FAITH OF OUR FATHERS

This message was preached by Pastor Fola Odufuwa some time ago at an alumni reunion meeting in Lagos, Nigeria. I decided to feature it ton this blog because the message therein is still very relevant to what is happening around us today.

The word which came unto Jeremiah from theLord in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,

² Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of theLord, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.

³ Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;

⁴ And I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door:

⁵ And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.

⁶ But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:

⁷ Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers.

⁸ Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;

⁹ Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:

¹⁰ But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. Jer.35:1-10

We bless the Lord for the opportunity to come together again and to share together from the word of God. Our topic is highly relevant in the age that we live in and I challenge you to open your heart to receive wisdom from the word of life. As we fellowship together, may the Lord grant unto us a release of His power to lift us into a new phase of abiding love for God in Jesus name.

The Obedience of the Rechabites

From our text, there are some important points to note about the obedience of the Rechabites:

1.        There are rewards for obedience and eternally unpalatable consequences for disobedience. God said that the Rechabites will never lack a pastor in any generation (vs. 19) and the children will experience judgement and be deported from their inheritance. We need to settle this fact in our spirit. Obedience is rewarded. Disobedience is always punished.

2.      Obedience has to be secured under great pressure. There were a series of pressure points on the Rechabites. First, there was pervasive worldliness and moral decadence of the world they were living in. Two, there was excessive pressure from pastors and church people who had reduced the standard for serving God. They were asked to drink alcohol by renowned prophets, and they were to do this in the house of God. Three, there was also economic pressure because “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land” (v. 11). The effect of the siege on their finances was to get them to find justification for disobeying the word of God. Until your obedience is tested and proven, you cannot claim to be a geniune child of God.

3.      Obedience has to extend to all the members of your family. For the Rechabites, this included getting their wives, sons and daughters to obey God. As easy as this sounds, it is extremely difficult to do. Lot couldn’t do it. David found it hard. For Solomon, it was impossible. Just as it was then, so it is now. On the one hand, many pastors and church leaders are finding it extremely difficult to get their households to serve God. On the other hand, in many of our churches, the younger ones have abandoned the faith of their fathers and turned to new ways of serving God – which really do not work. If there’s time, we’ll come back to this point.

What is Obedience?

For now, let’s ask ourselves again. What is obedience?  If we analyse the original words used in the bible, we would find that obedience means:

·        To hear intelligently, to listen attentively

·        To subordinate yourself, to heed or conform to a command.

·        To be persuaded by a ruler, to submit to authority, to accept advice.

·        To convince by argument, to rely by inward certainty, to assent to authority.

From these definitions, you can see that there is a link between what you hear and what you do. You cannot obey except you hear. You can only obey what you have heard. If you do not hear it in your spirit man, you cannot do it. You cannot change your behaviour until you change the instructions that run your life. Why is this so?

Ro 6:17-18 “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”

How did the Roman believers get themselves free from sin? By obeying from the heart the instructions they received. It was what they heard and believed that set them free from sin. Determination never works on the long run. Obedience is activated by the word of God that you truly believe. Once that word settles in your spirit, it becomes your life and changes your behaviour.

Also, obedience is obedience only when it is done from the heart! If it is done in eye-service or legalism, it is totally unacceptable to God.

But as obedience is from the heart, so also is disobedience. It is possible to obey externally but not internally, in form but not in truth, to please men instead of to please God. Stephen said in Acts 7:39 concerning the people and Moses that “to whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt”. They were physically heading for Canaan but in their hearts were running towards Egypt! Obedience is EQUAL to disobedience if it is not from the heart. 

So the Rechabites were not just observing a family tradition. Each one of them believed it, and because they believed it they found it easy to practice. 1Jo 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous (or burdensome).” 

The Pillars of Obedience

In order to obey the Lord, you need the three pillars of obedience as exhibited by the Rechabites:

1.        Revelation – they had to hear the word, each man for himself. They had to buy into the instruction. Jer 35:6 “But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever”. It was not enough just to say, ‘we will drink no wine’. No! There was a basis. They had heard the word and they had bought into it. Do you expose yourself to the word of God? Can the things you do be located in the bible?

2.      Separation – To understand the extent to which the Rechabites separated themselves, let’s quickly trace their history in 1 Chronicles 2:55 and Judges 4:11. Here you will see that their progenitor “had severed himself”. You cannot obey until you have separated yourself. Until you come to a point where you say “others may, I cannot”, you will struggle to obey God. Others may add a little alcohol to their drink, I cannot. Others may indulge in a little kiss or a little romance with someone to whom they are not married, I cannot. Others may justify consultations and the patronage of personal prophets by the delay they are facing in one area of life or the other, I cannot.

Let me add one more verse here. 1Co 5:11 “But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.”

You cannot obey until you get yourself out of the wrong company, until you find encouragement from those who are similarly separated (Psalm 1:1).

3.      Commitment – they had to keep at it from one generation to the next regardless of the pressures they faced. Why is commitment necessary? Because obedience is life-long and is in phases (Phil 2:5-9). Yesterday’s obedience is gone. The demand of obedience is new every day. For Jesus, at every point a demand was made, he kept obeying the Father. Partial obedience is disobedience. Remember the young prophet who died in 1 Kings 13? It was said of him “It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD” (v. 26). Why did he disobey? He didn’t buy into the instruction not to eat food in the land where he had gone to minister. Remember Lot’s wife? She escaped the judgement of the city but became a pillar of salt because she didn’t obey the current instruction. Why? Because she didn’t buy into what the Lord said about not looking back.

Securing Obedience

So how do we secure obedience? Obedience is not activities. It cannot be replaced with sacrifice. It cannot be transmitted by laying on of hands or by the application of anointing oil It is a virtue that is personally learnt and acquired.

Heb 5:8 “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him”.

Obedience has to be learned by every son of God. The power of obedience is tested and tasted only through suffering. You cannot escape it. The opportunity to obey is discovered only in the furnace of affliction. Obedience is not automatic. It is not acquired by sonship but by suffering; suffering the distress of not being able to indulge oneself in earthly passions like others do; suffering the indignity of practicing the bible in an age where men everywhere generally despise the divine instruction.

Our fathers obeyed and served the Lord in their generation and have slept. Are you going to keep the banner flying? Or will the faith of the fathers be destroyed in your own time?

Let us pray.

Feel free to share or comment!

PS

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When Jesus Saw Their Faith

Faith is an invisible act that translates to a visible action. It was the faith of the people bearing the sick that made them to do all they could to bring the man to Jesus.

And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.

² And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.

³ And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.

⁴ And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.

⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

⁶ But there was certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,

⁷ Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?

⁸ And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?

⁹ Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?

¹⁰ But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)

¹¹ I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.

¹² And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.

Mk.2:1-12

The bible told us that Jesus was in a house preaching the word unto them. He was not there for exhibition. He was not there for a feast or to relax. He was there to preach the word to his visitors as well as his hosts.

The people who brought the sick guy believed in the word of Jesus that was why they made it their responsibility to get their friend to his presence.

Jesus could see one thing only in every man that comes to him. Once he could see an element of faith in you, you are entitling to his miracle. He saw faith in the ruler of the synagogue, woman with the issue of blood, the centurion, blind Bartimaeus and others who drew miracles out of him through their attitudes.

Faith is an attitude. It is a lifestyle that never accepts NO for an answer. As if to say, Jesus is incapacitated without faith in the heart of the people coming to him. And it use to baffle me when we expect Jesus to see how many years we have been in a particular position, how we are going through pains, and one of the world’s most difficult situation.

May I say this to you my beloved, Jesus knows all that you are going through, he is aware of whatever challenges that is confronting you presently. He wants to see something new (faith) in you.

Faith simplifies our access to miracle before Jesus. Faith is what the Lord is looking for in every man. What demystified miracle is faith. Unbelief denies will deny you access to the benefits of the things that Jesus paid for at the cross of Calvary. We need faith to access the things that have been freely given to us!

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The Pulpit As A Tool For Ambiguity

The gospel of the kingdom is simple and clear and so the adherent of the Christian faith should endeavour to propagate it with simplicity and clarity. There is so much ambiguity in the presentation of the gospel these days that subscribers to the Christian faith are daily wallowing in confusion.

This ambiguity in the presentation of the gospel originates from the pulpit. The pulpit as the custodian of the tenets of the Christian faith is supposed to lead in the correct interpretation and implementation of the law of God.

1 Corinthians 2:1:

 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.

However, the reverse is the case today. The pulpit has become a tool in the hands of its handlers to; settle scores, build personal empire, raise strong cult followers, acquire fame and popularity, destroy perceived enemies, and show case riches and opulence. Very often it is used as a weapon of vendetta.

People serve God based on their understanding. And this forms the reasons why there are variations in the life and character of the adherent of the Christian faith. The main reason being the fact that why some are for Paul, others have teamed up with Apollos. The reality today is there are too many camps belonging to different Paul and Apollos.

1 Corinthians 3:4:

For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal?

Suffice to say that the pulpit has succeeded in giving so too many interpretations to the law of God, thereby leading to the creation of ambiguities that the Church is experiencing today.

The Beneficiaries

One would have expected that the owner of the might and power behind the pulpit and the pew should be the over all beneficiary of their activities but No, that is not going to be. The beneficiaries are the custodians of the pulpit; the so called Levites, Father in the Lord, Bishops, GOs, men and women who hold more title than the man in whose name they have been priviledged. And for this they have more recognition than the one who sent them!

Feel free to share your thought about this article. 

 

LIFE AFTER MIRACLES

Today I shall be sharing with you my fans all over the world a message that really has blessed me. It was preached recently at couples’ gets together by one of the remnants of the old time religion in Africa. I have been privileged to share the texts of this message as preached by the man of God with little or editing. Do enjoy and feel free to share with others.

Our text will be Genesis 27:1-13 and we will be taking some vital life lessons from the Isaac & Rebekah and their two sons, Jacob & Esau. Before we start, let me remind you that Genesis 25 tells us of the miracle of child-bearing. Just like God did with the couple today, Isaac and Rebekah gave birth to the world’s first set of twins after waiting for 20 years. In Chapter 26, we see the Lord give the power to get wealth to Isaac to the point that he became richer than nations. What was dramatic about Isaac’s prosperity was that he started off from a deficit position as he had lost all his inheritance which Abraham gave him to a very terrible famine. But he bounced back.

The two miracles of how Isaac conquered childlessness and poverty are available to all of us. God has made a provision that none of us will be barren. De 7:14 “Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.” God has also promised those of us who believe victory over financial lack. 1Sa 2:8 “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and he hath set the world upon them.”

So Isaac conquered barrenness in chapter 25 and secured victory over poverty in chapter 26. But in chapter 27 we surprisingly find that his home was in the mess of deceit, division, bitterness and rage. He lost his two sons and his marriage crumbled. How could this have been? Surely, the miracle of child-bearing and financial increase should have helped to improve family relationships?

Before I probe further, let me say that you and I are most vulnerable shortly after a victory. A lion is most vulnerable shortly after it has caught its prey. Every one of us is susceptible and exposed to compromise and satanic attack shortly after we have just secured a major victory. Ask Joshua what happened to him after the walls of Jericho came down. After killing Goliath, David found himself in new battles with Saul. Bro Paul told us that HAVING DONE ALL WE SHOULD STAND. Why? We may have won a battle but the war is not yet over.

In order to move from victory to victory, we have to maintain the same level of consecration and commitment to God that gave us the initial victory in the first place. But this is what Isaac and Rebekah failed to do. So let’s go to their story very quickly in the limited time that we have.

Isaac

The Lord has sent me to talk first to men in the house.

Isaac was a great man and I am unworthy to make any negative comment about his life as we are going to see him in heaven. He was a man who married a woman strictly on the recommendation of his Father (and I put father in capitals)! I’m not sure anyone can do that today! The woman he married did not give birth for 20 years and, he not only stood by her but, kept interceding for her until she gave birth to twins. I’m not sure many African men can do that today.

We are told he was “was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see” (v. 1). When the bible says one’s eyes are dim, it refers to a loss of spiritual sensitivity and insight. A lack of sharpness in one’s spirit that makes a man vulnerable to unnecessary errors. He was over 90 at this point. But people that were older than him did not suffer this problem. We are told of Moses in De 34:7 “And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.”

Recall the way that Jacob placed his eyes with an accuracy of prophetic insight on the sons of Joseph in Gen 48. Though Jacob’s eyes were weak, but his spiritual eyes were very sharp. Simon the Prophet was also very old but his spiritual eyes were open to recognise baby Jesus in a crowd of children brought for dedication at the temple. We are told of Elisha whose eyes went with Gehazi as he procured the rewards of iniquity out of the hands of Naaman. And I can go on and on.

A man whose eyes are dim is a ‘short one’ in his own family. Whenever your wife or your children have to wake you up to pray to your Maker in the morning, your eyes are dim. You will be eventually swindled by human beings and demons.

But why did the eyes of Isaac go dim? The bible gives us some reasons. First, we are told in Ge 25:28 that “Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.” He was going to pour out the blessing of the firstborn upon a profane child as long as he got bush meat. Yorubas call this ijekuje. Even though Esau brought “grief of mind” to his parents, Isaac’s eyes were blind to his propensity for sexual immorality and ungodliness as long as he was given meat to eat. How many pastors today have allowed their eyes to be dimmed by greed and covetousness?

Your child is a thief in his office but you will not say anything as long as he is “settling” you. There are many pastors, many bishops, and many leaders who favour only those who find meat for them no matter the evil habits of these meat-suppliers. You cannot speak the truth anymore because something is in your mouth blocking your voice from being heard.

Greed and covetousness are troublers of homes.

Pr 15:27 “He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live.”

Ps 62:10 “Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.”

1 Pe5:2 “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind”.

The quality of your home as a man is a direct reflection of the quality of your spiritual life. Your eyes are dim when you do not provide leadership in your own home. When you do not take responsibility for solving the financial challenges of your family. When your wife is the driver of the family affairs and you have no idea what is going on.

But Isaac was not always like this. When he was younger, Isaac’s eyes were sharp. But as he grew old, he grew dull. When money came, his insight disappeared. There are many men like this. In your earlier years, you were quite sharp in spirit. It was so easy to spend time in God’s presence in studying the word, prayers and fasting.

But over time you have allowed the allure of money, power, fame and position to cover your eyes. You are now at ease in Zion. Your passion for your work and activities in church has taken a priority over your personal relationship with God and the health of your home. You are now weak on the inside. This is a shame.

If you read the passage, you’ll see that Isaac felt somehow uncomfortable with what Jacob was doing. Look at the questions and comments he made:

o   “Who art thou, my son?” (v. 18)

o   “How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son?” (v. 20)

o   “Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not.” (v. 21)

o   “The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” (v. 22)

But he could have avoided this problem if he had consulted with his wife in the first place. What we lose through selfishness is usually greater than what we gain through cooperation. By acting unilaterally, beloved brother, you actually lose more than whatever you think you can get. All of the problems created in this chapter could have been avoided if Isaac had shared his plans with Rebekah. A man who does not communicate with his wife is a disaster already happening. Communication is a key bond of marriage. If you cannot talk, you cannot win.

It is actually possible that Isaac did not see any reason to speak with Rebekah. Many men are like this. They are unapproachable and unreachable. They are in their own world, a world that consists of only one person. The woman cannot speak with them and be heard. Many men do not have anyone around them who can speak the truth to them. This is very dangerous. It is pride that makes a man ungovernable and unreachable. No one can talk to you on earth. Because you are who, sir? A pastor who does not have a pastor is actually a fool. If you have no one who can draw fuel out of the carburettor of your head as a man, believe me, you are heading towards hell fire.

Remember the bible says that one shall chase one thousand and two shall chase ten thousand. But if the two are not chasing together, the one would not even be able to chase anything! When there is no marital harmony, both of you would actually be the ones being chased about by the devil and the circumstances of life. One plus one is not the same as one and one. The bible says two are better than one. Show me where in the world where one is better than two. It is impossible!

 And don’t tell me two good heads are better than one. Whatever one does at all, two would do much better. You deceive yourself to think you can do without the counsel, views and opinion of your wife. You may not take the advice but you should always listen to it. Your wife is your greatest asset in life, not your business, not your ministry, not your bank accounts. In any case, who supplied the venison that Isaac wanted all so much to eat in this passage? It was the same woman that he refused to consult in the first place! When a man is not eating out of the hands of his wife, that family is quarter to divorce.

But I credit Isaac. He is a great man. The moment he realised what he had done was wrong, he immediately began to make amends. In verse 33 “Isaac trembled very exceedingly”. He was physically shaken by the thought that he had made a mistake. Later on, when his wife suggested that they should release Jacob for fear of his brother’s rage, Isaac concurred and sent his second son forth with another set of blessing (28:1). Which tells me that if he had been better managed by Rebekkah, the disaster of Chapter 27 would not have happened.

Isaac was quick to realise his mistake and you could see quite clearly that he forgave both his wife and Jacob his son. This is also not common today. It is scarce to see men who walk in forgiveness and love, who are eager to admit their mistakes and who are willing to move forward whenever they are found to have done a wrong.

Rebekah

Let’s turn our attention to Rebekah.

I believe that this woman meant well for her home. She was the one who directly received the prophecy that the “elder shall serve the younger” (Gen 25:23). But she went about fulfilling the divine utterance using the wisdom of the flesh and in the process permanently divided her family. Rebekah’s role in this passage is not salutary at all, and indeed you would not find anywhere in the bible following this where she is commended for what she did.

Women are very powerful, more powerful than even they realise. Please listen to me, beloved women of God in the house, you hold the power of life and death in your family. Women are responsible for everything in their families. That is the power God has given you. Time would not allow me to show you this important truth from the bible.

Whenever anything is built, it is so built by a woman. I challenge you to go and check. Whenever anything is destroyed, a woman is behind it. If a church is built, a woman is responsible. If it is destroyed, go and check, it is the women. If a family is built, it is the woman. If that family is destroyed, it is the woman. Women, especially today’s women, do not know nor appreciate the power God has given them to build and to destroy. Maybe you did not hear what I said: if anything is built, it is built by the actions and inactions of a wise woman. If anything is destroyed, a home, a church, a ministry, a nation, it is because of the actions and inactions of the women on ground.

Look at Proverbs 14:1

“Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.”

“A woman’s family is held together by her wisdom, but it can be destroyed by her foolishness.” (CEV)

“Olukuluku ologbon obinrin ni nko ile re, sugbon asiwere (omugo) a fi owo are re fa lule.” (YORUBA)

Beloved sister, you keep blaming your husband, but God is blaming you!

How did Rebekah destroy her family? She took over the baton of leadership in the home. She allowed herself to be separated from her husband. She manipulated the situation in her favour. She divided her children into camps. She gave up on Esau and she taught Jacob the art of deception.

Up to this point, Jacob was a novice to ogbonge lies. Infact when Rebekah came up with the plan, Jacob screamed, ‘Mummy, daddy will discover and curse me’. But Rebekah said “upon me be your cause” (v. 13). It was Rebekah’s plan. She fetched the animal and roasted it in a way that Isaac could not resist. She knew that the only way to get blessings out of Isaac was to roast something into his mouth. Women certainly know how to get what they want from their husbands!

She was the one who fetched and dressed Jacob in Esau’s attire. She taught him what to say. And would you know, based on the seeds sown into his life by Rebekah, Jacob grew to become the world record holder for deception in the bible. He went further not just to swindle his twin brother and his father; he also cheated Laban, Rebekah’s younger brother, out of his property. Deception that was unleashed by Rebekah never left the household. Jacob was swindled by Rebekah’s brother and was given a spare tyre wife on his wedding day against his wishes. His wives swindled him. The master swindler was even swindled by his own children.

The sins of the parents are usually amplified in the children except they are terminated through repentance, prayers and the mercy of God. Sister, when you introduce your children to sin, you don’t know the long lasting generational impact of your actions. When you reject the leadership of your husband, you don’t know that you are creating hell on earth for yourself. But today, the Lord will have mercy on you in Jesus name.

Your husband is not your mate – even if you are older than him. He is not your gang – even if you are richer than him. He is not your boy- even if you are wiser than him. He is not your partner – even if you have a part in him. He is your head and you must recognise and treat him as such. If you are want to submit to your husband, stop making the celebrities of entertainment and female icons of business your standard.

Your role models for becoming a godly wife are in the bible starting with Sarah. If your husband is a fool like Nabal, Abigail is the role model to follow. If your husband is given to rage and tantrums like Ahasuerus, your role model is Esther. If your husband is an invisible brother like Lapidoth, your role model is Deborah. The bible contains good examples that you can emulate. Sister, have you ever studied any of these wonderful women?

What was the motivation for Rebekah’s action? I find perhaps two reasons. One, I think that she sincerely believed that her husband was about to act contrary to divine instruction concerning the children. I think her original motivation was pure. However in going about it unilaterally by helping God she created more problems for herself. She designed a plan and implemented it without consulting her husband.

Whenever you help God, you end up destroying yourself. Why do you think she did this? I suggest the second motivation for her actions. She despised the authority of her husband. Why do I say that? Once she heard what Isaac had said, what do you think she should have done? She should have gone up to him to say, ‘Daddy, what did I hear you say? You want to bless the wrong son???’ She did not communicate her discontent. She just acted it out so blatantly. The bible says, “she spake unto Jacob her son” (v. 6), not Isaac her husband. When a woman wants to get at her husband, she can do it in very strange and unholy ways – without thinking of the damage that would be done thereafter.

Would you know that Rebekah was directly responsible for the vengefulness and bitterness generated in Esau? As a result of her actions, Jacob became a fugitive and lost at least 23 years of his life wandering around the world. She poisoned the minds of her children against one another. Twin brothers became enemies forever because of the seeds planted into their hearts by their mother. Indeed, her home became desolate by her actions and she died without a son to bury her. May this not be your portion in Jesus name?

We know of Sarah who wanted Hagar driven away and who allowed her husband to do that job even when it seemed unrealistic for a man to drive away his first son. We know of Mary who became mysteriously pregnant and who waited for God to convince her husband of the genuineness and holiness of that pregnancy without her taking up any action by herself. Jacob blessed Ephraim over Manasseh in the presence of Joseph their father without the family being divided. But Rebekah would not allow the authority and leadership of her husband. She would not curry it. Instead she would act against it not minding the consequences.

Conclusion

 We will all enjoy miracles! The Lord will surely settle you and grant you increase on all sides. Amen. But it seems to me that the emphasis that God wants to give us this day is for each of us to prepare for life after we obtain miracles. Many times, gifts take our hearts away from the giver. ASSETS can affect our ACCESS to the Lord if we put our minds in them. The ease with which wealth and increase ultimately disrupted Isaac’s home is cause for concern.

 Have you slowed down the pace of your personal commitment to God?  Is wealth and position getting into your head? Let me remind you of the Holy Scriptures: Mr 8:36 “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” 1Co 15:19 “If in this life ONLY we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” I love the way this verse is translated in the VOICE version: “If what we have hoped for in the Anointed doesn’t take us beyond this life, then we are world-class fools, deserving everyone’s pity.”

God will always fulfil His promises but we have to fulfil our responsibilities to Him and to one another. We have to stay the course and keep our feet firmly planted on the straight and narrow way, whether in life, marriage, or in the workplace. May the Lord grant you grace to steadfastly obey His word and to be found abounding in Him all the days of your life in Jesus name. Let us pray.