Upload
santino-dorsey
View
216
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Study 4 – “Bethel remembered brings
release”
How God deals with the Jacob in all of us
“How God deals with
the Jacob in all of us”
Bethel Remembered - Gen. 31V.3 - "And Yahweh said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred: and I will be with thee."
V.5 - "..but the God of my father hath been with me."
V.7 - "..but God suffered him not to hurt me."
V.9 - "Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me."
V.13 - "I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar….now arise get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred." How God deals with the
Jacob in all of us
Laban’s Teraphim“The discoveries at Nuzu SE of Nineveh near modern Kirkuk in 1925-41 have yielded several thousand cuniform tablets illustrating such patriarchal customs as......the teraphim (Gen.31:34). The latter are known to have been household deities, the possession of which implied family leadership. In the case of the married daughter, they assured the husband the right to the property of her father.”
How God deals with the Jacob in all of us
Laban’s Teraphim (cont.)“Since Laban evidently had sons of his own when Jacob left for Canaan, they alone had the right to their father’s gods. Accordingly, Rachel’s stealing the teraphim was a serious offence (Gen.31:19,30,35) aimed at preserving for her husband the chief title to Laban’s estate.”
Unger’s Bible Handbook, pg.75
How God deals with the Jacob in all of us
Final struggle with “the Syrian”Gen. 31:17-42
V. 24 – An angel intervenes! Vv. 25-42 – Caught and interrogated by
an angry and suspicious Laban.
V. 30 - Belittled instead of being harmed.
V. 33 – Note order of search! Index to Laban’s character.
“Laban the Syrian”How God deals with the
Jacob in all of us
Laban’s search for teraphimGen. 31:32-35
Laban
Jacob
Performs a perfunctory search and accepts a lame excuse!
LeahRachelMaid-servants
How God deals with the Jacob in all of us
20 or 40 years in Haran? Does it matter? 40 is the number of probation – Jacob is
in Haran to be purged of “the Syrian”. Was he 57 or 77 on arrival in Haran? The facts - Jacob 15 on death of
Abraham; Ishmael 89; Ishmael died when Jacob 63.
Gen. 28:9 requires Ishmael to be alive when Jacob leaves for Haran. Hence, Jacob and Esau were 57, not 77.
How God deals with the Jacob in all of us
40 Years with LabanGen. 31:38,41
V. 38 - "This twenty years" - Refers to time spent as a 'friend' (son in law) of Laban after serving 14 years for his two wives.
V. 41 - "twenty years in thy house" - i.e. as a servant labouring for wages.
Worked for Rachel 7 years
Worked for Leah 7 years
Sojourned as 'friend' 20 years
Served for cattle 6 years
Total sojourn 40 years
How God deals with the Jacob in all of us
The use of zeh twice“Now the twenty concurrent years of neighbourly assistance, and the disjointed twenty of covenant service, seem both of them distinguished in the history itself. For upon Laban’s pursuit of Jacob he mentions twenty years twice; which two sets of twenty, if really different, make forty. Each mention of the twenty years is introduced with the word zeh, which word, when repeated, is used by way of distinction; as when we say, this and that, the one or the other.”
ClarkeHow God deals with the Jacob in all of us
Why 20 years too short! No children until 8th year – Gen. 29:18. Reuben the eldest would have been 12
on re-entry to the Land of Canaan. Simeon and Levi who murdered the
men of Shechem would have been about 11 and 10.
The earliest that Dinah could have been born was 18 years after Jacob’s arrival in Haran – this would make her 2-3 years old when defiled by Shechem – Gen. 34.
How God deals with the Jacob in all of us
The fear of Isaac - Gen. 31:42,53 “fear” – pachad – dread, terror. Roth. –
“dread”. Abraham was dead - Isaac was still alive. Integrity before God was the issue between
Jacob and Laban – Vv. 36-43.
Ps. 76:11-12 – “Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared (pachad). He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible to the kings of the earth.”How God deals with the
Jacob in all of us
Galeed and MizpahGen. 31:44-52
Galeed signifies “witness heap”. Jegar-sahadutha – Aramaic (Chaldean)
for “witness heap”. Mizpah signifies “watchtower”. Laban’s objective – To draw a line over
which Jacob could not cross with the teraphim (title deeds) to claim Laban’s assets.
How God deals with the Jacob in all of us
Mahanaim - Gen. 32:1-2 Signifies “two camps”. Gen. 28:12-15 – Angels already part of his
camp – “ascending and descending”. Ps. 34:7 – “The angel of the LORD
encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.”
Gen. 48:16 - Final realisation after a lifetime of experience – “The Angel which redeemed me from all evil.”
Heb. 2:14 – “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?”
How God deals with the Jacob in all of us
Insurance and PrayerGen. 32:6-12
V. 6 – Esau’s ego revealed. V. 7 – Jacob now has “3 camps”. V. 8 – Insurance – Mitigation of loss. Vv. 9-12 – Jacob’s great prayer of
dependence.
Why is it not immediately answered?
How God deals with the Jacob in all of us
The Governing PrincipleJohn 6:28-29
“Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”
How God deals with the Jacob in all of us
Yahweh ransomed Jacob from the hand of him that was stronger than he – Jer.
31:11
The stolen blessing abandoned and given back – Gen. 33
Study 5 - Exhortation – “From Jacob to Israel: A
painful journey”
Next study (God willing)
How God deals with the Jacob in all of us