Angelic Conflict part 120: Human history – Heb 12:5-11; Rom 3:25; 6:23: 8:1; Gen 27:41-28:9.Title: Angelic Conflict part 120: Human history – Heb 12:5-11; Rom 3:25; 6:23: 8:1; Gen 27:41-28:9.
The next struggle or conflict I and God have chosen is in Jacob’s life. Not so much his struggle with people, of which he had many, but we have seen that with Abraham and Isaac and because of the AC we see due the fallen man, bad decisions by believer, positive believer, and unbeliever, that there will always be conflict with people in an increasing and decreasing fashion.
The conflict I want to focus on in Jacob, who although he made many negative decisions, I still consider him a positive believer, since he never quit, is his conflict with God.
Through lack of faith, bad decisions, and weak conditions, the believer finds himself in conflict with God where the pain of discipline or correction is felt.
As we have noted many times, God disciplines out of love and as a source of correction and not condemnation.
Heb 12:5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him;
Heb 12:6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives."
Heb 12:7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
Heb 12:8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
Heb 12:9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?
Heb 12:10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness.
Heb 12:11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful [this is often a place of struggle with God]; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
During the sorrowful times under discipline the believer often finds his heart in conflict with God, but when the “yield” is perceived, conflict turns to sweet fellowship.
Heb 12:12 Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble,
Heb 12:13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.
Rev 3:19 'Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore, and repent.
Rom 7:24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death [Paul in conflict with his OSN]?
Rom 7:25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.
Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Heb 10:17-18 "And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."[Jer 31:34] Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Animal sacrifices didn’t bring forgiveness. God passed over the sins committed before the cross, in essence, holding them until the cross of Christ. The promise here is a part of the New Covenant, an extension of the Abrahamic Covenant, which would be after the cross, in the Millennium, and so it is repeated to the Church, who are also the beneficiaries of the finished work of Christ.
No one pays for sin or pays back for sin. Sin was paid for or redeemed by Christ through his effectual, substitionary, spiritual death.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Wages of sin – spiritual death, which Christ paid, and anyone who believes in Him has that redemption applied to him.
Even before the cross God did not count sins against man for that would have put all in the LOF. The unbelievers from all dispensations will be judged at the GWTJ and found to be unrighteous.
Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Rom 3:24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
Rom 3:25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;
Rom 3:26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time [public demonstration at the cross], that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
When it comes to our crew in Genesis, although God found a way to bless all those who believed and even the unbelievers by association, they all did reap what they sowed. A believer must understand this fact of his condition in life and know that he will reap the consequences of his bad decisions in whatever magnitude that standard of measure calls for.
He must also understand that God will give him the power to overcome what he reaps through doctrine and the power of God the Holy Spirit. So although he may have unfortunate circumstances in his life due to bad decisions, he can overcome those circumstances within God’s plan. There has never been, nor ever will be, a believer that does not have this happen in their lives.
The results of sin and evil are not eradicated from this world or from our lives, as is quite evident, but grace through the work and person of Christ overcomes all of it by far.
Although God is gracious and turns curses into blessings, everyone reaps what they sow.
Gal 6:7Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
Background: After Jacob had deceived his father and Esau did not receive the blessing that he sold legally for a bowl of red red, Esau plans to kill Jacob, and Rebekah tells him, and he is entreated by her to depart and go to her brother Laban. She suggests that he leave for a few days until Esau cools off, but Jacob will be gone for two decades. Rebekah will never see the son that she loves again.
Gen 27:41 So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob."
Gen 27:42 Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, "Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you, by planning to kill you.
Gen 27:43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise, flee to Haran, to my brother Laban!
Gen 27:44 "And stay with him a few days, until your brother's fury subsides,
Gen 27:45 until your brother's anger against you subsides, and he forgets what you did to him. Then I shall send and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?"
Gen 27:46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am tired of living because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?"
Gen 28:1 So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, and said to him, "You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.
Gen 28:2 Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.
Gen 28:3 And may God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples.
Gen 28:4 May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you; that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham."
Gen 28:5 Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
Gen 28:6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram, to take to himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he charged him, saying, "You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,"
Gen 28:7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram.
Jacob will obey his parents while Esau will not.
Ex 20:12 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.
Eph 6:1-3 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.
Live long or “prolonged in the land” speaks of a prosperous life of vigor and does not necessarily refer to number of years.
The command and the promise do not put a condition on the parents. They may be good or bad in the eyes of the child, hip or square, cool or lame, the command and the promise stands. This does not apply if a command is given to commit a sin. One must obey God over commands to commit sin or evil.
Gen 28:8 So Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased his father Isaac;
Gen 28:9 and Esau went to Ishmael, and married, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth.
It is important to note that the condemnation of Jacob only comes from his brother Esau and his uncle Laban, both of which are idol worshippers and hardly good judges of character. In fact, God never condemns him.
When God speaks of Jacob, it is always a message of blessing and of promise and never a rebuke, never a word of chastisement. God has covered your sins and flaws with the blood of Christ.
Negative things about Jacob come from his enemies; God is always positive towards Jacob, and that is something we should all remember in our own relationship with God and in our relationships with other members of the RFOG.
God does not condemn or accuse the believer in the Supreme Court of heaven. Discipline is out of love. Only the believer’s enemy accuses.
Rev 12:10 for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night.
Yet, though not condemned by God, he did reap what he sowed, and this is also something we must remember in our relationship with God.
All parties involved suffer for their bad decisions, yet in each case God turns the curse into a blessing.
Rebekah, Isaac, Esau, and Jacob knew of the prophecy given to Rebekah at the birth of the twins, that the older will serve the younger.
Isaac suffered by preferring Esau even though he knew of the prophecy.
Isaac, based on natural affection, went contrary to the will of God and tried to bless Esau contrary to God’s choice. So, he was deceived.
Hence God allowed the deception. Isaac is praised for sticking with his blessing of Jacob, recognizing that it was the will of God.
Rebekah plotted the deception, which showed her lack of faith in God’s choice and she would suffer for it; now Jacob would have to leave the land, and she would never see her favorite son again.
Because Jacob deceived his father he would suffer later on by the deception of his uncle Laban, and twice he will be deceived by his sons.
Because Jacob’s prosperity was making evil Laban rich, he substituted his daughter Leah for Rachel, whom Jacob loved and thought he was marrying. Once married to Leah, Jacob would have to work for Laban another seven years to have the right to marry the beautiful Rachel.
Gen 29:16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah [wild cow], and the name of the younger was Rachel [ewe lamb].
Gen 29:17 And Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face.
Gen 29:18 Now Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, "I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel."
Gen 29:19 And Laban said, "It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man; stay with me."
Gen 29:20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.
Gen 29:21 Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife, for my time is completed, that I may go in to her."
Gen 29:22 And Laban gathered all the men of the place, and made a feast.
Gen 29:23 Now it came about in the evening that he took his daughter Leah, and brought her to him; and Jacob went in to her.
Gen 29:24 Laban also gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid.
Gen 29:25 So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you deceived me?"
Gen 29:26 But Laban said, "It is not the practice in our place, to marry off the younger before the first-born.
Gen 29:27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you shall serve with me for another seven years."
This is divine retribution in four ways:
First Isaac’s blindness equals the darkness of Jacob’s wedding night, and neither could see as a result.
Second, this Jacob is deceived by being presented the older for the younger, the reversal of Isaac’s presentation of Jacob for Esau.
Third, Isaac thought Jacob was Esau and Jacob thought Leah was Rachel.
Fourth, Jacob pretended to be the older brother, while Leah pretended to be her younger sister.
When God disciplines, He often puts such a signature on it so that the believer can clearly see that this is no coincidence. With the proper doctrine in his soul he can recall that discipline is done out of love and for correction. There are lessons to be learned and not condemnation to be incurred.
When retribution is this ironic and creative there is no doubt that it is directly from the hand of God.
Jacob will be here, in Haran, for a total of 20 years.
Because Esau despised the spiritual benefits of the birthright he suffered. He lost the patriarchal blessing along with all its material benefits as well.
As for continuing in Jacob’s life, which the rest of Genesis is mostly about, he lived a long life of hardships and struggles, mostly due to a lack of faith.
By his own admission: Gen 47:9 And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil [unpleasant: NASB] have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. [KJV]
He lived a long life of travel: in Beersheba for sixty years, then in Haran for 20 years, the Land of Canaan for fifty years, and then Egypt for seventeen years. Jacob would be deceived, first by Laban and second by his sons on two occasions, in the Dinah incident and in the Joseph incident.
Abrahamic Covenant reaffirmed to Jacob, Gen 28:10-22.
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