“Birth Wars, pt. 1 (Genesis 29:31-30:43)” | 6/6/2021
Genesis 29:31-30:43 | 6/6/21 | Will DuVal
Well, I’ve got good news and bad news for you this morning. The BAD news is your bulletin is wrong, again. We will NOT be covering all 2 ½ chapters of Genesis. But the good news is you get part 2 of “Birth Wars”, ch31, next week. AND... you have a really optimistic pastor. I’ve lost track now of how many times I’ve thought to myself, “Yeah, I can cover all that in ONE sermon…” And then God just reveals too much that is worth sharing. But I think that’s a good thing. :)
We ARE continuing our study of Genesis this morning, and we’ve observed a recurring theme throughout the book, it’s the central message of the entire BIBLE, in fact: it is the gospel - the good news that though we (humans) are sinful, and we mess up at nearly every turn, God is forgiving, merciful, even redemptive, and he takes our mistakes, and He turns them, and brings good OUT of them, in spite of us, and out of LOVE for us.
God did that for Adam and Eve… for Noah… for Abraham (MULTIPLE times)… and we’ve already seen Him do it for Jacob - God took His faithless deception, his tricking Esau out of his birthright, tricking Isaac out of his blessing, even Jacob’s BEING tricked by Uncle Laban, last week - God uses Jacob’s multiple marriages to both Rachel AND Leah, redemptively, to accomplish God’s own good purposes in Jacob’s life, namely, to make him the father of a multitude. And that’s where we pick the story back up this morning, in chapter 29.
And it’s the same theme on display once again, but this time, on steroids. It’s not just “we mess up; but God redeems”; No - here, it’s DOUBLE the sin, DOUBLE the redemption. And that pattern continues over THREE different episodes; we’re gonna cover the first TWO stories today, and next week we’ll finish ch31.
But all three of these mini-stories share a similar plot outline, that you find there in your bulletin:
A CONFLICT… Provokes a SUPERSTITIOUS, FERTILITY-driven act of deception… Which God uses to TEACH A LESSON… And to fulfill his PROMISES.
Now, conflict in and of itself isn’t sinful. Jesus got into PLENTY of conflict, in his time on earth… God is engaged in conflict with Satan. No, the double sin in each of these stories occurs when the conflict provokes Leah, Jacob and Rachel to resort to pagan superstitions and idolatrous deception to get the thing they want most in life, more than they want GOD. Namely, they want BABIES. All 3 stories are fertility-driven.
Now, babies in the ancient world were incredibly important. Today, couples often delay childbearing as long as they can; “we can’t afford to have a baby”. Because we raise them to be little free-loaders for 18… 22… 26 years? some of y’all are still counting? Haven’t kicked them out of the basement yet... But back then, the mindset was: “We can’t afford NOT to have kids!” Because they were out there working in the family field by age 4 or 5. They’re the ones who are gonna take care of US in our old age. So fertility was prized. And infertility wasn’t just feared, it was shunned. Stigmatized. The inability to have kids must be a sign of God’s judgment on you.
And there’s a key truth we learn here not just about Leah, Rachel, Jacob... but about ourselves in each of these stories: that...
Times of stress reveal what is most important to us, AND who or what we truly trust.
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That’s true, isn’t it? In your life? If you want to know who you REALLY are - what’s REALLY important to you and where your hope REALLY lies - bring on the stress. 2020 was a great year, for finding out who you really were, deep down. And it’s true here in Genesis as well. Each of these conflicts brings out the deepest desires of the characters’ hearts, while exposing where their hope and trust ultimately lie. And not only is FERTILITY more important to them than God, but they trust in the superstitious practices of the surrounding, pagan Mesopotamian culture to achieve it, rather than trusting in God. And YET, despite their faithlessness, God not only remains faithful to HIS covenant promises, but He offers us three important lessons along the way.
Typically, I make you stand for our Scripture reading. But since we’re gonna cover over 100 verses these next 2 weeks, and with the theme being “God is merciful,” I decided I’d give your legs a break. But let me open us with a word of prayer...
We pick back up in Genesis ch29, v31, with Conflict #1: Leah vs. Rachel:
“When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.”
Now, “hated” is used here in the relative sense; v30 tells us that, “Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah”. But because of that, God has compassion on Leah and showed her extra favor and blessing.
V32: “ Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben,[c] for she said, “Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.””
Reuben, in Hebrew, means “Look, a son”. Leah names him Reuben because she wants Jacob, every time he calls his son’s NAME, to be reminded, that SHE, LEAH, has borne him a son. She is SO hopeful: “NOW, finally, my husband will love me!”
And we see this vicious love triangle begin to develop here… an unrequited love triangle:
-What Leah wants more than anything, is Jacob’s love.
-But what Jacob wants more than anything, is Rachel’s love.
-And what RACHEL wants more than anything, is CHILDREN!
They each want the one thing they DON’T have. Hebrews 13:5 commands us to “be content with what you have”, but Leah, Jacob and Rachel aren’t just discontent; they actually COVET what the other person has that they don’t. They each break commandment #10: Don’t Covet.
Leah sees that Rachel has Jacob’s love, so she says, “The ONLY thing that can make me happy is… [you guessed it:] Jacob’s love.”
But RACHEL wants the children that LEAH has!
And Jacob has two wives, AND kids, and Leah’s affection… everything EXCEPT for Rachel’s heart, because her heart is set on this DREAM of future children.
What about you? Are you content with what you have?
Fill in the blank, “I would be HAPPY if only…”
-God would give me a SPOUSE.
-God would give ME children.
-I got that promotion at work.
-We were a little more financially secure.
-The Cardinals won the World Series.
Ask yourself this morning: “What is keeping me from being perfectly content with the life God has given me?”
Now, keep in mind: God DOES use a kind of holy DIS-contentment at times to prepare us for what He has coming, in store for us next. But He still calls us to live in the present, without grumbling. So how do we do that?
Psalm 37:4 promises: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” If our deepest desire is for THE LORD, then He has already promised to GRANT that desire. But be forewarned: if you’re longing for anything else, God will often withhold that thing from you, for your own good, until you realize that only HE will ultimately satisfy you.
V33: “Leah conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon.” Simeon means “heard”.
V34: “Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.” Levi means “attached”.
V35: “And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah.[f] Then she ceased bearing.” Judah means “praise”.
Fourth time’s the charm. Leah finally gives up. “Ughh! if I can’t have my HUSBAND’S love, I guess I’ll have to settle for GOD’S love”. God is patient, by the way, friends. He waited me out for 27 years, while I tried to fill that God-shaped void with just about everything else: family, approval, friends, girls, porn, sports, “success”, knowledge, even RELIGION. Before I finally gave up and turned to HIM. If you’re not there yet, if you’re here this morning and you’re still “searching”, but you’re not yet DROWNING, I encourage you to keep swimming. In fact, swim harder. Cuz most of us won’t give up and reach for the life boat until we are absolutely drowning on our own. Friend: you need a SAVIOR; you need JESUS.
Chapter 30 now: “When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?””
Be careful desiring something MORE than you desire God; that’s a GREAT reason for Him NOT to give it to you!
V3: “Then Rachel said, “Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf,[a] that even I may have children[b] through her.””
Because that worked out so well for Abraham’s wife Sarah, when she did the exact same thing with her servant Hagar back in ch.16, right? Rachel knew the story. But we’re so forgetful, aren’t we? How often do you repeat the same sins over and over again, expecting a different result?
V4: “So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. 5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan.[c] ” Dan means “judged”; God is setting things right, at last, Rachel says.
V7: “Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings[d] I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.[e]” Naphtali means “wrestling”.
“Dan” and “Naphtali” - “judged” and “wrestling” - does it sound to you like Rachel was finally HAPPY once she got the kids she’s been dreaming of all these years? Does it SOUND like she’s finally fulfilled? It sounds to ME like unless your desire is for the LORD, even if He DOES finally grant you that lesser longing, you’re still gonna be left feeling empty inside. If you’re not filled with HIM.
Meanwhile, Leah is UN-learning her lesson. She was finally “praising God”, for Judah, but once this THIRD woman enters the picture - Bilhah - and more importantly, a fifth and then a sixth child... her four kids now have competition, for Jacob’s fatherly affection… NOW the birth wars get kicked into overdrive:
V9: “When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Then Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 And Leah said, “Good fortune has come!” so she called his name Gad.[f] [Gad means “good fortune”] Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13 And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.” [Asher means “happy”.]
Is LEAH actually “happy”? Does she really believe she’s experienced “good fortune”? Or is she just trying to rub the scoreboard in Rachel’s face. “Ha! It’s 6-to-2, sister!” She’s not happy; OTHER women may call her “happy”, but deep down, Leah and Rachel are BOTH still miserable.
So they do some negotiating...
V14: “In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son's mandrakes.” ” This is where the superstitions come into play. In the ancient world, mandrakes were believed not only to arouse sexual desire (read Song of Solomon 7:13) but to help barren women conceive as well. Now, there is NO scientific evidence for this. But Rachel was desperate. I mean, not desperate enough to PRAY… to actually turn to GOD for a child… but she’s desperate! And as the most-loved wife, she’s the one who gets to sleep with Jacob most nights that he’s not impregnating one of the other three wives; v15 makes it clear that Rachel is the one in charge of Jacob’s sleeping arrangements: “Leah said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? [I was married to him first… even if I DID have to TRICK him into marrying me...] Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes.”” Rachel wants fertility help. Leah wants Jacob’s embrace. It’s a win-win.
V16: “So when Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son's mandrakes.” So Jacob...” REBUKED her, and said, “Leah, do you realize how SCREWED UP that is? First of all, it’s nice to know Rachel’s kicking me out of bed for some mandrakes! But Leah, you are my WIFE - if you needed some TLC, all you had to do is ASK!” Is that how Jacob responded? No, Jacob said, “Mandrakes, huh? Yeah, that sounds reasonable,” v16, “So he lay with her that night.”
But watch how GOD responds! When we prove time and time again that we are more screwed up than we can even bring ourselves to admit, GOD proves that He is more MERCIFUL than we could ever even fathom. That’s the gospel, by the way: “You are more sinful than you ever dared imagine, yet more LOVED by God than you could ever dare to hope for.” Amen?
Does God reign down FIRE and BRIMSTONE on them? No…
v17: “And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar.” Issachar means “wages”.
Did you catch that?! Just when you thought things couldn’t possibly get any more messed up, Leah declares that Issachar was God’s REWARD to her, for sharing her servant Zilpah sexually, with her husband Jacob. Leah thinks that GOD looked down from Heaven, on that decision, and thought, “Wow - what an AMAZING wife Leah is! Man, only a truly selfless, loving wife would pimp her servant out like that, for bragging rights over her jealous sister!”. THAT is the state of Leah’s theology.
But once again, we need to check our OWN theology this morning, YOUR view of God - Be honest: how often do you treat God like He OWES you something. Maybe it’s not for prostituting your nanny out to your husband, but is it really that much LESS ridiculous to believe that God owes you something for…
...attending church all your life?
...for remaining faithful to your wife, when others around you have cheated?
...for working hard, and being honest in business?
Don’t get me wrong, friends - these are all good things. But they don’t earn you WAGES with God. He EXPECTS all that - and MORE! - of you. Payment free!
We’re working on this with Ellery right now. We’ve been giving her an allowance, not because we actually OWE her anything, but simply to try and teach her good money management. But the other day she said, “Daddy, I put all my TOYS away today after I played with them; that’s not on my chores list; can I have extra allowance?”
That’s when I’m tempted to quote my OWN father and ask her, “Do you want the ONE word, or the TWO-word answer?” But I’m a pastor, so I can’t say that; so I just say:
“NO!” NO, you can’t have extra allowance! What, do you think it’s like MY job to pick up after you, and you’re doing ME some big favor, by cleaning up the toys that YOU played with?!
But friends, don’t we do the exact same thing with GOD... all the time? “I can’t believe that God is letting this happen to ME right now... of ALL people.” Like God OWES me something; for WHAT? For living the way He’s CREATED me to? Ephesians 2:10 says we were “created… for good works”. You’re not particularly IMPRESSED when your watch tells you the right time, are you? It’s just doing what it’s SUPPOSED to do! No, the ONLY thing that God OWES us, is just retribution when we DON’T live the way we were created to. The Bible calls that “SIN”, and it says that YOU AND I do it ALL the time - Romans 3: “No one is righteous… ALL have sinned.”
And YET, what is God’s response? Surely wrath and punishment this time…?!
V19: “And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun.” Zebulun means “honor”. Leah has come full circle, back to needing Jacob’s approval once again.
V21: “Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.” Meaning “Vindication” “Take THAT, Rachel - I WIN!”
And it is at THAT point, and not a moment sooner, that Rachel finally comes to the END of herself. She has unsuccessfully tried turning everywhere ELSE first - she tried yelling at JACOB: “Give me kids!” She tried relying on her servant Bilhah; that didn’t make her happy. She tried the MANDRAKES; those didn’t work. Before she finally cries out to GOD, in v22:
“Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.” If God is LISTENING to her, that means Rachel is finally SPEAKING to him. She’s PRAYING. PLEADING.
“God, I tried talking to Jacob… to Bilhah… to Leah… I think it’s time to finally give YOU a try!”
How about us? Is PRAYER our first response, or our last resort?
Here’s the good news, if you’re like me, and you FAIL that test more often than you PASS it: God is still Gracious. He is still Merciful. “He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.” (Ps 103:10) That’s the good news - our God DOESN’T give us what we deserve, the “wages” we’ve rightfully earned. Romans 6:23 - “For the wages of sin is DEATH, [And remember: ALL have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God… the purpose for which we were created - bringing God glory]; BUT… but... the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
And the same God who would one day offer up His own SON, Jesus, in order that He might show you and me INFINITE grace, ETERNAL mercy, here, looks down on Rachel’s tears, and He hears her long overdue prayers of petition, and
V23: “She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” 24 And she called his name...” you ready for it? This is the climax of the first story. Surely she’s gonna name him…
John: “God is gracious”
Or Hanan: “gracious gift”
No, Rachel names him “Joseph, [which means “May He ADD”] saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!”” Rachel doesn’t even have the baby in her ARMS yet - they’re still wiping the GOO off him, and she says, “We’re calling him JOSEPH - May God give me ANOTHER son!” This is the definition of DISCONTENTMENT. Like when John D Rockefeller, the richest American ever, worth $400 BILLION dollars in today’s money, was asked how much money would be enough, he replied, “Just a little more.”
Just a little more money, and I’ll be financially secure.
Just one more child, and I’ll be happy.
Just one more friend, and I won’t be lonely.
Just one more promotion, and I’ll be satisfied.
Just one more drink, and I’ll feel better.
With everything BUT God, you will ALWAYS need “just a little more”. God is the ONLY thing you can WANT more of, you can hunger and thirst for more of, and yet He paradoxically leaves you feeling FULL. Quenched. Satisfied. Content. Because God has designed us with a God-shaped hole in our hearts that only HE can fill. So our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Him. He alone is SUFFICIENT to fill that void.
And yet, once again, God, in His MERCY, responds to Rachel’s ungrateful idolatry not by punishing her, but by actually GIVING her another son! Benjamin, later in chapter 35; the “added son” she asks for here, she will receive. Because God is gracious. He gives us good gifts that we don’t deserve.
And then God uses those gifts, the “gifts” of these 11 half-brothers, the soon-to-become 12 tribes of Israel, to fulfill God’s own good promises. Remember, God had promised to make Abraham, Isaac, Jacob… into a great nation. A PEOPLE. And this is how He did it. Through the faithless, superstitious, idolatrous, adulterous, deceptive SINS of Leah, Rachel, and Jacob. God works through them, in SPITE of them, to accomplish His plans. Why? To prove He can. To prove that HIS goodness is bigger than OUR badness. That HIS mercy is bigger than OUR mistakes.
Now, I’ve got 9 minutes left, to cover all of story #2. It is BY FAR the most bizarre of the 3 scenes. But I’m gonna keep it very simple for us, okay.
V25: “As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. 26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you.” 27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that[k] the Lord has blessed me because of you. 28 Name your wages, and I will give it.””
Conflict #2: Jacob vs. Laban. Jacob wants to GO; God had promised him a PEOPLE, a PLACE, and PROSPERITY. He’s got the people now; 11 kids and 4 wives. But wicked Laban will NEVER let him prosper in Padan-Aram; he needs to get back home to the Promised Land.
But Laban selfishly wants him to stay. Not because he loves Jacob so much, or even his daughters and 11 grandkids; but because God blesses Jacob, so while Jacob is out tending Laban’s flocks, the goats and sheep have been multiplying like bunnies in heat! And livestock was the currency of the day. So Laban is getting rich. It’s all about fertility for Laban too, specifically, the fertility of his flocks.
v29: “Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me. 30 For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?” [But Laban won’t relent…] 31 He said, “What shall I give you?” So Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. [You’re not gonna have ANY claim to the blessings that God will pour out on me! No, Jacob says: I’m gonna make you the kind of deal that only GOD could possibly miraculously prosper me through!]
v32: “Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages.
2 explanations for what’s going on here: one biological, and the other theological.
Commentator Kent Hughes (382) explains: “Normally shepherds contracted to shepherd for 10 to 20 percent of the flock as payment as well as a percentage of the wool and milk products. But [Jacob’s proposed deal here] was extraordinarily generous - and apparently stupid. Most sheep are all white, and most goats are all one dark color, black or brown. Mottled and striped sheep and goats are comparatively rare. Incredibly, Jacob offered to remove only the few multicolored sheep from Laban’s flock as his compensation and then shepherd the plain colored animals for Laban. When they bred, the common, plain-colored would remain Laban’s, and the rare variegated Jacob’s. From every angle it was a deal for Laban.”
Laban LOVES this deal. These are like Goliath vs. David type odds, for Laban. These are like the lions den vs. Daniel type odds... the fiery furnace vs. Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego odds. Are you getting the picture? It doesn’t matter HOW bad the odds are; if you’ve got GOD on your side, you’re playing with a stacked deck. Jacob could have said, “I’ll only take the ALBINO sheep and goats.” I don’t care if it’s .00001% of the population; if God is behind it, he will make every last ONE of them albino!
And that’s just the point, the SECOND, more important, THEOLOGICAL explanation of this story, in chapter 31 for NEXT week, Jacob explains: “ In the breeding season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the goats that mated with the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled. 11 Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ 12 And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.” In other words, GOD was the one who gave Jacob this crazy plan! God IS behind it, because it was God’s plan, and that is the ONLY reason it can succeed.
Despite Laban’s deceitful attempt to further stack the deck against Jacob; v35: “But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons. 36 And he set a distance of three days' journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban's flock.” Even with a very primitive understanding of genetics, Laban knew that without any striped or spotted goats actually mating, without any black sheep in his flock, Jacob was doomed. What Laban DIDN’T realize is that Jacob’s got the God who INVENTED genes on his side.
But here’s the thing: apparently Jacob doubted it TOO. Because look at what he does next: “Then Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks. 38 He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, 39 the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. 40 And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban. He put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban's flock. 41 Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob would lay the sticks in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the sticks, 42 but for the feebler of the flock he would not lay them there. So the feebler would be Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.”
I told you this story got more bizarre! But this was just another pagan superstition, that sensory experience during mating could actually AFFECT the outcome of the offspring. That mating in front of striped sticks could produce striped goats. And JACOB figured, “Ehhh, it couldn’t HURT!” God, I trust you... buuuut I’m gonna peel some sticks just in case. God didn’t say a WORD about peeling any sticks in the vision He gave Jacob in ch31. All of Jacob’s stick-peeling and selective breeding tactics were a GIGANTIC waste of time. God had already promised to prosper Jacob, to make the flocks striped and spotted.
And that’s exactly what he does, in v43, not because of faithless Jacob’s stick-peeling, but despite it: “Thus the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.”
It wasn’t superstitious stick-peeling, or even selective breeding that increased Jacob’s flocks; it was the SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. GOD made it happen! According to HIS OWN, Good, Sovereign un-manipulatable will. And in the process, God fulfilled a SECOND promise to Jacob: the promise of PROSPERITY. Of blessing. Not just a PEOPLE, but PROSPERITY too. And next week, God will bless him with the third promise: a PLACE. Jacob will finally head back home to the Promised Land.
But friends, perhaps you just need to be reminded this morning that God, in all His sovereignty, has similarly promised you that:
“he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil 1:6) That’s God’s not done with you yet.
That He is “working all things together for good,[a] for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28)
That NOTHING “in all creation, can now separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:39).
So you can put your whittling knife and your sticks down. All your sheep-sorting and your goat-grouping: you can give it a REST. God doesn’t need your help THAT bad. He has promised GOOD to you. And in Christ Jesus, ALL of his promises find their “Yes and Amen”. Amen? Let’s pray…