A Messy Life, A Spiritual Legacy
(Genesis 35-49)
[series: The Life of Jacob finale]
1. According to an AP article posted Friday, "Stocks pared their losses and traded mixed Friday after the White House sought to douse fears that the government would nationalize crippled banks.
"White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday afternoon the Obama administration continues to "strongly believe that a privately held banking system is the correct way to go." http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090220/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/wall_street
2. It is no secret: the stock market, the banking industry, and corporate America are in deep trouble. We have a real mess on our hands.
3. Some people try to get away from the messes of life by cleaning house. Others take up interests that give them a sense of control.
4. But Christians need to be reminded that God is present in the mess, He uses the mess, and sometimes He wants us to be in a mess.
Main Idea: Getting right with God does not mean we will avoid trials and tragedies, but we can experience God’s help to get through them -- and leave behind a spiritual legacy.
I. Jacob’s Life Was Filled With TRIALS and Tragedies
We don’t want to go into detail in this points; we are covering necessary ground to set the stage for understanding what follows.
A. Rachel DIES giving birth to Benjamin (35:19)
She is prophetically buried near Bethlehem, where she is pictured as weeping during the slaughter of the innocents after Jesus was born…
B. Jacob becomes DISENCHANTED with his oldest, Reuben (35:20)
You can read the text. We got into enough awkward stuff last week.
His behavior meant that Jacob was now disposed to give the rights of a firstborn son to another one of his sons. This comes into play later in our text, as we shall see.
C. Jacob favors Joseph and makes him a special COAT (37:3-4)
Parental favoritism is detrimental to a family, and has consequences.
D. Joseph’s brothers sell him as a SLAVE (37:17-30)
E. They lie and break Jacob’s HEART (37: 31-35)
Getting right with God does not mean we will avoid trials and tragedies, but we can experience God’s help to get through them -- and leave behind a spiritual legacy.
II. Jacob BLESSES His Heirs (48-49)
A. JACOB and Joseph are reunited in Egypt (46:28-30)
Let’s take a moment to read this text and try to envision the emotion of the moment.
Joseph is also somewhat reconciled to his brothers; he has forgiven them, but they do not trust that he has actually forgiven them.
Genesis 50:18-21, "His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. ’We are your slaves,’ they said. But Joseph said to them, ’Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.’ And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them."
B. Jacob makes Joseph PROMISE to bury him in Canaan (47:27-31)
Could be an emotional request than anything else. But probably more theological: he wants to be remembered as being buried in the land God promised his descendents.
Much of the conflict in the Middle East today is over this same issue: whose land is the land of Canaan? Does it belong to the Arabs or the Jews? Did God truly give the land to Jacob and his descendents or not?
C. Joseph is given the BLESSING of the firstborn (48:5-11)
• "Jacob blessed his sons in accordance with the innermost spiritual characteristic of each… each person is born with his or her own unique personality and destiny. We need to recognize the gift God has given us and to develop ourselves accordingly. Each person should aim to establish his inner foundation before he can progress in the purposes of God…" A Dash of Drash, K. Prior
• Should have been REUBEN’S
Reuben oldest, Simeon second oldest. But they had massacred the men of Shechem’s family, so both were disqualified.
• Additionally, Joseph was the firstborn son of Jacob’s favored wife, Rachel.
1. A DOUBLE portion
2. Grandsons Ephraim & Manasseh considered SONS
• Note that this, in a sense, makes for 13 tribes. But the listing of the tribes throughout Scripture is fluid. Sometimes one tribe is left out or Joseph is included as a separate tribe. If have a paper on the our website about why the tribe of Dan is left out of Revelation 7 -- if you are interested, I have spelled out the details there. Ephraim and Manasseh are called the "half tribes" at times to make the mat work.
• David Guzik comments on why there are 12 tribes, although defined with variation:
"12 is a number often associated with government or administration in God’s eyes. There are 12 tribes, 12 apostles, 12 princes of Ishmael, 12 pillars on Moses’ altar, 12 stones on the high priest’s breastplate, 12 cakes of showbread, 12 silver platters, silver bowls, and gold pans for the service of the tabernacle, 12 spies to search out the land, 12 memorial stones, 12 governors under Solomon, 12 stones in Elijah’s altar, 12 in each group of musicians and singers for Israel’s worship, 12 hours in a day, 12 months in a year, 12 Ephesian men filled with the Holy Spirit, 12,000 from 12 tribes sealed and preserved through the tribulation, heaven has 12 gates of 12 pearls, and 12 angels at the gates, the New Jerusalem has 12 foundations, each with the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb, it’s length, breadth, and height are all 12,000 furlongs, and the tree of life in heaven has 12 fruits. The number 12 is special to God!"
D. Note the MESSIANIC prophecy for Judah (49:10-12)
In another sense, Judah is given the long-term blessing of the first born, the family leadership.
Revelation 5:5 reads, "Then one of the elders said to me, ’Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.’"
Shiloh means, "He whose right it is" and was understood to speak of the Messiah.
From the Talmud (Sanhedrin 98b, vs. 25-30),
"What is his [the Messiah’s] name? — The School of R. Shila said: His name is Shiloh, for it is written, until Shiloh come.26 The School of R. Yannai said: His name is Yinnon, for it is written, His name shall endure for ever:27 e’er the sun was, his name is Yinnon.28 The School of R. Haninah maintained: His name is Haninah, as it is written, Where I will not give you Haninah.29 Others say: His name is Menahem the son of Hezekiah, for it is written, Because Menahem [’the comforter’], that would relieve my soul, is far.30 The Rabbis said: His name is ’the leper scholar,’ as it is written, Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him a leper, smitten of God, and afflicted."
E. Jacob DIES and is buried in Canaan (49:28-50:14)
The death of Jacob is the end of the patriarchal era, much like the death of the Apostle John was the end of the apostolic era.
Getting right with God does not mean we will avoid trials and tragedies, but we can experience God’s help to get through them -- and leave behind a spiritual legacy.
III. A Spiritual Legacy And a MESSY Life Can Go Together
A. The TRENCHES of life are where battles are won or lost
1. When we are in a church service, we are like armchair generals; we strategize, we learn, we take in.
2. But when we live life the rest of the week, we are in the trenches: the boss, the family, the school, the neighbors, the politicians, our friends. This gets really messy. This is also where we bear testimony or where we put our light under a bushel.
3. Jacob did not live his life in tents of ease. He dealt with one upheaval after another, and tried to make the best of it.
B. DISAPPOINTMENT is a painful part of life
1. Disappointment can make us depressed; we expect more than we receive, and we are frustrated about that.
2. Our marriage, our children, our parents, our siblings, our friends, our church, our government, our employer, our neighbor -- or the things we own (they do not bring us the happiness we thought they would).
3. Charlie Chan, "Happiness is not a location."
4. Jacob got hit hard: Laban disappointed him by tricking him into marrying Leah, and then his wages; The massacre done by Reuben and Simeon, thinking that Joseph had been killed, losing his beloved Rachel in childbirth…
5. This is hard to accept, but we must learn to do so: Disappointment is a common occurrence in life.
C. With God’s help, you can ENGAGE rather than withdraw
Even if we can do nothing to correct our adult children who have gone the wrong way, we can try to engage our grandchildren. Sometimes godliness skips a generation, as we see in the cases of the kings of Judah.
The temptation to retreat is a strong pull for many of us. We must fight it.
The legacy we leave should not be restricted to our family alone.
Many of us are especially concerned with Pink Soblotne? Why are they so beloved? Because they reached down and helped the younger generations. They exemplified these verses:
Psalm 71:18, "Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come."
Psalm 78:4, 6, "We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.
… so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children."
D. Are you trying to leave a SPIRITUAL legacy?
In Point Man, Steve Farrar tells the story of George McCluskey. When McCluskey married and started a family, he decided to invest one hour a day in prayer, because he wanted his kids to follow Christ. After a time, he expanded his prayers to include his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Every day between 11 a.m. and noon, he prayed for the next three generations. As the years went by, his two daughters committed their lives to Christ and married men who went into full-time ministry. The two couples produced four girls and one boy. Each of the girls married a minister, and the boy became a pastor. The first two children born to this generation were both boys. Upon graduation from high school, the two cousins chose the same college and became roommates. During their sophomore year, one boy decided to go into the ministry. The other didn’t. He undoubtedly felt some pressure to continue the family legacy, but he chose instead to pursue his interest in psychology. He earned his doctorate and eventually wrote books for parents that became bestsellers. He started a radio program heard on more than a thousand stations each day. The man’s name was James Dobson. Through his prayers, George McCluskey affected far more than one family. -- Loyal J. Marti, Sermoncentral
CONCLUSION
Getting right with God does not mean we will avoid trials and tragedies, but we can experience God’s help to get through them -- and leave behind a spiritual legacy.
