Jesus Prospers Jacob Despite Laban’s Jiving” (Gen. 30: 25-43 – 31: 1-37) Sermons Notes February 4, 2018

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(1) Walk Thru The Word for Today:  Genesis 30: 25-30 (ESV)

(Jacob Selflessly Served Laban But Now Must Provide For His Own Family)

25As soon as Rachael had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. 26Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you.” 27But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination thatk the LORD has blessed me because of you. 28Name your wages, and I will give it.” 29Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me. 30For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and the LORD has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?”

(2) Genesis 30: 31-34 (ESV)

(Jacob’s Wages Will Be speckled, spotted black animals)

31He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it: 32let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages.

33So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.”

34Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said

(3) Genesis 29: 30: 35-38 (ESV)

(Laban Puts His Sons In Charge of Jacob’s Herd & Jacob Prepares An Unusual Breeding Plan)

35But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons. 36And he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban’s flock. 37Then Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks. 38He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink,

(4) Walk Thru The Word for Today:  Genesis 30: 39–43 (ESV)

(Jacob Strengthens & Separates His Herd)

39the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted.

40And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban. He put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban’s flock.

41Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob would lay the sticks in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the sticks, 42but for the feebler of the flock he would not lay them there. So the feebler would be Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. 43Thus the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

(5) Walk Thru The Word for Today:  Genesis 31: 1-7 (ESV)

(Laban and Sons Resent Jacob’s Prosperity)

1Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has gained all this wealth.” 2And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before. 3Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”

4So Jacob sent and called Rachael and Leah into the field where his flock was 5and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me. 6You know that I have served your father with all my strength, 7yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not permit him to harm me.

(6) Walk Thru The Word for Today:  Genesis 31: 8–13 (ESV)

(The God of Bethel Tells Jacob How to Breed & Build His Flock)

8If he said, ‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped.

9Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.

10In the breeding season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the goats that mated with the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled. 11Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ 12And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’”

(7) Walk Thru The Word for Today:  Genesis 31: 14–21 (ESV)

(Rachael Rips Off Her Dad’s Household Idols)

14Then Rachael and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father’s house? 15Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has indeed devoured our money. 16All the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”

17So Jacob arose and set his sons and his wives on camels. 18He drove away all his livestock, all his property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. 19Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachael stole her father’s household gods. 20And Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean, by not telling him that he intended to flee. 21He fled with all that he had and arose and crossed the Euphrates,b and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.

(8) Genesis 31: 22-28 (ESV)

(God Warns Laban To Leave Jacob In Peace)

22When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, 23he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead. 24But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”

25And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen pitched tents in the hill country of Gilead. 26And Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have tricked me and driven away my daughters like captives of the sword? 27Why did you flee secretly and trick me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre? 28And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly.  [bctt tweet=”God Warns Laban To Leave Jacob In Peace: 22When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, 23he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead. 24But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”” username=”LibertyCF3″]

(9) Genesis 31: 29-33 (ESV)

(Laban, The Pagan, Searches for His Household Idols)

29It is in my power to do you harm. But the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ 30And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?” 31Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. 32Anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsmen point out what I have that is yours, and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachael had stolen them.

33So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachael’s.

(10) Genesis 31: 34-37 (ESV)

(Rachael Repels The Search by Saddling & Sitting On The Idols)

34Now Rachael had taken the household gods and put them in the camel’s saddle and sat on them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them. 35And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the household gods.

(11) Message map:

Genesis 30: 25–43 & 31: 1-55

“Jesus Prospers Jacob Despite Laban’s Jiving.”

 

Background To Today’s Message

25-26Rachael’s birth of Joseph seems to be the motivator for Jacob to want to leave Laban and provide for his own household, so he wants to depart with his wives and children for whom he has completed the agreed upon14 years of service.

Laban yokes Jacob to provide another 6 years of service, for a total of twenty (20) years Gen. 31:38)

(12) Laban Jive talks Jacob (Gen 25:28)

In Gen. 25:28 Laban says to Jacob “Name your wages, and I will give it,” but he doesn’t mean it.  He is jive talking Jacob.  Jive talking is speech that is deceptive misleading or worthless. For in Gen. 31: 7 Jacob says, 7”yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten/10 times.

Laban said to Jacob, “I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you.

So Satanic forces tell Laban the truth that Laban is benefitting because God is blessing Jacob. But what is the motive of those Satanic forces?  Is it to help or hurt Laban?  Are they telling the truth, so they can ensnare, entrap, enslave Laban and take him deeper into the deceptive world of idol worship?

Laban relying upon divination is an indication he

  1. does not serve the God of the Bible.
  2. does not have a 10 Commandments value system
  3. is susceptible to demonic influence
  4. Cannot be trusted.

(13) (Yellow) William Shakespeare,

The Merchant of Venice 

(The Devil Can Quote Scripture)

In his play, “The Merchant of Venice” (Act 1, Scene 3) Shakespeare says, “the Devil can quote Scripture.”

The entire passage is:

“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.

An evil soul producing holy witness

Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,

A goodly apple rotten at the heart.

O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!”

Post Modernism purports that it doesn’t matter what the author intends when he writes something, but only what I feel it means in relation to MY INDIVIDUAL, SELF-CENTERED story, which I believes gives me the right to interpret even God’s Word from my limited perspective— regardless of what God, the author, intends when He Wrote it!

Albert Mohler says the outcome of postmodernism — where the world is all about “me,” is that everyone gets to be sick and is in need of some kind of therapy — which validates what they feel and “feel” they are experiencing.

(14) Liban’s divination is an abomination (Gen 30: 27)

Divination is the act of seeking information or answers by supernatural means involving …

Palmistry/palm-reading supposedly interprets a person’s character or predicts their future by examining the lines and other features of the hand, especially the palm and fingers.

Bible Verses regarding these 6 abominations Acts 16:16, Lev. 18:21, 19:26 & 31, Deut 18:10 & 14, 2Kgs 16:3, 17:17 & 23:24, Is. 8:19

Acts 16:16 — One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl with a spirit of clairvoyance, who earned a large income for her masters by fortune-telling.

Leviticus 18:21 —’You shall not give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the LORD.

Leviticus 19:26 —You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor practice divination or soothsaying.

Leviticus 19:26  — You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor practice divination or soothsaying.

Leviticus 19:31  —- ‘Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 18:10  — “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer,

Deuteronomy 18:14  — “For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so.

2 Kings 16:3  — But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had driven out from before the sons of Israel.

2 Kings 17:17 — Then they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and practiced divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him.

 

2 Kings 23:24 — Moreover, Josiah removed the mediums and the spiritists and the teraphim and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.

Isaiah 8:19 — When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?

(15) Leah & Rachael are loyal to their husband

Genesis 31:14 And Rachael and Leah are loyal to Jacob (but both are not equally loyal to God) and answered and said unto him, is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house?

Girl’s normally would not receive an inheritance anyway, so they entirely are in accord with Jacob’s view of their father’s selfishness in dealing with his son-in-law, and approve of his intended departure.

Rachael, however, wants to inherit something that she will steal from her father that will reveal the character of her heart and faith.  There is an indication that this act leads to her premature death, and where she is buried (or more importantly, not buried) perhaps indicates also her eternal state.

(16) Rachael Is On The Wrong Side of Idol Worship & Refuses To Walk by Faith

Rachael’s lack of faith is revealed by …

17) Performing the words of the law Requires Putting Away Abominations (1 of 2)

2Kings 21:6 (ESV & KJB)

2Kings 21:6 (ESV) Manasseh also sacrificed his own son in the fire. He practiced sorcery and divination, and he consulted with mediums and psychics. He did much that was evil in the LORD’s sight, arousing his anger.

2Kings 21:6 (KJB) And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

(18)  Performing the words of the law Requires Putting Away Abominations: (2of2)

2Kings 23:24 (ESV & KJB)

2Kings 23:24 (ESV) Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers (psychics who consult the dead) and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.

2Kings 23:24 (KJB) Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.

God takes idol worship very seriously.

(19) The ignorant & deceptive nature of idol worship

The nature of deceptive religion or being deceived is that …

Rachael had a lingering attachment to these objects of her family’s superstitious reverence, and secretly carried them away as relics of a home she was to visit no more, and as sources of safety to herself against the perils of her flight

(20) The religion of Leah is revealed

Leah’s faith in God is demonstrated by …

(21) The God of Bethel Tells Jacob How to Breed & Build His Flock

In Genesis 31: 10-13 Jesus, the God of Bethel [who Himself is the ladder of access to God] intervenes in a dream to tell Jacob how to breed.

10In the breeding season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the goats (Lev.16:9 goats = sin offering) that mated with the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled.

11Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ 12And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.

13I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’”

(22) Genesis 30: 37 & 41 (ESV)

God Grows Jacob’s Flock with Unusual spotted, speckled & Black Sheep)

In Genesis 30: 37 14 &we see Jacob Segregates  and Strengthens his herd/flocks by the unusual means of pealing, stripping and exposing the skin of branches.

Sounds like the flogging of Christ, who is the True Vine, (John 15: 1 & 5) Who was stripped (Mt 27:28 & 31, Mk 15:20 skin was laid bare as Phil. 2:7 (Aramaic Bible) “But he stripped himself and took the form of a Servant and was in the form of the children of men, and was found in fashion as a man.”  — He was bruised [and laid bare] for our transgressions.

The distinguishing features of Jacob’s flocks include….

(23) Are We like Leah or Rachael? Are we like goats or sheep? (Matt 25:33) [bctt tweet=”Are We like Leah or Rachael? Are we like goats or sheep? (Matt 25:33)” username=”LibertyCF3″]

Matt 25:33 says, “And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.”

Leah has demonstrated the sheep like quality of following God.  She somehow sees His face through her challenges, and though she longs for the earthly love of her husband, she never loses sight of God, and named each of her children symbolizing how she is looking to God to overcome her earthly struggles.

Rachael demonstrates the goat like quality of stealing her household idols — never leaving her home philosophies to cleave to the God of her husband.

Rachael is not buried with the patriarchs but dies prematurely, symbolizing that the soul that sins shall die! (Ezek 18: 4 & 20, Rom 6:23 & Prov 10:16)

Leah symbolizes how the just sell live by faith. (Habakkuk. 2:4 & Hebrews 10:38, Gal. 3: 11, 2 Cor 5:7)  Matt 25: 31-46 Goats and Sheep

The Final Judgment

31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. …

41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. … 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Rachael should have participated in Numbers 5: 5-7, which says “5And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 6“Speak to the people of Israel, When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the LORD, and that person realizes his guilt, 7he shall confess his sin that he has committed.b And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong.”

Christ followers feel true moral conviction and guilt because their consciences are being trained by the Holy Spirit, Who enlightens and enlivens God’s Word within us!

24) Let’s Respond to God As Faithful Sheep To Our Beloved Good Shepherd

Let’s turn too Christ in Communion, trusting & thanking Him for accepting us, regardless of our dubious backgrounds, and our failures in parenting that our each of our children can be accepted in the Lord.

John 10:27 “My sheep listen to My voice;

I know them, and they follow Me.”

John 10: 14 “I am the good shepherd.

I know my own and my own know me,” [email-download-link namefield=”YES” id=”245″]

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