Jacob is deceived by his sons (Gen. 37:29-36)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12-26-2007

 

My Worship Time                                                    Focus:  Jacob is deceived by his sons.

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                   Reference:  Genesis 37:29-36

 

            Message of the verses:  “29 Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his garments. 30 He returned to his brothers and said, "The boy is not there; as for me, where am I to go?" 31 So they took Joseph’s tunic, and slaughtered a male goat and dipped the tunic in the blood; 32 and they sent the varicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, "We found this; please examine it to see whether it is your son’s tunic or not." 33 Then he examined it and said, "It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!"

34 So Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. 35 Then all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, "Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son." So his father wept for him. 36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard.”

 

            Whenever Rueben returned to the pit from whatever he had been doing he must have thought that his brothers had killed Joseph, and so he tore his clothing, as sign of someone in mourning. This action must have shown his brothers that he was on Joseph’s side and would have rescued him.

 

            Now because Joseph was now gone the brothers had to find a way to deceive their father so they killed a goat and dipped the coat into the blood so that their father would believe that Joseph was killed by a wild beast.  Earlier in Jacob’s life he too had killed a goat to deceive his father, and now the same thing is being done to him.  The sins of his sons are indeed mounting up, but God in His providence is using even these sinful acts to work things out for the good of this family, who would soon become a nation.

  

            It is entirely possible that Joseph’s brothers did not even return to their father at this time, but sent a servant to give this news to Jacob.

 

            Jacob would not be comforted by any of his family but would continue to morn for Joseph for many years to come.

 

            Joseph was sold to Potiphar, who may have been the chief of Pharaohs’ body guards, and was probably the chief executioner. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  This story of Joseph is a fulfillment of Romans 8:28.  God took all of the sin and sinfulness of this family and worked it out for good, and I believe he can do the same thing with all of the problems we as a family face today and have been facing for some time now. 

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I believe that God has a plan for my family throughout all of the difficulties we face, and will work it out four our good and for His glory.  

Very Strong Hatred (Gen. 37:23-28)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12-25-2007

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Hard Harted

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference: Genesis 37:23-28

 

            Message of the verses:” 23 So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him; 24  and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it. 25 Then they sat down to eat a meal. And as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh, on their way to bring them down to Egypt. 26  Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 “Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers listened to him.  28 Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt.”

 

            There are a few things that stand out to me in this passage, and one of them is that the first thing that Joseph’s brothers do to him is take of the special coat that his father had given him, which makes me think that the coat had a lot to do with their hatred towards Joseph.  I guess it would be hard for me to believe that after the put Joseph into the pit that they were so hard hearted that they could sit down and have a meal, like nothing was going on, knowing that Joseph was probably yelling at them because of being in that pit.

 

            As I stated in one of the recent SD’s, that what was happening to Joseph was in the sovereign will of God, yet the sins that the brothers committed were still sins which they sinned on their own, but God used even these sins to work out his sovereign will not only for this family, but for the whole world, for after all the Lord Jesus Christ would come out of the Jewish nation.  With all of this said it was Judah who came up with the idea of selling Joseph to the Ishmaelites, probably for greed, and maybe because his conscience was bothering him for wanting to kill him.

 

            There are a number of things that happened to Joseph here that also would happen to Jesus in His life, and that is that He would have a special garment striped from him and be put into a pit, and He too was sold for a certain amount of silver, and the money given to the one who betrayed Him.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The story of Joseph surely remind me that God has a plan and nothing will stop that plan from being fulfilled.  It also shows me that there are times when bad things happen to good people, and it can be said that even these bad things that happen to good people can be used to fulfill the plans of God. 

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Conspiracy (Gen. 37:18-22)

 

SPIRITUALDIARY FOR 12-24-2007

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Conspiracy

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                 Reference:  Genesis 37:18-22

 

Message of the verses:  18 When they saw him from a distance and before he came close to them, they plotted against him to put him to death. 19 They said to one another, "Here comes this dreamer! 20 “Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say, ‘A wild beast devoured him.’ Then let us see what will become of his dreams!" 21 But Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands and said, "Let us not take his life." 22 Reuben further said to them, "Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay hands on him"—that he might rescue him out of their hands, to restore him to his father.”

 

            It is not clear who the ring leader was, that is the one who wanted to kill Joseph, however is seems that they all wanted to kill him except Reuben.  When Jacob was giving out blessings at the end of his life he actually gave Joseph the first born rights because Reuben had slept with one of his wives.  Dr. Wiersbe suggests that it could have been Simeon because of the way that Joseph treated him in Egypt.

 

            It was because of the hatred that Joseph’s brothers had for him that they so quickly conspired to kill him and then later decide to sell him as a slave, for the hatred was already at place in their heart because of the envy that was their in their hearts too.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  “ Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”  It is because that sin can so easily become a part of my life that I need to has the Spirit of God to search my heart each day.  I believe that just as my body needs cleansed from a fast from time to time so does my soul.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Begin to pray that God will prepare my heart and also my body to begin to fast at the beginning of the new year.

           

The Sin of Violence (Gen. 37:12-18)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12-23-2007

 

My Worship Time                                                                           Focus:  Sin of Violence

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                    Reference:  Genesis 37:12-18

 

            Message of the verses:  “12 Then his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock in Shechem.13  Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers pasturing the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them." And he said to him, "I will go." 14  Then he said to him, "Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me." So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.  15  A man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, "What are you looking for?" 16  He said, "I am looking for my brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing the flock." 17  Then the man said, "They have moved from here; for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’" So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. 18 When they saw him from a distance and before he came close to them, they plotted against him to put him to death.

 

            Dr. Wiersbe brings up some interesting questions when he asks why were the sons of Jacob pasturing their flocks and herds in Shechem when there had been a lot of trouble there and it was about 50 miles from Hebron.  Another question is why did Jacob send Joseph when he knew that his brothers did not like him?

 

            The first question will be difficult at best to answer.  The second question can be answered by saying that it was in the providential will of God that Joseph go to Egypt.  God does not cause people to sin, yet God will use their sinful actions to bring about His will, and that seems to be the case here.  It seems that all of the brothers of Joseph hated him, and not only hated him but were jealous of him, and therefore wanted harm to come to him, so when they saw him coming toward them, because of their sinful thoughts about him the began to act out what they had been thinking about.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Sin seems to always begin in the mind and that is why it is important to keep your mind clear of sin or else it will be acted out in life.  Jesus said that hatred of a person was like murder and this was the case with Joseph’s brothers, all the needed was the opportunity to bring their thoughts into reality they were ready to do it. Steve Green sings a song called “Guard Your Hearts,” and this what I need to do at all times.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Guard my heart and keep short lists with God.

Hatred, Envy, Malice, and Jealously (Gen. 37:5-11)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12-22-2007

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  Hatred, Envy, Malice, and Jealously

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                      Reference:  Genesis 37:5-11

 

            Message of the verses:   5 Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. 6  He said to them, "Please listen to this dream which I have had; 7  for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf."8 Then his brothers said to him, "Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?" So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. 9 Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, "Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me." 10 He related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?" 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.

 

            It probably was because this family situation was so bad that it caused Joseph’s brothers to hate him even more after he told him the two dreams that he had.  When you look at the problems in this family and then look at the sovereign will of God, and also the grace and mercy of God then it can be better understood how things worked out the way that God was planning them to work out, for it surely was not because these people were so wonderfully committed to God’s plan.

 

            It can be seen in the Scriptures, mostly OT Scripture, that God used dreams to communicate His will and plans to those He chose to give them to, and if this family would have been in tuned with the Lord they would not have done the things that they did, but would have listened to Joseph in a better way when he told them about his dreams. 

 

            Some of the sins that took place in this chapter are listed in the focus part of the SD.  Envy causes inward pain when we see others succeeded, while malice causes inward happiness when we see others fail. Titus 3:3 says that these two sins usually work together, “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.”  I would have to say at this point that contentment that is contentment that God teaches His children is the remedy to these sins of envy and malice, for only when a believer has contentment can he actually rejoice with a person who has success and grieve with a person who is going through hard times.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I will have to admit that I have sinned in both of these ways in the past, yet I did not realize the names of these sins until reading this section in Dr. Wiersbe’s book, and I am very thankful to have read them so that I can be more intelligent in confessing these sins if they happen to arrive again in my life, which I pray will not happen.  Now I can be free to ask God to continue to teach me contentment so that I will not sin the sins of envy and malice, or even jealously. 

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I want to ask the Lord to search my heart to see if there is any malice or envy in my life so that I can confess it to the Lord.

Hatred (Gen. 37:3-4)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12-21-2007

 

My Worship Time                                                                                         Focus:  Hatred

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                        Reference:  Genesis 37:3-4

 

            Message of the verses:  “3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic.4 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms.”

 

            Jacob is again making a mistake that had been made by his parents and a mistake that he has already made in his own family, and that is making a favorite in his family, which is what he had done with Rachel before and now with having Joseph as his favorite son.  Dr. Wiersbe writes that the coat of many colors could have meant that Joseph was the one who would be his heir, and this was all the more reason for his brothers to hate him.  It is possible that Jacob could have reasoned that because he had not intended to marry Leah any way and Joseph was the oldest of his favorite son Rachel, so why not make him the heir.

 

            Verse four tells that because Jacob loved Joseph more than his other sons that his other sons hated Joseph, and hatred is a sin that can actually produce other sins in a persons life.  Proverbs 10:12, “Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all transgressions.”  1John 2:9, “The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now.”  1John 3:15, “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is sometimes a very hard thing to not have favorites, especially in a family setting.  I suppose that I have been accused of it in my family.  When I look at Scripture it is hard to image to me that God does not have favorites, but I am not sure that this is the case.  God is sovereign and cannot make the mistakes that man makes.

            Hatred is something that I pray I will never have accept to hate sin, but never hate sinners.  The Bible speaks of God hating Esau and like I said before God is sovereign and cannot do anything wrong.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Having patience with my wife as she is surely going through some very difficult times. 

Joseph (Gen. 37:1-2)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR Thursday, December 20, 2007

 

 

My Worship Time                                                                                          Focus: Joseph

 

Bible Reading & Mediation                                                     Reference:  Genesis 37:1-2

 

            Message of the verses:  “1.  Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan.  2.  These are the records of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.”

 

            Genesis 37 starts a new section in the book of Genesis, and it moves from Isaac to Jacob even though Jacob was mentioned a lot in the story of his father Isaac.  But Isaac was now dead and the story moves to Jacob, but Joseph is actually the one who is mentioned more in this section than Jacob.

 

            As I look at the story of Jacob and Joseph it shows that there were a lot of problems that were going on in this family.  Jacob came from a family where his mother loved him more than his brother and his father love his brother more than him, and so that problem comes with Jacob.  Jacob actually has four wives now and thirteen children from those four wives and this presents a great problem.  Jacob shows more love for Joseph than the other brothers who by this time are much older than Joseph, and this too causes a lot of problems.  Joseph’s brothers actually hated him as stated in the text, and partly because he had come to this father and told him about something that his brothers were doing that was not right and was probably something against their father.

 

            The Bible does not call Joseph a “Type” of Christ, but there are some similar things in the life of Joseph with the life of Christ.  They were loved  by their Father and hated by their brethren.  They did their Father’s will, sold as a slave, unjustly accused of a crime and were ascended to a high position.  They were both sold for silver too.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  God is a covenant keeping God who always keeps His promises even though in the case of Jacob’s family there was sin, as is the case in my life too, yet Romans 5:20b states:  “but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”  This does not give me or anyone else a license to sin, but because I am a saved sinner who still has a sin nature, a selfish nature I still sin, yet God does have a plan for my life, and that plan for my life is part of God’s plan and He will give me the grace to do the things He has for me to do.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I want to continue to believe that God does certainly have a plan for my life and to be obedient to the cause of Christ each day of my life even when things are not going well in my life, and things have not gone well in my life for most of 2007, yet I am sure that God has a great purpose for all of the events that are going on.

Jacob's Children (Gen. 35:23-29)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12-17-2007

 

My Worship Time                                                                         Focus:  Jacob’s Children

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                    Reference:  Genesis 35:23-29

 

           

            Message of the verses:  23 the sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, then Simeon and Levi and Judah and Issachar and Zebulun; 24 the sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin; 25 and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid: Dan and Naphtali; 26 and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maid: Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.  27 Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre of Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned.  28 Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years.  29 Isaac breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, an old man of ripe age; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

 

In verses 23-26 the names of Jacob’s children are listed by their mothers.  I believe that Leah was Jacob’s true wife in that he had married her first, even though he was tricked into marring her.  As you look at the family of Jacob you can see that there was much trouble because of having more than one wife.

 

The sons of Leah had the most prominent offspring in them for through Judah came the kingly line of David and eventually the Lord Jesus Christ was born through the line of David.  The priestly line came through Levi.

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at this genealogy of Jacob and think about how God did use those whom were the son’s of Leah, I think that the reason that God used them was because this was the correct way of doing thing and I too need to strive to do things the right way in my walk with the Lord.

 

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  It has been a very long time since I have done my SD, and I believe that it shows in my walk with the Lord, so I need to make the commitment to continue to do these much, much more frequently.

Ruben's Sin (Gen. 35:21-22)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 05-02-2007

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Ruben’s Sin

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                  Reference:  Genesis 35:21-22

 

            Message of the verses:  “21 Then Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.  22  It came about while Israel was dwelling in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine, and Israel heard of it. Now there were twelve sons of Jacob.”

 

            As I read the commentary on this from Dr. Wiersbe’s book I came away with somewhat mixed feelings as to whether or not what he had written was how this all played out.  He writes that Ruben may have been trying to take over the leadership of the family by sleeping with one of his family’s wives, and gives references to other places in the OT where this actually happened.  I suppose that if the Lord would have wanted us to know what the background of this was it would have been included in the story.  I tend to go a different way by thinking that probably Jacob was not meeting all of the sexual needs of his wives and after the death of Rachel was not wanting to be with any of his wives, and so it may have been Bilhah who suggested this to Reuben, or it could have been because Reuben was so young and there were not any girls around his age that he started this relationship.  At any rate this was a very sinful act and is even prohibited in the Law, and even though Jacob did not seem to act upon this at this time he did remember it and acted upon it when he was about to die by not allowing Reuben to inherit what the first born would normally inherit.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  How ever this sinful act began it was Reuben who was the one who sinned against his father, but first of all sinned against the Lord by sleeping with Bilhah.  Sexual sin is a sin that is hard to control and it takes a lot of discipline and trust in the Lord to keep one from it, especially in the mind, and yet it is possible because it is commanded by the Lord to do so, and what He commands He will enable us to win the battle.

 

The Word of God has been both convicting and challenging to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To continue to trust the Lord in the circumstances that we find ourselves in at this time, to continue to seek the Lord to guide us and direct our path each day, and continue to seek the Lord to teach contentment to me as He did for Paul.

 

Memory verses for the week:  2Chronicles 14:11 (NLT)  “  Then Asa cried out to the LORD his God, "O LORD, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in you alone. It is in your name that we have come against this vast horde. O LORD, you are our God; do not let mere men prevail against you!"

Jacob shows his love for Rachel (Gen. 35:20)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 05-01-2007

 

My Worship Time                                                 Focus:  Jacob shows his love for Rachel

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                         Reference:  Genesis 35:20

 

            Message of the verse:  “20 Jacob set up a pillar over her grave; that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.”

 

            Rachel was buried somewhere between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, which was near where she had died giving birth to Jacob’s last son.  As one reads the Bible they sometimes seem to skip over things because they do not know that there is a greater meaning to them, and that is one of the things that I love so much about studying the Scriptures, and reading other commentaries that help me to understand these meanings.  In the case of Rachel’s grave and her death near the place where Jesus would be born there is greater meaning, as can be seen by the names given to Jacob’s last son.  The two names given, as mentioned in the last SD, can give a great meaning of the ministries of Christ, man of sorrow and Son of my right hand, as the Lord now sets at the right hand of God the Father.  After the birth of Jesus King Herod killed all of the baby boys two years old and younger, and this where we read about Rachel’s crying in Matthews Gospel.  If Jesus had not been born in Bethlehem, then it would have been best known for the grave of Rachel, which makes one think of sorrow, while the birth of Jesus the town of Bethlehem is known for the birth of the Savior, which brings joy to the hearts of all who have accepted Him as their Lord and Savior.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life:  I’ve seen in this lesson that God does indeed make all things work together for our good and for His glory.

 

The Word of God has been challenging to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To continue to trust the Lord to work out things for our good and for His glory in the possible illness of Sandy.  I am very thankful to the Lord for seeing her through the procedure she went through yesterday.

 

Memory verse for the week:  2 Chronicles 14:11 (NLT) Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, "LORD, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; let not man prevail against You." 

New Name (Gen. 35:18b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 04-27-2007

 

My Worship Time                                                                                 Focus:  New Name 

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Genesis 35:18b

 

            Message of the verse:  “that she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.”

 

Jacob renamed other things in his life, and so after Rachel died he renamed his son Benjamin, or “son of my right hand.”  I have to revisit what has been written about in the last two SD’s, and that is could Rachel’s death been the result of her sin of lying to her father.  When I looked up the name that she gave to her son, Benoni, it can mean son of my sin or son of my iniquity, as the work is translated 47 time in the King James Version as opposed to only once where the word is translated sorrow.  I am back to not being certain as to whether or not it was Rachel’s sin that had anything to do with her death.

 

Dr. Wiersbe brings up another point about these two names and that is they could describe the two aspects of the Lord’s ministry, sorrow and glory.  Luke writes in his Gospel a quotation of Christ in 24:26 which could support this:  “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Peter also gives support to this in 1 Peter 5:1, “Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed.”

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at these two names in relationship with Christ’s ministry, I can see that this has happened to many believers in their lives as the suffered from different things in their lives which gave sorrow to them and then God transformed that sorrow into glory, His glory, later on in their lives.  In John 16 Jesus gives an example of this by stating that He will turn sorrow into joy. Joh 16:21  "Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.

Joh 16:22  "Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

 

The Word of God has been challenging and refreshing to me as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  As I look at the situation that the Lord has allowed us to be in I see at this present time that there is much sorrow, as there is with the situation also with our investment with Andrew, and my prayer and hope is that God will turn all of this into glory as only He can do.

 

Memory verse for the week:  2 Chronicles 14:11 (NLT) “Then Asa cried out to the LORD his God, "O LORD, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in you alone. It is in your name that we have come against this vast horde. O LORD, you are our God; do not let mere men prevail against you!"

The Death of Rachel (Gen. 35:18a-19)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 04-26-2007

 

My Worship Time                                                                          Focus:  Death of Rachel

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                  Reference:  Genesis 35:18a-19

 

            Message of the verses:  “18 It came about as her soul was departing (for she died), 19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

           

            Dr. Wiersbe points out that one statement and one act did not necessarily mean that that was the reason for the death of Rachel.  I believe that in yesterday’s SD I pointed out that it was very possible that Rachel died because she had not owned up to stealing her father’s idols and that Jacob said that if anyone had them they would die.  Now Dr. Wiersbe does not support this idea that was actually learned from one of the historical novels that I have been reading, of which have a great deal of truth in them.

 

            At any rate Rachel does die giving birth to Jacob’s 12th son and now Jacob will be the one who names the child, or renames him as will be seen in the next exciting issue of my Spiritual Diaries.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life:  I guess the conclusion to this is that I don’t know whether or not Rachel died because of her sin of lying or if it was in God’s plans that she would die at this time.  I think that there are times when people do die because of lying as seen in Acts chapter five, but the bottom line is what is going on in the heart of the person is how I see it, for if a person would die for lying none of us would have a chance, and the human race would never have gotten this far.  The good news is that the Lord Jesus Christ died for all of my sins and loves me enough to bring trials into my life in order for me to become more conformed to Him.

 

The Word of God has been challenging to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust in the Lord alone for the victory over this trial that He has seen fit to send into our lives.  To trust the Lord with all of my heart, and not lean on my own understanding, but in all of my way acknowledge Him, and then He has promised to direct my path.  I want to lean on God’s promises and not ask why as to why these trials have come my way.

 

Memory verses for the week:  “Then Asa cried out to the LORD his God, ‘O LORD, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in you alone. It is in your name that we have come against this vast horde. O LORD, you are our God; do not let mere men prevail against you!’”  2Chronicles 14:11

 

Birth of Benjamin (Gen. 35:16-17)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 04-25-2007

 

My Worship Time                                                                       Focus:  Birth of Benjamin

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                   Reference:  Genesis 35:16-17

 

            Message of the verses:  “16 Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and she suffered severe labor.  17 When she was in severe labor the midwife said to her, ‘Do not fear, for now you have another son.’”

           

            Rachel asked for another son when Joseph was born and now she will have another son, but she will not survive the birth of her second son.  I want to go back a few chapters to when Laban had chased down Jacob and his family.  Before leaving Rachel had stolen her father’s idols, but when Laban accused Jacob of stealing those idols Jacob made a rash statement that anyone who had stolen those idols would die.  Later on when revival came into the camp of Jacob he burned all of the idols that he had found and I believe that he knew at that time that Rachel was the one who stole them.  The reason for revisiting this story at this time is it could be that because of Jacob’s rash remarks that he lost his wife.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is not good to make rash statements for any reason, for when I do this, and I do it far too often, I do it out of pride, whereas I should always be humble.  Why should I always be humble?  God gave me everything by His grace and mercy, so therefore I have nothing to be bragging about except of course to the things that God has given to me.  Paul said something similar in his writings.

 

The Word of God has been convicting to my heart as I read and studied His Word this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to rely upon the Lord to give Sandy and I strength and grace to handle the trials that He has brought into our lives, and to continue to seek contentment, and to continue to ask the Lord to direct my paths.

 

While doing my devotions yesterday morning it seemed that the Lord spoke to me through His Word and I want to put these verses down this morning so I am sure to remember them.  “11 Then Asa cried out to the LORD his God, ‘O LORD, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in you alone. It is in your name that we have come against this vast horde. O LORD, you are our God; do not let mere men prevail against you!’”

 

           

God Appears to Jacob (Gen. 35:9-17)

 

SPIRITUAL DAIRY FOR 04-23-2007

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  God appears to Jacob

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                      Reference:  Genesis 35:9-15

 

            Message f the verses:  “9  Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him.  10  God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; You shall no longer be called Jacob, But Israel shall be your name." Thus He called him Israel.  11  God also said to him, "I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come forth from you.  12  "The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, And I will give the land to your descendants after you."  13  Then God went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him.  14  Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it.  15  So Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel.”

           

            As I read this section it all sounds so familiar to me, as if it had happened before, and that is because it had happened before in different periods of Jacobs life, but now it all comes together, and Jacob becomes Israel now not only in name but in action.  Israel means, “God prevails,” and Israel was not only Jacob’s new name given to him by God, but it would be the name of the nation that would come forth from Jacob, and it is what the nation is called today that survives in the Middle-East today as a promise from the Lord. 

           

            Dr. Wiersbe speaks about the drink offering that Jacob poured out that is described in this section as really an offering of one’s self given completely to the Lord.  “It was a symbol of dedication, the worshiper’s life poured out for the Lord.” 

           

            God also reaffirms His promises to Jacob in this section, which He had given to him on different occasions.  Jacob is now back in Bethel, where he had first had the dream and poured oil upon the rock that he has slept on after leaving his parents home, and now he can go on with his new life with a new name and a new purpose.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The victorious Christian life is a series of new beginnings.  This is a quote from Dr. Wiersbe’s book and it applies here in this section of Scripture, and it also applies in my life too, as the Lord has been doing a work in my life that will make my life more pleasing to Him as long as I listen to His voice and obey Him with all of my heart.

 

The Word of God has been convicting, challenging and refreshing to my heart as I read and studied it this morning. 

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to see my wife and I through these very challenging days, to learn contentment through these difficult situations, and to seek the Lord to direct my path as the Proverbs say.

 

 

 

Supplement to today’s SD:  This comes from yesterday’s Sunday school lesson.

 

What one must do to involve change in life. 

 

1. Prayer  Philippians 1:9-11  “9 ¶  And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, 10  so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; 11  having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”
2. Focus on the Lord:  1Corthians 10:14  “14  Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.”  It is good to remember that an idol is ANYTHING that takes the place of God, and hinders one’s worship of God.  This is how the Greek dictionary describes the word flee:  a.) to flee away, seek safety by flight

b.) metaph. to flee (to shun or avoid by flight) something abhorrent, esp. vices

c.) to be saved by flight, to escape safely out of danger

d.) poetically, to flee away, vanish”  The tense of the verb is prolonged activity so it does not just mean to flee once but to continue to flee.

3.  Study the Word

4.  Practice

 

 

Jacob Worships God (Gen. 35:6-8)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 04-20-2020

 

My Worship Time                                                               Focus:  Jacob Worshipped God

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                        Reference:  Genesis 35:6-8

 

            Message of the verses:  “6 So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.  7 He built an altar there, and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled from his brother.  8 Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; it was named Allon-bacuth.”

           

            God fulfills His promise to Jacob in bringing him back to Bethel, even though Jacob had to go through some hard times because of disobedience.  God will always fulfill the promises that He gives to believers, and I suppose non-believers too, as He has promised His wrath to fall on them and someday it will do just that.  It looks like the first thing that Jacob did was to build an altar there to worship the Lord and also to change the name to El-bethel, which means “the God of Bethel,” where Bethel meant “the house of God.” 

            The mention of Deborah’s death, who was Jacob’s mothers nurse, is another thing that is covered in these verses.  Jacob never saw his mother after he left his home those many years before when he was fighting with Esau and it is not known when Deborah had come to live with Jacob, but it is a touching part of this story knowing that Jacob must have cared for her in this last part of her life.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Today is surely a day when I need a spiritual lesson, as it is the day when Sandra goes in to have a test, which will determine weather or not she has cancer in her right breast.  As stated before in an earlier SD, this has been a very strange and difficult week for us as many things have happened that normally do not happen.

            Going back to Bethel was for Jacob was going back to his roots in his walk with the Lord, and going back to Bethel was a promise that God had made to him that was now fulfilled.  I see a lot of revival in this chapter, as it seems that Jacob surely finds himself in a great need for revival, and this is true in my life, for it is not the things that God has lead me to do that cause me to walk closely with Him, but it is my day to day life in making an effort to keep in good fellowship with Him that make the things He is leading me to do that much more special.

 

The Word of God has been refreshing to my heart, in a time when I needed refreshment.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To stand on the promises of God and not to try and understand the circumstances that I find myself in at this time of my life.  To trust the Lord with all of my heart knowing that He is the only true God, and that He causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him and for those who are called for His purposes.

God Protects Jacob and His Family (Gen. 35:5)

 

Spiritual Diary FOR 04-18-2007

 

My Worship Time                                 Focus:  God’s protection for Jacob and his family

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                           Reference:  Genesis 35:5

 

            Message of the verse:  “5  As they journeyed, there was a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.”

           

            These are the Words that God spoke to Jacob in Genesis 28:15  "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."

           

            Dr. Wiersbe writes, “When God’s people are doing God’s will in God’s way, they can depend on God protection and provision.” He also writes, “When we fear God we need not fear anyone else.” 

           

            Jacob had every reason to be frightened of the people who were living around him, for after all his family had just killed many people and now they were leaving and going to Bethel, yet this verse says that God put great terror upon these neighboring people and so they did not pursue Jacob and his family.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I see this kind of thing throughout the Scriptures, and what it is that I see is God accomplishing His will by protecting His people who are doing His will, just as Dr. Wiersbe writes.  Before Israel began to invade the land after coming from Egypt and wandering in the wilderness for forty years, the people of that land were very much afraid of them, and it was God who put this fear in them so that He could accomplish His will through Israel.

 

The Word of God has been refreshing to my as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  There has been much going on in our household over these past weeks.  Sandy and I visited Aruba for two weeks and then came home and I went to PA for a safety training class, which was difficult on me due to my IBS.  With great difficulty we decided that it would be best if Sandy went ahead with her foot surgery, and so we began to put things in motion for that, but the phone call came from her female Dr. that it is entirely possible that she has the beginnings of breast cancer and so the surgery had to be canceled and we are to move forward to find out what will happen now.  I can see God moving in all of this, yet it does seem a bit strange in how He is moving, for I am not at all sure the path that He is leading us down, yet I do KNOW for sure that He is in control and will protect us just as He protected Jacob and his family.      

Jacob Instructed His Household (Gen. 35:2-4)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 04-16-2007

 

My Worship Time                                                  Focus: Jacob instructed his household   

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Genesis 35:2-4

 

            Message of the verses:  “2  So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments; 3 and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone."  4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which they had and the rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem.”

           

            These verses continue to speak of the new beginning that Jacob was going through after the Lord had spoken to him in verse one where God had told Jacob to go to Bethel.  It seems that Jacob must have realized that he had not obeyed the Lord by going to Bethel as soon as he entered the land after leaving Laban, and he may have realized that the tragedy over Diana would not have happened if he would have obeyed the Lord.

           

            Jacob now gathers his family together and tells them to get rid of all of their idols and to change their clothes after bathing themselves.  This was a sign of a new beginning and by washing themselves it was a sign of cleansing themselves from sin and begin to follow the Lord with all of their hearts.  It is refreshing to see Jacob do these things as he had not done them in the past and not doing them had caused a lot of trouble for his family. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life:  God is gracious in showing me this section of Scripture at this time of my life, for I too need to stand up to the wrong things that have been both tempting me and on occasion have caused me to fail the Lord.  I need to have some spiritual cleansing and to have a new beginning with the Lord.

 

 

The Word of God has been a great challenge to my heart as well as brought conviction to me as I read and studied God’s Word this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To do as Jacob did in these verses, and that is to bury the idols that I have been following and to spiritual bath in the Word of God and change the way that I have been living.