Genesis 30 (Maids, Mandrakes, and Cattle) - Pastor Bruce Mejia

Continuing tonight with the book of Genesis, we're in chapter 30, two weeks ago we went over chapter 29 and it was essentially Jacob marrying both Leah and Rachel and all the controversy that was attached to that.

Of course, Jacob originally wanted to marry Rachel, but his father-in-law, Laban, ended up deceiving him, being cunning just as he was in times past and essentially marrying off the eldest daughter, Leah first.

Of course, Jacob was not happy with this and so he ended up having to labor another seven years for Rachel.

And one of the principles that I talked about in that sermon is the fact that, you know, Jacob should have just been content with staying with Leah, right?

It wasn't God's will for him to add Rachel to his marriage with Leah.

He should have just stayed with Leah because of the fact that God does not approve of polygamy, right?

He wants man to have one wife. He didn't create a second wife for Adam in the Garden of Eden.

It was just Adam and Eve. He didn't take out another rib in order to make another spouse for Adam.

From the beginning, you know, male and female is how he created them singular, right?

He wanted that to be in that manner and that is the model for marriage.

But here we find that Jacob is not content with just staying with Leah and allowing God to work through that, allowing God to bless him.

And keep in mind, you know, Jacob is somewhat part of the promise, right?

He is the one that God is going to work through.

He's the one that God is going to bless with the nation of Israel.

The promises are going to be fulfilled physically through Jacob.

And so Jacob has in his mind that he kind of has to participate or kind of manipulate situations in order for that to be carried out.

But he doesn't.

And here's the thing, folks, is that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

And what that means is that, you know, God can bless us even when we're being defrauded, we're being wrong.

Maybe the situation is not necessarily coming out in the outcome that we would want.

It's okay. God can still work out that situation together for good.

He can work it out for your benefit.

He can turn things around.

He can essentially take the ingredients to that bad situation and make a cupcake, right?

He can make a delicious cake out of those ingredients that, you know, are a result of other people's bad decisions, wrongdoings and so forth.

But you know, Jacob has not taken that into account, okay?

He's angry at his father-in-law, and he's going to get Rachel by any means necessary, even if he has to work another seven years.

Now, obviously, we look at that story and say, oh, how romantic. He was willing to wait seven years.

Yeah, it is, but here's the thing. Not God's will though, you know?

And it's one of those things that I believe God winked at because of the fact that, you know, the purpose of God still has to be carried out.

And unfortunately, he only has sinful men to work with, you know?

And that really teaches me and it should teach us as a church that if God blesses us as a church or as an individual,

it only means that we've done a couple of things right.

It doesn't necessarily mean that we've done all things right because at the end of the day, God only has sinners to work with.

So if God has blessed you, he's been gracious to you.

He's, you know, magnified you. He's blessed you with resources, finances, possessions, even spiritual blessings.

Just know this. All that means is that you've done a couple of things right, okay?

Because at the end of the day, you know, we have to recognize that it's by the grace of God that we have what we have and we are what we are.

You know, God's blessing is obviously a result of our obedience to his word, but how much he blesses us is really a result of God's unmerited favor towards us, okay?

So you never wanted to let that go to your head. Don't let success go to your head.

Don't let achievements go to your head and think, oh, man, yeah, I'm just some great one. I'm just awesome.

That's why God's blessed him. Not necessarily. You know, yeah, your obedience brought about the result to a certain degree,

but how much God blesses you and what God has given to you overall is essentially a result of just God being good, okay?

And, you know, here's a good example. Jacob is not necessarily the best guy, okay?

Bro's cunning. He's a liar. He's deceptive. He's a heel catcher.

From the start, he just has a bad reputation. He doesn't have a good track record.

Yet God is still using him to bring about the will of God and ultimately we know that God's going to refine him.

He's going to work in his life so that he is a vessel and to honor meet for the master's use.

So, you know, a lot of people like to use Jacob as an example of their justification for polygamy,

but that's not the case. That's not what we see here.

And in fact, if you actually follow the story, you actually see that their polygamous relationship brought about a lot of problems.

A lot of envy, a lot of jealousy, a lot of heartbreak, a lot of favoritism,

things that are not necessarily supposed to take place within a marriage.

So, he has two wives here, Leah, and he has Rachel.

And, you know, Leah's despised. We talked about that as well.

The fact that, you know, Jacob's not really into Leah. He's married to her, but he's not really into her.

He's more in love with Rachel.

And God views this favoritism, and what does he do?

He ends up blessing Leah with a fruitful womb, and she ends up bearing four children unto Jacob.

Now, that's a significant thing because the four children that she bears end up being very significant tribes

by which the priesthood would come forth, as well as the Messiah.

You have Reuben, you know, let's just put that to the side real quick.

Not every example is perfect, okay? Not every illustration is perfect.

Reuben's not that good of a guy, but you have Levi, and of course from Levi comes forth Moses, Aaron, the priesthood, so forth.

But then you also have Judah, and of course out of Judah springs forth King David,

and ultimately the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, it kind of shows you that the woman who's despised, you know, God ends up looking upon her, favoring her,

giving her the children by which these prophetic tribes are going to come forth for future fulfillment.

So, four children already belong to Leah and Jacob, and at this point Rachel has no babies, okay?

The Lord has essentially closed her womb.

Look at verse 1 of chapter 30.

It says, when Rachel saw that she bared Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister and said unto Jacob,

give me children or else I die.

Now, look, obviously Rachel, you know, lady, this is not a good attitude to have,

and you shouldn't envy your sister for this, but at least we're thankful that she wants to have children.

You know, in the day and age in which we live, we have people who despise children,

yet even murder their children, and the society that we live in is so sick and twisted and demented

that they would defend such a ridiculous woman, some godless woman who's going to split her wide open

hopefully sooner than later.

You know, oh, she's mentally insane. Who cares?

Of course she's mentally insane. She killed her children. She's a reprobate.

But you know, we have a society today that hates children.

They abort children. They kill their children. They don't like children.

Whereas in times past, and of course we have that somewhat to a degree today,

that, you know, people obviously esteem children in the Bible as we should, right?

We should esteem children, love children, children are a blessing.

You know, I think of my children and they stress me out, but they bring me so much joy, though.

And if you're just like, well, you know, if your children stress you out so much,

would it be better not to have children? No, I'll take the stress.

If you showed me all the blessings and all the stress that having children would give me,

I'd be like, bring it. Bring it, because I love my children.

They bring a lot of joy in my life. You know, it's just a blessing to see them grow.

It's a blessing to see them get saved.

It's a blessing to see them interact with their parents and grow in wisdom and knowledge.

And just having children is a major blessing.

And truly, the Bible says, happy is the man to have this quiver full.

And that's true. You know, a quiver is just basically however much you can handle,

however many the Lord gives you.

And so thank God for that. You know, I have six.

I'm hoping I have more. I'm praying to God we have more.

I hope, you know, our estimation, my wife and I's estimation, if the Lord wills,

is that maybe nine, maybe 10, maybe 12, who knows, you know, that would be awesome.

I would love to have 12 children. You know, I love to have 10 children.

I love to have nine. I love to have seven.

Whatever God gives us, but I hope God blesses us with many children.

And we need to get away from this mentality that, oh man, children are a burden and all these things.

Well, here's the thing. Of course they're a burden. It's another life.

But the blessings always outweigh the burden.

And so never be this couple or just like, well, we're just going to wait until later for us to have children.

Because quite frankly, God can close the womb.

And also, you know, you should do nothing to prevent yourself from having children as well.

I'm talking about birth control, whether it's, you know, synthetic birth control

or natural birth control as the Catholics do.

No, you should just let, you know, God give you whatever children he wants you to have.

And you're like, oh man, but how are we going to afford it?

You fed yourself for how many years and you eat a lot, you know.

And you know, God's taking care of you and God can bless.

And you know, we need to live below our means and so forth.

But at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter if God's commanding us to do.

He's going to enable us to handle business.

Okay. And be able to provide for our own.

But what we see here is that Rachel is vexed in her soul.

She's envying her sister because she cannot bear children.

Now, you know, that's great, Rachel.

Do you want to have children and you feel so deeply about it?

But you shouldn't envy others, you know, if God has closed your womb.

And that's an important attitude to have as well.

Because, you know, today there are people who can't bear children

and it would be wrong for you if you're in that situation

to envy someone else over what God is doing in their life.

Because at the end of the day, it may be that God does not want to give you children.

Maybe God has closed that door.

Okay. Now, obviously we should pray, we should do everything we possibly can

on a human level to make sure, you know, that we are as, you know, fertile

or whatever it may be.

You know, get yourself some mandrakes as we're going to see in a little bit.

You know, to make sure, you know, to remove any possibility

of hindrances towards having children.

But at the end of the day, if you've done everything you possibly can,

you can have children.

Maybe that's God's will.

Okay. Maybe God has closed that door.

And if that's the case, you know, grief is a normal part of the feeling

that you may have, but you should not have envy towards others

for what they have.

Okay. You say, why is that?

Well, Rachel has this envy towards your sister

and it really moves her to do something very sinful, unbiblical

and that which lacks faith.

Okay. Not that anybody would do something like this today,

but it's just kind of showing you an extreme case of this, right?

Look at verse 2.

And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel and he said,

Am I in God's stead? Who hath withheld thee from the fruit of the womb?

So, you know, he's real sensitive about this whole situation.

Knows how to talk to a woman, you know.

He's just like, he's like, what's wrong with you?

You know, am I, am I God?

You know, he's the one who's withheld you from having children.

And she said, Behold, my maid, Bilhah, go and enter her

and she shall bear upon my knees that I may also have children by her.

That's funny, you know.

Jacob doesn't protest this as he just got on her

for not being able to have children, right?

You know, before he was just like, am I God?

And then she's like, go and enter Bilhah.

The next verse, you know, he marries Bilhah.

He's just like, all right, you know, we'll see what happens, you know.

This is obviously not God's will, right?

God doesn't want this.

He's, you know, Jacob and his wife Rachel are using carnal means,

godless means in order to have children.

And at the end of the day, Rachel, these aren't really your children.

She's buried, you know, she's buried upon your knees,

but at the end of the day, biologically, these are not your children, okay?

Now, look, like I said before in chapter 29,

I do believe if Jacob would have remained married just to Leah,

those two children could have came from Leah.

I believe God could have blessed that womb.

I mean, he's demonstrating that over the fact

that she literally bore four children back to back, right, initially.

And I think that God could have done that same thing with Leah later on.

They didn't have to do all this weird stuff, all this Mormon stuff,

you know, all this Muslim stuff here, where you're just the polygamist

and they're just having children by any means necessary

because, you know, she's incapable of having children.

It says in verse 4, she gave him, Bilhah, her husband, her handmade, excuse me,

to wife and Jacob went in unto her and Bilhah conceived and buried Jacob a son.

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.

No, Rachel, that's not your son.

You know, obviously you can say it's your son by proxy

because you're making some sort of agreement with Bilhah in this regard.

That's Bilhah's son, okay?

And, you know, I don't like what Rachel's saying here in verse 6.

God hath judged me and hath also heard my voice,

as if this is like an answer to prayer.

Like, oh, God's answered my prayer.

No, he hasn't because if he would have actually asked God about this,

he would have said no.

But she's forcing the will of God upon Jacob, upon Bilhah.

You know, she thinks like everyone else in this situation

that they can just manipulate the situation to carry out the will of God.

It's not right to do, okay?

And obviously, you know, in the nation in which we live,

we don't really, we're not a nation that struggles with polygamy.

Obviously, there's pockets of people who do this stuff,

but in general, it's frowned upon, okay?

But, you know, you can apply this to other ungodly, unnatural means of having children, okay?

And so, at the end of the day, we need to make sure that we pray into the Lord.

You have not because you ask not,

you have not because you ask a miss that you may consume it upon your lust.

Sometimes there's just instances where God just doesn't answer the prayer.

But, here's the thing, folks, is that if God chooses for you not to have children,

the alternative is not, well, let's just use some sort of carnal, godless,

you know, the superficial means to be able to have children.

Let's, and look, let me just say this.

I don't even believe it's right to adopt, okay?

And obviously, that's my personal preference.

There's nothing in the Bible that explicitly says that.

Dao Shan not adopt children.

We could obviously use the spiritual application of God adopting us.

But here's the thing, folks, is that at the end of the day, you know,

when you adopt children, you're essentially saying, you know,

I'm going to make this happen even if God doesn't want to give me children.

So then you adopt children.

And, you know, I'm not 100% familiar with the laws here,

but it seems as though if that child grows up and decides to just leave you

and go back to their biological parents, they can do that.

And it causes a lot of strain, a lot of emotional damage, a lot of friction.

It just causes a lot of problems.

And so it's problems that you can, you know, avoid if you just, you know what,

whatever God gives us, whether you choose to give us children or not,

that's what we're going to go with.

So Dan is the son of Bilhah.

Look at verse 7,

and Bilhah's Rachel's maid conceived again and bared Jacob as second son.

And Rachel said,

with great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister and I have prevailed.

And she called his name Neftali.

So what do you mean?

You know, no, you didn't prevail against your sister, Bilhah did.

You know, you're not the one bearing children here.

You're not a proxy mother.

And, you know, just, well, these are technically my children.

No, they're Bilhah's children.

You are using carnal means to fulfill this task.

Look at verse 9,

when Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpa her maid

and gave her Jacob to wife.

So, you know, Leah, so what we see here is kind of like a race.

And it's just like, you guys are not, like, you guys,

what's wrong with you guys?

First of all, Leah, you can have babies.

You know, it's just like, yeah, but we can have them even faster

if we get Zilpa involved here

and have her marry Jacob

and then we can just, you know, pop him out

and that could win this race.

Okay, very carnal, very carnal, faithless.

And here's the thing, Leah is, her room is not necessarily closed.

She's just born four children unto Jacob

and so there should be no reason to involve Zilpa.

This is just showing you and showing me how faithless

these people are.

They've become very faithless in their dealings.

It's a carnal thing.

We're trying to race to have as many children as possible

because we want to beat so and so.

And look, folks, I'm all for having children.

You know, it's great to list wherever it's at.

You know, that thing is growing.

I think it's like the most we've ever had.

Okay?

But we shouldn't be in a race though.

Okay?

And you know, it shouldn't be like,

well, we're trying to have more children and so and so.

We're trying to beat so and so or something.

You know, it should be a matter of just whatever the Lord gives us

and just rejoice when people are pregnant.

You know, rejoice with that.

And I get it, sometimes it is difficult.

I get it because there are instances where maybe,

you know, you might have had a miscarriage.

There might have been a situation like that where you lost the baby

and it's hard to see other people bearing children

when you've suffered a loss.

And that's 100% justified to feel that manner

when that takes place.

But we should still rejoice when others have children

and recognize that God is still blessing

and not view it as some sort of competition.

So, Zilpa gets in the mix here.

Verse 10 says,

So he's obviously not opposed to adding Zilpa.

Okay?

Verse 11 says,

And Zilpa has made Bear Jacob a second son

and Leah said,

For the daughters will call me blessed

and she called his name Asher.

So in total, if you think about this, you know,

Leah had more children than any of them.

More than Bilhah, more than Zilpa, more than Rachel,

she bore, if you include Dinah, seven children.

So I do believe that if she would have just stuck

to the biblical model,

she would have just kept having children

and being able to fulfill the prophecy

and she should have just been fully persuaded

that what God had promised, he was able also to perform.

So she has seven children including Dinah.

And then the handmaids end up having two each

and then Rachel is, end up blessed with two children

but fairly significant because she ends up having Joseph

and then later on she has Benjamin.

So Asher, look at verse 14 in 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.

Now, it's not 100% clear what this is

but we can surmise that a mandrake

is basically something that can induce fertility.

It's some sort of root or a plant

that some people have said is like an aphrodisiac,

others said it's like something that induces fertility.

Obviously it has something to do with that

because Rachel's like, give me some of that

because I want to have more children.

And historically that's what a mandrake would do.

So, you know, Reuben finds some,

he brings them from the field,

Rachel comes and says to Leah,

Give me your son's mandrakes.

Verse 15, and she said unto her,

Is it a small matter that thou has taken my husband?

And wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also?

And Rachel said,

Therefore he shall lie with thee tonight

for thy son's mandrakes.

So this is interesting.

This kind of gives us a picture here

of how this great polygamist relationship works

because it's such a great model

of how things should be done, right?

What's taking place here?

Well, Reuben brings the mandrakes.

Rachel sees this and tells Leah,

Hey, give me those mandrakes.

And she's like, no, you took my husband.

And then Rachel's like,

Well, how about we strike a deal here?

You give me the mandrakes

and then Jacob can sleep at your tent tonight.

And the idea here is,

where's Jacob staying the majority of the nights with Rachel?

That's why she said,

You took my husband and then they're making this deal.

Why would they have to make that deal

if he's staying with Leah as well, you know?

It's possible that he's spending most of his time with Rachel.

And what does that demonstrate

that he basically esteems Rachel over Leah?

Yeah, what a great model of polygamy here.

Just, oh man, this is so great.

These guys know exactly what they're talking about.

It just makes for a great love story.

How romantic, right?

Where one is beloved, you know,

and the other one is hated

and the hated one has to strike a deal

just to spend the night with their own husband.

It doesn't really work now, does it?

So he says here, verse 16,

and Jacob came out of the field in the evening

and Leah went out to meet him and said,

thou must come unto me

for surely I have hired thee

with my son's mandrakes

and he lay with her that night.

That's sad.

That's really sad.

I mean, why would she need to hire

her husband, you know,

for some mandrakes if that's her husband?

He should, how do you render

doubenevolence in that case, right?

How do you render doubenevolence

in a polygamous relationship

where the husband despises one of the wives?

That's clearly what's taking place here.

But yet you have these heretical pastors out there,

these Book of Enoch heretical pastors

that are promoting polygamy,

saying that it's justified.

Oh, Jacob did it.

Yeah, look how romantic and how lovely

and what a wonderful love story

that ended up being there

where Leah literally has to pay mandrakes

in order to spend the night with her husband.

It's godless.

Look, folks, the Bible says to render doubenevolence

unto your spouse.

And let me tell you what that means.

It means that when your spouse wants a physical relationship,

you're not to withhold that from them.

You're not to weaponize it.

You're not to say,

I got a headache.

Hey, I'd be profan, amen.

I got a headache. I'm tired.

I'd be profan in a red bowl.

Because it's your responsibility

to render doubenevolence unto your spouse.

Okay.

And I'm talking to both,

but let's just be honest.

Most of the time in our culture,

it's the woman who's withholding that

from the man.

That's a godless thing to do.

Oh, yeah, but he just doesn't...

He's just not as romantic.

I missed that part in the passage.

It says he has to be romantic

in order

for you to render doubenevolence

of your physical body to him.

I would just say, if that's what he wants,

you got to give it to him. And vice versa.

And let me just remind all you

Christian feminists out there

that a woman's body belongs to the man.

And vice versa.

We won't spend too much time on that.

No, I'm just kidding.

It belongs to the man.

Your body, it's not your body,

your choice, it's your body,

but technically it's your husband's body.

And it's his choice.

So this whole Feminazi

ideology out there

where they try to weaponize

the physical relationship

and try to withhold that from their husband

as a means of punishment

or because you're mad

or because you have a headache

or because this, that, and the other,

it's unjustified and it's not found in the Bible.

You're a godless person if that's what you do.

Clip that.

Clip that and throw it on the archives.

You know what,

Rachel, Leia,

and Jacob are doing is wrong.

And you know what, Jacob,

Jacob should have been like,

what do you mean you paid mandrakes?

I'm your husband.

Go get those things back.

He should have gone to Rachel and be like,

hey, where are those mandrakes at?

Rubin got them, those belong to him

and guess what, I belong to Leia

just as much as I belong to you.

That's a weird thing, but

it's the truth.

And I don't know, it seems like

Jacob's just kind of a pushover when it comes to this stuff.

It sounds like he's just enjoying the ride over here,

having these four wives,

but it's causing a lot of controversy here.

And no, a polygamous relationship

apparently doesn't work on a practical level.

Wives hiring

just to spend the night with their husband.

Okay?

And so,

you know,

you're like, well, you know, I'm just tired.

Get some mandrakes.

Find some mandrakes.

You know,

Red Bull,

C4,

you know, whatever you got to do

to make it happen,

because it's better to supplement

that, okay,

to be physical with your spouse

than to ruin your marriage because you're not coming together.

And then Satan

tempts you for your incontinence.

That's what the Bible says.

Oh, I just think it's just inappropriate that you're saying it.

I think it's inappropriate that you're not coming together.

How about that?

Why don't you change your view of things

and stop viewing it in such a secular feminist manner

and recognize

it's Godless for you not to come together.

In fact, that's what Satan wants.

He wants you to abstain one from another

because God's will is for you to come together.

Okay?

As much as you guys want to be.

Okay?

And so that's important.

And obviously we know the biblical teaching there

is that the only time you would abstain

from that relationship is that when you're giving yourself

to prayer and fasting

and, you know,

but obviously that's not,

prayer and fasting is not a prolonged time.

In my opinion, you can still do that

and pray. Amen?

And so, anyways,

verse 17,

and God hearkened unto Leah

and she conceived and bared Jacob

the fifth son. So we see here,

Leah comes out losing

to a certain degree because

she's given up her mandrakes because she wants to be fertile

but, you know, she's willing

to forego the possibility of having

children just so she could spend the night with her husband.

So really

from a practical perspective

the one who should be bearing

based upon the story is Rachel

because she's the one who has the fertility

potion.

But we see

that God hearkens unto Leah

and she conceives and bares

Jacob the fifth son

despite the fact that she did not have

the mandrakes.

Now this is also showing us that what

God esteems more than anything else

is just

the physical relationship between

a husband and a wife. He just wants them

to come together to do that

which married couples do and leave everything

else in God's hands.

Because Leah is basically saying like

oh man, I'm going to miss out on having

children but I'd rather just

be with my husband.

I'd rather just, you know, be with my husband

and have that physical relationship

and what does God end up doing? He ends up blessing her

with children.

And so, you know,

this is important because, you know, sometimes

couples could have this

frustration

because they can't have children

and it's just like now it's becoming like a chore

it's just like oh, we got to make sure we do this

at a certain, when the moon

is a certain, you know, color

and we got to make sure we manipulate

everything so that we can have children

but then you start stressing out

you start worrying and that's what

causes the infertility, the tension.

Whereas what God just wants you to do

is just come together and just leave

the outcome to God.

So I admire Leah.

You know, Leah is a wonderful

woman. She's obviously, you know,

she has her flaws

but at the end of the day she was

willing to forego that which is practical

in order to just have her husband and God

ends up blessing her with the fifth son, verse 18.

And Leah said, God has given me my

hire because I have given

my maiden to my husband

and she called his name Isacar

and Leah conceived again

and bear Jacob the sixth son

and Leah said, God has

endured 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. I like what it says in verse 21

and afterwards she bears daughter and called her name Dina.

She's kind of like throwing it in there.

She bears six sons and they had Dina

as well. You say, man, why is it so

like, you know, well because of the

fact that God's trying to get,

he's trying to accomplish something here

through the men because he's trying to create

these 12 tribes. Obviously

Dina's not the spies but in the grand

scheme of things she doesn't necessarily play

a vital role

in the formation of this nation.

Okay. So in

total she has born

seven children unto

Jacob and she's

under, you know, this notion

that, you know, oh, Jacob's going to love me now.

He's going to dwell with me now because I've given him

so many children, more children than

the others, but of course that's not

necessarily the case. Verse 22

and God remembered Rachel

and God harkened to her

and opened her womb. Now that's interesting

because she took

the mandrakes

and wasn't able to bear children and

we see here that she bears children

only because God harkened unto her

and opened her womb.

So at the end of the day we need to realize

that we should do everything physically possible

on a practical level to have children

but, you know, it's God who opens

the door, it's God who closes it, it's God who opens

the womb, it's God who closes it and so forth.

So the Lord loves Rachel

and he is blessing her as well.

Look at verse 23 and she conceived and

bears a son and said, God have taken

away my reproach

and she called his name Joseph

and said the Lord shall add to me

another son. Now the only son

that's not mentioned here

because this doesn't happen until later is Benjamin.

Okay, Benjamin is the last

of the 12s because technically

they had 13 children that would

include Dinah but 12 sons

and Benjamin the 12th

is, you know, she has him

and she dies at childbirth unfortunately

which is a sad story there as well.

It says in verse 25 and it came to pass

when Rachel had born Joseph

that Jacob said unto Laban

send me away that I may go unto

my own place into my country

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

and Laban said unto him I pray thee

if I have found favor in thine eyes

tarry for I have learned

by experience that the Lord has blessed

me for thy sake.

So, you know, Laban is just like

those 14 years is not enough.

Now why does Laban want

Jacob to hang around?

Because God is with Jacob

right and it's

because of Jacob that he's

experiencing the residual blessings

and you know what this shows us?

It shows us that when God's hand is upon us

those around us get blessed as well

even if they don't deserve it.

People around us

maybe are family members

maybe friends, maybe the company that we

work for to a degree

they get blessed. Why?

Because the fallout of the blessings

affect them as well.

We should desire that God

blesses us not just for our sake

but so that others

can also experience the residual

blessings that we are getting as well

and recognize like man I'm being blessed

in my life because of this guy.

Our company is better because of

this guy. You know, our family has

improved because of so and so

God's hand is upon this person

therefore we are experiencing the blessings

as well. Now obviously

your family, your company may not

say it in those exact words

but they'll think it though like you know what

we've succeeded because I like having

this is my lucky charm over here

this is the guy that I need

in order to bless my business this is the person

what are they saying? You know, God's with this

individual and that's why I'm being blessed

and you know what that should be our desire.

We want to be blessed because

we want to be blessed.

We want God to bless our children

our family, our finances, our

possessions but at the end of the day just

recognize that part of that

is so that others

may see your good works, others can

see the blessings and possibly

glorify God

or even request

or ask about salvation

ask about the things I've got to you

and you know what that's why it's important that we keep a good

testimony before our family, friends

and coworkers as well.

Don't be a jerk at your job

don't be a jerk with your family

don't be a bad testimony

a bad ambassador

why because you know we want

the unsaved

we want those out in the world

to view that God is with us and we want them

to want what we have

but if you're just

as hyper spiritual

holier than now

just you know self-righteous

person, you're a hypocrite

where you are

living one way at church

but then you're just a completely godless

worldly person at work

or with your family you know that doesn't work

being a bad testimony

okay

being honest employee but you know what

just be a good son, a good daughter

a good father

a good wife

at home as well

the bible tells us

ye are our epistles written in our hearts

known and read up all men

you know you've heard that saying

we may be the only bible that people read

sounds corny and it is

but it is true I just think it's corny

because I've heard it from so many corny preachers

but you know there is some

semblance of truth to that

because what they're saying is that

your boss is not going to open up the board of god

so the only scripture that he's going to see

in real time is you

you're that open epistle

known and read of all men

you know but what can I

but are you like an epistle of Barnumus though

an epistle of Judas

or something

or are you a good representation

of Christianity

and you know what let me just say this

obviously we have liberty as Christians

and I get we're dealing with a lot of

first generation Christians

but don't use your liberty as an occasion to the flesh

make sure that as a Christian

you go the second mile

of being a testimony

don't be this just worldly

god this person before others

because you're being a bad representation

of Christianity

you know obviously you need to be a person

who obeys the word of god but even to a certain degree

you should have higher standards than the unsafe

why because the bible says that the righteous

are more excellent than his neighbor

and so you know I live

around

Christians

and you know non-Christians

and unsafe people

and I do my best to make sure

that not just me and my family

that we are a good testimony to those around us

you know there are certain things we can't control

because our

our household is too big

we got a lot of loud kids and stuff

and they probably hear us spanking our kids

you know down the street or whatever

but you know the best that we can

we try to be a good testimony

to our neighbors

not be trashy, not be dirty

you know

I don't bump hip hop but we're not bumping hip hop

or rock and roll or something

you know be a good testimony

be a person who when people look at you

you don't necessarily have to tell them you're a Christian

they just kind of caught that already

you know

you're like what's another way that I could be a good testimony

well how about you don't dress like a whore

that's good, that's the starters

why don't you just

I'm talking about both men and women

and the day and age in which we live

you gotta dress both

don't look like an absolute whore

don't look like a slut

clip that

don't look like an absolute

godless person

you know oh man

they just don't know I'm a Christian here

it's probably because you're just wearing pants all the time

probably

because you've got the booty shorts at the gym

well how can I perform this

workout if I don't wear my booty shorts

don't do it

or just wear a skirt or something like that

I'm sure there's skirts out there

there's women that work out with skirts and stuff

and they look modest when they work out

you know do that

oh but I want to show off my booty

you're godless

then you're basically a whore

right

you know be a good testimony

you know it should be

that you dress a certain way

and I'm not saying you have to dress in a shirt and tie to go to the gym either

okay

and obviously there's certain instances where we can't

really portray Christianity

by the way we look

it's just we wear clothes and that's it

and really it does more apply

to women than men

oh man I can't believe

no it's true it's true it's a fact

now obviously with dudes

you shouldn't be

at the gym shirtless or something like that

or with a spaghetti

spaghetti string top

whatever you call that

ain't nobody trying to see all that

you know or how about this

you know if you are a person

who's just tatted from head to toe

have some shame and cover it up

right

you know especially if you got like

profanity and godlessness

artwork on you

cover it up

I'm just saying you know we need to make sure

that we let our lights so shine before men that they may

see our good works to the best of our ability

okay

and you know again guys

if you go to the gym

first of all you better not be wearing old booty shorts

a little faggot

oh but it's in now

the 80's

booty shorts are in for dudes

that's gay dude

that's super gay

okay

yeah but I've been working on my glutes and everything

and you know

you know

and look I'm for working out the glutes

I am

I think everyone should work out the glutes

and you say why

you'll thank me once you're

60 and 50, 60, 70 years old

because you use the glutes to

get off the toilet and off the bed

that's the biggest muscle on the body

it's necessary

you need strength in the gluteus maximus

amen

you gotta build it up so you can you know

get off the ground

if you fall

and then I'm

you think it's funny but it's true

people in their old age

they fear the toilet

because you know they can't get up

they don't have the strength to get up

it's a real thing

and so it is funny for sure

you know

let's act like high schoolers here

and just laugh about it

but it's a legitimate thing

you know you should work on your legs

and work on your glutes

not for looks

not so you can put on some

80's booty shorts

bicycle booty shorts or whatever

but so you can

actually use it for practical reasons

okay

so the point that I'm making is

be modest amen

be a modest individual

you know make sure

let no crew of communication proceed out of your mouth

but that which is good to the use of edifying

that it may minister grace into the ear

you know obviously

we're not perfect but when you're talking to the unsaved

you should seek to have your

speech season with salt

and with grace

right

and make sure that you're speaking in such a way

that they're like I think this person is a Christian

you know

and look I can't say

that using cuss words

is a sin but it's definitely not necessary

profitable all the time though

okay

it's profitable when you're throwing out a tranny

it's profitable when you're defending

the innocent right

but you know when you're just chopping it up with someone

and you're just throwing f-bombs left and right

it's not necessarily the most profitable thing

especially if it's towards the unsaved

because they're like oh I thought this guy was a crit

okay cool you know

I guess I guess that's just how they talk

okay

and do us a favor how about you don't upload that

story where you're throwing f-bombs

all over the place too

because it's good to be a good testimony to

unsaved people but it's also going to be a good

testimony to other churches

and again you know

I'm not perfect so one day a clip might

be uploaded with me throwing an f-bomb to like a

tranny or something for giving me ahead of time

okay

but you know that's

you know obviously we shouldn't be

characterized by that

f this

well how about you just

you know speak some scripture instead

let's get some stories this

week of you just quoting

a verse from the bible

or posting a verse or something

let's just yeah

let's do that

I now call for

everyone in our church who post stories on a

consistent basis

to record yourself quoting a verse

or posting a verse

and then tag me

that's your incentive tag me

and I'll repost it on my stories

okay make sure it's king James too

be a good testimony online

and I'm not saying you have to be perfect

either because look you

know me

I'm not perfect

okay I get mad

I get upset you know I've said

some unsavory words from

time to time but you know what I'm not

characterized by that though

and you know what I don't think you're

characterized by either I'm just trying to help

you not to be characterized by it

don't use your liberty as an occasion to

the flesh

be a person

the bible says if any man speak

let them speak as the oracles of God

which is the bible

and again you want to be real

don't be a fake and a phony

around the unsaved either though

don't be these non-denom type Christians

where you're just so

holy you're hyper-spiritual

you know they're

turned off by that just be real

and I'm not saying you know a

slip of the F word won't come out

every once in a while from your tongue when you're talking

to people I'm just saying like just kind

of clean it up every once in a while

like you know you don't always have to like

you know just don't insert it every other

word

like go get a thesaurus

learn some new vocabulary

words

you know what I mean

and so forth and so you know

I don't even know how we got off on that but

we're talking about being a good testimony

why does that work here

I know Rachel was born Joseph

alright we got that

I'm favoring their eyes

I'm front lunge expert as well

oh yeah there you go it's because you know

so Jacob was a good testimony

to Laban which is why he wanted to keep him

around

okay

and so that's how we got off on that

but it's a good tangent I think it's important to know

I'll be waiting for your stories

I'm gonna be looking out for that

you can start tonight if you want

if you know a verse

if you've memorized the verse

let's move on here

verse 28

and he said appoint me thy wages and I will give it

now

you know

fool me once shame on me

fool me twice

oh wait fool me once shame on you

fool me twice shame on me

so Jacob you know it's just like

or Laban I should say

you don't really have a whole lot of credibility bro

wouldn't you appoint me that way

we did this already twice

and so you know Laban and obviously

God is using Laban

to chest eyes

Jacob to a certain degree

we can see God's providential hand in this

or he's kind of teaching him

he's getting a taste of his own medicine

so he says you know put me your wages and I'll give it

he said unto him thou knowest

how I have served thee

and how thy cattle was with me

for it was little which thou had

before I came

and it is now increased unto a multitude

and the Lord has blessed thee since my coming

and now when shall I provide for my own house

also so what is Jacob saying

what more do you want from me

since I've been here

you've been blessed you've increased

you have all kinds of cattle

and livestock and God has been

with you you know I married both of your daughters

like what more do you want

he doesn't want to let him go

he's like I want to kind of go out

and start my own family

and go to my nation

and just take care of business

to fraud me enough is what he's saying right

he says in verse 31

and he said what shall I give thee

and Jacob said thou shall not give me anything

if thou would do this thing for me

I will again feed and keep thy flock

I will pass through all thy flock

today

removing from fence 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

so shall my righteousness

answer for me in time to come

when it shall come for my hire

before thy face everyone that is not

speckled and spotted among the goats

and brown among the sheep

thou shall be counted stolen with me

so let me explain what's going on here

to the best of my ability

this is what I believe is taking place here

so you know Laban is like alright

what do you want me to pay you

so that you can stay

and I can be blessed more

he goes how about we do this

okay he says you know let me

serve

and let me

remove the cattle

that what I believe he is saying here

by range straight and spotted

and so forth is like the inferior

livestock

so look I'll take the inferior

livestock and whatever is not

blemished you can keep

and he says there in verse 33

social my righteousness answer for me

in the time to come he's like I'll be

defrauded you know I'll be the one to take

the inferior livestock

and you know what my righteousness

will answer God's going to bless me for this

you know and at face value

he's like alright you know Jacob's learning here

but he's not necessarily learning because he's being cunning again

because what he's going to do

he's going to manipulate the situation in such a way

that he

essentially makes some of the cattle

look

spotted speckled

and ring straight

so when they actually give birth

he takes the strong cattle

and then he manipulates the way they look

so that they can stay with him

and those who are weak he gives the laban

okay

so it's just like Jacob

you're like a dog

who's returning back to his vomit

you're not learning from your mistakes

you're being conniving

you're being deceptive

and you know what we can carry from this

one principle that we can carry from this about Jacob

is that he just struggles with lying

which is why he's rightly called Jacob

he's deceptive

and you know what

we need to make sure that as Christians

we tell the truth

that we're honest in our dealings

and you know what

you might have grown up in a home where lying was just a norm

and where

lying and being deceptive and being dishonest

was just something that you did

even if it was for a good

outcome or whatever it may be

you need to repent of that

lying

bearing false witness

being dishonest

is a godless characteristic

you know

lying lips are an abomination

unto the Lord my friends

okay

and you know what we discipline our children for lying

even for little lies

because we don't want them to develop

the character of just being

a liar

just make it easy for them to lie about anything

whether it's stealing

whether it's

oh they lied about

their brother or sister just to save their hide

they get disciplined for that

because it's wrong to lie

and if you disagree with me then it looks like

you need to up your standards a little bit

about that

maybe you need to make sure

you up your standards in regards to lying yourself

and not be a liar

not be a dishonest person

and you know sometimes

people have the tendency

to lie

not necessarily because they have some sort of

ulterior motive it just comes natural to them

and this is notorious when it comes to Hispanics

let me just say it right now

these Mexicans

okay

you know sometimes lying is just like a normal thing

and I think even before I got saved

I had some of that in me

like I was just kind of like a

I would just tell like white lies all the time

I can't think of a specific example

but I do believe that that was the case

because that's the kind of environment that I grew up in

and I had to learn

to just be honest even if it meant my

hurt

even if it meant that I came out losing

in the long run don't be a liar

and obviously I'm joking when I say Hispanics

because at the end of the day lying

is not a cultural trait

it's just a sinful trait

because I've met white people who lie too

okay

I met white people that lie

and they double down

and they're not willing to tell the truth

I'm looking at all you white people

not you

you're not really white to me

but your son is

you know look at all the white people here

you know it yeah

Mexicans black people are liars

dramatic pause

why people lie

Asians lie

it's just a sinful trait

oh yeah

that's right

we'll raise you on me

Indians lie

because at the end of the day

and obviously there may be some cultures

that have the propensity to lie more than others

and that is true

but I'll be honest with you

I've seen

like major liars

in all types of cultures

all different races

and in general I get it

there's some that lie more than others for sure

but at the end of the day we're talking about

a sinful trait

because lying is just a sinful trait

okay

you know

Jews lie

I mean good night

who is a liar

but he denied that Jesus is the Christ

right

but he even just

Jacob he's of Israel

he's not a Jew

Jacob's not a Jew

are we clear on that

you know he's not a Jew

he's a Hebrew but he's

why is he lying because he just

has this habit of lying

that's how he has gone to where he's at

that's how he gets the things that he wants

and you know what God has to deal with him

God has to refine him

God has to discipline him

God has to allow him to go through

hard difficult times

to come to the realization like I need to be an honest person

so

let's keep reading here verse 34 says

and Laban said behold I would

it might be according to thy word

so he's just like we'll do that and then

Laban's like I hope that's what's gonna happen

but here's the thing

Laban's a liar too

he's deceptive too

so he's gonna get

what's coming to him just as Jacob is

but here's the difference

God's with Jacob

he's not necessary with Laban

verse 35 says he removed that day

the he goats that were shrink straight and spotted

and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted

and everyone that had some white in it

and all the brown among the sheep

and gave them into the hand of his sons

skip down to

verse number

let's look at verse 39

says the flocks conceived before the rods

and brought forth cattle

ring straight speckled and spotted

and Jacob did separate the lambs

and set the faces of the flocks towards the ring straight

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

go down to verse 42

he says but when the cattle were

feeble or I'm sorry verse 41

and he came to pass once over the stronger

cattle did conceive

that Jacob laid the rods before

the eyes of the cattle and the gutters

that they might conceive among the rods

but when the cattle were feeble

he put them not in

so the feebler were Laban's

and the stronger

Jacob's

now again I do believe

because God is with Jacob

he didn't have to do all this stuff

I believe that if

Jacob legitimately took the ring straight

spotted and speckled

livestock

God would have just miraculously

done something there

and given him really good livestock

thereafter

he would have figured it out of way

but here's the thing folks

it's right to be honest

even if that doesn't happen

it's always right to do right

even if you don't come out

winning on the other side

it's always right to do right

but here's the thing in general though

God does end up blessing you for it

because he wants us to

he wants our faith to be increased

in that when we are

honest and when we do good

that God blesses us for it

I'm just saying there's going to be instances

where you do right and you don't come out winning

on the other side

you know you end up

getting some

inferior livestock

you end up

getting some disease

then blemished and

just inferior cattle

or whatever

but I do believe that God could have blessed him

he didn't need to manipulate the situation

the guy is smart though

which is why he manipulated in such a way

but he didn't need to do that

now we see verse 43 that says

the man increased exceedingly

had much cattle and maidservants and men servants

and camels and asses

so what does this mean? does this mean God approves of Jacob's deception?

no it just means that he blesses him

despite it

in spite of his deception

so the idea here is that

don't take

God blessing you

because of the wrongs that you do

as God approving the wrong that you do

just recognize that sometimes

just God is gracious to you

or should we say he's merciful to you

and you know

Jacob will pay a heavy price later on

you know he will be physically

altered so to speak later on

because God is trying to get a hold of him

the point being here is that we need to recognize

that

honesty is the best policy

you don't need to manipulate situations

so that

you can come out the winner

you don't need to lie

and be deceptive

and don't tell so and so

we're gonna do this way

and you know no one's gonna find

just be an honest person

and look folks

honesty is the best route because

when you lie you gotta keep track of all that

you gotta like

okay where am I

oh yeah that's right I did tell that lie

I gotta make sure I don't forget that I told that lie

and here's the thing if you're not good at keeping track

you're just gonna look like an absolute idiot

and you're gonna look like a liar

people are gonna be like he just lied

and he doesn't remember that he lied

and that happens

so why don't you just be honest

just be an honest person

don't manipulate situations

don't try to be cunning

just leave it in God's hands

leave it in God's hands

and don't be a sneaky person either

it's the same thing

just be an open person

an open book

an honest individual

you don't have to be sneaky

you don't have to be cunning

you don't have to try to be dishonest

in order to manipulate a situation

to come out in your favor

just leave it in God's hands

and if you run into a situation

where you're forced

to take the ring straight spotted and speckled

just get it be like you know what

they're ugly just like me

I'll take the chopped ones

to reflection

of how chopped I am

but God will bless these chopped

livestock like he's blessed me

God will bless you

God will bless you for it

but obviously we see here

that he blessed Jacob

even though he didn't go about it the right way

but this should not be a justification

for us to go about it the wrong way either

because the reality is this

you know God could have just turned this around

and punished Jacob for this

and so the point being here

is that we still see

Jacob being refined

right he's not yet

Israel

he's still that deceptive

cunning

heel catcher

even after 14 years

of being defrauded

hasn't necessarily learned his lesson

but he will

and you know what if it's been 14 years with you

and you haven't learned your lesson

you will

Father we thank you so much for your word

thank you for chapter 30 help us

to avoid the wrong characteristics of Jacob

help us to be honest people

just leave it in your hands

and I'm just looking at a family of just

people who just don't

they just lack faith

Leah lacked faith

Rachel lacked faith

the handmaids are lacking faith

to a certain degree

Jacob of course lacks faith

and they're just being carnal

manipulating situations

trying to

create the outcome themselves

instead of just leaving it in God's hands

help us to learn from this Lord

and recognize that

Lord you bless Jacob and you bless us as well

we're not perfect we all have

characteristics and attributes that

are not necessarily becoming

to Christianity at times

Lord and I pray that you'd help us Lord

help us to be refined help us to be honest

and may we leave it in your

hands and recognize that all things do work together

for good to them to love God Lord

we love you we thank you pray this things in Jesus name amen