Returning Home
Notes
Transcript
BIG PICTURE PT. 12 “RETURNING HOME”
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Recap: God’s Blessing of Jacob Pts. 1-2
Recap: God’s Blessing of Jacob Pts. 1-2
RECENT WEEKS: LIFE of JACOB
DECEIVER, SUPPLANTER, HEEL-GRABBER
STOLE:
BROTHER’S BIRTHRIGHT
& BLESSING
FLED FOR LIFE
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WENT to LABAN:
(Q) WHAT HAPPENED THERE?
MARRIES RACHEL & LEAH
11 SONS, 1 DAUGHTER
WORKS for LABAN— GETS MASSIVE FLOCKS/HERDS/BLESSING
LABAN’S TRICKERY
JACOB STILL = BLESSED
(Q) DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT WAS the “SECRET SAUCE” as it were… IN JACOB’S LIFE??
GOD W/ HIM!
Genesis 28:15 (ESV)
15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
JACOB’S CONCLUSION, WHEN LEAVING LABAN:
Genesis 31:42 (ESV)
42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.”
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JACOB = HEADING HOME to CANAAN
LABAN = OUT of WAY
ONE PROBLEM W/ ALL THIS?? —ESAU.
(T)
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Genesis 32: Jacob Fears Esau
Genesis 32: Jacob Fears Esau
READ (v1-2): Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2 And when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God’s camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
JACOB’S SECRET SAUCE—PRESENCE of GOD
**ANGELS ARRIVE as REMINDER!
PLACE = RENAMED:
Last time w/ Angels: “BETHEL” (HOUSE of GOD)— CH. 28
NOW “MAHANAIM” = (TWO CAMPS)
**REMINDER GOD is WITH JACOB—
HUMAN CAMP & DIVINE CAMP TOGETHER
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READ (v3-5): 3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, 4 instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now. 5 I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.’ ”
JACOB = TRYING to TOUCH BASE W/ ESAU
SENDS MESSENGERS WAY AHEAD W/ UPDATE
MESSAGE: JACOB = DOING GOOD…PROSPERED QUITE a BIT!
INTERESTING:
JACOB = TRYING to FIND FAVOR W/ ESAU
REFERS to HIMSELF as SERVANT & ESAU as LORD!
(Q) What was the birth oracle?? — Older serve younger
+ BIRTHRIGHT!
+ BLESSING!
BUT JACOB KNOWS HE MESSED UP— APPROACHING BROTHER INCREDIBLY HUMBLY...
(T) ONE QUESTION: HOW WILL ESAU RECEIVE HIM??
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READ (v6-8): 6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.” 7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, 8 thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.”
· Problem: ESAU = ARMED & DANGEROUS!
JACOB’S GOT BIG FAMILY… HERDS/FLOCKS… BUT NO ARMY!
REAL PROBLEM: JACOB = “GREATLY AFRAID & DISTRESSED”
DIVIDES into 2 CAMPS...
IRONY: JUST HAD SEEN MAHANAIM — “TWO CAMPS” — A REMINDER of GOD’S PRESENCE...
LAPSE of FAITH— TRYING to SPARE HALF the FAMILY/BLESSINGS....
(T) WHAT ELSE WILL JACOB DO in RESPONSE?
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READ (v9-12): 9 And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ 10 I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. 11 Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. 12 But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ”
· Jacob has a PROBLEM and he TAKES HIS PROBLEM to GOD
ONE BENEFIT of TRIALS in OUR LIVES is THEY DRIVE US to OUR KNEES...
WHEN LIFE is GOOD WE CAN FORGET ABOUT GOD
PROSPERITY = GREAT THREAT to SPIRITUALITY
PROBLEM COMES— JACOB GOES to GOD in PRAYER
FIRST RESPONSE? FEAR— SPLITTING UP CAMPS
SECOND RESPONSE? FAITH— TAKING MATTER to GOD
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JACOB’S PRAYER (3 THINGS):
I. (V10) JACOB RECOUNTS GOD’S GOODNESS
GOD PUT HIS STEADFAST LOVE on DISPLAY in BLESSING JACOB
WENT FROM 1 WALKING STAFF to 2 CAMPS! WOW!!
ALL DUE to GOD’S GRACE—
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HOW OFTEN DO WE CONSIDER OUR BLESSINGS ARE FROM GOD’S HAND?
WE WORK
WE SAVE
WE BUY
WE “PROVIDE”
WE “EARN”
SCRIPTURE SAYS:
James 1:17 (ESV)
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
JACOB MIGHT HAVE WORKED for THESE THINGS…
YET HE KNEW THEY ALL CAME as GRACIOUS GIFTS from the HAND of GOD.
WHO HERDED the SHEEP? —JACOB
WHO DID ALL the WORK NATURALLY? —JACOB
BUT WHO WAS the SOURCE — GOD.
LET’S BE SURE WE’RE CAREFUL NOT to TAKE CREDIT for GOD’S BLESSINGS in OUR LIVES...
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II. (V11) JACOB PLEADS W/ GOD… “PLEASE DELIVER ME.
II. (V12) JACOB RECOUNTS GOD’S PROMISE
(HB. EMPHASIS) YOU SAID/PROMISED, GOD... THAT YOU’D DO ME GOOD...
TO DO GOOD to JACOB
TO MULTIPLY HIS OFFSPRING...
JACOB CONCLUDES: IF ESAU KILLS THEM ALL,, THEN the PROMISE is VOID! GOD YOU NEED to DO SOMETHING!
(Q) DO you SEE the DILEMMA??
(T) AFTER YOU PRAY,, WHAT MORE CAN YOU DO? LET’S SEE...
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READ (V13-21): 13 So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau, 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16 These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove.” 17 He instructed the first, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?’ 18 then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.’ ” 19 He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him, 20 and you shall say, ‘Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us.’ ” For he thought, “I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.” 21 So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.
JACOB FIRST SENDS MESSENGERS
NOW HE SENDS SERVANTS W/ LAVISH GIFTS
**PUTTING FAITH to WORK**
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THERE’S an ELEMENT of FAITH THAT WILL BE PATIENT & WAIT
THERE’S ALSO an ELEMENT THAT ACTS
YOU DON’T PRAY FOR GOD to PLANT a GARDEN—
BUT YOU PLANT a GARDEN
& PRAY THAT GOD GROWS IT
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SCHOLAR, GORDON WENHAM: JACOB = RETURNING the BLESSING!
REMEMBER: “THE BLESSING” HAD to DO W/ INHERITANCE
JACOB STOLE IT…NOW HE’S EFFECTIVELY REPAYING.
(T) We wonder will Esau accept it??
What happens next?
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Genesis 32:22--Jacob Wrestles with God
Genesis 32:22--Jacob Wrestles with God
READ (v22-23): 22 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had.
**CONFUSING: PERHAPS JACOB COULDN’T SLEEP??
JABBOK = TRIBUTARY of JORDAN RIVER—RUNS EAST to WEST...
FAST FLOWING
WHY MAKE FAMILY CROSS a RIVER,, DURING the NIGHT?? WE DON’T KNOW
**WHAT WE CAN SEE, IS IT APPEARS JACOB SELFISHLY PUTS HIMSELF LAST in LINE— A MEASURE of SELF-PRESERVATION
JACOB HAS SOME FAITH—BUT HE’S IMPERFECT LIKE US ALL— THIS SEEMS to BE A LAPSE of FAITH in GOD’S PROMISE...
(T) JACOB SENDS EVERYTHING ACROSS....AND NOW:
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READ (v24-32): 24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh.
JACOB = LEFT ALONE,, NORTH SIDE of JABBOK RIVER… WILDEST ALL-NIGHTER YOU CAN IMAGINE!
**JACOB = FIGHTING FOR LIFE ALL NIGHT W/ MYSTERY OPPONENT… ESAU????
AS NARRATIVE PROGRESSES WE LEARN IT’S NOT JUST a “MAN” HE’S WRESTLING...
LOTS of QUESTIONS:
WHY DID GOD START the FIGHT?
GOD’S REALLY WRESTLING W/ JACOB?
&& JACOB’S WINNING???
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DESPITE CONFUSION: IMPORTANT PASSAGE
HOW DO WE FIND OUT it’s NO NORMAL MAN??
JACOB’S RENAMING = ISRAEL— STRIVING/WRESTLING W/ GOD.
+ W/ a SINGLE TOUCH— JACOB’S HIP = MESSED UP FOR LIFE!
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JACOB SAYS: WON’T LET HIM GO WITHOUT BLESSING
JACOB = ALWAYS STRIVING for BLESSING,, THIS TIME DIRECTLY
CHEATING BROTHER
WORKING W/ PLOT AGAINST LABAN
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MOST IMPORTANT THING to SEE: JACOB’S NAME = CHANGED to ISRAEL
GOD ASKS: WHO ARE YOU?? I’M JACOB!....
ESAU: GEN. 27:36
Genesis 27:36 (ESV)
36 Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”
NOW: NO LONGER HEEL-GRABBER
HE’S the GOD-WRESTLER…BUT ALSO ONE on WHOSE BEHALF “GOD FIGHTS!”
AFTER an ENCOUNTER W/ GOD—JACOB = FOREVER CHANGED. A BRAND NEW IDENTITY.
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BIG PICTURE SERIES: THIS is WHERE “ISRAEL” COMES FROM— THE DESCENDANTS of “ISRAEL/JACOB”
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JACOB (CLASSIC FASHION) RENAMES PLACE PENIEL/PENUEL… “FACE of GOD”
**SCRIPTURE SAYS YOU CAN’T SEE GOD’S FACE & LIVE…PROBABLY WHY HE HAD to LEAVE BEFORE SUNRISE!**
ASSURANCE: STRIVING W/ MEN & GOD— AND PREVAILED...
GOD WILL FIGHT FOR HIM
CONFIDENCE for MEETING ESAU
NEW IDENTITY,, NEW MAN,, NO LONGER the CHEAT!
NO LONGER GOING to BE STRIVING/WRESTLING/CHEATING…
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**CONSIDER HOW WE’RE CHANGED:
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
NO LONGER “THE CHEAT”… BUT ISRAEL
NO LONGER the OLD YOU,, BUT a NEW CREATION
NOT in ADAM…BUT in CHRIST (2ND ADAM)
REF. EPH.4:28
Ephesians 4:28 (ESV)
28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
REMEMBER ZACCHEUS in N.T.??? REPAYING HIS THEFT!
BEGINS W/ CHANGE in IDENTITY— NOW a CHILD of GOD!
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JACOB DEPARTS from GREATEST GOD-ENCOUNTER W/ LIMP— TAKING it WITH HIM FOREVER… A SIGN THAT HE’S BEEN CHANGED...
(T) But ALL ALONG…we’ve BEEN WONDERING: HOW WILL ESAU RECEIVE JACOB?
THE WRESTLING MATCH = INTERRUPTION to LARGER NARRATIVE...
WHAT HAPPENS???
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Genesis 33: Jacob Meets Esau
Genesis 33: Jacob Meets Esau
READ (33:1-3): And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants. 2 And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. 3 He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
STILL UNSURE HOW THIS WILL GO.... ESAU HAS 400 GUYS......
***(Q) DO YOU NOTICE ANYTHING DIFFERENT in JACOB’S APPROACH NOW?
BEFORE: EVERYONE ACROSS the JABBOK,, BUT HIM.
NOW: JACOB = FIRST in LINE
NOT HIDING in the BACK W/ RACHEL & JOSEPH...
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HUMBLY—HE BOWS 7 TIMES… ACKNOWLEDGING the SUPERIORITY of the ONE to WHOM HE BOWS...
GORDON WENHAM: “The new character of Israel is soon apparent.
Courage replaces cowardice as Jacob himself strides ahead of his family to meet Esau (v 3).
Humility takes the place of arrogance as he bows down seven times before his brother (v 3).
And penitence prompts him to attempt to give back the blessing out of which he had cheated Esau (vv 10–11). Through his Peniel experience, Jacob has been reborn as Israel.”[1]
(T) HOW WILL ESAU RECEIVE HIM??
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READ (v4-11): 4 But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. 5 And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” 6 Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down. 7 Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. 8 Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company that I met?” Jacob answered, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.” 9 But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” 10 Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. 11 Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he urged him, and he took it.
RECONCILIATION LIKE WE COULDN’T HAVE IMAGINED!
JACOB = a CHANGED MAN,, BUT WE KNOW NOTHING of ESAU’S CHANGE!
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JACOB RECOUNTS GOD’S BLESSING...
(V8) JACOB EXPLAINS HE DESIRES to FIND “FAVOR”
AFTER RECOUNTING HOW GOD HAD TREATED HIM SO “FAVORABLY” (GRACIOUSLY) **WORDPLAY**
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THEY HADN’T SEEN EACH OTHER: MINIMUM of 20 YEARS
7 YEARS for LEAH
7 YEARS for RACHEL
6 YEARS for FLOCKS/HERDS
**NOT COUNTING TRAVEL/ANY TIME in BETWEEN**
THE VENGEFUL,, WOODSMAN/HUNTER BROTHER—EXTENDS GRACE to JACOB & EMBRACES HIM
JACOB’S PRAYER WAS ANSWERED!
(T) WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?:
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READ (v12-17): 12 Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of you.” 13 But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and that the nursing flocks and herds are a care to me. If they are driven hard for one day, all the flocks will die. 14 Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”
15 So Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” 16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. 17 But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
ESAU DESIRES JACOB to COME WITH...
JACOB = NOT SO SURE
UNDER GUISE of “KIDS DON’T TRAVEL GREAT” & MY ANIMALS = TIRED… JACOB STAYS BACK
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INSTEAD of GOING SOUTH to SEIR/EDOM,,, JACOB GOES WEST to SUCCOTH & EVENTUALLY SHECHEM
**REGARDLESS: STORY CLOSES W/ PEACE BETWEEN JACOB & ESAU
(T) SOMEONE FINISH the CHAPTER:
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READ (v18-20): 18 And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city. 19 And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. 20 There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.
JACOB CONTINUES WEST to CITY of SHECHEM...
**NOW JACOB = a LAND-OWNER!!
(Q) WHERE is this LAND?? (V18) —LAND of CANAAN!
GOD ANSWERS JACOB’S PLEA— ESAU SPARES HIM
GOD FULFILLS HIS PROMISE to JACOB—BRING HIM BACK SAFELY
**ALSO SEE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT—THEME of GENESIS—ABRAHAM’S DESCENDANTS POSSESSING the LAND
Text Closes:
JACOB RESPONDS in WORSHIP—BUILDING an ALTAR to GOD
THE GOD WHO:
o PROVIDED FOR HIM SO GRACIOUSLY
o MET HIM AND CHANGED HIS NAME.
o ACCOMPANIED HIM THROUGH HARDSHIP
o SPARED HIM FROM THE WRATH OF ESAU
o GAVE HIM PROPERTY IN THE PROMISED LAND
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Takeaways:
Takeaways:
1. EVERY GOOD & PERFECT GIFT = FROM GOD...—WE OUGHT to THANK HIM FOR HIS BLESSINGS in OUR LIVES...
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2. WE PRAY & PLEAD W/ GOD on the BASIS of WHAT HE’S PROMISED...
WE CAN’T EXPECT THINGS THAT ARE OUTSIDE of HIS EXPRESSED WILL in SCRIPTURE
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3. JACOB WAS CHANGED BY GOD,, N.T. NEW CREATIONS in CHRIST
NO LONGER CHEATER—GOD-WRESTLER
NO LONGER SELF-PRESERVATION—NOW RISKING HIS LIFE
STILL IMPERFECT,, ON JOURNEY: BUT CHANGED.
THINK on the DIFFERENCE CHRIST HAS MADE in YOUR LIFE SINCE YOU MET HIM
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4. GOD is a PROMISE-KEEPING GOD.
BROUGHT JACOB SAFELY BACK
GIVING LAND in LAND of CANAAN!!
