The Long Road to Obedience (Genesis 31-36)
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· 15 viewsJacob epitomizes the human struggle to obey God whereby God demonstrates His grace on our behalf.
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For the director of music. To the tune of “A Dove on Distant Oaks.” Of David. A miktam. When the Philistines had seized him in Gath. 1 Be merciful to me, my God, for my enemies are in hot pursuit; all day long they press their attack. 2 My adversaries pursue me all day long; in their pride many are attacking me. 3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. 4 In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? 5 All day long they twist my words; all their schemes are for my ruin. 6 They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps, hoping to take my life. 7 Because of their wickedness do not let them escape; in your anger, God, bring the nations down. 8 Record my misery; list my tears on your scroll— are they not in your record? 9 Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me. 10 In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise— 11 in God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me? 12 I am under vows to you, my God; I will present my thank offerings to you. 13 For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.
1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, Abijah became king of Judah, 2 and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Maakah, a daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 Abijah went into battle with an army of four hundred thousand able fighting men, and Jeroboam drew up a battle line against him with eight hundred thousand able troops. 4 Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me! 5 Don’t you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt? 6 Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, an official of Solomon son of David, rebelled against his master. 7 Some worthless scoundrels gathered around him and opposed Rehoboam son of Solomon when he was young and indecisive and not strong enough to resist them. 8 “And now you plan to resist the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hands of David’s descendants. You are indeed a vast army and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods. 9 But didn’t you drive out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make priests of your own as the peoples of other lands do? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may become a priest of what are not gods. 10 “As for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests who serve the Lord are sons of Aaron, and the Levites assist them. 11 Every morning and evening they present burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the Lord. They set out the bread on the ceremonially clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We are observing the requirements of the Lord our God. But you have forsaken him. 12 God is with us; he is our leader. His priests with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against you. People of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed.”
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
The Long Road to Obedience (Genesis 31-36)
The Long Road to Obedience (Genesis 31-36)
Introduction:
10,000 Sermon Illustrations Penalty Box
Penalty Box
Stan Mikita, a professional hockey star, used to get into a lot of fights during games. He stopped when his eight-year-old daughter asked a very grown-up question: “How can you score goals when you’re always in the penalty box, Daddy?”
Bits and Pieces, July, 1990, p. 19
That is what Jacob’s life was like. It feels like he is continually in a penalty box. He takes advantage of his brother and deceives his father, and finds himself on the run for his life.
He meets God at Luz and pledges his faith to God, but then in a moment of passion pledges himself to a deceitful uncle and finds himself enslaved for 14 years , 7 for which were for a wife he didn’t want.
After committing himself to his uncle for a few more years, things turn around for him as God blesses him with flocks and servants, only to have to flee one more time for his life.
In all this time, we see he has pledged himself to God, but he is still striving to provide for himself. Things do not get any better as we continue with the rest of Jacob’s story this week.
Stand with me as we read from where we left off last week. Genesis 31:1-18.
1 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.” 2 And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been. 3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.” 4 So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were. 5 He said to them, “I see that your father’s attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me. 6 You know that I’ve worked for your father with all my strength, 7 yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me. 8 If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked young. 9 So God has taken away your father’s livestock and has given them to me. 10 “In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. 11 The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 12 And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. 13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.’ ” 14 Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father’s estate? 15 Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us. 16 Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you.” 17 Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, 18 and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
The Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God!
Pray
I. The Long Road to Obedience
I. The Long Road to Obedience
Sermon Introduction:
Bless Jacob’s heart, he has had a difficult time. He is not an evil man, he just wants to make a good life for himself. However, he really goes about it the wrong way.
In some ways, it isn’t his fault. His father was obviously not an advocate of his and so he grew up feeling he had to do something to make something of himself by himself. This was encouraged by his mother who was an advocate for him without the power. Unfortunately, neither understood that we all have an advocate in God.
When Jacob arrives at Luz and God appears to him, he is encouraged that God is on his side. However, he is somewhat reluctant to fully commit himself until God has proven Himself. During his time with Laban, God has been his advocate even when Laban does all he can to cheat Jacob. In all this time, Jacob probably wonders if and when he will ever go home.
Then the day comes. God gives him the word. It is time to return home. You some things are just no brainers, you know? There are things that are just...
A. Easy Obedience (Genesis 31)
A. Easy Obedience (Genesis 31)
You know what I am talking about. The things we are asked to do that we want to do. However, Jacob is afraid that Laban will not allow him to go. Instead of trusting God, he comes up with a plan. He knows that during shearing season, Laban and his sons will be gone for 3-4 days to get the task done. This is his opportunity.
So, he calls a meeting with the wives...
Leah and Rachel have their own beef with their father and agree
Rachel steels her dad’s idols to secure an inheritance for her son
Laban pursues but is warned by God (Laban learns about their leaving 3 days later and it takes him a week to catch up to them.)
24 Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
5. The Covenant: (Two meals, monuments and names for this contract) This is no benediction but a Malediction (Not trust, but lack of trust. They commit to part company for ever and to never retaliate.
Now, so far so good. Jacob is finally able to head home to retrieve his inheritance as well as populate it with is successful acquisitions. But just as soon as he thought he was home free, Jacob met up with...
B. The Challenge (Genesis 32)
B. The Challenge (Genesis 32)
Can you just see Jacob swiping his head and thinking, shoo! I missed a bullet there! He turns his back on all his troubles with Laban, only to realize that he has another challenge ahead of him. Wow, he just went from the frying pan to the fire. He has survived his conflict with Laban, but will he survive his meeting with Esau? A lot of years have gone by. Would Esau still be in a murderous rage after all this time? However, Jacob is about to have a flashback on Luz.
1 Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2 When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim.
Mahanaim - Two camps
The Army of God was before him ready to defend him. Can you imagine that? Have you ever wondered about what you do not see visibly? There is a spiritual world all around us that we never see with our eyes. As Christians, we sometimes sense it in our spirits, but we are unable to see it physically. Frank Perretti and others have written books with the hope of helping us to have an idea. However, on rare occasions some have seen, such as the time when Elisha confronted the army of an enraged King of Aram.
11 This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?” 12 “None of us, my lord the king,” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.” 13 “Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.” 14 Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city. 15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. 16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
When we stand within the will of God, His mighty army is with us and all around us.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, 10 no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. 14 “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
These scriptures do not mean that we will never suffer persecution or death. However, when we do face such times, He is with us. How else do you think the many martyrs have stood firm under persecution. I recently read that an attempt was made to boil John the Apostle in oil, but that an angel protected him and he came out unscathed. But just as there are such events as this, there were many that did not survive. Many were beheaded, burned alive, fed to wild animals, etc… So how can we say they were protected by angels. I believe many never felt what was happening to them. Remember, physical death isn’t final. It is not failure if we die for the sake of Christ.
However, there are times when angels do perform miraculous deliveries. I have had many discussion with various ones of you, who have had times you felt like you were rescued. I can share several accounts from my own life. (New Year’s Eve experience on my way home from Kuna).
However, the army of God was not enough to way lay Jacob’s fears.
Jacob sends gifts of 550 animals, but messengers return reporting that Esau has 400 men with him.
Jacob wrestles with his fear and ultimately finds he is wrestling with God.
Jacob humbled. He had achieved the blessing through deceit, but that did not guarantee God’s blessing. Jacob wanted surety of God’s blessing.
4 He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favor. He found him at Bethel and talked with him there—
Certainly he did not see the wrestling for what it was—a parable of his entire life. Throughout the long narrative, Jacob’s life has been characterized as a grasping struggle. Jacob had wrestled with his brother (25:22), and then with his father (chap. 27), and then with his father-in-law (chaps. 29–31), and now with God (chap. 32). Jacob had always struggled with both man and God.
Jacob didn’t prevail until he had lost to himself. He secures the blessing, but he is physically impaired the rest of his life. Jacob needed to come to the end of himself. To learn to trust and depend on God.
Jacob is called to become Israel. Israel=”God Fights” or “Contends with God”
Spiritually, Jacob was in top form in this moment. It is a humbled Jacob that stands before Esau and Jacob needed to be humbled to face Esau successfully.
It would be well if we ended there, but unfortunately we do not and we see in Jacob...
C. Man’s Fickle Heart (Genesis 33)
C. Man’s Fickle Heart (Genesis 33)
Humility, restitution, back to deception
Jacob doesn’t follow Esau to Seir as he said, but neither does he obey God and to to Bethel. Instead he goes to Shechem.
Once again, Jacob is contending with God. His reluctance to go to Bethel was in direct defiance of God’s will and it cost him big time. Jacob finally pulls himself together and realizes that he needs to obey and go t Bethel. We see in Jacob the reluctance of all people to completely obey God outright. The hold of sin is strong so that...
D. Obedience Doesn’t Come Easily (Genesis 34)
D. Obedience Doesn’t Come Easily (Genesis 34)
Partial obedience is disobedience. Jacob does not go to Bethel as God commanded, but to Shechem (Is he reluctant to face his father?)
El-Elohe-Israel=”The mighty God is the God of Israel”
No amount of worship can make up for disobedience and Jacob soon suffers the consequences.
Dinah raped
Brothers retaliate in response to father’s indifference soiling the sacred act of circumcision.
Jacob’s weak nature exposed. Once again, Jacob is humbled and realized that if he wants God’s blessing, he needs to be obedient. Too bad Jacob didn’t have the Psalms back then because he could have saved himself a lot of grief if he had heeded Psalm 32:8-10
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. 9 Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. 10 Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him.
Once again, Jacob comes to the end of himself and chooses to obey God. Then we find that...
E. True Obedience Comes From a Changed Heart (Genesis 35)
E. True Obedience Comes From a Changed Heart (Genesis 35)
1 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.” 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. 3 Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem. 5 Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them. 6 Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan.
Jacob prepares his heart and those of his family
Luz revisited
Worship in Bethel
God reaffirms the new name of Israel and the Abrahamic covenant that is Jacob’s now.
14 Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. 15 Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.
Jacob’s commitment to God sounded conditional when he first made it at Luz some 20+ years before. But now, Jacob full out commits himself. However, his disobedience came with consequences. His own disobedience and selfish attitudes has fractured his family.
He has a second son by Rachel only to loose Rachel.
Reuben defiles Rachel’s bed by taking her servant to bed. She was no longer able to be a wife to Israel (cultural status knows as “living widow”). This act of defiance on Reuben’s part was an attempt to secure his mother’s position as first wife and establish his authority, but it cost him before Jacob and before God. Later, his inheritance was given to Joseph by way of his two sons.
Conclusion:
The lives of Jacob and Esau are very revealing. They are really symbolic of most people in one form or another.
Esau represents the lives of those who reject God or just give no thought to God. The one is just busy living their life trying to get the most out of it to please themselves. They have no time or interest.
Genesis—Beginning and Blessing (Esau’s Genealogies (vv. 1–8 and 9–43))
Young Esau could not see beyond what was in front of him. He possessed no vision, no spiritual imagination. He had no eyes or mind for God, or for Heaven, or for Hell. Spiritual realities were to him dull and opaque. He was a single-dimensional soul. Pleasure now was his guiding star. For him all that mattered was the excitement of the hunt, a hearty meal, a woman’s company—all good things in the proper perspective and place. But pleasure is all that Esau could see. Thus he despised his birthright, selling it for a single meal, and likewise he despised his heritage for the pleasure of Canaanite women. Esau’s blithe arrogance brutalized everything precious to life and fixed him on his tragic course.For every generation, the challenge is the same—to see that there is more to life than a meal, or a video game, or baseball, or a party, or a movie, or an indulgence of some kind—to see, as Paul put it, that “the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). The challenge is to “seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God,” to “set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:1, 2). The challenge is to forgo the lazy brain death that comes so easily to the young who ignore the teaching and preaching of God’s Word—and to listen with all you have. Do not sell what God has given you through his Word, your church, and your family for a cheap pleasure.
However, Jacob represents those who do listen to God, but continually contend with God. Kent Hughes makes the following conclusion to Jacob’s life story.
Jacob’s life is the story of relentless grace—tenacious grace, contending grace, intrusive grace, renovating grace. Tenacious in that it would not let him go. Contending as it was always battling for his soul. Intrusive because it would not be shut out. Renovating because it gave him a new limp and a new name.
This is the God who has redeemed us. He wrestled Satan on the cross and won. He has given us new life. And now that we are his, he will not let us go. We must submit to him. We must understand with Luther:
Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing.
How blessed we are when we yield to God at the beginning of God’s call, the way Abraham and Joseph did. But so many of us are like Jacob. We struggle independently of the God whom we believe and love. We want to be part of his plan, but alas, we make our own plans—and we never truly succeed. Then a crisis comes through which he lays his hand upon us (life becomes dislocated—out of joint), and we have an appalling sense of our own incompetence and weakness. That is the great hour—the hour of grace, because from there on our walk is never the same.
It is better to be a Jacob than an Esau, but it is better yet to follow the example of Joseph. Joseph was by no means any more perfect, but he truly had a heart for God unlike his father who fought more for blessings than from a heart of true devotion. At least, not until much later. Next week, we begin his life story.
But the question for you today is, are you living in the will of God? Or are you like Jacob and just fighting to make your life work your way with God on the sidelines, available when you wish to call upon him. I fear many people are living in partial obedience. They worship God upon an altar and give Him flattering names. but all the while living their life their way. Shechem had a lot to offer. Commerce, convenience, easy living. Kinda like what Lot was after. Is that the life you are living? Or are you willing to take the harder road of obedience. It feels harder at first, but in the long run, it is by far the easier path.
Let me remind you again.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. 9 Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. 10 Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him.
Pray and dismiss