Taking God at His Word - Genesis Part 60

Today were going to return to our verse by verse study in the book of Genesis and will go today of some events that took place in the life of Abraham's on Isaac after Abraham's death in Genesis 25 were going to see some people mistreat Isaac were going to see some people being mean to Isaac and were going to see how God used even the most rotten things that people did to him to get Isaac exactly where God wanted him so that God could bless him in the highest and then as followers of Christ were going to talk about how this very same dynamic is true in our lives today and were going to talk about how you and I need to worry far less about how people are treating us and how we need to worry far more about trusting God to be bigger than how people are treating us so are you ready all right. I don't know if you need this, but I do so come along and let's allow God to speak to our hearts were in Genesis chapter 26 and we started verse one now there was a famine in the land besides the earlier famine of Abraham's time, which was in Genesis 12 and Isaac went to the city of Garrard to Abimelech, the king of the Philistines and the Lord appeared to Isaac and said do not go down to Egypt which is where Isaac was headed. He said to him stay in this land that is in Philistine country for a while and I will be with you and I will bless you. So Isaac stayed in Garrard and Abimelech said to all the people. Anyone who molests this man or his wife shall surely be put to death… Show your map will go back and show your map of where roar is today and you can see it's near the coast of the Mediterranean in the land of the Philistines, where of course, Goliath was from, etc. okay verse 12 then Isaac planted crops in the land in the same year were reaped 100 fold because the Lord blessed him and he became rich in his wealth continue to grow until he became very wealthy. Now let's stop and ask the question, do you and I see the problem that's developing here you see it all right. Well, the problem is that Isaac is starting to put down roots here among the Philistines God. He told them to stay there for a while, not permanently.

Because remember, the Philistines did not know the Lord.

The Philistines were not godly people. They sacrifice their children to their idols. They practiced sacred prostitution in their temples and yet here Isaac is becoming dangerously intertwined with them owning land among them raising crops among them participating in the local economy, right alongside of them and soon his sons would begin marrying their daughters and their daughters would begin leading his sons hearts away from the Lord.

Now the Bible, Moses warned the Israelites about this. Deuteronomy 7 Moses said do not intermarry with them. The people of the land. Do not give your daughters to their sons and do not take their daughters for your sons for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods and the Lord's anger will burn against you, and in fact, this very thing happen after the Exodus and after the Israelites entered the promised land. Look what Psalm 106 that happens it said they the Israelites mingled with the peoples and adopted their customs. They worship their idols, which became a snare to them. They the Israelites sacrifice their sons and daughters to demons to the idols of Canaan and the land was desecrated by their blood day the Israelites feel themselves. They defiled themselves by what they did and they prostituted themselves by their deeds will therefore the Lord was angry with his people. My point friends is that Isaac right now is at a point of great spiritual danger. All the lands that he's accumulated in the flocks that he's accumulated in the wealth that he's accumulated and the economic power that he's accumulated human nature being what it is. God knew that Isaac was never leaving there all by himself. We all see this everybody together. Okay, now the question then is how is God going to get Isaac away from the Philistines and back into holy separated living in the promised land where God's blessing can be the full list on Isaac. How's he going to do that.

Well, the answer is that God is going to use other peoples bad treatment of Isaac to move you watch verse 14, though Mrs. now and Isaac had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.

So the Philistines stopped all all Isaac's wells filling them with dirt. None.

Not only was this just a rotten thing to do, but it also meant economic ruin. I mean, if you've got no water you got no crops.

If you've got no water. You have no flocks. This was a formula for economic disaster for all of his wells to be filled with dirt and then after they did that to him. The king himself. No doubt, bowing to political pressure from these people who were envious of Isaac. He also turned on Isaac verse 16 then Abimelech said to Isaac move away from us.

So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Garrard so Isaac move but the problem is, he didn't move far enough, he was still in Philistine country. He was still in spiritual danger. So watch Isaac service dog in the Valley and discovered a well of fresh water. There, but the herdsmen of the raw are quarreled with Isaacs herdsmen and said the water desires.

So Isaac named the well ethic, which in Hebrew means dispute and he moved even farther away from Garrard's men dug another well there and the same thing happen.

The people of Garrard followed him and said this is not water to and so he name that will sit in, which in Hebrew means opposition and he moved even farther away. Finally Isaac arrived back in the land of Canaan. Back around where his father had lived look. Verse 22 Isaac moved on and dug another well and no one quarreled over it.

So he named it Rehobeth, which means room saying now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in this land. Then from there Isaac went to Beersheba, let me show you a map and show you where Beersheba is its back in the promised land.

It was in there Sheba, where his father Abraham live.

It was in there Sheba where Abraham was able to be set apart from all the ungodly practices of the Canaanites and the Philistines. It was in Beersheba where God had made him all the great promises that he had made them as part of the Abraham a covenant and now Isaac was back where God wanted it where it was spiritually safe for him and were God could now unleash his full blessing on Isaac watch that very night when Isaac got to Beersheba, the Lord appeared to Isaac and said do not fear, for I am with you and I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendents. For the sake of my servant Abraham so Isaac built an altar there in Beersheba and called on the name of the Lord. There he pitched his dad and their his servants dug a well and by the way friends Isaac never left Beersheba again for the rest of his life. So can we summarize how did God get Isaac back to Beersheba well the answer is God use people. The people of Garrard their jealousies, their betrayals, their evil treatment. There mean this is God use them like little tugboats if you can understand what I'm saying to just get Isaac ship docked exactly in the birth where God wanted Isaacs ship do we all see that yeah okay now.

Do you think the people of Garrard realized that God was using them to do this for Isaac.

Not think so either course not. They were just being jealous. They were just being mean. They were just being on time, they were just being spiteful but was God in control the entire time was a you better he was. And that's all Pauline that I want us to see tonight. You got it. Are now working to stop at this 40 were going to ask our most important question of the evening. So are you ready okay, and has been a couple weeks so we disses our you know, back to church back to lawn. So what ready.

Are we ready and I never got all of our campuses want to survey beautiful salon.

I appreciate what you're saying here. I do and I understand what you say, but I'm not 100% sure how it applies to me will friends it applies to me and you, because God still uses this very same methodology today to move us as followers of Christ where he wants us to go.

You know Maurice Rosen, the founder of Jews for Jesus was one of my good friends. Of course, is with the Lord now, and I knew moist for 25 years and the Jews for Jesus that he found it in my opinion, is one of the most innovative and effective Jewish missions ever founded and it's been my privilege as a matter fact to serve on their board for 28 years now, but what you may not know is that Moorish had been a missionary with another Jewish mission prior to his founding Jews for Jesus in 1973 in the early 1970s when he was with this other mission. A fellow missionary in that organization set out on a crusade to discredit Moorish he started spreading untrue accusations.

This missionary started undermining moisture's credibility and his integrity this other missionaries began sowing distrust and doubt about Moorish in the leadership of that mission you say a fellow Christian did STM all yes my friends, some of God's biggest tugboats are fellow Christians. Trust me. Yeah anyway.

As a result, Moorish got fired that he had done anything wrong but if that hadn't happened. Here's what I want you to see Moorish would never have been in San Francisco in 1973 Moorish would never have met up with a small group of Jewish hippies that it come to Christ, who were hanging out in San Francisco if he had the been fired unjustly Moorish would never have organized them and began taking them on the streets and on the college campuses in and around San Francisco to share Christ Moorish would never have come up with some of the innovative things that he really invented to reach Jewish people that no one ever tried before, all of which turned into Jews for Jesus in 1973 as a matter fact wages for Jesus got its name was there. There was a group of of those early Jewish believers that were on the campus of San Francisco State University and somebody in a very disparaging way as they came marching along said all here come those Jews for Jesus and more said wow that's the greatest name I ever heard and that's I would therefore the name came from. He did make it up somebody making fun of the group made it up in the great that's where the name came from and more said to me once he said you know lawn. He said looking back getting fired even though it was unjust, was one of the best things that ever happened to me." They salon that's a great story but you know it's easy for guy like voice to say that to you. 20 years later after he's able to understand how it all worked out. It's a lot harder to say this when you're being in there when you're in the middle of being treated like this about people.

Well, that's true. This is my second Corinthians 517 says we as followers of Christ walk by faith and not by sight.

Walking by faith means I don't need to understand everything that's happening to me what I need to understand is that my sovereign God is in utter control of everything that is happening to me, steering me right where he wants me what I need to understand is Romans 828 were God promises that he is working all things together for my good, including what people are doing to me the good things the bad things the ugly things. Even though I can understand it yet. That God is keeping his word to me. In other words, walking by faith means taking God at his word. Listen, with no visible proof except that God promised me you got what I'm saying. It means taking God's word with no visible proof that it's going to come true, except God promised me that's walking by faith Noah, John chapter 4, we have great example of this were my favorite stories in the Bible. Once again the Bible says Jesus visited Cana where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. And when this man learned that Jesus had arrived. He went to him and begged him to come and heal his son who was close to death that the secret to understanding the beauty and the miracle of this story is to look at a map and to realize that Jesus wasn't Cana. This man's son was lying ill in Capernaum and between the two towns. There is approximately 30 km, about 20 miles the point. This is critical to what happens next is that Jesus and his boy were 20 miles apart. Got it okay verse 50. And Jesus replied to the man, you may go.

Your son will live. Love the rest of this verse and the man say the next five words with me what they say. The man what took Jesus at his word. Say it again took Jesus at his word and departed and headed home. And while he was still on the way. On the way where on the way back to Capernaum on the way home, his servants met him with the news that his son was living and when he inquired as to the time when his son got better. They said to him, the fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour. Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, your son will live, and thus he and his whole household. Believe what a great story, and the key to this whole passage is in verse 50.

The words the man what did he do say again took Jesus at his word. How do we know the man did this well because he turned and went home.

He turned and headed home with no visible proof that his son would be okay with no tangible proof that his son would be okay except Jesus is promise, but the man believe that promise.

All he had was Jesus's word that he took Jesus at his word and turned in faith to go home, my friends, this is what walking by faith is about for you and me today.

It means taking God at his word that he will work all things together for your good, even though you can't see it even though you can't understand how he's going to do it yet in time and space. We got two choices. We can take Jesus at his word.

Or we can doubt that's it and I want to urge you take Jesus at his word. He's never broken a promised anybody else not going to break a promise to you know God it's doing God, it's all right, so let me say in conclusion, you know that person who's really making life miserable for you as a person is really making life tough for you.

Maybe it's a boss or a neighbor or relative, or member of your nuclear family or a coworker, and whoever will maybe even on the human level, it looks like your women right now.

Hey don't worry about that, don't you worry about what it looks like right now God is not finished yet the joy without it.

God finishes God will of His word to you I promise you that. So when you pass that person this week.

Just remember that they are only God's little tugboats, little picture we have double just look at them and imagine that little picture and say cousin tugboats you don't know your God's little tugboats. But that's okay. You don't need to know you just cause little tugboats to truth.

That's all you are and all that meanness in all of that spiteful nurse in all of that hatred and all of that, Alice and all of that gossip and all of that scheming that you're doing all you're doing is getting me right where God wants me to go just like he did Isaac. So praise God for you and Fran listen they don't understand their doing this to you if they understood they were doing it for you they dislike you so much, they start treating you nice. They don't know their doing it. Would you know their doing it. Don't you you know they're doing it. Don't you because you have the promise of God that he's using even their ill treatment of you to get you right where God wants you so when you see them this week is no reason to hate them, my friend. There is no reason to resent them. There's no reason to fantasize about getting them back. No no no you don't need to do that by helping you just kind of go back to business. Give a big smile and just say, praise the Lord. Praise Lord you go about your business and you do your business of just obeying Christ and God will do his business of using these people to get you into the place of the richest blessings he can get you. We understand he did for Isaac will do it for you spray together.

Dear heavenly father, I don't think there's anything more frustrating than to be ill treated by other people.

I don't think there's anything more hurtful than that and I don't think there's anything that makes us feel more helpless as followers of Jesus than perhaps somebody treat us like that and to know that we should not go down in mud wrestled with them frustrating lords feel like sometimes they're winning and they're coming out on top of God. Thank you for your word tonight that shows us those people of Garrard thought they were coming out on top and all they were doing was putting Isaac into the place of the richest blessing of God. So Lord help us see the people around us that same way, help us to remember that you are bigger than any treatment that people give us, and that you are sovereign and your plan will be worked out. Lord, and you use them to do it.

So give us the right attitude of looking past their ill treatment and just saying, Lord, thank you. Their ponds and instruments in your hand.

Help us see them that way and believe that you were that you're going to turn them in the good for us is going to come true.

Encourage our hearts tonight.

Lord we needed lift our spirits and fortify us for living for you this week.

We pray these things in Jesus name and what to God's people say a man