20250615_IWillNotLeaveThee

[0:00] Okay, Genesis 28, and we'll be picking up with verse 16.

[0:12] ! Has anyone heard this morning how Joyce is doing?! Okay, as of last night, surgery seems to have gone well.

[0:29] ! And she did have some stomach reaction to the medication, but hopefully that's smoothed out by now. But anyway, we're thankful that she looks like she's going to be fine. There doesn't, I assume that when Ron said the surgery went well, that that meant that there wasn't a great deal of infection invading. I have an idea. I have no idea.

[1:15] I have no idea.

[1:38] I have no idea about that. I'm just thankful that it appears to have gone well. Okay.

[1:55] Okay. And by this time, Brooke's back in Malawi. And so, and we have the upcoming, there's an upcoming Bible conference in Tip City this week. So, let's look to the Lord in prayer. Nathan, would you ask God's blessing on his word this morning, please?

[2:21] Amen. Amen. Amen.

[2:32] Amen. So, we are now at Luz, which Jacob's going to rename what?

[2:55] Bethel, which means the house of God. Okay. Remember that. That says something to us. By the way, I went to a school in Mishawaka, Indiana called Bethel College. And it's named after this place.

[3:24] And of course, the students thought it was a very funny verse to quote from Amos, which says, come to Bethel and transgress. That was, those kids, I don't know.

[3:41] Anyway, we are at Bethel. He renames it. So, let's start with verse 16. 16 through 22. Let's get, let's look at those. He awoke from his sleep and said, surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it. And his reaction is what in verse 17? Fear. Why?

[4:28] Okay. Okay. Right. He was frightened. And why would I be frightened?

[4:45] I think probably because he recognized the vast, immeasurable difference between God and man.

[5:01] When Isaiah was called, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. Remember that verse? I think, what is that? Isaiah 6, maybe? And what did Isaiah, he talked about how it appeared, about the seraphim.

[5:26] And I think they were seraphim. Cherubim, seraphim. I don't remember now. And he talked about the appearance of the throne and the train filling the temple.

[5:44] And what did those angelic beings cry out? Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.

[6:01] Okay. So, what was Isaiah's response? Now, Isaiah's a prophet. What was his response?

[6:14] Fear. And he said, Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell amongst a people of unclean lips, and so on.

[6:29] When, and I think we mentioned this last week, but, the disciples are in the boat, and the storm arises, and they're scared of the storm, and they wake up Jesus, who's asleep in the boat, and they say, don't you care that we're about to perish?

[6:55] And by the way, that's where Jesus says, O ye of little faith. He's not talking about their faith for him to calm the storm. He's talking about their faith that he doesn't care.

[7:08] But, nevertheless, when he calms the storm, then what does it say about them? They were very afraid. What manner of man is this that even the storm obeys him?

[7:26] Later on, Peter's going to be a fishing, and Jesus is going to walk up. This is going to be much later, isn't it?

[7:37] And he's going to say, hey, cast the net out the other side. Ah, okay. And then when the net filled up, and the boat was sinking, Peter says, depart from me.

[7:56] Depart from me. That's pretty, see, when he's, when I'm faced with the awesomeness of God, I recognize the vast holiness, the otherness of God, the set apart.

[8:19] Now, for the Christian redeemed, now what? Now, how do I reconcile that with the verse in Hebrews that says, how do I approach the throne of grace to find help in time of need?

[8:37] How? Boldly. Boldly. How can I come boldly before this awesome God?

[8:49] Because of Christ and what Jesus has done. And because he covers. Okay, so Jacob is, Jacob sets, well, I'm jumping ahead.

[9:02] Jacob says, how awesome is this place? This is the house of God and I, God is here and I didn't know it. By the way, where is God?

[9:17] I'm sorry? Everywhere. When is he everywhere? Everywhere. All the time. How much power has he there? Okay, I need to remember that.

[9:32] I can forget that sometimes. Jesus is only reported to have interacted with Gentiles twice.

[9:44] once was the Syrophoenician woman. The other time was whom? The centurion. Now, we don't know that the centurion came to Jesus or if he sent an emissary to Jesus.

[10:01] Nevertheless, the centurion had a request. What was it? And I'll try to go quickly with this, but you have to remind me of these things. What was the request?

[10:16] Okay, my servant's sick and dying. He's important to me. Would you heal him? Okay, and what was the response from the people around?

[10:33] No. And Jesus talks about, or we're told, that the centurion says to Jesus, what?

[10:50] Yeah, don't answer out. Help somebody else. What did Jesus, or what did the centurion say about Jesus coming to his house?

[11:07] What's that? Okay, you don't even need to show up. Why? Right. He said, I also am a man of authority.

[11:20] I have people who are responsible to me. And if I tell them to go do something, what happens? They go do it. He says, so much more it is with you.

[11:34] You don't have to be there to heal him. And Jesus responds with a pretty important statement.

[11:45] I haven't seen this kind of faith even in Israel, he says. Why? Because the centurion recognized the authority of deity.

[12:01] He knew who Jesus was. And he real, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. And you'll be able to speak to him because Latin and English won't be a problem then, I'm pretty sure.

[12:26] I've always hoped that the Lord would heal my mind at the resurrection. Anyway, yes? There's no other record that he ever talked to Gentiles.

[12:54] Okay. Okay. Okay. I'll grant that.

[13:05] Okay. At the crucifixion time. Okay. Yeah, they were mocking. You're right about that. But, as far as the actual ministry to Israel.

[13:18] Okay. I just wanted to. Yeah. When he, when he walked on this earth in ministry for those three years, he never dealt with Gentiles.

[13:28] Except the Syrophoenician woman. in fact, he had, in offering the kingdom to Israel, he had told the disciples specifically, don't go to the Gentiles.

[13:48] Because the message, the message at that time was for Israel to bring Israel to God, to be that nation of priests, and they would bring the Gentiles around to recognize God.

[14:03] That was the offer of the kingdom. But, back to the point, the centurion recognized his authority to be able to act anywhere. Incidentally, Mary and Martha, I didn't mean to go this far, when Lazarus died, Jesus waits on purpose.

[14:28] He's going to wait until he dies. Because he has a plan to show the glory of God. And, he approaches the house and Martha comes out to meet him.

[14:45] What does she say? Lord, had you been here, my brother would not have died.

[15:01] So, Mary, he goes on into the house and Mary says same thing.

[15:14] Lord, had you been here, my brother would not have died. That's probably why the centurion's answer was so magnificent.

[15:29] Because he recognized, he doesn't have to be here, because if he determines it, it happens. happens. If he says so, it happens.

[15:41] So, the awesomeness of God, back to the, let's get back to Genesis before I get way off, any further into the bush.

[15:53] So, how dreadful is this place? It's the house of God, the gate of heaven. heaven. So, what did Jacob do?

[16:10] Okay, how did he do that? Okay, he turned the stone up on and sets it up as a pillar and he anointed it.

[16:31] This is the first record I remember, maybe you remember another, but this is the first one I remember of an anointing where he anoints the stone.

[16:44] Later on, the anointing with oil is going to become very significant. Who's going to get anointed with oil? Well, he will be, but before him.

[17:02] The priests, John Baptist, the priests, the king, even later, will be anointed.

[17:14] Why? What does that mean? Later on, what does it mean? Here, it seems to mean the same thing, because this is the house of God, this is a special place, I'll set up this pillar, I'll pour oil on it, but in your time machine, as you go on into the law, and therefrom, what does anointing mean?

[17:43] It's a signal that it's been set aside for God. it's been consecrated. Now, that's not the only time, I mean, the Samaritan anointed the beaten man with oil, right?

[18:02] It was a medicinal thing, that wasn't the only thing they did, it's the same word, but when it's done ceremonially like this, it has to do with a consecration.

[18:12] So, he's going to consecrate this place. And, we'll see where that goes in a moment, or why that was important.

[18:24] Do you, before we move on, have you anything else to add? Okay, then, in fact, on the priests, they had a special oil, and on the priests, when God gave the law at Sinai, the priests were anointed, and everything that they touched then was to be holy.

[18:55] That's why, and God had told when, when, when, when Aaron's sons, offered the strange fire before the Lord, and God killed them, God told Moses, say this to Aaron, you don't leave this tabernacle.

[19:25] You don't mourn them. You don't go out to them. The oil of the Lord, the anointing oil is upon you. You can't leave.

[19:36] You can't mourn them. you can't tear your garments. Because you're set apart to God, and only God. So, and, and if the oil was on him, everything he touched was also considered sacred, and no longer could be used for the common or profane purposes.

[20:04] In fact, the king's anointing, David refused to kill Saul when he had the chance. Saul's in the cave, and David said, his men said, get him now.

[20:18] You can get him. And David said, I will not touch the Lord's anointed. By the way, some of us in some Christian traditions have heard that used to mean, you don't say, you've heard it too, haven't you?

[20:37] Yeah, you don't say anything about the pastor because he's the Lord's anointed, and if I say anything about Nathan, God's going to get me. Well, that is the way it's been.

[20:50] used. That's unfortunately a misuse of it because that's not what this, what he meant by Saul.

[21:02] Saul was an anointed one. By the way, one of the, one of the stranger uses of this is in Isaiah when Isaiah prophesies about Cyrus.

[21:24] Now, Cyrus is a pagan. He's not going to be a Jew, but he is going to be the emperor that is going to see what?

[21:44] he's going to oversee what? The return of Judah to Jerusalem. And God says, Cyrus, my anointed, whose right hand I have held.

[22:01] and that hundreds of years before Cyrus is going to be born. But I found that kind of an interesting use of the term, but that's nevertheless, that's what God said.

[22:19] And, of course, we know this from Psalms. Why do the heathen rage, or the nations rage, and conspire against the Lord and his anointed?

[22:40] So, we know those. They say, we will cast his bonds asunder, and this has to do with the millennial kingdom and coming toward the end. We're going to, we don't want to serve this righteous king.

[22:55] Nevertheless, let's move on. So, Jacob pours oil on this pillar, and he vowels a vowel. What's his vowel?

[23:15] one more thing in there, who who Okay.

[23:30] Okay. What about this vow? Does anybody find it strange?

[23:44] Does it sound like a bargain? Right.

[23:59] Well, and it's reiterated in the Pauline, in Corinthians, where Paul says they tested God and he slew them in the wilderness.

[24:14] And it goes back to that. Yeah, don't put, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test, he said to Satan in the wilderness. Jesus said to Satan in the wilderness.

[24:27] Which was a quote from, I think, Deuteronomy. Never, nah, that wouldn't have been right. You look it up. Was it a bargain?

[24:39] Yeah. Go back just a few verses to verse 1.

[25:09] Verse 13. This is whom speaking to whom. Okay, this is God speaking to Jacob.

[25:23] What does God say? And to your seed.

[25:41] And? Right.

[25:56] And he keeps going. He says one more thing in there. And behold, I am with thee, and will teach thee in all places where we are, and bring thee again into this land, for I will not be thee, so I have done that, which I have done.

[26:11] Okay, so God told Jacob. I'm going to give you the land. He reiterates the Abrahamic promise. I'm going to give you this.

[26:21] And then he makes him a promise. He says, look, Jacob, I'm not going to leave you. I will protect you until I have accomplished everything I said I would.

[26:35] Now, let's go back and look at Jacob's vow. It sounds to me like Jacob is reiterating what God has just said.

[26:46] That is, if you're going to give a tenth also. I'm going to give a tenth.

[27:00] This is the second time that I remember. Do you remember any others where the tithe is mentioned? In the scripture thus far.

[27:13] What about Abraham? Okay, Abraham gave a tithe to Melchizedek.

[27:25] So, incidentally, the idea of tithing then precedes the law of Moses at Mount Sinai. But it does not transfer to the day of grace.

[27:43] That is, there is nothing that we understand in the scripture. We understand that everything of ours belongs to God.

[27:57] We are stewards of that. Now, I'm responsible for my stewardship. But we're not necessarily commanded to tithe. Yes?

[28:09] Yes? Yes? Yes? Thank you, sir. Thank you.

[28:40] Thank you.

[29:10] It was codified in the Mosaic Covenant at Sinai. That is, we call it the Law of Moses, but Moses didn't think it up.

[29:25] Yeah, I will say that the tithe of Melchizedek was very different from the tithe of the Mosaic Law. Yeah. It was a one-time thing. Right. Right.

[29:35] And it seems to have been in response to the blessing that Melchizedek gave to him.

[29:57] yeah yeah second yeah yes okay yeah right okay yeah that that's the one who tries to that's where Paul is saying look if a law was given that could produce righteousness then we wouldn't have needed Christ we would have then man could work his way there but he said even at tiny eye that law did not produce righteousness it was required but it didn't produce righteousness it it's always been meant to lead to the Savior it's always been meant in fact the name Joshua which in your New Testament is going to be rendered

[31:28] Jesus that name means salvation is from Jehovah Jehovah saves that's what the name means and it's a fairly significant name isn't it as we look at the Lord Jesus because he Mary was told what the or Joseph was told what the what the child's name would be you're going to name him Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins so by the way at Christmas time when we quote those verses so we usually not you but

[32:33] I usually quote those most often around Christmas time it's significant to know that Christmas isn't about joy Christmas isn't about children Christmas isn't about families Christmas is about the incarnation it's about rejoicing that God sent Jesus and the incarnation means little without the death burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus he came to save for it's incomprehensible to me okay so he vows a vow he says I'll and I'll give a tenth now when he says like by the way that once again the tithe to Melchizedek is not for the church because it was a one time deal and it was in response to the to the blessing but it also is going to be codified tithe to Israel but not just a tenth that's going to be a tithe of the increase but also who else is going to go to the Lord the firstborn of everything the first fruits of the ground the firstborn of the flock and the firstborn of your household so if we lived under the law

[34:38] Ethan belonged to God not to you what did you have to do not to not to have him killed he had to be redeemed and God told them exactly how that had to be done he said so your firstborn male is going to be redeemed so if you add it up Israel was giving a whole lot more than just ten percent a whole lot more but that was in response that was in response and that by the way that by the way is where the verse in Malachi comes into play not where you hear it so often in so many churches where wherein have we robbed God by not bringing in your tithes and your offerings to me

[35:42] I mean to the church that's that's the reference and the tithes and the offerings that were brought to God were part of the covenant that's where God said you bring this in and you will never have your lambs are all going to be born alive you won't have any dry ewes your cattle will produce your children everything will flourish if you do this if you don't you're going to wither away so so he said but he does promise a tithe now as we move on I have another we we come to where we've been hoping to come right oh one last thing before we leave Bethel

[36:54] God's house when Paul was on his way to Corinth he stopped by this little town what was the name of it Athens okay okay so he stops by Athens he goes up to the Areopagus Mars Hill and he debates and to them he says something that's going to be what Acts Acts 16 17 something like that I think okay Acts 17 22 because he says something about the house of God now how many of you are from a tradition where you've heard the church house called the house of God none of you

[38:11] I have heard it called that you have as well so you walk in and they say shh you're in that God's house you're in God's house now does God live here no where is God's house on the earth in the church and not the building the people the building's a building as Craig Massey used to say you can meet in a pickle factory that's not the important thing that's not the important thing because where you meet isn't important it's that you meet is important but the body of Christ the indwelling

[39:17] Holy Spirit God's dwelling is with his people in us now that's in us now so in Acts there in Acts 17 we are in Athens we're talking to pagans and he tells me in verse yeah I proclaim this to you starting with verse 24 the God who made the world and all things in it since he is Lord of heaven and earth does not dwell in temples made with hands nor keep going nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all life and breath and all things and he goes on to say and he made of one one blood he made from one every nation of mankind having determined their appointed times and the bounds of their habitations that they should seek

[40:44] God so we know that in this day we are not to suppose that God dwells in a temple made with hands nor that by the way what we will do what we call a service is the word that is used there so at at 1015 there abouts 1015 we are going to have another service that's the word used there and it has to do with the way we conduct our corporate time but he says that in itself is not the way God is served because he's not served with human hands that's important for the edification of the church when you draw near to the

[41:46] Lord you bring me with you when your heart is with God it brings me with you it encourages me and when you come to the meeting it encourages me that's the edification and that's why we gather but it doesn't serve God because he doesn't need anything he is self existent I am that I am he and he is not constrained by creation he is holy he says he's going to glorify himself in the church so yes in that respect now

[42:51] Paul will say that sometimes my behavior in the congregation well not mine of course my behavior in the congregation might be an embarrassment read Corinthians right he says hey that's you're not acting right but he never tells them quit meeting he just says straighten up and this is what you do so okay we so next week we'll get to what everybody's been waiting for because Jacob's going to get to Haran anyone yes Terry no she was a Samaritan but not a Gentile well yeah well yeah and to the to the

[44:01] Judeans she may as well have been a Gentile to the Judeans but to the Judeans so should the Galileans more Gentilian would have been the Decapolis who were Hellenistic in their approach two and a half two and a half time no no because he because because he is going I mean part of the prophecy of the kingdom is that all the tribes are going to be gathered in so the Samaritans were included in those yeah they were the the Assyrians tried to stomp them out by now they didn't do this only with Israel by the way Assyria did this with everybody they conquered they displaced the prime that they could take and took them away and put them somewhere else thinking that if they were separated from the land they could never rise up if you will but so they dispersed

[45:16] Israelites they took the best of them moved them away and brought other conquered peoples in to settle in so they were amalgamated if you will but they weren't really Gentiles because he's going to call them a form now they oh yeah well and Rehoboam twisted it all up to keep the people from going to Jerusalem because her question to Jesus is and she uses God they use the same name for God so she means God our fathers worship God in these hills and you people say that only God can only be worshipped in Jerusalem who's right that was her question and he said the

[46:17] Judeans are right you have to go to Jerusalem to worship God right now he didn't say right now but that's what he means but he didn't he didn't say you're idolatrous although Rehoboam made them idolatrous but some of the Samaritans continued to go to Jerusalem for sacrifice they did not all the Samaritans sacrificed on the hills and high places they continued many of them continued but that's what Rehoboam wanted to stop was them going back to Jerusalem because he was afraid that their heart would go back to a united kingdom but that comes way later than we are now okay have a great day and again happy father's day