Continuing tonight with the book of Genesis, we're in chapter 30, two weeks ago we went over chapter 29 and it was essentially Jacob marrying both Leah and Rachel and all the controversy that was attached to that.
Of course, Jacob originally wanted to marry Rachel, but his father-in-law, Laban, ended up deceiving him, being cunning just as he was in times past and essentially marrying off the eldest daughter, Leah first.
Of course, Jacob was not happy with this and so he ended up having to labor another seven years for Rachel.
And one of the principles that I talked about in that sermon is the fact that, you know, Jacob should have just been content with staying with Leah, right?
It wasn't God's will for him to add Rachel to his marriage with Leah.
He should have just stayed with Leah because of the fact that God does not approve of polygamy, right?
He wants man to have one wife. He didn't create a second wife for Adam in the Garden of Eden.
It was just Adam and Eve. He didn't take out another rib in order to make another spouse for Adam.
From the beginning, you know, male and female is how he created them singular, right?
He wanted that to be in that manner and that is the model for marriage.
But here we find that Jacob is not content with just staying with Leah and allowing God to work through that, allowing God to bless him.
And keep in mind, you know, Jacob is somewhat part of the promise, right?
He is the one that God is going to work through.
He's the one that God is going to bless with the nation of Israel.
The promises are going to be fulfilled physically through Jacob.
And so Jacob has in his mind that he kind of has to participate or kind of manipulate situations in order for that to be carried out.
But he doesn't.
And here's the thing, folks, is that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
And what that means is that, you know, God can bless us even when we're being defrauded, we're being wrong.
Maybe the situation is not necessarily coming out in the outcome that we would want.
It's okay. God can still work out that situation together for good.
He can work it out for your benefit.
He can turn things around.
He can essentially take the ingredients to that bad situation and make a cupcake, right?
He can make a delicious cake out of those ingredients that, you know, are a result of other people's bad decisions, wrongdoings and so forth.
But you know, Jacob has not taken that into account, okay?
He's angry at his father-in-law, and he's going to get Rachel by any means necessary, even if he has to work another seven years.
Now, obviously, we look at that story and say, oh, how romantic. He was willing to wait seven years.
Yeah, it is, but here's the thing. Not God's will though, you know?
And it's one of those things that I believe God winked at because of the fact that, you know, the purpose of God still has to be carried out.
And unfortunately, he only has sinful men to work with, you know?
And that really teaches me and it should teach us as a church that if God blesses us as a church or as an individual,
it only means that we've done a couple of things right.
It doesn't necessarily mean that we've done all things right because at the end of the day, God only has sinners to work with.
So if God has blessed you, he's been gracious to you.
He's, you know, magnified you. He's blessed you with resources, finances, possessions, even spiritual blessings.
Just know this. All that means is that you've done a couple of things right, okay?
Because at the end of the day, you know, we have to recognize that it's by the grace of God that we have what we have and we are what we are.
You know, God's blessing is obviously a result of our obedience to his word, but how much he blesses us is really a result of God's unmerited favor towards us, okay?
So you never wanted to let that go to your head. Don't let success go to your head.
Don't let achievements go to your head and think, oh, man, yeah, I'm just some great one. I'm just awesome.
That's why God's blessed him. Not necessarily. You know, yeah, your obedience brought about the result to a certain degree,
but how much God blesses you and what God has given to you overall is essentially a result of just God being good, okay?
And, you know, here's a good example. Jacob is not necessarily the best guy, okay?
Bro's cunning. He's a liar. He's deceptive. He's a heel catcher.
From the start, he just has a bad reputation. He doesn't have a good track record.
Yet God is still using him to bring about the will of God and ultimately we know that God's going to refine him.
He's going to work in his life so that he is a vessel and to honor meet for the master's use.
So, you know, a lot of people like to use Jacob as an example of their justification for polygamy,
but that's not the case. That's not what we see here.
And in fact, if you actually follow the story, you actually see that their polygamous relationship brought about a lot of problems.
A lot of envy, a lot of jealousy, a lot of heartbreak, a lot of favoritism,
things that are not necessarily supposed to take place within a marriage.
So, he has two wives here, Leah, and he has Rachel.
And, you know, Leah's despised. We talked about that as well.
The fact that, you know, Jacob's not really into Leah. He's married to her, but he's not really into her.
He's more in love with Rachel.
And God views this favoritism, and what does he do?
He ends up blessing Leah with a fruitful womb, and she ends up bearing four children unto Jacob.
Now, that's a significant thing because the four children that she bears end up being very significant tribes
by which the priesthood would come forth, as well as the Messiah.
You have Reuben, you know, let's just put that to the side real quick.
Not every example is perfect, okay? Not every illustration is perfect.
Reuben's not that good of a guy, but you have Levi, and of course from Levi comes forth Moses, Aaron, the priesthood, so forth.
But then you also have Judah, and of course out of Judah springs forth King David,
and ultimately the Lord Jesus Christ.
So, it kind of shows you that the woman who's despised, you know, God ends up looking upon her, favoring her,
giving her the children by which these prophetic tribes are going to come forth for future fulfillment.
So, four children already belong to Leah and Jacob, and at this point Rachel has no babies, okay?
The Lord has essentially closed her womb.
Look at verse 1 of chapter 30.
It says, when Rachel saw that she bared Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister and said unto Jacob,
give me children or else I die.
Now, look, obviously Rachel, you know, lady, this is not a good attitude to have,
and you shouldn't envy your sister for this, but at least we're thankful that she wants to have children.
You know, in the day and age in which we live, we have people who despise children,
yet even murder their children, and the society that we live in is so sick and twisted and demented
that they would defend such a ridiculous woman, some godless woman who's going to split her wide open
hopefully sooner than later.
You know, oh, she's mentally insane. Who cares?
Of course she's mentally insane. She killed her children. She's a reprobate.
But you know, we have a society today that hates children.
They abort children. They kill their children. They don't like children.
Whereas in times past, and of course we have that somewhat to a degree today,
that, you know, people obviously esteem children in the Bible as we should, right?
We should esteem children, love children, children are a blessing.
You know, I think of my children and they stress me out, but they bring me so much joy, though.
And if you're just like, well, you know, if your children stress you out so much,
would it be better not to have children? No, I'll take the stress.
If you showed me all the blessings and all the stress that having children would give me,
I'd be like, bring it. Bring it, because I love my children.
They bring a lot of joy in my life. You know, it's just a blessing to see them grow.
It's a blessing to see them get saved.
It's a blessing to see them interact with their parents and grow in wisdom and knowledge.
And just having children is a major blessing.
And truly, the Bible says, happy is the man to have this quiver full.
And that's true. You know, a quiver is just basically however much you can handle,
however many the Lord gives you.
And so thank God for that. You know, I have six.
I'm hoping I have more. I'm praying to God we have more.
I hope, you know, our estimation, my wife and I's estimation, if the Lord wills,
is that maybe nine, maybe 10, maybe 12, who knows, you know, that would be awesome.
I would love to have 12 children. You know, I love to have 10 children.
I love to have nine. I love to have seven.
Whatever God gives us, but I hope God blesses us with many children.
And we need to get away from this mentality that, oh man, children are a burden and all these things.
Well, here's the thing. Of course they're a burden. It's another life.
But the blessings always outweigh the burden.
And so never be this couple or just like, well, we're just going to wait until later for us to have children.
Because quite frankly, God can close the womb.
And also, you know, you should do nothing to prevent yourself from having children as well.
I'm talking about birth control, whether it's, you know, synthetic birth control
or natural birth control as the Catholics do.
No, you should just let, you know, God give you whatever children he wants you to have.
And you're like, oh man, but how are we going to afford it?
You fed yourself for how many years and you eat a lot, you know.
And you know, God's taking care of you and God can bless.
And you know, we need to live below our means and so forth.
But at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter if God's commanding us to do.
He's going to enable us to handle business.
Okay. And be able to provide for our own.
But what we see here is that Rachel is vexed in her soul.
She's envying her sister because she cannot bear children.
Now, you know, that's great, Rachel.
Do you want to have children and you feel so deeply about it?
But you shouldn't envy others, you know, if God has closed your womb.
And that's an important attitude to have as well.
Because, you know, today there are people who can't bear children
and it would be wrong for you if you're in that situation
to envy someone else over what God is doing in their life.
Because at the end of the day, it may be that God does not want to give you children.
Maybe God has closed that door.
Okay. Now, obviously we should pray, we should do everything we possibly can
on a human level to make sure, you know, that we are as, you know, fertile
or whatever it may be.
You know, get yourself some mandrakes as we're going to see in a little bit.
You know, to make sure, you know, to remove any possibility
of hindrances towards having children.
But at the end of the day, if you've done everything you possibly can,
you can have children.
Maybe that's God's will.
Okay. Maybe God has closed that door.
And if that's the case, you know, grief is a normal part of the feeling
that you may have, but you should not have envy towards others
for what they have.
Okay. You say, why is that?
Well, Rachel has this envy towards your sister
and it really moves her to do something very sinful, unbiblical
and that which lacks faith.
Okay. Not that anybody would do something like this today,
but it's just kind of showing you an extreme case of this, right?
Look at verse 2.
And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel and he said,
Am I in God's stead? Who hath withheld thee from the fruit of the womb?
So, you know, he's real sensitive about this whole situation.
Knows how to talk to a woman, you know.
He's just like, he's like, what's wrong with you?
You know, am I, am I God?
You know, he's the one who's withheld you from having children.
And she said, Behold, my maid, Bilhah, go and enter her
and she shall bear upon my knees that I may also have children by her.
That's funny, you know.
Jacob doesn't protest this as he just got on her
for not being able to have children, right?
You know, before he was just like, am I God?
And then she's like, go and enter Bilhah.
The next verse, you know, he marries Bilhah.
He's just like, all right, you know, we'll see what happens, you know.
This is obviously not God's will, right?
God doesn't want this.
He's, you know, Jacob and his wife Rachel are using carnal means,
godless means in order to have children.
And at the end of the day, Rachel, these aren't really your children.
She's buried, you know, she's buried upon your knees,
but at the end of the day, biologically, these are not your children, okay?
Now, look, like I said before in chapter 29,
I do believe if Jacob would have remained married just to Leah,
those two children could have came from Leah.
I believe God could have blessed that womb.
I mean, he's demonstrating that over the fact
that she literally bore four children back to back, right, initially.
And I think that God could have done that same thing with Leah later on.
They didn't have to do all this weird stuff, all this Mormon stuff,
you know, all this Muslim stuff here, where you're just the polygamist
and they're just having children by any means necessary
because, you know, she's incapable of having children.
It says in verse 4, she gave him, Bilhah, her husband, her handmade, excuse me,
to wife and Jacob went in unto her and Bilhah conceived and buried Jacob a son.
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.
No, Rachel, that's not your son.
You know, obviously you can say it's your son by proxy
because you're making some sort of agreement with Bilhah in this regard.
That's Bilhah's son, okay?
And, you know, I don't like what Rachel's saying here in verse 6.
God hath judged me and hath also heard my voice,
as if this is like an answer to prayer.
Like, oh, God's answered my prayer.
No, he hasn't because if he would have actually asked God about this,
he would have said no.
But she's forcing the will of God upon Jacob, upon Bilhah.
You know, she thinks like everyone else in this situation
that they can just manipulate the situation to carry out the will of God.
It's not right to do, okay?
And obviously, you know, in the nation in which we live,
we don't really, we're not a nation that struggles with polygamy.
Obviously, there's pockets of people who do this stuff,
but in general, it's frowned upon, okay?
But, you know, you can apply this to other ungodly, unnatural means of having children, okay?
And so, at the end of the day, we need to make sure that we pray into the Lord.
You have not because you ask not,
you have not because you ask a miss that you may consume it upon your lust.
Sometimes there's just instances where God just doesn't answer the prayer.
But, here's the thing, folks, is that if God chooses for you not to have children,
the alternative is not, well, let's just use some sort of carnal, godless,
you know, the superficial means to be able to have children.
Let's, and look, let me just say this.
I don't even believe it's right to adopt, okay?
And obviously, that's my personal preference.
There's nothing in the Bible that explicitly says that.
Dao Shan not adopt children.
We could obviously use the spiritual application of God adopting us.
But here's the thing, folks, is that at the end of the day, you know,
when you adopt children, you're essentially saying, you know,
I'm going to make this happen even if God doesn't want to give me children.
So then you adopt children.
And, you know, I'm not 100% familiar with the laws here,
but it seems as though if that child grows up and decides to just leave you
and go back to their biological parents, they can do that.
And it causes a lot of strain, a lot of emotional damage, a lot of friction.
It just causes a lot of problems.
And so it's problems that you can, you know, avoid if you just, you know what,
whatever God gives us, whether you choose to give us children or not,
that's what we're going to go with.
So Dan is the son of Bilhah.
Look at verse 7,
and Bilhah's Rachel's maid conceived again and bared Jacob as second son.
And Rachel said,
with great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister and I have prevailed.
And she called his name Neftali.
So what do you mean?
You know, no, you didn't prevail against your sister, Bilhah did.
You know, you're not the one bearing children here.
You're not a proxy mother.
And, you know, just, well, these are technically my children.
No, they're Bilhah's children.
You are using carnal means to fulfill this task.
Look at verse 9,
when Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpa her maid
and gave her Jacob to wife.
So, you know, Leah, so what we see here is kind of like a race.
And it's just like, you guys are not, like, you guys,
what's wrong with you guys?
First of all, Leah, you can have babies.
You know, it's just like, yeah, but we can have them even faster
if we get Zilpa involved here
and have her marry Jacob
and then we can just, you know, pop him out
and that could win this race.
Okay, very carnal, very carnal, faithless.
And here's the thing, Leah is, her room is not necessarily closed.
She's just born four children unto Jacob
and so there should be no reason to involve Zilpa.
This is just showing you and showing me how faithless
these people are.
They've become very faithless in their dealings.
It's a carnal thing.
We're trying to race to have as many children as possible
because we want to beat so and so.
And look, folks, I'm all for having children.
You know, it's great to list wherever it's at.
You know, that thing is growing.
I think it's like the most we've ever had.
Okay?
But we shouldn't be in a race though.
Okay?
And you know, it shouldn't be like,
well, we're trying to have more children and so and so.
We're trying to beat so and so or something.
You know, it should be a matter of just whatever the Lord gives us
and just rejoice when people are pregnant.
You know, rejoice with that.
And I get it, sometimes it is difficult.
I get it because there are instances where maybe,
you know, you might have had a miscarriage.
There might have been a situation like that where you lost the baby
and it's hard to see other people bearing children
when you've suffered a loss.
And that's 100% justified to feel that manner
when that takes place.
But we should still rejoice when others have children
and recognize that God is still blessing
and not view it as some sort of competition.
So, Zilpa gets in the mix here.
Verse 10 says,
So he's obviously not opposed to adding Zilpa.
Okay?
Verse 11 says,
And Zilpa has made Bear Jacob a second son
and Leah said,
For the daughters will call me blessed
and she called his name Asher.
So in total, if you think about this, you know,
Leah had more children than any of them.
More than Bilhah, more than Zilpa, more than Rachel,
she bore, if you include Dinah, seven children.
So I do believe that if she would have just stuck
to the biblical model,
she would have just kept having children
and being able to fulfill the prophecy
and she should have just been fully persuaded
that what God had promised, he was able also to perform.
So she has seven children including Dinah.
And then the handmaids end up having two each
and then Rachel is, end up blessed with two children
but fairly significant because she ends up having Joseph
and then later on she has Benjamin.
So Asher, look at verse 14 in Reuben
went in the days of wheat harvest
and found mandrakes in the field
and brought them unto his mother Leah.
Then Rachel said to Leah,
Give me I pray thee of thy son's mandrakes.
Now, it's not 100% clear what this is
but we can surmise that a mandrake
is basically something that can induce fertility.
It's some sort of root or a plant
that some people have said is like an aphrodisiac,
others said it's like something that induces fertility.
Obviously it has something to do with that
because Rachel's like, give me some of that
because I want to have more children.
And historically that's what a mandrake would do.
So, you know, Reuben finds some,
he brings them from the field,
Rachel comes and says to Leah,
Give me your son's mandrakes.
Verse 15, and she said unto her,
Is it a small matter that thou has taken my husband?
And wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also?
And Rachel said,
Therefore he shall lie with thee tonight
for thy son's mandrakes.
So this is interesting.
This kind of gives us a picture here
of how this great polygamist relationship works
because it's such a great model
of how things should be done, right?
What's taking place here?
Well, Reuben brings the mandrakes.
Rachel sees this and tells Leah,
Hey, give me those mandrakes.
And she's like, no, you took my husband.
And then Rachel's like,
Well, how about we strike a deal here?
You give me the mandrakes
and then Jacob can sleep at your tent tonight.
And the idea here is,
where's Jacob staying the majority of the nights with Rachel?
That's why she said,
You took my husband and then they're making this deal.
Why would they have to make that deal
if he's staying with Leah as well, you know?
It's possible that he's spending most of his time with Rachel.
And what does that demonstrate
that he basically esteems Rachel over Leah?
Yeah, what a great model of polygamy here.
Just, oh man, this is so great.
These guys know exactly what they're talking about.
It just makes for a great love story.
How romantic, right?
Where one is beloved, you know,
and the other one is hated
and the hated one has to strike a deal
just to spend the night with their own husband.
It doesn't really work now, does it?
So he says here, verse 16,
and Jacob came out of the field in the evening
and Leah went out to meet him and said,
thou must come unto me
for surely I have hired thee
with my son's mandrakes
and he lay with her that night.
That's sad.
That's really sad.
I mean, why would she need to hire
her husband, you know,
for some mandrakes if that's her husband?
He should, how do you render
doubenevolence in that case, right?
How do you render doubenevolence
in a polygamous relationship
where the husband despises one of the wives?
That's clearly what's taking place here.
But yet you have these heretical pastors out there,
these Book of Enoch heretical pastors
that are promoting polygamy,
saying that it's justified.
Oh, Jacob did it.
Yeah, look how romantic and how lovely
and what a wonderful love story
that ended up being there
where Leah literally has to pay mandrakes
in order to spend the night with her husband.
It's godless.
Look, folks, the Bible says to render doubenevolence
unto your spouse.
And let me tell you what that means.
It means that when your spouse wants a physical relationship,
you're not to withhold that from them.
You're not to weaponize it.
You're not to say,
I got a headache.
Hey, I'd be profan, amen.
I got a headache. I'm tired.
I'd be profan in a red bowl.
Because it's your responsibility
to render doubenevolence unto your spouse.
Okay.
And I'm talking to both,
but let's just be honest.
Most of the time in our culture,
it's the woman who's withholding that
from the man.
That's a godless thing to do.
Oh, yeah, but he just doesn't...
He's just not as romantic.
I missed that part in the passage.
It says he has to be romantic
in order
for you to render doubenevolence
of your physical body to him.
I would just say, if that's what he wants,
you got to give it to him. And vice versa.
And let me just remind all you
Christian feminists out there
that a woman's body belongs to the man.
And vice versa.
We won't spend too much time on that.
No, I'm just kidding.
It belongs to the man.
Your body, it's not your body,
your choice, it's your body,
but technically it's your husband's body.
And it's his choice.
So this whole Feminazi
ideology out there
where they try to weaponize
the physical relationship
and try to withhold that from their husband
as a means of punishment
or because you're mad
or because you have a headache
or because this, that, and the other,
it's unjustified and it's not found in the Bible.
You're a godless person if that's what you do.
Clip that.
Clip that and throw it on the archives.
You know what,
Rachel, Leia,
and Jacob are doing is wrong.
And you know what, Jacob,
Jacob should have been like,
what do you mean you paid mandrakes?
I'm your husband.
Go get those things back.
He should have gone to Rachel and be like,
hey, where are those mandrakes at?
Rubin got them, those belong to him
and guess what, I belong to Leia
just as much as I belong to you.
That's a weird thing, but
it's the truth.
And I don't know, it seems like
Jacob's just kind of a pushover when it comes to this stuff.
It sounds like he's just enjoying the ride over here,
having these four wives,
but it's causing a lot of controversy here.
And no, a polygamous relationship
apparently doesn't work on a practical level.
Wives hiring
just to spend the night with their husband.
Okay?
And so,
you know,
you're like, well, you know, I'm just tired.
Get some mandrakes.
Find some mandrakes.
You know,
Red Bull,
C4,
you know, whatever you got to do
to make it happen,
because it's better to supplement
that, okay,
to be physical with your spouse
than to ruin your marriage because you're not coming together.
And then Satan
tempts you for your incontinence.
That's what the Bible says.
Oh, I just think it's just inappropriate that you're saying it.
I think it's inappropriate that you're not coming together.
How about that?
Why don't you change your view of things
and stop viewing it in such a secular feminist manner
and recognize
it's Godless for you not to come together.
In fact, that's what Satan wants.
He wants you to abstain one from another
because God's will is for you to come together.
Okay?
As much as you guys want to be.
Okay?
And so that's important.
And obviously we know the biblical teaching there
is that the only time you would abstain
from that relationship is that when you're giving yourself
to prayer and fasting
and, you know,
but obviously that's not,
prayer and fasting is not a prolonged time.
In my opinion, you can still do that
and pray. Amen?
And so, anyways,
verse 17,
and God hearkened unto Leah
and she conceived and bared Jacob
the fifth son. So we see here,
Leah comes out losing
to a certain degree because
she's given up her mandrakes because she wants to be fertile
but, you know, she's willing
to forego the possibility of having
children just so she could spend the night with her husband.
So really
from a practical perspective
the one who should be bearing
based upon the story is Rachel
because she's the one who has the fertility
potion.
But we see
that God hearkens unto Leah
and she conceives and bares
Jacob the fifth son
despite the fact that she did not have
the mandrakes.
Now this is also showing us that what
God esteems more than anything else
is just
the physical relationship between
a husband and a wife. He just wants them
to come together to do that
which married couples do and leave everything
else in God's hands.
Because Leah is basically saying like
oh man, I'm going to miss out on having
children but I'd rather just
be with my husband.
I'd rather just, you know, be with my husband
and have that physical relationship
and what does God end up doing? He ends up blessing her
with children.
And so, you know,
this is important because, you know, sometimes
couples could have this
frustration
because they can't have children
and it's just like now it's becoming like a chore
it's just like oh, we got to make sure we do this
at a certain, when the moon
is a certain, you know, color
and we got to make sure we manipulate
everything so that we can have children
but then you start stressing out
you start worrying and that's what
causes the infertility, the tension.
Whereas what God just wants you to do
is just come together and just leave
the outcome to God.
So I admire Leah.
You know, Leah is a wonderful
woman. She's obviously, you know,
she has her flaws
but at the end of the day she was
willing to forego that which is practical
in order to just have her husband and God
ends up blessing her with the fifth son, verse 18.
And Leah said, God has given me my
hire because I have given
my maiden to my husband
and she called his name Isacar
and Leah conceived again
and bear Jacob the sixth son
and Leah said, God has
endured me with a good dowry
now will my husband dwell with
me because I have born him six sons
and she called his name
Zebulun. I like what it says in verse 21
and afterwards she bears daughter and called her name Dina.
She's kind of like throwing it in there.
She bears six sons and they had Dina
as well. You say, man, why is it so
like, you know, well because of the
fact that God's trying to get,
he's trying to accomplish something here
through the men because he's trying to create
these 12 tribes. Obviously
Dina's not the spies but in the grand
scheme of things she doesn't necessarily play
a vital role
in the formation of this nation.
Okay. So in
total she has born
seven children unto
Jacob and she's
under, you know, this notion
that, you know, oh, Jacob's going to love me now.
He's going to dwell with me now because I've given him
so many children, more children than
the others, but of course that's not
necessarily the case. Verse 22
and God remembered Rachel
and God harkened to her
and opened her womb. Now that's interesting
because she took
the mandrakes
and wasn't able to bear children and
we see here that she bears children
only because God harkened unto her
and opened her womb.
So at the end of the day we need to realize
that we should do everything physically possible
on a practical level to have children
but, you know, it's God who opens
the door, it's God who closes it, it's God who opens
the womb, it's God who closes it and so forth.
So the Lord loves Rachel
and he is blessing her as well.
Look at verse 23 and she conceived and
bears a son and said, God have taken
away my reproach
and she called his name Joseph
and said the Lord shall add to me
another son. Now the only son
that's not mentioned here
because this doesn't happen until later is Benjamin.
Okay, Benjamin is the last
of the 12s because technically
they had 13 children that would
include Dinah but 12 sons
and Benjamin the 12th
is, you know, she has him
and she dies at childbirth unfortunately
which is a sad story there as well.
It says in verse 25 and it came to pass
when Rachel had born Joseph
that Jacob said unto Laban
send me away that I may go unto
my own place into my country
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
and Laban said unto him I pray thee
if I have found favor in thine eyes
tarry for I have learned
by experience that the Lord has blessed
me for thy sake.
So, you know, Laban is just like
those 14 years is not enough.
Now why does Laban want
Jacob to hang around?
Because God is with Jacob
right and it's
because of Jacob that he's
experiencing the residual blessings
and you know what this shows us?
It shows us that when God's hand is upon us
those around us get blessed as well
even if they don't deserve it.
People around us
maybe are family members
maybe friends, maybe the company that we
work for to a degree
they get blessed. Why?
Because the fallout of the blessings
affect them as well.
We should desire that God
blesses us not just for our sake
but so that others
can also experience the residual
blessings that we are getting as well
and recognize like man I'm being blessed
in my life because of this guy.
Our company is better because of
this guy. You know, our family has
improved because of so and so
God's hand is upon this person
therefore we are experiencing the blessings
as well. Now obviously
your family, your company may not
say it in those exact words
but they'll think it though like you know what
we've succeeded because I like having
this is my lucky charm over here
this is the guy that I need
in order to bless my business this is the person
what are they saying? You know, God's with this
individual and that's why I'm being blessed
and you know what that should be our desire.
We want to be blessed because
we want to be blessed.
We want God to bless our children
our family, our finances, our
possessions but at the end of the day just
recognize that part of that
is so that others
may see your good works, others can
see the blessings and possibly
glorify God
or even request
or ask about salvation
ask about the things I've got to you
and you know what that's why it's important that we keep a good
testimony before our family, friends
and coworkers as well.
Don't be a jerk at your job
don't be a jerk with your family
don't be a bad testimony
a bad ambassador
why because you know we want
the unsaved
we want those out in the world
to view that God is with us and we want them
to want what we have
but if you're just
as hyper spiritual
holier than now
just you know self-righteous
person, you're a hypocrite
where you are
living one way at church
but then you're just a completely godless
worldly person at work
or with your family you know that doesn't work
being a bad testimony
okay
being honest employee but you know what
just be a good son, a good daughter
a good father
a good wife
at home as well
the bible tells us
ye are our epistles written in our hearts
known and read up all men
you know you've heard that saying
we may be the only bible that people read
sounds corny and it is
but it is true I just think it's corny
because I've heard it from so many corny preachers
but you know there is some
semblance of truth to that
because what they're saying is that
your boss is not going to open up the board of god
so the only scripture that he's going to see
in real time is you
you're that open epistle
known and read of all men
you know but what can I
but are you like an epistle of Barnumus though
an epistle of Judas
or something
or are you a good representation
of Christianity
and you know what let me just say this
obviously we have liberty as Christians
and I get we're dealing with a lot of
first generation Christians
but don't use your liberty as an occasion to the flesh
make sure that as a Christian
you go the second mile
of being a testimony
don't be this just worldly
god this person before others
because you're being a bad representation
of Christianity
you know obviously you need to be a person
who obeys the word of god but even to a certain degree
you should have higher standards than the unsafe
why because the bible says that the righteous
are more excellent than his neighbor
and so you know I live
around
Christians
and you know non-Christians
and unsafe people
and I do my best to make sure
that not just me and my family
that we are a good testimony to those around us
you know there are certain things we can't control
because our
our household is too big
we got a lot of loud kids and stuff
and they probably hear us spanking our kids
you know down the street or whatever
but you know the best that we can
we try to be a good testimony
to our neighbors
not be trashy, not be dirty
you know
I don't bump hip hop but we're not bumping hip hop
or rock and roll or something
you know be a good testimony
be a person who when people look at you
you don't necessarily have to tell them you're a Christian
they just kind of caught that already
you know
you're like what's another way that I could be a good testimony
well how about you don't dress like a whore
that's good, that's the starters
why don't you just
I'm talking about both men and women
and the day and age in which we live
you gotta dress both
don't look like an absolute whore
don't look like a slut
clip that
don't look like an absolute
godless person
you know oh man
they just don't know I'm a Christian here
it's probably because you're just wearing pants all the time
probably
because you've got the booty shorts at the gym
well how can I perform this
workout if I don't wear my booty shorts
don't do it
or just wear a skirt or something like that
I'm sure there's skirts out there
there's women that work out with skirts and stuff
and they look modest when they work out
you know do that
oh but I want to show off my booty
you're godless
then you're basically a whore
right
you know be a good testimony
you know it should be
that you dress a certain way
and I'm not saying you have to dress in a shirt and tie to go to the gym either
okay
and obviously there's certain instances where we can't
really portray Christianity
by the way we look
it's just we wear clothes and that's it
and really it does more apply
to women than men
oh man I can't believe
no it's true it's true it's a fact
now obviously with dudes
you shouldn't be
at the gym shirtless or something like that
or with a spaghetti
spaghetti string top
whatever you call that
ain't nobody trying to see all that
you know or how about this
you know if you are a person
who's just tatted from head to toe
have some shame and cover it up
right
you know especially if you got like
profanity and godlessness
artwork on you
cover it up
I'm just saying you know we need to make sure
that we let our lights so shine before men that they may
see our good works to the best of our ability
okay
and you know again guys
if you go to the gym
first of all you better not be wearing old booty shorts
a little faggot
oh but it's in now
the 80's
booty shorts are in for dudes
that's gay dude
that's super gay
okay
yeah but I've been working on my glutes and everything
and you know
you know
and look I'm for working out the glutes
I am
I think everyone should work out the glutes
and you say why
you'll thank me once you're
60 and 50, 60, 70 years old
because you use the glutes to
get off the toilet and off the bed
that's the biggest muscle on the body
it's necessary
you need strength in the gluteus maximus
amen
you gotta build it up so you can you know
get off the ground
if you fall
and then I'm
you think it's funny but it's true
people in their old age
they fear the toilet
because you know they can't get up
they don't have the strength to get up
it's a real thing
and so it is funny for sure
you know
let's act like high schoolers here
and just laugh about it
but it's a legitimate thing
you know you should work on your legs
and work on your glutes
not for looks
not so you can put on some
80's booty shorts
bicycle booty shorts or whatever
but so you can
actually use it for practical reasons
okay
so the point that I'm making is
be modest amen
be a modest individual
you know make sure
let no crew of communication proceed out of your mouth
but that which is good to the use of edifying
that it may minister grace into the ear
you know obviously
we're not perfect but when you're talking to the unsaved
you should seek to have your
speech season with salt
and with grace
right
and make sure that you're speaking in such a way
that they're like I think this person is a Christian
you know
and look I can't say
that using cuss words
is a sin but it's definitely not necessary
profitable all the time though
okay
it's profitable when you're throwing out a tranny
it's profitable when you're defending
the innocent right
but you know when you're just chopping it up with someone
and you're just throwing f-bombs left and right
it's not necessarily the most profitable thing
especially if it's towards the unsaved
because they're like oh I thought this guy was a crit
okay cool you know
I guess I guess that's just how they talk
okay
and do us a favor how about you don't upload that
story where you're throwing f-bombs
all over the place too
because it's good to be a good testimony to
unsaved people but it's also going to be a good
testimony to other churches
and again you know
I'm not perfect so one day a clip might
be uploaded with me throwing an f-bomb to like a
tranny or something for giving me ahead of time
okay
but you know that's
you know obviously we shouldn't be
characterized by that
f this
well how about you just
you know speak some scripture instead
let's get some stories this
week of you just quoting
a verse from the bible
or posting a verse or something
let's just yeah
let's do that
I now call for
everyone in our church who post stories on a
consistent basis
to record yourself quoting a verse
or posting a verse
and then tag me
that's your incentive tag me
and I'll repost it on my stories
okay make sure it's king James too
be a good testimony online
and I'm not saying you have to be perfect
either because look you
know me
I'm not perfect
okay I get mad
I get upset you know I've said
some unsavory words from
time to time but you know what I'm not
characterized by that though
and you know what I don't think you're
characterized by either I'm just trying to help
you not to be characterized by it
don't use your liberty as an occasion to
the flesh
be a person
the bible says if any man speak
let them speak as the oracles of God
which is the bible
and again you want to be real
don't be a fake and a phony
around the unsaved either though
don't be these non-denom type Christians
where you're just so
holy you're hyper-spiritual
you know they're
turned off by that just be real
and I'm not saying you know a
slip of the F word won't come out
every once in a while from your tongue when you're talking
to people I'm just saying like just kind
of clean it up every once in a while
like you know you don't always have to like
you know just don't insert it every other
word
like go get a thesaurus
learn some new vocabulary
words
you know what I mean
and so forth and so you know
I don't even know how we got off on that but
we're talking about being a good testimony
why does that work here
I know Rachel was born Joseph
alright we got that
I'm favoring their eyes
I'm front lunge expert as well
oh yeah there you go it's because you know
so Jacob was a good testimony
to Laban which is why he wanted to keep him
around
okay
and so that's how we got off on that
but it's a good tangent I think it's important to know
I'll be waiting for your stories
I'm gonna be looking out for that
you can start tonight if you want
if you know a verse
if you've memorized the verse
let's move on here
verse 28
and he said appoint me thy wages and I will give it
now
you know
fool me once shame on me
fool me twice
oh wait fool me once shame on you
fool me twice shame on me
so Jacob you know it's just like
or Laban I should say
you don't really have a whole lot of credibility bro
wouldn't you appoint me that way
we did this already twice
and so you know Laban and obviously
God is using Laban
to chest eyes
Jacob to a certain degree
we can see God's providential hand in this
or he's kind of teaching him
he's getting a taste of his own medicine
so he says you know put me your wages and I'll give it
he said unto him thou knowest
how I have served thee
and how thy cattle was with me
for it was little which thou had
before I came
and it is now increased unto a multitude
and the Lord has blessed thee since my coming
and now when shall I provide for my own house
also so what is Jacob saying
what more do you want from me
since I've been here
you've been blessed you've increased
you have all kinds of cattle
and livestock and God has been
with you you know I married both of your daughters
like what more do you want
he doesn't want to let him go
he's like I want to kind of go out
and start my own family
and go to my nation
and just take care of business
to fraud me enough is what he's saying right
he says in verse 31
and he said what shall I give thee
and Jacob said thou shall not give me anything
if thou would do this thing for me
I will again feed and keep thy flock
I will pass through all thy flock
today
removing from fence 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
so shall my righteousness
answer for me in time to come
when it shall come for my hire
before thy face everyone that is not
speckled and spotted among the goats
and brown among the sheep
thou shall be counted stolen with me
so let me explain what's going on here
to the best of my ability
this is what I believe is taking place here
so you know Laban is like alright
what do you want me to pay you
so that you can stay
and I can be blessed more
he goes how about we do this
okay he says you know let me
serve
and let me
remove the cattle
that what I believe he is saying here
by range straight and spotted
and so forth is like the inferior
livestock
so look I'll take the inferior
livestock and whatever is not
blemished you can keep
and he says there in verse 33
social my righteousness answer for me
in the time to come he's like I'll be
defrauded you know I'll be the one to take
the inferior livestock
and you know what my righteousness
will answer God's going to bless me for this
you know and at face value
he's like alright you know Jacob's learning here
but he's not necessarily learning because he's being cunning again
because what he's going to do
he's going to manipulate the situation in such a way
that he
essentially makes some of the cattle
look
spotted speckled
and ring straight
so when they actually give birth
he takes the strong cattle
and then he manipulates the way they look
so that they can stay with him
and those who are weak he gives the laban
okay
so it's just like Jacob
you're like a dog
who's returning back to his vomit
you're not learning from your mistakes
you're being conniving
you're being deceptive
and you know what we can carry from this
one principle that we can carry from this about Jacob
is that he just struggles with lying
which is why he's rightly called Jacob
he's deceptive
and you know what
we need to make sure that as Christians
we tell the truth
that we're honest in our dealings
and you know what
you might have grown up in a home where lying was just a norm
and where
lying and being deceptive and being dishonest
was just something that you did
even if it was for a good
outcome or whatever it may be
you need to repent of that
lying
bearing false witness
being dishonest
is a godless characteristic
you know
lying lips are an abomination
unto the Lord my friends
okay
and you know what we discipline our children for lying
even for little lies
because we don't want them to develop
the character of just being
a liar
just make it easy for them to lie about anything
whether it's stealing
whether it's
oh they lied about
their brother or sister just to save their hide
they get disciplined for that
because it's wrong to lie
and if you disagree with me then it looks like
you need to up your standards a little bit
about that
maybe you need to make sure
you up your standards in regards to lying yourself
and not be a liar
not be a dishonest person
and you know sometimes
people have the tendency
to lie
not necessarily because they have some sort of
ulterior motive it just comes natural to them
and this is notorious when it comes to Hispanics
let me just say it right now
these Mexicans
okay
you know sometimes lying is just like a normal thing
and I think even before I got saved
I had some of that in me
like I was just kind of like a
I would just tell like white lies all the time
I can't think of a specific example
but I do believe that that was the case
because that's the kind of environment that I grew up in
and I had to learn
to just be honest even if it meant my
hurt
even if it meant that I came out losing
in the long run don't be a liar
and obviously I'm joking when I say Hispanics
because at the end of the day lying
is not a cultural trait
it's just a sinful trait
because I've met white people who lie too
okay
I met white people that lie
and they double down
and they're not willing to tell the truth
I'm looking at all you white people
not you
you're not really white to me
but your son is
you know look at all the white people here
you know it yeah
Mexicans black people are liars
dramatic pause
why people lie
Asians lie
it's just a sinful trait
oh yeah
that's right
we'll raise you on me
Indians lie
because at the end of the day
and obviously there may be some cultures
that have the propensity to lie more than others
and that is true
but I'll be honest with you
I've seen
like major liars
in all types of cultures
all different races
and in general I get it
there's some that lie more than others for sure
but at the end of the day we're talking about
a sinful trait
because lying is just a sinful trait
okay
you know
Jews lie
I mean good night
who is a liar
but he denied that Jesus is the Christ
right
but he even just
Jacob he's of Israel
he's not a Jew
Jacob's not a Jew
are we clear on that
you know he's not a Jew
he's a Hebrew but he's
why is he lying because he just
has this habit of lying
that's how he has gone to where he's at
that's how he gets the things that he wants
and you know what God has to deal with him
God has to refine him
God has to discipline him
God has to allow him to go through
hard difficult times
to come to the realization like I need to be an honest person
so
let's keep reading here verse 34 says
and Laban said behold I would
it might be according to thy word
so he's just like we'll do that and then
Laban's like I hope that's what's gonna happen
but here's the thing
Laban's a liar too
he's deceptive too
so he's gonna get
what's coming to him just as Jacob is
but here's the difference
God's with Jacob
he's not necessary with Laban
verse 35 says he removed that day
the he goats that were shrink straight and spotted
and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted
and everyone that had some white in it
and all the brown among the sheep
and gave them into the hand of his sons
skip down to
verse number
let's look at verse 39
says the flocks conceived before the rods
and brought forth cattle
ring straight speckled and spotted
and Jacob did separate the lambs
and set the faces of the flocks towards the ring straight
and all the brown in the flock of Laban
and he put his own flocks by themselves
and put them not unto Laban's cattle
go down to verse 42
he says but when the cattle were
feeble or I'm sorry verse 41
and he came to pass once over the stronger
cattle did conceive
that Jacob laid the rods before
the eyes of the cattle and the gutters
that they might conceive among the rods
but when the cattle were feeble
he put them not in
so the feebler were Laban's
and the stronger
Jacob's
now again I do believe
because God is with Jacob
he didn't have to do all this stuff
I believe that if
Jacob legitimately took the ring straight
spotted and speckled
livestock
God would have just miraculously
done something there
and given him really good livestock
thereafter
he would have figured it out of way
but here's the thing folks
it's right to be honest
even if that doesn't happen
it's always right to do right
even if you don't come out
winning on the other side
it's always right to do right
but here's the thing in general though
God does end up blessing you for it
because he wants us to
he wants our faith to be increased
in that when we are
honest and when we do good
that God blesses us for it
I'm just saying there's going to be instances
where you do right and you don't come out winning
on the other side
you know you end up
getting some
inferior livestock
you end up
getting some disease
then blemished and
just inferior cattle
or whatever
but I do believe that God could have blessed him
he didn't need to manipulate the situation
the guy is smart though
which is why he manipulated in such a way
but he didn't need to do that
now we see verse 43 that says
the man increased exceedingly
had much cattle and maidservants and men servants
and camels and asses
so what does this mean? does this mean God approves of Jacob's deception?
no it just means that he blesses him
despite it
in spite of his deception
so the idea here is that
don't take
God blessing you
because of the wrongs that you do
as God approving the wrong that you do
just recognize that sometimes
just God is gracious to you
or should we say he's merciful to you
and you know
Jacob will pay a heavy price later on
you know he will be physically
altered so to speak later on
because God is trying to get a hold of him
the point being here is that we need to recognize
that
honesty is the best policy
you don't need to manipulate situations
so that
you can come out the winner
you don't need to lie
and be deceptive
and don't tell so and so
we're gonna do this way
and you know no one's gonna find
just be an honest person
and look folks
honesty is the best route because
when you lie you gotta keep track of all that
you gotta like
okay where am I
oh yeah that's right I did tell that lie
I gotta make sure I don't forget that I told that lie
and here's the thing if you're not good at keeping track
you're just gonna look like an absolute idiot
and you're gonna look like a liar
people are gonna be like he just lied
and he doesn't remember that he lied
and that happens
so why don't you just be honest
just be an honest person
don't manipulate situations
don't try to be cunning
just leave it in God's hands
leave it in God's hands
and don't be a sneaky person either
it's the same thing
just be an open person
an open book
an honest individual
you don't have to be sneaky
you don't have to be cunning
you don't have to try to be dishonest
in order to manipulate a situation
to come out in your favor
just leave it in God's hands
and if you run into a situation
where you're forced
to take the ring straight spotted and speckled
just get it be like you know what
they're ugly just like me
I'll take the chopped ones
to reflection
of how chopped I am
but God will bless these chopped
livestock like he's blessed me
God will bless you
God will bless you for it
but obviously we see here
that he blessed Jacob
even though he didn't go about it the right way
but this should not be a justification
for us to go about it the wrong way either
because the reality is this
you know God could have just turned this around
and punished Jacob for this
and so the point being here
is that we still see
Jacob being refined
right he's not yet
Israel
he's still that deceptive
cunning
heel catcher
even after 14 years
of being defrauded
hasn't necessarily learned his lesson
but he will
and you know what if it's been 14 years with you
and you haven't learned your lesson
you will
Father we thank you so much for your word
thank you for chapter 30 help us
to avoid the wrong characteristics of Jacob
help us to be honest people
just leave it in your hands
and I'm just looking at a family of just
people who just don't
they just lack faith
Leah lacked faith
Rachel lacked faith
the handmaids are lacking faith
to a certain degree
Jacob of course lacks faith
and they're just being carnal
manipulating situations
trying to
create the outcome themselves
instead of just leaving it in God's hands
help us to learn from this Lord
and recognize that
Lord you bless Jacob and you bless us as well
we're not perfect we all have
characteristics and attributes that
are not necessarily becoming
to Christianity at times
Lord and I pray that you'd help us Lord
help us to be refined help us to be honest
and may we leave it in your
hands and recognize that all things do work together
for good to them to love God Lord
we love you we thank you pray this things in Jesus name amen