- araratchurch
- Nov 9, 2023
- 3 min read
“Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has acquired all this wealth.” And Jacob saw the countenance of Laban, and indeed it was not favorable toward him as before. Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.””
Genesis 31:1-3 NKJV
If you have ever dealt much with children, you know that they often resist being told how to do something. The phrase, “I do it,” or something equivalent, is often among the first sentences spoken out of fresh little mouths.
Interestingly, that propensity toward not wanting to be told how to do something, is not always left when leaving childhood.
Now, not only is that not an expedient way to get things done—basically striving to reinvent the proverbial wheel rather than meriting from someone else’s experience—but, if this way of being and doing is applied to our relationship with God, we will never advance into mature sonship.
Even so, some people will hold tenaciously to their own way of doing, tragically, to their own destruction.
Indeed, the Lord often spoke to the children of Israel, His special people, concerning their unwillingness to submit to His way of being and doing. And, they often suffered because of their tendency toward self-will.
“For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But you would not, And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”— Therefore you shall flee! And, “We will ride on swift horses”— Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift! One thousand shall flee at the threat of one, At the threat of five you shall flee, Till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain And as a banner on a hill.”
Isaiah 30:15-17 NKJV
Yes, since the people were determined to do things their own way, they often found themselves having to run for their lives. Indeed, they were often left (as is expressed above) like a flagpole alone on a deserted hill—only a vestige of what once was.
In our opening scripture we see that Jacob, after years of living outside the land of his fathers (the Promised Land) is being instructed by the Lord to leave the house of Laban, and go back home.
As you may know, while in the house of Laban, Jacob—the one who was used to getting his own way, through his own maneuvering—got outmaneuvered by Laban.
“Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her.” And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast. Now it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. So it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you deceived me?””
Genesis 29:21-23, 25 NKJV
Additionally, Laban had deceitfully changed Jacob’s wages, repeatedly.
Now, if Jacob was to enter into all the Lord had for him, he needed to follow the Lord’s way, completely.
Perhaps a showdown is in Jacob’s future. And, we will talk more about that tomorrow.
For today, ask the Lord if some of your own trouble came out of your wanting things your own way.
Please know, you really don’t want to be left to your own devices. The blessing found in a deeper relationship with the Lord, is only found in laying down your own devices and doing things His way.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Nov 9, 2023
- 4 min read
“Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway. At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!””
Genesis 28:10-16 NLT
There are some things you wouldn’t believe unless you see it for yourself. One of those things I have seen that I wouldn’t have otherwise believed, are interviews with young people being asked questions about our country, questions, people of my generation would assume everybody knew. The questions asked were things like who the first president was, who fought in the Civil War, who was at the first thanksgiving, and so on.
I watched in disbelief as I saw numerous young people struggling to come up with even an educated guess, as to the answer of some very “easy” questions.
What happened? Now, I understand that there are many dynamics culminating in such a phenomenon; but, for our purposes here we will look at one particular cause of this apparent ignorance concerning our country’s history.
You see, our public education has turned to either distorting our country’s history, or ignoring it, choosing rather to teach information that fits a societal goal.
So, we are shocked to see that today’s young people have no clue about many of the things we took for granted as being commonly known.
As well, we see “skills” we didn’t realize were skills, completely lacking. Skills, such as common courtesy, or respect for authority.
Sadly, the attributes lacking in the younger generation goes beyond certain knowledge, or even to ways of being, to the level of what we think of as being common decency.
We see writ large, the peril of assuming that, because you knew something, because you were taught something, because something mattered to you, that it will be the case in those who come after you.
Tragically, the assumption that the way you feel, the things you know, will be shared by those who follow, extends into the knowledge of God. As a result, the very pillars of our Christian faith are crumbling from neglect and abuse. Our society is even being referenced as being “post Christian.”
Sadly, over the years, I have seen the families, the children and grandchildren, of people who were very strong in the faith, falling away from faith completely.
Again, there are many reasons for that, including very real and very persistent, spiritual warfare. But again, for our purposes, let us consider that if we assume our family, our children, our grandchildren, are going to feel the way we do about the Lord, we will fail to make sure that they are exposed to the very elements that led us to faith.
In our opening passage we see Joseph, who is now running from his angry brother, coming to a point of being introduced to the God of his father and the God of his grandfather.
You see, the Lord was not yet the God of Jacob. Indeed, Jacob did not receive the knowledge of God, or the blessing of God, by osmosis. Yes, he had to meet God head-on; and, this confrontation would align him with the blessing that flowed from Abraham to Isaac. Yes, now it would flow from Isaac to Jacob!
A couple of points I will leave you with today.
First of all, don’t assume that your children, or grandchildren, or those over whom you have responsibility/authority, will know about the Lord, what you know about the Lord, or even care about the Lord, the way you care about the Lord. We must keep them covered in prayer, and, to the best of our ability, make sure they are exposed to those things that brought us to faith.
As well, looking at this issue more personally, let us make sure we don’t assume that just because our family before us served the Lord, that we somehow know what we need to know about the Lord and to faithfully serve Him.
God wants to be very up-close and personal with each of us. And, make no mistake, it’s the only way that we will receive the blessings of God.
We will talk more about this tomorrow.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Nov 9, 2023
- 4 min read
“Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.” So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.”
Genesis 25:21-26 NKJV
Our society presents the concept of being a “self-made man” as being something that is desirable and praiseworthy.
Now, whereas I understand the concept of not waiting for someone else to make things happen for you, as well as the importance of having personal initiative, the concept of being self-made, actually goes against how we should see ourselves, and how we should operate, as children of God.
Indeed, Jesus made it clear to His disciples that He was the source of their ability.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5 NKJV
Paul thought of himself as a self-made man until the Lord encountered him on the road to Damascus. Then, he came to count his own accomplishments, as trash.
“For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
Philippians 3:3-11 NKJV
Think of it, Paul had spent his entire life achieving great levels of knowledge and prestige in the religious community. But, he came to know that he could never be sufficient without the Lord.
“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,”
II Corinthians 3:5 NKJV
We have talked recently about how King Nebuchadnezzar found out the hard way that his authority, his prowess, was an allusion. What he had attained, could be taken away by the Lord, in a moment.
“At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!”
Daniel 4:29-31 NKJV
In our opening scripture we see that Jacob was born trying to promote himself and push ahead.
Yes, Jacob was well on the road of self-assertion. Indeed, he took advantage of Esau’s hunger to take his birthright.
“And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.” And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?” Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.”
Genesis 25:30-34 NKJV
Then, when it came time for his father to die, he again turned to his own devices (with the help of his mother) to receive the blessing that would’ve been Esau’s blessing.
“So he went to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” But he said, “Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.” And Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?””
Genesis 27:18-19, 35-36 NKJV
Now, please understand, the Lord had told Rebecca before Jacob and Esau were born that Jacob would rule over his brother. So, it wasn’t the fact that he became the receiver of the birthright and the blessing that made him in error, those were assigned to him by the Lord.
What truly made him a supplanter is that he apparently thought it was his own manipulating and maneuvering that had put him over Esau.
But, if Jacob was ever going to receive the blessing from God, he was going to have to lay aside his way of being and doing. But, that would be a process.
We will talk more about that tomorrow.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!