Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / Equipped 2026: "Jacob's Growth and Development (Gen. 32-36)" by Carl Pollard

Transcript

Equipped 2026: "Jacob's Growth and Development (Gen. 32-36)" by Carl Pollard · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

• 0:00
  Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this day and all the many blessings of it.
• 0:07
  The innumerable blessings that have been given to us here in this country that we frequently
• 0:11
  forget about. Thank you that we can come together, worship here in peace. Thank you that we can
• 0:16
  be here surrounded by like-minded brethren and that we can have our cups filled as we
• 0:21
  learn more of your will and have fellowship with each other. We pray that Carl has ready
• 0:26
  recollection of all things that were prepared and that we use what we learn here to the
• 0:30
  benefits of our home congregations. Help us to focus our minds, forgetting the struggles
• 0:35
  of the world, and focus on you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
• 0:39
  Well, there are some moments in life that you can put off for a while, but you know
• 0:46
  you can't avoid them forever. The conversation that you've dreaded, the person that you've
• 0:52
  wronged, taxes, the sin you've tried to bury, the place in your life where everything looks
• 0:58
  fine on the outside but on the inside things aren't the way they are supposed to be. And
• 1:03
  you know most people are pretty good at moving on without really changing. We stay busy,
• 1:10
  we fill our lives with noise, we build a routine, and we fill our lives with so much that we
• 1:15
  try to ignore the things in our past that we've done wrong. And we like to be busy,
• 1:21
  we like to ignore those things, we build those routines, we keep going, and for a while
• 1:26
  it almost feels like the past is behind us. And then God, in his providence, brings us
• 1:34
  back to the very place we'd hope we'd never have to face again. You know that's where
• 1:39
  Jacob is in Genesis 32, and I encourage you to open your Bibles there, and for a few moments
• 1:45
  this afternoon we're going to look at Genesis 32-36. Jacob is at a place where he doesn't
• 1:52
  want to be, and he has to face a place that he hasn't been in quite some time. And in
• 1:57
  Genesis 32 he's been gone for 20 years, he's built a family, he's gained wealth, he's survived
• 2:04
  Laban, he's seen God provide. But now God says, go home. And the road home leads straight
• 2:12
  back to Esau, the brother that he wronged. And so now he's having to face his past and
• 2:19
  what he has done to his family, and God calls him to take this road back. And I think that
• 2:25
  as we look at this section and we're seeing God telling him to go home and how he has
• 2:29
  to deal with Esau, the brother he deceived, we start to see some things that make this
• 2:35
  section so powerful. Because Genesis 32-36 isn't just some random story about a guy that's
• 2:42
  told to go home, what we see here is the story of a man, the account of a man who is
• 2:48
  being changed by God. And you see the progression as the account unfolds. You know, Jacob has
• 2:56
  spent much of his life grasping, deceiving, arranging, protecting, and pushing his own
• 3:02
  way through life. Over and over he falls back to his own cleverness, he goes back to what
• 3:07
  he believes are his strengths. But God's not going to let Jacob stay Jacob. God is
• 3:14
  going to bring him back to what he fears. You see God breaking his self-reliance, you
• 3:19
  see God humbling Jacob and bringing him down to a point where he has to stay and cling
• 3:25
  to God. He's going to call him to lead his house. God's going to call him to walk through
• 3:33
  him in truth, in trust. And by the end of this section, the man that we met that was called
• 3:39
  Jacob is being transformed into Israel. And that's why this matters for us today, because I
• 3:46
  would like to say that God still works the same way for us. He doesn't just forgive people, he
• 3:53
  changes us. He doesn't just call us into his marvelous light and send his son, no, he begins
• 3:58
  to transform us with his grace and we are no longer recognizable to who we were at one
• 4:04
  point. He doesn't just call us out of the world, he shapes us by his grace. And so the
• 4:11
  question for this hour is, well, how does God take Jacob and make Israel? And then the
• 4:16
  question for you and me is, what does it look like when God begins to really develop and
• 4:22
  really grow someone spiritually? So I want us to notice first, growth begins when we face our
• 4:30
  past. Growth begins when we face our past. Genesis 32 opens in a very interesting way.
• 4:44
  Before Jacob ever sees Esau and then confronts this painful situation of his past, he sees
• 4:51
  angels. And I think this is God letting him know from the very beginning that he's not
• 4:56
  alone. That's going to be a much needed reminder for Jacob and what he's about to face.
• 5:02
  But Jacob, he sends a messenger to Esau and I want you to listen to how he speaks in verses
• 5:06
  four and five. Jacob says, he sends a message to Esau and he says, thus says your servant,
• 5:13
  Jacob. And notice how he addresses his brother, to my lord, Esau.
• 5:22
  This is the man who once dressed up like his brother. This is the man who lied to his father,
• 5:27
  stole the blessing. As we've seen in the past lessons today, we have seen a man who has pushed,
• 5:32
  who has grabbed, who has maneuvered, who has changed and influenced things. But now what does
• 5:38
  he do? And he's speaking with humility. Something is already changing in him. And so he sends the
• 5:45
  messenger to Esau and the messenger returns with terrible news for Jacob. And the messenger says,
• 5:50
  hey, your brother's on the way. And guess what? He's got 400 men with him. Now that doesn't sound
• 5:58
  like a family reunion that Jacob is looking forward to. That sounds like Esau's coming with
• 6:02
  an army. And so Jacob gets this news in verse seven. Look at what it says. It says, Jacob was
• 6:08
  greatly afraid and distressed. And for the first time in a long time,
• 6:15
  Jacob does something better than scheming and planning. What does Jacob do? He prays.
• 6:23
  And this prayer shows real growth. I want you to notice some things about this prayer. First,
• 6:29
  he prays on the basis of God's word. Notice how he starts. He says, oh Lord who said to me.
• 6:38
  Second, he confesses his unworthiness and he tells God, I'm not worthy to be a part of this plan.
• 6:43
  I'm not worthy of you in the relationship I have with you. And then he admits his fear. He says,
• 6:47
  but I fear my brother. And then he clings to the promise and he says, but you said.
• 6:55
  That's not the Jacob of Genesis 27 that we read of here. That's a man who is finally getting
• 7:02
  honest with God. And let me tell you, growth often begins right there. It begins when we
• 7:08
  stop managing our appearances and we start telling God the truth in our prayers. When
• 7:13
  we start telling him what is hurting us, it begins when we stop avoiding what we've been,
• 7:18
  what we face, what we've been avoiding. It begins when we quit pretending that time
• 7:23
  fixes everything. You know, time can do a lot of things. Time can create distance.
• 7:33
  Time can dull our emotions. It can make something feel less urgent. But let me tell you,
• 7:40
  time does not remove guilt. Time doesn't produce repentance and time doesn't heal what we never
• 7:50
  bring to light. Jacob couldn't become Israel by running around Esau. He had to face what he
• 8:00
  had avoided for 20 years. And I think maybe a lot of us are the same way. We want peace,
• 8:09
  but there's still pride in our hearts. We want growth, the connection with God,
• 8:13
  but we have compromise in our lives. We want to move forward, but we refuse to confess, to
• 8:18
  apologize, to surrender, to obey God. You know, we don't grow spiritually when we avoid
• 8:26
  the very things God is calling for us to correct. And Jacob needed to correct that.
• 8:32
  And sometimes I would say the first real sign of change and spiritual growth isn't strength,
• 8:36
  but it's honesty. Jacob had to be honest with God, but I want you to notice second that
• 8:42
  growth deepens when God breaks our self-reliance. Growth deepens when God breaks our self-reliance.
• 8:49
  And so here we come to the heart of the passage here. Verse 24 of Genesis 32 says,
• 8:56
  and Jacob was left alone. And that line I think is very important as we're setting the scene to
• 9:02
  what's taking place here. You have a man who is by himself. His servants are out there. We read that
• 9:08
  his wives are out there. His children are out there. The flocks are out there. But what about
• 9:12
  Jacob? Jacob is alone. There are moments in life where God deals with you and me one-on-one.
• 9:26
  And no one else can be there. Now other people, family, and those that are in the church, they can
• 9:30
  pray for you. They can encourage you. They can love you. But there are times where God deals with you
• 9:35
  and me on a personal basis. And that's exactly what's happening with Jacob here. It says a man
• 9:42
  wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now it's very interesting that we read that word there
• 9:47
  about Jacob because Jacob has been wrestling his entire life. If you go back and you look at Jacob,
• 9:53
  he wrestled in the womb. He wrestled for the birthright. He wrestled for the blessing. He
• 9:58
  wrestled with Esau and Isaac and Laban in every difficult circumstance that came into his life.
• 10:04
  What did he do? That's been his whole way of living is wrestling. And now he's in a struggle
• 10:10
  he can't control. Verse 25 says, the man touched his hip and Jacob's hip was put out a joint.
• 10:19
  Just one touch. This isn't a match contest that Jacob is in. Jacob is being shown how weak he
• 10:29
  really is. And that matters because, you know, Jacob has spent the majority of his life getting
• 10:36
  by on his own cleverness and persistence and personal force. And anyone that reads about
• 10:41
  Jacob will admit he was clever. He knew how to deceive. He knew how to get the things that he
• 10:47
  wanted. He always found a way. He always figured out an angle. He's always leaned on himself.
• 10:54
  But I would say sometimes God has to touch the place where we feel strongest so that we'll
• 10:58
  finally learn dependence. Look at 2nd Corinthians chapter 12. And look at the discussion that Paul
• 11:04
  has with God in wanting to remove the thorn. 2nd Corinthians 12 9, my power is made perfect
• 11:09
  where? In your weakness. And so what does Paul say? Therefore I will boast all the more in my weakness.
• 11:16
  You know, for some people their strength is their talent. For some people it's their confidence.
• 11:25
  For some maybe it's our planning and it's our image. Or for others it's their voice,
• 11:30
  the illusion that they're in control. Jacob was touched and he realized how weak he was compared
• 11:39
  to God. And you notice that Jacob, he leaves this night with a limp. And I find that very interesting
• 11:44
  because, you know, a lot of us we want to have a closer walk with God. We want the blessing as
• 11:49
  Jacob got. He got the new name. He got the deeper walk with God. But a lot of people don't want to
• 11:54
  deal with the limp. But you know what the limp is? God looking at you and looking at me and guess what?
• 12:00
  He sees our level of faith, our understanding. And sometimes we lean a little too much on ourselves
• 12:06
  and our own strength. God's power is made perfect in our weakness. And often I would say the limp
• 12:13
  is part of the mercy of God exposing what needs to change in the heart. The limp also keeps us
• 12:20
  from going back to our old way of living. It reminds us that God's strength matters more than
• 12:24
  our own. But then as we continue on in this section here, the whole struggle changes. Jacob says,
• 12:30
  I will not let you go until what? He says, until you bless me. Earlier in life, Jacob grabbed
• 12:41
  and he took. And now what is he doing? He clings and he pleads. I want you to notice the difference
• 12:51
  in Jacob. And then comes the question, what is your name? And so Jacob, and now God doesn't need
• 12:57
  to know the answer, but Jacob needs to confess it. And Jacob, he says his name Jacob. And what does
• 13:01
  his name even mean? The deceiver, the heel grabber, the man he's been. And then God says, your name
• 13:08
  will no longer be Jacob, but Israel. I don't think that anyone who reads this would say that Jacob
• 13:17
  prevailed because he overpowered God. I think Jacob prevailed because he refused to let go.
• 13:25
  He clings to the only one that can truly change him. And let me tell you, brothers and sisters,
• 13:29
  that is real spiritual growth. When you cling to the one you know that can change you, not just
• 13:36
  learning more, not having a new vocabulary, or having the right words, or being admired by
• 13:41
  religious people, real growth happens when a man comes to the end of himself and clings to God.
• 13:49
  And some of the best things God has ever done in our life happens after he strips away
• 13:53
  the feeling of control. So let me ask you, have you ever been there?
• 13:57
  Where you don't have any power, you don't have any say, where your strength wasn't enough, where
• 14:02
  your planning couldn't hold it together, where all you could do was cling? Let me tell you, those
• 14:07
  are not wasted nights. Jacob experienced this. Verse 31 says, the sun rose upon him, limping
• 14:18
  because of his hip. The sun came up on a very interesting night that Jacob had.
• 14:25
  He saw, however, still ahead of him, his road hadn't changed at all, but guess who had changed?
• 14:34
  Jacob. And sometimes maybe that is what God is doing for you and me, because we keep asking him
• 14:40
  to change the road that we're walking on, but what is God doing? He's changing the one who's walking
• 14:44
  the road. And so Jacob has changed, he's given a new name, but I want you to notice third,
• 14:51
  growth is proven by humility and reconciliation. Growth is proven by humility and reconciliation.
• 15:00
  Genesis chapter 33 opens up with the moment that Jacob has dreaded for 20 years.
• 15:07
  As we saw in a previous session, Esau, after he was deceived, remember how he felt?
• 15:13
  He took comfort in the fact that he would be able to kill his brother one day, and that's what
• 15:17
  helped him sleep at night after Jacob stole his blessing. And so Genesis 33 opens with that moment
• 15:22
  that Jacob has been dreading for many, many years, and he looks up and what does he see? He sees Esau
• 15:28
  coming with 400 men, but Jacob isn't the same guy that he was before Pineo. Verse 3 says that he
• 15:36
  went ahead before his family and he bowed himself to the ground, notice how many times? Seven times.
• 15:43
  Now that's not Jacob just trying to be polite, what is that? That is deep humility. The man who
• 15:53
  once exalted himself above his brother, what is he doing now? He's lowering himself. The man who
• 15:58
  once took by deception is now approaching and he's surrendering. And then I think one of the
• 16:06
  most moving moments in Genesis, Esau runs to meet Jacob, embraces him, falls on his neck,
• 16:18
  kisses him, and it says they weep. You want to talk about mercy, I think we see that right here.
• 16:28
  But Jacob spent the night wrestling with God and now he comes face to face with the brother he
• 16:33
  feared, and instead of finding a battle and fighting Esau with a sword, what does he find?
• 16:38
  An embrace. Then Jacob, he says something remarkable in verse 10 after what's happened to
• 16:44
  him previously. Verse 10 he says, I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God,
• 16:51
  and you have accepted me. At Peniel, Jacob saw the face of God and lived,
• 16:59
  and now he sees Esau's face and he receives mercy. And Jacob, he urges Esau to receive
• 17:07
  his gifts. He says, please accept my blessings. And that word is very interesting because
• 17:11
  years earlier, what did Jacob take from Esau? His blessing. And now what is he doing? He's trying to
• 17:17
  give it back. And I think that's what growth looks like, is when it leaves the prayer life
• 17:25
  and it enters our relationships. A real relationship with God changes how you carry yourself toward
• 17:32
  people. Humility will change our tone. Humility can change our posture. It changes how we handle
• 17:40
  situations. Humility changes whether you have to win every argument you enter into. Humility
• 17:45
  changes whether you're willing to go first, but humility is found in those who have spent time
• 17:50
  at the foot of the cross and it shows up in our relationships. There are Christians who know a
• 17:57
  lot of Bible, but they still carry themselves with pride and sharpness. Jacob had a limp before God,
• 18:06
  that's true, but what did he have before Esau? Humility. He bowed. Some people would look at
• 18:14
  what Jacob did here and they would say, well, that's weak. To submit to his brother like that,
• 18:19
  to bow to the ground, but I would say that that is spiritual maturity.
• 18:28
  Some people are waiting for the other person to go first.
• 18:32
  If you are a human being on this earth, you have been hurt by someone else.
• 18:36
  And so my question is, how do you respond when someone hurts you? Do you wait for them to apologize?
• 18:44
  Yes. Spiritual maturity means being humble. Some people are waiting for the other person to make
• 18:53
  the first move. Some people are rehearsing what has been done to them in their minds over and
• 18:57
  over again. You ever done that before? Someone says something to you and you're trying to go
• 19:01
  to sleep at night and what are you doing? You're just going over and over in your head what they
• 19:04
  said to you. Some are still protecting their pride, but Jesus said if your brother has something
• 19:11
  against you, go. Go. Growth is proven in humility and it will show up in our relationships. I want
• 19:21
  you to notice fourth. Growth requires spiritual leadership and endurance. Growth requires
• 19:30
  spiritual leadership and endurance. You know, one of the reasons this section is so powerful is
• 19:36
  because the story doesn't end neatly after Peniel and the reconciliation with his brother.
• 19:42
  You're not going to find a, and they lived happily ever after. After Jacob meets with Esau and
• 19:48
  they reconcile, what happens? Well, Genesis 34 is very ugly. Genesis 35 is holy, but it's also
• 19:57
  very painful for Jacob. Genesis 36 is a reminder that outward success is not the same thing as
• 20:04
  being in a covenant relationship with God, and so let's look through these three chapters very
• 20:09
  quickly. First, chapter 34 shows us that one great moment with God doesn't mean every problem is
• 20:18
  solved instantly. How many people have that idea of a relationship with God? They hear the gospel
• 20:24
  and what do they think? That all their problems will just magically disappear. One great moment
• 20:29
  with God does not mean every problem is instantly solved. Chapter 34, Dinah is defiled. Shechem and
• 20:36
  Hamor, they act deceitfully. Simeon and Levi, they explode with violence. Jacob's house is deeply
• 20:43
  troubled. But you know, that's real life. A person can experience true growth and still have a lot to
• 20:52
  address at home. There can be passivity to confront. There can be habits that we need to
• 20:59
  correct. There's deeper reform that needs to take place in the house, and some people want growth
• 21:04
  that they can describe and say, you know what God wants? He wants spiritual growth that can be seen
• 21:09
  in the home. In fathers, in mothers, in children, Jacob had changed, but there were still a lot of
• 21:17
  things he had to deal with at home. And that's real life. But God, when he looks at us, he wants
• 21:23
  us to see change not only in you and me, but also in our homes. Genesis 35, God tells Jacob, get up,
• 21:31
  arise, go to Bethel. Now Bethel is where Jacob had first encountered God. This was the place of
• 21:39
  promise. Bethel is the place that Jacob never should have forgotten. And before they go,
• 21:45
  Jacob finally starts leading his house. He says, put away your foreign gods, purify yourselves,
• 21:54
  change your garments. Three things. And that is spiritual leadership. He doesn't ignore the
• 22:03
  problem in his house. He speaks, not vaguely, but clearly to his home. This is what we need to do.
• 22:10
  They hand over their idols and Jacob, it says, the text says, he buries them.
• 22:17
  You know, I think that's one of the strongest images that we find in this section. Some things
• 22:23
  in your life maybe don't need to be managed, but they need to be buried. Some compromises
• 22:31
  do need to die. Some idols do need to go, and as you well know, idols aren't always statues.
• 22:38
  Sometimes the things that we need to bury is the idol of lust. Sometimes it's greed. Sometimes it's
• 22:45
  our own comfort. Sometimes it's approval. Sometimes it's our ego that refuses to leave
• 22:50
  the throne. But there are idols that you and I will find in our lives that we don't just try
• 22:54
  and manage them. What do we do with them? We bury them. We get rid of them. Jacob couldn't move
• 23:01
  toward Bethel while still making room for idols in his family. And so what does he do? He shows
• 23:06
  spiritual leadership and he says, this is what you must do. And that is a sign of growth.
• 23:14
  And then in the same chapter, chapter 35, grief hits over and over in Jacob's house.
• 23:25
  Deborah dies. Rachel dies. Isaac dies. Reuben sins. This chapter is filled with worship,
• 23:35
  but it's also filled with sorrow. And I would say that that is also real life.
• 23:42
  Spiritual growth doesn't mean the absence of pain. It means faithfulness in the middle of pain.
• 23:49
  And the truth is, some of the deepest growth that you and I will experience in life
• 23:53
  will happen when our hearts are breaking. And you see that here with Jacob. What does Jacob do when
• 24:00
  Rachel dies, when Rebecca, when Deborah dies and Isaac dies, when Reuben sins? What does he do in
• 24:05
  all of this? He continues to walk. He keeps walking. He keeps worshiping. He keeps burying
• 24:12
  the dead and handling the things that need to be handled. He keeps hearing God's word. He keeps
• 24:17
  moving forward to the place God wants him to go. And that's maturity. Not that Jacob didn't have
• 24:24
  any fear, not that he didn't have any struggles, but he was faithful in the middle of grief.
• 24:32
  How do you respond when your heart is broken? How do you live? How do you see God when things don't
• 24:39
  go the way you want them to? Jacob experienced a lot of grief, a lot of pain, but he continues
• 24:47
  to worship and walk with God. And then Genesis 36. We see the lineage of Esau, chiefs and kings,
• 24:59
  territory, strength. It looks very impressive, but we have to keep in mind immediate success
• 25:05
  isn't the same thing as having the covenant blessing that Jacob had with God. Esau's line may
• 25:11
  look stronger on the surface and Jacob's line, however, carries what? The promise. And I think
• 25:18
  that we need that reminder that we don't need to measure the favor of God by who looks established
• 25:24
  faster or who looks stronger or more successful in the moment, because oftentimes God works in a
• 25:30
  slower, less impressive way. But we see that with Jacob. Esau has these kings. He has this great
• 25:38
  lineage, but Jacob had the promise. And it's Jacob's lineage that gives us the hope that you
• 25:46
  and I have today. Jacob has a limp. He's got family graves. He's got pain. He's got a promise that's
• 25:56
  still unfolding that he hasn't seen yet, but he has God. And that's the biggest difference.
• 26:05
  So when you step back and you look at Genesis 32 through 36, you see how God changes a man. I want
• 26:12
  you to notice he brings Jacob back to what he has avoided. He breaks Jacob's self-reliance. He
• 26:19
  teaches Jacob humility. He calls Jacob to lead his house. He makes Jacob bury his idols. He keeps
• 26:26
  working even through grief and pain. And over time, Jacob becomes Israel. And that's how God
• 26:36
  works, because he doesn't just forgive you and me and leave us the way we are. He changes us. And so
• 26:44
  the question that I need to ask plainly to you and that I need to ask myself is, well, what area
• 26:50
  am I still avoiding? What area in my life am I avoiding? Where are we still trying to
• 26:56
  muscle our way through instead of clinging to God?
• 27:02
  Who do you need to humble yourself before? What idol have you been tolerating? What in your home
• 27:08
  needs to change? What grief are you walking through right now? You know, maybe you're reading
• 27:13
  through this section and you find that you're in chapter 32, staring down a road that you don't
• 27:19
  want to go down. Maybe you're at Peniel and God is bringing you to the end of yourself. Maybe you're
• 27:24
  in chapter 33 and humility is the thing that you're resisting. Maybe you're in chapter 35 and
• 27:29
  there are gods in the camp that need to be buried. But hear this clearly. God is still taking Jacob's
• 27:39
  and making Israel's. When we look at the church today, we see a bunch of people that don't deserve
• 27:45
  salvation. But guess what do we have? Eternal life. God still turns Jacob's into Israel's. He still
• 27:52
  takes deceivers and turns them into worshipers. He still takes self-reliant people and teaches us
• 28:01
  dependence. He still takes the proud hearts and brings us low. And he still takes the homes that
• 28:08
  are filled with compromise and calls them back to himself. He takes the wounded and teaches them how
• 28:14
  to walk. But Jacob walked into that night one man and he came out another. The road didn't change that
• 28:23
  he was on. The circumstances didn't change first. Jacob changed because he came face to face
• 28:30
  with God. And I believe that that is the turning point for each and every one of us.
• 28:36
  And so if there is a sin, what we learn from Genesis 32 through 36, if there is a sin, bring it out.
• 28:46
  If there is pride, we need to lay it down. If there is an idol, we have to bury it. If there's
• 28:51
  a broken place, we need to bring it before the Lord. If there's a brother to reconcile with, go.
• 28:57
  If there's self-reliance in our hearts,
• 29:04
  cling to God until he breaks it. Let him work on you. Let him change you and let him make you into
• 29:12
  what he wants you to be. We see that with Jacob. We walk through it in the text and we see a man who
• 29:18
  went into it one way, self-reliant, defiant, and he comes out changed. Of course he continues to
• 29:25
  make mistakes, but he's no longer the deceiver. He's Israel. And that happened because he came
• 29:33
  to God, met him face to face, and clung to him. And so may we do the same. Thank you.