God’s people created through peril

1. God’s people created through peril Genesis 37:2-4, 28; 38:1-5 A CERTAIN GOD

2. Intro • Story of Joseph – fraternal treachery • Story of Judah and Tamar – plain weird

3. Intro • Genesis 34. The rape of Dinah – painful tragedy • Genesis 35. The incest of Reuben and Bilhah – shameful story

4. Genesis 37 2 This is the account of Jacob’s family line.

5. Four perils that cause you to lose sight of God in your life The Rape of Dinah (Genesis 34). 1. The peril of disasters in the family.

6. Jacob’s response. Genesis 34 30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”

7. God’s Response Genesis 35 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.” 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes.

8. Genesis 35  3 Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem. 5 Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.

9. Four perils that cause you to lose sight of God in your life The Incest of Reuben and Bilhah(Genesis 35). 2. The peril of uncontrolled sexuality.

10. Genesis 35 21 Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. 22 While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it.

11. 1 Chron 5 The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (he was the firstborn, but when he defiled his father’s marriage bed, his rights as firstborn were given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel; so he could not be listed in the genealogical record in accordance with his birthright, 2 and though Judah was the strongest of his brothers and a ruler came from him, the rights of the firstborn belonged to Joseph)—

12. God’s plan will succeed even though we fail. • Our failures can fit into God’s plan. • We don’t escape God’s plan. • Choose obedience and blessing or disobedience and peril. God’s plan is never thwarted, and your free choice is never denied.

13. God is keeping his promise even when we think he is not. • God is keeping his promise even when fail at our end.

14. Four perils that cause you to lose sight of God in your life The loss of Joseph (Genesis 37). 3. The peril of envy.

15. Genesis 37 2 This is the account of Jacob’s family line. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.

16. Genesis 37 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.

17. Genesis 50 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives

18. Four perils that cause you to lose sight of God in your life The story of Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38). 4. The peril of a weak purpose.

19. Genesis 38 At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullamnamed Hirah. 2 There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and made love to her; 3 she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er. 4 She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan. 5 She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him.

20. Genesis 38 27 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. Perez Zerah

21. Ruth 4 18 This, then, is the family line of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, 19 Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, 20 Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 21 Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed, 22 Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David.

22. God’s plan will succeed even though we fail. • Our failures can fit into God’s plan. • We don’t escape God’s plan. • Choose obedience and blessing or disobedience and peril. God’s plan is never thwarted, and your free choice is never denied.

23. God is keeping his promise even when we think he is not. • God is keeping his promise even when fail at our end.

24. Three blessings that can easily go wrong because of these perils 1. The blessing of sexuality can be easily perverted 2. The blessing of increase can be easily ignored 3. The blessing of blessing others can be easily neglected

25. Take away … 4 Perils • The peril of disasters in the family • The peril of uncontrolled sexuality • The peril of envy • The peril of a weak purpose

26. Six Lessons

27. God’s plan will succeed even though we fail. • Our failures can fit into God’s plan. • We don’t escape God’s plan. • Choose obedience and blessing or disobedience and peril. God’s plan is never thwarted, and your free choice is never denied. • God is keeping his promise even when we think he is not. • God is keeping his promise even when fail at our end.