ON MY WAY HOME
Genesis 31:3
Genesis 31:3
3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, "Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you."
NIV
INTRODUCTION
Whether you know it or not we are all on our way home. We are passing through
the earth to get to heaven. From the day Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden
God put into action a plan for us to get back into the right relationship with Him
YOUR LIFE IS A STORY IN GOD'S PLAN
This is the story of Jacob, the 3rd in the patriarchs of Israel; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
The story is told from Genesis 26-32. Let me give a summary to get into the
lesson. Isaac and his wife Rebekah had twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau was
born first and Jacob was born holding on to the foot of Esau.
Esau was a hunter and married two Hittite women who were a source of grief
for Isaac and Rebekah. Jacob was a mamma's boy and stayed around the house.
Isaac favored Esau because he loved the food from the game he killed.
When Isaac was old, blind, and near death, the time came to bless the oldest son
with family inheritance. Since Esau was hairy and an outdoorsman Isaac knew
him by smell and touch. Rebekah instructed Jacob in a plan to deceive Isaac
that he was Esau. She dressed Jacob in Esau clothes and put goat hair on his
arms and neck.
Isaac being deceived blessed Jacob with the inheritance. When Esau came in from
the hunt and found out about the deception, he planned to kill Jacob after the death
of the father Isaac.
Rebekah with the consent of Isaac sent Jacob to her brother Laban some 400
miles away in Haran. There Jacob met Rachel and fell in love at first sight
at a watering well. Jacob made a deal with Laban to work for seven years for
Rachel. After seven years on his wedding night, Laban slipped Leah,
his older
daughter into the tent and the marriage was consummated with sex. Being deceived
Jacob worked another seven years for Rachel.
In the end, Jacob spent 20 years in Haran with Laban being deceived and cheated
out of his wages ten times. With Rachel and Leah came two maidens. Jacob
had sex with four women which resulted in 12 sons
ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES
Because Jacob deceived his father, he was deceived by his uncle and spent
20 years of unnecessary labor away from his home.
Isaac was a wealthy man in livestock and servants. Had Jacob stayed faithful to
the God he was trained to serve the inheritance would have come to him in some
way. Jacob was a willing participant in the deception of his father. While Jacob was obedient to his mother he lied to his father four times that he was Esau.
Before the deception Esau had earlier sold his inheritance to Jacob for a bowl of stew,
He despised his inheritance. I supposed Esau would rather hunt game than work
the herd of animals. The deception was unnecessary. Jacob could have gone to
Haran paid for the diary for Rachel. (Genesis 25:31-34)
YOUR FOOLISHNESS IS IN GOD’S PLAN.
God allows us to make foolish choices to grow us into the servants He wants.
Jacob grew from being a mamma's boy to a man of integrity. He had been trained to
love God and followed Him throughout his twenty years away from home. He
learned to trust God during the 20 years. He had an encounter with God on the
way to Haran who promised to look after him. Jacob made a covenant with God
to serve Him and give a tenth of his earnings (Jacob's Ladder 28:10-17 )
God was with Jacob throughout his 20 years of labor. No matter what you are
going through, God is with you. He did it for Jacob, He is doing it for you.
THE GOOD FROM HIS FOOLISHNESS
He learned to be responsible for the livestock of Laban and provide for
his family.
From the road of hard knocks, Jacob learned wisdom. He learned to recognize deception
and how to deal with his evil-minded uncle. Because God was with Jacob
he was a good steward and made his uncle rich.
He devised a method to increase his wealth under God’s guidance (Genesis 31:10)
Jacob made a deal with Laban that every non-spotted animal would belong to him. The spotted animals would belong to Jacob. He placed almond bark before the animals when
they mated thus increasing the spotted animals. At the end of the 20 years
Jacob was wealthy with livestock and servants.
From the four wives came 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel
There was a competition between Rachel and Leah to see who give
Jacob the most son. The two maidens became wives to Jacob for
the purpose of conceiving more sons.
God used the evil-minded, cheating Laban to keep Jacob in Haran
for 20 years. The 20 years enabled Jacob to leave a wealthy man
THERE IS A TIME WHEN YOU NEED TO RETURN HOME
Everything has a season. For Jacob, there was a season to be trained
by his father and mother. There was a season to grow up and learn
responsibility. Sometimes real growth doesn't come until you are on
your own.
Then there was a season to take on the mission of
being the matriarch of the family.
Laban and his sons became hostile to Jacob because of his wealth. God
instructed Jacob to return home. God knows when we have learned our
lessons and the time to move to the next step in His plan. ( Genesis 31:3)
There is a time for you and me to quit straddling the fence and trust God.
It is easy to say you trust God, but difficult to put into practice.
Calling on God to do something and then worrying about it is not trust
Selective obedience to the Word of God is not trust. You cannot quote
scripture you agree with and ignore others that you don’t agree with.
Scripture is the Word of God whether you agree or not. You will never
trust God until you trust His Word. You will know the truth and truth
will set you free.
The time is now to be in God’s sanctuary at all times. Do you realize that
we are in the end times? Jesus could appear today. Are you ready?
He said He was coming back to take us Home to heaven.
THE COURAGE TO MOVE FORWARD
Listen to God and follow his directions. Haran was the home of Jacob’s wives and children. He had to decide to get out of a hostile bondage situation
with his uncle.
Jacob was observant of the change in circumstances which God confirmed
with a message, a command, and a promise of protection. Genesis 31:3
Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and relatives
and I will be with you.
God is saying that to us today!!!
RECOGNIZE AND DEAL WITH YOUR BAGGAGE
All of us have some baggage we carry. The baggage keeps us straddling the
fence. One foot with God and one foot in the world. One foot standing on faith
and one foot on the slippery slope of doubt.
Jacob may have been carrying the anger and disappointment of being deceived and cheated out of his wages by His uncle.
He was carrying the fear of retribution for his brother Esau
for what he had done to him (Genesis 32:7)
He may have been carrying the guilt of His deception of Isaac,
his father. He didn’t get the chance to be with his mother during her
grief. Nowhere do I find Jacob asking for forgiveness.
That excess baggage is mental if dwelled on can affect your physical health.
It can drain the joy out of your life.
We have to learn to trust God with our baggage
Don't take your baggage into your mission for God.
The Apostle Paul said this one thing I do
Philippians 3:13-14
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
It’s useless to hold on to the past. You cannot change it. The past can be a bondage
that keep you from the abundant life God intends.
WRESTLE WITH GOD FOR A BLESSING
What was the 20 years away from home for?
What was the deception by his uncle for?
What is your purpose me?
What do you want me to do next?
Lord, why has all this bad stuff happened to me?
On his way back home when he was along, Jacob wrestled with an angel
all night long and prevailed Genesis 32:22-26
The angel wanted to stop, but Jacob said not until you bless me.
Sometimes you and I need to wrestle with God in prayer until we get
an answer to our situation. Just because you don’t hear from God. Keep
on praying. Be ready to listen when He answers.
Like Jacob, you may limp to your new mission. An encounter with God ought to
bring about a change.
Jacob’s name was changed to Israel. This was a sign of his new mission
His 12 sons would become the 12 tribes of the nation of Israel that would
develop into slavery in Egypt. Jacob's job was to train His sons to love the Lord.
Jacob was given a new mission as the third patriarch of the nation of Israel
This promise was given first to his grandfather Abraham. Genesis 22:17,
75 to 100 years earlier.
The plan started in the Garden of Eden
Your life is a story in God’s Plan of Redemption. The plan for your life
started before the foundation of the earth (Ephesians 1:4).
THANK GOD FOR CHOOSING YOU
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