The stories in the Old Testament that seem to go into great and often boring detail can often form a carefully woven pattern that would challenge computer programmers to replicate.
We read many that tell us of certain events that led to others and of how a particular person did something, then someone else did something and wonder why. Sometimes it does not make sense. A “chance encounter” may not have been one of those accidental meetings after all, but a carefully planned and executed plan that God had put into effect.
One such story is about Jacob and in particular, the  people he influenced.

Before we continue, let us look briefly at something often not understood...faith.

We shall start with Father Abraham

I was taught that faith Is! This poses a question, “Is what?” It is an intriguing little word that is best described as always being present right now! Close analysis revealed an obscure link to the term I am. When I saw that, it got my attention, thinking of the great I Am! We know that God, was, is and is to come and so faith must be something like that and it is a hard thing to comprehend. The first word in the sentence states, “Now” adding to the mystery, so faith Is and faith is Now.

This implies that it is not something to be put off into the future. I was also taught that it is substance and the word substance talks about many things, including something solid, in this light and something that is tangible or real. If we then are believing something or for something, faith is the hope that seems to make it real to us, when at that moment in time, it might not seem to be so. It could be a promise of some kind that God has made to us and we have been clinging hopefully to that promise until it comes into tangible reality. Faith is what makes it real.

Where most of us run into difficulties is in the area of waiting. We can be somewhere between “Amen” and “There it is” and in that span that seems to be an eternity, we go through all kinds of things. Some of them are great and wonderful whereas I would prefer not to even mention the others. In this chapter some of those people who have shaped our lives and destinies do not seem to have ever “got” what God promised them—but did they? We tend to measure everything by immediate or temporal results, but God deals with eternity and that is something we find difficult to comprehend.

It opens by saying that Abel produced a superior offering to God than Cain did, but Cain killed him!

It says that Enoch was translated because he pleased God, but we do not know how Enoch pleased God—or do we? It states-
...it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11:6

Noah built an ark and that took 120 years of action and during the construction work, he preached righteousness without a single conversion. At that time, no one really knew what rain was, so I can only guess at the responses he received by everyone else. Abraham is next on the list and he had the testimony that he was looking for a place that God was building, but he never saw it. Actually none of those people in the hall of fame list in Hebrews 11 ever saw it.
All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth.
Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own.
If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back.
But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. Hebrews 11:13-16

The promise God made to all of them was for a future time. It is a bit of a mystery to us, but God saw into the future when He created everything and put His plan into motion.

We can now come to one of those Old Testament stories I mentioned before. God had cut a covenant with Abraham and we know that He spoke of making a covenant that would last for a thousand generations.

Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.
Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.
Exult in his holy name; rejoice, you who worship the LORD.
Search for the LORD and for his strength; continually seek him.
Remember the wonders he has performed, his miracles, and the rulings he has given, you children of his servant Abraham, you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones.
He is the LORD our God. His justice is seen throughout the land.
He always stands by his covenant— the commitment he made to a thousand generations.
This is the covenant he made with Abraham and the oath he swore to Isaac.
He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, and to the people of Israel as a never-ending covenant: “I will give you the land of Canaan as your special possession.” Psalm 105:1-11

Without going into the politics of our day, God made an everlasting covenant with His people concerning the land of Israel. It is theirs! The Palestinian debate is really unwarranted. It is God’s covenant and so He will ensure that all of the land, including Jerusalem belongs to Israel. He told Abraham about it and kept the covenant alive through Isaac and Jacob which brings us now to something powerful.

Jacob found a wife called Rachel, but as you know, he was conned into marrying Leah, Rachel’s sister.  He loved Rachel but treated Leah badly. Rachel however could not have children and that was a terrible predicament to be in as she could not produce an heir to keep the family line pure and maintain continuity. The right heir was vitally important.

If this blood line had been broken at any time, all of God’s promises and His ultimate purpose would be thwarted.

This is why so many baby boys were killed. The devil tried to take Moses out but failed. He tried to take Jesus out but failed. My friend, if you are a part of God’s plan and are working towards it, the devil may try to take you out too but he will fail. Stay close to God, keep yourself in right standing, keep the home-fires burning and do the right thing as far as your walk with Him goes and God will look after things.

I spoke of Leah in another study, pointing out that she was the unloved one and that she went through all kinds of problems. I also said that you too could be a Leah. If you have been going through rejection and misuse, it may explain why and be a release to you, but now we have Rachel to look at. There are spiritual forces at play here—spiritual truths that we need to understand.

Rachel was loved by her husband. We can also be loved. God loves us. Your spouse loves you. Your children love you.

Do you love yourself? Sometimes we need to love ourselves. There are times when our own self image is out of balance.
Paul said in Romans chapter twelve not to have too a high opinion of ourselves, but the reverse is equally as true.
We need to love ourselves, but it has to be a balanced love.

Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Romans 12:3

The standards by which we measure ourselves is the standard of Jesus, so we should compare ourselves against Him.

One of the most powerful ways we can attain this level is found in the five ascension gift ministries that are still valid and more necessary than ever now Paul spoke of in Ephesians 4:11-16 (emphasis mine).

...these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.
Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.
This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching.
We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.
Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.
He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Rest assured that you are not alone in this. We are all part of a great big wonderful family and we all have much more prayer support and other support—more than you can imagine.

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.
Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.
And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:16-21

Much of the revelation Paul gave us majors on our one-ness with Christ. We are bone of His bone and made as one flesh with Him. He lives with us and within us. We are part of the vine and our very life force, the “divine sap” of the vine flows through our lives provided we maintain our connection with Him. He is the root—our very source and we are His branches.

Arguably, most Christians do not fully understand who we are and what we have in Him. Most of us do not comprehend the depth of God’s love for us. We know little of the intensity and jealous possessive love God has for us. Only 2 or 3 times in my 50 years with Him, have I experienced a demonstration of what I just said. On one of those occasions, I had been going through a very difficult time and was given less than no support from the denomination I once ministered in. They blacklist anyone who dares ask questions and cast them aside like so much dung. When my father was dying, I asked for prayer support only to receive absolute silence, not even a condolence card afterwards.  I planted many churches and other groups and was never invited to attend the opening ceremony of any one of them. The reason was that I did not bow and scrape to the authoritarian and dictatorial rule they had and discovered many lies and hidden agendas within the core leadership that still exist today. I was not being rebellious. There is more I could touch on but that paints the picture and after I left that denomination, I discovered how dominating and controlling they are. They and others like them have a reputation for it.

I only share that to illustrate that anyone can come under such a controlling spirit—and it is often a spirit like Jezebel and we need to discern what is happening. This may shock some, but witchcraft exists in the church. Check it out. If you are asked something like, “Whose covering are you under?” be careful. It could be better worded as, “Who is controlling you?” I am not suggesting that we all become rebels and unaccountable as “lone rangers” in the church can be deadly. People can be doing things alone without any relationships and get into real trouble. Jesus sent the disciples out two-by-two. Iron sharpens iron. A three-fold cord is not easily broken. Look. You can be called by God into a valid ministry and probably function alone, but please relate to someone who has a proven track record.  I do. We run ideas past each other, comfort each other, advise each other. Other ministers around the world relate to me in one way or another like that.

There is safety in having what the bible calls a multitude of counselors. See Proverbs 11:14; 15:22 and 24:6.

We can run ideas past each other and have such a fellowship that the anointing oil can drip off us as David said-

How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!
For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil that was poured over Aaron’s head, that ran down his beard and onto the border of his robe.
Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon that falls on the mountains of Zion. And there the LORD has pronounced his blessing, even life everlasting. Psalm 133:1-3

Gettting back to my story,  provided everyone jumped when the leader told them to, everything went well, but the things David spoke of in that Psalm did not exist and the whole city saw it. When I left that organization, I was accused of all kinds of things and rumors started circulating. Gossipers had a field day and it got so serious, I sought legal aid and was considering taking legal action until the Lord came into my house one night and started talking! He told me to drop it and allow Him to act and He did. Most of those ringleaders are gone! It was at a time when I was totally alone and I do mean alone. I spent 5 years in complete isolation  and seeking  God. Those 5 years were very lonely indeed, but I was not alone! The Lord started to visit and I do mean visit!
It was here that He told me to stop studying for my doctorate (at that time) and asked me if I wanted Him to teach me.

Now, before you think I am a loony tune, I suggest that you study up on the pioneers and fathers of our faith. They all went through similar things. It seems to be one way God prepares significant ministries. Check it out.

I shared all that to lead to this. One evening, the Lord visited me and started talking about people like John the Baptist and it was from there, I formed this present ministry with the motto of Preparing the way. I had been having a real pity party and He had to nip that in the bud. He spoke about the prophets of old and the fathers of our faith, just as recorded in Hebrews 11. I did not share all that chapter, but if you read it, you will see that many of them went through hell on earth to qualify and be listed in that hall of fame.

He said, “Welcome aboard son. They did it to me. They did it to John. They did it to the prophets and they will do it to you.” He was right! One thing that He revealed in those encounters was the depth and intensity of the love of God. We glibly talk about it of course, but when you see His eyes blazing like fire as He spoke as if through clenched teeth saying that no one touches you...no one touches Mine...no one touches the apple of His eye, there was a very intense jealousy factor there. He corrected me a little over a poor attitude I was starting to adopt and then it seemed as if He wanted a hug! It was like He invited me to come up and sit on Daddy’s lap!  That was almost 30 years ago and it is still as fresh now as it was then.

I only shared that to point out two things. You may feel like a Leah as I said in that earlier study, but she came through, finishing up as a blessed woman. You can also.

I now come to the second point based on Rachel—the loved one; the favorite; the one Jacob picked. He did not choose Leah, but God knew Rachel also and had a plan that involved her.

If you are a Rachel, you could be feeling as if you are missing out. Sure, the “love factor” may be there, but something is lacking. Rachel was barren. She wanted children, but nothing worked. She tried all kinds of things, including the giving of her servant to Jacob to have a son by proxy, but she could not bear herself.

When I say that she could not bear herself, it may refer to childbearing, but what about bearing her own self—her own person, such as looking in a mirror to wonder if she even measured up. I mentioned poor self image before. She could have had real problems in that area. Wondering why; wondering if something was wrong with her; wondering if the other women in the  group were laughing at her behind her back. Some people do not like themselves. I hope you do.

Despite what she may or may not have thought about herself, Rachel eventually had a son and called him Joseph.

God’s plan needed a Joseph, but the circumstances of his birth were difficult. The promise seemed as if it would never ever happen and as I have said many times before, sometimes that promise you and I have been waiting on seems as if it will never happen. In this waiting process we can fall prey to at least two things. One is impatience and we can try to force issues and make things happen. If we do that, the risk is creating another Ishmael. The second thing to be careful of is getting so disappointed that we allow bitterness and frustration to set in. That is a dangerous state of existence.

Bitterness can be expressed in such a way that it is destructive. David said in Psalm 64 that people can sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their bitter words like arrows. When we allow ourselves to become bitter, we can lash out verbally and say all kinds of things that can be deadly. Words can bless others, but words can also kill. In the heat of the moment we can say something that can devastate another. We can say something that will offend so much that the other person will walk away from God. Isaiah said-

What sorrow for those who drag their sins behind them with ropes made of lies, who drag wickedness behind them like a cart! They even mock God and say, “Hurry up and do something! We want to see what you can do. Let the Holy One of Israel carry out his plan, for we want to know what it is.”
What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.
What sorrow for those who are wise in their own eyes and think themselves so clever. Isaiah 5:18-21

Based on what Isaiah said, words can take on different meanings and we know also from Proverbs 18:21 that death and life can come from our mouths. If we are having a bad time and get bitter about it, what we say can take on a bitterness that can shape our destinies. It makes me wonder now about Rachel.  She was supposed to be the bride, but her father gave her sister to Jacob on the wedding night. I am obviously not a woman but I do think that you ladies who read this can understand.

I asked my wife what women might think and she confirmed my suspicions with a kind of retort like “grrrrr. I think she would be annoyed to say the least.” What a smack in the face that would have been to Rachel.

Nevertheless, Jacob showered her with preferential treatment, but... there is that “but” we often come up with.

He felt cheated and said so, but what about her? How did she feel? Did she ever get over it?

I cannot imagine what she felt like. I can imagine what it might be like if I had arrived at the church on my wedding day to find Marjorie standing at the altar beside another man.

I really think that those bible stores we like so much and take for granted may be more real to life than we thought.

I mentioned the adverse affects such attitudes can bring. If you doubt my assertions, think of a time when you had a real fright. Didn’t your heart start thumping? Didn’t the adrenaline suddenly kick in? Of course and that is a good thing. It is a natural reaction designed to give you that something extra for that occasion for the purposes of self preservation. On the other hand, if we start getting angry with someone else and not let it go the right way, our bodies releases the chemicals that we need for the right purposes at that instant in time, but there is no need to take flight as such. The adrenaline or chemicals are released, but are not needed or put to correct use and so have adverse affects. People worry and get ulcers. People get angry and things can happen just like that. Bitterness can cause physical issues as well as bitterness in spirit!

No wonder Paul spoke about such things in Ephesians chapter four-

Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.
Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.
Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.
And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.
Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.
Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:21-32

I think that the text is self explanatory. Now, if anyone had cause to hold a grudge against another, Jesus did. When He was on the cross, he asked the Father to forgive... He could have yelled back at His tormentors, “I’ll get even with you when I come back”. You and I would have.