God Has A Plan and A Purpose For Each of Us

 Jacob Moves To Egypt

Book of Genesis Chapters 46-47

The safest place we can be is in the "Will of God"! This is much more important than our physical location.

During this Covid 19 plague we have forgotten this!

As Christians we must learn how to prosper in these last days. Even during the times of plagues as we see right now.

Many of God's people have given up and lost their faith but the Lord will not ever leave us to battle these things alone!

Jacob the patriarch of Israel would have never left his homeland if not for the providence of God.

What had God told to Abram?

Gen 15:13  And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 

Gen 15:14  And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

There were many reasons that Joseph as a teenager was taken away from his father by his own brothers by evil and wicked means and had made it to Egypt.

We all get caught up in the reason Joseph gives which is true!

Gen 50:20  But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Though this was a very good reason and very true, there was another reason Joseph was taken away from his father all these years.

His father Jacob would never have left his homeland if not to go see his son Joseph.

Gen 45:28  And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.

If Joseph had remained in Hebron, Israel would not be the nation that it became and as it still exists today!

In chapter 45, it was Jacob's heart that fainted for his lack of belief, but it was Israel that decided to go to Egypt!

*****Gen 46:1  And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. 

We should never begin any journey before we spend some time with the Lord!

In fact, in these last days we need to spend more time with the Lord and every time, just before we leave the house, as we step out into this evil and wicked world that is now also full of plagues.

These things may not ever change before the Lord takes us home!

In fact the Holy Ghost states that things are going to get worse.

To remain in the will of God, we cannot just hide from these things and be too afraid to go out as the world will have us to believe.

We keep forgetting that we are not afraid to die! Jesus Christ took the fear of death away from each believer!

This does not mean we can step out in front of a speeding train, but it does mean that continuing in the work God has given us to do, is the safest place to be.

God still says to be obedient to our leaders as best we can without going against the Word of God!

God still says to be at peace as long as we are able to be at peace with the enemy!

To prosper during these times is to manage these things guided by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.

Israel took this journey to see his son Joseph!

We must continue on our Christian journey to see our Lord Jesus Christ!

We must stop and make some sacrifices along the way!

We must commit all we have to the work of the Lord remembering the Lord wants "Living Sacrifices"!

*****Gen 46:2  And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. 

Gen 46:3  And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: 

Gen 46:4  I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. 

God does not ever ask from us bits and pieces God demands our all!

When we give God our all, then He will go with us.

He is still God our Father in fact He is Abba Father!

Gal 4:6  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

We have gotten so used to compromising our faith, that we just give up far too easily in the path of the storm before the storm even arrives!

The Lord says, to fear not, to Israel just as the Lord tells us to fear not!

Joh 14:1  Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

Just why are we so afraid?

Good Christians say, "I am just so afraid I will catch this plague".

Someone offers a vaccine that may stop you from catching this plague and the first thing out of these Christians mouth is, "well I am not taking no shot, not matter what".

This exactly the position our wicked governments want us in, afraid to do anything, afraid to make the right choices so the government can make our choices for us!

I can imagine Joseph with his fears, after all his great grandfather Abram had been run out of Egypt.

God had stopped Isaac from going to Egypt, but now this same God was speaking to Israel in visions in the night.

Israel was listening. We must always be open to hearing what God has to say!

God said listen Israel, "I am going down there with you"!

Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 

God promised Jacob (Israel) that Joseph would be with him until the day he died, if he would just take all he had and go on down to Egypt.

Israel took all his family and everything he owned and listened to what God had to say.

Jesus is telling us the same exact thing today! To give Him all we have and stay on our journey to Heaven.

It will still be sweeter every mile of the trip and as God said, "and Jesus shall put His hand upon our eyes".

*****Gen 46:5  And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 

Remember we truly do not need to go anywhere without knowing God is with us, but there are many places God will not go!

God had promised to make Israel into a great nation. It would not happen unless Jacob went to Egypt.

God had promised to go to Egypt with Israel. This will not happen unless Israel was in the Will of God.

God had promised to bring Israel back to the promised land.

God promised Israel that he would not be separated from his son Joseph again before his death.

With all these promises from the Lord, how could Israel say no?

Look at all the promises the Lord has made to us, how could we ever say no to the Lord Jesus Christ?

Our faith is based upon the promises of God!

Jacob (Israel) now traveled free of fear of what laid ahead of him.

We seem to forget this from time to time! We already know our future and have no reason to fear the things of this world!

If God is traveling with us, just what should we be afraid of?

This may be the most important thing to remember as we go through these plagues and this new administration!

Israel (Jacob) did not leave anything behind, he took all his possessions with him and he took all his family with him.

*******Gen 46:6  And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him: 

Gen 46:7  His sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt. 

We should understand that we should be quick to do what God has told us to do!

There is no benefit to being disobedient to God!

We must understand that when God speaks to us, it is for our benefit!

God is able to do all that He says He will do!

God warns us because He loves us, and God will never lead us to do the wrong thing!

When God warns us, then we need to move quickly!

There was no longer a benefit for Israel to remain in Canaan land at this time.

God did not want a godly presence left in this land and God had His reasons!

Gen 15:16  But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. 

God had determined that the Amorites, the inhabitants of Canaan Land, had not reached that degree of iniquity that He would cause their destruction.

You see this is what God is waiting upon today!

2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is

longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

God removed Jacob and all his possessions so he could not influence Canaan Land in his absence.

God will remove the Church from this world so the world cannot be influenced by the Church! This is called the "Rapture of the Church".

So when God tells the Church to do something, then we had better listen and, then do what God has told us to do without hesitation, for we are not going to Egypt, we are going to Heaven!

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 

Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 

Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 

God moved this family all in one group and they would remain in one group while they lived in Egypt.

It was just 215 years since God made His covenant with Abram.

We know it would be over 400 more years the time they would spend in Egypt.

God's promise would still be true, and His covenants are still real, and they are still true!

*****Gen 46:28  And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. 

It was Judah who had the idea to sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites and it would be Judah who would lead Israel to the land of Goshen.

Goshen was a district of Egypt where Israel would settle in and remain until it came time for the Exodus.

Before Israel left Goshen, it was called the "Land of Rameses".

Gen 47:11  And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 

It was not Rameses when Israel first came to Goshen.

Goshen was a place of some of the best land in Egypt suited to the raising of animals and was not far from the herds of Pharaoh and probably not far from his residence.

Gen 47:5  And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee: 

Gen 47:6  The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.

After the plagues God placed upon Egypt, the land of Goshen is now no more than a desert.

*****Gen 46:29  And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. 

Gen 46:30  And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive. 

It was a wonderful thing to not have to worry about that famine, but Jacob would have never left the land of Canaan because of this famine.

It was a wonderful thing that there was food in Egypt, but Jacob would never have left Canaan because the only food source was in Egypt.

The only reason Jacob left Canaan land was because he could see his son Joseph, and God promised Jacob he would be near his son the remainder of his days, which were 17 more years.

Jacob was not concerned very much about the future because he knew the future lie in the hands of God.

Jacob was only concerned with the time he would spend with his son Joseph!

We should feel these same things about Jesus!

It is not important how much time we have left in this flesh because we know we will live eternally in the presence of the Lord!

The messenger of Jacob was now Judah.

It was Judah's plan to sell Joseph and now it would be Judah who would lead his father Jacob back to Joseph.

Judah would remain in the forefront of all Jacob's children, the tribes of Israel.

It is amazing the irony of all these things that happened. 

It seems Judah had seen a dramatic change in his ways.

Jacob was a Godfearing man, so he felt great pride in seeing how God had worked through his son Joseph.

What do we know? God can work anywhere to see His Will progress upon this world!

After 22 years the entire family was in one place at the same time.

The whole land of Egypt was suffering from a famine but Joseph who was in charge of all the food, took the time to welcome his father and his family.

Joseph was now a prince in the land of Egypt, but he was not ashamed of the shepherd, his father.

We can see typology all through these passages of Joseph in the Book of Genesis.

Jacob was now at peace with his life and assured of Joseph's happiness, he had nothing else to live for, he considered his life fulfilled.

When we know the promises of God and the salvation brought to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, we can be at peace with this world and God would have taken us home to Heaven except for the fact that He has things for each of us to do. 

We must be witnesses to this lost and dying world!

When we meet Jesus, we will then get the best of God's creations!

*****Gen 47:11  And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 

We should see that Israel was not just allowed to live in Goshen, but they were allowed to own the land, and this was a command of this Pharaoh.

This land would not be known as Rameses for probably at least 300 years.

Exo 1:11  Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. 

What we see is that while most all Egyptians were perishing in their own land, God supplied Israel and his family with the food of the Egyptians.

God will make the His enemies supply the needs of His children!

Isa 65:13  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed: 

Isa 65:14  Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit. 

Isa 65:15  And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name:

God proves over and over that He knows how to take care of His children!

*****Gen 47:12  And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to their families. 

Gen 47:13  And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. 

As we read through this passage, we will see that these children of Israel were given the best land to settle in and Joseph provided all their needs.

Doing this, while the people of Egypt were getting poorer, in the end having to sell themselves to the government to buy food for their families.

We will see that by the time this famine ended, Pharaoh had control of all the money in Egypt and all the land except for the land of the false priest and the land of the children of Israel.

Hunger will cause many things to happen and many of those things are not good and hunger will drive the people of the Seven Year Tribulation after the Rapture of the Church.

To the Egyptians, Pharaoh was more like a god for what he had accomplished.

Gen 47:25  And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.

This is the way Governments operate today. This is the way the Antichrist will operate!

Saying this, no doubt tight controls were needed for Egypt to survive at this time in history, but the people should never have to give up their land.

Pharaoh could have fed his people without taking all they had from them!

What were the children of Israel doing all this time, multiplying! All their needs were met!

Joseph was operating under divine guidance!

We should remember it was God who interpreted Pharaoh's dream!

It was God who saw that Joseph was exalted!

Pharaoh the pagan ruler was used of God to care for God's children even better than he did his own!

Pro 21:1  The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will. 

God does make use of unbelieving leaders like this Pharaoh and He still does this thing today for His own purpose.

We should remember how God used Cyrus.

We should remember how God used Nebuchadnezzar.

How God used Pilate even with him knowing Jesus was innocent of all charges!

God still uses unbelieving leaders today to get His will done!

If we need to know more, all we need do is study the Scriptures!

*****Gen 47:27  And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly. 

Even during a long famine we see where God will take care of His people if we just do as He says.

We may have to move as did Jacob to a foreign land, but the results were that a nation was formed according to the will of God.

God was fulfilling his promise to Jacob and as He had promised Abram and Isaac.

Gen 46:3  And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: 

Gen 46:4  I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.

We might ask ourselves, why did the children of Israel not leave after the famine was over, but we must see that it was not in the will of God at this time to do so.

We know that the children of Israel continued to grow until they may have outnumbered the Egyptians.

The problems came to Israel when they began to spread themselves throughout Egypt, where they began to learn the ways of the Egyptians who worshipped many pagan false gods. They all should have remained in Goshen until God called them home!

Again they forgot the promises of God.

Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 

Jacob the old man now Israel as a nation grew at his feet died in peace!

*****Gen 47:28  And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years. 

Jacob may be the last of men to live for such and age as 147 years.

As he raised Joseph, he felt he was in his last years.

For 17 years Joseph had cared for his ailing father until he was sold into slavery, but the Lord was with him.

Twenty-two years passed and Joseph reappeared as Governor of Egypt and Jacob got to spend the last 17 years of his life with Joseph still taking care of his dad.

Jacob died in peace after 22 years of mourning for his son and 17 more years learning the truth!

A couple more things we see is, how a government operates with a 20 percent flat tax on its subjects.

One more thing we see that the government owns all the land, and the people are only tenants on that land.

Our own government is leaning this way today.

Egypt still operates with a system close to this today.

Amen

Returning To the House of God

Back to Bethel

Book of Genesis Chapters 34 and 35

As we study the Old Testament, we see that these people who preserved the Word of God were just historical people as we are.

These are real people with real problems who found out that it is Yahweh who has all the answers.

These stories of life in the Old Testament are real and they are true.

We see that it is not always easy to be a believer.

We will face many challenges as we try to serve the Lord.

The best solution is the solution the Lord gives us, which is to keep the commandments to God, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jacob had to live with the decisions he had made, and he had to find God's "Grace".

The best place to begin in search of God's "Grace" is at the House of God!

We must always understand God does not need our sacrifices God needs our obedience!

*****Gen 35:1  And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. 

Jacob had made a vow at Bethel. God had kept His side of the vow, but Jacob had wavered in his vow.

Gen 28:20  And Jacob vowed 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 raiment to put on, 

Gen 28:21  So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: 

Gen 28:22  And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee. 

Many a Christian today, who were on fire for God, when they first asked Jesus to come into their heart, have now cooled off and they need to go back to Bethel, the House of God, and renew their vow as did Jacob.

Jacob had been blessed many times over. Jacob had not given his tenth and Jacob had not given his heart to God which is far more important.

During this “Covid” Plague, many of God's children have grown cold and afraid and they no longer give their heart to God.

In fact many have even forgotten to support the House of God!

They have just quit on the Lord no matter their excuse!

Ecc 5:4  When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. 

Ecc 5:5  Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. 

We make a vow to the Lord the day of our salvation, the very moment of our salvation, or we are not saved!

God wanted the heart of Jacob just as he had the heart of Abraham!

Jacob did not need to go alone, he needed to take all his family so they too could join him at the altar of God.

But there are always some things that need to be left behind!

*****Gen 35:2  Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: 

No matter who we are or where we come from, as Christians we need to renew our commitments to the Lord first and then to each other.

The second will not work without the first!

The family is the first government that our Creator endorsed.

We might say "I have never had strange gods in my life", but we are fools to think so!

Gal 4:8  Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. 

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? 

Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. 

Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. 

All these things are false gods that we have allowed into our lives without thinking that they are false.

Gal 4:3  Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: 

We must keep the Lord "first" at all times and those weak and beggarly elements, which are worldly things, need to be replaced with the Word of God, that is the Word of Truth!

We need to be clean!

The Bible does say come as you are, but in this instance, we are talking about the children who are already in the family of God.

We must cleanse ourselves because we spend every day in a wicked and sinful and corrupt world.

Jesus said to Peter:

Joh_13:10  Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.

To wash our feet as Christians is to walk holy and undefiled.

We must wash the filth of this world off before we make request of the Lord.

It is called recognizing we are sinners, asking for forgiveness every day and asking for a refilling of the Holy Spirit every day or more often as the need arises. 

We still live in this filthy flesh!

We are still dirty rotten sinners saved only by God's Grace!

That "Grace" comes only by Jesus Christ!

In our Spiritual life, that has been "justified" by the Lord and purified by the Lord, need not think that we are undone if in our walk in this life we will contract some stains. 

We need to wash away those stains!

We get this same meaning where it says a change our garments.

We need to wash away the filth of this world and the Word of God is that cleansing agent.

Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 

Eph 5:27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 

This washing occurs as we are doers of the Word, we are obedient to the Word of God!

1Co 6:11  And such were some of you: "but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God". 

1Co 6:12  All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. 

We cannot allow ourselves to be brought under the power of this world when our power is of the Lord.

We just need to go to the "House of God".

*****Gen 35:3  And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.

We are foolish if we do not remember from where God has brought us from.

Where were we?

1Co 6:9  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 

1Co 6:10  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 

1Co 6:11  And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. 

We must never forget the power of our "faith" in the Lord Jesus Christ!

We must remember our deliverance! 

The Lord will always, "Always", deliver those who come to Him in faith and repentance!

2Sa 22:2  And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; 

2Sa 22:3  The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. 

2Sa 22:4  I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: "so shall I be saved from mine enemies". 

If we love the Lord, truly love the Lord, He will always deliver us from our day of distress!

As far as Jacob was concerned Laban was in the past and it was Esau, his own brother who brought these fears to him.

Jacob may not have known just how to approach Esau but as God does, God said to "let his journey begin at Bethel, the House of God".

This is a great lesson for us all.

No matter what we are going through, we need to go to the Lord in prayer and there is no better place to pray than the altar at the house of God.

Yes, we are to go to our closet and get alone with God.

But a Spirit filled House of God, where others who love the Lord can bring great peace of mind.

God is our deliverer!

Psa 18:17  He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me. 

Psa 18:18  They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.

Jacob had asked his family to give up all false gods and to go with him to the House of God.

Anything people worship is to them a god!

Anything we put before the Lord has become our god!

But there is only one true God!

*****Gen 35:4  And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. 

Gen 35:5  And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. 

If we go back to where Jacob had begun his journey to escape from Esau, we will understand this better.

Gen 28:20  And Jacob vowed 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 raiment to put on, 

Gen 28:21  So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: 

Gen 28:22  And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee. 

Jacob had vowed a vow to Yahweh and God was doing His part and had done His part.

God always does what He says He will do!

We must repent of our old life and walk in the Word of God!

We must bury our old gods and seek the Living God!

Isa 55:7  Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 

Isa 55:8  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 

Isa 55:9  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

We must put away our own thoughts and seek the "Mind of Christ"!

1Co_2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

What was the mind of Christ?

To do the will of His Father!

Joh_8:28  Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

When we are doing the will of our Heavenly Father, we will be doing the will of our Savior!

Until the Lord takes us home, we will still be amongst our enemies!

Sometimes we are our own worst enemy!

*****Gen 35:6  So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him. 

Gen 35:7  And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother. 

Luz was a royal city of the Canaanites.

By the direction of God, Jacob was directed right into the mouth of the enemy.

This is the location of the Church today.

As long as we are upon this earth we will live amongst our enemies.

In reality, this nothing to be frightened of.

We are strangers and pilgrims in the land.

Even in the midst of our enemies we can find the "House of God"!

Mat_18:20  For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Notice that Jacob had found something that is more important than the House of God.

Jacob came to realize if God is not in the House, then it is not a true House of God.

It is El-bethel, the "God of House" that makes a true Church!

So many places of worship today have forgotten this.

Jesus is finding that in America, He is no longer welcome, much like when He came the first time.

Luk_9:58  And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

My question is how have we allowed this to happen?

We as Christians have to be the laziest people on the face of the earth!

We think once we are saved, we can forget the world we live in.

We are left in this world to make a difference and we are failing because we refuse to do the work of God.

It is the "God of the Church" that makes the difference, and He must live within us!

We cannot abandon our places of worship as we are told to today, but we had better bring Jesus with us when we go.

We need revival in America.

Not just for lost souls, as many believe, but to revive all the Church, the "Body of Christ"!

There can be no revival if it does not begin with each Church member, each believer!

Jacob built an altar to sacrifice the tenth he had promised to complete his vow, and he was now much closer to the Lord, the God of the House.

It was not the animals that made the sacrifice, it was the heart of Jacob that was important if he was to be Israel.

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

If we do not look to Jesus, then we have not laid aside every weight we carry, and we will be worn out before our journey begins.

It was not the journey Jacob made to get to the House of God, it was the journey he made after he had been to the House of God.

Will the God of the House be with him?

Joh 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 

Joh 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 

Joh 10:29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 

Joh 10:30  I and my Father are one.

It was a good time for one to repent and give her heart to God.

*****Gen 35:8  But Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth. 

We do not know for sure, but Deborah would have been more than 140 years old at the time of her death.

Gen 25:20  And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian. 

Compare

Gen 35:28  And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years. 

Deborah had left Haran with Rebekah 140 years before this death.

“Allonbachuth” means, the "Oak of Weeping".

No doubt this nurse had spent many of Jacob's early years teaching him and helping to raise him.

If we set our roots down in a Bible believing Church, we will see over time, many of the Saints of God go home to glory.

These will be days of sadness until we wake up to the fact that they went to where we want to go, to the Glory World of Heaven.

Death and burial is in all our future unless the Rapture of the Church takes place before our day comes!

We must also understand that on our journey to Heaven the true "Promised Land", we will not be exempt from the things that happen to all humans.

Our journey will not always be easy nor is it intended to be.

Life is not all that fun especially as we get older, but we live, knowing that a life given to the Lord is a life that cannot die.

I am so glad I am no longer a "dead man" but am alive forever in Christ Jesus!

So Yahweh came to visit Jacob another time.

*****Gen 35:9  And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him. 

Gen 35:10  And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. 

We might miss this if we are not looking.

God takes the time to remind us who we are!

God provides us that assurance we need to stay motivated!

Once Jacob had given his heart to Yahweh, The Almighty God, He then reminds Jacob he is no longer the supplanter, but he is a prince in the family of God and the priest of his own family.

Rev_1:6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Rev_5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Our Lord God likes it get up close and personal and He tries much more than we do to get close to us.

We sometimes forget just how much we are loved by our Creator.

And God said:

*****Gen 35:11  And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; 

Gen 35:12  And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. 

The great "I Am" said call me "El Shaddai" there is nothing in this Universe as powerful as the Almighty God.

Why do we express the fears that we do?

He is God "All Sufficient"!

He is able to make good on every promise He has ever made!

We must allow El Shaddai to do His work at His own pace and in His own time.

We can see that He had His watchful eyes on Israel, the man, as He has always had His eyes on Israel, the nation.

Part of those promises given to Abraham would be given to Israel and many of those promises are not yet fulfilled even today, and we should understand that we can only be a living part of God's plan if we listen to what He says and then do as He has commanded us.

Israel would be the father of a great nation.

The tiny nation of Israel today stands a small but powerful nation, because of these blessings given to Jacob on this day we are reading of.

Also the Lord Jesus Christ is the "promised seed" and all nations have within their borders those who love and serve the Lord.

We know that Heaven where the Lord is today is that true "Promised Land", open to all to give their heart to God Almighty, El Shaddai!

Mat 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 

Mat 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 

Mat 28:20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen

Eph 3:20  Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 

Eph 3:21  Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. 

The things of this world from Creation until today, have come about exactly as the Word of God has said, and things will continue until they reach their climax at the return of our Savior.

We have no reason to doubt the Word of God!

How can we doubt something that has proven to be true over and over again?

*****Gen 35:13  And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him. 

Gen 35:14  And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon. 

We know God did not meet Jacob face to face or Jacob would have died on the spot, but God did meet with Israel in some visible display of His glory that hovered over him while God talked to Israel just as He did in the time of Moses over the Tabernacle.

When Jacob had first met the Lord at Bethel, he set up a stone he had used for his pillow. 

Israel now took the time to erect a more stately and more lasting memorial probably placing that first stone in some part of it.

Israel then hallowed it with freewill offerings.

If our offerings are not given freely then they are meaningless!

This is the first place the drink offering is mentioned in the Bible.

In many places we will see the English word wine, but alcohol would have never been used in an offering to God.

The Bible says we are not even to look upon fermented grape juice.

Pro_23:31  Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.

We know that God will never go against His own Word!

Many so-called religions forsake these words, but Israel would not have.

This grape juice was to be poured on the altar as a sacrifice!

There is more to a drink offering than we think! 

We can call it symbolism, but we use the phrase "typology" which is more appropriate.

He first poured a drink offering of wine and then he poured oil over it. 

If we look closely, we can see Jacob was prophesying about the sacrifice of Jesus by his actions. 

We know that Jacob was the father of twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel. 

The Lord changed Jacob’s name to Israel. 

One of Jacob’s sons was Judah; where we get the word Jew, and we know that Jesus was a Jewish Man from the tribe of Judah. 

Jesus stated emphatically, “Salvation comes by the Jews”. 

Salvation came by the Jews in their act of preserving the Word of God and teaching us by example!

Jacob poured the offering on a stone that he had set up. 

Jacob did not just see a stone and use it; he set it up to make an altar. It was a pillar it was a cornerstone! 

The Bible says God was going to lay a Cornerstone of salvation, a sure foundation. 

The scriptures tell us Jesus is that Cornerstone, set up by God! 

The drink offering of wine or grape juice symbolizes Jesus’ blood, poured out for us. 

After the ‘blood’ came the oil, which symbolizes the third Person of the Godhead; the Holy Spirit, Who has been poured into Christians for us to

‘drink’. 

We know of course, we receive the Holy Spirit after we have been washed in the blood of Jesus; so Jacob poured the offerings in the correct order. 

The "blood of Jesus" is poured upon that lost soul, then the oil the Holy Spirit is pour into that lost soul to cause a New Life!

We see over and over again we can find salvation in the Old Testament played out to teach the Jews of the coming New Covenant by the "Blood of Jesus Christ.

God would never use some fermented corrupt liquid to show us these things! 

"Fermentation" is a corruption of the "Fruit of the Vine"!

Jesus Christ was without sin and without corruption.

if we want to pour out our own drink offering, then when we go to the altar, we need to pour out our heart to a "Righteous Savior" and not some "fermented substitute".

The best place to do this is at the House of God!

*****Gen 35:15  And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel. 

Remember the only city that was near this place was Luz a royal city of the Canaanites.

In the future this place would be named Bethel.

In this day of Jacob (Israel), he was saying the House of God!

God will speak to us anywhere and at any time but there is just something special about meeting with the Lord at the House of God.

Isa 43:10  Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. 

Isa 43:11  I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.

Amen

 

What Do We Teach Our Children

 Rachel and Leah

Book of Genesis Chapters 30 Through 33

In last week’s lesson we saw that "deception" can destroy a family. 

In this week’s lesson we will see that "jealousy" can reek havoc on any family and "envy" besides being a great sin can also cause many family problems.

There are many reasons we do not need two wives, and in this lesson, we get to see some of those reasons.

Bigamy has never been blessed by the Lord!

It is far better to believe that God knows what He is doing than to go against Him in any way!

We will see in this lesson, that though Jacob had left home because of the fear of death from his brother Esau. 

Jacob had now been away from his parents for 20 years.

We will see that Jacob did not love Leah as he did Rachel, because Leah had been a major part of the deception of Jacob by her father Laban.

Jacob's home was full of tension simply because Jacob was spiritually weak at this time!

It was as much Jacob's fault he was deceived, as it was Laban's.

Lust will blind our eyes to the truth!

We do not know if Jacob celebrated too much at that feast of Laban.

Gen 29:22  And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. 

Or it could have been his lust for Rachel that clouded his eyes, which is more the truth.

Gen 29:21  And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her. 

We do know that Leah was substituted for Rachel.

Gen 29:23  And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her. 

Leah could have told Jacob what was happening, and she did not.

We must remember there was no electricity for lights in those days. When night came it was dark!

Leah wronged Rachel as much as she did Jacob and we can only suspect that she would do anything to get away from her father's house.

We do not know about Rachel other than Laban had removed her out of the picture, probably locked away from Jacob.

None of these things changed Jacob's desire for Rachel!

In God's eyes, Leah became the wife of Jacob and she bare him many sons, one of them being Judah who would carry on with the Covenant made to Abraham.

The Messiah came from the line of Judah.

The title Jew comes from the name Judah.

We all have a tendency to yield our feelings to the love story of Jacob and Rachel, but once Jacob sealed his marriage with Leah then she was his true wife.

One more thing we must see is, that Jacob was a shepherd who worked really hard to obtain a wife. 

In typology this is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ did.

It is by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ that we become the "Bride of Christ".

We can see our Savior throughout the Old Testament!

Laban gave Rachel to Jacob with the understanding that he would serve him 7 more years.

Leah who was the less loved, bore Jacob 4 sons in short order while Rachel was barren.

Jealousy and envy brings this family their first problems.

*****Gen 30:1  And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. 

Gen 30:2  And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, "Am I in God's stead", who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? 

Immediately jealousy now brings with it envy.

We might ask ourselves, why did God show us all these things?

God wants us to know that these were real people who suffer through the same things all people suffer through today.

This is the reason that "God's Grace" is so important!

Where would we be without the "Grace" of God?

It was in fact sin that was working in this family.

Satan was hard at work to destroy this family!

Leah was having children and Rachel was not, so the problem was not Jacob.

Rachel was not so much upset over her barrenness, as she was of Leah's fruitfulness.

This could mean many things which we will not discuss here.

The point is it is God who controls the womb. It is the parent who controls the health of the child in one way or another.

Envy is grieving at the good of another.

There is not much greater sin than this in the eyes of God!

Envy leads to strife, and division, and railing, and hatred, and sometimes murder!

Rachel did not even consider that it was God who made the difference, and we know Leah had been praying constantly to God and God listens to those who are harmed.

Except for bearing children, Rachel had all the advantages of love from Jacob.

We must never be envious of our brothers and sisters in Christ when God has blessed them with some good thing!

One child would never satisfy Rachel! It would take more than one child to stop her envy as she tells Jacob, "give me children".

Rachel decided if she could not have more than one child with Jacob, then she would just die.

We know that Rachel did die with the birth of her second child.

We should be careful what we ask for.

These things would never gain her favor with God. Neither will they work for good in our own relationship with the Lord!

Rachel decided, much like Sarah decided, that she would solve this problem herself, when she should have gone to God in repentance of her sin.

*****Gen 30:3  And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. 

Gen 30:4  And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her. 

Now Jacob was God's man, but he allows himself to get caught up in Rachel's envy and jealousy.

Compare Jacob to Job for a moment: Job told his wife.

Job 2:10  But he said unto her, "Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh". What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips. 

These would have been good words for Jacob to tell Rachel.

Jacob had told his wife Rachel that she need not come to him when she should be going to God, which was the truth.

We do not know if she ever did.

What do we know? Whatever we want comes by the hand of God!

Jas 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

We can believe this or not, but it is true!

Rachel pleaded with Jacob for more than one child and we know she died with the birth of her second child Benjamin.

We know that in the Scriptures we find Hannah and Hannah was barren and she prayed for only one child from God, and then she had many.

Leah also prayed to the Heavenly Father and had many children. 

We should be able to see the difference here!

The substitution of Bilhah would only add to the sin of Jacob, but by the culture of that day those children from Bilhah would be considered the children of Rachel.

Much like the surrogate mothers of today.

We would have thought that her own sister's children would have given her more reason to love them than those from some surrogate.

Jacob gave in to this sin of his wife.

*****Gen 30:5  And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son. 

Gen 30:6  And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.

Rachel named the first child of Bilhah, a boy, Dan. The name Dan means a judge, because Rachel felt that God had judged her, but now God had given her a son.

Jacob later, when he pronounced his blessing upon Dan, said he would judge his people. 

This could have been a prophecy of Samson who was of the tribe of Dan.

In reality, Rachel believed it was an injustice for God to leave her barren and Leah so fruitful.

This is no way to build upon a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father!

It is a fact, with her attitude she did not deserve the blessings of God, and He certainly would not hear her prayers.

Bilhah gave another son.

*****Gen 30:7  And Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son. 

Gen 30:8  And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.

All of a sudden, we realize that Rachel was trying to make it a competition with her sister as to who could provide Jacob the most sons.

Naphtali was Jacob's fifth son but other than this, we do not know much more about him.

These are certainly things we see in a family where bitterness, envy, jealousy, and strife are!

Now Leah gets caught up in this thing with her sister.

*****Gen 30:9  When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife. 

Gen 30:10  And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a son. 

Gen 30:11  And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad. 

Gen 30:12  And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a second son. 

Gen 30:13  And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher. 

Isn't it amazing how some of these names came about?

Because of envy Rachel had put her personal maid into the bed of her husband Jacob she said she loved.

Now Leah because she was barren for a year did the same.

We can see the power of rivalry.

We also see that mischief and scheming is the result of the ignorance of God's "Grace".

More important, we see the inability to put confidence in the promises of God.

It is in the promises of God where our hope lies!

We should understand the wisdom of God which joins one man to one woman!

Jacob the father of these children, has now became a bedroom servant to his now four wives, rather than a husband and priest to one wife and family.

God was not in all these man-made problems or I should say woman-made in this instance.

We also see the many problems of "bigamy".

We see that God is left out of the picture between these two sisters.

God will never bless bigamy! 

God will never bless these marriages and we will see the results of envy and jealousy portrayed in these children as they grow older.

These children were raised in the roots of bitterness and envy and strife and mischief.

This is the same way they lived until they grew older and matured by getting closer to Jehovah (Yahweh).

These are all carnal things that go against the Word of God!

1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 

When we resemble the world we live in, we certainly are not like Jesus and therefore are not Christians.

Gal 5:21  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

We see all these things play out in the world today, especially in the politics of our nation which has divided us all.

Let us not get caught up in these things.

Jas 3:13  Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. 

Jas 3:14  But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. 

Jas 3:15  This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 

Jas 3:16  For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. 

Jacob decided he needed a change in family and decided it was time to go home.

*****Gen 30:25  And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country.

Out of respect to his father n law, Jacob asked for permission to leave with his family.

Jacob now had eleven sons and a daughter. He had been in Haran at least 14 years probably more.

Nothing in the plan of God called for him to remain in Haran.

All the promises of God were bound up in the promises to Abraham!

We all of have a yearning to go home if we know our Heavenly Father.

In fact as the children of God, most of us who are on up in years are yearning for our Heavenly home.

We know we are just strangers here on earth.

Jacob knew he would always be a stranger in Mesopotamia.

Jacob knew the promise of God was to his seed, and those twelve children who he now had were those seed.

One of those children, Judah, would lead to the Messiah!

We all as fathers have the responsibility to take care of our families!

1Ti 5:8  But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. 

This is not only food and clothing and a place to live but their safety and most of all to teach them about our Savior, who is also our Creator.

If we do not take care of our family in all the ways of God, then we do not have faith in the truth of God and are worse than an infidel.

*****Gen 30:26  Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee. 

We see what Jacob was asking for was freedom.

Jacob sought for the freedom to take care of his own family.

Jacob had been working for Laban all these years and Laban had prospered far above what he could have gained by himself, under the power of his own family.

Jacob's contract with Laban was fulfilled and he had no reason to hold him.

But Jacob's children were also the grandchildren of Laban and he might resist Jacob from taking them away from him.

Laban had deceived Jacob!

We are being deceived by powers we do not understand today in our government and our freedoms are at stake.

We are wrong if we do not try to keep our freedoms!

The biggest problem we see here in America is the fear of losing our freedoms.

Our freedoms are eroding away especially since this plague has begun and our government has seen what they can get away with.

The people have been much more than lenient, but our patience is ending, and this new government is not very promising.

It is our desire to be free, yet most people are under the bondage of not only governments, but more important in bondage to Satan.

Only Jesus can set us free!

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. 

It all begins with the same faith that Abraham had that caused his righteousness.

Joh 8:39  They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. 

Laban was not ready to just allow Jacob to leave for he knew for certain he would prosper as long as Jacob remained in bondage to him.

In this we see Satan in typology.

Satan prospers every time he captures the child of God!

Gen 30:27  And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake.

Laban was ready to do about anything to keep Jacob, not because of his love for Jacob, not even because of his love for his children and grandchildren, but because he knew the God of Jacob would cause him to prosper as long as Jacob was working for him.

It was greed that had controlled Laban all his days!

The one thing Laban did not count on was that Jacob could also be a deceiver.

*****Gen 30:27  And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake. 

Gen 30:28  And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.

Jacob had been a faithful and hard worker for fourteen years working long hours to care for the animals of Laban and Laban had prospered greatly.

Jacob had fulfilled his part of the contract with Laban.

It was Laban who was the deceiver all this time. 

Of course Jacob prospered in his work because God had promised Jacob many things.

Gen 28:15  And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. 

God had also done as He had said He would do!

Laban did not want to lose Jacob because of his skills with animals.

Laban was willing to do just about anything to keep Jacob working for him and now was willing to pay him wages.

Laban entered into a partnership with Jacob.

Notice that even the wicked deceivers know how to speak pleasant words when it is for their own benefit.

This is another trait of Satan and Satan's followers!

Laban had seen the benefits of serving Yahweh, but Laban still considered Yahweh to be just one god among many other false gods.

Today we know there have been many lost souls who have benefited from the work of good Christian employees.

Many companies stay afloat because of good Christian workers and they do not want to lose them, but they are often not willing to treat them fairly.

At this time in Jacob's life, he realized that he was bound in duty to take care of his own family.

As long as he worked under contract for Laban, his family had no benefit. His sons had no future except to be slaves forever for Laban.

It was time for Jacob to think about them!

Jacob was ready to place his future in God's hands.

What would be Jacob's wages?

Gen 30:32  I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire. 

Gen 30:33  So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me.

Jacob agreed for Laban to remove all such animals from the herds, so there would be no crossbreeding and Jacob could only claim those born in the future.

Jacob believed it was in God's hands for the color of the different animals and we should to.

So it began.

For six long years these things went on and Laban's sons who were to spy on Jacob felt that he was in some way stealing their father’s animals.

Jacob did try some trickery, but that trickery was for the entertainment of those sons or Jacob thinking he could influence the birth of those animals, but the things Jacob had done could not have made those animals change their colors.

Gen 31:11  And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. 

Gen 31:12  And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. 

Gen 31:13  I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred. 

Then Jacob decided it was time to leave with his family and leave in secret.

Many things happened as Jacob left for the Promised Land, but the most important thing was a wrestling match.

*****Gen 32:24  And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. 

Gen 32:25  And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. 

Gen 32:26  And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. 

Gen 32:27  And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. 

Jacob had sent his family over the river and decided he needed some time alone with God. (We all do)

He would soon be meeting with Esau, and Jacob had real fear for his life, and for the safety of his family.

What does the name Jacob mean? Jacob means a supplanter.

To supplant is to have a stratagem, a plan, or a scheme to take away someone else s possessions.

Use tricks to gain the advantage on someone else.

We should understand that it was not by Jacob's strength that he prevailed in this match, it was by Heaven's power.

We see again where prayer is the answer to all our problems.

Jas 5:16  Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much

We should understand that when we are discouraged our Lord will not cause us more discouragement. 

The Lord is the answer to all our problems!

*****Gen 32:28  And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

The Lord gave Jacob a new name.

Israel means at this time meant "a prince with God" and as a prince he had power with God.

Israel the man, would also have power with men.

Jacob learned that to become a new man he would have to change his behavior.

He could be no longer the supplanter but a true man of God.

Another meaning of the name Israel is "prevailed".

Jacob had prevailed with the help of God and he would prevail against Esau by the help of God!

What is our lesson here?

2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 

2Co 5:18  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 

2Co 5:19  To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

It takes a prayer asking for forgiveness and repentance to gain the favor of God and then by God's "grace" we can also become a prince in the family of God!

God teaches us all these things in the Old Testament so we can see the same truths in the New Testament, and we will know our God is the same today as He was in the time of Jacob.

Amen.