And he Dreamed

Genesis 28:10-17

Why is Jacob’s dream such a big deal? First, let’s begin in verse 12, “And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Do you dream, I often do, and I’ve never had a dream like the one Jacob had about the ladder going to heaven. First I believe it is important to understand that Jacob is more than likely alone on this journey and it’s going to be over 500 miles back to Haran on probably a donkey or Camel. He has gone about seventy miles to Bethel and on the transportation he had it should be in his second or third day of the journey. If we go back to Genesis 12:8 we find that God had spoken to Abraham in that same place and promised to give his offspring that land, and verse eight tells us that Abraham built an altar to the Lord in that place. The Bible does not speak to whether Jacob knew how special this place was to Abraham, but it became very special to Jacob.

If we resume the account in Genesis 28:16, “Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Why was this an exciting, and yet frightening time in the life of Jacob? Surely he has worshipped the God of his father’s Abraham and Isaac, but this seems to be the first time God has spoken to him. It was theophany, and yes I did look the word up in the dictionary, it means, a visible manifestation to humankind of God. I do believe we should state that God did use dreams but he also used other ways to speak to men, and no one should place supernatural significance on dreams that add to or take away from Scripture. Scripture gives clear guides on this point; “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” (Hebrews 1:1-2) What Jesus has said to us in Scripture is the final word, and the book of Revelation is very clear about not adding to or taking away from the Scriptures.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

He did it his way

Genesis 28:6-9

Have you ever heard the expression, “She or he has mom or dad sitting on their shoulder.”  Many people live life trying to please a parent that has departed this life and yet even from the grave they seem to have control.  Others like Esau would do almost anything to win back the blessing of their mom and dad.

Esau is not that different from many of us, he did what was right in his on eyes and at the age of forty he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.  Esau knew the story of Abraham and his father Isaac; how God had set them apart to be a people special to Him and that they were not to marry from the nations around them.  But like many of us, he chose to obey the desires of his flesh and disobey the God of his fathers.

In fact, I bet those were some good looking Hittite gals, and Esau was ready to be with a women, so he did not wait for God to provide, and like many of us he got out in front of God and did it his way.  The only problem was his way did not work; Esau’s mother, Rebecca loathed her life because of the Hittite women, and so Isaac made Jacob promise not to marry one of them.  Isaac told Jacob to marry from his mother’s family, in fact he told him to marry her brothers daughter.  And Jacob obeyed and set out on the long journey back to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, to marry one of the daughters of Laban, his mother’s brother.

Esau, the twin that came out first, the one who had the birthright and sold it for a bowl of stew, the one who God had stated, before he was born, would serve his younger brother, the one who Jacob stole his blessing by deceiving his father Isaac, is now willing to do almost anything to please his father.  “Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram.  So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father, Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.”

Is there wisdom that we can take away from this sad story of a son who did it his way, only to do almost anything to win back favor with his dad?   Our earthly dads often mess-up but our Father in heaven has a plan that is perfect for each and every one of us if we will only listen and obey.  In Jeremiah 29:11, He states, “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.” 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Genesis 27:5-25

How often I’ve read the Bible with the wrong mindset, believing God is like me, that He has my standards of right and wrong, and I make judgments based on those wrong assertions.  It would be wise for me to read Isaiah 55:8,9 before reading or studying the Bible, it states the following; “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

I’ve often sat in an adult Bible study and heard someone articulate how he or she does not agree with the Scripture that is being studied.  It is no different than saying God missed that one, if only He would have been wise enough, to have ask me for my thoughts.  If your not careful, Genesis 27 will lead you to the wrong mindset, unless you agree before hand that Creator God’s ways and thoughts are higher than your thoughts and His ways are higher that your ways.  A wise person never forgets who is the Creator, and who is the created.

It is easy to see Jacob as a schemer, a liar and deceiver, but that is not how God saw the twin of Esau.  Henry M. Morris gives this insight; “There is never a single instance in the Bible, of criticism of Jacob (except on the lips of Esau and Laban, both of whom are unworthy witnesses).  Every time God spoke to Jacob, it was in a message of blessing and promise, never one of rebuke or chastisement.”  (The Genesis Record page 428)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

How much time is left on Your Clock

Genesis 27:1-4

Chapter twenty-seven begins with Isaac calling in his firstborn Esau to ask a favor of him and to offer a blessing to the firstborn.  It is not clear why Isaac would not bless Esau before he went hunting but he tied the blessing to when the act was completed.  Isaac has twin sons but Esau is his favorite and that is not conjecture on my part, Genesis 25:28 states the following, “Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.” 

We also know that Isaac was very close to being blind at this point of his life and was depending on his ability to feel and touch in order to recognize the twins.  Esau was very hairy and Jacob was very smooth skinned, so often Isaac would touch the boys to tell them apart.  It is also clear that Rebekah, the twin’s mother, was very partial to Jacob and that she may not have trust her husband at this stage in his life, so she eavesdrops on his conversation with Esau.

Verse two speaks so loud to my age group though Isaac is much older and is not sure how much time is left on his earth clock; does he have hours, minutes or just seconds?  Isaac is speaking to Esau, “He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death.”  Isaac in this area is a prototype of each and every one of us, when did he begin to think about death or leaving this earth, only when he was old and yet we all seen younger people die.  

Before we get down on old Isaac, it may be wise to look into the mirror, how much time is left on your clock?  Only God knows the answer to that question, and we all have a bucket list of things to do while there is still time.  Isaac awoke to the fact that on his bucket list were a couple of items he needed to do before he left this earth.  One was for his pleasure, the eating of wild game that his son had killed; the other was of the utmost importance, the passing on of a blessing.

Isaac was a poor guesser, he was making assumptions not based on fact, because God had not spoken to him about his death, but God had made it clear to Abraham and to Isaac the importance of passing on a blessing, and God had made it clear, even before the twins were born, which son was to get the blessing.  Isaac, like many of us, was without sufficient information on when his earth clock would stop, but Genesis 35:28 gives this account of his death, “Now the days of Isaac were 180 years.”  What was Isaac’s age at the time of his statement in verse two, he was over 100 years of age, but not close to the end of his life.

What should you and I take from the message in verse two?  First and foremost, the importance of being in right standing with Jesus Christ, now; for no one knows when his or her earth clock is scheduled to stop, and the alarm may be blinking or ringing but you are too busy or there is too much noise around you to hear.  Do not wait to pass on a blessing to those in your concentric circle.  A great question to ask at any age is, “How is my soul?” and have I shared my love to those who love me?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Disregard of his Father

Genesis 26:34-35

“When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.”

 Those are two verses I’ve never heard anyone preach a sermon about, so all we can do is ask questions and look for why these two Hittite girls, married to Esau, would cause such pain for Isaac and Rebekah?  Who were the Hittites?  My search lead me to the book of Numbers and in the 13th chapter, verse 29 tells us they were a people who lived in the hill country.  But as I followed the chain to the book of Deuteronomy 7:1-4, it became clear why these marriages to the two Hittite girls, brought such anguish into the family of Isaac and Rebekah.  “When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than yourselves, and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction.  You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them.  You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods.  Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.

God’s commands do not always seem convenient to us the created, but the God of the Bible does not change, His word is His word, and we the created have a choice to obey or disobey.  Esau chose to disobey!  And you might say, but the account in Numbers 13:29 was many, many years after Esau lived and so Esau does not fall under this commandment of God.  So the question is had God spoken or given direction in the matter of intermarriage before Esau married the two Hittites?

The answer is made clear in Genesis 24:3, where Abraham made his servant swear that he would not take a wife from the daughters of the Canaanites, but would go back to his country and to his kindred and take a wife for his son Isaac.  Esau was raised on this story and how they were the chosen people of God, and yet he chooses to rebel against his father and against God.  God often uses a man’s wife to give the right direction and this is the account of Rebekah and Isaac when it comes to following the plan God gave to Abraham.  “Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I loathe my life because of the Hittite women.  If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

(Genesis 27:46)

And because God was using Rebekah to speak to Isaac, he called in Jacob and blessed him and gave him this directive, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women.  Arise, and go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s father, and take as your wife from one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.”  (Genesis 28:1-2)

And because of Isaac being obedient we have a people called the Jewish people a people chosen by God to be His people.

How does this apply to our life in 2010?  It teaches us to be in agreement with God in all things and especially in the area of marriage.  When a person marries outside of the Christian faith and they claim the name of Christ, it often turns the hearts of your sons or daughters from  “following Me, to serve other gods.”  

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

What is your Concentric Circle seeing?

Genesis 26:26-31

“When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army, Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?”  They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you, So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace.  You are now the blessed of the Lord.”

So often I’ve miss the message of a passage like this, it is so much more than a King coming with his adviser and the commander of his army to see Isaac.  It is so much more than Isaac showing his anger for being driven out of the country of Gerar.  The story is about the faithfulness and blessing of God being seen by the nations and people who live around Isaac. “They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you” and they also said “You are now the blessed of the Lord.”   The message to each of us is, how are we being seen by those in your house, neighborhood, the ones you work with or for, and the ones at the places where you eat and shop?  Do they see the blessings of the Lord on your life, as the men from Gerar witnessed Isaac’s life?

Jesus calls us salt and light, and tells us, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”   Jesus is telling us that we have a very special purpose of adding flavor to those He has put in our concentric circle, and if we do not use our gifts He has given us, then we lose our value to His kingdom.  He is not saying we lose our relationship with Him, but that the world around us will not see Jesus living His life and power through our earthsuit.

Jesus goes on to state, “You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

These are some questions I must ponder; is my salt still adding flavor to those whom I live with and around?  Is my soul full of light, or am I letting the cares of this world pollute my light?  Do people see what God is doing in my life and give glory to my Father in heaven?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Has God ever Misspoke?

Genesis 26:17-32

Have you been part of a church that the message is all about your health, your wealth, it has a name, it’s called the prosperity gospel and it will draw a good crowd of people, and why not, none of us what to hear a depressing message.  You would think that Jesus being God, our Creator, would have known better than to say “In the world you will have tribulation” maybe he just misspoke in John 16:33?   Let me be very clear, Jesus has never misspoke, and in Matthew 24, Jesus is telling His disciples about signs of the closing of the Church age, yes it had a beginning and it has an end.  Jesus makes this statement in verse 21, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no and never will be.”  And often I wonder why people like the prosperity gospel, even when it is not based on Scripture. Who wants to hear that in the world you will have tribulation?

Isaac has just been run out of the place he called home, not because he is a bad guy but because God is blessing him.  He takes his people and moves only to find that the Philistines have stopped up all the wells his father had dug; and without water you are finished, you lose your herds, your flocks and the people die for lack of water.  So Isaac tells his servants to dig a new well and the herdsmen of Gerar tell his servant to hit the road that is their well.  So Isaac digs another well and once more the people of the land tell him to keep moving because it’s their water. I believe that might fall into the area of tribulations!  Verse 22 begins in this way; “And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it.  So he called its name Rehoboth, saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the Land.”   

What just happened?  Isaac and his people get run out of a country, go to a new area and get pushed around by some herdsmen.  Why is this happening and why is he not standing up and fighting back?  I believe the simple answer is that Isaac knew that God was his provider and protector, and his actions seem to make that clear.  So if God is your provider and protector, is it necessary to do anything but what Isaac did?  In verse 24 Isaac and his people have arrived in Beersheba and the Lord appeared to him that very night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father: Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.”  How did Isaac react; “he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there.  And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.” 

God honored Isaac because he obeyed and depended on God to protect and provide for his family and his people, and as I look at the wells that our forefathers have dug and how they are being covered over, I also must make a choice to fight or wait on the Lord my God to provide and protect my family.  It always comes down to this fact; can I trust God to protect and provide, and I stand in good company when I put my hope in Him and Him alone.  The bottom line of John 16:33 ends with Jesus saying this; “But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

From the Bach Porch,

Bob Rice