Humanity in Sin Part 43: The House of Israel
19.44This is my personal summary of the preaching of Rev.Dr.Stephen Tong on 10th February 2008 in Newton Life. It was preached in Chinese with English translation.
Passage: Genesis 35:16-29
Rachel passed away in this passage. Rachel was the woman Jacob truly loved. He met her for the first time and loved her for the rest of his life. But Jacob cannot control a lot of things that happened in his life. It was as though he was passive in all those events. It was not his intention to marry more than one wife. It was not his will that Dinah should be violated. He could not control the wicked thing his son Reuben did. The woman he loved was barren and the woman he did not love kept giving birth.
Eventually Rachel gave birth to a son and his passivity became active. Special milestones in our lives awake us to action. The sufferings we go through make us rethink the meaning of our existence and give us motivation towards new direction. Jacob kept working mechanically. When Rachel finally had a son, his entire life changed and he decided to leave Laban.
Jacob loved Joseph more than all his children. This favoritism later caused a lot of problems in his family. Children do not blame their parents for being not handsome or ugly. And few children grumble about the condition of their family. But they suffer greatly when they perceive unfair treatment by their parents.
Sometimes we love someone so much that we end up hurting them. This is the side effect when emotions are not properly applied. Life should be treated solemnly. Life is both lovely and scary. In the progression of life, life goes in one direction without return. We can regret forever because of the wrong decisions we made. This happened several times in Jacob’s life. Many families seem to be floating around passively in the wheel of time. This passage told us of the birth of his last son, Benjamin. And Rachel passed away after that.
Joseph was treated as the firstborn son of Jacob. Hence his name is not in the tribes of his Israel, instead it was replaced by the names of his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. This is because Joseph received a double portion of inheritance. But in Revelation, the tribe of Benjamin disappeared. Benjamin tribe was rejected because they no longer worshipped the God of Israel. Although Benjamin was historically Jacob’s son, he was removed from the tribes of Israel.
The 12 tribes of Israel represent the kingdom of God in Old Testament while the 12 apostles represented the Church of God in the New Testament.
All the apostles were directly appointed by Jesus Christ. Judas was rejected because he betrayed Jesus. Judas had no place in eternity although in history he was appointed by Jesus Christ. He was removed because of unbelief. The mistake he made was a demonstration that he never had faith. While all the apostles called Jesus Lord, Judas called him Rabbi. Jesus was never Lord in his heart.
The church drew lot and appointed Matthias to replace Judas. But Judas’ position was actually replaced by Paul. Jesus appeared before Paul on the road to Damascus and directly appointed Paul as His apostle. This is from God’s point of view.
In the house of Israel, there are many tribes. In the Church, there are many denominations. When denominational spirit dominates, the house of God will be neglected. Joseph is not the most special tribe although he received double portion. God called His people Israel, referring to the entire kingdom of God.
We should serve with kingdom concept although we have our own denomination. We cannot treat heretic as denomination, but should welcome all denomination as brothers. Reformed system is not for reformed churches alone. Its existence is for the entire Church of God.
Passage: Genesis 35:16-29
Rachel passed away in this passage. Rachel was the woman Jacob truly loved. He met her for the first time and loved her for the rest of his life. But Jacob cannot control a lot of things that happened in his life. It was as though he was passive in all those events. It was not his intention to marry more than one wife. It was not his will that Dinah should be violated. He could not control the wicked thing his son Reuben did. The woman he loved was barren and the woman he did not love kept giving birth.
Eventually Rachel gave birth to a son and his passivity became active. Special milestones in our lives awake us to action. The sufferings we go through make us rethink the meaning of our existence and give us motivation towards new direction. Jacob kept working mechanically. When Rachel finally had a son, his entire life changed and he decided to leave Laban.
Jacob loved Joseph more than all his children. This favoritism later caused a lot of problems in his family. Children do not blame their parents for being not handsome or ugly. And few children grumble about the condition of their family. But they suffer greatly when they perceive unfair treatment by their parents.
Sometimes we love someone so much that we end up hurting them. This is the side effect when emotions are not properly applied. Life should be treated solemnly. Life is both lovely and scary. In the progression of life, life goes in one direction without return. We can regret forever because of the wrong decisions we made. This happened several times in Jacob’s life. Many families seem to be floating around passively in the wheel of time. This passage told us of the birth of his last son, Benjamin. And Rachel passed away after that.
Joseph was treated as the firstborn son of Jacob. Hence his name is not in the tribes of his Israel, instead it was replaced by the names of his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. This is because Joseph received a double portion of inheritance. But in Revelation, the tribe of Benjamin disappeared. Benjamin tribe was rejected because they no longer worshipped the God of Israel. Although Benjamin was historically Jacob’s son, he was removed from the tribes of Israel.
The 12 tribes of Israel represent the kingdom of God in Old Testament while the 12 apostles represented the Church of God in the New Testament.
All the apostles were directly appointed by Jesus Christ. Judas was rejected because he betrayed Jesus. Judas had no place in eternity although in history he was appointed by Jesus Christ. He was removed because of unbelief. The mistake he made was a demonstration that he never had faith. While all the apostles called Jesus Lord, Judas called him Rabbi. Jesus was never Lord in his heart.
The church drew lot and appointed Matthias to replace Judas. But Judas’ position was actually replaced by Paul. Jesus appeared before Paul on the road to Damascus and directly appointed Paul as His apostle. This is from God’s point of view.
In the house of Israel, there are many tribes. In the Church, there are many denominations. When denominational spirit dominates, the house of God will be neglected. Joseph is not the most special tribe although he received double portion. God called His people Israel, referring to the entire kingdom of God.
We should serve with kingdom concept although we have our own denomination. We cannot treat heretic as denomination, but should welcome all denomination as brothers. Reformed system is not for reformed churches alone. Its existence is for the entire Church of God.
0 komentar