Engage in Uncertainty

Genesis 33:4

I have read these facts more than once; that 98% of what we fear will never happen to us!  As we look at the home coming of Jacob it seems very clear that he has good reason to be fearful, his brother Esau, who has promised to kill him, and has shown up with 400 men. That would make me a little anxious, I might think he wants to harm me.  If I were Jacob, my emotions would be off the charts, and yet they would be totally wrong. Verse four gives us the account of Esau’s action; “But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.” (Genesis 33:4)

How often have I let the enemy of my soul lie to me, how often have I let fear of the future in all aspects of life, rob me of God’s best?  How often have I sought advice from men who were not spiritual or men of prayer?  Jacob spent the night in prayer, he wrestled with God and still his emotions were off the charts, but he did not run, he believed God’s promises to him, and God taught Jacob this lesson, “Emotions cannot be trusted.” 

How many times must God arrange for us to engage in what we call uncertainty?   The answer is very clear, as often as required, until we believe His promise; “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” (Isaiah 43:2)

At the writing of this paper, everywhere I turn is uncertainty, our National debt is not sustainable, our leadership has no regards for the wishes of it’s people, and our military is being forced to act like policemen and we are viewed by our enemies as a weak nation.  Anger is everywhere, fear is running rampant, not only in the nations, but in the Church of the living God. 

Often, I wonder how can I protect my family from what is coming, how can I be wise in my actions, how should I invest the funds God has entrusted to me?  I find myself in the same circumstances as Jacob, there is no place to run, my emotions are telling me to run, but God has given me His promise in Isaiah 43:2.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

My Blog: http://fromourbackporch.blogspot.com/

Do Family reunions leave you hesitant, tentative?

Genesis 33:1-3

Jan and I enjoy being part of our family, in fact we have often hosted both sides of the family for a reunion at our home.  This year we hosted Jan’s mother’s side of the family, and it was a great time for all, we had about one hundred people who were part of the Mabry family.  Two weeks later we drove to Estes Park, Colorado, to be part of the Golden’ reunion on my mother’s side of the family, and it was a great time of remembering our parents, and just catching up on what each of the families are doing.

Some of Jan’s family had not been together for forty years and one day was not enough time to catch-up, but what if those who had been away from the family had left with bad blood between them and other members of the family; that’s where Jacob found himself.  Picking up the story in verse one; “And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him.  So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants.  And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah and with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all.  He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.”

Many things become clear in these three verses, and one that jumps off the page is that Jacob is a little hesitant, tentative, and uncertain about this family reunion.  On a scale of 1-10, ten being the top end of Jacob’s emotions, he is maxing out at twelve.  All Jacob can see is 400 men coming and it does not look good.  It is also very clear how he values each member of his family and though all turned out well with Esau, his sons never forgot that their dad put Joseph in the far back were he stood the best chance of survival.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Wrestling with God

Genesis 32:22-32

Have you ever wrestled with God?  Can you recall a time where you knew that God had spoken to you?  It may be in a sermon, reading the Bible, or someone just spoke a truth that only you and God knew about.  I remember such a time in my life when things were not going well in my marriage; an older gentlemen, Mr. Alexander was sitting next to me in a meeting and we were not close, he did not know me well, and he sure had no way of knowing that my thought life was full of how life would be if I was free to go and do what I wanted.

That day, Mr. Alexander who was in his mid seventies turned to me and out of his mouth came these profound words; “Bob, you do understand that when a husband and wife are having problems, it’s always the man’s fault, because the man is the head, and it is his job to love and honor his wife.”  My first thought was, who has he been talking to, and before that passed through my mind, it was clear that God had spoken to me through this man.  It would be great if I could report that I humbled myself and took the council of this very wise man, but that is not what I did.  I agreed with him and left that meeting, and the wrestling match began.

God sent yet another man to help me and then another, but I grew tired of the wrestling and withdrew from the mat, or at least I thought I had.  I took the devil’s advice, he came in the form of a well known Christian author, whose council was to admit you were out of the will of God, and go on with your plans.  The jest of the council was, God will forgive and He understands, but my councilor forgot to disclose that he was going through a divorce and living in an adulterous relationship.  It took six months and much pain before I understood that I had never left the mat, and God never left me but I tried to leave and God never let go.

When Jacob wrestles with God, I’m sure it was about fear of the unknown, fear of Esau, and his lack of faith; could God be trusted?  In Jacob’s case, God showed up in the form of a man, and the wrestling match went all night and into the morning; when God touched his hip socket and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint, Jacob would not let go until God blessed him.  Let’s look at the story in verse twenty-seven; “And he said to him, “What is your name?”  And he said, “Jacob.”  Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

When we desire to conform to God’s will and adapt our minds and hearts to His written word, we will enter into a battle with our flesh and the world.  Prayer may seem like we are in a wrestling match with God, but like Jacob, we must not let go of God, and He will not let go of us.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Bob's little boy and Jacob

Genesis 32:13-21

My cousin, Bob Lewis is a preacher and his call was not to the Bible belt but to California where a pastor gets the same amount of respect as the door to door vacuum cleaner salesman.  Often my aunt would share with my mother, how hard it was for Bob and Debbie, his wife, to minister in that environment, but that was where God had planted them.  They also scraped to make house and car payments and put food on the table for themselves and their two small sons.

This is where the story gets interesting, their TV broke and Bob used money they did not have to fix the TV and a few days later the oldest son who was three or four years of age broke the TV.  Debbie told him that his dad was going to be very upset and would deal with him when he got home.  How does that tie into Jacob trying to appease Esau by sending his servants in waves ahead of the group with presents for Esau? 

Bob’s little boy and Jacob had the same problem, they had done harm to a close relative, and both are fearful of that person and what they would do to them.  Jacob sends gifts and hopes to appease his brother, but this small child who I’m sure worried all day long, did not send servants, did not bring a gift, I’m sure he had none.  No this small child’s action was brilliant; he stole his daddy’s heart, with words.  Waiting at the window watching for his daddy’s car to turn into the driveway, he jumps out the front door and runs right into his daddy’s arms; and these are the words that came out of the child’s mouth, “Daddy, I love you and I appreciate you, and I’m going to pray for you.”  The offense, the broken TV was not fixed, but my cousin’s heart was very tender to his small son’s love and repentant spirit.  Our Loving heavenly Father had gone ahead of the presents of Jacob, and the fear of this young child to soften the heart of the older brother and my cousin.  If only we will learn to run, each day, in total dependence to our heavenly Father.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

my blog; http://fromourbackporch.blogspot.com/

Fear cannot share a bed with Faith

Genesis 32:6-12

Most of us have had our plans go amiss, we had a good plan, we did our homework, and then it all turns bad, that’s the story of Jacob’s return home.  Jacob has sent messengers to Esau telling him what a great success his baby brother has become, and that he will be home soon.  When the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.  Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed.  He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.”

Do you identify with Jacob?  I do, and Jacob is listening to the voice of fear, why would Esau come with so many men unless he intended to harm him?  The first thing he did is what you and I might do, come up with a plan to protect the family.  The next thing he did was much smarter, he began to have a conversation with the Lord, the one who had promised to go with him and provide and protect him.  This is Jacob’s side of that conversation; “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good, I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.  Please deliver me from the hand of Esau, for I fear him that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children.  But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”

Often when I’m in trouble and am having a conversation with the Lord, it goes much like the one Jacob prayed, “Lord, who am I, that You should bless me?  I am not worthy of Your love and faithfulness that You have shown to my family and me.  Lord, you know that all I have You have given me, and the only thing I bring to the party is Your blessing.  Father, You know me, and You are aware that often I walk in fear and not on Your promises; my prayer is for the faith to trust You in this encounter.

In 1983, I was in Houston, Texas, in a hotel room, I was lonely and somewhat fearful, and God spoke to Joyce Ray in Burleson, Texas, with this message, call Bob and give him this verse.  The verse was Jeremiah 29:11 and I acted on faith believing God and His word, it goes like this; “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  I’ve always been thankful that Joyce believed and obeyed God’s voice, because I was in need of a word from God, and that night I trusted in His message and fear had to leave.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice; http://fromourbackporch.blogspot.com/

Goimg Home Faith

Genesis 32:3-5

For many of you it’s not going to be easy to identify with Jacob on his return back home, most of you did what you were told as teenagers and got along great with all you came in contact with, but there may be a few like me who will relate to Jacob.  Jacob did not leave home under the best conditions, his brother did not give him a going away party, in fact his brother wants to kill him, so it is important for him to let his older brother (the one he stole his blessing and birthright from) know that he had changed, that he was a hard worker, that he was successful, that he was not coming back to take from his brother.  “And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now.  I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants.  I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.’”

Esau is very aware of what Jacob had when he left, he had Esau’s birthright and his blessing, he had a donkey or camel and some provisions and maybe a few gifts for Laban, but he did not have much stuff.  But now he is returning a very rich man, one who wants to come home, but not one who wants or needs what his brother has.  Jacob is not under any elusion as to the source of his wealth, God has blessed him, but this is where many identify with Jacob, he is not sure God is going to protect him from Esau.

You might ask, did not God promise to be with Jacob, and you would be correct, “Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.” (Genesis 31:3) What is wrong with Jacob?  He’s willing to trust God with his wealth, but he is not sure he can depend on God to keep him safe from the brother who has promised to kill him.  Jacob has that one promise, and we have hundreds from God; Jacob knows God is a promise keeper and so do we, but like Jacob, we let the enemy into our mind and he says, “Did God actually say,” that is the same line he used on Eve in the garden.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Family Summit

Genesis 31:44-55

When you hear the word summit, where does your mind take you?  Growing up in the fifties and sixties my mind goes to the many summits held between the USA and the USSR, the two superpowers of that time.  But the summit that is taking place in Genesis 31:44-55 is between families, between an uncle and his nephew, and it is called a covenant.  Where did these two guys come-up with making a covenant?  A covenant is what God entered into with Abraham; it is an agreement that brings about a relationship of commitment between God and his people. The Jewish faith is based on the biblical covenants made with Abraham.

We have this account of the agreement between these two men, “Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I.  And let it be a witness between you and me.”  So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.  And Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones.”  And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap.  Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed.”  Often we forget that words mean something, and the understanding of what something is called can forever change an agreement, and even the spirit of such an agreement.  Laban called the pillar “The Heap of Testimony” in the Aramaic language of his ancestors and Jacob called it “The Heap of Witness” in the Hebrew language, which had been used by Abraham and his father Isaac.

As a dad, it’s easy to understand the conditions that Laban is putting on Jacob; first he reminds Jacob that “The Lord watch between you and me, when we are out of one another’s sight.  If you oppress my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, God is witness between you and me.”  What a caring dad, was it not Laban, who forced Jacob into a bigamous relationship, all Jacob wanted was to have Rachel as his wife.  “Then Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap and the pillar, which I have set between you and me.  This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness that I will not pass over this heap to you and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm.  The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.”

We are told that they had a meal together and the next morning Laban kisses his daughters and grandchildren and departed.  In 2009 it seems to this writer many family’s should have summits to resolve family issues, but a summit only brings the families together, it only sets a format to enter into an agreement.  But agreement in families, as well as nations, has been and will be broken, and that is why we should enter into and understand the word and the meaning of the word covenant.  When both parties ask God into an agreement, then you have a Covenant, and God is the witness between the agreements of the parties.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The God of Vengeance

O Lord the God of Vengeance

What is wrong with this title, it just does not fit our time, unless you are some backward, uneducated person who clings to your Bible and your guns.  All of the enlightened acknowledge that God is love, and He’s too busy with keeping world peace and things like that, to protect or honor His people.  But that is not what Psalms 94 states, and being one who clings to his God, my hope is in the Lord and He will not forsake His people.

I am sure the enlightened need little help with definition but bear with me while I help the uneducated, who clings to their Bible and guns.  Vengeance is defined as; “punishment inflicted or retribution exacted for an injury or wrong.”  Now that we have helped the uneducated and myself with that definition, we can move on to a short list of how we the people of faith have been injured or wronged.  It began when we let some judge tell us that God had no place in our government, our schools, and the list could keep going.  Now we have a federal district court Judge, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, make a ruling that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional.

This is the action I am taking against judges and all others in our courts and government, I am joining the Psalmist in asking God to take vengeance on such people and all others who are trying to harm the church of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Listen to what I am asking: O Lord, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth!  Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve!  O Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult?  They pour out their arrogant words; all the evildoers boast.  They crush your people, O Lord, and afflict your heritage.  They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless; and they say, “The Lord does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive.”   

I feel the need to share with the backward, the uneducated person, who clings to your Bible and your guns, that to join me in this request to our God only requires prayer on your part.  I have been asking for God to open their eyes to “Truth” and remove the hate they have for His people, but I believe the time has come to ask God to crush them.  But we must remember the battle is not ours, the battle is the Lord’s, and He does not need anyone to defend His holy name, He will shine forth.  I was encouraged by verses 20-23, “Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute?  They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.  But the Lord has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.  He will bring back on them their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness; the Lord our God will wipe them out.”

I must remind the army of Jesus Christ, that it is not in our numbers, or our guns, but in our obedience and our prayers that we have power.  The apostle Paul prayed that those who were causing harm to the church would be emasculated, that means (helpless or powerless) in Galatians 5:12.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

my blog; http://fromourbackporch.blogspot.com/

Going Home

Genesis 32:1

Going back home after you have been gone for many years is somewhat challenging, things change, people change, but what is so difficult is how you are remembered and how you remember them.  Even as a grown man with a family, my mother often would treat me as if I was still the little boy who needed mother’s help to cross the street, and to my friends from school, I was still the goof-off who never wanted to be serious.  I had a boss who loved to tell his employees, “You made your bed, now you’ve got to live with your past actions.”  Past actions are heavy on the mind of Jacob, as he travels with his wives and children, his many servants and large flocks.

The first verse states, “Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.  And when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God’s camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.”  This is a good time to ask some questions; how did Jacob know they were angels?  Was Jacob the only one who saw the angels?  God is not offended by such questions, and my answer may or may not be correct, but could these have been the same angels he saw in his earlier dream?  It also seems that only Jacob saw the angels but no one else in the camp did.  The Bible gives this account of Elisha being surrounded by the enemy soldiers and his servant knowing they were going to die, when Elisha ask God to open his eyes and let him see, and the Lord opened his eyes and he saw the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2 Kings 6:16,17)  How often has God sent his angels to guide or protect you and me, but we have not seen them, and Jacob is no different than you or me, he’s walking in fear of what you and I call the future, he is walking in fear and God knows all of that; He also knows that Jacob needs to change his focus from the future to the now.  God knows the future, but will only abide with us in the present.  God sent his angels to let Jacob know that He is with him and will fulfill all the promises He has made to Jacob, no matter what he hears or sees.

How often our battles are with the past, with family, or someone who has hurt us or that we have injured, and we never stop to ask God to give us the faith to humble ourselves and be willing to be wronged and to forgive the past.  The other thing many of us battle with is the fear of men, but God has spoken, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5,6,) The middle of your Bible in Psalm 118:8, “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Life is not fair

Genesis 31:36-42

Have you said, “that is not fair” sometimes this statement is true, and have you ever wondered, who was the first person to have such thoughts, was it Cain?  I was always very small for my age and it did not take long to understand that life is not always fair, but we all have freedom to choose what we do with the cards we are dealt. Growing up in a neighborhood of children of all ages, you have some who are athletic and others who have not yet arrived.  When I say we had a large park down the street, I hope you understand it was larger than the small circle at the end of Liberty drive, large enough to play baseball or football, and it had one set of swings.  It was at that park I learned “life is not fair,” all you had to do was watch when the neighborhood kids were choosing sides, on who played for their team; if you could tackle, catch or throw the football, you got picked, if not you were left to play with the girls.   Richard Burke and I were the smallest of the kids, but we always got picked, and I do not recall being concerned for those who didn’t; life was not always fair at the big park at Liberty drive.   We have been taught many wrong concepts as Christians, and one such perception is that the Christian life is trouble free, without tribulation, but that smacks in the face of what Jesus said; “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) 

I wonder if Jacob struggled in the area of fairness, lets look at the story in verses 36-42, “Then Jacob became angry and berated Laban.  Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense?  What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me?  For you have felt through all my goods; what have you found of all your household goods?  Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two.  These twenty years I have been with you.  Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks.  What was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you.  I bore the loss of it myself.  From my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.  There I was: by the day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes.  These twenty years I have been in your house.  I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.  If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed.  God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.”

Sometimes no matter how elegant your speech or the passion in your voice, the other person’s pride looks past the facts; the truth has no control over their actions and that was the case with Laban.  If only you and I could follow the apostle Peter’s council given in 1Peter 3:14-15, “But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed.  Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.  But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A Pattern of running from Trouble

Genesis 31:17-

Is running away from trouble a pattern for you?  It is for many and the reasons are also many; fear in numerous forms, the desire to be free from responsibility, a dream of something over the horizon, and you may want to add to the list.  To our knowledge this is the second time for Jacob to run from someone, and also to someone.  The first time he is running from his brother Esau who plans to kill him, but he is also running to his Uncle Laban, whom both his parents have commanded him to do.  This account is Jacob running from Laban to his father’s house, and once again, it is out of both fear of Laban and in obedience to the God of his father’s.

Beginning in verse seventeen, “So Jacob arose and set his sons and his wives on camels.  He drove away all his livestock, all his property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac.”  Jacob did not allow his wives or his children to say goodbye to anyone, not neighbors, not cousins, and especially not to granddad.  When we lived in Spring, Texas, we had a couple who were the first to welcome us to the neighborhood; I served on the Water Board for fourteen years with the husband, we spent time at each others homes on special occasions.  Then one day, one of the neighbors told us they had moved, it came as a shock, what had happened, why would they not let us in on such a move, and to this day we wonder what happen.  I can only imagine what Jacob’s father-in-law is feeling at this time.

He has not only lost his daughters, and his grandchildren, and someone has taken his property, and his household gods.   Without Jacob’s knowledge Rachel who feels as if her father has sold her as he would his sheep, slipped into Laban’s tent and steals his idol that he uses to bring him luck.  It is important to note, that Laban knows about God but he puts his trust in an image he can see, and he is not that much different than many in churches today.  It is also worth mentioning, that the word luck should not be in a Christian’s vocabulary. 

It is three days before Laban is told and he and his sons are wanting a piece of Jacob, in fact, it could be assumed that they planned on not only taking back the flocks but also their sisters and Laban’s grandchildren.  You might assume that they planned on giving Jacob a choice, leave with little or nothing or die.  What they did not know is that God has already promised Jacob that he would be with him, and it was God who Jacob is obeying.  It is also clear that God did not want Jacob to physically harm his kinfolks, so he warned Laban the night before in a dream, not to do anything to Jacob. 

We, like Jacob, cannot know the heart of Laban, but we can read the account in verses 26-29 where Laban tells Jacob, you tricked me and took my daughters like captives, and did not let me throw you a going away party or even kiss my grandchildren.  Picking up in verse thirty where Laban is telling Jacob you went over the line and I cannot let you get by with this.  “And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?” Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force.  Anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsmen point out what I have that is yours, and take it.”  Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.”

The Scripture tells us that Laban searched the tents and Rachel was able to hide the images from her father and then Jacob lit into Laban.  How often anger and fear controls us, and that is not pleasing to our Lord.  The apostle James moved by the Holy Spirit gives this council, “Who is wise and understanding among you?  By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.  But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.  This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.  For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.  But the wisdom above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” (James 3:13-17)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Family Conflicts

Genesis 31:1-16

Often when we read the Bible we have this mindset, those people are special and how can we relate to them?  If only we would stop and recall the price God was willing to pay so that you and I could have a relationship with him, are we not special?  And as we look at the Scripture listed above, it is about family conflicts, and that is something many who read this can identify with.

Verse one begins in this way; “Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s and from what was our father’s he has gained all his wealth.”  You might entertain the notion that Jacob’s brother-in-laws have a low opinion of him, and that they see him as a scoundrel who is taking all of daddy’s money; money they would inherit.  Placing yourself in Jacob’s shoes, what would you do?  First Jacob stopped and gave thought to what he was hearing and what he was observing; his father-in-law did not regard him with favor as before.  Next, he prayed and God spoke very clear to him, picking up in verse three, “Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”  The next thing Jacob did was call in his wives, and explain what God had shown him.

Beginning in verse four, “So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flocks were and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before, but the God of my fathers has been with me.  You know that I have served your father with all my strength, yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. (Note: Sounds like he could have been in sales for any large company)  “But God did not permit him to harm me.  If he said, ‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages, ‘then all the flock bore striped.  Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.  Jacob goes on to share a dream that he had while in the field and how the angel of God told him he was aware of all that Laban had done and how he would make all the sheep and goats to be spotted, striped and mottled, so that they would be his wages.  This was the way God gave him instruction on what to do next beginning in verse thirteen, “I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me.  Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.”  What a wise man to share what God has been saying to him, and to bring them into the decision process.  It has taken many years for me to learn that my wife has special insights from God that I do not have, and she needs to be part of all the decisions and contracts that we enter into.

Jacob made be a little surprised in hearing both Rachel and Leah tell him that they feel abandoned by their father, and that he treated them no different than his flock.  That just as he sold the sheep and goats, he has sold them, and they state the following; “All the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Laban lack of integrity

Genesis 30:35-43

How often have you heard a businessman make this comment, “Life was so much easier in the old days when a man’s word was his bond.”  The truth we find in those words is only true when both men are men of integrity, and that was not the case with Laban.  Do you recall, how Jacob and Laban made an agreement that the speckled and spotted goats and the black lambs would all be Jacob’s and Laban is in total concurrence, until he gives thought to the agreement that he has just made.  The following is what that old snake did to his nephew who had served him some twenty years and married his daughter and had his grandchildren.  “But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in charge of his sons.  And he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban’s flock.”

Jacob is in somewhat of a predicament, whom can he turn to?  But do not forget that Jacob also is somewhat the scammer and it does not take him long to come up with a plan that will work.  Jacob has been in the business of breeding sheep for many years and God has blessed him with insight and knowledge on how to build a herd of sheep.  Jacob begins by using these methods; “Then Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks.  He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering place, where the flocks came to drink.  And since they bred when they came to drink, the flock bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted.”

It is not clear what effect this had, it may have been to increase the breeding of the sheep, or to make them striped, speckled, and spotted, but this we do know that God was in charge and His plan for Jacob was not in Haran, but back to his father’s house in Beersheba.   The skills that Jacob had learned for many years began to produce a vast flock over three or four years of strong sheep that met the agreement Jacob had made with Laban.  Verse 43 gives this account; “Thus the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.”  It is so important to grasp this truth, God has a plan for you, but the world and the enemy of your soul will often try to make you lose sight of the vision God has given to you.  So remember it is always better to trust God than your emotions, and roadblocks may be God’s way of blessing you.

From The Back Porch,

Bob Rice

I don't want your Gifts

Genesis 30:25-34

“As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country.  Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you.”  But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.  Name your wages, and I will give it.”  Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me.  For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned.  But now when shall I provide for my household also?”  He said, “What shall I give you?”  Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything.  If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it: let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and specked among the goats, and they shall be my wages.  So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you.  Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.”  Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you said.”

He has been away from home twenty plus years and his oldest son is around eight years old and Jacob is homesick for his family.  I’m sure he has given much thought to going home and the ills that may come from a brother who has promised to kill him.  But he is hoping that time and distance has healed the wounds he left back home.  He now has a large family and it’s time to go back home and show Mom and Dad the grandkids.  His one large problem is that he has little but children to show for his twenty plus years working for his uncle; his uncle has become very prosperous.  The other problem is grandchildren, these are Laban's grandchildren and he may tell Jacob, you can go but you are not taking my grandchildren.

It is interesting to see how Jacob states his case and Laban shares that he is sure that because of Jacob he has been given wealth and prosperity.  He tells Jacob to name his wages and he will give it to him, and that’s when Jacob makes his case, telling Laban, “You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me.  For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned.  But now when shall I provide for my household also?”  Laban said, “What shall I give you?”  Now this is very interesting, Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything.”  Wow, he’s beginning to sound like a man!  Laban has already stated that God has blessed him because of Jacob, it was God who gave the increase and Jacob was the one who put in the sweat labor.  Then Jacob makes a deal with Laban about the speckled and spotted goats and the black lambs and Laban is in total agreement. 

You may be curious as to how this contract between Jacob and Laban turns out, if so, you may read the rest of the story in Genesis 30:35-43.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Part Two

Genesis 30:9-24

If you were giving a title to these verses, it might be “The Battle of the Sisters.”  What a mess!  Jacob is being passed around like a stud horse and it not just between the two wives it now includes their servant girls. Can you imagine this happening in our culture today?   The attitude or mind-set was on productivity and not so much on the sexual relations, if not why would any woman give her maid to her husband.  In that culture, son equated security that the mother would have in her old age.  But it is impossible to over look the jealousy that is between the sisters.

We may have uncovered the motives that drove the sister, but what is behind Jacob going passive and doing what he is told.  Henry M. Morris has this to say on page 467 of “The Genesis Record,” “As far as Jacob was concerned, he seems to have been rather pliant, going indiscriminately to whichever bed was most conveniently available at the time.  Perhaps, virile as he was, he rather enjoyed the sexual variety, which this household rivalry afforded him.  It also would be important in the future accomplishment of God’s promises regarding the nation, which would come from him.  Much of his indiscriminate moving about from bed to bed, however, was simply due to his desire to keep peace in his family, insofar as possible, by not favoring either wife in excess.”

As we look into the bed of Jacob we see that Leah is not going to be out done by little sister, so she offers Jacob her servant to be his wife.  Leah’s maid is named Zilpah and she gives Jacob two sons in rapid speed and Leah names them Gad meaning “Fortunate” and Asher, meaning “Happy”. 

These two sisters are like little children, what one has the other wants, and picking up the story in verse fourteen we have this account; “In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah.  Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”  Once more Henry M. Morris gives this insight on page 468, “The mandrake is a small orange-colored berrylike fruit, much esteemed in ancient times as an aphrodisiac and inducer of fertility.  It has been called the “love-apple” and, in Western countries, the “May-apple.”  It has also been used as a narcotic and emetic, especially its large roots.  It was valued in promoting fertility and no doubt both Leah and Rachel desired it.”

So Leah made a deal for Jacob’s services with Rachel, and it is clear, that given a choice, he is in Rachel’s bed.  He sleeps with Leah and she once more with child, it is the fifth son Issachar meaning “Reward”.  Her reward was that it seems as if Jacob was spending more time with her and she gave him a sixth son, named Zebulun, meaning “Dwelling.”  And after six sons, God blessed Jacob with a daughter by Leah named Dinah, meaning “Judgment.”

And now the rest of the story; “Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.”  God is the giver and yet it takes many of us years before we turn to him and stop trying to do what we cannot do without His blessing.  And she had Joseph, and the meaning of his name can be derived both from “Taken Away” and “May He Add.”  She has been blessed and her shame taken away and now she is asking God to bless her with another son.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Battle of the Sisters

Genesis 30:1-8

I often wonder why anyone would pay good money for a novel, fiction or non-fiction when they have such great stories in the Bible.  This story of Rachel and Leah and the saga that is taking place is one that cannot be out done by the paperback writer of sex stories. Leah the older, steals the boyfriend and husband to be of the younger, and very hot little sister Rachel, with a little help from dear old dad.  Then the dad makes a deal to give the younger one to Jacob in exchange for seven years of his labor, and now this guy Jacob has two wives and they are sisters, who have been competing with each other for years.

Leah had four sons and that gives the older sister a new status with her husband Jacob and those in the neighborhood, but it sure caused big problems with baby sister.  “When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister.  She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” (Genesis 30:1)  That is possibly the first time that the younger was envious of the older sister, and Rachel also shows us she can be somewhat the drama queen.  As I read this account, I’ve wondered what kind of a man was Jacob, it almost looks like he does whatever his wives tell him to do; but in this account with Rachel he shows a little manhood, “Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”  I was wondering when this guy would come to the end of his rope with these women telling him what to do; then he blows it by not learning anything from the mistakes of his great grandfather Abraham.

Little sister does not do what her older sister did, by asking God to bless her with a male child, instead she comes up with a scheme to offer her servant Bilhah to Jacob so that she could have a baby though her servant.  “So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her.  And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.  Then Rachel said, “God has judged me and has also heard my voice and given me a son.”  Therefore she called his name Dan.  Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore a second son.  Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.”  I hope you notice, this is a real battle going on between these sisters, they are not interested in God’s will; it is just a contest of who is going to beat the other, and it looks like Jacob is closer to being retired to stud, than to be the head of his family.  Note: Even though they are doing this totally in the flesh, God is not surprised and will use this in His plan for the founding of the twelve tribes of Israel.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Not loved = Hated

Genesis 29:31-35

 

The New International Version of the Bible uses the words “not loved” and the English Standard Version uses the word “hated” as to how Jacob thought of Leah.  At first thought, it seemed the two words were worlds apart; but are they?  Being somewhat ignorant of words and the English language, it drives me to the dictionary for the word “unloved” and this is the definition, unloved used as an adjective; uncared-for, friendless, unvalued, rejected, unwelcome, shunned, spurned, neglected, abandoned. After looking at those adjectives describing unloved, it’s not hard to say Jacob hated Leah, she was his wife but she was shunned, friendless and unvalued.

King Solomon has this to say about such a woman; “Under three things the earth trembles; under four it cannot bear up: a slave when he becomes king, and a fool when he is filled with food, and unloved woman when she gets a husband, and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.” (Proverbs 30:21-23)  Most little girls grow-up with the desire to marry the perfect man who will love and care for them and make them happy; it is a fairytale because there is not a perfect man, but if Leah had those dreams she was soon to have her heart broken, after the first week.  Her husband did not just love another woman, he loved her little sister, and she felt hated.

This is where God steps into the picture, “When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.” (Genesis 29:31)  If we only have eyes to see what God is telling us in this verse, God is aware of your circumstance and He cares for you.  Now back to the story, in Leah’s time the most valued thing a woman could give a man was a son, without a son his name would die.  The rest of the verses listed above deal with the four sons Leah had with Jacob. 

It is of interest to see the names given to the boys; the first one was Reuben, and his name meant “Behold a son” and Leah had this to say; “Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.”  Leah has been talking with the Lord and she knows it is God who gives life.  Her second son is called Simeon and it means “Hearing” and this is what Leah had to say about him, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.”   On the third son she called him Levi and it meant “Attachment” and this is what Leah had to say; “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.”  I’m sure that Jacob was in somewhat of a hurry to start his family and Leah was filling the role of having sons; so to some degree, her prayers are being answered, though his love is still for Rachel.  Leah’s fourth son was named Judah and it means “Praise” and this is what she said; “This time I will praise the Lord.” And she ceased bearing. 

Often I try to put a human face on God, His ways are not my ways and His thoughts are not my thoughts.  He is aware of your circumstances, so be like Leah and call on His name, He loves you and you are in his plans.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The first Bait and Switch

Genesis 29:15-30

“Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsmen, should you therefore serve me for nothing?  Tell me, what shall your wages be?”  Now Laban had two daughters.  The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.  Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.  Jacob loved Rachel.  And he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”  Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.”  So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.”  Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.”  So Laban gather together all the people of the place and made a feast.  But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went to her.”

Have you ever been in a business deal and it went so well that later as you looked back on how things happened you wonder how could I have not seen that coming?  Laban is so happy to have his sister’s son in his home, Jacob is family and he looks and talks like family, plus he is a hard worker.  It was not God’s plan so this did not happen but it seems that Laban would have been delighted for his daughter to marry Jacob.  It is also of interest to see who made the offer or contract; not Laban but Jacob and Laban was more than happy to accept the terms.

If only Jacob had more insight into his Uncle, he might have understood that the old uncle was somewhat of a politician and had the ability to do what it took to get what he wanted.  If we go back to his relationship with his sister Rebekah and Abraham’s servant in chapter 24:29-30, “Laban ran out toward the man, to the spring.  As soon as he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and heard the words of Rebekah his sister.”  Even as a young man he was quick to see value and Laban knew how to close the deal.

The Scripture states that Leah eyes were weak, and your guess is as good as mine on what that meant, but some believe that they were of a lighter color and others that she could not see very well, but one point is very clear, Rachel is a good looking lady and she has stolen Jacob’s heart.  I’ve been told that when you’re in love time can fly and that is what Jacob testified to in the verses above.

For seven years and one month all has gone well, Jacob has only trust for his uncle and the contract that was made between them, but Laban has a problem.  We do not know what Laban was thinking; He may have thought that Leah would be married by this time, but she is not, and custom is that the older must marry first, so Laban comes up with a plan to do just that.  It’s called bait-and-switch and it seemed to work well until the next morning.  Picking up in verse twenty-five, “And in the morning, behold, it was Leah!  And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me?  Did I not serve you for Rachel?  Why then have you deceived me?”  We know the answer that Laban gave, but once more I wonder if it was flash back for Jacob and he remembered his own actions in deceiving his father to get his brother’s blessing.

Laban makes it clear that Jacob was to complete the week with Leah and then he could marry Rachel and serve seven more years of service to Laban.  Verse thirty is one of those sad verses in Scripture, a marriage with no love; “So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A family Reunion

Genesis 29:1-14

Is it as hard for you as it is for me to picture Jacob as anything but a young man maybe in his thirties, but that is not the case, Jacob is around seventy-five at this time.   He has traveled close to five hundred miles in search of his mother’s people, and has come to a well with three flocks of sheep lying beside it.  The first thing Jacob notices is the large rock on the well’s mouth and he was told by the shepherds, that they were waiting for all the flocks to arrive before removing the rock and when they were all watered they would put the stone back on the well.

As we read more of the chapter, we have this record of Jacob asking the shepherds where they came from and they replied Haran.  His next question is; do you know Laban the son of Nahor?  “They said, “We know him?”  He said to them, “Is it well with him?”  They said, “It is well; and see, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep!” He has obeyed his father and mother and has found the family of his mother, and he has also found that Laban has a daughter.  Often, we call that “luck” but what a bad word for a Christian to use; God was leading Jacob.   It can also be imagined that over the years Jacob has heard many accounts of Laban from his mother; now he is standing looking at the daughter of his mother’s brother.

It may also be assumed that the shepherds were very young because it took several of them to remove the stone on the well, but it is of interest that Jacob, after seeing Rachel began to act more like a manager than a stranger.  Picking up in verse seven, we have this account; “He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered together.  Water the sheep and go, pasture them.”  But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”

It is also of interest to see the actions of Jacob when Rachel arrived; have you heard the term “love at first sight” it would be an appropriate use of the term, in this case.  Beginning in verse ten, “Now as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.”  I bet Rachael is a little impressed, one man doing what took several of her shepherd friends to do, but she was totally unprepared for what Jacob did after that.  Verse eleven states, “Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud.”  It’s hard to imagine if it was his kiss, or this man who has just watered her flock, or his weeping that startled her more.  It was the custom of that time that only relatives would kiss one another, and because she did not know this man, it must have taken her by surprise, and then to see a man weeping was a definite shock.

Scripture does not give us any clue as to how long it took Jacob to get control of his emotions, but at some point Jacob tells Rachel, “And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s kinsman, and that he was Rebekah’s son, and she ran and told her father.”  Rachel had also heard the stories of how Rebekah had left with Abraham’s servant to go marry his son Isaac and although it had been over one hundred years since she had left her family, it was big news.  It was also big news for Laban, verse thirteen gives this account, “As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house.  Jacob told Laban all these things, and Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and flesh!”  And he stayed with him a month.”  I call that a family reunion!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

First Glance is often Wrong

Genesis 28:18-22

As we begin looking at the Scripture listed above, it gives the impression of Jacob trying to con God in the same way as he had bargained with his twin brother over his birthright.  “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, them the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house.  And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”  Those verses remind me of my friend Tom Martin who own six sections of ranch land at 624 and Hwy 59, as you’re heading to Freer, Texas.  Tom and Jean had registered Santa Gertrudis cattle and he had spent thousands on a young bull with great papers, but shortly after he got to the ranch Tom found out that his young bull was sterile.  Tom tells how he began to make deals with God, and it began like this; God I will give you 15% of all the revenue from this bull’s calves, and when he got the next report back from the veterinarian it when up to 25% and as the story goes, when it got to 50% it was clear that God was not going to bargain with Tom. 

At first glance, that seems to be what Jacob is doing and it would be in keeping with his learned behavior, but is that what is happening?  Should we not first review what happened before this statement; Jacob has seen God in a dream and the Lord had spoken promises to him.  The place is named Luz but Jacob changes the name to Bethel, “The house of God” and stated this is the gate to heaven.  His very next action is to make an altar and worship the God of his fathers.  (Note: up to this time it has been his father’s God, but now he has heard and seen in a dream the God of his father’s, and it is now his God.)

He is on a journey without the protection of others and he still has a long way to go through land that could have robbers and wild animals that could take his supplies and they might even kill him.  We must remember, Jacob has just seen the Lord in his dream, it is the beginning of his faith walk, and in his prayer the “if” is no different than your faith or mine.  “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God,” Personally I do not believe he is making a deal, It seems like he is telling the Lord, I hear what You have promised and though my faith is weak, I’m putting as much trust as I have in what you have said.  He is also telling the Lord, that he wants peace with his brother, the brother I’ve tricked and with my father, who must have felt some anger in the way he was deceived.

 Jacob is the son of promise, he should get two thirds of all that his father has, but he is on a donkey or camel going 500 miles away from his home to a land he has never been to, looking for his mother’s brother, to ask the hand of one of his daughters, and back home he has a brother who has promised to kill him.  So he tells the Lord, “And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”  I do not see Jacob making a deal, I see a man who has come to understand that without God and God’s blessing, he has nothing.  Often, I have been too quick to put a label on someone like Jacob, and it should be noted that God saw the heart of Jacob and we do not have that ability.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Perils of Power = Congress

Good morning, it began with someone calling the house at 5:50 a.m. and no answer when I awoke from a deep sleep.  It has been very windy so far but the sun is breaking through the clouds and I’ve been reading on page 1427 of (The Complete Works of O.C.) title Perils of Power.  This thought came to mind;  the perils of power is taking place in our Congress?  Jan and I were having a discussion on this and she thought not, because many of them are not Christian, but as Oswald states, it is God who places a person in a position of honor, as he did Pharaoh.  King Nebuchadnezzar, came into my mind and how God gave him great power till the terrible peril of pride entered his heart, and God hardened his heart and only after seven years of eating grass did God extend grace and bring him back to rule.  It was at this point, we see a man who understood that his power was a gift, and that the God who gave the gift, was more than able to remove it at His will. 

Chambers used this line, “The inevitable result of sin is to destroy the power of knowing it is sin.”  That quote reminded me of what Pastor Joe, the missionary told me as a young Christian, “Sin is akin to darkness, at first it is so dark, but the longer you stay in the darkness your eyes adjust, and before long it is not dark.”  Is that what has happened to the Congress, do they not even know that they are sinning; when they, lie, steal, and break the public trust with the very people who sent them to Congress to represent them?

Just Pondering,

Bob

If you do not have the book “The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers” I am adding the article.

Perils of Power (Jeremiah 23:1-3; Luke 22:24-27)

Temporal power is merely the manifestation of a Divine purpose leaving ample room for the prostitution of that power.  “But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart.”  When once a man is placed in a position of honor under God’s providence and does not maintain a right relationship to God, the very position in which God has put him will harden him away from God.  Power we must have, whether we like it or not, but power is a terrible peril unless the life is rooted in God’s grace.

Bear in mind the distinction between the results of sin and punishment for sin.  Verse 2 refers to the latter – “ . . . behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.”  The inevitable results of sin is to destroy the power of knowing it is sin.  The punishment of sin is that God banishes the sinner from His presence.  What is being forgotten to day is that there is any punishment –“This is simply the result of having made a mistake.”  The suffering that comes to the children of bad people is the inevitable result of sin, not its punishment; punishment is meted out here or hereafter to the parents who may never suffer in this present life.  In this case God interfered with the punishment because they were His people.

“Ye have scattered My flock, and driven them away . . .” Beware of the possibility of being faced by God at some time with the lives you have been the cause of being driven out.