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All right, we're here in Genesis chapter 27, and we're continuing the series on the alphabetic characteristics. We're looking at the topic of deceit. So, deceit, deception, dishonesty. We're talking basically about lying, and there's a slight connotation difference between those words, but just generally talking about lying, we're looking at the topic of deceit. Now, you might say, Brother Stuckey, are all the sermons negative? No, they're not. I know we've had anger, bitterness, and childishness, and deceit, but there are a lot of good characteristics we'll look at through this series. But this is a unique sermon, because when we looked at anger, we talked about Samson, because Samson struggles with anger. When we looked at bitterness, we talked about Ahithophel, because Ahithophel struggles with bitterness. When we talked about childishness, we talked about Haman, because Haman is a very childish person. With deceit, I don't really think that Jacob was an extremely deceptive person. The difference is, we see one particular lie of Jacob, and it has a major impact. So, we're basically going to look at that lie, and see what took place as a result of his deception, as a result of his deceit. So, point number one, when it comes to the deceit of Jacob, he was influenced by others. He was influenced by his mother, Rebekah, to commit that sin. The Bible says in verse number eight, Now, therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee. Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats, and I will make them savory meat for thy father, such as he loveth. And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death. Now, of course, we believe in honoring your parents, and respecting authority, but when authority says to do wrong, that is when you disobey authority. And his authority, his mother saying, Pretend to be Esau, steal the blessing from your brother. This is wrong. This is a sin. He's being deceptive, or deceitful, right? Verse number eleven, And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. My father, a pro-adventure, will feel me, and I shall see him to him as a deceiver, and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. Now, here's the thing, the Bible says in this passage, that Isaac cannot see very well because he's older, so he's not going to be visibly able to see that it is not Esau. But, you know, Esau was a hairy man, okay? He was not a smooth man. And so he's saying, if I show up, he's going to feel my arms and realize, this is not Esau. And he's like, I'm going to get a curse upon me, because I'm going to seem like a deceiver. You know why Jacob's going to seem like a deceiver? Because he is. And he is going to get a curse. He's not going to get a blessing. You say, why? Because God is not going to bless your life when you lie, when you sin, when you do wrong. He is being deceptive. He doesn't get a blessing from the situation. He gets a curse as a result. And he is being a deceiver. He's lying to his father. Verse number 13. And what's interesting in verse 13, notice this. And his mother said unto him, upon me be thy curse, my son. Only obey my voice and go fetch me them. So his mother says, okay, I know you're worried about getting a curse. Don't worry. I'll take the blame. Is that the way it works? If someone says, hey, you know what? Go steal from the 7-Eleven. Yeah, but I might get in trouble. I'll take the blame for it. Don't worry. I'm sorry, but you're also going to get in trouble for it. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. And when Jacob is being dishonest, he is going to reap a punishment. Now Rebecca also reaps a punishment and we're going to see that. But if you're involved in a sin, whether you planned it or whether or not you executed it, if you're involved, you will reap a punishment because whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap, the Bible says. Now go in your Bible to Exodus 23. Exodus 23. Kind of reminds you of the story of Pontius Pilate, where Pontius Pilate doesn't want to be involved in the sin of putting Jesus to death. And he's basically like, hey, you know, I don't want to do this. And the Jews say, don't worry. His blood be upon us and upon on our children. And then Pilate washes his hands. I'm innocent. That doesn't make you innocent because you wash your hands in water. You're still guilty because you are involved in that sin. Now the Pharisees had the greater sin. The Jews had the greater sin according to Jesus. But that also says that Pilate had a sin as well. And you know, you could argue maybe Rebecca has the greater sin in this situation. But certainly Jacob also is involved in the sin as well and is guilty. Bible says in Exodus 23 verse 1, Thou shalt not raise a false report, put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil. You see, oftentimes in life, we don't want to do wrong. We don't want to sin. We don't want to say something or we do want to say something. But what happens? We go along with the crowd. We go along with the peer pressure. Right, I mean, the world's pushing you not to say anything negative about abortion or the LGBT. So what happens? You just kind of pretend like you're OK with it to not offend somebody. And with Jacob, he knows he should not lie. He says, I'm going to get a curse. I mean, he realizes, you know what? I don't see how I can be blessed because I'm being dishonest. And yet he goes along with the peer pressure of his mother, Rebecca, and he commits this sin because of the pressure from her. The Bible says don't follow a multitude to do evil. So if someone's doing something and you know it's wrong or they're trying to get you to do something that's wrong, you do what's right no matter what. You don't follow a multitude. You don't give in to peer pressure. Go in your Bible to Genesis 27. Genesis 27. Point number one, we see the influence of others or in this case, the influence of Rebecca to tell this lie. Point number two, we see iniquity to cover up the lie. Iniquity to cover up the deception or deceit. It says in Genesis 27 verse 14, And he went and fetched and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory meats such as his father loved. And Rebecca took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son. So first he's going to pretend to be Esau. He's going to lie about that. And now his mom is stealing from her son Esau in order to pretend to be like Esau for Jacob, right? And so, you know, Jacob here is being deceptive and now they're stealing also. So you have the initial sin, but now you're having iniquity to cover up that lie. It's not just that one initial sin. Then it says here in verse 16, And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands and upon the smooth of his neck, and she gave the savory meat and the bread which she had prepared into the hand of her son Jacob. And he came unto his father and said, My father, and he said, Here am I. Who art thou, my son? And so he comes in saying, Here am I. And he's hoping his dad will be like, Oh, thank you. I bless you Esau. You know, go on your way. But his father's like, he's expecting Esau, but he hears a voice. Doesn't really sound like Esau. Apparently Jacob was not good at sounding, you know, like his brother or I mean, I guess they didn't sound very much alike because Isaac hears it. He can't see that it's not Esau, but when he hears the voice, he's like, Who art thou? Who is this? Because that doesn't really sound like Esau. And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau their firstborn. So now he's doing another iniquity to cover up the initial deception. He wanted to just walk in and pretend to be Esau. They steal. And now he's saying, I am Esau. That's a lie. I have done according as thou betest me. That's another lie. So you have the initial sin and you have lie after lie in all this iniquity to cover up the initial sin. I have done according as thou betest me. Arise, I pray thee. Sit and eat of my venison that thy soul may bless me. So, I mean, Jacob's like, it's me. Don't worry. Just quickly eat and bless me, right? I mean, he wants to get it over with. You say, why? Because his brother is going to be coming soon. He's got to get the job done, get the blessing, and then leave before his brother comes. So you've got a problem, right? And then it says in verse 20, And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And so Isaac's saying, you know, I gave you this command and then you showed up in an hour. I would have thought it would take longer to kill and then prepare the food. And of course, Jacob wants to get it done before Esau gets there. But his dad's like, this doesn't make sense. I just told this to you and five minutes later, here you are. And it doesn't even sound... So his dad, he doesn't necessarily think that this is not Esau, but he's really not sure. He's like, this doesn't quite make sense. Right? And he's kind of questioning this in his head. Now, up till this point, although many sins have been committed to cover up that initial sin, I don't think a major sin has been committed. Now, obviously, all sin is wrong. But lying is not the same as murder. Right? Lying is not the same as, you know, blaspheming God's name. Lying is not the same as other sins. But here's the thing, if you know this story, Jacob gets a horrible punishment. And when you reap what you sow, you're going to reap a proper punishment for sowing. So the question comes up, why does he get such a big punishment? And I think the answer is found here in verse 20. How is it that Dallas found it so quickly, my son, and he said, because the Lord thy God brought it to me. See, here's the thing, there's a level to lies that you tell. Let God be true, but every man a liar, we've all lied before, but when you invoke the name of God into your lie, now it is not just a small sin. Now you've got a big sin. I mean, how would you feel if somebody went out and did something wrong and sinful, and they're like, man, why are you doing that? It's like, well, brother so and so said it was okay. And it's like they invoke your name and you're not involved in it. Or it's like, hey man, you shouldn't drink. Well, Jesus turned water into wine. You're invoking God's name into your sin. I wouldn't be happy if let's say you got caught smoking by another church member. Well, brother Stuckey said it's okay. Look, I'm going to be pretty mad that you brought up my name because no, I did not say that. Right? And Jacob, I don't think has a big sin until he makes this statement to cover up the sin. And he said, because the Lord that God brought it to me. And now he invokes God's name into his sin. Now look, obviously, we all struggle with sin. We all make mistakes. We all tell lies sometimes. Never use God as your justification for your sinful life. I mean, if you're living a sinful life, just own it. Take responsibility and say, I messed up. I have sinned. I'm sorry God. Do not invoke God's name or justify the sins that you commit. But this is what Jacob does. And why does he do this? Because isn't it true that when you tell a lie or do something wrong, you have to end up covering up that sin, right? You tell one lie or at least that's the plan and then you've got a lie to cover it up. How did you bring it so quickly? God brought it to me. And he's not really thinking. He's just saying whatever to get out of it and now he's making it far worse to cover up this initial lie. The best thing for Jacob is that before he made the statement, he would have just said, Dad, I'm sorry I lied. That would have been the best thing for him. It would have spared him decades of problems, but he just keeps telling lies to cover up that initial lie. Then it says here in verse 21. And here's another example. In the United States, when you go to a courtroom, they'll put a Bible in front of you and you basically hold up your hand and you swear by the Bible. Now, I don't advocate this because let your yay be yay and your nay nay. But the idea is that people, although they're willing to tell lies, they're not going to swear by God or swear by the Bible. They're going to feel guilt for doing that. And so that's why the custom is there. Obviously, if someone has no conscience, they're not going to feel guilty about it. But the reason why is because people are going to feel bad about saying, Well, do you swear by God that this is true? It's like, never mind. I lied. Right? Because you would feel bad about invoking God's name or the holy Word of God into your sin. Right? It says here in verse 21, And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray to you, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not. And Isaac is still saying, you know, it doesn't quite add up to me. He's like, come here. Your voice doesn't match. The story doesn't seem to make sense. Come here and let me feel you. Verse 22, And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. Now, we have a literal story here and I'm preaching through it to talk about deceit. There's also a great symbolism here in all Scriptures given by inspiration of God. And this story also shows as an example not to trust your feelings over sound wisdom, what your mind is telling you, what you know is true. Because Isaac says this doesn't make sense and then he trusts his feeling over what he knows to be true. And it's showing you, hey, don't trust your feelings in life. You say, why? Your feelings go up and down. Right? Your heart's deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Your emotions go up and down, up and down. Don't trust your feelings. Trust the Word of God. Trust the truth. And Isaac, he trusts the feeling. And it says, And he discerned him not, verse 23, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands, so he blessed him and he said, Art thou my very son Esau? So it's like once again, all right, you say you're Esau. You feel like Esau. You brought the venison. And he's like, Are you my son? And he said, I am. So he lies once again. So here's the thing. You look at this story, you might think of it as one sin, but it's not one sin. There's lie after lie after lie. They're stealing from Esau. And the worst, I think, is invoking God's name into the situation. And that's where the big punishment comes. Here's a quote. Here it says, All the lies that people tell just to cover up the truth which reveals itself in the end. Isn't that true though? You tell a lie because you don't want people to know the truth. And eventually everybody finds out anyway. And you got egg on your face. You look like a fool. It's like, you know what? It'd be better off just telling the truth right up front. But here's the thing. It comes naturally to us. to tell lies, doesn't it? Little kids when they get in trouble, what's the first reaction? They lie. Right? They don't want to admit the truth. And of course, as parents, we've got to teach our kids, hey, be truthful. At our home, if our kids lie to us, the punishment is a spanking. You say, why? Because that's a major problem that could develop in their life if they become a habitual liar. And I don't think that Jacob is a habitual liar, but this one lie destroys his life. And we're seeing the problems and the dangers of being deceitful or dishonest. Point number one, we see the influence of others. Point two, we see iniquity to cover up the lie. Point three, we see an enemy. We have a new enemy that emerges to Jacob, nay, Esau. Now, they're not the best of friends, but they're not really enemies at this point until after this situation. Genesis 27, verse 41. Verse 41, And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, the days of mourning for my father at hand, then will I slay my brother Jacob. Now, Esau says within his heart, I'm going to kill Jacob. What's interesting is even though he says this in his heart, his mom finds out. How's that possible? Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaking. What probably took place is that Esau told one of his friends, hey, don't tell anybody, but I'm going to kill Jacob. And that person told somebody and eventually his mom found out. Right? Go on your Bible to Romans 14. Romans 14. Romans 14. And one of my favorite verses is found in Romans 14, verse 7. It's a verse I quote a lot, especially for this series. I think I've already quoted it a few times. But the Bible says in Romans 14, verse 7, For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. Now, what does that mean? It means that the life you live is not an isolated life where you don't affect anybody else. Meaning, if you're serving God, it will motivate others to serve God. If you don't serve God, it will cause others to not want to serve God. You say, Brother Saki, I'm only affecting myself by drinking alcohol. None of us liveth to himself. You're affecting your wife, or your husband, your kids. You're affecting your job, which is your means of providing. You affect other people by the life you live. None of us liveth to himself. Any sin you commit is going to affect those around you the most. I'll tell you what, as a husband and a father, one of the big motivations I have to serve God is the fact that I have a wife and kids that are dependent upon the life I live. God, I don't live to myself. The life I live affects other people. I'd say it's the big thing that every father and every mother would say once their child was born, it caused them on the inside, I need to make some changes because I want my kids to be godly and have a good example. It's a big motivation to serve God because none of us liveth to himself. The life you live affects other people. And no man dieth to himself. I mean, if a person were to commit suicide, they only harm themselves. But wait a minute, what about their family? What about their co-workers? What about people they know? None of us liveth to himself and no man dieth to himself. So what you do affects other people. You say, but how did Jacob affect other people? Well, he affected his brother. He affected his parents. He changed the course of his life, which we're going to see as a result of his sin. Go to Proverbs 26. Proverbs 26. Proverbs 26 in your Old Testament. You go to the middle of your Bible, you've got the book of Psalms, and the book right after Psalms is the book of Proverbs. See, you might have this mindset, well, wait a minute, what if I commit a sin and nobody finds out about it? Well, number one, God always finds out about everything. But number two, even if nobody else finds out about it, it still affects other people. Sin and the life you live, it's going to affect other people in a negative way. So if you really love, and this is why the Bible says that if you really love others, it's by keeping the commandments. You prove that because when you break the commandments, you affect other people. And so if you really love your wife, you really love your husband, you really love your kids, obey what God says. You say why? Because by obeying God's commandment, it will positively affect those around you. Proverbs 26 verse 20, Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out. So where there is no talebearer, Proverbs 26 verse 20, the strife ceaseth. As coals are to burning coals and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife. The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. You know the famous expression, Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. You know, that is a good expression to try to live by, but it's completely false. It's not really true though. Because sticks and stones, it's like you get in a fight with someone. As a guy, when you're young, you fight with your buddies, you get mad at one another, you wrestle it out, you box it out, and then all of a sudden, you're fine and it's over. But if somebody were to lie about you, or to spread gossip, it doesn't just go away like a wound would. I mean, it sticks around, and it's like a wound that can permanently come up. We talked about bitterness several weeks ago. That bitterness can come up because of something from years ago. It's like, you know what, just throw stones at me. Don't lie about me though. Don't destroy my reputation, because you lie about someone, you say something about someone. Here's the thing, you can't easily undo that. I mean, if I were to stand up here and make a Facebook video ripping somebody apart and everything, and then all of a sudden, five minutes later say, well, you know what, I said it wasn't true. People are still going to think it's true whether it is or not. If somebody makes an accusation about me, well, I saw a brother stuck getting drunk. You know, I can deny it, and there's still going to be people that believe it. Why? Because when somebody says, leave it, whether it's true or not. Right? And so, when you say things as a tail-bearer, you're actually causing wounds that hit the inside of someone, not just a surface thing, but on the inside, something that doesn't easily heal. Verse 23, Burning lips in a wicked heart are like a pot-shirt, covered with silver dross. He that hateth, dissembles with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him. That's what we're talking about, deceit. When he speaketh fair, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart. You say, brother Stuckey, I'm not really a gossip. I just tell my one best friend, and they would never repeat it to anybody. I told them, I'm just telling you, just don't repeat it to anybody. And then all of a sudden, that person tells it to their one best friend. But don't worry, they would never repeat it. Well, I'm pretty sure the Bible says, don't curse the king, because the little birdie's going to come and bring that news. Gossip spreads. And if you are part of that gossip, you're part of the problem whether you started it or not. You are keeping the strife going by spreading that to other people. And what you're showing is not love, because love come with a transgression. You're showing hatred. You're showing that you don't care about somebody. Verse number 26. Whose hatred is covered by deceit. His wickedness shall be showed before the whole congregation. Whoso dig of the pit shall fall therein, and he that rolleth the stone, it will return upon him. A lying tongue hated those that are afflicted by it, and a flattering mouth worketh ruin. Go to your Bible and go to Genesis 27. Genesis 27. Genesis 27. You say, brother, I didn't do anything wrong. I just spread the truth. Did you know that the truth doesn't always need to be said? Are you aware of that? It's okay to have the truth, and you don't have to spread it to other people. Quite honestly, even though I think pretty much all my friends on Facebook are like-minded people, people that add me or people that I know, and they're like-minded, but I see a lot of people say things that are just false. I don't waste my time, though, rebuking everybody on Facebook. I mean, the best thing for a lot of people is probably just get off social media, because social media is really a means to commit a lot of sins in 2023. And a lot of times, it's like, hey, we all have an opinion about stuff, but it doesn't mean we have to say it. I have a lot of opinions about a lot of things. I've already got up here. Let me just preach my opinions on everything I've never said. It's like, man, I would just be, you did this, you did, but what's the purpose of that? It doesn't do any good, and it's just causing problems, and you're spreading a situation rather than getting rid of it, right? And it mentions in the midst of the gossip, which is why I turn there specifically, it mentions deceit, because oftentimes, deceit is part of that. They could be lying about someone, but whose hatred is covered by deceit. It might not just be a lie someone tells, but they're deceptive, and they say, well, I just did this to help when they're not trying to help. They're doing it because they're not really happy with someone they want to make them look bad, right? Gossip is a major sin, and of course, this is something that comes naturally to us. It's something that, you know what, all of us can be involved in, and it's wrong. We shouldn't be involved in it, according to Proverbs 26, according to the Word of God. Number one, we see the influence of others to commit to sin. Number two, we see iniquity to cover up the lie. Number three, we see a new enemy that arises, Esau. Number four, we see immigrating. All of a sudden, Jacob has to immigrate to another country as a result of this initial lie. Notice what it says in verse 42. And these words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebekah. Once again, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. Eventually, these words came out of the mouth of Esau. Rebekah hears, and she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau is touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee. Now, therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee thou to Laban, my brother to Haran. You know, if I'm Jacob, I'm thinking, the last time I obeyed your voice and pretended to be Esau, now he wants to kill me, and now you're telling me to move to another location? I'm going to immigrate? I'd be like, I'm sorry, Mom, I don't really want to obey your voice anymore. Right? So, she did that initial lie, and there was so much iniquity to cover it up, now he has to immigrate because Esau hates him. And so, point number one, we see the influence of others. Point number two, we see iniquity to cover up the lie. Point three, we see a new enemy. Number four, we see immigrating. Number five, let us see the impact of the lie. What is the impact of this deception by Jacob? Verse 44, and tarry with him a few days until thy brother's fury turn away. So, she says, it's only going to be a few days. Now, quite literally, a few means generally two or three. It can mean a little bit more than a couple. A couple is two. A couple or a pair is two. A few can be a little bit more. It can mean two, three, four, whatever. And, of course, the expression of few. I'll be there in a few minutes, 20 minutes, or Filipino time, 100 minutes. I don't know, right? It depends. So, I'll be there in a few minutes, and then five days later, hey, you know, are you coming, right? But I'll be there a few days. Obviously, she's telling her son it's going to be a short time. Your brother's fury, his anger, his wrath is going to turn away, and I'm going to call for you, and you're going to come back. Let me ask you a question. Was it just a few days? I mean, a few days go by, and now it's a few weeks. A few weeks go by, and now it's a few months. A few months go by, and now it's a few years. A few years go by. I mean, remember, when he meets Esau again, a lot has changed. I mean, Jacob has a lot of wives at that point, right? A lot of wives, a lot of kids. I mean, a few decades go by. Let me ask you this question. Did Rebekah ever see Jacob ever again? No. I mean, show me in the Bible where Rebekah ever sees her son ever again. She didn't. I mean, a lot of time went by. He doesn't get reunited. I mean, Rebekah has a huge punishment as a result. I mean, she tells her son to lie because she loves him so much. She doesn't get reunited. I mean, this would destroy the life of a mother never seeing her son again. And with Jacob, I mean, decades go by. We're not looking at the whole life of Jacob, but a lot of time goes by, and I'm sure that he's grieving because I just want to be home. I want to see my mom. I want to see my dad. I want to be reunited. But the fury didn't turn away in a few days. And time goes by and Jacob is just gone. Why? Because whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. And of course, I think it's because he invokes God's name is the big issue here. But, I mean, a lot of time goes by. The best thing at this point would be that he would go to his brother with a mediator and say, I give back the blessing. Forgive me. I messed up. Because his life gets destroyed. But of course, that's not what he does. And you know what? I think if you could stop and talk to Jacob at this point, was it worth it? As years go by, Jacob, what do you have to say now? Was it worth having this blessing? And I don't really see much of a blessing in the life of Jacob. He got a curse, like he said, right? He got a curse. He didn't get a blessing as a result of telling this lie. You say, why? Because when you sin, you're never going to be blessed by God as a result. He gets cursed by God. He doesn't get a blessing. Verse 45. Until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him, then I will sin and fetch thee from thence. Why should I be deprived also of you both in one day? And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me? And of course, Rebekah's not being fully honest with her husband Isaac about the situation, and they send off their son, and he's just gone. That's not the end of it, though. Go to Genesis 29. Genesis 29. That alone would be a punishment that would not be worth it. But it gets worse for Jacob. He is still reaping what he's sown in Genesis 29. And it says in Genesis 29, verse 14, And Laban said to him, this is his uncle, Surely thou are my bone and my flesh, and ye abode with him the space of a month. And so basically, when he's abiding with Laban, he's basically getting to live rent-free for a month. He has a place to sleep. He's getting to eat. And Laban says, Hey, you're family. You're welcome to be here. Then in verse 15, And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou are my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for not? Tell me, what shall thy wages be? And what we see in verse 15 is that Jacob is working during that month. He's allowed to just stay there for free, but he's actually working. I'm not saying Jacob's a bad guy. He's a great example of being a hard worker, and we see that in verse 15. And he works hard, and then Laban's saying, You're working for free. I'm going to hire you. I'm going to give you a job because you're a benefit to me. You're a blessing. And this is Jacob's new job. Right? Verse 16, And Laban had two daughters. The name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah was tender-eyed, but Rachel was beautiful and well favored. And Jacob loved Rachel and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter. And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee than I should give her to another man. Abide with me. And Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed unto him but a few days for the love he had to her. And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my life, for my days are fulfilled that I may go in unto her. And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast. Now let me say this about reaping what you've sown. When you reap what you've sown, you are going to reap in the same way as what you have sown. So what I'm saying is, Jacob sowed deception, and he's going to reap a punishment in the same form. And we're going to see this very clearly from the life of Jacob. Let me also say this on a side point since I'm talking about reaping what you've sown. This is not the same thing as karma. The world uses this phrase karma. It's not the same thing though. What you're going to see in Buddhist cultures when they talk about karma, if a kid is like bad at math, well, this is your karma because you were bad in a previous life. Right? You don't live multiple lives. You live one life, and you reap what you sow in a good way or a bad way in the form of what you've sowed it. Okay? It's not the same thing as karma. But you're going to reap in the same way as what you've sown. So what Jacob sowed was deception. What you would expect to see from the word of God is what? He is going to reap a punishment which is deception, which is lying. Okay? Notice what it says here in verse 23. And it came to pass in the evening that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to him, and he went in on to her. And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah, Zelpeh is made for a handmaid. And it came to pass that in the morning behold it was Leah. And he said to Laban, What is this that thou hast done unto me? Did not I serve with thee for Rachel? Wherefore then hast thou beguiled me? You tricked me. You were dishonest. You lied to me. Now did Laban do wrong? Absolutely. Did Leah do wrong? Absolutely. Don't tell me. Leah's the godly wife and Rachel's the ungodly one. Leah lied to marry Jacob. That's pretty bad. I don't see either one of them as necessarily being the most godly. We see both of them make major mistakes, major sins. But Laban beguiled. He tricked Jacob. He said, It's not fair. Whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. I mean, it's a law that is going to take place. It's like the law of gravity. It's something that's going to take place. It's a fact. It will happen. Certain things you know. I mean, if I drop this, it's going to hit here in a second. Everybody knows it. And when it comes to committing sins, you will reap a punishment from it. Because whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. And in the same way, he was tricked. He was lied to. But think about it on a deeper level. Jacob stood right in front of Isaac. And Isaac did not know it was Jacob. And Leah was right there before Jacob. And he didn't know it was Leah. I mean, isn't that amazing? I mean, that is in the exact same way you have reaped what you've sown. Now part of it, you would say they probably look similar. Part of it is probably dark. But probably the big part is you reap what you sow, so this is going to take place. It is a punishment that's going to happen. I'll be honest. I didn't even think about that till recently. That literally, she's right there. And he doesn't recognize her. Well, same thing with you and Isaac. You were right there, right in front of his face. He felt your arms, and he could not tell it was you. And you know what? The same thing is going to happen to you as a punishment. Because whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Now look, this is a pretty big punishment that takes place. You end up accidentally marrying the wrong person. Now, I don't think this is ever going to happen to anyone in this room. You accidentally marry the wrong person. Well, let me just be honest. What Jacob should have done at that point is not married Rachel. Because multiplying wives under yourself is a sin. It's wrong. It doesn't result in a blessing or a benefit or give him a happy life. He should have just said, you know what? I'm going to stick with Leah. And the same sort of application, if you marry someone and years later regret it, you make it work. You stay married. Because the Lord God hateth putting away. You say, but I was expecting to marry Rachel. It turned out to be Leah. You make it work. Because the Lord God hateth putting away. He hateth divorce, the Bible says. And Jacob should have just stayed married to Leah. And not married Rachel also. But of course that is not what takes place in the story. Then it says in verse 26, and Laban said, it must not be so done in our country to give the younger before the firstborn. I don't think Laban's telling the truth. I mean, it's up for debate. But I don't really see anything in the life of Laban that's going to make me trust what he says. So you naturally want to believe people. But it's like, well, you just tricked Jacob into marrying the wrong person. I'm not really sure I believe your next statement that the older has to get married first. I think over the course of seven years, Jacob would have figured that out already. He would have already heard that from Rachel over those seven years. Well, actually my sister has to get married first. I think that Laban is lying again. I could be wrong. The Bible doesn't directly say. I just don't really trust what Laban says personally. Go to Genesis 31. But that's not the end of the punishment for Jacob. It keeps going to Genesis 31. And the Bible says in Genesis 31 verse 4, and changed my wages 10 times. But God suffered him not to hurt me. I believe that everything Jacob says there is true. I do believe that God protected Jacob. I do believe that at this point, Jacob is actually trying to serve God, but you still are reaping punishments from the past. Anyway, it could be in life you might be serving God now and you have these things happening to you because of what you did in the past. Just the way it is. I mean, you reap what you sow. I mean, it might take time for all those things to come. You've got to accept it. You cannot let your present situation determine whether or not your doing is right. You know what you're doing is right if you're obeying God. Fear God and keep His commandments for this is the whole duty of man. So if you're waking up and reading the Bible and going to church and going soul winning and trying to live a separated life, you're right with God, but you might still have punishments from your past. It's just the way it works. And that's what's taking place with Jacob. But he says, My father hath deceived me. You're right. I mean, Laban is tricking him. Laban's begotten. Laban is deceiving him. Laban is being dishonest. I mean, he's changed his wages ten times. It's not fair. Well, whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. That's just what takes place. I mean, it's not really Laban's fault. I mean, Laban's sinning also, but it's Jacob because you sow this and you are going to reap the punishment. Jacob, was it worth it, that blessing that you got, having to immigrate to another country? How did you feel to have to immigrate to North Korea overnight? And then you're away from your family and then your boss is lying to you all the time. You get tricked into marrying the wrong person. Was it worth it? Sin is never worth it. Go to Genesis 33. Genesis 33. Genesis 33. On a side point, let me say this. One thing I think we should do when we read our Bibles, you know, when you're reading the New Testament, you're seeing doctrines and things come up, but when you're reading stories from the Old Testament, don't just passively read the stories and just think, oh, this is an interesting story, David and Goliath. Realize that all Scripture actually teaches you a lot. And the story of Jacob is actually really interesting if you stop and think about everything that's being said and what it means and what the Bible's trying to say to you. I think Genesis is probably the most interesting book of the Bible personally. The stories are amazing, but make sure we pay attention when we're reading the Bible. Number one, we see the influence of others. Number two, we see iniquity to cover up the lie. Number three, we see a new enemy. Number four, we see immigrating. Number five, we see the impact of the lie. And number six, lastly, we see incessant fear, constant fear, incessant fear. This whole time, Jacob is afraid of his brother Esau. And realize that at this point, I mean, Jacob is married with a lot of kids at this point. A lot of time has gone by. This is not just one year or two years. I mean, we're talking decades that have gone by a long time. And it says in Genesis 33 verse 1, And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, Esau came and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children onto Leah and onto Rachel and onto the two handmaids. And he put the handmaids and their children foremost. And Leah and her children after. And Rachel and Joseph hind her most. So in verse 2, you're seeing the importance to Jacob. Let's put the handmade wives first because I don't love them as much. Then we're going to put Leah because she's my second favorite wife. And then we're going to put Rachel at the end and Joseph. And I wonder why the brothers hated Joseph so much. Because even after, I mean, even after what we're going to look at, you're still seeing repercussions from choices Jacob makes, all really going back to this initial thing. Because, I mean, I don't know. I mean, I don't have four wives. I have one wife. But I imagine if you have four wives and kids with all the wives, there's going to be a lot of fighting that goes on. Right? I mean, it's obviously going to cause problems all the time between them going back and forth. And then it says here in verse 3, And he passed over before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times until he came near to his brother. And Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. It's funny because what Jacob is so afraid of, his brother Esau, he didn't even need to be afraid. Esau's not even mad anymore. He said, why is Esau not mad? Because here's the thing. Esau's life actually is pretty blessed. I mean, financially. I mean, he's doing pretty well when you read the story. But honestly, Esau really got the blessing here and not Jacob. Right? I mean, Jacob's life goes under a lot of cursing. Now, the ultimate blessing, the promise was through Jacob. But in terms of the personal life, what they're going through, Esau's doing okay for those couple decades, not Jacob. And here's the thing. If you're living in sin or you have something that is not settled, you have a guilty conscience and you often live in fear. When you're right with God, you're not really afraid of anything. But when you're not right with God, the smallest little thing makes you afraid. You're paranoid, as we would say, of things getting found out or getting in trouble because of what you've done. And Jacob, because he has this unsettled situation, he's living under incessant fear. And let me just give you two takeaways from the story. Number one, Jacob never had to lie to begin with. I mean, God promised the blessing is through the younger son. He didn't even need to lie. He goes through all of this. It's like, Jacob, you and Rebecca, what are you doing? God promised the younger son is going to be blessed, so why are you concerned? And they're so worried about getting this blessing because Isaac loves Esau more, Rebecca loves Jacob more, and it's like God promised the blessing's going to go through Jacob. It was in God's will it was going to happen. You did not have to take matters into your own hands. The other thing that's interesting about this story is that Jacob's life is a mess for decades, and he's afraid of Esau. He's on the run. He gets tricked into marrying the wrong person. He goes through all of these problems. He says it's not fair. It's not right, even though he's reaping what he's shown. And when does it finally end? When he finally confronts that original deceit. When he finally confronts Esau, it all ends. And the thing is, if we do wrong, we can run from it. We can hide. We can try to cover it up. It's only going to end when you finally confront it. The natural tendency is when you go through problems, let me just run from my problems. And you're going to be running your entire life. And you're only going to get rid of it when you actually confront it. Over that time, Jacob could have confronted it a decade earlier. Or when it first happened. Look, people get mad at you, but when you say you're sorry and if he gave back the blessing, I believe it would basically have been done. He would have been fine. But instead of actually confronting the situation, instead of dealing with his sin, he runs from his sin. He never deals with it. In reality, all these things are happening because you have not settled that initial situation. You cannot run from all your problems in life. We're all going to have problems. We're all going to have difficulties. We're all going to have times where we've got to say those very difficult words, I'm sorry. Nobody likes to say those words. But I'll tell you what, you need to be in a pattern in life to be willing to just humble yourself and deal with situations when necessary. Let me be honest with you. Both my wife and I, sometimes we say we're sorry to our kids. You say why? Because I can be a bit like Samson sometimes, lose my temper, and then I owe my kids an apology. And yeah, they're meant to obey me and listen, but if I lose my temper and yell at my kids, what should I do as a parent? I should say I'm sorry. Don't be as a father or mother, wow, I'm never going to say I'm sorry to my kids. Just be willing to humble yourself if necessary. If you've done wrong to someone, say you're sorry. If you mess up, say you're sorry. Because if you're not willing to do that, you're going to end up running into a lot of problems in your life. And Jacob's life is a mess, and I think Jacob's a man who loved God, and I'm not saying he's a bad guy. I mean, it was really a small little sin, and it turned into this major situation because it was never dealt with. And because Jacob was not willing to confront it and just admit his wrong and say he was sorry, and he kept covering it up, covering it up, and then all of a sudden you reap a huge punishment when you could have dealt with it a long time earlier. Look, is telling a lie the biggest sin in the world? No, it's not. I'm not going to pretend like it's like committing murder. It's not. But the thing is, when you tell lies, you oftentimes have a lot of other sins attached to that original lie. And one of the big things we should be teaching our kids at a young age is be an honest person. Tell the truth. Don't be a deceptive person. Be willing to admit the truth. Because you know what? If people start at a young age just telling lies and getting away with stuff, that's never going to end, and it's going to destroy their life. And I'll tell you what. This is a sin that comes very, very, very naturally to young kids. Very naturally. I'll give you a foolish example with myself. When I was a kid, I remember we had upstairs and downstairs and I was always playing sports and being rowdy so there'd be the broken light bulb when I accidentally hit a soccer ball or basketball into it or whatever. And I remember one time I was playing on this thing that had wheels and I accidentally crashed into the wall and my parents heard it upstairs and it caused a huge hole in the wall. And then all of a sudden I run upstairs and just pretend to be doing whatever. My parents are like, what happened? I'm like, I don't know. Why are you asking me? Right? And I refuse to admit it. I never admit it. I remember because it was like ten years later I'd never admitted it even though my parents knew it. And I remember, oh, by the way, Mom and Dad, remember that hole that happened in her basement? I did that. Right? But it's foolish because here's the thing, I could have just admitted to my parents and said I was sorry and they would have forgiven me. And I remember just the weeks after that I'm really scared about getting in trouble. It's like, man, I'd rather just get in trouble immediately and get it over with. Right? It's better just to admit it. Don't run from the truth. Be an honest person. In the long run, committing sin is never going to benefit you. It's better to just face the truth even if it's tough at the beginning. Let's close in word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and just getting to see about the life of Jacob and deception and asking to help us all to be honest people and not to take this attitude, well, it's a small sin. It's no big deal. Any sin is wrong. Any sin is not going to be worth it, God. Help us just to be honest people that live by the truth, God. Men of truth, as the Bible says. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.