The Means to the End

Genesis 35:5 ESV

5 And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

I grew up west of Decatur in a little town called Harristown. And for anyone who knows the area between Decatur and Springfield, you know that between Decatur and Springfield, there really isn’t a whole lot of anything at all. And it seems like the further west that you go of Decatur, the even less that there is to do.

So, like I said, living in Harristown as a kid there really wasn’t too much to do. But if you travel even further west, you will arrive in the next little town west of Decatur, that town being Niantic. And in Niantic it seems like there is even less to do than there is in Harristown.

And while I lived in Harristown, the villages of Harristown and Niantic shared a school district, so, Niantic was where I went to school.

Now, in high school, when my buddies and I would get out of school for the day, we all liked to meet up and hang out together for a while before we went home. And so, we would typically meet up at the lone general store in Niantic and drink soda and talk for a while before we would head our separate ways.

Well, that little store had this habit of being open for a year or two, then going out of business and being closed for a year or two, before someone else would buy it and make a go of it. And so, when the little store would shut down, we really wouldn’t have too much to do after school, because like I said, there really isn’t anything to do in Niantic.

Well, one year when the little store closed, a friend of mine named Rusty helped relieve all of us of our boredom when he went and bought two pairs of boxing gloves.

Now, to the average teenaged boy, these boxing gloves had the potential to be a lot of fun because we could put them on and hit each other as hard as we could, and it wouldn’t hurt as bad because of the padding that is in the gloves… I couldn’t wait to get over there after school and try them out for myself!

Among those who couldn’t wait to get over to Rusty’s house and try out the gloves was a good friend of mine named John, and John and I had been buddies for most of our teenaged years. Up to this point, John had been known as a pretty small, scrawny kid, whom we all assumed could be beaten up by pretty much anyone.

So, one day after school I drove over to Rusty’s house and my buddy John decided to put on the gloves and see how he fared. I remember thinking that I could take John easily, so I said that after he got done boxing the boy that he was boxing, that I wanted to face him next… but then the match began.

This friend of mine who was small and scrawny and seemed like he could be beaten up so easily proved to be one of the scrappiest young men I have ever seen. He landed one punch after another and after less than a minute in, the kid he was boxing against was standing there dazed and confused, saying that he had had enough.

Afterwards, John looked at me and he asked me, “You said you wanted to box me next?” I said, “Well, actually, I didn’t realize how late it is, I really have to get going… but, maybe next time.”

Well, next time never came as every day after school, John would defeat another kid, he beat nearly everyone that he faced... I knew who I could take, and I knew that he wasn’t one of them, so I was sure to steer clear of him and always have a convenient excuse as to why today wouldn’t be a good day for us to box.

So, while I initially wanted to box him, thinking that it would be easy work for me, I suddenly feared the prospect of ever boxing him and was sure to never let it get that far.

As we continue this morning in our series of messages from Genesis 35:1-15 we see in our reading for today how God had done something very similar in the case of Jacob, and the cities and nations that surrounded him. What we see in our reading is God using secondary causes to accomplish His own purposes.

Now, that term “secondary causes” in the theological sense can be likened to the domino effect. Let’s say that I set up 10 dominos, and ultimately it is my desire to knock the tenth domino over. So, in order to do that, I push the first domino over which then knocks over dominos 2 through 9, eventually knocking over domino number 10, like I wanted all along.

I, the one who pushed the first domino into the second domino am the primary cause, while dominos 2 through 9 falling into each other are the secondary causes that take place so that the end can be accomplished, and in this case, that end is the falling of domino number 10.

Now, I just told you about boxing at my friend Rusty’s house and observing my other friend John, beat everybody up. Obviously, in this case, it was God’s will and determination for me to NOT box my friend John, and the secondary means that He used to accomplish that purpose was to ensure that I would be present to watch John beat everyone that he faced and thus instill a fear of boxing him within me, and thus, I never boxed him.

Now, in our narrative that we are working through this month, we see that it is God’s will and determination for Jacob to appear before Him in Bethel that he may worship Him and serve Him as his God.

And we saw at the end of our reading last week that after the Lord had appeared to Jacob and summoned him to come to Him, and after Jacob had exhorted his household to put away their foreign gods and to worship the God of heaven and earth instead, that they all willed to set out and follow Jacob to Bethel, so that they too may worship the God of heaven and earth.

So, thus far, we see that God willed for Jacob and his household to worship Him at Bethel, and thus the primary cause in this case is God coming to Jacob and calling him to do what He wills, to set out for Bethel and to worship Him there.

Then Jacob exhorting his household to put away their foreign gods and to follow the Lord were all secondary causes to accomplishing God’s purposes.

But as we said last week, at this point in time, Jacob and his household had become a stench to the cities and the nations that surrounded them due to the carnage that they had left in the city of Shechem. In other words, Jacob was now the most wanted, most hated man in this region, and his household as well.

Now, if Jacob is the most hated man in the region and if he is found vulnerably traveling through the wilderness on his way to Bethel, what do you think is going to happen to both he and his household? They will become a thing of the past.

So, something is going to have to be done here to ensure that Jacob and his household make it to Bethel as God has willed and desired. What is going to have to be done is God is going to have to use more secondary causes to ensure that Jacob makes it to Bethel without being vengefully murdered.

And we see that secondary cause in our reading, Genesis 35:5, where it says:

Genesis 35:5 ESV

5 And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

Like I keep saying, God wanted Jacob and his household to come to Bethel to worship Him; and in order to get them there without them being torn to shreds, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them as they traveled.

What this means is that there was something that kept these people from pursuing Jacob and his household. So, while they wanted to go out there and tear Jacob apart, they didn’t.

It would be like a viscous dog running towards you, growling, barking, with his mouth open, ready to bite, but suddenly he sees out of the corner of his eye, me standing there holding out a steak, telling him to come and eat it. Suddenly, the desire of the dog goes from biting you, to eating the steak, as he stops in his tracks and makes a b-line for the sirloin in my hand.

So, it was here. God used some kind of means, what these means are we are not told, but what we do know from what is written here is that God used these means to terrify the peoples surrounding Jacob and his household to such a degree that they did not dare to leave their cities and attack them, but instead, they just let them be.

And because they let them be, they were able to successfully and safely travel all the way to Bethel, just as God desired and decreed.

For those of us today who can legitimately claim the title “Christian” we can, and we should receive the account of the secondary causes that God put in place in our text in order to accomplish His own purposes in two different ways.

The first way that we should receive it is to do so recognizing the absolute, meticulous sovereignty of God.

Now, the sovereignty of God is God’s rule over everything that He has created, God’s control over everything that He has created, and God’s governance over everything that He has created. And everything that God has created, is, well, EVERYTHING.

This means that everything that there is has not only been created and is now controlled by God, but it is even governed by God.

You see, a lot of people think that when God created the heavens and the earth, it was kind of like winding up a clock and now He’s sitting back, waiting to see what happens.

But that, my friends, is what is called open theism, which means that just like us, God does not know what is going to happen in the future, like us, He is waiting to find out.

But of course, we know better than that. Because we know that God is omniscient, or all-knowing. He knows everything: what has happened, what is happening, and what will happen. So, open theism must be rejected by the orthodox Christian.

But then there are other people who try to take the middle ground and say that God is all-powerful, that God is all-knowing, but that He does not meticulously govern His creation. Instead, they say that God really wants certain things to happen, for people to do certain things, but that He doesn’t really have any control over any of the things that He really wants to happen.

But that too must be rejected by the orthodox Christian, as one of my all-time favorites, Arthur W. Pink says: “A “god” whose will is resisted, whose designs are frustrated, whose purpose is checkmated, possesses no title to Deity, and so far from being a fit object of worship, merits nought but contempt.”

So, God really wanting certain things to happen, but then those things not happening is something that we also must flatly reject.

Look again to our text. God willed for Jacob and his household to come to Bethel to worship Him, and He then used secondary causes to accomplish that very thing.

Now, we also know from Scripture that everything that happens in this world, God works together for the good of those of us who have been called according to His purpose, those who are legitimately saved. Therefore, we can rest most confidently and comfortably in the recognition of God’s meticulous sovereignty.

So, comfort in the meticulous sovereignty of God is the first way that we should receive our text for today. The second way that we should receive our text for today is in taking the utmost comfort that God will preserve those of us who are legitimate Christians and thus keep our salvation eternally secure.

I believe it was John MacArthur who once said very plainly, “If you could lose your salvation… you would!” In other words, now that we have freely been granted salvation, the only way that you can maintain that salvation is by God maintaining it for you.

Furthermore, since obtaining our salvation is not in our power, then forfeiting, or somehow giving away our salvation is also not in our power. The only One Who has that kind of power is God Himself.

And trust me, God is not an Indian giver, He doesn’t give us our salvation just to take it back one day. No, what He started in us, He will bring to absolute completion.

Therefore, with these great truths in mind, then like Jacob, we can move forward, when God says “Come”. In fact, we can take the utmost comfort in knowing that because God has said “Come” we will come. In fact, maybe God is using this sermon today as a secondary cause in order to ensure that you, my beloved friend, continue to come.

Let us, beloved, be most comforted and confident in our sovereign God today!

Amen?