“Switched”
Text: Genesis 25:21-26; 32:24, 27-28; 35:14-18
Gen. 25:21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, "Why is this happening to me?" So she went to inquire of the LORD.
23 The LORD said to her,
"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."
24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob (Which means he grasps the heel - figuratively, he deceives, surplantor, cheater, trickster). Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
Gen. 32:24, 27-28 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 27 The man asked him, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered. 28 Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."
Gen. 35:14-18 14 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. 15 Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel. 16 Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty. 17 And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, "Don’t be afraid, for you have another son." 18 As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.
Psalm 16:11 – at Your right hand are pleasures for evermore!
I. The Switch
As I mentioned last week Jacob (Israel) made a switch on his death bed. He placed Ephraim in front of his older brother Manasseh. He switched his hands and the implications of that switch caused Ephraim to fulfill his name which meant “Doubly Fruitful.”
Names . . . we choose them without thought. We select them based on how they sound or go with the last name to which they will be attached or because someone else we know had the name. Yet, in Scripture names and their meanings were extremely important. Over and over again you can find powerful meanings and literal results produced by names (Abishai – the father of a gift; Hosea had three children whose names revealed God’s attitude and action toward Israel. Jezreel means “God scatters”, Loruhmah means “Not loved” and Loammi means “Not my people.”)
Yet perhaps the best known example of the power of a name is the one I read to you from Genesis 25 and 32. Isaac and Rebekah conceive twins and from that moment the two boys began to jostle for position and fight for prominence. Jacob comes out holding the heel of his brother trying to pull him back and precede him in birth. So the parents name him Jacob! And for the next few decades this young man lives down to the implications of his name . . . trickster, deceiver, surplantor, liar, and schemer. His life is littered with one deceit after another. He tricks his brother out of the birthright. He deceives his father to get the patriarchal blessing. He tricks his uncle so that he gets the stronger sheep in his flocks and by doing so becomes prosperous by using deceitful tactics. Years marked and shaped by his name. He could never seem to escape from the implications of being Jacob. Until the day He wrestled with God and his name is changed or switched. From that day forward he leaves his “Jacob” lifestyle, attitude, and mentality and begins to live up to his new name, “Israel”. He, better than most, knew the power of a name. So this new name shapes the rest of his life. Israel the father of a nation, God’s chosen ones, separate and holy. He becomes a patriarch of the faith and blessings are pronounced at the mention of his name – The God of Abraham, Isaac, and yes Jacob!
This brings me to the second switch that I want to talk to you about. Shortly after having his name and life changing wrestling match with God, Jacob and Rachel become pregnant. You need to remember that is was Rachel that Jacob loved. You will remember that he worked for his uncle Laban for 7 years in exchange for the right to marry Rachel, but you will also remember that Laban deceived the deceiver and sends the original “Ugly Betty” Leah into the marriage chamber instead. Jacob wakes up the next morning and realizes he is married to a woman he doesn’t love and so he repeats the entire process. Another 7 years are worked to get the woman of his dreams.14 years of hard work for the love of Rachel. Rachel, however, is barren while Leah is extremely fruitful. Leah gives birth to 6 sons and a daughter before Rachel ever has the first son Joseph. Her inability to have children for so long causes her to feel second best, passed over and forgotten, but now God has remembered her. He is leveling the playing field. Favor has come once again. It is with a gleam in her eyes, an unending smile stretched across her face, and with the glow of pregnancy that she announces to Jacob “I am pregnant.” The love of his life has come back to life again. Their dreams are being fulfilled. The life is full. Their love is productive!
She carries the little boy to full term. The time of childbirth has come. The momentary pain will certainly give way to unspeakable joy and celebration. However, something goes terribly wrong and what should have been a day of parties, baby showers, and bubble gum cigars will now be the day remembered as the day that the love of Jacob’s life dies. In her last moments of struggle, Rachel realizes that what she thought was going to bring her joy and peace is instead going to end her life and her dreams.
Ever had a moment like this? The very thing that you thought was the answer to your dream, the fulfillment of the promise, the missing element of your life, the joy bringer, but rather than completing you it completely destroys you?
In a moment of complete and utter despair, from the depths of a broken heart and a shattered soul, she struggles to speak. As she takes her last gasping breath, her son of promise is born, her son of blessing breaks onto the scene and out of her own despair and agony she marks the boy by declaring him to be “Ben-Oni”! I can hear the name simultaneously cross the threshold of her lips as does her last agonizing breath . . . Ben –Oni!
Rachel’s pain is placed on the son. Rachel’s devastation is wrapped around this small boy like a baby’s blanket. Mid-wives back away with understanding. Her caretakers nod in agreement. He has been named appropriately. His name is fitting. Ben-Oni means “Son of my Sorrow or Son of my trouble.”
Can you imagine what it would be like for your birthday to also be the day of your mother’s death? Can you imagine the pain when recognition infiltrates the mind of a little boy and he realizes that his birth caused his mother’s death? Can you comprehend the anguish in mind when you realize that you caused your father to lose his love? Birthdays are accompanied by cakes and a trip to the cemetery. New bikes are partnered with fresh flowers for the grave. Can you imagine the path that this little boy will follow – death causer, killer, here comes trouble, sorrow is my name, sorrow is my lot in life, gloom and despair will be my calling card? He earned his name!
I don’t know if Jacob was in the room. I don’t know if he was out in the field working when word came that something terrible had happened. Maybe he had been pacing outside the tent waiting for word. All I know is that when the cry of that little boy came out, Jacob walks in. The scene unfolds before him. There, Rachel is overtaken by the struggle and strain of childbirth, stilled by death. There, surrounded by mortified midwives and broken hearted servants, tears are flowing freely. There, with the love of his life gone forever, he steps in and hears the pronouncement of the boy’s name – the son of sorrow . . . the son of trouble and Jacob without hesitation makes a switch. He calls an audible at the line. In that single moment a destiny is changed. In that moment a future is altered. In that moment a death sentence is abolished! In that simple pronouncement a fresh path is chosen.
I love the way Scriptures says it, “But his father!” Jacob steps in with full understanding of the power of, path deciding force of, life shaping ability of a name and he switches the boy’s name to “Benjamin” which means “the Son of my Right Hand!” From the son of trouble to the son of prominence and favor. From the son of struggle and sorrow a son is elevated to the son of favor and fortune! A switch takes place!
I came to make a simple but profound declaration to someone this morning . . . “But your father!” Your life has been marked by trouble and despair. Your life has been shrouded and wrapped in pain and agony. Tragedy has been your calling card. What you touch falls apart. Where ever you walk you always seem to bring sadness, sickness, and suffering as traveling companions. If it wasn’t for bad luck you would have no luck at all! You look in the mirror and you see Ben-Oni. You examine your past and all you see is sorrow. You look toward your future and all you can see on the horizon is trouble! Ben-Oni!
But your Father! God wants to make a switch. He is breaking into the room of your depression, into the cage of your addiction, into the storyline of your failure, and declaring that in spite of your past, in spite of bad choices and decisions you are now the Son of my Right Hand and at My right hand are pleasures forevermore.
The enemy meant the divorce for evil . . . But your Father!
The sickness was supposed to kill you . . . But your Father!
The pain was supposed to destroy you . . . But your Father!
The rape was supposed to cripple you emotionally . . . But your Father!
The bankruptcy was supposed to imprison you . . . But your Father!
The loss was intended to overshadow the rest of your life . . . But your Father!
The death was supposed to darken your life . . . But your Father!
Your Father has stepped in and has declared over you that what the enemy meant for evil He meant for good. He has declared that in spite of the tragic moments of life you are destined for fellowship and you are destined to be elevated into greatness!
Your Father has made a switch. You are faced with a choice this morning. You have to choose what name you will go by and what name you will believe!
Will you live as the son of sorrow, the son of trouble, or will you allow the switch to impact and alter your life like Benjamin did?
You discover that when Joshua makes assignments of territory in the Promised Land that Benjamin’s inheritance is placed directly between Ephraim (Doubly Fruitful) on the North and Judah (Praise) on the South! You can be surrounded by despair, devastation, gloom, depress, and agony or you can allow the Switch that God is extending to you to surround your life with double fruitfulness and praise! Whose report will you believe?
It is also interesting that in 1 Chronicles 12:2 we are told that the men from the Tribe of Benjamin had the unique and uncommon ability to shoot their bows and throw their slings with either their right hand or their left hand. That is not said of any other tribe. In that day, the left hand was often associated with the negative aspects of life. If there was a tribe that understood starting on the left hand of life and winding up on the right hand of life it was this tribe!
You have to see that what the enemy meant as a weakness God’s power can even impact what took place on the left. What took place on the side of pain can become a weapon in your hands if you will walk in and embrace the switch!
You have got to come to the place where you look on all the struggles, sorrows, and situations that could stop you, destroy you, and ruin your life and see that your Father has walked into the room today and can switch your name!
