FBT Daily Devotional: Genesis 36

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Amen. Amen. I guess it would help if I unmute myself. Um, thank you. And so, welcome one, welcome all. So, today we are going off of Genesis 36. So, where we started was um 35 earlier as far as start of the day, and it has an interesting ending as it transitions to um a great transition for what we are going to talk about today inside of chapter 36. So, when we look at chapter 36, um there's a lot of genealogy going on in there, um, but we can still make a nice little focus on how the despite, excuse me, how Jacob and Esau paths were, we know that God's promise don't stop when the paths separate. So that's gonna be a unique little focus that we're gonna have here. When we look at how people in life can take different paths, God's plan still unfolds, even when we look in um in the story as we're gonna set the um the stage for our focus. Um, so God's plan it still unfolds, but it also provides a reconciliation, which that reconciliation is restoring peace between people who were once in conflict, simply put, but it makes it possible to move forward without carrying the weight of the past. And so this reminds us of uh a leadership illustration from Simon Sinek. I don't know if um, well, for those who have uh heard of Simon Sinek, um it came to a mind where he talks about people uh waiting in line for uh a bagel, and when someone cuts in line, people get upset because they feel like someone else is taking what was meant for them. And this kind of can tap in a little to um their story. Um and it's like, but the deeper connection is in the lesson that there are enough bagels for everyone, is is is Simon Snake's thing, and I'll I'll tie it in a little later. Um it's like it's enough for everyone, but no one needs to cut in line. So that's that was a theory. It was it was a long line of people, and um there was a bagel shop going on. And however the case is, they were like, him and another person was like, Oh, let's wait in the line. And um, he was mostly focusing on the why. But uh the premise connecting here was that one friend was like, hey, I don't mind waiting, you know, for what I you know want to get. And the other one was like, hey, matter of fact, we're walking past the front of the line, and there's like a lot of uh bagels enough for everyone. So let me just reach in and grab it, and no one was disturbed because it did not, um, as I said, it it didn't feel like to others that someone else is taking what was meant for them because it was so much more. So um, no, in that sense, it was like, okay, though no one needs to cut the line in the same way, God's promise to one person doesn't cancel out another's blessing or another person's blessing, that there's enough of God's goodness to go around. So that's just a starting premise that um I'll tie in later. But as we get directly into the Genesis 36 itself, I like how uh notice there's like a small timeline of detail worth noticing where Isaac is actually outliving both of his parents because Abraham died at 175 years old. Could you imagine? Um, and then Sarah, we know in previous times we talked about, um, I think it was last week when I was talking about actually, uh, that Sarah died at 127 years old, and Abraham was able to bury her. However, when we look at Isaac, he lived, he outlived his parents because he lived to 180 years old. So that's a unique little thing. Um, so though, as this uh chapter um transitions from Genesis 36, uh Isaac passed away, and and something powerful ends up happening, where the very last verse transitioning from third chapter 35 to 36 shows us that Jacob and Esau buried their father together. So they made a unison a re connection because these were two brothers, again, who once had uh tension in the past, if we recall the story, and that Jacob pretty much ran for his life, and so yet years later, they stood side by side to honor their father. And so, as we look forward, how this moment can actually set the stage for Genesis 36, you know, a little history lesson, but seeing what we can also pull out of it again based off the theme starting this uh this uh sermon, we'll call it, um, or as many of us call call it uh exhortation. But when we look at um further in Genesis 36, um, it shows that it's no longer about the conflict, and it shows what life looks after the reconciliation, okay? And so one thing that I do want to do is we're gonna break down Esau's name because one thing about Esau is that um his he has two names, and so his name represents his identity, and so there we go. Um, and so his identity, let's just say starting off was Esau, and that just meant hairy or rough, and so it described how he looked when he was born, later becomes known as another name, which is Edom. And Edom, it means red. So imagine it connecting to um when Esau sold his birthright for the red stew in Genesis 25. So the name carries remembrance of his past decisions, and so I think even that is powerful where his he operates in his character from the day of birth um in many different ways, and God still allowed Esau to grow into a nation. So even though Jacob carried the covenant promise, God was like, hey, Esau will still grow into a nation. And so I hope you're seeing some of the tie it ties in already. If not, when we look at uh Genesis 36, one says, now this is genealogy of Esau, who is Edom, which tells us that and it lists his um his wives, his sons, the chiefs of Edom, and the structure of their leadership. But uh a nice focus is during verses the latter verses at the end, verses 40 through 43, it lists the chiefs of Edom. So already showing that they are leaders in different clans and regions, and oftentimes back then they would historically do it in like clans of 12. This is arguably 11 or 12. Um, there's names. I'm not gonna go through and butcher them all before you all. Um, but with all the chiefs, it does um show that there's 11, but you can uh in some translations see it as 12 if there's a uh a um lineage starting with Esau himself, um, as far as whichever camp he's directly over. Um, but then we look at all the individual ones. But when we're looking at if there's a representation, it represents the tribal leadership structure of Edom and simple, just to show how his descent is still spread throughout the land. And the chapter ends with the statement that these were the the chiefs of Edom according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession. Esau was the father of the Edomites, and so we know that's the Edomites that later um uh well let me not get down myself. So we have Jacob's line, which became Israel, which is the Israelites, and then um Esau's line became Edom. So that's the Edomites, so that's two nations in two directions. And so the story begins with the two brothers who made peace. And so if you imagine, like two brothers who once had a serious fallen out for years, they expected that if they ever met again, it would lead to a fight. Um, as you can expect. You know, you did it some wrong to somebody else or somebody did around to you, you can expect that somehow there's gonna be some discomfort, some quarrel. Um, and especially if you are on the uh offending end, um, then you can imagine that it's gonna lead to a fight, or you're expecting that. But when they finally see each other, they reconcile. And there's that word again. So if later in life they each build their own homes and families and communities, they don't live the same life anymore. But the bitterness that was once there is gone. And that's the picture that Genesis has given us. Uh, reconciliation doesn't always mean returning to the same situation, sometimes it simply means peace moving forward. So you can reconcile and have peace to move forward. Now, there's a little something in there, but um, we're gonna move forward as we connect all the dots in totality with um ways that we can reflect even for ourselves, where we see that Genesis 36 teaches us several important lessons. So, number one is that God's promise to one person doesn't cancel another person's blessing. You heard me say it earlier. Number two is that reconciliation allows life to move forward, and number three, future generations must guard peace. So, if we're looking at the first, again, I'll say God's promise to one's person doesn't cancel out another person's blessing, just as I gave that example. Um, where okay, got you. This person cut in line real quick and wasn't bothering anybody. Uh, let me just quickly grab this, you know, bagel and let me keep moving. You know, free bagels is so much more for everybody. I don't mind waiting and cool, um, or vice versa. But guess what? No one's upset about that. So it doesn't cancel out another. So we see that in that same way that Jacob carried the covenant promise, as we mentioned, but Esau still became a nation with chiefs, territory, and influence. So God's plan for one person does not mean someone else is forgotten. Number two, as we mentioned, reconciliation allows life to move forward. If Jacob and Esau had remained enemies, their families might have been stuck in constant conflict, but peace allowed both nations to grow. Um, and though there were times in which um, yeah, let me not get ahead of myself as I get ready to wrap up. Um we're looking at, simply put, um, where Romans 12 18, times in the Bibles where it says, if it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceable with all men. So this is where um the third point is made right before the close is that future generations must guard peace. Because later in biblical histories, the Edomites and Israelites still would encounter each other. And again, uh sometimes peacefully, but other times it was with tension. So, like even in Numbers 20, the Edomites refused to allow Israel to pass through the land and later conflicts with um one another. And so it conflicts between both nations, but that teaches us something important that reconciliation can start with one generation, but future generations must choose peace again for themselves. So the brothers made peace, but the nations later struggle with the same tension. And as we close, I want you to um I want to tie it in this way, where this chapter reminds us that even after conflict, God can still produce growth, legacy, and new beginnings. We see it with Jacob becoming Israel. We see how uh Esau became Edom, their path separated, but peace allowed both stories to move forward. So sometimes the real victory isn't forcing everyone to walk the same road again. Sometimes victory is leaving the past healed and trusting God with the future. And with that, I leave you to do the same. We can go to break house.