Grace Bible Church
Pastor Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Friday, September 9, 2016
"greatly afraid" = the adverb meodh plus the Qal imperfect of the verb jare which means that he "kept on being extremely frightened and filled with stress."
"distressed" = the Qal imperfect of the Hebrew verb jatsar which means to be tortured mentally, to be anxious and in mental pain.
First, you punish yourself through self-induced misery. Then when fear gets into arrogance, divine punishment follows.
You can be punished three ways by fear: by yourself, by your peers, and by God.
PRO 29:25 The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted.
Prin-Jacob naturally jumped to the conclusion that Esau still intended to make good his threat to kill him, and he has forgotten the encouragement he had received by the sight of the angels at Mahanaim.
Prin-The courage and the confidence generated by the vision of angels is dissipated.
The exaltation of faith gives way to the agony of despair as soon as the stern reality of Esau's coming with 400 men is encountered.
The news so terrified Jacob and overwhelmed him with anguish that he is now driven to human solutions and human plans.
Esau has no intentions whatsoever of seeking revenge, it is merely the imagination of Jacob's evil heart.
He forgot that Mahanaim was God's camp and his.
Now he was trusting in two camps of his own hoping that one of them would escape Esau's wrath.
Having made his plans with his own wisdom, he now asks God to bless him and save him from his brother Esau.
First, he says Lord deliver me then he gets right back up from his prayer and falls back on human solutions!
PSA 12:2 They speak falsehood to one another; With flattering lips and with a double heart they speak.
PSA 119:113 I hate those who are double‑minded, But I love Thy law.
Deacons are warned in 1TI 3:8 Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double‑tongued,
These verses record Jacob's prayer under what he had full reason to believe were desperate and, humanly speaking, almost hopeless circumstances.
HEB 13:5 Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,"
HEB 13:6 so that we confidently say, "The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?"
Prin-Courage is the ability to think under pressure. Cowardice is the dominance of emotion under pressure.
He goes to the Lord in prayer asking for help and guidance then he gets right back into human viewpoint solutions.
Prin-Instead of trusting in the Lord to work in him a spirit of reconciliation, he undertook himself to propitiate or satisfy Esau.
In verses 3-8, he devised a plan to try and appease Esau.
In verse 9-12, he goes to God and prayer and asks for the Lord to help him.
In verses 13-20, he develops another plan and totally ignores his prayer toward God.
Heb 4:16 "Let us be approaching the throne of grace with confidence that we may receive mercy and acquire grace with reference to seasonable help."
Jer 33:3 "Call upon Me and I will show you great and might things which you have not discovered."
Do you believe PSA 50:15 And call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me."
Do you believe LUK 11:9 "And I say to you, ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.
LUK 11:10 "For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened.
MAT 21:22 "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive."
Do you believe JOH 14:13-14, "And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
Joh 15:7 "Ask whatever you wish and it shall be done for you."
Phi 4:6‑7 "Stop worrying about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be known to God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall garrison your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
Mar 11:24 "Therefore, I say to you, `All things for which you ask and pray, believe that you shall receive them, and they will be given to you.'"
Prin-Any solution you have to your problems apart from doctrine is a manifestation of both arrogance and irrationality.
Second prin-Divine solutions are the only solutions and human solutions are no solutions.
Third prin-Fear sees the problem; a personal sense of destiny sees the solution.
Fourth prin-Since problem solving is a major function of the spiritual life of the Church, all divine solutions are related to the problem solving devices in your soul.
Fifth prin-You were designed to be spiritually independent of human solutions in life.