What lesson does Edom teach God’s people? 1) Our God answers in the time of crisis (35:1–7) When God says in verse 1, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there,” he is calling Jacob to fulfill a vow Jacob made back in chapter 28. This is Romans 9:10–13: “When Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad — in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls — she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.””. This article is an edited excerpt from Dr. Reagan’s book, Living for Christ in the End Times. Just like the genealogy of Ishmael in Genesis 25:12–18. It hasn’t disappeared, he has moved through the pain and has been transformed through resurrection. We admit that we are grieving. In times of crisis we must walk in faith and not in fear. Everything makes sense in our understanding of a shepherd leading his flock to green grass and calm waters. God walks with us all along the way and never gives up on us. Pastor, you know these truths. And through it all, God is with us. I didn’t say the manual was easy, all of these things are hard. Chapter 35 is a journey. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. ), he does so again. Leonard Cohen, a singer/songwriter died this past week. Storms will confront us many times in our lives, expected and unexpected. In battle against the Philistines, how did God honor the prayer of Jonathan and his armor-bearer? This mother is not of Jesus’ faith. The first is Genesis 2:4, during the creation story: “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth . As people of faith, one of the ways that we find God in times of crisis, is to acknowledge— not ignore— the pain. Eleven times we find some form of the phrase “these were the generations of . It didn’t make the pain any easier, but it sure was a gift he never knew he needed or wanted. He didn’t spare his death. Genesis 11:27: Terah (Abraham’s father).Genesis 25:12: Ishmael (Abraham’s first son). His family has died, his home was taken away, he is poor and destitute; but probably worse than anything else, are his friends. Even though, in the end, the nation of Edom would not be restored like Israel, there was a ray of hope for Edomites. In one of his prayers he speaks to this: Crucified Lord, your creation is full of pain. The Christian response to crisis begins with God! Job does this well. Then we get to v. 4, and it doesn't fit. Jacob spent twenty years under the tyranny of Laban, and as we’ll see in the weeks ahead, Joseph spent thirteen years going down, down, down, before God raised him up. Although Job went through some very difficult days, he never gave up on God. And for all of us who have mothers, we know— there is nothing a mother won’t do for her child. And while I don’t think that that is really true, I understand the perception. And then in the New Testament it got expanded: Love your neighbor. He is not like Laban’s household gods. And no matter who you voted for, I think we can all agree that our country is deeply divided in ways we can’t even always explain. Joseph, gospel, Jesus, The sovereignty of God, faith, faithfulness of God, Abraham, Christian life, sin, faith, faithfulness of God, covenant, truth, youth, The sovereignty of God. Sign up to receive news and updates via email. Then we get the final and cumulative word of promise from God to Jacob, which affirms and extends what God has promised him so far: “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. Care for Others. In this season of COVID-19 (coronavirus), Preaching Today wants to offer you a word of encouragement and point you towards resources that will help you prepare life-giving sermons that illuminate God's comfort and presence. Psalm 137, one of the most shocking imprecatory psalms, was written after this betrayal: “Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!” (Psalm 137:7). Those events are the primary emphasis of these chapters. There will be periods when our faith in God is tested. . Job has been through the ringer. In the book of Romans, when the apostle Paul is teaching God’s divine prerogative in choosing whom he will for his blessing and favor, he turns to Jacob and Esau. individual crisis or a corporate crisis of some kind, but it will come. The narrator says very little here. Already under David’s son, Solomon, according to 1 Kings 11:14, “the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. God’s desire is to be in relationship with us, and that is truly a gift. He cares. We see that in all of this God was pleased with his attitude. Those gods do not answer in the day of distress — literally, the time of crisis. After the period of the judges, once Israel finally had a king, named Saul, he fought against all the surrounding nations, including Edom (1 Samuel 14:47). Worshiping Jesus. We see this in leaders within our nation and our world when they choose to respond with wisdom and love in horrible situations. You’ll see that key word “journeyed” in verses 5, 16, and 21. God loves us; nurtures us; and when we’re ready or sometimes when we’re not but need to be, God nudges us, pushes us, and empowers us to get up. And now, decades later, when Jacob feels precarious in the land, and putting his whole household on the road could expose them to attack from the surrounding tribes, God calls Jacob out in faith. How often have you seen a glimpse of God’s presence — a thin space— because you were able to finally let go and forgive someone? Because it’s honest. Jacob and Esau were twins. That God brings resurrection out of death over and over again so that we can be God’s joyous people. He almost certainly will not do just what you want when you want. We have seen that our God’s rule extends beyond Jacob, and that our God’s promises outlive our heroes, and that our God answers in our time of crisis. He is with us and dwells in us but when we walk in fear we cannot see His presence. For the last while, we have been occupying ourselves with the details of Joseph’s relationship with his brothers and his father. And even if it wasn’t for our nation, we all know what it is like to face personal crisis and communal crisis, to have something happen in our lives or in the lives of those we love and to be faced with our own mortality and our own ugliness. Where do we turn for the beginning of the Jacob story? God gave Edom a land, not in the promised land, but a neighboring territory to the southeast, and he preserved the nation for centuries. Why bother with the unchosen sons? Under Saul’s successor, David, Israel finally subdued Edom and took spoil from them and stationed garrisons there (2 Samuel 8:12, 14; 1 Chronicles 18:11–13). And then maybe you can move on a little easier and a little better.” (The Late Show). We are living in the midst of a global pandemic. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” (11–12). It has meaning to any tragedy. Though facing difficult times of crisis, the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk was able to not only rise above and pray, but also rejoice. Crisis can defeat us. Because his friends keep telling him that it’s his own fault. Amidst the Pestilence – Coronavirus Sermon. When the man tried to get away, Jacob held to him and the man injured Jacob’s hip and said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed” (32:28). This is the first of two painful episodes for Israel in dealing with Edom, and one they would not soon forget (Judges 11:17–18). DAVID – “How to Live Through a Crisis” 3 C. REDUCE THE RISK OF INJURY TO OTHERS 1. The prophets Jeremiah (49:7–22) and Obadiah (whole book!) Love your enemies. This is the God of Jacob — and the God of Nahum (Nahum 1:7), Obadiah (Obadiah 12, 14), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 16:19), and Hezekiah (Isaiah 37:3). Currently we email the congregation on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday. Joy does come in the morning. And God doesn’t do that without a manual: What are the 10 commandments? For Israel’s life as a nation, Edom served as a kind of control, or point of comparison, to show the electing love of God. 1) Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning (New York, NY: Washington Square Press, a division of Simon & Schuster, 1963, revised and updated edition in 1998). How true that is that our courage most often comes from community— people who remind us of who we are and how God is calling us. Because it’s true. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Genesis 28:15), “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house.” (Genesis 28:20–22), God was with Jacob and kept him wherever he went, and yet Jacob had returned to the land and found safety (33:18) and settled in Shechem, and had not yet returned to Bethel. Intro: As I read the story of Joseph, I am convinced that he had his act together.He is a man who knows how to handle himself in all kinds of situations. So God offers us presence and compassion and patience and endurance during times of crisis. First, we have Job. But even then, Deuteronomy 2 will tell Israel to treat “the people of Esau” as “brothers” — not to take their land or disturb Esau’s descendants (Deuteronomy 2:4–8; 23:7). The One who created us and redeemed us also sustains us throughout life - including times of crisis. You can think of these as the God of Jacob (25:1–7), the God after Jacob (25:8–39), and the God Beyond Jacob (chapter 36), and with each we’ll find a specific truth. He will hear you. He rails at God. His life had been in jeopardy previously. We look to the future with worry and fear. When Jacob honored “the God who answers me in the day of my distress” (25:3), and when we remember our God as the one who answers us in our time of crisis, don’t think that Jacob meant, or that we mean, that God always answers how we want and when we want. That if he would just be a better person, everything would be fine. The story began back in chapter 25 with the birth of Esau and Jacob who struggled together in the womb (25:22), and God said to their mother, Rebecca, that the older would serve the younger (25:23). He brought life into a situation where there was only pain and soon to be death. Communities don’t often know their own ability to offer grace, their own strength to stand up, their own power to partner with God until they face a time of crisis. The New Testament, the book of Hebrews encourages us “draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (4:16), then just a few verses later says, “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence” (5:8). When we experience a crisis, it is natural to be overwhelmed by negative feelings. Genesis 25:19: Isaac (Abraham’s promised son).Then Genesis 36:1, 9: Esau. As people of faith, one of the ways that we find God in times of crisis, is to acknowledge— not ignore— the pain. One remarkable truth this demonstrates for us is God’s concern (and rule) beyond the boundaries of his covenant sons. Edom was never restored like Israel, though some did migrate into an area of Judah that became known as Idumea. We take the time to be courageous enough to talk about what’s ailing us. And it is not Jacob who makes his own legacy but his children, and especially Joseph. Jacob wrestled Esau for his birthright (25:29–34), then wrestled his father, Isaac, for the blessing of Abraham (chapter 27). So today, as we come to end of the Jacob sequence, how does it end? Experiencing God in Times of Crisis From the series Finding God When You Need Him Most Crises are a part of life. We take the time to be courageous enough to talk about what’s ailing us. The original commission to humanity and the promises of Abraham are here clearly applied and renewed to Jacob. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Sermons in Times of Crisis : Twelve Homilies to Stir Your Soul by Paul D. Scalia (2019, Hardcover) at the best online prices at eBay! CRISIS MANAGEMENT. The rest of the chapter gives us a succession of four major losses for Jacob. He said, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15). and Ezekiel (25:12–14; all of chapter 35) and Joel (3:19) and Amos (1:6–2:1) prophesied that it was just a matter of time until destruction would come to Edom as well (also Lamentations 4:21–22). First, his beloved wife Rachel dies giving birth to another son, Benjamin, as the family journeyed south from Bethel. He was of the royal house in Edom.” Why? This mother is not within the appropriate boundaries of how to treat men in polite society. God invites us to show up with all of who we are— to bring our pain and thus to be in relationship with God. Loving one another. And then, seemingly on the heels of losing Rachel, Jacob is dealt the blow of learning that his oldest son has slept with his concubine, Rachel’s servant Bilhah, who had borne him Dan and Naphtali (30:3–8). The valley of the The narrator has already said enough about Jacob’s love for Rachel (29:18, 20, 30) that we know what a blow this must have been to him. We have been delving into the Biblical story and how we enter into God’s story. And in Christ, he will answer, not necessarily when and how you want, but he will provide all you need. God has promised his favor to his people, but his power is not limited to them. So as we come here to chapter 35, the last chapter where Jacob is still center stage (from Genesis 25 to 35), Jacob senses himself and his household to be in a very precarious place with the surrounding Canaanites. It has meaning to any tragedy. Which has something important to say to us as a young church. But verses 22–25 lists the sons by mother, which may reflect the fault lines in the family conflict. Give us courage, which is just another name for friends, to stare down the terror in our own and our neighbors’ lives, that we may be your joyous people. This completes the southward journey of this chapter from Shechem in the north, down to Bethel, then Rachel dies on the way to Bethlehem, then down to Hebron. The verses in Habakkuk 3:17-10 do not actually use the words thanks or gratitude, but it certainly could be implied. Stations of the Heart, Richard Fischer We discovered that in times of Crisis God is right there. With an Introduction and Commentary by Rev. Even though it had been decades, God had not forgotten the vow. Our greatest legacy will be the lives of our children. And in that moment Jesus turns and sees her for the first time and he says to her, “Woman, great is your faith.”, Even when Jesus got it wrong, he was able to turn, to repent, if you will, and to make it right—immediately. Just to be clear, I want to say that I picked out these Scriptures, this sermon title, months ago. And while it won’t do us much good to wallow in that pain, it is also the case that we so often miss out on being our true selves because we won’t even look at the pain— we always trying to put a pretty face on it so that we won’t embarrass ourselves or our friends. Do not murder. The Crisis. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”, “When you fled from your brother Esau.” Jacob had known danger before. But the more you talk, the more you expose it to the air and to the light, then grief doesn’t get a chance to organize itself. He promised Abraham he would bless them through him. God promises to be in relationship with us. Love yourself. And he is not alone. 23, David takes the gentle picture of a shepherd with his sheep to describe the relationship God has with us and we with Him. The prophet Amos held out a veiled hope for Edom, not in what they would possess, but in who would possess them. 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