Good morning. How are y 'all doing today? You're
doing good. I like it. I'm doing great. How are
the rest of you doing this morning? Hey, if this
is your first time joining us here at Hosanna,
whether you're here in the sanctuary or watching
us online, we want to say welcome to all of you.
We're so glad you're here to worship with us
at Hosanna. I am Pastor Nathan, and this morning
we're going to be looking at how God works through
the lowly. That's not a word we use very often
in our vocabulary nowadays, but it means something
or someone of low status, low importance, or
low rank. It could refer to somebody that we
would call humble or meek. It could refer to,
like, simple organisms or primitive things or
humble organisms. Or it can describe something
that's simply unpretentious, whether it's a person
or a place or a thing or whatever. But it's a
rare word that isn't in use much today. But biblically,
especially in older translations, we see this
word a lot. It's something that is seen by some
as a precursor to being humble, that you start
with a lowly state of mind and that leads to
humility. But in most cases, if you're looking
between a newer translation and older translation,
you will see lowly and humble interchanged. For
example, in Philippians 2 .3, it says, do nothing
out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility,
consider others as more important than yourselves.
And if you have an older translation like a New
King James or a King James version, it might
say lowliness of mind instead of humility. Or
Ephesians 4 .2, it says, with all humility and
gentleness, with patience, bear with one another
in love. And again there, that word humility
is rendered lowliness in some of the older translations.
But this idea of lowliness or humility, it's
simply this, a feeling towards God. that he has
absolute right over your life. That's what humility
is. It's this idea that he can do with you as
he pleases and has absolute authority to tell
you what is best for you. And now we can understand
why humility is something that rankles against
our flesh. Me growing up, my mantra was, don't
tell me what to do. And then I got saved. Wow,
that changed fast. You know, I was very rebellious,
very independent, very all figured out on my
own. And then God let me fall on my face two
million times while I was learning the lesson
that he is the one that is guiding and directing
and should be in that place. But this idea that
God has absolute right over your life and that
he can do... with you as he pleases, that he
has absolute authority to tell you what is best
for you. This doesn't just apply in good situations,
it applies in all situations. This applies even
in difficult situations that we might bring upon
ourselves or situations that are thrust upon
us. To be able to stand back and say, God, I
believe you're sovereign. God, I believe you
are almighty, you're omnipotent. And so I believe
that you know that I am in this situation right
now. And since I know that you work out all things
for the good to those that love Christ Jesus,
then I know that if I am still in this situation,
you are allowing it and you're going to work
good through this. So I'm okay. That's humility.
That's a humility with the Lord. We see this
type of thing demonstrated all over the Bible.
In the Old Testament, in 2 Samuel chapter 19,
there was a man named Mephibosheth. There we
go. And he demonstrated this type of humility
before the king there. In Matthew chapter 8,
verses 5 through 10, the story of the centurion
who came to Jesus and said, please heal my servant.
We see him demonstrating this type of humility.
And then, of course, in Matthew 8, verse 20,
Jesus himself, who is God in the flesh, told
those before him, I don't even have a place to
lay my head. So whether it's a... lowly circumstance
we find ourselves in, which is a very kind of
diminished circumstance, a difficult circumstance,
one without means or resource, or it's a person
that has a lowly attitude, it's an important
thing to see how God works in and through those
situations. And that's what we're going to be
looking at today, to see how God responds to
the humble in humble circumstances. And we're
going to see that through the birth of Jacob's
first 11 sons. and his only daughter. It's going
to be seen through their birth order. It's going
to be seen by who gave birth and when. And it's
a really interesting take here because I titled
this study, The Battle of the Babies. And you'll
understand that as we walk through the verses
today. But the important thing to understand
here is that we see God working through one woman
who starts out humble. becomes a little prideful,
and then returns to her humility. And we also
see God waiting on someone who is very prideful
and waits and waits and waits to bless them with
children until they've reached that place of
humility in their own lives. And the lesson applies
to us that the best way to live is humble. The
best way to live, especially as a believer, more
so as a believer, is that God is sovereign. And
God knows everything that is happening on our
entire planet, whether we understand it or not,
whether we agree with it or not, God is sovereign.
And so it's for us as his kids to be able to
step back and process everything that's happening
through that, to understand that when we do find
ourselves humbling ourselves appropriately, God
tends to work in that state because that's where
he operates. But we also see that when we stand
pridefully against him, he waits. And he waits
until we find ourselves coming to that place
of humbling ourselves before him. But we're going
to worship God first because I don't think there's
any more humbling act we can do than to sit down
and say, God, we want to praise you as the Lord
of the universe, the God of my life, the Savior
of my soul. You are everything. You deserve everything.
And so let's pray and then let's worship. Father,
we love you so much. God, it is a miracle and
a wonder. that you work through our lives because
our lives are just such a mess. Lord, whether
it's things that come upon us or things that
we bring upon ourselves, Lord God, there is such
great hope in the fact that you still work your
will. Your unconditional promises that you've
made, Lord, you work through our mess because
you made those promises and you cannot lie. But
at the same time, Lord, simultaneously with that,
God, there is a place where you will work or
wait. depending on where we're at in our lives
and how we're responding to you, Lord. God, your
word says so much about us being humble people
to recognize that we deserve nothing. In fact,
we deserve judgment, Lord, but because you loved
us so much that through our faith in you, we
have been pardoned of that sentence, God, adopted
into your family as your children and blessed.
But Lord, while we live our lives here on this
earth, Lord, we still have this free will that
sometimes causes us to stand proudly against
you. Lord, may we learn today that the consequences
of that, Lord, can be great delay in our lives
and the blessing that you want to bring. But
contrary to that, Lord, when we're humble, Lord,
our hearts are a fertile ground for you to do
your work, to work through, to bless us and the
people around us. Lord, we want to worship you
because you are just so great. So we praise your
name this morning. For you are sovereign. You
are almighty. You are love. And you are a love,
Lord, that we can never completely fathom, Lord.
But we receive it. Bless us today, Lord, as we
hear from you. We love you. It's in Jesus' name
we pray. Amen. This morning we're going to be
in Genesis 29, verse 31, and we're going to be
going all the way through verse 24 of chapter
30. But before we get into that, I have an opportunity
coming up here at the end of September through
October to... represent our church. I've been
invited to go out to the South Sudan with Far
-Reaching Ministries to do some teaching and
training with their chaplain corps for the army.
And there's a lot going on in South Sudan right
now. The war is active. And the chaplains there
are just being a part of a great work that God
is doing. They're taking the gospel to the front
lines in that country. And people are getting
saved all over the place in the midst of a very
terrible situation. So I've got an invitation
to go and to kind of go as a representative of
this church to teach and to train there for a
couple weeks. And so I'm going to be doing that.
I leave on September 30th. I'll be back on October
15th. And just wanted to share that with you
guys so you could pray for me and pray for me.
the ministry there and pray for that country
and what's taking place. But also, as we've done
in the past, if there's anything you want to
do to participate financially in the trip, you
can do so by just making a donation online or
in the tithe envelopes and just write Sudan for
that. There is a cost associated with flying
out there and whatnot, but I'm just personally
very excited for what God's going to do. I went
out there in 2011 and got to teach the chaplains
there and was there for a few weeks and got malaria
and all that fun. stuff. And they said, well,
that's what makes you an official missionary
in Africa. So I qualify now. And so I'm going
to go back and just really blessed at the opportunity
and the invitation. And I'm blessed to go there
and to just represent our church there on the
front lines in South Sudan. And so, again, if
you would like to participate in that financially,
you can make a donation for that through the
app or whatever. Just make a note for a Sudan
trip. But definitely, please be praying for us.
traveling mercies and safety and all that stuff
up there. But yeah, pretty excited about that.
So, but with that, let's get into the word today.
You know, we're going to be, like I said, in
Genesis 29, and we're looking at the birth of
Jacob's first 11 children and his only daughter.
But before we get into that, I have to begin.
addressing something that we've seen a lot through
Genesis, and we're going to continue to see a
lot through the stories in the Old Testament,
but I have to begin with the creation account
on marriage. You know, we're all familiar with
early in Genesis, God made it very clear that
his intent for marriage, his intent for man and
woman, was one man, one woman, together for life.
That was God's intent. When God created Adam
and then he created Eve, he didn't create Eve's.
He created one woman, right? And they came together
and became one flesh. And so any number of wives
past that is really going beyond what God had
intended for creation. It was there in Genesis
2 .24 where he said, this is why a man leaves
his father and mother and bonds with his wife.
singular, and they become one flesh. Now, this
doesn't preclude situations where there's a loss
of a spouse and remarriage, but that's an entire
another Bible study, so we're not going to spend
time on that. But in light of this creation account,
every polygamous marriage situation in Genesis
is always presented with a dark cloud. hovering
over it. Earlier in Genesis in chapter 4, we
had the story of this man named Lamech who had
this braggadocious, chest -thumping, just bragging
about how violent he is to his two wives. And
his picture with the picture of the pre -flood
world, it was just a very violent, abusive culture.
And that's how multiple wives was presented there.
Then we get to Abraham's story, who was with
his wife Sarai, and he loved her, but then they
had the situation where they were trying to help
God with his plans, and he listened to his wife
in taking Hagar to sleep with him so that she
could bear children in place of Sarai's barrenness,
and so it's interesting there that the scripture
there, when it says Abraham listened to the voice
of his wife, and entered into what would be this
kind of polygamous arrangement is the same exact
language that echoed what Eve said to Adam or
what it said there in Genesis where it says,
Adam, listen to the voice of his wife and partake
of the fruit. So I'm not putting the women on
blast here, but the idea is there was this bitterness,
there was this fall, there was this just badness
that followed in the fall, and it also followed
Abraham when he entered into his polygamous situation
as we've studied. Most recently, we saw Esau,
who is Jacob's brother. It's told that he married
two Hittite wives, and then he went out and married
a third wife from Ishmael's family. And that's
not casting a good light because Esau is the
picture of someone who's disregarding God's word
and disregarding God's will, and he's a very
ungodly character. And then you have Jacob. And
as we've been studying Jacob's life, we've seen
that he's duped into polygamy, but he went along
with it either way. So polygamy is a violation
of the covenantal faithfulness that God demanded
of his bride Israel. And if you want to dive
into that in much more detail, go read the book
of Hosea in the Old Testament. But with that
as a background, now as we dive into the growth
of Jacob's family, we have to understand that
he is a polygamist. He is married to two wives,
and he's going to end up then having sexual relations
with not only them, but both of their servants.
And so there's four women that he's building
a family with here. There's no question about
that. And, you know, you might look at that and
go, strictly speaking, it's not his fault. Laban
duped him into it, but we do know that it certainly
wasn't his choice to be in this situation. But
Jacob finds himself in this situation just as
a result of his own sins catching up to him.
As he has been a victimizer, a deceiver, he is
now the victim of deception himself, and he finds
himself in this very difficult situation. He's
stuck in the land called Paddan Aram. He's at
the mercy of his scoundrel uncle Laban. He's
been indentured to him for 14 years, or will
have been indentured to him for 14 years, working
for no pay. working for free just to pay off
the bride cost of the women that he has married.
He had one wife that he didn't even want, wasn't
attracted to, and that was Leah. He didn't love
her at all, it tells us, and then he had one
wife he did who was cherished by him, the one
that he paid all his attention to, the one he
gave all his focus, and you can imagine how that
worked out in the domestic bliss. He was bound
here in marriage to two sister wives, one who
was just supermodel beautiful, one who was plain
and unnoticed, and all the contentions that would
come from that. And what we're going to see in
the story today is that both of them are going
to use their children to give words to their
feelings about their situation and one another,
whether it's to celebrate something God is doing
or to brag in a very prideful way. But it's just
a messy, messy situation that is going to play
out over years and years of time. in hatred between
sisters and hatred between brothers and drama
and stress. It's just, it's a bad story. Still
though, this is the beginning of the 12 tribes
of Israel. This is the beginning of what is going
to be God's chosen people all from one dad and
four moms. Now I don't know that Jacob knew that
he was going to have 12 sons, right? I don't
think he was planning for that. He just knew
that God had promised him that his offspring
were going to be like the dust of the earth.
This was the same promise that he inherited from
his dad, Isaac, and Isaac inherited from Abraham.
It was the unconditional promise he had made
to Abraham and his offspring and his family.
God had told Jacob that your offspring are going
to be so numerous, you're going to spread out
to the north and the west and the east and the
south, and all families of the earth are going
to be blessed through you. All these births that
we're going to see should have been just a joyous
situation. It should have been a time of just
celebration and just excitement because God is
fulfilling his plans birth after birth. But instead,
what we're going to see is because of the selfish,
sinful nature that is in mankind, this joyous
birth story turns into a story of bitter scorekeeping.
And so read with me in Genesis chapter 29, verse
31. When the Lord saw that Leah was neglected,
he opened her womb. But Rachel was unable to
conceive. Leah conceived, gave birth to a son,
and named him Reuben. For she said, The Lord
has seen my affliction. Surely my husband will
love me now. She conceived again, gave birth
to a son, and said, The Lord heard that I am
neglected and has given me the son also. So she
named him Simeon. She conceived again, gave birth
to a son, and said, at last my husband will become
attached to me because I have born three sons
for him. Therefore he was named Levi. As she
conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said,
this time I will praise the Lord. Therefore she
named him Judah. Then Leah stopped. I'm sorry,
my tablet just gave me a weird notice. All right.
This time I will praise the Lord. Therefore she
named him Judah. And then Leah stopped having
children. So despite the sin, despite the deceptions,
despite the polygamy, the Lord is beginning to
work out his own purposes through this mess.
He is beginning to fulfill the promises he made,
the unconditional promises he made through all
of this. And we're going to see in this story
that although Rachel was the beautiful one, the
loved one, the cherished one, probably very proud
of her position as the favored wife in the family
and all of that, God closes her womb. And I believe
the reason is because there's pride in her heart.
We're going to see this through the story that
she is very proud of the fact that Jacob loves
her. She is very proud of the fact that she gets
all the attention. She is very proud of the fact
that she really has everything. She has everything
Leah would want. And so she carries that with
her pride. She thinks that she's the one that
should have everything because she's getting
everything. And then you have Leah, the neglected
wife. The one who finds herself in a... humble
circumstance, a lowly circumstance where she's
unloved and unwanted and probably unpaid attention
to, a woman who is just desperately praying and
hoping that her husband would eventually love
her, she was the one who gave birth first in
the family. That it was in her humble state,
her state of being in a very low situation that
God comes through and says, I want to honor you,
I want to bless you, and she gives birth to the
sons first. Now, we have to understand how big
of a win this was for her because in the culture,
it was very different than today. In the culture,
women didn't have any rights as the men had.
In many cases, they were... sorry, considered
property, but they were still loved and treated
well in most cases. But the highest pinnacle
of success for a woman in this culture was to
give birth to sons for their husbands to further
on the family name. Daughters were blessed and
cherished too, but daughters would get married
off to another family. It was sons who would
carry on the family name and inherit the wealth
and carry all that forward. And so for her to
bear children, especially sons, was really the
pinnacle of success. She got this honor. We can
imagine Rachel would be devastated by this, and
she was. She was very upset by this because she,
like I said, was the favorite. She was the one
who was adored. She was the one who rightly expected
to be the matriarch within Jacob's family, that
she was going to be the one that had all the
power and the control and the love and the recognition
and all of that. She was the blessed one. She
was the beautiful one, after all. She was the
one that was supposed to have everything. But
instead, Leah was the incredibly fertile one.
And she just starts popping out babies like a
machine gun here. So now Jacob is working his
second seven years to pay off the debt for Rachel.
And in this, we see this picture that Leah is
just sad and lonely. And that broken heart that
she has is enshrined in the names of her first
four kids. And this is really kind of what this
whole section is built upon. And so it says that
she gave birth to a son and named him Reuben.
Now, Reuben means literally, look, a son, right?
I mean, how's that for naming your child? You
know, hey, look, a son. That's a great name for
him. But she's excited, right? Giving birth to
a son, big deal. And so in her excitement, she
names him that exact thing that forever when
someone would look at him, they would go, look,
I gave a son to my husband. And so now the other
thing we see Leah do here in her lowly state
is she gives God the credit for it. The Lord
has seen my affliction. Right? She's in that
place of understanding that God is in control.
God is the one in charge of her life and everything.
And so God is the one who has seen my affliction
and given me this son. And so she recognized
God with that. And she's expecting that with
this son, her husband would come to love her
because she gave him a son, right? That's a huge
deal. So of course he's going to love me. But
sadly, as the next three births are laid out
for us, we're going to see that That didn't happen
in her life. She gave birth to a second son.
She says, the Lord heard that I'm neglected and
has given me this son also. So she named him
Simeon. Simeon means the Lord has heard, right?
So the idea here is she gives God credit again
in her lowly state. She lets the Lord get the
glory for all that, but then she names the kid
something that shows that her hope for love is
diminishing a little bit. The first son, he'll
love me now. The second son, Well, the Lord has
heard that I'm neglected. And it's almost like
naming her son is trying to say, Jacob, the Lord
has heard my heart. Are you paying attention?
Right? And so, but maybe the second son would
melt Jacob's heart. Maybe he would, you know,
finally, you know, come to love her as he loves
Rachel. Then she has a third son. She conceived
again, gave birth to a son and said, at last,
my husband will become attached to me because
I have born three sons for him. Levi means attachment.
But this is the sad part of this. I mean, although
Leah is like the fertility jackpot here, right?
Three sons. I mean, it's just like everything
a man would want in that culture, we see that
her hope for love has diminished by the third
son. She's no longer saying, maybe he'll love
me. She's no longer saying, the Lord's heard
me. Like, are you hearing me, Jacob? She's now
going, well, look, I'll settle for just a connection,
an attachment. Like, okay, maybe he'll never
love me, but at least let's have a connection
of some kind. Let's have some sort of relationship
here. And it's just this picture. She's so lonely.
Her hope is fading. Then she gets to her fourth
son that she gives birth to, who is Judah. And
it says she conceived again, gave birth to a
son. This time I will praise the Lord. That's
what Judah means, praise, right? But the sad
part here is, here's Leah. who now has no hope
of love, no hope of a connection, right, just
improved relations with her husband, she had
given up. She had given up all of that, and so
now, as she gives birth to her fourth son, she's
like, okay, no love, no hope, no connection.
Well, at least I could thank God for my four
sons. At least I could give him praise. And that's
an important picture of lowliness and humility,
is to be able to say, Whatever my situation is,
I could praise God. I could give him glory. You
know, we often say, like, what's the silver lining
in a situation? What are the good things? And
we often do that. I do that in counseling where
people are, like, in a very bad time or a bad
situation, and they're just very despondent.
They're like, I just, this is so terrible. And
I'm like, yeah, but are there any good things
in here? Let's focus on those things. Because
if God is sovereign, if God is almighty, if God
is omnipotent, then obviously he knows you're
in this bad situation. And he's allowing it to
happen for a reason that you don't yet understand.
So instead of focusing on, oh, this is bad, this
is terrible, this is bad, try and find a way
to say, God, you have full authority to put me
in any situation you want. God, my life is yours
in every possible way. And so God, I'm thankful
that, and then whatever it is. I'm thankful I'm
alive. I'm thankful I have four kids. I wanted
my husband's love, she's saying. I wanted a connection
with him at least. But in lieu of all of that,
praise God, I have four sons, right? She's able
to focus on that even in the difficulty of her
time. And so now if she could see the future,
man, I think she would just be overjoyed right
now because giving birth to Levi and Judah. From
those two sons came the priestly tribe of Israel
and the kingly tribe of Israel, Judah and Levi.
And so in her line is going to be Moses and Aaron
and David, King David, and the Messiah, Jesus
Christ. What an honor that she gets. What a huge
privilege she has, even in this dark situation
where she wants love and she wants attachment
to her husband. She doesn't get that. She's not
getting it, but she's able to say, hey, thank
God for these kids. And God then honors her,
you know, down through her line. Now, unfortunately,
at the time, she didn't necessarily know that.
She remains neglected and unloved, but she's
got four on the scoreboard, okay? Now, with each
birth, you can imagine Rachel's barrenness became
more and more intolerable for her, right? Leah's
popping out sons one after the other, and Rachel's
like... What's going on here? I'm humiliated
by this. Now Leah with four on the scoreboard,
Rachel's own maternal instincts had to have been
kicking in here, and so we get to Genesis 30
verse 1. When Rachel saw that she was not bearing
Jacob any children, she envied her sister. Give
me sons or I will die, she said to Jacob. Now
here's the woman who had all the love, all the
attention. Probably all the stuff, all the gifts.
She probably got whatever she wanted, right?
Because she was just adored by Jacob. But that's
not enough. Because she doesn't have any children,
she's envying her sister who has nothing in regards
to her place in the family except children. That
word envy there means to be painfully desirous
of another's advantages. She was so jealous it
hurt. It hurt with inside. She wanted to start
a family, which isn't a bad thing, and she wanted
that so bad she hurt. But the immediate context
of it was Leah is getting it, and she's the one
nobody's ever paid attention to. I'm the one
that's always gotten everything I wanted, and
why is God not blessing me with kids? Now, I
believe in the family, too, that Rachel knew
that. God is the giver of life. I believe that
was a part of this family, a part of their teaching
and their knowing, and yet she's dismissing all
of this. And so she has this outburst towards
her husband. To be quite honest, to me it sounds
like the temper tantrum of a very spoiled rich
girl, right? I'm used to getting my way with
everything. You know, the ultimate Karen, if
you want to call it that. If you're named Karen
in here, I don't mean that as a derogatory term
towards you. But in our culture, it's that one
lady that's going, let me talk to your supervisor.
And just, you know, my room is not right. And
just going to escalate and argue and just be
obnoxious about that. This is kind of how Rachel
is responding here. She's throwing a fit because
she's not getting her way with children. But
what we have here now is two very desperate women.
One desperate for love, desperate for attachment
with her husband, and one who is desperate for
children. Neither one of them is happy. They're
looking at the other side. Now, I'm not saying
those situations aren't real, but they're looking
at the other side and they're desperate for what
they don't have. And, you know, isn't polygamy
fun? You know, right? Verse 2. Jacob became angry
with Rachel and said, am I in the place of God?
He has withheld offspring from you. Despite Jacob's
own failures, he still recognized God's authority,
right? Despite his own issues. And maybe here
we are, you know, 10 years into his 14 -year
working for these two women. Maybe he's learning
some things at this point. Maybe he's going,
look, I can't do anything about this. I imagine
him going, look, obviously I'm not the problem.
Look at Leah, four sons already. So lay off.
This isn't my issue here. But he says, am I in
the place of God? He's the one you need to go
talk to. He's the one you need to go deal with.
I mean, this may be simply a coward's blame shift
here, but either way, he was right. He was right.
God is the one that is doing these things. And
he's like, go talk to God. I can't do anything
about your barrenness. It's not my fault. Give
me sons or I'm going to die. Come on. Grow up.
So, undeterred, Rachel finds a way to even the
score. Verse 3. Then he said, or she said, here
is my maid Bilhah. Go sleep with her and she'll
bear children for me so that through her, I too
can build a family. So Rachel gave her slave
Bilhah to Jacob as a wife. and he slept with
her. Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. Rachel
said, God has vindicated me. Yes, he has heard
me and given me a son. So she named him Dan.
Rachel's slave Bilhah conceived again and bore
Jacob a second son. Rachel said, in my wrestlings
with God, I have wrestled with my sister and
won, and she named him Naphtali. Now, I am pretty
sure that Rachel here knew the story of Abraham
and Sarah and Hagar. She had to have known the
story. It was a pretty famous story in the family,
especially when it was like, you know, Jacob,
you know, your dad and his brother don't get
along. What's going on, right? The story was
probably well known in the family. I believe
that Rachel was also familiar through Jacob with
Esau's marriages and how dad didn't approve of
those things. And then more than that, I imagine
that, In those first seven years, she was just
dreaming of a monogamous, lifelong relationship
with her husband, Jacob, right? That specialness
of coming together and the sexual intimacy between
married people, and yet she tosses all of that
out the window in her pride. I'm so jealous of
Leah. I'm so jealous that I don't have kids that,
you know, I'm going to let you sleep with my
maidservant. That's what she did. Now, this was
a custom of the time. When a woman was barren,
they could have their maid servant kind of be
the surrogate and stand in and sleep with the
husband, get pregnant, and give birth. And in
some cases, the woman who was barren would have
the servant sit on their lap and give birth to
the child so that it was symbolic of the wife
giving birth, right? So, what Rachel essentially
does is calls in the second string from the bench
and the birth wars begin. So following the culturally
acceptable protocol, not God's will, I would
say, Jacob consents. And I just, what? I got
to sleep with your servant? Okay. Right? I mean,
there's no pushback here. There's no, and anyways,
I don't want to get too into that, but I'm just
like, Jacob, come on, bro. But he just throws
gas on the fire of this polygamous relationship
and all the drama and stuff going on here. And
so what do we have here now? Woo -hoo. Rachel
does this plan. Two for Rachel. She's catching
up. Right? Take that, Leah. We see it in the
names here. And this is like, I'm just like,
how did these kids grow up? Like Dan. Dan means
judged or vindicated. judged as in a decision
was made on your behalf. And so he's like, oh,
oh, God heard you, Simeon, right? Okay, yeah,
God heard me too. I'm the beautiful one. I'm
the one that's supposed to get everything, and
so I'm gonna name my kid that God has vindicated
me, that I'm coming to get you, Leah. Mom, why
is my name Dan? How did, what did they, so anyways.
Naphtali, why? I've been wrestling with my sister
and wrestling with God, and I'm winning. I'm
wrestling the lead position back. And so you
see that now they're using their kids in this
domestic dispute, even in their names. You know,
look, Leah, my cleverness is being rewarded.
Aha, you had four. Well, I brought in the second
string, and now we have two. So then it's halftime,
and I believe Leah adjusts her strategy. And
Leah's like, oh, I have a second string as well.
Verse 9. Then Leah saw that she had stopped having
children. She took her slave Zilpah and gave
her to Jacob, his wife. Leah's slave Zilpah bore
Jacob a son. Then Leah said, what good fortune,
and she named him Gad. When Leah's slave Zilpah
bore Jacob a second son, Leah said, I am happy
that the women call me happy, and so she named
him Asher. And now the scoreboard reads, what
is it, six to two, right? Leah's pulling ahead.
Now, here's the problem with Leah at this point.
She started out so good. She started out humble.
She started out just like, oh, God, thank you
so much for the kids. You gave me this son. You
gave me this son. And then Rachel pridefully
just kinds to wrestle her own way and gets two
kids through her maidservant. Now, Leah, I think
Leah's getting caught up in the prideful back
and forth here. Oh, no. My kids are all I have.
Rachel has everything else, and now she also
has kids? I've got to get back in here and start
fighting back, and we see that in the names,
right? We don't see her saying, oh, God bless
me with a kid. No, she just says, I'm going to
name this one Gad. What good fortune. Oh, Rachel,
you think you're catching up? Look at the scoreboard,
right? And then the second one is born, named
Asher, and Asher means happy. The picture here
is Leah is starting to sway into that prideful
area. She's starting to get caught up in the
competition. She's starting to get caught up
in, you know, it's not God that matters ultimately.
It's my status and my kids and how many I have
and all of this stuff. And so it's like, you
know, it's like, ha -ha, Rachel, look at the
scoreboard. Six to two, you poor infertile thing.
You can't catch me. I'm a baby -making machine.
Even though these last two came from her second
string. But the last one, Asher, we see a little
bit of Leah's attitude here because you see where
she's deriving her joy. It doesn't say I'm going
to name him Asher because I'm so happy God is
still blessing me this way. She goes, I'm happy
that the women call me happy. She's getting caught
up in what other people think now too. Not God's
favor. No, thank you God for another son. But
I'm going to name this one Rachel. Everybody
else thinks I'm blessed. Everybody else is happy
for me because I'm having more kids. Take that.
And again, mommy, why am I named Asher, right?
What did they tell these kids as they were growing
up? But Rachel is now losing the contest. She
knew it. Leah, unfortunately, was losing focus.
She was losing the focus on her humble condition
and the God that was there for her. And you think,
wow, could it get any worse? Oh, yeah. Verse
14. Reuben went out during the wheat harvest
and found some mandrakes in the field. When he
brought them to his mother Leah, Rachel asked,
please give me some of your son's mandrakes.
But Leah replied to her, isn't it enough that
you've taken my husband? Now you also want to
take my son's mandrakes? Well then, Rachel said,
he can sleep with you tonight in exchange for
your son's mandrakes, speaking of Jacob. When
Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah
went out to meet him and said, you must come
with me for I have hired you with my son's mandrakes.
So Jacob slept with her that night. What on earth
is going on with this family? Right? Dysfunction
junction. That's what this is. Now, mandrakes,
right? The mandrakes are a perennial Mediterranean
plant that has bluish flowers in the winter.
And then in the summer, it has yellowish, like,
plum -sized fruits. And at the time, they were
considered an aphrodisiac. They were also considered
a cure for infertility, right? So if you got
mandrakes and you... did whatever they did with
them, you could cure your barrenness, right?
And so now it doesn't tell us here that Leah
requested these. It just tells us that Reuben
was out during the wheat harvest and he found
some. Now maybe he was also caught up in this
family drama, right? He was on Leah's team and
so maybe he had been... hearing about the fights
or just observing what's going on. I mean, obviously
he was the first son, so he's been around for
a while at this point. It doesn't give us any
indication that Leah was like, oh no, I'm not
having kids. Go find me some of this. But the
fact is, is that Reuben found him and brought
them in thinking they would be of help to his
mom or something that would bless her. We obviously
know there's no real power in the mandrake, right?
But apparently both of these women gave it some
credence, so much so that it became coin. It
became a currency to barter with. And so Rachel,
desperate for fertility, barters for the mandrakes.
Obviously she's fully in. Oh, mandrakes, that's
the magic stuff that'll help me out. And so she
tries to barter with this. Now it's interesting,
Leah, knowing that she has the upper hand, is
like, isn't it enough that you've taken my husband?
She's just like jabbing her in the ribs with
that. And then Rachel says, okay, he can sleep
with you tonight. What this seemingly is telling
me, that in this polygamous nightmare, two wives,
two servants, Jacob has been sleeping with all
of them at this point, three of them have given
birth, that it seems like Rachel was in control
of the sex calendar. That's what it appears like.
Now, it would make sense. She's the favored one.
She's all that. So she was the one that determined
who got what night on the calendar because she's
the one that's saying, okay, I'll let you have
a night with Jacob. I'll let you have a night
with him if you give me the mandrakes. And then
we see how twisted this is. Because then Leah
goes out to meet her husband, her husband, and
goes, I've hired you with my son's mandrakes.
Like Leah had to pay for the privilege of being
intimate with her husband. So twisted this family
is. Now the arrangement takes place. I imagine
since Leah had stopped having children, it said
earlier that both women were kind of desperate
to have more children because they're caught
up in this fight and this race. Neither one of
them humbling themselves and saying, God, we
just trust you. I trust you in my barrenness.
I trust you in the fact that I stopped having
children. God, your will be done. No, they're
fighting and they're trying to make things happen.
It's just really sad. I mean, it's really sad.
Just on an aside here, you know, sexual intimacy
is something God created. And he created it to
be this beautiful, wonderful act between two
people and a commitment of marriage. It's not
just created for procreation and having kids.
Go read the Song of Solomon. It's a love book
about just the beauty that is in the intimacy
between two people in the context of marriage.
It was never meant to be something to be bartered
or traded or purchased or sold as a commodity,
but that's exactly what the devil has done with
what is meant to be a very private, beautiful,
wonderful enjoyment between two people in marriage.
You know, we've heard the phrase our whole lives.
The oldest profession is prostitution, selling
sex for money. An organization called Covenant
Eyes. did a study on this, and they said in 2023,
the pornography industry made, the estimates
are between $58 and $300 billion. That's insane.
That's people paying for watching or whatever,
participating in, and it's just, it's foul. It's
a huge issue. It's a huge issue in the church.
And the devil tries to say, no, no, no, it's
okay to pay and trade and watch. No, it's something
meant to be private and beautiful and in the
context between a married couple. And yet we
see these women here getting caught up in their
personal notoriety and their personal position
and their personal prestige and power. Now they're
both caught up in bartering something that shouldn't
be bartered for. They both need to be taken down
a notch. Rachel is still just as prideful as
she had been from the beginning. Leah, she's
starting to swing that way because she's lost
her focus. Verse 17. God listened to Leah and
she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. Leah
said, God has rewarded me for giving my slave
to my husband. And she named him Issachar. Then
Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son.
God has given me a good gift, Leah said. This
time my husband will honor me because I have
born six sons for him. Then she named him Zebulun.
Later, Leah bore a daughter and named her Dinah.
So apparently, since Leah was unable to have
kids after the first four, she had been praying,
speaking to the Lord. I believe both women were
doing that. They were desperate. They were crying
out to the Lord, but also trying to do anything
they could. And the Lord heard Leah. I believe
what we see in Leah's response is she started
kind of coming back to that humble place again.
She gives God the credit, right? She's praying.
God responds. He's furthering his own promises.
This isn't his endorsement of what she's been
doing, what Rachel's been doing. He's just fulfilling
his own promises, but this had to really tick
Rachel off because Leah gives Rachel the mandrakes,
and then Leah pops out three more kids, right?
I mean, holy cow. She was just livid, but Leah
seems to be back to giving God the credit. right?
She seems to be back to saying, okay, God, thank
you, but her focus is off now, and that's what
sin does to us. It kind of pollutes our focus
and our mind because she's going, God, you're
rewarding me for giving my husband my servant.
No, Leah, that's not at all what's taking place
here. That's not what God wants. That's not what
God has intended, but that's what she thinks
in this moment. There's a glimmer of hope, but
she's still off on her focus there, and she names
the kid Issachar. That means reward or wages.
I think it was still a jab back at Rachel because
it's like her going, okay, Rachel, you made me
hire my own husband. Boom, the first kid I had
after that, God paid me back. Wages, reward.
And then Zebulun, right? We're not really sure
what that name means, but most seem to think
it has to do with honor or honored because of
her reasoning for doing that. And so we see the
scoreboard again now. It's just like, you know,
Rachel's pulling way ahead. She's pulling way
ahead here. And, you know, but here's what's
kind of sad. Rachel has kind of swung this way
towards pride. She's kind of, oh no, God is the
one in this, but I'm still caught up in this
pride issue. She isn't looking for love anymore.
She's not looking for attachment anymore. She's
maybe starting to come back to giving God credit
and stuff, but her reason for naming Zebulun
Zebulun is my husband has to honor me after this.
He has to respect me after this. He's not going
to love me. He's not going to cherish me. He's
not going to pay attention to me, but he has
to honor me. He's going to give me respect because
I have borne him all these sons. My side of the
team has eight total, six from my own body personally.
Now, I believe the birth of Dinah was God working
to keep her pride from swelling out of control,
right? She's been just popping out suns. Huge
reason for her to be prideful. Huge reason for
her to stand up. Especially against Rachel who's
trying to fight her in all of this. But then
she gives birth to the daughter Dinah. Equally
a beloved child. But in the culture, daughters,
again, were married off and so weren't as big
a deal as sons. But there's no explanation of
her name here. Like all the other children that
have been born, there's an explanation of why
they're named what they're named. Dinah, no explanation.
And I thought, okay, well, what does Dinah mean?
It's an offshoot of Dan. It means judgment, vindication,
decision, right? And the fact that she's the
seventh child that Leah gave birth to, because
Leah gives birth to no more children after this,
it could be symbolic here that as Dinah is the
seventh child, and God is like, okay, Leah, you're
done having kids, we know biblically seven represents
completion. Right? And her name Dinah as an offshoot
of Dan meaning decision or vindication. It could
be simply this naming that God is saying, you're
done having kids. And I'm giving you this daughter
because you're starting to forget that it's all
me. It's not you. It's all me. Speculative, but
it could be that. Meanwhile, Rachel apparently
has been humbled now. And we see this in verse
22. Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to
her and opened her womb. She conceived and bore
a son, and she said, God has taken away my disgrace.
She named him Joseph and said, may the Lord add
another son to me. Now when it says God remembered
her there, it means to recall with kindness.
The idea there is God had never forgotten about
Rachel, but he was just waiting and waiting and
waiting. Waiting for what? Waiting for Rachel
to humble herself. Waiting for Rachel to give
up her pride and step away from who she thought
she was and what she thought she deserved to
totally trust God. I believe God was waiting
for her to learn what she needed to learn, what
she needed to experience, what she needed to
grow through her situation. And that is one of
the big reasons God allows us to go through situations.
James says, count it all joy, right? For all
those trials and all those things. They're meant
to... produce character. They're meant to hone
us and shape us, and so you're in a difficult
situation. The humble attitude is, God, you're
allowing this, so I'm not going to complain.
I'm not going to kick. I'm going to try and learn
what you're teaching me, but Lord, I trust you.
That's not what Rachel was doing. Rachel was
complaining. Rachel was throwing a fit. Rachel
was conniving and scheming, and God said, okay.
Well, I'm going to keep waiting, and I'm going
to keep waiting. And finally, Rachel had gotten
to this point because her response, God has taken
away my disgrace. That shows us that something
had happened within her that God noticed. God
recognized, okay, you're ready. You're ready
to give me the glory. You're ready to give me
the credit. You're ready to step away from yourself
and put all that stuff away. She had come to
the end of herself, right? No more surrogates,
no more mandrakes. It was all God now. For Rachel,
I believe at this point, the scoreboard didn't
matter anymore. It wasn't about what other people
thought. It wasn't about winning. God, I just
want you to bless me, and I want to bless you
for it. And then so it says God opened her womb.
It's interesting here at the end of the story
when Rachel finally humbles herself, God opens
her womb. She's in a lowly state, a lowly attitude,
and it's the same exact phrase at the beginning
of the story when it said God recognized Leah's
state and opened her womb. We're meant to learn
something from that. We're meant to learn the
type of people and situations that God works
in. We're meant to learn how we should be in
situations, especially when we find ourselves
in humble circumstances. To not get prideful
and start banging our fist and throwing it up
at God and being mad, but being able to step
back and say, Lord, I don't understand this.
Lord, I don't even like this. But if I said I
committed my life to you, that means I've given
you complete and full authority over my life.
That means that I've given you the right to put
me in any situation you deem necessary for my
life and my growth. That means that, God, I am
not entitled to knowing the plan. But yet, God,
I'm just going to trust you. And then also being
like, God, and then when I screw things up myself
and bring trauma into my own life, you can even
work through that. I don't want to make bad decisions,
but God, you're God, you're sovereign, you're
almighty. And so I believe here, Rachel understood
that she had children only because God willed
it. God allowed it. Leah had children, not for
any other reason than God did it. Now, you know,
getting pregnant for Rachel. Had to have been
one of the most overwhelming joys of her life,
you know? You figure all these kids that have
been born, right? Nine months pregnancy, recovery
time, nine months pregnancy, recovery time. It
had been years at this point that Rachel had
been struggling, and all the shame she had felt
about not being able to fulfill her wifely duty,
in that sense, to bear children, the sense that
comes with that barrenness, you know, the incompleteness,
the worthlessness that comes from that, the struggle,
the fight, all of that. And she had finally gotten
pregnant. But it wasn't until she was in this
place to say, God, you get the credit for it.
No battle of names, no competition. She's finally
just trusting in the Lord, wanting to be blessed.
Not to win, but just because God blessed her.
And she's also trusting him for any future children.
So here we have 11 total sons for Jacob, and
she's praying a prayer that God did. one day
indeed answer with the birth of son number 12,
Benjamin. But that's a later story. So what is
this all about? Baby wars, right? Battle of the
babies and the names. You know, one, we've been
seeing through Jacob's life that human cleverness
and human determination doesn't accomplish the
work of God, right? God accomplishes the work
of God. In the mystery of God's sovereignty and
our free will, God works through all of our decisions,
good and bad, to work his will. But it's God
who accomplishes the work of God and the word
of God. But what we do see in this story is the
state of mind that we should be walking in and
remaining in and staying in. A state of mind
through which God works. And God works actively.
And it's those that are humble and lowly. Those
that are truly recognizing that God, you're in
control. You're the one. You have authority over
my life. And I give you that authority. I'm not
going to fight you on that. That lowly condition
that Leah found herself in. Having a life of
rejection and a life of no notice and all the
stuff we've talked about. She started there.
She started to waver into pride, but she came
back. And some of us, that's the life we've been
living, right? Maybe you've... had a place where
your situation, your attitude is very lowly,
and maybe you start to get a little pride in
your life, start to get caught up in the competition
with somebody down the street or that person
or that person. Maybe you're in the place that
Rachel is in, right? And you're just like, why
is everybody else having babies and I can't?
And I can't answer that question for you other
than it's the situation God has allowed you to
be in. Balea. She started, went up, went back.
Rachel, she was proud from the beginning. Both
of those things represent all of us in different
phases of our life. Rachel came back, or Rachel
finally gave up her pride. Leah came back to
her humility. And they both ended up in a place
where God was now working in and through them
and blessing them in their lowliness. It's this
lowliness that God wants to see from his people.
It's that lowliness that God wants to work in
because when God works through humble people
and humble circumstances, guess who gets the
glory? God does. God doesn't want to work through
people who are going to be like, I'm so great
and I'm so good and I'm such a good this and
I'm such a great speaker and I'm the most fertile
woman in the world. That's not who he wants to
work through because then they're going to steal
the glory from him. But it's those who sit back
and go, The very fact that you would know my
name, God, is enough. The very fact that you
would look into this creation and notice me is
enough. And yet, you're going to pay my price
and give me salvation through faith? And then
you're going to send your Holy Spirit to live
within me and mold me and shape me for the rest
of my life here on this earth, give me the power
to say no to sin and temptation? Point me back
to the cross every time I sin and fall for the
rest of my life knowing that you paid the price
for it all? Giving me the hope of heaven? I deserve
none of that. But God, you love me so much. Yeah,
take my life. I've made a mess of it. Please.
I'm nothing, Lord. You're everything. But God,
I trust and know that you can do great things
through my life. That's humility. That's what
God is looking for in his people. It's a humility
that came all the way through in the beginning
and the lowliness of the birth of the Messiah.
When Mary heard that Elizabeth, heard Elizabeth
confirm the Messiah's in your womb, we have recorded
in Luke 1, verse 46, Mary said, my soul magnifies
the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
because he has looked with favor on the humble
condition of his servant. Surely from now on
all generations will call me blessed because
the mighty one has done great things for me and
his name is holy. What was her response? The
Messiah's in your womb. Whoa! Well, come on,
of course. I'm Mary. Don't you know what they're
going to do in the future? There's going to be
a whole worldwide church that's going to say,
hey, Mary is so important you have to talk to
her instead of talking to Jesus. Jesus is too
busy. So talk to his mom. That's a traditional
Catholic thought. You can't pray to Jesus because,
well, he's running the universe. But go talk
to his mom. She can manipulate him. Mary didn't
say that. Mary wasn't thinking that. Look, I'm
gonna be a saint. People are gonna worship me.
No, what does she say here? She's like, my soul
magnifies the Lord. Because he looked on me a
nobody. I'm a nothing nobody from a nowhere place
with nothing. And I'm gonna give birth to the
Messiah? the savior of the entire world. The
Lord then came as a lowly baby, born in humble
conditions, right? Born in a manger in the filth
and the dirt, born with nothing. God, God of
the universe. And he came to save a world that
was in the saddest, lowly state of all, a world
that hated him. And yet he came to die for us.
You know, James 4, 6, it says he gives greater
grace. Therefore, he says, God resists the proud
but gives grace to the humble. If you want grace
in your life, don't resist him. Don't be the
beginning, Rachel. Be the end, Rachel. Don't
be the middle, Leah. Be the beginning and the
end, Leah. Be in a place where you say, I deserve
nothing. I've earned nothing. I'm nothing without
the Lord. I'm a sinner. I'm a lost sinner. And
then when you come to God that way and you say,
God, I'm asking you to save me even though I
know I don't deserve it. Man, God jumps at that
opportunity because he made an unconditional
promise. Whoever believes in him, Jesus Christ,
Whoever would trust in him for their salvation
and their faith and their life, they would not
perish but have everlasting life. But that only
comes to the humble. You have to let go of your
pride. You have to let go of those proud things.
And I'm not saying you can't be like, hey, I
did a good job and I feel good about that. I'm
talking about thinking, I need nothing. I don't
need God. I'm myself. I'm a self -made person.
I'm so great. I'm this, I'm that. You could be
so proud and so great, and then guess what? One
day you're going to be dead. And nobody cares.
And if you reach that point without Jesus Christ
as your Lord and Savior, you're going to stand
there and you're going to be like, I'm so great.
And he's going to be like, are you kidding me?
I'm God. And you'll find yourself suffering,
separated from God in hell forever. But if you're
willing to humble yourself, God is ready to work.
And so if you're in this room this morning, you
don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
You can look back on your life and see the mess
that pride has made in your life. I'm telling
you this with absolute assurance that God will
save you today. But you have to let go of your
pride. You have to receive him. You have to bring
yourself to that lowly state where God can work
in your life. Let's pray. Father, Lord, it was
the very sin of Satan who exalted himself in
pride that led to him being kicked out of heaven.
Lord, pride is such a wicked sin. The pride of
saying that we are. the most important, and therefore
we should have this or have that. Lord, all that
does is corrupt and pollute our lives and pollute
the lives of those around us. And yet, God, you
can still work through those things, and I believe
you're working this morning. For anybody in this
room, God, that does not know you as their Lord
and Savior, God, I believe you've been speaking
to them. That, Lord, their pride has put them
in a position where you would resist them. And,
Lord, I pray this morning you reveal to them
the truth, that, Lord, they can carry that pride
to their grave, but it's not going to earn them
anything. And Lord, we've seen today, God, that
it's the lowly, the humble that you're going
to work through, Lord, even when we're stumbling
with our own flesh through that. And so I pray,
Lord, today for those that don't know you, God,
that maybe you've been speaking to and they're
ready today to know you, that they would walk
away from their pride. They would set it down
and realize that before an almighty and perfect
and holy God, they are a sinner, period. That,
Lord, no work, no act, Nothing they could ever
do or ever have done is enough to pay the price
for their sin against you. And that Lord, even
today, they would realize this very moment that
they need you. They need your forgiveness. They
need that free gift of grace. Not because they've
earned it, but simply because you love them as
messed up as they are. And so while we're praying
right now, if you're in this room, It's all heads
bowed and eyes closed here. If God is speaking
to your heart this morning, you know you need
to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
Or if you're watching online today, for those
in the room, I just want you to raise your hand
and say, yeah, I need to walk away from my pride.
I need to receive him. To say, I recognize that
I've broken his law. I recognize that I deserve
judgment. I recognize that I deserve death. I
recognize that as big as I think I am, I realize
that God Almighty is bigger. That I am a wicked
sinner because I have broken His law. If that's
you in this room and you say, I need a Savior,
I see you in the back. Anybody else? God is speaking
to you right now that you need to be forgiven.
You need to be saved. That your life can be made
whole through Him. Just raise your hand up where
I can see it. Let me pray with you this morning.
All right, and if you're watching online, just
pray this prayer with me. For those of you in
the room that want to receive Christ, pray this
prayer with me and say, Lord Jesus, I know I've
sinned. It's hard to admit that, Lord, because
I think that I'm all that. But God, when I compare
myself to you, I recognize. That I am simply
a wicked sinner in the face of your holy perfection.
God, I let go of my pride today. I cast it away.
Lord, I give you authority over my life. I give
you the right to take me in and through every
situation. Because I trust that you work all
things to good for those who believe in you.
God, forgive me of all of my sins. Come into
my life as my Lord and Savior. Thank you for
loving me so much. Help me to live humbly. Help
me to follow your spirit. Help me to be shining
your glory in all things. Teach me how to be
the way you want me to be. Teach me how to love
the way you love me. It's in Jesus' name I pray.
Amen. Well, for those of you that prayed that
prayer this morning, whether you're here in the
room or online, you've just entered into a relationship
with a God who created you. A God you have been
separated from by disbelief and sin. And now
things are different. You're going to see things
different. You're going to act different. I'm
not saying you're going to be this holy brand
new person today because your flesh is still
with you. But you are saved through your faith.
God has now begun a work of sanctification in
your life where he's just changing you to be
more and more like him. Humble. Joyous. Holy.
Your part in this plan is to submit to that.
We have a package up here for you. It's called
a New Believers Pack. You can either come up
to get it after service or as you're exiting
today, ask one of the greeters out in the foyer
because we want to help you on this relationship.
We want to help you get to know God more and
more. One of those ways you do that is to come
to Bible study where we teach the Word of God,
whether that's here or any other church. Go to
a place that is teaching the Word of God that
you would know Jesus more and more every single
day. And I know, I promise, your life is going
to be changed for the good forever. For the rest
of us, you know, if we've got pride that we need
to walk away from, walk away from it. If you
need help with that, get prayer. Me and some
of the other elders and worship team will be
up here after service to pray with you if you
need that. But it's not us. We don't have any
special access. You don't have to wait for us.
Grab the person next to you and say, hey, brother,
sister, pray with me. Because we all have access
to the Lord who loves us. We all have access
to seek him on behalf of one another. But don't
wait. Don't walk out of here today without prayer.
God wants to bring you back to a humble place.
Do that. Let him. I pray that God blesses you
guys richly. I pray that he blesses your lives
richly. I pray that in your humility you see
him work in ways you've never seen him work before.
I pray that when God does these awesome, miraculous
things in your life, your first and only reaction
is praise God. To him be the glory. Because that's
what he wants to do is just be glorified in your
life. Let's close worshiping him because we want
to give him all the glory. Amen? Amen. God bless
you guys.