HATRED AND JEALOUSY: THE DESTRUCTIVE DUO

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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

This is the account of Jacob.

Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.

Genesis 37:1-4

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Hate and jealousy.

There are not too many other emotions that are more deadly and ruinous than these two.

You know, it’s been said that a majority of murders are committed because of one of two root motives, love or money, and based on what we see and read in the news every day, it’s hard to argue with that theory. Now obviously, people don’t get murderous because they love the person they kill; rather it’s usually because they have hated them for whatever reason and jealousy is too often the bed partner of hate.

Given this, it’s little wonder that the Holy Bible would offer us so many more verses on love and so few on hate. For it is the will of our Lord that we love one another, not just some of the time but all of the time, and this was certainly reinforced through the life of His only Son Jesus, the One Christians are to model their lives after.

Indeed, if we let our guard down as a believer, we will find sin, which breeds hatred, ready to step in. Friends, this can only happen if we stop living like Jesus did, the One who was perfect love personified.

The truth of the matter is that when we find ourselves distanced from our Savior, we are in closer company with Satan and vulnerable to his attacks. And just as love can be edifying and beautiful, hate is destructive and repulsive. Go back to the fourth chapter of Genesis and we can see this represented perfectly. There, you’ll remember what hate did to Cain for it led him to kill and destroy his brother Abel. Dig deeper and you’ll find jealousy was the root cause of the hate-driven murder.

With this as a backdrop, we come to the opening verses of Genesis, chapter 37 and pick up on the story of Jacob, who we know God also named Israel. Look again at those verses here:

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

This is the account of Jacob.

Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. Vv.1-4

In today’s scripture passage, we see Old Testament history repeat itself.

Jacob has lost the love of his life, Rachel, and his father, Isaac, and we can’t help but think that he went through some significant grieving for a while after those deaths. We read where Jacob seemed to find great happiness and joy in his son Joseph who he loved “more than any of his other sons” because “he had been born to him in his old age”. I can’t help but think that some of Jacob’s feelings toward Joseph came from him being the first son born of his now deceased wife Rachel.

In a display of his special love for Joseph, the scriptures tell us that Jacob made him as “richly ornamented robe", a robe that has been referred to many times as the “coat of many colors”. More than just a mere outer garment, the robe became a symbol of Jacob’s preference for Joseph and a constant reminder to the other eleven sons that they all came in second, a feeling that led to their hatred of Joseph which was so intense that they couldn’t even "speak a kind word to him." And as we’ll see, this hatred would soon bubble over and lead toward thoughts of…you guessed it…murder.

This message today forces us to self examine ourselves to see if we are harboring any anger, hatred, or jealousy toward anyone. If so, we need to turn to Jesus this very moment and repent for as with Cain, “sin is crouching” at our door and “it desires to have” us (Genesis 4:7) .

The bottom line is that hatred and jealousy, the destructive duo, are not of God; rather, they are of the enemy Satan and we need to know and trust that he only wishes for our downfall. It is the very reason he exists and his chief goal, each and every day, is to destroy every good and perfect thing that the Lord has made and that includes us.

The good news is we have a choice. We can proclaim the name of Jesus when Satan comes calling, denying him the victory and in doing so, we can fulfill the exhortation of our Savior’s half brother James when he wrote these words:

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God  He will come near to you." James 4:7-8

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

RELOCATION

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Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Esau took his wives and sons and daughters and all the members of his household, as well as his livestock and all his other animals and all the goods he had acquired in Canaan, and moved to a land some distance from his brother Jacob. Their possessions were too great for them to remain together; the land where they were staying could not support them both because of their livestock. So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the hill country of Seir.

This is the account of the family line of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir.

These are the names of Esau’s sons:

Eliphaz, the son of Esau’s wife Adah, and Reuel, the son of Esau’s wife Basemath.

The sons of Eliphaz:

Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam and Kenaz.

Esau’s son Eliphaz also had a concubine named Timna, who bore him Amalek. These were grandsons of Esau’s wife Adah.

The sons of Reuel:

Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.

The sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon, whom she bore to Esau:

Jeush, Jalam and Korah.

These were the chiefs among Esau’s descendants:

The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau:

Chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, Korah, Gatam and Amalek. These were the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in Edom; they were grandsons of Adah.

The sons of Esau’s son Reuel:

Chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were the chiefs descended from Reuel in Edom; they were grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.

The sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah:

Chiefs Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These were the chiefs descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah daughter of Anah.

These were the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these were their chiefs.

These were the sons of Seir the Horite, who were living in the region:

Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. These sons of Seir in Edom were Horite chiefs.

The sons of Lotan:

Hori and Homam. Timna was Lotan’s sister.

The sons of Shobal:

Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho and Onam.

The sons of Zibeon:

Aiah and Anah. This is the Anah who discovered the hot springs in the desert while he was grazing the donkeys of his father Zibeon.

The children of Anah:

Dishon and Oholibamah daughter of Anah.

The sons of Dishon:

Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran and Keran.

The sons of Ezer:

Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan.

The sons of Dishan:

Uz and Aran.

These were the Horite chiefs:

Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. These were the Horite chiefs, according to their divisions, in the land of Seir.

These were the kings who reigned in Edom before any Israelite king reigned:

Bela son of Beor became king of Edom. His city was named Dinhabah.

When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah succeeded him as king.

When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites succeeded him as king.

When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, succeeded him as king. His city was named Avith.

When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah succeeded him as king.

When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the river succeeded him as king.

When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan son of Akbor succeeded him as king.

When Baal-Hanan son of Akbor died, Hadad succeeded him as king. His city was named Pau, and his wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab.

These were the chiefs descended from Esau, by name, according to their clans and regions:

Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel and Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their settlements in the land they occupied.

This is the family line of Esau, the father of the Edomites.

Genesis 36:6-43

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Isaac, the son of Abraham, inherited the following covenant promise of God that had been given to his father:

“Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed Me and did everything I required of him, keeping My commands, My decrees and My instructions.” Genesis 26:2-5

We know that Isaac would go on to have twin sons with Esau the eldest and Jacob the younger. Only one of them would be able to carry on the covenant blessing of God from their father and God made it clear how that would go even before the two baby boys were born as He said this to their mother, Rebekah:

“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” Genesis 25:23

Well, we know how the story went, don’t we?

First, Esau foolishly gave his birthright away to Jacob in exchange for a mere bowl of red stew (25:29-34) and then Jacob, encouraged by his mother, tricked Isaac into giving him the blessing that rightfully was Esau’s.

You’ll remember the scene when Esau returned and went to his father who suddenly realized he had been tricked into thinking Jacob was his oldest son. Esau pleaded for his father to bless him too but it was too late. The blessing was Jacob’s but Isaac did say this to his beloved, favored son (25:28):

“Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness, away from the dew of heaven above. You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.” Genesis 27:39-40

Now, initially we know that Esau held a grudge against his brother and even had thoughts of killing him but after Jacob had gone away to stay with his uncle Laban, a stay that lasted 20 years, Jacob was returning to his homeland only to encounter his older brother who embraced and kissed him, reconciling their differences (Genesis 33:1-4). And after catching up on things, the two brothers separated.

After this, we know Jacob, his name changed by God to Israel, would reside in Canaan with his twelve sons who would go on to be the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel, the advent of the Israelite nation. But what about Esau?

Well, we find a lot of the answers to that question in the 36th chapter of Genesis, the bridge to the story of Joseph that begins in chapter 37 and dominates the rest of this first book of the Bible.

Go back again to the words of God to Rebekah. He told her that there were “two nations” in her womb, “two peoples” who would be separated and as we at the beginning of our passage, it was Esau who relocated, moving to a “land some distance from his brother Jacob”. The reason the move was necessary was that the combined “possessions” of he and his brother “were too great for them to remain together” as “the land could not support them both because of their livestock”.

And so we read where Esau “took his wives and sons and daughters and all the members of his household, as well as his livestock and all his other animals and all the goods he had acquired in Canaan” and ended up settling “in the hill country of Seir”

What’s interesting about this story is that you will remember Jacob being less than honest with Esau after their reunion, saying this:

“My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.” Genesis 33:13:14

It sounded like the reunion would continue but the scriptures let us know that Jacob had no intention of going with his brother.

So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth. 33:16-17

Indeed, the two peoples became separated by quite a distance with Esau to the south of his brother. And as we see in the remainder of this chapter, Esau’s nation developed nicely, he being the father of the Edomites who would go on to be in constant conflict with the nation of Israel, the issue between the brothers continuing long after their respective deaths.

And as I close, it’s interesting that the Bible never speaks about Esau’s death where we will see later how Jacob receives a grand burial complete with an Egyptian entourage. The younger son will indeed be honored above his older brother.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com

BLOODLINES

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Jacob had twelve sons:

The sons of Leah:

Reuben the firstborn of Jacob,

Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.

The sons of Rachel:

Joseph and Benjamin.

The sons of Rachel’s servant Bilhah:

Dan and Naphtali.

The sons of Leah’s servant Zilpah:

Gad and Asher.

These were the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram.

Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years. Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

This is the account of the family line of Esau (that is, Edom).

Esau took his wives from the women of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite—also Basemath daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.

Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath bore Reuel, and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These were the sons of Esau, who were born to him in Canaan.

Genesis 35:23-29, 36:1-5

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It had been quite a life.

Isaac, the only son Abraham had with his wife Sarah, had been born miraculously when his parents were well past their childbearing years, escaped sacrifice by God’s grace and intervention, inherited the special covenant given to his father by the Lord, received the blessing of a wife who was a relative, and had two twin sons who brought more than just a little angst into his life.

But now, like what happens to all mere mortal humans, he had reached the end.

For at the end of Genesis, chapter 35, we read this:

Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years. Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. Vv.27-29

It must have been a great comfort for Isaac to know that his twin sons had settled their differences before he passed away. You may remember that at one time after Jacob tricked Isaac into giving him the special blessing that rightfully belonged to his older brother, Esau allowed his anger over the matter to fester into murderous thoughts and intentions. This prompted Rebekah to send Jacob away to her brother Laban and in the 20 years that passed, Esau’s heart changed and he found his way to forgive his brother. Their reconciliation culminated in their father’s burial after he had lived 180 years.

It’s interesting to me (and maybe to you as well) that the death of Isaac is sandwiched between the genealogy of his two sons with Jacob’s coming first. As God had promised Rebekah when she was pregnant with her two boys:

“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” Genesis 25:23

Indeed, the nations of Israel and Edom with their associated people would be separated and as we will see, Israel was the stronger of the two nations resulting in the older (Esau and his descendants) serving his younger brother (Israel) and the twelve tribes which originated with his sons who we see detailed in chapter 35, verses 23 through 26:

Jacob had twelve sons:

The sons of Leah:

Reuben the firstborn of Jacob,

Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.

The sons of Rachel:

Joseph and Benjamin.

The sons of Rachel’s servant Bilhah:

Dan and Naphtali.

The sons of Leah’s servant Zilpah:

Gad and Asher.

These were the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram.

Of interest, we’ve seen the story of these births covered in great detail by the scriptures, particularly in chapters 29 and 30 but when we turn the page in Genesis to chapter 36, we see a condensed version of Esau’s family tree which became known, not as the Esauites but rather the Edomites. You may recall this verse that explains the origin:

Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.) Genesis 25:29-30

And going back earlier, this from Esau’s birth:

When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. Genesis 25:24-25

Esau emerged from the womb red and later developed a taste for red stew. When translated, Edom simply means “red” or “reddish” so now you know the back story to the Edomites and their progenitor, Esau who was also known as Edom. Here’s the initial summation of his family line from the first six verses of chapter 36:

This is the account of the family line of Esau (that is, Edom).

Esau took his wives from the women of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite—also Basemath daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.

Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath bore Reuel, and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These were the sons of Esau, who were born to him in Canaan.

Of note here, we know that Esau’s first two wives, Adah and Oholibamah) were Canaanites and this didn’t sit well with either of his parents because the culture of Canaan was ungodly, immersed in paganism and idolism. We find this in the very last verse of Genesis, chapter 27:

Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.” v.46

And this led Isaac to give Jacob this command in the opening two verses of the next chapter:

“Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.”

After hearing this, it’s believed that Esau sought to get back in good favor with his father and so he took a third wife, who just so happened to be the daughter of Abraham’s first son, Ishmael, who you’ll remember was born to Sarah’s slave, Hagar. We read where her name was Basemath.

Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,” and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had. 28:6-9

The irony in this is that we find that Ishmael’s daughter also had two names, Mahalath and Basemath, something that wasn’t uncommon in biblical times. I guess that made them compatible, right?

Anyways, Esau’s three wives bore him five sons, Eliphaz (Adah), Ruel (Basemath), and Jeush, Jalam and Korah (Oholibamah) all who were “born to him in Canaan”.

So if you’re keeping score, Jacob (Israel) had twelve sons while Esau (Edom) had five. The Israelite nation under the younger would become greater than the older as the bloodlines had been established to fulfill God’s promise made to Abraham.

Tomorrow, we’ll finish looking at Esau’s genealogy and how it bridges us to the story of Joseph which spans the remainder of this first book of the Bible.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

THE DESTRUCTIVENESS OF LUST

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Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father's concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it.

"Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father's bed, onto my couch and defiled it."

Genesis 35:21-22, 49:3-4

The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (he was the firstborn, but when he defiled his father’s marriage bed, his rights as firstborn were given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel; so he could not be listed in the genealogical record in accordance with his birthright, and though Judah was the strongest of his brothers and a ruler came from him, the rights of the firstborn belonged to Joseph).

1 Chronicles 5:1-2

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Reuben was Israel’s (formerly Jacob) first born of twelve sons, delivered by his mother Leah. You may recall that she became Jacob’s first wife after an act of trickery by Laban, Jacob’s uncle.

Now, in Jewish culture, the firstborn son held a position of great significance within the family.

We’ve already seen this in the story of Esau and Jacob where you’ll remember there was a matter of birthright and blessing. This included the firstborn gaining twice as much of the inheritance than his brothers.

This is what the eldest son Esau was entitled to but he ended up with neither, handing his birthright to his younger brother for a mere bowl of stew and later losing his blessing through an act of deception carried out by his mother Rebekah and Jacob.

Everything that could have been Esau’s ended up going to Jacob, fulfilling the following promise God made to his mother before the twins were born:

“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” Genesis 25:23

Moving ahead in the Old Testament, we read the following words from God in the thirteenth chapter of the Book of Exodus:

"The Lord said to Moses, "Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether man or animal." Vv.1-2

Here, we see God setting aside the firstborn for Himself, a special blessing from the Creator to the first son He would create in ever Israelite family.

So Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel, had everything going for him. He held special favor in God’s eyes and was in line to receive his father’s inheritance at his passing.

But there was only one problem.

Reuben had some big time sin problems.

For as we see in our scriptures for today, he willingly "went in and slept with his father's concubine Bilhah." In other words, he committed adultery against his own father because you’ll recall that Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, bore two sons with Jacob: Dan and Naphtali. Through his actions, we find Reuben allowing himself to fall victim to sexual sin and through this transgression, we see the destructive nature of sexual immorality revealed.

Consider these consequences of what he did:

First, he ruined Bilhah.

Although Reuben could move on unscathed (or at least he thought he would), Bilhah was finished. After her act with Reuben, she was an adulteress and would be condemned to living in widowhood. She would never be able to marry again nor have sexual relations with another man lest she become a prostitute.

Although we could see both parties as responsible, Reuben, in selfishly satisfying his own lust, did so at the expense of his father’s concubine and brother’s mother.

Second, Reuben ruined his father.

Israel, fresh off the loss of his beloved wife Rachel, now had to deal with knowing that Reuben had slept with the mother of his two brothers, therefore denying Israel the opportunity to ever have intimacy with Bilhah again. In fact, by law, Jacob was required to excommunicate and abandon Bilhah, an act that had to carry with it incredible pain and anguish.

Indeed, Israel had a good portion of his life taken away by the son he was to give everything to. But he wouldn’t let Reuben get away with it for as we see in today’s second passage from the 49th chapter of Genesis, Israel would hold Reuben accountable for his despicable actions. Look again at those words here:

"Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father's bed, onto my couch and defiled it." Vv.3-4

Here, before he was about to die, we find Israel condemn his oldest son, taking away his birthright and passing it on to the sons of Joseph. When it was all said and done with, Reuben had foolishly thrown everything away for one night of selfish pleasure.

Friends, we can learn a lot from these verses and the mistakes made by Reuben. Here are some takeaways:

1. Rejoice in what the Lord has blessed you with and do so with humility.

Like Reuben, we can all easily fall into the trap of thinking we can do anything we want while expecting that God will still grant us His blessings. This is especially true in matters of indulgence, whether it be greed or lust or any type of excessive lifestyle.

Reuben thought his future was set and no one could ever take it away from him but he learned a hard lesson that a person can indeed lose it all with just one poor use of judgment.

We would be well suited to remember that today.

2. Our sinful actions often carry with them far-reaching destructive effects.

Reuben’s adulterous action ruined two people, Bilhah and his father Israel. After gaining his sexual pleasure, he left the two others depressed and forlorn.

Unfortunately, I have been the victim of infidelity in my first marriage and I can tell you that it destroyed the relationship and left me devastated, driven into the depths of emotional pain and darkness. Maybe you have gone through the same thing in your life and have experienced the aftermath of another’s selfishly, sinful choices.

3. There are consequences that arise from our sinfulness.

In this instance, when someone allows lust to rule their life, they lose perspective on the sanctity and beauty of love, love the way God intended it to be. The blessing of love He grants becomes cheapened and degraded and the men or women (whatever the case) who are victimized by lust get devalued. They only become an instrument used to fulfill desire, not a person who is respected and loved with dignity.

Further, too often, lust leads to violence for ever day, people are killed because they took lustful liberties with someone else and paid the ultimate cost for it, a cost far greater than losing a birthright. I’m sure that if these people could come back from the grave and talk to us, they would say that it wasn’t worth it.

As for Reuben, I feel he might also tell us that his act of lust wasn’t worth it either, definitely not worth throwing away your entire inheritance for a one night stand.

Brother and sisters, the story of Reuben opens our eyes up to the dangers of sexual sinfulness and it can (and does) happen to anyone for Satan is always working to lure people into temptation. For sure, no one is immune to his attacks and so we need to always be on guard, drawing ever nearer to Jesus for when we are in His presence, we know Satan has to flee.

Before I close, one final exhortation:

Please hold love sacred in your heart and keep in mind that the Lord didn’t bless us with the ability to have sexual relations within the context of a marital relationship between one man and one woman just for us to completely abuse and corrupt the gift. Let us keep sex true to the Lord’s design and cherish our marital relationships as if they are incredible blessings ordained by our Lord because that’s just what they are.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

COME TO JESUS AND DON'T DELAY

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Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then they moved on from Bethel.

While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty. And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, "Don't be afraid, for you have another son." As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.

So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel's tomb.

Genesis 35:16-20

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

There will come a day when we all will pass away and although we live in an uncertain world, this is one certainty we can all count on.

But although we all know death is going to happen, none of us can be sure when, not the day or the means. It could happen at any time, at any place, and in any way.

Now, as Christians this truth might leave us distraught and overcome by perpetual worry but we have a blessed assurance that an eternal future awaits us when this finite earthly life is over. In other words, because of belief in Jesus, salvation is secure for all Jesus followers and so there is no need to be concerned about death being the end because it isn’t. Rather, it’s the glorious beginning of life forever with God, our Father, and His Son Jesus, our Savior.

As we focus on Heaven here, let’s keep in mind that no person outside of Jesus has lived perfectly. This serves to remind of that the Lord welcomes the imperfect, the sin-stained yet redeemed, the battered and bruised, the diseased, the forlorn, and those alone and unloved. In other words, all people heading toward Heaven will be broken in some way and this is why our God promises to make all things new, a promise that includes all the saints coming to abide everlastingly with Him.

Friends, what an awesome assurance God has given the world and all its people. For all someone needs to do is simply believe and trust in Jesus as Savior in order to be guaranteed a place in Heaven. This is the good news of the Gospel and if you’re reading this today and aren’t in Christ, I urge you to make your commitment to believe in Him this very moment. Delaying could lead to you missing your chance for salvation and if that happens, you’ll instead live forever in the torment and damnation of Hell.

With all this, we now turn our attention to the scripture passage for today. Look again at those words here:

Then they moved on from Bethel.

While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty. And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, "Don't be afraid, for you have another son." As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.

So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel's tomb. Genesis 35:16-20

Here we find great tragedy in these mere five verses as Rachel, the woman Jacob loved so dearly, dies after delivering his twelfth and final son, a son who would bear the name Benjamin. As we see later in the Israel story, Benjamin will end up being his father’s favorite child, and we can see how this would be since his birth and subsequent life would always be connected to his mother’s death.

As for that loss of life, I’m sure pretty sure that Rachel never thought for a moment that her life would end while delivering her son.

And yet, she did.

The new life that emerged from her womb ended up replacing the life she left behind.  It was a classic case of out with the old and in with the new, a snapshot of how God has perpetually renewed and rejuvenated His kingdom here on earth.

In a twist of irony, you may remember these words from Rachel as she spoke angrily to Jacob, jealous because her sister Leah was bearing children while she could not:

"Give me children, or I'll die!" Genesis 30:1

Unfortunately, later she would die giving birth to Benjamin.

You may also recall Rachel saying this after her son, Joseph, was born:

"May the Lord add to me another son." Genesis 30:24

Indeed, God honored Rachel’s request with one last son, a son who was initially named Ben-Oni by her, meaning "son of my sorrow". Such was the depth of her sadness over knowing she would not get to nurse or raise her new son.

After her death, we find Jacob renaming his son, Benjamin, which meant "my good fortune." As mentioned prior, Benjamin would be the twelfth son of Jacob, rounding out the heads of what would become the twelve tribes of Israel.

As this passage ends, we find Jacob setting up yet another pillar, this one in honor of Rachel, the woman he loved so much, the shepherd girl who stole his heart away when they met by the well, the woman he would labor an additional seven years to marry.

So what can we take away from this tragic story?

I think the main thing is that no one knows when their earthly life will be over. Like Rachel, there are countless people that die daily who certainly didn’t plan on it happening when they woke up. We can add a lot of others who may have gone to bed but then never awoke again.

Death is certain but so is eternal life after death. For as a savvy pastor once proclaimed, “Everybody lives forever. Their final destination will either be Heaven or Hell.”

When it comes down to it, belief in Jesus or the failure to believe in Him is the ultimate determining factor. And if you haven’t placed your belief in Him, come to Him now and do so without any further delay. For if you do, there’s absolutely no need to worry whether today is your last day or not as your future in Heaven forever is certain.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

OUR LORD, THE FOUNT OF ALL BLESSINGS

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. God said to him, "Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel."

So he named him Israel. And God said to him, "I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you."

Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him.

Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.

Genesis 35:9-15

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

After Jacob returned to Bethel and constructed the altar of worship as God had commanded, he returns to Paddan Aram where we find the Lord once again appearing to him. We read that after He blessed blessing Jacob, He told him:

"Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.”

And that’s just what God did.

Of interest, you’ll remember that this isn’t the first we are hearing about this name change. For right after Jacob had wrestled with God before his encounter with Esau, we learned this in chapter 32 of this book:

Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” v.28

As we examined in the message, Grab Onto God and Don’t Let Go, Jacob was no longer a deceiver or someone who would supplant another through treachery as he had in the past. And so he didn’t need to keep the name that defined his sinful nature. After his encounter with the Lord, he was a new man and so God gave him a new beginning with a new name at Bethel, a new name that we know the Promised Land bears to this day, the name of Israel.

Now, as we go back to our passage for today, we see that a name change wasn’t the only thing that the Lord gave Jacob. For as we see, He gave Israel the same covenant promise He had made with Abraham. Look again at these words from God:

"I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you."

With this, the Lord’s promised blessing that had been transferred from Abraham to his son Isaac was now passed onto Isaac’s son, Israel.

As we look at this shifting of blessings from one of God’s chosen leaders to another, we should take note of three very important things:

First, God establishes His dominion and authority saying, "I am God Almighty."

In other words, He essentially tells Israel that He will do everything He is about to say because He and He alone is God and there is nothing beyond the work of His hands.

Next, God issues the following command:

"Be fruitful and increase in number."

Note that the Lord didn’t say enjoy yourself in life and, if you get a chance, have children. No, He commanded Israel to be fruitful and increase in number. God gave Israel no other option and as we know Israel ended up having twelve sons and so his obedience became evident.

Finally, God makes it clear that His vow to Israel would be passed on further, saying:

"The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you."

As we saw prior, God was transferring the covenant he made with Abraham and Isaac prior but He was adding the assurance that the promise would be passed onto Israel’s descendants as well.

With all this, now let’s pivot toward thinking about the blessings we receive from God. Maybe they don’t seem as significant or substantial as passing possession of a nation but they do follow the same three part general pattern we just covered if we think about it.

First, God would want us to remember who He is and have us acknowledge His awesome power and majesty. Further, He would always want us to remember that there isn’t anything beyond the work of His almighty hands.

As the classic doxology begins, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow…"

Indeed, any good and perfect gifts (aka blessings) originate with Him (James 1:17).

Second, He expects us to carry out all He has commanded.

We have seen through many of these messages how God blesses those who are obedient to His word and will. We find affirmation of this in the first two verses of chapter 28 in the Book of Deuteronomy:

"If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God."

Indeed, God showers down His blessings who follow Him, His Word, and His will in obedience.

Finally, God stays true to His promises.

In the 23rd chapter of the Book of Numbers, we read this:

"God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?" v.19

This very Word of God should be etched in our minds so we can remember it anytime we start to doubt whether God will stay true to what He has promised.

In the final analysis, He never fails us nor breaks any promise he has made.

Before I close, we need to cover one other important item of note from our scripture passage today.

For after receiving God’s blessing, we find Jacob "set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him” before pouring “out a drink offering on it” as well as oil.

In other words, Jacob immediately distinguished the place where he encountered God, marking it as holy. The scriptures tell us he constructed a pillar where he was able to worship the Lord and present an offering of thanksgiving to Him.

And so the receipt of a blessing initiated a response of gratitude, reverence, and thanksgiving to God, from whom all blessings flow.

Friends, we need to follow the lead of Israel in this passage, formally remembering and mentally marking significant times and places where we have experienced God’s providence so to keep us keenly aware of how good He has been to us. Doing this will help us when we experience life’s trials because we will be able to recollect how we have been far more richly blessed than not by our Lord and certainly blessed more than we deserve.

As we finish, I think a good discipline for Christian believers can be found in the old saying:

“Count your blessings every day and when you finish, count them over again.”

We need to take a moment to write down all the many ways we have been blessed this very moment and spare no detail when we do. For I believe when we’re intentional about doing this, we will be reminded of just good God has been and remember that our good God who possesses the power to do all things is the same God who is always true to His promises.

Won’t you join me in giving Him thanks today?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

PREPARING TO WORSHIP

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then God said to Jacob, "Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau."

So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone."

So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem. Then they set out, and the terror of God fell upon the towns all around them so that no one pursued them. 

Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. There he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel, because it was there that God revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.

Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak outside Bethel. So it was named Allon Bakuth.

Genesis 35:1-8

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we turn to Genesis, chapter 35, we find Jacob in a place where he’s very concerned about reprisal from neighboring peoples after his sons murdered all the men of Shechem and pillaged their town in revenge of their sister Dinah who had been raped by Shechem himself.

It is in the place, in the midst of this distress, that we find God entering into, just as He often does in times of need. The scriptures tell us that the Lord provides the following direction to Jacob:

“Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau."

You’ll remember that Jacob wrestled God at Bethel just before he encountered Esau in their blessed moment of reconciliation. You’ll also recall that Jacob would not let go of God until he received a blessing. We know his faith was rewarded then and it was about to be rewarded again as we see him respond to God’s command to go to Bethel and build an altar.

In other words, the Lord was sending Jacob to Bethel to construct a place of worship.

Well, Jacob willingly receives this order and sets out to do what the Lord commanded but note that before he left for Bethel, there was one matter he had to get corrected. For he had to prepare His people for worship and a trip into the very presence of the God Most High.

The scriptures tell us that Jacob gave the following order to his household:

"Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone."

Jacob knew his people were nowhere near ready to approach the Lord in their present spiritual state. It’s obvious that they had been greatly influenced by the polytheistic ways of the neighboring pagan cultures, devoting themselves to foreign gods which had no standing or power when compared to the one and only God. And so Jacob demanded that his people develop the right mindset before worshipping the Lord, one of complete commitment and dedication to Him and Him alone.

How would the people respond?

We read where they listed and did what Jacob ordered, a testimony to the great respect they must have had for their leader.

Well, at the end of this passage, with Jacob’s people properly prepared for worship, we see him lead them to Bethel and the scriptures tell us that "the terror of God fell upon the towns all around them so that no one pursued them."

In other words, God placed His almighty protection around Jacob and his people as they set out to build the worship altar and then pay tribute to their Lord for His goodness and grace. In the end translation, Jacob’s concerns were taken away so he could complete the task that God asked Him to do.

So what do we take away from this short passage of five verses?

I believe the Lord reveals some important truths about how we need to live in His presence. They include:

1. Lead and live life faithfully toward God and you can help save others who follow you.

During his wrestling match with God, Jacob had shown the Father that he was unwilling to hold onto anything in life more than Him. In return, his faithfulness was rewarded by God not just once but twice.

First, it was creating a reunion where Jacob met a loving, not murderous, Esau.

And now, He shielded Jacob from any retribution from any neighboring peoples after the vengeance exacted by his sons. The scriptures tell us how God sent terror on those would do him and his people harm, all because the special relationship he had with his heavenly Father.

Today, we too get the opportunity to influence other for the cause of our Lord and we should be committing to it every day in response to Jesus’ great commission to make disciples of all nations. We live among people who worship everything except God. It’s our responsibility to help His light shine into their dark spiritual space so to lead them to worship Him and Him alone.

2. People who respond obediently to God and render proper respect to Him, especially as they approach Him in worship, find favor and protection from Him.

Jacob ordered his people to "Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes" but they could have told him to get lost while continuing to live the way they had been.

But they didn’t.

Rather, they did away with anything associated with other gods and went with Jacob to Bethel so to build an altar and worship the Lord there. Their actions pleased God to the point where He made sure they were defended, allowing them to adore and honor Him.

3. No matter what circumstances might exist, God is in control.

As neighboring towns heard of the Shechem massacre and may have wished to do the same to Jacob and his people, God took control of the matter and ensured that His will was done. Through this, we are reminded that God blesses those who are loyal and obedient to Him. We also see that He rewards those who approach Him in the right spirit of worship, just as Jacob’s people had done.

Friends, through this story of Jacob and his people, we learn the importance of faith, obedience, and having the proper spiritual attitude before we approach our Lord in worship. Whether it’s on Sunday morning or coming into His presence daily, let us discard anything that might be unacceptable to Him and then devote ourselves to Him properly with all our heart, mind, and soul while giving Him the honor and respect He deserves.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.