What You Meant for Evil, God Meant for Good

What You Meant for Evil, God Meant for Good

Chet Phillips

Transcript

It's good to see you all this morning. Grab your Bibles, go to Genesis chapter 50. I don't know if you know this, that is the last chapter in the book of Genesis. So starting next week, we will begin back in the book of Genesis because we felt there was a few things we missed. No, I'm just messing with y'all. We will be moving on to other things.

I think it's been good for us to walk through Genesis and I'm glad we're going to be wrapping it up. When my wife and I first got married, we rented a little house in Clinton, South Carolina. I don't know if you're from Clinton. You have to pronounce it Clinton, but I'm not from Clinton, so I will say it correctly. We rented a house in Clinton, South Carolina and we lived on a road called Teakwood Drive, I think. I know it was Teakwood.

And the lady who we were renting the house from had a man that would come by. It was an older gentleman who would come by and help do some work around the house. And he was there repairing something and he had whittled a, I believe it was a dog. I don't exactly remember what it was, but it was a small little figure. And he handed it to me and he was saying, I whittled this. And I was like, man, that's, this is neat.

Like, this is a cool whittled thing. And he started telling me it was made out of teakwood. And he said, now teakwood is one of the strongest woods that exists. And I was like, cool. And I'm holding it. And so when he told me it was really strong wood, all I did was just kind of test that.

And I snapped it in half. And so I broke it and then just stuck it back together real quick. And just stood there like that. Now I'm having a hard time paying attention to the conversation because I'm having to think through, this is terrible. I've made a huge mistake. When someone hands you something they've whittled, you don't break it.

This is like a, you know, feels like a social norm has just been broken, you know. So I'm sitting there holding it. And he's just going on and on about how strong teakwood is, how they use it to build ships, how, you know, it's practically indestructible. I think he was saying stuff like if Superman fought a teakwood tree, the teakwood tree would win. He didn't. But it just seemed like he went for a really long time about how strong teakwood was.

And then when he finished, I said, well, that is really cool. I'm sorry I broke this. And I just handed it back to him in two pieces. You know, I had the option of like pretending he had offended me and throwing it on the ground or just like fumbling the hand off. But I think it was just I just had to own it.

So I just was like, this is broken. And he was like, oh. And I was like, I'm so sorry. I'm apparently an idiot and should not have done what I did. And so I just, you know, he took it well. So that in general is how the book of Genesis starts.

That's how the Bible starts. That's the way it feels. God in chapters one and two creates this beautiful world. And it repeatedly says, it's good. It's good. It's good.

It's good. It's very good. And in chapter three, he makes the, in chapter one and two, he makes the pinnacle of his creation, humanity. And he hands it over to humanity, puts them in a garden. And in chapter three, they walk over and go, yeah, we broke it. We, I don't know.

We were here for, it seems like 45 seconds. And now all the stuff you made is going to be terrible. That's really the way it feels. We start off the book of Genesis and they, it feels like immediately rebel against God. They decide that their wisdom is greater than his. They decide that they cherish something more than him.

So that when it comes down to, do we want to obey or disobey? They, they so lower the value of God that they choose something else and they rebel. And when they do, sin enters the world and everything gets messed up. If we'll remember at the beginning of Genesis, when we were reading this, everything was good. Everything was beautiful. They were in a garden.

The world was going to respond well to them. They were going to have a good relationship with creation. They were going to have a good relationship with each other. Genesis two says they were naked and not ashamed. We have a hard time being naked by ourselves and not ashamed. They were naked together.

This was just the thing that was going to happen. They weren't going to feel shame. They weren't going to feel guilt. And as soon as they sin, they noticed they're naked. They feel shame. They hide, they cover themselves.

And from that point on, everything is broken. And it turns very badly, very quickly. We, and the question that we have from the, from the onset of Genesis is what is God going to do? How is God going to respond? What is he going to do with sin? What is he going to do with this creation now that is marvelous in?

What is he going to do with sinners? How does he remain holy? How does he remain good? How does he, how does he respond? Is he just going to start over? Is he just going to destroy humanity and let animals have a messed up planet?

Is he just, what's he going to do? That's the kind of the question we have is how's, how's he going to respond to sin? How's he going to respond to sinners? What's he going to do? We see in Noah, the Noah story, we see that it says Noah was righteous. The New Testament is later going to tell us that that was through faith, that he inherited righteousness through faith.

But Noah was righteous and so God kills everybody on earth who had gotten extremely evil extremely quickly. Like we jumped some generations to get to Noah, but it says the world just spiraled. We suddenly have murder, hatred. As we read through Genesis, it's like a highlight reel of human sin and debauchery, incest, lust, sexual assault. It, I mean, I felt like multiple times as we were walking through the book of Genesis, we would just have to be like, turn to Genesis chapter 30. It's bad again.

Y'all are used to being sad, right? Because that's what we're going to talk more about. Like that's kind of what Genesis has been. And so he, he kills all of humanity and you go, okay, here's our answer. He's going to get rid of all the bad people, but we'll have the righteous people. He's reset it.

Noah gets off the boat, immediately gets drunk, gets naked. His son sees it, doesn't honor his father, ends up getting cursed. And then God actually says, basically when they're walking off the boat, I'm not going to kill everybody again, even though they're still evil. And you want to be like, wait, wait, wait, I thought you kept the good guy. He's like, yeah, even our good guys are the worst. It seems like the book of Genesis goes out of its way to highlight how terrible the heroes are.

We're like, we got Abraham. Okay. Like the first thing we see Abraham do is walk into a city and he pauses. He's walking in with his wife and she's like, oh, this is a nice city. He's like, yeah, hold up. We get in there.

I'm going to need you to tell them you're my sister. She's like, why? And he's like, because you're cute and I'm a coward. So say you're my sister. And then I will actually just help you marry people when we get in here. That goes terribly.

God helps them. And then the next time they go to another city, Abraham's like, you remember my bad plan from before? And she's like, yeah. And he's like, all right, round two. It moves from Abraham to Isaac. And we think, okay, well, maybe Isaac will have some sense.

No, does some of the same things. It moves from Isaac to Jacob. And Jacob starts off the first half of his story. He just seems like a scoundrel. He does some things okay. But it's like the book of Genesis is going out of its way to highlight these people are sinful.

Even this legacy, this line, this promise of maybe this will work out. That's one of the things we see in the garden is as soon as it goes bad, God steps in and basically says, I promise sin won't win. The serpent had come in, had lied to Eve, had deceived her. Adam had willfully gone along with it, passively at first and willfully afterwards. And God comes in, he curses them, tells them what's going to happen, how the world's going to be messed up now. He kicks them out of the garden.

And he says, though, there's going to be one who comes. Eventually, the serpent won't win, sin won't win. We read through Genesis. It looks like sin's winning. Because every time it steps in, everything gets marred, everything gets broken. Every time someone whittles a beautiful dog, sin snaps it in half.

It's the way it feels. And we can try to glue it back together, we can try to piece it back together, but it's not going to be the same. And that's what we've been walking through. When we get to Genesis 50, we've seen some of the promises fulfilled. We've seen this family line continue. We've seen all the world be blessed.

That's one of the things he told Abraham. I'll make you into a great nation, and through you I'll bless all the world. We've seen a little bit of that. His nation's getting bigger. The 12 tribes are beginning to grow. And through Joseph, the world, the local world there, is blessed.

And you might would say, well, that's the finalized version of this. You read on, and we're going to see that that's not the finalized version, but it is a small picture. But in Genesis chapter 50, we're going to get the answer we've been asking. The answer to the question we've been asking. What is God going to do with sin? How is he going to fix this problem?

Is he going to have to get rid of sinners to do it? And he gives an answer for the book of Genesis that ultimately we'll find is an answer for the entire Bible and for the entire world. For his answer to sin. So we're going to read that in Genesis, and that's where we'll finish out. As Genesis finishes out, kind of letting us see how this works and what God is going to do. So let's pray.

God, we thank you for your word. We thank you for how good you are to us. And we pray that we would see the beauty in the reality of how you respond to sin and to sinners. As we finish up the book of Genesis. We love you and we praise you in Jesus name. Amen.

Genesis 49 ends with the death of Jacob. Chapter 50, verse 1. Then Joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel.

Forty days were required for it. For that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days. Okay, so you would... That rivals, this is almost how long you would weep and mourn for a pharaoh. So Jacob gets a lot of respect and honor because his son is second in command over Egypt.

And so they mourn for him for seventy days. And we're going to see that this mourning continues. It says, When the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh saying, If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh saying, My father made me swear, saying, I am about to die in my tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan. There shall you bury me. Now therefore, let me please go up and bury my father.

Then I will return. And Pharaoh answered, Go up and bury your father as he made you swear. So Joseph went up to bury his father. And with him went all the servants of Pharaoh, So the elders of the household and all the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers and his father's household, only their children and their flocks and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company.

When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation. And he made a mourning for his father seven days. When the inhabitants of the land of the Canaanites saw the mourning of the threshing floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians. Therefore, the place was named Abel-Misraim. It is beyond the Jordan. Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them.

For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah to the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father. So they go, they travel, and they bury Jacob in the cave that they bought from Ephron the Hittite. They say this every time it's mentioned because they want to make it really clear why they own the land, where it is, who has it. And they mourn for him with a great mourning.

And this is one of the things that culturally I think we have lost. That we don't know how to mourn well. That we try to kind of move on quickly from mourning and we feel like we ought to be past things that honestly we cannot move quickly past. And so a lot of times people will feel like they're still in mourning but everybody else has moved on. But this actually was 70 days where the whole nation mourned.

And then even when they got there they did another 7 days of it. That there is time for and seasons for us to just be sad. And that's okay. And that's what they do. And they greatly honor Jacob. And I'm sorry I've been losing my voice all week.

So I will preach as long as the Lord lets me. And then we may just end in the middle of this sermon. We'll have to see. I'm just kidding. I'll jump to the end. We're going to talk about Jesus.

Surprise. Alright. When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead. They said it may be that Joseph will hate us. And pay us back for the evil that we did to him. Okay so this moment in the lives of Joseph's brothers triggers for them their guilt.

Everything had been going fine. They'd been there for 17 years. Things seemed okay. Their dad dies. And suddenly they're like uh huh. I don't know who brought it up.

But at some point in the brother meeting that Joseph wasn't in. And I'm guessing Benjamin wasn't in. They were like hey. Think back. Remember that time. That we threw Joseph in a pit.

Told our dad he was dead. And then decided not to murder him. I think that was the highlight of this. But we did sell him into slavery into Egypt. And then do you remember how we were all shocked when he's in charge of Egypt now? Because that's not how usually the route to being in charge of Egypt doesn't usually go foreign slave to second in command.

Yeah. So you think he's still mad about that? They get together and they're basically like. It feels like maybe he was just being nice to us because dad was here. Because he remembered how upset dad was when we killed him technically. Maybe he thought dad would be upset with him if he killed all of us.

But now that dad's not here. Maybe. Do you think maybe he's going to do that? But don't worry guys. They have a plan. So verse 16.

They sent a message to Joseph saying. Your father gave this command before he died. Say to Joseph. Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin. Because they did evil to you. And now.

Please forgive the transgressions of the servants of God. Of the God of your father. All right. Before dad died. He told us. To tell you.

To forgive us. We don't know why he didn't tell you. I think it's because he thought it would mean more. Coming from him to us to you. Than just from him to you. And he totally said this.

This is real. Benjamin knows about it. But I wouldn't ask Benjamin about it. Because he'd be his feelings would be hurt if it was brought up. Even if this was just because you know he's sad. So just just know dad said this.

And for you to go ahead and forgive us. And also. Will you will you go ahead and forgive us? Yours truly. Your 12 brothers. Check.

Yes or no. Waiting patiently in Goshen. Like I don't. This. This is the note they send. Says this.

Joseph. Wept. When they spoke to him. He just. He just cries. And he says.

His brothers also came. So this is the messengers brought this. And he just. He just weeps. Because of the brokenness still in this relationship. And his.

Brothers also came to him. And fell down before him. And said. Behold. We are your servants. But Joseph said to them.

Do not fear. For am I in the place of God? He's basically saying. Like. I. I don't get to judge y'all.

It is not my job. To judge. And to condemn. And to decide what your fate is. It is not my job. To.

To weigh your hearts. To know whether you're repentant. It is not my job. I got. It's not. Not my role.

Don't fear. I don't. I don't get to do that. I don't get to bring the hammer down on you. It's not my position. It's a very humble spot.

For the second in command of Egypt. Who absolutely could do what he wanted to. With his brothers. And who had absolutely been wrong. He just says. That's not.

It's not my role. As for you. You meant evil against me. But God meant it for good. To bring it about. That many people should be kept alive.

As they are. Today. So do not fear. I will provide for you and your little ones. Thus he comforted them. And spoke kindly to them.

Verse 22. So Joseph remained in Egypt. He and his father's house. Joseph lived 110 years. And Joseph saw Ephraim's children. Of the third generation.

The children also of Machir. The son of Manasseh. Were counted as Joseph's own. And Joseph said to his brothers. I'm about to die. But God will visit you.

And bring you up out of the land. Out of this land. Into the land that he swore to Abraham. And Isaac. And Jacob. Then Joseph made the sons of Israel.

Swear saying. God will surely visit you. And you shall carry up my bones from here. So Joseph died. Being 110 years old. They embalmed him.

And he was put in a coffin. In Egypt. That is the end of the book of Genesis. It will move on from there. 400 years. And we will have the Exodus.

That would walk through. We're not going into that book next. But that is what would happen. If you read this. In the order it comes in the text. So Joseph dies.

And he ends by making them promise. Making basically the nation of Israel promise. When y'all leave. You're taking me with you. And he believes in the promises. That have been made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

And he says. My bones will be here. I need y'all to grab those. And tow them on out. Which had to be fun at the Exodus. When they were like.

Alright we're leaving. Also. There was a guy who was super in charge here. About 400 years ago. He's buried in one of these really fancy crypts. We're going to need you to go get that for us.

Because we have to take him with us. And guess what? The Egyptians said. Sure. Because at that point. God had put Egypt in a headlock.

And been doing what he wanted to with him. They do take his bones with him when they leave. So. Go back though. Because this is the answer given in Genesis. The key kind of climactic point here.

Was in verse 20. We'll have it on the screen as well. Says this. As for you. You meant evil against me. But God meant it for good.

To bring it about that many people should be kept alive. As they are today. That's the answer in Genesis. Jesus. Now. Just understanding how to read your Bible.

That is a thing. That Joseph says. It's not. Prophetic word. Word of the Lord. There are certain places in the prophets.

Where it says. Thus says the Lord. And we take that as something God says. When you're reading these stories. You just have to understand. This is a thing Joseph says.

And so. You have to then look and see. It's actually the way the book of Genesis runs. It's kind of this point. As the summation of what's going on. We're also.

Joseph is a trusted source. To speak on behalf of God. And. The rest of the Bible carries this out. So you cannot always go to a place.

Where someone just says a thing in the Bible. And go boom. Let's build some amazing theology off of this. But you can here. Because it's carried out and displayed. This is what God does.

So. What you meant for evil. God meant for good. That word meant means a lot here. Joseph's brothers meant. To harm Joseph.

They meant to destroy him. They meant to get rid of him. They meant to make some sweet cash. Off of him. And to never see him again. They meant evil.

They purposed it. They willed it. That was their desire. And then he says. But God.

Meant. Purposed it. Willed it. Desired it. For. Good.

We would be inclined. To think. That when everything. Turned to evil. And when everything. Gets bad.

And when everything. Is broken. Our question is. How is God. Going to respond. As if he's having to wait.

To see what happens. And then make a plan. But that is not what that says. What they meant. That the exact moment. That human actors.

Who are free. And choosing evil. When they were exactly. That moment. Were at work. To do harm.

God was in that moment. Through their evil. Flipping it. And meaning it. Purposing it. Willing it.

For good. Are they responsible. For what they did. Yes. Is God bigger. And more capable.

Than them. Yes. And did he control it. And work it out. For something good. Yes.

Did he respond. Nope. He was in it. At the beginning. Psalm 105. Says this as well.

It says. When he summoned. A famine. On the land. And broke. All supply of bread.

Meaning that God. Brought about a calamity. He. Had sent a man. Ahead of them. Joseph.

Who was sold. As a slave. All right. Was the selling. Joseph. As a slave.

Evil. Yes. Should they have done that. No. Was God. At work.

In that. To bring something. About. That he had planned. To bring about. Good.

That was actually. Better. Than what would have happened. Otherwise. Yes. How does that work?

God is amazing. And humans are evil. But God's. Amazingness. And goodness. Outweighs that.

Outshines that. And he works in the middle of this. What it doesn't say was. When a famine. Came on the land. God looked around.

And said. Oh. I need to do something. Egypt's in trouble. Hebrew slave. I talked to the Hebrews.

I used to talk to this guy's daddy. Found one. I'll talk to him. Now let me figure out. How to get him. Into the palace.

It's not what he did. It's not what he did. Potiphar's wife. Lies about Joseph. Gets him arrested. She accuses him.

Sexual assault. She is believed. Joseph is not. He gets arrested. Should she have done that. No.

Was it evil. Yes. But the next line. In the scriptures was. But God was with him.

And that God was working in this. The whole time. To eventually. Elevate him to the palace. So that Joseph could say.

Hey. Y'all took your best shot. And you meant it for evil. And God in the midst of that. Meant it for good. And he saved a bunch of lives.

Through it. And it's not my job. To bring. Be judgment on y'all. It's my job. To do what God wants me to.

And we're okay. Now. The immediate response to that. As we think through that. Is. I.

I want to go. Time out. Time out. Time out. Time out. Time out.

Time out. Time out. Time out. Part of me is much more okay. With God hanging back. People do some evil stuff.

Like we. Shatter the glass. And then God goes. Right. Pause. Shattered glass.

I'm going to make a mosaic. It's going to be beautiful. Like he takes what's already broken. And he fixes it. And he makes something nice out of it. Part of me is a little bit more okay with that.

But as soon as you say. No. No. No. When you were swinging the hammer. To shatter the glass.

God was also with you. Swinging the hammer. Because he had this plan. For this beautiful mosaic. As soon as they're like. Lined up together.

And you're meaning something. And he's meaning something. In the same act. And the act is evil. I suddenly have some questions. Pause.

Hold on. Does God sin? Biblical. Biblical answer. No. Does God cause people to sin?

Biblical answer. No. He doesn't cause or tempt people to sin. He's not. In the midst of sin. Does he mean and purpose.

And will it for something else? Yes. Yes. And those are some fine lines. The other question I have is. Hold on a second.

How can God will. In something evil. And in something broken. How can he will sin? Like doesn't. I thought God's will was always good things.

Like when we pray. May your will be done. Aren't we praying. May good things happen. Not. May evil things happen.

That'll ultimately be better. That's not really. Is that what we're. Like what is going on there? C.S. Lewis helped me a little bit.

With this conceptually. And I'm going to give you the. My paraphrased version of that. That you can have two wills. At the same time. One being.

Kind of a generic will. One being your greater will. The way he explains this is. If you have children. And they have a room. It is your will.

That that room be clean. But you may at some point. Look at your children and say. I am no longer cleaning your room. You are in charge of cleaning your room. And he said.

The moment. That it is dark. And you walk in the room. And you step on a Lego. He didn't say Lego. He said something else.

But Lego is a better example. Because it's excruciatingly painful. The moment you step on a Lego. That was both inside. And outside of your will. It was outside of your will.

In that you will the room to be clean. You desire for the room to be clean. But it was inside your will. As your greater will. Had actually allowed that to happen. Because you are no longer.

Stepping in. You have willed it. That your children would clean the room. Now. You can't push that super far. Into theological things.

But it gives us an example. Of how you can have two wills. One greater than the other. That you can have. At one moment. Your desire.

Is not. That your children would grow up in a house. Where their room was always clean. Your desire is that your children. Would grow up. So that they could have their own house one day.

And keep it clean. Or. Step on all the Legos they want. You don't care at that point. But you want them to get out of your house.

And so you got to take some steps. That's what he's saying. That you can have two wills. So it is God's will that we not sin. But it's also his will.

That we be moral agents. That have some choice. And so he. Allows sin. And he allows evil. And some of us want to go.

Okay well that's where it stops. But no. God does something more beautiful on top of that. Even in the midst of our evil and sin. He's walking right along. And just turn it into something good.

So at first. This sounds not comforting at all. When you are facing evil. Because you want God to be on your team. And somehow. Responding with you to the evil that's going on.

You want him to be sympathetic. But the problem is. Now as soon as you say this. You go wait wait wait wait wait. He's somehow ordained. He's somehow worked in this calamity.

The reality is. The human actors are still. Culpable for what they did. And will be held accountable for it. But the beauty is now.

That we know. That has not left God's control. And that he will work things towards good. And towards an ultimate more beautiful will. And all the fine details of that. The Bible doesn't give us.

But what we understand is that God is good. And so you immediately then. Now the question becomes. Okay well maybe he's not good. Because if you've heard this. This people have posed this.

As kind of a thing for a long time. They'll say. Either God is in control. Or he's good. But he can't be both.

And the reason he can't be both. Is because there's a lot of evil. Terrible wicked things that happen. So either he's in control. And he works in all these terrible things. But then he's not good.

Because he lets terrible things happen. Or he's good. He's just not in control. He's just hurting right alongside of us. He's just weeping with us. But he has no control over.

He can't stop evil. The answer is. He is in control. And he is good. And he has something better. That he's actually bigger than that conceptual framework.

He's big enough to be in control. Big enough to be good. And big enough to have a beautiful reason. For all the evil that we face. Even when we can't see it. And the reason we know that.

The linchpin for that. Is the cross. That he does love us. And that his plan is bigger. Because none of us would have come up with the cross. We can come up with a system.

Where God's big. And in control. But then he'd have to make everything nice. That's our system. Or God's loving. He's really nice.

But he's not in control. But he's with us. And he cares about us. When bad things happen. He's in your corner. He's with you.

But no. God is in control. And he is big. And so now we have a huge problem. And none of us would have come up with the cross. But that's his answer.

That what we meant for evil. He means for good. Acts 2 says almost that. Just lays this out. It shows us this picture. This is Peter preaching the very first sermon.

It says this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. You crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up. Loosing the pains of death. Because it was not possible for him to be held by it. This is not a main point of this sermon.

But I love the back half of that verse. Y'all can kill him if you want. But death cannot hold him. It's not possible. So he rose back up.

Because it was not possible for him to be held by death. When Jesus died, death suddenly became very overwhelmed. And was like, I just... Nah. It's a bit too much. And so, again, not a main point.

Look back at the first part. It says, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan. Plan. Meaning, we're going to do this. Definite. Meaning, only going to do this.

Not doing something else. Those are pretty simple words. They've been over-explained to you now. And foreknowledge of God. Foreknowledge means knowledge you had beforehand. God being the one who was working out this definite plan that he had a plan for beforehand.

You crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. Now, immediately, my brain can't hold that. They're lawless. Out of control. This is complete and utter chaos. Yes?

Yes. They are actively defying God. Yes? Yes. It is humans killing God. That is not inside of his will.

This is not his desire for people. That we would rebel against him. That we would hate him. John says that we hated the light. That God, Jesus shows up as the light, but the darkness does not love the light. The darkness hates the light.

You know how you feel when you are asleep and someone comes in and turns the light on. That is how humanity responds to Jesus. We hate it. It is, it does not sit well with us. You remember how to lay in your bed and try to not want to like assault your mom for doing that or whatever. That was the response of humanity to Jesus.

Jesus showed up and he just walked around shining in everybody's faces and we're sinful and sick. And we said, quit. Go home. So much so that eventually we got together, we plotted and we killed him. Lawlessly hatred, murder. Definitive foreknowledge of God.

His plan all along. Are they culpable for what they did? Yes. Should they repent? Was that sin? Yes.

Was God going to let sin win? No. God had no desire to destroy the whole world and just eliminate what he had done. He had the desire to step into the world and through evil means to bring about something so much more beautiful and so much better that could have never happened had this not happened. That it's at that exact moment that Jesus is redeeming and working on our behalf. That he is most gloriously displayed.

And that God's plan is most beautifully shown. And so what happened in the Joseph story? He goes to the palace. All of a sudden we have a guy who can interpret dreams. He goes through. He saves this whole place.

His brothers show up. And if you've been reading it, you're like, oh, oh, oh. This were the dreams he had when he was a kid. See, his brother's bowing to him. And you're like, oh, God knew the whole time? We in movies, one of the things that we can kind of contrive is we can contrive a character, a person who would do a lot of good things for an evil purpose.

You watch a movie and there's one of the good guys. And then finally at the end, you find out they're the bad guy. And if they've done it really well, you're shocked and hurt and mad. Because he's like, I trusted you. I thought you were the good guy. And then you see, oh, that's why they were generous.

Oh, that's why they were being a good friend. They weren't being a good friend. It just seemed like it. Like that's, you walk back through the story. And God's a level up above that because he's actually able to, in the free actions of other humans, bring about his sovereign will. How does that work?

I don't know. But it's beautiful and encouraging and hope-filled that in the middle of this mess where people are harming us, because they are. In the middle of the sin, in the middle of the worst brokenness we ever face, God in his sovereignty is walking it towards something that is so much more beautiful, so much more glorious, so much more hope-filled. Than we could have ever imagined. And sin won't win. That's the gospel.

That's the story that's told to us in Genesis where we get this little peek at it in the story of Joseph. And ultimately that's the story that unfolds in Christ. It's the same thing the disciples pray in Acts 4. They say, they quote an Old Testament passage. They say, why did the Gentiles rage? Meaning, internally have hatred.

And the people's plot in vain. That means not just like this emotional response, but mentally they were at work to cause harm. It says, the kings of the earth set themselves against the rulers, were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed. And they say, for truly in this city they were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. Both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel. Basically everybody.

Everybody who could have been involved was involved. To do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. In the midst of human depravity and sin, God was at work for something more beautiful. That we are sinners and we will be held accountable and culpable for the things that we do. But God has not handed over the course of events and the course of human history to humans.

So he said, okay, there's going to be sin, there's going to be brokenness, there's going to be murder, and there's going to be hatred. And I'm going to step into the timeline and I'm going to take it all on myself. Sin and hatred, rebellion, murder, brokenness, all of it. I'm going to take it, I'm going to die for it, and I'm going to bring hope in it. And I'm going to turn everything they mean for evil, I'm going to mean it for good. And that's what he does on the cross.

That's what Romans 8, 28 says. We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. For those who are called according to his purpose. All things. And immediately we want to say, even this? The answer is yes.

If you belong to Christ, then he will turn it good. And good isn't even the word better. Better than it could have ever been. And this is beyond human reckoning. All we can think is, can he fix the problem? And his answer is, I'm going to do more than that.

Is he just a first responder? No. He's more sovereign and more in control than that. Should they have done what they did? No. Was it sin?

Yes. Was that in God's will? No. But his ultimate will and his purpose will override that and bring about something good and glorious. And that brings hope to us in our brokenness. If we embrace that, we're embracing Christ.

Who did not just respond to sin, but before the world began, chose those in him whom he would save. Because he knew that sin was coming and he predetermined to pay for it. He predetermined to have it met out on him in the cross. So at the moment of man's most self-glorification, God gets the most glory. That when we've rallied together to crucify God, he ultimately turns it on its head. He means good for it.

In our utter brokenness and despair, he brings about unending hope. When death seems like it wins, resurrection walks out of the grave. That Jesus, the author of life, could not be held by death. When hatred looks like it is at its peak, God is displaying his most gracious love. That in all the things that look the most chaotic, God's definitive plan was at work. That when everything seemed to be broken beyond repair, God was creating and building something so much more beautiful than could have ever been.

This is the hope of the gospel and this is the reality of the life for a Christian. That when things seem out of control because of sin, they are not. That our hope is held sure because Jesus Christ has proven to us that all that was meant for evil, he will mean for good and he will bring about something good. And that he can be trusted. We want to say, well does that mean he doesn't love us? Jesus Christ loves us so much that he joins us.

That he takes the brunt of it on himself. I would be inclined to say that it would mean God is not loving were it not for the cross. But he loved us so much he gave his own life and he gave his own son that we might know that we are loved. That he joins us in the middle of this. He chooses in his wisdom not to just keep us from it or to keep it from us. He chooses in his wisdom to work what was meant for evil, for him to mean it for good, and for him to prove to us that he can do this and that he does love us in the cross.

And that is our hope. That is the answer in Genesis and that is the hope given to us in the gospel. That he does love us because he joins us and he takes the brunt of this on himself. That in our rejection of God he was adopting us. That in our pride he was displaying overwhelming humility. The very last book of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

There is a hobbit named Sam and the hobbit is just like a half a person with furry feet. I mean like a whole person but like half size. So not just like a little legs down. That would be weird. Has arms and a face and stuff. There is a hobbit named Sam.

In the first book they are all together on this journey and then the team gets broken up. The way the team gets broken up is Gandalf who is a wizard dies fighting a big fire monster thing. It is kind of a sad ending to the book. But good for Gandalf. He was defending his team. Then they break up and Sam and Frodo who is another hobbit go off.

They have to get rid of this ring. Throw in a fire. To stop evil. Everything is getting worse. Everything is broken. Everything is terrible.

And they eventually do it. They stop evil. They come back. And Sam sees Gandalf. And he is excited. Because the last time he saw Gandalf, Gandalf was dead.

So Sam says to him, this is the quote from the book, he says, I thought you were dead. But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue? So he sees the risen Gandalf and he says, I thought you were dead. Of course, I thought it was over for me. Does this mean everything that's sad?

Now that everything's gone good again. Now that everything's, all the curse has been broken. The evil has been broken. Does that mean that everything sad is going to become untrue? And Tim Keller, who's a pastor in New York and who loves the Lord of the Rings trilogy, quotes this in one of his books. And he says, the answer of Christianity to that question is yes.

Everything sad is going to come untrue. And it will somehow be greater for having once been broken and lost. He says, embracing the doctrine that Jesus Christ joined us in humanity and died for us on the cross. He says, this doctrine, embracing this idea, brings a profound consolation in the face of suffering. The doctrine of the resurrection can instill in us with a powerful hope, can instill us with a powerful hope. It promises that we will get the life we most long for, but it will be an infinitely more glorious world than if there had never been the need for bravery, endurance, sacrifice, and salvation.

That when sin entered the world and when sin entered your story, because Jesus also entered the world and also entered our story, he becomes more glorious, more beautiful, and the hope of what he does for us through the cross becomes infinitely more precious and is held secure in the sovereign hand of God, who is not in response to sin doing anything, but who is, by his definite plan, bringing about a most glorious good for his glorious name. The band's going to come back up. We are going to, as a church family, take communion, which is where we celebrate, where we remember that Jesus Christ took on human form, joined us in our weakness, and died in our place. That his body was broken, that his blood was shed, that the most heinous of things happened to our Savior, and that he, like Joseph, says to us, do not fear.

What you meant for evil, in all your sin, in all your rebellion, and what you meant for evil, in murdering and crucifying me, God, I, meant for good. To bring about that many might be saved, as they are at this day. That Jesus, through the cross, brings redemption, so that God does not just destroy sin and sinners, but he joins us, becomes our sin, and gives us hope. And that all along the way, he's taking what others mean for evil, and it is evil, but he's not letting that win the day. That he's meaning it for good, and that he'll bring about something more glorious than could have ever been.

And in the moments of our weakness and brokenness, and when we stand staring face to face with our own evil, and staring face to face with the evil of others, lean into the cross. Trust in Jesus. That evil should not have happened. It was not his desire that we would face all this sin, but he will not let it win. He has a greater will that rises above it, that he might redeem sinners, and that he might bring life and hope. And that he's going to do something more glorious in it.

He loves us so much that he died for us. We can walk with him through anything. That's the answer in Genesis. That's the answer in the gospel. And that's the hope for our souls, our weary souls right now, as we stare into the face of evil. That we get to repent of our own sin, and that he says, do not fear, and he offers grace and forgiveness to us, and that we get to face the sin of others with hope that he is in control, and that he brings about good.

Bow your heads as we begin to pray. I want us to consider the cross prior to taking communion, that we might remember that Jesus suffered for us, that he has joined us, and that he has a definite plan to bring about good, so that we can trust him when everything seems most lawless, and most chaotic, when evil seems like it's winning. So God, we pray that right now, that you would nourish our souls, that you would offer your strength, in place of our weakness, that we would offer your hope, in place of our fear, and that we might trust, your good, sovereign control, and that we might feel, the warmth of your love, shining from the cross, in the face of your son. May we walk away from our sin, may we be quick to repent, knowing at what cost, our forgiveness comes.

And may we take communion, remembering, your glory, and the unending hope, and steadfast love, given to us, in the glorious person, and work of Jesus. Amen.

Wrestling with God

Wrestling with God

Chet Phillips

Transcript

It's good to see y'all this morning. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. If you're new and I haven't had a chance to meet you yet, hopefully I'll get to soon. It's good to see y'all. Grab a Bible.

Go to Genesis chapter 32. It'll be on page 16 if you grab one of these blue Bibles. If you don't own a Bible, steal this one. It's our gift to you. Take it home. Read it often.

We want you to have a Bible. We have been walking through the book of Genesis and following along with this family, seeing how God has worked through human history and how he specifically has chosen this family that he is going to, he says, through them he's going to make a people. He's going to give them a place. He's going to bless them and he's going to bless the world. And we've been following along with Jacob. Now, Jacob was a twin.

His mama, Rebecca, was pregnant and she was pregnant with two children. It's the first children she had had. Pregnancy is tough. This one was tougher. It was hard. The children inside of her fought one another.

They didn't get along from before they were born. Esau is born first. Jacob comes out second. Jacob comes out holding on to Esau's foot. He was a very close second. And he comes out holding on to Esau's foot.

And this matters a lot. The names they give their children are basically hairy and foot grabber. They name them the way they look. Esau's big, kind of hairy. Jacob comes out second. He's holding on to his foot.

And the word they use, Jacob, means sneaky or tricky or deceiver. And it kind of follows him the rest of his life. That's what they name their children. And it matters that he came out second because in some ways in this patriarchal society, it's like they were children of a king. So here's what that means.

If you have a family in a monarchy and there's a king and a queen, their firstborn son will get to be king. You ever seen the line, King? It was the firstborn son saying, I can't wait to be king. Singing that song, that's who gets to be king. And the secondborn son gets to be the king's brother. That's it.

You get to see him. You get to see his crown. Maybe he'll take it off, let you look at it. Maybe he'll let you polish it up for him, wear it at night, give it back to him. I don't know. But you don't get to be king.

And that's kind of how this worked. Esau's firstborn, so he gets the birthright. He gets the blessing. He gets the patriarchy. And Jacob coming out, holding on to his foot, close, silver medal, gets to be Esau's brother. That's it.

And so Jacob spends his life fighting with, wrestling with Esau over this. He eventually tricks him. He takes advantage of him. Esau wasn't real tricked because he knew what he was doing. But he sells his birthright for some soup.

And then Jacob dresses up like Esau, actually puts on a little Esau outfit, and tricks his father, who was going blind, into receiving the blessing. Now, this is a big deal. He got the birthright through the soup transaction, which was taking advantage. But then he just lies and tricks his father and his brother, and he steals a blessing. Now, the blessing is priceless. It's not something that he can give back.

It's not something that he could exchange something else for. He steals something priceless. Now, think about this for a second. If you had twin brothers today, one of them doing okay for himself, well-liked in the family, and the other one, not so much. But this one, because they're twins, he just kind of steals his brother's identity.

He goes and closes out his 401k, closes out his bank account, goes and takes his car, because he looks like him, and he knows how to do the signature. He sells his car. And he suddenly puts his brother in a bind. All of a sudden, his checks are bouncing. His things are getting repoed. He's getting in trouble.

And he realizes that his brother has just tricked him. He's just pretended to be him and stolen everything he has. That still pales in comparison to what Jacob did, because Jacob took something priceless. I don't care if he, the illustration I gave, I don't care if he took $100,000. That can get, you can get that back. You can't get this blessing back.

And so when he does this, Esau, who is big and hairy and lives outside and hunts, he's like Chewbacca, has the crossbow and everything, decides, I'm just going to kill Jacob. And so Jacob, who has torn this family apart, basically he and his mom have to come up with a reason for him to leave, and they dress it up as best they can. They do bless him and send him out, but he leaves with a stick. Give him a walking stick. And they say, hit the bricks. Or, didn't have bricks hit the dirt.

I don't know. Head to the woods. And he leaves. He leaves, sent to go find a wife. He ends up finding four. And he lives in Haran, marries these wives, and then at some point God comes to him and says, it's time to go back home.

God, actually the blessing works. God says, I'm going to bless you. I'm going to give you the blessing that was in Abraham and Isaac. It's going to come to you. You're going to have a people. You're going to have a place.

You're going to be blessed. And now it's time to go back. He'd gone 500 miles away. Now it's time to come back. And that's where we pick up. Genesis 32.

I'm going to pray. Today's text is just great. And we're going to study it together. And it's going to be good. All right.

God, we pray that you would help us speak to us this morning. And you'd help us to listen. We love you. And we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. Jacob went on his way.

He's been sent back home. And the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, this is God's camp. So he called the name of that place Mahanaim, which means two camps. His camp, God's camp. So he's traveling.

You take a whole group of people. You'll set up camp. He comes in. He sees angels. And he thinks, oh, we're in God's camp. And then it basically seems like they just kind of stopped there.

It says, Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau, his brother, in the land of Sire, the country of Edom, instructing them. Thus you shall say to my Lord Esau. Thus says your servant Jacob. I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now. I have oxen, donkey, flocks, male servants and female servants. I have sent to tell my Lord in order that I may find favor in your sight.

You see, Jacob understands something. When God tells Jacob it's time to go back, Jacob understands that going back to the land of promise where God intends to bless him, he has to go through Esau. He doesn't just get to roll back in there, set up his camp and hope for the best. He knows that when God's sending him back, God's sending him back to and through Esau. Now, last he saw Esau, Esau was planning on killing him. And there's got to be a great amount of fear.

And in some ways, Esau personifies, he in human form represents to Jacob all the shystery, tricky, sneaky, sinful mess that Jacob's ever done. He's the person in his life that just shows Jacob's sinfulness, his brokenness, his wickedness. And Jacob knows that he's got to go through Esau to get to the promise. So he sends messengers to Esau. Now, if you'll just if you'll try to sympathize with Jacob for a second. If you knew that in order for your life to move forward and to be good and for you to follow what you were supposed to, you were going to have to face the people that you had wronged, the people that you had harmed.

If you knew that you were going to have to stand face to face with your sin and the consequences of your sin. Can you imagine the knot that would be tied in your stomach? The truth is, the reality is, is the Bible says that all of us will stand face to face with the weight of our sin. Jacob has to do it with Esau, but all of us will. Maybe you spread yours out. Jacob concentrated his.

He focused it primarily on Esau. Maybe you spread yours out. Maybe yours travels across high schools and Job sites and cities, but it's spread out. But one day you will stand face to face in judgment with your sin. And that's what he's facing. He's got to go through this.

He's got to recognize his sin. He's got to stand face to face with what he's done. And that's what he does. He sends messengers to Esau. And he says, I've sent to tell my Lord in order that I may find favor in your sight, knowing I can't just sneak past you. I can't just try to live here without you just haunting my dreams and suddenly being able to show up.

I know I've got to talk to you. I know I've got to address this. All right. Six. And the messengers returned to Jacob saying, we came to your brother Esau and he is coming to meet you. And there are 400 men with him.

Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him and the flocks and the herds and the camels into two camps, thinking if Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape. So he says, go tell him I'm coming back. Call him my Lord. Tell him I'm his servant. He sees his guys coming back.

They're moving a little bit too quickly for comfort. They show up. They say, all right, we told him what you said. Esau is on his way and he's bringing 400 men. Now, they can't be that far behind these people. And Jacob's not just I mean, he's greatly afraid and distressed because this sounds like a war party.

He thinks he was going to kill me by himself. Now he's going to kill everybody. He's bringing all his men with him. This is terrible. And his first plan is just let's just separate and then half of us can try to get away. Then it says this.

And Jacob said, oh, God of my father, Abraham and God of my father, Isaac, a Lord who said to me, return to your country and to your kindred that I may do you good. I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that he has shown to your servant. For with only my staff, I crossed this Jordan and now I have become two camps. 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 and the mothers with their children. 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 prays. We've seen him converse with God very little. He's been we've watched this guy's whole life and his relationship to God has been tumultuous and and sparse. But he prays in this moment. He prays. And so this is good for Jacob.

And you guys, it's a pretty good prayer. I was praying with my four year old about a week ago. He prayed and then I prayed and we got done. He said, Daddy, was my prayer good? I was like, yeah, buddy, it was a good prayer. And he said, it was better than your prayer.

Not wanting to bring competition into the prayer atmosphere. I said, well, maybe we tied, you know, and he went, OK, well, let's pray again. He does not want to tie. There are rankings in prayer, just so you know, there are good and bad prayers. Jesus says the Pharisees pray this pompous prayer that puffs themselves up. The truth is any prayer that's a genuine prayer is a good prayer if it's humble and genuine.

But this one's actually pretty good because what he says is, God, here's who you are. And then he says, I'm doing what you told me to. You're the God who told me to leave and to come here and that you're going to do me good. And then he says, I'm not worthy. Here's who I am. I'm not worthy of the least of the things you've given me.

That's beautiful to hear rolling off the tongue of Jacob because so far he has seemed kind of cocky, kind of sneaky, kind of. And he hears a little bit of humility. He says, I'm not worthy of all that you've done for me. And then he says, here's the situation. I'm afraid and I think Esau is going to kill everybody, not just me, but the mothers and their children. And then he says, but you promised to do me good.

That's a good prayer. God, here's who you are. Here's what you've promised. Here's who I am. Here's what you've promised. So he prays.

Then it says this. So he stayed there that night. So he comes. This is the Lord's camp. The angels he sees kind of shows that he's in the presence of God. So he's like, all right, we're going to stay here.

There's two camps here. I'm going to send them on. This is kind of encouraging that God's people, you know, God's angels are here. So I'm going to send them on to get this news. They come back and he just stays there in that camp that night. And from what he had with him, he took a present for his brother Esau.

200 Female goats and 20 male goats. 200 ewes and 20 rams. 30 milking camels and their calves. 40 cows and 10 bulls. 20 female donkeys. 10 male donkeys.

And then he handed over to his servant every drove by itself. And he said to his servants, pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove. He instructed the first. When Esau, my brother, meets you and ask you to whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?

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. He likewise instruct the second and the third and all who follow the droves. You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him. 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 him face to face. Perhaps he will accept me. So the present passed on ahead of him and he himself stayed that night in the camp. Okay. He splits his camps up.

Then he prays. Then he comes up with this present idea. And this present idea doesn't sound like that bad of an idea. He's going to give Esau gifts. This is going to slow Esau down. Maybe let's give him a little bit of time to think.

And while he's thinking, let's give him some presents. That's what he's doing. It doesn't tell us whether it's a good idea or a bad idea. It doesn't tell us that this was in humility. This isn't in restitution. This is, it says, maybe it'll appease him.

And then he says, after that, I'll see him face to face. And what we see held together so clearly here in Jacob is half of this is obedience. Half of this is faith. He's praying. We've never seen that. He's going to go see Esau face to face.

He's going to go face what God's given him. And half of this is old Jacob. Making a little schemey plan. Coming up with a cool idea. If I could just do this. Maybe it'll work out.

And the reason I love that when I notice that in the text. Isn't that us? That's our church family, y'all. You're walking in life. I'm trying to follow Jesus. I'm going to do this thing.

I'm doing what he told me to. Something happens. And then boom. Half and half. Talk to you one day. I've just been praying.

I've just been trusting the Lord. Prayer hands. Hallelujah. Emoji. Whatever. The next day.

All right. Well, I may have an ounce of weed on me. I'm really stressed out. Okay. I've been praying. I've been trusting.

I'm following the Lord. I'm doing what I'm supposed to. You know what? I called her up and I cussed her and her mama out. Okay. Half and half.

Half repentance. Half following. Half praying. Half running back to what we used to chase after. Half running to what we used to make us feel good. Half running.

Blowing off steam. Whatever. That's Jacob. So he's growing. He's coming along. He's back and forth.

Let's see what happens. The same night. He arose and took his two wives. All right. He can't sleep. Like he just is.

He's antsy. He gets up. He takes his two wives. His two female servants. His 11 children. And crossed the ford of the Yabak.

So he said he was at the Jordan. Now he's at like the Yabak part of this. And it's a ford. Which means it's a shallow part. You can walk across. And so he takes his wives and children across.

He's getting them to the other side. He's trying to get them to a safer position. Maybe. Maybe he's just thinking. All right.

We got to just keep pressing forward. We don't exactly know where he's kind of lining them up in relation to where Esau is. He's got children at varying ages. He's taking them across. Some kids are being held. Some are maybe you're holding their hands.

Some of the older kids are maybe holding kids. He's got 11 kids. He gets them across. And Jacob was left alone. So he comes back across.

Maybe he's checking. Making sure everything. Everybody got across. He's by himself. We don't know what he's going to do. If he's going to pray.

And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. Okay. What? That's written in the text intending to be a surprise. Like it's as surprising to us as it was to Jacob. He's getting his family across.

He hadn't slept. He hadn't eaten. He's stressed out. He comes back. And now in the dark at night, there's a man who wrestles with him until the breaking of day. We don't know at what point they started wrestling.

We just know they wrestle until the breaking of day. Now that word wrestle means dirtied. They rolled around in the dirt. This was a fight. Which, I mean, if you're in the woods in the dark at night and a man comes and lays his hands on you, that's a fight. I mean, let's be real.

Adrenaline is pumping up past your ears like you are. And they're fighting. Now, at this point, Jacob's in his 60s. Now, he would have been a healthy 60. He was tough. He was out in the world.

He was working. So you saw him. When he said he was 65, you'd have been like, 65? That's what he looked like. We don't know if he was sitting. And all of a sudden, he heard, and he turned just in time for somebody to tackle him.

We don't know if somebody walked up on him. And he was like, hey, who are you? Are you one of the what's going on? And then they just grabbed him. But we know at some point they're on the ground.

Like, not like a pretty fight. You ever seen like a good, like a movie in a good fight? And they're like kicking and punching. And it looks nice. This does not look nice. This is a wrestling, dirty, somebody's got somebody's head smushing them into the ground kind of fight.

Fingers in the face like this. The kind when you break middle schoolers apart, they're sweating and red. That's this kind of fight. If you watch UFC, it's the boring part of the fight. Where there's like tangled up. And people are like, what is this?

It's like man sport. They're wearing underwear and hugging each other. This is weird. Yeah, but in a minute, they're going to catch their breath and go back to punching. That's what they're doing. Until the breaking of day.

Who is Jacob fighting? We do not know. Jacob does not know. He's trying to win. It's going to slowly kind of reveal this to us. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob.

Okay. Nobody's winning. Both tired. Both sweating. Both dirty. Rolling around.

Fighting. He touched. He touched. His hip socket. And Jacob's hip. Was put out.

Of joint. As he wrestled with him. Okay. The word touched. Means. Touched.

Touched. That's what it means. It means touch. There are like one or two places in the Bible where it is translated strike. But they're trying to read into the context there.

But the word means touch. This is like he's fighting. And the person he's fighting does the Kung Fu Panda Wushu finger hold thing. Skadoosh. And his hip. Pops out of joint.

Now. This is just a poll question. Because it took me. I had to look some stuff up. Anybody here. Ever dislocated their shoulder.

Or know someone who dislocates their shoulder on a semi-regular basis. Anybody. This is legit. I want to see your hands. This is just for me. I want to see something.

Okay. Anybody ever dislocated their hip. Or know someone who dislocates their hip. Okay. A few people. It doesn't happen super often.

Oh just for the record. Next time someone asks you that shoulder dislocation thing. You can raise your hand. Matt Freeman does. He dislocates his shoulder periodically. But he doesn't dislocate his hip.

I've had to watch videos. I was trying to see what this looked like. If you dislocate your hip. Your foot kind of turns around like this. The only one I saw. Most of it was just like how to treat it.

And has a lot to do with being elderly. Mostly what it seemed like. But I saw a guy running. In baseball. And then he just fell over. And that was what his dislocated hip did.

And then he laid and held his leg. Like he was in excruciating pain. They're wrestling. It's a tie. So Jacob's doing okay.

And then all of a sudden. Pow! Hips out. Jacob has searing pain. And. Light bulb.

Okay. I was in God's camp. I saw angels. I'm now wrestling someone in the dark. I was doing okay. And then.

They just. Pinned. And my legs out. I think Jacob's got an idea. That this is not just a man. This is not.

Normal. Situation. And then he says this. Let me go. For the day. Has broken.

So the man knocks his hip. Out of socket. And then says. Let me go. The sun's coming up. That's.

That's weird. You guys. Sorry. I'm a woodland night wrestler. I don't wrestle during the day. It's not my thing.

What? What? Like if you. If you're telling stories to children. And you're like. The sun was coming up.

It's like. Okay. Are we telling a story about an ogre? Because I think they turned to stone. Is this Fiona? Is she going to turn into like a lady?

Like we don't know. What's happening here? Why? What is the sun coming up? Like I don't like. It gets hot.

You know. I like to wrestle in the cool. Jacob. Coming from a culture. Where this would have clicked in his brain. And just further added to what he.

Understood was going on. They understood. That God. Was holy. Meaning. Completely others.

Separate from us. And that if you saw him. You'll die. Like it. It will just. It will kill you.

You can't handle it. This is why. Peter. When he's on the boat with Jesus. And they catch all the fists. Peter falls down.

And says. I'm not worthy. This is why. Isaiah. When he's brought into the throne room of God. Says.

I'm not worthy. I come from an unclean people. This is why. When an angel. The Lord comes to Samson's parents. And talks to him.

And then he leaves. Samson. Samson's daddy. He looks at Samson's mama. And says. We're going to die.

And Samson's mama says. I think he would have killed us. If he was going to. I don't. I don't think we're going to. And then they don't.

But this is. This is what they understood. Like if I see God. This is why Moses. When he sees God. He actually.

Moses gets to see God. In his glory. And he glows. Glows. For the rest of his life. Glows.

Like. Daytime. Skin glow. So much so. That when he comes back. He doesn't know he's glowing.

He comes back. They see him. And everybody runs from him. And he has to be like. No. No.

It's okay. And they're like. No bro. It's not okay. He has to wear a veil. Because he glows.

So. Touches his hip. Hip shoots out a joint. I know I'm in God's camp. Now he says.

The sun's coming up. I need to go. You don't need to see me. It's basically what he's saying. And so. Any.

Smart. Person. Who's not Jacob. In this situation. Would have said. Let's see what Jacob does.

But Jacob said. I will not let you go. Unless you bless me. That's crazy. And it actually shows us. Not just something about Jacob.

But something about God. He says. I'm not letting you go. Unless you bless me. What Jacob's saying is. Kill me if you have to.

Let this destroy me. I need you to bless me. I can't go. One. Step. Further.

Without you. Blessing me. I can't face Esau. I can't stand up to my past. I can't be the man I was. Without you blessing me.

And he just holds on to him. As soon as he figures out who he is. He says. No. No. No.

No. No. No. No. No. I will not let go of you.

Until you bless me. Now if God didn't like that. This would be the end of the story of Jacob. But God likes that. Because Jacob understands who God is. And who Jacob is.

God is the one who blesses. You see. Sometimes we get into the idea. That maybe I'll bless God. I'll serve him. I'll do something for him.

I owe him something. He wants some morality from me. He wants some good work from me. I can present it to him. And then he'll be pleased. He'll be happy.

He'll bless me. But that's not an exchange. It's that we have nothing. We roll in the dirt. Hold on to his foot. And say just bless me.

That's the right posture. And that's what Jacob does. He holds on to him. And he said to him. What is your name? Now he knows his name.

But watch this. And he said. Jacob. When he says my name is Jacob. He has to own up to who he has been his entire life. I'm a deceiver.

I'm scheming. I'm a tricker. There's a lot of weight and baggage that goes with that name. He feels it every day. 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. Then Jacob said. Please tell me your name. But he said.

Why is it that you ask my name? And there he blessed him. Now blessings are verbal. We don't know what he says. Doesn't tell us. Because he was blessed.

Puts his hand on him. Blesses him. So Jacob called the place Peniel. Saying. For I have seen God face to face. And yet my life has been delivered.

The sun rose upon him as he passed Peniel. Limping because of his hip. 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. And the sinew of the thigh.

Jacob is blessed. He gets up. He is limping. And the sun rises. And the sun rises. On a limping.

Broken. Blessed. Jacob. On a limping. Broken. Blessed.

Israel. He has been given a new name. Now I am willing to bet. When his family saw him. He looked terrible. But there was like a glow about him.

He was different. He looked like. He had been really stressed out. Stayed up all night. And gotten beat up. But like in a good way.

And if you have ever seen somebody coming out of mourning. And coming out of pain. You might know what I am talking about. That is what he is doing. The sun rises on him. Chapter 33.

And Jacob lifted up his eyes. And looked. And behold. Esau was coming. And 400 men with him. You ever seen those old western movies.

Where you like look. And it is one person. And then they start talking among themselves. And they are like. Who is that? And they look back.

And it is just all these people on a ridge. It is kind of. Esau. 400 men. Coming towards him. So he divided the children among Leah.

And Rachel. And the two female servants. And he put the servants with their children in front. Then Leah with her children. And Rachel and Joseph. Last of all.

He himself went on before them. Bowing himself to the ground seven times. Until he came near to his brother. Bowing himself seven times is absolute submission. I am your servant. He is actually reversing what the blessing was.

The blessing was that. Jacob's brothers would bow down to him. And he comes and bows down to his brother. In humility and in repentance comes to his brother. But Esau ran to meet him.

And embraced him. And fell on his neck. And kissed him. And they wept. So Jacob.

Bowing. Getting up. Bowing. Getting up. When he gets close enough to run. Esau takes off running.

And Jacob thinks. Okay. He is not going to shoot me with a bow. He is going to do this with his bare hands. And he gets closer. And the face isn't angry.

He is happy. Sad. They hug. They cry. They weep. They kiss.

And they reconcile. And that is beautiful. It is beautiful on Esau's part. That he forgives his brother. And it is beautiful on Jacob's part. That he repents.

And he goes to him. And he faces what God sent him to face. And when Esau lifted up his eyes. And saw the women and the children. He said. Who are these with you?

And Jacob said. The children whom God has graciously given to your servant. The rest of this. Is he and Esau talking. And discussing where they are going. And how to get there.

And Esau keeps trying to offer to do extra stuff. And Jacob is just like. No. Just let us move slowly. We are good. And then Jacob kind of settles in a different place.

And so. If you look at 18. And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem. Which is in the land of Canaan. And on his way from Paddan Aram. And he camped before the city.

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. There he erected an altar. And called it El Elohe Israel.

Which means God. The God of Israel. Jacob reconciles with his brother. Moves back into the promised land. Owns some land. Sets his tent up.

Builds an altar. And says God is the God of Israel. I'm new. I'm changed. I'm not Jacob. I'm Israel.

Jacob was the old man. Israel is the new man. And he limped his way there. With a smile on his face. And some peace that he had never understood. And he got to live in the land.

Because he knew Esau knew where he was. And he got to live there peacefully. Not worrying about it. Now. There's a bit of this story. That is a little bit embarrassing for us.

That if. As Christians. As we look at this story. There's a little bit that's like. Wait. God.

Came to the ground. And wrestled Jacob. Like. Part of it just feels like. Wow. What?

It feels degrading. Like. Like if it just said. Heaven opened up. And he was shining. And Jacob went blind.

Or his face melted off. Or it looked like the scene from. Raiders of the Lost Ark. Or something like that. Like. Yeah.

That's what God does. But it's like. No. God sneaks up on him. In the dark. And fights him.

And there's a little bit. That like. That feels humiliating. That feels small. That feels. The truth is.

How beautiful is that? That God. Creator of the universe. Holds everything in his hand. Comes to Jacob. And does what Jacob needed.

He says. You've wrestled with God. And with man. And you've prevailed. You see. The truth is.

God did for Jacob. What Jacob needed. Jacob hadn't stopped fighting. His whole life. Had been wrestling. It said that they wrestled.

And when. When God saw. That he did not prevail. Over Jacob. Then he.

Breaks him. Now think about that. God's been wrestling. With Jacob. His whole life. Fighting with Jacob.

His whole life. And Jacob. Has not quit. So God. Breaks him. And in that moment.

God says. You have prevailed. That it was at the moment. When God defeats Jacob. That Jacob. Wins.

Because. God. Was wrestling Jacob. On Jacob's path. Now. Jacob doesn't get to live.

In the promised land. Without facing Esau. And he doesn't get. To get the blessing. Without being broken. And the truth is.

As small as this seems. And as humble as it seems. For God. To have done this. Jesus. Blows this out of the water.

That our God. So much more. Will God. Join us. And wrestle with us. So much more.

Will God. Humble himself. To fight with somebody. In the dirt. So much more.

He'll be born. As a human. Not just look like one. And he'll die. That's what Philippians says. I have it on the screen.

Behind me. It says. Being found. In human form. He humbled himself. By becoming obedient.

To the point of death. Even. Death. On a cross. Some of you may be saying. I wish God would do that for me.

He is doing that. He is wrestling with you. He is fighting with you. And he has done. So much more.

Than show up. And push your head. Into the dirt. He showed up. And he was the one. Who was beaten.

He was the one. Who was broken. And he was buried. That you might have life. And he rose. Again.

And I want you. To see something. So clearly here. You don't get. The promised land. Without having to face.

All the sin. And all the brokenness. And all the things. You've ever done wrong. Jacob didn't get to live there. Free.

And happy. Without Esau. Lurking in the back of his mind. Forever. Until he went and faced Esau. You don't get.

The blessing. That you so desperately need. Until God takes you. And breaks you. Over your sin. And your wickedness.

And your brokenness. Until he does to you. And shows you. What you've been doing to everybody. Your whole life. And you don't get the resurrection.

Until you get the cross. But so many of us. Even us in here. In our church family. In our community groups. Are trying to bypass.

Brokenness. And just get. Blessing. And joy. And what we're trying to do. Is Jacob.

Before God grabbed him. And stuck him in the dirt. We're trying to do a little bit of both. There are some of you. Who every time. It's time to confess.

Every time God tries to make you face. Your Esau. You just back out. Every time. He goes to break you. You let go.

You don't cling. You don't say. Okay. Break me. But bless me.

You just back up. Because you don't want it. You don't want the pain. You don't want the confession. You want to try to live. In the land of promise.

But Esau. Is lurking in the background. Some of you do not feel free. Because you have not confessed. Some of you have your sin. Hanging in the background.

And let me tell you something. It will not remain hidden. By God's grace. It will tackle you in the dark. And you will face it here. Because if God in his grace.

Does not do that. You will face it at the end of the line. And you will stand. And be held accountable. For your sin. Before a holy God.

And that is not the time to do it. That is to be a reunion. With the God who broke you. And blessed you. So that joyous tears.

Fall down your face. And you wrap your arms. Around the sin. That would have condemned you. That now has saved you. Because Jesus paid for it.

Second Corinthians 7. 10 says. For godly grief. Produces repentance. That leads to salvation. Without regret.

Whereas worldly grief. Produces death. I pray that God. Pierces your heart. Through the Holy Spirit. That you grieve.

Your sin. So that. You may have salvation. Without regret. You ever seen somebody. Confessing sin.

And talking about their past sin. With such freedom. That you couldn't understand it. I'm not talking about bragging about it. Because there's something about. Bragging about past sin.

That still stinks. That still reeks of this shame. And this guilt. And this pride. It's like. I'm trying to glory in my shame.

So that I can feel okay about it. I'm talking about someone. Who can just own the fact. That they used to do this. I used to be Jacob. But the reason I can tell you.

Yeah it used to be Jacob. But now I'm Israel. I've been set free from it. Have you seen that? How beautiful it is. That.

Is godly grief. That reproduced salvation. Without regret. But worldly grief. Just produces death. Psalm 51.

17. Says the sacrifices of God. Are a broken spirit. And a broken and contrite heart. Oh God. You will not despise.

One of the things. The scripture tells us. Is that God will turn mourning. Into joy. And will turn joy. Into mourning.

That if we try to just skip past. Into just. I'm going to live my best life now. Eventually that. Ends. In.

Brokenness. And mourning. And pain. But if we. Live here. In mourning.

And brokenness. And own our sin. And go to God. We limp. But we're blessed.

I pray that we would not have. A single person in here. Who struts around with swagger. But that we'd have. A whole bunch of people. Who limp.

But the sun shining on us. I served with a recovery program. At Midtown. One of the things we used to do. Is we would have. Everybody when they first started.

They would write down the names. That marked them. The things that if you. They described themselves. They would write down worthless. They would write down.

Unloved. They would write down. Sinful. And broken. And evil. They would write down.

Abused. They would write down. Abuser. And then we'd walk through. Recovery. We'd point them to Jesus.

We'd talk about what he's done for us. In the cross. And at the end. We'd say. What's your new name? They'd write down.

Loved. Worthy. And not because they're worthy. But because Jesus has made them worthy. That they'd write down. Cherished.

They'd write down. Forgiven. They'd write down. Free. Free. Don't leave here.

Carrying the name Jacob. And don't want God. Right when he goes to break you. Don't take off running. Don't let go. Cling to him.

And say. You can break me. But you've got to bless me. I'll face Esau. I'll stand up to what I've done. And who I've been.

But you've got to bless me. And you've got to work. And I'll go through the cross. I'll die to my sins. So that I can rise again.

And be made new. And that's what. 2 Corinthians 5.17 says. Therefore. If anyone is in Christ. He is a new creation.

The old has passed away. Behold the new has come. We have no desire. Whatsoever. To help you be a slightly better person. Zero desire.

We want you to be a new person. We want you to be born again in Christ. Have zero desire to help you. Cuss less. And drink less. And be a little bit nicer.

And cheat on your taxes. Just a little bit less. And be half and half Jacob. Zero desire. That's the truth is. Sometimes we'll have people who say.

I've believed in Christ. I've placed my faith in Jesus. But if there hadn't been any brokenness. If there hasn't been any weeping. If you hadn't cried so much. That you thought you couldn't breathe.

If there hasn't been you face to face with your sin. If there hasn't been any moment where you realize. If I don't have Jesus. If he doesn't step in. I'm broken and busted. If all you've tried to do is sneak around Esau.

To live in the promised land. If all you've tried to do is run on over to Easter. Without Good Friday. To resurrection without cross. If you've never walked through this. Do not leave here without running to God.

And saying break me. Bianca's going to come back up. And here's what we're going to do. My prayer. Is that the Holy Spirit would work right now. That some of you know right now.

You've been running from this. And that every time he started to put a little pressure on you. To confess. Every time he started pressing on you. To repent. To actually change.

To not just try to mix it together. And be a little bit better. And kind of keep some of your old stuff. But every time he's actually pressed into you. And said. Now.

Every time you've been hanging out with your community group. And you're going around. And people are confessing. And it gets to you. And you have that moment. Where you think.

You feel almost like you're going to throw up. And some of you were like. No I was going to throw up. You were almost confessed. And then you just let go. He came to the point of almost breaking you.

And then you just ran. Don't. Be broken. Limp. Confess that you're a sinner. Own your sin.

And then let the sun rise. And be made new. That's the hope today. We're about to take communion. In a minute. They're going to sing.

We want you to wrestle with God. We want you to go before him and ask. Where do I need to confess? What have I hidden? What am I allowing to lurk around? Why am I not free?

And trust that he can break you. And his Holy Spirit can set you free. And you can have freedom and hope. Don't run from this. Some of you have been running for a long time. You've been wrestling for a long time.

You've been doing everything you possibly can. To keep God from taking something away from you. Or from fixing your soul. You're trying to be a little bit better. And you need to be made new. So bow your heads and let's pray.

God we pray that you would grant repentance. To those who ask it. And that you would grant brokenness. And mourning. That you would empower it through your Holy Spirit. That there might be those right now.

That would cling to you. And ask for your salvation. Ask for your forgiveness. Ask for the hope that only comes through you. Ask for the resurrection that only comes after the cross. That you might die for their sin.

That you might forgive them. That you might be broken for them. And they might see truly how much you love them. And the great lengths at which you are willing to go to redeem them. We pray that your Holy Spirit would move. And that people would respond.

And that anybody here today who is feeling that right now. Would not let go. They are feeling the pain of what it will take to confess. What it will mean to face what they have done. And who they have been. And to tell others.

And to be open about it. And they are feeling the pain and the fear over that. And we pray Lord that you would not let them go. And you would let them cling to you. That they might actually repent. And they might find freedom.

That they do not understand. Hope that is unparalleled. They would not be half and half. They would be wholly new. In a moment we are going to take communion. If you are a Christian.

I encourage you to confess. To repent. And then to take communion. Reminding yourself that Jesus was broken for you. His blood was shed for you. If you are not a Christian for the first time.

You need to place your faith in Him. You need to go to Him and say. I will not save myself. I am not letting go. Unless you bless me. Unless you save me.

Unless you redeem me. Unless you let me walk away from my past. We would encourage you to do that. And then take communion for the first time. And if you are not a Christian. Aren't ready yet to place your faith in Jesus.

We would just encourage you to sit. And respectfully decline communion. Is for those who have trusted in Christ. And His sacrifice. We pray that all around the room Lord. That your spirit is working.

That we might confess. That we might repent. And that we might be made new. And enjoy the beauty. And the life in you. That was purchased for us.

Because Christ is willing to humble Himself. Even unto death. And He rose again. That we might be free. Amen.

The Presence of God

The Presence of God

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Good morning. My name is Spencer. I'm one of the pastors here. We have been walking through the story of Genesis. We've been following the patriarchs the past few weeks and months. We've been Abraham, and then we followed Isaac.

We are now shifting more into Jacob being the patriarch. I want to recap a little bit of what we talked about last week in the story, because that bleeds into the story today. Last week we were in Genesis 27, and it is the moment that Isaac has come to give his blessing, the promise that he had been given from God, that he would bless one of his sons, and he chose his favorite, Esau. That was his plan. His plan was to give the blessing to Esau. While Esau goes on a hunting trip to prepare food for his dad, his wife catches wind of it.

Rebecca hears of this plan. Her favorite is Jacob. She wants him to be the son of promise. So they devise a plan where she cooks some food, where she dresses him up to smell like Isaac. Isaac at this point is old. He is blind.

He is nearing death. He is a little bit easier to deceive. So Jacob shows up in his brother's clothes to smell like him. He has goat skin wrapped around his hands and his neck to feel like Esau, because Esau is furry. And then he comes and he deceives his father. He dishonors his father.

He lies to him. He even blasphemes the name of the Lord, and he actually steals the promise. That through it all, God works through this mess of a situation, this mess of a family, to bring the promise because God chose Jacob to carry this promise. And when Esau finds out about this, he is very upset. He is distraught. And in his grief, it quickly turns to anger.

In verse 41 of chapter 27, it says, Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And Esau said to himself, The days of mourning for my father are approaching. Then I will kill my brother Jacob. Jacob. So he is angry.

And this is going to cause Jacob to go on the run and to leave this family. So we're going to be in Genesis 27, and we're going to finish up through Genesis 28, which is on page 13 of your blue Bibles. I encourage you to grab a Bible today. There's not going to be a lot of text on the screen. We're going to walk through this story as this family is divided, as Jacob goes out on his own. So go ahead and flip there.

There are moments in epic stories where a hero enters the scene and changes everything. Where someone arrives and it changes the momentum, it changes the swagger, it changes the confidence of the whole story. You can think back to the two towers and the Lord of the Rings. At the Battle of Helm's Deep, this big battle is happening. They are losing the battle. And then Gandalf enters the scene.

On the top of the hill, shining like white lightning, he is ready to bring his army in. It changes the whole momentum of the battle. It changes the swagger of the army. They end up winning the battle. You can look at the Chronicles of Narnia, the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In the last part, in the last battle, Aslan enters the scene, and it changes everything.

You can do this with Star Wars. You can look at the multiple times that Luke Skywalker shows up, and it changes the scene. You can do this when Bobby Boucher enters in at halftime of the Bourbon Bowl, and he inspires a comeback. The Mud Dogs win the Bourbon Bowl and the Waterboy. You can do this with a lot of stories. When someone comes in and they change everything, they change the momentum, and they change the confidence, and it brings, and it changes the story completely.

And we see that today in this story. We're going to see Jacob out on his own, and God is going to teach him something about the importance of his presence. That God's presence matters. This is going to teach Jacob a profound lesson, but it's also going to teach the church as we read this. So let me pray, and then we're going to dive in to the story.

God, I thank you that you didn't stand in the heavens, that you came, and that changed everything. God, I pray that today, as we walk through this story, that you would help us see your good news in it. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, so we're going to be in the end of 27 in verse 41.

Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And Esau said to himself, The days of mourning for my father are approaching. Then I will kill my brother Jacob. But the words of Esau, her older son, were told to Rebekah. Now there's two aspects of this that I found remarkable.

First, Esau. He's just foolish, and this is the last story we get of his foolishness. It just shows up again. I kind of feel like, you know, remember the guy in high school or middle school that always picks fights? And the whole day they'd be talking up the fight, like I'm going to jump this kid, I'm going to stop this kid. And they're talking loudly to themselves.

They're telling anybody who will listen. And then at the end of the day, the principal calls them into the office and says, Hey, I heard you're going to fight a kid. And he's shocked. Like how? How did that happen? It's like, bro, because you told everybody.

Everyone in the school knows. As I imagine a little bit of what Esau's doing. He's cleaning his deer. He's in the camp and he's just loud. He's like, When daddy's gone, I'm going to kill him. That's part of what I find remarkable.

Also, Rebekah. How stealthy is she? She picks up on everything. Nothing is lost on her. She caught wind that Isaac was going to give the blessing to Esau and she intervened. And somehow she's got ears everywhere and she picks up on this.

And she realizes this is not good for Jacob. And so she sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. Now, therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise. Flee to Laban, my brother, in Haran and stay with him for a while until your brother's fury turns away, until your brother's anger turns away from you and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send and bring you from there.

Why should I be bereft of both of you in one day? Then Rebekah said to Isaac, I loathe my life because of these Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me? So she tells Jacob, Son, you got to go. I love you, but you got to go. Your brother, Esau's like Katniss with the bow, but he's built like Sasquatch.

And Jacob, she's like, Jacob, you're real skilled with the knife. I've seen you cut potatoes in the tent, but that's not going to help you. Your brother will destroy you. You have got to go. And also, you got to leave here. You got to go to my family in the land of Haran.

You got to go to Laban and find a wife because you can't marry the women of this land. And she goes to Isaac and she's like, If he marries a Canaanite, if he marries a Hittite like his brother, I'm going to lose my mind. He has got to find a good woman, and it's not here. He needs to go. So Isaac hears this, and it says, Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him.

You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women. Arise. Go to Badam-Aran, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. So he says, Don't, don't marry a Canaanite woman. Please, like, do not follow in the same footsteps of your brother. Marry someone.

Go to the land of Padam-Aran, which I know sounds like a planet in Star Wars. It's a real place, and it's 500 miles from where they are. So this is a big journey for Jacob, and Isaac knows this, and he gives him a blessing. And as we talked about last week, blessings hold weight in the Bible. He says, God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham.

Thus Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padam-Aran, to Laban, the son of Bethuel, the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob and Esau's mother. So Isaac reiterates this promise that he had gotten, that his father Abraham had gotten. And I want to just refresh us on the importance of this promise. That he promises him a place. You will get this land. This place is yours.

And he promises him a people. That you have the blessing of a great nation being made through you. The blessing of place in people is significant. And we're going to see how that shows up a little bit later. But I also want to take note of something.

That his son dishonored him. His son lied to him. His son took advantage of him. He blasphemed the name of the Lord. He used God's name for dishonorable practices. But he ultimately trusts in the sovereignty of God in the situation.

He trusts that God chose Jacob. And he has faith. It's a little bit of a redemptive moment for Isaac. He trusts God. And he gives him a blessing. So he sends him out.

Jacob is on the road. And then Esau catches wind of all of this. In verse 6 it says, Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padam Aram to take a wife from there. And that as he blessed him, he directed him, You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women. And that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padam Aram. So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac, his father, Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaoth.

Now, we get kind of one last picture of Esau and his foolishness. He catches wind that it didn't please his parents to marry a Canaanite woman. So he thinks, have you ever been in a situation where you mess up in your family, like really mess up and your solution is, you know what I should do? I should marry my cousin on the estranged side of my family, like the one where his dad and my dad are not friends, like that's a good idea. That's kind of his plan here. He goes to, this is the Ishmael, alright, this is the Ishmael that his grandmother threw out of the family to die and to be on their own.

He thinks, that's a good idea. I'll marry his daughter and I will get in my parents' good graces again. And you kind of feel a little bit bad for Esau. He's just trying to please his dad, but he's foolish. He's not wise. And it's evident that God has chosen Jacob to carry this promise that Esau is a fool and that he is not going to inherit this promise and that his attempt to get back in his parents' good graces will not work.

So then the story really shifts completely to Jacob. And Jacob is on the run and it says, Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran, which is another place for this land of Padamuram. He went toward Haran and he came to a certain place and stayed there that night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and laid down in that place to sleep. So I want to take a moment to kind of feel where Jacob is at.

This is the first time that Jacob is on his own. And in this culture, you stay with your family. It was identity. It was future. It was value. It was the way you were provided for.

It was security. So Jacob is on his own and there's a lot of uncertainty here. Also, I feel like Jacob, he says he's a man of the tent, that he's not really used to being out on his own. I kind of feel like it's the picture of, you know, they used to take animals that were born in captivity and release them in the wild because they thought that was a good idea to lease them back to the wild and they put trackers on them and they go out in the wild and after like a week, they see the animal hadn't moved and they go out and they see that it didn't make it because it's just not wise to release someone who's something born in captivity into the wild.

I feel like Jacob is like this. He's a man of the tent. He's not used to being out on his own. There's all kinds of uncertainty all over this situation as he is journeying out. In the midst of his uncertainty, in the midst of all of it, he's very tired. We know he's tired because he takes a stone as a pillow to sleep and stones aren't comfortable.

So he is uncertain. There's all kinds of, probably some fear in the midst of all of this and he is tired and God comes to him in a dream. Verse 12, And he dreamed and behold, there was a ladder set up on earth and the top of it reached to heaven. Now, pause. This is common in the Bible. God speaks through dreams.

We are not going to talk about it a lot today. We're going to save that for when we get to Joseph because I know that some of you probably got really excited about talking about dreams and that you want to go to community group this week and you want to hijack the discussion and talk about how dreams are and how God speaks to us in dreams. I want you to save that for when we get to Joseph. God does speak through dreams. He communicates truth and he communicates promises. Also, sometimes a dream is just a dream.

If you dream about winning the lottery, it doesn't mean you go out and buy lottery tickets. Alright? We'll get more of that when we get to Joseph but right here, it's important to know he is communicating truth and promises to Jacob and he comes to him in a dream and Jacob sees a ladder. He sees a ladder. Now, it's debated in the Hebrew whether it's ladder or a staircase. You may see in some of your Bibles it'll say ladder and it'll have a footnote that says also it could be a staircase and there's a lot of debate that happens over this.

Honestly, I don't really care about the debate. I don't think that is as important as what the method is. The picture of what's happening here is that heaven and earth are connected. That a ladder connects heaven and we're going to stick with the language of ladder here because this is what our Bibles say. That heaven and earth are connected. This is a very big and grand picture.

It says, And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it on this ladder. And behold, the Lord stood above it all and said, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham, your father and the God of Isaac. I want us to picture this and what this would look like. There's this grand ladder. I mean, sometimes we use ladders to change these lights up here. I don't.

I watch people that do it because it's very tall up there and if you fall, it's not good. And it's high. And this pales in comparison to what it actually would be like. This is a ladder that reaches the heavens. It is massive. It is grand.

It is big. This connection is happening and there are angels ascending and descending on it. Which I know, some of us have a hallmark version of what angels look like, that they're very cute. They are not cute. They are terrifying. If you read about them in the Bible, they bring some of the glory of God with them.

They are terrifying creatures. This picture is grand. It is big. And it's starting to get even more fearful because the Lord, the God Almighty, stands above the ladder. So this ladder is in the sky.

There's angels descending and ascending upon it. And the God of the universe, the God that created everything out of nothing, that holds the universe in the palm of his hand, he stands at the top of it. And this picture just got even more fearful because the last time that Jacob spoke of the Lord, it was not good. He blasphemed the name of the Lord. He also has not had this type of relationship with God, not like his father Isaac. So this is his first encounter with the God of the universe.

And any time that anyone encounters the glory of the Lord in the Bible, it is a fearful picture. And the last we see of him talking about him is a very blasphemous episode. It feels like a little bit, there are times going up when I would get in trouble and my stepdad, who's a bigger guy, would stand before me and I was tiny. And he looked huge. And when he spoke, he spoke deep and it sounded so much louder when I was in trouble. I know many of you have had this experience with parents.

Multiply that by a thousand. And this is the picture that we get here. It is fearful. And then the Lord speaks. What is he going to say? Based on what his last episode was with what happened with Jacob, what is he going to say to him?

And this is what the Lord declares. The land on which you lie, I will give to you and to your offspring. He's going to give a place. This land. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth. And then we see the promise of people.

You get a place and you get a people. And you shall spread across, spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And then you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. So the Lord starts out by reassuring him that you get this blessing. The blessing of Abraham, the blessing of Isaac, this is yours. And we see a glimpse of a common theme that we get throughout Genesis that this is God's grace.

Jacob deserves wrath. He blasphemes the name of the Lord. He deceives, dishonors his father. He deserves wrath. But God gives him a blessing.

He gives him grace. And this picture of grace is much bigger than just Jacob. It's going to bless all the families of the earth. So he gives this blessing and then he says, 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 promised you. And it's at this point that we see what the imagery of the ladder is.

How this comes into full view. The picture of the ladder is a picture of God's presence with Jacob. The ladder connects heaven and earth and God doesn't just stand above it all managing from a distance. God is imminent. He is with Jacob. He's telling, I'm going to be with you.

My presence will be with you wherever you go. I am intimately involved. I have got your back. And that is a powerful picture for Jacob that wherever he goes, the presence of the Lord will be with him. He will not be alone. And he gets this dream, this powerful picture and then Jacob wakes up and he responds in verse 16.

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it. And he was afraid and said, How awesome is this place? This is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven. So we see two things in this story. We see that Jacob gets this powerful dream and then we see his response. That he just encountered God.

God steps into his story. Everything is about to change. And it's the first thing we see about his responses is that he's fearful. Because it is a fearful picture anytime that someone is in, that we are in sin and anytime you see in the Bible that someone is sinful and they're in the presence of God, it's a fearful picture because God's glory is so great it causes us to shudder. It's a fearful picture for him. It's also a reminder that he's going to be with him so it's a little bit of a warning.

I'm with you wherever you go. I'm going to see everything. I see all of your sin. I see all of your hidden faults. We see this develop later in the Bible that God sees every aspect of our life even the inner hidden thoughts. That's part of what's being said here but here's the bigger picture of what's happening.

His presence to Jacob is a comfort. It is a comfort to know that the Lord is with you that his presence is with you. The idea of presence in the Hebrew is the idea literally before the face of God. That you would be in the presence of God that he would be with you that you would literally be before his face and that would be a comfort to know that God is with you. There are moments when my son he's been walking for about six months and sometimes he'll wander off a little bit and he'll get mixed up with some people that he doesn't quite recognize and when he can't find me and he can't find my wife he starts to get a little bit scared and he starts to breathe heavy his tears start to come down his face and in those moments I'll call out to him and he hears my voice and it's a comfort but what really comforts him is when he can see my face.