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