Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20081102.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Genesis: Explaining The Foundations Of History
Part VII: Explaining God's Plan To Bless Men Regardless Of Apostasy
T. Cooperating With God's Oversight To Meet Our Material Needs
(Genesis 30:25-31:18)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

In the current financial crisis, many people feel their livelihood welfare has been hurt by irresponsible or ineffective leaders:

(1) Jack M. Guttentag, past Jacob Safra Professor on International Banking at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania wrote the article, "Regulation and the Mortgage Crisis," on Finance.yahoo.com, 10/28/08 to explain it briefly as follows:

(a) In 2004, the Securities and Exchange Commission relaxed its investment banking rules in line with the Republican idea that bankers would police themselves to protect their shareholders.

(b) Later, when the Democrats came to power, they relaxed lending rules in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac government programs to give lower income folk a better chance to own a home.

(c) Investment bankers viewed the environment of lax banking regulation and low income folk eager to own a home as a chance to make lots of money, so they gave mortgages to low income borrowers with little credit requirements, bundled these sub prime mortgages together with good mortgages to form securities to sell worldwide. When the borrowers defaulted, it led to the crisis!

(3) Thus, the resulting shrinking retirement portfolios invested in the world's declining stock markets coupled with the consequent recession has made the economy the key issue in Tuesday's election!

(4) As for that election itself, one wonders if voting for any candidate will help! An October 26, 2008 Associated Press story by John Dunbar ("Uses for $700 Billion Bailout Money Ever Shifting") observed that though Congress voted to give $700 billion to help distressed banks buy back the devalued mortgage-backed securities, the banks want to use this money to invest in other banks, to pay dividends and give employees and executives pay raises to keep their banks strong! Now insurance and auto maker companies are asking to have a piece of this $700 billion pie, too, so some congressmen are seriously questioning the handling of their whole bailout package!

Then, since both major party candidates for the presidency, both being U. S. Senators, voted in favor this troubled bailout plan, one wonders if either man could solve the crisis if he became president!

Thus, we may ask, "How may an INDIVIDUAL who has been financially HURT in all of this PRODUCTIVELY respond?!"

(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "As the economic crisis that was fueled by irresponsible or ineffective leaders has put my livelihood at risk and impacted the election, what productive response would GOD want ME to have?!"
  1. Jacob's family faced severe financial risk from the irresponsible, evil actions of his ungodly relative and business overseer, Laban:
    1. After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob asked Laban to let him return to Canaan with his wives and sons, Genesis 30:25-26.
    2. Laban did not want Jacob to leave, for God had blessed his herds due to Jacob's shepherding work with them, Genesis 30:27.
    3. Laban asked Jacob to continue working for him, so Jacob offered to keep shepherding Laban's herds providing he could keep as his herds the rare marked goats and sheep from Laban's herds, Gen. 30:28-33; Bib. Kno. Com., O. T., p. 77. Jacob thus intended to trust God to cause his relatively small herds to grow to provide for his livelihood!
    4. Laban agreed, thinking this would be a good deal for him, Gen. 30:34.
    5. However, before Jacob could pick these rare animals out of Laban's herd, Laban unfairly removed them and put them under the care of his sons separated from his main herds before letting Jacob shepherd his main herds, Genesis 30:35-36. Thus, Laban unjustly kept Jacob from STARTING with ANY rare marked animals so that he would have to attain them by breeding them out of the genetic pool of his regular herds; this put Jacob's family, including Laban's own daughters and their sons, at immediate, severe financial risk!
  2. INSTEAD of CONTINUING to trust God, in the LIVELIHOOD STRESS created by LABAN'S UNJUST OVERSIGHT, Jacob MANIPULATED Laban's herds for a livelihood, Genesis 30:37-42:
    1. Though Jacob had given his business proposal in good faith, trusting GOD to bless him, Laban's unfair removal of the existing rare colored animals tempted Jacob to manipulate Laban's herds for a livelihood!
    2. Jacob yielded to this temptation: he partly peeled branches to make them look off-colored to the herds, and put them in the water troughs believing it would lead the animals to produce off-colored offspring, Genesis 30:37-38; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, ftn. to Genesis 30:37-43.
    3. This all seemed to work as the herds bore rare colored young, 30:39!
    4. Then, utilizing these off-colored offspring, Jacob practiced selective breeding to produce large, strong herds of rare-colored animals in contrast to Laban's weaker, smaller, regular herds, Genesis 30:40-42!
  3. However, Jacob's manipulation effort only led to great anger from Laban and his sons against Jacob, Genesis 30:43-31:2:
    1. When Jacob gained huge herds and became very wealthy (Genesis 30:43), his wealth gain attracted the attention of Laban and his sons.
    2. Laban and his sons investigated only to learn of Jacob's manipulating the herds and practicing selective breeding, and attributed his gain to such efforts, leading Laban and his sons to be angry at Jacob, 31:1-2.
  4. Yet, Jacob's manipulation of Laban's herds was unnecessary: God knew of Laban's guile, so GOD had been the CAUSE for Jacob's herd growth in keeping with His plan to bless Jacob, Gen. 31:3-13:
    1. When Jacob saw Laban was angry at him, and God had told him to return to Canaan (Genesis 31:3), he secretly sought the approval of his wives, Laban's daughters, to return to Canaan, noting God had given him most of Laban's flock in reply to his cheating of Jacob, 31:4-9.
    2. Jacob added that by way of a dream, God had shown him that it was God Himself Who had caused the animals to mate as they had so that Jacob's herds might greatly multiply, Genesis 31:10-12.
    3. God then explained He was blessing Jacob in line with His promise to Jacob back at Bethel to do just that, Genesis 31:13 with 28:13-22!
  5. Thus, God led Jacob to leave Laban for Canaan, Genesis 31:14-18:
    1. Leah and Rachel replied to Jacob that their father had not left them or their sons an inheritance, but that God had transferred what was their financial due from Laban over to Jacob, leaving them quite willing to follow Jacob's leading from God to return to Canaan, Gen. 31:14-16.
    2. Thus, Jacob began to take his family and possessions away, 31:17-18.
Application: In the world economic crisis where our financial welfare seems vulnerable to the actions of irresponsible and/or ineffective leaders, may we (1) trust in Christ as Savior to become a child of God, and come under His care, John 1:12-13; Rom. 8:32. (2) Then, (a) instead of reacting to the livelihood threat in our own wisdom, (b) by the Holy Spirit's power (Gal. 5:16), may we trust God like Jacob SHOULD have done, and keep obeying Scripture. (3) God will provide all that we need to complete His assignment!

Lesson: REGARDLESS of the livelihood crisis to Jacob's family caused by the injustice of overseer Laban, God SOVEREIGNLY BLESSED Jacob to fulfill His plan, so Jacob SHOULD have KEPT TRUSTING God VERSUS MANEUVERING Laban's flock with all of its resulting stress!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

After my retirement portfolio had shrunk to half of its peak value at last Monday's market close, an event caused by national leadership problems clarified in our sermon introduction, God led me to information to encourage me to keep heeding His Word. Others face the same trial, so here is that information for your benefit:

(1) I found a five-year-old article on file written by Marc Leavy in Business Reform, Vol. 3, No. 1, Jan.-Feb. 2003. It was titled, "Dow 5,000 or Dow 35,000?", and Leavy, a certified financial planner and a Christian, had used Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 there to explain what to do in facing a stock market that still languished from the 2000-2001 crash caused by business leaders who had invested heavily in tech companies with bad business models. In spite of this economic crisis, his article affirmed: "Solomon is saying not to hold back on your investing . . . instead of debating . . . whether the Dow will skyrocket or plummet, we need to focus on what the Bible instructs us to do -- prepare for both", and "Every month, whether the market is up or down, you make your deposit . . . We are to be about our Father's business and we have the responsibility to put His money to work for Him." (Ibid.)

(2) That made me recall a story I had on file from Kiplinger's Mutual Funds '97, p. 33, 40 on how this approach had worked for Frank and Marcia Parrish of Denver, Colorado, a couple who were dealt a serious blow to their retirement portfolio in the 1973-1974 bear market. They had begun investing long before that crash, and, when it came, it left had them with less money than what they had invested!

Many others would have given up and pulled out what was left, but the Parrishes had kept on investing. "Since then, the stock market has increased in value 1,000%" noted the article, and though the couple had never earned over $50,000 a year, they were set to retire with $2 million. "'The experience of watching our money grow has made me a firm believer in investing regularly in stocks'" said Frank. "'All you have to do is put money into stock funds and forget about it.'" (Ibid.)

Of course, to succeed like this, a believer should rely on the Holy Spirit for the self-control and faithfulness to stick with the plan!

May we HEED the WORD of God INSTEAD of reacting to circumstances created by poor leaders on our own. The God Who oversees the world and all its parties, even the leaders who seem to put our finances at risk, will sovereignly provide all that we need!