With the score four to two and with Rachel having declared she had prevailed against her sister, Leah took action. She thrust her handmade Zilpah forward to Jacob and encouraged him to bring another child into the world with the maid. Jacob complied and soon Gad arrived. Gad was Jacob's seventh son and at his birth Leah observed, "a troop cometh " and she called him Gad which means "in fortune".
On yesterday, I was privileged to share a meal with four fathers. As we sat and ate and visited together there was much laughter and joy. Big children and little children were everywhere. But as I sat there and looked at each father, I realized that I knew a lot about the oppositions and struggles each man had faced in the life time of his children. One had endured the "troops coming" against him and his children and had reached older age having six children who had given him grandchildren who were now giving him great grands. I had personal knowledge of some of the agonies that he had had to endure. Though not a perfect man, he had certainly been patient in the face of adverse times within his family. He had not left; he endured. Another had faced life's difficulties and had considered ending his difficulty through death. However, he overcame those thoughts and continued his struggle finding joy in his progeny and their children. Next was a young father, virile and capable. A hard worker, he sees a bright future and is yet to see the many "troops coming". The last was a man I do not know too well, but I know the "troops" came and he lost his children to be raised by others. Now he lives alone, seeking to find happiness through the children and family of another man.
The Bible declares that in this world we will have tribulation. The spirit of God moved through Leah to declare this with the birth of Jacob's seventh child. With things coming at them from all directions, people have to find that last direction, the one where from deep within ourselves we look up and find good fortune in believing that God will sustain us and shape us. He will bring us to a place of peace and joy if we let Him prevail in our lives. Remember, God sees the end of our lives and He knows the plans He has for us. Center down and endure the storms with Him at the helm.
"The winds and the waves shall obey Thy will,
Peace, be still!
Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea,
Or demons or men, or whatever it be,
No waters can swallow the ship where lies
The Master of ocean, and earth, and skies;
They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,
Peace, be still! Peace, be still!
They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,
Peace, peace, be still!"
Mary Baker
Monday, June 17, 2013
Monday, June 10, 2013
Bibledoorajar Looks at Wrestling for Power
I've got the power hey yeah heh
I've got the power
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh yeah-eah-eah-eah-eah-eah
I've got the power
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh yeah-eah-eah-eah-eah-eah
Gettin' kinda heavy
The Power by Snap
When Bilhah had a second son for Jacob, Rachel commented: "With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed." (Genesis 30:8). Rachel exalts in the power she is feeling with the birth of Naphthali ("wrestling"). How common is wrestling for power and authority in our relationships? How much are we empowered by our passion to succeed? Rachel refused to suffer defeat at the hands of her sister. After two children to Leah's four, she declared that she had prevailed. It was as if after experiencing success with the first child by Bilhah (which spoke of God's judgement and His dealings with her), she takes that experience of having been dealt with by the Lord as a great spiritual accomplishment. Now she speaks of prevailing and she takes great pride in it. But be wary Rachel, having the power all by yourself can "get kinda heavy." We all have the capacity to wriggle and squirm and bring to bear every resource we can muster to accomplish what we want, can we not? We all have our "ways".
Have you ever been around someone who spoke of their prevailing over a difficulty repeatedly and with great pride? Sometimes you just want to say, "do you ever suffer defeat?" Have you ever just reached a point where you had to let God prevail? Careful. We will see this word prevailing again both in the life of Jacob and the history of Israel. Remember, as long as Moses held his hands up, Israel prevailed against the enemy?
True spiritual prevailing is not that done in one's own power, but rather in submitting to God to give the power and to render to Himself the glory. When living in Alabama, I would often compliment the preacher on a fine sermon delivery. He was usually careful to say, "may God get the glory." I always liked that because he was really saying, "I did not prevail (do not have the power), God did (has the power)." This week evaluate what you are doing in your own strength and how much you have let God have the power in your life. Continue to realize what it means to know the God of Jacob intimately and to allow His life changing power through work of the Spirit into your daily life.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Bibledoorajar looks at God and Envy
"When Rachel saw that she was not bearing children for Jacob, she ENVIED her sister and said to Jacob, 'Give me children or I will die!' this made Jacob ANGRY at Rachel; he answered, "Am I in God's place? He's the one who is denying you children." She said, "here is my maid, Bilhah. Go, sleep with her, and let her give birth to a child that will be laid on my knees, so that through her I too can BUILD a family." So she gave him Bilhah her slave-girl as his wife, and Jacob went in and slept with her. Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. Rachel said, "God has JUDGED in my favor; indeed he has heard me and has given me a son. Therefore she called him Dan which means He judged."
Genesis 30: 1-6
The theme in the birth of Jacob's first four sons was one of mercy toward the unloved Leah. Now, in this scene, we see Rachel becoming envious of her to the point that she railed at her husband to give her children or she was going to die! John Michael Montgomery wrote a song about marriage until death and giving his spouse everything he could (I Swear). I'm sure when Jacob married Rachel, whom he loved so much, he wanted to give her everything he could. Seeing her so upset with his inadequacies to do so must have been very difficult to deal with. However, he turned her wrath from him by rightly pointing out that he could not be put in the place of God. He further was willing to say that God might be judging her because he, Jacob, did not mind participating in the production of a son with the woman he loved. So, considering the facts, which included God's involvement in the matter, she gave her slave-girl to Jacob with the intent of producing a lap child via her. So Jacob had intercourse with the girl and she produced a son. When it came to naming the child, Rachel chose Dan, citing that God had judged in her favor.
We can now see a pattern forming that we will see over and over again in the history of Israel and of you, me, and the church. God is merciful to the sinful unlovable person, the sinful unlovable nation, the sinful unlovable church. But He also moves in judgement at times of envy and bad behavior. However, he is always about His creative work of forming a person, a body, suitable to serve the One True Holy God.
Scripture lists envy right up there with murder and adultery. It also declares that it is love that can drive these things from the heart of a person or a nation. Perhaps God saw Rachel's motives as Paul described in 1 Corinthians 13:1:
"If I speak in the tongues of men and angels and have not love, I am but a
clanging cymbal".
Thank God for his great love that overwhelms our negative emotions that can lead to negative words! Even in these early roots of God's dealings with people, we see a wonderful, holy shaping taking place. Everything, in the fulness of time, will be accomplished through His mercy and judgement. Today, I am thinking of how through Leah's sons we see the beginnings of the priesthood and Messianic tribes of Israel and we also become aware of God's judgement with the birth of Dan. Consider Romans 11:22ff. this week and if you are pregnant think about not naming your baby girl Bilhah ("trouble, terror, worthlessness").God bless!
Genesis 30: 1-6
The theme in the birth of Jacob's first four sons was one of mercy toward the unloved Leah. Now, in this scene, we see Rachel becoming envious of her to the point that she railed at her husband to give her children or she was going to die! John Michael Montgomery wrote a song about marriage until death and giving his spouse everything he could (I Swear). I'm sure when Jacob married Rachel, whom he loved so much, he wanted to give her everything he could. Seeing her so upset with his inadequacies to do so must have been very difficult to deal with. However, he turned her wrath from him by rightly pointing out that he could not be put in the place of God. He further was willing to say that God might be judging her because he, Jacob, did not mind participating in the production of a son with the woman he loved. So, considering the facts, which included God's involvement in the matter, she gave her slave-girl to Jacob with the intent of producing a lap child via her. So Jacob had intercourse with the girl and she produced a son. When it came to naming the child, Rachel chose Dan, citing that God had judged in her favor.
We can now see a pattern forming that we will see over and over again in the history of Israel and of you, me, and the church. God is merciful to the sinful unlovable person, the sinful unlovable nation, the sinful unlovable church. But He also moves in judgement at times of envy and bad behavior. However, he is always about His creative work of forming a person, a body, suitable to serve the One True Holy God.
Scripture lists envy right up there with murder and adultery. It also declares that it is love that can drive these things from the heart of a person or a nation. Perhaps God saw Rachel's motives as Paul described in 1 Corinthians 13:1:
"If I speak in the tongues of men and angels and have not love, I am but a
clanging cymbal".
Thank God for his great love that overwhelms our negative emotions that can lead to negative words! Even in these early roots of God's dealings with people, we see a wonderful, holy shaping taking place. Everything, in the fulness of time, will be accomplished through His mercy and judgement. Today, I am thinking of how through Leah's sons we see the beginnings of the priesthood and Messianic tribes of Israel and we also become aware of God's judgement with the birth of Dan. Consider Romans 11:22ff. this week and if you are pregnant think about not naming your baby girl Bilhah ("trouble, terror, worthlessness").God bless!
Monday, May 27, 2013
Bibledoorajar Thinks of Memorial Day
I awoke this morning thinking of all who had gone before me and what they had given to secure my future. I read a story about a 90 year old woman who traveled to the WWII museum in New Orleans.
She hoped to see a picture of the boy she dated in High School and to whom she had given a diary just before he joined the Marines. The diary never made it back to her but years later she was surprised to find it in the museum, a memorial to the young soldier's life. He had said in the diary that it would be a memorial to his days in the Marines. One of the first things he wrote before he was shot between the eyes by an enemy sniper, was that he hoped whoever found the diary would return it to that girl who filled his heart in high school and to whose memory he had clinged. That girl, now 90, had hoped to see a picture, maybe of him working with some of his fellow Marines, but instead she found his memorial to his life and her enduring influence on it.
We often disregard our connection to others and how the doings of our lives affect them and us. We discount many things that under the Divine become "dots" that connect much more than we realize. The Bible tells that human connections, if bad, can lead to Divine retribution, if good, to Divine blessings. Laban took advantage of Jacob in many ways thinking he would prosper. And he did prosper because God was prospering Jacob, not because his wily ways garnered the blessings. Laban's ways perplexed Jacob, but he waited patiently for God to make plain His way for him. Jacob was in a strange land and pressing questions about whether he should leave began to be a part of Jacob's thought processes.
Today, we think of all those whose thought processes led them to agree to put their lives on the line for our freedoms. We honor God for all the ways He blessed during these horrible encounters and for all the thoughts that turned to Him in times of trouble. I hope many of them are written in God's book of remembrance--the Lamb's Book of Life. Have you considered whether yours is recorded there as an everlasting memorial to His goodness?
She hoped to see a picture of the boy she dated in High School and to whom she had given a diary just before he joined the Marines. The diary never made it back to her but years later she was surprised to find it in the museum, a memorial to the young soldier's life. He had said in the diary that it would be a memorial to his days in the Marines. One of the first things he wrote before he was shot between the eyes by an enemy sniper, was that he hoped whoever found the diary would return it to that girl who filled his heart in high school and to whose memory he had clinged. That girl, now 90, had hoped to see a picture, maybe of him working with some of his fellow Marines, but instead she found his memorial to his life and her enduring influence on it.
We often disregard our connection to others and how the doings of our lives affect them and us. We discount many things that under the Divine become "dots" that connect much more than we realize. The Bible tells that human connections, if bad, can lead to Divine retribution, if good, to Divine blessings. Laban took advantage of Jacob in many ways thinking he would prosper. And he did prosper because God was prospering Jacob, not because his wily ways garnered the blessings. Laban's ways perplexed Jacob, but he waited patiently for God to make plain His way for him. Jacob was in a strange land and pressing questions about whether he should leave began to be a part of Jacob's thought processes.
Today, we think of all those whose thought processes led them to agree to put their lives on the line for our freedoms. We honor God for all the ways He blessed during these horrible encounters and for all the thoughts that turned to Him in times of trouble. I hope many of them are written in God's book of remembrance--the Lamb's Book of Life. Have you considered whether yours is recorded there as an everlasting memorial to His goodness?
Monday, May 20, 2013
Bibledoorajar emphasizes God's Need to Form Character
For the last several lessons we have been looking at how God formed Leah's realization of His great power to give her sons even though her husband did not love her. After number four, she seemed to finally understand the importance of giving her praise to the eternal One. As we mentioned, the name of her fourth son, Judah, was given with only praise to Him in mind. Well, ole Dad had been collecting sons from the woman he did not love, so, how was he doing on his learning curve? Remember, he had already recognized the all powerful nature of God on the way to his uncle's house and knew that he would be His servant. The text implies that Jacob got the point. But still God was at work. The fact that Jacob took the right of the firstborn, Esau, meant that Jacob needed to see the wickedness of this action. So, for four babies straight, the rights of the firstborn, Leah, were emphasized. Laban had put Jacob in a position where he had to serve both the right of the firstborn and Laban his human master. Clearly, Jacob was going to have to learn patience and how to wait on God's timing. This was surely something he had been unwilling to do while in the home of his father, Isaac.
On a personal note, I have recently moved to live full time the Texas home. It was a move that I thought would have happened about four years ago. I made a big announcement to my church family that I would be selling my place in Alabama and moving to Texas. But God saw fit to take the "I" out of the equation and reminded me of His timing and His ways. I had to be reminded of how much better it is to say, "as the Lord wills." Once on a less proud footing, a peaceful approach to the sell occurred. During that time of waiting, God provided miraculously and I was able to make many necessary changes to the house and belongings that would enhance the sell. And, I was still able to pay expenses on two places which was getting more difficult to do. When the necessary changes were completed, and when I had declared the house would sell in His timing, it sold and did so very quickly. How great it is for us, when we keep things in perspective and recognize that God is in control and is always teaching us valuable lessons all along the way. How much He wants His children to reflect His characteristics! Thank you Father for shaping our lives.
"Have thine own way Lord, have thine own way,
Hold o'er my being absolute sway."
When Adelaide Pollard wrote this hymn, she was learning a godly lesson. She had wanted to go to
Africa as a missionary, but had been unable to raise the necessary funds. Despondent, she attended a prayer meeting. There an elderly woman prayed, "it does not matter what You do Lord, just have Your own way in our lives." That night, Adelaide penned the four verses of this hymn before she retired for the evening. Lesson learned. Find a hymnal and read all four. It will give you peace.
On a personal note, I have recently moved to live full time the Texas home. It was a move that I thought would have happened about four years ago. I made a big announcement to my church family that I would be selling my place in Alabama and moving to Texas. But God saw fit to take the "I" out of the equation and reminded me of His timing and His ways. I had to be reminded of how much better it is to say, "as the Lord wills." Once on a less proud footing, a peaceful approach to the sell occurred. During that time of waiting, God provided miraculously and I was able to make many necessary changes to the house and belongings that would enhance the sell. And, I was still able to pay expenses on two places which was getting more difficult to do. When the necessary changes were completed, and when I had declared the house would sell in His timing, it sold and did so very quickly. How great it is for us, when we keep things in perspective and recognize that God is in control and is always teaching us valuable lessons all along the way. How much He wants His children to reflect His characteristics! Thank you Father for shaping our lives.
"Have thine own way Lord, have thine own way,
Hold o'er my being absolute sway."
When Adelaide Pollard wrote this hymn, she was learning a godly lesson. She had wanted to go to
Africa as a missionary, but had been unable to raise the necessary funds. Despondent, she attended a prayer meeting. There an elderly woman prayed, "it does not matter what You do Lord, just have Your own way in our lives." That night, Adelaide penned the four verses of this hymn before she retired for the evening. Lesson learned. Find a hymnal and read all four. It will give you peace.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Bibledoorajar Observes God's Next Move
The "score" according to the sisters is now Leah: 4, Rachel: 0. But according to the power of God it is not a score but a step in a process of grace and mercy that will ultimately form the foundation of the nation of Israel. God, having redeemed Leah, and made her to feel she is His, and that He is totally aware of her and her needs, will still move in His power. However, after four sons, He does close the womb of Leah but not before she realized that, though unworthy, she was truly blessed by God. It was God that set His love on her, not Jacob. God had something else to which He must give His attention. That something was Rachel and her attitude toward her sister and their husband.
With a score of 0, Rachel was having a hard time coping. Jacob's great love for her may have been rewarding, but apparently it was not enough to quell the envy boiling up within. She took stock of the situation and found herself wanting. Her great envy became evident when she retaliated against her husband. As Yoda said in Star Wars, "envy leads to jealousy, jealousy leads to hate, hate leads to anger, anger leads to the dark side." Well, Jacob saw (and probably felt) Rachel's dark side. With great anger, Rachel demanded of him, "give me children, or I am going to die!" Jacob was flabbergasted. He told Rachel that she had confused him with God, that it was God that was denying her what she wanted. But here in the story, alas, we are told not that Rachel humbled herself and sought God. We are simply told of her second option if Jacob could not be God for her.
Envy led God's people to turn over Jesus to Pilate. Matthew 27:18 reports that Pilate knew they had turned Jesus over to him because this "green-eyed monster" dwelt in their hearts. Their darkest side cried out to save the criminal, Bararbbus, not Jesus. The Bible lists envy as one of the deadly sins. In Proverbs 14: 30 we read:
" A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones."
The goal is to approach life peacefully, content in whatever state we find ourselves. I once her a preacher tell a story about a Christian woman who lived next door to an atheist. Every day he heard her shout praise the Lord and it grated on his nerves. There came a time when the Christian experienced financial reversals, even to the point of having no food. One morning, as she arose and went to her porch, she found groceries. She, of course, praised the Lord! This infuriated the atheist and he said,
"there is no God, I put the groceries there!" The Christian lady praised the Lord and said, "Lord, not only did you supply me with food, You made Satan pay for them!" The atheist could not disturb her peace. I pray all, including myself, will have just this attitude this week no matter what challenges are before us.
With a score of 0, Rachel was having a hard time coping. Jacob's great love for her may have been rewarding, but apparently it was not enough to quell the envy boiling up within. She took stock of the situation and found herself wanting. Her great envy became evident when she retaliated against her husband. As Yoda said in Star Wars, "envy leads to jealousy, jealousy leads to hate, hate leads to anger, anger leads to the dark side." Well, Jacob saw (and probably felt) Rachel's dark side. With great anger, Rachel demanded of him, "give me children, or I am going to die!" Jacob was flabbergasted. He told Rachel that she had confused him with God, that it was God that was denying her what she wanted. But here in the story, alas, we are told not that Rachel humbled herself and sought God. We are simply told of her second option if Jacob could not be God for her.
Envy led God's people to turn over Jesus to Pilate. Matthew 27:18 reports that Pilate knew they had turned Jesus over to him because this "green-eyed monster" dwelt in their hearts. Their darkest side cried out to save the criminal, Bararbbus, not Jesus. The Bible lists envy as one of the deadly sins. In Proverbs 14: 30 we read:
" A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones."
The goal is to approach life peacefully, content in whatever state we find ourselves. I once her a preacher tell a story about a Christian woman who lived next door to an atheist. Every day he heard her shout praise the Lord and it grated on his nerves. There came a time when the Christian experienced financial reversals, even to the point of having no food. One morning, as she arose and went to her porch, she found groceries. She, of course, praised the Lord! This infuriated the atheist and he said,
"there is no God, I put the groceries there!" The Christian lady praised the Lord and said, "Lord, not only did you supply me with food, You made Satan pay for them!" The atheist could not disturb her peace. I pray all, including myself, will have just this attitude this week no matter what challenges are before us.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Bibledoorajar Applauds God's Material Creativity
"Oh, Jacob, I'm pregnant again!" God has been demonstrating His ability to open doors for the kingdom of Israel to be established. With this fourth son, God will be well on his way to establishing a house of Jacob. Leah must have been ecstatic at God's creativity within her for this time she named her son Judah. The name means praise and with this birth she said she would now praise the Lord. The focus is off the husband and his desire for her and more on God Himself. To establish a house of Jacob is surely God's arena and Leah recognizes this as she gives birth to her fourth son. Now we begin to see the seed of a people put on earth to praise God multiplying and, Leah started the praise parade.
When Jesus came to earth, the Jews (Judah) told him they recognized their lineage through the patriarchs but they did not want to give praise to God for Jesus. Jesus told them that praising the Father for the gift of Jesus would exactly be what the patriarchs would be doing if they were there because that is what they did when they were living. But most continued to have this problem of not praising God for Jesus. Even the ones to whom He greatly ministered had this problem. Sometimes the foreigners did better than the children of the house of Jacob:
Jesus said, weren't ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found coming back to give glory to God except this foreigner?
Luke 17: 17-18
In Acts we find that God opened the door for foreigners to join the kingdom via the church. We would be grafted in as a real "Jew" because of our inward turning toward God through Jesus and accepting our ability to give Him praise and glory.
On the contrary, the real Jew is one inwardly; and true circumcision is of the heart, spiritual, not literal, so that his praise comes not from other people but from God.
The apostle Paul writing in Romans 2: 29
So welcome each other, just as the Messiah has welcomed you into God's glory. For I say that the Messiah became a servant of the Jewish people in order to show God's truthfulness by making good His promises to the patriarchs, and in order to show His mercy by causing Gentiles to glorify God.
Romans 15: 11ff.
I like to think that God opened a window of awareness in the heart of Leah about His glorious part in the creation of her children and she was compelled to give Him praise and glory. How about you? Have you allowed God to compel you to bring Him praise and glory? Jesus said He was the door to this wonderful place in the kingdom. Have you dealt with the compelling going on in your heart to give Him all the praise and glory?
When Jesus came to earth, the Jews (Judah) told him they recognized their lineage through the patriarchs but they did not want to give praise to God for Jesus. Jesus told them that praising the Father for the gift of Jesus would exactly be what the patriarchs would be doing if they were there because that is what they did when they were living. But most continued to have this problem of not praising God for Jesus. Even the ones to whom He greatly ministered had this problem. Sometimes the foreigners did better than the children of the house of Jacob:
Jesus said, weren't ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found coming back to give glory to God except this foreigner?
Luke 17: 17-18
In Acts we find that God opened the door for foreigners to join the kingdom via the church. We would be grafted in as a real "Jew" because of our inward turning toward God through Jesus and accepting our ability to give Him praise and glory.
On the contrary, the real Jew is one inwardly; and true circumcision is of the heart, spiritual, not literal, so that his praise comes not from other people but from God.
The apostle Paul writing in Romans 2: 29
Romans 15: 11ff.
I like to think that God opened a window of awareness in the heart of Leah about His glorious part in the creation of her children and she was compelled to give Him praise and glory. How about you? Have you allowed God to compel you to bring Him praise and glory? Jesus said He was the door to this wonderful place in the kingdom. Have you dealt with the compelling going on in your heart to give Him all the praise and glory?
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