WEBVTT

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I'm excited to be back with you guys, and today

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we're going to be in Genesis chapter 34, talking

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about the danger of assimilation. Now, as a fantasy

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and sci -fi nerd, I grew up loving all the different

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sci -fi shows, and there was one particular show

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that many of you are probably familiar with.

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It's called Star Trek. And I was always more

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of a Star Wars fan, but we're not going to get

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into that fandom rivalry, right? except to say

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that Star Wars is better. But in the Star Trek

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story and narrative, one of the biggest enemies

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that the humans fought against was this enemy

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called the Borg. They were this... race of half

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human, half machines that would, like, go into

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a star system and they would assimilate everybody.

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They would absorb everybody into their collective

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and consequently wipe out all trace of the race

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and culture that they assimilated. And, you know,

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that is one of the greatest dangers to God's

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people in our world today. You know, the greatest

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danger, I think, is not persecution or even temptation,

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but assimilation. Now, not by the Borg, because

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they're not here yet, but by the world, right?

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The biggest tactic of the enemy, I think, at

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least outright here in America, is not an outright

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assault on us for being Christians, which is

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increasing more and more. But it's a very subtle,

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very gradual weakening of our convictions. It's

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a very subtle and gradual fostering of passivity

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in our lives as Christians, specifically in how

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we live in obedience to God and stand against

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unrighteousness and ungodliness in the world.

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And there's two things that I think really contribute

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to... these dangers in the Christian life, and

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one of them is halfway obedience, and the other

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one is passive leadership, whether it's leadership

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in the churches, leadership in our homes, our

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ministries, even passive leadership in our politics.

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However, our glorious God is relentless in exposing

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our lacking obedience and passivity through what

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I like to call his very fierce grace. And God

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is always working to call us as his people. back

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to Bethel, back to what is the house of God,

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back to his will and his way in our life. And

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this morning, that's what we're gonna be looking

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at in the story of Jacob. Now, the chapter we're

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looking at this morning is a really, it's a really

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gross and disturbing chapter, if I'm gonna be

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honest. This is a chapter that is full of lust

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and rape and anger and deception and greed and

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murder. and theft and family conflict. It's a

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really bad chapter, and sometimes we say, well,

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why do we teach through chapters like this? Well,

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the first answer is because it's what's next,

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right? We go verse by verse, chapter by chapter

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through the entire Bible. But really, the reason

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this chapter is here, I believe, is God allows

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it to be here to teach us a number of things

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about being passive as Christians and what happens

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to us when we walk in halfway obedience to him.

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But also, I appreciate the brutal honesty that

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this chapter tells us about a man, Jacob, that

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we might call one of the heroes of the faith,

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right? You know, Israel would say, you know,

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is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, right?

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He's this big, towering hero of the Bible. And

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yet, we see these terrible, horrible things about

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him that paint him in a very terrible light.

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To me, that's one of the greatest proofs that

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the Bible is true because it does not hold back

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about its heroes, about those people that we

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would call towering heroes of the faith. And

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if you look into other religions and stuff, people

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don't often write. about the gross failures and

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sins of the founding heroes of their faith the

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way the Bible does. And so, really, that's what

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we're going to see about Jacob today. But there

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was an American writer in the early 1900s named

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Flannery O 'Connor, and she said this, to the

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hard of hearing, you must shout. To the almost

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blind, you must draw large and startling images.

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Well, Genesis chapter 34 is one of Scripture's

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large and startling images. It's a really disturbing

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picture meant to wake us up, meant to call us

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back to full obedience. And so that's what we'll

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be going through today. But first, we're going

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to praise God. Because anytime we come before

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him as a congregation together, we want to just...

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Sing our praises to him, to lift his name on

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high, to start everything with expressing to

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him the gratitude we have for who he is and what

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he's done, to celebrate just the reality of his

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presence in our lives, and really to thank him

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in advance for what he's about to share with

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us and teach us through his word. And so let's

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pray, and then we'll get into that worship. Father,

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we love you. We thank you, God, so much for who

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you are and what you've done. Lord, you are so

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beyond our comprehension. You are too amazing

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for us to even fathom. And yet, God, you've revealed

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yourself to us in your word that we would know

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you. And so, God, we're so grateful for that,

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that we can know you. And in that, Lord, you

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also reveal to us who we are. And God, it's in

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those lessons that we really learn what you want

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for us. Lord, most importantly, the salvation

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you have for us, the hope. that is found in Jesus

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Christ because we are hopeless as a people. But

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God, at the same time, we see over and over the

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grace and the mercy and the patience that you

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have for us, Lord, through our sins and our struggles

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and our stumbles, God. And Lord, you include

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chapters that we're studying today, Lord, in

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your word that we would see that very thing,

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Lord. That nobody on this earth, doesn't matter

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who they are, except for Jesus Christ. is a perfect

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person. And yet, God, it's through your grace

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and your promises that you've made, God, that

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you work in and through our lives. But Lord,

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today, we learn a very strong lesson about how

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you allow, you allow us to experience the consequences

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of the decisions we make, Lord. And even in that,

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it is a grace that we would learn to turn back

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to you. to get up and move from the place where

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we've settled, Lord, to be in the place that

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you've called us to be. So God, we thank you,

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Lord, for all of that, God. Encourage us today,

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Lord. Help us to know you better. Lord, our life

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is about Jesus Christ. And Lord, we ask that

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you would just shine brightly through your church

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this morning. We love you and we thank you. It's

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in Jesus' name we pray, amen. We are in Genesis

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chapter 34. You know, the danger of halfway obedience,

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I think, is far greater than we realize, or far

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greater than we'd like to admit, because it's

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halfway obedience that leads to our assimilation

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into the world, you know, where we slowly drift

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from what is a total radical commitment to God

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and to godliness, and then we drift into passive

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acceptance of worldly things. Where instead of

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being shocked, taken aback, offended by ungodliness,

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we're just like, well, you know, it's not affecting

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me and I'm good. You know, but God in his fierce

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grace, fierce grace, will let the outworking

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of our own decisions play out in our lives. Have

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any of you ever been the victim of your own stupidity?

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Yes. And that is a grace of God. Because sometimes

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that's the only way we could learn. And he allows

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that so that we learn that it's absurd to resist

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the will of the Lord. It's just absurd. Whether

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it's specific things or in general. God is perfect.

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His word is perfect. His ways are perfect. So

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it would make sense to say that his way of doing

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things is always the perfect right way. And yet,

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even as believers, even as his children, we often

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find ourselves going, halfway in obedience in

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what he commands us to do. We justify that, well,

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we kind of did most of it, or we're mostly in

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the right place. but we still try and justify

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our not totally giving ourselves over to what

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God is calling us to do. And really, we need

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to learn over and over again, sadly, that the

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consequences of that are great. And so our story

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here in Genesis 34 actually starts in Genesis

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33, 18, where it tells us this. After Jacob came

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from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at Shechem

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in the land of Canaan and camped in front of

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the city. Now, the land of Canaan is the promised

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land. That is the land that God had promised

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to Abraham in the covenant that this will go

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to Abraham and his people. And so this is the

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land that God had called Jacob to come back to

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after his 20 years in this land of Paddan Aram

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with his uncle Laban. And in that call back,

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Jacob had vowed to return to Bethel. That was

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the place God was calling him back to, that place

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that God originally had met Jacob. When he left

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his homeland to go to Paddan Aram, God had met

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him there because Jacob was running for his life.

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And God said, hey, bro, this is the Nathan translation.

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I'm with you. You don't need to freak out. I'm

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here with you. I'm conducting business on your

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behalf. So just trust me. Stop trying to do things

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your own way. Well, Jacob then went on to, you

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know, continue to learn that lesson. And so God

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finally got to the point and said, come home.

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Come back to the promised land. We know according

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to Scripture, specifically, he was like, come

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back to Bethel, that place where I met you, that

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place where I reminded you that I'm your God,

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that I'm with you, that place that I reiterated

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the promises so that you just knew you could

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trust in those things. So he comes back as he's

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traveling home. Jacob has a whole bunch of encounters

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where God continued to refine his character,

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continued to show his power, his favor, really

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his own glory, God's own glory on Jacob's behalf.

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And yet, instead of total and complete obedience

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and a return to Bethel, which is, that word means

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the house of God, Jacob settles in Shechem, which

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is in the promised land. And it's only a mere

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20 miles north of Bethel. So close, Jacob. You're

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so close to doing what God said to do. You're

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so close to being where God wants you to be,

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but not quite. The reason he settled in Shechem

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there, and there's a lot of valid reasons, or

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you would think are valid reasons, that Shechem

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was a city that looked safe. It was a place that

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was of strategic location. It was a prosperous

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place. And so there was a lot of reason to kind

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of settle down here, right? This would be good

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for the family, good for business. But it wasn't

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where God told him to go. And it doesn't matter

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how good a place looks. And I say place, that

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could be physical location, that could be a place

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in ministry or service, you know, just where

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God has you. If a place just looks good, that's

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not necessarily the place where God wants you.

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And so he settled in Shechem, and his halfway

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obedience would have a destructive influence

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on his family. And, you know, I just want to

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start out by encouraging and reminding us, please

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understand, halfway obedience places everyone

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you love in danger. Everyone. You see, we never

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sin alone. And a lot of us might think, well,

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of course we sin alone. There's things I do that

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nobody knows about but God. Things I do in the

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dark, in secret, right? Things I think or say

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or partake in. But you never sin alone. Please

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understand. The corrosive nature of sin is pervasive.

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And it always will spill out and affect those

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around you. Think of Jonah, right? Jonah's sin

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was disobedience to God. Who did it affect? Only

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Jonah? No, the whole crew of that ship was affected

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because of his disobedience. And our disobedience

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is going to affect those around us, our friends,

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our families, our spouses. And so here's the

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reality, and I've said this before, but halfway

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obedience is disobedience, period. There's obedience.

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and disobedience. There's no halfway point, right?

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If you're not being obedient to what God has

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told you to do, in its entirety, you are being

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disobedient. And God sees through our sad justifications.

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And so as we get into this chapter, one of the

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big red flags that you'll notice that we'll see

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in this chapter is that God's name does not appear

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in this chapter one single time. Throughout all

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these stories we've been reading about Jacob

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and Isaac, God's name pops up pretty regularly

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as God is reminding or talking or working. But

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in this chapter, God's name doesn't appear a

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single time. And the reason is this chapter is

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a picture of what happens when we walk in partial

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obedience to God's will. This story is a picture

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of the consequences of partial obedience. And

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so it's this setting. of Jacob being settled

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with his family at Shechem that Jacob's only

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daughter Dinah walks into the story, a curious

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young woman who we find is unsupervised and unprotected.

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So read with me in Genesis 34, starting in verse

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one. It says, Leah's daughter Dinah, whom Leah

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aborted Jacob, went out to see some of the young

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women of the area. When Shechem, son of Hamor

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the Hivite, or Hittite, those are interchangeable,

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who was the region's chieftain, saw her, he took

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her and he raped her. He became infatuated with

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Jacob's daughter Dinah. He loved the young girl

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and spoke tenderly to her. Get me this girl as

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a wife, he told his father. Jacob heard that

00:14:31.799 --> 00:14:34.159
Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah, but since

00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:36.139
his sons were with the livestock in the field,

00:14:36.259 --> 00:14:39.629
he remained silent until they returned. Meanwhile,

00:14:39.870 --> 00:14:42.350
Shechem's father Hamor came to speak with Jacob.

00:14:42.970 --> 00:14:45.309
Jacob's sons returned from the field when they

00:14:45.309 --> 00:14:47.990
heard about the incident. They were deeply grieved

00:14:47.990 --> 00:14:51.230
and very angry for Shechem had committed an outrage

00:14:51.230 --> 00:14:54.409
against Israel by raping Jacob's daughter, and

00:14:54.409 --> 00:14:58.710
such a thing should not be done. Wow, this is

00:14:58.710 --> 00:15:03.470
a heavy scene here, a heavy moment. They're settled

00:15:03.470 --> 00:15:06.669
in Shechem, and then it tells us that Dinah goes

00:15:06.669 --> 00:15:08.769
out to see some of the young women of the area.

00:15:08.850 --> 00:15:12.450
This could be that she has friends in the area

00:15:12.450 --> 00:15:14.409
now, and so she's going out to her friend's house.

00:15:14.590 --> 00:15:16.909
Hey, I'm going to my girlfriend's house. It could

00:15:16.909 --> 00:15:19.210
be that. It could be that this was her just going

00:15:19.210 --> 00:15:21.950
out to meet people because they lived in the

00:15:21.950 --> 00:15:24.370
area. It doesn't tell us specifically, but the

00:15:24.370 --> 00:15:27.909
idea is that as she goes out, this horrible,

00:15:27.950 --> 00:15:30.620
horrible thing happens to her. Shechem, who is

00:15:30.620 --> 00:15:32.740
the prince of the city, sexually assaults her.

00:15:33.059 --> 00:15:35.919
And then he becomes obsessed with her. You see

00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:38.799
that one word there when it says after he raped

00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:42.899
her, he became infatuated and he loved her. And

00:15:42.899 --> 00:15:44.620
that's one of those things where I'm like, are

00:15:44.620 --> 00:15:50.259
you kidding me? Bible? Loved her? But that word

00:15:50.259 --> 00:15:53.159
loved, it means in the Hebrew that he was obsessed,

00:15:53.399 --> 00:15:56.519
infatuated, right? He had that kind of possessive.

00:15:57.539 --> 00:15:59.399
jealous, kind of like, she's mine, I have to

00:15:59.399 --> 00:16:01.820
be with her. But this isn't love. This isn't

00:16:01.820 --> 00:16:04.500
love as in love and respect and care and concern.

00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:09.159
This is him trying to take what he wants even

00:16:09.159 --> 00:16:11.559
more so. And so then it says he speaks kindly

00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:13.879
to her, right? I just, I want to punch a guy

00:16:13.879 --> 00:16:16.690
in the face already, you know, because... This

00:16:16.690 --> 00:16:19.929
is a common thing that happens in domestic violence

00:16:19.929 --> 00:16:21.889
situations, right? They call it the honeymoon

00:16:21.889 --> 00:16:25.730
cycle, where like in a domestic violence situation,

00:16:25.889 --> 00:16:29.070
there's typically an increase of tension and

00:16:29.070 --> 00:16:32.190
tension and tension and tension until the perpetrator

00:16:32.190 --> 00:16:36.309
snaps and he abuses, physically abuses his partner.

00:16:36.350 --> 00:16:38.009
It happens with women too, but predominantly

00:16:38.009 --> 00:16:41.169
with men. And then right after he... beats her

00:16:41.169 --> 00:16:43.350
up or something, it's immediately the, oh my

00:16:43.350 --> 00:16:47.009
gosh, I'm so sorry. I love you. I'll never do

00:16:47.009 --> 00:16:49.289
it again. This is the speaking kindly type of

00:16:49.289 --> 00:16:52.090
thing. It's the pattern of abuse that we see

00:16:52.090 --> 00:16:56.149
here in Scripture. And so his obsession, dad,

00:16:56.350 --> 00:16:59.529
get her as a wife for me. And I'm just like,

00:16:59.590 --> 00:17:01.669
bro, you're kind of going about this whole thing

00:17:01.669 --> 00:17:03.850
backwards, right? And he's just this terrible

00:17:03.850 --> 00:17:07.250
dude. But culturally, we just need to understand

00:17:07.250 --> 00:17:09.809
kind of... what's going on here because a young

00:17:09.809 --> 00:17:11.849
woman of marrying age at this time in the culture

00:17:11.849 --> 00:17:15.230
was really required to be supervised at all times

00:17:15.230 --> 00:17:18.589
for a number of reasons. But her being able to

00:17:18.589 --> 00:17:21.490
leave and go, you know, seek out the women of

00:17:21.490 --> 00:17:25.529
the area, what that tells us... is that she was

00:17:25.529 --> 00:17:28.490
not supervised by mom and dad, that she was not

00:17:28.490 --> 00:17:30.230
being taken care of in that regard, that there

00:17:30.230 --> 00:17:34.809
was a negligence on behalf of her parents. This

00:17:34.809 --> 00:17:37.170
could mean a lot of things, but what we know

00:17:37.170 --> 00:17:40.509
about Jacob and his family is that it's likely

00:17:40.509 --> 00:17:43.109
that Dinah just simply didn't mean very much

00:17:43.109 --> 00:17:46.279
to Jacob. Culturally, she was a daughter, and

00:17:46.279 --> 00:17:49.440
so daughters were less valuable than sons because

00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:52.859
daughters didn't carry on the family name. They

00:17:52.859 --> 00:17:55.859
were typically married off to another family

00:17:55.859 --> 00:17:59.259
and that type of thing. But we know that she's

00:17:59.259 --> 00:18:02.240
a daughter of Leah, and Leah was the least favorite

00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:04.960
wife that Jacob had, right? He was the one that

00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:08.619
was the... the consolation prize, right? He didn't

00:18:08.619 --> 00:18:11.039
want her. He didn't want to marry her. But since

00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:12.700
he was tricked by Laban, that's who he ended

00:18:12.700 --> 00:18:14.619
up with. And he ended up having, you know, a

00:18:14.619 --> 00:18:18.299
bunch of kids with her. But even though he had

00:18:18.299 --> 00:18:21.299
six sons with her, Leah, least favorite wife,

00:18:21.619 --> 00:18:23.859
Dinah being a girl, was probably just kind of

00:18:23.859 --> 00:18:27.079
least favorite of the whole family. And so, and

00:18:27.079 --> 00:18:29.519
then we see this kind of in his response where

00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:32.059
it says, since his sons were out with the livestock,

00:18:32.359 --> 00:18:36.349
he remained silent until they returned. I'm like,

00:18:36.410 --> 00:18:40.369
bro, your daughter just got raped, and the news

00:18:40.369 --> 00:18:46.509
came to you, right? Like, the man in me is like,

00:18:46.670 --> 00:18:50.349
right that moment, kill the messenger, get the

00:18:50.349 --> 00:18:54.190
army, raise the town, right? It's like this is

00:18:54.190 --> 00:18:57.490
such a horrible injustice, and yet he's like,

00:18:57.589 --> 00:18:59.130
okay, I'll just wait for the kids to get back

00:18:59.130 --> 00:19:02.150
from work. Just this appalling lack of urgency

00:19:02.150 --> 00:19:05.940
considering the crime, and so. And then he's

00:19:05.940 --> 00:19:09.819
waiting for his sons to get back. Like he doesn't

00:19:09.819 --> 00:19:12.319
even want to deal with it himself. I'll let the

00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:15.140
boys handle it. I mean, it just shows us this

00:19:15.140 --> 00:19:18.380
really sad picture of how he views his daughter

00:19:18.380 --> 00:19:21.859
here. Now, Dinah, she was around six years old

00:19:21.859 --> 00:19:24.779
when they left Padana Ram, and we know that a

00:19:24.779 --> 00:19:26.559
bunch of time has passed at this point, so it's

00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:30.539
very likely that she's in her teens or very close

00:19:30.539 --> 00:19:33.680
to her teens. But in the culture of the time,

00:19:34.329 --> 00:19:38.410
An unattached woman was fair game in the major

00:19:38.410 --> 00:19:43.710
cities. In the big cities, the pagan worship

00:19:43.710 --> 00:19:47.089
and stuff was often connected with promiscuity

00:19:47.089 --> 00:19:49.029
and prostitutes and stuff. And so if there was

00:19:49.029 --> 00:19:51.589
an unconnected woman in the city, it was very

00:19:51.589 --> 00:19:54.150
typical for the men to pray on them. And that

00:19:54.150 --> 00:19:56.690
was why women needed to be supervised and stuff,

00:19:56.769 --> 00:19:58.970
you know, specifically when they were unmarried

00:19:58.970 --> 00:20:02.250
or unattached. But sadly, she's not. She's not

00:20:02.250 --> 00:20:05.390
supervised. She goes out. She gets raped. Now,

00:20:05.410 --> 00:20:08.109
our big brothers hear about this, and they rightly

00:20:08.109 --> 00:20:11.509
become outraged and very angry, and outrage is

00:20:11.509 --> 00:20:13.809
right and appropriate. You know, sexual assault

00:20:13.809 --> 00:20:18.309
is a terrible, horrible crime. But what they

00:20:18.309 --> 00:20:21.089
end up doing about it is wrong, and that's kind

00:20:21.089 --> 00:20:22.670
of what we're going to see through this. So verse

00:20:22.670 --> 00:20:26.390
8, Hamor said to Jacob's sons, My son Shechem

00:20:26.390 --> 00:20:29.130
has his heart set on your daughter. Please give

00:20:29.130 --> 00:20:31.700
her to him as a wife. Intermarry with us. Give

00:20:31.700 --> 00:20:33.819
your daughters to us. Take our daughters for

00:20:33.819 --> 00:20:35.980
yourselves. Live with us. The land is before

00:20:35.980 --> 00:20:39.599
you. Settle here. Move about and acquire property

00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:42.599
in it. Then Shechem said to Dinah's father and

00:20:42.599 --> 00:20:44.859
brothers, grant me this favor and I will give

00:20:44.859 --> 00:20:48.339
you whatever you say. Demand of me a high compensation

00:20:48.339 --> 00:20:50.619
and gift. I'll give you whatever you ask of me.

00:20:50.680 --> 00:20:55.420
Just give the girl to be my wife. It's terrible.

00:20:56.140 --> 00:20:58.640
Dinah gets raped and now her rapist wants her

00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:05.460
to be his wife. Now, if we could zoom out without

00:21:05.460 --> 00:21:10.039
minimizing what has happened to Dinah, what is

00:21:10.039 --> 00:21:12.480
Satan trying to do here through all of this?

00:21:12.859 --> 00:21:16.440
What does Satan try to accomplish? Now, we start

00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:18.799
with understanding that Jacob's halfway obedience

00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:21.839
is what caused him to justify settling in Shechem

00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:25.240
instead of going all the way to Bethel. His kind

00:21:25.240 --> 00:21:26.680
of, you know, well, I'm in the promised land,

00:21:26.839 --> 00:21:30.059
right? That's what God wanted me to do is go

00:21:30.059 --> 00:21:32.700
back to the promised land. No, he wanted you

00:21:32.700 --> 00:21:36.400
to go back to Bethel, but Jacob's justifying,

00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:40.140
you know, staying here. And it's that disobedience

00:21:40.140 --> 00:21:42.240
that sets the stage for this horrible thing to

00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:48.359
happen to his daughter. Dads, you're responsible

00:21:48.359 --> 00:21:52.440
for your kids. Your disobedience will affect

00:21:52.440 --> 00:21:56.559
your family. And you have to be aware of that.

00:21:57.130 --> 00:21:59.269
You're responsible. Jacob was the father, the

00:21:59.269 --> 00:22:02.529
patriarch of this family, and he's the one responsible

00:22:02.529 --> 00:22:05.049
for everything that happens to his family, and

00:22:05.049 --> 00:22:07.529
yet he's being so passive here where it's like,

00:22:07.589 --> 00:22:10.029
well, you know, not really that big of a deal.

00:22:10.150 --> 00:22:12.369
And then you have this proposal, right, this

00:22:12.369 --> 00:22:17.869
disgusting proposal. Let's make this right. My

00:22:17.869 --> 00:22:19.890
son will marry your daughter. And culturally,

00:22:20.109 --> 00:22:21.609
there was that type of thing where if a woman

00:22:21.609 --> 00:22:24.710
was assaulted, there was law that you had to

00:22:24.710 --> 00:22:27.049
marry the woman, right? She had to become a part

00:22:27.049 --> 00:22:28.549
of the family that you were going to take care

00:22:28.549 --> 00:22:34.450
of now, as weird as that sounds. But then he

00:22:34.450 --> 00:22:36.430
goes on to say, let's make this right. Let's

00:22:36.430 --> 00:22:39.009
intermarry. Let's share land. Let's trade freely.

00:22:39.150 --> 00:22:41.549
Let's do all this stuff. And essentially, what

00:22:41.549 --> 00:22:45.009
is happening here is Satan is using this situation

00:22:45.009 --> 00:22:48.670
with Dinah and Shechem. To say, Jacob, let's

00:22:48.670 --> 00:22:51.789
become one people. The people in Shechem were

00:22:51.789 --> 00:22:53.650
Canaanites. They were Perizzites, we're going

00:22:53.650 --> 00:22:55.990
to see later. They were pagans. They weren't

00:22:55.990 --> 00:22:58.910
God's people. The entire reason God called Jacob

00:22:58.910 --> 00:23:01.670
away from Laban to come back home is he was setting

00:23:01.670 --> 00:23:03.730
them apart. He's like, you're going to become

00:23:03.730 --> 00:23:06.109
Israel. You're going to become my people, the

00:23:06.109 --> 00:23:07.849
one who the promise and the covenant is going

00:23:07.849 --> 00:23:09.730
to come through. And now Jacob's like, well,

00:23:09.769 --> 00:23:11.410
yeah, I'm in the promised land. This is close

00:23:11.410 --> 00:23:15.789
enough. And right there is the temptation. to

00:23:15.789 --> 00:23:18.769
be assimilated into the world, to become one

00:23:18.769 --> 00:23:23.150
of us. Satan was offering Jacob a shortcut to

00:23:23.150 --> 00:23:26.650
the promised land, a shortcut to the prosperity

00:23:26.650 --> 00:23:29.289
that God had promised him, but it was a shortcut

00:23:29.289 --> 00:23:31.230
to those things without full obedience to the

00:23:31.230 --> 00:23:33.990
Lord. And that is always what Satan will do.

00:23:34.549 --> 00:23:36.869
Satan will always offer the shortcut without

00:23:36.869 --> 00:23:40.740
the path of obedience. Okay, okay, fine. God's

00:23:40.740 --> 00:23:42.819
going to do this. God made these promises to

00:23:42.819 --> 00:23:44.759
you, and you're God's child, and you're a Christian,

00:23:44.859 --> 00:23:50.140
and okay, whatever, fine. But get it this way.

00:23:51.960 --> 00:23:53.539
That's what Satan did to Jesus in the wilderness,

00:23:53.740 --> 00:23:58.319
right? Oh, you're the son of God. Okay, fine.

00:23:59.920 --> 00:24:04.079
Command these stones to become bread. Takes them

00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:05.539
on the temple. Look, I'll give you everything.

00:24:06.269 --> 00:24:07.890
You're God. You're the ruler of the universe.

00:24:07.910 --> 00:24:10.750
Sure, I'll give it to you. But do it this way.

00:24:10.809 --> 00:24:18.190
Worship me instead. You have to be careful. Because

00:24:18.190 --> 00:24:20.509
it's in our partial obedience, it's in our halfway

00:24:20.509 --> 00:24:23.589
obedience, which is disobedience, that Satan

00:24:23.589 --> 00:24:25.289
will come along and go, hey, man, you're doing

00:24:25.289 --> 00:24:27.589
great. Oh, you're doing what God told you to

00:24:27.589 --> 00:24:31.150
do. Look how obedient you're being. Wow. You

00:24:31.150 --> 00:24:34.319
know, by the way. How about you let a little

00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:35.799
of this into your life? How about you kind of

00:24:35.799 --> 00:24:38.480
co -mingle with the world here? You can be a

00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:40.859
Christian. That's fine. Just don't say anything

00:24:40.859 --> 00:24:42.839
about that, and you don't have to stand up for

00:24:42.839 --> 00:24:44.819
righteousness, and you don't need to toe the

00:24:44.819 --> 00:24:47.700
line there. No, it's okay. Look, you're a Christian.

00:24:48.619 --> 00:24:54.960
They're Muslim. You're the same. And Christians

00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:58.039
who are living in halfway obedience will hear

00:24:58.039 --> 00:25:00.839
these things and go, hmm, that kind of makes

00:25:00.839 --> 00:25:10.369
sense. The danger here is the world is tricky.

00:25:10.750 --> 00:25:12.990
The devil is tricky. Shechem sweetens the deal

00:25:12.990 --> 00:25:17.549
with a blank check, right? Please, ask for anything.

00:25:17.589 --> 00:25:21.009
I will give you anything. Blank check, name your

00:25:21.009 --> 00:25:22.990
price. And the idea here is what he's saying

00:25:22.990 --> 00:25:26.029
is look like, my personal sacrifice to you will

00:25:26.029 --> 00:25:31.450
wash away this sin, right? And that's another

00:25:31.450 --> 00:25:35.450
way halfway obedient Christians live. God says,

00:25:35.490 --> 00:25:38.630
I want you to do this. And the halfway obedient

00:25:38.630 --> 00:25:43.390
Christian goes, well, I did most of it. And it's

00:25:43.390 --> 00:25:46.789
okay, God, because look what I gave to you. Look

00:25:46.789 --> 00:25:50.150
what I sacrificed. And we all know that scripture,

00:25:50.269 --> 00:25:52.289
right? God says, I desire obedience, not sacrifice.

00:25:54.750 --> 00:25:59.049
And yet in our delusions from our halfway obedience,

00:25:59.269 --> 00:26:01.390
we all think our sacrifice makes up for the lack

00:26:01.390 --> 00:26:04.250
of our obedience. And these might even be good

00:26:04.250 --> 00:26:07.150
things. God, I increased my tithe. God, I served

00:26:07.150 --> 00:26:09.750
extra today. God, I didn't even want to go to

00:26:09.750 --> 00:26:13.569
the Halloween maze, but I did. Now, those may

00:26:13.569 --> 00:26:17.670
be all good things. God's like, I don't care

00:26:17.670 --> 00:26:19.509
about your sacrifice. You didn't do what I told

00:26:19.509 --> 00:26:25.769
you to do. You didn't obey me. And these things

00:26:25.769 --> 00:26:28.890
don't make up the difference. We try to offer

00:26:28.890 --> 00:26:32.380
sacrifice to offset our half obedience. It doesn't

00:26:32.380 --> 00:26:35.660
work. Now, the danger here, if Jacob accepted,

00:26:35.880 --> 00:26:38.400
as I said, is that Israel would have been assimilated

00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:41.680
into Canaanite life. Their call to be a separate

00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:47.420
and distinct people would cease to be. And it's

00:26:47.420 --> 00:26:51.039
a very serious danger with young people, especially

00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:54.460
with this with dating, right? I'm not supposed

00:26:54.460 --> 00:26:58.460
to be unequally yoked. But man, she's beautiful.

00:27:01.240 --> 00:27:04.859
She's heard of the name Jesus. That's close enough,

00:27:05.079 --> 00:27:11.779
right? I will date her into the kingdom. Missionary

00:27:11.779 --> 00:27:14.720
dating. I'm a missionary into that person's life.

00:27:14.779 --> 00:27:17.339
That guy, he's so handsome. Wow. He makes me

00:27:17.339 --> 00:27:19.640
feel so loved and so respected. Doesn't know

00:27:19.640 --> 00:27:27.359
the Lord. That's okay. I'll change him. Nobody's

00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:31.460
ever successfully changed anybody. And then you

00:27:31.460 --> 00:27:32.940
find yourself in a very difficult situation.

00:27:35.059 --> 00:27:37.660
This is why the Bible is very, very clear on

00:27:37.660 --> 00:27:39.619
these things. Now, I'm not talking about situations

00:27:39.619 --> 00:27:42.519
where like a couple got married and then one

00:27:42.519 --> 00:27:44.680
of them got saved. And, you know, the Bible talks

00:27:44.680 --> 00:27:46.700
about that in a specifically different way. But

00:27:46.700 --> 00:27:51.440
this idea is you don't compromise. You don't

00:27:51.440 --> 00:27:56.039
compromise to, you know, well, I'm mostly obeying

00:27:56.039 --> 00:27:59.400
God. I can't tell you how many times I've heard

00:27:59.400 --> 00:28:01.380
this. Yeah, I'm having these problems with this

00:28:01.380 --> 00:28:03.259
person and I'm dating and this and that. I'm

00:28:03.259 --> 00:28:05.099
like, great. Well, you know, are they saved?

00:28:05.220 --> 00:28:11.440
Well, they go to church with me. That's not what

00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:13.880
I asked, but it sounds like a justification,

00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:17.500
doesn't it? So, the most lethal enemy to our

00:28:17.500 --> 00:28:19.380
faith, it's not always an army. It's the friendly

00:28:19.380 --> 00:28:23.609
offer that erases the boundaries. It's the friendly

00:28:23.609 --> 00:28:27.670
invitation to fellowship that muddies the waters

00:28:27.670 --> 00:28:30.690
of separation between us and the world. So just

00:28:30.690 --> 00:28:34.450
like Lot, who is near Sodom, Jacob is near Bethel,

00:28:34.470 --> 00:28:37.630
geographically but far spiritually. So verse

00:28:37.630 --> 00:28:41.769
13. Jacob's sons answered Shechem and his father

00:28:41.769 --> 00:28:44.269
Hamor deceitfully because he had defiled their

00:28:44.269 --> 00:28:47.509
sister Dinah. We cannot do this thing, they said

00:28:47.509 --> 00:28:50.559
to him. Giving our sister to an uncircumcised

00:28:50.559 --> 00:28:54.079
man is a disgrace to us. We will agree with you

00:28:54.079 --> 00:28:56.220
only on this condition. If all of your males

00:28:56.220 --> 00:28:59.400
are circumcised as we are, then we will give

00:28:59.400 --> 00:29:01.599
you our daughters, take your daughters for ourselves,

00:29:01.859 --> 00:29:05.220
live with you and become one people. But if you

00:29:05.220 --> 00:29:07.740
will not listen to us and be circumcised, then

00:29:07.740 --> 00:29:11.109
we will take our daughter and go. And so they're

00:29:11.109 --> 00:29:13.029
referring to Dinah as their daughter, their little

00:29:13.029 --> 00:29:16.470
sister. There was a very serious sense of all

00:29:16.470 --> 00:29:19.170
the men in the family were to protect the women

00:29:19.170 --> 00:29:23.230
here. But the first thing I want to notice is

00:29:23.230 --> 00:29:30.029
Jacob, the father, says nothing. It's Jacob's

00:29:30.029 --> 00:29:32.990
sons who answered. He just passively sat back,

00:29:33.230 --> 00:29:36.250
didn't respond, didn't want to deal with it.

00:29:36.349 --> 00:29:43.769
Why? This is speculation on my part, but I've

00:29:43.769 --> 00:29:45.950
experienced in my own life, and I've talked to

00:29:45.950 --> 00:29:50.269
enough Christians to have seen this, is when

00:29:50.269 --> 00:29:53.569
a Christian is living in halfway obedience, and

00:29:53.569 --> 00:29:55.809
the Holy Spirit is convicting them of that, and

00:29:55.809 --> 00:30:00.190
they're trying to ignore that, they find it very

00:30:00.190 --> 00:30:03.910
difficult to stand up for righteousness and stand

00:30:03.910 --> 00:30:06.230
up for things and say, no, you shouldn't be doing

00:30:06.230 --> 00:30:09.619
that, because they know they're in sin. And so

00:30:09.619 --> 00:30:12.160
what the devil does is, nobody knows my sin,

00:30:12.200 --> 00:30:14.200
and I'm in halfway obedience, but I'm going to

00:30:14.200 --> 00:30:16.460
stand up and say, you shouldn't be doing that.

00:30:16.500 --> 00:30:19.960
That's wrong. And then the devil goes, hypocrite.

00:30:19.960 --> 00:30:22.940
And you go, oh. And you don't want to say anything.

00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:26.859
Now, if that happens in your life, the answer

00:30:26.859 --> 00:30:29.839
is not to not say anything. The answer is to

00:30:29.839 --> 00:30:33.839
stop being a hypocrite. Okay? That's the answer.

00:30:35.300 --> 00:30:37.559
And yet we wrestle with that because our sin

00:30:37.559 --> 00:30:41.019
wants sin. Our sin nature wants sin. And so if

00:30:41.019 --> 00:30:43.960
I could keep doing my sin and all I have to do

00:30:43.960 --> 00:30:47.460
is stop pointing out sin, and I'm not talking

00:30:47.460 --> 00:30:49.200
in that belligerent way. I'm talking that place

00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:50.960
where we're sharpening each other, you know,

00:30:50.960 --> 00:30:52.839
as the Bible says, and holding each other accountable.

00:30:52.940 --> 00:30:54.960
But I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to

00:30:54.960 --> 00:30:56.619
call out sin in the world. I'm not going to say

00:30:56.619 --> 00:30:58.279
that's wrong and that shouldn't be done because

00:30:58.279 --> 00:31:00.680
I don't want to have to give up what I'm doing

00:31:00.680 --> 00:31:03.700
wrong. This is what I think is happening with

00:31:03.700 --> 00:31:06.980
Jacob here. He knows he's not where God called

00:31:06.980 --> 00:31:11.420
him to be. But the sons answer, and we see that

00:31:11.420 --> 00:31:13.579
the apple hasn't fallen very far from the tree,

00:31:13.740 --> 00:31:18.640
right? Jacob, the deceiver, his sons answer deceitfully.

00:31:18.920 --> 00:31:22.380
They learned that from their dad. How to not

00:31:22.380 --> 00:31:25.619
tell the truth, how to twist things, how to not

00:31:25.619 --> 00:31:27.599
say what needs to be said, and so they go into

00:31:27.599 --> 00:31:30.460
this whole, you know, oh, we can't do that. That's

00:31:30.460 --> 00:31:37.920
a disgrace. You're uncircumcised. And so they

00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:41.259
justify their sin of lying, probably because,

00:31:41.400 --> 00:31:43.519
well, he did this thing, so therefore I'm justified.

00:31:44.660 --> 00:31:48.359
Another person's sin never justifies our sin,

00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:56.720
ever. Well, they did. Who cares? You are accountable

00:31:56.720 --> 00:31:59.220
to God for righteousness and godliness and obedience

00:31:59.220 --> 00:32:01.160
and disobedience. You're not accountable to them.

00:32:01.460 --> 00:32:06.059
They're not accountable to you. It's a part of

00:32:06.059 --> 00:32:08.859
what Christianity teaches in the body of Christ

00:32:08.859 --> 00:32:11.380
where we forgive one another and we recognize

00:32:11.380 --> 00:32:13.440
that we're each working out our own salvation

00:32:13.440 --> 00:32:16.079
and we don't try and compare ourselves and say,

00:32:16.119 --> 00:32:18.200
well, my sin's okay because their sin was worse.

00:32:20.519 --> 00:32:27.000
All sin nailed Jesus to the cross. And so never

00:32:27.000 --> 00:32:32.039
let another person's sin justify your own. And

00:32:32.039 --> 00:32:34.509
so they're gonna... lie and they're going to

00:32:34.509 --> 00:32:37.069
take this revenge into their own hands, and that's

00:32:37.069 --> 00:32:38.609
the other part of this whole thing that's wrong.

00:32:40.170 --> 00:32:43.529
Romans 12, 19 tells us, friends, do not avenge

00:32:43.529 --> 00:32:47.009
yourselves. Instead, leave room for God's wrath

00:32:47.009 --> 00:32:50.009
because it is written, vengeance belongs to me,

00:32:50.049 --> 00:32:55.269
I will repay, says the Lord. This is a hard verse,

00:32:55.410 --> 00:32:59.190
especially looking at things like sexual assault,

00:32:59.289 --> 00:33:08.119
right? When someone is victimized in this way,

00:33:08.200 --> 00:33:11.579
it is a very, very difficult thing to come to,

00:33:11.680 --> 00:33:18.740
to not want revenge, to not want vengeance, to

00:33:18.740 --> 00:33:20.880
not want to make someone pay the ultimate price

00:33:20.880 --> 00:33:25.579
for what they have done. But we have to understand

00:33:25.579 --> 00:33:29.440
as believers, we are not the arbiters of justice.

00:33:30.929 --> 00:33:32.950
Now, there is justice in our world, right? We

00:33:32.950 --> 00:33:34.930
have courts. We have all this stuff that's in

00:33:34.930 --> 00:33:38.509
place. But we are not the arbiters of justice.

00:33:38.609 --> 00:33:43.170
Our God is. He is the one that's going to mete

00:33:43.170 --> 00:33:45.109
out vengeance. And we know it's going to come.

00:33:47.089 --> 00:33:50.329
But we have to be able to take a step back and

00:33:50.329 --> 00:33:52.769
go, vengeance belongs to the Lord. It is not

00:33:52.769 --> 00:33:55.990
my calling, my job to mete out that vengeance.

00:33:58.289 --> 00:34:00.450
This is exactly what Jacob's sons do, though.

00:34:00.490 --> 00:34:02.750
They take it into their own hands, and then they

00:34:02.750 --> 00:34:04.650
do something that's doubly dishonoring is they

00:34:04.650 --> 00:34:06.750
take the sign of the covenant, which was meant

00:34:06.750 --> 00:34:09.010
to be a sign of faith. It was meant to be the

00:34:09.010 --> 00:34:13.269
sign that I belong to God. I am God's child.

00:34:13.349 --> 00:34:16.050
I follow his will. I follow his way. I do what

00:34:16.050 --> 00:34:18.670
he wants. I live differently than the rest of

00:34:18.670 --> 00:34:21.210
the world. That's what this sign means, and they

00:34:21.210 --> 00:34:25.429
use it as a means to deceive and act worse than

00:34:25.429 --> 00:34:29.880
the world. It's ironic, they say giving our sister

00:34:29.880 --> 00:34:32.460
to an uncircumcised man is a disgrace to us.

00:34:32.900 --> 00:34:35.119
And then they use the sign of the covenant and

00:34:35.119 --> 00:34:39.559
disgrace God. Disgrace all that that sign is

00:34:39.559 --> 00:34:42.619
supposed to communicate. They use it as a tool

00:34:42.619 --> 00:34:44.800
of deception and vengeance and that's just an

00:34:44.800 --> 00:34:48.760
abuse of what is holy. And so verse 18, their

00:34:48.760 --> 00:34:50.880
words seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem.

00:34:51.420 --> 00:34:53.900
The young man did not delay in doing this because

00:34:53.900 --> 00:34:57.019
he was delighted with Jacob's daughter. Now he

00:34:57.019 --> 00:34:59.599
was the most important in all his father's family.

00:35:00.079 --> 00:35:02.360
So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate,

00:35:02.460 --> 00:35:04.659
the gate of their city, and spoke to the men

00:35:04.659 --> 00:35:07.559
of the city. These men are peaceful towards us,

00:35:07.619 --> 00:35:09.880
they said. Let them live in our land and move

00:35:09.880 --> 00:35:12.840
about in it, for indeed the region is large enough

00:35:12.840 --> 00:35:15.780
for them. Let's take their daughters as our wives

00:35:15.780 --> 00:35:18.860
and give our daughters to them. But the men will

00:35:18.860 --> 00:35:21.519
agree to live with us and be one people only

00:35:21.519 --> 00:35:24.519
on this condition, if all of our men are circumcised

00:35:24.519 --> 00:35:28.119
just as they are. Won't their livestock and their

00:35:28.119 --> 00:35:30.099
possessions and all their animals become ours?

00:35:31.099 --> 00:35:33.340
Only let's agree with them and they will live

00:35:33.340 --> 00:35:35.860
with us. All the men who had come to the city

00:35:35.860 --> 00:35:37.840
gates listened to Hamor and his son Shechem and

00:35:37.840 --> 00:35:41.440
all those men were circumcised. And so they agree

00:35:41.440 --> 00:35:45.820
to the terms here. Right? Why? Well, Shechem,

00:35:45.880 --> 00:35:49.590
it was just lustful passion. It was just... this

00:35:49.590 --> 00:35:53.090
obsessive need for control and possession. But

00:35:53.090 --> 00:35:55.269
for his dad, Hamor, it's economic greed. He's

00:35:55.269 --> 00:35:57.690
thinking, oh, sweet, let's become one people

00:35:57.690 --> 00:35:59.309
because then all their land and all their animals

00:35:59.309 --> 00:36:01.469
and all their possessions will become ours anyway.

00:36:02.789 --> 00:36:08.150
Now, worldly pursuits, worldly desires, they're

00:36:08.150 --> 00:36:10.070
always going to lead us into making bad decisions.

00:36:10.250 --> 00:36:12.449
And this is a terrible decision for Hamor and

00:36:12.449 --> 00:36:14.909
Shechem, right? Not that they're off the hook,

00:36:14.969 --> 00:36:17.130
not that there's... You know, they're good guys

00:36:17.130 --> 00:36:19.610
in any way, but this is going to result in something

00:36:19.610 --> 00:36:22.550
very terrible for them. And they're not, they

00:36:22.550 --> 00:36:25.610
are the world, but even in our lives as Christians,

00:36:25.769 --> 00:36:27.989
you know, when we're pursuing worldly selfish

00:36:27.989 --> 00:36:32.829
things, it's always going to lead to misery and

00:36:32.829 --> 00:36:34.809
pain. And we're going to see that now. Verse

00:36:34.809 --> 00:36:38.789
25, the moment that this whole scheme was designed

00:36:38.789 --> 00:36:41.050
to come to, it comes to pass on the third day.

00:36:42.440 --> 00:36:44.539
When they were still in pain, two of Jacob's

00:36:44.539 --> 00:36:46.699
sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took

00:36:46.699 --> 00:36:49.340
their swords, went into the unsuspecting city

00:36:49.340 --> 00:36:52.900
and killed every male. They killed Hamor and

00:36:52.900 --> 00:36:54.880
his son Shechem with their swords. They took

00:36:54.880 --> 00:36:57.900
Dinah from Shechem's house and went away. Jacob's

00:36:57.900 --> 00:36:59.639
sons came to the slaughter and plundered the

00:36:59.639 --> 00:37:02.460
city because their sister had been defiled. They

00:37:02.460 --> 00:37:04.619
took their flocks, herds, donkeys, and whatever

00:37:04.619 --> 00:37:06.960
was in the city and in the field. They captured

00:37:06.960 --> 00:37:08.920
all their possessions, dependents, and wives

00:37:08.920 --> 00:37:15.119
and plundered everything in the houses. Now,

00:37:15.159 --> 00:37:20.539
I'm not going to lie. As a man, I'm going, yeah,

00:37:20.739 --> 00:37:26.900
they got what they deserved. But did they? As

00:37:26.900 --> 00:37:32.119
bad as the crime was to Dinah, this is an egregious

00:37:32.119 --> 00:37:38.800
over -response. Shechem was the one who committed

00:37:38.800 --> 00:37:42.190
the crime, not all the men of the city. Shechem

00:37:42.190 --> 00:37:46.869
needed to be held accountable, absolutely. But

00:37:46.869 --> 00:37:53.969
does rape justify murder? That's a tough question

00:37:53.969 --> 00:37:57.489
for us to ask. On the outside, we might be able

00:37:57.489 --> 00:37:59.710
to go, well, no, but what if it was one of our

00:37:59.710 --> 00:38:04.650
loved ones that was assaulted? And yet we still

00:38:04.650 --> 00:38:06.550
have to be able to step back as God's people

00:38:06.550 --> 00:38:11.659
and say vengeance belongs to the Lord. Now, It

00:38:11.659 --> 00:38:13.980
seems that Dinah was being held by Shechem against

00:38:13.980 --> 00:38:15.519
her will because they had to rescue her from

00:38:15.519 --> 00:38:18.860
his house, maybe as leverage for the deal. But

00:38:18.860 --> 00:38:22.059
here's the picture. It's like Simon and Levi

00:38:22.059 --> 00:38:26.019
are like, look, you want to kill our family honor

00:38:26.019 --> 00:38:29.380
and steal the innocence from our sister? Fine,

00:38:29.420 --> 00:38:31.179
we'll do that back to you, but a hundredfold.

00:38:32.340 --> 00:38:34.960
And again, we might say, well, yeah, but it's

00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:40.119
disproportionate to the crime. it's an ungodly

00:38:40.119 --> 00:38:43.699
response in both the crime, dying of being raped,

00:38:43.800 --> 00:38:46.159
and all these murders. They're horrible, horrible

00:38:46.159 --> 00:38:53.599
acts. Now, here's the problem. When we take vengeance,

00:38:53.760 --> 00:38:58.000
we tend to be exponential in our vengeance. That's

00:38:58.000 --> 00:39:01.380
why vengeance belongs to the Lord. Right? And

00:39:01.380 --> 00:39:03.619
us as humans, right? You smack me in the face,

00:39:03.639 --> 00:39:06.619
I'm going to knock you out. That's not equal.

00:39:08.279 --> 00:39:10.199
Right? You steal something from mine, I'm going

00:39:10.199 --> 00:39:13.440
to burn your house down. Like when I used to

00:39:13.440 --> 00:39:15.039
live at the Belmont house back here with a bunch

00:39:15.039 --> 00:39:18.420
of the young adult guys, you know, they would

00:39:18.420 --> 00:39:21.440
think it was fun to play practical jokes. And

00:39:21.440 --> 00:39:23.440
I don't like practical jokes because all they

00:39:23.440 --> 00:39:26.420
do is keep escalating until something valuable

00:39:26.420 --> 00:39:29.420
gets broken or somebody really gets hurt. And

00:39:29.420 --> 00:39:31.739
so they played a joke on me one day and I was

00:39:31.739 --> 00:39:34.949
like, hey, I'm just telling you right now. Like,

00:39:34.969 --> 00:39:36.449
we're not going to do this escalating thing.

00:39:36.510 --> 00:39:38.210
I'm going all the way to the end, and I'm going

00:39:38.210 --> 00:39:41.670
to end this right now. What do you mean? I'm

00:39:41.670 --> 00:39:44.150
like, well, you don't want to find out. And that

00:39:44.150 --> 00:39:47.469
stopped the practical jokes, but the idea is

00:39:47.469 --> 00:39:51.050
in our vengeance, we're like, oh, you did this

00:39:51.050 --> 00:39:53.329
to me? I have to one -up it, ten -up it, a hundred

00:39:53.329 --> 00:39:57.550
-up it. And that's not right. That's not justice.

00:39:58.230 --> 00:40:02.250
That's vengeance. And so they go out and they

00:40:02.250 --> 00:40:05.150
commit these horrible crimes. And what should

00:40:05.150 --> 00:40:09.730
have happened, as hard as this is, the godly

00:40:09.730 --> 00:40:12.610
example is to let God handle the justice and

00:40:12.610 --> 00:40:15.130
be the people God is calling us to be. Think

00:40:15.130 --> 00:40:17.409
of Charlie Kirk's wife. What did she do publicly

00:40:17.409 --> 00:40:21.329
from stage? Her husband was murdered and she

00:40:21.329 --> 00:40:25.070
forgave the killer. And we think that's impossible.

00:40:25.309 --> 00:40:28.659
But as Christians, why is that impossible? What

00:40:28.659 --> 00:40:32.719
have we done against God and he forgave us? How

00:40:32.719 --> 00:40:34.639
have we sinned against the Lord and yet he forgave

00:40:34.639 --> 00:40:39.760
us? Now again, this is not to minimize the devastation

00:40:39.760 --> 00:40:42.179
that something like a rape and sexual assault

00:40:42.179 --> 00:40:45.519
could cause in someone's life. But vengeance

00:40:45.519 --> 00:40:49.280
is not the answer. Because you won't feel better.

00:40:51.099 --> 00:40:55.989
And so, They go in the third day. All the men

00:40:55.989 --> 00:40:57.610
in the city, they're still down from the pain

00:40:57.610 --> 00:41:00.570
of being circumcised. And it says Simeon and

00:41:00.570 --> 00:41:02.650
Levi went in. Out of all the brothers, it was

00:41:02.650 --> 00:41:04.690
them two. They were seemingly the most offended,

00:41:04.869 --> 00:41:07.030
the most filled with rage. And they go on this

00:41:07.030 --> 00:41:10.110
bloody murder spree, just a wholesale slaughter,

00:41:10.230 --> 00:41:12.050
wipe out every guy in the city who can't defend

00:41:12.050 --> 00:41:16.389
himself. Now, you might think, why them? Why

00:41:16.389 --> 00:41:18.750
did they do this? Why such violence on their

00:41:18.750 --> 00:41:21.329
part? It's very possible that that's just kind

00:41:21.329 --> 00:41:26.260
of who they were. They were violent. guys. Also,

00:41:26.340 --> 00:41:29.500
if we consider that they were indeed full brothers

00:41:29.500 --> 00:41:31.599
of Dinah, right, because they were all from Leah,

00:41:31.719 --> 00:41:34.659
and they were from the part of the family that

00:41:34.659 --> 00:41:37.340
was the least loved under the mom who was least

00:41:37.340 --> 00:41:39.340
loved. And so it's possible that these two just

00:41:39.340 --> 00:41:41.739
kind of, you know, after, you know, being the

00:41:41.739 --> 00:41:43.980
unloved part of the family for their whole life,

00:41:44.059 --> 00:41:46.199
and then they see their dad just passively not

00:41:46.199 --> 00:41:50.019
doing anything to defend or to, you know, do

00:41:50.019 --> 00:41:51.880
anything about the situation of Dinah, they just

00:41:51.880 --> 00:41:54.309
lost it. And then so they go out and they just

00:41:54.309 --> 00:41:57.070
kill everybody. And it's interesting. This is

00:41:57.070 --> 00:41:58.769
something that Jacob never gets over because

00:41:58.769 --> 00:42:02.050
later when Jacob dies, he gives a blessing to

00:42:02.050 --> 00:42:04.750
all of his sons. And it was both a blessing and

00:42:04.750 --> 00:42:06.889
a prophecy. And this is what he said to Simeon

00:42:06.889 --> 00:42:11.489
and Levi. Genesis 49 verse 5. He says, Simeon

00:42:11.489 --> 00:42:13.630
and Levi are brothers. Their knives are vicious

00:42:13.630 --> 00:42:16.750
weapons. May I never enter their council. May

00:42:16.750 --> 00:42:19.230
I never join their assembly. For in their anger

00:42:19.230 --> 00:42:21.510
they kill men and on a whim they hamstring oxen.

00:42:21.929 --> 00:42:24.610
Their anger is cursed, for it is strong, and

00:42:24.610 --> 00:42:27.429
their fury, for it is cruel. I will disperse

00:42:27.429 --> 00:42:29.510
them throughout Jacob and scatter them throughout

00:42:29.510 --> 00:42:33.949
Israel. So they got cursed. They didn't even

00:42:33.949 --> 00:42:37.329
get a blessing, right? Their anger is cursed

00:42:37.329 --> 00:42:41.190
and their fury is cruel. Now this is specifically

00:42:41.190 --> 00:42:44.650
referring to this moment, but Jacob was never

00:42:44.650 --> 00:42:48.010
okay with what they did. And then prophetically,

00:42:48.050 --> 00:42:50.789
they were indeed dispersed. You see, we see something

00:42:50.789 --> 00:42:55.269
interesting here. They're both cursed. But Simeon

00:42:55.269 --> 00:42:58.110
vanishes and Levi ends up getting mercy. You

00:42:58.110 --> 00:43:00.969
see, the tribe of Simeon ends up disappearing

00:43:00.969 --> 00:43:03.250
and being absorbed into the tribe of Judah. There's

00:43:03.250 --> 00:43:08.090
prophecy fulfilled. Simeon is gone, right? Levi...

00:43:08.900 --> 00:43:11.480
never got any land. When they all came into the

00:43:11.480 --> 00:43:13.820
promised land, all the tribes got land, Levi

00:43:13.820 --> 00:43:16.980
got none. They were scattered throughout Israel,

00:43:17.119 --> 00:43:19.219
but the reason they were scattered is because

00:43:19.219 --> 00:43:23.019
they became the priestly tribe. They got no land

00:43:23.019 --> 00:43:25.539
to settle because God said, that is the inheritance

00:43:25.539 --> 00:43:28.019
for all the other tribes, but I am your inheritance.

00:43:30.099 --> 00:43:32.519
It's interesting, God in his grace and mercy

00:43:32.519 --> 00:43:36.239
takes what is probably the worst of the 12 tribes.

00:43:37.369 --> 00:43:39.909
This murderous, hateful guy that would just go

00:43:39.909 --> 00:43:43.869
slaughter people in vengeance. And he turns that

00:43:43.869 --> 00:43:48.630
guy into his priest. Isn't that what God does

00:43:48.630 --> 00:43:52.750
with us? He takes the vile and wicked sinners

00:43:52.750 --> 00:43:57.730
and he turns us into a kingdom of priests. That's

00:43:57.730 --> 00:43:59.829
just a beautiful thing God does. When I was in

00:43:59.829 --> 00:44:02.639
Africa. And there's a whole bunch of us, all

00:44:02.639 --> 00:44:05.400
different Calvary Chapel pastors, and it never

00:44:05.400 --> 00:44:09.900
ceases to amaze me. Like, oh, what's your background?

00:44:10.059 --> 00:44:16.099
Felon? Drug addict? Drug dealer? Womanizer? I'm

00:44:16.099 --> 00:44:17.920
like, that's the qualification to be a Calvary

00:44:17.920 --> 00:44:20.920
Chapel pastor. Some just terrible, terrible,

00:44:21.000 --> 00:44:24.320
horrible, sinful background. But it's the same

00:44:24.320 --> 00:44:28.059
with all of us. God saved you and made you his

00:44:28.059 --> 00:44:33.039
priesthood. Think about that. What mercy, what

00:44:33.039 --> 00:44:37.500
grace our God has. But in this moment here, both

00:44:37.500 --> 00:44:39.199
of these brothers, they do this very terrible

00:44:39.199 --> 00:44:41.460
thing and then it tells us that the rest of the

00:44:41.460 --> 00:44:43.500
brothers come after and they just loot the entire

00:44:43.500 --> 00:44:48.780
place. Steal everything, including the wives

00:44:48.780 --> 00:44:50.559
and children of all the men they just killed.

00:44:51.059 --> 00:44:56.860
They take them all. Again, this is highly disproportionate

00:44:56.860 --> 00:44:59.829
to the crime. Shechem rightfully should have

00:44:59.829 --> 00:45:03.690
been held accountable. But the rest of the city

00:45:03.690 --> 00:45:07.070
and all of this that is taking place, no, it's

00:45:07.070 --> 00:45:10.150
ungodly. But, you know, there's this thing, this

00:45:10.150 --> 00:45:13.989
phrase that we get from the Bible. I think it's

00:45:13.989 --> 00:45:17.349
Latin. It's called lex talionis. It means an

00:45:17.349 --> 00:45:19.550
eye for an eye. You guys heard that before? An

00:45:19.550 --> 00:45:21.989
eye for an eye, right? And, you know, we think

00:45:21.989 --> 00:45:26.019
eye for an eye and it's like, yeah. And we go,

00:45:26.099 --> 00:45:28.300
oh, God said eye for an eye? Jesus said that?

00:45:28.480 --> 00:45:32.280
And he goes, no, you said. But this is what I'm

00:45:32.280 --> 00:45:34.400
going to tell you to do. So the idea of an eye

00:45:34.400 --> 00:45:37.500
for an eye is this idea that you get what you

00:45:37.500 --> 00:45:39.420
get. You get what you deserve. And that's kind

00:45:39.420 --> 00:45:41.599
of what we see in this story, right? That, oh,

00:45:41.739 --> 00:45:44.820
they should have gotten this horrible retribution.

00:45:44.840 --> 00:45:48.559
But the whole idea of an eye for an eye, it exists

00:45:48.559 --> 00:45:53.460
to limit revenge, not extend it. And it's for

00:45:53.460 --> 00:45:58.480
reasons we see in this story. It's because when

00:45:58.480 --> 00:46:04.880
we're wronged, we react 10 times worse. And it's

00:46:04.880 --> 00:46:08.219
like, no, no, no. The crime deserves the justice.

00:46:08.420 --> 00:46:11.780
But the sons here, they're not executing justice.

00:46:11.920 --> 00:46:18.320
They're committing genocide. Genocide was not

00:46:18.320 --> 00:46:21.900
warranted. This theft and this looting was not

00:46:21.900 --> 00:46:24.440
warranted and yet this is what we see in this

00:46:24.440 --> 00:46:26.280
story. It's just, again, it's this gross, horrible

00:46:26.280 --> 00:46:28.780
story of what the people of God are doing here

00:46:28.780 --> 00:46:32.820
and misrepresenting him. But verse 30, with their

00:46:32.820 --> 00:46:34.699
swords still wet with blood, they face their

00:46:34.699 --> 00:46:37.719
father and Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, you've

00:46:37.719 --> 00:46:39.699
brought trouble on me, making me odious to the

00:46:39.699 --> 00:46:41.880
inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the

00:46:41.880 --> 00:46:44.559
Perizzites. We are few in number and if they

00:46:44.559 --> 00:46:46.980
unite against me and attack me, I and my household

00:46:46.980 --> 00:46:49.630
will be destroyed. But the answer is, should

00:46:49.630 --> 00:46:53.989
he treat our sister like a prostitute? And, you

00:46:53.989 --> 00:46:55.670
know, they get to the end of the chapter, and

00:46:55.670 --> 00:46:59.449
I read this, and I'm like, really, Jacob? Like,

00:46:59.530 --> 00:47:07.289
how about, how's Dinah? Is she okay? Is she safe?

00:47:08.329 --> 00:47:15.110
No. How about, you did what? You murdered the

00:47:15.110 --> 00:47:23.239
entire city? That's ungodly. Not even an objection

00:47:23.239 --> 00:47:27.480
like, you used the sign of the covenant to deceive

00:47:27.480 --> 00:47:30.679
and murder? What a disgrace to God. No, none

00:47:30.679 --> 00:47:35.139
of that. Just the very familiar self -preservation

00:47:35.139 --> 00:47:39.199
that has plagued Jacob's entire life. I'm in

00:47:39.199 --> 00:47:41.699
danger now because of what you did. I can't believe

00:47:41.699 --> 00:47:46.860
you put me in danger. Now his sons, they seize

00:47:46.860 --> 00:47:48.900
the moral high ground and they reject his self

00:47:48.900 --> 00:47:50.460
-centered concerns and that's where the story

00:47:50.460 --> 00:47:54.800
ends. You see, we get to the end of the story

00:47:54.800 --> 00:47:56.579
and we're like, that's it? They just said, should

00:47:56.579 --> 00:48:00.739
he treat our sister like a prostitute? All of

00:48:00.739 --> 00:48:03.019
this is a response of Jacob's half -obedience.

00:48:05.400 --> 00:48:07.679
All of this is a response of Jacob's decisions.

00:48:07.840 --> 00:48:11.940
This is a gross, sad, shocking, startling story

00:48:11.940 --> 00:48:16.199
in the biblical narrative of salvation. And as

00:48:16.199 --> 00:48:17.780
a church, we have to say, what is this shouting

00:48:17.780 --> 00:48:20.480
at us? What is this shouting at us? What is it

00:48:20.480 --> 00:48:26.380
saying to us? Because I'm sure in every church,

00:48:26.440 --> 00:48:28.920
but I'm sure there are some here that are numb

00:48:28.920 --> 00:48:32.380
or are growing numb to the world around you.

00:48:35.239 --> 00:48:37.519
One, I think the story of shouting that assimilation

00:48:37.519 --> 00:48:42.920
is indeed our great danger. Shechem was... A

00:48:42.920 --> 00:48:45.320
nice place, and it promised safety and friendship

00:48:45.320 --> 00:48:50.239
and profit and acceptance and inclusion. But

00:48:50.239 --> 00:48:53.739
it was a threat to the soul of Israel. A direct

00:48:53.739 --> 00:48:57.179
threat. And in our modern world, we're not necessarily

00:48:57.179 --> 00:49:02.260
seduced by lands and trade and all of that. But

00:49:02.260 --> 00:49:04.340
I would say very pointedly, we are seduced by

00:49:04.340 --> 00:49:09.159
screens. Pretty much every single one of you

00:49:09.159 --> 00:49:10.940
has one in your pocket or your purse right now.

00:49:14.280 --> 00:49:18.920
And we're constantly bombarded by those screens,

00:49:19.099 --> 00:49:22.820
constantly bombarded with the message from the

00:49:22.820 --> 00:49:27.340
world, become one of us, think like us, act like

00:49:27.340 --> 00:49:31.900
us, adopt our values, adopt our humor, adopt

00:49:31.900 --> 00:49:36.780
our sex ethics, adopt our money, our power, do

00:49:36.780 --> 00:49:43.239
it our way. Assimilation is very subtle. You

00:49:43.239 --> 00:49:45.179
see, Jacob's choice to stop in Shechem instead

00:49:45.179 --> 00:49:46.699
of going all the way to Bethel, it might have

00:49:46.699 --> 00:49:48.199
seemed like a no big deal. It's only 20 more

00:49:48.199 --> 00:49:52.840
miles. And yet, that decision threatened to erode

00:49:52.840 --> 00:49:56.059
the distinctiveness of Israel as a separate people

00:49:56.059 --> 00:49:58.159
who lived under a different way following the

00:49:58.159 --> 00:50:01.719
one true God. When it comes to what we ingest

00:50:01.719 --> 00:50:05.980
in our lives, and I'm speaking to me here, I'm

00:50:05.980 --> 00:50:14.150
right with you guys, okay? Hours and hours. Scrolling,

00:50:14.389 --> 00:50:21.030
TV, social media of violence and lust and worldly

00:50:21.030 --> 00:50:27.530
morality and off -color humor. Hours versus 10

00:50:27.530 --> 00:50:29.670
minutes in the Word in the morning as we do our

00:50:29.670 --> 00:50:34.010
daily devotion. Which discipler do you think

00:50:34.010 --> 00:50:35.650
is going to have the greatest influence on you

00:50:35.650 --> 00:50:39.710
and your family? You're being discipled. Don't

00:50:39.710 --> 00:50:43.710
think you're not. Now again, I'm not saying that

00:50:43.710 --> 00:50:46.289
you have to be in the Bible 24 hours a day and

00:50:46.289 --> 00:50:47.989
you can't watch anything or you're going to hell.

00:50:48.090 --> 00:50:52.269
That's not what I'm saying. But we do have to

00:50:52.269 --> 00:50:54.690
think about what's having the greatest influence

00:50:54.690 --> 00:50:57.570
on our lives. What's having the greatest influence

00:50:57.570 --> 00:51:01.190
in our thinking and our decision making? People

00:51:01.190 --> 00:51:03.690
spend billions of dollars to market. They study

00:51:03.690 --> 00:51:05.889
psychology. They study the way we think. And

00:51:05.889 --> 00:51:07.610
so every time you're flipping an ad, it's not

00:51:07.610 --> 00:51:10.639
just an ad, it's... millions of dollars spent

00:51:10.639 --> 00:51:16.860
to get you to think and feel a certain way. And

00:51:16.860 --> 00:51:21.179
it's like, well, that's going to affect me. I

00:51:21.179 --> 00:51:25.179
need to consume way more of this to be sensitive

00:51:25.179 --> 00:51:26.920
to the difference, right? The Bible talks about

00:51:26.920 --> 00:51:29.880
that. Whichever dog you feed is the one that's

00:51:29.880 --> 00:51:34.539
going to win the fight. Assimilation happens

00:51:34.539 --> 00:51:36.699
in everyday family life, not just big moments.

00:51:36.980 --> 00:51:39.719
You know Dinah? Essentially, it was like, hey,

00:51:39.760 --> 00:51:42.219
I'm going over to my friend's house, right? A

00:51:42.219 --> 00:51:43.840
normal everyday choice. I know kids don't do

00:51:43.840 --> 00:51:45.860
that much today, right? I'm going over to my

00:51:45.860 --> 00:51:48.380
friend's house and they log on to Discord. But

00:51:48.380 --> 00:51:50.739
I'm going to go hang out. I'm going to go here.

00:51:50.820 --> 00:51:53.099
I'm going to go do this. And it was a normal

00:51:53.099 --> 00:51:55.820
everyday choice that put her in harm's way. This

00:51:55.820 --> 00:51:57.820
is a picture of parental passivity. It's very,

00:51:57.900 --> 00:52:00.920
very costly. Parents, this is what the Bible

00:52:00.920 --> 00:52:07.440
says to you. Parent. Parent. Don't be passive.

00:52:07.480 --> 00:52:10.340
You are responsible for where your kids go. You're

00:52:10.340 --> 00:52:12.360
responsible for what your kids watch. You're

00:52:12.360 --> 00:52:14.980
responsible for what they do and how they behave.

00:52:16.099 --> 00:52:17.980
Again, as they grow up, you're teaching them

00:52:17.980 --> 00:52:20.480
to make their own decisions and stuff, but it's

00:52:20.480 --> 00:52:24.619
heartbreaking in our world today. You see kids

00:52:24.619 --> 00:52:27.199
at these young, young, young ages with a cell

00:52:27.199 --> 00:52:29.619
phone in their hand. And it's like, okay, great,

00:52:29.699 --> 00:52:31.099
you need to get a hold of this emergency stuff,

00:52:31.199 --> 00:52:34.059
but we're watching our culture unravel as kids

00:52:34.059 --> 00:52:38.110
are discipled by social media. One of the biggest

00:52:38.110 --> 00:52:40.769
problems we had over the last few years in our

00:52:40.769 --> 00:52:43.530
own youth ministry was when the kids would come

00:52:43.530 --> 00:52:45.550
to youth ministry, we'd say, put your phones

00:52:45.550 --> 00:52:48.230
in the basket. And the kids could not handle

00:52:48.230 --> 00:52:50.570
not having their phones for an hour, and so they

00:52:50.570 --> 00:52:57.409
stopped coming to youth ministry. That's a parent

00:52:57.409 --> 00:53:00.489
problem. You are the gatekeeper for who shapes

00:53:00.489 --> 00:53:04.550
your kid's life. Don't be passive. Don't think

00:53:04.550 --> 00:53:08.039
that this is my own little sin. Jacob's like,

00:53:08.099 --> 00:53:09.940
well, I struggle with deception, but that's not

00:53:09.940 --> 00:53:11.739
going to affect my kids. Yes, it did, to the

00:53:11.739 --> 00:53:13.380
point where they slaughtered an entire city.

00:53:15.579 --> 00:53:17.400
Assimilation is aggressive. You see, the world

00:53:17.400 --> 00:53:20.300
is actively evangelizing us every moment of every

00:53:20.300 --> 00:53:24.940
day. Actively. Every billboard. Somebody was

00:53:24.940 --> 00:53:26.639
telling me after first service, there was a billboard,

00:53:26.699 --> 00:53:28.679
I think, on the side of the freeway. Big, giant

00:53:28.679 --> 00:53:34.079
letters. Jesus is not God. You're being evangelized.

00:53:34.219 --> 00:53:35.820
Now, you might see that and go, that's a lie.

00:53:35.880 --> 00:53:40.079
That's wrong. But it's the little things, and

00:53:40.079 --> 00:53:42.539
they all add up eventually. Well, it's not such

00:53:42.539 --> 00:53:45.559
a big deal if I watch that. It doesn't stumble

00:53:45.559 --> 00:53:49.059
me. It might not stumble you in that moment,

00:53:49.139 --> 00:53:53.659
but it's definitely teaching you something. Passive

00:53:53.659 --> 00:53:55.880
Christians, mothers, fathers, employees, bosses,

00:53:55.940 --> 00:54:00.559
owners, leaders, your halfway obedience, your

00:54:00.559 --> 00:54:03.480
passivity is going to injure you and the people

00:54:03.480 --> 00:54:07.280
you care about. We have to be active and intentional.

00:54:08.019 --> 00:54:12.059
in not remaining silent as Jacob did, right?

00:54:12.500 --> 00:54:15.739
Hey, Jacob, your daughter was raped. All right,

00:54:15.739 --> 00:54:19.840
we'll get to it. What? We have to be people who

00:54:19.840 --> 00:54:21.659
stand for righteousness and hold the line of

00:54:21.659 --> 00:54:23.599
righteousness, even if it makes us unpopular,

00:54:23.639 --> 00:54:25.420
even if it makes us uncomfortable, even if we

00:54:25.420 --> 00:54:31.280
have to give up liberties we have. And you know

00:54:31.280 --> 00:54:33.079
what those things are. I think a lot of people

00:54:33.079 --> 00:54:35.280
are like, well, I can do this and watch this

00:54:35.280 --> 00:54:38.219
and all this, and I'm not affected. I have liberty

00:54:38.219 --> 00:54:41.860
in the Lord in that. And okay, that may be the

00:54:41.860 --> 00:54:47.159
case. But I'll suggest that maybe more than not,

00:54:47.179 --> 00:54:49.780
when we say, I have liberty, that doesn't affect

00:54:49.780 --> 00:54:53.480
me, you know it really is. And you're just trying

00:54:53.480 --> 00:54:55.800
to justify. But you listen to the Lord on that.

00:54:56.489 --> 00:54:58.889
So how do we remain distinct in this world? We

00:54:58.889 --> 00:55:01.550
have to maintain proper separation from the world,

00:55:01.670 --> 00:55:06.570
right? Don't get close. Don't stop halfway. When

00:55:06.570 --> 00:55:09.389
it comes to relationships and dating, don't romanticize

00:55:09.389 --> 00:55:12.949
mission as an excuse for compromise. I'm going

00:55:12.949 --> 00:55:15.389
to get them saved. Well, just wait until they're

00:55:15.389 --> 00:55:19.150
saved and then date, okay? Remove media and environments

00:55:19.150 --> 00:55:23.420
and people. That inflame lust, inflame passions,

00:55:23.599 --> 00:55:26.679
inflame worldly values that dull your conscience

00:55:26.679 --> 00:55:29.619
against righteousness and they water down your

00:55:29.619 --> 00:55:34.800
morality. Remove that stuff. Saturate your mind

00:55:34.800 --> 00:55:37.619
in scripture. Again, if you read for 15 minutes

00:55:37.619 --> 00:55:39.960
a day but you consume three hours of social media,

00:55:40.179 --> 00:55:42.780
you are being instructed in faith and values

00:55:42.780 --> 00:55:44.539
and morality. It's just not by Jesus Christ.

00:55:47.360 --> 00:55:53.239
Dads. You got kids at home still? Open your Bibles

00:55:53.239 --> 00:55:58.539
at home. Sit down and take time to read and lead

00:55:58.539 --> 00:56:00.820
devotions with your family and pray together

00:56:00.820 --> 00:56:02.719
with your kids and your wife and your spouse

00:56:02.719 --> 00:56:08.960
and do that actively, regularly. Spend time talking

00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:12.519
together and serving together. And then keep

00:56:12.519 --> 00:56:14.699
a proper intention in our evangelization and

00:56:14.699 --> 00:56:17.739
interaction with the world. What I mean by that,

00:56:17.760 --> 00:56:20.219
last week, Cedric, he did a fantastic Bible study.

00:56:21.280 --> 00:56:23.599
And one of the things he was talking about is

00:56:23.599 --> 00:56:25.440
waiting on the Lord. You know, in the wake of

00:56:25.440 --> 00:56:27.639
the Charlie Kirk shooting, a lot of conservatives,

00:56:27.920 --> 00:56:29.519
specifically Christians and stuff, are like,

00:56:29.579 --> 00:56:33.579
that's it. It's time for civil war. Arm up. Let's

00:56:33.579 --> 00:56:39.900
go fight back. And we are not here to pass judgment

00:56:39.900 --> 00:56:45.329
and execute judgment. We're not here to teach

00:56:45.329 --> 00:56:49.130
the world a lesson. We are here to be a blessing

00:56:49.130 --> 00:56:51.829
to this world. Our purpose here is witness, not

00:56:51.829 --> 00:56:57.150
vengeance. Now, I'm not saying there's not times

00:56:57.150 --> 00:56:58.989
where we say enough is enough and all that. That's

00:56:58.989 --> 00:57:01.829
a whole different Bible study. But when we start

00:57:01.829 --> 00:57:03.869
to say, you know, I got to knock them down because

00:57:03.869 --> 00:57:08.150
they stubbed my toe, we need to be careful about

00:57:08.150 --> 00:57:10.489
those types of things. And so, does this dark

00:57:10.489 --> 00:57:15.500
chapter of Scripture have hope? Right? Well,

00:57:15.539 --> 00:57:17.659
yeah, I believe it does for a number of reasons.

00:57:17.800 --> 00:57:20.719
One, this is God's large startling image meant

00:57:20.719 --> 00:57:22.539
to jolt Israel when they read it. It's meant

00:57:22.539 --> 00:57:26.360
to jolt us out of passivity. What we see here

00:57:26.360 --> 00:57:29.519
is God's fierce grace is allowing Jacob to experience

00:57:29.519 --> 00:57:34.619
the appalling weight of his sin. God is allowing

00:57:34.619 --> 00:57:37.659
Jacob to experience the consequences of his halfway

00:57:37.659 --> 00:57:40.699
obedience, and they're terrible. They're terrible.

00:57:42.599 --> 00:57:46.400
Why? So Jacob would finally return to Bethel.

00:57:47.159 --> 00:57:49.460
And that's exactly what happens in the next chapter.

00:57:51.199 --> 00:57:53.440
Jacob's own deceit bred the same in his sons.

00:57:53.539 --> 00:57:56.659
His passivity fed their rage. And yet even in

00:57:56.659 --> 00:58:00.639
that, we see Levi the butcher ultimately become

00:58:00.639 --> 00:58:05.880
Levi the priest. That's hope. So halfway obedience,

00:58:05.980 --> 00:58:08.320
it sets a trap for us. But if halfway obedience

00:58:08.320 --> 00:58:10.420
sets the trap and leads us into assimilation,

00:58:10.639 --> 00:58:12.719
then full obedience should set us free, right?

00:58:14.170 --> 00:58:17.869
Leaders, parents, dads, moms, stop remaining

00:58:17.869 --> 00:58:23.769
silent in your kids' lives. Lead in repentance.

00:58:24.329 --> 00:58:30.849
Lead in protection and discipleship. Lead. Young

00:58:30.849 --> 00:58:33.230
adults, teens, don't compromise what is right

00:58:33.230 --> 00:58:38.909
for mission. Well, I'm going to reach that person

00:58:38.909 --> 00:58:40.889
for Jesus, and all you end up doing is sinning

00:58:40.889 --> 00:58:44.420
against the Lord. families this week, as I say,

00:58:44.440 --> 00:58:48.159
host of family devotion time. Pick a verse, memorize

00:58:48.159 --> 00:58:50.260
it as a family, put it on the fridge, have time

00:58:50.260 --> 00:58:53.639
for confession, have time for service, something.

00:58:53.860 --> 00:58:56.579
And then all of us, I think we need to audit

00:58:56.579 --> 00:59:01.219
our inputs. We need to audit our inputs. Replace

00:59:01.219 --> 00:59:04.400
shows and content and sites and social media

00:59:04.400 --> 00:59:08.559
that presents and glorifies ungodly values and

00:59:08.559 --> 00:59:10.599
just go, you know what, I really shouldn't watch

00:59:10.599 --> 00:59:14.389
this. Replace those things with Scripture and

00:59:14.389 --> 00:59:19.170
prayer and real fellowship. Identify the last

00:59:19.170 --> 00:59:22.449
place or the last time, the last opportunity

00:59:22.449 --> 00:59:25.150
where God told you to do something and you said,

00:59:25.230 --> 00:59:27.190
well, I'll get there later, but now is good enough.

00:59:27.489 --> 00:59:33.130
I've done this much. And then repent. Get up

00:59:33.130 --> 00:59:37.170
and get back to Bethel. Go. Listen and obey.

00:59:38.480 --> 00:59:40.460
So that your witness and your spiritual victory

00:59:40.460 --> 00:59:43.579
and your leadership would remain strong. That

00:59:43.579 --> 00:59:45.760
it would all shine. And instead of assimilation

00:59:45.760 --> 00:59:49.199
and passivity, you would truly be set apart from

00:59:49.199 --> 00:59:53.980
this world, holy as he is holy. Amen? Let's pray.

00:59:58.179 --> 01:00:03.760
Father, we love you. And yet we could always

01:00:03.760 --> 01:00:08.719
love you better. But we as your children, we

01:00:08.719 --> 01:00:13.159
do love you and we are grateful. Lord, we're

01:00:13.159 --> 01:00:15.599
grateful for blessing. We're grateful for salvation.

01:00:18.059 --> 01:00:20.940
And Lord, I pray that we would be grateful for

01:00:20.940 --> 01:00:28.360
discipline. That Lord, when we experience tragedies

01:00:28.360 --> 01:00:31.860
in our lives, that we would respond to those

01:00:31.860 --> 01:00:35.539
tragedies in a godly way. Because Lord, we know

01:00:35.539 --> 01:00:37.619
you understand the hurt. You understand the pain.

01:00:37.719 --> 01:00:44.019
You understand all of it, God. Lord, I pray even

01:00:44.019 --> 01:00:46.539
now for those in this room that have been victims

01:00:46.539 --> 01:00:52.980
of sexual assault. Lord, if they're still hurt

01:00:52.980 --> 01:00:55.059
and harboring, I pray, Lord, you would bring

01:00:55.059 --> 01:01:01.000
healing and peace. I pray, Lord, instead of vengeance

01:01:01.000 --> 01:01:06.539
and a desire to To destroy, Lord, that they would,

01:01:06.619 --> 01:01:12.840
Lord, supernaturally have an ability to forgive.

01:01:14.599 --> 01:01:16.739
But God, I pray for those that are around them,

01:01:16.760 --> 01:01:18.619
dads and families, Lord, that they would also

01:01:18.619 --> 01:01:21.019
just be people who follow your way in all things,

01:01:21.059 --> 01:01:24.460
Lord. We know that sin leads to sin and we know

01:01:24.460 --> 01:01:26.519
that disobedience opens the door for us to be

01:01:26.519 --> 01:01:28.440
passive against the things that would harm us.

01:01:29.879 --> 01:01:32.300
And God, we could look at this story and see

01:01:32.300 --> 01:01:34.199
that if Jacob had just gone all the way to Bethel

01:01:34.199 --> 01:01:36.019
like he was supposed to, Dinah would not have

01:01:36.019 --> 01:01:40.360
been in that situation. And so, Lord, I pray

01:01:40.360 --> 01:01:42.880
for dads that they would lead and stand strong,

01:01:43.099 --> 01:01:46.519
lovingly and caringly and compassionately, but

01:01:46.519 --> 01:01:48.619
at the same time, God, that they would do what

01:01:48.619 --> 01:01:50.440
they're called to do and not just let things

01:01:50.440 --> 01:01:53.039
happen. Same for moms, parents, Lord, that they

01:01:53.039 --> 01:01:55.099
would parent through the power of the Holy Spirit.

01:01:55.139 --> 01:01:59.190
God, we are responsible. for the children you

01:01:59.190 --> 01:02:02.969
place in our lives. God, all of us individually,

01:02:03.170 --> 01:02:06.429
may we not be hypocrites, Lord, sinning in secret

01:02:06.429 --> 01:02:09.610
and yet letting that cause us to not stand up

01:02:09.610 --> 01:02:11.550
for righteousness, Lord. May we stop sinning

01:02:11.550 --> 01:02:14.469
in secret so that we would not be hypocrites.

01:02:16.929 --> 01:02:20.780
God, help us to audit our inputs, Lord. Just

01:02:20.780 --> 01:02:22.940
to be real, Lord. There may be some music or

01:02:22.940 --> 01:02:25.500
shows or whatever it may be, God, that we've

01:02:25.500 --> 01:02:27.400
been just like, eh, it's not that big of a deal.

01:02:27.500 --> 01:02:31.139
But maybe, God, right now you're saying it is

01:02:31.139 --> 01:02:34.539
a big deal. And for whatever your reason may

01:02:34.539 --> 01:02:36.760
be, you're calling us to say no more. No more

01:02:36.760 --> 01:02:40.039
of that. Help us to listen, God, that we would

01:02:40.039 --> 01:02:43.119
be blessed. That we would be in total obedience,

01:02:43.219 --> 01:02:47.300
not halfway obedience. That, God, we'd be fully

01:02:47.300 --> 01:02:49.820
in fellowship with you and not dancing with the

01:02:49.820 --> 01:02:54.559
world while we're holding your hand. We thank

01:02:54.559 --> 01:02:56.179
you for this chapter, Lord, and we thank you

01:02:56.179 --> 01:02:58.260
that you include this in your word. Help us to

01:02:58.260 --> 01:03:01.260
learn from it. Bless us, fill us with your spirit,

01:03:01.420 --> 01:03:03.940
Lord, that we would glorify you in all things.

01:03:05.039 --> 01:03:07.320
We love you so much. It's in Jesus' name we pray.

01:03:07.599 --> 01:03:10.519
Amen. Well, God bless you guys. Let's worship.