Genesis 32

Background:
Jacob is returning to the land God gave his father and grandfather. God had directed him to return after some 20 years with Laban. The closer Jacob gets to home the more worried he becomes, fearing Esau's reaction Jacob cries out to God. Jacob sends a message to his brother, and finds Esau is coming with 400 men to meet Jacob.

1. Jacob divides his company (Gen 32:7)
2. Jacob realizes and confesses his own state
1. Jacob reminds God of His promise to deal well with him
2. Jacob confesses to God that he is not worthy of God's mercy
3. Jacob pleads for God's mercy
1. Jacob worries more for the lives of his wives and children
4. Jacob sends extravagant gifts to Esau
3. Jacob finds alone time with God
1. Jacob seeks the Lord in fervent prayer
2. An angel comes to wrestle with Jacob
1. The angel was Jesus
2. Jesus was to both strengthen and test Jacob's faith
3. God wants to see how bad we want it
4. Jacob was made lame as a display of God's power but he never gave up even in the face of such a display
5. God knew Jacob had important work to do at daybreak, but Jacob would not relent
6. Jacob was willing to give up his own body for the blessing of God
4. Jacob becomes Israel
1. God honors Jacob by changing his name from Jacob (deceiver) to Israel (Prince of God)
2. God leaves Jacob's injury to remind him of God's power and his weakness

Application:
To come to God we must recognize who and what we are. We are not worthy of God's mercy, but He has freely given it anyway. We are sinners, and we need to humble ourselves before God. When we come to God in prayer, we must be willing to give up everything to get a blessing from God. We must be willing to sacrifice everything for Him. God may not require a sacrifice of us, but we should be willing to give it just the same. We must persist in our prayers until we see them answered, and we must depend on God to both challenge and strengthen our faith.

Genesis 27 - 29 Blessings and Consequences

1. Isaac completes the blessing of Jacob
1. Rebekah convinces Isaac to send Jacob away to get a wife
2. Isaac now willingly blesses Jacob with the blessing of Abraham
3. Jacob is in for a difficult time because of his deception
2. Esau tries to please
1. Esau realizes his parents can't stand his Cannanite wives
2. Esau marries daughters of Ishmael
3. Jacob comes into contact with God
1. God gives Jacob a vision of the spirit realm
1. This is a vision of what is really going on
2. Jacob is changed by his encounter with God
2. Jacob commits to God
4. Jacob meets Rachael
1. Jacob immediately falls in love with Rachael
1. Rachael is of Rebekah's family
2. Jacob commits to Laban 7 years of service for Rachael
5. Laban's deception
1. Jacob marries Rachael(or so he thinks)
2. Laban tricked Jacob and substituted Leah
3. Jacob waits only a week and then marries Rachael
   
1. Jacob commits another 7 years of service for Rachael
6. Leah's Pain
1. Leah loves Jacob, and tries to please him
2. Jacob loves Rachael more than Leah
3. Leah has 4 sons for Jacob, but Rachael is barren
   

Genesis 23 - 25 Death, Marriage, and Birth

1. Main Theme

   1. Even the greatest men and women are called home to the Lord

   2. Through our children we have “eternal life” on earth

   3. God has a plan for every part of our lives, including our spouse, and children

2. Sarah Dies

   1. Sarah lived to be 127

   2. Abraham purchases a burial cave from the Hittites

   3. Again Abraham does not accept the generosity of the ungodly

      1. Abraham pays full price to Ephron, despite Ephrons offer to give the land to Abraham

      2. Abraham knew better than to be in debt

3. Isaac gets a bride

   1. Abraham commisioned his chief steward to find Isaac a wife from his own people

      1. Eliezer of Damascus was a very powerful man in his own right

      2. Abraham did not want for Isaac to leave the land God had sworn to him

      3. Eliezer asks God to give him a sign, and immediately it is given

   2. Rebekah is Abraham's great niece

      1. Rebekah has a servants heart

      2. Rebekah was pure

      3. Rebekah's family knew the LORD

      4. Rebekah chose her husband over her family

      5. Rebekah was a comfort to Isaac

4. Abraham takes another wife

   1. Abraham has many other children

   2. Abraham gave all his inheritance to Isaac

   3. Abraham sent the other children away

5. Rebekah has twins

   1. Esau is firstborn

      1. Esau means hairy

   2. Jacob is born second

      1. Jacob means “he decieves”

   3. Esau despises his birthright

      1. Jacob trades Esau a bowl of stew for his birthright

Genesis 17 - 19 Influence: God's Ours, and The World's

1. Main Topics

   1. Who or what influence our thoughts and actions?

   2. Abraham was influenced by God

   3. Lot was influenced by The world

   4. Abraham was able to influence others, even God

   5. Lot lost his influence over even his own family

2. Abraham trusted God, and allowed his life to be changed by God

   1. Abraham felt it was impossible for him to have a son by Sarah (Gen 17:17)

   2. Abraham believed God's promise (Gen 17:23-27)

   3. Abraham commited himself to the terms of the covenant (Gen 17:23-27)

3. Sarah trusted her own knowledge over God's plan

   1. Sarah laughed when God promised a son (Gen 18:12)

   2. Sarah was ashamed of her doubt (Gen 18:15)

4. Abraham Intercedes for Sodom (and Lot)

   1. God knew Abraham's faithfulness, and his future influence (Gen 18:17)

   2. God told Abraham what He was about to do (Gen 18:20)

   3. Abraham intercedes, boldly asking God to be merciful (Gen 18:22-32)

      1. Really Abraham was asking for Lot to be saved

   4. God answers Abrahams prayer

      1. Even though Abraham doesn't specifically ask about Lot, God still knows his heart, and makes a way for Lot to be saved, even though he could not find even 10 righteous men in the city

5. Lot doesn't realize he has lost his influence

   1. God sends angels to Sodom to retrieve Lot and his family, then destroy the city (Gen 19:1)

   2. Lot asks the angels to stay in his home, thinking he could offer them protection (Gen 19:3)

   3. The men of Sodom sought to rape the angels (Gen 19:5)

      1. Hospitality was very important in the time of Lot and still is today in the Middle East

      2. To protect his guests Lot offered his virgin daughters to the mob, even then the men of the city tried to break the door down (Gen 19:8)

         1. Lot had lost his influence, no one had even the slightest bit of respect for Lot

         2. Lot never called out to God to come to his aid, he knew he had lost his influence with God

      3. Finally the angels blinded the mob, as their mission was to protect Lot (Gen 19:10)

   4. The angels told Lot to gather his family and leave the city as they were about to destroy it (Gen 19:13)

      1. Lot went to his family and told them to leave, they thought he was joking, he had even lost his influence with his own family (Gen 19:14)

      2. The angels tell Lot to run to the mountains (Gen 19:17)

         1. Lot uses Abrahams influence to make his escape easier (Gen 19:18)

         2. Lot's own wife is not influenced by him, and is turned to a pillar of salt (Gen 19:26)

   5. Lot's own daughters have no respect for him, they sleep with their drunken father and two of Israel's greates enemies are born (Gen 19:30-36)

Genesis 12 - 14 Abram Becoming Abraham

1. Why we study Abraham

   1. To understand the importance of faith to righteousness.

   2. To understand the history of the people groups that make up the middle east.

   3. To understand God's desire for a relationship with us.

2. Abram misses instructions

   1. Abram was told to leave his fathers house, and yet he still took Lot with him.

   2. As Abram and Lot aquired larger flocks, their servants began to argue and fight over land

   3. Abram divided the land with Lot. Lot chose to stay near Sodom.

   4. Abram put together a private army from the servants born in his house.

   5. Much later, Lot becomes the father of the Moabites, one of Israel's biggest enemies.

3. Abram worships God

   1. God appears to Abram

   2. Abram builds an altar to the Lord, and communes with Him. Calls the place Bethel

4. Abram loses faith

   1. Soon after God appeared to Abram, there was a famine in the land

   2. Abram weathered the famine in Egypt, but was afraid for His life

   3. Abram lied, and made his wife and all of their servants to lie

   4. Pharoh was plagued for Sarai, and confronted Abram.

   5. Pharoh sent Abram out of Egypt

5. God reaffirms His promise to Abram

   1. God wants to comfort Abram after the split from his nephew

   2. God wanted to strengthen Abram's faith, by having him walk all the land of his decendants.

6. Who is Melchizedek

   1. Abram tithes to Him

   2. His name means King of Righteousness

   3. His is the King of Salem(King of Peace)

   4. He is Priest forever

Murder: Cain, Abel, and the brothers keeper

I'm teaching a really interesting class at church about the book of Genesis. I'm trying to explore more in depth the most read book of the Bible, and I think things are going well. There are lots of apologetics resources on the Internet, and the research has been almost as much fun as the teaching. Strangely that changed when I got to the story of Cain and Abel. Where there had been a plethora of information about creation theory and the fall of mankind, this seemed to be a theological footnote in comparison. Since I found it so difficult to find information on the web about this topic, I figured I would put down what the Holy Spirit revealed to me about the topic.

The Brothers
The Bible tells us that Cain and Abel are the first two children of Adam and Eve, there is the possibility that they were twins, Cain being born just before his brother Abel, but the language is not definitive in this. What we do know for sure is that Cain became a farmer, while Abel became a shepherd. This seems like a minor detail, but will become more important as the story progresses.

The Sacrifice
It is implied in the text that Cain and Abel knew the Lord, and were actually used to conversing with Him directly. When God confronted Cain about his attitude, he was not afraid, and he did not have any of the reactions that were typical of later men in the old testament. It is also implied that Cain and Abel knew the type of sacrifice they were to bring, as God Himself made the first blood sacrifice in the Garden of Eden, to cover the sins of Adam and Eve.(Gen 3:21)
Certainly the Bible is explicit that sin requires death, and that God allows the substitution of innocent blood for the blood of mankind. There are other kinds of offerings later specified in the Mosaic law, but these were not for the atonement of sin. I have often wondered exactly how Cain knew his sacrifice was rejected while Abel's was accepted. I was recently reminded that in the time of the patriarchs, the offerings were actually consumed by fire, so Cain would have seen Abel's sacrifice consumed by fire, while his rotted on the alter.

Cain's Response And What God Had To Say
The bible says that Cain was "very angry, and his face was downcast"(Gen 4:5) Then something amazing happened. God appeared to Cain, and asked him why he was angry. The next statement seems to me to be so profound that it is often overlooked. God says to Cain "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."(Gen 4:7) Here God clearly explains to Cain that if he will follow after God, he will be accepted. Other translations put it that he will do well. What God points out to Cain is the choice he has to make. Either Cain can follow God, and let God deal with sin, or he can go his own way, but Cain will have to master sin on his own.

The Lack Of Repentance
Unfortunately Cain did not respond positively to the voice of God. Instead Cain let his anger fester inside himself, and did not repent. Can you imagine being confronted by the creator of the Universe and no listening to what He had to say. Sin did indeed take Cain. He tricked his brother into coming into one of his own fields, where Able was alone, and not on his own turf, and then he slew him. To cover his sin Cain buried Able right there in the field. I can imagine Cain justifying what he had done, telling himself that he would make sure Abel's family was taken care of, telling himself he had no choice.

Confrontation
God came to see Cain shortly after he had murdered Able. God knew what had happened, but chose to give Cain a chance to confess. God asked Cain, "Where is your brother?". Instead of confessing to God all that had taken place, Cain lied and said he didn't know. Now it was to late for repentance, God judged Cain then and there.

The Curse And The Blessing
Christians often consider the mark of Cain to be his curse. In fact the mark was God's blessing upon Cain. When God banished Cain to "be a restless wanderer on the earth." Cain complained that the punishment was more than he could bear. Isn't that true for all of us? God heard Cain's cry, even though it wasn't repentant. The mark of Cain warned people that to kill Cain meant certain death for themselves. The mark is actually God's mercy on an undeserving Cain. Even after all Cain had done, God was still willing to have mercy on him. Thank God he is still willing to be merciful to us today.

Mary, Martha, and Jesus: An example to the church

In a class I recently attended we discussed Mary (of Bethany) and her sister Martha. It was interesting to see how differently these two sisters related to Jesus. It was summed up nicely with the statement "Jesus talked with Martha, but He wept with Mary". Mary was much more concerned with an emotional relationship with Jesus, she sat at His feet while he taught, she wept with Him when her brother Lazarus died. Martha on the other hand was much more concerned with the business of serving Jesus. While Jesus taught in her home, she was busy preparing a meal. This is not to say that Martha didn't have a relationship with Jesus, she obviously did, nor does it mean Mary never served Jesus.

What I find most interesting is the way these two sisters and Jesus himself exemplify the way in which the church should work. Of course Jesus is our perfect example, but the way Mary and Martha interact with Him shows us a great deal about how we are to use our own gifts and talents.

First lets take a look at Martha. Martha is a worker, she loves to serve people by doing things for them. This is consistent with Jesus' instructions to his disciples in Matthew 20:26 "But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant", and again in Mar 10:45 "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many." Here Jesus indicates that one of the great goals of all Christians should be to serve others.

Martha was great at serving, but she, like all of us, had her faults. Martha became so busy with the business of serving that she failed to stop and listen to the One she was serving. Not only did Martha miss the teaching of the Master, she became so frustrated that Mary was not helping she appealed to Jesus that He might send Mary to the kitchen. (Luke 10:40) Jesus gently rebuked Martha because He knew what was most needed, and it had nothing to do with food at that moment. Jesus knew that although Martha's heart had started in the right place, she had lost sight of the reason she was serving and had become more concerned with the act itself.

Mary, on the other hand, was an excellent listener. She stopped everything to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to Him teach. It was not common practice in Jesus' day for a woman to listen to the teachings of a Rabbi, especially when there was much to be done to prepare a dinner. Mary didn't care about protocol or tradition, the only thing she cared about was spending time with Jesus. Jesus affirmed her choice when he rebuked Martha. Mary not only listened, but she gave. It was Mary who broke the jar of sweetnard over the feet of Jesus. When even Jesus' closest disciples missed what He had told them about his forthcoming death, Mary understood. The jar of perfume Mary broke over Jesus' feet was worth around one years wages. Mary wept over Him, pouring out her greatest possessions to her Lord.

In the modern church we need both Marys and Marthas. We need people to listen to the needs of others, and to be willing to give. We also need people to be willing to serve with everything they have. If we have only givers, we will have storehouses of supplies that will never make it into the hands of the needy. If we have only servants, we have people striving to make a difference in the world without any funding. Only through the combination of our gifts can the church truly be successful in displaying the full love of Christ.