who was a revivalist and a preacher of revival century century and a half ago said all that is necessary for revival all that revival really boils down to is a new beginning of obedience to God a new beginning of obedience to god I'm gonna obey God I'm awakened to the fact of my sin the need for repentance and the desire to obey God and that happens here in this chapter it didn't happen until there was a crisis and if you noticed that sometimes it takes a crisis a crisis at home to awaken us of our real need for God and get us back on track and ask God for help so chapter 35 verse 1 we read then God said to Jacob arise go to Bethel and dwell there live there stay there that's your home and make an altar there to God who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother think back a few chapters right after Jacob deceived his dad and stole his brothers blessing and he was running away from home and he's out in the middle of nowhere what he thought was a godforsaken place in the middle of the night he had that vision of a ladder stretched up to heaven and angels of God descending and ascending he woke up the next day and said man this is awesome well he didn't quite say it that way he said truly this is an awesome place the Lord is in this place and I knew it not that's the first time he recognized God was doing something in his life and so he named that place where he was spending the night which was in older days in Abraham's time named Loess he renamed it Beth L the house of God but he made a vow to the Lord you remember he said after the Lord spoke to him and he made an altar he said now if the Lord will be with me and if the Lord will bring me back to this place then Yahweh the Lord will be my god but he never went back he's got some unfinished business with God now God orders him back do you have any unfinished business with God is there something between you and God that isn't made right then this is a great chapter to study because we see this man going back to Bethel and getting things right with God and here's the first principle of revival I'll give you just a few tonight number one revival came after a period of wickedness and I've discovered in studying some of the revivals of the past that that is true it seems like the nation the world the country the city has experienced an enormous season of wickedness and then revival comes after the period of the judges when every man did what was right in his own eyes remember that phrase from the Bible there was no king in Israel the writer says and every person every man did what was right in his own mind his own thinking his own eyes it was a very desperate and dark period of time during the judges even in the priests even at the tabernacle there was corruption elide the priest had a couple of sons they were not righteous dad Eli was passive like Jacob and his two sons were doing wicked things in the tabernacle and he knew about it but he just didn't say anything about it and then Samuel was born right after that dark time are right in the middle of that dark time and God used him to bring a revival to that nation after a season of wickedness you know they say that the darkest period of the night is the time just before the dawn just before the Sun comes up it's the darkest and so as the world and as our country if you look around seems to get darker and more desperate it's time to rejoice it's time to get on our knees and pray Lord maybe you'll bring a revival revive us again as the Prophet prayed Oh Lord second principle of revival God always initiate the revival man doesn't God does it was God who ordered Jacob back to Bethel it wasn't like Jacob woke up and said okay I'm really convicted I'm going back to Bethel he should have but he didn't God initiated it now why is that important because you can pray for a revival revival but you can't program revival I remember driving by when I was first a Christian a church and I saw a sign that just struck me as being odd it said revival this Friday night 7:00 o'clock they had scheduled it in their bulletin they had put it on the books they announced it to the community that revival would begin at 7 o'clock Friday I guess that meant they could live any way they wanted up till then they could continue to be dead if they were dead or unrevised if they were on revived but the revival begins at 7:00 and lasts until Sunday night at 10:00 well why would you want to end something that glorious first of all also it's nuts not something you conjure up or or or program or strategize it's begun by God it begins as God speaks to the heart and does something within the heart so he orders him back to Bethel verse two and Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him put away the foreign gods that are among you purify yourselves and change your garments well that's quite a thing to say to your family that maybe up to this point you thought was a godly family not that I don't not that I think he did but he has to order them put away the idols that you have it seems does it not that a lot of wickedness had been tolerated in this family for a long time now it's time to do something about it and even as God tells him to get back to Bethel he tells his family now get rid of the idols do you remember some of those idols few chapters back once again when Jacob and Rachel and the whole gang decided to leave paddan-aram and go back to Canaan and the Bible says that Rachel the wife of Jacob stole her father's idols and hid them and it really bummed Laban out so much that he chased them all the way down to the border of Canaan and said you stole my God's and I've always thought well you've got worthless gods if they can be stolen I want my gods back Jacob said if you can find them you can kill the one who has them well he never did find them because she was sitting on top of them on top of the saddle in the tent and she said you know it's that time a month dad I pardon me I can't get up and greet you like I normally would and she just just bowled him over with a lie and deceit but she had stolen the idols they'd been in the house for some time Jacob knew about it again he was passive he tolerated it but now he says it's time to end that when you think of idolatry you probably think of Old Testament most of us do we think of bowing before an image or like this carrying little images around with you and ascribing some kind of value or worth to that image as if it is a representation of God or a God or some person and that's idolatry but you may remember that John when he ended his letter first John he said little children keep yourselves from idols now that's a New Testament book so it's not just something Old Testament nor are idols simply statues that you ascribe some worth or value to but anything that is a replacement for God or takes up the worship of God could be considered an idol keep yourselves from an eye from idols it's a good word for us are we tolerating anything that's taking the place of devotion to God only you know and can answer that question but many people are many people's style of worship and religion is to worship idols six days a week and then worship God one day a week and then they wonder why their worship on Sunday is so lacking divided heart so Jacob says get rid of them it's time to go on I do want sort of pick up on last week's theme and tie this into this week you'll notice the Jacob for the first time gets involved actively with his children admonishing them to get rid of something that wasn't right up to this point he just whatever never really gave it much thought again he was very passive but not here he admonished them parents you have the right in fact you have the calling and responsibility to admonish your children Paul said bring them up bring them up your children in the fear and the admonition of the Lord you have the right you have the responsibility to say this is right this is not right that's wrong this is acceptable this is not acceptable this can be practiced that cannot be practiced finally even though his kids are much older he takes the leadership of the home and says that to them here I think that of all the tasks we have the most important task is that apparently here's why in our culture about 16 percent of your child's time will be spent at their educational facility at their school 1 percent of their time will be at Sunday school or a church school of some kind midweek or on weekends 1 percent of a child's time 83 percent of that child's time will be at home with some kind of parental influence so it's unrealistic to say well I can't understand what happened to my kids I took them to Sunday school 1 percent of their life when that parent himself or herself never really followed the Lord passionately or had an example to those children so that 83 percent of the time the message they saw and their parents contradicted the message they heard 1 percent of the time I remember when my son Nate was born right out here on the Westside I mean not like out on the Westside but at a hospital on the Westside yeah we did it out just real natural and I remember holding him he was an average weight average size but I remember holding him and and it was the first time I'd held him and I thought first thought is he's so light he's so light I hope I don't drop him that was my first thought my first fear then as I thought about it he seemed heavier and heavier as the weight of responsibility for this life came upon me and I saw wow the next many years must be devoted to training this child and making sure that what he sees and hears at home are the principles of the scripture now somebody once said a parent is simply a partner with God and disciple until Dru God wants to disciple them wants to nurture them and he uses us to do it that doesn't mean we're gonna be perfect no parent is I've never met a perfect parent I've met some good ones I've met some bad ones never met a perfect one here's the trouble the the problem is when we're really experienced at it were unemployed just when you get the rhythm just when you get it down just when you're you're just at your prime pace they're grown up fortunately there's a lot of latitude and leeway children I have found are very resilient and when we make mistakes it's sometimes as simple as son daddy did a stupid thing it was a mistake would you forgive him and maybe even Jacob said you know your father's been dumb he's not been going back to Bethel he hasn't been serving the Lord he's been allowing idols in the house would you please forgive me for being a poor father now get rid of the idols and they did as you'll see verse 3 then let us arise and go to Bethel and I will make an altar there to God who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone you can see his revived commitment to God so they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands and the earrings which were in their ears and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem so his kids in seeing the commitment spiritually of father they follow suit they follow his example this guy serious man he's doing it now there's a verse that I have heard more than any other verse and I and I bet you have to effect I'll ask you what is the one verse you have heard more than any other verse by parents when it comes to their children as looking for hopes to the future train up a child poverty to 6 train up a child in the way which he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it but the word train in Hebrew hanok comes from a word which has to do with putting one's finger in date honey and putting it to the lips of a child it's a practice in the ancient Middle East where a parent would take some date honey in the little finger and touch the lips of the infant the sweetness would stimulate the sucking reflex and get the child ready to be fed from its mother so the idea of Hana or train meant to stimulate one's taste so when it says train up a child it means far more than just give them information here's the information here's the book read it do this do that don't do this don't do that it's to live in such a way to live in such a way that it stimulates their taste for godliness and righteousness they look at a life and it's so sweet to see a life governed by God and they go I want that they have a relationship with God I want that that's what it means to train up a child in the way that he should go actually our 16th President President Abraham Lincoln had it right he quoted this verse and he said if a parent wants his child to be trained in the way that he should go he should walk in that way himself that's the idea finally Jacob is doing it his children are following suit verse 5 and they journeyed now get this this is interesting and they journey and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob now why is that what's that all about why would the terror of the Lord well you remember what happened in the last chapter how the sons of Jacob killed all of the Shechem i'ts as news would get around the community the rest of the Canaanite tribes would be seeking to avenge what happened and check them and to kill the sons of Jacob but God was working behind the scenes but they didn't know it in the book of Proverbs it says when a man's ways please the Lord he makes even his enemies be at peace with him here's a beautiful example of that now God is always working behind the scenes always you don't know it you don't see it but he's working John Nelson Darby used to say God's ways are behind the scenes but he moves all of the scenes that he is behind and here he is moving the scenes moving people into place moving their attitude protecting the children of Jacob as they go the terror of the Lord was upon them God was protecting them years ago at the church I had a little remote-control car I mean here at this church I had it was given to me as a birthday present I know what you're thinking William it skateboards cars do you ever grow up probably not but this was like a little remote-control electric car and it was just super cool had a great range on it and and it allowed me as people were walking across the campus to hide and aim the car at them so as they walked they'd see this cart they jump out of the way and I'd sort of chase them usually I did it with staff that I knew I was behind the scenes directing the car they didn't know it was doing that where were is this person gods behind the scenes and powerfully at work I saw this firsthand I've told you the story years ago because it happened years ago I went to the Philippines for the first time to the island Mindanao way down south it was at a time of civil war unrest and a group called the NPA the New People's Army it was a guerrilla armed group trying to struggle against the legal government and take it over and assume control they were traveling around and threatening people and trying to bring them under their control and they were going to churches for their money their funding and try to rob the tithes and offerings of the church well they went to one church that I had visited or what I was visiting at the time and they told me what had happened in that church a few weeks before I got there and they were first of all you got a you got to know when they told me the story there was such emotion as they told it they were so stoked and then I discovered why they said a few weeks ago the NPA and two jeeps pulled up outside of our church the guys got out with their guns walked right in the middle of a Sunday service held their guns up and said we'll be back next week we want all of the offerings of the church if you don't we'll kill you all know they had killed several people everybody was afraid of them the next week as the church met now they're telling me the story and as they're saying next week as the church met I'm thinking I wonder how many people actually came to church and met knowing what might happen they might just say you know honey I don't feel really that great I'm just gonna stay back and I'll hear it from somebody else church was full they spent the time praying they're on their knees praying crying out to God minutes ticked by the hour was completed hour and a half was completed their services are about two hours after the two hours it was all done no sign no show they had heard later on that day that those two jeeps were on their way on the windy road toward the church toward the village on that island of Mindanao something happened a freak accident that overturned the jeeps and the soldiers were killed and now this church was thanking God that the fear the terror of the Lord had fallen upon their enemies and God had protected them verse six I don't know if we're gonna get to 36 if I ramble on like this so Jacob came to Las that is Beth El which is in the land of Canaan he and all the people who were with him and he built an altar there and he called the place el beth-el now he had called at Bethel last time now he calls it el Bethel now that doesn't mean the Bethel this is not Spanish this is Hebrew he called the name of the place el Bethel because their God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother el beth-el means God of the house of God beth el means the house of God el Beth el means God of the house of God and before we get to that Bethel was the place where jacob began his spiritual walk right that was the highest level that's where God would bring him back to he said and that's what Jacob said he would go back to but for years he was at let's see Sukkot at Shechem about 30 miles away from Bethel until now finally after lingering and meandering he gets back to where God called him now here's the principle of restoration God always seeks to bring us to the highest possible level he can sometimes we want to allow him to bring us to Bethel to the highest level we settle for a different level we disobey Him and we hang out here or there and we're not at this place of intimate fellowship now God will always do the best for us at the level we allow him to bring us to but he always seeks to bring us to the highest possible level and that's why Jesus said the church of ephesus remember from where you have fallen repent and do your first works he didn't say remember where you are you don't really have to remember where you are you just look around this is where I am but remember where you used to be where you started out at and if you want to find out where you have fallen or how far you have fallen from the first love just go retrace your steps and you'll see that distance so God calls him back now Jacob renames it from the house of God to God of the house of God you know why because now he's not impressed with the place he's impressed with God before he was all impressed with the place he goes man this is an awesome place and he called it the house of God but now he's not as impressed with the place he's impressed with the God of the place you know what sometimes we can get so hung up on the house of God that we forget the God of the house when I was a kid I heard this over and over again by the priests in my church and the parents my parents because after church I would run up to my parents that run and chase my brother and I heard this don't run in church it's the house of God now I like children running in church I love Matt fritters running and jumping and playing and it should be a happy place not during the service but afterwards no problem we get so hung up on a place and we forget the god of the place I mean what is it like when somebody's just sitting in your seat one Sunday or or Wednesday how dare they that's the place that's the place man that's my place that's where God speaks to me well question if God is so big couldn't God speak to you in another place No we can sometimes do that with people we can elevate people on a pedestal and especially when we're younger and the Lord and we get fed or impressed or evangelized by somebody we place them in such high esteem and they're on that pedestal but as we grow in the Lord we understand it's really not about them it's about the Lord in them it's not the place it's the lord of the place it's not the preacher it's the lord of the preacher so now his priorities are right it's el beth-el the FL just kidding wanted to see if you were listening now Debra Rebecca's nurse died and she was buried below beth-el under the terebinth tree so the name of it was called a long bucket the oak of weeping this was sad because that was the link to his early childhood development that was his mother Rebecca's nurse and he had obviously been with him for some time and her death would be a sad event there's more to come then God appeared to Jacob again when he had come from Adana RAM and blessed him and God said to him your name is Jacob your name shall not be called Jacob any more but Israel shall be your name so he called his name Israel also God said to him I am God Almighty el shaddai that's the name God spoke to Abraham under and introduced himself I am El Shaddai the mighty God be fruitful and multiply a nation and a company of Nations shall proceed from you and Kings shall come from your body now here's what's interesting we have read this before right when he was wrestling with the angel of the Lord and he got the name not Jacob but Israel now the Lord appears to him and says what he already knows no new information whatsoever he said your name isn't Jacob anymore it's his maybe he was thinking I already know that I think it's noteworthy that he didn't get any new information but a reconfirmation of the old information why am I even mentioning that well because sometimes you'll meet someone who just has to have a new revelation new information a new word from God or a new experience I believe what we need more than anything else is just a reminder of what God already said because I don't know about you but I've read the Bible a long time and I forget an awful lot of it I don't need anything new I just need a fresh application of the old is that right isn't that exactly what Jesus did when he appeared to the two on the road to Emmaus and it says beginning at Moses and all the prophets he expounded to them all the things in the scriptures that were written of him it's a deep they said did not our hearts burn within us as he spoke to us why why did they have such heartburn was it a new revelation no was it new information no they were Jewish they were raised weaned taught those scriptures in synagogue all their lives but it was a fresh application of the old revelation their hearts burned as well ours dear Jacob but now your Israel not any new information but he after the affirmation of the old I heard a great story about William Randolph Hearst the wealthy billionaire who had his mansion in California it's still there to this day as a museum William Randolph Hearst had heard of and then seen a picture of a piece of art that fascinated him drew his attention in and seeing the photograph he said I must have that piece of art he ordered his purveyors to go throughout the world and all the private collections and find out who had it to see if he could buy it and so they looked for it and they looked for it and they came back about a week later and they told him that he already owned and that it was in one of his storage facilities boy that's pretty rich when you don't even know what you own you know what no different than us the Bible says we're blessed with all blessings all riches in Christ Jesus in heavenly places and here we are going I need more no you don't you just need to read the bank book and find out what you already have you have it God has given a second Peter chapter one all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue now verse 12 Oh something I didn't mention God appears to Jacob right God appeared to him keep this in mind because this is the last occasion of such an occurrence doesn't happen anymore here in the book of Genesis God will stop appearing now what you're gonna see in the next person that's highlighted Joseph is God doesn't speak through an apparition but through dreams God decided to do that a vision is what you see when you're awake a dream is what you see when you're asleep God can speak through either/or so God appeared and now that's done verse 12 the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you and your descendants after you I give this land so whose land was it God's that's the dispute today well who whose land is that does that belong to Israel or the Palestinians whose land is a answer short answer it's God's land and because it's God's land God decides who gets to occupy it and so he promised it to Abraham but Abraham had many sons the two most notable were Ishmael and Isaac God didn't promise it to Ishmael but he did promise it to Isaac and Isaac got a couple of boys Esau and Jacob he didn't give it to Esau but he did give it to Jacob and the twelve tribes of Israel so this land is pretty important because God will reiterate this covenant to Abraham Isaac to Jacob as they occupy that land I won't get too political though I could wander away so verse 13 then God went up from him in the place where he talked with him so Jacob set up a pillar in that place where he talked with him a pillar of stone and he poured a drink offering on it and he poured it out as the first mention in the Bible of a drink offering and Jacob called the place or the name of the place where God spoke with him Bethel now later on when we get to Exodus if we get to Exodus Leviticus and numbers the next three books in the Pentateuch you're going to read about drink offerings and how they're regulated in the laws of Moses but those will be very different this is a drink offering or a libation offering which is the oldest type of offering that we can find in history it is as simple as taking a drink of a jar a cup of fluid like water or wine or whatever you would have and pouring it out either on a stone altar like this or on the ground and it was a symbol of being poured out or pouring one's life out or into or over to the Lord that language appears later on when Paul the Apostle writes his last book to Timothy 2nd Timothy and he knows he's about to die he says I am already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure is at hand my life is about to be poured out completely physically it's also a picture of Jesus Christ in a sense for in Psalm 22 the prediction is that he would be poured out like water Isaiah 53 predicts Jesus the Messiah being poured out for our sins so here he is pouring out his drink offering to the Lord saying Lord everything I have is yours I'm not holding anything back any longer a revival man total commitment yet in the midst of these blessings and revival you'll notice what happens in the next verse Jacobs beloved wife Rachel will die then they journeyed from Bethel and when there was but a little distance to go to a froth Rachel laboured in childbirth and she had hard labor now I'm convinced men don't get this we read this but we don't get this would you say so ladies I watched my wife and labor I didn't get it all I know is man that I must really hurt and this is an extraordinarily hard labor that will take her life Bill Cosby years ago used to say men if you want to get an idea of what childbirth is like try taking your lower lip and stretching it backwards over your head and you'll get some idea of what it would feel like now it came to pass when she was in hard labor that the midwife said to her do not fear you will have this son also so it was as her soul was departing for she died that she called his name Ben Oni which means son of my sorrow sorrow Ben a nice son of my sorrow but his father called him Binyamin Benjamin son of my right hand she said this is so painful so hard his name is son of my sorrow dad was smart getting over temporarily the emotion of the moment seeing his wife die he renamed him son of my right hand now this had to be heartbreaking for Jacob because this is the woman he loved remember from the very first time he saw her he lifted up his voice and he wept he it was love at first sight and he worked for her for seven years and then another seven years and thus the two boys that are born Joseph which we'll start seeing next time I hope and Benjamin his younger brother the two born of Rachel become the favorites to Jacob and that is what creates the problem in the rivalry with the rest of the siblings so Rachel died and was buried on the way to F Roth that is Bethlehem and Jacob set a pillar on her grave which is the pillar of Rachel's grave to this day this is the first mention of Bethlehem in the Bible and see the word f Roth that means it's down in Judith's the southern Bethlehem there were two that's why when you read in Micah chapter 5 verse 2 it says but you Bethlehem Ephrathah though you are small among the clans of Judah yet out of you will come forth to me the one who is to be ruler in Israel whose goings forth have been from everlasting etc prophecy of the Messiah that's the Bethlem here's the first mention of it this is the place where naomi was from this is the place where Ruth will glean in the fields of Boaz this is the place where King David will be born this is the place where Jesus Christ will be born and the angels will be singing and here's the first mention of it by the way if you go to Bethlehem today they will show you a little area little domed area which they call the tomb of Rachel then Israel notice first time he's not called Jacob but Israel then Israel journey to pitched his tent beyond the Tower of Eater I don't know where the tower of eater is no tour guide ever pointed that out to me but wherever that is it's just beyond that and it happened when Israel dwelt in that land that Ruben went and laid with Bilhah his father's concubine remember he had to wise actually for that bore him children and Bilhah was one of them so his son is eldest son Ruben went and lay with or had sexual relations with Bilhah his father's concubine and Israel heard about it now the sons of Jacob were 12 we don't exactly know but it could be that Reuben was trying to usurp the authority of his father or at least get in line to be the one who would be sure to be the patriarch of the family maybe even before his father died we're not quite sure but this is what we do know because he did this whatever he wanted he lost now the inheritance and the birthright will not go to him as firstborn now this is important remember how last week I had to turn to Genesis 49 to see what happened to Levi and Simeon as Jacob was on his deathbed and he prophesized all his twelve boys so now again turn to Genesis chapter 49 and let's see what happens to first on the list which is Ropin Genesis 49 verse 2 Jacobs on his deathbed gathers his sons together in verse 1 Genesis 49 but now look at verse 2 Reuben you are my firstborn my might in the beginning of my strength the excellency of dignity and the excellency of power unstable as water you shall not Excel because you went up to your father's bed then you defiled it and then it's as if Jacob turns to all those around him and says he went up to my couch so Reuben forfeited the place of preeminence and inheritance but also number two and number three Simeon and Levi as we saw last week also forfeited that right they were cursed for anger so no good now go down to verse 8 and notice who's next on the list third on the list is Judah that should ring a bell to some of you because Jesus came from the tribe of Judah he's the Lion of the tribe of Judah and it says in verse eight Judah you are he whom your brothers shall praise Judah means praise your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies your father's children shall bow down before you now Jesus will come from the tribe of Judah and Paul will say of Jesus Christ he is the firstborn over all creation the prototokos in Greek the preeminent one and that language is harkening back to this event when number 1 2 & 3 4 fitted the inheritance and Judah was the uppermost and really the patriarchal mantle falls upon Judah in a spiritual sense for the blessing of the Father upon Judah verse 23 the sons of laya were reuben jacob's firstborn Simeon Levi Judah Issachar and Zebulun the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin Benjamin the sons of Bilhah Rachel's maidservant were Dan and Naphtali the sons of Zilpah Leah's maidservant were gad and ashur these were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in paddan-aram so Reuben did a bad thing he scratched off the Christmas list off the inheritance list he does really nothing except make sandwiches I guess later on Reuben sandwiches sorry forget it if but but here's the thing here's the thing you don't realize every now and then I let out those dumb things you don't know how much I restrain that's just what leaks out then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre or Kiryat Arba that is Hebron where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt now the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years that's one old dude so watch this so Isaac breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people well what he died of being old and full of days and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him okay Isaac died but he was wrong about his death wasn't he chapter 27 remember what he said to his son Esau go out and get me that savory food and let me bless you before I die before I died he lives another 43 years now he may have felt bad and thought he was gonna die but he didn't you know what job said I'll paraphrase it he says that man's days are in God's hands and the number of his months are with him only God knows he thought this is it I'm gonna die 43 years later he's still kicking and he finally dies so three deaths in this chapter three deaths and his family but at the same time great blessing because of the revival now chapter 36 yes we have time to get through it we'll do it very quickly chapter 36 as you look out you're going oh no we're not gonna like study this chapter are we because you're looking at all those names right that's really what it is it's a list of names it's a genealogy of Esau and his descendants now after this chapter the genealogical record as far as we're concerned or in the biblical record is concerned is done the focus will be on the lineage of Jacob and his twelve sons the nation of Israel will go on and God will be very selective about his genealogy so after this Esau is done let's at least read through the chapter and pay our last respects verses one through eight is a list of Esau's wives and sons that were born to him in the land of Canaan now this is the genealogy of Esau who is Edom Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan odd ah the daughter of elon the hittite a holy Obama the daughter of anah the daughter of Z beyond the hivite and ba samatha Ishmael's daughter sister of nebat you're looking for biblical names for your children stay away from this now ah de Bourgh Elif as to Esau beseemeth barrio el a holy Obama board j'l the rest of these people were born verse eight so Esau dwelt in Mount Seir now look Esau is Edom okay so we know about Esau right we know that he said didn't really care about spiritual things didn't care about his blessing his brother did he didn't you can have it he sold it for a bowl of beans but God kept his promise to him God made good on his promise to him he didn't care about God but God cared about him and even as he was in his mother's womb with his twin brother the Lord said two nations are in your womb and indeed our nation comes from Esau and what nation is that Edom Edom is from the Dead Sea east of the Dead Sea all the way down to the Gulf of Aqaba which is that that western leg of the Red Sea so all of southern Jordan is the land of Edom later on the because of war and oppression will migrate to Judah that is southern Israel and the will cease to be as a nation as a distinct people group some of them will be called I demands but they're still really from the lander there is one notable Edomite in fact the last Idumean or Edomite we know about and after that we lose complete track is a guy by the name of Herod the Great he was an Edomite one of the enemies of the Jews became an item his father and tippet ur called himself the king of the Jews so when his son who took that name also after his dad died when he heard that the king of the Jews was born in Bethlehem he went ballistic there's a rival enough said we'll get to that by the time we get to the New Testament verse 9 through 19 is a list of the grandsons and other powerful men who are with Esau when he's down in sere or Saudi Arabia this is the genealogy of Esau the father of the in Mount Seir there's a whole list of them and I want you to look at verse 11 and the sons of elif as were teaming Omar zepho got'em and Cain as now teaming becomes an area in Jordan that is known for wise people in the book of Job Elif as the tema Knight is one of the so-called friends of job that tears deep but unscriptural wisdom with his friend joe verse 13 these with the sons of rayel and they're listed and then verse 20 through 30 or the seven sons of seir the horror night or the right whose descendants married with Esau as descendants and so it says verse 20 these were the sons have seared the I to inhabited the land and a whole bunch of names were given verse 31 kings and Chiefs who lived who died what their weird names were verse 40 through 43 are the eleven Chiefs or chieftains or sheiks that came from Esau these were the names of the chiefs of Esau according to their families and their places by their names chief Timna chief alva chief jet jeff f jeff f what's your name Jeff F I'm sorry chief a-hole IBAMA interesting because that was a woman's name earlier in this chapter now it's one of the Chiefs names chief a lot chief P no not peeny own that'd be nuts chief keen ass chief demon chief MIBs our chief mag DL chief Ihram these were the Chiefs of edom according to their dwelling places in the land of their possessions Esau was the father of the so a great nation came in and the Lord is giving honor to the promise that he made to eat him by saying look how great it was and look who these people were and the Chiefs and the amount of children and the land that they occupied and the wisdom that came from that however historically and traditionally the as time goes on they become arch enemies of the Israelites and because of that God reserves special wrath for the did you know that did you know that the entire prophecy of the book of Obadiah is one long diatribe judgment uh Needham that's the theme of the book the Prophet Obadiah outlines what will happen to them so there's the legacy of a man who sold his birthright for a bowl of beans yes physically he prospered spiritually he declined and we are left in the new testament it's only fitting that we end his tribute with the new testament passage this is hebrews 12 verses 15 through 17 let me read it to you see to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no Bitterroot grows up to cause trouble and to file many 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 afterward as you know when he wanted to inherit this blessing he was rejected he could bring about no change of mind he sought the blessing with tears as we closed think back to how we started think back to the turtle and the Scorpion and both of them in that pond that day died and one died because he had the power to sting because he stung the turtle they both went down together because it was in his nature to sting could it be that you're at a place in your life right now where you're drowning because of your own sin nature there's something that you just haven't gotten victory over its stung you and it's poisoned you and you feel like I'm trapped by it I'm drowning myself and those around me we believe in the power of God we believe in the power of prayer we would love to be able to pray with you afterwards we're gonna have our counselors lined up here in the front and in the prayer room if there's some area of your life like Esau or you're just being drowned by that old sinful nature come and get prayer confess it before the Lord confess your sins one to another that you may be healed and let us pray for that let's bow our heads now Heavenly Father all of us are sinful all of us have a sin nature all of us are capable of the most vile things thoughts deeds word not for your grace there be no hope for anyone thank you for your grace and mercy toward us thank you for the lessons that we have in the Old Testament that even the New Testament says were written for us father I pray specifically for those who are like Esau they're trapped by the appetites of their own flesh or do you know who we are in this room you see every one of our hearts and we pray Lord for healing for deliverance or some of us feel like we're drowning or were just too deep to be rescued or do a miracle do several miracles in several lives we pray specifically your Holy Spirit would set free tonight Lord for those who like Jacob have dwelt too long too far away from Bethel the place of your dwelling the place of intimacy with you the place of worship and revelation of you bring us back to Bethel bring us back to that altar where you're number one again some of us have been wandering way too long bring revival in our hearts as Finny called it a new beginning of obedience to God me tonight be that night father we pray for those who are gathered among us tonight to whom a lot of this study just sort of didn't make complete sense some of it did but a lot didn't because the Bible says the natural man doesn't understand the things of the Spirit some could be here tonight who don't even know Jesus Christ personally or maybe at one time the they did something or or prayed something or felt something but they're not really walking with you they're not in fellowship with you at all but they want to be they want to come back or they want to come to you for the first time I pray you bring them to you I pray you'd save them I pray you'd make them your child and show them it's not about religion or about a once a week belief thing it's about being poured out as a drink offering lord I pray that some would do that tonight would surrender all and pour themselves out completely to you and surrender to Christ for the first time and some a radical recommitment after not even walking with you for some time if either of those describes you tonight as our heads are bowed would you raise your hand up so I can pray for you as we closed you raise your hand up you just say yep that described me right over here notice my hand skip and pray for me would you I saw went over to my right or bless you I see your hand anybody else yes ma'am anyone else a couple of you right over here them to my left I can think of your life god bless you and you and toward the back if you're not walking with the Lord if you're not his child by faith if you've never surrendered to him and made it personal raise your hand up father we pray for those around this auditorium who have raised those hands we believe also those listening by radio and by internet or watching by internet the same thing would happen multiply that Lord and father those who are here I pray father that as they come by faith to Jesus Christ that a whole new peace and otherworldly kind of peace would settle over them would carry them as they discover joy peace real purpose meaning and strength for the days ahead in Jesus name Amen would you stand to your feet as we sing this last song I'm gonna ask you to um do something that maybe you thought I don't really like doing that or I never thought I would do it I'm a little embarrassed to do it please don't be I'm gonna ask you to get up from where you're standing and find the nearest aisle if you raise your hand and stand right up here I'm gonna pray with you to receive Christ or recommit your life to Christ Jesus called people so often publicly he just called them publicly he went up to Matthew and said you follow me and it says he got up and followed him that's what this is about so if you raise your hand would you now put feet on that hand and come right up to the front and let me pray with you and you give your life to Christ [Applause] I'd like to pray with you guys gals and I'm gonna say a prayer out loud and I'd like you to pray it out loud after me from your heart to the Lord okay this is you giving your heart back to him or him to him for the first time let's pray together lord I give you my life I know I'm a sinner please forgive me I believe that Jesus died on a cross that He shed his blood for my sin that he rose again from the dead for me I turn from my sin I leave my past behind I turn to you Jesus as Savior and I want you to be Lord fill me with your Holy Spirit and help me to live for you in Jesus name Amen man god bless you guys [Applause]

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

Views: 9,954

Rating: 4.7931032 out of 5

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

Id: x57Dkxr1ckY

Length: 67min 3sec (4023 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 19 2018