The Man of God by Alan Vaughn
Obadiah 1:17
Obadiah 1:17 (New International Version, ©2011)
17 But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy,
and Jacob will possess his inheritance.
Intro: Last Sunday we talked about the Godless man named Esau, you remember Jacob’s twin brother.
We talked about the wrestling match that went on in the womb of their mother Rebekah.
We talked about the fact that Esau was by today’s standard a good person.
We also discovered that by the reading of God’s Holy Word, that Esau was evil in the eyes of the Lord.
This morning we are going to talk about the other brother, the good brother named Jacob.
So let’s look into the Scripture and see what it has to say about the righteous brother Jacob and his mother.
Another words what kind of person was he in the eyes of the world.
Last week we decided that Esau was a man’s man.
But what about Jacob:
Genesis 25:26 (New International Version, ©2011)
26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob.[a] Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
Jacob, one who follows on another's heels;
Well we know what he was doing when he was born he was being a little heel grabber.
ILL. Have you ever went to someone’s house and they have this little dog and he thinks he is the great avenger or something. He runs up and barks at you just to run away when you reach down to pet him.
Then you think he has run away and he’s not paying any attention to you and you turn your back and Wham! That’s when he reaches out and grabs you by the ankle. Man that smarts.
That’s when being a Heel grabber, takes on a whole new meaning.
Genesis 25:27 (New International Version, ©2011)
27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents.
So here was Jacob your stay at home kind of guy, the quiet kind of man who was a home body.
Maybe that’s what put him in the good graces of God.
Probably not, I believe that God likes the view from upon the mountain in the open country.
Remember in the book of Exodus where Moses always seemed to be having his conversation with God upon the holy mountain.
Exodus 3:1 (New International Version, ©2011)
Moses and the Burning Bush
1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Well that rules out being a homebody.
So we can safely say that being a homebody is probably not going to get us to heaven.
What else do we know about Jacob from the scripture?
Well we know his mother loved him.
Genesis 25:28 (New International Version, ©2011)
28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Is a mother’s love a sure ticket to salvation? No as much as we all need the love of our mothers it will not get us to heaven.
Well we know that Jacob was a good business man, another words he knew how to close the deal.
I know you are wondering how I know this, well the biggest and best reason I can give you is that I read the book.
Look at the following verses:
Genesis 25:29-34 (New International Version, ©2011)
29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom. [a])
31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”
33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.
So Esau despised his birthright.
So we see that Jacob was a shrewd business man.
Is that the reason God blessed him?
NO!
You ask, “How do I know?” I read the book.
Look at what the bible says about the pursuance of wealth.
Matthew 19:24 (New International Version, ©2011)
24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
So we can rule out earthly wealth. Once again not my words they are God’s words. You’re going to say well Jesus is the one who said them.
ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO MAKE ME REPLY TO THAT?
John 10:30 (New International Version, ©2011)
30 I and the Father are one.”
What do we know about Jacob so far?
He was a quiet man.
His mother loved him.
He was a good business man, and was on his way to being wealthy.
Is all this enough to find favor and blessing with God?
Wait there’s more!
What about the other stuff in Jacob’s life. How do we as Christians see Jacob the man?
Well let’s see he was a momma’s boy that usually brings on some looks from people.
He was a con man he deceived his brother and stole his birthright, because his brother was hungry and he used it to his advantage. I know what you are going to say that is good business, well my bible says.
Isaiah 58:7 (New International Version, ©2011)
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
He lied to his father to obtain his father’s blessing to go with his brother’s birth right; with the help of the good wife Rebekah, his mother.
Genesis 27:5-10 (New International Version, ©2011)
5 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the LORD before I die.’ 8 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: 9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.”
Now by today’s standards we could say that Jacob was just doing what his mom told him to do, or we could say that he was a man after Adam’s own heart. Remember what Adam said,
Genesis 3:12 (New International Version, ©2011)
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Psychologist have been trying to put the blame on man’s problems for years, if they had read their bible they would have known it was the woman’s fault.
Ok, we see all of Jacobs faults, but what makes him a man of God?
Genesis 28:10-22 (New International Version, ©2011)
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it[a] stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.[b] 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”
18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel,[c] though the city used to be called Luz.
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the LORD[d] will be my God 22 and[e] this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”
What we see in these verses is salvation; this man was a respecter of God in heaven.
Notice what he said in verse 17, (He was afraid) this man feared God.
There are some things we need to notice about this passage:
1. God remembered his covenant with Abraham and Isaac.
2. God keeps his promises.
3. God will come to us.
4. God will accept us as we are.
5. God will watch over us.
6. God will bless us.
7. God will save us.
We also notice that Jacob laid down some conditions for God.
How many times do we do the same things in our personal relationship with Christ our Lord?
However, the things that we lay down are usually stumbling blocks between him and us.
You see Jacob’s heart belonged to God.
