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the wonders wrong. Welcome back to the Sherr Foundation Baptist Church for our evening service. Let's take our bulletins and go through them real quickly. If you don't have a bulletin, would you raise your hand? Brother Ramon will bring you a bulletin. Everybody got a bulletin? Alright, great. Good singing too, by the way, for a small group of people. Of course, we've had a lot of people out sick, so praying for them to get better. I don't know who always messes this thing up down here, but we'll fix it right now. Just can't handle it. Alright, on our front cover we have our verse of the week. It says, He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Psalm chapter 126 verse 6. Great, great verse there and true as the day is long. Our service times are Sunday morning at 10.30 a.m., Sunday evening 3.30 p.m. We're in Genesis chapter 30 tonight and our Thursday Bible study is at 6.30 p.m. on Thursdays and we're in 1 Corinthians chapter 14. And we'll be talking about tongues and preaching and the rules for those things. That's kind of the subject matter. Our sowing times are listed below. We had sowing today. I don't think anybody got saved in the sowing, but we did have someone saved in the morning service. We had two baptisms, so praise God for that. And there was some kind of early winter storm out there or something, but it sounds like the sunshine came out for the sowing, so that's great. There's sowing this week. I'm not sure things have been getting canceled just because people have been getting sick and stuff like that. It's a stomach bug. The stomach bug that's going around is pretty bad, so I would just advise you to not eat off any other kids' stuff or you know how parents are, they're like, I wouldn't do that. There's like a two-week span. You just shouldn't do that right now. You know, so make your kids wash your hands, all right? But yeah, we're doing the knuckle bump thing for the, you know, no sickness. We'll just institute it now so we can kind of keep this stuff at bay. When it's airborne, it's kind of hard to do that, but I'm not making you all wear masks, so that'd be ridiculous. But anyhow, we got our praise report. You can see there. And so that makes 47 baptisms for the year. That's great. I finished my series about the right kind of preaching this morning, so we'll be on to a new series next week. Back to the kingdom of the cults, so I'm going to finish off the Mormonism thing. I think I did two sermons on it already, but I just kind of want to wrap that one up. And so I'll be preaching about that next Sunday morning, so and then let's see, we got October. Actually, that's not true. I'm not preaching a new series next week because I'm preaching about Halloween, so anyway, I forgot all about that. So the weekend after that I'll start that series. Alright, got it. I got to keep these things straight in my mind. Am I saying this out loud? Oh, yeah. Sorry, didn't mean to talk out loud about that. It was supposed to be in my mental mind. Anyway, so October 31st we're going to have pizza after the AM service and we'll have people bring desserts and sides and snacks and things like that and don't everybody bring the same thing. If you all bring candy corn, you're in trouble. I'll be preaching against your sins on the morning service, alright? Candy corn is a sin, alright? Oh, see? Divisions will happen. Anyway, I'm teasing, but we're not having a chili cook-off just to we don't want that division causing our church, alright? Anyway, so yeah, there will be a men's preaching night on October 31st. So what men are planning on preaching? One, two, three, four, five, six. Perfect. Ryle and Tony? No? Okay, we got six so far. Anyway, there might be more, so we'll figure it out, but looking forward to that. And then the men's safety training, there will be more coming about that. Hopefully this week we'll get it all lined out, what's going on with that. And then November 14th we have Pastor Menes coming to preach for us on the PM service. Looking forward to seeing Pastor Menes and Miss Joanne is coming up with him, I believe, and some other people. So, the Thanksgiving potluck will be November 21st and men's preaching night. And then I forgot to mention this morning, so the 27th, which is this Wednesday, we're having a men's preaching class. So this Wednesday, six o'clock, alright? For some reason Rylan screwed up again, didn't put it in the, no I'm just kidding. It probably is his fault, but I'll just give him a pass and I'll take the blame since I'm the leader, so everything rises and falls on leadership. Anyhow, let's see, so yeah, that's the 27th. Who's going to be able to make it for that? Raise your hand. Who's coming? If only one person's coming, I'm canceling. Alright. The men's leadership class. One, two, three, and then I think Sean Conlon's coming, that's four. Alright. Tony, are you raising your hand? Rylan, I can't see you. Alright, I see hands. Hands all around the building. Alright, you better be here. Or it's going to turn into Pastor Thompson's whipping post class. Alright, and let's see, we got the Thanksgiving potluck, men's preaching. December 11th, we got the ladies cookie exchange, white elephant game at 1 p.m. at the Bender home. And please bring three dozen cookies. Well, that's kind of demanding, isn't it? But I'm just teasing. I think that's what they do every year. But in a container for goodies. So I think that the point is, is that the ladies cook a bunch of cookies and then they all mix them up or whatever and then take them back to your husband so they can eat them all, right? That's the way it's supposed to work. But the kids, you know, end up getting them to whatever. But then there's, yeah, so that'll be on December 11th at 1 p.m. And we got December 19th is the Christmas service. And that'll have a children's choir and then, of course, a Christmas message and then a prime rib dinner after the morning service. So the candlelight service for the church is going to be December 23rd. We did that last year and we didn't use real candles. So we're going to use battery powered candles. They look just as cool and they don't burn the whole church down. All right. And then December 31st, we have our Pray in the New Year. We do that every single year. That'll be on a Friday night. So Christmas Eve's on a Friday. So Christmas is on a Saturday, Sunday. OK, so we're still having Sunday service that weekend, of course. Yeah, December 23rd is a Thursday. December 31st is a Friday. All right, we're going to have a game night. We're going to have food, snacks, all that kind of stuff and a ping pong tournament. So don't eat too much before you play the tournament because you're going to get smoked. Josh has been breaking necks and cashing checks. I heard he beat Brandon like three times or something like that. This is a division I will gladly cause. All right. Anyway, we've got a foosball tournament too. Is anybody going to be in the foosball tournament? Anybody plan on doing that? You can be in both. We'll have them at different times. All right. OK. All right. Well, that's all the announcements I have and everybody knows all the other stuff. I kind of mentioned it this morning. So sing happy birthday. Oh, yeah. Congratulations to the Yefimoff family on the birth of Isaiah Anthony Yefimoff. He was nine pounds, 10 ounces, I think. Well, six. I don't know where I get the 10. I'm just trying to make him bigger because he's a boy. But anyway, he's 19 and three quarters inches. I think I got that right. All right. So congratulations to them. I think. Are we starting a food train up? Is that happening? Huh? Later. OK. I hear the attitude. OK. I'm just teasing. All right. That's all I got for announcements. Let's sing another song. All right. Our next song. Our next song is number 217. He included me. Song number 217. He included me. Song 217. Let's sing it on the first. I am so happy in Christ today. That I go singing along my way. Yes, I'm so happy to know and say Jesus included me, too. Jesus included me. Yes, he included me. When the Lord said whosoever he included me. Jesus included me. Yes, he included me. When the Lord said whosoever he included me. Gladly I read whosoever may come to the fountain of life today. But when I read it, I always say Jesus included me, too. Jesus included me. Yes, he included me. When the Lord said whosoever he included me. Jesus included me. Yes, he included me. When the Lord said whosoever he included me. Ever God's Spirit is saying come hear the bridegroom saying no longer But I am sure while they're calling home Jesus included me, too. Jesus included me. Yes, he included me. When the Lord said whosoever he included me. Jesus included me. Yes, he included me. When the Lord said whosoever he included me. Freely come drink words the soul to thrill. Oh, with what joy they my heart to fill. For when he said whosoever will, Jesus included me, too. Jesus included me. Yes, he included me. When the Lord said whosoever he included me. Jesus included me. Yes, he included me. When the Lord said whosoever he included me. Amen. Good seeing brother Robert. Could you bless the offering for us? Father, Lord, just thank you for the chance to gather in your house today tonight, Lord. I pray you bless the preaching, Lord, and bless this time of giving. Help us to give with control for our Lord Jesus, whom I pray in Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. All right, if you turn with me to the book of Genesis, please. Chapter 30. Genesis chapter 30. The book of Genesis chapter 30. In Genesis chapter 30, the Bible reads, And when Rachel saw that she bared Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, Am I in God's stead? Who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? And she said, Behold, my maid Bilhah. Go in unto her, and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife. And Jacob went in unto her, and Bilhah conceived, and bared Jacob a son. And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son, therefore called she his name, Dan. And Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again, and bared Jacob a second son. And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed. And she called his name Naftali. When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife. And Zilpah, Leah's maid, bared Jacob a son. And Leah said, A troop cometh. She called his name Gad. And Zilpah, Leah's maid, bared Jacob a second son. And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed. And she called his name Asher. And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes. She said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? And wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee tonight for thy son's mandrakes. And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me, for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night. And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bared Jacob the fifth son. And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband. And she called his name Issachar. And Leah conceived again, and bared Jacob the sixth son. And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry. Now will my husband dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons? And she called his name Zebulun. And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah. And God remembered Rachel. And God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. And she conceived, and bare a son, and said, God hath taken away my reproach. And she called his name Joseph, and said, The Lord shall add to me another son. And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go into mine own place, and to my country. Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee. And let me go, for thou knowest my service which I have done thee. And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favor in thine eyes, tarry, for I have learned by experience, that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake. And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it. And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me, for it was little thou hatched before I came. And it is now increased unto thee a multitude, and the Lord hath blessed thee since my coming. And now, when shall I provide from mine own house also? And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me anything. If thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock. I will pass through all thy flock today, removing from thence all the speckled and spottled cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and of such shall be my hire. So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come from my hire before thy face. Everyone that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me. And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word. And he removed that day the he-goats that were ring-streaked and spotted, and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted, and everyone that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons. And he set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks. And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chestnut tree, and pilled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. And he set the rods which had been pilled before the flocks, in the gutters, in the watering troughs, when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink. And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ring-streaked, speckled, and spotted. And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ring-streaked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban. And he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban's cattle. And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. When the cattle were feeble, he put them not in. So the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's. And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses. Brother Timo, would you pray for us? Amen. All right, we're in Genesis chapter number 30. And last week, I believe Leah had some children. Let's see, let me figure out where we were at here last week. Oh yeah, Leah conceived and bear Reuben, which was the firstborn. And let's look, if you want to look back in chapter 29. And so she was being blessed, and Rachel's womb was being shut up, and part of it was because of the persecution she was going through. She was actually Jacob's first wife, but Jacob didn't really love her. Jacob loved Rachel, and because of that, God shut her womb up. And it's God that opens and closes the womb. We have to remember that. But she definitely, she named them different names, because she's talking about the affliction she's going through. So obviously, her and her sister don't have a very good relationship. Now, and you know, most people don't have this sort of relationship where two sisters are married to one man. It's kind of weird, right? It's kind of like Jerry Springer Show kind of stuff. A little bit, like that's what we consider it today. You know, but he was, they were tricked into that situation. Leben, you know, kind of did Jacob dirty, and he basically wasn't a very good father-in-law, if you think about it. He was kind of a jerk. He was always changing his wages and messing with them. He tricked him into marrying the wrong daughter. You know, Jacob, he did serve for Rachel. That was his bargain. But of course, you reap what you sow, and Jacob had tricked his own brother out of the blessing, out of the birthright. And so Jacob's finding out that whatever you sow, that shall you also reap. And so at the end, so Leah's having all these children, and she's not, she's the hated one. She's the one, you know, they're probably talking smack about her, and you know, I mean, it probably wasn't a very good situation. The Bible doesn't give a lot of details, but we see in this chapter, there's a lot of vitriol between these sisters, and it is a little, they're putting the fun and dysfunctional, right? They're kind of a dysfunctional family. So let's look at verse number one. The Bible says, and the title of the sermon is The Drive to Survive, The Drive to Survive, because this chapter's kind of about, you know, you know, having children, the desire for people to have children, the desire for the human race to have children, the desire to succeed in life, you know, to serve, you know, because men just, you know, they're driven to work, and people are just driven to want to have children. Why? It hurts, right, ladies? What is the big drive? Well, God put that drive into us to survive. He blessed the people when he made Adam and Eve. He blessed the human. It wasn't just Adam and Eve that he blessed. He blessed all of mankind and said, be fruitful, multiply. I'll get to that in just a second, but think about just Jacob's drive to support his family and then his wife's drive to have more children. I want more children. There's just like a really big deal to them. You can see that, and you can also see that even the animals have a drive to survive. I mean, at the end, the cattle are all breeding, and you know, so this is kind of like a survival chapter in a way, but it's just kind of not like a survival list, but survival chapter, so anyway, so it says in verse number one, and then Rachel saw that she bared Jacob no children. Rachel envied her sister, and envy is never a good thing. Envy is a sin. Envy is not a good thing, so she envied her sister, and because she envied her, they had a really bad relationship, and they didn't like each other, and it said unto Jacob, give me children, or else I die. That sounds like something a woman would say, okay? I'm just gonna say that right now. It's like a really unrealistic demand from this woman, okay? It's like Jacob doesn't have the choice of whether she has children or not, but she's so upset that her sister is just out having more children than she is. She had the firstborn, and Judah came from Leah, and Judah is where the Savior came from, so the line comes from Leah and Jacob. It doesn't come from Rachel, but whose children were the best children. It's kind of a weird dynamic, because in the end, you see that Benjamin and Jacob, I mean, excuse me, and Joseph, Joseph especially is the best child out of all the children, so it is kind of a weird dynamic, but God chose to bless Leah with the line of the Messiah instead of Rachel, and so one consistent thing about mankind, though, is that we have a drive to survive. We have a drive to have children. People want to get married. They want to have children. Now, I wouldn't say so much in 2021, because the world is very topsy-turvy now. Wouldn't it, God, that we would get back to simpler times like, you know, their family dynamic isn't simple, but their drive to survive is simple, isn't it, and all throughout the ages, people have wanted to have children. You know, it's very important to have a son, so the family line moves on. It's very important to have multiple children. God said to be fruitful and multiply. Look at Genesis 1 28. Just skip back in your Bible about 29 chapters, and look at verse number 28. The Bible says, and God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth. Now, that word replenish, you know, in 1611 meant to fill. Now, today, we would think, you know, replenish my soda. You know, bring me a soda, and get me another one. Fill back my drink, and, you know, people use this verse to try to gap theory stuff out and say, see, it said replenish, because there was a pre-Adamite rebellion that destroyed the whole earth, and were built upon millions and billions of dead animals and people. That's not true. That's a lie, but I think also the word replenish there is also talking to future generations, because the earth has to continuously be replenished. I was, weren't you looking at some kind of graph? Wasn't, didn't somebody put some kind of graph in like some online thing, and they're talking about Canadians are, they're dying faster than they're breeding. They're dying fat, breeding, I shouldn't say it like that. They're dying, they're dying faster than they're having more children, okay. It turned out that's not what that graph was saying. That's not what that graph was saying? Okay. I know that, I think Japan is a country where that's happening, though. It's in the cities, they were below two first grade. Oh, it's in, it's in the big cities. Okay. Well, that's like one or 1.5 in the big cities. So it's not, they're not replenishing enough to, gotcha. So, and that's the problem is because what's being pushed right now is to kill your children in the womb. Only have 1.5 children. Only have two children, one child, two children. You know, they don't, what the opposite of big families is being pushed. What's God say? Be fruitful. You know, when you think about a tree, a fruit tree, you think about, you don't think like two apples, do you? Like if you're looking at an apple tree and you say, which one would I rather have, the one with the, all the apples on it? Well, it depends on how you like to clean your yard. If you don't like to clean your yard very much, you'd probably pick the one with two. But anyway, that's a wicked thought. But two apples, that's not very fruitful, is it? So God's saying be fruitful and multiply. That means have multiple children and replenish the earth. We need to continuously replenish the earth with people. And God is seeking a godly seed. He wants people to be saved. He wants saved people to marry saved people and get those children saved so that they can have saved family. And you know, he wants it to multiple, God's plan is perfect. Our plan, our sinfulness always messes things up. It says replenish the earth and subdue it. So here's the other thing that's against what the modern day school of thought is. They're saying we need to let the animals be wild. Don't touch that. Don't touch that tree. It might have a spotted owl on it or something. And so stop logging woods. Don't subdue the earth. Don't kill whales. When I was a kid in the 80s, the Save the Whales program, have anybody heard of the Save the Whales thing? Yeah, a couple people in here. God bless you. All right. But it was a big deal back then that all the whales are dying, you know. But people have been killing whales for thousands of years. You know, they have a good supply. You know, they got blubber. You can use them for candlelight. They got plenty of meat. You know, you can, I don't know what else you can do with them. I'm not an expert on it, but you know, they use basically every part of the whale to sustain themselves in the great north and in other places around the world. But God said to subdue it. He said we're supposed to have dominion over the earth. It's not the animals. You know, they're introducing wolf populations back into Oregon. It's like, how stupid can you be? You know what they do? They kill everything. They pack up and they just kill at will. They kill humans. They'll kill anything. And I'm not saying we should make them extinct, but you should make them extinct in areas where people live and where flocks and things like that are. So it says, and have dominion over the fish of the sea. Would that include the whales? Yeah, I think it would. And over the fowl of the air, would that include the spotted owls? Yes, it would. And over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. So God just said, just in case you didn't get me what I was saying, I'm saying you have dominion over everything. Now look, I'm not saying we shouldn't conserve. I'm not saying that we should just kill every animal into extinction. I don't believe that either. But at the same time, people have gone too far the other way with it. And God said to be fruitful. God said to multiply. God said to replenish the earth. And He said to subdue it. And we have dominion over all the animals and everything else. That's a far cry from what kids are learning in school today. Kids are learning in school today that we have to, peace, love, and white dove, and all this other stuff. That's not what the Bible teaches. They're teaching a hippie, queer culture in our schools. And I would say if you have any kids in public school, you need to pull them out. Sooner rather than later. So it says in verse 29, And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed, to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and every fowl of the air, to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat, and it was so. See, back then, all we could do is eat plant life. All right? And this is before the fall. After the fall, after Noah's flood, God said it was okay to eat every living creature. And so that's why they run from us. Because they know we'll catch them, and we'll kill them, and we'll barbecue them somewhere. All right? Now, let's get back into our verses in Genesis chapter 30. I'm just showing you that God has put it in our heart to survive. God has put it in our heart to dominate. God has put it in man's heart to be fruitful and to multiply and to replenish your. So anything else that you're getting programmed with is a lie straight from the devil. God wants us to, there's so much room on this planet. I flew over the Arctic Circle. I flew clear across the globe, pretty much. I've flown to the east. I've flown to the west. I've flown all over the place this year. And there's a lot of room out there. There's a lot of just places where there's nobody living. All right? And some of that stuff is habitable. So, you know, we're all in these big giant cities, and I realize that that's probably the easiest way to live and get by. It's the easiest way to preach the gospel, that's for sure. So maybe it's God's will to a certain extent, but to say that the earth is crowded is ridiculous. We can fit all the whole population of the earth in Jacksonville, Florida. Period. So Jacksonville, Florida is not that big. I mean, we'd be kind of cramped, I'm sure. It'd probably be like, you know, really bad, but we could all fit. So, Genesis 30, verse two says, you know, and so she says, give me children else I die. She's like just demanding, hey, I want kids. You better give them to me, buddy. And he says, and it says Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel. So this really teed off Jacob. He was upset. And he said, am I in God's stead? Who hath we, who hath we, we held, who hath withheld the fruit of the womb? So God is the one that withheld the fruit of the womb from Rachel. It wasn't Jacob. Jacob's doing his part, apparently. He's like, it's not my fault. You know, it's God that's withholding that fruit. And maybe if she wouldn't have been, maybe she would have been a little nicer to her sister. Maybe God wouldn't have done that. But apparently, you know, she's the hated one. I don't think it's, you know, Jacob didn't, I don't know if Jacob hated Leah. It seems to me at the end of their life that Jacob loved, they were buried together. Rachel was buried on the side of the road. Not saying that he didn't love her. I'm just saying that Rachel, he just was opportunistic, you know. But what I'm saying is, like, he didn't ask to go be buried next to Rachel. He asked to be buried, you know, he's buried with Leah. So, you know, it ended up working out where Leah seemed to get a lot more of the blessings. You know, Rachel died early. Rachel died in childbirth. And we'll get to that later on. But the fruit of the womb is being withheld by God. See how it says the fruit of the womb? God said be fruitful and multiply and replenish. But he was withholding this from her. So God does open and close the womb. And we should not try to alter this plan. I don't believe in altering this plan. And you see in this chapter, a lot of people trying to alter the plan. People trying to do extra steps to get more children. You know, I mean, they're just really conniving about this stuff. But today, you have the same thing. You know, people are cloning their own children, and they got all these kids in a bank somewhere where they can just, you know, I don't know. I'm not an expert on that. But I just know that, like, what is it, in vitro and all what all this other stuff where people are trying to have children. They can't have children. And look, you know, I understand people have had these things. And you have Octomom was like, highly criticized. Who remembers Octomom? She had eight children. Did they all look the same? Are they all identical? They all look different. Okay, I can't remember. I just know that she had like eight babies on her or something. And people were just like really criticizing her. But it was the way that she went about doing that I think that people were criticizing. But, you know, she wanted to have a child. She definitely had a child and more. She had seven more on top of that. But, you know, she was trying to be apparently being fruitful and multiply. She really took that to heart. But, you know, here Rachel, she wants children so bad she's willing to do something that she should have never have done. She's already sharing her husband with her sister. And now she's going to make another big mistake here. Look at verse number three. It says, and she said, Behold, my maid Bilhah, go in unto her and she shall bear upon my knees that I may also have children by her. So she's going into a surrogate program where she's taking her handmaid that was given to her by her dad. And she's saying, here, I'm going to give you my handmaid and the babies that she has are going to be mine. But they really aren't hers, right? I mean, maybe by law they might be because Bilhah is her handmaid. But I just think that this ends up being a bad idea when it comes to a family dynamic. And obviously, you can only marry one person at a time in America. All right. And God, I'm glad for that. I think the Mormons ruined that for everybody. I think they were trying out like all these crazy, all these amount of wives. I think they made it, it's against the law, I know, to have more than one wife at a time here. So, but here now, Jacob's being given another spouse. He's already got two that are fighting like, you know, their sisters are just fighting, right? But I just think it's a bad idea. But it says that she gave him Bilhah, her handmaid to wife. You see how it says to wife? Now she's a concubine, but she's still a wife. See, and that just goes to show that, I mean, I know that people differ on an opinion on this, but I believe that a concubine is a wife. I just don't think it's on the same level as like Rachel. I think it's because Bilhah is not born free, obviously. She's the property, basically, of Rachel. She works for her, but she's given to her, so obviously she was owned by Laban. I mean, I don't know what other way you could read that. Is she free? Does she have a choice in the matter? So I think when they don't have a choice in the matter, you're marrying that person because you're my property or whatever, and that's just the way it is. But what's it say? I mean, we always have to go with what the Bible says, not what it does not say. What does it say? And she gave him, Bilhah, her handmaid to what? Wife, okay? So it's Jacob's wife, and Jacob went in unto her. So did he go in unto her before she became his wife or after he became her wife, or she became his wife? It was after, right? So what would it be if he went in unto her before they were married? That would have been fornication. Look, these guys were not fornicators. When it says Esau was a fornicator, that means he really, it doesn't mean he had a concubine that was his living girlfriend. It meant that he committed fornication. He went into someone before he was married to them. That's what fornication is. It's doing the act that married people do before they're married. So she gave him, Bilhah, her handmaid to wife, because otherwise it would have been fornication. It would have been an illegitimate, what is a bastard? Like, oh, bastard. That's not a bad word, okay? Bastard is an illegitimate child. That's what it means, okay? So wouldn't there, if a concubine was not a wife, then how many bastards would there have been born? How many bastards would Abraham have had? They're not bastards because he, because Keturah was his wife, and then Hagar was his wife. Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to wife. That's what the Bible says. I don't understand why this is such a complicated thing, but that's what it says, right? Now, I realize that there's common law marriages and things like that in modern day times, and maybe there was back then too, but what I'm saying is these patriarchs, they didn't just fornicate and it was just kind of okay or look past. No, no, no. They were married to them, okay? Otherwise, they would be illegitimate children, period. And so, anyway, so she gave him Bilhah, her handmaid to wife. Jacob went in under her, and Bilhah conceived and bared Jacob a son. And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son, therefore called she his name Dan. You see, so she is a lesser wife in the fact she doesn't even get a choice to name her own son. It's Bilhah's son, but Rachel still has control over her, just like Sarah had control over Hagar, because they weren't free. So, that's the difference. I mean, are you guys following me with that? Okay, so Dan is the name, and so this is supposedly Rachel's first son, but it's not really her son, it's Bilhah's son. And Bilhah, Rachel's maid, conceived again and bared Jacob a second son. And Rachel said, with great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed, and she called his name Neftali. So, she's just like, glorying in the flesh of, you know, her handmaid or something. It's just kind of weird. She's acting like she's winning the wrestling match or something, you know, but this just shows you how dysfunctional they are, because she's like bragging about the fact that she's beating her sister in some kind of breeding match or something. It's kind of weird, right? And so, she calls his name Neftali. When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah, her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife. So, now we got even more dysfunction going on. It's like, hey, well, if you two can play at that game, I got a handmaid myself, you know, and so she joins in on the dysfunction, right? And Zilpah, Leah's maid, bear Jacob a son. And Leah said, a troop cometh. And she called his name Gad. I've always thought that'd be a cool name for a big family. You know, someone has a big family already, and then the next son born. It's like, hey, it's Gad. That means a troop, right? A troop cometh. I always tell brother Harrington, if he has another boy, he's got to name him Gad. But anyway, it says, and Zilpah, Leah's maid, bear Jacob a second son. And Leah said, happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed. And she called his name Asher. And Reuben went in the days of the wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes. And she said unto her, is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? And wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Leah said, therefore he shall lie with thee tonight for thy son's mandrakes. So now, they're bartering deals about who gets to sleep with the husband on some day a week. And she's selling her husband's flesh, you know, for a night, you know, you can have him tonight, but I want the mandrakes, right? It's just, I mean, tell me this isn't dysfunctional, it is. So what are mandrakes? Has anybody ever seen them or know what they are? It's a plant with flowers and berries with roots at the bottom that fork together. And they kind of look like a man. So, and they have various different uses. I know that they have hallucinogenic properties to them, but they also are an aphrodisiac of some sort. I just kind of, I didn't want to do a whole big thing about them, but I'll just read you this little thing I got off the internet here. Of course, the internet's always right. In all the medieval herbals, the mandrakes were always drawn with heads when the bodies would be the roots with the cross, the legs crossed. The plant grows in arid areas around the Mediterranean and Middle East, where it is, excuse me, where it has been used as a hallucinogen, painkiller, aphrodisiac, and fertility drug for thousands of years. So it has some kind of weird properties to it, I guess. Aphrodisiac and fertility drug. So it's basically, apparently Viagra mixed with whatever, I don't know, but it's supposed to help the body to produce children, okay? So that's what mandrakes are, and obviously it was a big deal to them, right? So, I mean, they're bartering for things, so obviously there is some kind of truth to this, probably. They're only mentioned one more time in the Bible in Song of Solomon 713, it says, the mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved. So mandrakes are, you know, Song of Solomon is a book about love and husbands and wives, and mandrakes are mentioned as giving a certain smell that would be pleasant to the spouse or whoever, you know, whatever it's talking about there. So there is no doubt that, you know, this dysfunction, you know, in the house of Jacob, it shows how men and women are imperfect in these situations. Like, look, these are, you know, I'm making, I'm mocking a little bit about the things that are going on in their lives, but these are some of the best people that ever lived on the face of the planet. I mean, are they perfect? No, this just shows, this is what makes the Bible so, I mean, this is one of the things that makes the Bible so real to me, is that the people that are talked about as being these great people have problems. You know, we all have problems. And when we start to think that we don't have problems, or that we're better than the people that are in the Bible, I mean, do you think that anybody in this room is better than Jacob was? Probably not. So he was, you know, his name was changed, God, like, blessed him tremendously. He was a great man. So he's in the Bible. We read about him. His name is mentioned over and over again in the Bible, as he was a prince among God's people. And God chose his line, his 12 sons, to be the tribe on the earth that he blessed, the children of Israel. So, you know, and again, there's a little bit of Jerry Springer stuff going on here, and the sister feud, and who's sleeping with Jacob tonight, and trading plants for, you know, nights along with the husband. I mean, it's kind of getting weird. But what does it all boil down to, though? The drive to survive. The drive, the big drive that these people have to have children, and have heirs, and, you know, bring forth sons. You know, it was a big deal. So it's just a shame that it's not a big deal today. People just don't care about, people care more about their own lives than they even care about their children's lives, in a lot of cases, and it's sad. So, but the truth is that every family has some sort of dysfunction in it, because we're sinful, because we're imperfect, you know, and it's gonna get way worse from here. I mean, this is kind of a dysfunctional chapter here, but things get even weirder. Things get kind of, you know, they get pretty strange, where you got Reuben sleeping with Bilhah. You know, Bilhah is basically kind of like his stepmom, I guess. And then they end up, you know, Jacob ends up cursing his own son, his first born son, because he went up and went unto his wife. So, pretty weird. So, I mean, that's Jerry Springer 2.0 right there. So anyway, let's go back to our text, Genesis chapter 30, verse number 16. It says, And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou wast coming unto me, for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. I bought you tonight, buddy, you coming home with me. And he lay with her that night, and God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived and bared Jacob the fifth son. So, she's just getting blessed, you know, with all these children. You know, so Rachel trades him off for the mandrakes, but who has the next child? It's not her. It's Leah. So, you see how Rachel's always trying to get some other way to get children, besides just waiting for God to bless her when, you know, she should be praying to God, she should be maybe nicer to her sister. And in reality, she's just doing it to herself. But Leah's just getting blessed upon, you know, blessed with multiple children. And so, you know, she's going about it the other way around, and Leah's just like, you know, for the most part, she's stayed the course. So, what's it say? Let's see. Oh, yeah. And verse 18. And Leah said, God hath given me my hired, because I have given my maiden to my husband, and she called his name Issachar. And Leah conceived again, which that's not a very good thought. I mean, I don't understand that one there. She just thinks that, but that's not necessarily why God, it's not like God blessed her with another child, because she gave her handmaid to Jacob. I mean, I don't think that's, you know. And here's just an important thought, just real quick. Just because someone says something in the Bible doesn't mean it's true. Okay. So, just take that for what it is. Just because she said that, does that mean it's definitely true? No, it's definitely true when God says something. It's definitely true when the narrator of the Bible says something. But when someone says something, doesn't mean it's absolutely true. Do you think that God just blessed her with another child, because she gave her handmaid to Jacob for another wife? I don't think so, because God wants this one man and one woman to be together. That's how it was in the beginning. So, that's not, I don't believe that that's true at all. Says, and Leah conceived again and buried Jacob's sixth son. And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry. Now will my husband dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons. And she called his name Zebulun. So, she's just thinking, if I win the race of the most sons, then Jacob is gonna end up wanting to hang out with me more than Rachel. So, obviously that just tells you that he's not spending his time with Leah, he's spending his time with Rachel. So, and they're married, so it's hurting her feelings, obviously. It says, and afterwards she bare a daughter and called her name Dinah. And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her and opened her womb, and she conceived and bare a son, and said, God hath taken away my reproach. So, finally Rachel has a child of her own, and it says, and she called his name Joseph, and said, God shall add to me another son. So, she just feels like it was a reproach to not have children. A lot of people think it's, nowadays in 2021, people think it's a reproach to have children. Oh, I got all these kids. You know what, Rachel wanted kids, she was just doing everything she could to get kids, and you got women today murdering their own children through abortion. God has taken away my reproach, but you know the women today in 2021, it's a reproach to them to have children. You see how mixed up we are today? This is the right mentality. The Bible has the right mentality going on. Look at verse 25. It says, and it came to pass when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, send me away, that I may go into my own place, into my own place, into my own country. Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go. For thou knowest my service, which I have done thee. And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favor in thine eyes, tarry, for I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake. So, Laban's kind of like an opportunist type of guy. I don't think he's really, you know, I don't know if he's necessarily saved, he probably isn't. Maybe he is, maybe he's just really carnal. He definitely has gods, other gods that he worships. And it says, and he said, appoint me thy wages, and I will give it. See, he just wants to use Jacob for his cash cow. Because ever since Jacob came, he was blessing Laban and made Laban really rich. And it was basically because of the fact that God's blessing was upon Jacob, and anything that was around Jacob was getting blessed. But also the fact that Jacob's a really hard worker. Remember last week, we talked about how strong Jacob was, and you know, he's a really hard worker. So he, you know, he had this really small farm, but when Jacob comes, he gets a really big farm. And he gets all, he gets rich, he gets all these animals. But think about this, Jacob didn't, he had it easier when he first got there, but with the blessing, he's just like, ah, I got all these animals to take care of, you know. So it actually, his work got harder. The more he was blessed, the harder he had to work. And that's kind of true in life, like if you own your own company or something, the more employees you got, the more of a headache you got. The more hard you have to work. A lot of people want to go into business, and you know, it's hard work to own your own business. It's hard work to build a business. It's hard work, you know, to just work, to build a church. You know, you start with a small amount of people, and the bigger this church gets, the harder it's going to be to manage. You know, so, and obviously I know God builds the church, okay, I'm not saying that I built the church, but I'm just saying that the bigger this church gets, the more people, the more, the harder it is to manage, the more problems you have. You know, bigger church, bigger problems. So, but that's not saying I don't want to have a big church, I do want to have a big church. You know, and we're just going to have to hire some people or get some deacons around here or something, I don't know. But anyway, right, tonight it doesn't look like, you know, we have that problem. So, anyway, but where am I at here? Where did I leave off? Okay. Verse 30, okay. For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and is now increased into a multitude, and the Lord hath blessed since my coming, and now when shall I provide mine own house also? So he's basically saying, hey, I want to go out on my own, I want to start my own business, but I think I got this cattle business, you know, I got your business going, I made you rich, now just let me go and build my own empire here, right? And so the Lord blessed him, it says, and the Lord had blessed thee since my coming, and now when shall I provide for my own house also? And he said, what shall I give thee? And Jacob said, thou shalt not give me anything, if thou wilt do this for me, I will feed, or I again will feed and keep thy flock. So basically he doesn't want anything, he just wants to be able to do his own way of building his business within Laban's business. And so it says in verse 32, I will pass through all thy flock today, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and of such shall be my hire. So basically he's like, I'm gonna get all the ugly ones, and then I'm gonna pull those out of your flocks, and that will be my hire. And so I'm sure Laban's thinking, well this is a pretty good deal, because you know, brown sheep, it says brown cattle among the sheep, so most of the time, what color do you picture sheep being that are the good color to have? White sheep, right? So he's got the ugly, he's gonna get the ugly brown ones, you know, and later on down it says, no, it's not a race thing, okay? It's a hair thing, okay? There's various different kinds of hair, all right? So it's not, it has nothing to do with their skin color, it's their fur. Don't try to put me, don't try to get woke on me right now. I got answers for you. But anyway, so he's got to go through it, he's got to get the speckled, the spotted cattle, you know, these, you know, what would be considered the ugly ones? Like when people are coming to pick the cattle that they want, they don't want the grizzled ones, you know, the ones with the mangled looking horns and the, you know, the brown coats and, you know, the spots all over them. So, but I would say this is a picture of Jesus choosing to save sinners, because, think about this, I mean, we all have spots in our lives, if you think about it that way. We all have stains in our lives, and if you consider that would be like sin, the imperfect people that we are, that God chose to save us, and he went into, Jesus came to save sinners, didn't he? And so if you look at it that way, you know, in a spiritual aspect, that he, you know, Jacob of course picturing Christ goes in and grabs all the ugly people, the ones that have all the problems, and he fixes them, you know, and then he takes those and he builds his kingdom off of sinful people, because that's what we all are, right? And, you know, so, and just something about this, as a sacrifice, these animals would not be accepted, would they? So what was supposed to be acceptable to be sacrificed in the Old Testament? You know, this is later on, this is in the future here, but what were the, I mean, they had sacrifices then too, but in the, under the law, under the Mosaic law, they had to be without spot, not speckled, not spotted, they had to be without blemish, they had to be, so the picture is to be without sin, so if you take it this way, you know, he said I'm gonna go get the spotted and speckled, those are the ones that were not allowed to be put, you know, for a burnt offering. What was the one that was supposed to be for the burnt offering? Who was the burnt offering that's supposed to picture? A spotless, not speckled, not brown or whatever, not grizzled, a perfect lamb, a perfect innocent lamb, without spot or blemish, right? You know, don't get all, come on now, brown people, don't get on me now, it's like it's easy for you to say you're white, no, I have brown hair, I just want to say that right now, but anyway, the best part of me is my brown hair, well what hair I have left, anyhow, but so I mean I believe that this pictures Jesus going after the people that are sinful, you know, people that don't think that they have a problem will never get saved, you know, it's the people that have the problems, the people that have the spots and the speckles and all that stuff, but Jesus pictured the sinless lamb of God, let's look at John chapter 1 verse 29, John chapter 1 verse 29. John chapter 1 verse 29, the Bible says, the next day John, talking about John the Baptist, seeth Jesus coming unto him and saith, behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Now so Jesus pictures, you know, the Bible's just clearly telling us what Jesus is picturing here, the lamb of God, the spotless lamb of God, the sinless son of God, pictures a sweet, innocent, fluffy, innocent lamb and now turn back to Exodus chapter 12 verse number five, of course you want to keep your finger in Genesis 30, we're gonna go right back to there but Exodus chapter 12 verse five and I'll just show you just one verse and there's multiple verses in the Old Testament that teach this concept but I'll just show you one, it says your lamb shall be, what does it say? Are you there yet? Exodus 12 five, your lamb shall be, what does it say? Without blemish, a male of the first year, he shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats. And what color do you think that that lamb was? White. I'm gonna throw it back at you, how do you like that? No, I'm just kidding. But it picture, well because, you know, white as snow is teaching, you know, it's a picture of sinlessness, okay. I'm not saying that brown people picture sin, okay, stop it. Done with this, I'm done. But without, this lamb was supposed to be without blemish, without spot and so you see Jacob's going to get the spotted ones, he's saving the ones that are spotted and bringing them out into his fold. Now turn back to Genesis chapter 30 verse 33, Genesis chapter 30 verse 33 and we'll see the continuation of this plan. So he's asking Laban, he said don't give me anything, all I want is the ugly, grizzled, nasty looking sheep and goats that you have, I'll take them, that'll be my hire. And so, excuse me, in Genesis 30, 33 it says so shall my righteousness answer for me in the time to come when it shall come for my hire before thy face. So Jacob knows something that Laban doesn't know here, it's an interesting thing that he's saying here, my righteousness shall answer for me in the time to come when it shall come for my hire before thy face. See Jacob knows how this plan is going to end up, he knows that he's going to end up with all the riches and Laban is going to come at him but see he's already establishing the boundaries of what he's getting paid because Laban's already cheated him out of multiple things, he's already changed his hire 10 times and then even as he implements this plan here he still starts, tries to change the terms of the thing. You know that's the thing if you're a boss and you're saying you're going to pay somebody something you should pay them what you say you're going to pay them and as a worker if you agree to work for a certain amount then you should work for that certain amount. You know you got these people these prima donna NFL players that they're like I'm holding out, I'm too good to play for this amount, well why'd you agree to sign a contract for that amount then? It's not right, you know play to your contract and then the next year they're going to give you a fat contract but you know these guys just get too big for their britches and they think that they're so great and they act like they're gods and they act like they can just get whatever they want and a lot of times people give in to them. You know it shouldn't be allowed to take place but the point is don't change people's wages and don't try to change your wages when you've already agreed to do something for a certain amount of money but anyway here's what he says, so shall my righteousness answer for me in the time to come when it shall come for my hire before thy face. Everyone that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and brown among the sheep that shall be counted stolen with me and Lavin said behold I would it might be according to thy word so he agreed they agreed to the terms right here right and he removed that day the he goats that were ring-streaked and spotted and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted and every one of them had some white in it and all the brown among the sheep and gave them into the hand of his sons and he set three days journey betwixt himself and Jacob and Jacob fed the rest of Lavin's flocks. Now I mean you could get a spiritual picture from this also because before Christ died on the cross and he was buried he rose again three days later you know there was a there was a big boundary between the gentiles and the children of Israel the gentiles weren't even allowed to go into the temple so they had to come and join the nation of Israel and things like that they had to be circumcised they you know and so they had to join that nation you could they couldn't just walk into the temple whenever they felt like it there was a partition between the gentiles and the children of Israel and so you see here there's three days between Jacob's flocks and there's three days between Lavin's flocks and so Lavin's flocks has all the you know the good you know pure bread you know like the Jews thought that they were this pure breed right and so if you think about it Lavin's flocks would represent like the children of Israel and then three days journey from them is the the ring-streaked and gnarly looking sheep right and the brown you know the brown sheep and all the some white in it and some speckled and spotted and grizzled but what what brought those flocks together was Christ when he died on the cross he was buried he rose again the third day and so you see Jacob so it says that he set three days journey between betwixt himself and Jacob and Jacob fed the rest of Lavin's flocks so they all become one flock to a certain extent when Jacob you know makes it that way so look at John chapter 10 verse 11 I just think it's a good picture of how the gentiles and the and the so we're all one in Christ Jesus you know there's neither Jew nor Greek bond nor free male nor female for we're all one in Christ Jesus right we're all one so there's no difference between the Jew and the Greek John chapter 10 verse 11 Jesus explains how this is going to happen and notice how he talks about it it's really interesting because we're talking about shepherding here and then here's what Jesus says in John 10 11 I am the good shepherd the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep but he that is in hireling is not the shepherd whose own the sheep are not see it the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth and the wolf catches him them and scattered the sheep the hireling fleeth because he's in hireling and careth not for the sheep I am the good shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine as the father knoweth me even so know I the father and I lay down my life for the sheep and other sheep I have which are not of this fold them must them also excuse me I must bring and they shall hear my voice and there shall be one fold and one shepherd pretty interesting how it kind of fits with this story right so three days journey but he feeds the whole the whole flock and so Christ is what brings the whole fold together Jew and Gentile Greek bond and free now let's go back to our scriptures in Genesis chapter 30 verse 37 so here's some great spiritual truths in Genesis and every chapter basically you're going to just see like you know how that whole you know zionistic approach to you know how the dispensational view of zionism is just crushed almost in every single chapter of Genesis I mean over and over I mean if I wanted to show you all of it I could just show you everything in every chapter I mean you even have it in this chapter so but I feel like every week I'm bringing it up but Genesis chapter 30 verse 37 says and Jacob took him rods of green poplar and of the hazel and chestnut tree and pilled white strakes in them and made the white appear which was in the rods and he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink that they should conceive when they came to drink so what's this you know chicanery going on here well you know when it says pilled it's talking about peeled he's peeling like the bark off so you could see the white on it and you know he's he's setting it up and he's actually putting these sticks into the water of this certain these certain types of trees green poplar hazel and chestnut trees and like I mean if you want to look it up I'm not going to go into all the scientific facts about it but these trees have medicinal properties to animals and so Jacob obviously had some knowledge of this and you know there has been studies done on it and it seems to be that you know these help with all the things that Jacob is trying to do here you know they have medicinal properties but Jacob is basically trying to get the best breeds together and he has this system and this plan to do this but he didn't get this on his own he was given this information so I'll get to that in a second but it says and the flocks conceived before the rods in verse 29 and brought forth cattle ring strike speckled and spotted and Jacob did separate the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the ring straight and all the brown and the flock of Laban and he put his own flocks by themselves and put them not into Laban's cattle so Jacob is intentionally doing this because you know he's taking he's taking care of Laban's cattle or Laban's cattle and his cattle or his cattle and it says and it came to pass whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters they might conceive among the rods so he's facing them a certain way he's putting the female you know in front of the trough and they're they're watering and then they're the male the stronger males are coming up and breeding with the stronger females that's what he's doing and that's what you know people do that today in farming all the time not necessarily by this method but this method is proven to work obviously it happened in the bible so but anyway but when the cattle were feeble he put them not in so the feebler were Laban's and the stronger were Jacob's and the man increased exceedingly and had much cattle and maidservants and menservants and camels and asses so what he just designed a program to where he could get the best of the cattle you know the best of the sheep the best of everything and Laban kind of decreased you know it's kind of like the old you know the old testament it kind of had to die out right you know and then the new testament came in and so there's a there's a picture right there for you but he didn't get this idea on his own though I want you to look in the next chapter in verse number six in genesis chapter 31 verse number six so verse genesis chapter 31 verse number six says and he shall know that with all my power I have served your father so basically you know I don't want to spoil the story for next week because I'm going to bring this all up next week too but what ends up happening is that Laban gets mad if you've read the bible you understand Laban gets mad because this happens and he's not looking at him favorably like he was before before he was the golden child now all of a sudden he's just like you know get him the hairy eyeball and all that stuff so Jacob's like it's time to go so he tries to get everything together but he's trying to talk to his wives and say look you know you know you know that with all my power I have served your father so it's not like Jacob didn't work hard it's not like he didn't do you know great things for him it says your father hath deceived me and changed my wages 10 times but God suffered him not to hurt me and if he said thus the speckled shall be thy wages then all the cattle bear speckled and if he said thus the ring strike shall be thy higher then bear all the cattle ring strike so there's kind of a little bit of divine providence happening here at the same time God you know he was trying to change and say hey well these ones are you know he was like the ring strike you know are yours and then they would bear you know he they would bear whatever the opposite of what Laban wanted they were they were bearing to Jacob and so that's how kind of how he grew his empire and God did that for him but it says thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father and given them to me you know he shall you know he replaced Laban's cattle with you know Jacob's and Jacob got those cattle and there's replacement theology right there for you all right verse 3 and it just keeps happening I mean I'm sorry I didn't even have that in my notes but I just saw the picture right there did you see it you saw what I said all right look at verse 10 and it came to pass at the same time that the cattle conceived that I lifted up mine eyes and saw in a dream and behold the rams were leaped upon the cattle were ring strike speckled and grizzled and the angel of God spake unto me in a dream saying Jacob and I said here am I and he said lift up now thine eyes and see all the rams which leap upon the cattle were ring strike speckled and grizzled for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee so how do you get the idea to go get the ring strike and the speckled and all that well it came to him in a dream he was told which wants to go get and so this has got you know obviously Jacob is a prophet so when a man when a prophet dreams a dream and the dream comes to pass you know that that man's a true prophet and so he didn't just dream up this idea on his own God helped him and you know Laban was tricking him and changing his wages and trying to trying to hose his own son-in-law and and by extension his own family because those are his two daughters they were his two handmaids and then all those grandchildren were his also and so he's just like giving them the shaft and trying to you know make himself rich and doesn't even care about his own family members it doesn't sound like he's a very good guy does it and maybe he learns the error of his ways you know he you know God kind of smacks him around in the next chapter we'll see that happen but ultimately the point of the sermon was just to show that there's a drive to survive you know men and women have strong God-given drive to have children we saw that in the chapter and you know we have a drive to survive with our necessities you know Jacob you know said hey I need to make I need to make my own thing I need to support my own family I need to make sure that I have stuff laid up for my own children and you know another thing that we learned in this chapter is that men should work hard to support their home you know we should know there's there's roles in in a home and if the roles aren't being followed then it's going to make it's going to make it the Jerry Springer show it's going to make it you know anything that has two heads is a freak there's got to be a head of the household right so if there's a husband and a wife someone's got to be the boss and guess who the bible says it's supposed to be it's supposed to be the husband isn't it so and also you see that the women in this chapter you know as dysfunctional as it is what was their ultimate goal they wanted to love their husbands and they wanted to have children it was a big drive in their life this whole chapter is about surviving you know even the animals Jacob wants these animals to you know procreate to have more animals so you know if animals animals have a big survival instinct too because God said the same thing to them to be fruitful and multiply he wants animal you know what's going to happen to animals if they don't have other animals I mean what are we what do you see in the zoos they're always making a big deal about the panda that got born in whatever zoo right look he's a little the last panda or whatever yeah I feel bad you know I don't want animals to go extinct I think it's bad but you know of course humans are a lot more important but you know I do believe that we should be have a little bit of conservation in our lives right I don't think that we should fish every everything out of the ocean I don't think we should kill everything there should be a little bit of a I mean look at how far back the other way it is like you got to draw a tag to kill a deer in this in this state you got to be a lucky person that draw it's like a lottery or something in Oregon too and then you maybe might get one but there's tons of deer out there I mean they're going a little bit too crazy with it if you if you have the ability to go hunt you should be able to go hunt and get one deer I mean you know all these ticks around here you know they're coming from these deer dang it we need to kill some of them off but anyway I don't like ticks they scare me but animals have a long have a strong drive to survive and you know the the most important thing is that we have a drive to survive for all eternity you know would the god that that would be put in the hearts of all men and women on the face of the planet you know it's physically we need to bring forth for the for the human race to survive and animals but you know for us you know it'd be nice if we knocked on a door and someone's like I was just waiting for someone to tell me how I could know I was going to heaven but what do you actually see happen most of the time they already think they're going to heaven and they always think it's for the wrong reasons don't they I'm such a good person you know I walked this lady across the street with her groceries today and I just knew that I was going to heaven because of that it's like I've had people say some of the weirdest excuses of why they're going to heaven well I fought in the Iraq war oh you killed some people so that's why you're going to heaven okay and look I know that people get into it for the wrong reasons sometimes they don't understand but like come on to say that you're in the military and that's why you're going to heaven talk about American imperialism I mean that's crazy I've had people tell me that because they were a school teacher for 30 years that they were going to heaven it's like you're probably going to hell because you're a school teacher for 30 years who knows what they taught those kids you know but that's pretty arrogant to say that kind of stuff but here's the you know here's the whole point that we need to put it into people's hearts that they need to have eternity in their hearts to survive for all eternity I mean if you want to talk about the the drive to survive you know the drive to survive all eternity that's what the most important part and look eternity can be one of two places eternity can be in heaven or it can be in hell you know and so we got to make sure that we're producing other people like us you know when you talk about you know having fruit you know multiplying think about it in a spiritual sense you know that's how God also when people are born again and then God wants us to make more trees make more fruit trees make more people that are born again that are also producing fruit so you know if you think about it that way in a spiritual level you know this chapter was all about surviving physically but what about spiritually that's an important aspect to look at it too so anyway let's pray heavenly father we thank you lord so much for this great chapter in the bible and I just pray that you'd lord bless each and every person that came to church today pray for all those people that are out sick and I pray that you bring them home next week into your house lord pray that you just bring us back to your house for the bible study on thursday night lord we'll give you the glory and honor for all that you do this week in jesus name of pray amen all right our last song is on number 212 wonderful grace of jesus no 210 excuse me song number 210 wonderful grace of jesus song number 210 wonderful grace of jesus let's sing it out on the first wonderful grace of jesus greater than all my sin how shall my tongue describe it where shall its praise be taking away my burden setting my spirit free for the wonderful grace of jesus reaches me wonderful the mattress grace of jesus deeper than the mighty rolling sea higher than the mountain sparkling like a mountain all sufficient grace for even me broader than the scope of my transgressions greater far than all my sin and shame oh magnify the precious name of jesus praise his name wonderful grace of jesus reaching to all the lost chains have been torn us under giving me liberty for the wonderful grace of jesus reaches me wonderful the mattress grace of jesus deeper than the mighty rolling sea higher than the mountain sparkling like a fountain all sufficient let's try it out on the third Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching the most defiled By its transforming power, making Him God's dear child Purchasing peace and heaven for all eternity And the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus Deeper than the mighty rolling sea Higher than the mountain, smartly like a fountain All sufficient grace for even me, much better Broader than the scope of my transgressions Greater far than all my sin and shame O magnify the precious name of Jesus Praise His name Amen. We had the good comeback on the third verse. Brother Robert, you want to end us in a word of prayer?