All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn back to Genesis 31. Genesis 31. Jacob has served Laban in a very
open, very faithful, very honorable way. And the Lord has blessed
him all these many years. Jacob has had 11 sons and one
daughter while he's been in Pandam Erem, and now things have changed. Scripture says in Genesis 31,
1, and 2, and he heard, and whether he heard these words personally,
whether he heard somebody talking, whether somebody told him, we
don't know, but he heard. the words of Laban's son, 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. And Jacob beheld the countenance
of Laban, and behold, it was not toward him as before. Jacob heard that it was being
said that he unjustly acquired Laban's property. The boys, they saw what was going
on. It didn't make sense to them.
The animals had been divided. Jacob was watching the white
sheep and goats, and there was ring-streaked and striped and
spotted sheep and goats coming forth. And they concluded that
what was rightfully Jacob's was really, in their eyes, stolen
property. It said, Jacob hath taken away
all that was our father's For that which was our father's hath
he gotten all this glory. And Laban felt that way too. Because Jacob noticed that the
face, the countenance, the attitude of Laban was not as it had been. You know how quickly the things of this world, land, money, wealth. How quickly,
but for the sustaining grace of God, man's selfishness, covetousness,
envy, and resentment is discovered. You know, we're all good and
fine, and we're good. We're a tight family. We love
each other. What's mine is yours, and yours
is mine. But when it comes right down
to it, I'm telling you, but for the grace of God, you write this
down. The closest of families or friendships
is going to really suffer if the Lord doesn't overrule. I'm telling you, we all by nature
are selfish and we want what we want. Well, the Lord who sent
Jacob to Laban's house. He used his mama's voice and
his daddy's voice, but it was the Lord that sent him. Now he's
revealing his good pleasure, that is the Lord's, for him to
go on. Look at verse three. The Lord
said unto Jacob, you know when I read that this morning, the
Lord said unto Jacob, and the thought As I was going over these
notes this morning and through the day, the Lord speaks individually
to his people. Now you think how many of the
Lord's people are alive at any one time in this world and God
speaks to them. It says that the Lord said unto
Jacob, And the thought just went through my mind. There were other
believers here at that time. But God is speaking to Jacob,
and Jacob is going to understand. The Lord said, My sheep hear
My voice. I've said before, I can't explain
the fullness of that, but I can tell you that that's so. God's
people hear. They know. The Lord said unto
Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred,
and I will be with thee." Jacob truly had been mistreated,
but until now, he had no liberty whatsoever from the Lord to leave. He was where he was by the determinate
counsel of Almighty God, but now the Lord has instructed him
to do something else. I'm telling you now, I want you
to go. Brethren, let's be reminded right
here, wait on the Lord, wait on the Lord. He will make his
will known unto us and we'll settle our heart. We'll know,
we'll know when, when the children of Israel, I've used this example
before, it's a good one. When the children of Israel was
in the wilderness, And when that pillar of a cloud during the
day or a pillar of fire at night, so they could see, whenever that
pillar moved, they moved. Where did they go? Wherever the
pillar went. And when it stopped, they stopped. They pitched the
tents, set up camp right there, set the tabernacle up, and that's
where they were until that pillar moved. So whenever the Lord is
going to move his people. He's going to guide us. He's
going to direct us. And now Jacob has the word of the Lord to move
and the word of promise that he's going to be with him. Well, here's where Jacob's at. He got two wives, Rachel and
Leah, they're handmaids. And so the scripture says in
verses four to nine, And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah
to the field unto his flock, 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. And you know that with
all my power I have served your father, and your father hath
deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God suffered him
not to hurt me. If he said thus, the speckle
shall be thy wages, then all the cattle bear speckled. If
he said thus, the ringstrake shall be thy hire, then bear
all the cattle ringstrake. Thus God hath taken away the
cattle of your father and given them to me. Now, he'd been falsely
accused by the family of his wives. And he's doing the right
thing. What he's doing, He sent for
Rachel and Leah, and he brought them out where he was, and now
he's gonna talk to them privately. Good communication is essential. I always tell my kids, good communication
makes good friends. Let's just understand, just make
sure. And especially, now he's dealing
with her daddy and her brothers. dealing with her family. And he communicates his intention
to Rachel and Leah while they're together. Now there's the three
of them eliminating the possibility of jealousy or miscommunication.
He said, you said, they said, no, we're going to all stand
right here and we're going to understand. And now he affectionately
opens unto them his heart And he's going to show them, I'm
looking unto the Lord. And the decision that I'm making,
I'm making based on God's revelation. He wants them to know that he's
striving to do that which is best, which is obedience. Obedience unto the Lord. And
he related to them. Now let's just get down to what
he's going to do. He's going to talk to these two
girls. And tell him, he said, now listen, I served your father. That's what he said in verse
six. You know that with all my power, I have served your father. And having served their father,
faithfully, he said something wasn't right here. What was it? Verse 7, your father hath deceived
me and changed my wages ten times. Well, what would he do? Well,
the original deal was they talked about it. Laban asked him, he
said, what do you want? He said, well, I'm not going
to give you a set price, but here's the deal. The deal we looked
at last Sunday. That was the deal. And whatever
comes out, if they're ring-striped, spotted, whatever, any discoloration
in the color. They weren't white. If they're
white, that's labens. And Jacob told him, he said,
if you find a white one in the midst of the ones that I'm telling
you I want to be produced out of these white ones, these ring-streaked
ones, if you find a white one in my bunch, you just go ahead
and consider me a thief, because I stole him from you. That's
yours. But all these others, that's the deal. What did Laban
say? Sounds good to me. But now all
of these different variations and colors and all this kind
of stuff now, pictures of God's mercy and grace to bring that
which Laban didn't want. He didn't want that. He wanted
these pure ones. And now here's what's happening.
All of these ring-streaked ones, colored spotted ones, everything.
Jacob's getting a huge flock. And Laban's mad. And so Laban's
gonna change it. He said, your father has changed
my wages 10 times. He gave some examples. He said,
verse eight. Now, it was that all the variations
were Jacob's. But Laban, now he said, no, wait,
wait, wait, wait, let's do this. Wait a minute. The speckle. They're
speckled. That'll be your wages. Yeah,
not all of them, just the speckled. And then Jacob was telling his
wives, he said, then all the cattle bear speckled. And so they've got to change
it again. No, no, no, no, no. He said thus,
the ring strait That shall be your hire. Yeah, yeah. That'll
be the one for you. And we're all coming out, you
know, speckled. Now they're all coming out ring
strapped. And so Jacob is telling Leah
and Rachel, I didn't take away your daddy's
inheritance. This was the agreement. Verse nine, God has taken away
the cattle of your father. and given them to me. So he's
relating how faithfully he had worked for their daddy, and how
their daddy had tried his best to cheat him. And he said God
wouldn't let him. End of verse seven, said, he
changed my wages 10 times, but God suffered him not to hurt
me. Beloved, you rest assured, those
who know God and are known of Him, those striving to do that
which is honest, honest before men and obedient before God.
They're not going to be always honestly. They will be by God's
people, but those of this world, they're not going to be always
dealt with honorably. But the Lord who has everlastingly
loved His own, is not going to allow his people to suffer beyond
that which he has purposed. Jacob openly set forth the good
providence of God and assured his wives, Rachel and Leah, that
it was never his intention to do them wrong. It was not Jacob's
doing that he had acquired the livestock He said, God gave me
these. Daddy wanted to steal them. Daddy is deceitful. And I mean,
he's talking to these two daughters now. And I was reading this and
I thought to myself, this is hard, you know? I just, I think,
you talk to these two girls, these are sisters, sisters. And now he's having to say something
that's just, can be very, very tender, you know? I mean, he's
treading on, but he's being honest with them. Jacob was rewarded
of the Lord according to God's good pleasure. Hebrews 6.10 says,
for God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of
love, which you've showed toward his name, and that you've ministered
to the saints and do minister. God doesn't forget. He beholds. So surely these things, according
to the flesh, were no doubt hard to be heard, but where the will
of the Lord sought, there the grace of God will always be shown
sufficient. So Rachel and Leah, they must
be grounded and settled concerning leaving their home. This is where
they're from. Jacob's in their homeland. He's
at their house, the house of their father, in that place.
And God's told him to leave. God's told him to leave. And
you know what he's gonna do? He's gonna leave. Ask Jonah. He's going. You're going. And
so he's talking to them. And he's gonna explain to them
why. Why he made the deal, if I can
say it that way, with her daddy, why did he say that? He says
in verses 10 to 12, he 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 ring-straped,
speckled, and gristled. The angel of God spake unto me
in a dream, saying, Jacob, and I said, Here am I. And he said,
Lift up now thine eyes, and see all the rams which leap upon
the cattle, or ring-streaked, speckled, and gristled. For I
have seen all that Laban doeth to thee. You know what he was
just saying? Everything that Jacob received was by the power
and good pleasure of God. God did that. God did. So Jacob's proposal to Laban
from the beginning was not based upon his selfishness of Laban's
property. It wasn't that, but rather it
was founded upon the direction and the revelation, the good
pleasure of almighty God. Jacob was walking by faith. One that Jacob was following
was almighty God who rules and orders all these things according
to his good pleasure. He said, to these girls in verse
13. God's still speaking to it now,
in a dream. And he said in verse 13, I am
the God of Bethel, where thou anointest the pillar, and where
thou vowest a vow unto me, and now arise, get thee out of this
land, and return unto the land of thy kindred. I am the God of Bethel. Bethel means the house of God.
And I got to thinking about when he said that to Jacob. I am the God of Bethel. Who is the God of Bethel? Who
is the God of Bethel? Well, first of all, He's the
God of covenant mercy. Covenant mercy. I'm the God of
your grandfather, Abraham. Your father, Isaac. The God of Bethel. Covenant God. He's the God that manifests himself
unto his people. The God who reveals himself to
be who he is. He said, I am the God of Bethel
where thou anointest the pillow and where thou vowest to bow
unto me. I'm the God that met with you. But he's the God of electing
mercy, particular mercy. He met Jacob in a place that
was unexpected. Jacob had come to this place. He was on his way to Pandan Aram,
to the house of Laban. That's where he was going, but
he stopped in this place. He came upon this place. And
that's where he had that dream of that ladder that was set on
the earth and whose top reached into heaven. And so it was a
place where he wasn't looking for God. But God met him there. Sovereign mercy. He found Jacob
when Jacob was not looking for God. He wasn't looking for God.
He found him. And that place where the believer
knows God is in this place. That's what Jacob said. God's
in this place. And I knew it not. Let me tell
you something. Every believer has a Bethel. Every believer has a Bethel where
God is pleased to meet with him. I've said this to many of you
before. I've said it from this pulpit.
We all came from different places. Now, a lot of y'all are from
here. And you know this, I'm not. But
the God that had eternally purposed to put us together has dealt
with us all, even though many of you, and I'm so thankful that
many of you grew up under the gospel and heard the gospel. I didn't. I was in my late 20s
when I heard the gospel for the first time. I'd never heard it
in church all my life. And I heard it, when I heard
this, it was like a Catholic looking at a new gate. It's just
strange, but it was that place where God was pleased to reveal
Himself to me like He did to Jacob, and revealed Himself as
a covenant God, saving God, merciful God, God who has compassion on
whomsoever He will. He came to Jacob and He said,
I am the God of Bethel, and you that came up under the gospel
and heard the truth, for years and years and years. And you
knew it. You knew it here. You had it
here. But you didn't know it here until
God revealed it to you. And that's when the God of Bethel
met with you. And he's telling his wives, I've
been honorable to your daddy. Your daddy's cheated me. And
the God of Bethel said to me, I am the God of Bethel
where you anointed the pillar, where you set that pillar up
and you anointed it with oil and you vowed unto me. He said,
now you get up and you get out of this land. You leave this
place and you return unto the land of thy kindred. You go back
to the land of promise. The one I promised you. The one
I promised to give to your grandfather and your dad and you. And now
here, Jacob, having been faithful, the foundation has been laid. He's getting ready, he's been
talking to these girls. Now, I told you everything that
I told you so far, and I've laid a foundation for what I'm getting
ready to tell you and sum up this message and show you the
gospel in this. Jacob, as a faithful preacher,
he's their husband, but he's been telling them the truth.
You know what he's been doing? He's been setting forth the depravity
of man. Your daddy cheated me. Your daddy
cheated me. But he set forth the glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ and the honor of God. God suffered him
not. The Lord watched over me, kept
me, showed mercy to this sinner, what I am, just a sinner. And
he set forth the truth of man's need of Christ and the glory
of God, who is his only hope. And these two women heard the
confession of their husband as he bore his heart to them. And speaking to them, they heard
him say that what he was going to do, he was going to do because
of God's leadership. And they knew that his decision
was ordered by the Lord, that he's sovereign. And He's the
God that sees and rules. He said, Laban, I've seen what
He did to you. I saw what He did to you. I know
what He did. And so here they are. They're hearing their husband
set forth the truth of what's happened to them. And
behold, in type and picture, being set forth as the Spirit
of God, bears the truth of the Word to the vessels of God's
mercy, and having heard these things, they've heard the truth. Just as a preacher will stand
up and preach the truth of the depravity of man, the glory of
God, the will of God, the purpose of God, and the commands of God,
the promises of God, and the faithfulness of God. And they
heard, and here in type and picture, They're starting to realize something.
Look at verse 14. And Rachel and Leah answered
and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for
us in our father's house? Having heard these things, these
women spoke with resolve and willingness to go with the man
that God had placed over them. But do we not see in this setting
forth of what these girls have said, that here we are. We're the Labans. We're Labans
by nature. Spiritually bankrupt from being
found in the house of Adam, dead in trespasses and sins, lost
and without hope. And if the Lord had not powerfully
plucked us out from that state of bondage, we'd been eternally
in hell. These girls heard how their father
had deceitfully forsaken them. Now listen to what they said,
verse 14. Rachel and Leah answered and
said, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our
father's house? You know what they just said?
Is there any good? Is there any inheritance for
us where we came from? Is there any inheritance left
for us from our father's house? Oh, and they beheld the richness
of God's grace toward them in Jacob. They were married to
Jacob. Oh, and is this not our case?
Do we not see the glorious preaching of the gospel, the hopelessness
of our natural state? versus the richness of God's
blessing, spiritual blessing in the Lord Jesus Christ? He
said, wait a minute, whoa, whoa, whoa. There's nothing left for
us as far as an inheritance where we came from. And there's nothing
for us where we came from. Verse 15, are we not counted
of him, of their daddy? Strangers? For he has sold us
and hath quite devoured also our money." Their dad looked
upon them now as strangers and would forsake them because of
their marriage and unity to Jacob. And is it not so with God's people? The Lord said in Matthew 24 9,
then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill
you and shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. These two girls listened to what
their husband was saying. And the Lord obviously gave them
some light because they agreed with their husband against their
daddy. They realize something that they would not have realized
before. And this is the way it is for
every vessel of God's mercy. By the grace of God in regenerating
grace, they hear something that they would have never heard before
had God not revealed it to them. I don't doubt for one second
that their daddy would not have told them repeatedly. Listen
to what they said. They sold us and quite devoured
also our money. He sold us. I don't doubt that
he, that is their dad, had always assured them, I love you girls. Now y'all are my girls. I love
you. But she said, he has sold us. He sold us out. and quite devoured all of our
money. What had he done? Here's what
he did. He sold out his daughters like
slaves that he might get Jacob's servitude. He sold them out for
14 years of work that he might benefit. And he had nothing for
them in it. But didn't the same thing happen
to us? God's elect, just like all men born in Adam, We fell
in the garden in Adam's transgression and were sold into spiritual
slavery under the control of sin. This is what's being revealed
right here by the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul. For
we know that the law is spiritual. That is, it's the revelation
of God's will and character and requires holiness in the inward
parts. We know that the law is spiritual.
Paul said, but I am carnal. I'm carnal, I'm a creature of
flesh. And I looked this definition
up. Governed by human nature. He said, I'm sold unto sin entirely
under the control of the love of sinning. I'm sold unto sin
entirely under the control of the love of sinning. You ever
found yourself, you say something, do something, think something,
you think, oh, yeah, I just feel horrible. I just feel so unclean.
Paul said, this is me. We know that the law is spiritual.
He said, but I'm carnal, sold under sin. My old man and my
new man is completely opposite. These girls heard what sets forth
in type and picture the hearing of the gospel, the truth. And
they saw the deceitfulness of man, the deceitfulness of sin
being sold under bondage. They saw themselves bankrupt.
We go back to our daddy. You know what we have over there?
We have nothing but a cheat. We have nothing but a cheat.
He's deceitful, he doesn't love us, he's not cared for us, he's
not, why do we go, why am I going back? That's what the Lord asked
that group that were following him, they heard that hard saying,
and they followed him no more. Turned to his disciples, he said,
you going back too? You wanna go back? Let me ask you, any
of us here, if we went back to where we came from, what is there
there but death? You have no inheritance there.
No. Here's what they came to the
conclusion. Verse 16, for all the riches which God hath taken
from our father, that is ours and our children's. Why? Because they were married to
Jacob. They were married to Jacob. What's
the scripture say about us? Romans 8, 16, turn to, I'm gonna
wrap this up. Romans 8, 16, 18. Romans 8, 16, the spirit itself
beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs.
Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we
suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together, for
I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed
in us. Rachel and Leah, they saw that
they lost everything concerning their inheritance from the deceitfulness
of their father. Just as God's people know something
of that which they lost in Adam's fall in the garden through the
deceitfulness of Satan and sin. But they saw something else.
They saw that which was theirs being married to Jacob. They saw something that was sure.
They saw that which God gave them. That's what they said. The riches which God hath taken
from our father, that is ours, and our children's. They're married
to Jacob. And then, here was their conclusion. Whatsoever God has said unto
thee, do that. That's what ought you to do.
Rachel and Leah both, having seen some, of the mercy of God
to their husband, Jacob. That's what Jacob told him. He
said, I didn't take this from your daddy. Your daddy cheated
me. Your daddy deceived me, changed
my wages. God wouldn't allow it. Whatever
deal your daddy made, God made the words of your daddy that
he thought was gonna benefit him, and he blessed me. That's what God gave. Whatever
your daddy said, that's what God gave all of that. whatsoever
God has said unto you. He said, you go where God leads
you. And you know what? We're going
with you. We're going with you. I pray
God bless this to our hearts for Christ's sake. Amen.