Where are they now? (Political)

Genesis 36 1-43

(Part 3 of 3) 

We’ve reached the end of the chapter but look at the beginning of chapter 37. 

“Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.  This is the account of Jacob’s family line”.

(Genesis 37: 1-2a)

I’m going to include the opening of chapter 37 in my study of chapter 36, because that is where this particular story ends. The reason I’m going to do that and most of the commentaries Genesis agree, that the middle of this verse is that the writer brings up this phrase again which marks the transition from one section of the narrative to another.

Clearly, he starts out Chapter 36. This is the generation of Esau in Vs 1 and 9 and he ends that section by saying and Jacob dwelt in the land and then he starts an entirely new section. If we’re going to sum up this whole list of names chapter, I’d say to put it in the simplest possible terms, it's telling us about what became of Esau, Jacob’s brother. It purpose is to tell us he became Edom, the Edomites who will figure again later in the account of the Nation of Israel as we progress further into the Bible. That’s the point, he moved there, and his descendants became tribes and kings of the nation became Edom, but what is the spiritual point of this chapter? What are we to learn from this chapter? Well, let me make some suggestions. I think it is important. In the context of the Old Testament that we understand who he is and where Edom came from, because as soon as you get out of the Book of Genesis, and get into the Pentateuch, the next four books of the Bible you’re going to encounter Edom again quite a lot. In the overall context of the Old Testament, what we have been looking at is the roots of Edom and talking about the fact that the descendants of Adam where the brothers of the descendants of Israel, because both nations came out of Jacob and Esau. By inspiring this the Lord wants us to note that if we ever wondered, whatever happened to Edom, this chapter tells you and fills in the gaps for us before we run into them again later. But there’s more here than that going on because it is also demonstrates the fulfilment of, God promised to Esau that he would bless him. While this chapter is nothing but a long list of names that when you first read it can seem to make no sense and you may not understand what’s happening or where it’s going to Yet, the bottom-line spiritual lesson here is that God still blessed Esau, or to say the same thing another way God was faithful to keep his promise to Edom. Got it, that’s what we should walk out  of here with this today. God has made promises and he is faithful to those promises. So, you might ask, well, what sort of promises has God made for us? He didn’t give us the land of Palestine, but he did give us some other promises.

Let me conclude are overview of this chapter by looking at some of the promises God has made to us.  How about 1 John chapter one first John chapter one.  When it dawned on me that this was talking about the fact that God was faithful and keeps his promises, I remembered this phrase in the New Testament. 

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”.

(1 John 1: 9)

How’s that for a promise, if we confess, he is. faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Today, we have a relationship with Jesus Christ accessed by faith, in other words to inherit the promises of God all we have to do is  trust in his son Jesus Christ, but as I am sure you well know, just because you trust Christ doesn’t mean you don’t sin anymore. So, what happens when you fall down in this regard, well, well God has made a promise that if you confess the sin, he will forgive you. How’s that for good news?  Do you ever need to embrace the promise contained within that verse, I know I do.

Another promise, how about this one.

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it”.

(I Cor 10: 13)

No temptation can ever overwhelm or overtake us, Temptation is common to us all but it tells us but God is faithful and will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to endure, and he will also make a way of escape for us and ensure we will be able to bear the consequences of temptation that has befallen us. Yet, God is faithful to forgive, but did you notice it says he provides a way by which we can endure. He is faithful and He provide a way, but that means we have to cooperate. In the process of restoration. There may indeed still be consequences of our sinful action, post salvation, but god will not only give us the spiritual and physical resources to overcome those consequences but he will also provide the way of escape, a route out if you wish.  By the way, would you like to know what is what is the way of escape? Would you like to know the way to escape temptation, in the first place?  Look at the next verse. 

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry”.

(I Cor 10: 14)

We need to trust the Lord, but the point is this, you must never be in a position where you can let your guard down because temptation come to everyone, it is common to all people. However, the point is He will always provide a way for you to get out of that temptation and the path out is to flee from idolatry, flees from anything in your life that you are putting before or in the way of God. That’s the point of these two verses, God is faithful, and that’s a promise. The one who called us is faithful, and the promise is he will do not only save but carry us through when we slip up.

“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it”.

(I Thes 5:23-24)

Sanctify you, which simply means to set you apart unto him to make you perfect in his sight, and to hold you in that position. In simple terms this promise is one that he will remain faithful to always do. If you do what he says, he will be faithful to sanctify you and keep you set apart unto him, always. One more promise, back in Genesis. Maybe the whole point of Chapter 36 is Esau ended up in Edom but look at the opening to chapter 37 again.

“Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan”.

(Genesis 37: 1)

Jacob is still in the land of Canaan. God gave a promise to Esau to bless him, and he kept it, and in the meantime, Jacob is still in the land of Israel.  He hasn’t got what God promised him yet, he is a sojourner there, he’s a stranger there, he doesn’t possess it, not his yet, nor any of his descendants, but he is staying there. So, what is that telling us? Well, the answer is, Esau has received his promise but Jacob not yet. I think the point of that is we might see some people get blessed and get the promise of God before others. What that means to me is that we sometimes have to have a little bit of. Patience. 

In Hebrews chapter 10, verse 23 it says,

“Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful”.

(Hebrews 10: 22-23)

What the writer to the Hebrews is saying is God has promised us rewards when we finally stand before him at the judgment seat of Christ, but we’re not there yet. We just have to be is patient until that time comes. On the one hand, God is faithful, he will do it, that’s a promise, but on the other hand, you might have to be patient until it happens. So be patient beloved, the Lord is working, you will get all he promised you, everything someday.

This chapter in Genesis illustrates to me that believers must be patient in waiting for the blessing of God. Someone once said secular blessing are much more superficial and  in general grows up far more rapidly than spiritual blessings. May I repeat that opinion, spiritual greatness takes time and if we think about it how could it be any other way. It’s can seem a slow process to us sometimes, but how can spiritual maturity ever be achieved in a rush anyway. But God is faithful, and it will happen. The promised spiritual blessing of God demands patience and by emphasize here that waiting often while others prosper is itself a test of faithfulness and perseverance. 

So, I hope you  got two pockets in whatever you are wearing today because in one pocket I want you to put and keep the promise that God is faithful, and the other pocket put the other promise that if we are patient we will grow in spiritual maturity and inherit all of our promised blessings.