Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20000326.htm

GENESIS: THE SOURCES OF GOOD AND CALAMITY IN OUR ORIGINS
Part III - God's Ongoing Program Of Countering Man's Apostasy At Babel
AA. Round Twenty-Six - Learning To Read Post-Blessing Trials As A Call For VIGILANCE In The Faith
(Genesis 35:4-8, 16-36:8)
  1. Introduction
    1. The time in a life of faith where a believer is often quite vulnerable for defeat is following God's help or blessing. Complacency due to revelling in God's blessings can set in with dire long-term results.
    2. When Jacob entered Canaan and was kept from harm at Esau's hand, it was a time in which he could have become complacent and let down his spiritual guard. God allowed several events to occur as signals for Jacob to keep his gaze of faith steadily upon the Lord. We learn a great lesson from it as follows:
  2. Learning To Read Post-Blessing Trials As A Call For VIGILANCE In The Faith.
    1. Jacob realized that God had kept His promise to return him to the land of Palestine in blessing, keeping him even from destruction by his vengeful brother, Esau, Genesis 35:4-7 in light of Genesis 32-33.
    2. However, God did not allow Jacob to become complacent at this point of spiritual fulfillment, but allowed a challenging transition to occur in his family to keep him looking to God in faith, Gen. 35:8, 16-29:
      1. First, Deborah, the nurse of Jacob's mother, Rebekkah, passed away, Genesis 35:8. This woman was a security force in the family structure who would be humanly missed. Nevertheless, Jacob buried her under an oak like he had the family idols, signifying he was going to look to God for his security and support and not even other human pillars li ke Deborah, Genesis 35:8b with Genesis 35:4.
      2. Second, Jacob's beloved wife, Rachel, passed away in a traumatic birth, Genesis 35:16. Though she named her baby Benoni, meaning "son of my sorrow or misfortune," Jacob in faith named him, Benjamin, meaning "son of the right hand," Ge nesis 35:16-18; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, ftn.
      3. Third, right after this, and apparently seeking to take advantage of it, Reuben, Jacob's oldest son, sought to gain family headship by sleeping with Jacob's concubine, Bilhah who had born Jacob the sons of Dan and Naphtali, Genesis 35:21-22; Bib. Know. Com., O.T., p. 85. Later, in faith, Jacob reacted to this evil deed by keeping Reuben out of his blessing though he was the eldest son, cf. Genesis 49:3-4; Ibid.
      4. Fourth, after Jacob had returned to see his aged father, Isaac in Hebron, Isaac died, Genesis 35:27-29a. Jacob with his formerly estranged brother, Esau, buried his father, Isaac, Genesis 35:29b.
      5. Fifth, though Esau and Isaac had together buried their father, their union was not permanent or deep: when Esau saw his abundance did not leave room to be together with Jacob's people in the land, Esau, as had Lot generations before, left the land and settled east in Edom, Genesis 36:6-8.
    3. Accordingly, with the passing of the former generation, the loss of his beloved Rachel and the alienation from Esau and noxious trouble with his son, Reuben, Jacob was left in an awkward and possibly humanly l onely position where he was to see his need to continue seeking God's support and wisdom in the land!
    4. This divinely-permitted stressing of JACOB may at first seem a bit harsh on God's part were it not for the fact that we can glimpse into the future: Jacob's coming failure to show equality with his sons as he favored Joseph would lead to all sorts of trouble for the family in Genesis 37-44. Thus, God's allowing Jacob to be stressed after blessing to KEEP him NEEDING to look to GOD for help was useful as a signal that Jacob was to DEAL with problems in his sons with God's help to avoid such FUTURE trauma!
Lesson: (1) Since AFTER God has helped us or answered prayer or kept His promises, there is a great temptation for the believer to become complacent in the faith, we must WATCH that we KEEP TRUSTING the Lord even after those spiritual high points i n life. (2) If AFTER blessing there arise a series of TRIALS of the faith, we should understand them to be events PERMITTED by God to KEEP us trusting Him and His Word to handle what HE sees are COMING challenges demanding our vigilant FAITH in Him! So, w e must TAKE these challenges as divine warning signals to STAY VIGILANT in trusting and obeying the Lord. (3) When we SEE a problem exists (as Jacob did in noting Reuben's horrible deed, signaling thereby a lapse in his relationship with his older sons), i t is WISE to address the need in faith IMMEDIATELY lest it later swallow us up in FUTURE tragedy!