God's Camp

Well, I can certainly say it's it's good to be back. I don't know that it was good to be back a few days ago

Leaving the Florida climate, but it's certainly good to be back among the Saints this morning here a couple weeks ago as we

Worked our way through Genesis 31. We're reminded that God had called

Jacob to leave the land of Haran to leave Laban and his influence and his shadow and to return to the land the land of his own family the land of his inheritance to return to Canaan Jacob had spent 20 years under the shadow of Laban weathering the storm

He was not led by blessing nor by trial to depart. He was only led by God's Word by God's command to depart and now

Of course he didn't depart in the best way as we saw but now having been delivered from Laban in the shadow of the pile of Gilead He is returning to Canaan But as we begin chapter 32 we find our protagonist our twisting

Protagonist jumping out of the boiling pot of his encounter with Laban into the frying pan of an inevitable

Face -down with his brother Esau for 20 years There's been this seething murder plot as far as Jacob knows

And so we're gonna begin chapter 32 this morning. We're gonna look at the first 21 verses in five parts five parts

Jacob's path secondly Jacob's panic third

Jacob's prayer fourth Jacob's present and lastly

Jacob's peace So path panic prayer present peace That'll get us through verse 21 first Jacob's path we read

Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him When Jacob saw them he said this is

God's camp and he called the name of that place Mahanaim First notice in verse 1 the text says

Jacob went on his way Of course, we know that this is really not Jacob's way. This is

God's way for Jacob all along This has been God's path leading him not only to Bethel and on to Haran But now out of Haran and back toward Bethel back into the promised land itself

So Jacob is on his way and because of God's work in Jacob's life Jacob is also on God's way all along if we've been reading carefully

We've seen God's work evident in Jacob's life Step by step, however small and sprouting it may be

God's guiding hand has been evident Now if Jacob had somehow lost sight of the fact that God was guiding him if he had what we call

Christian amnesia where we are quick to forget God's blessings and revelations and we're quick to write in cement as Spurgeon would say

All of our trials and woes if he somehow had forgotten that it was

God's command that he leave Laban Or if he had even forgotten that divine intervention that spared him when

Laban and his band of thugs Confronted him he would have found God's guidance here in verses 1 & 2 with this angelic reception

Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him

Now this phrase is significant the angels of God as a phrase

It only occurs here and back in chapter 28 verse 12 so we have bookended his

Departure from Bethel where he had encountered God when he was leaving the promised land and now after 20 years

He encounters the angels of God again as he returns toward the promised land and so Jacob's vision of these angels is a marker almost a signal of the fact that Jacob is walking in God's will that he is entering into his inheritance

And also we can see something even more intimate in terms of God's interaction with Jacob He knows how weak

Jacob's faith is He knows that part of the reason he stayed under the the wretch

Laban and the treachery of Laban's dealings with him is because of the fear he had for his wild hunter of a brother

Esau and so as he takes these weak steps of faith back toward the land back toward this inevitable showdown with Esau God sends his ministering angels to reinforce his strength

To comfort him and give him a sense of resolve you may persevere in this very difficult way

I am with you Jacob Remember the promise I made to you at Bethel that I would be with you that I would protect you and bless you

That I would be your God. Well here I am Jacob We see the truth of Hebrews 1 14, don't we?

The writer of the Hebrews says are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation

We read Genesis 32 and we say yes Yes, they are They are ministering spirits

God sends them forth to minister to those who will inherit salvation It's exactly how these angels are working in the life of Jacob And that's exactly how angels work in our life

Now that strikes you as something strange I think that says a lot more about our views of the divine realm of spirituality in our

Christian faith perhaps more than it does about the text I Remember having an assignment some years ago in a course to write a sort of confession of faith it was sort of like a 30 page confession of faith and you had to hit all the big issues in systematic theology and I didn't have too many red marks.

Thank the Lord, but I did have one on the very last page which was you never addressed

Angelology you never dealt with angels Don't you know angels are in the Bible? Don't you know that part of God's revelation includes descriptions of angels in angelic activity, so why didn't you address it?

And I realize it's because they have no function in my worldview That's a problem because they have a function in God's worldview

They have a function in the world that God has made in the lives of his people Are they not ministering spirits that God sends forth to minister to us?

Yes, they are Angels are present even now to minister to us and notice this is in the plural.

This is angels This is not a you get one angel. Well, I want a different angel. No, this is the angel you get

No, this is angels we read of the the routing of the

Assyrians by night when 185 ,000 soldiers are killed by the passing shadow of one of these angels

It really only does need one angel But God is so generous so omnipotent

Give him more than one. Give him a whole host If you go back to the Targums of the rabbis They say well a host that which dwells within the

Shekinah glory is never less than 60 ,000 how they arrive at that number who knows so they say here at two camps.

This is a doubling This must be upwards of 120 ,000. I Don't know if we can go by that.

We'll just say it was more than one angels of God But knowing even the power of one of these messengers sent on Task by the

Lord ought to say something of what God is trying to help Jacob understand Those that are with you those that you cannot see

Jacob are far more than those that you think will come to get you Angels are present to minister to God's people in Less than evident ways, but no less real ways.

We may not see them as as they meet with Jacob But nevertheless God has so ordered his world and ordered his people's lives that they are ministering spirits which he sends forth to minister to us and Significantly when we approach

Genesis 32, we realize just like Jesus wilderness trial when he endured the temptations of the enemy

At the very end of that trial after 40 days of deprivation 40 nights of weariness

We read that the angels of God ministered to him and So even as these angels ministered to Jesus after his trial in the wilderness

We see these same angels ministering to Jacob as he's about to approach his trial and we can take this as a theological

Pointer angels are not sent to prevent God's trials Not for Jacob not for Jesus not for us

Angels are not sent to prevent God's trials, but rather to minister to those that God is trying

Though we cannot see the activity Being so weak in the flesh so slow of heart to believe so stubborn so imperceptive

The reality is the same in the life of the Christian Angels for Jacob are like a chapter division quite literally they mark out this great episode

That's about to unravel in chapter 32. God wants Jacob to know how much he cares for him

It's it's Psalm 91 embedded within Genesis 32 He has so commanded his angels that harm will not come to you

Jacob So take up faith take up courage gird yourself like a man God is with you the

God of Bethel is with you You're in God's camp And that's what

Jacob confesses, isn't it in verse 2. This is God's camp Mahanaim that's a

Hebrew noun Hebrews interesting you don't just have singular or plural nouns like in English You also have a dual form and this is a dual form

So it's it's a double camp and he says this is not just my camp This is God's camp and so the angels are marking out for Jacob that he's in the right place at the right time

He's where God intends for him to be as painful and as fear -inducing as it may be

Jacob is on the right path. This is God's camp indeed And as David could report in Psalm 34, it's what

Jacob could say this poor man cried out the Lord heard him Saved him out of all of his troubles the angel of the

Lord and camps all around those who fear him And the term camp here is not

Kipman Adnock, right it's not summer camp it's not recreational in The Hebrew here.

It's it's often used to be the staging area the encampment for some military

Endeavor and so the forces assemble and they camp before some battle before some

Engagement. This is the staging area It's also used as a as you would expect it even here a staging area for the next leg of a long journey

But significantly as we'll see not only this week, but next week Mahana aim is also

God's staging area in the life of Jacob God's staging area for the culmination of the deep work.

He's been doing for 20 years God's Military encampment for the battle of faith that's about to unfold

Now in God's camp for Jacob and for us in God's camp.

There's a lot of unknowns There's a lot of unanswered questions. There's a lot of unresolved issues.

There's attention There's a lot of heartache. There's a lot of concern, but it's still

God's camp You you may not have angelic visitors telling you that you're in the right place at the right time, but don't take your

Circumstances of the adversity or the trial you're facing to somehow mean that you're outside of God's will

The trial in fact shows that you are in God's camp you are in the staging area for the work that God is doing in your life and For Jacob though, it's been in the back of his mind

Perhaps deep down in the layers of his conscience He knows that there's a 20 year old debt that remains unpaid and he's about to pay it in full

Genesis 32 beginning in verse 3 Jacob sends messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of seer the country of Edom and He commanded them saying speak thus to my lord

Esau. That's your servant Jacob says I have dwelt with Laban and stay there until now.

I have oxen donkeys flocks male female servants I've sent to tell my lord so that I may find favor in your sight

So we have Jacob approaching the land and now he's sending messengers to deal with this unpaid debt this

Unresolved issue with Esau and we find Esau in the mountains of seer John Gill 17th century

Commentator he reminds us that the land of seer Takes its name from seer of the whole right

Esau married into that family and so he's sort of taking his possession that which belongs to him now by marital right and He gives it the name

Edom. That is Moses gives it the name Edom I don't know that it was called Edom initially until after Esau had taken possession of it

So we read for instance in Deuteronomy 2 verse 12 the Horites All right, these would be the the people that descend from seer the

Horite The Horites formerly dwelt in seer, but the descendants of Esau Dispossessed them and destroyed them and dwelt in their place.

So this is what Esau has been doing for 20 years You know, he's been taking domain

He's been Dispossessing the sons of seer he's been kicking them out and setting up his own inheritance in the land

That becomes Edom Edom being a play on his name Esau And we asked the question why?

Why didn't Esau just stay in Canaan for 20 years? He could have basically recovered his

Inheritance in Canaan. He could have stayed under the influence of his father Isaac But as Calvin says

In order to pass his life free from authority Esau chose to live in a state of separation from Isaac he disregarded the inheritance still and He left it by God's will for his brother

So in God's providence Esau has no interest in Canaan no interest in his father

Isaac's household Even though he could somehow fight for that and grapple for that.

He's already abandoned it. He has still no concern No interest for that spiritual lineage of Abraham.

He's off in the mountains of seer Dispossessing the whore rights and this is part of God's providence

Calvin says Jacob's coming to an empty homestead he can claim it now much more readily and Clearly we see

God's providence in this not only do we see God Invisibly as it were Guiding Esau away from Canaan away from the inheritance of Jacob we also see

God guiding Jacob toward Canaan and Significantly Jacob does not take the easiest path back to Canaan Geographically if you're returning from Horan and you're taking this long journey southward and where we're going after Peñuel is

Bethel. Well, then you just need to stop kind of in the northern part of the promised land, but he's going far

South out toward Edom He's taking a much longer route around the promised land well beyond Bethel in order to address his brother

Esau And so you can see there's no reason that Jacob would go past the promised land southward towards seer

Unless he was attempting to deal with Esau his greatest fear the biggest threat out of hand

And Derek Kidner points out this very sequence is in fulfillment of Matthew 5 remember what the

Lord Jesus said there that you cannot go to bring your Offerings to the altar of God when you remember that your brother has something against you leave the offerings go address your brother and having

Reconciled with him then go bring your offering to God Well Jacob as it were is being led by God into Canaan When he gets to Canaan, he's gonna build altars and he's gonna worship

God he's gonna bring gifts of sacrifice to his God But on the way there he remembers my brother has something against me

And so he does not enter. He does not build the altar. He goes to reconcile with his brother

Before he comes to worship the Lord in Canaan This is kingdom ethics in the life of Jacob Something we have not seen very often 20

Years before this when he was fleeing with nothing but a staff in his hand Esau had sworn to murder him

But look at Jacob now Not only does it go well beyond Bethel to reach out to Esau.

He doesn't reach out to Esau in a belligerent way Doesn't say hey, it's me The one that dad said would inherit everything

I just want you to know how much I have going for me, and I'm sorry if that means any no What does he say?

your servant Jacob my lord Esau This is not the twister.

We saw 20 years ago Before Jacob had fled he was lording it over Esau doing whatever he could to pinch and squeeze

The birthright and the blessing into his own hands, but now The one who it was prophesied that his elder would call him

Lord is saying no No, my elder brother is my lord, and I'm his servant Once more there's kingdom ethics here

Remember in Matthew 20 the sons of thunder the sons of Zebedee It doesn't say in the text, but it has to be this way

They put their poor old mum up to going to Jesus and saying can you please give my boys the best of the best in?

The kingdom can't they sit on your right in your left? You know hey mom come on. You know do us a solid go up to Jesus and ask this for us

And of course when this comes out of the hat Jesus addresses that it almost shows the fact that he knew it was from them and not from their poor old mother

Are you able to drink the cup that I'm to drink? Yeah, we're able You don't even know what you're talking about and then it all opens up to the other ten

And now there's this division in the group and so Jesus calls him all over to himself He says you know that the rulers of the

Gentiles lord it over them and Those who are great exercise authority over them not so among you

Whoever desires to become great among you let him be your servant. Let him be your slave Whoever desires to be first among you let him be your slave

This is what Jacob's essentially doing. He will become greater than Esau He will become

Lord over his elder brother But as a result of 20 years of God's patient work of grace in his life.

He comes to his brother Not lording it over him, but saying I'm your slave

You're my lord Command as you will That God's Word may be true in my life that I might be first and preeminent over you.

I will be your servant and more than this you remember it's a reversal of What Isaac's blessing was though he thought at the time he was giving it to Esau Truly indeed

Jacob shall be blessed and the blessing was that the elder would serve the younger but as a result of God's grace the younger seeks to serve the older and So as a result of God's work in Jacob's life, he's he's preparing to give the blessing back to Esau Now that's not really up to him indeed

He shall be blessed Isaac says God's Word will stand true But as far as Jacob is concerned

Whatever I can give whatever I can do to undo the damage of manipulation that I've done.

I'm willing to do it You're my lord, and I'm your servant Let's get back to how it was meant to be as much as that depends upon me

If it's not obvious here that he's seeking as it were to give back the blessing. We'll see it later on I'll make a mention of how

Jacob refers to his president chapter 33 Jacob is now subservient

Not manipulating for the edge There's no spirit of Laban within him.

Jacob has been humbled. God has untwisted him Jacob lists the abundance that God has given him his flocks his cattle his servants, but he doesn't do it to boast

He says I want you to know while I was sojourning under Laban I want you to know that I've been blessed and I want to find favor in your sight.

He's like I want to pay reparations. I want to give you tribute I Want to say

I'm sorry that I've wronged you I want to bless you. I want there to be peace between us I've sent to tell my lord so that I can find favor in your sight

This is not the Jacob. We knew 20 years ago. Well, the messengers go out beginning in verse 6

And when they return to Jacob they say we came to your brother Esau you can imagine

Jacob hanging on every syllable That's coming out of their mouths. What did he say? They can't get it out fast enough.

He's coming to meet you This is good. This is good and 400 men are with him

Not good. We read verse 7 Jacob was greatly afraid

This is soul fear. He was distressed And he takes immediate action

Evasive action. He divides his people divides his whole possession into two he sets up as it were a

Subterfuge a sacrificial camp Hopefully they'll only attack one and the rest of us can escape while they're in the middle of hacking apart this other false camp

And he says verse 8 if Esau comes to the one company and attacks it the other company which is left will escape

Which company do you think Jacob's gonna be in when that report comes back

Esau's coming for you 400 men are coming for you Esau's imagination goes to the worst.

You don't assemble 400 men unless you usually have less than noble purposes This is

Esau's militia for all For all we can understand their intent is to destroy him and and Esau's not just content to deal with Jacob He's raised up 400 men to destroy everything that belongs to Jacob remember in Genesis 14 how when that battle between the five kings and the four kings began to rage and then lot was taken as part of the captive train of Keter Leomer how

Abraham raised up 318 men 318 that then Defeated the king

Keter Leomer's armies for armies. He completely gutted them out They were exhausted from all the battle and so with 318 men

He decimated their forces and rescued lot. Well Esau has even more than that.

What kind of damage could he do? 400 men And so what does Jacob do he panics?

This is the panic of Jacob When Laban confronted

Jacob and he had a force that was up to no good God so intervened that Jacob had courage and he rebuked

Laban to his face And I think he had that courage because he knew not only that God was intervening that God was protecting but also that he was in the right and So there was a courage that came from that conviction that righteousness.

He could rebuke forthrightly Laban to his face, but He's not on the right with Esau Part of Jacob's panic is isn't this is what

I deserve Isn't this justice? The fact that he didn't have this righteousness toward his brother

It took away his courage and even the angels of God that met him at Mahana in they they didn't take away this panic

Esau's coming to kill him. He's convinced of it Remember how Rebecca when she sent

Jacob away She said it will just last a few days and when your brother's rage is subsided. I will send for you to return

And that was 20 years ago Rebecca never sent As far as Jacob knows his brother's been plotting his murder for 20 years.

And now the time has come. It's the reckoning This is the showdown

Esau is about to exact his revenge. It's unavoidable. I was watching a video.

This was some time ago of Of a state trooper and it showed the whole dashcam

There were calls coming in. It was I forget what part of the country it was in That a driver presumably drunk was going in excess of 80 miles an hour the wrong way on a four -lane highway

And so without hesitation the state trooper pulled off on the exit got on to the highway ahead of where this driver was coming and Parked as best as he could in the middle of those lanes trying to take up as much as possible

And he knew at any moment as these lights beamed across the horizon at 80 miles an hour. He was about to get slammed

It was unavoidable There was no dodging it. There was no time to get out of the door

There was no time to do anything but park and wait for about three seconds How do you prepare for something like that?

Jacob is bracing for impact The headlights of Esau's rage are screaming toward him 400 men behind him

How do you brace for something like that? Well Jacob gives into that panic

He's filled with fear of the prospect of what Esau will do not only to him But to the mother to the children to everything that he has he's gonna be decimated

Now that fear in and of itself that fear is not the problem You're not human if you don't have fear in this circumstance, right?

Fear is not the problem. So many Commentators and preachers fault Jacob for being fearful.

He shouldn't have been afraid. Did he not see the angels? He shouldn't have been afraid. It's like are you kidding me? Yes, he should have been afraid

Who would it be afraid Jesus greatly feared in the garden of Gethsemane.

He sweat drops of blood Fear is not a lack of faith fear in itself is not sinful.

The problem is what the fear led him to do I love what

Calvin says on this they who fancy that faith is exempt from all fear You know pure faith has no fear within it

Have never experienced the true nature of faith Faith in the midst of fear.

That's true faith Calvin is saying God does not promise that he'll be present with us in order to remove us from danger

He promises that he'll be present with us in the midst of danger that he'll preserve our faith

So that despair and terror will not overwhelm us That doesn't mean it won't feel like you're treading water

Doesn't mean you'll have some sense that it's all gonna work out splendidly Again the fear in and of itself is not the problem here.

It's what the fear causes Jacob to do We sense that he loses that trust

He loses that faith in God's protection as soon as his first reaction is to say, okay What can we do about this situation?

Let's split up the camp this camps gonna have to be the camp that everyone gets killed But at least if that's starting to happen, we can all run for it.

You just get the sense. No, no Jacob This is not the way you should be thinking. This should not be your first Jacob.

You're going back to your old ways Fearing the worst he splits his whole group in half and when he divided his camp in half

He was prepared to lose half of his livelihood He was prepared to lose half of his

God -given abundance He was prepared to lose half of the loving relationships that he enjoyed

When he made that decision he lost half of his trust in God's protection. I think we can say

Jacob Jacob should have trusted God to protect all that he had it would have been a fearful thing no matter what

But he could have said here we stand we can do no other You know, so help us

God This is my camp. This is my abundance from God and I I have to trust that God will protect it

And that God will protect us. I think we have a misstep here genuinely a

Stumble a backslide into old ways and I feel more confirmed in that because of what remains in the chapter

Apparently Jacob's gonna need even more of an encounter not just with God's angels, but with God himself

There's more contending and untwisting that God is going to have to do before Jacob goes over the yabbak

But in the meantime, we can say this God's patient work has not been wasted

And in what happens beginning in verse 9, it's as if that weak trembling fearful foot recollects

And cautiously goes out and and takes another step forward. He sort of recovers his balance

He he's like Peter sinking in the Galilean waters He prays

Panic gave itself over to the old paths, but but then there's a recovery and this is the fruit of God's grace, too

He almost catches himself And he prays Jacob said

Oh God of my father Abraham God of my father Isaac the Lord who said to me Return to your country and to your family.

I will deal well with you I'm not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which you have shown your servant

I crossed over this Jordan with my staff and now I've become two companies

Deliver me I pray from the hand of my brother from the hand of Esau I fear him lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children for you said

I Will surely treat you well I'll make your descendants like the sand of the sea which cannot be numbered for multitude

Jacob's panic gives way to Jacob's prayer and just look at the anatomy of this prayer. He begins by invoking

God. Oh God and Notice, it's not just with the name

God It's not just with who God is but he invokes God also on the basis of what

God has done Oh God of my father Abraham the God of my father

Isaac in other words the God who has been faithful to his covenant a

Covenant of which I am standing in and then he brings that Covenantal faithfulness from his grandfather to his father right down to himself the

Lord who said to me Return to your country into your family. Well, here I am.

I'm back in the country. Here I am. I'm back with my family And you said you'd deal well with me.

So he's recounting God's promises to him here

The reference returned to your country into your family. I will deal well with you here This is the promise that we just read in chapter 31 the promise at the end of the 20 years

But when he recounts God's faithfulness, it's not done in this attitude of merit It's not done as though God coldly is obligated to Jacob As he begins to recount the promise that God had given him the promise that he's been shakily

But genuinely walking after by faith begins to melt his heart into humility

Verse 10 I'm not worthy. I love that.

It's not this blame Oh God of my father and my grandfather and you said to me return to your country

How could you let this happen? 400 men are after me now. This is ridiculous. I should have met.

No, what does he do? He recounts the promises and he says I'm not worthy That's like taking a huge step out of the situation and just saying

Everything that has happened to me up to this point. I have not been worthy of I Have been worthy of the least of your mercies he's like that incessant widow that keeps begging the judge and Now that Jacob has addressed

God's account God's faithfulness God's goodness. He begins to recount his own journey We begin as it were going from the end the promise of 31 and now we're gonna end up kind of retrograding all the way back toward Bethel I Crossed over this

Jordan with my staff When I fled From my brother 20 years ago.

All I had was a walking stick and Here I am again 20 years later and look at I have four wives.

I Have sons and daughters. I have flocks and cattle you have blessed me.

I ran away with nothing You brought me back with everything And then we find that thankfulness

Turns over to the plea how interesting that he first addresses God Then he addresses

God not just in terms of who God is But what God has done then he recounts the faithfulness of God and as he recounts that he humbles himself and confesses

Where he has been and what God has done in his life, and it's not until he gets that Thankfulness up toward the

Lord in his prayer that he turns to the plea brothers and sisters. How often do we just go? Oh God plea.

Oh God plea Rather than taking the time to say The God of my father's

The God who has blessed me the God who's been patient with me a servant who deserves nothing has been given everything

Until we tune our hearts by his grace to be thankful We should not enter into the plea even though he's panicked

He's cognizant of the fact that he must praise God and thank God before he asked God to intervene

And when he asked God to intervene look at his heart deliver me I pray from the hand of my brother from the hand of Esau and now he becomes boldly honest

He's not hiding his genuine feelings toward toward God even though God knows him knows his frame knows his heart

Knows how he feels he he just puts it out there. I'm afraid I fear him

Yeah, I know I was big stuff when I dragged that well stone off to impress the ladies, but I'm afraid of my brother

Esau. He used to put me in a headlock and never let me go until I cried uncle He's a wild hunter of a man.

I'm afraid of him Lest he come and attack me not just me lest he kills

My wives and my children and then how does he end his prayer at the conclusion of this?

He once more returns to the very promise of God Which shows that he will not allow his mind to circle over this dilemma

He will not let his thoughts which they naturally want to do Go round and round in orbit around the crisis and around the fear

He forces his mind in his heart to put his thoughts in orbit around God's promises

So he's not recounting his fears so much as confessing them. But what he is recounting

Continuously are the promises of God you said I will surely treat you

Well and make your descendants like the sand of the sea which cannot be numbered for their multitude He's in this precarious

Vulnerable position and yet by grasping on even by feeble fingers the promises of God.

He's given peace And so though his prayer is filled with this genuine expression of fear

Even when he recounts the promises this is meant to bring a salve to assuage his fear

He's essentially saying don't let my descendants be killed Don't let my infant sons be dashed by my vengeful brother.

I'm afraid Lord. I can't stand against him I can't withstand his anger.

Don't let my seed be cut off from the earth In fact, you promised that my seed would go on to bless the earth

Remember Lord what you promised and he's essentially saying remember. Oh my soul what the

Lord has promised And so when he says the promise of the seed he's now

Recounting the promise of chapter 28 He began his prayer at the end of 20 years, but in the midst of the prayer

He went all the way back to 20 years before Between verses 9 and 12

Jacob is encompassing two decades of God's work in his life The grace of God's work between Bethel and Haran and here he is on his way back to Bethel And in his prayers this echo of God's promise at Bethel reinforcing the weak man of faith

The rehearsal of God's promises in orbit in his mind helping this feeble disciple who at this very moment is saying

Lord I believe but help my unbelief And we have not only the echo of Bethel's promise

But here in the language of the seed the echo of Abraham's promise and therefore the echo of God's unchanging unfailing

Covenantal faithfulness you can fear

Jacob You can fear Isaac you can fear Abraham But God is faithful and what more could grip us in?

the panic of our trials brothers and sisters Than rehearsing the promises of God laying hold of them even by feeble hands

Letting them orbit in our minds until we're recounting more the promises of God than we are our own fears

What more could steal your resolve to plant that next trembling foot to make sure that you will not run away

You will not leave Mahana. You will not go back to the pile of Gilead, but you will stay

You will face by faith whatever is coming your way 400 men in all and so we have here a paradigm

For faithful prayer in the midst of trial We'll come back to that at the very end of the message

We go from prayer now to Jacob's present We read beginning in verse 13.

He launched there that same night took what came to his hand as a present for Esau his brother 200 female goats 20 male goats 200 ewes and 20 rams 30 milk camels

With their colts 40 cows and 10 bulls 20 female donkeys and 10 foals I don't know if one of those foals was a

Tennessee Walker, but might have been Then he delivered them to the hand of his servants every drove by itself and said to his servants

Passover before me put some distance between these successive droves And he commanded the first servant saying when

Esau my brother meets you and asks you saying to whom do you belong? Where are you going?

Whose are these in front of you then you shall say they are your servant Jacob's It is a present

Sent to my lord Esau and behold he also is behind us the present here in Hebrew Later in chapter 43.

It's translated as tribute Earlier all the way back in chapter 4. It's translated as offering

It's that which is brought to the Lord as tribute as a present on the altar but Jacob in His own recounting not in Moses words, but in his own recounting in chapter 33

Jacob calls it the blessing the blessing And this is why again,

I say Jacob is prepared to restore the blessing to Esau Now that's not

God's will Indeed Jacob shall be blessed, but he's so humbled by the grace of God He's as it were found the true inheritance of Abraham that he's prepared to return

Whatever physical gain there has been to Esau Esau. Is this the blessing you expected you can have it so he commanded the second and the third and all who follow the drove saying in this manner you shall speak to Esau when you

Find him and also say behold Your servant Jacob is behind us

For he said I will appease him with the present that goes before me and afterward I will see his face perhaps he will accept me

Again, we see this humility of Jacob's language the way he regards himself as a servant the way he regards

Esau as Lord The droves of this elaborate gift that wave after wave are meant to break down any remnant hostility between Esau and him and Then as the cherry on the top of this great elaborate gift is

Jacob himself Just when he's admiring the milk camels here comes another gift.

It's just like one of those Russian dolls There's just more and more and more but the servant also says

Jacob is behind all this you like this there's more coming in Jacob's at the very end of this and hopefully he whatever bitterness and Resentment and murderous intent by the time all these cattle's and servants keep coming

It's just been worn down and he says oh, this is more than I could ever want How can I hold this against you

Jacob? That's the plan? Jacob will be at the end of this train. I Love what one said it might have been our

Kent Hughes for the first time in his life. Jacob wanted to be last So life he wanted to be first now

He's at the end of the train for good reason wouldn't want to be first on this occasion There's all this wordplay

Which is so easy to miss between verses 20 and 21 The Hebrew idiom of face is used in many different ways and there's sort of a poetic usage here

We're gonna see it again next week in the remnant of chapter 32 if we were to read verses 20 and 21

Literally not translating the idioms, but reading it literally it would go something like this

I will see his face with the present that goes before me and afterward

I will see his face perhaps he will lift up my face and so the gift passed over upon his face

That would be a literal rendering and you get already this Little key that this word face is going to be very significant intent for next week

Afterward I will see his face Perhaps he will accept me

Perhaps he will lift up my face. Perhaps he will forgive me That's Jacob's heart

From the thieving manipulator who could care less about his relationship with Esau what damage could be done to it

He just wanted the blessing whatever Esau had. That's what Jacob wanted whatever damage that would cause who cares

He has no regard for Esau, but now look at him Esau could have everything. I Just want him to forgive me.

I want us to have peace I Want to atone for the wrong that I've done.

That's the result of 20 years of God untwisting the twister And it it leads not only to Jacob's present

Jacob's prayer but lastly Jacob's peace Doesn't say he has peace.

In fact, I'm quite sure he didn't have much peace that night But I digress verse 21

So the present went on over before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp.

This is gonna be a long night The narrative all along has been building the tension of this encounter

Part of our problem when we read the Bible is it's a little too familiar to us and we forget what it's like to read the story for the first time

If we could forget how the story ends we would start to feel some of the tension that Jacob is feeling now

As far as Jacob knows this night could be his last He's in this camp and he's not leaving and it could cost him everything

He could wake up the next day to 400 men brutally tearing apart everything that God had given him over these 20 years

And then even himself he could watch his sons dashed his wives torn his cattle slaughtered.

It's gonna be a long night He's praying and we get the sense that it wasn't a one -time prayer you can imagine he's

Recounting these promises pleading with God confessing his fear This camp could cost him everything it could ruin him

He stays He lodges himself we read he lodges himself in God's camp

Because even though it's a place of great terror, even though it's a place of great pain, even though he's filled with anxiety he knows that it's

God's place and If it's God's place Then he'll stay by faith and he'll wait on the

Lord. It's God's camp. And so we leave our passage here

We leave Jacob at verse 21 Looking through the flapping door of his tenant perhaps staring restlessly up in the swirling stars of the night sky

Knowing what God had promised and wondering. How are you? Are you gonna fulfill it? Like Abraham all those years before was looking up at the night sky looking at the starlight and saying

God I know what you promised but how How are you gonna feel it? pondering yet trusting fearful

Sweaty forehead a lot of rolling around on the pillow and yet he stays

Three applications as we close first Redemption involves relationships

Redemption involves relationships We see that so clearly in The life cycle of Jacob redemption involves relationships.

God will not let Jacob go Until he's dealt with the wrong between him and Esau according to Titus 2 14 one of the reasons that Christ gave himself for us who believe is to redeem us from Lawlessness, that is we're to be redeemed from a state of lawlessness

By Christ's death into a state of lawfulness We're to come to the law of liberty and the law is not only concerned with a redeemed reconciled love toward God But also a redeemed and reconciled love toward neighbor

We remember the first and greatest commandment of course is to love God and Christ's death

So affects us that we're reconciled to God's love. We're reconciled by God's love

We're able to make peace with God because God has made peace with us through Christ But do not forget that the second commandment is also like it

And that is to love neighbor and Therefore Jacob must be reconciled to Esau In so far as it depends upon him

And I say that as a caveat only here because I don't want to lose the significance of the point.

I realize Sometimes reconciliation is not up to us Reconciliation is a two -way street

Loving neighbor is a two -way street in so far as it depends upon us.

We are accountable to God And if I can speak frankly brothers and sisters It's usually a little bit farther than we want it to be when we say in so far as it depends upon us

I've done what I can Have you really? Have you really?

The law is not only concerned with a redeemed and reconciled love for God, but also a redeemed and reconciled love for neighbor

Jacob must be reconciled to Esau. Paul must be reconciled to Mark. Euodia must be reconciled to Syntyche.

This is God's will This is God's will for the neighbor This is

God's will for the neighbor. Why? God wants to show to despisers and blasphemers and enemies

Something of his forgiveness through our forgiveness those who are blind and at enmity against God Rarely see anything of God's blessing or patience or forgiveness in their lives but we become a tangible signpost a tangible deposit some

Semblance of what the patience and forgiveness of God looks like and so this is

God's will for our neighbor This is the kindness that God would have them experience Something of his patience his long -suffering his unfailing compassion

Christians are commanded not to let the Sun set on their anger It's a sad thing when

Christians let years set on their anger It's unchristian.

It's not only God's will for the neighbor. It's also God's will for us Redemption involves relationships because God is doing this untwisting work in our lives, too

And this untwisting work of sanctification does not occur in a vacuum we need relationships to grow in holiness and And Often God will use both positive and negative relationships to grow us in holiness

We need both. We don't just need the sweet. We need the sour imagine if Jacob had stolen the blessing deceived his father manipulated and rested his way and got everything he want and Then everything 20 years ago after that moment with Esau fuming and his his father deceived

And everything after that went swimmingly well What you know as the English say went perfect?

Jacob never had to leave at all Esau was fuming but then he just said I'm out of here and he went down to eat him He got over it.

Maybe who cares Jacob had everything he wanted his flocks began to overflow Wives came along somehow and here he is sitting for 20 years.

He lied and stole and cheated Yeah, but hey at least in the end I made it if God let him

Function in that way how little Jacob would know about God How little

Jacob would know about himself How paper -thin if at all would

Jacob sense of God's blessing and presence become how shallow and immature? Would Jacob's life be filled with unchecked sins?

unreconciled relationships but as Hardest Ron may be as unnerving as Mahan I may be

God Appoints labans and Esau's as much as Leia's and Rachel's in other words bad and good relationships difficult and blessed relationships

For the growth of his people so that they will know him and knowing him they will know something of themselves and they will see his presence and his blessings and they will begin to live a life by faith and a life of Righteousness and like Jacob they'll begin to undo the damage

And find redemption not only in themselves towards God but redemption in their relationships

Redemption involves relationships Secondly we see here in this chapter that molds require pressure

Molds require pressure. I used to work at a plastic factory as some of you know for about seven years and it was a

Several machine rooms with these giant hydraulic pluses plastic injection molding machines you'd have these massive steel plates

But these machines hydraulically would pull apart usually five six or seven different plates and they would under Tremendous pressure tens of thousands of pounds of pressure

They would be pressed together while hot plastic was hydraulically injected into the mold and that pressure

Got that plastic to fully encompass the mold and when those plates opened and the piece dropped out you had a fully formed plastic mold that had conformed fully to the mold that was set in if You somehow lost pressure from the injection

What you would pull out of the machine was a mist formed Misshapen and therefore useless product the corners would look like melting jello

It wasn't anything you could sell or even salvage we ground it up and threw it away. I'm sorry for you environmentalist

That's how it was done it where I worked Mahanaim is

God's camp and it's a place of tremendous pressure for Jacob There's the pressure of an unknown future in the promised land

He had something going from for 20 years, but this is a whole new direction in his life And he doesn't know what will come of it

There's the pressure of an unknown threat from a vengeful brother who's steaming toward him with 400 men

There's pressure in Mahanaim, but this is God's camp and he's staying And so it is with the work of grace in a believer's life.

The Lord brings us to these places to his camps and there's pressure and the overwhelming steel plates of trials and Relationships and troubles and heartaches they press on our lives and Then God gives us this pressure

So that will be molded and fully formed by his grace and without that pressure without that tension without that trial

We would be left misformed misshapen useless

But when God presses these things into our lives and there's this pressure it causes us to fill out every contour of the life of Christ who is our example

We become molded in to conformity to Christ by pressure molds require pressure third and last application

Prayer brings peace When you're being pressed by those plates of trial

When you're being panicked like Jacob was panicked we need to take a lesson from Jacob's playbook prayer brings peace

When you're facing the pressure of God's camp in your life You remember what Jacob does between verses 9 and 12 as I said

We have a paradigm for faithful prayer in the midst of trial and really I see four major movements here first confession of God second confession of self third

Thanksgiving and fourth a plea Now in each of these four points you also want to include the fact that God's promises are being orbited around In behind before around every one of these four movements confession of God Not only who he is but what he has done.

So there's a rehearsal of God's promises of God's past second confession of self

Letting those promises begin to frame your humility you you take stock of where was

I where am I now? How did I get here? What has God been to me? What has God done for me? So you're rehearsing not only what

God has done but more specifically what God has done for you how God has dealt with you third that leads to Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving you're talking about your walk before this current place this current camp in Thanksgiving you say this is what you have been have done have promised everything before this point

Taking mind to God's faithfulness. That's Thanksgiving But then comes the plea and now you're praying about this point this camp and you're being boldly honest about your fears

Devastatingly honest about your needs This is how I feel. This is what I need. I don't know if this is coming across pies

This is just how I feel Lord help me But even there

You don't allow that plea to take over the prayer. You quickly. Let that plea give way to another rehearsal of God's promises

And so you move from confessing God and yourself Thanksgiving and pleading but interwoven between these movements is a rehearsal of God's faithfulness

When you pray like this, you will have peace. It may be a long night

But you'll be staying in God's camp you're not going anywhere Beloved Spurgeon said

I say to you one and all study much the promises of God have them at your fingers ends

Remember what God has said It's kind of the beauty of Jacob's prayers and he's like remember

Lord what you said remember Lord what you said And he's really speaking to himself Remember Jacob what

God said remember Jacob what God said and that's how it is with the Christian We're pleading the promises of God not as though God has forgotten them

But as though we are quick to forget them and so we're stealing up our faith in the promises of God be anxious for nothing

When you're in God's camp in everything by prayer and supplication make your request known to God with Thanksgiving This piece of God which surpasses all

Understanding it will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus In our passage one thing that stands out to me is this repetition between verse 13 and 21

It comes right off the heels of prayer Jacob's resolve. He doesn't run. He doesn't hide he doesn't scheme

He just waits He's just waiting on the Lord. He's not moving.

He's not doing anything else He's not digging ditches and sharpening spears like William Wallace He's just waiting and so we have it doubled for emphasis verse 13.

He lodged there that same night Verse 21 he himself lodged that night in He's in the camp

He's gonna face Esau head -on Perhaps there's anxiety that's pressing out prayers in your life this morning forehead sweat rolling on the pillows by night

But I think as a Christian you have access to the same persevering piece of Jacob.

It's not a comfortable piece It's not a piece that makes you feel like you're on a bed of daisies and there's nothing but blissful sunshine ahead of you

But it is a piece from God That transcends surpasses your understanding of the present crisis the pressure of the trial.

It's a piece that causes you to stay Not easy It's a hard -fought hard -won peace, but the peace causes you to persevere and that prayer brings peace and So when we're like Jacob considering what is unknown about the trial that's yet to face us our uncertain future the difficulties that we're beginning

To experience the difficulties that are rushing toward us on this narrow and thorny way

We're like Jacob in God's camp and in God's camp We rehearse like Jacob God's faithfulness

God's goodness, even when we're bringing our fears and our pleas before him because in prayer

We ascend that staircase of Bethel We come to the throne room of the infinite one infinite and wisdom infinite and goodness infinite

And that's how prayer brings peace With that let's pray and I'll read as our prayer

The words from Isaiah 26 beginning in verse 3. Oh Lord you keep him in perfect.

Peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you Trust in the

Lord forever the Lord God is an everlasting rock He has humbled the inhabitants of the height the lofty city.

He lays it low. He lays it to the ground He casts it to the dust the foot tramples it the feet of the poor the steps of the needy

The path of the righteous is level you make level the way of the righteous

In the path of your judgment, so Lord we wait for you We wait for you

Your name Your remembrance is the desire of our soul

Now is our time for interaction

Thank the

Lord, amen, thank you for your encouragement brother, it's good to be back I enjoy

Burke Parsons very much, but would rather be here It seems they're given such short thrift to the angels

Jacob comes upon the angels and says, oh hi and then just moves on with the narrative.

Yeah, it seems that way Yeah, like does this happen often take

Or just what was the purpose of the Yeah, the camp of the angels were it was there something else going on or was it just to minister to Jacob and encourage him on his way like a halfway point in a marathon

Yeah, I think that I think that's exactly right the significance of the phrase only throughout the whole entire

Old Testament not just Genesis only 28 and Here in 32.

Do we find that exact phrase? Of course, we see angels all over the place, but this phrase is unique And so I think that's a way

Moses is signaling the significance of Jacob's exile and Return being marked by angelic presence

We take that all the way back to the Garden of Eden Adams exile being marked by angelic presence

And so now we have the promised land as it were and think of Israel's history Moses writing through the

Exodus The promised land being bordered as it were by the angels the promised land now taking on the

Mantle of Eden God's Edenic presence and the temple that will be built built within it

So I think there's a ton of significance about the travel of Jacob and these cross points

When he encounters the angels of God and I too would like to know what they said

Probably something like fear not you worm Jacob As the psalmist would say just curious that Jacob arranged this elaborate parade of all of his possessions to You know sort of humble himself before Esau, but I Think you know, he probably did that out of fear.

Yes, but you wonder how the Lord would have handled it Had he not done that, you know, yeah, he saw hot blooded and everything Like I just wondered it would have been interesting to see how the

Lord would have made it work. Have you guys done that? Yeah, I think you're exactly right, you know, he's fearful and he's trying to assuage his brother the way he speaks of it

He's trying to return or make reparations for what he's done, which shows his humility and his desire for there to be reconciliation

But it's also he's trying to break down any hostility and here I don't necessarily fault him for that You know, there's

Solomonic wisdom in a gift pacifying anger a secret gifts pacifying anger

So, I think there's something to be said about perhaps the cleverness of Jacob not just in saying

I'll just give him a ton of cattle but sort of sending these waves like that first wave might not do much And by the time he gets through it those memories are gonna come flooding back and so send a second wave

Even that probably won't send a third. It's like he's really stretching that out and then at the end like coming out of the cake

Is it for good or real that you're glaring at me? And to appreciate

I think the fact that he stays should be the biggest takeaway Jacob 20 years ago.

He would have he would have been a fugitive again Jacob stays in God's camp and I think that more than anything tells us about the growth of grace in his life

But we're not done the chapter yet, and there's more work to do before Jacob is named

Israel And also I think you know As rough as he saw was maybe he actually saw that okay, you know my brother realized he screwed up and You know and he's older now.

They're both older. So, you know, you know how it is when you're younger You're a lot more hot -blooded you get older. Maybe you you mellow out a little bit and yeah, he probably realized, you know okay,

Jake knows he screwed up, but Maybe he's changed and he might have been amused a little bit by the whole thing too.

I think Yeah, amen Just to add to that what was just said

I think that's a good point that we can take from this or at least keep in mind and apply and how we look at the passages that When we pray to the

Lord and trust in him that doesn't manifest itself and sitting on our hands, right? you know, I think we see that all through the scriptures that that Someone who is actually trusting in the

Lord will take action in faith Yes, there's just a huge difference between taking action trusting in your own owns smartness or strength and Taking action trusting in the

Lord, but trusting in the Lord is not defined as doing nothing and waiting for You're just waiting for the angels to come and deliver you

Amen, that's an important point. So I and and I so I agree with you I would not fault

Jacob for for doing what he he he feasibly could to assuage his His brother's anger

I as long as he's doing that with trust in the Lord, amen And he doesn't run and put goat hair on his wives

Pretend you're foreigners So that's growth there. I think we like you're saying brother.

We need to follow Cromwell's dictum Pray to the Lord and keep the powder dry Do what you can while you're trusting in the

Lord because God uses means the

Instruction or the encouragement to just memorize God's promises and how you know

That's such a that'd be such a great source of comfort You have to be able to meditate on and and I was thinking of the

Psalms when you were talking about how Jacob kind of Kept going back to God's promises because you see that pattern in the Psalms to you know when

I believe David is crying out to the Lord and Asking for help and everything but he continues he always closes it with you know

Just kind of a recollection of what God has done and you know who God is and his promises and things like that So you can tell it was a source of comfort to him as well

You know, so when you kind of see that pattern again, it's It's not just like that was David's style of writing.

Yeah, you know, there's something there, right? Yeah You know when you're in the camp so to speak when you're in trial

Something's gonna be orbiting in your mind and you know If you're not thinking wisely and spiritually what's going to be orbiting around your mind and thoughts and saturating your prayers is your fear and And I so I think the one of the big takeaways from how

Jacob's praying is that he doesn't allow that to happen He forcefully puts in orbit God's promises and lets that saturate his prayer

So he has more to say about God and God's faithfulness and God's promises than he does to say about his fear

When he reports his fear, it's very simple and it's almost just to kind of get that out there and then go back to the promise

That's so instructive for us When we think about prayer and then as Paul says with Thanksgiving That's how we need to make that request

Jacob does that Jacob has kingdom ethics shining through these verses and it's it's not a coincidence, right?

It's by design this is what God's grace looks like in the lives of his people in their prayers and their desires for forgiveness and The steps they take to trust him when it's difficult

I'll just say that as I as we've gone through these chapters in Genesis and looking at the life of Jacob Ross I can see why you're looking so forward to getting to Jacob Just How he receives the counsel of God and his promises and and where he would

Look, we're acting and we all do this but look we're acting on your own experience with your flesh and your circumstances and Situations that you're in whether at your at work or whatever just acting on that alone where that gets you

And you see where Jacob's life was headed If it wasn't for the Lord intervening and and him him wanting his counsel and wanting to know him

Right, and he's seen in the life of Esau. I mean Esau conquered a land. I mean, I'm sure Esau thought his life is going great

From his experiences what he's doing learn to live by the flesh fight by the flesh

He has his own little promised land He really does and I'm sure he thought things were great and even has this experience with Jacob where this

Reconciliation he can walk back to seer and just feel good about himself And I'm not trying to say this.

There's not this he knows he's sinning in Doesn't know that he's sinning, but he certainly should feel conviction of the way he leaves

But we can easily fool ourselves and the only difference is is is the Lord It is really the

Lord and looking to his promises and what do we have? We all make this mistake.

We revert back to our knowledge our experience, which is important and Oftentimes without going to what are

God's promises, which is his word, right? Which is you know, I mean he he spoke his promises right to Jacob Jacob didn't have his his word written down I may have written them down, but he didn't have it

You know, we have his scripture and oftentimes Once we experience things and do well, it's so easily to set it aside

And and Jacob did well in learning that no no, his life was a life of he learned to believe in God's promises and We and I need to do the same thing.

We need to do the same thing. And so we won't live a life like He saw

Grateful for as much as he said is God's mercy and his truth and he doesn't deserve it

He's not to take any of the either of those things for granted God's mercy and his truth

Often I think Christians we look to take his mercy not for granted and we end up just this unbridled kind of love and Whatever with no truth, right?

He speaks of his mercy and his truth Yeah Mercy without truth is let's just go to Bethel and save this for another day.

And that other day is perpetual But mercy and truth is no, let's keep going south.

I've got to deal with this and then when the going gets hard and it doesn't go as he initially hoped he stays and To your point with Esau Esau for 20 years has been dispossessing the

Horites. He hasn't been sending messengers to find Jacob He doesn't come and send, you know gets to J Jacob is the one who seeks out