WEBVTT 00:00:09.640 --> 00:00:12.679 We're going to be reading from Genesis chapter 00:00:12.679 --> 00:00:16.940 29. We'll start reading in verse 31, where we 00:00:16.940 --> 00:00:20.059 left off last week, and then we will be reading 00:00:20.059 --> 00:00:26.280 through chapter 30 to verse 24, starting in chapter 00:00:26.280 --> 00:00:31.620 29, verse 31. Now the Lord saw that Leah was 00:00:31.620 --> 00:00:36.020 unloved, and he opened her womb, but Rachel was 00:00:36.020 --> 00:00:40.000 barren. Leah conceived and bore a son and named 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:43.560 him Reuben. For she said, Because the Lord has 00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:47.140 seen my affliction, surely now my husband will 00:00:47.140 --> 00:00:50.820 love me. Then she conceived again and bore a 00:00:50.820 --> 00:00:53.859 son and said, Because the Lord has heard that 00:00:53.859 --> 00:00:57.380 I am unloved, he has therefore given me this 00:00:57.380 --> 00:01:01.840 son also. So she named him Simeon. She conceived 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:06.170 again and bore a son and said, Now this time 00:01:06.170 --> 00:01:09.890 my husband will become attached to me because 00:01:09.890 --> 00:01:13.849 I have borne him three sons. Therefore he was 00:01:13.849 --> 00:01:17.409 named Levi. And she conceived again and bore 00:01:17.409 --> 00:01:20.870 a son and said, This time I will praise the Lord. 00:01:21.469 --> 00:01:25.810 Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped 00:01:25.810 --> 00:01:30.170 bearing. Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob 00:01:30.170 --> 00:01:33.969 no children, she became jealous of her sister. 00:01:34.540 --> 00:01:39.200 And she said to Jacob, give me children or else 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:43.400 I die. Then Jacob's anger burned against Rachel 00:01:43.400 --> 00:01:48.680 and he said, am I in the place of God who has 00:01:48.680 --> 00:01:52.379 withheld from you the fruit of the womb? She 00:01:52.379 --> 00:01:57.140 said, here is my maid Bilhah. Go into her that 00:01:57.140 --> 00:02:01.719 she may bear on my knees that through her I too 00:02:01.719 --> 00:02:05.659 may have children. So she gave him her maid, 00:02:05.819 --> 00:02:10.639 Bilhah, as a wife, and Jacob went into her. Bilhah 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:14.599 conceived and bore Jacob a son. Then Rachel said, 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:17.960 God has vindicated me and has indeed heard my 00:02:17.960 --> 00:02:21.879 voice and has given me a son. Therefore she named 00:02:21.879 --> 00:02:26.020 him Dan. Rachel's maid, Bilhah, conceived again 00:02:26.020 --> 00:02:29.860 and bore Jacob a second son. So Rachel said, 00:02:30.039 --> 00:02:34.189 with mighty wrestlings. I have wrestled with 00:02:34.189 --> 00:02:37.849 my sister, and I have indeed prevailed. And she 00:02:37.849 --> 00:02:43.090 named him Naphtali. When Leah saw that she had 00:02:43.090 --> 00:02:47.889 stopped bearing, she took her maid, Zilpah, and 00:02:47.889 --> 00:02:51.550 gave her to Jacob as a wife. Leah's maid, Zilpah, 00:02:51.710 --> 00:02:55.789 bore Jacob a son. Then Leah said, How fortunate! 00:02:56.449 --> 00:03:01.020 So she named him Gad. Leah's maid Zilpah bore 00:03:01.020 --> 00:03:05.319 Jacob a second son. Then Leah said, Happy am 00:03:05.319 --> 00:03:09.680 I, for women will call me happy. So she named 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:13.340 him Asher. Now in the days of wheat harvest, 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:16.620 Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field 00:03:16.620 --> 00:03:21.319 and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel 00:03:21.319 --> 00:03:24.960 said to Leah, Please give me some of your son's 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:28.199 mandrakes. But she said to her, Is it a small 00:03:28.199 --> 00:03:32.520 matter? for you to take my husband? And would 00:03:32.520 --> 00:03:37.419 you take my son's mandrakes also? So Rachel said, 00:03:37.659 --> 00:03:41.259 Therefore he may lay with you tonight in return 00:03:41.259 --> 00:03:45.699 for your son's mandrakes. When Jacob came in 00:03:45.699 --> 00:03:48.479 from the field in the evening, then Leah went 00:03:48.479 --> 00:03:51.340 out to meet him and said, You must come in to 00:03:51.340 --> 00:03:55.659 me, for I have surely hired you with my son's 00:03:55.659 --> 00:04:00.590 mandrakes. So he laid with her that night. God 00:04:00.590 --> 00:04:04.330 gave heed to Leah, and she conceived and bore 00:04:04.330 --> 00:04:08.550 Jacob a fifth son. Then Leah said, God has given 00:04:08.550 --> 00:04:11.789 me my wages because I gave my maid to my husband. 00:04:12.129 --> 00:04:16.629 So she named him Issachar. Leah conceived again 00:04:16.629 --> 00:04:21.009 and bore a sixth son to Jacob. Then Leah said, 00:04:21.129 --> 00:04:25.410 God has endowed me with a good gift. Now my husband 00:04:25.410 --> 00:04:28.449 will dwell with me. because I have borne him 00:04:28.449 --> 00:04:33.569 six sons. So she named him Zebulun. Afterward, 00:04:33.569 --> 00:04:37.610 she bore a daughter and named her Dinah. Then 00:04:37.610 --> 00:04:42.709 God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her 00:04:42.709 --> 00:04:46.910 and opened her womb. And she conceived and bore 00:04:46.910 --> 00:04:50.750 a son and said, God has taken away my reproach. 00:04:50.769 --> 00:04:55.209 She named him Joseph. saying, may the Lord give 00:04:55.209 --> 00:04:58.629 me another son. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. 00:05:00.870 --> 00:05:06.089 Father, we come to you at this time and we come 00:05:06.089 --> 00:05:09.970 to your word. Father, we ask that you would bless 00:05:09.970 --> 00:05:15.870 richly the ministry of your word. Father, let 00:05:15.870 --> 00:05:20.589 us be edified and sanctified, built up, changed 00:05:20.589 --> 00:05:24.899 and transformed. by your spirit as he works in 00:05:24.899 --> 00:05:28.720 and through your word in our lives. Father, we 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:30.860 ask that you would use your word to pierce the 00:05:30.860 --> 00:05:34.339 hearts of unbelieving men, to draw them unto 00:05:34.339 --> 00:05:37.720 yourself. Lord, we thank you for the word of 00:05:37.720 --> 00:05:40.920 God. We ask that you would be in our midst at 00:05:40.920 --> 00:05:43.839 this time. We ask these things in Jesus' name. 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:49.759 Amen. You may be seated. We come to this passage 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:53.379 at the end of chapter 29. and the first half 00:05:53.379 --> 00:05:58.959 of chapter 30, and we immediately come to it, 00:05:58.980 --> 00:06:03.519 and many of us think, wow, there's really some 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:09.959 issues going on with this family. It's a sad 00:06:09.959 --> 00:06:19.040 story in many, many ways. We find the women in 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:24.379 the story dissatisfied. with themselves, their 00:06:24.379 --> 00:06:28.160 circumstances, with their children in a sense, 00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:35.000 and with their husbands. We find the man willing 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:41.220 to compromise himself for the sake of pleasing 00:06:41.220 --> 00:06:47.879 his wives and for the sake of supposedly procuring 00:06:47.879 --> 00:06:52.480 that which God has promised. But we also see 00:06:52.480 --> 00:06:56.560 that this story is very beautiful in another 00:06:56.560 --> 00:07:01.199 way. It's ugly, brothers and sisters. It's clear 00:07:01.199 --> 00:07:04.180 and obvious. It's up front. We can't miss it. 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:06.879 And we're going to deal with a lot of that today. 00:07:07.800 --> 00:07:11.199 But this story is incredibly beautiful as well. 00:07:11.939 --> 00:07:16.220 Because what we have here is God and His grace 00:07:16.220 --> 00:07:21.050 and in His mercy working in the midst of... this 00:07:21.050 --> 00:07:25.189 ugliness, working in the midst of this family 00:07:25.189 --> 00:07:30.129 to bring about his purposes, to bring about his 00:07:30.129 --> 00:07:34.430 plans, to bring about the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:07:34.490 --> 00:07:37.569 and to bring about the church, brothers and sisters. 00:07:38.230 --> 00:07:43.689 So we are going to have mixed emotions as we 00:07:43.689 --> 00:07:48.290 come to this text. I want to ask a question before 00:07:48.290 --> 00:07:52.810 we proceed any further. God made a promise to 00:07:52.810 --> 00:07:56.910 Jacob in chapter 28. And it was the same promise 00:07:56.910 --> 00:08:02.069 that he made to Abraham and to Isaac. I want 00:08:02.069 --> 00:08:06.750 to read in chapter 28 when God meets with Jacob 00:08:06.750 --> 00:08:11.629 at Bethel. Listen to these words. Then Jacob, 00:08:11.709 --> 00:08:16.370 starting in verse 10, then Jacob departed from 00:08:16.370 --> 00:08:20.470 Beersheba and went to Haran. He came to a certain 00:08:20.470 --> 00:08:23.769 place and spent the night there because the sun 00:08:23.769 --> 00:08:26.610 had set. And he took one of the stones of the 00:08:26.610 --> 00:08:28.810 place and put it under his head and he laid down 00:08:28.810 --> 00:08:33.049 in that place. He had a dream. And behold, a 00:08:33.049 --> 00:08:35.830 ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching 00:08:35.830 --> 00:08:38.950 to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were 00:08:38.950 --> 00:08:42.429 ascending and descending on it. And behold, the 00:08:42.429 --> 00:08:45.070 Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord. 00:08:45.529 --> 00:08:48.169 the God of your father Abraham and the God of 00:08:48.169 --> 00:08:52.289 Isaac. The land on which you lie, I will give 00:08:52.289 --> 00:08:55.929 it to you and to your descendants. Now, right 00:08:55.929 --> 00:09:00.230 now, Jacob has no descendants, brothers and sisters. 00:09:01.450 --> 00:09:06.809 He has no children. He has no wife when God makes 00:09:06.809 --> 00:09:11.750 this promise to him. Your descendants will also 00:09:11.750 --> 00:09:15.470 be like the dust of the earth. And you will spread 00:09:15.470 --> 00:09:18.509 out like the West and the East to the East and 00:09:18.509 --> 00:09:21.789 to the North and the South. And in you and in 00:09:21.789 --> 00:09:24.029 your descendants shall all the families of the 00:09:24.029 --> 00:09:27.669 earth be blessed. Now, before I get to my question, 00:09:27.730 --> 00:09:32.190 I want to remind you of something. We mentioned 00:09:32.190 --> 00:09:35.049 that there's four dimensions to this promise 00:09:35.049 --> 00:09:38.850 that God made to Abraham. There's the dimension 00:09:38.850 --> 00:09:41.929 that God is making a promise specifically to 00:09:41.929 --> 00:09:44.950 the patriarch. He did the same with Abraham. 00:09:45.090 --> 00:09:47.549 He's doing the same with Jacob. God would bless 00:09:47.549 --> 00:09:52.870 Jacob himself as a man, his household. God would 00:09:52.870 --> 00:09:56.129 bring about the nation of Israel. They would 00:09:56.129 --> 00:10:00.029 spread out. They would be a multitude. They would 00:10:00.029 --> 00:10:03.509 be a large people. But God would bring the Messiah. 00:10:03.809 --> 00:10:06.850 He would bring Christ in and through Jacob as 00:10:06.850 --> 00:10:10.970 well. And then he would bring the church. He 00:10:10.970 --> 00:10:14.580 would bless the nations. By saving sinners, brothers 00:10:14.580 --> 00:10:18.000 and sisters, and establishing the church throughout 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:22.200 the world, throughout the ages until his return. 00:10:23.259 --> 00:10:26.559 How would God in this story, in Genesis chapter 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:33.960 29 and chapter 30, take further steps in accomplishing 00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:38.320 that promise? That's the question we have to 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:43.590 consider today. In the establishment of Jacob's 00:10:43.590 --> 00:10:48.629 family with Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants, 00:10:48.809 --> 00:10:55.370 we see God building a family. We see God taking 00:10:55.370 --> 00:11:00.750 further steps to accomplish and bring about his 00:11:00.750 --> 00:11:06.730 purposes. How exactly do we see this in the text 00:11:06.730 --> 00:11:11.919 today which we read? Well, first, By opening 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:16.580 Rachel's womb, but I apologize, by opening Leah's 00:11:16.580 --> 00:11:22.820 womb as he sees her affliction. We see this in 00:11:22.820 --> 00:11:29.980 verses 31 through 35. What is Leah's affliction? 00:11:30.860 --> 00:11:36.259 What is the root of her issues? Well, she has 00:11:36.259 --> 00:11:42.279 disordered affections. She inordinately desires 00:11:42.279 --> 00:11:47.740 and longs and craves the regard of her husband 00:11:47.740 --> 00:11:51.799 and disregards God and his pleasure for her. 00:11:52.879 --> 00:12:00.220 However, we also see that she is in a broken 00:12:00.220 --> 00:12:07.299 home that is terribly dysfunctional. She's secondary 00:12:07.299 --> 00:12:13.480 in a sense in her relationship with Jacob. It's 00:12:13.480 --> 00:12:18.179 a relational affliction in a sense. She's longing 00:12:18.179 --> 00:12:21.259 for something from her husband that she cannot 00:12:21.259 --> 00:12:25.860 get in and from her husband in a sense. She's 00:12:25.860 --> 00:12:30.460 looking for a satisfaction that only God can 00:12:30.460 --> 00:12:34.399 provide. She's overlooked. She's unseen. She's 00:12:34.399 --> 00:12:38.399 unloved. She's invisible in a sense. Nobody recognizes 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:44.419 her. Nobody sees her. But all the while, God 00:12:44.419 --> 00:12:51.480 sees her. God knows Leah. She is before his face. 00:12:51.960 --> 00:12:56.559 Yet this doesn't help her until a little bit 00:12:56.559 --> 00:13:01.360 later. God is compassionate to her and he blesses. 00:13:01.629 --> 00:13:06.809 We see this in verses 31 through 34 of chapter 00:13:06.809 --> 00:13:12.549 29. God opens her womb and makes her fruitful 00:13:12.549 --> 00:13:18.049 and gives her children. It carries the idea that 00:13:18.049 --> 00:13:23.809 God hears Leah's cries, her affliction, her pain. 00:13:23.950 --> 00:13:30.169 God sees her hardship and her heartache and God 00:13:30.169 --> 00:13:37.059 acts. to bring relief in her life. He's compassionate 00:13:37.059 --> 00:13:42.559 and merciful towards Leah. And eventually, we 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:49.480 see that Leah praises the Lord. In a sense, her 00:13:49.480 --> 00:13:52.740 affection and her love and her praise move beyond 00:13:52.740 --> 00:13:57.000 her husband to the Lord. We see this in verse 00:13:57.000 --> 00:14:00.419 35, and she conceived again and bore a son and 00:14:00.419 --> 00:14:06.279 said, This time I will praise the Lord. Therefore 00:14:06.279 --> 00:14:10.759 she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing. 00:14:11.179 --> 00:14:16.600 So we see that God is progressing and advancing 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:21.100 his sovereign purposes by opening Leah's womb. 00:14:21.480 --> 00:14:27.279 What's the significance of the name Judah, brothers 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:32.899 and sisters? Who would come from the tribe of 00:14:32.899 --> 00:14:37.799 Judah? The Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ himself 00:14:37.799 --> 00:14:43.639 would rise from the tribe of Judah. God is working 00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:46.860 towards his purposes and bringing about his purposes 00:14:46.860 --> 00:14:52.340 in Christ. But we also see that God takes further 00:14:52.340 --> 00:14:55.019 steps in advancing and fulfilling his promise 00:14:55.019 --> 00:15:01.450 to Jacob by opening. Rachel's womb as he remembers 00:15:01.450 --> 00:15:07.169 her. We see this in the last part of the section 00:15:07.169 --> 00:15:14.450 we read in Genesis chapter 30, verses 22 through 00:15:14.450 --> 00:15:20.970 24. We read this. Then God remembered Rachel 00:15:20.970 --> 00:15:28.179 and gave heed to her and opened her womb. So 00:15:28.179 --> 00:15:30.820 she conceived and bore a son and said, God has 00:15:30.820 --> 00:15:34.299 taken away my reproach. She named him Joseph, 00:15:34.379 --> 00:15:39.860 saying, may the Lord give me another son. The 00:15:39.860 --> 00:15:42.379 first thing we notice about this portion is that 00:15:42.379 --> 00:15:47.100 God remembers Rachel. Now it's not as though 00:15:47.100 --> 00:15:52.620 God forgot Rachel. It's not as though God had 00:15:52.620 --> 00:15:58.669 neglected to think about Rachel. But when the 00:15:58.669 --> 00:16:03.269 Bible uses this language, God remember, it's 00:16:03.269 --> 00:16:08.389 intending to communicate something that is special. 00:16:08.529 --> 00:16:14.409 It describes a unique divine act that is carried 00:16:14.409 --> 00:16:19.070 out in covenant faithfulness and in providential 00:16:19.070 --> 00:16:24.629 timing. So if you remember, God remembered Noah. 00:16:26.539 --> 00:16:29.779 God didn't forget Noah after the flood started. 00:16:29.799 --> 00:16:33.039 No, God acted in covenantal faithfulness and 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:37.620 providential timing to start the recession of 00:16:37.620 --> 00:16:41.899 the waters. He was bringing about his purposes. 00:16:41.899 --> 00:16:45.899 He was acting distinctly and uniquely in covenant 00:16:45.899 --> 00:16:51.480 faithfulness towards his people. The same thing 00:16:51.480 --> 00:16:57.309 is said with regards to Abraham and Sarah. And 00:16:57.309 --> 00:17:00.169 the same thing is referred to in Exodus chapter 00:17:00.169 --> 00:17:04.930 2, where God remembers his people who are in 00:17:04.930 --> 00:17:09.829 bondage. It's the decisive, covenantal, faithful 00:17:09.829 --> 00:17:14.509 act of God on behalf of his people. That's what 00:17:14.509 --> 00:17:19.430 we find taking place here. But it also says that 00:17:19.430 --> 00:17:25.880 God hears Rachel, which implies That she has 00:17:25.880 --> 00:17:31.359 been crying out to God. She has been crying out 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:34.599 to God to be merciful to her, to take her shame 00:17:34.599 --> 00:17:39.279 and reproach away from her. We can look back 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:43.339 on these circumstances and these situations, 00:17:43.339 --> 00:17:46.500 and we can look at them somewhat humorously at 00:17:46.500 --> 00:17:50.509 times. We can look back and we can see these 00:17:50.509 --> 00:17:52.869 situations, and brothers and sisters, we can 00:17:52.869 --> 00:17:56.190 look with a proud heart and look down on our 00:17:56.190 --> 00:17:58.809 forefathers and the matriarchs of our faith. 00:17:59.829 --> 00:18:03.349 We can look back almost in an unfeeling sense 00:18:03.349 --> 00:18:06.869 as well, where we don't realize this was their 00:18:06.869 --> 00:18:14.910 life. Brothers and sisters, Rachel, her pride 00:18:14.910 --> 00:18:22.839 in life. was destroyed by barrenness. Her value 00:18:22.839 --> 00:18:27.640 and worth in that culture was a shame culture. 00:18:28.460 --> 00:18:34.319 They heaped shame on women for that. Brothers 00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:36.900 and sisters, she felt the weight of this and 00:18:36.900 --> 00:18:40.180 she felt the relief of this when God opened her 00:18:40.180 --> 00:18:44.910 womb and gave her a son. When Joseph was born, 00:18:45.029 --> 00:18:49.750 she cried out to God. And then God heard her 00:18:49.750 --> 00:18:56.210 prayers and God acted on her behalf. Just as 00:18:56.210 --> 00:19:03.910 God heard and saw with regards to Leah, God hears 00:19:03.910 --> 00:19:08.069 and God sees and God acts with regards to Rachel 00:19:08.069 --> 00:19:12.809 as well, brothers and sisters. We find something 00:19:12.809 --> 00:19:17.069 really important about the character of God in 00:19:17.069 --> 00:19:22.930 all of this. Leah and Rachel both stand in a 00:19:22.930 --> 00:19:28.190 long line of godly women who are taught to wait 00:19:28.190 --> 00:19:33.589 upon the Lord, who are dependent on the Lord 00:19:33.589 --> 00:19:39.069 to open their womb and to accomplish his purposes 00:19:39.069 --> 00:19:45.880 in and through. Think of Sarah, the matriarch 00:19:45.880 --> 00:19:50.660 of the faith, Abraham's wife. Think of Rebecca, 00:19:51.079 --> 00:19:55.380 Rachel, Leah. We could think about Hannah. You 00:19:55.380 --> 00:19:57.779 know the grief and the mourning and the pain 00:19:57.779 --> 00:20:00.799 that Hannah expressed in her prayer of lament, 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:03.819 which Eli overheard. Do you remember that, brothers 00:20:03.819 --> 00:20:07.740 and sisters? We could think about Elizabeth in 00:20:07.740 --> 00:20:10.599 the New Testament, the mother of John the Baptist. 00:20:12.440 --> 00:20:19.059 They were dependent on God to perform and to 00:20:19.059 --> 00:20:24.640 act and to work on their behalf. God saw them. 00:20:25.240 --> 00:20:30.680 God heard them and God acted. Now, there's another 00:20:30.680 --> 00:20:34.160 way that we see that God brings about the further. 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:39.900 of his promise and his purposes in this text. 00:20:40.359 --> 00:20:44.599 Not just by opening Leah's womb, not just by 00:20:44.599 --> 00:20:49.240 opening Rachel's womb, but also by overruling 00:20:49.240 --> 00:20:55.420 the sin and the schemes and the plans of men 00:20:55.420 --> 00:21:00.500 and women. These individuals in this family, 00:21:00.579 --> 00:21:07.289 God overrules them. It's so clear in this passage. 00:21:08.670 --> 00:21:11.569 When we look at this passage and we see the ugly 00:21:11.569 --> 00:21:16.490 side of it, what do we see in this text? Brothers 00:21:16.490 --> 00:21:22.109 and sisters, we see anger. We see jealousy, envy, 00:21:22.369 --> 00:21:30.349 rivalry, and competition. We see disordered loves. 00:21:31.130 --> 00:21:36.750 We see sexual immorality. and infidelity. We 00:21:36.750 --> 00:21:41.029 see godlessness in a sense among the patriarchal 00:21:41.029 --> 00:21:45.150 family of Jacob. We see sinful desires. We see 00:21:45.150 --> 00:21:49.609 sinful actions. We even see superstition with 00:21:49.609 --> 00:21:52.390 the mandrakes, which we'll speak on in a moment. 00:21:52.809 --> 00:21:56.750 That was a fruit that was associated with fertility 00:21:56.750 --> 00:22:00.980 in that culture. They were trying to leverage 00:22:00.980 --> 00:22:06.180 superstition to get what they wanted. However, 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:09.839 in the midst of all of this, we see God bringing 00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:13.859 about his purposes by overruling it, superintending 00:22:13.859 --> 00:22:19.240 these situations, circumstances, sin and transgressions 00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:24.240 and broken relationships to bring about his sovereign 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:29.579 purposes. Think about Rachel and Leah's carnal 00:22:29.579 --> 00:22:35.119 schemes to obtain children and marital affection. 00:22:36.119 --> 00:22:40.619 They couldn't get what they want, so they thought 00:22:40.619 --> 00:22:48.240 they would take another path. Think about Sarah 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:55.970 and Hagar, the same reality. could not produce 00:22:55.970 --> 00:22:59.230 and get what she wanted. She did not wait on 00:22:59.230 --> 00:23:02.670 the Lord as she ought to. So she resorts to the 00:23:02.670 --> 00:23:07.630 arm of the flesh and gives Hagar to her husband. 00:23:08.029 --> 00:23:12.309 We find the exact same thing with Rachel in the 00:23:12.309 --> 00:23:17.930 first several verses of chapter 30. Rachel wants 00:23:17.930 --> 00:23:24.140 children. Rachel cannot have children. Therefore, 00:23:24.279 --> 00:23:30.559 she gives her servant Bilhah to her husband so 00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:35.099 that she can have children through Bilhah. She 00:23:35.099 --> 00:23:40.440 got a surrogate, in a sense, to obtain that which 00:23:40.440 --> 00:23:45.960 she wanted. She was scheming in her carnality 00:23:45.960 --> 00:23:50.799 and in her flesh, brothers and sisters. She was 00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:55.430 resorting. to the flesh to get what only God 00:23:55.430 --> 00:24:00.450 could give to her. And we might think, well, 00:24:00.549 --> 00:24:08.369 Leah will learn from Rachel. Leah will learn 00:24:08.369 --> 00:24:11.970 from Rachel not to do these foolish things to 00:24:11.970 --> 00:24:14.490 resort to the arm of the flesh, but she doesn't. 00:24:14.490 --> 00:24:19.289 She does the exact same thing. She gives her 00:24:19.289 --> 00:24:27.670 servant, Zilpah, Jacob. Why? Because she has 00:24:27.670 --> 00:24:32.670 desires that she wants met. She wants children. 00:24:33.750 --> 00:24:40.369 She longs for that which only God can give. Then 00:24:40.369 --> 00:24:45.990 we get to this mandrake episode or this manipulation. 00:24:46.650 --> 00:24:53.430 And we'll read this starting in verse In verse 00:24:53.430 --> 00:24:55.849 14, we read this. Now in the days of the wheat 00:24:55.849 --> 00:24:59.190 harvest, Reuben went and found mandrakes in the 00:24:59.190 --> 00:25:04.089 field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then 00:25:04.089 --> 00:25:07.289 Rachel said to Leah, please give me some of your 00:25:07.289 --> 00:25:12.069 son's mandrakes. But she said to her, is it a 00:25:12.069 --> 00:25:17.329 small matter for you to take my husband? And 00:25:17.329 --> 00:25:22.079 would you... Take my son's mandrakes also. So 00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:26.880 Rachel said, Therefore, he may lie with you tonight 00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:30.759 in return for your son's mandrakes. When Jacob 00:25:30.759 --> 00:25:33.799 came in from the field in the evening, then Leah 00:25:33.799 --> 00:25:36.180 went out to meet him and said, You must come 00:25:36.180 --> 00:25:39.539 in to me, for I have surely hired you with my 00:25:39.539 --> 00:25:42.319 son's mandrakes. So he lay with her that night. 00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:49.880 So we have these two women. Who are seeking to 00:25:49.880 --> 00:25:55.700 leverage superstitious things to increase their 00:25:55.700 --> 00:25:58.839 fertility and their chances of having children. 00:25:58.960 --> 00:26:01.900 Why? To get ahead of the other one, brothers 00:26:01.900 --> 00:26:06.779 and sisters. They're trying to outdo the other 00:26:06.779 --> 00:26:12.230 one. Sinful, vain. prideful advancement within 00:26:12.230 --> 00:26:14.509 the home and the family. That's what's going 00:26:14.509 --> 00:26:18.789 on in this home and Jacob, the patriarch's life. 00:26:20.009 --> 00:26:26.109 Using and utilizing magic in a sense with the 00:26:26.109 --> 00:26:29.670 mandrakes, most likely, that's not absolute, 00:26:29.869 --> 00:26:33.910 but most likely that is what is taking place. 00:26:34.289 --> 00:26:38.150 Now it doesn't work out the way that they think. 00:26:39.529 --> 00:26:42.349 Rachel thinks that if she can get the mandrakes, 00:26:42.349 --> 00:26:46.269 she will have children. However, Leah is the 00:26:46.269 --> 00:26:52.029 one that God opens her womb and gives her children. 00:26:53.309 --> 00:26:57.230 It's almost as though the Lord is saying, your 00:26:57.230 --> 00:27:04.049 plans and your purposes cannot thwart my promise. 00:27:05.230 --> 00:27:09.849 Your plans and your purposes, your schemes, your 00:27:09.849 --> 00:27:14.589 agendas cannot stop my grand and my glorious 00:27:14.589 --> 00:27:17.710 gospel purposes, which I will accomplish in my 00:27:17.710 --> 00:27:21.869 perfect sovereign will, which I will bring about 00:27:21.869 --> 00:27:28.309 according to my purposes. What is the inevitable 00:27:28.309 --> 00:27:34.190 result? They cannot stop. the promise according 00:27:34.190 --> 00:27:40.150 to God's purposes. And God uses their sinful 00:27:40.150 --> 00:27:45.509 actions to accomplish his sovereign purposes. 00:27:46.210 --> 00:27:57.130 It is clear that the God here was accomplishing 00:27:57.130 --> 00:28:04.670 his purpose according to His perfect, holy will. 00:28:06.109 --> 00:28:11.430 It is not being accomplished by the fallible, 00:28:11.509 --> 00:28:18.509 finite purposes of men. They are being used by 00:28:18.509 --> 00:28:22.869 God to bring about His ends. They are not the 00:28:22.869 --> 00:28:27.630 ends. Everybody in that home, in the patriarchal 00:28:27.630 --> 00:28:31.460 household, has their own intentions, brothers 00:28:31.460 --> 00:28:39.000 and sisters. Jacob has his, Leah has hers, Rachel 00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:44.759 has hers, and the maidservants have theirs. In 00:28:44.759 --> 00:28:49.180 all of those carnal schemes and sins and transgressions, 00:28:49.259 --> 00:28:56.680 God is working a single unified plan to bring 00:28:56.680 --> 00:29:03.150 about his purposes and his plans for these individuals, 00:29:03.369 --> 00:29:10.730 for Israel, for Christ, and for the church. God 00:29:10.730 --> 00:29:15.829 is bringing all of that out of this. We have 00:29:15.829 --> 00:29:21.990 such a low, such a little view of God all too 00:29:21.990 --> 00:29:26.650 often, brothers and sisters. Think about these 00:29:26.650 --> 00:29:32.950 individuals. These were emotionally driven events 00:29:32.950 --> 00:29:39.369 and circumstances. But out of it, did they see? 00:29:39.470 --> 00:29:42.269 Did they see beyond their circumstances? Possibly 00:29:42.269 --> 00:29:46.309 at times we see glimpses of that. With Leah praising 00:29:46.309 --> 00:29:49.539 God. with them thinking about themselves and 00:29:49.539 --> 00:29:52.339 their children with relation to God. Jacob saying, 00:29:52.400 --> 00:29:55.700 I am not God. Rachel praising the Lord because 00:29:55.700 --> 00:29:58.359 he's taken away. Yes, but brothers and sisters, 00:29:58.420 --> 00:30:01.779 over and above all of that is a transcendent 00:30:01.779 --> 00:30:04.980 and a glorious and a majestic God who is not 00:30:04.980 --> 00:30:09.599 caught up in the schemes of men. And he's bringing 00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:15.720 about his purposes. He transcends the troubles. 00:30:16.440 --> 00:30:20.519 and the trials and the hardships that catch us 00:30:20.519 --> 00:30:26.660 up and stop us, that hurt us so bad. Brothers 00:30:26.660 --> 00:30:30.319 and sisters, they don't stop his purposes. They 00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:37.119 don't stop his plans. He continues in his sovereignty 00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:44.839 and his power. It's clear that God governs and 00:30:44.839 --> 00:30:50.240 rules. over and through their sin to bring about 00:30:50.240 --> 00:30:57.640 his good sovereign purposes. In Proverbs chapter 00:30:57.640 --> 00:31:02.440 19, we read this. In Proverbs 19, we read this 00:31:02.440 --> 00:31:10.220 in verse 21. Many plans are in the man's heart, 00:31:10.400 --> 00:31:14.420 but the counsel of the Lord will stand. Brothers 00:31:14.420 --> 00:31:19.240 and sisters, God's decretive purposes will come 00:31:19.240 --> 00:31:23.019 about. They are established and they are ordained. 00:31:23.880 --> 00:31:26.700 We are fallible and find that he is infinite 00:31:26.700 --> 00:31:31.819 and he is eternal. We read in Genesis chapter 00:31:31.819 --> 00:31:39.039 50, this famous verse at the end of Joseph's 00:31:39.039 --> 00:31:47.079 life, starting in verse 18. Then his brothers 00:31:47.079 --> 00:31:49.640 also came and fell down before him and said, 00:31:49.779 --> 00:31:54.559 Behold, we are your servants. But Joseph said 00:31:54.559 --> 00:31:58.000 to them, Do not be afraid, for am I in God's 00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:02.940 place? Meaning, am I God? Am I sovereign? No. 00:32:04.420 --> 00:32:11.839 Am I judge? No. As for you, you meant evil against 00:32:11.839 --> 00:32:19.630 me, but God meant it. The evil, the evil the 00:32:19.630 --> 00:32:23.529 brothers intended against Joseph, God meant that 00:32:23.529 --> 00:32:28.390 evil for good in order to bring about this present 00:32:28.390 --> 00:32:34.089 result to preserve many people alive. God is 00:32:34.089 --> 00:32:37.809 in the business of bringing good out of evil, 00:32:37.849 --> 00:32:40.930 brothers and sisters. God is in the business 00:32:40.930 --> 00:32:45.130 of bringing good out of bad. God is in the business 00:32:45.130 --> 00:32:48.829 of bringing good things out of hard and terrible 00:32:48.829 --> 00:32:52.549 and difficult things, brothers and sisters. That 00:32:52.549 --> 00:32:58.170 is the hope of the Christian, that God uses the 00:32:58.170 --> 00:33:02.049 hard things in their lives for his glory and 00:33:02.049 --> 00:33:07.450 for their good. In Acts chapter 2, we have the 00:33:07.450 --> 00:33:12.430 ultimate demonstration of God bringing good. 00:33:13.130 --> 00:33:20.470 out of evil. We read this in Acts chapter 2, 00:33:20.529 --> 00:33:25.990 starting in verse 22. Men of Israel, listen to 00:33:25.990 --> 00:33:29.690 these words. Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested 00:33:29.690 --> 00:33:33.329 to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs 00:33:33.329 --> 00:33:36.509 which God performed through him in your midst, 00:33:36.589 --> 00:33:40.250 just as you yourselves know, meaning they know 00:33:40.250 --> 00:33:44.809 these things to be true. They witnessed them. 00:33:45.769 --> 00:33:50.450 This man, delivered over by the predetermined 00:33:50.450 --> 00:33:54.769 plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to 00:33:54.769 --> 00:33:59.650 a cross by the hands of godless men and put him 00:33:59.650 --> 00:34:06.009 to death. But God raised him up again, putting 00:34:06.009 --> 00:34:10.630 an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible 00:34:10.630 --> 00:34:16.400 for him to be held in its power. The most tragic, 00:34:16.579 --> 00:34:20.159 according from a human perspective, the most 00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:24.260 evil, the most tragic thing that has ever occurred 00:34:24.260 --> 00:34:28.500 on planet earth, the son of God who took on flesh, 00:34:28.739 --> 00:34:31.599 who never sinned, who never broke God's law, 00:34:31.739 --> 00:34:34.159 the purest man that ever walked the face of the 00:34:34.159 --> 00:34:37.199 planet, that man was killed and murdered on a 00:34:37.199 --> 00:34:44.679 cross horribly. Evil. terrible, bad, yet God 00:34:44.679 --> 00:34:49.960 brings glorious and redemptive good out of that 00:34:49.960 --> 00:34:53.659 evil and that bad, doesn't he? He brings the 00:34:53.659 --> 00:34:58.000 resurrection. He brings the defeat of death. 00:34:58.380 --> 00:35:01.039 He brings the forgiveness of sins. He brings 00:35:01.039 --> 00:35:04.559 the pardon, the free pardon of sin for those 00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:09.260 who would trust in Christ. He brings all of that 00:35:09.260 --> 00:35:13.519 out of evil. that came upon the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:35:14.519 --> 00:35:19.500 And it's clear in this text that God did, in 00:35:19.500 --> 00:35:22.820 fact, bring about and progress his purposes. 00:35:23.400 --> 00:35:28.320 You say, well, in our text, in Genesis chapter 00:35:28.320 --> 00:35:35.239 29 and 30, what exactly did God advance? What 00:35:35.239 --> 00:35:39.269 exactly did God do to further his promise and 00:35:39.269 --> 00:35:42.489 to bring about further fulfillment in Jacob's 00:35:42.489 --> 00:35:47.590 life. Well, what is he doing? He's building the 00:35:47.590 --> 00:35:52.590 nation of Israel, brothers and sisters. How many 00:35:52.590 --> 00:35:57.650 names do we have? We're missing one, Benjamin. 00:35:57.710 --> 00:36:03.510 He would be born a little bit later. Out of this 00:36:03.510 --> 00:36:10.570 mess, God has brought about Reuben. Simeon, Levi, 00:36:11.090 --> 00:36:17.909 Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, 00:36:17.909 --> 00:36:23.130 and Joseph. God promised to bring a nation from 00:36:23.130 --> 00:36:26.369 Abraham, didn't he? And what do we find? God 00:36:26.369 --> 00:36:31.610 establishing a people. What do we find beyond 00:36:31.610 --> 00:36:37.239 that in this text? Well, Hone in on one of those 00:36:37.239 --> 00:36:45.019 tribes that has come from this mess, Judah. Who 00:36:45.019 --> 00:36:47.820 would come from Judah, brothers and sisters? 00:36:48.500 --> 00:36:51.820 What would come about? What would be accomplished 00:36:51.820 --> 00:36:55.139 through the lineage, the royal lineage of Judah? 00:36:55.659 --> 00:37:00.360 Well, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. The 00:37:00.360 --> 00:37:02.800 one who would come and take on flesh and be born 00:37:02.800 --> 00:37:05.079 of a virgin. The one who would live a perfect 00:37:05.079 --> 00:37:08.179 life unto the law of God. The one who would die 00:37:08.179 --> 00:37:10.900 on the cross and raise on the third day. The 00:37:10.900 --> 00:37:12.880 one who would ascend to the Father's right hand 00:37:12.880 --> 00:37:16.159 and return in power and glory. The one who would 00:37:16.159 --> 00:37:19.539 accomplish redemption and time in history. He 00:37:19.539 --> 00:37:24.920 would come from Jacob through Leah and through 00:37:24.920 --> 00:37:29.019 Judah, brothers and sisters. God is bringing 00:37:29.019 --> 00:37:35.199 about, his further purposes. And there's even 00:37:35.199 --> 00:37:40.400 more. We might think, well, that's it. But he 00:37:40.400 --> 00:37:46.019 also brings about Joseph. Now why is Joseph significant 00:37:46.019 --> 00:37:53.400 to the story of redemption? Well, in Joseph, 00:37:53.500 --> 00:38:00.460 from Rachel, God is providing a means of preservation 00:38:00.460 --> 00:38:08.059 for Israel. If Joseph hadn't been sold into slavery, 00:38:08.460 --> 00:38:13.980 if he hadn't ascended and rose to power and been 00:38:13.980 --> 00:38:16.739 the second in command, brothers and sisters, 00:38:16.840 --> 00:38:20.280 the sons of Israel would have been destroyed 00:38:20.280 --> 00:38:26.320 in the famine. God preserves his people and brings 00:38:26.320 --> 00:38:30.420 them into Egypt and prepares the way for the 00:38:30.420 --> 00:38:34.000 Exodus, the wilderness, and to bring them back 00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:37.519 into Canaan, the land of promise. Do you see 00:38:37.519 --> 00:38:40.219 how God is working his purpose and his plan? 00:38:41.820 --> 00:38:47.599 God is advancing his redemptive purposes in the 00:38:47.599 --> 00:38:54.099 world. It's abundantly clear in the text. God 00:38:54.099 --> 00:38:59.519 accomplishes his purposes in this world in such 00:38:59.519 --> 00:39:05.800 a way and in such a manner, and we see this, 00:39:06.039 --> 00:39:13.400 that he makes his people learn to wait upon him. 00:39:14.260 --> 00:39:20.460 God accomplishes his good purposes. He acts according 00:39:20.460 --> 00:39:25.719 to his good pleasure. He is faithful to his promises. 00:39:26.199 --> 00:39:28.820 But brothers and sisters, in all of these things, 00:39:29.219 --> 00:39:34.380 he does them so that his covenant people have 00:39:34.380 --> 00:39:40.300 to learn to trust him so that they are forced 00:39:40.300 --> 00:39:45.099 to wait upon the Lord. Isn't that what we see 00:39:45.099 --> 00:39:51.880 with Leah and Rachel? They were forced to deal. 00:39:52.480 --> 00:39:55.300 with the providence that they had been dealt. 00:39:56.239 --> 00:40:00.500 They were forced to accept their providential 00:40:00.500 --> 00:40:06.940 circumstances. They were taught to submit to 00:40:06.940 --> 00:40:10.420 God and his purposes, God and his plans, God 00:40:10.420 --> 00:40:15.739 and his providence in such a way that they would 00:40:15.739 --> 00:40:20.940 learn the folly of resorting to the arm of the 00:40:20.940 --> 00:40:25.030 flesh. That's what God is working into our lives. 00:40:26.929 --> 00:40:30.469 God works in our lives and brings about his purposes 00:40:30.469 --> 00:40:33.809 in Christ and the church in our lives today in 00:40:33.809 --> 00:40:37.349 such a way that he teaches us as his people to 00:40:37.349 --> 00:40:44.730 wait upon him. He's teaching you to trust him. 00:40:45.929 --> 00:40:49.369 He's teaching you to accept the providences of 00:40:49.369 --> 00:40:54.119 your life. He's teaching you to cry out in dependence 00:40:54.119 --> 00:40:58.099 and reliance upon him in your difficulty. And 00:40:58.099 --> 00:41:02.019 he's teaching you the folly of resorting to the 00:41:02.019 --> 00:41:04.920 arm of the flesh to try and get and obtain that 00:41:04.920 --> 00:41:10.519 which only he can do. The means that the believer 00:41:10.519 --> 00:41:13.400 is to lay hold of is that of prayer and the word, 00:41:13.500 --> 00:41:17.500 brothers and sisters. The means, the weapons 00:41:17.500 --> 00:41:22.420 of our warfare. are not carnal in nature. They 00:41:22.420 --> 00:41:25.500 are spiritual in nature, brothers and sisters. 00:41:26.820 --> 00:41:36.460 So God is teaching us to mortify the arm of carnality, 00:41:36.639 --> 00:41:41.380 of fleshliness, of worldliness, of manipulation, 00:41:41.579 --> 00:41:44.840 of all of those things, and to lay ourselves 00:41:44.840 --> 00:41:48.099 bare before him and to trust him and his goodness. 00:41:48.639 --> 00:41:51.139 in his grace, in his mercy, his sovereignty, 00:41:51.420 --> 00:41:55.059 his providence, and his promise that he is doing 00:41:55.059 --> 00:41:59.820 all of these things for our good. So God brings 00:41:59.820 --> 00:42:03.800 about his purposes in such a way that we are 00:42:03.800 --> 00:42:10.260 forced to learn to wait upon him. It's hard to 00:42:10.260 --> 00:42:13.320 wait, isn't it, brothers and sisters? We get 00:42:13.320 --> 00:42:20.340 antsy. We get real antsy if we're honest. We're 00:42:20.340 --> 00:42:25.019 called to calm ourselves and to cast ourselves 00:42:25.019 --> 00:42:29.039 over and over into the good hands of a loving 00:42:29.039 --> 00:42:33.500 father who has given Christ to die for sinners. 00:42:34.099 --> 00:42:39.260 No matter the situation, cast yourself into the 00:42:39.260 --> 00:42:44.480 loving arms of the Lord who is sovereign. And 00:42:44.480 --> 00:42:48.960 he's also teaching us in this waiting to rightly 00:42:48.960 --> 00:42:54.239 order our affections and our longings. What was 00:42:54.239 --> 00:42:59.940 he teaching Rachel and Leah? I would say a significant 00:42:59.940 --> 00:43:05.619 lesson that he had for them was that their true 00:43:05.619 --> 00:43:12.309 satisfaction had to come from the Lord. They 00:43:12.309 --> 00:43:16.969 could not look for ultimate satisfaction in their 00:43:16.969 --> 00:43:22.389 husband, in their spouse. They could not look 00:43:22.389 --> 00:43:29.309 for ultimate satisfaction even in children. Where 00:43:29.309 --> 00:43:34.309 must they find their real hope? Where must they 00:43:34.309 --> 00:43:38.530 find their real contentment, their lasting joy? 00:43:39.130 --> 00:43:43.690 Where must their affections fully and finally 00:43:43.690 --> 00:43:46.789 rest supremely in their heart and their life? 00:43:46.869 --> 00:43:52.150 On the Lord of glory, brothers and sisters. Supremely 00:43:52.150 --> 00:43:57.210 upon him and beyond anything in this earthly 00:43:57.210 --> 00:44:02.389 life. There are so many good and blessed things 00:44:02.389 --> 00:44:08.739 to enjoy and to find joy and to... to have pleasure 00:44:08.739 --> 00:44:12.300 and to find satisfaction in this life, brothers 00:44:12.300 --> 00:44:15.079 and sisters. That is how God has designed it. 00:44:15.199 --> 00:44:22.059 So many good things. But if those things, if 00:44:22.059 --> 00:44:27.360 those things become the ultimate source of satisfaction 00:44:27.360 --> 00:44:31.300 in your life, then it will begin to lead you 00:44:31.300 --> 00:44:37.530 to misery and grief and heartache. and sadness. 00:44:37.630 --> 00:44:39.989 Why? Because they're becoming an idol and being 00:44:39.989 --> 00:44:44.130 exalted over God who ought to have all of your 00:44:44.130 --> 00:44:49.670 affections no matter what. Good things loved 00:44:49.670 --> 00:44:55.150 too much can become bad for your heart, brothers 00:44:55.150 --> 00:44:58.409 and sisters. That's what we find in this text. 00:44:58.769 --> 00:45:04.489 As you wait in this life, find your true satisfaction. 00:45:05.389 --> 00:45:11.630 In God himself. But we also see that God accomplishes 00:45:11.630 --> 00:45:17.190 his purposes in such a way, in a sovereign way, 00:45:17.329 --> 00:45:22.690 but he also does it in such a way that man always 00:45:22.690 --> 00:45:29.550 remains responsible and accountable. We look 00:45:29.550 --> 00:45:34.510 at this text. And there are growing movements 00:45:34.510 --> 00:45:40.070 today that are encouraging polygamous relationships. 00:45:41.889 --> 00:45:45.389 And do you know some of the texts that they will 00:45:45.389 --> 00:45:50.289 go to? They'll go to the patriarchs. They'll 00:45:50.289 --> 00:45:54.230 twist and pervert many other texts. But they'll 00:45:54.230 --> 00:45:58.650 go to this text as well. Brothers and sisters, 00:45:58.710 --> 00:46:03.730 just because God uses and works through and governs 00:46:03.730 --> 00:46:08.329 something does not mean that he endorses or that 00:46:08.329 --> 00:46:13.130 he approves of their methods or their means necessarily. 00:46:14.650 --> 00:46:20.110 That's exactly what we find in this text. Sin 00:46:20.110 --> 00:46:25.550 rises from the creature, never from the creator. 00:46:26.210 --> 00:46:33.289 God governs. Those realities. He rules over. 00:46:33.369 --> 00:46:36.889 He rules over and in and through those realities 00:46:36.889 --> 00:46:43.170 to bring them to his intended sovereign purposes. 00:46:43.809 --> 00:46:53.849 But nobody, nobody ever slides. We can't say, 00:46:53.869 --> 00:46:58.530 well, God uses that. Therefore, he doesn't. Answer 00:46:58.530 --> 00:47:02.030 for that. He's not accountable or responsible 00:47:02.030 --> 00:47:05.650 for that because God brought good out of that. 00:47:06.489 --> 00:47:10.969 Brothers and sisters, every single human being 00:47:10.969 --> 00:47:15.750 will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ at the 00:47:15.750 --> 00:47:24.110 judgment seat. Every single one. Jacob, Leah, 00:47:24.409 --> 00:47:32.489 Rachel. The maidservants, you, me, every human 00:47:32.489 --> 00:47:36.170 being will give an account before the risen and 00:47:36.170 --> 00:47:40.610 glorious judge of all the earth. And you will 00:47:40.610 --> 00:47:44.769 either stand in the righteousness of Christ or 00:47:44.769 --> 00:47:49.489 you will stand on your own two feet. There's 00:47:49.489 --> 00:47:54.760 no passives. Amen. are under the sovereignty 00:47:54.760 --> 00:48:00.059 and providence of God. But all men are responsible 00:48:00.059 --> 00:48:05.599 for their lives and their actions, brothers and 00:48:05.599 --> 00:48:11.420 sisters. Every single one. They don't get a pass 00:48:11.420 --> 00:48:18.420 because it's not explicitly condemned. We find 00:48:18.420 --> 00:48:22.920 that God holds all men accountable. But we also 00:48:22.920 --> 00:48:26.840 see that as morally accountable creatures or 00:48:26.840 --> 00:48:33.019 people that God has made in this world, we find 00:48:33.019 --> 00:48:37.519 and we see that there are blessings and dangers 00:48:37.519 --> 00:48:43.820 to the right and wrong use of created things, 00:48:44.099 --> 00:48:50.429 means, ordinances, and realities. One of the 00:48:50.429 --> 00:48:53.909 most abundantly clear things in this text is 00:48:53.909 --> 00:48:58.429 the dysfunction, the brokenness, the misery, 00:48:58.590 --> 00:49:05.710 and the chaos that comes from casting off God's 00:49:05.710 --> 00:49:14.170 good design for marriage. Why were they so miserable? 00:49:15.690 --> 00:49:19.670 Because they were making choices that were sinful. 00:49:20.750 --> 00:49:26.269 They were casting off God's good design for them. 00:49:27.190 --> 00:49:32.989 But we also know from the scriptures, specifically 00:49:32.989 --> 00:49:38.409 the book of Proverbs, that if we make wise decisions, 00:49:38.710 --> 00:49:43.940 generally speaking, Because we live in a created 00:49:43.940 --> 00:49:46.679 order and a created world and we are creatures 00:49:46.679 --> 00:49:49.139 in this world and God has designed the world 00:49:49.139 --> 00:49:53.000 a certain way, certain things will come about. 00:49:53.840 --> 00:49:57.840 There will be flourishing likely. There will 00:49:57.840 --> 00:50:02.300 be life. There will be blessing, fruitfulness, 00:50:02.400 --> 00:50:06.400 and many other things, brothers and sisters. 00:50:08.559 --> 00:50:13.260 If you cast off what God has said, And God has 00:50:13.260 --> 00:50:17.840 declared to be good in his word. You can fully 00:50:17.840 --> 00:50:26.340 and completely expect to suffer for that. If 00:50:26.340 --> 00:50:30.420 you say, I don't care. I'm going to live how 00:50:30.420 --> 00:50:39.280 I see fit. God will discipline you. God is not 00:50:39.280 --> 00:50:44.610 mocked as Galatians. tells us. If you choose 00:50:44.610 --> 00:50:50.969 to live in a way that is opposed to God's good 00:50:50.969 --> 00:50:55.210 designs and God's good purposes, regardless of 00:50:55.210 --> 00:51:00.389 how hard it may seem, hardship and pain will 00:51:00.389 --> 00:51:05.849 come into your life. Issues will come from it. 00:51:06.530 --> 00:51:10.309 But brothers and sisters, the glorious promise 00:51:10.309 --> 00:51:14.440 of that Is it for the believer, even when they 00:51:14.440 --> 00:51:19.300 make bad decisions? God uses that for their good. 00:51:20.820 --> 00:51:23.900 So if you make good decisions according to God's 00:51:23.900 --> 00:51:27.840 revealed will, we ought to expect and to look 00:51:27.840 --> 00:51:33.519 and believe that good things will come as a result 00:51:33.519 --> 00:51:38.239 of those in our lives. There's blessings and 00:51:38.239 --> 00:51:43.960 dangers that we find. in this text. Our decisions 00:51:43.960 --> 00:51:50.300 have real consequences. Our actions are meaningful. 00:51:51.719 --> 00:51:56.039 They're not paper houses in a sense where they 00:51:56.039 --> 00:52:00.300 really don't mean anything. God has created a 00:52:00.300 --> 00:52:05.159 world of means and he expects his people to rightly 00:52:05.159 --> 00:52:09.849 use those means. So brothers and sisters, Make 00:52:09.849 --> 00:52:12.449 good decisions for the glory of God based upon 00:52:12.449 --> 00:52:15.190 the revealed word of God to bring glory to his 00:52:15.190 --> 00:52:20.949 name and expect good from those realities. Now, 00:52:21.030 --> 00:52:27.630 we see the gospel in this text as well. When 00:52:27.630 --> 00:52:30.769 we think about this, we don't just see it in 00:52:30.769 --> 00:52:34.610 the fact that God is bringing it about, but we 00:52:34.610 --> 00:52:39.909 see it in the fact that you and I, As the people 00:52:39.909 --> 00:52:47.809 of God are the afflicted ones, we are those who 00:52:47.809 --> 00:52:52.329 are disheartened and cast down. We are those 00:52:52.329 --> 00:52:55.489 who need the compassion and the mercy and the 00:52:55.489 --> 00:53:00.090 grace of God in our lives. And we are those who 00:53:00.090 --> 00:53:03.590 are in need of a gracious God to condescendingly 00:53:03.590 --> 00:53:06.809 and graciously provide a redemption for us. And 00:53:06.809 --> 00:53:09.739 we see that he has. provided that redemption 00:53:09.739 --> 00:53:14.119 in Jesus Christ. The Lord is abundantly good 00:53:14.119 --> 00:53:19.579 and kind and faithful to his people. We see the 00:53:19.579 --> 00:53:21.380 gospel in this text.