People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.
D.A. Carson

Groups

Forum Navigation
You need to log in to create posts and topics.

E-pistle for June 19,2009

Avatar
Forum Archives
668 Posts
#1 · June 19, 2009, 3:46 pm

Posted by: info <info@...>

E-pistle

                                                        Dr. Dan Hite, President         FreeWay Foundation            June 19, 2009

Back To Bethel

(Genesis 35:1-29)

Dr. Curt Scarborough

I.  Concentration:  on the main events in this chapter

        1.   God told Jacob (Israel) to return to Bethel, vv. 1-15.

        2.   Rachel, Jacob's wife, died giving birth to Benjamin, vv. 16-20

        3.   Reubin, Jacob's eldest son (by Leah) had illicit sexual relations with

                  Bilhah, his father's concubine (Rachel's maid), vv. 21-26.  This act

              caused Jacob to curse Reubin in Genesis 49:3-4.

4.      Isaac died at the age of 180 years, and was buried by his sons, Jacob and

        Esau, vv. 27-29; Genesis 29:32.

        (NOTE:  verse 8 tells of the death and burial of Deborah, Rebekah's nurse.

        She is mentioned only once in Scripture, but she probably was important

        to Jacob because she had been his nanny.)

II.  Meditation:  on "Bethel" . . . the House of God

1.      Bethel was the place where Abraham first settled, built an altar, and called

        on the name of the Lord, Genesis 12:8; later Abraham returned "Back to

        Bethel" following his journey into Egypt, Genesis 13:3.

2.      Bethel was the place where Jacob saw the vision of the angels ascending

        and descending on a ladder between earth and heaven, Genesis 28:10-19.

3.      Bethel was the place to which the Lord commanded Jacob to return from

        his wanderings in a foreign land with his uncle, Laban, Genesis 31:13.

4.      Bethel was the place which God chose to become the temporary place of

        worship for the nation, before Jerusalem became the site of the temple

        in the days of David and Solomon, Genesis 35:1-8, 15-16; I Samuel 10:3.

III.  Revelation:  on the spiritual meanings of going "Back to Bethel"

1.      Reconstruction of broken-down, unused altars, vv. 6-7.
2.      Revival of spiritual fellowship with the Lord, v. 9.
3.      Restoration of God's covenants with His chosen family, vv. 10-12.
4.      Renewal of communion with God and sacrifice to Him, v. 14.

IV.  Applications:  as a Christian, I need to . . .

1.      Hear the Lord's call to return (literally or in my thoughts) to the holy place

        where I first met Him.

2.      Prepare myself for this return to the Lord by renouncing all idols, purifying

        myself through repentance and confessions, putting on the righteous robes

        of Christ, and arising and moving toward Bethel . . . God's house, vv. 2-3.

3.      Testify to my family members, and others, about my spiritual experiences

        of encountering Almighty God, vv. 3-7.

4.      Revisit my old altars of worship, reaffirming my sacred vows to the Lord,

        and pouring out my life before Him as a sacrificial offering, v. 14;

        Philippians 2:17; II Timothy 4:6.

Who on Earth Was Anah?

(Genesis 36:1, 5, 14, 24)

Dr. Curt Scarborough

I.  Concentration:  on the family of Esau

        1.   Abraham . . . Isaac . . . Jacob and Esau:  Jacob (renamed Israel) was a

              devious, deceptive type of person, while Esau was a vulgar,

              profane, rebellious type of individual.

2.      Esau, much to the grief of his parents Isaac and Rebekah, married not one

        but three Canaanite (heathen) women, vv. 2-3.

3.      Genesis 36 records the genealogy of Esau, which includes one of his wives,

        Aholibamah, who was the daughter of Anah, v. 2, 5, 14.

4.      Anah, the focus of this study, was Esau's father-in-law.

II.  Meditation:  on verse 24

        "This was the Anah who found water in the wilderness (hot springs in the

        desert) as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon," Genesis 36:24.

III.  Revelation:  on what is known about Anah, v. 24

1.      Anah labored in a desolate, God-forsaken place.
2.      Anah tended a herd of donkeys.
3.      Anah faithfully served his father, Zibeon,
4.      Anah did one significant thing in his life (made one important discovery)

        which benefited people for many generations to come . . . he found

        water in the wilderness . . . hot springs in the desert.

IV.  Applications:  as a Christian, I need to learn these lessons . . .

1.      God may assign me to work in an obscure, out-of-the-way place.
2.      I may be given a task as difficult as taking care of stubborn donkeys.
3.      Even in a desert place doing a difficult, unsung task, I must faithfully serve

        my Father.

4.      Occasionally . . . but at least once in each lifetime . . . I will have an

        opportunity to accomplish something significant to benefit generations

        yet unborn; I don't want to miss that chance!

How will I be remembered?  "This is the Curt Scarborough who . . . "

You are the only person in the world who can use your ability.

Copied from – Good Stuff 

-- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: epistle2equip-unsubscribe@welovegod.org

Click for thumbs down.0Click for thumbs up.0