Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #10148 - I Am God Almighty, El Shaddai - Genesis 35:11-CH36
Transcript
- 0:04Welcome to the Study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
- 0:08Taylor recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co To learn
- 0:12more about the many resources available through Abounding
- 0:15Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services, visit us
- 0:19online at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
- 0:24Church app. Now here's Pastor Ed to take us
- 0:27into our study. Amen.
- 0:30Take your Bibles. Open them to Genesis chapter 35.
- 0:35Our study last time was more introductory to the whole
- 0:39chapter. We'll pick up where we left off
- 0:42last time, and I've entitled our Bible study.
- 0:44I am God Almighty, El Shadai. And Jacob receives that
- 0:50declaration of God here in chapter 35.
- 0:55Notice in verse eight it says Now Deborah Rebecca's nurse died
- 0:59and she was buried below Bethel under the Terrabin tree.
- 1:03So the name of it was called Alon Bakuth.
- 1:06Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Padana Ram and
- 1:11blessed him. And God said to him, your name
- 1:14is Jacob. Your name shall not be called
- 1:17Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.
- 1:21And so he called his name Israel, governed or ruled by
- 1:26God, or Prince of God, or various translations of Israel,
- 1:30and God said to him, verse 11 I am God Almighty.
- 1:35Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and company of nations
- 1:39shall proceed from you. And King shall come from your
- 1:43body. The land which I gave to Abraham
- 1:45and Isaac, I will give to you and to your descendants.
- 1:49After you I give this land. Then God went up from him in a
- 1:53place where he talked with him. Jacob set a pillar in that place
- 1:58where he talked with him a pillar of stone, and he poured a
- 2:01drink offering on it. He poured oil on it.
- 2:04And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke to him,
- 2:08Bethel. Last time we heard the call of
- 2:11God to Jacob to return to Bethel again, and it's a place that God
- 2:17recalls us and asks us and tells us to return to over and over
- 2:22again. The place of simplicity, the
- 2:25place of worship, the place of surrender.
- 2:29You could say that Jacob was being called back to his first
- 2:32love again. A place where remember he came
- 2:35so discouraged and beat up and tired.
- 2:37But then he declared the Lord is in this place and the Lord met
- 2:41him there. Jacob's heart needed to be
- 2:44revived. He needed revival.
- 2:48We learned last time that revival is something that's
- 2:51initiated by God in the hearts of his people.
- 2:53It involves 2 things if you were taking notes.
- 2:56First of all, revival recalls requires a recognition of sin.
- 3:02And secondly, it requires A repentance of heart.
- 3:05That's what God is looking for in all of us, as he's being set
- 3:09apart in a special, beautiful way.
- 3:11God speaks into his life and intervenes Jacob's building
- 3:16houses now no longer wanting to be a Pilgrim.
- 3:19But he's settling down, he's told, remember, and this is an
- 3:23important point in verse one, God said to Jacob a rise and go
- 3:27to Bethel and dwell there. This was the place where he was
- 3:31to hang out and stay. He's at a place in the previous
- 3:35chapter, in chapter 34, where there was the massacre of the
- 3:41the Shakum massacre and there was an importance for him to
- 3:45leave that area, but he was calling him back.
- 3:48And even in difficult situations, you know that you,
- 3:51you, you might find yourself like Jacob was at the end of
- 3:53chapter 34, where his sons did a great, disastrous, sinful deed
- 3:59and ruined his reputation. And it was important that he go,
- 4:02but it wasn't just important that he go, it was important
- 4:06that he go the way of the Lord. And I find that so important at
- 4:10times. It's easy to go and easy to
- 4:12move, but you need to go and move in the Lord.
- 4:17And we on many times have learned that there's no big
- 4:23decisions on bad days. We want to hear from the Lord.
- 4:27We want to have His direction. And here he is obeying God.
- 4:31He comes back to Bethel, and in verse nine God appears to him
- 4:37again here in Bethel. And he repeats the promise.
- 4:42What an encouragement it would be to receive the promise.
- 4:46He reminds him in verse 10, Your name is Jacob, but it's not
- 4:50going to be Jacob anymore. But Israel.
- 4:53You have a different life, a new life.
- 4:55You're governed by me. The way of the conniver, the way
- 5:00of the the heel catcher, the way of the manipulator is not for
- 5:05you, Jacob. Your name is Israel, governed by
- 5:09God. It's always encouraging to be
- 5:12reminded of our identity in Christ.
- 5:16One of the scriptures I memorized very early on in my
- 5:19walk with the Lord, I didn't know how important it would be,
- 5:23is that I'm a new creation in Christ.
- 5:26Old things have passed away. Behold, all things become new.
- 5:31The reality of my new identity. Who I am in Christ is more
- 5:36important than who I was in the world, even though who I was in
- 5:41the world, or my mistakes, or my failures, or my sins.
- 5:45Often come back against me. Often reminded God says no.
- 5:50I know you have the name Jacob, but your name is changed.
- 5:55You can say the same thing for yourself.
- 5:57You have an old you and a new you.
- 6:01You have the old you apart from Christ and now the newness of
- 6:05life in him. And it's like God comes to Jacob
- 6:08and says you can trust me. I've promised you the land.
- 6:13I promised for you to be fruitful and multiply a nation
- 6:17through a perceived in verse 11. From you of kings shall come
- 6:20from your body the land. Verse 12 that I gave you, that I
- 6:24gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you, and it's an encouraging
- 6:29place for him to be. He describes himself.
- 6:32Notice in verse 11 I am God Almighty.
- 6:36What God is promising here is going to require power and
- 6:41authority. And sovereignty.
- 6:45And understand Jacob is not living with the Bible in his
- 6:48hands or a scroll available to him.
- 6:51He's not going to be able to pull out the Bible and read it
- 6:53every day or pray. He can pray every day, but he's
- 6:55not going to read the Bible every day.
- 6:57He's living on the promises of God in a very real way, required
- 7:02to live by faith and hear. God reveals himself as Al Shadai
- 7:08the Almighty 1. Which it would be good for us to
- 7:11pause and look at a few different places where God
- 7:14reveals his character to us through his name.
- 7:18We're reminded of the different names that God uses to reveal to
- 7:21himself. I just have five that perhaps
- 7:24God would encourage you with tonight.
- 7:26The first one is Jehovah Gyra. Many of you are already familiar
- 7:29with that. That is, God reveals himself as
- 7:32who that God will provide. That God will provide Genesis
- 7:37chapter 22 and verse 14. Abraham called the name of the
- 7:40place the Lord will provide as it is said to this day in the
- 7:44mount of the Lord. It shall be provided.
- 7:48How many of you come to worship tonight?
- 7:51Thinking, Lord, this is the promise I claim you promise to
- 7:55be the God who will provide. And what does the Bible say to
- 7:59us? That God provides all of our
- 8:00needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus?
- 8:03Here's another one. Jehovah, Rafah.
- 8:06The God who heals the God who heals, Exodus chapter 15 and
- 8:11verse 26. If you diligently heed the voice
- 8:14of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, and give
- 8:18ear to His commandments, and keep all of His statutes, I'll
- 8:21put none of the diseases on you which I have brought from the
- 8:24Egypt brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you.
- 8:30And all healing comes from the Lord, All of it 100%.
- 8:34How about this one Jehovah Nisi. The God who sees you feel
- 8:39forgotten today, as if God abandoned you.
- 8:43You might be feeling the abandonment of people in your
- 8:45life, and that gets associated toward God.
- 8:48A time of waiting, like I was sharing in prayer.
- 8:50You might have been praying for five years, 10 years, 20 years.
- 8:54And it's a very real moment by moment, daily need.
- 8:58You feel it in your body. You have it in your mind.
- 9:02Well, listen. The Lord sees Exodus chapter 17
- 9:06and verse 15. Moses built an altar and called
- 9:10its name. The Lord is my banner, and the
- 9:14idea behind the Lord is my banner is that he covers you.
- 9:18And he sees you and he knows you.
- 9:21How about this Jehovah Shalom? God is peace.
- 9:26The God of Peace Judges, chapter 6, verse 24.
- 9:29Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it The Lord
- 9:33is peace. And to this day it's still there
- 9:36in Ofra of the Abiazerites, the peace of God that passes all
- 9:42understanding. Be anxious for nothing.
- 9:46But in all things, by prayer and supplication, with Thanksgiving,
- 9:51make your request be made known to God.
- 9:53And the peace of God that surpasses all understands will
- 9:56guard your heart and your mind. Where does the peace of God come
- 9:59from? The God of peace?
- 10:02Jehovah Shalom. How about this?
- 10:06Jehovah to Sidcanu? You got what?
- 10:09Yes, it's spelled TSIDKENU. This is a beautiful one, the
- 10:16Lord of our righteousness. The Lord of our righteousness.
- 10:21The Bible says that we are covered in robes of
- 10:24righteousness because he who knew no sin were made sin for us
- 10:30that we might be the righteousness of God.
- 10:32It's not amazing the goodness of God covering us.
- 10:36Jeremiah chapter 33 and verse 16.
- 10:39In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell
- 10:43safely. And this is the name by which
- 10:45she will be called the Lord Our Righteousness.
- 10:49And now Jacob, in a very pivotal time of his life, God comes and
- 10:54he says, I am Al Shadai, God Almighty.
- 10:59And one thing you need to know, Jacob, you have a new identity.
- 11:02You are no longer the manipulator, the heel catcher.
- 11:06You are Israel. You belong to me.
- 11:10You are one governed by me now. And he would have the limp to
- 11:15remind him, wouldn't he, as he wrestled with God and received
- 11:19the blessing, the blessing of brokenness and contriteness, the
- 11:24blessing of surrender. And here is El should I, the
- 11:28Almighty God, telling him, not only do you have a new identity,
- 11:31but you have a future, You have a destiny.
- 11:35God has a will for your life. He is working out all the
- 11:38pieces. You have a destiny as a child of
- 11:42God. You can say that today in
- 11:44Christ, El Shadai comes and says you are my child.
- 11:49As we're learning in the book of Acts.
- 11:50You Christian, you, you man, you woman associated with Christ who
- 11:56died for your sins. You have a future, an eternal
- 11:59future. Be fruitful and multiply and
- 12:02multiply. Spread the truth of God.
- 12:06For Jacob, the nation's going to come from you.
- 12:09The land that I promised is yours.
- 12:13And God went up from him in verse 13 in the place where he
- 12:16talked with him. And Jacob responded with a
- 12:19sacrifice with he set up a pillar, a pillar of stone, and
- 12:23he poured out a drink offering on it.
- 12:27And he poured oil on it. And Jacob called the name of the
- 12:29place where he spoke to him Beth Al, The House of God.
- 12:33We learned last time, it's not only important to come to the
- 12:36House of God, but to worship the God of the house.
- 12:39And that's where Jacob is. Here.
- 12:41He receives great encouragement, and he's ready.
- 12:44This is the first mention, by the way, in the Bible, of a
- 12:47drink offering. As you survey through Leviticus,
- 12:50you won't find a drink offering there because it predates Moses
- 12:54and the Law. A drink offering speaks of total
- 12:57consecration and dedication to God.
- 13:01Moses is given this instruction later in Exodus chapter 29 and
- 13:04verse 40. With one lamb shall be 110th of
- 13:07an ephah flour mixed with 1/4 of a hent of pressed oil and 1/4 of
- 13:12a hent of wine as a drink offering.
- 13:16And this drink offering becomes a prophetic picture of Jesus as
- 13:20he's poured out like water for you and for me.
- 13:24Jotted down on Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 12.
- 13:27Therefore I'll divide him a portion with the grade and he
- 13:30shall divide the spoil with the strong.
- 13:32Because he poured out his soul unto death.
- 13:36He was numbered with the transgressors, and he bore the
- 13:39sin of many and made intercession for the
- 13:43transgressor. We also get a glimpse of it in
- 13:46the heart of the with when it comes to a drink offering, we
- 13:49get a glimpse into the heart of Paul the Apostle.
- 13:52Maybe this is a glimpse into your own heart that you haven't
- 13:55been able to put language to yet, and I want you to see it.
- 13:58So turn over with me to Philippians chapter 2.
- 14:02Perhaps you've been trying to describe how you have been
- 14:05feeling in relationship to your desire to go deeper in the
- 14:09things of God. Perhaps you've been trying to
- 14:12look for a a phrase or a biblical description of the the
- 14:17the overwhelming sense of your desire to live a sacrificial
- 14:21life. On the behalf of others.
- 14:23You haven't had that before, but now you're here in this place
- 14:27and you're like, I don't know what it is, pastor.
- 14:28I don't know what it is that. But I just sense this deeper
- 14:31desire to sacrifice on behalf of God by relationship with the
- 14:36Lord. That's always been strong, but
- 14:38now I feel this sense of sacrifice where I'm willing to
- 14:41pay the personal cost like I've never been able, I've never
- 14:44wanted to pay before. Maybe this scripture will give
- 14:47you language for what you've been feeling, if not now,
- 14:51perhaps in the future. Or notice Philippians chapter 2
- 14:54and verse 17. Paul says yes.
- 14:57If I'm being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice
- 15:01and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.
- 15:07For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.
- 15:12All Paul wanted in his life was to be so consumed with Jesus, so
- 15:17devoted to Jesus that others. Would grow as a result.
- 15:24You remember when Jesus met him on the road to Damascus?
- 15:28He was consumed with destroying people.
- 15:34He was consumed with religious zeal that was misplaced, what
- 15:40the Bible would call a zeal without knowledge, fully
- 15:43convinced that he was doing God of service by destroying people.
- 15:50By destroying families. By just separating kids from
- 15:54their families. By throwing innocent people in
- 15:56jail for the way they've chosen to worship.
- 16:01And here we are, later on in his ministry.
- 16:03He's a changed man. You could say God could look at
- 16:06him and say you are Saul, but not anymore.
- 16:09You're Paul. You have a new identity and you
- 16:13have a new destiny. You're not going to destroy any
- 16:17longer. No.
- 16:19Paul, the work of destruction will be in your life.
- 16:23You're going to learn to serve me well as I destroy your flesh.
- 16:28Paul learned not a different way when he cried out.
- 16:29Remember it. And he wrote to us in the
- 16:31Corinthians. He wrote to the church in
- 16:32Corinthians. He said I had that thorn in my
- 16:35side, and I pleaded with God to take it away.
- 16:39And I said no, My grace is sufficient for you because my
- 16:44strength is made perfect and weakness.
- 16:47And apparently Paul embraces that in his life.
- 16:49We never hear about it again. We never we.
- 16:52It doesn't doesn't mean he never prayed about it again.
- 16:54It doesn't mean that he never concerned about it again.
- 16:57It's not that we just never read about it again.
- 16:59God never inspired another episode to say, oh, by the way,
- 17:02Paul kept praying, called Paul kept praying.
- 17:04He, I believe he, he settled it. This is my life.
- 17:07This is where I'm going to be. And he embraced the pain and he
- 17:10embraced the humility and he embraced the thorn, whatever it
- 17:14may be. Could have been health, could
- 17:15have been people, could have been.
- 17:17And regret could have been all of the above.
- 17:20The strange thing about The Thorn is we're not told exactly
- 17:23what it is, except that it really, really, really, really,
- 17:28really, really got to him. And he didn't want to live with
- 17:34it anymore. And he turned to the God who he
- 17:39loves and who loves him, and begged him to remove it, only to
- 17:45receive the answer that. There's something about this
- 17:48thorn. There's something about it,
- 17:50Paul, you're going to learn about the grace of you're going
- 17:53to learn about me really, as God speaking in a way you would
- 17:57never learn any other place. And now we find in Philippians
- 18:03he's like, hey, even if I'm being poured out completely as a
- 18:08drink offering, as it was poured out on the pillar as it was,
- 18:12Jacob's pouring out this drink offering.
- 18:14It's gone. It disappears.
- 18:17It's poured out completely. It speaks of devotion.
- 18:24It, it speaks of consuming. It.
- 18:27It speaks of well, it speaks of commitment.
- 18:33And as it's applied in the life, in the life of Paul the Apostle,
- 18:39we also see it speaks of pain and difficulty, the drink
- 18:43offering. For the drink offering in a cup,
- 18:47it's gone and it's over and it's honoring unto the Lord.
- 18:50But I was reminded in Romans chapter 12 that our sacrifice
- 18:55unto the Lord physically is as a living sacrifice.
- 19:02Not a dead sacrifice, but one that's living by the way, this
- 19:09commitment to people that Paul has here, this commitment to.
- 19:14Personal sacrifice and personal pain and personal commitment on
- 19:20behalf of others so that they might grow, so that they might
- 19:24have. If it's sacrifice and service
- 19:26for your faith that you might grow.
- 19:30It's one reason I believe that Paul was attacked by the devil
- 19:34so much what we may refer to as spiritual warfare, the
- 19:40commitment level of the Saint. I believe is directly related to
- 19:45the spiritual warfare they engage in.
- 19:50I believe that that the devil doesn't like a man or a woman
- 19:54who loves people who's willing to make this commitment.
- 19:58And let's just be honest here, this commitment is usually made
- 20:01in the beginning with just words.
- 20:05It's just words. You read a scripture and go, I
- 20:06think I want to be that. That I want to be that.
- 20:09I want that in my life. You start, start from words.
- 20:12You begin to pray. God make me, Paul, make I I want
- 20:15to. I want to follow my brother's
- 20:16footsteps and pour me out like a drink offering.
- 20:19You can almost hear heaven going.
- 20:21What? Are you sure?
- 20:26Yes, Lord, I'm sure. And then the prayer life.
- 20:29You leave your prayer closet. And then spiritual warfare
- 20:33begins. And I believe God gives us a
- 20:36little bit that we can handle, you know, a little bit to taste
- 20:39And then it grows and it grows and and and over time our
- 20:43paralyze even go deeper. Or we shy away from a verse like
- 20:47this. Oh, I don't know.
- 20:49I don't know if I want to be poured out like a drink offering
- 20:52anymore. Maybe you can just sprinkle me
- 20:54now. I'll just take a little
- 20:55sprinkle. I don't want to go that deep.
- 20:58And the church is filled with people that don't want to go
- 21:00that deep. Our church is filled with people
- 21:03that don't want to go that deep. Service and sacrifice, I don't
- 21:07know. Service and sacrifice?
- 21:12More spiritual warfare and pain? I don't think so.
- 21:17That's not what I desire. But see, this is the pathway of
- 21:20the man or the woman that comes to the place where they value
- 21:23the will of God above their own their own will, where they're
- 21:28living out the truth of loving God with all their heart, soul
- 21:30and mind, but also loving their neighbor.
- 21:34And I believe Paul's love for people, his desire to see other
- 21:39people grow, his willingness to pay the price, brought a lot of
- 21:44unusual spiritual warfare into his life, a lot of difficult
- 21:51circumstances. It could be the source of some
- 21:56of the things in your life today, and now God has put some
- 21:59words to it. From is says this is what you're
- 22:02experiencing. You're following the footsteps
- 22:05of Paul. You're desiring to see people,
- 22:09even if it's just one person. You've been pouring in and
- 22:11pouring in and pouring into them.
- 22:13You're sacrificing on their behalf.
- 22:15You're serving them so that their faith might grow.
- 22:19Or two or three. The resistance comes and the
- 22:22warfare comes, and then the Lord's just reminding you, but
- 22:26it's a living sacrifice you. Paul says, I beg you, brethren,
- 22:31by the mercies of God, present yourselves and your body's a
- 22:35living sacrifice which is wholly and acceptable to God, which is
- 22:39your reasonable service. I don't know if you've ever
- 22:42noticed this before, because you kind of read through it.
- 22:43And we read. These are passages we always put
- 22:45together, but in the context of what we're seeing here in
- 22:48Philippians, what we're seeing in the growth of Paul, what you
- 22:50might be seeing in your own. Here's what's in contrast.
- 22:54To verse one put it presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice,
- 22:57our bodies wholly reasonable, submitted to God.
- 23:01He contrasts that with don't be conformed to this world.
- 23:07Living sacrifice, living in the world.
- 23:12It's like these two are your options.
- 23:16Sacrifice and service for the faith of others means you're
- 23:20poured out. You're completely consumed.
- 23:25You're all in, I think, is the phrase we've used around here.
- 23:28I remember a few years ago that was the theme of the year.
- 23:31All in all in don't be conformed to this world, but be
- 23:37transformed by the renewing of your mind that you might prove
- 23:41what is good and acceptable and the perfect will of God.
- 23:45What is acceptable to God? He just said present your body's
- 23:48a living sacrifice. Jacob here.
- 23:53He's met Al Shadai and his response is a drink offering on
- 23:59this pillar of worship. He's in Bethel, the House of
- 24:04God. But what has his focus?
- 24:07The God of the house. And here he is pick up with me
- 24:13now in verse 16. Then they journeyed from Bethel.
- 24:22And then we stop right there and you go, Jacob, where are you
- 24:24going? Jacob has heard from the Lord
- 24:27multiple times through this whole through the the whole time
- 24:32that we've had this episode of God intervening in his life.
- 24:36But you'll notice verse one or verse 16, they pick up in
- 24:40Journey. But Jacob was never told to go
- 24:42anywhere. He was told to stay in Bethel.
- 24:46Verse one of chapter 35, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell
- 24:51there. This is a point of controversy
- 24:54among different commentators. Some say that was only a
- 24:57temporary dwelling, that there's a lot of different opinions on
- 25:01this. But I I come to the place where
- 25:04I read in the in verse 16. He's at a great place of
- 25:08worship, a great play to sacrifice.
- 25:10He's dwelling there. He's settling down.
- 25:12He's got his new name, He's got his new destiny.
- 25:15He was never told to go anywhere.
- 25:19He knows what it's like to hear from the Lord.
- 25:21And God knows what it's like to put it in the Bible for God to
- 25:25speak to him. OK, you can leave Bethel now.
- 25:28A bit. He kept calling him back to
- 25:29Bethel over and over and over and over again.
- 25:33And he's leaving. I mean, why?
- 25:36Why is he leaving the place of worship?
- 25:38Why is he play leaving the place where God speaks so clearly to
- 25:42him? Why is he leading to the place
- 25:44where he's astonished by the faithfulness of God, where he
- 25:47meets Al Shadai, when he receives the reminder of his his
- 25:51identity, where he receives the confirmation of the promises and
- 25:55his destiny? Why are you leaving, Jacob?
- 25:58And I'm telling you, I'm telling you on a much smaller scale,
- 26:03having been in this church now 20, almost 24 years, I am still
- 26:10amazed. As I watch believer after
- 26:14believer with my own eyes, and I hear believer after believer
- 26:18with my own ears choose to leave the place of God's presence and
- 26:23blessing, and there's always a good reason, which actually is
- 26:30just a bad excuse. So there's always a good reason
- 26:34to leave the place of blessing. I mean, I've seen family so
- 26:37restored, like unbelievable what God has done.
- 26:43And then turn away. I've seen men and women break
- 26:50free from addiction and lead lead days and weeks and months
- 26:54and even years walking in the freedom that God gives.
- 26:59And then, just like that, leave the place of blessing.
- 27:05There's a lot of different reasons, but there's only one
- 27:09place to go when you leave God, and that's back to the world.
- 27:12It's back to what you were delivered from.
- 27:14There's no halfway. I know.
- 27:18We use that illustration as pastors all the time.
- 27:20You got 1 foot in the world and 1 foot in the church.
- 27:23Let me tell you something. If you have 1 foot in the world,
- 27:25you've got them both there. Don't fool yourself.
- 27:29Don't fool yourself. Don't think you can straddle the
- 27:32fence and think, well, you know, like if you've got a foot in the
- 27:37world, that's where you're headed.
- 27:38You have turned away from the Lord.
- 27:41And there's nothing good waiting for you.
- 27:44It will get worse. The world and its culture and
- 27:48your own flesh and sin will destroy you.
- 27:53Jacob. Journeys from Bethel.
- 27:55No. Stop.
- 27:57Why would you leave the House of God now?
- 28:00Of course this is the House of God.
- 28:02In a few moments you must leave. But that's not what I'm
- 28:04referring to. You can't live here.
- 28:08But that's the beauty of the presence of the Lord.
- 28:10Like He is with us. He dwells in us, but in a very
- 28:13real, practical way. It's just such a bummer to see
- 28:19people turn their backs on the Lord.
- 28:22It's such a bummer. And they have a lot of reasons.
- 28:25Oh, the Church hurt me. Oh, yeah, maybe the church.
- 28:27Somebody in the church hurt you. But the Lord is faithful.
- 28:31Yeah, but I've got this great trauma.
- 28:32I got this memory and the like I can't handle anymore.
- 28:35I know you can, and you could have you just for that.
- 28:38That's a word right? Now listen, like the people that
- 28:40are using that I can't handle it anymore, Let me let you in on a
- 28:43little secret. You ready?
- 28:45You never could handle it. Never.
- 28:50It has always been the grace of God.
- 28:52It has always been his faithfulness.
- 28:55Even if you're not at Bethel, it will be his faithfulness that
- 28:58brings you to a place of repentance.
- 29:03And so it's true. I know you get into situations
- 29:06where you throw up your hands and say I can't handle it, but
- 29:10that's not the place to turn back to the world, to pick up
- 29:13and leave on a on a more simple scale, even though it's probably
- 29:19not so simple. But I watched this happen church
- 29:22to church to church to church to church to church to church.
- 29:26Sometimes I don't even know what people are looking for.
- 29:30You know people who leave this year, so you're not just not
- 29:32being fed anymore. I don't know, man, you must be
- 29:35coming in with your mouth closed then, so the food goes forth all
- 29:38the time here and being fed here, it's not even my
- 29:42responsibility to feed you. You should read your Bible and
- 29:44pray every day. You can come in all full and
- 29:47it's like, I'm just like can't take anymore.
- 29:49The Holy Spirit will use a pastor and teacher to help you.
- 29:51But man, you don't need a pastor and teacher to feed yourself.
- 29:55You can feed. Just just take it in.
- 29:57Take it in. So that by the time you come
- 29:59here, God is edifying you and building you about the Word.
- 30:02But then what are you doing now? You're just like, looking man.
- 30:05I'm going to pour myself out on others.
- 30:07What would the church look like if we were all fighting to serve
- 30:10one another and minister to one another and care for one
- 30:16another? It's the enemy's trap to get you
- 30:20to get up and run away. Do do people?
- 30:23Does. Do God sometimes.
- 30:24Does God sometimes tell you to move on?
- 30:25Yes, He does, for sure. I will always want you to obey
- 30:28God. You got to be in the place where
- 30:30you're going to be fruitful and edify.
- 30:32This may not be the church for you.
- 30:33I understand that. That's that's a season.
- 30:35The Lord used this in your life. But to get up without God
- 30:39telling you to give up, Well, there's a consequence here.
- 30:43Notice in verse 16, when he was there, just a little distance to
- 30:48go to Efrath. Rachel travailed in childbirth
- 30:51and she had hard labor. And it came to pass when she was
- 30:55in hard labor that the midwife said to her, do not fear, you're
- 30:58going to have this son also. And so it was as her soul was
- 31:01departing for she died that she called his name Ben Oni, and his
- 31:06father called him Benjamin. So Rachel died and was buried on
- 31:10the way to Ethra that is Bethlehem.
- 31:14Jacob set up a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of
- 31:16Rachel's grave to this day. It's a very strong inference
- 31:21that the traveling. That was here, that wasn't
- 31:24called by the Lord, had a significant impact on the
- 31:27delivery in Rachel. That's a strong possibility.
- 31:30Here she dies during the delivery of young Benjamin.
- 31:34She cries out and calls him the son of My Sorrow.
- 31:39But Jacob calls him the son of my right hand, and they bury her
- 31:44on the way to Bethlehem. And by the way, this is the
- 31:48first mention as well in the Bible of Bethlehem.
- 31:50Bethlehem's more known. It's spot 5 miles South of
- 31:52Jerusalem. And known for its wheat, wheat,
- 31:56crops and harvest. But it's more significant as the
- 31:59birthplace of Jesus, verse 21. Then Israel Journey pitched his
- 32:06tent beyond the tower of Eider, and it happened when Israel
- 32:10dwelt in that land that Ruben went and lay with Bilha, his
- 32:14father's concubine. Now Israel heard about it, but
- 32:20doesn't do anything about it. That's key.
- 32:23That just kind of ends there. This is a this is an act of
- 32:27usurption. He's trying to usurp his dad.
- 32:30Reuben has sex with his with his concubine, an attempt to usurp
- 32:34the family's authority from his dad and his brother.
- 32:38And this failure on his part causes him to lose the rights of
- 32:40the first born. And it was now Israel that heard
- 32:44it. But imagine if Jacob heard it.
- 32:48So there's a couple different views on this too.
- 32:50The Israel that when God is referring to Israel, he's
- 32:53walking in the spirit, you're walking in obedience.
- 32:56And we first do him as Jacobs, kind of referring to his old
- 32:59nature. And I think you can't do that
- 33:00universally. You have to look contextually.
- 33:04However, what would happen if the next verse would have been
- 33:07something that he's dealing with.
- 33:09He, Jacob, had a problem of playing favorites in his family
- 33:13and letting things go. And we've studied that in depth.
- 33:17We don't need to repeat that in verse the end of verse 22, the
- 33:20sons of Jacob were 12. The sons of Leo were Ruben.
- 33:23Jacob was first born Simeon, Levi, Judah, Isikar, Zebulin.
- 33:27The sons of Rachel were Joseph Benjamin.
- 33:30The sons of Bill Ha, Rachel's maid servant were Dan and NAFTA
- 33:33Lee, sons of Zilpa. Lea's maid servant were Gad and
- 33:36Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who
- 33:38were born to him and Padan Aram. Then Jacob came to his father
- 33:42Isaac at Mamri or Kirjith Arba, which is Hebron.
- 33:46Where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned in the days of Isaac
- 33:49were 180 years. So Isaac breathed this last and
- 33:52died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of
- 33:55days. And his sons Isa and Jacob
- 33:59buried him. Isaac lives for 180 years, a
- 34:04good old long life. His sons bury him.
- 34:08Jacob leaves Bearsheba, remember, with only with a
- 34:11staff, but now he returns with twelve sons and a large
- 34:15household and much livestock. And you'll remember, as we were
- 34:18studying Genesis back in in chapter 27, Isaac was so sick
- 34:23that he thought he was going to die.
- 34:26And he was about 137 at the time.
- 34:29So he has many more years. He said, I'm going to die, give
- 34:32me a meal. And he has so many more years
- 34:37left. And then we just don't know how
- 34:38many days or years we have, do we?
- 34:41We think we're we're going to go so quickly and we live forever.
- 34:45And we think we're going to live forever.
- 34:47And the Lord calls us to account for our lives.
- 34:49You just don't know. You need, like I just remember
- 34:51what the Bible says. Teach us to number our days.
- 34:54Just Lord. Just teach us to Live Today in
- 34:58your presence, abiding in you, Make the most for the Kingdom of
- 35:02God. Now chapter 36 is a genealogy
- 35:06genealogy of Esaw or the Edomites.
- 35:10I want you to remember Esaw is a type of the flesh, and in this
- 35:16as a type of the flesh, we have one last glimpse of the flesh
- 35:20before the rest of Genesis is focused on Joseph.
- 35:26A beautiful type of Jesus Christ, the Edomites were
- 35:29constantly antagonistic toward Israel, we learn in our weekend
- 35:33study in the Book of Acts. Herod was an Edomite and that
- 35:38battle began in the womb of Rebecca, and it continues down
- 35:43through the centuries. First one.
- 35:45Now this is the genealogy of Esaw, who is Edom.
- 35:48He took wives from the daughters of Canaan.
- 35:51That's a big mistake. Ada, the daughter of Elon, the
- 35:54Hittite. Yes, the daughter of Aina, the
- 35:59daughter of Zibian the Hivite, Bassamath, Ishmael's daughter,
- 36:03sister of Nibajath, Aida Bor, Elifas the Esaw and Bassamath,
- 36:08Bor, Ruel. And on and on you have all these
- 36:11people born in the life. Of Esau, a verse six.
- 36:16It says he took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and the
- 36:19persons of his household, His cattle, all his animals, all his
- 36:23good which he had gained in the land of Canaan, went to a
- 36:26country away from the presence of his brother Jacob.
- 36:29Their possessions were too great for them to dwell together, and
- 36:32the land where they were strangers could not support them
- 36:35because of their livestock. Esau dwelt in Mount Cyr.
- 36:40Esau is Edom. Edom's roots will now branch off
- 36:44into three directions. Canaanite, Horite, Ishmaelite.
- 36:49And it's no wonder they hated Israel.
- 36:52It's no wonder they hated Israel.
- 36:54The Ites have been against Israel from the beginning.
- 36:58He moves from the land of Seer in Canaan.
- 37:02It says in verse 9. This is the genealogy of Esau,
- 37:05the father of the Edomites in Mount Seer.
- 37:08These were the names of Esau's son, Elifas.
- 37:12Now, there's a very good indication that Elifas This is
- 37:15an the Elifas that is referenced in the book of Anybody know, the
- 37:22Book of Job. And if you skip over to verse
- 37:2533, many believe that the man mentioned here, Joe Bab, is also
- 37:31a reference to Job, the son of Zera of Basra reigning in his
- 37:36place. Interesting how things come
- 37:39together whether they are or not.
- 37:41We don't have absolute certainty, but their names are
- 37:43mentioned there. It reminded me.
- 37:45I want to get you a quote from Pastor Chuck Smith says he saw
- 37:50was the father of the Edomites and King Herod, who killed all
- 37:54the babies in Judah at the time of the birth of Jesus was an
- 37:57Edomite. And we want to mention he says
- 38:00Pastor Chuck does. We want to mention a few of the
- 38:02genealogy which we might have have interest in, such as
- 38:05Elifas, the son of Esau, who was the son of Timon.
- 38:09It might be the same Elifas the timonite that was Job's
- 38:12comforter. Later on in the genealogy, we
- 38:15pointed out the scripture. It talks about Joe Babb, who
- 38:17could have very possibly been the job of the book of Job.
- 38:21And so if you're trying to put the book of Job in historic
- 38:23perspective as far as the time of the book, it's quite possible
- 38:27that Job lived shortly after Jacob and that he was not of the
- 38:31tribes of Israel, but rather a descendant of Esau.
- 38:34So you Bible students, you can dig deep on that and study that
- 38:38to your heart's desire. But isn't that the way the Bible
- 38:42is? It gives you plenty of things to
- 38:44keep you busy that you do understand.
- 38:47It gives you a few things along the way that you can study to
- 38:50keep you busy seeking out the heart of God.
- 38:52And then there's those challenging things that you come
- 38:56and you study and you're still step back and go, OK, Lord, your
- 38:59ways are not my ways and your thoughts are not my thoughts.
- 39:02I'm going to go back to the easier things that the Lord
- 39:05would have for us. In verses 9 through 30, it's an
- 39:09overview of Esau's genealogy, and you can read the rest of
- 39:13that According again in verse 12, you have Tim Na, the
- 39:17concubine of Elifas, Esau's son She bore Amalek.
- 39:22Amalek is such a great enemy, the Amalekites such a great
- 39:26enemy. We see a lot of that in First
- 39:30Samuel. And all the way through verse 30
- 39:33you guys can go home in front of the mirror and read these names
- 39:37when you get home. Then verse 31 these are the
- 39:40kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned
- 39:43over the children of Israel. And notice in verse 31 these are
- 39:48the kings who reign in the land of Edom before any king reign
- 39:52over the children of Israel. God is the one who is desired to
- 39:57rule over man. But it's man's desire for men to
- 40:02rule over him. Consider that God's desire is
- 40:07that you would be ruled by him. That's the name he gives to
- 40:12Israel, governed by God, ruled by God.
- 40:17The pattern in the Garden of Eden was direct oversight and
- 40:21relationship between God and Adam and Eve and its sin that
- 40:25wrecked that relationship. God wants to rule over you, and
- 40:30I know the word already. You got.
- 40:32I know nobody rules over me. Oh, you're going to be ruled by
- 40:35somebody, all right. Even if it's yourself and you
- 40:40make a poor God, little G, powerless, unable in so many
- 40:47areas of your life. It really that's the first
- 40:50evidence of the need for a creator God, even if you didn't
- 40:54have a Bible. You can look and examine your
- 40:57own life and go. You know what?
- 40:58I make a poor ruler of my life. I can't get myself out of
- 41:02problems. I can't buy my way out of
- 41:05problems. I can't stop so many things that
- 41:07happen to me. You and I, we make poor gods.
- 41:10Little G you want to come into a deep relationship with the God
- 41:14who created you in his image and send his Son, Jesus Christ, to
- 41:20die in your behalf. Because you may even hear me as
- 41:23a pastor. You're listening.
- 41:24Oh yo, pastor. Typical pastor.
- 41:25Sound like every pastor I've ever heard.
- 41:27I'm a self-made woman. I've done everything on my own.
- 41:30I've done everything I need. Like I've gone through all
- 41:32college. I've got everything.
- 41:34You. You know any objection I could
- 41:35come up with? You're the self-made man.
- 41:38OK, self-made woman. OK.
- 41:42What have you done to remove sin from your life?
- 41:50And the only answer really is I don't believe in sin.
- 41:55Well, there's a funny thing about the truth.
- 41:58The truth doesn't matter whether you believe in it or not.
- 42:00The truth is the truth, and sin is an absolute truth.
- 42:06And it really doesn't matter what you believe about sin.
- 42:08In that respect, sin is sin, and it is why your life is a wreck,
- 42:14even if outwardly you might be able to measure it.
- 42:17In so many accomplishments and so much hard work.
- 42:20And it isn't a beautiful thing that in what you have called
- 42:24self-made, God has given you such great intelligence and such
- 42:28great perseverance. And you have such a great work
- 42:31ethic. And you've been able to
- 42:32accomplish so much except that you failed to give God the glory
- 42:37for the great things He's done in your life.
- 42:40And it leaves you miserable, doesn't it?
- 42:43You know by taking credit for everything that you've done in
- 42:45life. It leaves you so empty and
- 42:46miserable because you're never satisfied.
- 42:50It's been part of the motivation in your life.
- 42:52You're trying to prove it to somebody, how smart you are.
- 42:55But God already knows how smart you are, and you're trying to
- 42:58prove it to somebody, how successful you are.
- 43:00You just want to make sure they know you're successful.
- 43:03But you know what? What you call success may not be
- 43:06exactly what you think it is. Success is surrender.
- 43:12And you know, even in this world, having you had a few
- 43:14bumps along the way is what they said was success.
- 43:17Once you got there, they changed the rules, and now it's not.
- 43:20You got to go farther and they changed the rules, and now you
- 43:22got farther and you were working all that time.
- 43:24You're working all that time to climb the corporate ladder.
- 43:26And then you got a new boss and you found out they brought their
- 43:30own ladder. And all that work you did.
- 43:34You start back on the bottom and you get so angry and frustrated,
- 43:38as you should. Because the goals that you set
- 43:41were removed so quickly by somebody you don't even know.
- 43:45And I'll tell you why. A part of the part of the the
- 43:48feeling that you have is because the goals in your life have no
- 43:51supreme purpose. They don't fit.
- 43:56You try to make them fit, but then again you're trying is
- 44:00you're you're maybe trying to prove to yourself you can do it.
- 44:02And so much, so many times you just come to the conclusion that
- 44:07you can't. But then you're stuck, because
- 44:11you've come so far, and to admit that you can at this point means
- 44:14in your mind, you're just like, I have to give it all up.
- 44:16And who will I be? Because you're listening to a
- 44:19Bible study right now, not some pep talk, And we have to circle
- 44:24back. And you don't know your identity
- 44:28and you don't care about your destiny.
- 44:31And that leaves a person empty and wanting where there's no
- 44:37definition for you. Of how this is going to fit in
- 44:41the overarching stream of life. You don't see how the future,
- 44:48what the future might hold because your identity has been
- 44:52developed by yourself. Your destiny ends with death and
- 44:56it's a hopeless existence. So many of us lived a very
- 45:01similar life. Maybe not the exact words I I
- 45:03use, but this very similar life we we've.
- 45:07Done everything the world's asked us to do, and still, at
- 45:09the end we're now not only are we empty, but we're tired, like
- 45:14feeling used and abused. Being taken advantage of by
- 45:19other people that had a little bit more energy than us.
- 45:22Or born into the right family, or we're born with money, or
- 45:25born in the right neighborhood, or whatever it might be.
- 45:27The things that we couldn't even control.
- 45:33And the I can. I can hear it, can't you?
- 45:35Maybe you don't even know this is in the Bible, but I can hear
- 45:38it right there. I can hear Jesus saying, come on
- 45:41to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I'll give you
- 45:48rest, that the Lord has identity and destiny.
- 45:53And rest for you as you learn to submit your life to Him.
- 45:57It's so good. It's so encouraging.
- 46:02But you have to admit that you've sent.
- 46:05You have to admit that you know I have done things my own way.
- 46:10Just like here. They God desires to rule over.
- 46:13He wants to be your king. He's a benevolent king, not an
- 46:17evil king. He has your best interest at
- 46:21heart. Not even the best of men.
- 46:25Not even the best boss you've ever had.
- 46:28Not even the best human example you've ever met.
- 46:31Is as benevolent as the king of kings and the Lord of Lords.
- 46:35If you can imagine that Edom here this nation anti God they
- 46:44were in the kings man they like kings.
- 46:46So there's plenty of kings here. All these chiefs and kings they
- 46:52like to have rulers. They like the power of a
- 46:55Kingdom. And you'll find as you read
- 46:58through the Bible because the Bible was one unit.
- 47:01Even though it's made-up of 66 books, there's one author, one
- 47:04story, one unit. When we studied 2 for Samuel,
- 47:09chapter 8, you'll remember, disinfected the children of
- 47:13Israel who had God as their king.
- 47:15And what did they say? We want a king.
- 47:23We don't want God ruling over us anymore.
- 47:26We want a king. It says, and let me read it to
- 47:31you. And first Samuel 8 four, all the
- 47:32elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at
- 47:35Rama, Rama and said, look, you're old, your sons don't walk
- 47:38in your ways. Now make us a king to judge over
- 47:42us. And they got their king all
- 47:44right. And so the rest of all the
- 47:49chiefs here as you see the names of the chiefs of Esau, verse 40.
- 47:53According to their families, Chief Tim Nutt, Chief Alva,
- 47:56Chief J That chief, Chief That one, Chief That one.
- 47:59Chief that one over there. Chief that one, Chief that one,
- 48:01Chief that one. These are the chiefs of Edom.
- 48:07According to their habitations in the land of the possession,
- 48:10Esau was the father of the Edomites, and that closes
- 48:19another section of the book. Of Genesis.
- 48:24It's like the darkness before the dawn.
- 48:27Even though the life of Joseph is going to be deep and dark and
- 48:31difficult, the rest of the book of Genesis is going to be all
- 48:34about Joseph. There are more chapters devoted
- 48:38to the life of Joseph than to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or anyone
- 48:43else. He's a very important figure,
- 48:47very important man in the economy of God, a wonderful
- 48:50picture of Jesus Christ. So pay attention on the backdrop
- 48:54of all these chiefs and everyone you know, the enemies, the
- 48:57enemies of God. We're going to have Joseph and
- 49:01broken family and all kinds of difficulty in the favoritism is
- 49:05going to catch up again. And it's just the wages of sin
- 49:08is death you so to the flesh you reap corruption over and over
- 49:12and over again. Say the same thing over and over
- 49:14again. And here we are making the same
- 49:16sinful mistakes over and over again.
- 49:18Don't leave Bethel Church. Don't leave Bethel.
- 49:22Stay put. Dwell in the land, a place of
- 49:25richness, fulfillment, blessing. A place where you hear the voice
- 49:28of God. Because that's what you want to
- 49:31hear, right, The voice of God. So, Father, thank you for this
- 49:34section of Genesis and and really, Lord, the hope you give
- 49:37us that even though Jacob left, you still never left him.
- 49:41And even though we might wander, you never leave us.
- 49:45And we carry so much, Lord, so many difficulties, so many, so
- 49:48many challenges. The Father, we cast ourselves
- 49:52upon you as a drink offering. And I know that man, it's so
- 49:56hard and so difficult and so challenging.
- 49:59We don't even want to do it anymore.
- 50:01That's just humanity. It could even be sinful flesh.
- 50:06But at the very least, it's just us being tired, growing weary,
- 50:11and you give us power, he said. Don't grow weary.
- 50:14And well, doing for induces and you will reap if you don't lose
- 50:18heart. So I just pray for the parents
- 50:21praying for their kids. Don't grow weary.
- 50:24I pray for the prayer warriors praying for a special touch of
- 50:27the Holy Spirit. Don't grow weary.
- 50:30I pray for those that are going down and ministering to the
- 50:33homeless. Don't grow weary.
- 50:35Those advocating God for the babies in the womb don't grow
- 50:40weary. I pray for the wives that are
- 50:44praying for their unbelieving husbands.
- 50:45Don't grow weary, husbands for their unbelieving wives don't
- 50:49grow weary and welldoing. Lord, help us not to leave
- 50:53Bethel. And if we have call us home,
- 50:58Bring us back to Bethel again and again and again and again.
- 51:04If you're here today, you've never given your life to Jesus
- 51:06and want to give you the chance to.
- 51:08I mean, I went through this whole thing, man.
- 51:09Maybe I was describing your life.
- 51:13You wonder sometimes with pastors, you know, do they know
- 51:15what's going on in my life or man, was that all in his notes
- 51:18that actually wasn't in my notes describing that life.
- 51:23And if you hear my voice today, it's probably for you on that
- 51:27constant, I don't know what to call it, like a treadmill of
- 51:32this world and you just, you got, you know, the treadmill
- 51:35says you were running 7 miles, but you never went anywhere.
- 51:38You're just tired. I'll burn out, made no progress.
- 51:43All the world is, but God is calling you to himself.
- 51:46Jesus says if you're weary and heavy today, come to me not to a
- 51:52church or to a theology, but to him.
- 51:55He's inviting you to him. He can forgive your sins.
- 51:59He's the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords.
- 52:02He wants to rule over your life. And if that describes you today,
- 52:05I want to invite you right where you are, where you stand, to
- 52:07your feet. I like to pray with you.
- 52:09Including you downstairs on the radio, watching online,
- 52:14podcasting, this, walking around the park.
- 52:16God's calling it to himself. God bless you.
- 52:18Who else would say that's me? Wednesdays are always special
- 52:22for me because that's when I regave my life to award on a
- 52:25Wednesday night Bible study. Some occasion people ask me, Ed,
- 52:31why you still doing Wednesday nights?
- 52:32Because people get saved on Wednesday nights.
- 52:34That's why they want to come and worship.
- 52:37And so today's the day. Lives are changed, built up,
- 52:42encouraged. You make it through a week
- 52:44because of Wednesday, and you'll make it through a life because
- 52:47of the blood of Jesus Christ. I want to invite you to him.
- 52:52I want to invite you to him. Anyone else would say I need
- 52:55Jesus to forgive me of my sins. I want to wait.
- 52:59Today's the day. That includes all you you know,
- 53:01those of you. Not all of you.
- 53:02I don't know how many, but maybe the game players or you're just
- 53:05religious outside, or you, you're just here for the kids or
- 53:08something. You know God wants you to go.
- 53:09Even you're so close. Your life is worth it.
- 53:16Not to play games anymore, not to do things for a show, but to
- 53:21be real with God. Anyone else.
- 53:30Well, pray with me to God. And the Bible says, if you
- 53:34confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, you believe in your
- 53:36heart. God raise him from the dead.
- 53:38You will be safe. So you can.
- 53:40I'll help you with that confession, but only you can
- 53:43have the belief you say God. I ask you to forgive me of all
- 53:48of my sins because I believe you're the King of kings and the
- 53:55Lord of Lords. And the Savior of my soul you
- 54:02lived, died, and rose again from the dead.
- 54:11And I want to follow you all the days of my life.
- 54:16Help me to turn away from my sinful past and to follow you
- 54:22closely the rest of my life in Jesus name.
- 54:28Amen. We pray that you've been
- 54:30encouraged by this Bible study delivered live from the
- 54:33sanctuary of Calvary Church. For prayer.
- 54:35Call us at 87730 Grace. That's 877-304-7223.
- 54:45To listen to this message in its entirety or to join us for our
- 54:48live stream services, visit us online at Calvary, Co dot Church
- 54:53or download our free Calvary Church app.
- 54:56Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.