Sermons @ Hope

Gen 29-31 offers a great summary of the Bible. These chapters cover Jacob's exile away from the Promise Land. In his exile, there are echoes of Eden, of the first sin of Gen 3, of the escalation of sin with sibling rivalry, and echoes of deliverance. These themes keep occurring to give us a lens to interpret our own lives. We were created for the good world God made. We participate in and suffer from sin. We pursue Eden on our own terms and cause harm. God remains faithful while we are faithless. He delivers us from our sins and his blessings are sure. We will look at the themes of Eden, Exile, and Exodus. I will explain these themes in the life of Jacob. I will show that these themes anticipate the life of the nation of Israel and are relevant in our lives as well. Genesis 29:1-30 Eden and Deceit: The Trickster is Tricked This is the summary of Gen 29:1-30. Jacob left the Promised Land to escape Esau, his brother, who wanted to kill him, and to find a wife (Gen 28:41-29:5)...

Jusqu'à présent, dans la vie de Jacob, nous avons un problème. Nous avons trois générations de trompeurs avec Abraham, Isaac et Jacob. Dans cette génération, les parents, Isaac et Rebecca, sont de mauvais communicateurs et ils travaillent l'un contre l'autre. Rebecca sape l'autorité de son mari. Elle utilise un fils pour tromper son mari. Dans cette famille, il y a un manque affectif et d'attention. Il y a de la manipulation et du favoritisme. Il y a de la tromperie, des sentiments de trahison, de honte et une rage meurtrière méprisante. Combien d'entre nous ont grandi dans des foyers qui présentaient ou présentent certains de ces éléments ? Parfois, le dysfonctionnement est plus subtil, mais il est bien présent. Dieu n'apparaît pas directement dans Genèse 27. Isaac a béni Jacob et cette bénédiction était le résultat d'une manœuvre. Genèse 28 est une confirmation divine de la bénédiction de Jacob. Dieu va vraiment utiliser Jacob, le trompeur, ce manipula...

So far, in the life of Jacob, we have a problem. God promises to bless the whole world through a family. So far, in this family, we have three generations of deceivers with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In Jacob’s generation, his parents, Isaac and Rebekah, are bad communicators and they work against each other. Rebekah undermines her husband’s authority. She uses a son to trick her husband. In this family, there is a lack of nurture and care. They use manipulation and practice favoritism. There is deceit, feelings of betrayal, shame, and contemptuous murderous rage. We seem to have a problem. How many of us grew up in homes that had or have some of these elements? Sometimes the dysfunction is more subtle, but it is there. Either you are aware of it, or you are not. In Gen 27, Isaac blessed Jacob. This blessing was the result of scheming. God made no direct appearance in this chapter. Now, Genesis 28 is a divine confirmation of the blessing of Jacob. Genesis 28 teaches that though the...

Genèse 26:34-28:9 parle d'un Dieu miséricordieux qui bénit l'humanité malgré notre dépravation totale. Dieu est bon envers les pécheurs qui ne le méritent pas. Dans ce texte, on trouve l'aveuglement spirituel, le favoritisme, la ruse, le mensonge, la tromperie, la trahison et la haine. Et pourtant, Dieu reste miséricordieux et fidèle à ses promesses. Un texte comme celui-ci nous rappelle que, en raison de la faiblesse humaine, Dieu reçoit toute la gloire. Il ne peut pas compter sur la bonté, les compétences ou la fidélité humaines pour accomplir ses desseins. Cela ne veut pas dire que, en Christ, nous ne plaisons pas à Dieu, mais nous restons pécheurs. Ce récit met en scène quatre personnes. Chacune d'entre elles est pécheresse. Nous voyons la bénédiction de Dieu se transmettre d'une génération à l'autre dans l'histoire. La bonne nouvelle pour nous est que, peu importe combien nous avons péché, nous avons un Dieu fidèle qui est avec nous. Nous pouvons toujou...

This text is tough. If we studied Gen 27 without any context, it is a text about a dysfunctional family.  God is absent and humanity’s depravity is on full display. When we look at the bigger picture with the whole Bible in mind, we forget about this family’s dysfunctional and Genesis 27 is about God’s blessing going from one generation to the next. This is good news for us. We can say that Gen 26:34-28:9 is about a gracious God who blesses humanity despite our total depravity. God is good to undeserving sinners. In this text, there is spiritual blindness, favoritism, scheming, lying, deceiving, betrayal, and hatred. And still, God’s blessing is passed down to the next generation. God remains gracious and faithful to his promises. With this kind of God, no matter how much we have sinned, we have a faithful God who is with us. We can always turn to him to enjoy his goodness. I will cover the content of Gen 26:34-28:9 topically under four themes: (1) God’s Commandments and Blessi...