Sunday Morning Podcast June 6, 2021. Bro. Dave Goble.
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We’re going to continue this morning with the story of Jacob. And we’re going to finish this morning; Jacob reaches the river. Pray that the Lord will help us all to find ourselves as we continue this series. We’re focused on this short series on, “God is our Savior.” God is many things, but His mission was to save us, men, women, boys and girls from our sins, that we might have a hope of heaven. That our life might be “clear” here, and that we might enjoy the presence of God. Our salvation is our birthright, and our birthright is our salvation. That is what God intends for every human that has ever been born, and that ever will be born. We are intended to inherit this birthright of salvation. But it comes with a price, which was Jesus, so He becomes the Savior that becomes the birthright to us. But it is up to us to accept the birthright, and to not sell it cheap. To not sell it at all! And this is what Esau did, when he was famished and thought he needed something else other than his birthright; he sold it for “a bowl of soup.” Today we want to consider where this has brought Jacob, for he was the supplanter; he was the deceiver that stole the birthright that belonged to Esau. We saw how that adversely affected him, when he traveled in the east, while in Laban’s house, his father in law. Now he’s traveling west back to Canaan, after serving his father in law 14 years. We saw how that hard work turned out. In all that time, he was a supplanter, and deceiver. Now God still intended for the birthright to pass through Jacob, for it wasn’t by accident for all this to happen, but God also intends that Jacob will become someone else, so that the birthright might find fruit in Jacob. And that’s where we are this morning. How did God change Jacob, so that God’s plan could be fulfilled? If Jacob doesn’t change, God’s plan cannot be properly fulfilled.
TEXT: GENESIS 32:1-4
1 And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
2 And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the county of Edom.
4 And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau, Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now.
Jacob comes to the river Jabbok, and we find he needs to get across, for his goal is to get to Canaan which was to the west. On the other side of this river, is Jordan, and his brother Esau. There is a great company with Esau, so Jacob is nervous because he had stolen Esau’s birthright and blessing. And as he comes back to this land where he came from, and that Esau still lives, he is now entering back into it also. The lesson we hope to get from this, is 4 things, because there is going to be a confrontation. First there is a “crossing,” Second, a “confrontation,” and the Third thing is a “breaking.” Jacob must be broken. He’ll be broken by God, which is God’s plan for Jacob. Because unless Jacob is broken, he will not be able to cross over, and fulfill the plan of God. The Fourth thing is that Jacob needs to be “emptied.” For there is still far too much Jacob on the east side of the river. And to get to that west side of the river, in Jordan, there needs to be far less of Jacob, and far more of God. So each of these 4 things are going to be make sense for those of us, and those who also are also seeking God. So these are tremendous symbols to the human experience of how we become connected to God, how we leave stuff behind, and therefore how we fulfill God’s purpose. So let’s talk about ‘what does it mean for Jacob to cross over?’ Let’s all be on the east side of the river together, and together find ourselves in this process.
21 So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company.
(Jacob was sending over a present to Esau, and so he split up his family in two (which explains him having 2 camps. He also sent over flocks and presents to Esau, hoping that Esau would feel better about the stolen birthright )
22 And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok.
23 And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.
24 And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
Jacob remained in his camp left alone. So Jacob wrestled with the angel until the next day, before he would have to confront his brother. Jacob can not fulfil the plan of God, unless he crosses over. There’s a pattern here that is evident in all that we have been studying. Jacob began as the supplanter. And there’s ” a lot of Jacob.” And this is how we begin in life. We begin as a supplanter. Someone might say, “its; always negative!” Well until the Lord saves us, it is always negative! There isn’t anything good in us. We might say that life brings us a measure of success that we enjoy this, and am pleasant with that, with blessings here and there, but until we know God it is still negative! Otherwise there’s no reason to say that Jesus needed to come or that anyone is a Christian. It would all become a fallacy, and fantasy. For until we know God, it is negative! We began as Jacob from “Laban’s land” in a journey to Canaan. I hope everyone here has a hope and plan like this to journey toward a heavenly country! Why would anyone get up in the morning and have anything else left in mind? Like journeying toward the grave, no existence, so the best I can make of it, is between the bookends of life and death and that will be how I describe my journey? What a sad existence! To endure until the day we can escape? That’s not what salvation is about! We enjoy this life! But one of the reasons we can enjoy it, is because it has meaning, is not vain, and is no longer absurd! Because God Himself has found us at this river! But He didn’t find us on our side of the river. There was no work done on Laban’s side of the river. The work that will be done ..will be at a crossing. For Jacob, it began on Laban’ side of the river, but could not be done until the actual crossing! The breaking that occurred on Laban’s side was meant to change him (and us today), so he could cross over!
The crossing in this life, involves a change. A dramatic change. A “Jacob” change! A Jacob to Israel change! So in order for this change to be “realized,” Jacob needs to be broken! We need a Savior, to cross over! We need to be broken because there’s a confrontation waiting for us. We don’t need a travel guide, a professor of knowledge, a doctor, river guide to find the right place, a buddy, or a teddy bear to hug. God is many things to people, but unless God begins as our Savior, none of those other things are “real,” but make believe. We must know God in the beginning as Savior! Or all the other things God has meaning for, are only a fancy. So Jacob needed a Savior to cross over! Jesus said in John 10:9 “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in an out, and find pasture. Jesus said, I am the Savior, I am the door! What makes life wonderful, is that we do have a Savior when we have troubles! Does anybody have a problem that you are having trouble solving yourself? Don’t believe there’s no solution for that, that it can never get better! It is not your destiny to stay with problems that you can’t solve yourself! We have a Savior to solve those problems! But ..we have to cross over! We cannot pretend we can solve those problems, in our own “camp,” alone, without being able to cross over. And the first thing we find when we cross over is that we need a Savior! The example of Jacob here, is that he’s like all of us. We find ourselves on that side of the river. Jacob was a liar, and supplanter. We have been liars and supplanters! We have been cheaters and deceivers. So we are just like Jacob in a point of our lives. We come to this place in life when we need to cross over. The false promise under some philosophies is that you can cross over on “your own steam.” We need someone to take us across. We need a Savior!
We Need A Savior!