I'm gonna ask you to take your
Bibles and turn with me to the book of Genesis. Genesis chapter
29. As a general rule, I'm in Genesis
on Wednesday night. Going through this book. But
this morning, I'd like to take this first service and preach
the first part of a three-part message, three different messages
on the 12 sons of Jacob. And I'll hopefully you'll understand
why this is a passage of scripture that on these 12 boys that were
born to Jacob and the significance of these 12 of these 12 men. Jacob has married two of Laban's
daughters. And now I want us to begin looking
at the birth of Jacob's sons. Sons who will be the heads of
12 tribes of Israel. But when we start looking at
these births of these men, not only the actual birth of the
men, their names, but also what the wives of Jacob, Leah, and
Rachel have to say at the birth of these 12 sons. their comments, and I pray that
the Spirit of God might direct us to behold the significance. Now, to understand what is set
forth in these 12 sons, I want us to consider first the ministry
of the high priest in the wilderness. Whenever the high priest ministered
before the Lord. He did so, you can hold your
place right there in Genesis 29, turn over to Exodus 28, just
hold your place there just a second, I'll be in Exodus 28. Now, whenever this high priest,
the high priest in the wilderness, whenever he would minister before
the Lord, he was ministering for a particular people. only for a particular people.
And whenever he would put on his priestly garments, these
garments that were set forth by the Lord to Moses to tell
him just exactly, you make these garments exactly the way I say
that you're to make them. Well, whenever this priest would
put on these garments, there were two articles of the garment
that I want us to look at this morning, and I'm gonna read Exodus
28. I'm gonna read verses six to
12. There was a part of his garment
that was called the ephod, and I'll tell you, and I'll read
it in just a second, but it was a two-part piece of garment. It had a front part and a back
part, and the two parts, front and back, attached right here
at the shoulders. and setting on each of that place
of attachment a stone, each a stone. Now this is what Scripture says
concerning that. Exodus 28, verse 6 to 12, and
they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, of purple, of
scarlet, fine twined linen with cunning work. And it shall have
the two shoulder pieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof,
and so it shall be joined together, and the curious girdle of the
ephod which is upon it shall be of the same according to the
work thereof, even of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, fine twined
linen, and I shall take two onyx stones and grave on them the
names of the children of Israel, six of their names on one stone
and the other six names of the rest on the other stone according
to their birth. With the work of an engraver
in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave
the two stones with the names of the children of Israel. Thou
shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold, and thou shalt
put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial
unto the children of Israel. and Aaron shall bear their names
before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial." Now,
here's what scripture says. This priest would go, and he
had this garment on. As I said, he had an ephod, which
was a two-piece tunic, and it was made out of gold and fine-twined
linen, a picture of the deity and the humanity of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And this tunic, it was, like
I said, it came together at the shoulders, that's where it attached,
front and back attached. And it had these two stones,
and they were set in these ouches, had little, like a little cup,
a little tray, and these stones were set on it, and it had the
names of the children of Israel. Now the reason I'm making this
such a prominent thing, the children of Israel, Israel. Jacob. Jacob. Whenever the Lord
met with him and wrestled with him that night and asked him,
said, what's your name? He said, Jacob. He said, not
anymore. Your name is Israel. So we talk
about the sons of Israel. We're talking about the sons
of a man that represent the entire church of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the sons of Jacob, the sons of Israel, is representative of
the entire church. So this priest would go and he's
going to minister. He's going to minister before
the Lord, but he's ministering for a certain people. Picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ who ministers for a certain people. Somebody said, well, I think
he ministers for everybody. No, he doesn't. No, he doesn't.
Let God be true and let everybody else be a liar. God has a people. But not only did this priest
have this ephod, this tunic that he wore, also he had a breastplate
on it. And I'm gonna read it in just
a minute so you'll understand. It was very interesting to me.
I'm gonna read Exodus 28, and it's talking about this breastplate. And this breastplate, it was
a piece of the garment and it was,
imagine something rectangular. And when it was folded over it
became a square. And it was, the measurement of
it was a span. Well I had to look and see what
a span is. I don't know what a span is. From the Outside of
your thumb to the outside of your little finger, that distance
right there, when it was folded over, that's how big it was.
And it was square, that big. I thought, boy, that was smaller
than I thought it was gonna be. I don't know why, Neil, I thought
it was bigger, but I held it right here and I thought, well,
okay, I get it. It was that big, square, and
it had 12 stones on it. And 12 stones, every stone had
the name of one of the sons of Jacob. the children of Israel.
Let's read that. That's in Exodus 28 verse 15
to 21. And thou shalt make the breastplate
of judgment with cunning work after the work of the ephod.
Thou shalt make it of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, fine twine,
linen, shalt thou make it four square, shalt be being doubled,
a span shall be the length thereof. a span shall be the breadth thereof,
and that shall set in it settings of stones, even four rows of
stones. The first row shall be as a sardius,
a topaz, a carbuncle. This shall be the first row.
The second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, a diamond. Third
row, a ligure, an agate, an amethyst, and the fourth row, a beryl,
and an onyx, a jasper. They shall be set in gold in
their enclosings, and the stone shall be with the names of the
children of Israel, 12. According to their names, like
the engravings of a signet, every one with his name shall they
be according to the 12 tribes. So here we have this outer garment
of this priest. And he's got this tunic, he's
got a Nephi. He's got these two stones, and
on those stones are written six names of the children of Israel.
He's got this breastplate on, and it's, here it's got these
12 stones on it, and it's got, each stone's got a name on it.
Picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, our great high priest, as he
ministers before the throne on behalf of those that have been
given him before the foundation of the world, the elect of God. And here he is to go in and minister. So I wanted us to understand
something. We're going to be looking at
these boys. I'm just going to look at four of them today, the
verse of four. And the reason just four is because
of time, because I want to take our time and I want to look at
these births and what was said about them, what the comments
made of their mother, on each of the births according to the
revelation of the Holy Spirit concerning. Because these sons
that are born, these are representatives, these are pictures, these are
types of God's people. So I want to know, I want to
know, whenever that high priest went in to minister before the
Lord, I want to know, for whom was he ministering? What were
their names? What do their names mean? What
did the Spirit of God say about them? because that applies to
God's people. May the Lord teach me, may the
Lord teach you. So with the revelation of Jacob's
sons being these types and shadows of God's people, let's see what
the Lord has to say. Back in Genesis 29, I'm gonna
look at verses 31 to 35 in this first message, but let's read
the first three, 31, 32, 33. The scripture says, and when
the Lord saw that Leah was hated, He opened her womb. But Rachel
was barren, and Leah conceived and bare a son. And she called
his name Reuben. For she said, surely the Lord
hath looked upon my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will
love me. And she conceived again and bare
a son and said, because the Lord hath heard that I was hated,
he hath therefore given me This son, given me this son also,
and she called his name Simeon. Now, in these first three verses
that I want to look at for a minute, Leah, that was the older sister,
you know, from our study, and she was the sister that was tender-eyed,
weary, not as beautiful as her younger sister, Rachel. And she was hated, surely, humanly
speaking, because of animosity and discord and everything else,
jealousy, strife found between her and her younger sister, Rachel.
But the revelation of Leah being hated carries much more significance
than just animosity, jealousy between two sisters married to
the same man. That's bad enough. but it goes
much, much deeper. The hatred is the common lot
of God's people found in this world. And the birth of these
two boys bears this truth out. Now, let me see if I can make
good on that. Leah's womb. Leah is the sister that Jacob
married, realized it the next morning. He got up and realized
this ain't Rachel. But he married her. He came and he lay with her,
and now Leah's womb has been opened by the Lord. But Rachel,
the scripture says, is barren. And Leah bore a son to Jacob,
and she named him Reuben. Now, if you got a marginal reader,
I looked it up. What it means is, see a son,
see a son. And then she conceived again
and bore another son and named him Simeon, which means hearing,
hearing. Now we look at the names of these
boys, and if we're not careful, we can conclude from the names
of these two boys, Reuben's name, see a son, that you could say,
well, his name points to the fact that God's people spiritually
They see by faith the Son of God, as he's pointed out, John
the Baptist, whenever the Lord was openly shown to be who he
was, John the Baptist was moved by the Spirit of God to say,
behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.
And then we might say or conclude that from Simeon's name, hearing,
you say, I know what that means. That means faith that cometh
by hearing. It's important what's going on
right now. It's important. Eternity will
prove how important it is, what we're doing right now. You say
that faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. Now
those two thoughts are true. There's no doubt about it. God's
people see spiritually. They see, they see the Lord Jesus
Christ. They hear the gospel and they
understand why they're true. and characteristic of those that's
been given new eyes to see and new ears to hear, the actual
meaning of those two boys is given to us by the Spirit of
God in the comment that was made by their mother, Leah. Here's
what she said whenever they were born. Verse 32, I'll read it
again. And Leah conceived and bare a
son, and she called his name Reuben, see a son. For she said,
surely the Lord hath looked upon my affliction, now therefore
my husband will love me. The scripture bears out that
when she named these boys by the direction of God's Spirit,
what she said is, when it says, see a son, the Spirit of God
gave us the meaning of that. For she said, surely the Lord
hath looked. Now while we can look and we
see by faith, the scriptures bearing out that the people of
God, though they do look by faith, the significance of this was
that God sees. When he said, see the sun, She
said, surely the Lord hath looked upon my affliction. So it's the
son of God who has looked upon the affliction of his people.
And then in verse 33, look at that again. She conceived again
and bear a son and said, because the Lord hath heard that I was
hated. Now, whatever the Lord looks
and the Lord sees and the Lord beholds, there's the significance. In Exodus, now let me show you
this truth. Turn over to Exodus 2. I wanna know, I wanna know, what
does these boys, what's their name mean? What's the significance
of this? Look at Exodus chapter 2, verses
23 to 25. Exodus 2, 23, it came to pass in the process of time
that the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed
by reason, of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came
up unto God by reason of their bondage, and God heard their
groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, and God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had
respect unto them. The Spirit of God has set forth,
this is the state of God's people. These boys represent the entire
church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And let me tell you the beauty
of this. God has seen. The Lord has recognized. The
Lord has beheld the hatred that His people go through in this
world. And He hears their cry. He remembers
His covenant made with His in everlasting mercy and compassion,
and he looks upon them with divine favor, and he cares. So the birth
of the names of these first two boys set forth the surety of
the burden of God's people that God Almighty beholds. I wanna
know that God has looked upon me in mercy and sees my need
of him. Now look at verse 34. And she
conceived again and bare a son and said, now this time will
my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three
sons, therefore was his name called Levi, or joined. Now here's the record of the
third son that was born to Jacob. Son named Levi, joined. And from the words of Levi's
mother, Leah, we were taught of the blessings, of the comfort
of being joined together in Christ. Yes, we suffer in this world. The Lord said you're going to
be hated for my name's sake, hated and oppressed, but we're
taught that Christ has joined himself unto us in the midst
of the adversity, trials, and tribulation. We, according to
the everlasting covenant of God's grace, were given unto the Lord,
the Lord Jesus, the Father, joined us in Christ before the foundation
of the world that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love. And then, take your Bible, hold
your place right there, turn to Hosea. Hosea, right after the book of
Daniel. Daniel and Hosea. Hosea chapter
two. Let me tell you something else
about us being joined to the Lord. Hosea 2, verse 19 and 20. Here's the Lord speaking. I will
betroth thee unto me forever, yea, I will betroth thee unto
me in righteousness and in judgment and loving kindness and mercies.
I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness and thou shalt
know the Lord. Here's a blessing that God Almighty
has given us His people unto the Lord Jesus Christ, joined
us in Him before the foundation of the world, and then tells
us that He has betrothed us unto Him in mercy, righteousness,
and judgment. He's joined us to Himself, and
our union to Him has been by the grace of God. but he has also joined himself
unto us in our blessed redemption, and to do that, Philippians 2.7
says, he made himself, joined himself to our nature, made himself
of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and
was made in the likeness of men. He joined himself to us in such
a way as to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows. Isaiah 53 11 says, he shall see
the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied by his knowledge. Shall my righteous servant justify
many, but he shall bear their iniquities. Oh, the mercy of
almighty God that he would join himself to us. Does he see our
sorrows and our hatred, our being in this world hated by the, yes. Does he hear the cry of his people
when they call upon him? Yes. Has he joined himself to
us? Yes. Turn to Ezekiel 36. Ezekiel
36. Ezekiel 36 verse 26, 28. I joined,
are we to him? Oh, Ezekiel 36, 26, a new heart
also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you.
I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh. I'll give
you a heart of flesh. We've read that scripture so
many times, but it gets fresher, fresher. And I will put my spirit
within you. Oh, what a union. God will put his spirit within
us. What a joining. And I'll cause you to walk in
my statutes and you shall keep my judgments and do them. And
you shall dwell in the land I gave to your fathers. How joined are
we to him? You shall be my people and I
will be your God. That third boy's name meant to
join. And God's people have been joined
by the grace of God. They've been joined. Aren't you
glad that God didn't sit and wait on us to join ourselves
to him? We'd have never done it. And
then verse 35, and she conceived again and bear a son. And she said, now, well, I praise
the Lord. Therefore she called his name
Judah and left bearing. Called his name praise. Now hear the spirit of God. the last of the boys that we'll
consider this morning. Son of Jacob, called him Judah. That son who set forth this truth,
God's people do praise the Lord. Thankful, thankful for what he's
done. And our heart rejoices as we do praise him as we're
taught that which he's done for us in eternal mercy. that he's redeemed us and saved
us by his grace. Now Leah, like all of us, she
had much to praise the Lord for, though she was said to be the
hated sister, a word that sets forth that she was in a lower
position of affection, actually, with Jacob. Jacob loved Rachel. But still, she was married to
Joseph and bore Joseph some sons, some sons that are gonna become
the 12 tribes of Israel. So the Lord has blessed her with
exceeding fruitfulness. She's had four boys now. Her
sister's barren. The Lord has blessed her and
she's careful to give him honor and glory. and praise that's
due unto his name. And you consider, as we sit this
morning, the blessing. Here's a congregation of people
sitting here, and we've got every reason in the world to thank
the Lord. I know what the scripture says
about what this world thinks of the message that we preach,
of the God that we serve. The distinguishing sovereign
God who does as He will in the army of heaven. I understand
it. I can see that. I can see why this world would
say, what you're preaching is not fair. But it's the truth. It's the truth. And the Lord
has promised. We call upon Him. I woke up this
morning and to tell you that I was perplexed would be an understatement. I woke up this morning just torn
about the messages that I had prepared to preach. And just
for some reason, known only to God, I found myself just so Turmoil,
turmoil. You know, you know. Stand up here. Stand up here
before people. Or people that God's everlastingly
loved. There's some folks here that God has laid down his life
for and died for, shed his blood for, and then called a man, a
frail creature of the dust, to stand before people and to take
his word and proclaim his word You have reason to find yourself
uneasy in yourself, but I have every reason in the world to
praise the Lord. Thanking God that, number one, I would find
myself in the midst of a people that God has shown mercy and
compassion. Now will I praise the Lord. And
then the Lord, according to his wisdom and good pleasure, caused
her, it says, she ceased. She's going to have more children.
But for right now, she's gonna cease, but she finds great reason
to praise the Lord, and we do too. I pray that God bless the
names of these four boys here, that the Lord might teach us
something of who he is and who we are for his glory and our
good, amen. All right, let's take a quick
break, and then we'll look in the book of Proverbs.