Sermon Tone Analysis

Genesis 28-35

 

! Introduction

            I once visited a family who had built their own home.

When I was there, it had already been several years since they had built it and they were living in it, but there were still a number of things that were not finished.

Some of the wood trim was unfinished and so were several other things.

They said they just didn’t have time to get around to it.

I haven’t been back since, but I have wondered if they ever finished their house.

Have you ever seen cars which are obviously being repaired.

There is primer on different spots on the body, and it seems evident that the owner is in the midst of fixing the vehicle, but the person is using the car.

Once, I saw such a car and it looked like the person had begun to repair rust spots on the car.

The only problem was that they were not finished and there was new rust forming in other spots.

A job was started, but never finished.

Does God do that with us?

God has prepared the way of salvation by sending Jesus to die on the cross.

He prepared the soil of our hearts and called us to himself so that when we heard the gospel, we were in a position to accept it.

Our part in salvation was only to receive the gift of God.

When we received salvation, God put a new heart in us by the rebirth of the Holy Spirit.

Once God has taken us this far, does he then leave us to complete the job ourselves?

Does He stop working once He gets us to salvation or does God finish the job he starts in us?

There are many verses in Scripture which assure us that God does keep on working in us until he brings us to the complete maturity of being like Christ.

Philippians 1:6 says, “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Hebrews 12:2 describes Jesus as “the author and perfecter of our faith...” In the KJV it uses the word “finisher.”

I Thessalonians 5:24 also encourages us with a blessing and a promise, “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.

May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.”

We see a good example of how God does His work in the life of Jacob.

Jacob was God’s chosen one who cared about the things of God and obeyed, but had a lot of problems truly trusting God and did a lot of things that were not suitable for a man of God.

As we examine his life, we see how God worked in his life to bring him to a deeper faith.

How was God at work in his life?

How is God at work in your life?

!

I. God’s Chosen

!! A. Flawed Character

After last Sunday’s message, someone told me they had been reading Genesis and found that Jacob was “a terrible man, he makes me so mad.”

We have seen some of his weaknesses.

The story we looked at last week in which he bought his brother’s rights as the firstborn showed up what was revealed at his birth already - that he was a grasper.

The other story we looked at reveals that he was willing to deceive in order to get his way.

He joined his mother in fooling his father that he was Esau in order to get the blessing which Isaac had said he would give to Esau.

Jacob had learned of the favoritism of his parents because he lived with it, but he didn’t really learn from it.

When it came to his own family, he was the same.

We see instances in which he showed lack of love for Leah and her children.

Later when he was living with his uncle Laban, we see that he was also a manipulator.

In Genesis 30:37 and following we discover that He tried to manipulate things so that he would receive the best and strongest flocks and herds.

We can get mad at him, but we know that we ourselves are also not perfect.

We may not have the same problems, but all of us have character flaws and sins which get in the way of being what God wants us to be.

Although we are saved from sin, there are weaknesses and sins which still make themselves felt in our lives.

!! B. God’s Chosen

            And yet, Jacob was God’s chosen instrument.

We see that God chose him to carry the promises of Abraham and Isaac to the next generation.

Before his birth, it was revealed to Rebekah that he would be the chosen one.

We read in Genesis 25:23, “The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

In Genesis 28, God spoke to Jacob when he was fleeing from his brother and he was given the same promises which had been given to Abraham and Isaac - promises of many descendants, promises of the land, promises that all nations on earth would be blessed through him and promises of God’s care and presence.

The New Testament also reinforces that Jacob was God’s chosen instrument when it says in Romans 9:10-13, “…Rebekah’s children had one and the same father, our father Isaac.

11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”

13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

In part at least we saw last week how there was a seed of faith in Jacob.

He was interested in God’s plan, He obeyed God and He acknowledged God.

And yet when we look at all the character flaws, it is hard to imagine why he was God’s chosen and how God could use him.

Yet, we are not much different.

God has chosen us to receive salvation even though we are not perfect and we wonder how God could call such imperfect people as we are His children.

But he does and we rejoice in His choice of us and we rest in the wonder of His gracious gift.

!

II.

God’s Work

            But the current status is not the whole story.

As we have already noted, God is at work in us to bring us to a deeper faith and to make us more fit to be his children.

The stories in Genesis 28-35 reveal a number of ways in which God was at work in the life of Jacob.

Two stories bracket this entire section.

The first is the encounter which Jacob had at Bethel when he was fleeing from Esau.

He slept and while he slept, he dreamt that angels were descending from heaven and ascending.

God spoke to him and gave him a promise of his care and presence.

Jacob responded that if God would care for him, then God would be his God.

It was a statement, not of doubt, but of “wait and see.”

The other story takes place in Genesis 35 after Jacob had returned to the promised land.

Once again, he went to Bethel and built an altar and gave thanks to God.

He had changed his attitude from “wait and see” to one who worshiped and trusted God.

What had happened in the intervening years to help him grow in faith?

Just to remind you of the story, after he left home, he traveled to the country in which his uncle Laban lived, he was his mother’s brother.

When he arrived, he met Rachel and fell in love with her.

He agreed with his uncle to work for him for seven years in order to have the privilege to marry Rachel, since he had no “bride price” which was normally paid for the right to marry.

On the wedding night, he discovered, however, that Laban had switched brides on him and had given him Leah, Rachel’s older sister.

Although he married Rachel a short time later, he had to work another 7 years for her, during which time 11 sons and one daughter were born to him.

Then after 14 years, he wanted to increase his own holdings and worked for his uncle another 6 years.

and he increased greatly in wealth and property.

After 20 years, God told him to return to his home in the promised land.

His wives agreed to go and they fled from Laban.

After a confrontation with Laban, Jacob and all that was his were released to return home, but now there was the problem of meeting Esau.

Jacob sent gifts ahead to Esau and prayed and also had a significant encounter with God.

When he finally met Esau, Esau was no longer angry and there was a positive reconciliation and Jacob was able to return to his home land in peace.

During these 20 years, God taught Him to trust.

What did God do to teach him?

There are five things that God did to bring him to a deeper faith.

God uses the same things to deepen our faith today and to work in our hearts so that we will love and serve Him more faithfully.

!! A. God Reveals Himself

            The first thing God did was reveal himself to Jacob.

Genesis 28:10-22 tells us about the time when he was leaving his home.

Alone and having very little, he was traveling to his uncle Laban’s place.

One night, as he stopped to sleep, he did not stop at a Holiday Inn, but slept on the ground and used a stone as a pillow.

During the night, God revealed himself and he saw the glory of God and the presence of the protecting angels of God.

He heard God speak to him, in a dream, about the promises which had been Abraham and Isaac’s and which were now to be his.

When Jacob woke up, he remembered the dream and he was in awe of God.

He said, “surely the Lord is in this place” and “How awesome is this place.”