God’s Wonderful Promises

February 21, 2021 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Promises For the Future

Book of Genesis Chapters 48 through 50

One of the greatest things we have learned from the Book of Genesis, the Book of the Beginnings is, that God has a plan for this world.

God’s plan is to bless those who love Him and who are in His will, and the greatest blessing is for those who love Him to spend eternity with Him.

God had promised Abram a promised land, but though Canaan Land is that “promised land” to the Jews, for many of us, it is not the place God was talking about.

Our “Promised Land” is Heaven itself!

The Hebrew people were a small people that needed to multiply until they became a great nation.

God used this time in Egypt to make this happen.

God had placed Joseph in Egypt to prepare for and then care for his family.

They were given the best land with one job and that job was to take care of Pharaoh’s herd.

Remember there were only 70 of Jacob’s family and Pharaoh had a large herd.

Joseph provided all their needs while the Egyptians paid dearly, some all they owned, to receive the food that they could eat until this famine was over.

The land then belonged to Pharaoh and they became tenants on the land they had at one time owned.

The children of Israel had prospered during all this time.

It was reaching the end of Jacob’s time and he knew it, and there were some things he had not accomplished before he died.

He had not yet placed the blessing of Abraham on one of his children and he had not yet chosen the blessed son.

He had, but he had not formally told this to his children.

Joseph had always been the son the Jacob loved the most, but he was now Governor of Egypt.

So Jacob puts his plan together and he begins to explain these things to Joseph.

We must realize that El Shaddai had spoken to Jacob many times in visions and dreams, so Jacob (Israel) was also a prophet, at least to his family.

Jacob began recalling the experiences of his early days.

*Gen 48:3 And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
Gen 48:4 And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

Remember to Jacob, Luz was “Bethel”, even though it had not been named that at this time. Bethel meaning the “House of God”.

Gen 28:16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.
Gen 28:17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

To the Church, the House of God is truly the gateway to Heaven but by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Without the Lord Jesus there is no “House of God”!

The promise of Abram had been passed down to Israel, but it would not be passed to Joseph who was the first born of Rachel but not the firstborn son of Jacob.

The birthright claim would be given to Joseph but only through his two sons. Jacob (Israel) would adopt those two sons and make them his own.

But the genealogy that came by Abram, through Isaac, and to Jacob, would be passed down to Judah.

1Ch 5:1 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.
1Ch 5:2 For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph’s:)

We should understand that these things were against the future Jewish laws.

Deu 21:17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.
Deu 21:18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:
Deu 21:19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;
Deu 21:20 And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.

We must understand that El Shaddai does not limit Himself to man’s laws!

Rom 9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:

We should understand, though it would seem the King David would be that chief ruler to come from Judah, and he was that earthly ruler for a time, but the true chief ruler is the Lord Jesus Christ, who came by the tribe of Judah.

King Jesus, the Messiah, has not yet come to rule this earth for 1000 years.

We know this is true but at first Shiloh(The Messiah) will come, Jesus the Messiah who came to save!

Joseph would receive the birthright, but not in the normal fashion.

*Gen 48:5 And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.

Jacob had been deprived of spending 20 good years with Joseph his beloved son.

Jacob could not give Joseph and inheritance in Egypt because Pharaoh had already done this.

Jacob could adopt those two boys and by doing so, he would be giving a double portion of inheritance to Joseph.

They would be treated as the sons of Jacob and therefore the sons of Israel and they would receive equal portions according to their numbers, in the division of the land of Canaan.

Reuben, the firstborn son, would not receive the double portion because of his incest with Jacob’s concubine.

Gen 35:22 And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:

When we get to the Book of Revelation, we will see where the name Ephraim is replaced by Joseph though Manasseh remains.

Rev 7:8 Of the tribe of Zabulonn were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

We are not required to understand these things, but the Holy Ghost did require that these words be written for us to learn from.

It was Jacob’s last moments in his flesh, and he had more things to say to all his children.

We can understand these things as prophecy just as these twelve men should have.

*Gen 49:1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.

Now Jacob becomes a prophet to his own sons.

We should understand that we will reap what we sow in this life.

If we are good, we will reap good but if we bad, we will reap bad!

We can see that many seem to do good in a life of sin and never seem to suffer for it, but we must also remember that they will spend eternity in Hell suffering greatly.

God will have a true “judgment” no one will be judged for things they did not do!

Jacob had been ill most of his last years and on this day, we could say the family was called into the bedside of Jacob.

On this day, all twelve sons of Jacob were together with him in one room and not one would be quarreling with the other.

They knew their father was about to die and they wanted to hear what he had to say.

Since the time of Adam, God had dealt with the individual but after the time of Jacob, we will see the birth of the nation of Israel and we see God begins to deal with nations, especially the nation of Israel.

The time of the patriarchs comes to an end and in a short while the time of the Law will begin!

Much time will pass until the Birth of Jesus Christ and God will begin to deal with the Church.

In reality, God will go silent while Israel grows into a nation and this will last just over 400 years, when God will hear their cries because of a wicked and evil Pharaoh and God will send them a deliverer by the name of Moses and the period of the Law will begin.

Jacob gave each of his sons a prophetic warning and then he blessed each one of them and Jacob then made them promise not to bury his body in Egypt.

A brief look at these things will be something like this!

Reuben the firstborn son of Jacob should have received the birthright(the double portion) but he had proven to be weak and unstable and the tribe of Reuben would be the same. Reuben did not possess the discipline to control himself.

Simeon and Levi, the sin of these two brothers was anger, cruelty, and vengeance. Their behavior was inexcusable.

They would be divided and scattered throughout the “promised land”. They would never again be able to band together in an evil plot of anger and cruelty.

We know how the tribe of Levi was used of God and Simeon was given land in the midst of Judah.

Judah. We know that Abraham and Isaac had passed the birthright of the first born and that of the “Promised Seed’ both to the same son but in Jacob’s case, it would be Judah that Jacob passed the genealogy of the “Promised Seed” and it would be Joseph who would get the birthright of the firstborn son.

We could see how the life of Judah was being transformed into a leader and a spiritual leader.

Judah was a picture of the Christian growing spiritually.

To Judah was the blessing of Shiloh.

We also see as we study the Scriptures that once King David had the leadership of Israel it stayed in the family.

The scepter never departed from Judah.

Zebulun was to dwell toward the sea but not on the sea as Asher would dwell on the sea.

Issachar was to be like an animal of strong strength. The tribe of Issachar was a strong and sturdy people who were on occasion complacent.

In fact they could become so complacent in their comforts they were willing to be enslaved rather than lose their comforts.

Sounds a lot like the America of today!

Dan. The tribe of Dan would produce capable rulers and the most well-known was Samson. What a story he had.

Dan also could be like a snake a deadly opponent for his enemies.

Dan had to always be on guard against treachery, double dealing, and dishonesty.

Dan was the first to take up idol worship.

Not many realize it, but Jacob actually used for salvation, the word (Yeshuah) the Hebrew name for Jesus.

Gen 49:18 I have waited for thy salvation(Yeshuah), O LORD.

Jacob may could not have known about the Lord Jesus Christ, but he did know where his salvation came from!

Gad would be successful in struggling with his enemies.

1Ch 12:8 And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David into the hold to the wilderness men of might, and men of war fit for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains;

Asher was the tribe that sat along the seacoast. Asher gave into luxury and wealth and never really helped the other tribes.

They loved worldly pleasures.

We are warned against worldliness in the New Testament!

Naphtali was known for their swiftness in combat.

Notice also they were known for speaking and singing songs of beauty and in the time of Jesus, He spent a great deal of time in this area.

The most beautiful words ever spoken are the “Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ”.

Joseph was awarded the family birthright through his two sons.

This tribe produced Joshua, Gibeon, Abimelech, Jair, Jephthah, and Samuel came from the heritage of Joseph through his two sons.

Benjamin was the tribe to be like a ravenous wolf. The tribe of Benjamin was courageous and bold. At times, these same traits were used for evil.

Jacob told his sons to be on guard for the bad traits and try to excel in the good traits and then he gave up the ghost.

*Gen 49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.
Gen 49:29 And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
Gen 49:30 In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.

Jacob remembered his forefathers Abraham and Isaac and at his death he wanted his body to be laid with their bodies.

Many today have similar wishes.

Sons want to be buried next to their father, wives next to their husbands, husbands next to their wives but we see today these things changing as the families are not as close as they once were.

Abraham had bought a cave with a piece of property in the field of Ephron from the Hittites.

He was buried there along with Sarah and Isaac and Rebekah and Leah was also buried there.

This where Jacob wanted to be buried and later, we will see where the preserved body of Joseph would also be buried.

Of course when we say buried, we know that in a cave a spot would be carved in the sides of the wall and the body would be laid there much like the burial of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This place is called Machpelah.

Through the years an ancient Christian Church was located at this place but sadly this church has been converted into a Mohammedan Mosque but a sacred enclosure at the entrance of this cave it is still looked upon as a relic of Jewish architecture thought to be built in the time of David and Solomon.

*Gen 49:33 And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.

After all these things on the mind of Jacob he died. The phrase “gathered up his feet” indicates the Jacob was dead.

This phrase gathered has another meaning.

We know that God had said He is not the God of the Dead but the God of the Living, therefore the Hebrew people felt that their Patriarchs were therefore still living in another form, so Jacob was gathered together with them.

We know that as the “Born Again” children of God we will certainly be gathered together with all our brothers and sisters in Christ because the Christian will never die though this body goes back to the dust it was made from.

1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

This is the difference that comes by the “Grace” of God only to those that love Him!

*Gen 50:7 And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
Gen 50:8 And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father’s house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.
Gen 50:9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.

We read this and then pass right on by it, but this funeral procession had to travel more than 250 miles one way and it could have been 500 miles depending on which way they traveled.

The Patriarchs of Israel would have had the same standing as a Pharaoh of Egypt or any other national ruler even before Israel became a nation.

We might understand that God was much closer to Jacob than we understand by the Scriptures.

Jacob the last of the Patriarchs and the father of the nation of Israel.

Jacob had always thought he would die without his children, but now all his sons and so many more, accompanied his body to be buried with his own fathers.

We should remember the Egyptians had no love for the Hebrews, in fact much hatred even at this time, the main reason the family of Jacob was kept separated from the Egyptians and most of that hatred was over a cow because the Egyptians worshipped the cow.

In many ways Jacob had prepared his own funeral and had given specific instructions for his burial.

This was a great procession with all the sons of Jacob all Jacob’s house except the small children but all the elders of Egypt, including the council to Pharaoh.

We can be sure there was a great military presence also with chariots and Calvary.

This thing did not even begin until after 72 days of mourning were over. This thing was treated as a royal funeral.

Much different from the three-hour rush to get the Lord Jesus Christ, the true King, into His grave, but He did not need it but for three days and the bones of Jacob are still in his grave.

The body of Jacob was embalmed so he could make this trip as was Joseph’s.

Jacob was buried with his fathers because they all had the same hope of the “Resurrection”!

Gen 50:13 For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

And Joseph and his family returned to Egypt.

Gen 50:14 And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.

The brothers of Joseph did not know what would happen to them after the death of their father, so they confronted Joseph on this issue.

*Gen 50:18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
Gen 50:19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?

In these last few lessons we have followed the life of Joseph and it can be said the Joseph had integrity.

Integrity can be said to possess a sound mind, moral soundness, purity, in-corruptness, uprightness, and of sound moral character.

We can see that God knows those who will stick by Him no matter what happens in their personal life.

Joseph was bold when he said he belonged to God and he was just a man as they were.

As Christians we can say we belong to God and any goodness others see in us, is because we belong to God.

Joseph was not in the place of God nor did he mean it this way as he tells them.

*Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Gen 50:21 Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

Joseph said do not brag on me but brag on our Lord and Savior.

Psa 105:17 He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
Psa 105:18 Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:
Psa 105:19 Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.
Psa 105:20 The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.
Psa 105:21 He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:
Psa 105:22 To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.

We, as Christians, are not better than any other human being, but by the “Grace of God”.

Act 3:26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

We are still dirty rotten sinners saved by God’s “Grace” and only then because we have accepted the work of the Lord Jesus Christ toward our salvation.

We are nothing without Jesus!

Joh_15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Joseph felt exactly the same because he knew this truth. He was nothing with the Lord!

What are our instructions?

1Th 5:15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
1Th 5:16 Rejoice evermore.
1Th 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
1Th 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1Th 5:19 Quench not the Spirit.
1Th 5:20 Despise not prophesyings.
1Th 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
1Th 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.
1Th 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord makes it simple for us, when He says, His disciples obey His commandments!

Joh_8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

Again Jesus Keeps it very simple!

Joh_13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

What is wrong with us today? We need more Jesus!

Amen

Being In The Will of God

February 14, 2021 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Jacob Moves To Egypt

Book of Genesis Chapters 46-47

The safest place we can be is in the “Will of God”! This is much more important than our physical location.

During this Covid 19 plague we have forgotten this!

As Christians we must learn how to prosper in these last days. Even during the times of plagues as we see right now.

Many of God’s people have given up and lost their faith but the Lord will not ever leave us to battle these things alone!

Jacob the patriarch of Israel would have never left his homeland if not for the providence of God.

What had God told to Abram?

Gen 15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
Gen 15:14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

There were many reasons that Joseph as a teenager was taken away from his father by his own brothers by evil and wicked means and had made it to Egypt.

We all get caught up in the reason Joseph gives which is true!

Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Though this was a very good reason and very true, there was another reason Joseph was taken away from his father all these years.

His father Jacob would never have left his homeland if not to go see his son Joseph.

Gen 45:28 And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.

If Joseph had remained in Hebron, Israel would not be the nation that it became and as it still exists today!

In chapter 45, it was Jacob’s heart that fainted for his lack of belief, but it was Israel that decided to go to Egypt!

*Gen 46:1 And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.

We should never begin any journey before we spend some time with the Lord!

In fact, in these last days we need to spend more time with the Lord and every time, just before we leave the house, as we step out into this evil and wicked world that is now also full of plagues.

These things may not ever change before the Lord takes us home!

In fact the Holy Ghost states that things are going to get worse.

To remain in the will of God, we cannot just hide from these things and be too afraid to go out as the world will have us to believe.

We keep forgetting that we are not afraid to die! Jesus Christ took the fear of death away from each believer!

This does not mean we can step out in front of a speeding train, but it does mean that continuing in the work God has given us to do, is the safest place to be.

God still says to be obedient to our leaders as best we can without going against the Word of God!

God still says to be at peace as long as we are able to be at peace with the enemy!

To prosper during these times is to manage these things guided by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.

Israel took this journey to see his son Joseph!

We must continue on our Christian journey to see our Lord Jesus Christ!

We must stop and make some sacrifices along the way!

We must commit all we have to the work of the Lord remembering the Lord wants “Living Sacrifices”!

*Gen 46:2 And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.
Gen 46:3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
Gen 46:4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.

God does not ever ask from us bits and pieces God demands our all!

When we give God our all, then He will go with us.

He is still God our Father in fact He is Abba Father!

Gal 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

We have gotten so used to compromising our faith, that we just give up far too easily in the path of the storm before the storm even arrives!

The Lord says, to fear not, to Israel just as the Lord tells us to fear not!

Joh 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

Just why are we so afraid?

Good Christians say, “I am just so afraid I will catch this plague”.

Someone offers a vaccine that may stop you from catching this plague and the first thing out of these Christians mouth is, “well I am not taking no shot, not matter what”.

This exactly the position our wicked governments want us in, afraid to do anything, afraid to make the right choices so the government can make our choices for us!

I can imagine Joseph with his fears, after all his great grandfather Abram had been run out of Egypt.

God had stopped Isaac from going to Egypt, but now this same God was speaking to Israel in visions in the night.

Israel was listening. We must always be open to hearing what God has to say!

God said listen Israel, “I am going down there with you”!

Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

God promised Jacob (Israel) that Joseph would be with him until the day he died, if he would just take all he had and go on down to Egypt.

Israel took all his family and everything he owned and listened to what God had to say.

Jesus is telling us the same exact thing today! To give Him all we have and stay on our journey to Heaven.

It will still be sweeter every mile of the trip and as God said, “and Jesus shall put His hand upon our eyes”.

*Gen 46:5 And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.

Remember we truly do not need to go anywhere without knowing God is with us, but there are many places God will not go!

God had promised to make Israel into a great nation. It would not happen unless Jacob went to Egypt.

God had promised to go to Egypt with Israel. This will not happen unless Israel was in the Will of God.

God had promised to bring Israel back to the promised land.

God promised Israel that he would not be separated from his son Joseph again before his death.

With all these promises from the Lord, how could Israel say no?

Look at all the promises the Lord has made to us, how could we ever say no to the Lord Jesus Christ?

Our faith is based upon the promises of God!

Jacob (Israel) now traveled free of fear of what laid ahead of him.

We seem to forget this from time to time! We already know our future and have no reason to fear the things of this world!

If God is traveling with us, just what should we be afraid of?

This may be the most important thing to remember as we go through these plagues and this new administration!

Israel (Jacob) did not leave anything behind, he took all his possessions with him and he took all his family with him.

*Gen 46:6 And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:
Gen 46:7 His sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.

We should understand that we should be quick to do what God has told us to do!

There is no benefit to being disobedient to God!

We must understand that when God speaks to us, it is for our benefit!

God is able to do all that He says He will do!

God warns us because He loves us, and God will never lead us to do the wrong thing!

When God warns us, then we need to move quickly!

There was no longer a benefit for Israel to remain in Canaan land at this time.

God did not want a godly presence left in this land and God had His reasons!

Gen 15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

God had determined that the Amorites, the inhabitants of Canaan Land, had not reached that degree of iniquity that He would cause their destruction.

You see this is what God is waiting upon today!

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

God removed Jacob and all his possessions so he could not influence Canaan Land in his absence.

God will remove the Church from this world so the world cannot be influenced by the Church! This is called the “Rapture of the Church”.

So when God tells the Church to do something, then we had better listen and, then do what God has told us to do without hesitation, for we are not going to Egypt, we are going to Heaven!

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

God moved this family all in one group and they would remain in one group while they lived in Egypt.

It was just 215 years since God made His covenant with Abram.

We know it would be over 400 more years the time they would spend in Egypt.

God’s promise would still be true, and His covenants are still real, and they are still true!

*Gen 46:28 And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.

It was Judah who had the idea to sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites and it would be Judah who would lead Israel to the land of Goshen.

Goshen was a district of Egypt where Israel would settle in and remain until it came time for the Exodus.

Before Israel left Goshen, it was called the “Land of Rameses”.

Gen 47:11 And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

It was not Rameses when Israel first came to Goshen.

Goshen was a place of some of the best land in Egypt suited to the raising of animals and was not far from the herds of Pharaoh and probably not far from his residence.

Gen 47:5 And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee:
Gen 47:6 The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.

After the plagues God placed upon Egypt, the land of Goshen is now no more than a desert.

*Gen 46:29 And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.
Gen 46:30 And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.

It was a wonderful thing to not have to worry about that famine, but Jacob would have never left the land of Canaan because of this famine.

It was a wonderful thing that there was food in Egypt, but Jacob would never have left Canaan because the only food source was in Egypt.

The only reason Jacob left Canaan land was because he could see his son Joseph, and God promised Jacob he would be near his son the remainder of his days, which were 17 more years.

Jacob was not concerned very much about the future because he knew the future lie in the hands of God.

Jacob was only concerned with the time he would spend with his son Joseph!

We should feel these same things about Jesus!

It is not important how much time we have left in this flesh because we know we will live eternally in the presence of the Lord!

The messenger of Jacob was now Judah.

It was Judah’s plan to sell Joseph and now it would be Judah who would lead his father Jacob back to Joseph.

Judah would remain in the forefront of all Jacob’s children, the tribes of Israel.

It is amazing the irony of all these things that happened.

It seems Judah had seen a dramatic change in his ways.

Jacob was a Godfearing man, so he felt great pride in seeing how God had worked through his son Joseph.

What do we know? God can work anywhere to see His Will progress upon this world!

After 22 years the entire family was in one place at the same time.

The whole land of Egypt was suffering from a famine but Joseph who was in charge of all the food, took the time to welcome his father and his family.

Joseph was now a prince in the land of Egypt, but he was not ashamed of the shepherd, his father.

We can see typology all through these passages of Joseph in the Book of Genesis.

Jacob was now at peace with his life and assured of Joseph’s happiness, he had nothing else to live for, he considered his life fulfilled.

When we know the promises of God and the salvation brought to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, we can be at peace with this world and God would have taken us home to Heaven except for the fact that He has things for each of us to do.

We must be witnesses to this lost and dying world!

When we meet Jesus, we will then get the best of God’s creations!

*Gen 47:11 And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

We should see that Israel was not just allowed to live in Goshen, but they were allowed to own the land, and this was a command of this Pharaoh.

This land would not be known as Rameses for probably at least 300 years.

Exo 1:11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.

What we see is that while most all Egyptians were perishing in their own land, God supplied Israel and his family with the food of the Egyptians.

God will make the His enemies supply the needs of His children!

Isa 65:13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed:
Isa 65:14 Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit.
Isa 65:15 And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name:

God proves over and over that He knows how to take care of His children!

*Gen 47:12 And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.
Gen 47:13 And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.

As we read through this passage, we will see that these children of Israel were given the best land to settle in and Joseph provided all their needs.

Doing this, while the people of Egypt were getting poorer, in the end having to sell themselves to the government to buy food for their families.

We will see that by the time this famine ended, Pharaoh had control of all the money in Egypt and all the land except for the land of the false priest and the land of the children of Israel.

Hunger will cause many things to happen and many of those things are not good and hunger will drive the people of the Seven Year Tribulation after the Rapture of the Church.

To the Egyptians, Pharaoh was more like a god for what he had accomplished.

Gen 47:25 And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.

This is the way Governments operate today. This is the way the Antichrist will operate!

Saying this, no doubt tight controls were needed for Egypt to survive at this time in history, but the people should never have to give up their land.

Pharaoh could have fed his people without taking all they had from them!

What were the children of Israel doing all this time, multiplying! All their needs were met!

Joseph was operating under divine guidance!

We should remember it was God who interpreted Pharaoh’s dream!

It was God who saw that Joseph was exalted!

Pharaoh the pagan ruler was used of God to care for God’s children even better than he did his own!

Pro 21:1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.

God does make use of unbelieving leaders like this Pharaoh and He still does this thing today for His own purpose.

We should remember how God used Cyrus.

We should remember how God used Nebuchadnezzar.

How God used Pilate even with him knowing Jesus was innocent of all charges!

God still uses unbelieving leaders today to get His will done!

If we need to know more, all we need do is study the Scriptures!

*Gen 47:27 And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.

Even during a long famine we see where God will take care of His people if we just do as He says.

We may have to move as did Jacob to a foreign land, but the results were that a nation was formed according to the will of God.

God was fulfilling his promise to Jacob and as He had promised Abram and Isaac.

Gen 46:3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
Gen 46:4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.

We might ask ourselves, why did the children of Israel not leave after the famine was over, but we must see that it was not in the will of God at this time to do so.

We know that the children of Israel continued to grow until they may have outnumbered the Egyptians.

The problems came to Israel when they began to spread themselves throughout Egypt, where they began to learn the ways of the Egyptians who worshipped many pagan false gods. They all should have remained in Goshen until God called them home!

Again they forgot the promises of God.

Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

Jacob the old man now Israel as a nation grew at his feet died in peace!

*Gen 47:28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.

Jacob may be the last of men to live for such and age as 147 years.

As he raised Joseph, he felt he was in his last years.

For 17 years Joseph had cared for his ailing father until he was sold into slavery, but the Lord was with him.

Twenty-two years passed and Joseph reappeared as Governor of Egypt and Jacob got to spend the last 17 years of his life with Joseph still taking care of his dad.

Jacob died in peace after 22 years of mourning for his son and 17 more years learning the truth!

A couple more things we see is, how a government operates with a 20 percent flat tax on its subjects.

One more thing we see that the government owns all the land, and the people are only tenants on that land.

Our own government is leaning this way today.

Egypt still operates with a system close to this today.

Amen

God Is Working Behind The Scenes of This World

February 7, 2021 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Providential Provision for Israel (God Has This Plan)

Book of Genesis Chapters 41 through Chapter 45

We do not have to study the Scriptures long, until we will realize that the Lord is working behind the scenes in His created world to make sure there is a positive ending.

The plan of God is amazing!
The plan of God is sure!
The plan of God is unstoppable!

God knows what is best for each of us and He will actively work in our lives if we are willing to allow Him to do so.

Why does God do these things? Because He cares!

1Pe 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
1Pe 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

If something is bothering you, then you need to go to the Lord!

He wants to hear about it even though He already knows what is going on in your life.

You want to be in the family of God? Then you need to be in the will of God!

Mar 3:35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

We cannot be a part of this world and be in the will of God!

Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The Lord will never give you something to do without He goes before you to prepare your way!

We know that Jehovah had told Abraham that Israel would spend 400 + years in a foreign nation and leave that nation with a great substance.

We now know that these things began when God moved Joseph into position.

Now we may not agree with everything Joseph had to go through, but we do know the Lord was with him and kept him safe while He trained Joseph to be second in command of Egypt the most powerful nation of that day.

Joseph is now in prison because he would not give in to temptation from the wife of Potiphar.

These things began with dreams and it would be dreams that would bring Joseph before Pharaoh.

*Gen 41:14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.

If we do not see anything else, we had better see the power of God behind the political world and the governments of the world.

Rom 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

God never puts rulers in place to do bad things!

Joseph had now waited a long time for his deliverance, but he knew it was coming, he just did not know when.

It is the same for the Church today. We are bought and paid for by the blood of the Lamb of God. We are awaiting on the Lord to take us home!

We should also be able to see that it was not for Joseph’s sake that he was called out of prison, it was because a mighty Pharaoh had a need that he did not understand.

Joseph recognizing this made himself presentable. As God’s children we should never look like the world.

Joseph was not recognizing the Pharaoh’s power he was recognizing God’s power!

The world of that day needed the blessings of God to survive just as it is for the world today. We live in a dying world!

Pharaoh does not beat around the bush, he needed answers to these dreams that he did not understand.

Notice also Joseph is just as calm in the presence of Pharaoh as he was in the prison.

*Gen 41:15 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it.
Gen 41:16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.

Joseph listens calmly as Pharaoh make his case, and the reason he had asked to see Joseph.

There was no one in all of Pharaoh’s council who could interpret this dream of Pharaoh and this man had enough sense to not let it go.

To Pharaoh this thing seemed too important to let go and he was right.

In this dream was not just the plan to feed the family of Israel, but to feed all of Egypt and much of the world of that day.

We should understand that there is never a day that God does not make sure there is enough food to feed the world.

It is the governments and rulers who allow for people to starve to death!

Joseph takes only a moment to tell Pharaoh that he does not have the ability to interpret dreams, but it is the God of the Hebrews, who only can interpret these type of dreams!

In other words there was no false god that could have such an ability!

Psa 25:14 The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.

Pro 3:31 Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.
Pro 3:32 For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous.

The world simply cannot see nor understand the truth!

Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

2Co 3:5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;

Joseph clearly understood things that many Church members do not understand today!

Pharaoh then tells Joseph his dream and the Lord gives Joseph the proper interpretation.

*Gen 41:28 This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.

This message was for Pharaoh not Joseph or the children of Israel.

It would be Pharaoh who would have to make the right decision after he heard the interpretation of his dreams!

By showing Pharaoh the answer to these dreams, Joseph is now accepted as a Prophet of the Hebrew God, Elohim.

It was only later that God said He was the Great “I Am”.

We must also understand that there is no “science” in interpreting the Word of God.

God says what He means, and God means what He says!

This is the message Joseph gave to Pharaoh as did Daniel.

Dan 2:27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;
Dan 2:28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;

No government leader should be swayed by his councilors until he knows he has the truth. If he is not satisfied with their answers then he will need to go outside that group of people and there is no better man to go that the true man of God.

I do not need to know what my government says, I need to know what my God says!

For all those who think that “science” must confirm or agree to the Word of God for the Word of God to be true are only foolish.

Just accept a literal translation of the Word of God, “rightly divided”!

Science changes as time goes by but the Word of God never changes because the truth will always be the truth.

*Gen 41:29 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:
Gen 41:30 And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;
Gen 41:31 And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous.

Remember how Moses became God’s Prophet to Pharaoh well we see that Joseph had set the example as Joseph was now God’s Prophet to Pharaoh.

It is a fact that God has the power to give His servants understanding and insight!

God still does this today, but He uses His written Word to tell us of our future so there is no need for prophets.

God tells us to study the Word of God.

2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

If our new president needs some insight of the things of our world, and he does, then he should just study the Bible just as God told all the kings of Israel and all rulers then and today.

It is not enough to swear upon a book you have never read!

What was soon coming to Egypt? A famine such that has never been seen by the people of Egypt and the surrounding lands but before this occurred there would be seven years of plenty above what was normal.

Decisions have to be made in the good years because bad years always come.

In other words, we need to prepare for that bad day because it is certainly coming!

Again God had to get Jacob and his family to come to Egypt and it would never have happened without this famine!

Did God cause this famine? No, God does not do bad things! He does allow them to take place!

We must repeat this over and over. God does not do bad things, but He does allow many of them to take place!

It is Satan the Deceiver who caused this bad thing to happen.

Now do not get me wrong, God does have some rules as God told the children of Israel.

Deu 11:16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
Deu 11:17 And then the LORD’S wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.

Could God have stopped this thing? Yes, and He will explain it all to us one day!

Again, it was Satan trying to destroy the path to the Messiah and he will try many more times before the Lord is born in Bethlehem.

Seven years is nothing in the plan of God and remember God has written it all down for us to see that the only path to eternal life with Him is through and by the Lord Jesus Christ!

When God takes the time to tell us what is about to happen, He does this so we can prepare for the worse.

Today God tells us what will happen if we do not believe what He says, and we are fools if we do not take the Word of God serious!

When God repeats Himself, then we can expect things to happen soon!

The famine that was coming would wipe away all the good thoughts of those years of plenty.

These things were certain!

*Gen 41:32 And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

Notice how the Holy Ghost now gives us a Biblical study tool.

When God has to repeat Himself then we can be sure these things will happen soon!

God repeats Himself because of His “Mercy”. If God warns us one time then that is enough, but because God loves His creation, He repeats Himself many times.

Joseph could speak boldly because he was speaking the truth!

It is the same with every true Prophet in the Scriptures. They speak boldly because they speak the truth! The Word of God is that truth!

Joseph was so sure he then goes on to teach the most powerful man in the world of that day just what to do.

We will see that this Pharaoh was a pagan, but he did have some intelligence.

*Gen 41:38 And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?

Joseph had told Pharaoh that he needed a man who knew how to get Egypt through these 14 years.

Obviously, this wisdom came by the Lord, but we can see this young man named Joseph was certainly a special young man.

This man in charge would buy up one-fifth of all the grains that were harvested in those seven years of plenty.

Remember these were seven years of plenty so the crops would be greater than in a normal year.

All this grain would be stored in many cities safe and secure from the elements and with the seal of Pharaoh.

It would be much easier to handle the distribution of this food when the time came to do so.

This food would be held in reserve, unused for anything else, but those seven years of famine.

By this Egypt would be secure from economic collapse during the coming famine.

God has the power for our voices to be heard at His timing!

God will provide the wisdom that we need as He promises!

Psa 104:24 O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.

Psa 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Pro 2:6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

If we belong to the Lord and are following in His Will, He will give us understand and wisdom and speak through us, but we must have “faith”!

if we make ourselves available to the Lord, He will use us! God loves volunteers, ask Isaiah.

Joseph did not shy away though he stood before the earthly ruler of the world on that day.

Joseph knew that it was Elohim who was the God of all power and we are all puny in any power we think we have.

*Gen 41:39 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:
Gen 41:40 Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
Gen 41:41 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.

This free advice, given to Pharaoh was sound advice, in fact, so sound that even if the famine did not come the government of Pharaoh could not lose have control of such a valuable commodity.

Joseph was a man with the gift of God, the spirit of wisdom.
Joseph was free of selfishness.
Joseph was not plotting for advancement.
Joseph was pure used of the Holy Spirit.

Pharaoh was the sinner.
Pharaoh was rich and had need of nothing, or so he thought. (Reminds us of the last Church Age)
Pharaoh began to see that there was a God that he did not know about.

If Joseph had just interpreted the dream and said nothing else, Egypt would not have survived because Pharaoh lacked the wisdom to do the right thing.

If Joseph had not been selected to make sure these things were handled properly then Egypt would not have survived.

God was not so much set on the survival of Egypt as he was the survival of Israel, and this will never change.

The world needs to wake up to this fact today!

God knows what will take place at all times now and all future times, as long as time last!

Joseph had come out of the prison one day because he was requested by the Pharaoh of Egypt.

Before this day was over Joseph was wearing the signet ring of Pharaoh that was used to for signing public documents.

Joseph then began to wear a coat of fine linen. See even the coat made by his father Israel was a picture of prophecy!

He also wore a gold necklace, a badge of rank, indicating his rank and authority.

Joseph also had the privilege of riding in the state chariot.

A Pharaoh would have two chariots. One the state chariot, the other a war chariot.

There would be someone crying before him which said, “bend the head, bow the knee”.

Joseph would be treated as royalty, as long as this Pharaoh lived and maybe longer as long as the family of this Pharaoh lived.

We know it was over 400 years before a wicked Pharaoh wanted to destroy Israel by making them all slaves.

*Gen 42:6 And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.

Joseph was now Governor over all the land of Egypt.

All merchantmen from every nation had to appear in person before Joseph to buy or to sell.

Remember Israel (Jacob) was a very rich man, who sent his sons to do business in Egypt, but Joseph had no responsibility to sell them anything.

After 22 years Joseph and his brothers were again face to face and according to the early dreams of Joseph, they bowed the knee with their faces toward the earth.

Gen 37:6 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
Gen 37:7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
Gen 37:8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
Gen 37:9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Gen 37:10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
Gen 37:11 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

His brothers did not yet know this was Joseph and they did not recognize him with his new coat and position.

And Joseph did speak roughly to them as they had to him.

We see that nothing can stop the plan of God for He influences many rulers of this world and sets them all in power, though we may not understand why certain men become rulers or why they do what they do.

The survival of the nation of Egypt and maybe many other nations depended upon Joseph, but also the survival of Israel and his family was now in the hands of Joseph.

The world thinks things just happen by accident because this is the teaching of evolution!

The pure fact is, that all the things of this world happen according to the “providence of God working in our lives”!

There are no accidents!

Very seldom if any at all, does things happen to people unless someone breaking some law or someone involved was breaking a law.

Even trips and falls happen because we are reckless and stubborn.

Think about it and you will know this is true.

It is God who holds all life in His hands, and He knows what will happen to each of us daily and in our future.

God is under no obligation to extend the life of any of us!

God and God only, knows those who will return to Him!

Isa 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Isa 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God knows those who will return to Him just as well as He does those who will never turn to Him!

Joseph finally had to tell his brothers the truth.

*Gen 45:3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.

When you have been concealing the truth for 22 years and the reality of that truth confronts you, you will not know what to say.

Num 32:23 But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.

It is by the providence of God that the truth will surface and lies will be exposed.

Yes, it will happen in our own government sooner, or later, not because I say so, but because God says so.

Joseph could no longer hold back his emotions.
Joseph had received “Grace” so now he offered “Grace”.
Joseph understood why all things that happened to him, happened.
Joseph never took his eyes off of the Lord God Almighty.
Joseph understood what forgiveness really means!

Rewards can happen upon this earth, though most of our rewards will take place when we meet Jesus in the clouds.

Joseph’s rewards were not his position nor his riches in Egypt.

Joseph’s reward was being reunited with his family!

In this instance, by typology, Joseph is a type of our Heavenly Father!

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

1Ti 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

God did not create Hell for humans, Hell was created for the Devil and his fallen angels.

Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

2Pe 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

Jud 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

If you end up in Hell, it will be because you have rejected the truth! There is a place called Hell!

Joseph must yield to his love for his family.

*Gen 45:4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.

Joseph had always loved his brothers and never understood why they did what they did.

It took 22 years and a great distance for these 10 men to know love for their brother.

Joseph forgave his brothers because Joseph realized that the hand of God was involved in his purpose.

Joseph was treated badly by his brothers because of envy, jealousy and hatred because that this is what they had seen all their childhood days.

They had now spent 22 years seeing how this thing had affected their father and they were more mature.

If we study the Scriptures, we see that Joseph had reacted with love toward his brothers just as the Bible teaches.

God had not caused these men to mistreat their brother Joseph.
God had not caused Joseph to be sold into slavery, but God used it to further His plan for Israel.
God had not caused all the things that had happened to Joseph while he was in Egypt, but God had been with Joseph every moment of his life and caused him to prosper in all the things he had done.

Joseph wanted his brother to come closer to him because there were some things the Egyptians did not need to know, and Joseph wanted to put them at ease.

God wants us all to be just as forgiving as He is!

Mar 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Mar 11:25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Mar 11:26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Joseph had forgiven them.

They knew what they had done and after reminding them just to show he was Joseph, not much more needed to be said.

Forgiveness shows love!

*Gen 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

When we realize that we are in the plan of God, and He has His hand upon us, we get to see the bigger picture. Somewhat like God sees His plan in action.

These brothers needed to establish some trust now that they had been reunited and the first step was forgiveness.

Jealousy, envy, bitterness and hatred had to be put aside for God’s plan to become real.

When we look back at all the foolish things and serious sin, we have done all our lives, we can become discouraged, but Joseph did not want his brothers to feel this way.

God can bring good out of every mistake and God has more forgiveness than we have error.

But we must repent and repent still means much more than saying “I am sorry”.

There must be some action in our repentance.

These ten brothers were forgiven by Joseph and it was time for them to get together and save this family that God intended to build a nation from.

They were just a small part of the nation of Israel that exists today.

Joseph was sent before his family to make preparations, by the hand of God!

Psa 105:16 Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread.
Psa 105:17 He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
Psa 105:18 Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:
Psa 105:19 Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.
Psa 105:20 The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.
Psa 105:21 He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:
Psa 105:22 To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.
Psa 105:23 Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
Psa 105:24 And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies.

One of these days we will wake up and see that God knows what He is doing.

He has given us a purpose.
He has given us commandments.

Our one and only duty is to obey!

Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecc 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Lets let God be God and stay out of His way, while we are obedient to do what He has called us to do!

Joseph told his brothers that this famine had just begun, and it was going to get worse.

This is the same message we have today.

The persecution we see today is going to get worse before the Lord takes us home!

Amen

The Lord Has A Plan For You

January 31, 2021 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Joseph Is Protected in Egypt

Book of Genesis Chapters 39 and 40

As Christians we will be further tested in 2021. Persecution is on the rise and it will increase. The amazing thing about Christian persecution is that the Church always grows when persecution increases. God does not cause Christian persecution to allow this to happen!

The world will treat Christians shamefully just as the world did to Joseph. Much of the persecution of the Church will come by many so-called Christians already in the Church such as our own president who stands against all the Word of God though he claims salvation though his own pastors will not pray in the name of Jesus Christ.

If you do not claim Jesus, you cannot be Christian, and your salvation has no merit!

Today we will see that the Lord is true to His Word as He will never abandon us nor will He forsake us as the world turns against us.

Joseph was treated shamefully by his own brothers.

We will see that these 10 brothers held the truth of Joseph from their father for near 22 years when Jehovah stepped back into the picture to show Jacob (Israel) the truth of his son Joseph.

Joseph never forgot his roots and he knew his roots were in the Almighty God.

We know there were no Christians in the Old Testament because to be a Christian is to come by Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who began a New Covenant based upon better sacrifices.

A new and living way.

Heb 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
Heb 10:21 And having an high priest over the house of God;
Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

In typology Joseph was a great example of what a Christian should be like given to us from the pages of the Old Testament.

Joseph was God’s child, but he was not Christian!

*Gen 39:1 And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.
Gen 39:2 And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

Let us not miss the fact that slavery was alive and well in these days of Joseph, and we need not think that Joseph was the only human that was robbed of his dignity and his freedoms as we can be sure that there was a great market for the sale of humans in that day as there is today.

Why do we continue to allow this to go on today?

Egypt was the greatest of powerful nations at this time in history.

All powerful people believe they should be able to have slaves!

We need to understand things are going to happen to us that we just will not like. We live in a wicked world no matter how our politicians dress it up!

We live in a world that denies its Creator and blames everything upon humans when all these things could be stopped if not for wickedness in high places.

Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

We must never overlook this Scriptural truth!

It is the truth today just as it was in the days of Joseph if not more so!

Joseph was now a slave with no rights and no freedoms.

Joseph came from a rich family, but he was now just a poor slave who would become a servant to Potiphar.

This sounds familiar as we know our Savior gave up the riches of Heaven to put on the clothes of a servant in order that we could be saved from this wicked dying world.

Joseph had someone on his side throughout all his days in Egypt!

The LORD was with Joseph!

When the title Lord is spelled with all capital letters, it means Yahweh, the self-existing God, Jehovah as the Hebrews would say.

It is the Lord who made Joseph to be prosperous even as a slave in a foreign land.

The one thing Joseph had to do was to not forsake his Savior!

Tit 2:9 Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again;
Tit 2:10 Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.
Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

We must understand that the Word of God does not ever change according to our own circumstances.

The Word of God remains the same and the meaning of the Word of God is always unchanged.

God says what He means, and God means what He says!

The important thing to us as it was to Joseph is that The LORD will never forsake us if we love Him!

*Gen 39:3 And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand.
Gen 39:4 And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.

We should know it was not the sin of Joseph that caused him to be a slave in Egypt.

Yes, Joseph was a sinner, but it was the sin of his brothers that caused him to be in Egypt.

Nothing in God’s plans for Israel, changed at all when this thing happened!

God does not adapt to the things of the world. God’s plan moves along at His own pace and nothing and nobody can change what God has planned from the very first day of Creation.

Joseph found “Grace”!

Grace is the unmerited favor of God.

The word “Grace” is seen in the Bible 170 times and the actions of God’s “Grace” are seen many more times than this.

We need to understand God wants to show us His “Grace” and not His “Judgment”!

Psa 84:10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Psa 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
Psa 84:12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.

Grace is not just a New Testament word!

Even as a young man of 17, the work ethic of Joseph impressed this Egyptian soldier.

*Gen 39:5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.
Gen 39:6 And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.
Gen 39:7 And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.

Joseph ran the household of Potiphar so well Potiphar could concentrate on his duties but there was one duty that was being neglected, his wife.

Notice how her sin began in her eyes.

She cast her eyes upon Joseph. She saw a goodly person. She saw a young man well favored by all that knew him.

What do we know?

We all need to make a covenant with our eyes!

Our eyes will get us in trouble!

Job 31:1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?
Job 31:2 For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
Job 31:3 Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?
Job 31:4 Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?
Job 31:5 If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;
Job 31:6 Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.

We see that Job had the right answer.

We also see this woman was daring and shameless in her sin.

1Jn_2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

By the words of Jesus, this woman had already sinned.

Mat_5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Jesus said this of a man, but it is the same for a woman!

Joseph had done nothing to cause this but maybe he could have made himself more aware and been more ready for what did happen. Perhaps!

Joseph knew better than to sink to this depth of sin!

Pro 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
Pro 6:24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.

Pro 30:20 Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

Joseph also began to realize the scorn of a woman.

Pro 21:19 It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.

*Gen 39:8 But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;
Gen 39:9 There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me “but thee”, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

Joseph was being trained for things that were in his future and we must understand that we must survive temptation!

Pro 22:14 The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.

No doubt Potiphar knew something of the ways of his wife because he had warned Joseph.

We should not doubt that this was a beautiful and attractive woman and she certainly held power in her political circles.

The one thing we will understand from the Word of God is that He will help us to escape temptation.

1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

God also warns us about these things when we are young.

2Ti 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
2Ti 2:23 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.

Joseph chose to do the right thing. He ran.

Joseph might not have known what would happen, but he knew he would remain innocent in the eyes of God and God would protect him.

We can just imagine Joseph as he might say to himself, “what would Jesus do” when he did say “how then can I do this great sin of wickedness against God”?

This woman would not have known the meaning of what Joseph had said because her gods had no such rules.

We see that “sex” outside of marriage is indeed a “great wickedness” in the eyes of God.

We live in a world where these things are blessed by the government and if mistakes are made then it is alright to solve that problem by murdering that unborn child.

The master of the house had trusted Joseph with all his possessions but not with his wife.

We must understand that all sin is first against God and God alone!

Deu 25:16 For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the LORD thy God.

Sin always interferes with our relationship with the Lord!

Psa 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

If our prayers and our conversations with the Lord cease to be heard, our life will become miserable.

This woman could not stop her lusts for Joseph, or she refused to, and she lacked opportunity.

*Gen 39:10 And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
Gen 39:11 And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.

You know the Lord will never accept the excuse “well I just had to give in, she would not stop”.

When we look to other humans from a human point of view, we will not always get the right answer.

But when we look to humans from Heaven’s point of view, we can see right from wrong.

Potiphar’s wife treated Joseph in a humiliating way by requesting him to her bedroom and doing so very often.

She saw Joseph as no more than a slave who should have been obedient to her.

In reality, there is just no way defend sex outside of marriage.

Joseph was not about to sacrifice his purity or his integrity just to please his master’s wife.

Joseph may not have been a teenager anymore, but he was not going to ruin his adult life by disobeying God!

Joseph had to fight this battle every day until this day when he was alone in the house with this foolish woman.

Maybe Joseph should not have put himself in this position but as a hard and devoted worker, he may not have even noticed he was alone with her.

The world does not know the meaning of sin!

Potiphar’s wife had probably set these things up and we will notice these men were close enough for her make contact with them quickly, if things did not go her way.

What should we know? The Word of God.

Pro 5:1 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
Pro 5:2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
Pro 5:3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
Pro 5:4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
Pro 5:5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
Pro 5:6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
Pro 5:7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
Pro 5:8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
Pro 5:9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
Pro 5:10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
Pro 5:11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
Pro 5:12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
Pro 5:13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

Joseph allowed this woman to get a little too close to him and she caught him by his garment.

*Gen 39:12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.

Joseph ran out of his garment as a man escaping for his life and in reality, this would have been true.

Joseph did not stop to argue with this woman, it was time to get away from her no matter the consequences.

This is the second time someone removed the coat of Joseph!

What is our lesson here?

When we are in the habit of referring everything to God we will not be easily deceived by the appearance of things in this world.

Joseph was not about to get into a pulling match with this wicked wife of his master Potiphar.

She then changed her approach and blamed Joseph when, “by her holding onto the garment” should have been obvious, she was the blame.

She explains herself to her husband.

*Gen 39:16 And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home.
Gen 39:17 And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me:
Gen 39:18 And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.
Gen 39:19 And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled.

We should immediately notice that this woman laid the blame on her husband saying, “this Hebrew servant you brought onto us”.

Wicked women know how to remove the blame from themselves.

Potiphar became enraged as most men would do.

We must understand that God’s people will face false accusations and these things will increase.

The world has no other way to battle the truth.

Pro_12:17 He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.

Pro_12:19 The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.

A charge of rape or attempted rape has never set well with any people.

Of course Joseph was innocent, but he would never be able to convince Potiphar of the truth even if he knew about his promiscuous wife. The politics of his position would not have allowed it.

Joseph is wronged by his master for political reasons and Joseph expects to be killed but this is not in God’s plan and Joseph has spent enough time in the house of Potiphar to see how the political things work in Egypt.

Joseph will not be killed but he will be placed in prison.

*Gen 39:20 And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.

In many ways this is seen as a mild punishment, but we must see that Joseph is being protected by the Lord, after all he is innocent of all charges.

We can also suspect that Potiphar may not have believed all the things his wife had said and to me the evidence proved she was lying.

I believe Joseph was imprisoned for appearances and Potiphar had placed a lot of trust in Joseph and I believe Potiphar actually believed Joseph but none of these things mattered because Jehovah knew the truth.

Once we are “justified” by the Lord it does not matter what the world believes.

We live in a heavily biased nation with politicians ensuring that it stays that way.

Many similar things were going on in Egypt in that day of Joseph.

1Pe 2:19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
1Pe 2:20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
1Pe 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

All these things are examples of the things that happened to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Isa_53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

It would not be long before Joseph would be running this prison still learning things God wanted him to learn for what lied ahead in his future.

*Gen 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

The truth is gates and bars cannot shut out the mercy of God!

Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

Joseph receives the same confidence from the Jailer as he had with Potiphar.

We can be sure there were no loose women in this place.

Our light can shine in a prison as well as it does outside a prison and those who are witnessed to cannot run away.

Joseph had no special traits that made him better than anyone else.

As Christians we are not better than any other people but by the “Grace of God”.

It was the Lord who was on the side of Joseph!

Remember, the Apostle Paul, was content wherever he was located, and God had to put Paul in prison so he could give us the Epistles.

Paul would have never slowed down long enough to write these precious books if he had remained free all those years.

For Joseph, prison was his next steppingstone, to being second in command of all of Egypt.

God certainly does work in mysterious ways!

Isa_55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Joseph became second in command at the prison.

You know, it must have been an absolute pleasure to watch this young man work!

It is a pleasure to work around Christians rather than around those who are lost.

We have different goals as Christians!

Joseph did not have any friends and family around him, but he did have his God with him at all times!

*Gen 39:22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.

Psa 106:46 He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.

As Joseph had grown up, he had witnessed the power of God.

Joseph had dreams that he knew where real.

Joseph knew that God had been with him in his service to Potiphar.

But now even in prison Joseph was seeing that God was with Him and a very great lesson lie before him.

We must all be patient and wait on God!

Joseph may have been in prison, but he was respected, and he had a purpose even in his bounds!

*Gen 39:23 The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.

What is it that gives one special power over men? It is not great natural gifts! It is not superiority of the mind! It is not the gifts of rank and fortune!

The thing that gives one special powers over men is the fact that the Lord is with him!

The only thing Joseph needed to know was that the Lord was with him!

The only thing that can put space between us and God is our disobedience!

Yes, the world had treated Joseph terrible, but this is what the world does. The world will turn on you in a moment if you go against the world.

If we will continue to serve the Lord, praying for our forgiveness and being obedient to the Word of God, we will find that we can prosper even if we are locked up in a prison.

Our prosperity and our success do not depend upon circumstances.

Our prosperity and our success depend upon our integrity, and our attitude, and our character, and our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

If our character is more like Jesus, then we will be successful and blessed of God.

If there is one other thing we must clearly get in our heads, it is that we must patiently wait on the Lord!

Psa_27:14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

The one thing that Joseph did not forget to do was to act like the Lord is the boss!

Col 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
Col 3:24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
Col 3:25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

Eph 6:8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.

These things may sound hard to do, but if we remember our ending, then this little time we spend in this flesh upon this earth is really nothing when we compare it to the Glory World!

Amen

From Riches to the Slave Market

January 24, 2021 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Joseph and his Brothers

Book of Genesis Chapters 36 through Chapter 38

As we go through these last lessons in the Book of Genesis, we need to remember the time these children spent in Mesopotamia.

How they witnessed the envy and jealousy of the wives of their father.

How two sisters were locked in a bitter feud over them as they were born.

How their grandfather had treated their father Jacob so deceitfully.

How in all their time had had not seen much love from their parents and their grandfather.

They had witnessed envy and jealousy and strife all their days.

We can just imagine how these mothers had taught hatred.

And then Jacob got in on this thing by choosing to show favoritism to Joseph because he was born of Rachel the only wife he truly loved.

This is no way to raise children and we will begin to see some of the results of these things in our lesson today.

Did God also show favoritism to Joseph or does God just try to show how He cares for abused children?

The life of Joseph is expressed in many words in the rest of the Book of Genesis and there are many lessons we can learn from these chapters of Joseph’s life.

Israel would soon need an earthly savior and God chose Joseph to be that earthly savior.

Joseph is a prime example in the Old Testament of what a Christian should be in the New Testament!

Joseph was raised in a wealthy home, but he spent many years as a slave before rising to a place of power.

As a slave he worked hard enough to become the manager of his master’s estate.
As a prisoner he worked so hard he became manager of the prison.
As a man of God, he was called upon to give spiritual guidance to Pharaoh and became second in command of Egypt.

All these things happened because he was a willing servant of God!

What did the Apostle Paul teach us?

Php 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
Php 4:12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Joseph never took his eyes off the Lord at any time in his life!

We must also never forget that Joseph was just a sinner used by the Lord to accomplish certain things.

Joseph became the deliverer of Israel as Israel grew from a family into a nation!

God has a plan for each one that He saves if we will be just as willing as Joseph, and be content as Paul no matter our circumstances.

We may be called upon to do many things in these last days.

We must completely understand though many things happen that we do not agree with, the Almighty God is the supreme Ruler of this world!

We must never blame Jehovah for the way the world is going, we must accept that God knows what He is doing and do the work he gave us to do right up till the sound of the trumpet.

God is the Sovereign Ruler of this world that He created that we are in the process of ruining.

*Gen 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.

The first thing we see is that Jacob is still showing favoritism in this family, this time aimed at Joseph.

These other sons and daughters have witnessed these things all their days.

When you have one father and four different mothers there will be problems in the house as each mother tries to do the best for her own children.

Favoritism causes division within the home. It did then and it does now!

When Joseph was old enough, he began feeding the flocks along with his other brothers.

We know Israel was rich and richness was counted by the number of animals he owned in that day and Israel had many animals.

From the stories of Laban and his daughters we found that Jacob was good with animals and his sons would have learned from him.

Joseph was with his brothers trying to learn the skills necessary to be a shepherd.

The truth is Israel (Jacob) should have had more sense than to single out Joseph for special treatment as he had been a part of these sort of things all his own life and it was multiplied as he had spent 20 years with Laban and been misused himself.

Joseph was his favorite son because Rachel was his favorite wife, and all the children knew these things to be true.

For God’s own plan, he had equipped Joseph with some skills it did not seem his brothers had but we know God does not show favoritism to anyone, especially His own children, whom we are.

We all play a part in the plan of God for this world and He is making all the arrangements for our future home with Him in His House.

We are all different and we all have different skills, but it is how we use those skills that can be a benefit in the work of the Lord.

Once we are saved then the Holy Spirit will decide what else we need, and He may even increase those skills we have or turn us to an entirely different set of skills.

Now we cannot be sure just what a coat of different colors would look like, but we can be sure none of the other children who were all grown men at this time had one like it.

And it being hand made by dad made it even more hated by the others.

It was a rich looking garment of royalty that a shepherd would have no need of, but it is here where we can see in typology our Savior.

Our Savior took off the robes of royalty to put on the coat of a shepherd.

Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

None of these things set well with Joseph’s brothers.

Here again we will see another type of Christ as He came to His own and was rejected by them.

*Gen 37:4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

As we already know from previous Scripture, Jacob loved Rachel far above his other wives.

No doubt all the other boys who were now grown men had lived in this scenario all their days.

They had been eyewitnesses to the deceit of Laban their grandfather.
They had been eyewitness to the envy and jealousy of Leah and Rachel because they lived in the middle of it.
They now witnessed the favoritism of Jacob toward Joseph.

Joseph was partially beloved for his mother’s sake.

But Joseph was the only son who was at home with his father during Israel’s older years as Joseph had just turned 17.

And no doubt Joseph was just special in his ways and just a little bit different from the other boys.

When Jacob started dressing Joseph in finer clothes, it just brought all these things to a head and we already know “envy” brings with it, untold sin.

Pro 27:4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?

In a family we are born to help one another, and we should take this mindset out into the world, but envy causes us to destroy one another, even if they are close family.

Joseph’s 10 brothers hated him so much that they could not even speak to him in words of peace. They could not offer him peace. They could not even wish him well.

Then God steps in with prophetic dreams.

*Gen 37:5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
Gen 37:6 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
Gen 37:7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.

We do not know if Joseph could feel the presence of the hatred of his brothers.

We can be sure that Israel (the man) did not realize just how much Joseph was hated by his brothers and we see that the mothers are not even written about which means that the Holy Spirit did not think it relevant to tell us about their ways at this time.

We can be sure this was not a happy family!

We know the future of Joseph so we can only say that God was already preparing Joseph for his future.

We should understand that God will always prepare us for some future part of His plan if we make ourselves “teachable” and “available” as our Pastor preached just recently.

If we already think we know everything then God cannot teach us anything about the truth.

We know that Joseph told his dream to his brothers, but Joseph never got the opportunity to interpret his dream as they did this themselves.

We should understand that it was the sons of the two handmaids that had become concubines that Joseph was telling his dream to.

These four young men probably felt less love from their father Israel than them all.

This dream did not set well with them according to their own interpretation.

We know from the Scriptures that they did indeed bow down to Joseph once Pharaoh had made Joseph second in command of all Egypt.

Gen 42:6 And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.
Gen 42:7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.

Again, we find that these things are written more for the Church than for these sons of Israel.

We also can see that when Joseph knew his brothers, he spoke rough to them as they had to him all their days when he was a young teenager.

We can see that these four brothers of the handmaids had it in their mind that Joseph would never get the opportunity to rule over them, they would kill him first.

*Gen 37:8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.

if you have read the entire Book of Genesis you know that these sons of Israel had made the right interpretation of Joseph’s dream.

On the day of the dream, they knew Joseph could not rule over them because they would not allow it under their own power.

If Jacob made Joseph to be the head of the family, they would not ever agree with Joseph!

Joseph was despised even more.
Joseph was hated even more.

Makes us think of the days of Jesus Christ.

We are told that the Lord Jesus Christ will one day rule this entire world.

Every knee will bow to Him!

Rom_14:11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

All those who already despise the Lord, certainly hate Him even more when they are told that they will bow to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Satan goes berserk when you tell him this!

Satan still has a belief that he can defeat Christ Jesus and so do his followers. They are so confused to the truth.

The truth will still hold to be the truth and every soul that has ever lived will bow to the Lord Jesus Christ!

Php_2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

The true Church, that is hated today will be even more hated on the day of the Rapture.

We can just imagine how much hate boils over at the resurrection of the dead and they face the Lord God Judge of Righteousness.

Rom_1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

Mat 22:31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
Mat 22:32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

But Joseph dreamed another dream.

*Gen 37:9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Gen 37:10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

This dream is similar to the first one in that it was Joseph who his family would bow to.

In the Bible we know that most all dreams were prophecy of some future event.

Jacob (Israel) had such dreams and though he rebuked his son, he did observe the saying of his son.

Was Joseph being cocky? Was Jacob rebuking Joseph to ease the hatred of his other sons?

This dream is a similar dream to the first and it insured the truth of the first dream.

Gen 41:32 And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

Joseph could say this to Pharaoh because he had experienced it himself.

What we must realize is, that God is working behind the scenes to carry out His own will. He is still doing this today and He will continue until things reach their peak as described by the prophets and by the Book of Revelation.

Just as God put things in place for Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem to fulfill prophecy, God is putting things in place with Joseph and his family to fulfill prophecy.

What had God told Abraham.

God used a teenage son of Jacob to get these things started.

None of his brothers could understand what was happening, but they too would be used of God and they did not even realize it.

His brothers had decided to get rid of Joseph and God used them to do this thing.

They would not be allowed to kill Joseph.

Watch how God’s plan works.

*Gen 37:23 And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;
Gen 37:24 And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.

Notice these four sons of the handmaids who hated Joseph and would have killed him, while the remaining sons were satisfied just to get rid of him and not kill him, but these to also despised that coat made by their father.

Envy could have caused murder, but it also would cause their own father to suffer for many years when they all knew the truth.

For 21 years they allowed their father to mourn for Joseph even though they knew what happened to him!

In typology we know that the Lord Jesus Christ was stripped of His robe.

Psa 22:18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

Mat 27:28 And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.

Also in typology we see the pit as a place called Hell.

Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Hell is also a place without water!

Luk_16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

All the lost have a fear of the pit!

Isa_24:17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.

Those bound for Hell have rejected the truth of God.

Isa_38:18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

Joseph would be saved from the pit or from Hell, just as every born again, child of God, because of the “Grace of God”!

Isa_38:17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.

We can also see this pit as the empty grave of the Lord then Reuben found this pit to be empty.

The grave of Jesus is still empty!

The enemy will deliver Joseph to the auction block as a slave.

*Gen 37:28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.

If not for these seed of Ishmael, Joseph may have been left in that pit to die.

God’s plan was to safely get Joseph to Egypt so He provided transportation!

We see that where envy reigns there is no pity!

Humanity is forgotten when envy reigns.

Have we not seen all these things the last few months in our elections?

Those who have envied and hated president Trump, have not just shown that hatred, but they certainly will not show pity and they want his life destroyed.

Why do not the American people see this and put a stop to it?

The brothers of Joseph continued until Joseph was completely out of their site and out of their lives, or so they thought.

We see malice is like a deadly poison.

Pro 27:4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?

Joseph had begged his brothers for his life, but their ears were closed.

Only Reuben seemed to have some feelings for his younger brother.

*Gen 37:29 And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.

It may have been Reuben’s plan to slip away to do something and then return to get Joseph out of that pit and take him to safety, but the others may have caught on.

Gen 37:22 And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again. ?

It is also curious to see that it was Judah who suggested to sell Joseph.

Gen 37:25 And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
Gen 37:26 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?

It was also a Jew who betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ for silver.

Life was just not precious enough in those days and we live in a world where life is not very precious today.

This is why the Lord teaches us to choose life because all that Satan has is death.

Deu_30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

Reuben had warned his brothers about harming Joseph, but they had paid him no attention.

Gen_42:22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.

We should understand God always hears the cry of the innocent!

Psa 9:12 When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.

When Reuben rent his clothes it showed his brothers how disappointed he was in them, but Reuben never told his father Jacob the truth for some reason.

What is the truth?

Pro 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

This is another law that God will never break.

We will never be able to defy God and get away with it!

No matter what we think about the politics of our nation this tiny Scripture in the Book of Proverbs will hold true.

God will not be mocked for very much longer!

*Gen 37:30 And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?
Gen 37:31 And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;
Gen 37:32 And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no.

Reuben asked his brothers how would he ever explain to his father the things about Joseph?

These wicked brothers already had devised a scheme.

They killed one of the goats and dipped that special coat of colors into the blood and sent by a servant to their father.

They were unwilling to face Israel until they knew his reaction!

Their story would be that the coat was found, and they had not seen Joseph.

All those who do such things should know that there will be another special coat dipped in blood one day soon.

Rev 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
Rev 19:12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
Rev 19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
Rev 19:14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
Rev 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

These ten sons of Jacob did not have the fortitude to witness the outburst of grief from their father.

They did not want to be there to answer any questions Jacob might have.

These who were willing to kill their own brother but sold him into slavery. became cowards willing to hide their crime and each one had to agree to never let this information come out so their father would know what they had done.

God has another little rule about these things.

Num_32:23 But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and “be sure your sin will find you out”.

All the hidden wickedness and corruption in our own government will eventually be found out. We can be sure of this!

Another thing we might not realize is, there were some wild animals in that day that would attack humans.

*Gen 37:33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.
Gen 37:34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
Gen 37:35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.

When we think of lions, we think of the African lions that roar on the plains in Africa. Few people know that there is actually another lion species, the Asiatic Lion, that used to roam Asia as well.

So, there were wild beast in this area in that day and humans were attacked by these animals. It was not too farfetched, for Jacob to believe his son was killed by some wild animal.

It would be 22 years before Jacob would see his son Joseph again, but Jacob did mourn for his son longer than what we would call normal for that day. If there is a precise time of mourning for such a loss.

We should notice that these wicked sons did not actually say that Joseph was dead, but they left their father with very little choice, but to believe Joseph was dead saying they did not find his body which was no doubt rent to pieces.

What do we know is that once Benjamin was born Jacob became ever more protective of him!

We also know that Jacob had deceived his father Isaac.

As parents we also think the worst when something happens to our children. Though Jacob mourned, Joseph was safe in the arms of God stationed to save all his family and preparing to build a nation.

No human could sit down and make such a plan as this plan of God!

*Gen 37:36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.

Joseph had some hard lessons to learn at such a young age. We know he was only 17 years of age at this time.

As far as Jacob was concerned, all the things that happened to him after this were against him.

Gen_42:36 And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.

In reality, all these things had a purpose because he was living in the plan of God which can never fail!

Now this does not mean that God approved of what happened to Joseph, God already knew what He was going to do.

God never approves of the mistreatment of any human being!

God just takes something bad and makes something good come out of it!

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Our God is so great that He can work out His purpose even when people are doing their worst as we see today.

The plan of God cannot fail nor can it be hindered by any human being or any group of humans.

Amen

Coming Back to the House of God

January 17, 2021 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Back to Bethel

Book of Genesis Chapters 34 and 35

As we study the Old Testament, we see that these people who preserved the Word of God were just historical people as we are.

These are real people with real problems who found out that it is Yahweh who has all the answers.

These stories of life in the Old Testament are real and they are true.

We see that it is not always easy to be a believer.

We will face many challenges as we try to serve the Lord.

The best solution is the solution the Lord gives us, which is to keep the commandments to God, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jacob had to live with the decisions he had made, and he had to find God’s “Grace”.

The best place to begin in search of God’s “Grace” is at the House of God!

We must always understand God does not need our sacrifices God needs our obedience!

*Gen 35:1 And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.

Jacob had made a vow at Bethel. God had kept His side of the vow, but Jacob had wavered in his vow.

Gen 28:20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
Gen 28:21 So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:
Gen 28:22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

Many a Christian today, who were on fire for God, when they first asked Jesus to come into their heart, have now cooled off and they need to go back to Bethel, the House of God, and renew their vow as did Jacob.

Jacob had been blessed many times over. Jacob had not given his tenth and Jacob had not given his heart to God which is far more important.

During this “Covid” Plague, many of God’s children have grown cold and afraid and they no longer give their heart to God.

In fact many have even forgotten to support the House of God!

They have just quit on the Lord no matter their excuse!

Ecc 5:4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
Ecc 5:5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.

We make a vow to the Lord the day of our salvation, the very moment of our salvation, or we are not saved!

God wanted the heart of Jacob just as he had the heart of Abraham!

Jacob did not need to go alone, he needed to take all his family so they too could join him at the altar of God.

But there are always some things that need to be left behind!

*Gen 35:2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:

No matter who we are or where we come from, as Christians we need to renew our commitments to the Lord first and then to each other.

The second will not work without the first!

The family is the first government that our Creator endorsed.

We might say “I have never had strange gods in my life”, but we are fools to think so!

Gal 4:8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

All these things are false gods that we have allowed into our lives without thinking that they are false.

Gal 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

We must keep the Lord “first” at all times and those weak and beggarly elements, which are worldly things, need to be replaced with the Word of God, that is the Word of Truth!

We need to be clean!

The Bible does say come as you are, but in this instance, we are talking about the children who are already in the family of God.

We must cleanse ourselves because we spend every day in a wicked and sinful and corrupt world.

Jesus said to Peter:

Joh_13:10 Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.

To wash our feet as Christians is to walk holy and undefiled.

We must wash the filth of this world off before we make request of the Lord.

It is called recognizing we are sinners, asking for forgiveness every day and asking for a refilling of the Holy Spirit every day or more often as the need arises.

We still live in this filthy flesh!
We are still dirty rotten sinners saved only by God’s Grace!

That “Grace” comes only by Jesus Christ!

In our Spiritual life, that has been “justified” by the Lord and purified by the Lord, need not think that we are undone if in our walk in this life we will contract some stains.

We need to wash away those stains!

We get this same meaning where it says a change our garments.

We need to wash away the filth of this world and the Word of God is that cleansing agent.

Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

This washing occurs as we are doers of the Word, we are obedient to the Word of God!

1Co 6:11 And such were some of you: “but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God”.
1Co 6:12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

We cannot allow ourselves to be brought under the power of this world when our power is of the Lord.

We just need to go to the “House of God”.

*Gen 35:3 And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.

We are foolish if we do not remember from where God has brought us from.

Where were we?

1Co 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
1Co 6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
1Co 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

We must never forget the power of our “faith” in the Lord Jesus Christ!

We must remember our deliverance!

The Lord will always, “Always”, deliver those who come to Him in faith and repentance!

2Sa 22:2 And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;
2Sa 22:3 The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.
2Sa 22:4 I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: “so shall I be saved from mine enemies”.

If we love the Lord, truly love the Lord, He will always deliver us from our day of distress!

As far as Jacob was concerned Laban was in the past and it was Esau, his own brother who brought these fears to him.

Jacob may not have known just how to approach Esau but as God does, God said to “let his journey begin at Bethel, the House of God”.

This is a great lesson for us all.

No matter what we are going through, we need to go to the Lord in prayer and there is no better place to pray than the altar at the house of God.

Yes, we are to go to our closet and get alone with God.

But a Spirit filled House of God, where others who love the Lord can bring great peace of mind.

God is our deliverer!

Psa 18:17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.
Psa 18:18 They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.

Jacob had asked his family to give up all false gods and to go with him to the House of God.

Anything people worship is to them a god!

Anything we put before the Lord has become our god!

But there is only one true God!

*Gen 35:4 And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
Gen 35:5 And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.

If we go back to where Jacob had begun his journey to escape from Esau, we will understand this better.

Jacob had vowed a vow to Yahweh and God was doing His part and had done His part.

God always does what He says He will do!

We must repent of our old life and walk in the Word of God!

We must bury our old gods and seek the Living God!

Isa 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We must put away our own thoughts and seek the “Mind of Christ”!

1Co_2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

What was the mind of Christ?

To do the will of His Father!

Joh_8:28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

When we are doing the will of our Heavenly Father, we will be doing the will of our Savior!

Until the Lord takes us home, we will still be amongst our enemies!

Sometimes we are our own worst enemy!

*Gen 35:6 So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him.
Gen 35:7 And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.

Luz was a royal city of the Canaanites.

By the direction of God, Jacob was directed right into the mouth of the enemy.

This is the location of the Church today.

As long as we are upon this earth we will live amongst our enemies.

In reality, this nothing to be frightened of.

We are strangers and pilgrims in the land.

Even in the midst of our enemies we can find the “House of God”!

Mat_18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Notice that Jacob had found something that is more important than the House of God.

Jacob came to realize if God is not in the House, then it is not a true House of God.

It is El-bethel, the “God of House” that makes a true Church!

So many places of worship today have forgotten this.

Jesus is finding that in America, He is no longer welcome, much like when He came the first time.

Luk_9:58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

My question is how have we allowed this to happen?

We as Christians have to be the laziest people on the face of the earth!

We think once we are saved, we can forget the world we live in.

We are left in this world to make a difference and we are failing because we refuse to do the work of God.

It is the “God of the Church” that makes the difference, and He must live within us!

We cannot abandon our places of worship as we are told to today, but we had better bring Jesus with us when we go.

We need revival in America.

Not just for lost souls, as many believe, but to revive all the Church, the “Body of Christ”!

There can be no revival if it does not begin with each Church member, each believer!

Jacob built an altar to sacrifice the tenth he had promised to complete his vow, and he was now much closer to the Lord, the God of the House.

It was not the animals that made the sacrifice, it was the heart of Jacob that was important if he was to be Israel.

Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

If we do not look to Jesus, then we have not laid aside every weight we carry, and we will be worn out before our journey begins.

It was not the journey Jacob made to get to the House of God, it was the journey he made after he had been to the House of God.

Will the God of the House be with him?

Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
Joh 10:30 I and my Father are one.

It was a good time for one to repent and give her heart to God.

*Gen 35:8 But Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.

We do not know for sure, but Deborah would have been more than 140 years old at the time of her death.

Gen 25:20 And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.

Compare

Gen 35:28 And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years.

Deborah had left Haran with Rebekah 140 years before this death.

“Allonbachuth” means, the “Oak of Weeping”.

No doubt this nurse had spent many of Jacob’s early years teaching him and helping to raise him.

If we set our roots down in a Bible believing Church, we will see over time, many of the Saints of God go home to glory.

These will be days of sadness until we wake up to the fact that they went to where we want to go, to the Glory World of Heaven.

Death and burial is in all our future unless the Rapture of the Church takes place before our day comes!

We must also understand that on our journey to Heaven the true “Promised Land”, we will not be exempt from the things that happen to all humans.

Our journey will not always be easy nor is it intended to be.

Life is not all that fun especially as we get older, but we live, knowing that a life given to the Lord is a life that cannot die.

I am so glad I am no longer a “dead man” but am alive forever in Christ Jesus!

So Yahweh came to visit Jacob another time.

*Gen 35:9 And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.
Gen 35:10 And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.

We might miss this if we are not looking.

God takes the time to remind us who we are!

God provides us that assurance we need to stay motivated!

Once Jacob had given his heart to Yahweh, The Almighty God, He then reminds Jacob he is no longer the supplanter, but he is a prince in the family of God and the priest of his own family.

Rev_1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Rev_5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Our Lord God likes it get up close and personal and He tries much more than we do to get close to us.

We sometimes forget just how much we are loved by our Creator.

And God said:

*Gen 35:11 And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;
Gen 35:12 And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.

The great “I Am” said call me “El Shaddai” there is nothing in this Universe as powerful as the Almighty God.

Why do we express the fears that we do?

He is God “All Sufficient”!

He is able to make good on every promise He has ever made!

We must allow El Shaddai to do His work at His own pace and in His own time.

We can see that He had His watchful eyes on Israel, the man, as He has always had His eyes on Israel, the nation.

Part of those promises given to Abraham would be given to Israel and many of those promises are not yet fulfilled even today, and we should understand that we can only be a living part of God’s plan if we listen to what He says and then do as He has commanded us.

Israel would be the father of a great nation.

The tiny nation of Israel today stands a small but powerful nation, because of these blessings given to Jacob on this day we are reading of.

Also the Lord Jesus Christ is the “promised seed” and all nations have within their borders those who love and serve the Lord.

We know that Heaven where the Lord is today is that true “Promised Land”, open to all to give their heart to God Almighty, El Shaddai!

Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen

Eph 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Eph 3:21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

The things of this world from Creation until today, have come about exactly as the Word of God has said, and things will continue until they reach their climax at the return of our Savior.

We have no reason to doubt the Word of God!

How can we doubt something that has proven to be true over and over again?

*Gen 35:13 And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.
Gen 35:14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.

We know God did not meet Jacob face to face or Jacob would have died on the spot, but God did meet with Israel in some visible display of His glory that hovered over him while God talked to Israel just as He did in the time of Moses over the Tabernacle.

When Jacob had first met the Lord at Bethel, he set up a stone he had used for his pillow.

Israel now took the time to erect a more stately and more lasting memorial probably placing that first stone in some part of it.

Israel then hallowed it with freewill offerings.

If our offerings are not given freely then they are meaningless!

This is the first place the drink offering is mentioned in the Bible.

In many places we will see the English word wine, but alcohol would have never been used in an offering to God.

The Bible says we are not even to look upon fermented grape juice.

Pro_23:31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.

We know that God will never go against His own Word!

Many so-religions forsake these words, but Israel would not have.

This grape juice was to be poured on the altar as a sacrifice!

There is more to a drink offering than we think!

We can call it symbolism, but we use the phrase “typology” which is more appropriate.

He first poured a drink offering of wine and then he poured oil over it.

If we look closely, we can see Jacob was prophesying about the sacrifice of Jesus by his actions.

We know that Jacob was the father of twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel.

The Lord changed Jacob’s name to Israel.

One of Jacob’s sons was Judah; where we get the word Jew, and we know that Jesus was a Jewish Man from the tribe of Judah.

Jesus stated emphatically, “Salvation comes by the Jews”.

Salvation came by the Jews in their act of preserving the Word of God and teaching us by example!

Jacob poured the offering on a stone that he had set up.

Jacob did not just see a stone and use it; he set it up to make an altar. It was a pillar it was a cornerstone!

The Bible says God was going to lay a Cornerstone of salvation, a sure foundation.

The scriptures tell us Jesus is that Cornerstone, set up by God!

The drink offering of wine or grape juice symbolizes Jesus’ blood, poured out for us.

After the ‘blood’ came the oil, which symbolizes the third Person of the Godhead; the Holy Spirit, Who has been poured into Christians for us to
‘drink’.

We know of course, we receive the Holy Spirit after we have been washed in the blood of Jesus; so Jacob poured the offerings in the correct order.

The “blood of Jesus” is poured upon that lost soul, then the oil the Holy Spirit is pour into that lost soul to cause a New Life!

We see over and over again we can find salvation in the Old Testament played out to teach the Jews of the coming New Covenant by the “Blood of Jesus Christ.

God would never use some fermented corrupt liquid to show us these things!

“Fermentation” is a corruption of the “Fruit of the Vine”!

Jesus Christ was without sin and without corruption.

if we want to pour out our own drink offering, then when we go to the altar, we need to pour out our heart to a “Righteous Savior” and not some “fermented substitute”.

The best place to do this is at the House of God!

*Gen 35:15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel.

Remember the only city that was near this place was Luz a royal city of the Canaanites.

In the future this place would be named Bethel.

In this day of Jacob (Israel), he was saying the House of God!

God will speak to us anywhere and at any time but there is just something special about meeting with the Lord at the House of God.

Isa 43:10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
Isa 43:11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.

Amen

The Problems of Envy and Jealousy in the Home

January 10, 2021 / Bobby Mayfield / 1 Comment

Rachel and Leah

Book of Genesis Chapters 30 Through 33

In last week’s lesson we saw that “deception” can destroy a family.

In this week’s lesson we will see that “jealousy” can reek havoc on any family and “envy” besides being a great sin can also cause many family problems.

There are many reasons we do not need two wives, and in this lesson, we get to see some of those reasons.

Bigamy has never been blessed by the Lord!

It is far better to believe that God knows what He is doing than to go against Him in any way!

We will see in this lesson, that though Jacob had left home because of the fear of death from his brother Esau.

Jacob had now been away from his parents for 20 years.

We will see that Jacob did not love Leah as he did Rachel, because Leah had been a major part of the deception of Jacob by her father Laban.

Jacob’s home was full of tension simply because Jacob was spiritually weak at this time!

It was as much Jacob’s fault he was deceived, as it was Laban’s.

Lust will blind our eyes to the truth!

We do not know if Jacob celebrated too much at that feast of Laban.

Gen 29:22 And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.

Or it could have been his lust for Rachel that clouded his eyes, which is more the truth.

Gen 29:21 And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her.

We do know that Leah was substituted for Rachel.

Gen 29:23 And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her.

Leah could have told Jacob what was happening, and she did not.

We must remember there was no electricity for lights in those days. When night came it was dark!

Leah wronged Rachel as much as she did Jacob and we can only suspect that she would do anything to get away from her father’s house.

We do not know about Rachel other than Laban had removed her out of the picture, probably locked away from Jacob.

None of these things changed Jacob’s desire for Rachel!

In God’s eyes, Leah became the wife of Jacob and she bare him many sons, one of them being Judah who would carry on with the Covenant made to Abraham.

The Messiah came from the line of Judah.

The title Jew comes from the name Judah.

We all have a tendency to yield our feelings to the love story of Jacob and Rachel, but once Jacob sealed his marriage with Leah then she was his true wife.

One more thing we must see is, that Jacob was a shepherd who worked really hard to obtain a wife.

In typology this is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ did.

It is by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ that we become the “Bride of Christ”.

We can see our Savior throughout the Old Testament!

Laban gave Rachel to Jacob with the understanding that he would serve him 7 more years.

Leah who was the less loved, bore Jacob 4 sons in short order while Rachel was barren.

Jealousy and envy brings this family their first problems.

*Gen 30:1 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
Gen 30:2 And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, “Am I in God’s stead”, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?

Immediately jealousy now brings with it envy.

We might ask ourselves, why did God show us all these things?

God wants us to know that these were real people who suffer through the same things all people suffer through today.

This is the reason that “God’s Grace” is so important!

Where would we be without the “Grace” of God?

It was in fact sin that was working in this family.

Satan was hard at work to destroy this family!

Leah was having children and Rachel was not, so the problem was not Jacob.

Rachel was not so much upset over her barrenness, as she was of Leah’s fruitfulness.

This could mean many things which we will not discuss here.

The point is it is God who controls the womb. It is the parent who controls the health of the child in one way or another.

Envy is grieving at the good of another.

There is not much greater sin than this in the eyes of God!

Envy leads to strife, and division, and railing, and hatred, and sometimes murder!

Rachel did not even consider that it was God who made the difference, and we know Leah had been praying constantly to God and God listens to those who are harmed.

Except for bearing children, Rachel had all the advantages of love from Jacob.

We must never be envious of our brothers and sisters in Christ when God has blessed them with some good thing!

One child would never satisfy Rachel! It would take more than one child to stop her envy as she tells Jacob, “give me children”.

Rachel decided if she could not have more than one child with Jacob, then she would just die.

We know that Rachel did die with the birth of her second child.

We should be careful what we ask for.

These things would never gain her favor with God. Neither will they work for good in our own relationship with the Lord!

Rachel decided, much like Sarah decided, that she would solve this problem herself, when she should have gone to God in repentance of her sin.

*Gen 30:3 And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
Gen 30:4 And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.

Now Jacob was God’s man, but he allows himself to get caught up in Rachel’s envy and jealousy.

Compare Jacob to Job for a moment: Job told his wife.

Job 2:10 But he said unto her, “Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh”. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

These would have been good words for Jacob to tell Rachel.

Jacob had told his wife Rachel that she need not come to him when she should be going to God, which was the truth.

We do not know if she ever did.

What do we know? Whatever we want comes by the hand of God!

Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

We can believe this or not, but it is true!

Rachel pleaded with Jacob for more than one child and we know she died with the birth of her second child Benjamin.

We know that in the Scriptures we find Hannah and Hannah was barren and she prayed for only one child from God, and then she had many.

Leah also prayed to the Heavenly Father and had many children.

We should be able to see the difference here!

The substitution of Bilhah would only add to the sin of Jacob, but by the culture of that day those children from Bilhah would be considered the children of Rachel.

Much like the surrogate mothers of today.

We would have thought that her own sister’s children would have given her more reason to love them than those from some surrogate.

Jacob gave in to this sin of his wife.

*Gen 30:5 And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.
Gen 30:6 And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.

Rachel named the first child of Bilhah, a boy, Dan. The name Dan means a judge, because Rachel felt that God had judged her, but now God had given her a son.

Jacob later, when he pronounced his blessing upon Dan, said he would judge his people.

This could have been a prophecy of Samson who was of the tribe of Dan.

In reality, Rachel believed it was an injustice for God to leave her barren and Leah so fruitful.

This is no way to build upon a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father!

It is a fact, with her attitude she did not deserve the blessings of God, and He certainly would not hear her prayers.

Bilhah gave another son.

*Gen 30:7 And Bilhah Rachel’s maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.
Gen 30:8 And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.

All of a sudden, we realize that Rachel was trying to make it a competition with her sister as to who could provide Jacob the most sons.

Naphtali was Jacob’s fifth son but other than this, we do not know much more about him.

These are certainly things we see in a family where bitterness, envy, jealousy, and strife are!

Now Leah gets caught up in this thing with her sister.

*Gen 30:9 When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.
Gen 30:10 And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a son.
Gen 30:11 And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.
Gen 30:12 And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a second son.
Gen 30:13 And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher.

Isn’t it amazing how some of these names came about?

Because of envy Rachel had put her personal maid into the bed of her husband Jacob she said she loved.

Now Leah because she was barren for a year did the same.

We can see the power of rivalry.

We also see that mischief and scheming is the result of the ignorance of God’s “Grace”.

More important, we see the inability to put confidence in the promises of God.

It is in the promises of God where our hope lies!

We should understand the wisdom of God which joins one man to one woman!

Jacob the father of these children, has now became a bedroom servant to his now four wives, rather than a husband and priest to one wife and family.

God was not in all these man-made problems or I should say woman-made in this instance.

We also see the many problems of “bigamy”.

We see that God is left out of the picture between these two sisters.

God will never bless bigamy!

God will never bless these marriages and we will see the results of envy and jealousy portrayed in these children as they grow older.

These children were raised in the roots of bitterness and envy and strife and mischief.

This is the same way they lived until they grew older and matured by getting closer to Jehovah (Yahweh).

These are all carnal things that go against the Word of God!

1Co 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

When we resemble the world we live in, we certainly are not like Jesus and therefore are not Christians.

Gal 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

We see all these things play out in the world today, especially in the politics of our nation which has divided us all.

Let us not get caught up in these things.

Jas 3:13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
Jas 3:14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
Jas 3:15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
Jas 3:16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

Jacob decided he needed a change in family and decided it was time to go home.

*Gen 30:25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country.

Out of respect to his father n law, Jacob asked for permission to leave with his family.

Jacob now had eleven sons and a daughter. He had been in Haran at least 14 years probably more.

Nothing in the plan of God called for him to remain in Haran.

All the promises of God were bound up in the promises to Abraham!

We all of have a yearning to go home if we know our Heavenly Father.

In fact as the children of God, most of us who are on up in years are yearning for our Heavenly home.

We know we are just strangers here on earth.

Jacob knew he would always be a stranger in Mesopotamia.

Jacob knew the promise of God was to his seed, and those twelve children who he now had were those seed.

One of those children, Judah, would lead to the Messiah!

We all as fathers have the responsibility to take care of our families!

1Ti 5:8 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

This is not only food and clothing and a place to live but their safety and most of all to teach them about our Savior, who is also our Creator.

If we do not take care of our family in all the ways of God, then we do not have faith in the truth of God and are worse than an infidel.

*Gen 30:26 Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee.

We see what Jacob was asking for was freedom.

Jacob sought for the freedom to take care of his own family.

Jacob had been working for Laban all these years and Laban had prospered far above what he could have gained by himself, under the power of his own family.

Jacob’s contract with Laban was fulfilled and he had no reason to hold him.

But Jacob’s children were also the grandchildren of Laban and he might resist Jacob from taking them away from him.

Laban had deceived Jacob!

We are being deceived by powers we do not understand today in our government and our freedoms are at stake.

We are wrong if we do not try to keep our freedoms!

The biggest problem we see here in America is the fear of losing our freedoms.

Our freedoms are eroding away especially since this plague has begun and our government has seen what they can get away with.

The people have been much more than lenient, but our patience is ending, and this new government is not very promising.

It is our desire to be free, yet most people are under the bondage of not only governments, but more important in bondage to Satan.

Only Jesus can set us free!

Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

It all begins with the same faith that Abraham had that caused his righteousness.

Joh 8:39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

Laban was not ready to just allow Jacob to leave for he knew for certain he would prosper as long as Jacob remained in bondage to him.

In this we see Satan in typology.

Satan prospers every time he captures the child of God!

Gen 30:27 And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake.

Laban was ready to do about anything to keep Jacob, not because of his love for Jacob, not even because of his love for his children and grandchildren, but because he knew the God of Jacob would cause him to prosper as long as Jacob was working for him.

It was greed that had controlled Laban all his days!

The one thing Laban did not count on was that Jacob could also be a deceiver.

*Gen 30:27 And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake.
Gen 30:28 And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.

Jacob had been a faithful and hard worker for fourteen years working long hours to care for the animals of Laban and Laban had prospered greatly.

Jacob had fulfilled his part of the contract with Laban.

It was Laban who was the deceiver all this time.

Of course Jacob prospered in his work because God had promised Jacob many things.

Gen 28:15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

God had also done as He had said He would do!

Laban did not want to lose Jacob because of his skills with animals.

Laban was willing to do just about anything to keep Jacob working for him and now was willing to pay him wages.

Laban entered into a partnership with Jacob.

Notice that even the wicked deceivers know how to speak pleasant words when it is for their own benefit.

This is another trait of Satan and Satan’s followers!

Laban had seen the benefits of serving Yahweh, but Laban still considered Yahweh to be just one god among many other false gods.

Today we know there have been many lost souls who have benefited from the work of good Christian employees.

Many companies stay afloat because of good Christian workers and they do not want to lose them, but they are often not willing to treat them fairly.

At this time in Jacob’s life, he realized that he was bound in duty to take care of his own family.

As long as he worked under contract for Laban, his family had no benefit. His sons had no future except to be slaves forever for Laban.

It was time for Jacob to think about them!

Jacob was ready to place his future in God’s hands.

What would be Jacob’s wages?

Gen 30:32 I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire.
Gen 30:33 So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me.

Jacob agreed for Laban to remove all such animals from the herds, so there would be no crossbreeding and Jacob could only claim those born in the future.

Jacob believed it was in God’s hands for the color of the different animals and we should to.

So it began.

For six long years these things went on and Laban’s sons who were to spy on Jacob felt that he was in some way stealing their father’s animals.

Jacob did try some trickery, but that trickery was for the entertainment of those sons or Jacob thinking he could influence the birth of those animals, but the things Jacob had done could not have made those animals change their colors.

Gen 31:11 And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I.
Gen 31:12 And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.
Gen 31:13 I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.

Then Jacob decided it was time to leave with his family and leave in secret.

Many things happened as Jacob left for the Promised Land, but the most important thing was a wrestling match.

*Gen 32:24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
Gen 32:25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
Gen 32:26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
Gen 32:27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.

Jacob had sent his family over the river and decided he needed some time alone with God. (We all do)

He would soon be meeting with Esau, and Jacob had real fear for his life, and for the safety of his family.

What does the name Jacob mean? Jacob means a supplanter.

To supplant is to have a stratagem, a plan, or a scheme to take away someone else s possessions.

Use tricks to gain the advantage on someone else.

We should understand that it was not by Jacob’s strength that he prevailed in this match, it was by Heaven’s power.

We see again where prayer is the answer to all our problems.

Jas 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much

We should understand that when we are discouraged our Lord will not cause us more discouragement.

The Lord is the answer to all our problems!

*Gen 32:28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

The Lord gave Jacob a new name.

Israel means at this time meant “a prince with God” and as a prince he had power with God.

Israel the man, would also have power with men.

Jacob learned that to become a new man he would have to change his behavior.

He could be no longer the supplanter but a true man of God.

Another meaning of the name Israel is “prevailed”.

Jacob had prevailed with the help of God and he would prevail against Esau by the help of God!

What is our lesson here?

2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2Co 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
2Co 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

It takes a prayer asking for forgiveness and repentance to gain the favor of God and then by God’s “grace” we can also become a prince in the family of God!

God teaches us all these things in the Old Testament so we can see the same truths in the New Testament, and we will know our God is the same today as He was in the time of Jacob.

Amen.

Deceivers Will Be Deceived

January 3, 2021 / Bobby Mayfield / 1 Comment

Esau and Jacob

Book of Genesis Chapters 27 through 29

The one most important of things we deal with in our life is, that God has a plan, and it is a plan of salvation with great reward.

We can only be a part of this plan by being obedient to God’s Word!

We can reject God’s plan and live in a life of torment forever after our death and most of our life, in one way or another.

We can take God’s plan and try to turn and twist it to satisfy our own needs and our own will, which God will not allow.

This is what Isaac tried to do.

We should also notice there is not much information saved by the Holy Spirit about the life of Isaac.

Remember Abraham was such a dynamic man in the Scriptures that he overshadowed his only son Isaac, and much is written about Abraham.

Isaac and Rebekah at first lived a happy life until the birth of twins, Esau and Jacob.

It is at this point where deception entered into this family and changed the relationship with Isaac and his wife Rebekah and their two sons.

This deception caused outcomes that we still see in our world today!

What had God told Rebekah?

Gen 25:23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

Since the Lord had said these things, then it was appropriate for this mother to act accordingly in raising her children, but it should never have been done by deceit.

Just as it was for Sarah, the same for Rebekah, God does not need our help to fulfill His promises!

Most of the time the Lord is just telling us how things will be, so we do not get caught off guard.

In fact, this is the purpose of all the Scriptures to tell us how things are going to be in this world!

The end of the Book tells us, that believe in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and the promises of God, that we are on the winning side and this is enough for me.

God does not need my help to make this happen, but He does invite me to be there when it happens!

It is a plain fact, that if we just accept what God has got to say and be a doer of the Word, our lives will be much more pleasant!

We cannot change the plan of God!

Jas 1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

In real words, the Bible must be our looking glass, our mirror.

We must dress according to the Word of God.
We must act according to the Word of God.
We must live according to the Word of God.

What do we see?

Mat 7:3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Mat 7:4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
Mat 7:5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
Mat 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

What must we realize?

Luk 12:23 The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.
Luk 12:24 Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?
Luk 12:25 And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?
Luk 12:26 If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?
Luk 12:27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Luk 12:28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?

What should we seek?

Luk 12:31 But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Luk 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

From the birth of these twins, Isaac knew the will of God and it was not in his power to change what God had commanded!

Gen 25:21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
Gen 25:22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the LORD.
Gen 25:23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
Gen 25:24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

Though they were twins, Esau was the elder of Jacob by birth and in the culture of that day, the father’s blessings were given to the eldest son.

Another problem that caused harm to this family was, that each parent had their favorite child, and this should never be the case in any family.

We are to love all our children equally, for they will see if we do not!

Gen 25:27 And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.
Gen 25:28 And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.

A family divided.

We should also understand that God is training us to be shepherds and not training us to be hunters.

What is favoritism? Giving preference to one above another.

Esau was a man of the world. He was addicted to his sports as so many men are today.

We already know that Isaac was a rich man, so Esau did not hunt to provide for food for his family.

It was a sport like so many others take part in today.

It is not a bad thing to be hunter. We can be hunters and shepherds at the same time.

It is just like anything else we put before the Lord. It becomes an idol!

Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Isaac was deceived as he blessed Jacob thinking he was blessing Esau.

*Gen 27:28 Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:
Gen 27:29 Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.

We should be very clear, once we know the will of God, we must operate under the laws of God!

We must act according to God’s will for us!

We must never use deception to try to obtain what God has promised.

All sin will bring the chastisement of God and it must be this way.

One lie will lead to a second lie.

Deception will lead to further deception.

We must work according to God’s timetable.

if we want to have a close personal relationship with Christ Jesus then we must conform to God’s Will for us.

Mar 3:35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

The way of this world is by lies and deception, and we are not to be a part of that!

Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

What do we know?

We know that because Sarah interfered with the will of God, Ishmael was born and by him many Arab nations that still to this day have a hatred for the children of Israel.

We know that because of this action by Rebekah and Jacob, the descendants of Esau also hated Israel.

These family feuds could have been avoided if the people involved had not tried to rush the promises of God to suit their own agenda.

This world would be a much better place if our forefathers had been patient enough to wait on God!

Heb 10:36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

It was not time for Jacob to receive the blessings of his father and not time for God’s will to be carried out through Jacob.

As we study the Scriptures, we will see from this time until he was taken care of by Joseph, Jacob had troubles in his life caused by his own sons.

Much like the things that happened to King David after his terrible error with Bathsheba.

If we could do all things with our own strength, we would not need God! This is the greatest hoax that Satan uses!

Most of the world fall into the category today and the world is growing darker!

Isaac for some reason did not give Jacob the full blessing that had been given to him by his father.

The blessings included:

1) God’s material blessings.
2) God’s political blessings. Nations were to be under his authority and rule.
3) God would bless those nations that blessed Israel and God would curse those nations that cursed Israel.

What is not mentioned is that “and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” as was given to Abraham.

No sooner than Jacob had left then comes Esau.

*Gen 27:30 And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

As for Esau, the blessing as given to Abraham had no real meaning to him, but he did want to be blessed as the elder of Isaac’s two sons.

Esau wanted God’s will to match his own will instead of his will to match God’s will.

This is the problem that still exist today and is growing throughout the modern Church!

The Church wants God to bow to the ways of the world and this will certainly not ever happen!

This is the thing that is destroying our world today!

We cannot be guided by our own will and receive the blessings of God!

We cannot fulfill the desires of our flesh and be in the will of God!

Isaac made an attempt to bestow God’s blessings upon Esau, and we hear nothing more of Isaac in the Scriptures.

Esau knowing that he had sold his birthright to his brother, still tried to receive it from his father.

Esau did not love the Lord enough to make Him a priority.

Esau then entered into a mixed marriage with the world and its women.

This in itself would have disqualified him from receiving God’s blessings

It was the hand of God that had stopped Isaac from making a terrible mistake.

As usual we see that it is Jehovah who sits in control of this world!

We are not to live as Esau lived and still claim the blessings of God!

The results brought another family feud that is still raging between some Arab nations and Israel.

*Gen 27:41 And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.

We immediately see that all those that are blessed of God are hated by those who reject the Will of God!

Those who reject the Will of God, are making plans to destroy those who have received the blessings of God!

We see this play out in our world today.

Notice that Esau would be pretending to mourn for his father as he planned to murder his brother.

How is Esau described by the Lord?

Heb 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Heb 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Heb 12:17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

We are not to seeking the blessings of this world as was Esau!

Heb 12:18 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,

We are seeking the City of God!

Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Isaac knew the thing he had tried to do was against the will of God, so he sent his son away to avoid the wrath of Esau.

*Gen 28:1 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.
Gen 28:2 Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother’s father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother’s brother.
Gen 28:3 And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;
Gen 28:4 And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

Rebekah knew that it was important not only to preserve the life of Jacob, but also for Jacob to find a suitable wife and we already know that the Canaanites were a cursed people.

We should notice another important thing, it is at this time that Isaac gave Jacob the blessing of Abraham, which he had withheld earlier.

This was very important!

Gal 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
Gal 3:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Gal 3:15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.
Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
Gal 3:17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.

We know that as Jacob journeyed God came to Jacob in a dream.

*Gen 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
Gen 28:13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
Gen 28:14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Gen 28:15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

The vision of what is called Jacob’s ladder is one of the great stories in the Bible.

It is also overlooked by many.

As Jacob had begun his journey, he traveled as a lost man, unsure of himself and unsure of his future. Remember Jacob may have been a young man, maybe no more than twenty.

The vision of a great ladder reaching from earth up into Heaven. Some say a better translation would be a stairway, but they basically mean the same thing, but remember not all people can climb a ladder as easily as they can a stairway.

The way to Heaven is a narrow pathway!

What did Jesus say to Nathaniel?

Joh 1:51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

The phrase the “Son of Man” means the Messiah of Heaven and Earth.

In Jacob’s dream the Lord stood above the ladder.

What the Lord Jesus said was that the work that He came to do would link all that believed to His Heavenly Father.

In other words that ladder is a type of Christ, the only true connection from Earth to Heaven!

We know that the Angels of Heaven are sent to watch over us.

We should also realize that there is great gulf between Heaven and Earth, and Jesus provides that only pathway to Heaven!

It is only by Jesus the Messiah we can get to Heaven!

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

It is only by Jesus that our prayers can reach into the throne room of God.

Joh 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Joh 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

Even the Angels ascend and descend by means of Jesus Christ!

The Lord Jesus then verifies the promises given to Abraham and Isaac, are the same promises given to Jacob.

Then the Lord tells Jacob “, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of”

This is the same promise that is given to everyone who has faith, faith like that of Abraham.

Before the Messiah came sin separated us from our Heavenly Father.

Isa 59:1 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
Isa 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

Since the Lord completed His work by the cross on Mount Calvary, that sin has been removed to all those who believe.

1Jn 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
1Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
1Jn 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

Jesus has assigned His Angels to watch over us until we go home!

Psa 34:7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

We might ask ourselves just what does Jacob’s Ladder mean to you?

Jacob said this reminds me of the Bethel of God.

*Gen 28:19 And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.

Bethel means “House of God”.

Luz means a nut bearing tree. Luz was a royal city of the Canaanites when Moses wrote these words and later became the city of Bethel.

Jacob could not have known these things, so we can be sure he meant “House of God”.

Jacob became a believer and he prospered from that day forward, but he was still not perfect. He still had the sin nature passed down by Adam and Eve.

In typology we can see that many a believer came to know the truth of Jesus Christ at the House of God and still do.

We are still to gather at the House of God!

Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Again in typology we must pledge our life to the Lord.

*Gen 28:20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
Gen 28:21 So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:
Gen 28:22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

As we read Jacob’s vow, what is our Christian vow?

When we ask the Lord Jesus to come into our heart and save us, we must also make a vow of repentance.

Mat 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mar 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

1) The Lord will be with us throughout our lifetime.
2) The Lord will keep us in the Jesus way.
3) The Lord will provide my food.
4) The Lord will provide my clothing.
5) The Lord provide that peace of knowing salvation.

Then shall the Lord be my God!

That “Stone” is the Lord Jesus Christ.

The House of God must be built upon the Lord Jesus Christ!

It is this same place where we will give at least a tithe. That word tithe means a tenth of these things that the Lord has given to us.

We see we are not much different from Jacob the day he met the Lord.

But the deceiver also gets deceived.

*Gen 29:25 And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?

We should understand that even if we belong to the Lord we will suffer for our sins.

Jacob had deceived his father Isaac into giving him the blessing of the first born, even after from his birth our Heavenly Father had said he would rule over his brother.

I believe the Lord chose to show Jacob how deception felt to his father.

We must learn from our mistakes!

You know God still says to honor our parents and will reward us for doing so.

Exo 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

It was bad enough to deceive but to deceive his father was sin.

For the reason of greed, Laban deceived Jacob.

Jacob had worked seven years for the hand of Rachel but in the darkness of the tent at nighttime Laban had provided Leah.

We live in a world where lights are everywhere, but the darkness of sin is also everywhere!

Laban had been unrighteous, but the Lord remained righteous in providing a wife for Jacob.

Laban offers up his excuse because, he knew God had prospered Jacob, and Laban had been the receiver of that prosperity, and he knew Jacob would do almost anything to gain the hand of Rachel.

*Gen 29:26 And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.
Gen 29:27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
Gen 29:28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
Gen 29:29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
Gen 29:30 And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.

There can be little doubt that Laban had planned his deceit of Jacob for some time.

We must understand God’s rule of law. We will reap what we sow!

Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

God had not needed for Jacob to deceive his earthly father.

God had already given his plan to Rebekah and we can be sure that Isaac was aware of it.

God’s plan will continue to work no matter how we accept it! He does not need our help.

We can be a part of God’s plan willingly or not at all.

Jacob had given himself to the Lord at Bethel.

He was so hungry for Rachel that Laban was able to fool him easily.

Abraham and Isaac had settled in their minds that they were to have only one wife at a time.

For Jacob to get Rachel, the one he desired, he would have two wives and be against the wishes of God.

Laban took advantage of the covetousness and lust of Jacob for Rachel.

It would seem to us, that Jacob would have come to know his bride to be, enough to realize this deception.

Pro 5:18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
Pro 5:19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
Pro 5:20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

We do not know how Jacob was deceived but he was.

When we try to see great differences in Rachel and Leah, we actually see that they were only different in their faces which was covered by a veil.

Gen 24:65 For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a veil, and covered herself.

The truth is, had Leah so desired, she could have stopped what was happening, but she saw this as a means to escape her deceiving father for a new life and we know she began to pray to Jehovah over her children.

Jacob did not ever love Leah for his love was for Rachel, but Jacob continued with Leah and she bare him many children including Judah who would be the son who would carry on with the covenant given to Abraham.

As far God was concerned, Leah was the wife of Jacob though Jacob never loved her.

Gen 29:31 And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.

Again, we see that we need to very careful as we seek a wife.

The world is full of deception.

Jacob was so caught up in his lust for Rachel, he was easily deceived by the world!

We live in a world full of deception as we see all these things going on around us with this climate change hoax, the handling of the virus plague, the elections, and the loss of our freedoms every day.

Just recently saw where our politicians would rather help foreign governments who have proved to be our enemies rather than help the American people. What a joke they are.

The Church is under attack more in America than it ever has been.

It is not time to quit on God in fact it is time to stand up for what we believe while the laws are still on our side!

Those laws will change to be against us!

The laws of God will never change, and the greatest law is the law of “faith”!

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Where is our faith today?

Amen

Seeking A Wife

December 27, 2020 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Finding A Wife for Isaac

Book of Genesis Chapters 24 Through 26

The one thing Abraham realized and we to are to realize is, that it is just a great thing to be involved in the plan of God.

It is a great thing to be in the family of God and being left upon this earth to do the work He has assigned to us.

We must make the will of God for us to be our own will!

We should understand that God takes these little things that are so important in life and with them, teaches us the great mysteries of the Bible and the truth of His Word.

A marriage is of great concern to our Heavenly Father.
A marriage that follows the Biblical design will be a lasting marriage and also teaches us the relationship of the Lord Jesus Christ to His Church.

Yes, the Church belongs to Jesus Christ.

It astounds me that so many so-called churches have removed the Lord Jesus Christ and are no longer a part of God’s Church and no longer married to the Lord Jesus Christ though they still claim to be and their members who have rejected the Word of God.

They reject the truth of Jesus.
They reject that Jesus is the only way to Heaven.
They reject the truth of the Scriptures allowing man’s law to take priority.
They reject the Virgin birth.
They reject the Cross.

Yet they claim to know the way to Heaven.

God cares who we marry and to marry is one of the great decisions we make in our lifetime.

A good marriage will be filled with love, joy, and peace just as our relationship with our Savior will be.

A marriage will be between one man and one woman and God decided their sex at birth.

A marriage to the wrong person will only bring heartache!

It was time for Isaac to get married.

*Gen 24:1 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
Gen 24:2 And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh:
Gen 24:3 And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:
Gen 24:4 But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.

In the day of Abraham it was common for the parents to arrange the marriage of their children.

Abraham was 140 years old and Isaac was now 40 years old and mature.

Sarah, Isaac’s mother had been dead for 3 years and Isaac still mourned for his mother.

We should understand that God has a time for us to think about marriage!

God is not involved but only in part, in the marriage of unbelievers.

Remember unbelievers do not know the Word of God nor do they respect the Word of God.

They are best described as those people who lived in the day of Noah before the flood destroyed them.

No doubt that Abraham had discussed these things of marriage with his son Isaac.

Abraham was insisting that Isaac would not marry a maid of the Canaanites.

We already know the Canaanites worshiped false gods and had wicked and immoral beliefs.

God had already destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and three more cities of the plain, and there had been no survivors.

It is probable that the remaining Canaanites did not realize why such a thing would happen and brushed it off as something natural.

This still happens today!

The world does not see the acts of God nor the miracles of God and brush them off as accidents or blame them on nature or other people, such as this Climate Change hoax that is blamed on humanity rather than the promises of God.

Certainly, the climate is changing and if people are worried about heat, they had better learn how to avoid Hell!

God has said things will get worse and we see it in plagues, in the climate, in wickedness, corruption, and immorality and the wickedness in high places.

We know Jehovah is righteous and it is the right thing to do to destroy unrighteousness, but only God has this knowledge to do so.

The Canaanites were a cursed people.

Gen 9:25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

Abraham would never have chosen a daughter of the Canaanites!

To Abraham there was only one choice for Isaac this wife was to be chosen from Abraham’s home country, the descendants of Noah’s son Shem.

We used to have a tradition to swear an oath by laying our hand on the Holy Bible.

In the day of Abraham and oath was sworn by a hand upon the thigh.

It was a sacred thing and was not to be broken.

In our father’s day a handshake was as good as an oath!

Today you have to sign your name a hundred times just to get a loan.

As we follow the journey of this eldest servant, we will see another lesson in typology.

We will see this eldest servant as the Holy Spirit.

Isaac as the Messiah.

Abraham as Jehovah.

Rebekah as the Church, the gentile bride of Christ.

Abraham said to his servant that Jehovah would send His angel to guide him.

Abraham knew if his son was in the lineage to the Messiah, then Jehovah would be involved in his marriage!

One thing we should clearly understand, it is better not to marry than to enter into a bad marriage!

As Abraham instructed his servant, if the woman does not come willingly then Isaac will not marry her.

2Co 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

Remember to be saved we must willingly give ourselves to the truth of God and repent from the ways of the world.

Believers should marry true believers or not marry at all!

*Gen 24:10 And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.

Notice just as the Holy Spirit is God, just as God the Father and God the Son, this eldest servant had control of all the goods of Abraham.

The journey to Mesopotamia was as much as a 500-mile trip and it would take a lot of supplies to go and return from such a trip.

It is the will of God that we marry a true believer, and we may have trouble finding one. It may take some time and we must be prepared for the journey.

If we are to find our soul mate, we must trust the Word of God and the Will of God and that He will lead us to that person who He has chosen for us.

In reality, it would be wise to not even date someone who does not meet these qualifications given by the Lord.

This servant came to the end of his journey, and he prayed for guidance.

*Gen 24:11 And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.
Gen 24:12 And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham.

We must always pray for the guidance of the Lord!

I fail in this myself and usually just dart off on my own.

What is God’s promise?

Psa 32:8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

What is our prayer?

Psa 119:133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

Psa 25:4 Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.

What should I clearly understand? The promises of God.

Psa 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psa 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Psa 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Psa 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Psa 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

And why not pray for good speed, remembering we must understand that God’s timing is the best timing!

And why not pray before for specific things before we meet anyone who might be that perfect mate!

*Gen 24:14 And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.

This servant prayed to God for a sign.

We make huge mistakes when we do not pray before we choose a mate.

If God is not involved with us before our marriage, how do we expect to have a good marriage?

Notice how specific this prayer was.

This precious lady would be the one God had chosen for Isaac.
This precious lady would approach this servant of Abraham and ask him if he wanted a drink of water.
This precious lady would then draw water for his camels. This was in itself no easy task. A camel can easily drink 20 to 30 of more gallons of water and there were 10 camels.

It would be almost impossible to find a precious soul willing to do these things for a stranger, but nothing is too hard for God.

Her name was Rebekah, which means “she could ensnare you with her beauty”.

*Gen 24:15 And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.

Rebekah was one who, when she walked into the room, you could not take your eyes off of her.

Not just her beauty but her work ethic and friendliness.

Even before this servant said Amen, his prayer was answered!

Rebekah was God’s choice to be the bride of Isaac!

I believe when we are men of sincere prayer, God will provide that soul mate for life.

It is not our custom today to send someone else to find us a wife, we must do this ourselves, but God must be involved!

We should still listen to our parents if they are godly parents.

We still need God and we still need prayer and God does not mind providing a wife for godly men!

Gen 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

Pro 18:22 Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.

Ecc 4:9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
Ecc 4:10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
Ecc 4:11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?
Ecc 4:12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

1Pe 3:7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

And Rebekah was certainly beautiful.

*Gen 24:16 And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.

What is a virgin according to the Bible, a lady that has never been with a man in a sexual encounter!

Even though Rebekah was very fair to look upon, she did not stand still and allow this man she had just met to just gaze upon her.

Many today blessed with beauty take advantage of it in not so godly ways.

It is also very true, that beauty is only skin deep, and inner beauty is more important than outer beauty.

Being humble, courteous, with a charitable disposition will make us more pleasant to the eyes of those watching us and there is always someone watching us including the Lord.

These are the things that bring a reward from our Heavenly Father.

Mat 10:41 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.
Mat 10:42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

Not part of our lesson but verse 21

Gen 24:21 And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.

Notice this servant was amazed at the things he was seeing as he had prayed.

As this servant questioned Rebekah, he found that she was from the family that Abraham had sent him seeking a wife for Isaac.

He then bowed his head and worshiped again amazed at the ways of God.

The only thing he did not know then was “if she were willing”.

Like the Holy Spirit this servant showed Rebekah some of the treasures of choosing the truth of God.

Gen 24:22 And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold;

We also see the secular side of this family.

Gen 24:30 And it came to pass, when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the well.

It is the lust of the eyes that got the attention of Laban, Rebekah’s brother.

This servant of Abraham knew God had prospered his journey and it was not time to linger.

*Gen 24:56 And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the LORD hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.

When our prayers our answered such as this one from Abraham’s servant it was not time to linger with unbelievers.

It was very clear, that God was involved in the things going on with this marriage of Rebekah to Isaac.

When we accept the gift of salvation then we must understand this is a new life, a living life.

We live in a dyeing world, but Heaven is a place of Glory.

The servant showed Rebekah and her family the riches of Abraham.

Gen 24:53 And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.

When we give our dead life to the Living Savior, we obtain a new life!

Heb 10:18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
Heb 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
Heb 10:21 And having an high priest over the house of God;
Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

We begin to prosper as we begin our journey with the Lord.

We must give ourselves willingly.

*Gen 24:57 And they said, We will call the damsel, and enquire at her mouth.
Gen 24:58 And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.

What are some great lessons we can learn from this simple story of seeking a wife for Isaac?

We must saturate our work for the Lord with prayer.
We must wait on the Lord for direction.
We must praise our Heavenly Father.

If we see Rebekah as that lost soul, then we must imagine her as someone who hears the Gospel.

She had to realize there was a great father reaching out to her.

He had only one son, His only begotten son and He was well beloved.

He was in search of a Gentile Bride amongst all of the world.

She would be the bride of His dear Son, forever and forever.

She was not worthy of such blessings.

This in typology is the way God calls us all.

Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

*Gen 24:59 And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant, and his men.
Gen 24:60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.

What we see is that the journey home has begun.

As Rebekah has willingly given herself to Isaac even at a distance, she has consented to be his wife.

Each of us who have given ourselves to the Lord are now on our journey home.

Rebekah, a Gentile Bride, espoused to God’s chosen son Isaac.

From Isaac would one day come the Messiah.

Rebekah, thou art also our sister!

Now that she was going to be a wife they prayed along the lines of God’s blessings.

She would certainly be the mother of millions as every “Born Again” child of God adds to this number.

Without a doubt many of her seed will possess the gate of those who hate them as Israel entered into Canaan Land and forward into the Millennial Kingdom.

What had God promised Abraham?

Gen 22:16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
Gen 22:17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
Gen 22:18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

*Gen 24:61 And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.

As the bride to be began her journey, the servant began his journey home.

You see as we are the Bride of Christ, the Holy Spirit will lead us to Jesus.

It may not always be a pleasant trip because we live in the world of our enemies, but we have no excuse for not enjoying it.

After all we are not going to Canaan Land, but we are going to Heaven, the true Promised Land.

The same land that Abraham was seeking and never found because he knew it was not of this earth.

Those who think Heaven will be upon this earth are wrong and foolish to believe that God would say He is giving us the best and then stop short of doing so.

1Co_2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

As Rebekah rode upon a camel, we ride upon the “Grace” of God.

2Co_12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2Co_13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

The Holy Spirit will only lead us to the Bridegroom!

Joh_15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

*Gen 24:62 And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahairoi; for he dwelt in the south country.
Gen 24:63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming.
Lahairoi means “the well of the Living God”.

Jesus said

Joh_Psa_42:2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

If we are not craving the water from the Living God, then we had better check our salvation.

Psa_84:2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.

Psa_42:2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

Isaac was dwelling near this well at this time waiting upon his wife to be and the Lord Jesus Christ is that well of “Living Water” and He will soon be coming to take us home to present His Bride to His heavenly Father.

Where is the best place to meditate? Near the well of Living Water.

What did Jesus teach the Samaritan woman?

Joh_4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

Isaac could not have known the camels would be returning on this day.

Isaac was alone, still mourning the death of his mother who loved him so much.

Isaac had been the only begotten son of Abraham and Sarah.

Isaac was the promised son!

Jesus said:

Mat_6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

On this day, this field in the evening time, near the well of Living Water, was the place where Isaac felt closest to the Lord.

We all need a place where we can meditate on our relationship with our God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

No doubt one of the thoughts of Isaac was this wife his father had sent for and we can be sure he prayed over this matter and lo and behold to Isaac his prayer was answered.

Rebekah knew this thing also.

*Gen 24:64 And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.
Gen 24:65 For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself.

In those days it would have been unmannerly for Rebekah to remain seated when she saw Isaac walking. There was no exception even made for a woman.

Rebekah would not even wait until the camel she was riding came to rest, but she lighted off the camel. She simply jumped off the camel which is taller than a horse in her excitement.

She quickly recovered her composure and covered herself with a veil.

I ask myself what will I be like when I first see Jesus?

Will I lose my composure as did Rebekah?

Will I regain my composure and show respect?

Will I fall on my face before the glory of the Living God?

In reality, I believe I will be in great fear until the Lord says, “peace be with you”.

To be honest I believe the Lord God of this Universe will be waiting with open arms.

If we cannot be excited about going to Heaven, then something is wrong with us!

If we cannot be excited about being saved, then maybe we are not thinking right.

When we recover, we will remember we stand before a Holy God, who has loved us into His Own Home, and we will forever be welcome in His House!

Heaven will be a happy place, not solemn and gloomy!

Isaac wanted to know all the details of the journey of his bride.

Jesus will want to hear us describe our journey to Him for He will be just as excited as we will be.

*Gen 24:66 And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done.
Gen 24:67 And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

The Holy Spirit would not have saved all these details if they were not important!

It is love that filled the tent of Isaac.

It will be love that will fill the Temple of God in Heaven.

God will never love us less then He loves us now and he cannot love us more because He has that true love.

We are not lured into Heaven. Heaven is a place desired by both parties.

The Lord Jesus went back to Heaven to build us a mansion in His Father’s House.

This is the truth of salvation!

Joh 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Joh 14:2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Jesus has given us the instructions on how to get to Heaven.

Joh 14:4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

With the love of his wife, Isaac was comforted from the death of his mother Sarah.

As we live upon this earth there may be many of our loved ones who have gone on before us.

When we see all those in Heaven it will be a great comfort to see them again and then knowing we will never be separated from them again.

There will also be some that we loved who will not be there and we will be comforted by our Savior for those we will never see again.

Those who are married in a Christian home have a little taste of the relationship of the Bride of Christ to the Bridegroom Christ Himself, but we that know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior will experience the greatest life that exist when we get to Heaven.

I love you Jesus!

It has been worth every mile of the trip.

Amen.

God Himself Shall Be the Lamb

December 20, 2020 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Son of Promise Is Born

Book of Genesis Chapters 21 through 23

We know it is the season of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. We who study “typology” know that in the Book of Genesis the story of Isaac, born to Abraham and Sarah we see a lot of typology relating to Joseph, Mary and Jesus the Messiah.

Isaac is the son promised to Sarah just as Jesus was the son promised to Mary but more important Jesus the Messiah, was promised to all the world.

Isaac was the son of promise to Sarah and Abraham just as Jesus the Christ is the “promised” Messiah!

We may not understand “the fullness of time” as mentioned in the Scriptures but to Sarah, the end of those 9 months of carrying Isaac was the fullness of her time of pregnancy.

It was a great day for her, and the Lord did just as He had promised.

Gen 18:10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to “the time of life”; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.

It had been 25 years since God made His promise to Abraham about a son.

Another instance where we see God always keeps His promises and another promise fulfilled, when God showed up at the tent of Abraham and Sarah the day Isaac was born.

*Gen 21:1 And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken.
Gen 21:2 For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, “at the set time” of which God had spoken to him.

In all these things we see the “power” of God!

Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old and they were not like those who lived before the flood.

Sarah had baby Isaac exactly 9 months after the Lord said she would in Genesis 18.

The birth of Isaac was controlled by Jehovah from start to finish.

God keeps His promises, but we will always have to work with God’s timetable, and He does not live by our timetable.

If we were as faithful as Jehovah, we would not have many problems in this life!

Our relationship with the Lord depends upon our own faithfulness!

1Co 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

It is our own faith in the promises of God that make our own life livable.

We learn how to endure the hardships of this life.
We grow stronger in our faith.
We learn to trust what the Lord tells us.
We pray and talk to the Lord more because we grow closer to Him!

Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

Abraham called his name Isaac.

*Gen 21:3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.

We have to know the Lord has a sense of humor when we see that Abraham was told to name his son Isaac.

The meaning of the name “Isaac” is “he laughed”.

Both Sarah and Abraham laughed when the Lord confirmed that Sarah indeed would have a son in her old age and that Abraham would be the father of this promised son.

It would have to bring back precious memories every time Sarah called out to her son.

Abraham had considered his body to be dead and that of his wife Sarah, but just as God has said, He does the impossible.

I am glad that as a child of God, I never have to consider myself a dead man!

I am alive in Christ Jesus, and when my loved ones think I am dead, I will be more alive than I could ever be upon this earth.

Then according to the Word of God Isaac was circumcised on his eighth day.

*Gen 21:4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him.

Here is a study of the 8th day.

Why the 8th day? In Judaism, circumcision is considered a symbol of the covenant between God and the Jewish people. The act of circumcision is called “the bris”, which literally means “covenant.” One reason the circumcision is performed on the eighth day is so that if the newborn baby will have lived through a complete week which includes a Sabbath. Once the baby has experienced the “holiness” of a Sabbath, he may enter into the covenant of the Jewish people.

Another reason for the 8th day deals with blood clotting. Blood clotting is dependent on 3 factors: platelets, prothrombin, and vitamin K (which is responsible for prothrombin production and is produced by bacteria in the intestinal tract). Holt and McIntosh, in their classic work, Holt Pediatrics, observed that a newborn infant has “peculiar susceptibility to bleeding between the second and fifth days of life. … Hemorrhages at this time, though often inconsequential, are sometimes extensive; they may produce serious damage to internal organs, especially to the brain, and cause death from shock and exsanguination”.

It has been shown that it is on the fifth through the seventh days of the newborn male’s life that vitamin K is present in adequate quantities for blood clotting.

On the eighth day, the amount of prothrombin present is above 100 % of normal (the only day in the male’s life in which this will be normally be the case). Therefore, the 8th day is the perfect day to do the circumcision … when the Vitamin K and prothrombin levels are at their peak.

And once again the Bible reveals a great deal of scientific truth written hundreds, and sometimes thousands of years before being “discovered” by modern scientists. Lanny Johnson

*Gen 21:5 And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.

Abraham had reached a milestone in his life at 100 years old.

There can be little doubt that God had added some youth to this amazing couple in the Bible.

Another thing Abraham realized was that he was totally dependent upon God for everything.

What did Jesus teach us?

Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Abraham realized this truth just as we must realize this truth!

We will never get to Heaven without the Lord Jesus Christ.

I know many other people reject this statement, but it is still Biblical Truth!

*Gen 22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

For Abraham to be that Patriarch that he would become, God decided he would need one more test.

The truth is just as Job said it: the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.

To be a child of God, we must be willing to always put God first in our lives!

After waiting so long for his own child by his own wife he had loved for so many years, it could be that Abraham came to a standstill in his life and forgot his calling.

We do not know for sure why, but God tested Abraham one more time.

Abraham had sent Hagar and Ishmael away, something he did not really want to do.

Gen 21:11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son.

Ishmael was Abraham’s son, but not Sarah’s, but Abraham loved Ishmael as much as he did Isaac if not more.

Abraham obeyed the Lord and sent them away.

Abraham knew that he had surely sent Hagar and Ishmael to their death unless God intervened, which He did.

Now, would Abraham give up another son?

*Gen 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

We can only imagine what was going on in the mind of Abraham.

Just how much faith did he have in the promises of God?

What had God promised Abraham?

Gen 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

There was land:

Deu 30:1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
Deu 30:2 And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;
Deu 30:3 That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.
Deu 30:4 If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:
Deu 30:5 And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.
Deu 30:6 And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
Deu 30:7 And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.
Deu 30:8 And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.
Deu 30:9 And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:
Deu 30:10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.

There was the seed:

2Sa 7:13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
2Sa 7:14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:
2Sa 7:15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
2Sa 7:16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

There was the blessing:

Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Jer 31:32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
Jer 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jer 31:34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

To Abraham all these things depended on Isaac but in reality, all these things depended on Jehovah.

If Isaac was sacrificed, then in order for the Lord to continue His promise, then Isaac would have to be raised from the dead.

Is this the faith of Abraham that brought his righteousness. I believe a yes goes here.

*Gen 22:7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

As Abraham and Isaac climbed to the place of sacrifice, Isaac realized they had brought no lamb and he questioned his father.

As we study this passage, we will see one of the greatest types in the Bible, at least I think so.

Isaac, a type of Christ.

What was the mindset of Abraham?

Gen 22:5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and “come again to you”.

Abraham knew he was to sacrifice his son Isaac, but in order for him to return to these he left behind with his son, then God would have to resurrect him from the dead.

In Abraham’s mind this is exactly what God would do, so Abraham had full intention of being obedient to the command of God to offer Isaac as a burnt offering.

I also believe Abraham recognized this place as the place of the skull, but many do not.

Mar 15:22 And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull.

Joh 19:17 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:

It is also true that in this same area, the Temple of Solomon would be built on Mount Moriah.

2Ch 3:1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

What do we know about the death of Jesus?

Joh 19:17 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:

Jesus bore His own cross just as Isaac bore the wood to his own sacrifice.

What are some the lessons to the Church?

God wants the Church to know that the sacrifice of any human being, including aborted babies is wrong!

Say what they will, but babies are allowed to be sacrificed (aborted), because some foolish men and women think that there is not enough food to go around and that has never been true.

Eph_6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Why are the lockdowns, the face mask, the plague of Covid-19 itself allowed because of these same ones (wickedness in high places)!

Just today i saw where these same wicked people recommend for us to wear the face mask all of 2021 or another year, even if you take the vaccine.

in other words the vaccine is no better than the face mask! What a joke!

They want a great portion of our world to die off, especially the aged, and those who require much medical help and the weak.

We will wrestle against these things until the Lord returns to take us home or we die!

Isaac toted his own wood that was to be used to sacrifice him just a Jesus did!

*Gen 22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide “himself a lamb” for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

What a statement!

God wants to show a picture forever of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Mount Calvary. Calvary also means the place of the skull.

Remember Abraham knew in his heart that if he killed his only son Isaac that God would have to raise him from the dead to complete the promises He had made to him!

It took “three days” for Abraham to travel where he could see the place of sacrifice.

Abraham had to show immense faith in the truth of God and His promises.

Heb 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
Heb 11:18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
Heb 11:19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

Then Abraham spoke filled with the Holy Spirit and he said, “God Will Provide Himself A Lamb”.

God Himself would be the sacrificial Lamb!

In reality Abraham did not know what God intended to do, he just knew to obey the Word of God.

God did just as He said He would do!

We who know these things will celebrate the Birth of our Savior knowing that He is the Sacrificial Lamb of God and He is God!

Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isa 7:15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

Immanuel means “God with us”.

*Gen 22:9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
Gen 22:10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
Gen 22:11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

If that Angel had not called out to Abraham, he would have certainly sacrificed his only son.

I believe that Angel to be the Lord because He always speaks with authority!

We should be able to see that Abraham did solemnly offer up the sacrifice of his son.

Abraham loved God enough to give Him all he had, and the most treasured of his things was his son.

Sounds familiar again.

1Jn_4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

We should ask ourselves, have we made an absolute surrender to the Living God?

Are we willing to give our life to Him?

Do we truly love God, like we say we do?

Are we totally surrendered to our God?

In all this did we see that Isaac gave himself obediently to his father, “Just as the Lord Jesus Christ did”.

Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Heb 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

Psa 40:6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
Psa 40:7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
Psa 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.

Joh 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

We should understand that God did not need for Isaac to be sacrificed.

God needed the heart of Abraham!

Here again we see Abraham as the example of the “Born Again” child of God.

We need to surrender to the will of God.

We also see God will never accept a human sacrifice!

God wants a living sacrifice!

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies “a living sacrifice”, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Isaac became a living sacrifice! His death would have been meaningless!

God would have to provide Himself as the only acceptable sacrifice!

Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Php 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
Php 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
Php 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

There would be a resurrection, but it would not be Isaac!

God provided a substitute for Isaac!

*Gen 22:12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
Gen 22:13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
Gen 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.

We should understand that God, the true God, the Living God, will never ask for a human sacrifice!

Those who condemn this passage in the Scriptures are fools and miss the truth of it!

It is false religion that demands human sacrifice!

It is false religion that is the factor behind abortion and the sacrifice of innocent babies, even before they are born.

This is sold as the freedom of women to choose which is another joke on humanity!

The false gods of Moloch and Chemosh, are still around today.

It is the triumph of Abraham’s faith that is the theme of this passage.

It is the example of Messiah that is the theme of this passage.

We should ask ourselves, does God approve us as He did Abraham?

We should ask ourselves, have we accepted the Messiah as our substitute?

We must realize, God has no pleasure in our suffering or in our death!

What did Peter teach us?

1Pe 2:3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
1Pe 2:4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
1Pe 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
1Pe 2:6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

Jehovah-jireh means, “God will provide”.

God, the true God has provided everything we need to restore our relationship with Him.

Just as with Abraham, our relationship is bound up with our faith in the Word of God!

God will provide! Today we call it “Grace”!

Thank you for your mercy my Heavenly Father.

Amen

LESSONS IN GOD'S WORD

Taking time to read the Bible

Book of Genesis

God’s Wonderful Promises

Being In The Will of God

God Is Working Behind The Scenes of This World

The Lord Has A Plan For You

From Riches to the Slave Market

Coming Back to the House of God

The Problems of Envy and Jealousy in the Home

Deceivers Will Be Deceived

Seeking A Wife

God Himself Shall Be the Lamb

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