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TEXT: Exodus 8:14-9:35, KJV

Youth Focus this week:                                                                                                                                                            Memory Verse of the Month: “If you love Me, Keep my commandments”, John 14:15, KJV                    Family Focus of the Month: Genesis 24 – Exodus 10            Watch Word of Month: Service                Hymn of the Month: Blessed Assurance

Key Verse: “And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.” Exodus 10:3, KJV

Hebrew ‘Leanot’ from root word עָנָה (anah) — meaning to ‘willfully surrender’

Introduction:

Background:

1^st Plague – Overthrow of Nile                                                                                                                                                 2^nd Plague – Overthrow of Hekket

“23 Christian Thoughts about God that even Children Can Understand”

Chapter Eight Verse 14

¹⁴ And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank.

¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.

God give us adequate time to accept Him

¹⁶ And the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

3^rd Plague – dust becomes Lice or Mosquitos; this was the first unannounced plague!

The first two plagues (blood and frogs) seemed to dispel idolatry this one seems aimed at uncleanliness.  Egyptian Priests were regarded as Pure but bugs even overcame them.

• God is Holy

¹⁷ And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

¹⁸ And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast.

• God is Sovereign

¹⁹ Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.

Name of God here is Elohim

Remember Moses says I Am means Yahweh: Yahweh is the relational name of God

Elohim is the Creative name of God as in Genesis 1:1 but can mean a god or the God

The magicians state we don’t know him Pharoah but He definitely is stronger than us

• God will not be mocked

Original Word: μυκτηρίζω  Part of Speech: V.   Transliteration: muktérizó
Phonetic Spelling: (mook-tay-rid’-zo)   Definition: ignored, brushed off, factored in)

CR: Gal 6:7, “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap”

²⁰ And the Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

Serve is the Hebrew word ‘Weyaabduni’ — 6 Occurrences in Bible with last at Ex 10:3

Since nowhere else in Scripture describes the type service God wants we research it

^{Deuteronomy 28:1, NIV} “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God”

^{Deuteronomy 30:11 “}Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.” 

^{Deuteronomy 30:16 “}For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.”

^{Deuteronomy 30:17 “}But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.”

The Shema seems to be the actual service God wanted Moses to share with Israel

The Shema is one of only two prayers that are specifically commanded in Torah (the other is Birkat Ha-Mazon — grace after meals). It is the oldest fixed daily prayer in Judaism, recited morning and night since ancient times.

Sh’ma Yisra’eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad.
Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One

^{Deuteronomy 6:4 “}Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^[a] 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

^{Matthew 22:37} “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”

• God is a Jealous God

²¹ Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.

4^th Plague-Flies

²² And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.

• God distinguishes between good and evil

²³ And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.

• God offers every man opportunity to hear and respond to His Word

CR: In Numbers 11:4-15, the “rabble” (non-Israelites, Exodus 12.38), joined by the Israelites’ and their nostalgia for Egyptian food, despise God’s gifts of food (verses 6, 18) and deliverance (verse 20).

²⁴ And the Lord did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.

²⁵ And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.

• God will wear us down until He wins

²⁶ And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?

The Egyptians would despise animal sacrifice because they held them in high regard and people who touched animals in low regard

Why does God require animal sacrifice anyway? Precursor to Propitiation

Ex 26 would have been written around 3,000 years before Jesus Birth.  The flood in Noah’s day happened in the year 2370 B.C.E and Jesus was born about October 1, 2 B.C.E. So Jesus was born 2,368 years after the flood in Noah’s day.

• God has given us the only guide we need to live good lives

²⁷ We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he shall command us.

Three days meant a long period of time.  Similar to us saying give me 5 minutes today!

God Never even tells Moses to tell Pharoah how many days it would take

• Sticking with what God said will keep us from slipping into sin

²⁸ And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me.

²⁹ And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will intreat the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.

³⁰ And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the Lord.

³¹ And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.

• God answers prayer CR: Jm 5:16 “the prayers of the righteous”

³² And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.

Chapter Nine

 ¹ Then the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

² For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,

³ Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.

⁴ And the Lord shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children’s of Israel.

5^th Plague – Disease on Cattle

⁵ And the Lord appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the Lord shall do this thing in the land.

• God has already released what we need on earth we just haven’t run into it yet

⁶ And the Lord did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one.

• God wont always spare His Saints from suffering

⁷ And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

Grace and only grace opened our hearts to receive the message of the Cross

• Gods Grace is a gift that we should give to others to show our appreciation

⁸ And the Lord said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.

⁹ And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt.

6^th Plaque- Boils/Sores (the idea is swelling, painful, skin inflammation)

Suggestions are that this plaque was against Imhotep-Father of Medicine

¹⁰ And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast.

¹¹ And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians.

Successive destruction of the entire Egyptian pantheon

• God will tear down everything we build that gets more of us than Him

¹² And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had spoken unto Moses.

¹³ And the Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

Hebrews-abar meaning opposite or people from the other side

• God expects Christians to show the world what serving/service truly is

¹⁴ For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth.

¹⁵ For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth.

7^th Plaque – Hail

¹⁶ And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.

iow- I have raised you up to show the world who I am

Pharoah thought his resistance was showing his strength but it was doing the opposite

• God may allow a little rain before He appoints a little sunshine

¹⁷ As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go?

¹⁸ Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now.

• God has Not yet shown either of us ALL of His Power: Get ready for Greater

¹⁹ Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die.

²⁰ He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses:

This denotes that by Plaque 7 there were many Egyptians who believed in Gods Power though they didn’t know Him Personally

• Gods Power is always greatest among those who pursue Him personally

²¹ And he that regarded not the word of the Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field.

²² And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.

²³ And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

Continued Plague- Thunder, Hail and Fire mixed together

²⁴ So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

²⁵ And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field.

²⁶ Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.

• God is going to somedays destroy this earth by fire and only a few will be Saved

²⁷ And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.

• God will always forgive a sinner who repents of sin and turns from his old ways

²⁸ Intreat the Lord (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer.

²⁹ And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto the Lord; and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know how that the earth is the Lord’s.

³⁰ But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear the Lord God.

• Gods enemies cannot be our friends: if one won’t do right by God, they’ll never do right by us.

³¹ And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled.

³² But the wheat and the rie were not smitten: for they were not grown up.

• God has provided a handout for those who need a hand up! CR: Eph 2:8

“Prior to conversion to Christ, most people go through a process of illumination regarding the ugliness of sin and the contrasting beauty of God’s redemptive work in Jesus.  However, for those who cannot go through such a process because of their limited mental faculties, the character of God suggests that He would make provision for them. As a result, while we recognize that most saved people have at least some understanding of sin, repentance, redemption through Christ, and eternal life, we also recognize that those of limited mental capacity—such as infants and individuals who are mentally disabled—may be saved by grace without such understanding.”

³³ And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the Lord: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.

³⁴ And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.

³⁵ And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go; as the Lord had spoken by Moses.

SUBJECT: “Conversion is the Christian Confession”

TEXT: Genesis 42:1-43:34, KJV

Youth Focus this week: Repentance means to not only confess but to change the behavior

Key Verse: “And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.” Genesis 42:21,KJV

Key Words: Repent

Transliteration: Metanoia       Phonetic Spelling: (met-an’-oy-ah)   Definition: change of mind

Introduction:

Previous Points:

1. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit created man, the highest earthly species in His own image and For specific Purpose
2. Man’s purposes on earth are to, Reproduce (Gen 1:28), Replenish (1:28) to Be Responsible (1:28) and Responsive (1:29 Behold – 2:17)
3. Angels are also created beings capable of love, logic and liberty
4. Lucifer, once a gifted Angel was removed from Heaven and has become the enemy of God known as satan or the devil
5. Satan only has one power….. to convince us that we have none which he does by tempting us to sin through 3 tricks: Lust of Flesh, Lust of Eyes and Pride of Life!
6. God has given man the power to resist sin with love, logic and liberty!
7. CR: Job 2:3 The Hebrew Word: Chazaq (khaw-zek) means to grow firm inculcating that God will often teach us life lessons through curriculums we may not like.

THREE PRIMARY LESSONS WE LEARN FROM STUDYING GENESIS

• God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit created everything in this world For Purpose!
• Man has been given Love, Logic and LibertyI
• Holding to Gods unchanging Hand through hard times is the harbinger of Biblical Christianity

PREVAILING PRESUPPOSITIONS

• Bible is oldest religious book                                                                                                                                  
• Genesis 1 most likely written around 4000 years before Christ to earth                                                                       
• Joseph dreams his dreams around 2000 years before Christ came to earth                                        
• Christophanies are signs of Jesus in the Old Testament and tonight study is one of the best:

GOD:  God Loves the World and all of His Creation Within It                                                                                                                                                                                         

MAN:   Man was created for the purpose of serving God                                                                                                                                                                                          

SIN:     The evil one has made it his business to stop man from serving God and seeing the fruit from doing so                                                                                                                                                                                   

SALVATION:  Gods plan for saving man from sin through His grace can be seen best through the life of Joseph          

BACKGROUND BIBLICAL CONTEXT:

Leah	Zilpah	Rachel	Bilhah
Reuben	Gad		Dan
Simeon	Asher		Naphtali
Levi
Judah
Issachar
Zebulun
Dinah
		Joseph
		Benjamin

“Twenty-One Compelling Reasons to Convert from Sin”

Chapter 42

¹ Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another?

Egypt- the name Egypt originated from an ancient Greek word “Aígyptos.  The Greek forms of the word were derived from the Late Egyptian “Hikuptah” which translates to “home of the soul of Ptah”. Ptah is what the Egyptians used to refer to the city of Memphis where the chief deity being worshipped there was none other than the potter god, Ptah. 

Egypt was among the most advanced civilizations on the planet with massive leaps in writing, urbanization, organized religion, and others. For this reason, ancient Egypt is considered to be a cradle of civilization.

Diety	Area of Power	Depicted as
Osiris	Agricultural fertility
Isis	Motherhood	female
Horus	Sky god
Seth	Chaos, storms & death god
Ptah	Crafts and Building
Re	Sun god
Hathor	Fertility god	Female/cow

Egypt – Israel’s redemption from Egypt is a picture of our deliverance from sin and death through faith in Jesus Christ. While initially seen as a place of refuge in famine or threat, Egypt becomes a place of oppression and slavery. For New Testament believers, Egypt represents our old life of slavery to sin. CR: Galatians 3:13; 4:5; Titus 2:14.

² And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.

The time frame is after 7 years of plenty now into 7 years of famine

300 miles/ a six week journey

• Sin will always lead us further than we want to go & costs far more that we want to pay

³ And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.

Joseph means He will Increase; He will add

Joseph had already been in Egypt 20 years before this verse

• God sent someone ahead of us to experience sin before we ever did

⁴ But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.

Benjamin- means “son, house or foundation” CR: King Saul, Esther, Apostle Paul and Jerusalem was originally Benjamite territory CR: Joshua 18:28, Judges 1:21

• A firm foundation for sin forgiveness was made just outside Jerusalem on a hill called Mt. Calvary

⁵ And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

⁶ And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.

• Freedom from sin is available to EVERYONE who BOWS to Jesus!

⁷ And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.

• Gods Word addresses/convicts sin strongly/seriously!

CR:  Prov 3:11, KJV

⁸ And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.

⁹ And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

We all have weaknesses/vulnerabilities that the devil desires to exploit through sin but increase is available

Name Joseph means “God will increase/add”

• On the other side of temptation is Elevation!

¹⁰ And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.

¹¹ We are all one man’s sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.

Transliteration: kenim          Phonetic Spelling: (kane)        Definition: Honest/Righteous

• All have sinned and come short the glory of God!

¹² And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

¹³ And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.

Joseph yet lives and has great power, while his conspirators believe him to be deceased

• Because He Lives, all sin is gone!

¹⁴ And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies:

¹⁵ Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.

¹⁶ Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.

¹⁷ And he put them all together into ward three days.

All ten brothers jailed for sins though not all equally

• Punishment for letting sin dominate our lives is the same for all: isolation

¹⁸ And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God:

¹⁹ If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:

²⁰ But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.

²¹ And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.

• Without Jesus, there is no remission of sin: 20 years

²² And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.

²³ And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.

Muy Buen

• God understands our every prayer and is waiting on us to confess our sin

²⁴ And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.

²⁵ Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them.

²⁶ And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.

²⁷ And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack’s mouth.

Spotted the money

²⁸ And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack: and their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God hath done unto us?

Why do the think God has done something to them?

Fear of what may happen

• Believers should so Fear/Respect God that sin becomes something we shun

²⁹ And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them; saying,

³⁰ The man, who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.

³¹ And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies:

³² We be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.

³³ And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone:

³⁴ And bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffick in the land.

³⁵ And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.

³⁶ And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.

The presence of the unpleasant does Not mean we’ve become the unclean!

In this case, God is positioning the Israelites for Increase

• It is true that our sins can negatively affect a lot of people we love

³⁷ And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.

³⁸ And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.

Chapter 43

¹ And the famine was sore in the land.

² And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.

• Sin will always leave us empty, broken, hurt and hungry

³ And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.                                                               ⁴ If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:                         ⁵ But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.

Judah means Praise

The argument here is that a man send his only remaining son to Egypt

• The primary point for praising God is Not the house, car and job but that He has settled our Sin debt through His Son, Jesus

⁶ And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?

Jacob/Israel says in essence its your fault! And/or why didn’t you lie?

• The only one to blame for sin, is the sinner because satan is just a suggester.

⁷ And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down?

⁸ And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones.

⁹ I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever:

¹⁰ For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time.

• The time to confess sin and repent is always immediately

¹¹ And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:                                                              ¹² And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight:¹³ Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man:                                         ¹⁴ And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.

• Repentance is the least we can give the God who gave us His Best!

CR: 2 Corinthians 7:10, NLT “For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.”

¹⁵ And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

¹⁶ And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring these men home, and slay, and make ready; for these men shall dine with me at noon.

High noon or the 6^th hour of the day is seen often in Jewish writing

It was the 6^th hour when Jesus died on the Cross

These brothers are being served and shown undeserving favor

• There is No greater demonstration of Love towards us than the Crucifixion.

¹⁷ And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house.

¹⁸ And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses.

• God’s thoughts towards us are pure, regardless of our sin!

¹⁹ And they came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they communed with him at the door of the house,

²⁰ And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food:                                 ²¹ And it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand.

• Confession is good for the Soul

²² And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.

²³ And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them.

²⁴ And the man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender.

²⁵ And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there.

²⁶ And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth.

• Gods Word concerning sin and everything else will always come to pass!

²⁷ And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive?

²⁸ And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance.

²⁹ And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son.

³⁰ And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there.

³¹ And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.

³² And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

³³ And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one at another.

³⁴ And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of their’s. And they drank, and were merry with him.

ILLUSTRATION:                                                           

FOR FURTHER STUDY:

CONCLUSION:                                                                                                                                        

PRAYER LIST:     

QUESTIONS?  

HOMEWORK:    None                 

TEXT: Genesis 39:1 – 41:57, KJV

Key Verse: “But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour” Genesis 39:21,KJV

Introduction: B.M.W, (Blood, Mercy & Word)

Previous Points:

1. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit created man, the highest earthly species in His own image and For specific Purpose
2. Man’s purposes on earth are to, Reproduce (Gen 1:28), Replenish (1:28) to Be Responsible (1:28) and Responsive (1:29 Behold – 2:17)
3. Angels are also created beings capable of love, logic and liberty
4. Lucifer, once a gifted Angel was removed from Heaven and has become the enemy of God known as satan or the devil
5. Satan only has one power….. to convince us that we have none which he does by tempting us to sin through 3 tricks: Lust of Flesh, Lust of Eyes and Pride of Life!
6. God has given man the power to resist sin with love, logic and liberty!
7. CR: Job 2:3 The Hebrew Word: Chazaq (khaw-zek) means to grow firm inculcating that God will often teach us life lessons through curriculums we may not like.

THREE PRIMARY LESSONS WE LEARN FROM STUDYING GENESIS

• God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit created everything in this world For Purpose!
• Man has been given Love, Logic and LibertyI
• Holding to Gods unchanging Hand through hard times is the harbinger of Biblical Christianity

PREVAILING PRESUPPOSITIONS

• Bible is oldest religious book                                                                                                                                 Genesis 1 most likely written around 4000 years before Christ to earth                                                                         Joseph dreams his dreams around 2000 years before Christ came to earth                                        Christophanies are signs of Jesus in the Old Testament and tonight study is one of the best:

GOD:  God Loves the World and all of His Creation Within It                                                                                                                                                                        MAN:   Man was created for the purpose of serving God                                                                                                                                                                  SIN:     The evil one has made it his business to stop man from serving God and seeing the fruit from doing so                                                                                                                                                                      SALVATION:  Gods plan for saving man from sin through His grace can be seen best through the life of Joseph          

• Both men were greatly loved by their fathers
• As shepherds, they both took care of their father’s sheep
• Both Joseph and Jesus were sent to their brothers by their father
• Both men were ridiculed and rejected by their brothers
• Both went through sufferings and betrayal
• Both were tempted and forgave
• Both are saviours

BACKGROUND BIBLICAL CONTEXT:

Chapter 37 Jacobs other sons sell Joseph and lie to him making him believe Joseph is dead                                                                                                                               Chapter 38 Jacobs son Judah is fooled by daughter-in-law, Tamar: Sons Perez & Zerah

Leah	Zilpah	Rachel	Bilhah
Reuben	Gad		Dan
Simeon	Asher		Naphtali
Levi
Judah
Issachar
Zebulun
Dinah
		Joseph
		Benjamin

“20 Pathways to Biblical Prosperity”

Chapter 39 

¹ And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.

Yahweh – occurs more than 6800 times in the Bible; it is the relational name of God as opposed to Elohim and Adonai.  Ex 3:13-15 where God says “I Am who I am”

Yahweh is the personal name of God, that was eventually spoken aloud ONLY  by priests worshiping in the Jerusalem temple.

Tetragrammaton is YHWH and because “Y” makes “J” sound we get Jehovah

After the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70, the name was not pronounced and Adonai was substituted for Yahweh whenever it appeared in the biblical text.

ELOHIM ————— YAHWEH ——————ADONAI/KURIOS——- GOD

Revelation through Relationship!

² And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

Prosperous – meaning to Be Successful in Strongs Hebrew is the word “Tsaleach “  {tsaw-lay’-akh}; Meaning(s) – break out, come mightily, go over, be good, cause to, effective,

1. Why is Joseph successful?; 2) Where is he successful? 3) How is he successful?
2. God must become Our Goal

iow- everything we do must be done for Gods glory and Not our own and its easy to recognize when its for Gods glory because our attitude reflects it

³ And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand.

What did he do?

• Do what you do without complaint, conflict, contempt or condition

⁴ And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.

• Serve because its right, Not because it may come with reward

Serve Who? Serve How? Joseph served Potiphar by putting him as a priority

Sometime over the next five to seven years Potiphar gives him more responsiblity

⁵ And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.

• Seek to be a blessing instead of a burden (i.e, how can I help?)

⁶ And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well-favoured.

• Invest more into Character than we do beauty and Clothing (i.e., books, conferences)

Javier from Courageous

⁷ And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.

⁸ But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;

• Resist the devils devices

⁹ There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

• Recognize that sin no matter its size is rebellion against God that has consequences that we can’t choose

¹⁰ And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.

¹¹ And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.

¹² And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.

¹³ And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth,

¹⁴ That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice:

• Still Loving people who’ve hated you

¹⁵ And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out.

¹⁶ And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home.

¹⁷ And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me:

¹⁸ And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.

¹⁹ And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled.

²⁰ And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.

• Look for Gods hand when dealing with low places and low down people

²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

• Always treat folks better than you’d like to be treated regardless of their position

²² And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.

²³ The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper.

• Remain faithful regardless of your present reality because the same God who allows disappointment also allows appointment.

Mr. Miyagi

Chapter 40 

¹And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt.

² And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers.

³ And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.

⁴ And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them: and they continued a season in ward.

• Serving successfully because you can see the good in a bad situation

⁵ And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison.

⁶ And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them, and, behold, they were sad.

⁷ And he asked Pharaoh’s officers that were with him in the ward of his lord’s house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly to day?

• Caring enough about other human beings that you connect with them in Christlike fashion

The man has every reason in the world not to care about anyone or anything yet……

⁸ And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.

There is no evidence that Joseph has ever interpreted a dream before but his belief is that His God Can

• Believing the best about God even in the worst of circumstances (i.e, God Can, God Will, God is)

⁹ And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me;

¹⁰ And in the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and her blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes:

¹¹ And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.

¹² And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days:

¹³ Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thy place: and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler.

¹⁴ But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and shew kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house:

Transliteration: checed       Phonetic Spelling: (kheh’-sed)     Definition: goodness, kindness

Do me a favor because I’ve done you a favor

• Rejoicing when others receive their blessings though our situation hasn’t changed yet

¹⁵ For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream, and, behold, I had three white baskets on my head:

¹⁷ And in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head.

¹⁸ And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days:

¹⁹ Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.

²⁰ And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.

²¹ And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand:

²² But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them.

²³ Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.

• Deepening your relationship with God despite not getting what you know you deserve (i.e, church, Bible study, Fasting, works on auxiliaries, etc…)

Chapter 41 

¹ And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river.

• Still serving God even though so much time has past that you’ve started to see yourself as no longer even wanting what God promised you

Sometimes we can want the right thing for the wrong reasons

² And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow.

³ And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river.

⁴ And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke.

⁵ And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.

⁶ And, behold, seven thin ears and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them.

⁷ And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream.

⁸ And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.

The anointing is activated only at Gods command and that usually only after many days, months, weeks or even years of agony (extreme physical or mental suffering)

Joseph is now either 29 or 30 years old; having been imprisoned for nearly 13 years

⁹ Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day:

¹⁰ Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in ward in the captain of the guard’s house, both me and the chief baker:

¹¹ And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream.

¹² And there was there with us a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret.

¹³ And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged.

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.

¹⁵ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it.

¹⁶ And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.

• When everything we do and say are opportunities for God to speak and work

Here, Joseph is a representative of God offering revelation to Pharoah through relationship

¹⁷ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:

¹⁸ And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:

¹⁹ And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:

²⁰ And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine:

²¹ And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke.

²² And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good:

²³ And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:

²⁴ And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me.

²⁵ And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.

²⁶ The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.

²⁷ And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine.

²⁸ This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.

²⁹ Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:

³⁰ And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;

³¹ And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous.

³² And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

³³ Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.

³⁴ Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.

³⁵ And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.

³⁶ And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.

³⁷ And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.

³⁸ And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?

Transliteration: Elohim    Phonetic Spelling: (el-o-heem’)  Meaning: God or gods

Pharoah uses Elohim because he does not yet know Yahweh through relationship

³⁹ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:

• Letting others praise our work and Not our own lips

⁴⁰ Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.

⁴¹ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.

⁴² And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;

⁴³ And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Just like God showed Joseph in the dream 13 years ago people are bowing to him in honor

All dreams are Not laden with Divine Direction towards destiny but some may be indicators that its time to take God more seriously

⁴⁴ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁵ And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶ And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁷ And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls.

⁴⁸ And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same.

⁴⁹ And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.

⁵⁰ And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.

⁵¹ And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.

⁵² And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.

• When we’re willing to trade forgetfulness/forgiveness for fruitfulness

⁵³ And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended.

⁵⁴ And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.

⁵⁵ And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do.

⁵⁶ And the famine was over all the face of the earth: and Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.

⁵⁷ And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands.

Now Israel needs to come see Joseph in order to survive

• When people have dealt you underhanded but now you have the upperhand

ILLUSTRATION:                                                           

FOR FURTHER STUDY:

CONCLUSION:                                                                                                                                        

PRAYER LIST:   Mother Fleming    

QUESTIONS?  

HOMEWORK:    None                 

TEXT: Genesis 37:1 – 40:23, KJV

Youth Focus this week: Begin Preparation for District Fall Bible Bowl

Key Verse: “And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?” Genesis 37:15,KJV

Introduction: Eph 2:5 The idea is an act of preserving that gets better and better through accepted invitation, allowed input and atoned iniquity.

Previous Points:

1. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit created man, the highest earthly species in His own image and For specific Purpose
2. Man’s purposes on earth are to, Reproduce (Gen 1:28), Replenish (1:28) to Be Responsible (1:28) and Responsive (1:29 Behold – 2:17)
3. Angels are also created beings capable of love, logic and liberty
4. Lucifer, once a gifted Angel was removed from Heaven and has become the enemy of God known as satan or the devil
5. Satan only has one power….. to convince us that we have none which he does by tempting us to sin through 3 tricks: Lust of Flesh, Lust of Eyes and Pride of Life!
6. God has given man the power to resist sin with love, logic and liberty!
7. CR: Job 2:3 The Hebrew Word: Chazaq (khaw-zek) means to grow firm inculcating that God will often teach us life lessons through curriculums we may not like.

THREE PRIMARY LESSONS WE LEARN FROM STUDYING GENESIS

• God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit created everything in this world For Purpose!
• Man has been given Love, Logic and LibertyI
• Holding to Gods unchanging Hand through hard times is the harbinger of Biblical Christianity

PREVAILING PRESUPPOSITIONS

• Bible is oldest religious book                                                                                                                                   Genesis 1 most likely written around 4000 years before Christ to earth                                                                         Joseph dreams his dreams around 2000 years before Christ came to earth                                         Christophanies are signs of Jesus in the Old Testament and tonight study is one of the best:

GOD:  God Loves the World and all of His Creation Within It                                                                                                                                                                                         MAN:   Man was created for the purpose of serving God                                                                                                                                                                                            SIN:     The evil one has made it his business to stop man from serving God and seeing the fruit from doing so                                                                                                                                                                                    SALVATION:  Gods plan for saving man from sin through His grace can be seen best through the life of Joseph           

• Both men were greatly loved by their fathers
• As shepherds, they both took care of their father’s sheep
• Both Joseph and Jesus were sent to their brothers by their father
• Both men were ridiculed and rejected by their brothers
• Both went through sufferings and betrayal
• Both were tempted and forgave
• Both are saviours

BACKGROUND BIBLICAL CONTEXT:

Chapter 34 Jacobs daughter Dinah is assaulted and her perpetrators killed by her brothers                            Chapter 35-36 Jacob moves to Bethel in Canaan and Benjamin is added to the list of sons

Leah	Zilpah	Rachel	Bilhah
Reuben	Gad		Dan
Simeon	Asher		Naphtali
Levi
Judah
Issachar
Zebulun
Dinah
		Joseph
		Benjamin

“Twenty Examples of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament”

Chapter 37

¹And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.

² These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.

Name Joseph spelled with “Y” Yosef; because there is no “J” in Hebrew OT or Greek NT

Jesus is actually Yeshua in OT and Iesous in NT but gains a “J” in English translation

Name Yosef/Joseph mean “he will increase”

The Meaning never ceases to be “The Lord is Salvation”

CR: Eph 2:5 The idea is an act of preserving that gets better and better through accepted invitation, allowed input and atoned iniquity.

• Jesus’ life is Gods ‘Only Offer’ to Save Mankind

³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.

The coat was a gift showing the Fathers approval of this son for several reasons ( Simeon & Levi 34:1-9, Reuben 35:5, Judah 38:16)

No wonder daddy loved Joseph More!

• There will never be another Jesus on the earth but we should try to emulate His example

⁴ And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

Transliteration: sane    Phonetic Spelling: (saw-nay’)   Definition: to hate  Part of Speech: Verb

Translation seems to suggests that the more they saw him, the more they hated him

• Jesus did no wrong and doesn’t deserve anything but love

⁵ And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.

⁶ And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:

⁷ For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.

⁸ And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.

• Jesus Words are true

CR: Jn 14:6 “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life”

⁹ And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.

¹⁰ And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

• Every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord

CR: Phil 2:9-11

¹¹ And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

¹² And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.

¹³ And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.

• Jesus was sent to His brethren knowing that many would Not receive Him yet He came anyway

¹⁴ And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

¹⁵ And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?

¹⁶ And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.

¹⁷ And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.

¹⁸ And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.

• Jesus was despised and rejected yet never despised or rejected anyone

CR: Isa 53:3

¹⁹ And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.

²⁰ Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

• Jesus was lied on yet never lied on anyone

²¹ And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.

Reuben really is trying to buy some time to devise a plan because he knows this is wrong

²² And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.

²³ And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;

²⁴ And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.

²⁵ And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.

²⁶ And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?

²⁷ Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content.

• Jesus was sold out for 30 pieces of silver by His own friend

             CR: Matt 24:14-16 (todays value would be around $264)

²⁸ Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.

Picked up and Sold to Midianites then sold to the Ishmeelites

²⁹ And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.

Saddened by what he wasn’t able to accomplish

³⁰ And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?

³¹ And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;

³² And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no.

³³ And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.

• Animal blood cannot be compared with Jesus’ Blood

CR: Heb 9:13-14 “For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

³⁴ And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.

³⁵ And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.

³⁶ And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.

Ishmeelites to the Midianites to Potiphar

• Jesus took on the life of a servant

CR: Matt 20:28, “the Son of Man did not come to be served….”

Chapter 38 

¹And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.

² And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her.

• Jesus never compromised the Cross Agenda

³ And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.

⁴ And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.

⁵ And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.

⁶ And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.

⁷ And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord slew him.

⁸ And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.

⁹ And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.

¹⁰ And the thing which he did displeased the Lord: wherefore he slew him also.

• Jesus Never let God the Father down

CR: Matthew 3:17; Matthew 17:5; Mark 1:1; Mark 9:7; Luke 3:22

¹¹ Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father’s house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.

¹² And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah’s wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

¹³ And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep.

Name Tamar is Hebrew meaning upright or righteous

• Jesus is the Righteous One

¹⁴ And she put her widow’s garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.

¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face.

¹⁶ And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?

¹⁷ And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?

¹⁸ And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.

¹⁹ And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.

²⁰ And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand: but he found her not.

²¹ Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place.

²² And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place.

²³ And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.

²⁴ And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.

²⁵ When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.

²⁶ And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.

²⁷ And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.

²⁸ And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.

²⁹ And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez.

³⁰ And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.

Chapter 39 

¹ And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.

² And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

• Everywhere He went and Everyone He touched Prospered greatly

³ And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand.

⁴ And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.

• Jesus is Trustworthy

⁵ And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.

⁶ And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.

⁷ And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.

⁸ But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;

⁹ There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

• Jesus never sinned Not even once

¹⁰ And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.

• Jesus was tempted all day everyday but still never sinned even once

¹¹ And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.

¹² And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.

¹³ And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth,

¹⁴ That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice:

¹⁵ And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out.

¹⁶ And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home.

• People tried to trap Jesus

¹⁷ And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me:

¹⁸ And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.

¹⁹ And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled.

²⁰ And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.

²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

²² And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.

²³ The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper.

Chapter 40 

¹And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt.

• Jesus was crucified between two thieves

² And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers.

³ And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.

⁴ And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them: and they continued a season in ward.

⁵ And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison.

⁶ And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them, and, behold, they were sad.

⁷ And he asked Pharaoh’s officers that were with him in the ward of his lord’s house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly to day?

⁸ And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.

⁹ And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me;

¹⁰ And in the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and her blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes:

¹¹ And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.

¹² And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days:

¹³ Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thy place: and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler.

¹⁴ But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and shew kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house:

¹⁵ For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream, and, behold, I had three white baskets on my head:

¹⁷ And in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head.

¹⁸ And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days:

¹⁹ Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.

²⁰ And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.

²¹ And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand:

²² But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them.

²³ Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.

• Jesus was made to feel forgotten by Peter

ILLUSTRATION:                                                           

FOR FURTHER STUDY:

CONCLUSION:                                                                                                                                        

PRAYER LIST:     

TEXT: Genesis 35:1 – 36, KJV

Youth Focus this week: First 30 Books of Bible

Key Verse: “And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?” Genesis 37:15,KJV

Introduction:

Leah	Zilpah	Rachel	Bilhah
Reuben	Gad		Dan
Simeon	Asher		Naphtali
Levi
Judah
Issachar
Zebulun
Dinah
		Joseph

Previous Points:

1. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit created man, the highest earthly species in His own image and For specific Purpose
2. Man’s purposes on earth are to, Reproduce (Gen 1:28), Replenish (1:28) to Be Responsible (1:28) and Responsive (1:29 Behold – 2:17)
3. Angels are also created beings capable of love, logic and liberty
4. Lucifer, once a gifted Angel was removed from Heaven and has become the enemy of God known as satan or the devil
5. Satan only has one power….. to convince us that we have none which he does by tempting us to sin through 3 tricks: Lust of Flesh, Lust of Eyes and Pride of Life!
6. God has given man the power to resist sin with love, logic and liberty!
7. CR: Job 2:3 The Hebrew Word: Chazaq (khaw-zek) means to grow firm inculcating that God will often teach us life lessons through curriculums we may not like.

THREE PRIMARY LESSONS WE LEARN FROM STUDYING GENESIS

• God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit created everything in this world For Purpose!
• Man has been given Love, Logic and LibertyI
• Holding to Gods unchanging Hand through hard times is the harbinger of Biblical Christianity

BACKGROUND BIBLICAL CONTEXT:

Chapter 27 Issac gives the blessing to Jacob instead of Esau                                                           Chapter 28 Jacob leaves home in Canaan and heads to his Uncle Laban’s but sees a ladder on the way Chapter 29 Jacob makes it to Uncle Labans house in Padanaram and meets the love of his life Rachel                               

Chapter 30 Jacob works for his Uncle, builds a family with his two wives and gets his own field (Labans sons tend Jacobs few flock and Jacob tends Labans)                                                                                            

Chapter 31 Jacob heads back to Canaan with his wives, their 13 kids and his wealth                               Chapter 32 he wrestles with the Angel, has his name changed to Israel and meets Esau after 20 years   Chapter 34 Jacobs daughter Dinah is assaulted and her perpetrators killed by her brothers

“14 Signs that Lost People Looking for in Spiritual Places”

Chapter 35

¹ And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.

Jacob has returned and settled in Shechem

Link to Chp 34 is that the 12 sons have perhaps caused a war

“I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.’” Gen 31:13

42 total years have passed

Beth = House, EL= God; House of God

• Seeking a place that they can meet God

² Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:

The gods of the stranger

Shechemite’s had intermarried with Jacobs family

Elohim used but there’s an “s” on god meaning what?

• Seeking a place that accepts them for who they are and makes them part of  family

Some people may only experience family inside their church

³ And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.

⁴ And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

Jewish scholars suggest that these were earrings of idol objects that were taken from the Canaanite village when they killed Dinah’s attacker and his family

• Seeking somewhere to give up everything that’s Not of God 

⁵ And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.

Compared to the cities around them Jacobs tribes were small & vulnerable

They needed Gods protection

Transliteration: chittah          Phonetic Spelling: (khit-taw’)        Definition: fear or respect

• Seeking to be somewhere where God is Respected & Feared

⁶ So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him.

“And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.” (Genesis 28:19)

Luz is Canaanite word and Bethel is a Hebrew word for the same town

⁷ And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.

Elbethel-means “The God, of the House of God”

• Seeking a place where God can be related to personally by every person

⁸ But Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.

Rebekah was Issacs wife & Jacobs Grandmother

Deborah was Rebekahs nurse and most likely a nanny to Jacob ; 125 years old at least

• Seeking a community to encourage them during discouraging times

So many people are dealing with so much

⁹ And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.

v1) God Said; ………. v7)  God Appeared; …………v9)  God Appeared; ……….v10 God said

• Seeking somewhere that every experience with God gets better & better

¹⁰ And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.

Y, SRAL– The “Y” is a prefix meaning “he”. The “AL” usually pronounced as “el” is the Hebrew word for “God”. The “SR” is the part that seems to cause most of the problems in translation. “SR” is yasar meaning “discipline”. When you discipline your children you are turned their head from a path of bad to a path of good.

Word studies reveal that the name could mean:

1. One who wrestles with God
2. Prince of God…….. ‘SR’ usually translated Prince and feminine SRH=turns head
3. One who struggles with God
4. He who is disciplined with God
5. Seeking somewhere that offers opportunities to grow as a disciple

¹¹ And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;

EL-Shaddai or God Almighty

• Kids
• Kings
• Seeking somewhere that’s focused on discipling children

¹² And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.

• Seeking someplace stable enough to stand shifting seasons

¹³ And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.

¹⁴ And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.

Drink represents wine or Blood

Oil represents Holy Spirit

• Seeking somewhere that sacred things are still special  

¹⁵ And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel.

House of God to House of Bethaven meaning House of Iniquity under Jeroboam

• Seeking someplace where worship will always be what’s most important

¹⁶ And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.

¹⁷ And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.

¹⁸ And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.

Benoni- Son of my sorrow

Benjamin- Son of my right hand/the comfort of my old age

• Seeking to find something good inside despite seeing so much sorrow outside

A reason to keep, on keeping on

¹⁹ And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.

Ephrath means Fruitfulness

²⁰ And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.

Jacob  had set a pillar of his joy now he sets one as reminder of his sorrow

²¹ And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.

²² And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:

²³ The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun:

²⁴ The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin:

Leah	Zilpah	Rachel	Bilhah
Reuben	Gad		Dan
Simeon	Asher		Naphtali
Levi
Judah
Issachar
Zebulun
Dinah
		Joseph
		Benjamin

²⁵ And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali:

²⁶ And the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid: Gad, and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padanaram.

²⁷ And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.

²⁸ And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years.

²⁹ And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

• Seeking somewhere that forgiveness, grace and mercy are practiced daily

Chapter 36

Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom or the Edomites

TEXT: Genesis 31:1 – 34:1-31, KJV

Youth Focus this week: Learning the first 15 books of the Bible

Key Verse: “Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.”  Genesis 31:42, KJV

“If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not stuck with me, you would have sent me off penniless. But God saw the fix I was in and how hard I had worked and last night rendered his verdict.”   Genesis 31:42, MSG

Introduction: Hannaniah’s False Prophecy of 2 years led to Jer 29:11: “The plans I have for you!”

PRO – means “forward” but can also mean “for.”  CESS means movement

Processional – suggests that theres a pause in the program before anything else happens

We are oftentimes confusing what we call the devils punishment with God calls Process!

Previous Points:

1. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit created man, the highest earthly species in His own image and For specific Purpose
2. Man’s purposes on earth are to, Reproduce (Gen 1:28), Replenish (1:28) to Be Responsible (1:28) and Responsive (1:29 Behold – 2:17)
3. Angels are also created beings capable of love, logic and liberty
4. Lucifer, once a gifted Angel was removed from Heaven and has become the enemy of God known as satan or the devil
5. Satan only has one power….. to convince us that we have none which he does by tempting us to sin through 3 tricks: Lust of Flesh, Lust of Eyes and Pride of Life!
6. God has given man the power to resist sin with love, logic and liberty!
7. CR: Job 2:3 The Hebrew Word: Chazaq (khaw-zek) means to grow firm inculcating that God will often teach us life lessons through curriculums we may not like.

THREE PRIMARY LESSONS WE LEARN FROM STUDYING GENESIS

• God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit created everything in this world For Purpose!
• Man has been given Love, Logic and LibertyI
• Holding to Gods unchanging Hand through hard times is the harbinger of Biblical Christianity

BACKGROUND BIBLICAL CONTEXT:

Chapter 27 Issac gives the blessing to Jacob instead of Esau                                                         Chapter 28 Jacob leaves home and heads to his Uncle Laban’s but sees a ladder on the way       Chapter 29 Jacob makes it to Uncle Labans house and meets the love of his life Rachel                                Chapter 30 Jacob works for his Uncle, builds a family with his two wives and gets his own field (Labans sons tend Jacobs few flock and Jacob tends Labans)

Leah	Zilpah	Rachel	Bilhah
Reuben	Gad		Dan
Simeon	Asher		Naphtali
Levi
Judah
Issachar
Zebulun
Dinah
		Joseph

“20 Possible Pieces of Gods Process to Move Us Forward.”

Chapter 31 

¹ And he heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our father’s; and of that which was our father’s hath he gotten all this glory.

Transliteration: kabod   Definition: abundance, honor, glory

• God may be using people who lie on you as part of the process {Joseph at Potiphars, Jesus}

² And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before.

• God may be using people who change on you as part of the process

³ And the Lord said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.

Bear in mind that this is Moses’ writing Not Jacobs; so this verse is the voice of a man who knows God

Transliteration: Yhvh    Phonetic Spelling: (yeh-ho-vaw’)

Relational name of God used 6,800 times (Ps 23:1)

• God may be using people-problems as part of the process {not financial, not credit, not sick, not sin}

People-Problems are sometimes the main reasons we seek personal revelation and personal relationship because there’s nothing more outside of our control to handle than other homosapiens

⁴ And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock,

Name Rachel meant Beautiful Lamb but the name Leah meant Wild Cow

Ugly vs. Pretty; Bad vs. Good; Joy vs. Pain

• God may be using this to Balance us as part of the process

⁵ And said unto them, I see your father’s countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me.

⁶ And ye know that with all my power I have served your father.

⁷ And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.

• God may be using this as a humbling situation as part of the process

⁸ If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle ringstraked.

⁹ Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me.

Transliteration: Elohim     Phonetic Spelling: (el-o-heem’)     Part of Speech: Noun Masculine

The God whom I do not know personally as Yahweh

• God may be using this process so that we can come to know Him more intimately/personally

ELOHIM to EL SHADDAI to YAHWEH

My Mommas God to a Mighty God to My God

¹⁰ And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled.

¹¹ And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I.

EL

Transliteration: el   Phonetic Spelling: (ale)  Definition: God of all gods/All Mighty

Name	Definition	Scripture
El Tsaddik	All Righteous God	Isa 45:21
El Shaddai	All Sufficient God	Gen 17:1, 28:3, 35:11, 43:14, 48:3, 49:25, Ex 6:3, Nm 24:6, Ruth 1:20 Ps 22:10, 68:15, 91:1, Ezek 1:24, 10:5, 23:21
El Elyon	The Most High God	Gen 14:20, Ps 9:2,
El Roi (roh-ee)	The God who Sees	Gen 16:13

¹² And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.

God never says that Jacob did anything wrong even though Laban did him wrong

• God could be using this as an opportunity for us to practice purity as part of the process

¹³ I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.

• God may be desiring that this thing improves our prayer life as part of the process

¹⁴ And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house?

¹⁵ Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money.

¹⁶ For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children’s: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.

¹⁷ Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels;

¹⁸ And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padanaram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.

¹⁹ And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father’s.

²⁰ And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him {Uncle Laban} not that he fled.

• God may teaching us how to better use privacy power as part of the process

Everybody should know everything about us

²¹ So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead.

²² And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled.

²³ And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days’ journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead.

²⁴ And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.

• God may be trying to reveal that He has us covered under His protection as part of the process

²⁵ Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead.

²⁶ And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword?

Protection against false accusations

²⁷ Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp?

Protection against manipulative people

²⁸ And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? thou hast now done foolishly in so doing.

²⁹ It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.

³⁰ And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father’s house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?

Lower case “g”

Transliteration: Elohim     Phonetic Spelling: (el-o-heem’)     Part of Speech: Noun Masculine

Still Elohim because it denotes a basic name for God or a god that we do not relate with daily

• God could be using this process to reveal the difference between Him and what we’ve been putting before Him

³¹ And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said, Peradventure thou wouldest take by force thy daughters from me.

³² With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them.

• God may be using this process to reveal what you don’t know about people you put on a pedestal

Rachel is a Thief

³³ And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the two maidservants’ tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent.

³⁴ Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel’s furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not.

³⁵ And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched but found not the images.

Rachel is a Liar

³⁶ And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?

³⁷ Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us both.

³⁸ This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.

• God could be using this process to teach us the importance of being patient

³⁹ That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night.⁴⁰ Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.⁴¹ Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.                                                 ^***42 Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.

⁴³ And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and these cattle are my cattle, and all that thou seest is mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their children which they have born?

⁴⁴ Now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee.

⁴⁵ And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.

⁴⁶ And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made an heap: and they did eat there upon the heap.

⁴⁷ And Laban called it Jegarsahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed.

⁴⁸ And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed;

⁴⁹ And Mizpah; for he said, The Lord watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.

Regardless of how bad Laban treated him Jacob still was willing to forgive

• God may be using this process to teach us the importance of being peaceful people

⁵⁰ If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness betwixt me and thee.

⁵¹ And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have cast betwixt me and thee:

⁵² This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm.

⁵³ The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.

⁵⁴ Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount.

⁵⁵ And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place.

Chapter 32 

¹ And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.

² And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

³ And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

Name Edom means Red

They are the descendants of Esau

Play on Red Color and Anger face and pictures of the devil

• God could be using this process to help us own our part of the problem (100% of your 20%)

⁴ And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:

⁵ And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.

⁶ And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.

⁷ Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;

⁸ And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.

⁹ And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee:

 ¹⁰ I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.

• God may be using this process to teach us just how unworthy we really are of His blessings

¹¹ Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children.

¹² And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

¹³ And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother;

¹⁴ Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,

¹⁵ Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals.

¹⁶ And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.

¹⁷ And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?

¹⁸ Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us.

¹⁹ And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him.

²⁰ And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me.

²¹ So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company.

²² And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok.

²³ And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.

²⁴ And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

Its during moments of privacy that God moves us most along the process

²⁵ And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

²⁶ And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

²⁷ And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.

²⁸ And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

Name Israel has usually been believed to mean ‘Struggle’

Judaic Belief seems to be contructed around the idea of Process:

Here is the essence of Judaism: We do believe that goodness prevails, but the happy ending is not our focus. Our focus is the struggle to get there. Regardless of the result, the struggle itself is holy. If you strive for goodness, you’re in, even before you get there. If you’re trying to be better, even if you fall sometimes, you’re on the path. It’s all about the struggle. www.chabod.org

Because the name Israel is made of the Combination (sara), meaning to become rigid/unbreakable from the retention of liquidity, and (El) meaning God the BSV is:

One who will Never Break Away from God because He’s become spiritually strong through struggle

• God could be using this process to perfect us in some area of ministry (CR: Ps 138:8; Rm 8:28)

²⁹ And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.

³⁰ And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

ELOHIM

³¹ And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.

³² Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew that shrank.

Chapter 33 

¹ And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids.

² And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost.

³ And he {Jacob} passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴ And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.

Only God sets the time that ends process and begins progress   

• God may be using this process to set us free from stressors (i.e, guilt, unforgiveness & envy)

⁵ And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.

⁶ Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves.

⁷ And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves.

⁸ And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I met? And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord.

⁹ And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself.

¹⁰ And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me.

¹¹ Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it.

¹² And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee.

¹³ And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with young are with me: and if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock will die.

¹⁴ Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure, until I come unto my lord unto Seir.

¹⁵ And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee some of the folk that are with me. And he said, What needeth it? let me find grace in the sight of my lord.

¹⁶ So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir.

¹⁷ And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.

¹⁸ And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padanaram; and pitched his tent before the city.

¹⁹ And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for an hundred pieces of money.

²⁰ And he erected there an altar, and called it EleloheIsrael.

El-el-ohe – Israel means The ‘Mighty God of Israel’ or ‘My God’

Process ends when the mission of God is completed so that another process can begin

• This process may be Gods method of giving us a personal encounter with Him that will change our lives forever

Chapter 34

¹ Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. 

² When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her. 

³ His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. 

⁴ And Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as my wife.”

⁵ When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he did nothing about it until they came home.

⁶ Then Shechem’s father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob.

 ⁷ Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and furious, because Shechem had done an outrageous thing in^[a] Israel by sleeping with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.

⁸ But Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. 

⁹ Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves. 

¹⁰ You can settle among us; the land is open to you. Live in it, trade^[b] in it, and acquire property in it.”

¹¹ Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and I will give you whatever you ask. 

¹² Make the price for the bride and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I’ll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the young woman as my wife.”

¹³ Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob’s sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. 

¹⁴ They said to them, “We can’t do such a thing; we can’t give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. 

¹⁵ We will enter into an agreement with you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males. 

¹⁶ Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We’ll settle among you and become one people with you. 

¹⁷ But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we’ll take our sister and go.”

¹⁸ Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 

¹⁹ The young man, who was the most honored of all his father’s family, lost no time in doing what they said, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. 

²⁰ So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city to speak to the men of their city. 

²¹ “These men are friendly toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours. 

²² But the men will agree to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised, as they themselves are. 

²³ Won’t their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours? So let us agree to their terms, and they will settle among us.”

²⁴ All the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised.

²⁵ Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. 

²⁶ They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left. 

²⁷ The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where^[c] their sister had been defiled.

 ²⁸ They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields.

 ²⁹ They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses.

³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”

³¹ But they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”

ILLUSTRATION:                                                           

FOR FURTHER STUDY:

CONCLUSION:                                                                                                                                        

PRAYER LIST:     

QUESTIONS?  

HOMEWORK:    Learn first 6 names of the 12 sons of Jacob                     

TEXT: Genesis 29:1 – 30:43, KJV

Key Verse: “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.” Genesis 32:10, KJV

“When I left here and crossed the Jordan I only had the clothes on my back, and now look at me—two camps!  Genesis 32:10, MSG

Introduction:

Youth Focus this week: Learning the first 10 books of the Bible

Torah	Genesis – Deuteronomy	Torah
Nevim	Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai Zechariah, Malachi	The Prophets
Ketuvim	Job – Chronicles	The Writings

Previous Points:

1. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit created man, the highest earthly species in His own image and For specific Purpose
2. Man’s purposes on earth are to, Reproduce (Gen 1:28), Replenish (1:28) to Be Responsible (1:28) and Responsive (1:29 Behold – 2:17)
3. Angels are also created beings capable of love, logic and liberty
4. Lucifer, once a gifted Angel was removed from Heaven and has become the enemy of God known as satan or the devil
5. Satan only has one power….. to convince us that we have none which he does by tempting us to sin through 3 tricks: Lust of Flesh, Lust of Eyes and Pride of Life!
6. God has given man the power to resist sin with love, logic and liberty!
7. CR: Job 2:3 The Hebrew Word: Chazaq (khaw-zek) means to grow firm inculcating that God will often teach us life lessons through curriculums we may not like.

THREE PRIMARY LESSONS WE LEARN FROM STUDYING GENESIS

• God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit created everything in this world For Purpose!
• Man has been given Love, Logic and LibertyI
• Holding to Gods unchanging Hand through hard times is the harbinger of Biblical Christianity

Chapter 23 Abrahams Wife Sarah dies & they bury her in the land of Canaan                                                              Chapter 24 Abraham sends a servant to find Isaac a wife that wasn’t from Canaan                                                     Chapter 25-26 Abraham dies                                                                                                                                                Chapter 27 Issac gives the blessing to Jacob instead of Esau                                                                             Chapter 28 Jacob leaves home and heads to his Uncle Laban’s but sees a ladder on the way                                                                                                                                                             

“14 Growing Pains of Gods People”

Chapter 29 

¹ Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east.

Name Jacob means Con-Man And he’s headed to see Laban which means pure

In the next chapter we will see that Jacob isn’t a con-man and Laban definitely isn’t pure

• Growing Gods way requires Change (not to infer one isn’t Saved but that one is not successful in love, joy and peace CR: Rom 14:17)

² And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon the well’s mouth.

³ And thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth in his place.

⁴ And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence be ye? And they said, Of Haran are we.

⁵ And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him.

Laban is Issacs mother Rebekahs brother: Isaacs Uncle! 

According to the text he doesn’t know where he’s going or what Laban looks like

iow- Just go that way and the Lord will lead you

• Growing Gods way requires walking in one direction (GPS doesn’t keep us from getting lost it keeps us from staying lost)

⁶ And he said unto them, Is he well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter [Laban’s daughter] cometh with the sheep.

⁷ And he said, Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together: water ye the sheep, and go and feed them.

⁸ And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and till they roll the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.

Issac tries to tell them how sheep or fed in his country/culture but they clap back

• Growing Gods Way requires resistance to anything that compromises Christian Culture

⁹ And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep; for she kept them.

Name Rachel means “Ewe” which is Lamb; used 4X in Old Testament=Beautiful, Baby, Pure

We know from Chap 31:1 that Jacob had sons

Why is the beautiful baby girl of a rich man doing the nasty job of tending sheep?

Its Not because she HAS TO but because She Wants TO! She’s Volunteering

• Growing Gods Way requires self-less & sacrificial service.

¹⁰ And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.

¹¹ And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.

¹² And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was Rebekah’s son: and she ran and told her father.

¹³ And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things.

¹⁴ And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him the space of a month.

¹⁵ And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be?

Issac works an entire month before he asks for money

• Growing Gods Way involves us giving, more than we take away

¹⁶ And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.

¹⁷ Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.

¹⁸ And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.

¹⁹ And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me.

²⁰ And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.

• Growing Gods Way includes working while we’re waiting

²¹ And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her.

²² And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.

²³ And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her.

²⁴ And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an handmaid.

²⁵ And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold [LOOK] , it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?

• Growing Gods Way informs us that all things are working for our good no matter how BAD they look at the time

²⁶ And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.

²⁷ Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.

²⁸ And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.

After seven years and one week, Isaac finally gets Rachel as his wife then works seven more years

• Growing Gods Way often includes being hurt the worst by those you’ve helped the most          

Wife says, you’re too non-chalant and cold  & as one who lacks feelings

CR: Ps 18:2,NIV

²⁹ And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

³⁰ And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.

³¹ And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.

• Growing Gods Way realizes that God don’t like Ugly

Every person on the face of this earth deserves to be treated with dignity

³² And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the Lord hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.

³³ And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the Lord hath heard I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon.

³⁴ And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi.

³⁵ And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the Lord: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.

Leah	Zilpah	Rachel	Bilhah
Reuben
Simeon
Levi
Judah

Chapter 30 

¹And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.

• Growing Gods Way involves learning to Shouting on the Sidelines

-Remain faithful

-Rejoice fervently 

-Resist foolishness (jealousy)

-Remain fruitless

² And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?

³ And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.

⁴ And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.

⁵ And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.

⁶ And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.

⁷ And Bilhah Rachel’s maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.

⁸ And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.

Leah	Zilpah	Rachel	Bilhah
Reuben			Dan
Simeon			Naphtali
Levi
Judah

⁹ When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.

¹⁰ And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a son.

¹¹ And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.

¹² And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a second son.

¹³ And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher.

Leah	Zilpah	Rachel	Bilhah
Reuben	Gad		Dan
Simeon	Asher		Naphtali
Levi
Judah

¹⁴ And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son’s mandrakes.

¹⁵ And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son’s mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son’s mandrakes.

¹⁶ And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son’s mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.

¹⁷ And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son.

¹⁸ And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar.

¹⁹ And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son.

²⁰ And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun.

²¹ And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah.

Leah	Zilpah	Rachel	Bilhah
Reuben	Gad		Dan
Simeon	Asher		Naphtali
Levi
Judah
Issachar
Zebulun
Dinah

²² And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.

²³ And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach:

²⁴ And she called his name Joseph; and said, The Lord shall add to me another son.

Leah	Zilpah	Rachel	Bilhah
Reuben	Gad		Dan
Simeon	Asher		Naphtali
Levi
Judah
Issachar
Zebulun
Dinah
		Joseph

²⁵ And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country.

²⁶ Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee.

²⁷ And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake.

²⁸ And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.

²⁹ And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me.

³⁰ For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the Lord hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also?

• Growing Gods Way involves Following Well before Leading Well

Con-Men curse people they don’t Bless them

• Growing Gods Way realizes an identity through following that wouldn’t have been identified otherwise

³¹ And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock.

Why did Laban want to give Jacob something so bad?

• Growing Gods Way is to want wisdom over worldly goods  

³² I will pass through all thy flock today, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire.

All speckled, spotted & brown sheep and goats were given to Jacob

³³ So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me.

³⁴ And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.

³⁵ And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons.

³⁶ And he set three days’ journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

Laban’s sons took care of Jacobs speckled, spotted and brown cattle

Jacob took care of Labans cattle

• Growing Gods Way involves sleeping while God is driving

³⁷ And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.

³⁸ And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink.

³⁹ And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.

⁴⁰ And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban’s cattle.

⁴¹ And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods.

⁴² But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s.

⁴³ And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.

• Growing Gods Way is to be Saved and Successful in every area of life

Leah	Zilpah	Rachel	Bilhah
Reuben	Gad		Dan
Simeon	Asher		Naphtali
Levi
Judah
Issachar
Zebulun
Dinah
		Joseph

ILLUSTRATION:                                                           

FOR FURTHER STUDY:

CONCLUSION:                                                                                                                                        

PRAYER LIST:     

QUESTIONS?  

HOMEWORK:    Learn names of all 12 sons of Jacob