Strong & Weak

We’re so glad you’re joining this morning. Whether you’re here in person or you’re watching online. My name is Tim. I get the privilege of being the lead pastor. And if this is your first time experiencing Shepherd’s Gate, we want to warmly welcome you. Let you know. It’s pretty simple. Here at Shepherd’s Gate, we’re about two things. Two things. Ready for this. The first one is Jesus. We honestly don’t want anything from you. We just want Jesus for you. This is awesome. You guys are ready to go. I like this. And the second is this. Is that here at Shepherds Gate, we open our Bibles and we go to the Word of God. And we will even go to the text that maybe sometimes are confusing or hard to understand or even will convict us. And what we do is we allow God’s Word to speak into our lives because we realize that’s actually what is best for us. That is how God communicates to us and brings us closer to himself, while simultaneously, we are also reminded of the love and the grace and the mercy, and most importantly, the forgiveness that we are offered through Jesus Christ. Amen. So if you’re new, you’re looking at the screen. It says Genesis part four. we’ve been going through systematically the first book of the Bible, Genesis and, this series of messages is part four, and it’s actually week five of 11.

And if you’ve never been here before, let me just give you kind of a little bit of oversight. So you know what’s been talked about the last five weeks. there’s a husband and wife couple, their names, Isaac and Rebecca. not the greatest marriage in the fact that Rebecca has no problem, dishonoring her husband. In fact, she, like, forms an alliance with one of her kids named Jacob. And, you know, kind of deceives her husband, Isaac. Well, Esau and Jacob are their two kids, and they’re twins. They’re fraternal twins. They couldn’t be further apart, opposites from each other. And Jacob actually deceives his older brother Esau, not once, but twice. And Esau didn’t really like that he was being deceived. So he tells Jacob, I’m going to kill you. So Jacob has to leave. Jacob has to leave his hometown. What he’s always known his whole life, not only because there’s a death threat on his wife, but also because his parents want him to go and get married. Some familiar. Any of you single people ever get that pressure from your parents? Right? When are you going to get married? So this is what it looks like right here. He starts off in Beersheba. That’s where he’s from. That’s all he’s ever known. And he’s got to make his way all the way up to Haran.

Now, a few weeks ago, he did stop in Bethel. We looked at that where God spoke to him and made incredible promises and said, Jacob, listen, do it my way. Be patient, wait for me, and I promise you I will fulfill the plan that I have for your life. And even though he had that promise from God, what we found last week as Pastor Ben walked us through the text is he makes it up to Haran and he meets this guy named Laban, who’s actually his mom’s brother. So, there’s a relative here, and Laban just happens to have two daughters, Leah and Rachel. And when he gets all the way up to where he’s told to go, he’s more attracted to Rachel than leaving. That’s the truth of Scripture, whether you like it or not. Rachel was prettier than Leah, at least in Jacob’s eyes. Okay, you still following me? And so he makes an agreement with Laban to marry Rachel. And that comes her wedding day. They have this huge wedding feast festival. They go in their time to consummate the marriage, and the next morning Jacob wakes up and he realizes that Rachel’s not the one that’s in his bed. It. Leah. How does that happen? Now? We don’t know because the scriptures don’t tell us and people will speculate.

Did he get so drunk that he just didn’t know who you sleeping with? Or were the tents just really, really dark back then, or were they actually not that different? Were they similar sisters in size and stature? I mean, we just don’t know. All we know is that when Jacob woke up the next morning, he went, whoa, Leah! And then he went back to leave and said, why would you deceive me? Why would you do this to me? He goes, oh, well, our tradition is that the older has to get married first, which is complete garbage. Just, you know, and he says, if you want, Rachel, you’re going to have to work for me for another seven years. And this guy is so madly in love with Rachel that he gets Rachel as his second wife, and he’s willing to work for his father in law for another seven years. Here’s the thing. And and this is where it just gets kind of crazy because he was just supposed to go and get one wife and start a family, which is what we all want. Just find that spouse, begin that new adventure together. And here’s this guy who goes all the way up and ends up not having 1 or 2, but ends up actually having four sexual partners because the two sisters get in a conflict. And if you want to learn more about this, watch the messages.

In the past, they actually offer their servants to Jacob to sleep with as well. So knowing all that you just learned, how many of you think Jacob’s got an easy life? Clearly he’s confused on multiple levels. Can we say that he didn’t wait on God? You know the song we just sang, I Will Make Room for You got a little ahead of God, which is exactly what his parents did. He got ahead of God, which is exactly what his grandfather Abraham did. It’s kind of this pattern. And that’s what happens when you have sin in your heart and in your life. Oftentimes it’s referred to as dysfunctional families or toxic families. I have an uncle that I’m really close with on my dad’s side of the family, and the reason we’re so close is because we’re both highly sarcastic. And so we came up with this idea that the next time all of our family are together, we want to be in charge of creating the Family Reunion t shirts. Anyone ever done Family Reunion t shirts? And so my last name is Bullinger. And so we said, wouldn’t it be fun to have on the front Bollinger Family Reunion and on the back of the t shirt we could put we put the fun in dysfunction. Don’t you think I can make like $1 billion off that concept? Just change out whatever the name is. Remember, we’ve been talking about this, how we’re all dysfunctional. My family, my wife’s family.

We could spend days, weeks, months and years telling you of how sin has ravaged relations ships. And it oftentimes starts with one person. You got a toxic person, then that toxic person gets into a marriage, or there’s a toxic in-law. Some of you sitting next to your in-laws, no one has ever called their in-laws outlaws. Have they? Some of you I know you’re not even looking forward to the next couple of months, because Thanksgiving and Christmas for you, they’re not fun. They’re stressful. They’re agonizing because you put yourself in the position where you’re just trying to keep everybody else happy. Make sure that you spend the right amount of time, and it better clock in, because what we have in families are a bunch of record keepers. That’s what people do. Oh, well, I better get my grandkids for this amount of time. And you better spend this amount of time here. You better not fill yourself with too much food there, because we’re having a huge buffet at our house. Our food is going to be better than their food. But you know, it’s true. The way the fallen sinful heart works, of course, leads to bad children who then carry it on from generation to generation to generation. And it’s really sad. It’s sad to see how many families are fragmented, how many families are actually at war with one another, and you’re going to see this play out in our text today. But before we get into that, I want to show you a statement, and I want to know if you agree with this statement or not. We will often allow our family members to get away with things.

We would never let anyone do to us. Is that true? We seem to have a little bit more tolerance, patience, grace for those that God has put in our lives. Now. Certainly there’s abusive situations. There’s times when we have to have clear boundaries. And there there has to be a departure. If people just refuse to follow along and stay within the boundaries of what would be considered a somewhat healthy relationship. Now again, you got Jacob, who’s, you know, the kids now, they call it a body count. He’s up to four women that he’s sleeping with. And what happens when you have sex with people? You produce children. Leah, the one that’s not as attractive is the one that’s fertile. Myrtle. I mean, she’s kicking kids out like crazy. Okay? But even in her sinful nature, she still says, oh, it’s not good enough. Here. You can have my servant and two kids come out of her servant. Rachel was the one that struggled with, infertility. And it wasn’t until God opened her womb that she finally has a son. His name is Joseph. We’re going to be talking about him in future weeks. In fact, Benjamin’s not even born at this point in the text. We’ll be covering him in just the next month, as we look at that text as well. But both sisters come up with this idea that they should give their servants to sleep with their husband. I mean, it’s just a complete, utter mess. So this is what happens.

Rachel gives birth to Joseph. Jacob’s has to. Laban, send me on my way so I can go back to my own hometown. Give me my what? Plural. And children for whom I have served you. And I will be on my way. You know how much work I’ve done for you. So think about that again. Back to the map. He’s gone from here on. He just wants to go back to Bear Sheba. And he hasn’t seen his parents in a long time. Maybe he’s got childhood friends he wants to reconnect with. I mean, this is no small task. Now that he went, there is a single guy, and now he has all of these people that he’s got to move all the way back down to Beersheba and just you understand the context that in 14 years, this guy has two wives, Leah and Rachel. In 14 years, this guy has a daughter and 11 sons. Up to this point, how many of us can say that’s impressive? I mean, that’s crazy. It’s now 20 years later and he is literally working like a slave for his father in law, Laban. It’s part of his family business, which again, remember, Laban is the brother of his mom. So it’s all interconnected in the family here. Well, this is what Laban says when Jacob says, man, just let me go. I want to get out of here. I want to leave. Laban says, if I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you. Now this word divination is not a positive word.

It actually means that Laban is into sorcery. It means he’s into worshiping false gods, and it means his priority is on the things of this world and what he can amass with his time on this planet, and yet somehow serving pagan gods and worshiping really the idol of this world, which is our wealth. He can see that he’s being blessed through Jacob and Jacob’s God, and Jacob worships the one true God, father, son, and Holy Spirit, even though he’s completely messed up. And isn’t that interesting that there are people that will recognize God in other people’s lives, even if they don’t see God in their own life? This isn’t the first time, by the way, that this has happened in Genesis. There’s been other people that have worshiped pagan idols, and yet they can see the hand of God and the people of gods lives. Well, he adds, name your wages and I will pay them. So you’re Jacob. What would you say? I say, I don’t want any of your money. I just want to get out of here. Dude, just let me go for $1 million. How does that sound? And some servants to go along with it so I can make my way all the way back home? That’s not what Jacob says. He says to him, you know that I have worked for you, and how your livestock has fared under my care. The little he reminds them you had before I came has increased greatly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I have been.

Two things one. Look how hard I’ve worked for you. Look at what I’ve done to grow your wealth, but also simultaneously recognizing that it’s Almighty God that has allowed Laban’s livestock to increase. But now, when may I do something for my own household? And I think everyone gets to this place in life where you want to be able to establish yourself. You don’t want any hand-me-downs, you don’t want other people to just come along and just hand you a business or hand you $1 million or whatever that case may be. Some people, this is just how they’re wired. I have a good friend, and he’s a third generation of the profession that he’s in, and it’s a very affluent, occupation that he has. And he, he he is he’s very successful at what he does, but he’s very insistent that none of it come from his father or his grandfather. In fact, he worked hard to make sure that he bought every single dime of his father’s business. And even now, even though he knows he’s going to inherit all of the investments and all of the properties, because his dad owns a bunch of properties, he still is insistent on making sure that he builds his own wealth. He doesn’t want to be known as the guy that just inherited what his dad worked hard to build. And so that’s what you see here. He’s saying, I want to be able to build my own net worth.

And so Lavan says, well, what shall I give you? Don’t give me anything. It’s kind of what you expect at this point. But if you will do this one thing for me, I will go on helping you grow your wealth. Just let me do this one thing today. Let me remove all of the animals that are the lesser of the animals in your entire fortune. Anyways, give me all the ones that are spotted speckled. Whatever the case may be, whatever flaws or imperfections I have, just allow me to take those and let me start my own business. Let me start my own system over here. And what do you think? Laban said. It’s kind of a good deal for him. He says, okay, let it be as you have said. And then what does it say next? That what? Remember that that same day Laban, Laban removed all the male goats that were streaked, spotted and speckled, and all the dark colored lambs, and he placed them in the care of his sons. What a jerk! What a devious thing to do to your son in law. That has two of your daughters and 11 of your grandchildren same day. Let that sit and let that soak in for a moment. And the second thing that’s happening here is that he places them in the care of his, what biological sons. I mean, that cuts deep, doesn’t it? He doesn’t even see his son in law as an equal to his actual physical sons. How many think that’s pretty toxic? Yes. I mean, he gets pretty messed up.

Do we see that in our day and age? There’s some families that play favorites and families that play sides and even words that sometimes get spoken. Well, you’re not blood. Well, this isn’t your last name. Oh, you married into this family. And how much destruction that causes. And not only so, but Laban does what every passive aggressive person does. He puts a three day journey between himself and Jacob. He doesn’t even want to be around him. He’s going to act like, you know, this didn’t happen. Like, come on, Jacob knows what you’re doing. As soon as you went to the flock the next day, he would have seen what you had done and how devious in terrible you really are as a human being on this planet. Do you know how people do this nowadays? They lie. They cheat, they steal. People that don’t answer text messages, people that manipulate emails. Anyone ever heard of anyone doing that? Anyone ever heard of people saying, I never got your call? It must be AT&T, must be T-Mobile’s problem or the email thing. It got all screwed up. I can’t believe it. Oh, that’s not the email because someone went in and actually and I heard this, someone would go in and purposely take out lines in emails. How about businesses, business contracts, people making business interactions today? Are they all on the up and up because we’re so civilized now, thousands of years later, no corruption in our society is there? Thanks be to God. Here’s what’s so fascinating is that Jacob’s actually the original deceiver. He received his brother. How many times? Twice. First, he deceived Esau when he stole his birthright. And then he did it again when he stole the blessing from his dad. Now it’s being flipped, the script is flipped, and Laban has deceived him once by making them marry Leah. And now this whole thing with the family business.

And I know what you might be thinking. Well, doesn’t that even the score? I mean, isn’t this what we would promote? Isn’t this what we would encourage? Because, you know, the big popular thing in our society is karma? Well, he got what was coming to him. Well, if he only wouldn’t have treated his, you know, older brother the way he did that maybe later on in his life you wouldn’t be experiencing what he’s experiencing. Which, by the way, just, you know, it’s a church. We do not believe in karma, but yet we think it, we feel it. We want other people to suffer, especially if they’ve hurt us or they’ve deceived us. And yet again, it all goes back to something so simple as the eighth commandment these simple words from God to us, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. What does that mean? What’s the easy way to explain this? Just don’t lie. Can I ask you this morning, those of you that are married. Have you made it a whole week without lying to your spouse? Have you made it a whole week without lying to your kids? Kids that are here, even if you’re like 30, 40 or 50 and your parents are here, did you make it a whole week without lying to them? You’re like, I would never lie to my family. I am no Laban and I am no Jacob. Okay, let’s make it easier. Anybody make it a whole week without lying to you, their boss or supervisor?

How about a coworker? How about a football coach for your kids football team, or other parents are you trying to raise your kids with? Sometimes it’s hard for us to admit how devious and sinful and fallen we really, truly are. In fact, this is the definition. This is what it means to not lie is that we should not, first and foremost, fear and love God. And if you know who God is, you know what it is that he has done for you through His Son, Jesus Christ. Then you have a healthy fear that he sees, knows every single thing about you. And as you understand that, then you hope and pray that it causes you not to lie because the Holy Spirit is inside you, constantly convicting you and pulling you toward doing the right thing. Not only so, so that you won’t lie, betray, or slander anybody else on the planet. Instead, this is how you are to live as a follower of God. You forgive them, you speak well of them. You put the best construction on everything. That simply means you give them the benefit of the doubt. Jesus had a lot to say about this. He told us to love our enemies. Do good to those who hate us. Pray for those who despise us. People that are constantly coming at us or deceiving us and trusting in knowing that God will work all things out for his good, for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. But it’s not always easy, is it? It’s not always easy in the world that we live in, and so often we get sucked into thinking that this is just the way that it is. God, this is the world that you place me on. And so it’s impossible. I can’t function at my place of work.

I can’t do my business, I can’t be in sales. Whatever it is, fill in the blank because this is how everybody else operates. What your Jacob does, he sets aside the young flock by themselves, and he made separate flocks for himself in separate flocks. For Laban. Okay, this makes sense. This was actually part of the original agreement. Okay. We’re going to divide it up. I’m going to have mine over here in Laban. I’m going to put yours over here, and I’m going to continue working, and I’m going to continue farming because this was part of the plan. Well, it goes on. It says that what he ended up doing was he took the weak animals and he gave them to Laban, and he kept the strong ones for himself. How do you think that he’s justified in doing that? I mean, who’s deceiving who now? Folks, remember, this is family. These are family members. He married Laban’s daughters. These are Laban’s grandchildren that he’s tasked with raising. And I would submit to you today that it’s amazing to me how the lust for money has ruined so many families. I’ve seen it over and over again. And for what? For 1000 bucks? For $10,000? Is it really worth for 100th? Whatever the case may be, $100,000? Is it really worth ruining the relationship that you have with this short little petty time that we’re actually on this earth? I mean, people often say you should never go into business with who? Family are your closest friends now? There are families that figure this out, and they’re very successful in what they do. God bless them. But we know they’ve done case studies on this. The majority of the population cannot go into business with their family or their closest friends, just for whatever reason.

The sinful nature gets in, there’s disagreements, and then relationships implode. When I was in high school, my older brother decided that he was going to start a landscaping business, and so he went out and he bought a pickup truck and a lawn mower and a weed whacker and an edger and a blower. And he started canvasing the neighborhood with fliers, and he started asking people if they would like him to mow their lawn. And what’s crazy is, in a very relatively short period of time, he was actually getting people to allow him to mow their grass. And what happened was, as his business began to grow, he realized how exhausting it is and that it wasn’t going to be able to scale this thing unless he got help. So guess who he asked to be? His very first employee? Any guesses? This guy, he said, it’s going to be great. We’re going to spend all this time together. And this little tiny pickup truck. I’m going to pay you $1 million you’ll be able to pay for, you know, save for college in no time. Here’s the crazy part. We were in the backyard of one of his clients houses. And we got into a terrible fight. We were literally throwing punches and rolling on the lawn together. It’s a true story. My mom goes to church here. You can ask her. And this is why she knows this. Because the backyard that we were in is a good friend of hers. And she called my mom and said, I thought I, I thought I signed up for them to mow my grass, not to be in a fight with each other. Why were we fighting? I need to ask him why we were. I just don’t even know why we were fighting. Probably because one of us wanted to mow the grass and the other one wanted to. It’s probably something so stupid and frivolous. But that’s what happens when we allow sin, specifically the sin of pride, to creep in and begin to take over our lives.

Here’s what’s nots level upon level, upon level, upon level, upon level, upon level of dysfunction and toxicity. Here’s what happens. This is the result. Jacob grew exceedingly prosperous and came to his own large flocks. He also grew in male and female servants, camels and donkeys. Everything this guy touched prospered both on his side and for Laban. Why? Why did God allow Jacob to prosper? It doesn’t make sense, does it? And this is when you, like, read the scripture and you scratch your head and you go like God, why didn’t you punish him? Or why don’t you punish them both? Or why don’t you cause a famine? Or why don’t you cause all of the livestock to just die of some terrible, awful disease and make these two have to reconcile? Instead, they prosper. And I can tell you this if you read the Old Testament, there’s some other characters in Scripture. One of them’s named Jeremiah. He’s a prophet. Another one’s named Jobe, where he literally had it all, and God took it all away from him. And a third one is named David, where you read about him from the point he was a little boy until all the way he goes up and becomes king of the nation of Israel, all three of them in different parts of the Old Testament, all cry out to God and say the same exact thing. Why do you allow my enemies to prosper around me? Why is it that all these other people seem to be succeeding and what they are doing in life? And the crazy part is God never answers them. He never tells them why. But I can tell you Scripture is crystal clear on this principle. If you have someone who is a follower of Jesus that is running a business or running an entity, or is in sales or whatever the case may be, and they’re doing everything they can to fear and love God, and God is blessing them. The reason that they are being blessed, the only reason they are being blessed, is because of the sovereignty of God.

If you have somebody else who does not believe in God, who is an atheist, whatever category you want to put them in, and they they are working hard and they build a build a business and all of a sudden they are successful. The only reason they are successful is not because of their education, or because they bought the right stock, because they made the right decision. The only reason they are successful is because of the sovereignty of God. God repeats this over and over and over again in Scripture. In Deuteronomy he says, don’t you ever think that any of your wealth was produced by you? Everything that we have, everything that we are, comes from God. I asked one of our business owners after the first service this morning. So I know the struggle that you’re in. I know that the networks that you’re part of help me understand this. And he said, you’re right on, because it always comes back to the root of sin, specifically pride. And so often those of us that that God blesses and gives us businesses or gives us influence. So often our egos begin to rise and we forget who it really comes from and why we have what it is that we even have in our hands. God help us, all of us, whether we own a business or not. Something that God has placed in your hands your money, your influence, your education, your stocks, your network, whatever you want to call it. Is a blessing. It’s there because of God, and there’s a purpose and plan, and he will redeem whatever that is till the end of the age. I want us to go back to Jacob. When he was a single guy on his way to Haran. You got stopped at Bethel, remember? He was sleeping on a rock and God showed up. I want you to hear again, because now it’s 20 years later, I want you to hear the promise that God gave him in Bethel. He said, Jacob, behold, I am with you.

I will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. He knew the promise. He knew what God had communicated to him. He knows. Eventually he’s going to get back down to where he wants to be. He just doesn’t know when that’s going to happen. But let me tell you this this morning, this is so important to understand this. And this is what I want you to carry today. This is what I want you to carry this week. The promises of God are always far greater than the prosperity of God. What God has promised you in me will always far outweigh anything or any life or lifestyle that we could build on this earth. Here’s the amazing news. God knows our human condition. God knows our fallen state. He’s been dealing with it since the garden with Adam and Eve, and he said, I don’t want them to be in that circumstance anymore. In fact, I’m going to come and rescue them out of that circumstance. And so I’m going to send Jesus to this earth, and he’s going to walk and talk and preach and heal, and he’s going to show people a better way. He’s going to remind people to not lay up treasures on earth, but instead to lay up treasures in heaven. He’s going to challenge people to live differently, but most importantly, he’s going to go to a cross and he’s going to stretch out his arms so that our greed and our lies and our deception can be placed upon his body. And as he’s hanging there, the sins of the world upon him, that he would take his last breath. So that three days later.

He could come out of the tomb. And he could declare victory over the devil and over our fallen sinful nature. He could do what we could not do for ourselves. And he’s the one that comes and picks us up, and he dust us off. And he exchanges all of our sins in fallen ways. And he gives us once again his mercy and his grace and his forgiveness. That’s the amazing part of the God that we serve. And when we understand that, we continue to come in contact with that and we continue to hear that now, then we go out and we live as redeemed children of God, patiently waiting for him. So what is it for you this morning? How do you need to make room for God? Where are those areas of your life that you need to confess? Maybe you’re here this morning and this is a timely message for you because, you know, greed has been gripping your heart. Maybe you’re here this morning and your tongue has just gotten so far away from you, and you can’t even believe you’ve told so many lies. You don’t even know how you’re going to put it all back together. Confessing. Get it out. Use that same tongue that you’re using to serve others, and confess that to God, and watch what God does. Man. He has a better way for all of us. His kindness is what leads us to repentance. So why don’t you do this? This morning, as we close, I want you to take your hands. Look down at your hands. Two things. Number one, God created those hands. God knit you together in your mother’s womb.

You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Number two, everything that you have within your grasp and in your reach is because of God. And the more you try to move your hands together, and the more that you try to hold on to the things of this world, the more miserable you’re going to be. But the more you realize that it’s God’s anyways, and you let go and you release and your hands become a posture of humility and service to him. Watch out, because then you’re going to find out what your purpose really is on this earth, and the life that he is really called you to fulfill. As he gives you his hands, his nail scarred hands, and he forgives you and you remind you, I see you. I know you, I love you, you are forgiven you by your heads. You close your eyes with me this morning. Heavenly father, we thank you, God, that your word is so powerful. In the pages of Scripture, no matter what it is that we’re studying God, that it’s you that speaks to us. And yes, sometimes it can be heavy, sometimes it can be so convicting. But God, it’s for our good. God, this morning I pray for everyone that’s in this room, everybody who’s watching online or maybe watching later on demand. You know, every human heart. Break us. Break the sin in our lives. So that we may receive your forgiveness. Walk out of here today. Walk through this entire week seeing the world in a whole different way, not getting sucked into all of the facets that this world tries to offer us. But God, we walk in purpose and meaning and forgiveness because that is what you have called your redeemed children to do. God, thank you.

Thank you for sending Jesus. Thank you that it was his hands that were pierced for us. God, now we ask for your blessing upon our week. Guide us in all that we do. We love you. We thank you. We pray all these things in your Son’s most holy and precious name. Amen.