WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:00.800 Morning. 00:00:02.080 --> 00:00:06.480 Our reading for this morning is Genesis 30, 25 through 43. 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:15.439 As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. 00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:22.559 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. 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:31.280 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. 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:33.920 Name your wages, and I will give it. 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:41.439 Jacob said to him, You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me. 00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:46.640 For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly. 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:50.320 And the Lord has blessed you wherever I have turned. 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:54.640 But now, when shall I provide for my own household also? 00:00:55.119 --> 00:00:57.359 He said, What should I give you? 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:00.960 Jacob said, You shall not give me anything. 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:05.920 If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it. 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:19.280 Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep, and every black lamb, and the spotted and the speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages. 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:22.480 So my honesty will answer for me later. 00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:28.480 When you come to look into my lambs, if found with me, he should be counted stolen. 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:32.159 Laban said, Good, let it be as you have said. 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:47.280 But that day Laban removed the male goats, and they 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. 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:51.680 And he set a distance of three days' journey between himself and Jacob. 00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:54.560 And Jacob pastured the rest of Laban's flock. 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:55.920 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:57.200 Please be seated. 00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:05.120 Welcome to Redemption Church Denver. 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:06.159 My name is James Rathman. 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:07.280 I'm the pastor here. 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:10.000 This text, I barely have to say anything. 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:11.360 It speaks for itself. 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:13.919 It just hits your heart. 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:19.919 It's one of those heart-level texts that uh I think we can all just relate to, you know. 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:24.560 When I read this, I thought, man, this is the story of my life. 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:31.919 So let's pray, and we'll get into unpacking it this morning as if that needs to be done. 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:59.120 Holy Father, thank you for your word and the uh detail and the the places that it meets us, which are uh uh little ordinary areas of business dealings and uh the jobs that you've called us to, the uh obligations and responsibilities to provide for a family, the dependence on you in the midst of that, the wicked people that we have to deal with in the world. 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:05.520 Lord, we praise you that your word speaks to those places because that is where we that's where we live. 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:22.879 Lord, you are the type of God who comes to us, who condescends to our position in the most remarkable way, as you took on flesh to completely identify with us, but Lord, you do it all over your word as well. 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:24.879 I pray that we would see that this morning. 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:26.719 We lift this up in Jesus' name. 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:27.680 Amen. 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:36.000 Also, um did is anybody here, just out of curiosity, affected by that that water main that broke and the flood? 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:38.240 Did anyone see that driving in? 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:49.759 Uh just like a couple blocks over in between 45th and 46th, uh, there's a street, a street that's just like all flooded, uh, all the way up to people's homes and stuff. 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:51.439 So I say a couple streets. 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:52.560 A couple streets? 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:53.039 Okay. 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:53.680 Yeah. 00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:55.439 Looks pretty bad. 00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:57.280 Um anyway. 00:03:58.960 --> 00:04:00.479 Glad you guys are good. 00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:12.719 So at this point, we've spent a long time with the patriarchs, uh, the three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:23.360 And we've seen them each in their own way become particularly wealthy by becoming involved with people who are outside of the promise of God. 00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:32.720 And then kind of, in a sense, they are they uh have dealings, we could say they have dealings with the world and then they come out on top. 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:36.639 They become incredibly wealthy in their dealings with the world. 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:40.160 It happens to Abraham, to Isaac, and Jacob, but in different ways. 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:54.959 And so as we see that pattern and as it's unfolded for Abraham and then for Isaac, then we can kind of know, okay, this is going to happen for Jacob as well, as a part of his story, where we'll see him become exceedingly wealthy. 00:04:55.199 --> 00:04:58.720 Now, the story for Abraham is a strange one. 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:05.839 It happens in Genesis 12, right after he receives his initial call and promise from the Lord. 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:20.560 When we think of Genesis 12, we typically think, okay, this is God calling, this is the chapter where God calls out Abraham and says, Leave the land of your fathers, go to the land that I am sending you to, and I will bless you and will multiply your offspring. 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:23.600 And that is probably the central point of that chapter. 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:25.360 That's the high point of the chapter. 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:34.399 But what happens in the following verses is Abraham goes to the land, the new land of promise, and then there's a famine. 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:36.720 And when there's a famine, where do we go? 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:40.079 Yeah, that's awesome. 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:42.959 When there's a famine, you go to Egypt. 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:45.519 That's one of our sermon applications. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:59.040 And they uh so they in in uh abandoning his faith in God's ability to provide, he goes down to Egypt, which is always fertile because of the flooding Nile. 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:10.000 And while he's in Egypt, he lies about Sarai at that time, uh, saying that she's his sister instead of saying that she's his wife. 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:20.879 And then this uh greatly offends the Pharaoh of Egypt at that time, but Abraham is still sent out from Egypt, having become rich. 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:30.399 Here's what it says uh he became a man of great wealth, having sheep, oxen, male and female donkeys, male and female servants. 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:32.480 That's Genesis 12, 16. 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:50.639 So he does, he he goes into a dangerous, wicked place outside of the promise, you know, Egypt, and then he plunders the Egyptians, but he did it by lying, by compromising his own character and integrity to do it. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:52.319 And yet God blesses it. 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:54.160 It's a very strange thing. 00:06:55.120 --> 00:07:11.199 Isaac, Abraham's son, has a similar interaction with uh one of the Canaanite kings named Abimelech in a region that's this is we're now north of Egypt, this is in the Promised Land, called Gerar. 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:18.399 And in Gerar, Isaac settles, and he, if if my voice is a little hoarse, by the way, I'm feeling it. 00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:21.519 Um, it's because I was at Monster Jam last night. 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:24.000 It was pretty good. 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:28.480 It was like the largest collection of five to ten-year-old boys I've ever seen in my life. 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:34.160 Um, of which my son was a part of, and I was a little bit as well. 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:38.879 Um, anyway, sorry. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:48.160 The uh for Isaac's story, this interaction with King Abimelech, Isaac tells the same lie that Abraham told. 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:55.360 He he says that his wife Rebecca uh is his sister, and Abimelech figures that out as well. 00:07:55.519 --> 00:08:04.800 And it turns out that Abimelech was in no way hostile or even a threat at all towards Rebekah and Isaac's marriage. 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:07.199 He was a good king. 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:15.040 And so Isaac enters this dangerous land, and although it's a good king, he still acts deceptively. 00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:17.120 And then you know what happens in the next verse? 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:20.560 He sows and then reaps a hundredfold. 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:23.759 And this is what it says in Genesis 26, 13 to 14. 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:28.959 And the man became rich and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:35.519 He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him. 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:38.960 And then, in his great wealth, he's asked to leave. 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:41.519 So we see there's this pattern here. 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:47.679 And the pattern is there's this interaction with people that are outside the bounds of the promise. 00:08:48.159 --> 00:09:04.159 And in this interaction, you're in a dangerous place, you're outside the promised land, you're where the wicked people are, and in response to that, we see both of our patriarchs, the guys we're pulling for, act wickedly. 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:14.559 But then they still plunder the Egyptians and plunder the Canaanites and leave with this incredible great wealth. 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:19.200 So when we see the pattern, we can see, okay, we're in Jacob's story. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:26.559 He's in his moment of exile as he's fled from his brother who wants to kill him because he stole the birthright. 00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:38.559 He goes up to Haran, where Laban is, and Laban is his uncle and then becomes his father-in-law as he marries his two daughters. 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:43.840 And here we see that Jacob hasn't become rich and left yet. 00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:46.480 So we ought to be thinking, okay, what's coming next? 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:50.320 He's got to, in order to be a patriarch, it's like being an oligarch, you need a yacht. 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:58.559 In order to be a patriarch, you need to uh get rich during exile and then come back to the promised land. 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:00.399 Those are, you gotta tick those boxes. 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:02.559 So we know those things are coming next. 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:10.480 Here's the way that the final verse of this section reads what takes place for Jacob. 00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:20.720 It says in Genesis 30, verse 43, Thus the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys. 00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:29.039 So Jacob, like his fathers before him, in a sense plunders the land in which he was in exile. 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:32.000 But he does it differently. 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:40.559 Jacob is the first of the patriarchs to accomplish this process while maintaining his integrity. 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:55.759 This is the weird thing about Christianity, and there's a sense in which this whole passage is confusing because the cause and effect don't seem to line up in ways that we would like. 00:10:57.039 --> 00:11:13.679 There's this there's this instance later in this passage where uh uh Jacob's flock breeds in the way that he would like them to, because he places sticks in front of them that are speckled and spotted. 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:20.000 And so when they look at the sticks and then breed, then they have speckled and spotted offspring. 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:22.799 Now, I don't know much about animal husbandry. 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:29.679 But I I don't think what is the cause and effect relationship there? 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:40.080 And if I were writing the scriptures, I would like to be able to lay this out and say, look, we have three examples. 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:46.559 Abraham is meant to go in and plunder the Egyptians, but he lies. 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:51.679 So when he loses his integrity, he doesn't plunder the Egyptians. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:59.200 But even in the midst of his lie, God remained faithful to his promise to him and blessed him. 00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:10.720 Isaac, I would like to say, in dealing with the king Abimelech, that he maintains his integrity in a way that his father didn't. 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:19.200 And because he maintains his integrity, that he is able to become fruitful and multiply, but he doesn't. 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:24.960 Isaac didn't maintain his integrity, but he still was incredibly blessed by the Lord. 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:34.879 And then here, Jacob maintains his integrity and suffers more greatly than either of his fathers because of it. 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:41.919 And he is blessed and multiplied greatly by the Lord. 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:54.879 So you see that we uh what I'd like to be able to say is if you maintain your integrity, then you will be blessed and multiplied greatly by the Lord. 00:12:55.440 --> 00:13:04.399 If you are the one who, when you're in a dangerous place and you hold fast, that it will mitigate your suffering, but it doesn't for Jacob. 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:12.240 Or perhaps if you lose your integrity, then we can say that's why you won't be blessed. 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:21.759 And that's why you won't be fruitful and get, you know, whatever our our our equivalent of sheep and goats are. 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:30.399 But the cause and effect it's not so clean. 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:34.639 Some wicked people become wealthy. 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:44.960 And some people who main their maintain their integrity gain uh uh gain from the Lord and others lose along the way. 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:59.360 So how are we being taught to think about the world here with these cause and effect relationships that don't seem uh as mechanical or intuitive as we'd like them to be? 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:18.159 We must see that that the consistent thing at play here amidst all the things that we think are consistent of these cause and effect relationships in the world, the truly consistent thing at play here is the faithfulness and guidance of God. 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:26.000 It is the it is the factor that is that is truly effective in the world. 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:53.600 So let's move through the story and we'll begin to see how can our minds be shaped by that reality and how, especially in and most completely in the story of Christ, and and because of the way the story of Christ works, ought we to seek to maintain our integrity, even when it seems like practically it's the worst thing we could do. 00:14:54.399 --> 00:15:07.600 All right, so we're going to look at Jacob, his interactions with Laban, we're going to see his request to depart, and we're going to see this really lopsided deal that gets made, but then we're going to see how God protects in the midst of that. 00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:10.159 This is Genesis 30, 25 through 26. 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:19.279 As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, Send me away that I may go to my own home and country. 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:28.080 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. 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:43.840 So when Jacob is sent into uh Haran, and he's fleeing for his life, but on his first night living outside, he's met by God in a dream. 00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:53.360 And in this dream, he's promised by God that God will bring him back from his exile. 00:15:54.240 --> 00:16:02.240 So Jacob has this calling on his life, this calling that he can know God will bring me back. 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:09.200 He has this big picture direction that God has given him to return him to the promised land. 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:24.639 Now, since he's been in Haran, he's gotten two wives, which is a story, uh, two concubines, which is another story, eleven children, which is another story. 00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:25.840 We've covered them all. 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:31.440 There, if you have the Redemption Church Denver app, uh you can listen to our sermons. 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:43.039 And the uh now what we see is this convergence of a calling for Jacob and now responsibility. 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:45.840 When he went in, he was alone. 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:54.559 And so he could, in a sense, kind of indefinitely pledge himself to Laban to serve Laban as his master. 00:16:55.360 --> 00:17:03.919 But he can't return to the promised land with nothing because it's not just him anymore. 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:09.440 He has 11 children, two wives, two concubines, he's got a lot to take care of. 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:20.240 There's a responsibility here on his life where he needs now to go to Laban and say, I have to provide for my household. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:27.359 I have to, I can no longer serve you for nothing, but instead I have to provide. 00:17:27.759 --> 00:17:30.079 See, uh we spend a lot of time. 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:43.680 This is a good, this is a good sort of rule of thumb uh for discerning where God is working in your life or where God is calling you to, that convergence of calling and responsibility. 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:46.799 Those are two necessary ingredients. 00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:51.519 Our calling we can gain, it's a big picture from the Lord, where he is sending us to. 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:56.079 Then your responsibility can often just meet you when you wake up in the morning. 00:17:56.319 --> 00:17:59.839 Uh, there are certain problems that are just yours. 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:04.480 Pursue those as though they're given to you by the Lord. 00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:05.359 They are. 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:11.359 So this means that Jacob must barter with Laban. 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:22.079 He must receive some uh uh material, some wealth from Laban in order to go back and have his family provided for and protected. 00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:37.359 Now, the problem with that is that Laban is a liar and he's a cheater and he's incredibly greedy, and uh he's he's not trustworthy, and a generally awful wicked scheming man to have to make a deal with. 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:39.680 Christians. 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:45.519 Young Christians, folks that are in college, you know. 00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:48.559 It's like that out there. 00:18:50.480 --> 00:19:00.799 There are wicked, scheming, cruel people who, in their dealings with you, desire to take advantage of you. 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:03.039 It's just helpful to know. 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:05.200 It's helpful to know. 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:08.640 You've got to have that category. 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:18.160 There are people that I will deal with who are trying to make me lose so that they can win. 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:20.480 That category exists. 00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:23.039 I grew up in the car business, you know. 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:25.519 I I think I thought that would have been more intuitive to me. 00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:29.759 Because that's kind of what's kind of what the car business is like. 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:31.440 It's like a pirate crew. 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:37.359 Pirate crews, their marriages tend to go sideways, as we've seen. 00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:39.920 That was a Johnny Depp joke. 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:55.519 But the there's this there's this sense in which we have to have that category, but there here's what here's what we can be tempted to do as Christians. 00:19:55.839 --> 00:19:59.920 Look how look how dangerous the world is. 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:03.279 We need to just not deal with that. 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:13.519 We need to do whatever we can to protect ourselves from from making deals or or having dealings in those places. 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:16.720 But you can't go out of the world. 00:20:17.279 --> 00:20:19.680 There's no other place to go. 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:30.000 The the world, these places, these dangerous places, are the very places that God sends his people. 00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:33.279 And even sends them because why is it? 00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:35.440 Why does he have to deal with Laban? 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:44.559 Well, the Lord had orchestrated Jacob's life in such a way that Laban is the one who has what Jacob needs. 00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:50.559 He's orchestrated his life in such a way as there is no place else for him to go. 00:20:50.799 --> 00:20:52.720 That's what it's like to be a person. 00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:59.119 Sometimes you will find yourself in areas where why am I having to deal with this person in this in this way? 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:01.039 There's no place else to go. 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:02.960 You're constrained. 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:04.319 Life's like that. 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:05.920 You're a very pointed thing. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:08.559 You can't aim at multiple things at once. 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:14.160 And so sometimes you have to deal with very wicked people. 00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:24.079 And so what we could try and do is disengage and distance ourselves from a position like from having to deal in those dangerous places, but that's impossible. 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:29.039 You would have to go out of the world, and there's no there's no place like that. 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:32.079 Metaverse isn't really there yet, you know. 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:35.200 But I don't think it'll be any safer. 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:41.759 It's probably like a sociopath vacuum, I can imagine, you know, like they're all meet there. 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:42.960 Anyway. 00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:52.880 The uh uh it we can't uh manufacture someplace safe because can I tell you something? 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:55.680 The church it isn't safe. 00:21:57.039 --> 00:21:59.359 It's not safe here either. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.519 Because that wickedness that's out there, we have that. 00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:05.359 Plenty of it. 00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:08.720 So you can't manufacture someplace safe. 00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:12.559 So here's what we saw Abraham and Isaac do. 00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:18.400 They saw that it was a wicked and dangerous place to interact with. 00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:26.960 And so they thought we will keep ourselves safe by becoming liars and schemers in return. 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:43.440 We will maintain our safety in this dangerous world by, in a sense, like lowering ourselves to the occasion so that we can play in that game. 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:48.720 You can hear this in words where it's like, look, that's just the way the world really works. 00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:55.200 So if you're gonna make it, then you've got to play in the way the world really works. 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:02.559 Yeah. 00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:06.319 Here's our calling as Christians. 00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:15.039 We have to engage in these dangerous places and maintain our integrity while we do it. 00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:40.160 And the way that we do that is by trust in the Lord, is by seeing that the cause and effect pathways that we are so confident that we can control and manipulate towards our good ends, by saying we could interrupt, I could make this deal work for me if I just took control and compromised a bit of my integrity. 00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:42.480 I know I could position myself to be safe. 00:23:42.720 --> 00:24:04.160 That's saying that the cause and effect pathways that I understand the world to work in, by seeing that wealth is just distributed by the one who puts themselves in the best position, is neglecting the reality that it is God who drives this thing. 00:24:05.279 --> 00:24:13.359 That the cause and effect pathways that we most consider are less important than God's decree. 00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:18.240 This passage challenges us in all those ways. 00:24:18.559 --> 00:24:26.079 So Jacob makes a deal, but he makes a deal with his integrity. 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:42.799 Jacob said to him, 29 and 30, 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. 00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:47.440 But now, when shall I provide for my own household also? 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:56.319 The first step in making this good deal is that Jacob had served Laban faithfully. 00:24:57.200 --> 00:25:08.480 But in Jacob's faithful service, and in the blessing that had come to Laban through his faithful service, Jacob does not attribute that to himself. 00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:17.759 Instead, he attributes the blessing that Laban had received through Jacob's faithful service to the Lord. 00:25:18.319 --> 00:25:31.119 Do you see how Jacob's mind is thinking that the main determining factor in the blessedness of the world is the Lord's distribution. 00:25:32.160 --> 00:25:34.960 That's the way Jacob views the world. 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:45.759 Now, this is interesting because he has faithful service, and that's a reflection of him understanding that ultimately it all comes from the Lord. 00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:58.880 Now, this is so strange, and not what we'd expect, because Jacob, throughout our viewing his life, has been a liar and a deceiver. 00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:08.319 That is the means, the mode of operation that Jacob seems to be most intuitively a part of. 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:11.759 That's the way that he ordinarily lives. 00:26:12.079 --> 00:26:15.680 But what have we heard in his story? 00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:17.920 John preached the sermon. 00:26:18.480 --> 00:26:25.680 Jacob, in his deceit, received the discipline of the Lord. 00:26:26.160 --> 00:26:30.880 Do you remember when he was to get married and he served for seven years to marry Rachel? 00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:35.759 And then we saw one of uh an instance that's pretty typical in Genesis. 00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:38.559 Theologically, it's referred to as the switcheroo. 00:26:40.319 --> 00:26:49.680 And there was a uh he was he was given by Laban the uh older daughter whom he didn't serve for, but then he served for another seven years. 00:26:49.839 --> 00:26:56.240 Now, that whole incident we saw was the particular discipline of the Lord. 00:26:56.400 --> 00:27:14.799 It's the Lord's basically like in the clearest way, saying, see the ways that you have been acting in deceit and that you've been trying to hold the truth for yourself and then and then manipulate the circumstances just to receive what you want. 00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:20.000 Do you see how that mode of operation actually plays out in the world? 00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:23.920 And do you experience what it's like to be on the other side of it? 00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:34.640 Now, Jacob, in the clearest way from the Lord, what was given that discipline in a way that he paid for with years of his life. 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:57.200 Now, what we see in his ability here to maintain his integrity while dealing with someone who he knows is a con man, who he has, he could justify in his own mind, I can pull one over on Laban because he's gonna pull one over on me. 00:27:58.319 --> 00:28:02.240 Jacob instead maintains his integrity. 00:28:02.559 --> 00:28:07.039 What does the discipline of the Lord bear? 00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:11.839 The peaceful fruit of righteousness. 00:28:12.960 --> 00:28:15.839 Do you see how that plays out in Jacob's life? 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:24.079 Just dispositionally, I would bet on Abraham, you know, to be faithful. 00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:26.400 And in second would come Isaac. 00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:28.880 And last of all would be Jacob. 00:28:29.200 --> 00:28:35.440 But here we see Jacob is the one who most clearly has received the dis the discipline of the Lord. 00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:38.319 And it and it has borne fruit. 00:28:39.440 --> 00:28:40.400 Do you see that? 00:28:40.880 --> 00:28:45.839 It's really a wonderful, it's a wonderful thing to see the discipline of the Lord bearing that. 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:50.240 So so he enters this deal, and it's a very strange deal. 00:28:51.039 --> 00:29:11.759 And it's uh it's actually this has been like one of the figuring out this deal has been one of the uh most challenging, just like interpretive things uh in Genesis so far, which is strange, but there's a lot of textual variation that has like just internal contradictions for what the deal is. 00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:15.920 Here's what I what I was able to gather is the gist of it. 00:29:16.960 --> 00:29:26.880 Uh because it it smoothed over, they kind of work out the kinks in the Septuagint, which is the like an ancient Greek translation from the Hebrew. 00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:29.519 So it was nice of them to smooth this out a bit. 00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:33.519 Here's the simple reasoning uh of what the plan is. 00:29:34.480 --> 00:29:39.759 Jacob will be entitled to the striped and speckled of the flocks. 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:46.960 Now, this is the vast minority of uh type of sheep and goats that would have uh been born. 00:29:47.920 --> 00:29:52.319 And they make this deal that Jacob would receive the striped and the speckled of the flocks. 00:29:52.480 --> 00:29:55.039 Now, Laban is a con man, right? 00:29:55.519 --> 00:29:59.519 So what Laban, well, here, I'll say this. 00:29:59.759 --> 00:30:00.400 Sorry. 00:30:00.880 --> 00:30:03.839 Why is it that we want it to make the deal this way? 00:30:03.920 --> 00:30:06.160 Why is it that Jacob wants to make the deal this way? 00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:12.000 He says this in verse 33 So my honesty will answer for me later. 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:24.000 When you come to look into my wages with you, everyone that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen. 00:30:24.480 --> 00:30:28.079 It's very plain, right, and easy to discern. 00:30:28.559 --> 00:30:36.720 Laban will be able to just come into the flocks and say, okay, that one's plain, that one's plain, that one's plain, so you stole those from me. 00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:43.519 Now, the reason is uh why plan it in a way that's so plain? 00:30:43.839 --> 00:30:48.400 Jacob says, so my honesty will answer for me later. 00:30:49.119 --> 00:31:01.759 Jacob is saying, I'm putting myself in a position by the structure of this deal where I can't deceive you, because the color of the sheep and the goats will speak for themselves. 00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:23.680 Now, here's the strange thing about dealing with a dangerous man like Laban is that when you when Jacob puts himself in a position of such vulnerability by his integrity, Laban doesn't say, wow, I respect this. 00:31:24.319 --> 00:31:26.880 You know, I'm inspired by your honesty. 00:31:27.039 --> 00:31:28.960 I will be honest in return. 00:31:29.759 --> 00:31:35.440 No, Laban says, great, an opportunity, a fool, one of those people with a moral code. 00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:40.880 I know that uh I can take advantage of this person now. 00:31:41.920 --> 00:31:44.960 And so that's precisely what Laban does. 00:31:46.960 --> 00:32:03.680 Uh it says in verse 35, but that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, everyone that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons. 00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:09.599 So the deal, striped, speckled, spotted. 00:32:10.079 --> 00:32:14.880 The outcome, uh, you don't have any striped, speckled, and spotted goats. 00:32:15.119 --> 00:32:17.039 I took them all for myself. 00:32:17.359 --> 00:32:24.400 So good luck getting striped, speckled, and spotted goats out of all these plain goats, you know, would be the thing. 00:32:24.559 --> 00:32:25.839 We all relate. 00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:33.039 So Jacob goes to this flock that he's called to shepherd. 00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:35.599 We made the deal. 00:32:36.240 --> 00:32:47.440 But now I've been basically positioned in such a way by this con man where there's no way that I can get what I need for my family out of this. 00:32:47.759 --> 00:32:49.519 He's done it again. 00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:55.920 Laban has continued to be deceitful towards me, and here I am, and he did it again. 00:32:56.720 --> 00:33:10.799 First Peter 2, 18 through 19 says this servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust. 00:33:11.599 --> 00:33:13.920 For this is a gracious thing. 00:33:14.240 --> 00:33:20.160 When mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 00:33:21.839 --> 00:33:25.440 There are two ways of dealing with the wicked in the world. 00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:27.759 There are probably more, but there's at least two. 00:33:28.559 --> 00:33:32.960 One of them is what we saw with Abraham and Isaac. 00:33:33.119 --> 00:33:34.720 There are wicked people in the world. 00:33:34.799 --> 00:33:36.799 It's a dangerous world out there. 00:33:38.319 --> 00:33:43.359 I will become wicked in return in order to keep myself safe. 00:33:43.680 --> 00:33:53.359 You know, the the only way to protect myself from these lying schemers is to lie and scheme and put myself in a position where they can't take advantage of me. 00:33:53.599 --> 00:34:00.799 We'll even make promises to ourselves of I'll never be taken advantage of again. 00:34:01.119 --> 00:34:02.880 We have encounters like that. 00:34:03.039 --> 00:34:12.880 And so we make sure to position ourselves in ways where we'll always have the upper hand, no matter what integrity it may cost us. 00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:19.199 That's one way is to see it and to protect ourselves, to mirror it. 00:34:19.840 --> 00:34:58.559 The other way, and this might be the more apparently Christian way, is to make ourselves uh to position ourselves to be such doormats, to view ourselves in the world as completely helpless, and in that way cultivate a sense of helpless resentment and put ourselves in situations where we're able to be and are constantly being victimized with no hope of a better outcome. 00:34:58.800 --> 00:35:05.039 And what we do there is we swap our victimization for our justification. 00:35:06.480 --> 00:35:11.760 I must be good, because look at how taken advantage of I am. 00:35:12.960 --> 00:35:19.360 And so we consider that our victimization is the thing that justifies us before the Lord. 00:35:19.519 --> 00:35:31.920 But what's buried beneath it is this essential ingredient, which is that we maintain our integrity and therefore make ourselves vulnerable to be victimized. 00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:36.960 But we don't maintain our integrity for our own justification. 00:35:37.920 --> 00:35:45.840 We maintain our integrity in trust that the Lord is in control of all. 00:35:48.000 --> 00:35:53.199 That's not resignation, it's the opposite of resignation. 00:35:53.519 --> 00:35:59.519 It's putting your hope where the real cause and effect in the world is. 00:36:03.679 --> 00:36:05.760 This is what Jacob does. 00:36:08.159 --> 00:36:10.000 Verse thirty-nine. 00:36:19.199 --> 00:36:19.519 Okay. 00:36:20.880 --> 00:36:25.679 Jacob gets some sticks once he gets these plain flocks. 00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:36.559 He carves them in such a way where they're striped and speckled and spotted, and then he puts them in front of the watering hole, which is where the sheep go to sheep and goats and stuff go to mate. 00:36:37.440 --> 00:36:42.880 And when they mate in front of these sticks, they become striped, speckled, and spotted. 00:36:43.840 --> 00:36:44.719 This is obvious. 00:36:44.880 --> 00:36:46.880 I feel like I don't need to explain it anymore. 00:36:48.559 --> 00:37:04.960 In John Calvin's commentary on this, he says, uh we all know that the when the female is gazing at certain uh objects in the world, that it uh can have great effects on the fetus. 00:37:08.400 --> 00:37:11.679 Sometimes you read Calvin and it's like, man, this was written yesterday. 00:37:11.840 --> 00:37:15.920 Other times it's like, wow, the 1640s was a long time ago. 00:37:18.639 --> 00:37:24.000 Where like, I feel like for us in this room, it's like this is the thing we need the most help interpreting. 00:37:24.079 --> 00:37:28.639 And for him, it was just like, I don't even need I need to spend one sentence on this. 00:37:28.800 --> 00:37:30.480 We all know this is how things work. 00:37:32.800 --> 00:37:43.119 Now, here's uh we've been talking about cause and effect, right? 00:37:45.039 --> 00:37:52.719 Here's what we here's the the principle that I want us to see, and and that I want that I want us to see in this. 00:37:54.320 --> 00:38:07.920 Jacob operated in such a way where he maintained his integrity and honored the master that he was working under, even when he was unjust. 00:38:08.639 --> 00:38:18.400 But that maintenance of integrity wasn't resignation, because he still put himself in the pathway of the miracle. 00:38:19.760 --> 00:38:36.159 He operated out of hope that the Lord could use whatever means he provided, whatever means he possibly had that were honest, that God might use those for his benefit. 00:38:36.320 --> 00:38:37.679 And God does. 00:38:38.000 --> 00:38:46.400 In verse 43, thus the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, camels and donkeys. 00:38:46.639 --> 00:38:48.400 Now, here's what I think. 00:38:48.639 --> 00:38:58.079 I think that this text, this text is one story of how Jacob's flocks were multiplied. 00:38:58.320 --> 00:39:08.239 But we know that the multiplication of Jacob's flocks, where he got a lot of striped and spotted out of these plain goats, takes place over six years. 00:39:09.440 --> 00:39:13.679 Six more years he goes and serves Laban. 00:39:13.840 --> 00:39:20.079 That's how long it takes the Lord to build him up to a place where it would be sufficient for him to leave. 00:39:21.039 --> 00:39:27.280 And Jacob describes the way that it worked over those six years, like this, in the next chapter in verses seven through eight. 00:39:28.079 --> 00:39:29.920 He's talking to his wives. 00:39:31.840 --> 00:39:42.800 And he says just before this, Laban, I served, I served your father, Laban, and he changed my wages ten times over the course of serving him. 00:39:42.960 --> 00:39:46.639 Laban was always working it out so that he would get nothing. 00:39:48.800 --> 00:39:52.400 But Jacob says, God did not permit him to harm me. 00:39:53.119 --> 00:39:58.320 If he said, the spotted shall be your wages, then all the flock bore spotted. 00:39:58.559 --> 00:40:03.920 And if he said, the striped shall be your wages, then all the flock bore striped. 00:40:07.920 --> 00:40:15.119 So what we see there is that there's there, it looks like over the six years there were multiple sort of deals like this. 00:40:16.239 --> 00:40:25.199 And Jacob, in holding to his integrity, God worked it in such a way where he couldn't be harmed. 00:40:26.639 --> 00:40:29.360 So was Jacob taken advantage of? 00:40:29.760 --> 00:40:32.320 Was he made vulnerable by his integrity? 00:40:32.639 --> 00:40:34.320 Almost constantly. 00:40:35.440 --> 00:40:38.400 Almost constantly, he was taken advantage of. 00:40:39.119 --> 00:40:42.559 And yet, was Jacob taken advantage of? 00:40:43.519 --> 00:40:45.039 Almost never. 00:40:52.000 --> 00:41:05.360 Now, in the particulars of our lives, you probably won't be able to discern so clearly. 00:41:06.960 --> 00:41:13.440 Oh, I I I was set up for this loss here, but it ended up being such a gain here. 00:41:13.840 --> 00:41:16.960 And so it's it's just clear. 00:41:19.599 --> 00:41:22.400 You might not be able to piece those things together. 00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:46.480 And so in your heart, you must move through the world with this trust that the bottom line of cause and effect, the bottom line of safety for you, is that the Lord is in control. 00:41:48.400 --> 00:41:51.840 And so how do we approach our lives? 00:41:52.159 --> 00:42:00.719 It's with integrity, not for the sake of self-righteousness, not for the sake of justifying ourselves. 00:42:00.880 --> 00:42:08.719 Remember that that always falls into a sort of resentment and a swapping of victimization for our justification. 00:42:09.679 --> 00:42:15.360 But instead, it's a trust that the Lord is our shepherd. 00:42:17.280 --> 00:42:25.199 He is the one who protects us and keeps us safe in a world that is very dangerous. 00:42:28.239 --> 00:42:31.199 We have a mouth, we have a model for this way of living. 00:42:32.000 --> 00:42:36.400 That first Peter section continues in verse 21 of chapter two. 00:42:36.960 --> 00:42:48.079 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 00:42:48.880 --> 00:42:53.280 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 00:42:53.519 --> 00:42:57.440 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. 00:42:57.599 --> 00:43:07.760 When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 00:43:07.920 --> 00:43:10.320 Do you see how it's not resignation? 00:43:10.960 --> 00:43:14.159 It's entrusting yourself to the Lord. 00:43:16.400 --> 00:43:19.440 A pastor friend of mine makes this great distinction. 00:43:24.960 --> 00:43:28.239 You entrust yourself to Jesus. 00:43:29.440 --> 00:43:33.760 That is what allows you to trust others. 00:43:35.519 --> 00:43:39.119 One way to never get hurt again is to never trust others. 00:43:40.320 --> 00:43:46.000 But a way to we have to operate in trust, and trust is so risky. 00:43:47.119 --> 00:43:51.199 It's so dangerous to trust others. 00:43:52.000 --> 00:43:59.760 But when you are entrusted to Jesus, then you can begin to again. 00:44:03.199 --> 00:44:12.400 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. 00:44:12.800 --> 00:44:23.840 By his wounds you have been healed, for you were straying like sheep, but now have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. 00:44:24.239 --> 00:44:25.840 This is our hope. 00:44:26.000 --> 00:44:33.280 This is what allows us to live, to seek to live with integrity in a very dangerous world. 00:44:34.159 --> 00:44:37.840 It is that Christ has paid the ultimate sacrifice for us. 00:44:38.000 --> 00:44:48.719 Christ has put himself by his integrity in the ultimate position of vulnerability. 00:44:49.679 --> 00:45:00.000 And we see that that loss that he took accomplished our salvation, the greatest grace in the world. 00:45:00.480 --> 00:45:05.199 And so, what might our losses mean when they're patterned after Christ? 00:45:06.000 --> 00:45:17.360 It might mean that the things that we suffer because of the dangers of the world that we live in in Christ, we know, will amount to unthinkable glory. 00:45:18.960 --> 00:45:20.800 That is our hope. 00:45:21.199 --> 00:45:26.480 It's very different than just being shrewd enough to protect yourself. 00:45:26.719 --> 00:45:33.760 And it's very different than just being holy enough to always be taken advantage of and being hopeless in this life. 00:45:34.719 --> 00:45:43.440 It's entrusting yourself to God who guides these things and seeing our pattern in Christ who gave himself for us. 00:45:43.679 --> 00:45:45.760 We know we're protected by Him. 00:45:46.079 --> 00:45:48.960 The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. 00:45:49.679 --> 00:45:51.519 All right, let's see if there are any questions. 00:45:51.679 --> 00:45:54.079