#1
“The Lord Is With You” Series
"THE LORD IS WITH YOU IN THE LAND!"
TEXT: Genesis
28:10-22
INTRO: The story
is told about a father who gave his son a difficult puzzle for a birthday
present. Some of the pieces were
dark and odd shaped, some looked like they would go together, but they
wouldn't! The father watched for
hours as his son tried to put the puzzle all together but the boy got
nowhere! Finally frustrated, his
son pushed the puzzle toward his father and challenged him to try it. To the son’s amazement the father put it
together in just a few moments of time!
Then his father explained why he was able to do it when his son couldn't
... "You see, son, I knew what the entire
picture was suppose to look like already ... you only saw pieces, but I knew
what the whole picture looked like."
This
is so true about us too; we go through life only seeing pieces of our life at a
time and we often can't figure out how our life in Christ goes together, we
often can’t see how one part fits in with another part and we might even
question whether God is good or cares at all! Yet, our heavenly Father sees the whole
picture and He knows that it all fits together ... even when we throw up our
hands and are discouraged and frustrated because we can't seem to put the pieces
of it together into a coherent picture!
PROP.
SENT: One of the great truths of the
Bible is God's promise to be with us in everything, and everywhere we
go! Even when we don't feel His
presence or see how anything good can come from the trials we are undergoing
He is being faithful to us and is very present in our lives ... trust Him
even when you feel
unsure!
I. WEARY REALITY! 28:10-11
A. Troubles
28:10
1. This trip by Jacob was hardly
pleasant!
a. He was weary from the trip, a
physically difficult time, and an emotionally difficult
time.
b. He had left his mother because she
had warned him that his brother Esau had plans to kill him! The long term jealousies that existed
between he and his brother were coming to a head.
c. He had cheated and lied to his
father and now was traveling to Haran for a wife to honor his father's request,
his dad was not far from dying, he probably felt this would help restore their
relationship and would honor his father’s dying
request!
d. This trip likely meant that he
never again saw his mother alive; it appears that she died before he returned
home again almost 25 years later!
e. He came from a very dysfunctional
family, his father favored his older brother Esau, and his mother favored him
... this caused terrible jealousies in the family and even hurt the marriage of
his parents! It created a huge
divide between them as brothers.
f. This was a home where family
members lied to each other, stole from each other, plotted to hurt one another,
and as a result they were afraid and on the run a lot!
2. To say the least, Jacob was a very
troubled man facing very uncertain things, including an uncertain
future!
3. He demonstrated the dynamics of
fear, discouragement, disappointment, deception, etc. – life was hardly
rosy! He is just trying to survive
and make it in this life!
a. This was hardly the picture of
vibrant faith we ascribe to him!
What Jacob needed was a renewed sense of God's presence in his
life!
b. This is true with us when we are
facing troubles and find ourselves scared and unsure of what the future holds,
when discouragement seeps in and pushes faith aside!
4. It just seems there are times when
nothing goes right and we wonder what or where God is!
ILLUS: Like
a bricklayer who had a tough day on the job and was hurt. His insurance company wrote him for more
information about the incident since his injuries seemed so extensive. He wrote back the following: "I am writing in response for your
request for more information, in block #3 on the accident report I put I was
hurt because "I was trying to do the job alone." You wanted an explanation as to how this
caused my accident ... I hope the following will help explain the
situation: I am a bricklayer by
trade, the date I was hurt I was working alone on the roof of a new 6 story
building. When I completed my work
I discovered that I had about 500 pounds of brick left over to carry down. Rather than carry them by hand in
several trips, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley which
fortunately was attached to the side of the building at the 6th floor. Securing the rope at ground level I went
up to the roof, swung the barrel out and loaded it with the 500 pounds of
brick. Then I went back to the
ground and untied the rope, holding it tightly to insure a slow descent of the
500 pounds of bricks ... you will note in block #11 of the accident report that
my weight is 135 pounds. Due to my
surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind
and forgot to let go of the rope.
Needless to say, I proceeded at a rather rapid rate up the side of the
building. In the vicinity of the
3rd floor I met the barrel coming down; this explains my fractured skull and
broken collarbone. Slowed only
slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my
right hand were knuckles deep into the pulley at the top of the 6th floor. Fortunately, by this time I had regained
my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope in spite of my pain
... however at the same moment the barrel which had hit the bottom with the
bricks in it had the bottom break out of it. Devoid of the bricks now the barrel then
weighed only about 50 pounds. I
again refer you to block #11 on the report that records my weight as 135
pounds. As you might have guessed,
I began a rapid descent down the side of the building still holding onto the
rope. In the vicinity of the 3rd
floor I again met the barrel but this time it was coming up ... this accounts
for the 2 fractured ankles and the lacerations of my legs and lower body. The encounter with the barrel slowed me
enough to lessen my injuries when I fell onto the pile of bricks and,
fortunately, only 3 vertebrae were cracked when I landed on them. I am sorry, however, to report that as I
lay there on the bricks, in pain and unable to stand and looking at the empty
barrel 6 stories above me that I again lost my presences of mind, and I let go
of the rope I was holding still.
The empty barrel weighed more than the rope so it came down upon me and
broke both my legs. I hope this
information you asked for explains how working alone caused so much extensive
injuries.
– Source Unknown
5. In reality, there are those moments
in life when it seems that nothing goes right and life can press in on
us.
B. Tired! 28:11
1. All the terrible trials Jacob had
gone through must have left him tired and wondering about God and faith ... even
though he was responsible for much of his own trouble!
2. Out in no-man's land he settles
down tired and afraid. Perhaps he
wondered, "Where is the God of my
grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac?"
a. He had heard so much of how God had
been with his Grandfather and his dad but he was wondering why God wasn't with
him like He was with them?
b. Perhaps he wondered if God really
was what he had been told all his life He is.
3. It is one thing to hear about God
helping others and something else to experience Him helping you yourself! Nobody gets to heaven on someone
else’s’ faith ... they must have their own!
4. With all the trouble Jacob was
experiencing God was about to reveal Himself personally to Jacob – and Jacob
needed it!!
II. WONDERFUL REVELATIONS! 28:12-15
A. Therapeutic! 28:12-14
1. God is about to change Jacob's life
and faith, God allows him to dream a very special
dream:
a. He sees a stairway resting on earth
near where he is sleeping reaching all the way into heaven. On this stairway there were angels going
and coming constantly, at the top stood the Lord
Himself.
b. God then speaks to him
personally.
2. God clearly tells Jacob of His
intention to always be with Jacob throughout his entire lifetime: God says, "I am with you
and will watch over you wherever you go,”
a. This was not just a promise from
God about property or land!
b. It was assurance by God to be with
HIM SPECIFICALLY and HIS CHILDREN no matter where they travel to or from! (Read verse
15)
B. Treaty
28:15
1. God makes a deal with Jacob, in
spite of all Jacob's failures and sins God loves Him and has plans for Him, he
just needs to trust Him as God!
2. This was a new understanding about
God's love for him.
ILLUS: C.S.
Lewis once wrote: "On the whole,
God's love for us is a much safer subject to think about than our love for
Him." How right he
is!
– Source Unknown
3. God's promise here is
airtight! Jacob wasn’t running
through life alone or without help ... the constant movement of the angels
showed that! Though Jacob had never
seen these angels ascending and descending before clearly this activity had been
going on all the time.
a. It also revealed something new for
him ... God wasn't just some local god; He was anywhere we happen to be! Even here in the desert on the way to
b. He now too realized God was
watching over him constantly, the top of heaven was open and God stood there
watching him, he just never realized it so fully
before!
c. Fortunately for him God still
loved him and sought his best in life in spite of his many failures and
fears!
4. No doubt new hope and courage came
from this revelation; new security was built in his
heart!
5. All the while he had struggled to
flee from death, his brother trying to kill him, running from despair, leaving
home, uncertain of the future ... and yet God was right there all the time, he
just didn't realize God’s help was that close!
ILLUS: A
young boy was doing his best to lift a huge heavy rock that was much too large
for him. He grunted and puffed, but
to no avail. He tried all kinds of
methods and tricks and still nothing.
Finally in frustration he said to his father who was watching all
this nearby, “Dad, I can't move this thing no matter what I do, nothing
works!” To this his father asked,
“Are you sure you have tried everything ... have you used every resource at your
disposal?” The boy couldn't believe
his own father's comment, he said, “You yourself watched ... how can you ask
that question? I've tried
everything!” The father
responded, “No my son you haven't, you haven't asked me for help!” Suddenly the boy realized how silly he
was for ignoring his own father's strength even though he had been present the
whole time ... how like this we are with God!
– Source Unknown
III. WORSHIP RESPONSES! 28:16-22
A. Transformation! 28:16-17
1. Jacob WAKES UP! Both physically and
spiritually!
a. God is actually there where he is,
and he wasn't aware of God's presence before this
vision!
b. He decides that this place should
be called, "
2. He is transformed from fear to
faith, he takes the rock he used as a pillow and transforms it into a monument
to God's presence, a visible reminder that this is God's
House!
a. You will notice that building a
monument called "God's House" isn't enough, he anoints it with oil too; no
church is God's house without the Spirit's anointing on
it!
b. Jacob will never be the same again
from this encounter with God!
c. When you really encounter God you
will never be the same again!
ILLUS: In
3. Jacob vows to follow God the rest
of his life if God promises to be with him in the
land!
a. Yes we live in tough times, sin
abounds everywhere, sometimes it seems like God no longer blesses
b. Jacob will always have a special
place in his life for BETHEL, GOD'S HOUSE!
c. Jacob traveling to this territory
now named Bethel would be more than just another stop ... GOD'S HOUSE will
always be a dynamic place of meeting with God and being reminded that God will
always be with him!
d. No
longer is his relationship to God just something his family had ... it is
something HE has now!
4. Jacob found transformation real ...
a commitment to GOD, GOD'S HOUSE, and to GIVING!
a. Note that a commitment to God's
House and God included giving a tithe!!!
b. This by the way was before the Law
of Moses prescribes this figure!
c. Like his grandfather Abraham who
also tithed in recognition of God's presence in the land, Jacob too honors God
with a tithe as evidence that he really is
transformed!
d. Transformed people don’t have a
problem with giving!
B. Testimony
28:22
1. Jacob now has a TESTIMONY, HIS OWN
-- HE HAS HAD A REAL EXPERIENCE WITH GOD HIMSELF!
a. Do you have a testimony about God
... or do you only have an intellectual idea about
God?
b. Is your relationship with God only
a family tradition, or is it your own?
c. Has being a Christian transformed
your life into a really dynamic servant of God or is going to God's house just a
social exercise?
d. GOD IS WITH US IN THE
LAND!
2. Each of us can have our own
testimony.
CONCLUSION: Jacob was running scared,
unsure of his future, tired, and full of troubles. In this state of mind God reveals to him
a great truth often missed by us too.
God promises to be with him, no matter where he is at! Jacob discovers God in the most unlikely
place under great duress ... and when he realizes God is with him in the land he
is transformed into a great man of
God!