Turn with me if you would in your Bibles to our Old Testament reading Genesis chapter 35 verses 16 to 29 Here the word of the Lord Didn't they move don't from that Ethical while they were still some distance from Ephraff Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth the midwife said to her don't be afraid you have another son As she breathed her last for she was dying. She named her son Ben O'Neal But his father named him Benjamin So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephraff that is Bethlehem Over her over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar and to this day that pillar marks Rachel's tomb Israel moved on again and pitched his tent the young Mick doll a there While Israel was living that region Ruben went in and slept with it his father's concubine Bilha and Israel heard of it Jacob had 12 sons the sons of Leah Ruben the firstborn of Jacob Simeon Levi Judah Issacar and Zebulan The sons of Rachel Joseph and Benjamin the sons of Rachel's mate servant Bilha Dan and Nathalie the sons of Leah's mate servant Zilpa Gad and Asher these were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Patan Iran Jacob came home to his father Isaac in memory near Kiryat Arba that is hebron Where Abraham and Isaac had stayed Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people old and full of years And his sons Esaw and Jacob buried him The word of the Lord Thanks be to God Let's pray together Our father and our God we do humble ourselves before you and before this your word And we ask that you would come by your Holy Spirit and that you would teach us We thank you Lord that all of your word is inspired and And that there's much to be gained much to be gleaned from this and so we pray that you would teach us That you would come and meet with us by your Holy Spirit That you would strengthen and encourage Challenge and bless your people We do ask this together with boldness We ask this together in Jesus name Amen You may be seated If someone were to come up to you And they were to ask you who are you? What would you say if someone were to come up to you and ask who are you? I'm sure that there would be some background behind What you would be thinking some of you might be thinking what in the world? Who do you think you are asking me that? But no really if someone would have come up to me last week for example and say who are you? I might say well, I'm Tom Patton I'm Husband of Diana Patton father of four children born and raised and making Georgia son of Tommy and Anne Alexander a family involved in real estate I might have been kind of what would be the fat drop Behind what I would be thinking when I say oh, I'm Tom Patton. That would have been last week This week, I think my answer would be different or at least I would want my answer to be different You see Nathan came home from college And some some way or another he got a copy of our family's genealogy for my dad My dad intended me gives it to my son Well, I started skimming through this and I was amazed at what I saw I found out that the Pattons or Scotch Irish that ought to make Mike happy. I thought we were just Scotch And then I saw our coat of arms I don't think that I have ever in my adult life seen a set of the Pattons coat of arms And the inscription in Bob. I'm sorry. I didn't write down the Latin, but the inscription is acquired by virtue I thought that is awesome to be a family whose inscription is acquired by virtue and then as I leave through this I realized that many of my ancestors were martyred for their faith and I thought to myself I want to be a part of that. I want to live up to that heritage I really got excited about that. So I'm Tom Patton. Scotch Irish A man whose family name was acquired by virtue A heritage of men who gave their life for the faith and I want to live up to that And as we turn in this passage this morning, this is a this is a very dark passage. This is a difficult passage for a very optimistic person uh to preach from but anyway I think that Moses in a very similar way is setting before the people of Israel they're high-calling they're great and wonderful heritage and is inviting them to live up to that So let's review this passage and then consider what Moses might have been communicating to the people of Israel You'll remember that uh Jacob and his family had been in Patton around which is just north of the promised land and now he's making his way towards the southern end of what would become the promised land And as Bob talked about last week Jacob has been challenged by God to come and meet with him once again at Bethel To consecrate himself and to worship God there with his family at Bethel and so they have put away their all Their idols and have consecrated themselves and they've come and they've met with God at Bethel Actually, El Bethel they've come in worship the God of Bethel And in this chapter the latter part of this um section that Bob preached on last week in verse 11 and 12 God reiterates to Jacob his promise I will make you a blessing I will bless you and from you a community not just a nation will come forth from you a community of nations will come forth from you Kings will come forth from you and then this land that he had promised He reiterates that he will give that land to Jacob and to his descendants But then it says if the wheels come off All of a sudden we turn and in verse 16 everything starts to fall apart
As Jacob leaves Bethel it was not in disobedience to God Jacob is moving on from Bethel going south and it really is not that many miles that he's traveling But he's going on down to the region to meet up with his father Isaac in hebron And it's as he moves along the way His wife his beloved wife Rachel Goes into labor with his twelfth son Now you'll remember from Genesis chapter 30 That Rachel had prayed she had prayed God give me another son This has been this has been an anguish Venture of her soul she says she actually praised in Genesis chapter 30 verse one Give me a child less I die And this child this son that she had prayed for literally would be the death of her
But God does hear and answer her prayer God does keep and maintain his promise to Jacob And so Rachel does give birth to this son A son whom Rachel names been on me a son of my sorrow Now Jacob could not look at this child been on me he could not look at this child And every time he looked at this child say to him son of my sorrow That would have just been too much for him and so he Twist the name just a little bit instead of been on me. It's been Jamin instead of son of my sorrow It's son of my right hand or son of my fortune that God had been gracious to him and given him another son A twelfth son that God had truly Enriched him Now the text is silent about Jacob's grief But we can be certain that Jacob did grieve over the loss of this beloved wife of his Rachel But he didn't grieve as one who was without hope And so she is buried in this land She is buried and a pillar is raised up there and the commentator says that's a great reminder That Jacob was longing for the resurrection he was looking forward to the resurrection Unlike the pagan practice where she might have been burned on a funeral pyre She was buried longing for the day when she would be raised Now the saga continues As Jacob and his family continue to go south They move on a few more miles and they go on down to big doll A there And as while there in this region that Jacob's oldest son Ruben Has an incestuous relationship with Rachel's mate servant Bill Ha Now if you read this it's it's a very brief description That while they were living this region verse 22 while they were living in that region Ruben went in and slept with his father's concubine Bill Ha and Jacob heard of it or Israel heard of it That's all that it has to say Now you might think well then it wasn't a big deal Because there's not much said about it in this passage I do not believe that that is the case I believe that the brevity is not meant to minimize what goes on but to suggest the shock The unthinkable nature that something like this would happen amongst the people of God in Israel This type of sin was categorically condemned in Leviticus chapter 18 verse 8 Also in Leviticus chapter 20 verse 11 it says that death penalty should be applied to one such as this one who would do such a thing as this It's interesting to note If you'll think back a few chapters when When Dina is raped by Shechem Who was it that is morally outraged by such a wretched thing that took place It was Ruben Ruben was one of the ones who in bloodlust wanted revenge and yet Ruben commits the same type of sin now Most of the commentators say that this is probably not so much an act of sexual passion As it is an act of defiance against his father You see this is an act of a son Who who hates his father who has disdain for his father Because his mother Leah was never properly or never really loved and I think he was angry at his father for that And so this is an act of rebellion an act of disdain for his father in When Ruben sleeps with Rachel's mate servant, what is he accomplishing? You see Rachel is now dead. He defiles Rachel's mate servant And so he cuts off as it were Rachel's side of the family to Jacob And now Jacob must turn to Leah or to Leah's mate servant for a while
The passage says that Jacob heard about it Does that sound familiar? Jacob hears about it It's very similar to the words that are used when When Dina is raped and Jacob hears about it the text doesn't say anything About Jacob being morally outraged Now It could mean that he was morally outraged it just as it recorded here But because of Jacob's history I believe that the Jacob once again doesn't act as a spiritual leader of his family And expressed this moral outrage for this act He does act though if you flip over to Genesis chapter 49 Verses 3 and 4 when the father would have been pronouncing his blessing upon the sons He comes to his first born son the one to whom he would have long to give the blessing of his inheritance In verse 3 and 4 Ruben you are my first born my might the first sign of my strength Excelling in honor excelling in power Then listen to what he says Turbulent as the waters you will no longer excel For you went up to for you went up onto your father's bed and owned to my couch and you defiled it
Jacob in essence has to curse his son for his Rebellion against his father so this Sad sad chapter in Jacob's life continues
And if you if we continue we see that the 12 sons of Jacob are listed next And following this listing we have Jacob and his family coming to his father Isaac in memory Which is down towards the southern part of the Promised Land in Hebron Where Isaac and Abraham had stayed and it's important to note that this passage is not chronological actually Isaac will not die for another 12 years but apparently Moses didn't want to interrupt the story of Joseph To insert the death of Isaac so it's included in this passage And it is note of it is notable that in this passage you have in verse 8 the death of Deborah Then you have the death of Rachel and then you have the incest Of Ruben and now you have the death of Isaac there's something That Moses is wanting to communicate to the people of Israel. We're going to develop that in a minute But the the passage does end on a much more pleasant note it says that Isaac died and was gathered to his people old and full of years and his son Esau and Jacob buried him God's blessing did rest upon Isaac Isaac had the joy of seeing his sons Esau and Jacob who were At odds with one another who so much of their lives were Were their relationship was broken now they are brought back together and so this chapter does him on a very hopeful note Now I want us to go on. I want us to that's kind of a brief overview of the passage I want us to go on and wrestle with what what was it that Moses Wanted to communicate to the people of Israel because Mike has reminded us over and over That this passage is written for the people of God who are in The wilderness just before they're going to go into the promised land. This is for their benefit before they go into the promised land I wish that this was The product of Jacob's journal you know all the ways that God had worked in my life and the things that I wanted to learn the things that I should have learned But it's not it is the story for Moses's perspective is a it is Supposed to be instructional for the people of God and I believe there's three key things That Moses wants to communicate to the people of God in the wilderness The first is that nothing Can thwart the advancement of God's kingdom not death not sin not disobedience Nothing is able to thwart the advance of God's kingdom The second is that even though they are the redeemed people of God They are strangers and aliens in this world in this fallen world And I think the third thing is that he wants to encourage them to flee folly And to live for the advance of God's kingdom
You know I want you to kind of picture in your mind that the people of Israel Are gathered in the wilderness they're gathered in the desert And they're just before the promised land and Moses is communicating this to them What would have been of great importance to them It would have been of great importance to them to know Without fail that God will keep his promises You see in verse 11 and 12 The promises to Jacob have just been the promises to Abraham and now to Jacob They've just been reiterated that they will be a great nation a company of nations A company of kings would come forth from them Now I'm sure as the people of Israel sit there Overlooking the promised land that they're also thinking well Jacob Jacob hasn't necessarily been the model patriarch And his sons Haven't been the model sons of the patriarch either they they've just gone on this murderous rampage In check them they They've exacted blood revenge As Bob reminded his last week Jacob over and over and over and over has suffered from spiritual amnesia Forgetting the blessings of God forgetting all the great work that God had done in his life and for his family And now we turn to this passage and we have The death of Rachel The incest of Rubin and the death of Isaac
What would the people of God have thought?
I believe that they would have been challenged to remember that nothing is able to thwart the plan of God God will Keep his promises. I guess in a sense that they chuckled to themselves at this list of the 12 sons of Jacob Think about who is out there in that desert
Are there 12 are there 12 tribes are there 12 sons out there? Yeah, there's 12 sons out there. Don't you guess that they're just a few gathered around each of the 12 tribes? I want you to think back to numbers numbers chapter one and numbers chapter two describe How many people of the people of God that he led out of Egypt There were 600 and some odd thousand people Not counting the Levi's
That God led out into the desert And so as the people of God see this list of 12 people You know, the thought would have been Or would they were insignificant For the promise God is able to establish his kingdom and to build his kingdom from 12 men Who had all kinds of clay feet And God does establish His kingdom and keep his promises Chapter 36 look at chapter 36 the entire chapter 43 verses Is a list of the descendants of Esau
Who is Esau? He saw as the one that God hated and yet Esau was a descendant of Abraham and Isaac and so God had promised that he would bless His children and he would make them fruitful and he would multiply them and so God keeps his promise Even to those that he hates Let me let me ask you to remember The Psalter reading that we read this morning from Psalm 105 about the kingdom of God They will tell the glory of your kingdom and speak of your mighty acts. Why will they do that? Because God is the one building his kingdom They will celebrate God It is he who by his mighty acts builds his kingdom And what is this kingdom? It was to redeem a people for himself To beat to the praise and the glory of his name
It looked like everything was falling apart yet his kingdom prevails the simpleness of these foolish patriarchs And the and the wicked rebelliousness of their children could not Thwart the advance of God's kingdom And his Israel is camp overlooking the promised land That would have been a great reminder to them That as they go in to take that promised land that God will go before them God will go with them and before them And will enable them to take that land And to be a people to the praise of God there in that land Now the second thing that I think that Moses would have wanted to communicate to these people Was to remind them that they are strangers in a fallen world Now Israel had not in the not too distant future had been rescued from bondage in Egypt right That would have been a place that they were all too familiar with devastation and destruction and death even And their deliverance from Egypt was even prompted by their groaning They're groaning and crying out to God and God hears and responds He delivers the people of Israel this more than half a million people from bondage in Egypt And he's leading them to a place to the promised land A place filled with milk and honey
And I think he must constantly remind them
About the effects of the curse of sin and that disobedience will never ever give them joy And the reason I think he does that as they look to the promised land it would have been very easy for them to think Heaven on earth Can't you I mean can't you imagine That they're thinking I'm mill a land flowing with milk and honey that's got to be heaven on earth Now I'm going to invest myself in that heaven on earth and that's what I want is heaven on earth And that's what God said I want you to be careful of people of Israel He tells them flip over to Deuteronomy chapter 6
Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 10
When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers to Abraham Isaac and Jacob to give you A land large flourishing excuse me a land with large flourishing cities you did not build houses filled with all kinds of good things You did not provide wells you did not dig and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant Then when you eat and are satisfied Satisfied be careful that you do not forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt out of the land of slavery Moses wants to remind the people of God in this passage that they live In a fallen world that they are strangers in a lens that the land is not what they Should long for what should they long for he's kept before them this promised land all this time
You see he's not encouraging them to love the gift but to love the giver of the good gift this promised land
And so he's saying to them to the people of Israel As you approach this land I want you to remember that I The Lord God Almighty am to be your inheritance You will face death You will face sin and foolishness I am to be your inheritance And so I think that as well would have been a great reminder to the people of Israel The third thing that I think Moses wanted to communicate and remind the people of Israel Is to flee folly and to live for the advance of his kingdom
You know Anytime that I go to a funeral I think it is a time of sober self-evaluation. Isn't that true for you? In all of the sudden you're brought up short about things that really matter things of value And I think that is a sense in which God does in this passage It is not an accident that he records the death of Deborah the death of Rachel and the death of Isaac in a few short verses
As Israel approaches this promised land God will soon tell Joshua and the people to be strong and be very career Excuse me be strong and be very courageous as you go in to take this land They were a people with a high calling they were to they were going to go into this promised land and they were going to dispossess The enemies of God they were on a mission to be the people of God to be a distinct people of God in this promised land Have you do a quick review of Jacob in his family? They have not been living as if they were people with a mission as if they were the distinct people of God And just to help you understand this Just a two chapters earlier when When Jacob meets with the Shekhamites Considering whether or not they should intermarry That idea should have been foreign to him. There should have been real moral outrage We are distinct. We are the people of God. We are to be separate from these people But that is not on Jacob's tongue I would go so far as to suggest that Jacob doesn't deeply comprehend grace He doesn't fully understand the blessing of God that had been bestowed upon him
How does one respond who understands grace?
Jacob and the people of God had been in bondage in Egypt And God chose them not but not because of anything in them But he chose them and he said his blessing upon them. He made them the people of God He came and dwelt with them He led them and how do they respond? Jacob responds and then within difference
Now I don't think that what he should do is respond out of mechanical obedience to God But one who really understands grace is transformed by that grace One who understands grace Out of gratitude humbly obeys And so I think that's one of the things that Moses is setting before the people of Israel As they prepare to go into the promised land To remind them that you are blessed to be a blessing I think that's what God wants to remind them that they've been redeemed They've been rescued And in these sober circumstances to remind them of their high calling And their purpose to be the people of God The chosen people of God to do his holy bidding
What about for us? I think the things that Moses Has to say to the people of Israel Has great influence or has great import in our own lives The Lord God Almighty will build his kingdom And we can have great confidence in that fact Now what does that mean? Look look again at your bulletin
We just prayed a little while ago die kingdom come die will be done And then what was it we were praying for? That God would destroy the kingdom of Satan That he would remove from our society all that dishonors him And that he would build his beloved church in obedience to his will
We can have confidence that God will do that He who has begun a good work in you will continue it to the day of Christ Jesus His kingdom will come and your heart And we should pray and long for his kingdom to come in our lives To long for it expect it to pray for it Let me remind you that Roman soldiers jealous Jewish leaders And even the death of the Savior on the cross could not derail God's plan to redeem a people for himself And so God is in the business of redeeming your life from the pit From hell and slavery and destruction And we can have great confidence enjoying that
Hebrews 11 Which on Friday night many of the kids rehearsed after the VBS program What is faith? Faith is hope and trust in God and things that we don't understand When it looks like the wheels are coming off as it did for Jacob With the death of his beloved bride the death of his beloved wife Rachel It seemed like everything was coming apart but it was not God requires us by faith not to look at our circumstances but to trust in him And to have confidence that he will build his kingdom The same as true as we go over to Eli Street And trust that God will come and in our midst will build his kingdom in our And we can long for and pray for and have great hope that God will build his kingdom In this city You know, I remember praying a few years ago for God's kingdom to come and Leon France It seemed like everything that they faced in Leon for a couple of years every time they turned around It seemed that the thing was falling apart And now we see the product of many tears and many prayers That God is building his kingdom We have much to rejoice about
We have been redeemed for the Lord's own possession We have been redeemed
Say from sin and devastation that we might declare the glories of his name. Look at second Peter 2.9
I'll take yeah, this second Peter. I thought it was first
It is first Peter 2.9. I wrote that wrong
But you are chosen people a royal priesthood a holy nation A people belonging to God That you made declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful life Who are you? You are the people of God A royal priesthood a holy nation a people belonging to God A people to live for your own selves No a people to live for God a people who are called out of darkness into his wonderful life A people who are to declare to the people around us the praises of God Take the folly of Jacob and his sons to live for ourselves. We are to no longer live for ourselves Otherwise we forget what it means to be saved by grace. We have been rescued. We have been delivered What does that mean out of gratitude for God for what he's done for us We live for him We're invited to be involved in the advance of to flee folly and to live for the advance of his kingdom We miss God's blessing and joy when we are not obedient in that way
I want to ask you again Who are you? I'm Tom Patton I'm Scotch Irish. I'm a whole lot else too I'm also a part of a royal priesthood a holy nation belonging to God Called for to tell of his wonderful glories And that is what God invites each one of us to be involved in And I hope you'll say with me by the grace of God. I want to live up to that heritage I'll just pray together oh lord we do want to live up to that heritage
Not for the sake of our own pride not for the sake of our own name, but out of incredible gratitude For what you have done oh lord To redeem our lives from the pit And to call us your own and make us your beloved people Oh how we praise you and bless you and celebrate that fact this morning Lord inspire us with that calling We do ask this together in Jesus name