Sanctified By Faith

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King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]

Date: Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Chapters: Genesis Chapters 34-36
Message: Sanctified By Faith

Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,

Apart from Jesus, if you were to study the faithful followers of God written in the Bible you would discover that they were all sinners just like you and I, some may have done even worst things and yet God still used them to fulfill His promise to them. Do you know why? Well, Jesus said this to Paul just before He converted Him, [Acts 26:16-18  But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;  17  Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,  18  To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.]

Faithful followers of Jesus are both ministers and witnesses of the power, mercy, and grace that we receive from God upon our faith in Jesus and our faithfulness to Him. We are saved by grace, but we live through Christ, even though we trip and fall from time to time, we are still the light of the LORD to shine Jesus upon all who seek something much better for them, [Hebrews 11:39-40  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:  40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.]

Now, being saved by grace does not mean that we are exempt for sin, temptation, or a chastening should we fall into sin from God until we come to our senses, but it does mean that He will guide and protect us until we get home. When God told Jacob to leave his father-in-law’s home and go back home, He meant go back home. And after all that God had helped him overcome with his father-in-law, and brother, you would think that he would have listened, and gone straight back home, but instead he chose to live in Shechem. Jacob, may not have committed a sin in what he did, but that foolish decision would lead his family to sin. They were not is Shechem for a short time, it was for a while, long enough for only daughter to start hanging out with the locals and got involved with one of the men.

[Genesis 34:1-5  And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.  2  And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.  3  And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel.  4  And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife.  5  And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come.]

[and Jacob held his peace until they were come.] Instead of dealing with this issue, Jacob, said nothing and let Dinah’s brothers handle it, which was another foolish decision. They were not too happy that this man enticed their sister to begin with, but to defile her put them over the edge. I do not know if you realize how protective brothers are over their sisters, but mine sure was and still is even though I am nine years older than him. Simeon and Levi came up with an evil plan of retaliation as Shechem and Hamor talked with Jacob and his sons, they actually wanted to form a union with them.

[Genesis 34:8-11,13-15  And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife.  9  And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you.  10  And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein.  11  And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give. 13  And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister:  14  And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us: 15  But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised;]

[Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give.] As far as things were concerned in this matter, Shechem loved Dinah so much that he was willing to make everything right and do whatever it took for their blessings in their marriage. It is a known fact that there are some people of the world more honorable than some Christians. Not everyone in the world is of the world, they really do have faith in God and want to live right by Him, they just do not know how to do that. That is where we who are faithful come in, we are their light to the truth of Christ, [Matthew 5:14-16  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.  15  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.  16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.]

[for that were a reproach unto us:] Remember when God gave the command that every male born or serving them would need to be circumcised in order to be accepted? [Genesis 17:11,13  And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. 13  He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.] This is what the men were referring to, and while Shechem was on board, he had to convince the rest of the men to get on board.

[Genesis 34:19-23  And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house of his father.  20  And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying,  21  These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.  22  Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised.  23  Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us.]

[Shall not their cattle and their substance…be ours?] Shechem, was not entirely honorable, after all, he did entice Dinah, but neither was Dinah, she wanted the world and she got it. And they were not oblivious to the fact that Jacob was wealthy and his sons were industrious, thriving people, who prospered wherever they went. It would have been to their advantage to form an alliance with them and since the men of Shechem wanted to please their prince and prosper themselves they willingly agreed. Dinah’s brothers were not only deceitful, they were down right ruthless, they not only killed Shechem, they killed their father and all the men as well.

[Genesis 34:25-27,30  And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.  26  And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went out.  27  The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister. 30  And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.]

[Dinah’s brethren, took each man his sword…and slew all the males.] Believe it or not, this was acceptable to God, these men did not get circumcised so that they could convert and become one of God’s people they did it for pure profit. As nothing secures us better than true religion, nothing exposes us more than pretending to be religious, and this is why many will come to Jesus expecting heaven when it will be hell that they receive, [Luke 13:26-28  Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.  27  But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.  28  There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.]

[Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants] Jacob’s main concern was not the fact that his only daughter got herself mixed up with the world nor the fact that his sons killed these men when they were trying to make amends of things, it was that the people would come after him. Let me tell you, way too many Christians make the foolish decision of condemning family members for getting into trouble. And instead of giving them the opportunity to make amends as God would have them, they make things worse by attempting to take over the situation. Well, once again, Jacob did not deal with this issue, and wanted to run again, but this time God stepped in.

[Genesis 35:1-3  And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.  2  Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:  3  And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.]

[and make there an altar unto God,] God, will sit there and let us make one foolish decision after another until He has had enough, tells us that it is time to repent before things really get out of hand. This is why I believe that once you get saved, God only lets you fall down that abyss of sin so far, He will never let you fall away from Him completely. And if you do refuse to repent, then He will take you home where you will no longer hurt yourself. There is not one of us who are not capable of getting caught up in a web of sin, we have too much flesh in us to deal with it on our own, and this is why we need Christ every hour of every day, [Romans 7:24-25  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?  25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.]

[Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean,] So, we make these foolish decisions, and think that we can handle them on our own only to make matters worse. Quite frankly, the problem is that we are ashamed to go to God because of what we did, God sits back, with his arms folded, shaking his head, thinking, “Why did not you listen to me?”. Well, that is how I picture Him anyway, and that is when God reminds us of what we were supposed to do in the first place. This time Jacob actually went where God told him to to do, and that is when God just appeared.

[Genesis 35:5-6,9-13  And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.  6  So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him. 9  And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.  10  And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.  11  And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;  12  And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.  13  And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.]

[and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them,] The people that dwelt in the surrounding cities dared not touch the Israelites as they were passing through as they all knew that the Almighty God was with them. I can give you countless examples of how God protected me, in fact, He protects me in these shady parts of town that I have to drive through every day. There is no one to fear when we fear God, [Matthew 10:28-31  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.  29  Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.  30  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  31  Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.]

[a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee,] I tell you what, there is a grave concern among much of the youth in the world today, there is absolutely no discipline in the home, no respect for their parents, of life itself, or for themselves. I believe much of this is due to the fact that they are not loved by their parents, and or even worse, their parents are raising them as transgenders or progressives that attack Christian and moral values. As saved, born again Christians, it is important that we not only raise our children godly, but to keep them out of the world. While we cannot control what will become of them when they are adults, but we can guide them and by the grace of God, they will not depart from the faith, [Proverbs 22:6  Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.]

[And God went up from him in the place where he talked] Can you imagine standing face to face with God and talking to Him as you would family or friends? Little did Jacob know that not only would God’s only begotten Son descend through his children, but that they would be divided into two. There is always a downward affect if repentance does not come into play. Now, as Jacob and his family left Bethel to head toward home, then made a stop because it turns out that Rachel was pregnant, and about to have the baby. That was not all that happened.

[Genesis 35:16-21,27  And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.  17  And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.  18  And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.  19  And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.  20  And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day. 21  And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar. 27  And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.]

[as her soul was in departing…she called his name Benoni:] It was Rachel who had passionately said, Give me children, or else I die and now that she had children, she was about to die. Her dying lips called her newborn son Ben-oni, which means the son of my sorrow, but her beloved Jacob changed his name to Benjamin, which means the son of my right hand because he did not renew the sorrowful remembrance of his beloved death every time he called his sons name. It is interesting to learn what Benjamin’s name means as it is a reminder that Jesus stands at the right hand of our Father, interceding on our behalf, [Romans 8:34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.]

Since God promised that He was going to give Jacob the land He gave Abraham, and Isaac that meant those who were already on it had to go. Now, and this is how God works, He knew Esau and his family were were there too, but there was not enough room on the entire country for both of them, which is why it is recorded that Esau had his own tribe of twelve and moved his family to Mt. Seir, also known as Edom.

[Genesis 36:1-3,6-8  Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.  2  Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan; Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite;  3  And Bashemath Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebajoth. 6  And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his substance, which he had got in the land of Canaan; and went into the country from the face of his brother Jacob.  7  For their riches were more than that they might dwell together; and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them because of their cattle.  8  Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom.]

[from the face of his brother Jacob.] Let me tell you, God’s mercies endure, even when we mess up time and time again, but they do have their limits. I have seen way too many people die untimely deaths because their sin took control over them. This is why we cannot take our eyes off God for a second and it is also why we cannot yoke ourselves with those of the world, even worldly Christians, which is why God wants us to be separated from them, [2 Corinthians 6:16-18  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,  18  And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.]

[Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom.] The word Edom means, red, it was in remembrance of the foolish bargain he made with Jacob when he sold his birth right over a bowl of red pottage (stew or soup). One thing we should remind ourselves is that as saved, born again Christians, never lose our birthright, even if we have made some foolish decisions. Why? We are saved by grace.

[1 John 2:1-5  My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:  2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.  3  And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.  4  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  5  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.]

Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Genesis 35:9-10  And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.  10  And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.]

Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for bringing me to Your Son, and for the best decision I ever made in accepting Him as my Saviour. While I know I have made many foolish decisions in my life, You are still faithful and just to move past them and even forgive them when confess them and repent. I know my flesh, and no matter how hard I try, I will keep making foolish decisions if I am not walking with You. Just as merciful and loving as You are toward me, You expect me to be merciful and loving toward those You place in my life. Lord, thank You for loving me, never forsaking me, and always seeing better things of me. Teach me to listen to You the first time so I do not have to suffer needlessly for making another foolish decision. Show me how to love as You love, and what I need to do to shine Your light through me. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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