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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] Thank you very much. Alright, everybody. Welcome to Shirk Foundation Baptist Church. You can find your seats and grab your blue song books and turn to page number 303. We're going to be singing Stepping in the Light. Welcome to Shirk Foundation Baptist Church. You can find your seat and grab your blue song books and turn to page number 303. We're going to be singing Stepping in the Light. Song number 303, Stepping in the Light. Let's sing it out on the first. Trying to walk in the steps of the Savior, trying to follow our Savior and King, shaping our lives by His blessed example. Happy, how happy the songs that we bring. How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior, stepping in the light, stepping in the light. How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior, led in paths of light. Now, song number 303, Stepping in the Light. Let's sing it out like you mean it this morning on the second. Pressing more closely to Him who is leading when we are tempted to turn from the way. Trusting the arm that is strong to defend us. Happy, how happy our praises each day. How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior, stepping in the light, stepping in the light. How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior, led in paths of light. It was a little bit better, but I think you guys could do better than that. Let's sing it out a little more on the third. Walking in footsteps of gentle forbearance, footsteps of faithfulness, mercy, and love. Looking to Him for the grace freely promised. Happy, how happy our journey above. How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior, stepping in the light, stepping in the light. How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior, led in paths of light. Trying to walk in the steps of the Savior, upward, still upward we'll follow our guide. When we shall see Him, the King in His beauty. Happy, how happy our place at His side. How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior, stepping in the light, stepping in the light. How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior, led in paths of light. Amen. Brother Anthony, could you option a word of prayer? Amen. Our second song is going to be song number 17, Since the Savior Found Me. Song number 17 in your blue hymn book, Since the Savior Found Me. Song number 17, let's see it on the first. Since the Savior found me, pardon all my shame. I have had the joy and living hope within. Gone is all the shame and sorrow of the past. There underneath the precious God of Christ at last. Safe, safe, saved, I'm happy on the way. Safe, safe, saved, I love Him more each day. I know He's mine each hour. He saves and keeps and sanctifies me by His cloud. Since the Savior found me, all to Him I owe. For His precious blood has washed me white as snow. Now no condemnation, happy as can be. I'm glad that Jesus justifies and sets me free. Safe, safe, saved, I'm happy on the way. Safe, safe, saved, I love Him more each day. Safe, safe, saved, I know He's mine each hour. He saves and keeps and sanctifies me by His cloud. Since the Savior found me, I have perfect rest. Living in the realms of joy and happiness. Waning on my Savior, looking for that day. When He shall come to catch His waiting right away. Safe, safe, saved, I'm happy on the way. I love Him more each day. Safe, safe, saved, I know He's mine each hour. He saves and keeps and sanctifies me by His cloud. A moment in His favor is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Psalm chapter 30 verse 5. It's a great verse there of comfort. And our service times are Sunday morning at 10 30 a.m. for our preaching service. Sunday evening service is 3 30 p.m. And then Thursday Bible study is on Thursday. And that's at 6 30 p.m. We're going to be going through a new book. But you have to be here to know what it is. And we'll both be surprised together at which one it is. So anyway, so we just finished 2 Corinthians and our Bible study, excuse me, last Thursday. So we preach in a brand new book this week. And we got a lot going on for the rest of this week. At least I do. And anyway, we'll get to that in a minute. So many times are listed below. We do have sowing today at 1 p.m. If you've never been sowing, it's when we go out and actually knock on people's doors and try to confront them with the gospel. So we invite people to church. But then we want people to be saved. So we ask them if they're 100 percent sure if they know they're going to heaven. And then we try to get into a conversation. We're not like confronting as if, you know, we're trying to force them to get saved, obviously. The confronting is just asking them the questions. And then we try to take the Bible and show them what the Bible says it takes to be saved. Excuse me. And so if you're interested in doing that, if you've never gone before, we have various times throughout the week that you can go. And today is at 1 p.m. So you probably meet here or if you're in our WhatsApp group, then brother Sean Conlon usually posts the maps inside that group. So it's a nice day out today. So probably a good day just catching people on the street. And finally, the weather started to change for us. So that's a good thing. Our praise report, you can see the salvation baptisms and attendance for last week and then our upcoming events. This Friday is the Sony Marathon in Bellingham, Washington, and brother Robert's heading that up. I have jury duty, so hopefully I can get out of it, but I just don't know for sure. But I'm definitely have to report tomorrow for that. So maybe I'll just show up in this suit and then they'll ask me like some questions that make me get out of it. But I mean, I don't mind doing my civic duty, obviously, but it's just a bad week for it. So anyway, so brother Robert is heading that up and I think he's leaving here Thursday night. If you need a hotel, you want to go, but you're like, I don't know if I can afford to go or not. Just come see me and we'll figure out a hotel for you. Some people are going to go up Thursday so they can go solely on Friday. The hotel we stayed out last time was pretty nice at a pool and everything. So you might be able to get a chance to go swimming or something. And then Friday, Saturday is going to be the preaching and fellowship at the border at Blaine, Washington. So if you haven't gone up and you're planning on going up this time, please see that video on our YouTube page. It explains the directions very well. So if you go past exit 274, if you go past exit 274, you're going into Canada and they're vaccinating you and probably arresting you for being a Baptist. No, I'm just kidding. But it is a hassle. So you'll have to wait in line. Then they'll say, what are you doing? And like I took a wrong turn at Albuquerque and then they'll probably search your car. Well, I don't know. They're not always nice up there. So they call it our friendly neighbors to the north, but sometimes they're not so friendly at the border. Anyway, as far as the Sony marathon, that's going to start at what is it, nine o'clock, brother Robert. And so if you're going and you don't know any of the other details that I put in that video, watch the video or see brother Robert. He'll give you the details, but he's had not up. And so it'll be coffee and donuts, I think, for breakfast and then some type of delicious lunch. So anyway, that's the details for that. And then, of course, the preaching at the border is going to be with our church in Canada. They're all meeting us there like they did last time. It is a Memorial Day weekend, so I know maybe some people have different plans, but if you just want to go get some some soul in a fairly receptive place and enjoy some preaching and get to know some of our neighbors to the north at our church in Surrey, B.C., then just come see me after the service or come see brother Robert. We'll make sure we get a hotel and all that good stuff for you. So anyway, that's it for that. And then June 1st through 4th is not this week, but next week. And that is our camp trip. So I need you to let me know that if you need a cabin and plan on going and how many people are in your group. I don't think as many people are going this year as normal. So I think there's there's still cabins that are available. So see me about that if you want to sign up or I just need to know on paper somehow. So if you just email me, you know, who's going or just put it in the group, the WhatsApp group and let me know. And we'll we'll try to figure it out as far as what cabin you're in and all that stuff. I'll be posting stuff about the schedule and where the cabins are and the directions, because that place, if you follow the GPS, then it's going to take you out the middle of nowhere, which is still close to the camp because the camp is in the middle of nowhere, pretty much. But there's actually specific written instructions that you have to follow if you're coming from wherever the location you're coming from. If you're coming from the south or coming from the north, there's different directions. So anyway, it's a nice camp and it's it's it's it's designed to be a family camp. I mean, not a family camp, but like a junior camp. But the family camp, you know, we're just putting families in cabins. And so everything's absolutely free except for the gas, which could be a pretty penny. But other than that, it's all free. So we're buying food and we'll have a menu for each day. We do need some help with that. Do we do we need to still need volunteers for cleaning and serving? OK, so anyway, the cleaning and serving, if you haven't signed up to do something like that, it's not that bad. So the dishwasher is like one of those industrial dishwashers. You're not going to be scrubbing pans with SOS pads or something. You just well, I mean, maybe will. But the trays and everything, it's like a school lunch place. The kitchen's really nice. The dining room's really nice. And but we do need help. We can't do it all of ourselves. So if you could volunteer to do this, one of those times and families can do it. You know, it doesn't have to be you alone. You know, so and obviously we'll we'll try to get you some help if if you just want to sign up solo. We'll definitely nobody can do it solo. There's just no way. So anyway, that is coming up June 1st through 4th, which is Wednesday. We can arrive Wednesday. We can arrive, I think, at noon is what our what time our arrival time is. So you can get there earlier, too, if you want. It doesn't really matter. So but not the day before. So Pastor Pizarnsky is going to be preaching for us at that camp Friday night and Saturday morning. And so we're looking forward to that. If you need any more information about the camp. Some stuff's going to be forthcoming, like the schedule and stuff like that. But as far as if you need a cabin, just I need to know so that I can reserve those cabins for you. There's also tent camping and RV camping. If you have an RV or something like that, they have full hookups. Well, if some people just like to take camp. So I forgot who it was that came to me and said they were going to just take camp. I was like, OK, that's fine for you. I've done a lot of tent camping in my life and I'm I'm retired from that. So the older you get, the worse it gets. Right. Anyway, so then June 10th, I'll be flying to New Jersey, probably the ninth, actually. And I'll be preaching in New Jersey with Pastor Jimenez at a conference, Northeast New IFB conference. That's going to be at 6 p.m. And if you need details about that or what time, what channel we're going to be streaming it from, just let me know. I'll try to get that information to you. Service begins at seven. I'll be preaching. Then Pastor Jimenez will be preaching. There'll be baptisms if people need to be baptized. And the soul winning marathon is going to be the next day, that Saturday. So me and Pastor Jimenez and his whole family is going to be there. So be a great trip. June 14th is the home school field trip to Oaks Park. Again, that's free to home school families. And so I think Miss Rachel bought a whole bunch of bracelets already. But is there a deadline or something that you need to know the rest of it or. We'll let you know. Well, you know, in the evening service, but I think, you know, depends on how many people go. So if we have as good of a turnout as we did at the zoo, then we'll probably definitely need to buy more bracelets. Yes. Okay. So that's June 14th. June 18th is a men's shooting event in Stevenson, Washington. June 19th is Father's Day. We'll have a gift for every dad in attendance. And then, of course, the F.W.B.C. mega conference. Pastor Anderson is going to be going to different various churches and his location stop here for our church. It's going to be Vancouver. It's going to be in Vancouver on June 23rd, which is a Thursday night. And then Spokane is going to be June 26. And that will be both services he's preaching at. I'll be preaching at his church on the same day. But anyway, that's the schedule for us as far as the conference goes. And then the Red Hot Preaching Conference is June, July 14th through 17th. And we are a family integrated church. That means the children and infants are welcome during the church services. We have available for your family, mother, baby rooms and a dad, baby room for your convenience during all the services. And so those rooms are located back. The dad room is located back there. The mom baby room is back there. And so please utilize those rooms and please make sure you're following the rules. So if you don't know the rules, just ask somebody. And then, of course, the gliding chairs or rockers are for pregnant and nursing families or mothers only and elders. And let's see if you're a first time visitor here. We're very happy that you're here and we know that there's other options for you to go to now, finally, after the whole covid thing has gone away. But we do have a gift basket. There's like a gift bag for each first time visitor. And they're located on the other side of this partition type wall over here. So if you're a first time visitor, just grab one of these on your way out. What we have in here is we put a film in there for you and some other information about our church, a nice pen. And then this DVD, which I don't know how many people have DVD players anymore, but we might be past our times. But this film, you can actually find it online on our website, too. It's called Being Baptist. And it's just basically teaches what Baptist believe, why we're Baptist and the basic fundamentals of the faith. So we're not a denomination here. We're an independent Baptist church. And so we don't we don't have some headquarters that tells us what we have to do and all that kind of stuff. So anyway, please take one of those as a token of our appreciation for you being a first time guest. And all the other information, let's see the offerings that have come in so far. And please make sure you're silencing your cell phones or putting them on silent. And the birthdays, we got Eli Woods. His birthday is going to be tomorrow, right? How old are you going to be, Eli? Seven. Wow. I wish I was seven again. And Coral is going to be 17. Is that right? All right. Well, happy birthday to both of you. So they both share a birthday. So they're both equally bratty. Just kidding. Anyway, happy birthday. Let's sing happy birthday to them. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, God bless you. Happy birthday to you. All right. I think that's all I have for announcements to sing another song and then we'll receive the offering. All right, our next song will be song number three hundred and eleven. In your blue hymn books, Just a Closer Walk with Thee. Song number three hundred and eleven, Just a Closer Walk with Thee. Song three hundred and eleven, Just a Closer Walk with Thee. Let's sing it on the first. I am weak, but thou art strong. Jesus, keep me from all wrong. I'll be satisfied as long as I walk. Let me walk close to Thee. Just a closer walk with Thee. Granted, Jesus is my plea. Daily walking close to Thee. Let it be, dear Lord, let it be. Through this world of toil and snares. If I falter, Lord, who cares? Who with me my burden shares? None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee. Just a closer walk with Thee. Granted, Jesus is my plea. Daily walking close to Thee. Let it be, dear Lord, let it be. When my feeble life is o'er, Time for me will be no more. Guide me gently, safely o'er, To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore. Just a closer walk with Thee. Granted, Jesus is my plea. Daily walking close to Thee. Let it be, dear Lord, let it be. Amen. Good seeing you, Brother Ramon. Could you bless the offering for us? I would like to thank you for another great day to be at Church, Lord. I just pray you bless everything that we do here in your house. Bless this offering. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. All right, go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 49. Genesis chapter number 49. If you don't have a Bible, raise your hand and one of the ushers will bring you one. Genesis 49. Genesis 49, the Bible reads, And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shalt befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob, and hearken unto Israel your father. Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power. Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel, because thou winnest up to thy father's bed. Then defiledest thou it, he went up to my couch. Simeon and Levi are both our brethren. Instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. O my soul, come not thou into their secret, unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united. For in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was cruel. I would divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise, thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies. Thy father's children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp. From the prey, my son, thou art gone up. He stooped down, he couched as a lion. And as an old lion, who shall rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come. And unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass his colt unto the choice vine, he washed his garment in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes. His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea, and he shall be for a haven of ships, and his border shall be unto Sidon. Issachar is a strong ass, couching down between two burdens, and he saw the rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant, and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute. Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, and adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD. Gad a troop shall overcome him, but he shall overcome at the last. Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties. Naphtali is a hind let loose, he giveth goodly words. Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall. The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him, but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. From thence is the shepherd the stone of Israel, even by the God thy father who shall help thee, and by the Almighty who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breast and of the womb. The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the uttermost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. Benjamin shall raven as a wolf, in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is it, that their father spake unto them, and blessed them, every one according to his blessing he blessed them. And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people, bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham brought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession, for a burying place. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. The perch of the field, and of the cave that is therein, was from the children of Heth. And when Jacob had made the ending of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people. Brother Robert will you pray for us? Amen. Well normally I preach in Genesis on Sunday nights, excuse me, but when I realized there was going to have to be two sermons out of it, I just decided to preach both sermons out of the chapter today. And it is kind of Bible study-ish, but at the same time there will be some preaching in there, so don't worry if you just came to hear preaching today, there's going to be a little bit of both, preaching and teaching, so I hope that's okay with you. And so I basically, in these two chapters, you have Jacob who's about to die, he's very old at this time, and he has enough energy and strength left in him to make sure that he blesses his sons, and tells them what's going to happen to them in the last days. You'll notice that some of the things that were said were not exactly blessings, but Jacob is a prophet, and he's telling his sons what shall follow their lineage basically. So it's not just talking about the sons themselves, but what their tribes are going to do later on, and how they're going to excel or not excel. And it kind of gives some cryptic language in some of it, it's a lot to cover, so that's why I decided to do it in two sermons. And we're only going to be covering the tribes of Reuben to Judah this morning, so the other guys we'll have to talk about in the next sermon. But anyway, so it's been said before, I've heard people say this, that people know more about their favorite baseball team or football team than they do about the 12 apostles, or they know more about the 12's in Seattle than they do about the 12's in Seattle. I think it's important for us to know who the key players are in the kind of the Bible, unless you actually read it. Once you've read the Bible cover to cover a few times, you'll start to understand where everything is in the timeline from the beginning until where we're at now. So, but I wanted to... You're dead to me, Rylan. Is the mic not working, though? Okay. Alright, well I guess I'll have to use the mic. So anyway, the 12 tribes of Israel is basically what we're going to learn about today. And we should know from reading our Bibles the timeline, like I said, but Genesis is the beginning book of the Bible. A lot of the first mentions are in the book of Genesis, and we're near the end. Next Sunday I'm going to be preaching the last chapter in Genesis, chapter 50. But I wanted to get some teaching in about the 12 tribes of Israel and kind of where their lives go, where their tribes go, and kind of how they end up. Because I think a lot of people maybe think that the 12 tribes were still going on at the time of Jesus, and maybe there was some remnants, but in reality, most of the tribes, 10 of the tribes were kind of lost in the mix at that point. So there might have been people from certain tribes that were mentioned in the New Testament, but for the most part, they'd all gathered themselves into one nation, which was called Judah. So, and many, many years before, they were assimilated into the Assyrians and other empires as they were scattered throughout the world. The genealogies are lost today. People might say, hey, I'm from this tribe, I'm from Benjamin, I'm from this or that, but they really don't know because once all the Jews were dispersed in 70 AD, then all that genealogy was lost. Now, I'm sure God knows who those people are, but we don't. And so there's no way to really understand or know what tribe you're from, so to speak, unless you are God. So they don't know who the Levites are. So when you think about it, when this new temple is going to get built, and they're always constantly talking about it, and that they're cutting the foundation stones. I heard that last week, that they're trying to cut the foundation stones for the temple, and they have to have, under that religion, they're going to have to have Levites, so how are they going to know who the Levites are? Well, you know, the Bible says who's a liar, but he denies that Jesus is the Christ, he's anti-Christ. So a person, the Jewish religion, they are basically, they don't believe Jesus is the Christ, they believe there's still a Messiah to come, and so would it surprise you that they lied? If they lied about Jesus and had him crucified, do you think that they would lie about what priestly tribes they're from? I think that they would. So anyway, let's start with Genesis 49, verse 1. The Bible says, And Jacob called unto his sons and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. Now, I kind of want to explain this also, because the Bible says when Jesus came, that those were the last days. So you're like, well, that was 2,000 years ago. Well, yeah, but in comparison to how old the world is, then it is the latter part of the days that we are living in is the last days. So even though it's been the last days for a while, but Jacob is telling them what's going to happen to them in the last days. He's going to give prophecies about each tribe, about each son that he had, and remember that these children that he had were with four different women. So he had children with Rachel, he had children with Leah, he had children with the two handmaids. I forgot what their names are right off the top of my head, but I'll cover that too. But anyway, he's got sons from different women. He was married to four different wives. So his life, their life's been kind of a train wreck in some aspects, but obviously Jacob was a great man of God, and some of his sons were great men also. But we are in the last days right now, but we're not in the last of the last. So the last of the last is going to be the 70th week of Daniel, which is a seven-year period, but that has not started yet. I know there's a lot of stuff on the internet saying, well, this is the last days that the vaccination's the mark of the beast and all this other stuff. That's just not true. There's no evidence that that's happening. And honestly, there's probably going to be a world war before that starts. But anyway, we're not talking about end times Bible prophecy, but I just wanted to kind of help you understand that even though it says it's in the last, he's going to say what befalls them in the last days, that could be future for the book of Revelation, because there is a future for some of the 12 tribes of Israel in the book of Revelation, but also kind of what happens to their tribe, where they go. Because you understand that Moses, he wasn't able to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land, and Joshua was the one that led them into the Promised Land, and then they divided Canaan land up into the different who inherited from those different tribes, and those tribes have become very big, and there's millions of people that they divided the land amongst, and some people got bigger portions than others, and basically the children of Israel failed on multiple occasions to keep the commandments of God, and they basically got to the point where God finally just destroyed most of them, and they're scattered in Israel like you'll see in the first son here, so are the second and third sons that it talks about. So look at verse number two, it says, Gather yourselves together and hear ye sons of Jacob and hearken unto Israel your father. It's like you need to listen to what I'm about to tell you because this concerns you. And so the first son we're going to look at this morning is Reuben. So Reuben is the firstborn son of Jacob, and it says in verse three, Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity and the excellency of power. Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel, because thou wentest up to thy father's bed, then defiledest thou it, he went up to my couch. So Jacob, you know, he kind of lets him know, I don't know if he said something to him before, but Jacob knew this for many years, that he had, Reuben had committed adultery with his concubine, and that's why it's saying that he went up to his father's bed and defiled it. So, and when it says that, it's talking about the marriage bed, and it's talking about him defiling it, so he committed adultery with Jacob's wife, which is sick, it's weird, and it's wrong to do that. So basically, when you get married, you're one flesh with your spouse, and so if you're one flesh with your spouse, then that's why it's saying you went up to your father's bed. So it's gross, in the law of Moses, it's actually forbidden, and you're not supposed to marry your father's wife or your close relatives, and even though he wasn't related to her directly, it was still his father's wife, and so it was wrong, and that caused problems for Reuben. And the Bible says in Hebrews 13, 4, it says, Marriage is honorable in all and the bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. And so Reuben got judged. This scripture is true. It's honorable to be married, it's honorable to get married, but it says in the bed undefiled. So I think this is a direct link to what it's talking about here, but whoremongers, those are men that are just seeking prostitutes and just sleep around all the time, and adulterers, God will judge. So adulterer is someone that sleeps with someone, that's married that sleeps with someone outside their marriage bed, right? And it's wicked and wrong. Turn to Genesis chapter 29 verse 32. Genesis chapter 29 verse 32. So I'll kind of walk through some of the things about Reuben. So, I mean, first off, he doesn't really get a blessing here, does he? He's kind of getting cursed, isn't he? He's saying what's going to befall him in the latter days is saying that he's unstable as water. And so water, obviously, unless you put it in some kind of a container, and even in the container it's able to spill, so water is not stable, and that's a perfect picture of what he's talking about. So Jacob just knows that his son is not stable, and it says, Thou shalt not excel. When you're unstable in your ways, when you're unstable in your life, when you're unstable with your routine, with your work, with your church life, that's unstable. You're not going to excel in any part of your life if you just can't get stable and get fixed and get rooted and get grounded in the truth. Obviously, what he did is being judged by God through the prophet, which is his own dad, Jacob, or Israel, as his name was changed to. But you're in Genesis 29, verse 32, it says, And Leah conceived and bare his son, and she called his name Reuben. For she said, Surely the Lord hath looked upon my affliction. Now, therefore, my husband will love me. So we see that Reuben is the son of Leah. So Leah was Jacob's first wife, and he was tricked into marrying her. He thought it was Rachel. And so Jacob was known as, you know, he was a trickster. He fooled people and lied to his dad, lied about and stole the blessing away from his brother. And so when you reap things, you're going to sow them back. And so he was tricked into marrying Leah, and then he was trying to serve for Rachel for seven years, and then behold, he woke up in the morning and it was Leah. So then he served seven more years for Rachel, which is his second wife. But so anyway, I'm just showing you that Leah is his mother. And then turn to Genesis 30, verse 14, Genesis chapter 30, verse number 14, we're talking about Reuben here, the firstborn son of Jacob. It says, 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. So the reason why I'm showing you this is because really Reuben doesn't have a lot of great things that he does, but it starts off pretty bad, and it doesn't seem to me like Jacob is just letting that pass as far as he's just calling out his character. He's unstable. He does some good things, but he also does some things that are not so great. And then of course when it's talking about the scope of the children of Reuben, ultimately they're not going to excel. That tribe will not excel. And so look at Genesis 30, verse 35, verse 22, Genesis 35, verse 22. So, I mean, that last one is like he found mandrakes in the field. Like, woo! I mean, he's just really doing a lot of great things, isn't he? And really there's a lot of drama going on in the family. I've already preached about that before, so I won't get into it. But anyway, Genesis 35, verse 22 says, And it came to pass when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine. And Israel heard it, now the sons of Jacob were twelve. So he, right here in the Bible, earlier on in the text, it tells us in chapter 35 that he lay with Bilhah his father's concubine. And I've already explained this before, but his wife basically didn't have a choice to get married. You know, that's kind of what I believe a concubine is. It's not as, you know, they don't have the same rights that a wife, just a regular wife would have, because she was the handmaid, I believe, of Leah or Rachel, one of the two, anyway. But, so the concubine, you know, a lot of people say, well, it's the live-in girlfriend, but, you know, that would make him an adulterer. That would make him a fornicator. And so I don't think that Jacob was a fornicator. So obviously a concubine means something other than just a live-in girlfriend. So anyway, and then he wouldn't be able to say anything if, you know, Reuben, you know, slept with someone that was just his girlfriend. I mean, it's not just a girlfriend. It's a type of a wife, though it's not on the same level. So anyway, it says the sons of Leah, Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun. So Leah's sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. And even though Rachel was the favored wife, and even though Jacob, I mean, Joseph, and Benjamin were born from Leah, I mean from Rachel, Leah's children were more substantial and did greater things than the rest of the children. So obviously that would be Levi and Judah being the number ones there. So and Judah's were, you know, Christ, the tribe that Christ was born out of. Now let's look at Genesis 37 verse 21, Genesis 37 verse 21. So just kind of walking you through some of the things that Reuben did. So it's really wicked what he did concerning his father's concubine. And here we see him kind of do something good here. So it says, And Reuben heard it, talking about the other sons were going to kill Joseph, the favored son of Jacob. And he said, And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands and said, Let us not kill him. So that's a good brownie point there for Reuben. Let's, you know, he's saying, Hey, don't kill him. You know, even though the other sons hated him, they all kind of hated Joseph because he would dream these dreams and say one day you're going to bow down to me and my mom and dad are going to bow down to me, showing that he was going to be the ruler in Egypt at some point, the second in command only behind Pharaoh. So he does a good thing here. He's trying to tell his brethren not to kill Joseph. And it says, And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit in the wilderness and lay no hand upon him that he might rid him out of their hands to deliver him to his father again. So what's he trying to do? He's trying to talk them out of killing Joseph so that he can deliver Joseph to Jacob again. So they want to kill him. Reuben says, No, let's not do that. He's the firstborn. And so they kind of listen to him a little bit. And Judas says, Let's sell him. And so that's what ends up happening. So Reuben leaves for whatever reason and then when he comes back to the pit, in verse 29 it says, And Reuben returned unto the pit and behold, Joseph was not in the pit and he rent his clothes. So you can see that Reuben did, he was upset about this. He didn't want Joseph to be killed. And you think, well, you know, I mean, he wasn't so bad. Well, everybody's bad. Everybody does wrong things, obviously. But doing what he did with his father's concubine is a really wicked sin. And it's something that God just was not going to overlook. And I'm not saying he wasn't saved or anything like that. I'm just saying that even if you're saved and you do something really wicked, God's going to judge you for those things. He'll judge you here on this earth. He'll punish you here on this earth, but he's not going to punish you in hell for even one second. So we don't believe that you can lose your salvation at this church. And I don't know for sure if Reuben was saved. I kind of assume he was. I kind of assume that all of them were. And it just goes to show with some of the things that you'll see that these guys do, they do some pretty wicked things and still be saved. Now, I'm not excusing what they did, but it's just the Bible says that we're forgiven for all of our sins, not just the ones that you don't commit. Right? So he rents his clothes. He's very upset about it. But do you see the part where he goes and tells his dad what they did? No. So basically, these brothers have all formed this pact and said, hey, this is our story and we're going to stick to it. So even though Reuben didn't want them to kill him, and they didn't kill him, but they sold him, which basically he probably thought he's just as good as dead. But he doesn't go back and tell his dad the truth. So even though he felt bad, even though he rent his clothes, even though he put his voice against his brothers and said, do not kill him, he didn't fully do the right thing, did he? You know why? Because he's unstable as water. He's wishy-washy. He can be really good at one point and then do some really stupid, wicked things after that. So Jacob ultimately doesn't allow him to be son number one. And I'll get to that here in a minute, but skip down to verse... Do I have you in... Let's see. Let's go to Genesis 42, verse 22. I probably won't go as in-depth with some of the other sons in the second sermon as I did with Reuben, but he's the firstborn, and I just thought it would be... We should know why things are the way they are when it comes to the tribes of Israel. So in verse 22 it says, And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child, and he would not hear. Therefore, behold, also his blood is required. So when Joseph... Once they come to Egypt, is Joseph and he's basically kind of tormenting them a little bit and trying to put the fire to their feet on a lot of things and all these things are happening to them and he basically equates that to we're reaping what we've sown because we allow Joseph to be sold off. And as far as they know he's probably dead. Probably worked to death in some mine or something like that. So he believes he's dead. You can see that he believes he's dead. He says therefore also his blood is required. And also if you kidnap somebody you know, it used to be that kidnappers would be put to death, even in this country. Who's the airplane pilot that got his son kidnapped? It was Charles Lindbergh. And that was like a huge case in the earlier part of the 1900s but maybe I can't remember what the years were but anyway his son was kidnapped and murdered by people and they were trying to get a ransom from him but they got the ransom but I think that they still killed the baby anyway. It was a really big story. But I think that they ended up catching the people that did it and I think they put them to death. But the Bible says if you kidnap if you steal people whatever you're going to do to them that your blood is required for that. Kidnapping is a death penalty situation because you know if someone kidnaps somebody they're not trying to do something good for them. Now obviously you have custody battles where a dad will take off with a child or a mom will take off with a child. I don't necessarily think that that kind of equates. But like I mean you think about the slavery in this country and in other countries around the world, what do they do? They go and capture people against their will and make them work. That's a wicked sin. They deserve to die for that. But I don't deserve to die for something that my great great great great great grandfather did. Which is another sermon in itself but that's kind of the way the world looks at it but not kill you but just take all your stuff and give it to somebody else. Anyway I'm not preaching about that this morning but let's look at verse 37. It says, And Reuben spake unto his father saying, Slay my two sons if I bring him not to thee, talking about Benjamin, deliver him out of my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. This is when Simeon's been taken captive and they're trying to get Jacob to let Benjamin go which is his second son from Rachel. And Jacob's like, no, I don't want any mischief to follow like basically alluding to what happened with Joseph when he sent Joseph to go see what his brothers were up to then they captured him, threw him in this pit and then he became what he became as the second command of Egypt but he didn't start out that way. He started out afflicted, he went to prison and then finally God allowed him to interpret the dream of Pharaoh which saved the whole nation which basically saved the whole world because the whole world was in a great dirt. So this is all stuff I've covered before I'm just trying to give you a little bit of background if you weren't here for those sermons but anyway so Ruben comes up with this plan and says, hey let me take Benjamin back to Egypt and if I don't bring him back to you, you can kill my two sons. So here's just another stupid thing he says it seems like a noble thing that he's doing, here you can just kill my sons if I don't bring them back. And it seems like that would be a noble thing, the world would probably think that's a noble thing but it's like what did his sons have to do with it, you know what I mean? So like why would you allow someone to kill your sons when you know as a ransom for not bringing back his, I don't know, it's just a weird thing to say and you should say what you mean and mean what you say and I don't know that he really meant it, maybe he did maybe he felt bad for what he did, I'm sure he did because what they did to Joseph was really messed up, they did him dirty they messed him over but God was obviously working all this stuff out for good, for the good of the world, for the good of Jacob for the good of the children of Israel they just didn't realize it but he just kind of makes this dumb promise that he can't it's ridiculous and think about this, he already knows that Reuben has gone onto his concubine, he already knows this, it says in chapter 35 that Jacob heard it, he heard about what happened and so if Reuben's coming up two years later and saying hey you can kill my sons, let me take Benjamin, he's like yeah right, I'm supposed to put my trust in you after what you did to me, he obviously doesn't say that but if you know someone's unstable as water, if you know someone is not going to do what they say that they're going to do or they're not going to act the way they're supposed to act in certain situations, one minute they're righteous, one minute they're doing wicked, you can't put your trust in someone like that, if they're so unstable that they're unstable like water that means they're not going to excel it's like sending a lazy person to do something that you're, you know, it's the same type of situation, you don't want to send some sluggard or sloth to do something because the Bible talks about it being smoked to the person's eyes and vinegar to the teeth when you send a sluggard to do something because you know it's probably A, not going to get done or if it does get done it's going to take a long time right, so you know it's a one day project that ends up taking three weeks or something, so let's look at Numbers chapter 16 verse number 1 Numbers chapter 16 verse number 1 it says, Now Korah the son of Ishar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi and Dathan and Abiram and the sons of Eliab and On, the son of Peleth, sons of who? Reuben took men, so the rebellion of Korah is, you know, the sons of Reuben are directly involved with the rebellion at Korah, so I mean, you know, there's certain points, it's like he is unstable as water you'll see, you know, and I'm talking about as in the whole tribe you know, you'll see where Reuben himself will make a good decision but not really the full right decision or you'll see him make a stupid and really wicked mistake but you know, it travels on through his family because he's on the wrong side of a rebellion where, you know Moses ends up, you know God ends up, you know, splitting hell wide open and letting them all drop into hell, so Reuben's part of this rebellion, it's not just Korah that rebels it's a whole bunch of different people and Reuben's, some of the sons of Reuben, they took men and went against Moses and Aaron and went against the leadership, so again he's doing something that's not right he's, you know, and obviously it's not Reuben himself but people of his lineage, right? So the notable men of Reuben, the tribe of Reuben there isn't really any notable men like when you look through the Bible you know, and maybe you're going to find an obscure passage of one but I mean, I did a pretty diligent look through, as diligent as I could, as far as Reuben and the Reubenites there's not really a notable man amongst them, so and then, but you'll notice that sometimes they do the right thing, so Reuben you know, when they went to take the the promised land they were still with Moses, they got before Jordan and they, Reuben and the half-tribe of Anasa and Gad wanted to inherit on the other side of Jordan they liked the area, they liked the land and so they were like, well hey, let us inherit here, and then they're like no, you need to still fight with us and so they built fence cities and let their children and their animals stay there but then they still went forth and fought for the promised land and so that's a good thing that they did at least they kept their word and did what they said they were going to do, but they inherited on the other side of Jordan right, as you come into the land, that's where they wanted to be, so but the end of Reuben and the end of Gad and the end of the half-tribe of Anasa is not very favorable, so let's look at 1 Chronicles chapter 5 verse 1 and this will cover some of the tribes of kind of how they ended and really most of the tribes ended this way, because here's something else I need to explain, so once Solomon sinned, so David was the first, was the second king of Israel Saul was the first king, David was the second king, and then the third king was Solomon and everything was going great with Solomon until he did what? He started marrying a bunch of different wives and got a whole bunch of girlfriends and they turned his heart against the Lord Solomon, the wisest man on the face of the earth, God gave him wisdom above everybody else, he was literally the smartest and wisest man on the planet Kings from other places came to hear his wisdoms, queens came and asked him hard questions he was a great man until he got mixed up with the wrong women and so, you know bad women can bring a good man down and, you know, vice versa but what happened with Solomon is that because of what Solomon did in building these high places for his wives and basically worshipping other gods then God stripped the kingdom away from him except for two tribes so all the other tribes, all the other ten tribes went to what was called the nation of Israel basically and then Judah and then split and then Judah was one of those tribes obviously because Solomon was from Judah but all the other ten tribes for the most part were separated and so it was like a split in the kingdom where Jeroboam the son of Nebat went and he secured them and then he made this false altar and started bringing priests up, a different type of priesthood that's another story but I just wanted to explain that to you because when the other ten tribes went into captivity it was pretty early on in the book of 1 Chronicles so 1 Chronicles chapter 5 it explains to us what happened to Reuben and it will tell us a couple of other tribes here too but it says in 1 Chronicles chapter 5 verse 1 it says, and the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel for he was the firstborn for as much as he defiled his father's bed, see it even follows him into 1 Chronicles, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel so Joseph usurped the number one son basically from him because of what he did isn't that what the Bible says? So because of that sin that he committed he did not inherit his birthright like he was supposed to and it says in the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright so even though he was the firstborn after the birthright it's not reckoned that way because Jacob told him he was not going to excel and he was stripped of the number one son as far as the firstborn son the things that they get was more of a bigger portion of inheritance and things like that so I mean look what it says in verse number 3 actually look at verse 2 it says, for Judah prevailed above his brethren and of him came the chief ruler but the birthright was Joseph's the sons I say of Reuben the firstborn of Israel were Henoch and Palu and Hezron and Carmi the sons of Joel Shemaiah his son Gog there's a baby name if you're looking for a male child's baby name Gog the son Shimei his son Micah his son Reiah his son and then here's one Baal his son so basically I mean look at how far I mean obviously Baal means Lord I understand that but when you're talking about Baal you know that's where you get the word Baal's above you know he is the devil and so when you're naming you know if that's what he did and they were into Baal worship at this time so it wouldn't surprise me that one of his descendants would name his son Baal but it sounds like his son was named Baal, right? His son Ambira his son whom Tilgath-Pilesner king of Assyria carried away captive he was prince of the Reubenites so basically you know they get to this point where the king of Assyria goes in and he takes captive the Reubenites skip down to verse 10 and it says in the days of Saul they made war with the Hagarites who fell by their hand and they dwelt in the tents throughout all the east land of Gilead verse number 26 skip down to verse 26 and the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pol king of Assyria and the spirit of Tilgath-Pilesner king of Assyria and he carried them away even the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh and brought them unto Helah and Hebor and Hera and to the river Gozan unto this day so what ended up happening to Reuben? they wanted to inherit before Jordan and with the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh wouldn't it make sense that the Assyrians would go to the first place where they wanted to inherit and they took them and took them away and so basically Reuben did not excel did he? the tribe of Reuben did not excel the Gadites obviously don't excel and the half tribe of Manasseh which is one of the sons of Joseph he was actually the first born of Joseph but he also Jacob in the last chapter that we went through you know he knew that Manasseh was the first born but still blessed Ephraim above Manasseh and which really upset Joseph so and then Revelation chapter 7 verse number 5 I'll just read it for you it says of the tribe of Judah were sealed 12,000 so this is you know way later this is still yet future events it says of the tribe of Reuben were sealed 12,000 and of the tribe of Gad were sealed 12,000 so obviously there's some saved people in Reuben so that's good but overall as a tribe as a people Reuben did not excel they were unstable as water I mean they got mixed up with Korah's bunch you know they allowed he himself you know slept with his father's concubine carnally and you know he had a chance to tell his dad the truth but didn't you know he was upset he did put his voice against the murder of Joseph which they didn't do and so he was good in that area but overall Jacob's you know prophecy comes to pass doesn't it it says he's unstable as water and he will not excel so but in the end you see that there's 12,000 virgin men of Israel of the tribe of Reuben that are sealed in their foreheads so I mean that's good right that's good to be on that list because there's some people that are in the 12 tribes of Israel that are not on this list because they didn't have 12,000 virgin you know saved people to be able to be part of this 144,000 so the 144,000 isn't the only people that are going to heaven folks I know the Jehovah's false witnesses want to say that that's true but it's not true so these 144,000 are the 12 tribes of Israel and you know that's another sermon obviously but I do I want to say this that the tribe of Reuben does have some saved people in their tribe so that's good but you know what would what would you say your tribe is like who you came from we probably I mean we don't know who we came from really but how how bad is God cursed our ancestors for the things that we've done probably pretty bad you know so so much that I don't I don't know who my genealogy is do you but the good thing about God is that despite the how we were born what family were born to that God offers salvation freely to all tribes of the earth and all tribes of the earth will be represented in heaven not everybody is saved but there will be people from every tribe every tongue every nation that will be saved and Reuben has I mean it says that they're virgins in the book of Revelation if you do a study on this that they're actually these people that are sealed in their foreheads these are virgins and so if there's 12,000 virgins in Reuben then there's obviously probably you know a multitude of men and women that were saved in that tribe so what's the application well you know there's some sins that you can commit in your life that follow you and your family name perhaps for generations one wicked sin you know like what Reuben did to his father outed him as son number one right he didn't get to enjoy the the you know being that number one son and as a matter of fact he shamed his father he defiled his bed he did committed a very wicked sin I know in 2022 it's not really super wicked for people to commit adultery it's just par for the course in a lot of people's families but it is a big deal to God and know this that God will judge adultery he will judge fornication and uncleanness that's what the Bible says so I mean so to apply it to ourselves hey be careful of the things that you do because that sin can follow you around just like in first chronicles chapter five you know what's the first you know this person's writing down the chronicles of these different tribes and what's the first thing he says about Reuben that he defiled his father's bed right and that and then it gives the genealogy and then what's the end they're dragged away and assimilated into the Assyrian empire and so what's the end of them well they they're they're scattered they're they're nothing there is no tribe of Reuben anymore that we know of so being called unstable as water is not saying something good about you it's saying something bad about you and you know again one moment of wickedness you know your righteousness isn't going to make up for it so even though Reuben was capable of doing good things he did make some good decisions you know does that make up for what he did it doesn't look as Christians we don't believe that you living a good life makes up for the wicked things that you do in your off time okay so you're going to be judged by the sins that you do on this earth if you're saved and you doing a bunch of good works isn't going to cover up the fact that you sinned it's still going to follow you around now obviously God forgives of all of our sins but on this earth that's where we get punished you know if God is your father he's going to punish you like he would a child when you do something wrong just like we would punish our children when they do something wrong on this earth and if you don't punish your children then you're not doing them a very good service because most of the children that don't get spanked in this world number one they usually don't end up believing in God and you know number two you know they don't number one they don't end up believing in God and then number two it's really hard to get them saved because they can't understand the concept of punishment see and I'm not saying that you know children and parent relationship it's all about punishment it's not but you do have to have a balance in your life as a parent you can't it can't just always be good times and pictures at the beach and going boating and all and barbecues and all this stuff it's not always you know it's not always a rosy day when you're raising children but here's the difference between parents that don't spank and parents the parents that do the parents that spank usually their children will end up in a good place now obviously if you're spanking just for the fact that spanking people you don't have a purpose for doing it kids can resent that but if you have a balance in your life as a parent then your children can turn out right and we don't want to be off balance in that way number two and three are Simeon and Levi Simeon and Levi just put them together because they're kind of added together in here and then separated by Jacob himself look at Genesis 49 verse 5 back in our text it says Simeon and Levi are brethren instruments of cruelty are in their habitations so Levites became the tribe of the priest if you understand the Bible so the Levites are the priestly tribe ultimately but at this time there was no such thing and you know no doubt they had great people in the line of Levi including Moses and Aaron you know Moses and Aaron were great men of God and there's a lot of other great men of God that are in this tribe but it's not looking good for their ultimate outcome as far as Jacob's concerned because you know to start off with saying hey they're brethren instruments of cruelty are in their habitations I mean that's not really something I want set up my eulogy you know he was a really cruel man you know he's capable of doing lots of cruel things I mean that's not what I want to be said about how I'm going to you know how my lineage is going you know he's they're cruel their family's cruel but I mean if you think about the Levites were pretty cruel to Jesus weren't they because they're ultimately the ones that put them on the cross they're the ones that turned the people's hearts against him and lied about him and said he was Beelzebub and you know they were what they did was cruel the cruelty of how they treated our Lord Jesus Christ is ultimately their end right because in 70 A.D. you know the whole temple was destroyed all the Levites were scattered and so but that's what Jacob said is going to happen look at verse number six oh my soul come not into their secret unto their assembly mine honor be not thou united for in their anger they slew a man and in their self will they dig down a wall well it says cursed be their anger for it was fierce and their wrath for it was cruel I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel so here's number two and three sons and they're not really being given a very good prophecy about them either you know they're being called cruel it says don't go into their assembly and I would say that that might represent maybe how you know Judaism kind of took over and they stopped believing the Bible and so you don't want to be part of that assembly the assembly of the wicked which is modern day Israel but even in Jesus Day they'd already turned away from the truth and they were believing in a workspace salvation and they were racist just flat out racist and guess what they still are today even though the Jews aren't really a race anymore now again God might know who has Jewish you know as far as being related to Israel and Abraham and Isaac God knows who those people are and what their lineage is but nobody else does so they're scattered just like Jacob said they're scattered in Israel look what it says again in verse number seven cursed be their anger so he curses the fact that they were angry he cursed them for being fierce and for their wrath and the fact that they were cruel you know and what's it talking about let's talk about in Genesis chapter 34 what they do to Shechem so their ultimate you know prophecy is that they're going to be scattered in Israel so these are two other tribes Simeon and Levi and they are to be scattered in Israel so you know now the Jews are scattered in all of them are scattered in Israel but this priesthood dies out and it's taken over by the Lord Jesus Christ he becomes the high priest and he's the one that intercedes for us and the Levites did that for a time but that's been done away in Christ so any animal sacrifices any types of sacrifices that are being done are not being done you know the way that they're supposed to be because there's only one sacrifice that is needed and that's when Christ died for our sins he was a sacrifice there's no more need for an altar we don't have to you know an altar is some place where you burn animals you cut them up and you burn them as an offering but you have all these churches out here that have altar calls that's like come up to the altar and get barbecued I don't know why they do that that's just something that's kind of crept in in the 19th century or the 20th century where they just it used to be called a crier's bench they'd say hey who's feeling convicted out here who's feeling bad about what they've done and then they would bring them up and then the pastor would just preach against them right there it's like I'm sure after a while people stop raising their hands you know but then it became this show where people are coming up to an altar and praying how many have ever been in a Baptist church or just any other kind of church where they do altar calls and they're like we'll sing one more stanza and then you come up to the old fashioned altar and pray and then like basically the pastor judges his own sermon by how many people came up to the altar and felt bad about what they've done or whatever but the Bible doesn't teach to do that so you know that's just a freebie I just wanted to throw in there real quick but there's no more need for a Levitical priesthood and so they are literally scattered in Israel and we don't know who the priesthood is so look at verse Genesis chapter 34 verse 25 the Bible says and it came to pass on the third day when they were sore that two of the sons of Jacob Simeon and Levi Dinah's brethren took each man his sword and came upon the city boldly and slew all the males so this is what Jacob is talking about he's referring to the time when Dinah their daughter Jacob's daughter went out to see the daughters of the people of the land which is always a bad idea okay and then some guy gets a hold of her and he lies with her you know without being married to her and then so the brothers are so mad about this that they defile their sister Dinah that they tricked them into all getting circumcised and that all their families would be combined but really they're just tricking them so they could come and kill them you know without having them put up any fight because that process hurts a lot for babies but it also hurts a lot more probably when you're older you know and so they waited until they were sore to the point where they couldn't even move and then they just came boldly with their swords and just started killing everybody it says they killed all the males it says and they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem's house and went out and no doubt what they did was wrong but the Bible does not put the death penalty on fornication now God will kill people for fornication he will judge them for fornication but as far as it being the death penalty in the Bible it's not the death penalty but it is when you're married okay it says they slew Hamor and Shechem the son with the edge of the sword took out Dinah so basically Jacob's given this prophecy about how cruel what they did was let's read further on and see just how cruel it was it says in verse 27 the sons of Jacob came upon the slain and spoiled the city because they had defiled their sister they took their sheep and their oxen and their asses and that which was in the city and that which was in the field and all their wealth and all their little ones and their wives took they captive and spoiled even all that was in the house what they did was extremely first of all over the top and second of all very wicked I mean yeah get upset about that I understand that they defiled that he defiled her sister but it doesn't seem like she was you know forced into the situation seems like maybe she was uh okay with what was going on but again what they did was wrong and hey you know if you if your culture is like that then don't be surprised if God does smite your culture for the wickedness that they do but what they did Jacob's saying it was wrong that they were over the top they were cruel and so they even you know they killed all the men all the husbands or whatever and then took all their children and their wives captive so what they they basically made them slaves right and spoiled even all that was in the house they took everything they took all their stuff they took all their cattle it says and Jacob said to Simeon and Levi you have troubled me to make me stink among the inhabitants of the land among the Canaanites and the Perizzites and I being few in number they shall gather themselves together against me and slay me and I shall be destroyed I and my house so Jacob's not happy about this situation he's actually worried that they're gonna come and rise up and try to kill his whole family but God obviously protected him from that but that saying that you have troubled me to stink among the inhabitants and we don't want to make God or God's people stink in front of the inhabitants of the land so obviously you know what they did was cruel and and one notable thing that happened with Levi was that he got no inheritance he got no inheritance why because he was put into the tribe and they got cities that they were able to go into but they didn't have an inheritance among the children of Israel so and you know some notable people that were Levites well Moses is one of them he was one of the greatest men in the whole Bible but even Moses I mean think about how much longer it is where Moses comes along when Moses comes along what is an attribute of Moses that you think of obviously he was a very meek man the meekest man on the face of the earth but what else was he known for he was he killed an Egyptian he killed him and buried him in the sand but he also he just had a bad temper like there's multiple times you know I feel you I feel you Moses because sometimes I can get pretty heated about stuff but you know he got angry to the point where God didn't allow him to go into the promised land right so obviously what his anger surpassed what God what was righteous anger because there's nothing wrong with being angry as long as you don't sin in that anger and what did he do he was supposed to talk to the rock and he smote the rock right and so he changed the picture of Christ you know he didn't do what God commanded him to do and because he was angry because the people were whining like usual you know they were all upset about something like usual but Moses had you know pretty much restrained himself to the point where he's not going to get so mad you know but I mean even with even with the whole rebellion of Korah you know he was angry then he was upset then but he didn't go past the point you know sometimes you know people act like anger is just like this bad this bad thing it's only bad when you do bad things when you are angry okay when you sin when you're angry that's what God has a problem with so God gets angry doesn't he God gets the Bible says he you know he has wrath when he's angry sometimes God destroys things when he's upset he sends the whirlwinds he sends these acts of nature that happen people act like science has that figured out now that's why this is why this happens you know what God is the one that sends the lightnings God is the one that sends the thunder God can send forest fires I mean if you just read the Bible you can see that God did these things but my point is is that if we're made in the image of God and we're like him in a lot of different ways anger is one of the things that God is an attribute of God isn't it he gets angry sometimes and he only starts to smoke he starts to get mad but he doesn't obviously God is incapable of sin so anything that God deals out as a punishment is not sinful but Moses you know he what is one of the attributes that Jacob says you know that they're that they're angry they're wrathful they're cruel and so you know does it would it surprise you that Moses got angry and it cost him the promised land it doesn't surprise me at all because you know he he kind of has these same attributes of his great great great great whatever grandfather and where he got so mad that they went and slaughtered all the men of a city took all their all their wives and their children captive and stole all their stuff but again that's how that's how the Levites were in the New Testament right they wanted to steal God's kingdom away for themselves you know I haven't talked really much about Simeon here's Simeon's notable things that he did there was seven thousand mighty men of valor talks about it being and wow I mean seven thousand mighty men of valor what does it really say about Simeon how much do you know about Simeon you know why you don't know a lot about Simeon because he didn't do much and he was also but he was scattered in Judah so he they kind of just got assimilated into Judah because why well because in Joshua nineteen nine go ahead and turn to Joshua nineteen nine that in Joshua nineteen nine it tells kind of what their portion is what's the bible say what's Jacob say is going to happen to them they're going to be scattered in Israel right and Joshua nineteen nine says out of the portion of the children of Judah was the inheritance of the children of Simeon so they didn't even really they didn't even really get their own inheritance they had to inherit within where Judah's inheritance was it says for the part of the children of Judah was too much for them therefore the children of Simeon and had their inheritance within the inheritance of them so then ultimately like I said they got scattered in and assimilated in with Judah and so basically Jacob's right again both of these tribes end up being scattered and so what's the application for this well remember not to let your anger get the best of you remember not to let your anger get the best of you and you sin because of it if you have a bad temper which some of us do some of us get hot and are we wax hot and get mad probably say things we wish we hadn't said do things we wish we hadn't done but if you have a bad temper that's something you should work on because your temper can get you to the point where it causes you maybe to get in trouble with the law it can cause you to get in trouble with your marriage it can cause you children to get in trouble with God because of how you're talking to your parents you should obey your parents but the application is also don't be cruel have a heart think about other people and their plights as opposed to just yours only I mean they were so mad that they didn't think about what devastation was going to happen to these people over one person's sin did all those people deserve to get killed and taken captive no did they deserve to have their whole town destroyed they didn't and so Jacob you know he never forgot that and he held you know he held it up to him and we should love our enemies as ourselves we should love our neighbor as ourself and we should do unto others as they would have as we would have them do unto us so they messed up in a lot of these areas and because of that God ultimately through Jacob's prophecy judged them right Judah is number four it's the last one here I got for this morning turn to Genesis chapter 49 verse 8 the Bible says Judah thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies thy father's children shall bow down before thee so here we got the first actual good prophecy towards one of the sons and it's son number four Judah and that's kind of the way you see God's pattern in the Bible is a lot of times he'll bless the older one I mean the younger one instead of the older it's just kind of a theme in the Bible but Judah is the one that God really where he actually chose the Lord Jesus Christ to come from this tribe the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Judah was blessed Judah had many great kings and great men of God that came forth and sprang forth out of Judah and you think well you know what did Judah do that was so great isn't he the one that sold Joseph into slavery he did and notice that the name Judas was the one the name Judas the person named Judas is the one that sold Jesus Christ to the Pharisees and Sadducees and so you have that part of Judah but he also he also didn't do well towards his son's wife who he was supposed to give Sheila his son to wife and didn't do that then he ended up having a child with her because she tricked him I mean it's like the Jerry Springer show basically kind of stuff going on here but you know he he also in the end though when Ruben said hey just kill my two sons what did Judah say he said let the blame if I don't bring Benjamin back let the blame be on me forever and so really Judah had that heart of hey I'm willing to sacrifice myself for the rest of our people and so I mean I believe that maybe that's why God chose Judah I don't know but here's the thing you're like well Judah wasn't that great of a guy he went into what he thought he went to see Harlots he went into his son's wife unwittingly unknowingly but you know and then he didn't do a lot of great things he sold his brother into slavery he was wanting to kill him first but ultimately it's just kind of a picture of the fact that you know none of us really deserves to be saved you know when you got called to be saved were you like a really good person or something did you do a whole bunch of great things and that's why God's like hey I choose Alex because he's such a great guy no the gifts of calling are without repentance and basically God calls everyone to be saved right God's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance and what I mean by repentance is not repenting of your sins what I mean is that you believe you change your mind that's what it means change your mind and stop believing what's sending you to hell and you believe and put your faith in Christ so I mean why choose Judah well why not he chose you you dirty heathens he chose you to be saved didn't he so why would it surprise you that you know he chose an imperfect people because everybody's sinners so he had to choose somebody why not choose Judah why not well because God sees the future he doesn't choose necessarily everything that you do he's not like some kind of you know puppet master like the Calvinists believe that he's just up there and everything glorifies God no child molestation does not glorify God that's sick that's not something that God comes into God's mind or anything that he wants to have happen murder all these different wicked things that happen in our world God doesn't choose that to happen man chooses that to happen the devil influences people to do stuff like that but anyway I got to hurry up here so the first off he says you know Judah's the one who the brethren are going to praise and his hand shall be upon the neck of his enemies so didn't Christ destroy the ultimate enemy the ultimate boss he did he destroyed now the devil still has kind of his free reign but Christ defeated the devil when he died on the cross of Calvary and he defeated what death because he rose from the dead he was resurrected and so he did put his foot in the neck of his enemies because he conquered death and death is the ultimate thing that everybody's trying to escape right and it says thy father's children shall bow down before thee and when you're bowing down before someone this is saying you're going to bow you know the Bible actually says that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord look at verse 9 Judah is a lion's whelp from the prey my son thou art gone up he stood down he crouched as a lion and as an old lion who shall rouse him up this is a really interesting verse I don't know that I can fully explain it but you know I mean if you think about it says from the prey my son obviously Jesus Christ is the son of God I guess I see that and the fact that he's a lion's whelp well the Bible tells us who this lion's whelp is in Revelation 5 turn to Revelation 5 verse number 1 Revelation 5 verse number 1 the Bible says I'm just going to keep reading because I got to hurry up here it says and I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside sealed with seven seals and I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice who is worthy to open the book and to lose the seals thereof and no man in heaven nor in earth neither under the earth was able to open the book neither to look thereon and I wept much because no man was found worthy to open and read the book neither to look thereon notice it says no man is worthy nobody is none of us are worthy enough to be saved on our own merits but there is one it says in verse 5 and one of the elders said unto me weep not behold the lion of the tribe of Judah the root of David hath prevailed to open the book and to lose the seals thereof see he is worthy he was sinless he has the honor of being able to open up those seals where nobody else can but notice it says the lion of the tribe of Judah so this is a direct correlation with this scripture that we're looking at in Genesis chapter 49 Judah is a lion's whelp from the parade my son thou art gone up and stooped up he crouched as a lion and as an old lion who shall rouse him up so first he says he's a lion's whelp he's like the young son you know it's like a young son of a lion but then it says he's as an old lion well what does that mean exactly how is he both well the Bible says that he's from old from everlasting Jesus Christ when he was born on this earth he existed before he was born on this earth he is God okay so that's how he can be you know the son you know he's the son of God he's the lion's whelp but at the same time he's also God he's God manifest in the flesh when he was born here on this earth look at verse number 10 back in our text it says and the scepter shall not the scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come and unto him shall the gathering shall the gathering of the people be so this is talking about Judah being the law giver this is where the lion of kings actually comes from and they're going to be the ones that rule over all the other tribes now so it says until Shiloh come and that word Shiloh I'll get to that in just a second actually but it says unto him shall the gathering of the people be now I mean so there's a little bit to break down in this in this verse here so a scepter is like basically something a king would use to to you know make judgment or whatever it's like a some kind of a metal usually a metal thing that they hold and whatever but a scepter is basically to show that they're the ones that are ruling so he's the ruler or the king the tribe of Judah is the ruling tribe and of course we had King David, King Solomon you know the lineage of the kings and of course Lord Jesus Christ who's the king of kings and Lord of lords Shiloh is it means a place of rest so and so it says until Shiloh comes there was a place named Shiloh in the Bible where the tabernacle dwelt for a long time but then it moved to Jerusalem but uh it's the place where the ark rested for a while the tabernacle of God rested at Shiloh but it is a reference to the Messiah and so even the Jews will admit that this is a reference to the Messiah and so Jesus Christ will lead his people to what? Rest in Christ right he does all the work so that we can rest that's what the Sabbath pictures the fact that we rest from our works and God rested you know God the Father rested from his works on the seventh day and that we um get to rest and we're saved without works so anybody that thinks that they're saved by their works they're not saved but the people that are saved by the works of Christ those are the ones that are saved and so there will be a place of rest for us one day and uh so that's I think that's kind of a you know the reference of Christ there and then the gathering of the people could refer to his first coming because a lot of people were gathered around him and thronging him right but then eventually they turned their backs on him and betrayed him but the second coming is also a gathering isn't it when Christ comes back he's going to gather all those that are dead in Christ will rise first and then they they're alive and remain shall be caught up to meet the Lord and so shall they ever be with the Lord and so the gathering of the people obviously I believe is probably referring to the rapture or the second coming and so I gotta really be fast here so I'm going to skip a couple verses where the Bible talks about him being from old and from everlasting but that's Micah 5 2 Habakkuk 1 12 Genesis 49 verse 11 says bringing his foal to the vine and his ass his colt to the choice vine he washed his garments and wine and his clothes and the blood of grapes and so we know that his first coming was he was he came as peaceful wanting people to be saved and then when he comes back what's he going to be like he's going to be different isn't he I mean not different as in God's different or he's a different person but he's going to come back with a different mission and his mission is going to be to gather his people together and then to pour out the wrath of God upon mankind and when he appears he's not going to be dressed in a white robe he's not going to be dressed in white he's going to be dressed in clothes that are dyed with the blood his clothes are going to be like blood but tonight I'll venture more into that as we go into the second sermon but I'm going to close with a word of prayer here so I'm going to finish off talking about this because there's some verses that I just don't have time to get to but so we'll pick it back up at the end of the tribe of Judah and we'll move forward so let's go ahead and have a word of prayer Heavenly Father we thank you Lord so much for the scriptures and pray that you'd help us Lord to be a people that's hungry for the word of God that we want to learn things about the word of God Lord not everything might not pique our interest but Lord all these things are important and they're in there for a reason I pray that you'd help us to have a heart to want to search the scriptures daily and see whether these things are so and in Jesus' name we pray, Amen Alright our last song is going to be song number 316 Channels only in your blue hymn books Song number 316 channels only Song number 316 in your blue hymn books Let's sing it on the first How I praise thee precious Savior That thy love laid hold of me Thou hast saved and cleansed and filled me That I might thy channel be Channels only blessed Master But with all thy wondrous power Flowing through us thou canst use us Every day and every hour Empty that thou shouldst fill me A clean vessel in my hand With no power but has thou givest Graciously with each command Channels only blessed Master But with all thy wondrous power Flowing through us thou canst use us Every day and every hour Witnessing thy power to save me Setting free from self and sin Thou who bought is to possess me In thy fold this Lord come in Channels only blessed Master But with all thy wondrous power Flowing through us thou canst use us Every day and every hour Jesus fill now with thy spirit Hearts that full surrender know That the streams of living water From our inner man may flow Channels only blessed Master But with all thy wondrous power Flowing through us thou canst use us Every day and every hour Thanks for watching!