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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Norman McNulty

The Heritage of Jacob

And I was here for many years and I've been gone for the last 2 and a half years and now I don't recognize most of you.

So I do recognize many of you though and it's very good to be back.

And I'm flying out of LAX tonight at 10 o'clock and I will be back home by 5 a.m.

So I didn't want to be away from my family for too long but it's good to be here today and I'm glad to be back in Loma Linda where I lived for nearly 10 years.

I can't say that well anyway I can't say that I miss it so much that I still that I still wish that I lived here, but But it is nice to visit And I'm living in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee now and have a nice place out in the country.

And so it's nice to get out into the country and experience something different.

Let's go ahead and have a word of prayer and we will get into our message.

Father in heaven, I thank you so much for bringing each 1 of us here today on this Sabbath morning, and I pray, Lord, that you would give me just the right words to speak that will reach each 1 of us, myself included, that are here today so that we will leave this place with a better understanding of maybe something specific in our lives that we've been struggling with and that we will have a better understanding of how to have a meaningful walk with you every day.

May we set our minds aside from the cares of life and just focus on you.

And again, please speak through me, I pray.

The title for my sermon this morning is the heritage of Jacob and actually before I get into the message I might add for the 04:00 meeting this afternoon, how many of you have heard about the 2520?

We're going to talk about that this afternoon.

We are going to go through an exposition of people who advocate that position, what they say and why they believe what they teach, and they are saying that it's the seal of God and you have to accept this teaching to receive the latter rain and so on and so forth.

Then we're going to go through and see what inspiration really says, and then we'll finish up by talking about what our message really is for this time.

So that's for this afternoon, but the message for this morning is the heritage of Jacob, and it's taken from a passage of scripture that we often connect to the Sabbath, but I want to look at an element in this passage that maybe is not looked at as often.

This is from Isaiah chapter 58 verses 13 and 14.

And as Seventh-day Adventists, we probably know this verse quite well, especially verse 13.

And I will talk about verse 13 a little bit, but we're going to focus in especially in verse 14.

Starting in verse 13, the Bible says, if thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord honorable, and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth and feed thee with the with the heritage of Jacob thy father, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." So we see the message about the Sabbath and connected with the Sabbath message in verse 14, God says, I will cause you to ride upon the high places of the earth and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.

Do you want to ride upon the high places of the earth and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.

Do you want to ride upon the high places of the earth?

Do you want to be fed with the heritage of Jacob?

Well, it might just help if we know what the high places of the earth are and what the heritage of Jacob is.

What is this glorious promise of riding upon the high places of the earth and of being fed with the heritage of Jacob, our father?

What is it that is connected to the Sabbath understanding?

And I might add, Isaiah chapter 58 is a chapter specifically with a message to God's last day people.

A message that takes God's people to task in the first 8 to 10 verses for fighting over silly things, for making an emphasis on points that really don't matter, fasting for strife and debate, just for debate's sake, just for strife's sake, and we get camps in our church, well I'm on this side, I'm on that side, and at the end of the day what we're known for is fighting for issues rather than as the true fast is helping people in need.

And then the message continues and says, when you understand that the fast that I have chosen for you is not to fight with each other, but to help those in need, then your light will break forth as the morning, your health will spring forth speedily.

That is the loud cry message for God's last day people.

And then at the end, it talks about the Sabbath message, and when you experience not fasting for strife and debate, but helping those in need, when you experience the Sabbath as it's designed, you will have the experience of riding upon the high places of the earth and being fed with the heritage of Jacob.

And the question is, what is the heritage of Jacob?

If you look at the Hebrew word for heritage in the King James and some of the modern translations I believe correctly translate this word.

So God is promising people in the last days, I will feed you with the inheritance of Jacob, your father.

Now that sounds pretty good, does it not?

To be given the same inheritance that Jacob received.

Now the question is, what is the inheritance of Jacob?

You realize that Jacob actually received 2 inheritances in life.

Jacob by his very name was known for being a deceiver, for being a supplanter.

He grabbed the heel of Esau on the way out of the womb and he was defined by his name and his name fit his character of 1 who deceived, 1 who supplanted, 1 who used his human wisdom to try to accomplish God's will.

And so the first inheritance that Jacob receives in his life he gained by deception.

Is that the inheritance that God plans to give to us?

Let's look at where Jacob receives the inheritance that God promises to give to us.

This is found in scripture in Genesis chapter 32 starting in verse 24.

And there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

Jacob is by the river Jabuk and he has received news that his brother Esau is coming with 400 men of war with a war march, a death march, to come to destroy Jacob and his family.

And Jacob knows that humanly speaking, he deserves it because Jacob deceived his father Isaac to cheat Esau out of his blessing out of his inheritance and so Jacob knows full well that his sin of 20 years earlier is now finally coming back to meet him square in the face.

And you know that's an interesting point for us.

Sometimes we think that something we did in the past that it happened and we just kind of got away with it and we don't have to worry about it, but someday that moment of truth is going to come.

If that sin is left unconfessed, unrepented, you will come face to face with that someday.

And Jacob realizes 20 years later that he is coming face to face with the wrath of his brother Esau for the sin that he committed 20 years earlier.

And because of his deception, Jacob was deceived by his father-in-law.

He fell in love with Rachel, works for her for 7 years.

And at the end of the 7 years he gets deceived and gets Leah.

And he has to work another 7 years and so here he is 20 years after his great deception of cheating Esau out of the inheritance, of using his human craft and means and deception, the very given name Jacob, deceiver, supplanter, he used that characteristic to gain what he thought he should get.

And now he realizes that he is coming face to face with the sin of 20 years earlier.

And here we see in verse 24, Jacob was left alone and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

Verse 25, and when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him.

Suddenly Jacob realizes that he is not wrestling with flesh and blood, that he has been wrestling with God face to face all night because God simply takes his finger, touches Jacob's thigh, and Jacob's thigh is out of joint.

And Jacob realizes suddenly, I have been wrestling with God in the most intense, earnest struggle all night.

I thought that I was wrestling with a man to save my life, but in reality I was face to face with God.

And notice what Jacob's response was, because realize Jacob is fearing for his life.

He has come to come aside to plead with God for deliverance, for mercy, and instead he's wrestled with what he thought was a man all night long, and he realizes that the Son is about to come up, and now God has thrown his thigh out of joint to let Jacob know, hey Jacob, you're not wrestling with a man, you've really been in my presence all night long, what are you going to do about it?

And the question is, what do we do when we come into the presence of God?

Sometimes we have been going through an experience, a trial, a struggle, an agonizing experience, and then that moment comes when we realize God's hand has been in this the whole time.

Is your response, God get out of my life, you've thrown my joint out of place, I don't want to see you again.

What was Jacob's response to this experience?

Verse 26, God said, let me go for the day breaketh.

Notice what Jacob said, and he said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me.

Jacob realized that in the decisive moment of his life, he must receive the blessing of God.

Now is not the time when the chips are all down and everything is on the line to tell God to go away and get lost.

Now is the time more than ever to say, God, Please don't leave my presence without your blessing.

And notice what God's response is in verse 27.

And God said unto him, What is your name?

So Jacob is reminding God, God, yes, I'm in your presence, but you're asking me my name, don't you remember?

My name means that I'm a deceiver, I'm a supplanter.

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The Heritage of Jacob

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