A Family of Folly

12/18/24 Big Picture Pt. 13 “A Family of Folly”

Recap: “Returning Home”

JACOB LEFT HOME— WENT to MESOPOTAMIA— CAME HOME W/ FAMILY & MATERIAL BLESSINGS...

(Q) Why was coming home a problem? — ESAU = READY to KILL HIM???

ON WAY: JACOB SENDS FAMILY FIRST

UNUSUAL ENCOUNTER W/ GOD

NAME/IDENTITY CHANGED— “ISRAEL”...NOT JACOB

JACOB = NEW MAN…MOSTLY

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ESAU ACCEPTS PRESENT

JACOB BUYS PROPERTY in CANAAN— CITY of SHECHEM

(T) SEEMS EVERYTHING is HONKEY-DOREY in GOD’S SPECIAL FAMILY

JACOB = LIVING in CITY of SHECHEM in PROMISED LAND...

WHERE’S the STORY GO NEXT??

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Genesis 34: The Defiling of Dinah

READ(v1-4): Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land. 2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her. 3 And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. 4 So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.”

BACK in PROMISED LAND — HUGE PROBLEM

REGARDLESS of DINAH’S “OUT & ABOUTS” & WHAT THIS MEANT—SHE SUFFERS RAPE

BY SHECHEM—PRINCE of LAND/SON of RULER— ONE WHOM CITY is NAMED AFTER

&& NOW HE WANTS to KEEP HER

(T) DISCUSSION COMING BETWEEN FATHERS of PERPETRATOR & VICTIM...

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READ (V5-7):5 Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah. But his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came. 6 And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. 7 The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing must not be done.

JACOB = LARGELY UNCONCERNED....

DINAH— DAUGHTER of LEAH— SEEMS to SHARE STATUS as UNLOVED

**WE KNOW LATER—JOSEPH = CLEAR FAVORITE**

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JACOB = INDIFFERENT

SONS = INDIGNANT

AN OUTRAGEOUS THING “in ISRAEL!”

CLAN BEING SEEN as a PEOPLE—

o Wenham: “The use of “in Israel” surely suggests that the brothers’ view of what is right and proper has abiding validity in national life..... Such a thing “ought never to be done.”[1]

(T) And so there’s obviously going to be some MAJOR TENSION in FAMILY

RAPE— W/ INDIFFERENT FATHER

BROTHERS = OFFENDED

CRIMINAL WANTS MARRIAGE

How will this be resolved??

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Hamor & Shechem’s Negotiations

READ (v8-12): 8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife. 9 Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 You shall dwell with us, and the land shall be open to you. Dwell and trade in it, and get property in it.” 11 Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. 12 Ask me for as great a bride-price and gift as you will, and I will give whatever you say to me. Only give me the young woman to be my wife.”

HAMOR—FATHER of RAPIST COMES—

NO APOLOGIES

JUST NEGOTIATIONS...

WE CAN INTERMARRY—IT’LL BE GREAT!

SHARING LAND, PROPERTY, POSSESSIONS, ETC...

SON,, SHECHEM— SAYS PUT FORTH ANY PRICE!

(T) WHAT PRICE WILL HAVE to BE PAID for them to keep Dinah?

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Jacob’s Sons’ Answer

READ (v13-17): 13 The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. 14 They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. 15 Only on this condition will we agree with you—that you will become as we are by every male among you being circumcised. 16 Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell with you and become one people. 17 But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will be gone.”

JACOB REMAINS SILENT—BROTHERS PUT FORWARD a CONDITION: CIRCUMCISION

BACKGROUND: TURN & READ: GEN. 17:9-14

Genesis 17:9–14 (ESV)

9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.

10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.

11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.

12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring,

13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.

14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

GOOD POINT: CIRCUMCISION = REQUIREMENT to BE PART of ABRAHAM’S PEOPLE

IT’S PRACTICE

IT’S COVENANT

IT’S THEREFORE LOGICALLY NECESSARY FOR THESE GUYS...

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ULTIMATUM.

CIRCUMCISED—YOU KEEP HER

UNCIRCUMCISED— WE LEAVE.

FORESHADOWED in V13— THERE’S DECEIT...

(T) BIGGER QUESTION: WHOLE TOWN CIRCUMCISED to FULFILL LUST of ONE MAN??

Let’s see:

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Circumcision of Shechem & Co

READ (v18-24): 18 Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor’s son Shechem. 19 And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most honored of all his father’s house. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, 21 “These men are at peace with us; let them dwell in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give them our daughters. 22 Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us to become one people—when every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. 23 Will not their livestock, their property and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.” 24 And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

PUBLIC MEETING PLACE—CITY GATE— TERMS ARE OUTLINED...

GET WIVES— AND PROBABLY ACCESS to THEIR STUFF!

TERMS SOUND GREAT— WASTING NO TIME—

BUST OUT the KNIVES

FEW DAYS’ PAIN = HUGE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY & FAMILY?? SURE!

(T) So, how’s the marriage alliance and all that turn out?

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The Annihilation of Shechem

READ (v25-29): 25 On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure and killed all the males. 26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house and went away. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28 They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. 29 All their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and plundered.

ANSWER/BACKGROUND to “DECEIT”

CIRCUMCISED = LAID UP FOR a FEW DAYS—PERFECT.

SIMEON & LEVI = FULL-SIBLINGS W/ DINAH (ALL CHILDREN of JACOB & LEAH)

—>> THE COVENANT SIGN is USED as a MEANS of DESTRUCTION! <<—

ABRAHAM’S OFFSPRING— BRING “BLESSING” to NATIONS

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(Q) SHOULD SHECHEM HAVE FACED CONSEQUENCES? YES.

KILLING ENTIRE CITY— PUNISHMENT DOESN’T FIT the CRIME

FURTHERMORE—ENTIRE CITY = PLUNDERED BY JACOB’S SONS!

MAN’S JUSTICE = UNJUST.

(T) HUGE MESS— FAILINGS in CHOSEN FAMILY— AFTERMATH???

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Jacob’s Fright & Sons’ Defense

READ (v30-31): 30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.” 31 But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

INTERESTING: 1ST TIME JACOB SPEAKS in TODAY’S STORY

NO CONFRONTING HAMOR//SHECHEM/ETC...

BUT JACOB CONFRONTS HIS SONS...

(Q) What is Jacob’s largest concern here?? Own personal safety!

BOTH ABRAHAM & ISAAC—PASSING OFF WIVES to SAVE SKIN...

NOW JACOB—SIMILAR FAULT.

SEEMS “ISRAEL” = REVERTING BACK to JACOB

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(V30) JACOB HAS GOOD POINT— THEY’RE OUTNUMBERED.

(Q) What is he forgetting?

GOD’S PROMISE (CH. 28)

GOD’S HISTORY (of FAITHFULNESS)

LABAN?? SENT DREAM

ESAU?? APPARENTLY CHANGED HEART

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JACOB & CO. ALL FALTER.

JACOB’S INDIFFERENCE LEADS to GREATER PROBLEMS

BROTHERS MURDER & PILLAGE

JACOB’S DOUBT

(V31) BROTHERS RESPOND & POINT OUT: SHOULD SHE BE TREATED LIKE WHORE?? BOUGHT for SOME PRICE??

(T) What could happen in the aftermath of such disaster?

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Genesis 35: God Blesses and Renames Jacob

God’s Command & Jacob’s Obedience

READ (35:1-4) God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. 3 Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.

JACOB DOUBTS/CONCERNS ABOUT SAFETY— GOD TELLS THEM to LEAVE

JACOB WAS to GO BACK to BETHEL & BUILD ALTAR

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JACOB = CALLED UPON to FULFILL HIS VOW

BACKGROUND: TURN & READ: Genesis 28:20–22 (ESV)

20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear,

21 so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God,

22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”

WILL JACOB FULFILL VOW?? SERVING GOD ALONE?

WOULD JACOB OBEY & LEAVE SHECHEM??

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BEFORE LEAVING: CALLS FAMILY to WHOLE-HEARTED DEVOTION & TIME of CLEANSING...

(Q) WHY WOULD THIS BE NECESSARY?

LOOK AT WHAT THEY JUST DID! —DESTRUCTION & PLUNDER

ZIBBC: PROBABLY ACCUMULATED SOME FALSE IDOLS & EARRINGS from PLUNDER

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GOD DESIRES UNWAVERING DEVOTION

(Q) What’s the first commandment? — NO OTHER gods...

Exodus 20:2–3 (ESV)

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

GOD’S PEOPLE = DISTINCT BY UNDIVIDED DEVOTION to SINGULAR GOD

GOD HAD PROVED HIS DEVOTION to JACOB

NOW IT’S JACOB’S TURN to PROVE HIS

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FOR US: GOD’S PROVEN HIS LOVE, COMMITMENT, DEVOTION—SENDING HIS SON to DIE ON BEHALF of OUR SINS....

WHAT SORT of COMMITMENT DO WE OFFER in RETURN?

RC SPROUL: “He’s either Lord of all or not Lord at all.”

GOD’S NEVER APPROVED of a DIVIDED PEOPLE

PATRIARCHS—THROUGH the LAW—UNTIL NOW— HE WANTS WHOLEHEARTED DEVOTION...

Matthew 22:37–38 (ESV)

37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

38 This is the great and first commandment.

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TIME of PURIFICATION & REDEDICATION for GOD’S SPECIAL FAMILY....

(T) HOW’S the TRIP GO??

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God’s Protection

READ (v5-8): 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. 6 And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, 7 and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. 8 And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth.

(Q) DID JACOB EVER HAVE REASON to WORRY?

· Consider God’s promise from Gen. 28 to keep them!

TURN & READ (GEN CH.25:15)

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.”

GOD SPARED JACOB FROM:

LABAN

ESAU

NOW: CANAANITES

**WHEN WILL HE LEARN to TRUST GOD?

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(T) HOW ABOUT FOR US??

HOW OFTEN DO PRESENT CHALLENGES CAUSE US to DOUBT?

WHEN GOD’S BEEN FAITHFUL to US SO MANY TIMES....

**DISCLAIMER: WE DON’T HAVE DIVINE PROMISE of PROTECTION—AS PATRIARCH—HEADING BACK to CANAAN....

BUT IF GOD’S BROUGHT US THROUGH TILL the PRESENT—WILL HE FAIL US NOW?

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GOD WAS FAITHFUL to JACOB & FAMILY—DESPITE THEIR CONSISTENT FAILINGS....

JACOB ARRIVES BACK @ BETHEL...

CONSIDER: “FULL CIRCLE”

JACOB LEAVES—UNDER THREAT of LIFE W/ NOTHING!!

COMES BACK— SAFE — W/ EVERYTHING!

GOD BLESSED HIM FROM a STAFF to 2 CAMPS!

JACOB OBEYS GOD’S COMMAND—CONSTRUCTS ALTAR @ BETHEL!

JACOB’S FAMILY ISN’T PERFECT—BUT THEY’RE WALKING in the BLESSING of GOD.

(T) IN MIDST of MIXED FAILINGS/SUCCESSES…GOD - GOING to CLEAR SOMETHING UP:

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A Reiteration of Renaming & Covenant

READ (V9-15): 9 God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. 10 And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. 11 And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. 12 The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” 13 Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. 14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. 15 So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

AFTER SOME MORAL FAILINGS & FAMILY DISASTERS— IT’S NICE to BE REMINDED

YOU’RE ISRAEL. NOT JACOB.

YOU’RE a NEW MAN.

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GOD REITERATES PROMISE in AMAZING FASHION

PROMISE from GOD-ALMIGHTY!

2/3 of ABRAHAMIC COVENANT = RESTATED HERE

PROMISE of KINGS!

SAUL, DAVID, the REST— JESUS CHRIST— ALL FROM LINEAGE of ISRAEL.

JACOB RESPONDS in WORSHIP

(T) IN MIDST of GOOD,, THERE’S MORE TRAGEDY...

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The Death of Rachel

READ (V16-21):16 Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor. 17 And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for you have another son.” 18 And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. 19 So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), 20 and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day. 21 Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

LIFE = FILLED W/ HILLS & VALLEYS ISN’T IT??

JACOB JUST EXPERIENCED POWERFUL REITERATION of NEW IDENTITY & GOD’S PROMISE

THEN FAVORITE WIFE DIES in CHILDBIRTH

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I FIND it HELPFUL—SCRIPTURE NEVER LIES & PAINTS LIFE PERFECTLY....

DIVINE ENCOUNTERS—TRAGEDIES

ALL of US OCCUPY a WORLD STAINED BY SIN— AWAITING a NEW CREATION

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GOD ANSWERED RACHEL’S PRAYER for ANOTHER SON ((IN JOSEPH’S NAME))....

COMING @ EXPENSE of HER LIFE...

SON of SORROW = RENAMED SON of RIGHT HAND

**WHERE SAUL of TARSUS/PAUL the APOSTLE COMES FROM!**

RACHEL = BURIED ALONG JOURNEY TOWARDS BETHLEHEM in REGION of EPHRATH

(T) JUST WHEN THINGS CAN’T GET ANY BETTER:

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Reuben’s Folly

READ (V22): 22 While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine. And Israel heard of it.

ADDING ANGER to HEARTBREAK

SINS in SPECIAL FAMILY = COMPOUNDING

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SEXUAL IMMORALITY— INCEST— HERE = ISSUE of POWER-GRABBING...

“ZIBBC: “To seize ownership of the concubines prior to the father’s death would then be seen as an act of subversion and disrespect (comparable to seizing land or herds), but would not be unusual if succession to clan leadership were contested.”[4]

REUBEN—FIRST-BORN— TRYING to CLEARLY MARK TERRITORY

IRONICALLY BECOMES HIS SOURCE of DEMOTION

3 MAJOR PLAYERS in TODAY’S PASSAGE SINS = DEMOTED — SCEPTER GOES to JUDAH (GENESIS CH. 49)

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PERHAPS ALSO TRYING to PLAY INTO FAVORITES ISSUE....

Gordon Wenham: BILHAH = RACHEL’S SERVANT

POSS: TRYING to PULL MORE POWER/INTEREST to LEAH & CO???

(T) SUMMARY STATEMENT:

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Tribes of Israel

READ (V22B-26): Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. 23 The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. 24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant: Dan and Naphtali. 26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

HERE LIE the 12 tribes of Israel.

Gordon Wenham: NAMES ALIGNED ACCORDING to MOTHER/ HOUSEHOLD ISSUES...

THIS WILL PLAY MAJORLY in JOSEPH STORY—PREVIEW of WHAT COMES NEXT....

SIGNIFICANT DIVISION/TENSION in FAMILY!!

(T) TEXT CLOSING...

Death of Isaac

READ (V27-29): 27 And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. 28 Now the days of Isaac were 180 years. 29 And Isaac breathed his last, and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

2/3 of PATRIARCHS NOW GONE....

** REMEMBER— THIS = SAME ISAAC THAT SHOULD’VE NEVER BEEN BORN!

GOD FULFILLS HIS PROMISES

BATON = PASSED AGAIN

PEACE BETWEEN JACOB & ESAU

BURIAL in CAVE of MACHPELAH—ABRAHAM’S SOLE PROPERTY in CANAAN! (

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Takeaways:

1. DESPITE HUMAN FOLLY & FAILINGS,, GOD’S PROMISES COME to PASS

SINFUL SONS, SINFUL FATHER…SINFUL EVERYBODY!

GOD PROMISED to BRING JACOB BACK—EVEN WHEN CANAANITES HATED JACOB,, GOD BRINGS DREAD

INNUMERABLE DESCENDANTS to ABRAHAM—SLOWLY BEING FULFILLED in JACOB

THE FAILINGS of GOD’S SERVANTS DON’T DERAIL HIS PLANS

GOD’S PEOPLE MIGHT BE a MESS AT TIMES—BUT GOD FACTORS the MESS INTO the CALLING

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2. GOD DESIRES NO COMPETITION

HE’S GOD ALONE

NO OTHER “LOVERS”

PUTTING AWAY IDOLS & FALSE-GODS

HE’S PROVEN HIS DEVOTION to US…WILL WE PROVE OUR DEVOTION to HIM??

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3. LIFE is a BUMPY ROAD—BUT GOD is STILL FAITHFUL.

FILLED W/ HILLS & VALLEYS...

BUT HE’LL BRING US THROUGH to GLORY & FINAL PROMISE of ETERNAL LIFE W/ HIM...

CLOSE in PRAYER

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[1]Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 16–50, vol. 2 of Word Biblical Commentary(Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1994), 312. [2]John H Walton, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009), 118. [3]John H Walton, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009), 118. [4]John H Walton, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009), 120.