WEBVTT

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Good morning. How are y 'all doing today? Awesome.

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Well, if it is your first time visiting us here

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at Hosanna, here in our sanctuary, or if you're

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watching online for the first time, we want to

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say welcome. We're so glad you're all here to

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worship with us today. I am Pastor Nathan, and

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this morning we're going to be talking about

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how to process difficult times or difficult people.

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in light of the promise that God is with us and

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for us. I'm sure every single one of us have

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found ourselves in a situation at one point where

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we go, I have no idea how God could possibly

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be in this situation or using this situation

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for my good. This is horrible, right? I think

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we've all been there at one point or another,

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but there's an important fact of Christianity

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that becoming a disciple of Christ does not mean

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that we are immune to life's trials and tribulations.

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Now, I think many of us know that, but it is

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still one of the most important parts of the

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Christian life. You give your life to the Lord,

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there's this big promise and hope of salvation,

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and the power of sin is going to be defeated,

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and those things are all true. But that doesn't

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mean that life becomes just this easygoing, just

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joyful moment from beginning to end. We still

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have difficulties. It's a thing that new believers

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especially struggle with because in many cases

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when someone gives their life to the Lord, their

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life gets worse for a little while because the

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devil is upset and mad that he has lost them.

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And so, you know, these questions come up in

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people's lives like, why does a good and loving

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God allow us to go through things? Some difficult,

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horrible things like the death of a child. Why

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does a good and loving God allow disease and

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sickness to devastate ourselves or our loved

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ones? Why does... Why does a good and loving

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God allow His children to go through financial

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hardships and sometimes bankruptcy and losing

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everything? What about the worries and the fears?

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You know, some people say, if God truly loved

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us, wouldn't He and shouldn't He just take all

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of that away? Because that's what we want to

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do for our children. And if God is our Father,

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isn't that what He wants to do for us? Doesn't

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being saved mean God wants our lives to be easy

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and comfortable? Well, unfortunately, the answer

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to those questions is not in the way we would

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think. Romans 8, verse 28, Paul said this, we

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know that all things work together for the good

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of those who love God, who are called according

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to His purpose. And that is a very encouraging

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verse when good things are happening to us. But

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it's a harder verse to hold on to in the middle

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of trials and difficulties and challenges. But

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he said, all. things. Work together for good.

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You see, God desires each of His kids to grow.

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Each one of us that call ourselves saved, that

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we are God's children, God wants us to grow more

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and more like Him in everything that He is. And

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He allows us to go through things that allow

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us to or cause us to grow. Trials, difficulties,

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and challenges are a huge part of that process

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of God molding us into His image. Our faith is

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refined through every circumstance of our life

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or sanctified, to use the word we looked at last

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week, through everything we experience, including

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the hard stuff. Now, when the hard stuff is a

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result of our own sin, our own decisions, our

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own disobedience, even though we are forgiven

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by Christ's work on the cross, the consequences

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are still things that we often have to suffer

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through. And even though we go through those

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consequences, God is still faithful to work in

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those things, continuing to refine who we are.

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And so the story that we're going to be looking

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at today is a story of just that. There's this

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young man named Jacob, the lying deceiver, who

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is saved by faith. He is a man who has faith

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in God and his word and his promises, but he

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still has a young faith, a immature faith, if

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you will. And he needs a lot of work, but he's

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a picture of the dichotomy that every Christian

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is in the world today, that we are here on earth,

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living this earth and this life, both as wicked

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sinners, selfish to the core, and saved children

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of God at the same time. This man, Jacob, we're

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going to be studying for a number of weeks here.

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Today, he finds himself suffering the consequences

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of his own sin. He finds himself suffering the

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result of his own bad decisions, his own ungodly

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behavior, and he's going to find himself now

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immersed into a very long and difficult season

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of hardship, serving under a very difficult and

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trying person who he would probably just want

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to punch in the face at the end of the day. And

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yet behind the scenes, the lesson for us is that

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God is using all of that to mold and to shape

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Jacob. into the man that God knows him to be,

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into the godly person that God knows he can be,

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and it's the same thing with us in our lives.

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When we're going through difficult seasons of

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suffering and difficulty, especially when that

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difficulty and that suffering is a result of

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our own sinful decisions, or to put it another

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way, when we are suffering the consequences of

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our own wrong choices, we have to understand

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that God is backstage. using all of it, working

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through all of it to mold us and to shape us.

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You see, we can't always avoid the consequences

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of our sins. But we can process what is happening

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through the lens of God's promise every time

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we're going through difficult times. And through

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understanding what is happening, we can find

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the strength to persevere, trusting that God

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is doing what he needs to do in our lives. That's

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what we're going to be looking at today, but

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first we're going to spend time worshiping God.

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Because, you know, the bookend to this story

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we're looking at today was the previous chapter.

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Where Jacob got an opportunity to see God, see

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God working on his behalf, and just to be so

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excited and worship him for it. And that's what

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we want to do today to start out. Before we get

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into what could be a difficult study for some.

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So let's pray. Father, we love you so much, God.

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And we do praise you. We do worship you. We do

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trust you in everything, God. And Lord, we know

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that our salvation is secure. Lord, that is our

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promise you made. That you said if we trust in

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you, we are saved. But that doesn't mean that

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we're perfect people. It doesn't mean we live

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in a perfect world with a perfect life. And God,

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so much of what happens in our life today is

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still a result of our own stupid disobedience.

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Yet, God, when we find ourselves suffering the

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consequences of our own actions, sometimes, Lord,

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we are tempted to blame you, to get mad at you,

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to start saying things like, I thought salvation

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was supposed to be good, and Lord, salvation

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is... Good. It is the best thing we could ever

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have, Lord, but help us to be able to be people

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who process the reality of our situations, our

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circumstances, our consequences, Lord, through

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the lens of the truth that you are with us even

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there, that you are working on our behalf even

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there, and that there is a plan and a purpose,

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Lord, through everything that we go through.

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Not that we have to go through bad situations,

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Lord, but God, that when we do, because we are

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sinners, you are still working. Help us to see

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how to process these things, Lord, and trust

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you in all of it, God. We praise you. We honor

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you. We give you all the glory, God, because

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you are deserving. It's in Jesus' name we pray.

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Amen. We are going to be spending time in Genesis

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chapter 29 this morning talking about Jacob.

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We'll be talking about Jacob for a number of

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weeks because there's a lot of content in Genesis

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that is... dedicated to him, and he is really

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such a great example of us and who we are and

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the lessons and lives that we lead and the lessons

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we learn because he is just a messed up dude

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who happens to believe in God and is saved because

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of that. Many of us might identify with that

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to be able to look at ourselves and say, you

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know, we're kind of messed up people. And yet

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we believe God. We believe God is true. We believe

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God is real. We trust in him for our salvation,

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but that doesn't necessarily make us perfect

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people. Quite the opposite, in fact. We are messed

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up people, far from perfect, and saved by grace.

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And so what does that mean for us living our

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lives here on this earth? What does that mean

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for us coming to church? doing devotions and

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praying and worshiping, and yet still wrestling

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with our old nature that wants us to just do

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the selfish things, the bad things, the wrong

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things. How do we process the biblical truth,

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especially the one that God is with us as he

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was trying to teach Jacob in the previous chapter?

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We looked at that experience last week where

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as Jacob was fleeing for his life to the Eastlands

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or the Northeastlands after he connived Esau,

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his brother, so much, that he wanted to kill

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him, he had this experience in the desert where

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he fell asleep and had a dream of this staircase

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going from earth to heaven where God appeared

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to him and basically taught Jacob, look, I am

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with you wherever you go. Whether you're at home,

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whether you're in the wilderness, whether you're

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fleeing, I'm going to be with you. Don't worry

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about the promises that I have made because...

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Those are going to happen. They're based on me

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and my character, and I cannot lie. So I'm with

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you, but these were lessons that Jacob really

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needed because what was about to come into his

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life was going to give him plenty of opportunity

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to wonder, how is God in this? Where is he, and

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what is he doing through all this? However...

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After hearing God reiterate the covenant promises

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there in chapter 28, he was pretty fired up,

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pretty energized, pretty encouraged to continue

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his trip to his mom's homeland, now knowing that

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God was indeed with him. And so his faith, though,

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still incomplete, still very, very immature.

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And so Jacob, although saved by his faith, is

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still a very selfish man, a very immature man,

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and still has the attitude that God, if you do

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this, then you will be my God now that didn't

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necessarily belay a sense of whether I believe

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you are real or not that phrase that Jacob made

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at the end of Genesis 8 was God if you do these

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things for me I will fully commit my life to

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you in every way And as we're gonna see, there's

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gonna be some things that really challenge that

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in his mind. But either way, he now had enough

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hope to carry on in his progress here and take

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the next step, still being a piece of work, still

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needing a whole lot of work on God's behalf.

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And so he continues on with his education in

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the life of hard knocks here. Genesis 29, verse

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one, read with me. It says, Jacob resumed his

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journey and went to the eastern country. He looked

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and saw a well in a field. Three flocks of sheep

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were lying there beside it because the sheep

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were watered from this well. But a large stone

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covered the opening of the well. The shepherds

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would roll the stone from the opening of the

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well and water the sheep when all the flocks

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were gathered there. Then they would return the

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stone to its place over the well's opening. Jacob

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asked the men at the well, my brothers, where

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are you from? We're from Haran, they answered.

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Do you know Laban, Nahor's grandson, Jacob asked

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them? They answered, We know him. Is he well?

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Jacob asked. Yes, they said. And here is his

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daughter Rachel coming with his sheep. Then Jacob

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said, Look, it is still broad daylight. It is

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not time for the animals to be gathered. Water

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the flock and then go out and let them graze.

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But they replied, We can't until all the flocks

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have been gathered and the stone is rolled from

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the well's opening. Then we will water the sheep.

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So this is all background. Jacob is now arriving

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to his mother's homeland after a long journey.

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And in the very beginning there, it says Jacob

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resumed his journey. In the Hebrew, that literally

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means lifted up his feet. It reads Jacob lifted

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up his feet. Because the idea there is after

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this experience in the desert, After this dream

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he had of God being with him and the Lord reiterating

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the promises, he was walking with a lighter step,

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so to speak. He was pretty excited. He was pretty

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confident now. And so it wasn't such a grudging

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journey, if you will. It was with a little more

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excitement. And so he goes on to travel to the

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eastern country. That's just a way to refer to

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everything that's up there in the northeast of

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Israel. Now, as he's traveling, we got to remember

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his background. He was born and raised down in

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Beersheba with his mother and his father. And

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I'm sure he knew the whole story of how they

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met, right? We've studied that past earlier in

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Genesis where Eliezer was sent out by Abraham.

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And when Eliezer got to this place up here, he

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arrived at a well. And when he got to that well,

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he prayed, you know, God, hey, let my journey

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go good. And so if the girl comes out and waters

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my camels, that's going to be her. And so Jacob,

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I'm sure, likely knew that story. He knew all

00:13:31.909 --> 00:13:34.049
about the camels and the prayers and the watering

00:13:34.049 --> 00:13:36.990
and the meeting the family and all of it. But

00:13:36.990 --> 00:13:39.690
what he knew from that story was that God's providence

00:13:39.690 --> 00:13:43.250
took place at a well. Now, what I mean by providence

00:13:43.250 --> 00:13:47.330
is God working just in the everyday happenings

00:13:47.330 --> 00:13:50.210
of life. Jacob, I'm sure, had heard this story.

00:13:50.309 --> 00:13:53.190
And so when he arrived at this land and he comes

00:13:53.190 --> 00:13:56.470
to a well, I imagine that was pretty exciting

00:13:56.470 --> 00:13:59.809
for him. Because wells were things happened.

00:14:00.070 --> 00:14:02.990
Wells were where God did some amazing things

00:14:02.990 --> 00:14:05.090
according to the stories. I'm sure he had heard

00:14:05.090 --> 00:14:07.730
the stories of his grandfather, Abraham, and

00:14:07.730 --> 00:14:09.889
the stories of Isaac, right? Isaac traveling

00:14:09.889 --> 00:14:12.509
down there through the Negev region, having to

00:14:12.509 --> 00:14:15.129
go live in the land of the Philistines, and he

00:14:15.129 --> 00:14:18.049
had to re -dig his father's wells, we looked

00:14:18.049 --> 00:14:20.580
at. And then the people there fought against

00:14:20.580 --> 00:14:22.799
him, and so he retreated and dug another well,

00:14:22.899 --> 00:14:25.559
and God kept providing over and over and over

00:14:25.559 --> 00:14:28.460
in the life of Isaac. Jacob knew all these stories,

00:14:28.519 --> 00:14:30.500
and so now he's coming to a well, and he's like,

00:14:30.600 --> 00:14:35.179
man, this is it. This is where God works. And

00:14:35.179 --> 00:14:38.000
so... I'm sure he was thinking, you know, is

00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:40.539
this the place where God's going to bring me

00:14:40.539 --> 00:14:43.480
my wife and make all this happen? All those promises

00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:46.600
he made at Bethel, right? That place he named

00:14:46.600 --> 00:14:48.980
for the dream, that place where God said, I am

00:14:48.980 --> 00:14:53.240
working on your behalf. Trust me. And so it tells

00:14:53.240 --> 00:14:55.159
us that there were already three flocks of sheep

00:14:55.159 --> 00:14:56.879
here with their shepherds, and they were just

00:14:56.879 --> 00:14:58.639
kind of chilling and lounging around, waiting

00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:01.519
for the other flocks to arrive. And Jacob initially

00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:04.539
approaches them very friendly, right? Now, we

00:15:04.539 --> 00:15:06.600
know from Jacob's life so far that he's really

00:15:06.600 --> 00:15:08.779
good at role -playing different people. And so

00:15:08.779 --> 00:15:11.700
he's coming up and, my brothers, how are you?

00:15:11.720 --> 00:15:13.980
Oh, I'm so friendly. I'm not a bad guy. I'm not

00:15:13.980 --> 00:15:16.740
a bandit. Now, these were the days where there

00:15:16.740 --> 00:15:18.899
was no street signs and no Google Maps, and so

00:15:18.899 --> 00:15:21.159
you didn't really know where you were until you

00:15:21.159 --> 00:15:23.120
talked to locals to find out where you were at.

00:15:23.240 --> 00:15:27.340
So, my brothers, where are you from? And, oh,

00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:30.259
we're from Haran. Great. That's exactly where

00:15:30.259 --> 00:15:32.500
he was trying to get to. And so then he goes

00:15:32.500 --> 00:15:35.059
on to start trying to narrow down where his family's

00:15:35.059 --> 00:15:38.720
at. Do you know Laban? Yes, we do. Is he well?

00:15:39.400 --> 00:15:41.659
Yes, he is. Matter of fact, here comes his daughter

00:15:41.659 --> 00:15:44.460
with the sheep. Now, it's interesting because

00:15:44.460 --> 00:15:49.919
these shepherds kind of strike me as like, this

00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:52.080
is a stereotype, okay, so I don't mean to offend

00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:56.659
anybody. Government workers on break. Okay, if

00:15:56.659 --> 00:15:59.139
that's you, if you're a government worker, please,

00:15:59.259 --> 00:16:02.480
I mean no offense. I didn't want to say union

00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:04.940
because union members take more offense to those

00:16:04.940 --> 00:16:07.679
types of things. But the stereotype, right? They're

00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:09.940
just kind of chilling, you know, lounging around,

00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:11.860
waiting for the other shepherds to get there

00:16:11.860 --> 00:16:13.779
so that they could all water their flocks. But

00:16:13.779 --> 00:16:16.659
they're not very helpful. Jacob comes up. My

00:16:16.659 --> 00:16:19.399
brothers, super friendly. Where are you from?

00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:25.700
Haran. Okay. Do you know my uncle Laban? Yeah.

00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:32.580
Is he well? Yeah. Matter of fact, there's his

00:16:32.580 --> 00:16:35.360
daughter. Why don't you bug her, okay? Stop talking

00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:38.720
to us. And so verse 9, it says, while he was

00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:40.580
still speaking to them, Rachel came with her

00:16:40.580 --> 00:16:43.659
father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess. As

00:16:43.659 --> 00:16:45.960
soon as Jacob saw his uncle Laban's daughter

00:16:45.960 --> 00:16:48.759
Rachel with his sheep, he went up and rolled

00:16:48.759 --> 00:16:50.860
the stone from the opening and watered his uncle

00:16:50.860 --> 00:16:55.000
Laban's sheep. Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept

00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:58.190
loudly. He told Rachel that he was her father's

00:16:58.190 --> 00:17:00.970
relative, Rebecca's son, and she ran and told

00:17:00.970 --> 00:17:03.769
her father. When Laban heard the news about his

00:17:03.769 --> 00:17:06.369
sister's son, Jacob, he ran to meet him, hugged

00:17:06.369 --> 00:17:08.450
him, and kissed him. And then he took him to

00:17:08.450 --> 00:17:11.009
his house, and Jacob told him all that had happened.

00:17:11.609 --> 00:17:14.730
Laban said to him, yes, you are my own flesh

00:17:14.730 --> 00:17:18.269
and blood. So the beginning of this story is

00:17:18.269 --> 00:17:22.190
kind of sweet because Rachel, her name means

00:17:22.190 --> 00:17:27.440
you lamb. Not Y -O -U, E -W -E. You lamb. It

00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:30.759
means baby sheep, right? So the idea here is

00:17:30.759 --> 00:17:33.140
as Jacob is at the well, and he's like, all right,

00:17:33.180 --> 00:17:35.559
wells. This is where God does the thing. And,

00:17:35.579 --> 00:17:37.380
you know, okay, I'm in the right place. This

00:17:37.380 --> 00:17:39.700
is Haran. And then he looks over and they point

00:17:39.700 --> 00:17:43.180
out this, oh, baby sheep showing up with the

00:17:43.180 --> 00:17:46.839
sheep. And how cute and wondrous. And so this

00:17:46.839 --> 00:17:49.720
is the beginning of the love story, right? Now

00:17:49.720 --> 00:17:53.660
Jacob's response. demonstrates very clearly that

00:17:53.660 --> 00:17:57.420
he believes God's hand has guided him to this

00:17:57.420 --> 00:18:00.420
place. He's overwhelmed with joy, right? It says,

00:18:00.440 --> 00:18:02.619
as soon as she showed up, it just says very plainly

00:18:02.619 --> 00:18:06.059
that he removed the stone from the well. Now,

00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:08.640
important detail, these stones were often like

00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:11.480
large things. The fact that the three shepherds

00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:13.880
are sitting there and going, hey, we can't water

00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:15.720
the sheep until everybody gets here, kind of

00:18:15.720 --> 00:18:17.759
indicates that the stone that needed to be removed

00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:20.960
from the well was a communal task. It was a large,

00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:23.799
heavy stone that maybe multiple shepherds had

00:18:23.799 --> 00:18:26.299
to work together to move so they could water

00:18:26.299 --> 00:18:30.220
their sheep. But Jacob sees a pretty girl. And

00:18:30.220 --> 00:18:32.420
of course, he's going to go and remove that stone

00:18:32.420 --> 00:18:35.660
by himself. big feet of strength and excitement.

00:18:35.799 --> 00:18:38.799
He's just so excited about this might be the

00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:41.240
one, this might be heard. And of course, he's

00:18:41.240 --> 00:18:43.180
happy to show kindness and he's happy to show

00:18:43.180 --> 00:18:45.299
all of that, but it's just this interesting picture.

00:18:45.400 --> 00:18:46.799
I don't know if you've ever heard the story of

00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:49.279
high school boys in youth ministry. One of the

00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:51.640
ways that high school boys typically like to

00:18:51.640 --> 00:18:54.259
show off to the girls is when the youth pastor

00:18:54.259 --> 00:18:56.160
says, put the chairs away. It's like, look how

00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:59.180
many chairs I'm carrying. Ha ha, right? And so,

00:18:59.740 --> 00:19:02.240
This is kind of the picture that I get here with

00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:04.859
Jacob. And so he goes and then he waters her

00:19:04.859 --> 00:19:08.380
sheep first. You know, hey, you know, lazy shepherd,

00:19:08.460 --> 00:19:11.680
stay out of the way. And so now Rachel had to

00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:14.519
have been quite surprised, I would imagine, by

00:19:14.519 --> 00:19:18.220
this stranger. Upon seeing her, he immediately

00:19:18.220 --> 00:19:21.079
goes and removes this stone by himself, immediately

00:19:21.079 --> 00:19:23.599
starts to water her sheep. That had to have been

00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:25.880
weird, but I imagine she was really surprised

00:19:25.880 --> 00:19:29.430
when he kisses her and then starts crying. right?

00:19:29.630 --> 00:19:32.509
In today's day and age, he might have been maced

00:19:32.509 --> 00:19:37.210
or hit with a knee, right? But this was a different

00:19:37.210 --> 00:19:41.630
culture then. In these times, The kiss and all

00:19:41.630 --> 00:19:44.650
that was like a handshake or a big hug, right?

00:19:44.750 --> 00:19:47.630
It wasn't meant to be like a sexual kiss or he

00:19:47.630 --> 00:19:49.309
was trying to be some weird pervert with her.

00:19:49.470 --> 00:19:53.049
In the culture, kissing, especially family members

00:19:53.049 --> 00:19:54.990
on the cheeks, was just a greeting. It was the

00:19:54.990 --> 00:19:57.690
way of saying hello. And so as soon as he finds

00:19:57.690 --> 00:20:00.970
out that she's of the family and he explains

00:20:00.970 --> 00:20:03.009
to her that I'm of the family, it was just like,

00:20:03.089 --> 00:20:05.509
oh my gosh, I'm so excited to see you. And he

00:20:05.509 --> 00:20:09.019
embraces her and kisses her. She gets excited,

00:20:09.140 --> 00:20:11.660
runs off, tells her uncle, who then gets excited,

00:20:11.779 --> 00:20:15.160
runs back, grabs Jacob, hugs and kisses him,

00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:17.640
and then says, come home, tell me the story.

00:20:18.759 --> 00:20:23.779
Now, why is Laban so excited? Why is he so fired

00:20:23.779 --> 00:20:25.980
up so much that he would run from his home to

00:20:25.980 --> 00:20:28.970
meet this kid, Jacob? Well, there's a previous

00:20:28.970 --> 00:20:32.029
story when somebody met one of his family members

00:20:32.029 --> 00:20:34.710
at a well. And in that previous story, that guy

00:20:34.710 --> 00:20:37.549
showed up with 10 camels and a bunch of gold

00:20:37.549 --> 00:20:40.829
and a bunch of gifts and ended up taking his

00:20:40.829 --> 00:20:44.170
sister away to go be married into Abraham's family,

00:20:44.269 --> 00:20:46.849
which was well known to be extremely powerful,

00:20:46.970 --> 00:20:50.849
extremely wealthy. Now Laban is a man that we're

00:20:50.849 --> 00:20:53.029
going to find out here is a very unscrupulous

00:20:53.029 --> 00:20:56.309
man who is very materialistic. And so I imagine

00:20:56.309 --> 00:20:59.369
here that as soon as he heard someone from Abraham's

00:20:59.369 --> 00:21:02.710
family, in fact, the son of Isaac and Rebecca

00:21:02.710 --> 00:21:05.970
is here looking for a wife, he was like, cha

00:21:05.970 --> 00:21:10.109
-ching, payday. So he runs out to meet this kid

00:21:10.109 --> 00:21:13.650
and You know, he grabs him. He takes him back

00:21:13.650 --> 00:21:16.150
home. And Jacob proceeds to tell him the whole

00:21:16.150 --> 00:21:18.250
story. Hey, yeah, no, this is what happened.

00:21:18.670 --> 00:21:20.170
You know, blah, blah, blah. I took advantage

00:21:20.170 --> 00:21:23.230
of Esau. And then, you know, we tricked dad,

00:21:23.250 --> 00:21:25.549
me and mom, and took advantage of Esau again.

00:21:25.930 --> 00:21:27.869
And he was so mad he wanted to kill me. I had

00:21:27.869 --> 00:21:31.450
to flee for my life. I imagine Laban was getting

00:21:31.450 --> 00:21:35.000
a little less excited here. Because as this story

00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:37.160
went on, and he said, yeah, I had to flee so

00:21:37.160 --> 00:21:40.180
fast, I didn't even have enough supplies to have

00:21:40.180 --> 00:21:41.900
a pillow for my head, so I had to sleep on a

00:21:41.900 --> 00:21:44.740
rock. But then God did this amazing thing, and

00:21:44.740 --> 00:21:48.519
Laban is probably going, so what you're saying

00:21:48.519 --> 00:21:54.940
is there's no gold, no gifts, no camels. So you

00:21:54.940 --> 00:21:56.660
came here to marry one of my daughters, and you

00:21:56.660 --> 00:22:01.819
have nothing, no dowry of any kind. And so Laban

00:22:01.819 --> 00:22:04.039
hears the story, and then he finally says, yes,

00:22:04.099 --> 00:22:07.079
you are my own flesh and blood. Now, I believe

00:22:07.079 --> 00:22:09.440
this has kind of like two points here, because

00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:13.160
I hear disappointment in Laban's voice. One,

00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:16.200
you are indeed my nephew, right? You are flesh

00:22:16.200 --> 00:22:18.940
and blood. But as we're going to find out about

00:22:18.940 --> 00:22:23.339
Laban here, he is a master manipulator. His sister,

00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:25.319
we learned in the last chapter, was pretty good

00:22:25.319 --> 00:22:27.440
at manipulation. Well, and that might be where

00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:29.799
Jacob learned the skills of deception and all

00:22:29.799 --> 00:22:32.539
of that. And so when I read this, and after Jacob's

00:22:32.539 --> 00:22:35.180
telling the story, Laban's like, yep, you're

00:22:35.180 --> 00:22:37.579
one of us. You tricked your brother? Mm -hmm.

00:22:37.619 --> 00:22:41.160
Yep, that's what we do. You got in such trouble,

00:22:41.220 --> 00:22:42.680
you had to flee for your life? Well, that happens

00:22:42.680 --> 00:22:47.759
to some of us. And so, welcome home, Jacob. It

00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:50.539
does seem pretty generous, though, that Laban's

00:22:50.539 --> 00:22:53.099
going to let him stay, and he shows the cultural

00:22:53.099 --> 00:22:56.460
hospitality. And I'm sure Laban was thinking,

00:22:56.539 --> 00:22:59.619
you know, if I treat Jacob good, and he does

00:22:59.619 --> 00:23:02.720
end up marrying one of my daughters, wow, we're

00:23:02.720 --> 00:23:05.039
going to inherit a fortune. Like, we're going

00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:07.380
to be contracted into this family even deeper.

00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:10.579
But Jacob, however, he's still young, and he

00:23:10.579 --> 00:23:12.720
had a lot to learn about scheming, and he was

00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:15.099
about to learn this lesson very hard from the

00:23:15.099 --> 00:23:18.299
king of schemers. But from Jacob's point of view,

00:23:18.339 --> 00:23:22.599
we can't forget that staircase. That staircase

00:23:22.599 --> 00:23:26.000
had shown me, and God showed up, and the promises

00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:28.799
of protection and provision, you know, and I

00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:31.180
showed up at a well, and then one of the family

00:23:31.180 --> 00:23:33.640
members said, this is just like mom's story.

00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:38.119
This is going to work out fantastic. God is doing

00:23:38.119 --> 00:23:41.420
what God has done before, and so he's so excited

00:23:41.420 --> 00:23:45.990
and so just fired up about what's going on. I'm

00:23:45.990 --> 00:23:48.250
sure he was going, this is indeed the house of

00:23:48.250 --> 00:23:52.730
God. This is indeed the gateway of heaven. God,

00:23:52.750 --> 00:23:55.329
you are so awesome and you are providing, but

00:23:55.329 --> 00:23:59.230
not in the way that he was expecting. You see,

00:23:59.269 --> 00:24:01.630
because Jacob still needed a lot of work. He

00:24:01.630 --> 00:24:05.509
needed compassion. He needed patience. He even

00:24:05.509 --> 00:24:07.569
needed to experience a little bit of pain so

00:24:07.569 --> 00:24:10.289
that he could be molded into who God wanted him

00:24:10.289 --> 00:24:12.829
to be. And through all of this, he was going

00:24:12.829 --> 00:24:17.500
to learn humility. You see, when Jacob is there

00:24:17.500 --> 00:24:19.940
in Laban's house, who is a schemer and a liar,

00:24:20.039 --> 00:24:22.720
Jacob himself being a schemer and a liar, having

00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:25.160
fled for his life because he schemed and lied,

00:24:25.259 --> 00:24:27.240
he learned an important lesson in the desert.

00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:30.680
Everywhere is the house of God because God is

00:24:30.680 --> 00:24:35.779
there. Did you know that this is the house of

00:24:35.779 --> 00:24:38.880
God? Not just because the buildings are here,

00:24:38.920 --> 00:24:41.440
because we are here. And guess what this room

00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:48.589
is full of? Sinners. Wicked sinners who are struggling

00:24:48.589 --> 00:24:50.710
with their flesh and their old nature to lie

00:24:50.710 --> 00:24:52.869
and to scheme and to deceive and to do wrong.

00:24:53.009 --> 00:24:54.589
And sometimes we're going, we're doing right

00:24:54.589 --> 00:24:56.170
and we're being obedient, but we go back and

00:24:56.170 --> 00:25:01.130
forth constantly. And God is proud to say, that's

00:25:01.130 --> 00:25:06.309
my house. Those are my kids. And that just blows

00:25:06.309 --> 00:25:09.569
me away. That God, even in this place, right?

00:25:09.690 --> 00:25:11.849
As he had taught Jacob, I'm with you wherever

00:25:11.849 --> 00:25:15.329
you go. Wherever you go, I'm at. And so it is

00:25:15.329 --> 00:25:17.569
the house of God. I am there. I am accessible.

00:25:17.769 --> 00:25:21.269
I'm in that moment. But this is all leading up

00:25:21.269 --> 00:25:23.410
to the lesson that this chapter teaches us. And

00:25:23.410 --> 00:25:25.930
we all have to really understand, because God

00:25:25.930 --> 00:25:29.109
is with us everywhere, even in the bad circumstances,

00:25:29.509 --> 00:25:32.230
even especially in the bad circumstances that

00:25:32.230 --> 00:25:35.410
are consequences for our own stupid disobedience,

00:25:35.410 --> 00:25:40.150
what is happening in that moment, God is not

00:25:40.150 --> 00:25:43.619
only aware of, He's allowing and he's directing.

00:25:43.920 --> 00:25:47.859
Why? Because it's even in those moments that

00:25:47.859 --> 00:25:50.420
God is doing that work of the staircase. He is

00:25:50.420 --> 00:25:53.440
doing business on our behalf. He is working on

00:25:53.440 --> 00:25:56.700
molding and shaping us. And this is what Jacob's

00:25:56.700 --> 00:25:59.579
about to learn very clearly. At this point in

00:25:59.579 --> 00:26:01.559
Jacob's life, he was a very one -dimensional

00:26:01.559 --> 00:26:05.190
man. His faith needed to grow. His character

00:26:05.190 --> 00:26:07.869
needed to grow. And so those promises that God

00:26:07.869 --> 00:26:10.329
made in the desert, I am with you. I will be

00:26:10.329 --> 00:26:12.589
with you. I'm going to keep you. The covenant

00:26:12.589 --> 00:26:14.890
promises are going to happen. Why? All of that's

00:26:14.890 --> 00:26:16.849
based on me. And so there's nothing you could

00:26:16.849 --> 00:26:21.089
do to derail those promises. And God is about

00:26:21.089 --> 00:26:23.230
to fulfill those things in Jacob's life. Look

00:26:23.230 --> 00:26:27.089
at verse 14 again. So Jacob had stayed with Laban

00:26:27.089 --> 00:26:30.400
for a month. Laban said to him, and this is where

00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:34.019
we start to see the man that Laban is, just because

00:26:34.019 --> 00:26:36.660
you're my relative, should you work for me for

00:26:36.660 --> 00:26:41.859
nothing? Tell me what your wages should be. Now

00:26:41.859 --> 00:26:44.119
Laban had two daughters. The older was named

00:26:44.119 --> 00:26:47.160
Leah, and the younger was named Rachel. Leah

00:26:47.160 --> 00:26:50.000
had tender eyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful.

00:26:50.980 --> 00:26:54.119
Jacob loved Rachel, so he answered Laban, I'll

00:26:54.119 --> 00:26:56.339
work for you for seven years for your younger

00:26:56.339 --> 00:27:00.660
daughter Rachel. Laban replied, well, better

00:27:00.660 --> 00:27:02.900
that I give her to you than some other man, so

00:27:02.900 --> 00:27:05.740
stay with me. So Jacob worked seven years for

00:27:05.740 --> 00:27:08.079
Rachel, and they seemed like only a few days

00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:12.259
to him because of his love for her. Let's all

00:27:12.259 --> 00:27:19.880
say it together. Aww. Right, the love story continues.

00:27:21.259 --> 00:27:25.559
Now, Laban was a snake oil salesman. Okay, if

00:27:25.559 --> 00:27:27.420
you sell snake oil, again, don't be offended.

00:27:27.519 --> 00:27:30.579
It's a stereotype. To use a more modern one,

00:27:30.740 --> 00:27:32.940
he's a used car salesman. If you sell used cars,

00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:36.000
please don't be offended, okay? The stereotype

00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:39.279
of the smooth -talking man who would take advantage

00:27:39.279 --> 00:27:42.640
of others, this is who Laban is. This is who

00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:45.299
his sister was because we saw that when she was

00:27:45.299 --> 00:27:46.819
like, okay, this is how we're going to take advantage

00:27:46.819 --> 00:27:48.759
of your father, Jacob, and this is who Jacob

00:27:48.759 --> 00:27:51.819
has been in his life. So Jacob has been there

00:27:51.819 --> 00:27:53.640
for a month, and Laban comes out and says, you

00:27:53.640 --> 00:27:56.549
know, You shouldn't work here for free just because

00:27:56.549 --> 00:27:59.410
we're related. I mean, come on, tell me how much

00:27:59.410 --> 00:28:02.569
you want to get paid. What he's really saying

00:28:02.569 --> 00:28:05.869
is if you're going to stay here, Jacob, you're

00:28:05.869 --> 00:28:08.430
going to stay here as an employee, and you're

00:28:08.430 --> 00:28:10.549
going to work, and you're going to pay your own

00:28:10.549 --> 00:28:13.529
rent, and you're going to pay for food. Now,

00:28:13.549 --> 00:28:16.549
Laban is raising this issue to sound like he

00:28:16.549 --> 00:28:20.549
was generous. But he really had an agenda behind

00:28:20.549 --> 00:28:23.309
it, and this is where the smooth -talking schemer

00:28:23.309 --> 00:28:25.690
comes in. You see, young Jacob is about to be

00:28:25.690 --> 00:28:28.930
duped here. Laban, as a father, especially in

00:28:28.930 --> 00:28:31.329
the culture, wanted to marry his daughters off.

00:28:31.690 --> 00:28:34.769
That was really kind of the goal with daughters,

00:28:34.869 --> 00:28:37.450
because daughters would go on to start other

00:28:37.450 --> 00:28:40.410
families, produce more sons, and expand the family

00:28:40.410 --> 00:28:43.799
influence in the region. And so we're told that

00:28:43.799 --> 00:28:47.039
Laban had two daughters and he wanted to have

00:28:47.039 --> 00:28:50.140
them go and benefit the family through the means

00:28:50.140 --> 00:28:53.839
that happened in that culture. Now Jacob apparently

00:28:53.839 --> 00:28:56.500
had already at this early one month of being

00:28:56.500 --> 00:29:01.089
there developed feelings for Rachel. Possibly

00:29:01.089 --> 00:29:03.650
it was just the looks and the smiles and the

00:29:03.650 --> 00:29:06.509
flirtations. And, you know, dads in this room,

00:29:06.630 --> 00:29:08.950
I know you all get it, right? You walk through

00:29:08.950 --> 00:29:11.390
any area with your daughter and you see some

00:29:11.390 --> 00:29:13.369
strange boy look at your daughter a certain way.

00:29:13.410 --> 00:29:15.170
You're like, I know what you're wanting. You

00:29:15.170 --> 00:29:17.549
know, you get all defensive. I believe Laban

00:29:17.549 --> 00:29:20.710
was picking up on the vibe here. Jacob likes

00:29:20.710 --> 00:29:24.900
my daughter. I can use this. I can scam this

00:29:24.900 --> 00:29:28.900
kid with this. And so he went to start asking

00:29:28.900 --> 00:29:30.660
him, you know, hey, you know, if you're going

00:29:30.660 --> 00:29:33.420
to stay long term, you know, you've got to kind

00:29:33.420 --> 00:29:35.339
of have to pay your way. And so what do you want?

00:29:36.170 --> 00:29:39.289
I believe he knew what Jacob wanted was his daughter

00:29:39.289 --> 00:29:42.650
Rachel. And so he goes into this plan. Jacob

00:29:42.650 --> 00:29:44.750
responds, I believe, the way he expected him

00:29:44.750 --> 00:29:46.950
to, that I want to have your daughter's hand

00:29:46.950 --> 00:29:48.910
in marriage. Let me do that. But I have nothing.

00:29:49.049 --> 00:29:51.390
I came with nothing. And so here's what I'll

00:29:51.390 --> 00:29:54.750
do. I'll work for seven years to not only pay

00:29:54.750 --> 00:29:57.670
my way, but to pay the dowry for your daughter.

00:29:57.809 --> 00:29:59.829
Now that was a lot of money at that time because

00:29:59.829 --> 00:30:01.910
a typical dowry was about three to four years

00:30:01.910 --> 00:30:04.630
of wages. That was the amount it would be. So

00:30:04.630 --> 00:30:08.079
Jacob, He's like, hey, I'm going to overbid for

00:30:08.079 --> 00:30:10.900
this, right? I'm going to give you seven years.

00:30:10.980 --> 00:30:12.859
That's way too much money because he didn't want

00:30:12.859 --> 00:30:16.799
to risk her father saying no. Now Laban at this

00:30:16.799 --> 00:30:20.480
point, if he wasn't sure he had Jacob on the

00:30:20.480 --> 00:30:23.039
hook at this point, now he was absolutely sure.

00:30:23.200 --> 00:30:26.920
You know, poor kid. You poor sad little baby

00:30:26.920 --> 00:30:28.619
schemer. You don't even know how to negotiate.

00:30:29.259 --> 00:30:33.000
Okay, cool, seven years. I'll take it. Again,

00:30:33.000 --> 00:30:35.859
Laban's whole goal here was to be connected even

00:30:35.859 --> 00:30:39.000
stronger to the family and their wealth through

00:30:39.000 --> 00:30:41.880
marriage. So we're formally introduced to these

00:30:41.880 --> 00:30:43.960
two daughters, Leah, who is the older daughter,

00:30:44.079 --> 00:30:46.819
Rachel, who is the younger. And again, the hand

00:30:46.819 --> 00:30:49.940
of Rachel was Jacob's wage. He loved her. He

00:30:49.940 --> 00:30:52.579
wanted to be with her. This is what his mom had

00:30:52.579 --> 00:30:56.000
sent him for. He met her at a well. How could

00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:58.640
this not be the Lord, right? All the signs were

00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:04.569
there. And so Laban's like, okay, I guess better

00:31:04.569 --> 00:31:07.769
she goes to you than any other man, still manipulating

00:31:07.769 --> 00:31:10.329
the situation. So we have these descriptions

00:31:10.329 --> 00:31:12.609
of these two young women here, and I just kind

00:31:12.609 --> 00:31:14.130
of want to touch on that a little bit because

00:31:14.130 --> 00:31:17.910
the first, Leah says that she had tender eyes.

00:31:18.029 --> 00:31:20.150
In other translations, it'll say she had weak

00:31:20.150 --> 00:31:24.490
eyes. or soft eyes, or delicate. The Hebrew word

00:31:24.490 --> 00:31:26.869
there means all of those things. Weak, soft,

00:31:27.049 --> 00:31:30.029
delicate. But there's a lot of scholarly debate

00:31:30.029 --> 00:31:32.390
on exactly what it means that she had tender

00:31:32.390 --> 00:31:35.230
eyes. But the general consensus is this, that

00:31:35.230 --> 00:31:38.609
in her eyes, they had no sparkle. They had no

00:31:38.609 --> 00:31:41.809
flame, right? They were weak. And so the idea

00:31:41.809 --> 00:31:44.750
in modern terminology is that she was just plain.

00:31:45.130 --> 00:31:49.079
She was unremarkable. As a woman, she wasn't

00:31:49.079 --> 00:31:53.059
physically noticed by everybody. And then it

00:31:53.059 --> 00:31:55.579
goes, Rachel, on the other hand, it uses these

00:31:55.579 --> 00:31:58.279
two words, shapely and beautiful. So I looked

00:31:58.279 --> 00:32:00.440
up shapely, being very careful because, you know,

00:32:00.460 --> 00:32:02.279
we live in this culture now where like, oh, you

00:32:02.279 --> 00:32:04.220
can't body shame people and do all this. And

00:32:04.220 --> 00:32:05.420
I'm like, what does that mean in the Hebrew?

00:32:06.190 --> 00:32:09.190
This is what it means. The outline of her body,

00:32:09.329 --> 00:32:12.470
okay? It literally means her hourglass figure.

00:32:12.549 --> 00:32:14.609
That is what it's getting at. So it says she

00:32:14.609 --> 00:32:17.170
was shapely. She was, you know, whatever that

00:32:17.170 --> 00:32:20.069
was in the culture. And she was beautiful. Beautiful

00:32:20.069 --> 00:32:23.549
means attractive of face, right? So she had a

00:32:23.549 --> 00:32:25.789
beautiful face. She had beautiful features, eyes,

00:32:25.930 --> 00:32:29.000
nose, mouth, the whole deal. But when you put

00:32:29.000 --> 00:32:31.160
these two Hebrew words together for shapely and

00:32:31.160 --> 00:32:33.720
beautiful, it's not just saying she was pretty

00:32:33.720 --> 00:32:36.579
or she was well -built in that sense, but she

00:32:36.579 --> 00:32:40.740
was strikingly good -looking overall. The idea

00:32:40.740 --> 00:32:43.500
here is that Leah was just plain and unremarkable,

00:32:43.539 --> 00:32:47.519
and Rachel was shockingly attractive, even according

00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:51.509
to the standards of the day. So this is the big

00:32:51.509 --> 00:32:53.809
contrast between the two. And I thought, why

00:32:53.809 --> 00:32:57.509
use these words? Why is this recorded this way?

00:32:57.569 --> 00:32:59.730
Couldn't you just say, you know, Jacob was attracted

00:32:59.730 --> 00:33:01.470
to one and not the other, but why these words

00:33:01.470 --> 00:33:04.490
here? I believe it's to set up the ominous portent

00:33:04.490 --> 00:33:07.190
of the potential conflict that is between these

00:33:07.190 --> 00:33:09.630
two sisters, a conflict we will see later on

00:33:09.630 --> 00:33:11.690
after they're married to Jacob, and we'll get

00:33:11.690 --> 00:33:13.769
to that in a moment. But the idea here is that

00:33:13.769 --> 00:33:16.309
you have these two sisters, the older one who

00:33:16.309 --> 00:33:18.569
is supposed to be kind of in the first place

00:33:18.569 --> 00:33:21.690
in the family, pays attention to her. When she

00:33:21.690 --> 00:33:23.529
goes out into the marketplace, nobody is buying

00:33:23.529 --> 00:33:26.970
her free drinks. She's just ignored by everybody,

00:33:27.069 --> 00:33:30.470
and yet her younger sister, Rachel, wow, right?

00:33:30.549 --> 00:33:32.730
Every time she turned around, guys were gawking

00:33:32.730 --> 00:33:35.549
at her, and she was just so beautiful, and I'm

00:33:35.549 --> 00:33:39.549
sure Laban, speculatively, used that to wheel

00:33:39.549 --> 00:33:42.049
and deal himself, and so Leah had a very difficult

00:33:42.049 --> 00:33:45.849
life being ignored, and her sister was just praised

00:33:45.849 --> 00:33:49.490
by everybody. But again, the reason this contrast

00:33:49.490 --> 00:33:51.769
is set up is because we're also starting to see

00:33:51.769 --> 00:33:56.609
Jacob's past catching up to him. You see, we're

00:33:56.609 --> 00:34:01.349
given just physical description. Meaning that

00:34:01.349 --> 00:34:05.269
Jacob, his priority here was which one was prettier.

00:34:05.529 --> 00:34:07.690
And he obviously thought Rachel was prettier.

00:34:07.970 --> 00:34:10.329
That's the one he wanted. And that's going to

00:34:10.329 --> 00:34:13.050
result in him getting scammed. It's the exact

00:34:13.050 --> 00:34:16.860
same thing that he did to his brother Esau. You

00:34:16.860 --> 00:34:18.940
remember his brother Esau was the firstborn.

00:34:19.039 --> 00:34:20.780
He was supposed to have the promise of God's

00:34:20.780 --> 00:34:23.460
word, the promise of the covenant, all that,

00:34:23.500 --> 00:34:26.139
but he didn't care about all that spiritual fluffy

00:34:26.139 --> 00:34:28.280
stuff. What he cared about was what was physical,

00:34:28.460 --> 00:34:31.320
his physical needs. And so he came in one day

00:34:31.320 --> 00:34:33.539
from hunting, and he saw that his brother was

00:34:33.539 --> 00:34:36.860
making a stew, and he thought, I'm hungry. And

00:34:36.860 --> 00:34:40.050
Jacob said, sell me your birthright. In that

00:34:40.050 --> 00:34:41.789
story, we learned that Esau was like, I don't

00:34:41.789 --> 00:34:43.969
care about that stupid birth, right? My physical

00:34:43.969 --> 00:34:46.590
needs are priority. Give me food. And he sold

00:34:46.590 --> 00:34:49.250
away God's promises to his brother Jacob. The

00:34:49.250 --> 00:34:51.650
same exact thing is now about to happen to Jacob

00:34:51.650 --> 00:34:54.230
where he's going to sell away seven years and

00:34:54.230 --> 00:34:57.750
end up being 14 years of his life because he's

00:34:57.750 --> 00:34:59.610
wanting to go after what is physically appealing

00:34:59.610 --> 00:35:01.829
to him and it causes him to be tricked the same

00:35:01.829 --> 00:35:05.239
way he tricked his brother. But still. We're

00:35:05.239 --> 00:35:07.019
given this detail that they only seemed like

00:35:07.019 --> 00:35:09.019
a few days, the seven years to him because he

00:35:09.019 --> 00:35:12.960
loved her so greatly. And so verse 21, we fast

00:35:12.960 --> 00:35:16.099
forward seven years. Then Jacob said to Laban,

00:35:16.139 --> 00:35:18.539
since my time is complete, give me my wife so

00:35:18.539 --> 00:35:21.480
I can sleep with her. The idea is, is that's

00:35:21.480 --> 00:35:23.619
how a marriage was consummated in those days,

00:35:23.639 --> 00:35:26.099
that when the man and woman slept together, the

00:35:26.099 --> 00:35:28.260
marriage was sealed. That was kind of like the

00:35:28.260 --> 00:35:31.539
seal on the contract or the signature, if you

00:35:31.539 --> 00:35:33.909
will. And so he's like, Give her to me. I've

00:35:33.909 --> 00:35:35.210
worked here for you seven years. I fulfilled

00:35:35.210 --> 00:35:37.909
the contract. So Laban invited all the men to

00:35:37.909 --> 00:35:40.809
the place and sponsored a feast. That evening,

00:35:40.869 --> 00:35:42.630
Laban took his daughter Leah and gave her to

00:35:42.630 --> 00:35:46.130
Jacob, and he slept with her. Dun, dun, dun.

00:35:47.630 --> 00:35:49.889
And Laban gave his slave Zilpah to his daughter

00:35:49.889 --> 00:35:54.590
Leah as her slave. When morning came, there was

00:35:54.590 --> 00:35:58.110
Leah. So he said to Laban, What have you done

00:35:58.110 --> 00:36:00.210
to me? Wasn't it for Rachel that I worked for

00:36:00.210 --> 00:36:05.449
you? Why have you deceived me? So with the end

00:36:05.449 --> 00:36:07.690
of the contract being fulfilled, give me Rachel.

00:36:07.889 --> 00:36:10.710
I've worked seven years for her. Dad puts together

00:36:10.710 --> 00:36:12.909
a wedding feast. It's a typical thing in the

00:36:12.909 --> 00:36:15.250
culture. You would have this big feast. It would

00:36:15.250 --> 00:36:18.030
be like six, seven days long, right? And on the

00:36:18.030 --> 00:36:20.070
first day, there would be a public reading of

00:36:20.070 --> 00:36:23.789
the marriage contract so the bride and groom

00:36:23.789 --> 00:36:26.469
couldn't dispute any of the facts. Everybody

00:36:26.469 --> 00:36:29.519
had heard the contract being read. And then that

00:36:29.519 --> 00:36:31.460
first night, husband and wife would go into the

00:36:31.460 --> 00:36:33.219
bedchamber, they would consummate the marriage,

00:36:33.320 --> 00:36:35.940
and then there would be six further days of celebration.

00:36:36.840 --> 00:36:39.480
Now, just in these few verses, there's a whole

00:36:39.480 --> 00:36:42.679
lot of questions that come up. First question

00:36:42.679 --> 00:36:48.719
is, did Leah go along with this? Like, we don't

00:36:48.719 --> 00:36:53.840
see her going, Dad, that's wrong. Now, it doesn't

00:36:53.840 --> 00:36:55.880
tell us a lot of things, but Leah seemingly goes

00:36:55.880 --> 00:36:57.920
along with this because she actually goes through

00:36:57.920 --> 00:37:00.579
with being with him on the wedding night. That

00:37:00.579 --> 00:37:02.539
is a question that comes up, and there's a lot

00:37:02.539 --> 00:37:04.639
of ideas people have with that. Possibly one

00:37:04.639 --> 00:37:07.119
of them is that she was secretly in love with

00:37:07.119 --> 00:37:10.940
Jacob too, which can often happen with siblings

00:37:10.940 --> 00:37:14.059
and the people that they're... or married to,

00:37:14.159 --> 00:37:17.699
it's sad, but maybe she loved him and she knew

00:37:17.699 --> 00:37:20.039
that the only way she could be with him instead

00:37:20.039 --> 00:37:22.219
of her sister was to go consummate the marriage.

00:37:22.340 --> 00:37:24.159
And so when dad came up with this plan, she was

00:37:24.159 --> 00:37:26.539
very eager to go along with it. One of the other

00:37:26.539 --> 00:37:29.000
ideas is that she just despised her sister so

00:37:29.000 --> 00:37:32.639
much that she's like, I'm just gonna take your

00:37:32.639 --> 00:37:37.579
husband. And sure, dad, sign me up. We don't

00:37:37.579 --> 00:37:40.159
know. But it just tells us she did the deed.

00:37:40.889 --> 00:37:42.670
And then the next question is, how did Jacob

00:37:42.670 --> 00:37:46.429
not know? He had been staring at this girl, Rachel,

00:37:46.510 --> 00:37:49.070
for seven years at this point. Now, culturally,

00:37:49.269 --> 00:37:51.070
they weren't allowed to be together alone. They

00:37:51.070 --> 00:37:53.750
couldn't date. It's like, she's not yours until

00:37:53.750 --> 00:37:57.210
she's yours. And so they had, you know, family

00:37:57.210 --> 00:37:59.489
friendship in that sense. But for seven years,

00:37:59.590 --> 00:38:01.789
he's laboring, looking forward to the time where

00:38:01.789 --> 00:38:03.329
he's going to be able to marry this woman that

00:38:03.329 --> 00:38:07.710
he thinks is so beautiful. And yet, the night

00:38:07.710 --> 00:38:11.139
comes. He goes into the bedchamber, sleeps with

00:38:11.139 --> 00:38:13.639
the wrong girl, wakes up in the morning, you

00:38:13.639 --> 00:38:21.539
know, smile. Whoa! You're not Rachel. It doesn't

00:38:21.539 --> 00:38:24.980
tell us anything about that either. We could

00:38:24.980 --> 00:38:26.940
speculate that, you know, there was always a

00:38:26.940 --> 00:38:29.840
wedding veil and it was meant to obscure the

00:38:29.840 --> 00:38:31.940
woman's features because you couldn't gaze on

00:38:31.940 --> 00:38:34.500
her beauty in that sense until the wedding was...

00:38:35.210 --> 00:38:37.989
sealed in that sense. And so maybe it was because

00:38:37.989 --> 00:38:40.469
of the late time of night, you know, the bedchamber

00:38:40.469 --> 00:38:43.909
was dark, so he couldn't see her face. Maybe

00:38:43.909 --> 00:38:46.369
there was a whole lot of wine part of the celebration

00:38:46.369 --> 00:38:49.489
all day, and so that played a part into it. But

00:38:49.489 --> 00:38:52.329
on top of that, Laban is a master manipulator

00:38:52.329 --> 00:38:54.969
and master schemer. So we can't put aside the

00:38:54.969 --> 00:38:57.969
fact that he set things up in a way to make sure

00:38:57.969 --> 00:39:01.809
that Jacob would get conned. And then my third

00:39:01.809 --> 00:39:06.199
question is, did Rachel know? Did she go along

00:39:06.199 --> 00:39:07.820
with this too? Because it doesn't tell us that

00:39:07.820 --> 00:39:11.079
she stormed into the wedding and, no, don't do

00:39:11.079 --> 00:39:12.800
this, right? She didn't go bang on the tent.

00:39:12.880 --> 00:39:16.420
It's the wrong girl. Well, it doesn't tell us

00:39:16.420 --> 00:39:20.280
again. But what is likely the answer to this

00:39:20.280 --> 00:39:22.639
is that in that culture, fathers had incredible

00:39:22.639 --> 00:39:25.500
authority. They had authority up to life and

00:39:25.500 --> 00:39:27.460
death over the members of their family. And so

00:39:27.460 --> 00:39:29.780
if dad was the one that said, hey, Leah, hey,

00:39:29.800 --> 00:39:32.269
Rachel, this is what we're going to do. The daughters

00:39:32.269 --> 00:39:35.210
quite literally couldn't even say anything without

00:39:35.210 --> 00:39:38.070
being in trouble with the father as well. And

00:39:38.070 --> 00:39:40.250
so they just, you know, had to do what dad wanted.

00:39:40.650 --> 00:39:43.909
So Jacob wakes up, looks over, shock and surprise,

00:39:44.050 --> 00:39:48.969
and now the deceiver had been deceived. Jacob

00:39:48.969 --> 00:39:53.150
had reaped what he had sown. He had got what's

00:39:53.150 --> 00:39:56.190
coming to him. And it doesn't feel too good,

00:39:56.230 --> 00:40:00.289
does it, Jacob? This wasn't just, oh, I slept

00:40:00.289 --> 00:40:02.869
with the wrong girl. This was, I'm contracted.

00:40:03.329 --> 00:40:06.210
She is married to me. I am married to her. She

00:40:06.210 --> 00:40:10.010
is my wife. There is no annulment. There is no

00:40:10.010 --> 00:40:16.130
prenup. The deal is done. This was a life -changing

00:40:16.130 --> 00:40:22.269
con that he fell to. And so he's upset. Rightfully

00:40:22.269 --> 00:40:25.670
so. But at least he knew now what it felt to

00:40:25.670 --> 00:40:28.769
be on the receiving end of such a scam. To be

00:40:28.769 --> 00:40:31.809
scammed out of something that wasn't just minuscule

00:40:31.809 --> 00:40:34.409
but a life -changing thing. Now he knew what

00:40:34.409 --> 00:40:37.889
his brother felt like. Now he was maybe starting

00:40:37.889 --> 00:40:40.650
to understand why Esau was so mad he wanted to

00:40:40.650 --> 00:40:43.909
kill him for stealing the birthright and the

00:40:43.909 --> 00:40:51.150
blessing. God is here. God is working. God is...

00:40:51.449 --> 00:40:55.210
is molding and shaping Jacob through the consequences

00:40:55.210 --> 00:40:58.070
of Jacob's own actions. If Jacob hadn't done

00:40:58.070 --> 00:41:00.170
what he had done to his brother, he probably

00:41:00.170 --> 00:41:03.030
wouldn't be fleeing at this point. He may have

00:41:03.030 --> 00:41:04.889
been meeting a wife in a different way. Maybe

00:41:04.889 --> 00:41:07.929
Isaac might have sent a servant to the homeland

00:41:07.929 --> 00:41:10.590
to get a bride just like Isaac's dad Abraham

00:41:10.590 --> 00:41:14.730
did. But even in the midst of this con, in the

00:41:14.730 --> 00:41:17.110
seven years of working, and I got the wrong wife,

00:41:17.210 --> 00:41:19.469
and that's not what we agreed on, God is still

00:41:19.469 --> 00:41:22.969
working in Jacob's life, even though Jacob is

00:41:22.969 --> 00:41:27.590
probably pretty upset. But here's another detail

00:41:27.590 --> 00:41:30.139
I want to point out. Because again, when we find

00:41:30.139 --> 00:41:32.500
ourselves in consequences and circumstances that

00:41:32.500 --> 00:41:34.800
are a result of our own bad decisions, sometimes

00:41:34.800 --> 00:41:36.980
we want to get mad and shake our fist at God

00:41:36.980 --> 00:41:39.139
and blame him and how dare you let this happen

00:41:39.139 --> 00:41:40.900
and I thought you were supposed to love me and

00:41:40.900 --> 00:41:42.599
I thought everything was supposed to be great

00:41:42.599 --> 00:41:45.219
and I thought you forgave me of my sin a while

00:41:45.219 --> 00:41:49.500
ago and why is this happening? When Jacob deceived

00:41:49.500 --> 00:41:52.519
his father and cheated his brother, God did not

00:41:52.519 --> 00:41:55.239
change his plan to choose Jacob for the birthright

00:41:55.239 --> 00:42:00.889
and the blessing. But he did take Jacob to the

00:42:00.889 --> 00:42:05.190
school of hard knocks to discipline him. You

00:42:05.190 --> 00:42:08.250
see, if God has made a promise to us, and I've

00:42:08.250 --> 00:42:10.309
said this many times over the last few months,

00:42:10.769 --> 00:42:16.150
that promise is unbreakable. The unconditional

00:42:16.150 --> 00:42:19.650
promises. Let me preface it with that. If God

00:42:19.650 --> 00:42:23.210
says, you trust in me and I will save you, if

00:42:23.210 --> 00:42:27.110
you trust in him, he will save you. That doesn't

00:42:27.110 --> 00:42:29.710
mean you're going to be a perfect person. That

00:42:29.710 --> 00:42:32.190
also means that later on when you sin, you don't

00:42:32.190 --> 00:42:34.389
lose your salvation because God didn't save you

00:42:34.389 --> 00:42:36.309
based upon what you were doing. God saved you

00:42:36.309 --> 00:42:39.389
based upon what he was doing. Our salvation is

00:42:39.389 --> 00:42:40.530
secure. That's why I don't believe you could

00:42:40.530 --> 00:42:43.949
lose your salvation. Now I can question whether

00:42:43.949 --> 00:42:46.610
you're truly saved. You know, that's because

00:42:46.610 --> 00:42:48.570
people go, oh, I believe in Jesus all the time.

00:42:48.610 --> 00:42:53.039
No, you don't. But if you're truly saved. You've

00:42:53.039 --> 00:42:55.480
put your faith in Christ. There is nothing you

00:42:55.480 --> 00:43:02.659
can do to lose that salvation. God's promise

00:43:02.659 --> 00:43:05.139
didn't change because Jacob was a disobedient

00:43:05.139 --> 00:43:08.860
jerk. But Jacob still had to suffer the consequences

00:43:08.860 --> 00:43:10.860
of his decisions, and that's what does happen

00:43:10.860 --> 00:43:15.019
to us. God will allow the consequences to come

00:43:15.019 --> 00:43:16.880
into place in our lives. God will allow us to

00:43:16.880 --> 00:43:19.159
suffer through those circumstances. God will

00:43:19.159 --> 00:43:21.119
allow us to find ourselves in positions working

00:43:21.119 --> 00:43:25.909
for a Laban. Because we did something disobedient,

00:43:25.949 --> 00:43:28.469
and although our salvation is secure, our character

00:43:28.469 --> 00:43:30.530
still needs some massive growth. And the only

00:43:30.530 --> 00:43:32.530
way we're going to learn it is by experiencing

00:43:32.530 --> 00:43:35.070
some pain, some disappointment, some difficulty.

00:43:37.050 --> 00:43:40.809
You see, a believer's disobedience will not derail

00:43:40.809 --> 00:43:44.909
God's plan for your life, but it sure can greatly

00:43:44.909 --> 00:43:49.889
affect how you experience that life. Do you guys

00:43:49.889 --> 00:43:56.599
understand that? Follow God. Things go the way

00:43:56.599 --> 00:43:59.159
God wants them to be. It doesn't mean perfect

00:43:59.159 --> 00:44:01.219
in Peachy King. It just means it's God's will.

00:44:02.159 --> 00:44:04.400
Disobey God. We're going to introduce consequences

00:44:04.400 --> 00:44:06.559
in our life that maybe God never intended us

00:44:06.559 --> 00:44:07.900
to have to go through, but we're going to have

00:44:07.900 --> 00:44:10.480
to go through them anyways because we disobeyed,

00:44:10.500 --> 00:44:15.539
because we chose to do the wrong thing. You might

00:44:15.539 --> 00:44:18.760
lose 14 years of your life working for someone

00:44:18.760 --> 00:44:21.500
like Laban while God teaches you a few things.

00:44:22.079 --> 00:44:24.639
that he needs to chip off the old block here,

00:44:24.679 --> 00:44:26.860
not in a good way. He needs to hone you down

00:44:26.860 --> 00:44:29.400
to make you into the image of God that he knows

00:44:29.400 --> 00:44:32.880
you can be. Now, none of this justifies Laban's

00:44:32.880 --> 00:44:36.260
actions, but what we do see here in Jacob's life

00:44:36.260 --> 00:44:38.400
is God is indeed working all things together

00:44:38.400 --> 00:44:43.519
for good because Jacob trusts in him. Now, verse

00:44:43.519 --> 00:44:47.590
26, Laban answered. Is it not the custom in our

00:44:47.590 --> 00:44:50.030
country to give the younger daughter in marriage

00:44:50.030 --> 00:44:57.010
before the firstborn? So complete this week of

00:44:57.010 --> 00:44:59.510
wedding celebration, and we will also give you

00:44:59.510 --> 00:45:01.670
this younger one in return for working yet another

00:45:01.670 --> 00:45:05.789
seven years for me. And Jacob did just that.

00:45:06.590 --> 00:45:08.789
He finished the week of celebration, and Laban

00:45:08.789 --> 00:45:11.639
gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. And

00:45:11.639 --> 00:45:13.880
Laban gave his slave Bilhah to his daughter Rachel

00:45:13.880 --> 00:45:16.480
as her slave. That means servant, maidservant.

00:45:17.079 --> 00:45:19.780
Jacob slept with Rachel also, and indeed he loved

00:45:19.780 --> 00:45:21.760
Rachel more than Leah, and he worked for Laban

00:45:21.760 --> 00:45:26.420
another seven years. So here's Laban. Jacob comes

00:45:26.420 --> 00:45:35.820
out. Bro, that's not Rachel. It's not? No, this

00:45:35.820 --> 00:45:39.900
is what Laban says to him. It's not the custom

00:45:39.900 --> 00:45:42.840
of our land to marry off the younger before the

00:45:42.840 --> 00:45:48.380
older. Didn't you know that? We didn't tell you?

00:45:49.000 --> 00:45:54.300
Oh, shucky darn. Well, guess what? I'll give

00:45:54.300 --> 00:45:57.079
you the younger one. You're right. It's just

00:45:57.079 --> 00:45:58.840
going to cost you another seven years of your

00:45:58.840 --> 00:46:03.760
life. And Jacob accepted. Why? Because he had

00:46:03.760 --> 00:46:07.519
no other option. The schemer had been schemed

00:46:07.519 --> 00:46:11.639
by the master schemer. Jacob knew, there's no

00:46:11.639 --> 00:46:14.139
way I'm going to end up with what I want here

00:46:14.139 --> 00:46:18.360
unless I give in to these demands. And then Laban,

00:46:18.460 --> 00:46:22.519
now making this demand, we see Jacob, you know,

00:46:22.519 --> 00:46:24.719
having gone through the school of hard knocks,

00:46:24.880 --> 00:46:26.940
is now in a post -grad study in the school of

00:46:26.940 --> 00:46:29.679
hardship. And the degree he's going to end up

00:46:29.679 --> 00:46:33.260
with is that you get, you reap what you sow.

00:46:34.639 --> 00:46:36.780
And that is a lesson for all of us to understand.

00:46:38.199 --> 00:46:42.840
We're saved through faith. However, the life

00:46:42.840 --> 00:46:45.159
we choose to live of obedience or disobedience,

00:46:45.159 --> 00:46:49.400
we're going to reap what we sow. Not in the eternal

00:46:49.400 --> 00:46:52.000
thing. God has said, I've wiped you clean. In

00:46:52.000 --> 00:46:53.900
the sense of eternity, I see you without sin.

00:46:53.960 --> 00:46:55.940
You're welcome into my presence forever. But

00:46:55.940 --> 00:46:58.000
here in this linear life we live, here on earth,

00:46:58.260 --> 00:47:04.590
you're going to reap what you sow. If you're

00:47:04.590 --> 00:47:09.570
a liar and that's the life you live, be prepared

00:47:09.570 --> 00:47:12.269
to get lied to. That's kind of how it looks to

00:47:12.269 --> 00:47:16.769
me. Cheat and steal, be prepared to get cheated

00:47:16.769 --> 00:47:23.110
and stolen from. It's just the whole process

00:47:23.110 --> 00:47:26.110
here is, look, we do things God's way. They're

00:47:26.110 --> 00:47:30.170
going to work out God's way. We do things our

00:47:30.170 --> 00:47:33.610
way. Good things are still going to come, meaning

00:47:33.610 --> 00:47:35.789
God's plan is ultimately going to be fulfilled,

00:47:35.949 --> 00:47:37.730
but we're going to have to go through such hardship

00:47:37.730 --> 00:47:39.889
and difficulty that we might not otherwise have

00:47:39.889 --> 00:47:45.650
to go through. And so it's like, what? Well,

00:47:45.769 --> 00:47:47.389
now you could have her, but you've got to work

00:47:47.389 --> 00:47:50.010
seven years. And Laban now is getting what he

00:47:50.010 --> 00:47:52.090
wanted, right? It was the father's goal to marry

00:47:52.090 --> 00:47:54.070
off his daughters. And if you could marry off

00:47:54.070 --> 00:47:55.750
the daughters to a rich and wealthy and powerful

00:47:55.750 --> 00:47:58.469
family, even better, because that made his family

00:47:58.469 --> 00:48:01.320
more powerful. And guess what he got now? Both

00:48:01.320 --> 00:48:03.440
of his daughters married to the same dude from

00:48:03.440 --> 00:48:06.900
the same wealthy family. Win -win for Laban.

00:48:07.019 --> 00:48:09.179
But it would eventually turn out very bad for

00:48:09.179 --> 00:48:11.260
him, and we'll talk about that later. But of

00:48:11.260 --> 00:48:12.760
course, at the end of the story, we're like,

00:48:12.840 --> 00:48:15.159
and everybody lived happily ever after, right?

00:48:16.539 --> 00:48:21.760
Not at all. Misery was on the menu. Because now

00:48:21.760 --> 00:48:23.699
we're going to enter into a story of sister wives.

00:48:24.719 --> 00:48:29.179
One, a plain... unnoticed woman, the other one,

00:48:29.340 --> 00:48:33.460
supermodel of the time. Both of them wives to

00:48:33.460 --> 00:48:36.519
the same man in the same house. On top of that,

00:48:36.619 --> 00:48:41.559
the first wife was well aware she wasn't even

00:48:41.559 --> 00:48:46.340
a choice, let alone the second choice. And she

00:48:46.340 --> 00:48:50.340
had to live in all of this. It says Jacob loved

00:48:50.340 --> 00:48:53.280
Rachel. The indication is he treated her with

00:48:53.280 --> 00:48:56.860
everything that A wife would want, he lavished

00:48:56.860 --> 00:48:58.739
her, he loved her, he spent time with her, and

00:48:58.739 --> 00:49:01.380
Leah, yeah, just, you know, go do whatever you're

00:49:01.380 --> 00:49:03.500
going to need to do. You can imagine how that

00:49:03.500 --> 00:49:06.940
felt. Now, if there was conflict between Leah

00:49:06.940 --> 00:49:08.699
and Rachel previously, and I believe there was,

00:49:08.860 --> 00:49:11.000
that conflict was just now magnified a thousand

00:49:11.000 --> 00:49:16.579
times. Did Rachel flaunt all of that? Did Rachel

00:49:16.579 --> 00:49:18.400
walk around and bump into her sister and go,

00:49:18.480 --> 00:49:24.260
oh, I'm sorry, second wife, right? Did she walk

00:49:24.260 --> 00:49:26.099
around and just make fun of her and poke fun

00:49:26.099 --> 00:49:27.780
of her? It doesn't say. We don't know, but we

00:49:27.780 --> 00:49:29.599
do know that there's great troubles in the family

00:49:29.599 --> 00:49:32.579
later on. And then you have the servants of each

00:49:32.579 --> 00:49:34.739
girl, which were kind of like the maidservants.

00:49:34.739 --> 00:49:37.159
And so in the time culturally, they would also

00:49:37.159 --> 00:49:39.969
be a part of the... building the family, and

00:49:39.969 --> 00:49:42.190
so they would be sleeping with the husband as

00:49:42.190 --> 00:49:43.590
well. And so you're going to end up with four

00:49:43.590 --> 00:49:45.889
mothers in the same house, all competing with

00:49:45.889 --> 00:49:48.869
each other. And here we are after seven years,

00:49:49.050 --> 00:49:51.710
marriage, two weeks later, he's got two wives,

00:49:51.769 --> 00:49:54.869
two servants, and two weeks earlier, he was a

00:49:54.869 --> 00:49:58.769
single man. With no drama, because again, he

00:49:58.769 --> 00:50:00.570
was so in love with Rachel, the work and the

00:50:00.570 --> 00:50:04.670
labor, it didn't matter. And now he's going to

00:50:04.670 --> 00:50:07.329
find himself in this conflict, having to work

00:50:07.329 --> 00:50:09.909
another seven years confined to the place with

00:50:09.909 --> 00:50:12.469
these women all now a part of his family. Where,

00:50:12.489 --> 00:50:17.230
Lord, is the staircase? Where, God, are the angels?

00:50:17.369 --> 00:50:21.269
Where are you in all of this? This is not what

00:50:21.269 --> 00:50:24.630
he wanted, but God was right where he had always

00:50:24.630 --> 00:50:29.699
been, right there with Jacob. That's where he

00:50:29.699 --> 00:50:31.480
had always been. That was the lesson he was trying

00:50:31.480 --> 00:50:35.880
to teach Jacob there in the desert. Where he

00:50:35.880 --> 00:50:37.880
was right there in the middle of that moment

00:50:37.880 --> 00:50:39.840
and that circumstance that Jacob had now found

00:50:39.840 --> 00:50:42.880
himself as a consequence of his own sins, that

00:50:42.880 --> 00:50:46.920
was the house of God. Because that's where God

00:50:46.920 --> 00:50:49.860
was with Jacob working. That was indeed the gate

00:50:49.860 --> 00:50:51.559
of heaven because that's where God was accessible.

00:50:53.139 --> 00:50:55.260
And he's trying to teach Jacob that. Don't try

00:50:55.260 --> 00:50:57.360
and do things your own way. This is what happens.

00:50:57.420 --> 00:51:01.880
Everything falls apart. There was still business

00:51:01.880 --> 00:51:04.039
being conducted on his behalf between heaven

00:51:04.039 --> 00:51:07.480
and earth. That's where God was. When you're

00:51:07.480 --> 00:51:09.420
in the middle of your circumstances, you're in

00:51:09.420 --> 00:51:11.699
the middle of the consequences of your own disobedience,

00:51:11.719 --> 00:51:13.460
and you're going, where is God? He's right there.

00:51:15.239 --> 00:51:17.260
And you're like, but this is hard, and this hurts.

00:51:17.340 --> 00:51:21.989
And God's like, yep. But I'm here molding and

00:51:21.989 --> 00:51:26.349
shaping you. Because the thing that got you in

00:51:26.349 --> 00:51:28.690
this circumstance is something that I don't like

00:51:28.690 --> 00:51:30.610
about your life. It's an ungodly thing. It's

00:51:30.610 --> 00:51:32.670
an ungodly characteristic. It's an ungodly habit.

00:51:34.349 --> 00:51:37.429
And so I have you here so that I could mold that

00:51:37.429 --> 00:51:41.670
out of your life. Because over here, I can see

00:51:41.670 --> 00:51:43.650
the godly person that I've intended you to be.

00:51:46.159 --> 00:51:49.380
This unexpected twist, this undesired difficulty

00:51:49.380 --> 00:51:53.739
is definitely not what Jacob wanted. But God

00:51:53.739 --> 00:51:56.079
works all things good, right? God works them

00:51:56.079 --> 00:51:57.960
all out. They all turn out good. What came of

00:51:57.960 --> 00:52:00.519
this situation that Jacob found himself in that

00:52:00.519 --> 00:52:03.059
caused a lot of hardship in his life and difficulty

00:52:03.059 --> 00:52:06.679
and grievance? What came of this? Twelve sons

00:52:06.679 --> 00:52:11.519
and one daughter. All through these four women.

00:52:12.739 --> 00:52:15.300
Through the unloved Leah and her maid servant

00:52:15.300 --> 00:52:18.659
Zilpah came eight of those 12 sons, which was

00:52:18.659 --> 00:52:21.179
eight of the 12 tribes of Israel that would go

00:52:21.179 --> 00:52:24.059
on to be this chosen nation of God through which

00:52:24.059 --> 00:52:27.500
King David and all the way down to Jesus would

00:52:27.500 --> 00:52:31.280
ultimately come. The unloved Leah, we think,

00:52:31.280 --> 00:52:32.860
well, gosh, her life had to have been terrible.

00:52:32.920 --> 00:52:35.300
Did she just lose out on everything? Look what

00:52:35.300 --> 00:52:38.820
God did for her. She gave birth to eight of the

00:52:38.820 --> 00:52:42.429
12 tribes. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar,

00:52:42.429 --> 00:52:46.849
and Zebulun. So the wife who was neglected, the

00:52:46.849 --> 00:52:48.730
one that was unloved, the one that was barely

00:52:48.730 --> 00:52:52.010
noticed, what did she get? She got to be the

00:52:52.010 --> 00:52:54.309
hereditary mother of the kingly tribe of Judah

00:52:54.309 --> 00:52:58.530
and the priestly tribe of Levi. That means people

00:52:58.530 --> 00:53:02.369
like Moses were from her. King David was from

00:53:02.369 --> 00:53:06.449
her. Jesus Christ, God himself in the flesh,

00:53:06.650 --> 00:53:11.250
came from that line. The rest would come from

00:53:11.250 --> 00:53:13.170
Rachel and Bilhah. And Rachel, although she was

00:53:13.170 --> 00:53:15.530
the beautiful supermodel, she was going to turn

00:53:15.530 --> 00:53:20.170
out being barren for a long time. God works all

00:53:20.170 --> 00:53:23.650
things out. So was God the God of Jacob in all

00:53:23.650 --> 00:53:26.289
of this? Jacob said, Lord, if you do these things,

00:53:26.409 --> 00:53:28.050
if you do these things, I'm going to commit my

00:53:28.050 --> 00:53:31.289
whole life to you. Well, Jacob's not entirely

00:53:31.289 --> 00:53:33.989
there yet, but was God the God of Jacob? Yes.

00:53:34.889 --> 00:53:38.050
Was the staircase there? Yes. The business was

00:53:38.050 --> 00:53:40.789
being handled? Yes. The Lord was keeping Jacob?

00:53:40.969 --> 00:53:43.969
Yes. God was working his promises that you were

00:53:43.969 --> 00:53:46.389
going to be a blessing to the world, that a blessed

00:53:46.389 --> 00:53:48.489
people are going to come from you, and the promise

00:53:48.489 --> 00:53:50.329
that you will eventually return to the land was

00:53:50.329 --> 00:53:54.110
all being formed by God. But even though God

00:53:54.110 --> 00:53:56.550
was working and God's plan was coming to place

00:53:56.550 --> 00:53:58.409
and God's good was working through all of it,

00:53:58.429 --> 00:54:01.389
Jacob didn't escape the consequences of his sin.

00:54:03.309 --> 00:54:05.550
The temporal consequences. The ultimate eternal

00:54:05.550 --> 00:54:07.449
consequence, yeah, that's paid for by the blood

00:54:07.449 --> 00:54:10.570
of Jesus Christ. But the temporal consequences,

00:54:10.730 --> 00:54:12.809
he did not escape those. He was not immune to

00:54:12.809 --> 00:54:15.469
discipline. And none of us are as God's children.

00:54:16.090 --> 00:54:18.829
In fact, we're subject to God's very special

00:54:18.829 --> 00:54:22.789
discipline. And because of these circumstances

00:54:22.789 --> 00:54:25.489
that Jacob found himself in, that God allowed

00:54:25.489 --> 00:54:28.409
him to go through, Jacob would indeed change.

00:54:28.429 --> 00:54:29.949
And it wouldn't be overnight, but it would be

00:54:29.949 --> 00:54:34.119
over a long period of time. he would eventually

00:54:34.119 --> 00:54:40.760
become Israel, a prince of God. Today, God is

00:54:40.760 --> 00:54:42.760
with those who trust in him just like he was

00:54:42.760 --> 00:54:45.559
with Jacob. All of us that say, we trust in God.

00:54:45.659 --> 00:54:49.079
He's right there with you. He's working on our

00:54:49.079 --> 00:54:51.719
behalf. Yes, God is working on our behalf, but

00:54:51.719 --> 00:54:53.019
you know what? It's easy to see that when things

00:54:53.019 --> 00:54:55.280
are going good. right, when things are going

00:54:55.280 --> 00:54:58.179
well, when the plans are working out. Everything's

00:54:58.179 --> 00:55:00.880
great. God is with me. But when things are bad

00:55:00.880 --> 00:55:02.780
and when our sins catch up to us, when we're

00:55:02.780 --> 00:55:06.880
reaping what we have sown and hard times, hard

00:55:06.880 --> 00:55:09.760
circumstances, or hard people come into our lives,

00:55:10.039 --> 00:55:13.820
it seems a little bit harder to go, God is here.

00:55:15.019 --> 00:55:17.440
It seems a little bit harder to believe God is

00:55:17.440 --> 00:55:21.409
doing business on my behalf. In fact, the thing

00:55:21.409 --> 00:55:23.289
the devil tries to speak into our mind is God

00:55:23.289 --> 00:55:27.570
has abandoned you. That you made God mad. You're

00:55:27.570 --> 00:55:31.269
no longer his kid. That God isn't doing anything

00:55:31.269 --> 00:55:33.550
for you. God isn't working any good through this,

00:55:33.610 --> 00:55:37.510
and those are lies from the pit of hell. Sometimes

00:55:37.510 --> 00:55:41.190
the work God is doing is letting you suffer the

00:55:41.190 --> 00:55:45.469
discipline. That is the work. Why? Because in

00:55:45.469 --> 00:55:47.690
his infinite knowledge and wisdom, that is the

00:55:47.690 --> 00:55:50.610
only way you're going to learn the lesson. and

00:55:50.610 --> 00:55:52.409
he loves you enough to let you learn the lesson.

00:55:52.449 --> 00:55:56.309
Isn't that amazing? He's not a helicopter dad.

00:55:57.329 --> 00:55:58.929
Hover, hover, hover, hover. Make sure nothing

00:55:58.929 --> 00:56:03.070
bad happens to us. So when you're in the middle

00:56:03.070 --> 00:56:04.769
of the circumstance and the difficulty and the

00:56:04.769 --> 00:56:06.550
suffering, and it's because of your own stupid

00:56:06.550 --> 00:56:12.050
decisions, praise the Lord. I'm going to be okay.

00:56:13.710 --> 00:56:17.070
God is with me. God is molding me. God is shaping

00:56:17.070 --> 00:56:21.130
me. I'll get through this one way or the other.

00:56:22.949 --> 00:56:24.869
And so I don't need to blame God. I don't need

00:56:24.869 --> 00:56:26.889
to shake my fist at God. I don't need to question

00:56:26.889 --> 00:56:28.510
whether He loves me. I don't need to question

00:56:28.510 --> 00:56:31.789
whether He's with me. Quite the opposite. He's

00:56:31.789 --> 00:56:33.730
still with me. He loves me so much. He's working

00:56:33.730 --> 00:56:36.130
even in this. He loves me so much. And although

00:56:36.130 --> 00:56:39.010
I don't like it, well, I'm the one responsible

00:56:39.010 --> 00:56:42.090
for it, so don't blame Him for it. Just thank

00:56:42.090 --> 00:56:44.349
Him that He's keeping me through it. And He's

00:56:44.349 --> 00:56:46.949
providing and He's protecting according to His

00:56:46.949 --> 00:56:50.360
will and His way. And maybe that's you this morning.

00:56:50.400 --> 00:56:53.039
You have a difficult situation in your life that

00:56:53.039 --> 00:56:54.900
you're going through. Maybe there's a difficult

00:56:54.900 --> 00:56:56.760
person in your life. You've gotten a new boss,

00:56:56.780 --> 00:57:00.820
a new manager, right? And somebody that has authority

00:57:00.820 --> 00:57:02.960
or closeness with you and they're a Laban type.

00:57:03.000 --> 00:57:05.380
They're harsh, they're judgmental, they're deceitful.

00:57:06.820 --> 00:57:09.420
And you just get so mad of what they do and it

00:57:09.420 --> 00:57:12.719
just drives you bonkers. I want you to consider

00:57:12.719 --> 00:57:19.320
this. That if you're in a situation Where somebody

00:57:19.320 --> 00:57:23.199
is doing or saying things that just drive you

00:57:23.199 --> 00:57:25.179
nuts and they make you so mad and they're just

00:57:25.179 --> 00:57:27.199
like, oh, it's so much trauma in my life. And

00:57:27.199 --> 00:57:29.840
you're just simply, I'm tired of liars and I'm

00:57:29.840 --> 00:57:32.980
tired of narcissist, arrogant punks. And Lord,

00:57:33.119 --> 00:57:36.079
please help me. I'm crying out for relief. Maybe

00:57:36.079 --> 00:57:40.260
take a moment to consider that some of those

00:57:40.260 --> 00:57:45.239
traits that are driving you nuts. that are making

00:57:45.239 --> 00:57:47.739
you feel abandoned and taken advantage of, that

00:57:47.739 --> 00:57:50.099
they're just under your skin, maybe those are

00:57:50.099 --> 00:57:55.219
the same traits that characterize you. Maybe

00:57:55.219 --> 00:57:57.739
the reason that liar is driving you nuts is because

00:57:57.739 --> 00:58:01.059
you're a liar, and God's letting you experience

00:58:01.059 --> 00:58:09.199
the other side of that. Maybe you're... just

00:58:09.199 --> 00:58:11.300
arrogant and think you could do no wrong and

00:58:11.300 --> 00:58:13.579
you're always right and now there's someone in

00:58:13.579 --> 00:58:16.639
your life who has authority over your life in

00:58:16.639 --> 00:58:18.300
some way and they're just the same way and you're

00:58:18.300 --> 00:58:20.440
like, you are so arrogant. I can't believe you.

00:58:21.400 --> 00:58:23.519
Maybe God's letting you experience what it's

00:58:23.519 --> 00:58:25.460
like because that's the trait in you he's trying

00:58:25.460 --> 00:58:27.820
to get you to be aware of so that he can work

00:58:27.820 --> 00:58:32.280
it out of your life. Maybe you're in this situation

00:58:32.280 --> 00:58:35.300
because you've done or said the same exact thing

00:58:35.300 --> 00:58:40.289
that you're suffering from right now. Consider

00:58:40.289 --> 00:58:43.130
that maybe it's that circumstance and those people

00:58:43.130 --> 00:58:46.469
that God is using not only to discipline you,

00:58:46.550 --> 00:58:48.630
but to hone you and to shape you and to mold

00:58:48.630 --> 00:58:54.289
you. And that perspective can help us process

00:58:54.289 --> 00:58:58.909
the reality of God's presence. God being for

00:58:58.909 --> 00:59:00.969
us, God being with us in the midst of situations

00:59:00.969 --> 00:59:05.170
that look like I can't even fathom that God is

00:59:05.170 --> 00:59:09.360
here. To step back and say, God, what am I trying

00:59:09.360 --> 00:59:13.920
to, what do you want me to learn from this? Are

00:59:13.920 --> 00:59:18.800
you showing anything about me? Because if you're

00:59:18.800 --> 00:59:21.239
suffering in this situation, and it is a situation

00:59:21.239 --> 00:59:23.599
because you do the same thing, wow, maybe that

00:59:23.599 --> 00:59:25.800
might give you some compassion on people that

00:59:25.800 --> 00:59:29.199
you've hurt. Maybe that'll give you some patience

00:59:29.199 --> 00:59:34.920
with people that you've not treated right. God

00:59:34.920 --> 00:59:37.739
is faithful. He's faithful to us, His children,

00:59:37.840 --> 00:59:42.860
to teach us how to be, who to be, in all circumstances.

00:59:44.079 --> 00:59:47.280
So trust Him in all circumstances. Amen? Let's

00:59:47.280 --> 00:59:55.300
pray. Father, we're so grateful to You. Lord,

00:59:55.440 --> 00:59:57.059
we're thankful that You don't give up on us.

01:00:02.019 --> 01:00:04.000
Lord, we're thankful that when You look down,

01:00:05.639 --> 01:00:10.059
onto your people. And you say, those are my kids.

01:00:11.519 --> 01:00:16.900
That is my house. And then maybe the neighbors

01:00:16.900 --> 01:00:18.920
would look at you and go, your family is messed

01:00:18.920 --> 01:00:24.320
up. God, we are so thankful you say, yeah, but

01:00:24.320 --> 01:00:29.500
they're mine and I'm working on them. God, we

01:00:29.500 --> 01:00:34.210
welcome your work in our lives. Lord, I pray

01:00:34.210 --> 01:00:37.469
we would learn lessons quick and easy so that

01:00:37.469 --> 01:00:41.730
we don't have to go the hard way, but Lord, so

01:00:41.730 --> 01:00:45.630
often we choose the hard way. Help us to trust

01:00:45.630 --> 01:00:47.670
you, Lord, when we're suffering from the circumstances

01:00:47.670 --> 01:00:50.289
or the consequences of our own decisions, Lord.

01:00:51.409 --> 01:00:53.809
Help us to be able to step back and think, well,

01:00:53.849 --> 01:00:56.489
maybe there's something here about us that you're

01:00:56.489 --> 01:00:59.010
trying to let us experience, Lord, so that we

01:00:59.010 --> 01:01:02.400
can just return from those things. Maybe there's

01:01:02.400 --> 01:01:04.380
something here that is just simply us having

01:01:04.380 --> 01:01:06.739
to learn to trust you through the difficulty

01:01:06.739 --> 01:01:11.320
that we created for ourselves. Lord, we want

01:01:11.320 --> 01:01:13.320
to be people that reflect you better every day.

01:01:14.500 --> 01:01:17.139
And we know you use all the stuff that's happening

01:01:17.139 --> 01:01:21.579
around us to affect that process. So Lord, instead

01:01:21.579 --> 01:01:23.460
of us getting mad at you when we find ourselves

01:01:23.460 --> 01:01:26.559
in situations Jacob found himself in, conned,

01:01:26.559 --> 01:01:34.150
duped, taken advantage of, lied to, Lord, may

01:01:34.150 --> 01:01:36.710
we have a little bit of grace and patience to

01:01:36.710 --> 01:01:40.409
remember those times maybe we lied to somebody

01:01:40.409 --> 01:01:44.849
to get our way. That time maybe we did the wrong

01:01:44.849 --> 01:01:46.789
thing or took advantage of somebody for our own

01:01:46.789 --> 01:01:51.070
benefit. And God, when we remember the grace

01:01:51.070 --> 01:01:53.230
and the forgiveness and the mercy you gave us,

01:01:53.469 --> 01:01:58.750
may we learn how to extend that to others. To

01:01:58.750 --> 01:02:03.230
be humble. To be humble servants of you, almighty

01:02:03.230 --> 01:02:08.250
God. That, Lord, that those that don't know you

01:02:08.250 --> 01:02:13.869
would come to know you through the good that

01:02:13.869 --> 01:02:17.789
you're working in your people. Lord, bless us.

01:02:18.869 --> 01:02:21.250
Bless our hands, bless our feet, bless our mouths.

01:02:23.969 --> 01:02:26.889
That we would be walking in obedience as often

01:02:26.889 --> 01:02:30.530
as we can, God. But when we, because we will.

01:02:31.000 --> 01:02:35.360
fail you, walk in disobedience. Lord, help us

01:02:35.360 --> 01:02:38.880
to trust you in it even then. We love you. We

01:02:38.880 --> 01:02:40.480
thank you for everything. It's in Jesus' name

01:02:40.480 --> 01:02:44.719
we pray. Amen. I pray that God blesses all of

01:02:44.719 --> 01:02:47.199
you. And if you're in a difficult situation right

01:02:47.199 --> 01:02:51.300
now, we'd love to pray with you. After we worship

01:02:51.300 --> 01:02:52.920
today, there'll be some pastors and elders up

01:02:52.920 --> 01:02:56.579
front. Let us pray with you. God is there. God

01:02:56.579 --> 01:02:58.699
is working. I hope he spoke that very clearly

01:02:58.699 --> 01:03:01.460
to you today. But that doesn't mean you don't

01:03:01.460 --> 01:03:03.059
need support from your brothers and sisters.

01:03:04.659 --> 01:03:06.860
If you know someone that's in a situation, offer

01:03:06.860 --> 01:03:09.960
to go pray for them. Go pray for them. Let them

01:03:09.960 --> 01:03:13.420
know. Remind them that God is with them. Because

01:03:13.420 --> 01:03:15.559
that's what we do. We support one another. We

01:03:15.559 --> 01:03:17.420
pull ourselves together and say, let's lift each

01:03:17.420 --> 01:03:19.420
other's arms up. Let's pray for one another.

01:03:19.739 --> 01:03:22.599
Let's help one another. And sometimes you're

01:03:22.599 --> 01:03:24.559
the one that needs to be helped. And so please

01:03:24.559 --> 01:03:26.579
come forward to get prayer after. But for the

01:03:26.579 --> 01:03:29.550
rest of us, just know and understand. God is

01:03:29.550 --> 01:03:32.909
always working. Let it not be in the circumstances

01:03:32.909 --> 01:03:35.449
we create for ourselves that are bad circumstances,

01:03:35.570 --> 01:03:39.590
but let us just learn to obey. But even then,

01:03:39.610 --> 01:03:43.769
trust that God works all things for good. He

01:03:43.769 --> 01:03:46.289
works it all out for good in the lives of those

01:03:46.289 --> 01:03:49.829
that trust in Christ Jesus. Let that guide you.

01:03:49.849 --> 01:03:52.269
Let that lead you. But let's praise Him as we

01:03:52.269 --> 01:03:54.170
close. God bless you guys.