Speaker 1Yeah, we are going to be in Genesis. Actually, chapter 34 is where we'll read this morning the entire text. But before we begin, just a note to the family. We just want to acknowledge that the story we're going to be sitting in this morning includes sexual violence. And yeah, for those who have experienced sexual abuse, sexual violence, or assault, I just am aware that this passage may carry a particular weight. And so we're going to do our very best to honor that with humility and care and thoughtfulness. And we just want to honor the reality of the room that we're in this morning and acknowledge that there may be things the Spirit invites you to see or do or participate in. And we just want to believe that. And we want to bless and honor that as you sit in the text with us this morning. I'm very excited to have Todd with us. He did a beautiful job this morning. And it's a privilege to receive the word of the Lord, especially from a family member. So would you stand with me now for the reading of the word? Again, Genesis chapter 34, verses 1 through 31. Now, Dina, the daughter Leah had born to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. When Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her. His heart was drawn to Dina, daughter of Jacob. He loved the woman and spoke tenderly to her. And Shechem said to his father, Hamor, get me this girl as my wife. When Jacob heard that his daughter's Dina had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock. So he did nothing about it until they came home. Then Shechem 's father, Hamor, went out to talk with Jacob. Meanwhile, Jacob's sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and furious because Shechem had done an outrageous thing in Israel by sleeping with Jacob's daughter, a thing that should not be done. But Hamor said to them, my son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. Intermarry with us. Give us your daughters for yourselves. You can settle among us. The land is open to you. Live in it, trade in it, and acquire property in it. Then Shechem said to Dina's fathers and brothers, let me find favor in your eyes and I will give you whatever you ask. Make the price for the bride and the gifts I am to bring as great as you like. And I'll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the young woman as my wife. Because their sister Dina had been defiled, Jacob's sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. They said to them, we can't do such a thing. We can't give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. We will enter into an agreement with you on one condition only, that you become like us by circumcising all your males. Then we will give you our daughter and take your daughters for ourselves. We'll settle among you and become one people with you. But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we will give you our daughter and take your sister and go. Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. The young man who was the most honored of all his father's family lost no time in doing what they said because he was delighted with Jacob's daughter. So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city to speak to the men of their city. These men are friendly towards us, they said. Let them live in our land and trade in it. The land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry their sons. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours. But the men will agree to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised as they themselves are. Won't their livestock, their property, and all their other animals become ours? So let's agree to their terms and they will settle among us. All the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem and every male in the city was circumcised. Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dina's brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dina from Shechem's house and left. The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where their sister had been defiled. They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields. They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses. Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, You have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and the 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. But they replied, Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute? This is the word of the Lord.
Speaker 2But I am a schoolteacher, and it's one of the joys and delights of my life to be able to walk through Bible texts with teenagers. I tell some people that, and they gasp. But with teenagers and just explore and let the Scriptures and the Spirit of God shape us. I also realize it's a bit cruel to have a teacher up here at the end of summer, the beginning of the school year. That wasn't my idea. I can't say his name, but his initials are Tyler Staton. But I am really, really grateful to be with you in this way. And I just want to, just because it's so important, I just want to acknowledge, I don't know if you've ever had the experience of reading difficult Bible stories that at best are really discouraging, but at worst just make you not want to keep reading. I've had that experience. I've also had that experience of disorientation. And I don't know if you share this, but if you read a difficult Bible story like the one that we're going to walk through today, walking away with that feeling of ambiguity of, Is this supposed to be good or not good? Am I supposed to be excited about what's happening here? Or is, especially within the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, am I supposed to be excited that God seems to be, in these stories, an ends justify the means kind of God? And I just want to, again, call out that tension and that the text that we're reading today is really difficult. That it talks about sexual assault and violence. And it talks about the murdering and pillaging of a people group, the vengeful murdering and pillaging of the people group. And I stand with our church community, and I just say, this is not the will of God. I just want to be really, really clear up front that sexual assault and violence is not the will of God. And we just say no to it. That the vengeful killing of a people group for revenge to acquire from them is not the will of God. But I trust that we'll make it through this text together. And then we will come out on the other side with some good news. Before we start, I want to tell you a story. It's a wintertime tale. I know we're not there yet, but I'm going to tell you a snowy wintertime tale. About 10 years ago, and I'll call them my roommates to protect their identity. But my roommates, my wife and my children, we, I had this like, I got this like, and at this point, my sons are pretty little. And I had this idea in my mind, I want to go snowshoeing. We live by a mountain, it's over there, and it's covered with snow most of the time. And I was like, I want to go snowshoeing. You can strap these big flat plastic things on your feet, and you can like float across the top of the snow. And I had in my mind, that it was going to be the snow globe experience where we see Gandalf ride by on a horse, and we make hot chocolate halfway through. And so we plan this, we buy snowshoes, we plan this, we go up to the mountain, and as we're driving up and we pull into the trailhead where you park to get ready to, you know, snowshoe the trail, it's raining. And it's like 32 and raining. Now, I'm not like the smartest guy in the world, but that like, doesn't matter. I'm like, I'm going to go snowshoeing. It doesn't make sense to me. And here's the thing is, I had my mini distraction machine out, and I'm at it, and that, I don't know if you've ever had this, but the app on the distraction machine tells me it's supposed to be snowing, but it's raining. Have you ever had this? And I'm kind of like annoyed. And this thought ran through my mind. This word ran through my mind. That's the cold and wet rule. You can do cold, especially with kids. You can do wet, but it's very difficult to do cold and wet and come back from that, especially with kids. This word flashed through my mind sitting in the car. I chose to ignore this word, and I said, let's go, and we got out of the car, and no surprise to anybody in here, it was miserable. It was a terrible experience. We snowshoed about halfway through. We stopped for hot chocolate, because I brought the stuff to make hot chocolate, and we ended up not making it, because it's so miserable. We couldn't find a place, we couldn't find a covering to get out of the elements. And I tell you this story because I was a dad who ignored a word and moved my family into a land that became hostile territory for us. If you have ears to hear and eyes to see. Now, yeah, that's like a dad lesson. Like, I've learned my lesson. But hopefully this isn't too casual of a way to enter into our text this morning. But I was a dad who ignored a word that I knew, and the idea in my mind led me to take my family into a land that we were not in right now. And I said, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to have a right relationship to. And I really shouldered, I really put a burden on the shoulders of my family, myself included, if you have eyes to see and ears to hear. Now, we've been in this series in Genesis for the last two summers now. And as a Bible teacher, it's awesome. Like, I love it so much. And all the time, it's so great. It's all the time we're pointing back to the garden. It's all the time we're pointing back to the garden. It's all the time we're pointing back to the garden. It's all the time we're pointing back to the garden. It's all the time we're pointing back to the garden. It's all the time we're pointing back to the garden. It's all the time we're pointing back to the garden. It's all the time we're pointing back to the garden. The further we get away from the garden, it's almost like the more we need to point back to the garden. And today will be no different. So I want to start our recap really quick in Genesis 1 through 3, of course. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth. And then what becomes the crowning achievement or creation in the earth space? Human beings. They're the only creature that bears God's image. They're the only creature that bears God's image. So apparently, according to Genesis 1, this is going to be a God story primarily. We're going to learn about God. It's going to be a heaven and earth story, but primarily an earth story. And it's going to be about the humans, how God and the humans relate on earth. Now, if anybody remembers, how does God go about making all the things on page one? He speaks his word. He speaks his word. And I want to put up a passage from Genesis chapter two, just one page later. And I want to carry that into this passage. Now, the Lord God had planted a garden in the east in Eden. And there he put the man he had formed. Now, if you've ever noticed, Eden is not a garden. It means delight in Hebrew, but it's not a garden. It's awesome, but it's not like garden. Garden, awesome. And God plants a garden in Eden. And you're like, wait a second, how in the world, how on earth, pun intended, how on earth does God plant a garden? That's curious. And there he had put, there he put the man that he had formed. And like, how does God form a man? Well, that just came a few verses earlier. God took the dirt of the earth and like watered it up. And then he breathed into his nostrils, the breath of life and he became a Nefeshayah, a living being. And so we ask this question, how does God put people into the garden that he plants? Is it like Google maps when you like get the little guy, like the street view guy and you like carry, and he like dangles from the hand? Is that what it's, is that what I'm supposed to have in my mind? Well, no, I don't think so. I think what we're supposed to have in our mind is from chapter one, because how does God do things in chapter one? He speaks. And what happens when you speak? You speak. You speak. You speak. You speak. You speak. You speak. What comes out of your mouth, hopefully? Words. Yeah, words. So God plants a garden by his word. He forms humans by his word. And then he puts humans in the garden by his word. And this garden that he plants becomes this amazing place for the human beings, a place of provision, a land to securely dwell in, to be, he commands them in a blessing, to be fruitful and to multiply, to be in his presence and to know his blessing, to know and be known in relationship, to be vulnerable and unafraid and unashamed, and to be in unity with him and other humans. But we know how the garden story turns out. Adam and Eve run into a hostile figure in the land, in the garden, they are overcome with the influence of the hostile figure, and they are exiled out. Now, here's what's interesting, is this is precisely what we need to carry, this is part of what we need to carry into the story of today, and really that we've been tracing all the way through Genesis. We have this burning question. Will God ever plant a new garden? Will God ever form human beings? And will he ever plant them in his garden? And how do we expect this to happen? By his word, by him speaking. So Adam and Eve are sent out of the garden, we meet Cain and Abel, we meet Noah, we meet Abraham, we meet Isaac, and fast forward to Jacob. In the last several weeks, we've been on Jacob's journey. Now, Jacob's journey, because it's awesome, and my Bible nerd software is cool, and I wanted to use it, I have a map. I don't know if this is helpful for anybody, but there's a map of Jacob's journey. Is it up there? Yeah. Okay, so this is, on your left here, is the land of Canaan, and this is the land that God promised Abraham in that covenant in chapter 12. He said, hey, I'm going to give you some real sweet land. And on the right, he said, I'm going to give you some real sweet land. He knows how there's a river, chaotic deathwaters, right down the middle. And on the right is the land of the Eastern peoples. And interestingly enough, Jacob journeys outside of the promised land at the request of his parents, and he goes up off the map. It's actually not on this map, because I couldn't get in there. But he goes to Haran, or Patamaran, to find a family, or find a wife, so that he can have a family. And we pick up last week, Tyler took us all the way down back into, there's like a little green path right in the middle, I don't know if you can see it, but to a place called Peniel. And it's the place where Jacob wrestles with God, and he sees God's face, and he names it as such. So this is where we pick up the story, is Jacob is headed back west, from being out east. And he's headed back into the promised land. So this should, our ears should perk up, and we should be really excited, and we're asking those questions. Is this the guy? Is this the family? Is this the garden that's been planted? Is this God putting the human and his family in the garden? And it's also worth mentioning here that we get all this, it's just as God said it would be, in Genesis chapter 3. And we get all this, it's just as God said it would be, in Genesis chapter 3. And we get all this, it's just as God said it would be, in Genesis chapter 3. And we get all this, it's just as God said it would be, in Genesis chapter 3. And we get all this, it's just as God said it would be, in Genesis chapter 3. And we get all this, it's just as God said it would be, when Jacob lays his head down on his rock pillow, and he has that vision, that strange like dream vision, where he sees the heavens and the earth connected by the ladder. Do you remember this? And this is what God says to him on the rock pillow. There above it stood the Lord, and he said, I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham, and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your children the land on which you are lying. Where is he lying? Does anybody remember? It's this place that will eventually come to be named Bethel. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and the east, to the north and to the south. All the peoples on the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. And I am with you, and I will watch over you. I will keep you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land, to Bethel. And I will not leave you until I have done what I've promised. So this is the context that we carry into this really difficult Bible passage. Is this the guy? Is this the family? Is this the formation through God's Word? The planting of a new garden and the putting of the humans in the garden. Now, I want to read through our text. And what I want to do is do like a little bit of an inner monologue reading of things that might come to mind as you're reading a difficult story like this. Things you might be reminded of. In class, we call these deja vu moments, where you're reading a Bible story, and you're like, wait a second, I've been here before. Haven't I? Certainly, I've been here before. And when that happens, you're supposed to catch those and grab ahold of them. And you're like, wait a second, I've been here before. And when that happens, you're supposed to catch those and grab ahold of them. And you're supposed to catch those and grab ahold of them. And you're supposed to catch those and grab ahold of them. And you're being asked to remember things that have come before. So we're going to do this inner monologue read-through. And I'll pause at a couple of the difficult spots, and I'll just reaffirm God's will, what it is and what it is not. So we actually pick up in chapter 33, verse 18. And I encourage you to keep your finger on your Bible as we read through. After Jacob came from Paran Aram, off the map, the place that we looked at, he arrived safely. Oh, there it is. God has been faithful to his promise to carry him safely back into the land. Arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and cant with inside of the city. But hold on a second, that's not the point. That's not the point. That's not the point. That's not the point. That's not the place that God told him to go. Now, on the map, he literally stopped short. He misses the mark. For a hundred pieces of silver, he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he set up his tent. Now, hold on a second. I thought God said in what we just read in chapter 28, that he was going to give the land to him, the land of his that he was lying on Bethel. But Jacob makes a different decision. He apparently has got a bunch of money and he's eager to spend it. And he earned it through deception. And he is like, no, I want to buy this land. Okay. I don't feel good about that. There, he set up an altar and he called it Bethel. Okay. Well, cool. He sets up an altar like Abraham and Isaac do. But he doesn't do anything with it. That's curious. And then he also starts carrying around the name of God. He starts wearing, he starts carrying the name of God on his shoulders. But what's interesting is I remember Rachel grabbed the false God idols, if you remember, from Laban. Uh, just a little bit ago, uh, back in Genesis 31. So wait a second. So Jacob is now wearing the name of God while his family's pockets are full of stolen idol gods they got east of the land. I don't feel so good about that. Now, 34 verse one. Now, Dina, the daughter Leah had born to Jacob. Oh yeah. Like Dina, the seventh child that apparently Jacob doesn't care too much for from the wife that he doesn't really love back in Genesis 29 and 30. Yeah. So I already don't feel good about that. When Shechem, son of Hamor, Leah had born to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. Okay. Interesting. Uh, Dina goes out to see or to understand these women, uh, in the land that's been promised to them. When Shechem, son of Hamor, the Hivite, the ruler of that area, he saw her, he took her, and he raped her. The ruler and the reigner of the land sees desires and takes. This is just like the mistake in the garden. This is just like the mistake. That's not a mistake. It's just heinous. This is just like the mistake. That's not a mistake. That's not a mistake. That's not a mistake. But what's also interesting is that this word, the word underneath in Hebrew, your obligatory Hebrew lesson for the day is, and it appears two other times prior to this story. Uh, one time when, uh, when God is speaking, if you remember this scene, there's smoking fire pots that float in between animals. We'll have some Genesis 15. If you remember this, God puts Abraham into a deep sleep and he speaks to him. That's weird. And God says, Hey, your family that I'm going to build through you is going to experience a humiliation, a violation on oppression in the land of Egypt. But I will rescue you. I'm out. So it appears there. And then the same word, the same verb, a not appears in Sarah and Hagar story, Sarah, a Nas, Hagar, their immigrant slave. And I do not feel good about this. And again, like we talked about earlier, I just want to be really clear that what Shechem's done, to Dina is against the will of God. It's heinous. It's, it's evil. There's no justification, full stop. And then we keep reading in verse three, his heart was drawn to Dina, daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. And Shechem said, I'm out. So he's sexually, is sexually violent against her. And he, is he trying to cover up his tracks? Is he trying to say that this is okay? It's like the garden ideal for a relationship, but perverted and backwards. If he would have only spoken tenderly to her and loved her and was drawn to her like Adam and Eve, and they came together as one flesh, they knew one another. But this is a perverted, distorted version of that. And I don't feel good about that. When Jacob heard that his daughter, Dina had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock. So he did nothing about it until they come home. So Jacob hears and doesn't do anything. Well, Abraham heard about Lot, and Abraham jumps into action to go and find Lot and rescue him. But Jacob is silent. He doesn't do anything. But oh yeah, there was a scene earlier where Abraham sent out an unnamed servant to find a wife for his son. Do you remember this? And the unnamed servant goes out and sees Isaac's potential wife. And he waits, and is silent. But who does he wait on? Oh, that's right. He waits on God to see what God will do, what God will say, how God will respond. But Jacob waits on his sons. Verse six. Then Shekim's father, Hamor, went out to talk with Jacob. And meanwhile, Jacob's son had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were grieved and angered. And Jacob's son had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. Now, okay, I remember God being grieved in Genesis 6 when he looked out and saw the wickedness of humanity that had covered the earth. But God wasn't angry. God comforted himself that he had made human beings. But you know who was angry is Cain was angry at Abel. So can anything good come out of grief plus humanness? And I think that's a good thing. I think that's a good thing. I think that's a good thing. I think that's a good thing. I think that's a good thing. I think that's a good thing. I don't feel good about this. And why were they grieved and angry? Because Shekim had done an outrageous thing in Israel by sleeping with Jacob's daughter, a thing that should not be done. It's so heinous that the author has popped their head up and just reaffirmed the conviction of the scriptures and the will of God that what's been done is heinous. But Hamor said to them, heart set on your daughter, please give her to him as his wife. Takes no responsibility. intermarry with us well intermarry with the canaanites the people of the land well that's exactly what abraham and jacob's parents in genesis 24 and 28 did not want to happen is this how the being fruitful and multiplying the great big family that was promised to abraham is going to come about i i don't feel good about this if you do this this is verse 10 you can settle among us the land is open to you live in it trade in it acquire property in it the land there it is again is this the garden is this the place is this the land that was promised to abraham is this how jacob and his family will receive what god has promised them verse 11 and shekim said the dean's father and brothers let me find favor in your eyes and i will give you whatever you ask make the price for the bride and the gift i am to bring as great as you like and i'll pay whatever you ask me only give the young woman as my wife well i remember a time where laban made this exact request of jacob that jacob had been such a blessing to laban that laban begged jacob to stay laban wasn't interested in god laban was interested in the blessing that he got from god through jacob so he begged jacob to stay and said i'll pay you whatever you like i don't feel good about that verse 13 because their sister dina had been defiled jacob's sons replied deceitfully as they spoke oh no they've inherited from jacob jacob's deception it has jumped generations as they spoke to shekim and his father hamor they said to them we can't do such a thing we can't give our sister to a man who is not circumcised well there's the sign of the covenant from genesis 17 that would be a disgrace to us so maybe they're upholding the covenant we will enter into agreement with you on one condition only that you become like us by circumcising all of your males then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves we'll settle among you and become one people with you we'll become like us between knowing between what's good and what's not good that's exactly what god says in the garden and that was not so good but if you won't agree to this to be circumcised we'll take our sister and go to become one people together to band together around deception to create this forfeit garden that's exactly what happened in genesis 11 when people were brought together to become one people against the will of god i don't feel good about this their proposal seemed good to hamor and his son shekim and the young man who was the most honored of all his father's family lost no time in doing what they said because he was delighted with jacob's daughter so hamor and his son shekim went to the gate of their city to speak to the men of their city oh that's interesting because usually when men gather at the city gate it's usually not good it's usually for usually it's for battle oh but these men are friendly towards us they said let them live in our land and trade in it the land has plenty of room for them and we can marry their daughters and they can marry ours but the men will agree with them to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised as they themselves are won't their livestock and their property and all their animals become ours their motives are exposed they're entering into a deceitful agreement because of greed just like jacob so let us agree to their terms and they will settle among us all the men who went out of the city great city gate agreed with hamor and his son shekim and every male in the city was circumcised and three days later while all of them were still in pain two of jacob's sons simeon and levi dina's brothers took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city and they murdered every male they put hamor and his son shekim to the sword and took dina from shekim's house so jacob's made the deal and they left and the sons of jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where their sister had been defiled they seized their flocks and their herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields and they carried off all their wealth and all their women and children taking his plunder everything in the houses is this the provision is this garden provision is this the provision of the house of hamor and levi dina is this the material blessing that god promises is this the blessing of the covenant with abraham is this some strange curse from the covenant of abraham the people of the land have been a curse to jacob and his family so they get to curse them back is this what that is i don't feel good about this then jacob said to simeon and levi you have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious or stinky to the canaanites and the parasites and the people living in this land we are few in number and if they join forces against me and attack me well jacob is exposing his self-interest and who has protected him all along so far on his journey well god has if they attack me i and my household will be destroyed but they replied should we have should we be destroyed should we be destroyed should we be destroyed should we be destroyed should we be destroyed should he have treated our sister like a prostitute when we read through stories like this i'm curious if it resonates with anybody else why can't i necessarily tell if this is supposed to be good or not good it's full of covenant promises which i feel excited about and it's you could even say garden promises because they're related a land to securely dwell in provision in the land to be fruitful and multiply to be in god's presence and blessing to know and be known in relationship being vulnerable and unafraid and unashamed in unity with god and other humans but like the real bad distorted versions and apparently it's curious the garden will not come about this isn't going to work with money and possessions and greed and unrestrained sexual desire or sexual violence injustice and the vengeful killing of people groups i think actually what's happening in this story is we're seeing a very very intense and tragic example of what it's like shouldering the burden of a garden without god part of the uncomfortable ambiguity of the story pushes not only the characters and the reader into asking the question where do we get our moral judgments from where do those come from it at least in my experience it pushed me to begin to think about this and identify this how do i go about deciding between what's good and what's not good how do we know between what's good and what's not good now as soon as i ask the question and actually this i was on a run on mount tabor a few weeks ago and i was just praying about this this like feeling of like being in a washing machine in this story of like not being able to orient myself what's good and what's not good and when's the last time you heard a story about what's good and what's not good and when's the last time you heard a story about what's good and what's not good and when's the last time you heard a story about somebody that was faced with a choice between what's good and what's not good all the garden and what is the thing by which or what is the means by which a human being is able to tell between what's good and what's not good god's word is speaking whose voice is devastatingly silent in this story god's this is the human attempt at a garden without god's word and it is real and it is devastating and i had garden in quotes up on the quote because it's not really a garden at all it's a forfeit garden but there's something about human beings that are just drawn we thirst for the garden we want the things of the garden so much so that we don't want the things of the garden so that we will try to generate and create them on our own terms outside of the word of god what did what was the one thing that jacob had to do go to bethel it was the one thing that he didn't do and some of you astute bible readers may be thinking like, well, hey, dude, like, wait a second. Back in Genesis 28, the quote that you put up, how can you say without? Because what does God say in Genesis 28? That he will be with Jacob. He will be with him, and he will watch over him. He will keep him, and he will bring him back to this land. And I will not leave you until I have done what I've promised you. I'm being invited, as we're learning about humans, 34 chapters into the Bible, we're also learning about God. And apparently, we're being pushed into deciding, do we trust this God? I think the claim that's being made is even when the people are making their own garden, who is there with them? God is. That God is with Dina. That God is with Jacob. That God is with Simeon and Levi. That God is with Jacob. And God is with Jacob. And God is with Jacob. And God is with Jacob. And God is with Jacob. There's a Jonah in me that makes me a little upset. How could you stay with these people? How could you be with them when they do such heinous things? When what they're capable of becomes so clear? But there's something about his loyalty to his promise and to the people that he's coveted himself to. Amen, yes. And what's interesting also is this will continue in Israel's story, in the family of God in Israel, Jacob's family. This will be the struggle that they face all the way through the rest of the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament. Will they listen to God's word as God plants a garden in the land by his word? And will they trust him to bring them into it? So much so that right before they enter the land, this is what Moses says to the people. This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I've set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God. Listen to his voice. What are the means by which people are formed, the garden is planted, and that people are put in the garden? God's word. Listen to his voice. Listen to his voice and hold fast to him for the Lord is your life and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So we fast forward through the rest of the Hebrew Bible and we're left with this tension. Israel fails to do what God has asked of them, what Moses laid out in front of them right here. And we leave the Old Testament library with the same question that we are asking in Genesis 4. Will God ever form the human beings by his word? Will he plant a new garden by his word? And will he ever invite the humans into the garden by his word? And we flip the page to the New Testament library in the Gospel portrait of John chapter 1. And this is what he says. In the beginning, was the word. And the word was with God and the word was God and he was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made and without him nothing was made that has been made. Apparently God is speaking now fully and finally through a human being. A word that has become flesh and dwelled among us. And what precisely does Jesus go on to talk about? The planting of something. In the heavens and on the earth. And Jesus refers to it as the kingdom of God. That it's been planted in the heavens and that it is in and with and by and through him being planted on the earth. And what does he do? He is constantly inviting people into it. And he absolutely rails against the idea that the garden could be or the kingdom of God could be brought about by money, by possessions, by sexual violence, by anything else but himself, the word, become flesh. We fast forward through the New Testament in Revelation 22, the last page of the Bible and listen to what it says. This is John. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing 12 crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city and his servants will serve him. Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. What has formed the human beings? The word of God and the person of Jesus. What has planted the new garden city? And the new creation, the word and the person of Jesus. And who is inviting people to inhabit this new garden city? The word of Jesus. And I know the snowshoeing story that I opened with is a little silly. But reading through these texts and really asking the Spirit to open my eyes, realizing that I do this all the time. I constantly am drawn to the garden to create the garden, the temptation to create the garden outside of the word of God. So much so that I lay a burden on my own shoulders and I lay a burden on the shoulders of the people around me. And this includes my wife and my kids and my students and my friends and my family. That I'm prone to this. This is just part of what I will do. And how could I not be more determined? More dependent on the word of God. And there's this devastating reality that I do this and that I carry a burden from having this done to me. Things that have happened to me when I was a kid, when I was in high school and college, growing up. Things that have happened in the last several years. I carry a burden of people creating their own garden outside of God, outside of the word of God. I carry that burden. It's very real. All the while, I have also done this to others. I have laid a burden on the shoulders of some of the people I love the most because of my attempt to create the garden of God without the word of God. But Jesus has something to say to this. Matthew 11, 28 through 30. And the claim is that not only does Jesus... This is exactly the context that Jesus speaks into. The people that would have originally heard this, a burden has been laid on their shoulders from the religious leaders and the religious leaders. And the Pharisees of the day that have tried to approach the garden and the kingdom of God by their own means without the word of God. And the burden is real. And what does Jesus say? What is his invitation? Come to me, the word. I will carry the burden with you because he has been with you. When you are experiencing the burden that somebody laid on your shoulders from their attempt to get the garden without God, Jesus was with you. And when you do that, when we do that on a daily basis and we lay the burdens on the shoulders of others because of our attempts to build the garden without God, he is still with us. And family, that he is still with us and that he is committed to us and that he shares the burden that we carry and that we've placed on others. I think, I know, I trust that this is good news. Amen. Let's stand and respond.
Speaker 3Thanks for joining the Bridgetown family as we engage in this teaching series. To learn more about the life of our church and how you can get involved, visit bridgetown.church slash welcome. If you're interested in contributing financially to Bridgetown Church and to our ministry, you can do that at bridgetown.church slash giving. Wherever you're joining us, We hope this resource blesses you and encourages you to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did.
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