Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Sunday, March 26, 2017
Six sons from Jacob’s first wife, Leah, who was very unattractive but her womb was blessed by God.
In GEN 35:24 the sons of Rachel [Jacob’s second wife]: Joseph and Benjamin; – that’s two more sons.
GEN 35:25 and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid: Dan and Naphtali; = two more sons.
GEN 35:26 and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maid: Gad and Asher = two more sons.
Notice that four women, two wives and two maids or slave girls, brought forth the 12 tribes of Israel!
I thought polygamy, which means to have a plurality of wives, was prohibited? It was prohibited by Deu 17:14‑17; Luk 16:18, therefore it was a sin.
It is the antithesis of monogamy which is have only one wife. Polygamy violates the divine law of right man and right woman, GEN 2:24, ECC 9:9, 1CO 7:17.
GEN 2:24 For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
ECC 9:9 Enjoy life with the woman [not women but woman] whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He [God] has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life,
1CO 7:17 teaches that the Lord has assigned to each one of us one right man or one right woman.
Our subject is that the twelve Jewish tribes came from four women, two wives and two slave-girls or maids.
ROM 9:20-21, On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it?
ROM 9:21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use?
A reconnaissance is a military survey of enemy territory. It is a preliminary survey to gain information. Actually it is a French word which means “to recognize.”
First of all these men were born aristocracy by birth and they were geared up for positions of leadership.
Just like by spiritual birth we are all given E-P and E-O but that doesn’t mean that we have the ability to lead.
This roster that we are about to look at is very important because 10 of them are going to come back with a negative report and die miserably….not on the patrol, but later on because of their negativity.
On the other hand, two of them are going to be two of the greatest leaders in the next generation, Joshua and Caleb.
In the word of God names are basically given to reveal something about the character of the individuals that are named.
Eve was called Eve because her name means the mother of all living. Isaac was called Isaac because his name means laughter and that is what Sarah did when she found out that the Lord said she would have a baby at age 90.
This is why many individuals change their name after salvation like the apostle Paul [little one] who was originally known as Saul [named after a king].
10 of them were losers. 2 of them were winners.
Shammua (vs 4) = to listen, to hear Shaphat (vs 5) = he has judged Caleb (vs 6) = Dog – Winner believer Igal – = (vs 7) = he is magnificent
Shammua probably represents the type of believer who is not careful what they hear or how they hear, Mar 4:24; Luk 8:18.
Then we have Shaphat, and of course you have been taught that the worst sin anyone could ever commit, with the exception of unbelief in the unbeliever, is the sin of judging.
Caleb is the next one mentioned in order and we will see how he was a winner believer who told Moses they could defeat the giants in the land.
Next we have Igal with the attitude that he is magnificent.
Hoshea – vs 8 (Joshua) he will deliver Palti – (vs 9) = to escape Gaddiel – (vs 10) = God is my fortune Gaddi – (vs 11) = “my fortune”
Ammiel (vs 12) = “people of God” Sethur – (vs 13) = to hide, to conceal Nahbi – (vs 14) = to withdraw Geuel – (vs 15) = to rise up or to exalt
Hoshea means deliverance. Joshua means the Lord delivers. He changed his name from Hoshea to Joshua because the Lord will deliver through Joshua.
You see his name was deliverance and the people would have said, deliverance delivered us.
The mountains were occupied at this time by Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, very strong tribes and very tough people.
There is a time for offensive action and then there’s a time for defensive action.
The principle of offensive action is that it is the only action by which a decision is gained in military life.
Offensive action is the only way to reach spiritual adulthood and spiritual maturity.
Offensive action brings victory, while defensive action can only avoid defeat.
The only effective way to wage war is to act on the offensive, destroying the enemy’s forces.
The offensive increases the effectiveness of the force adopting it, raises morale, permits concentration of effort, and allows freedom of action to begin.
This has an analogy to Paul’s goal to “press on” in Phi 3:14.
Effectiveness of your spiritual life, Raises your morale, Permits concentration of effort, Allows you the freedom of action to advance to spiritual maturity and realize the wonderful capacity to enjoy your escrow blessings in time.
Defensive action should be used to assist offensive action elsewhere, to gain time, to utilize good terrain, or to compensate for weakness.
Defensive action has an analogy in our spiritual lives, because we can never get away from rebound and recovery and the faith‑rest drill, a part of defensive action.
Offensive action should be used when there’s any reasonable chance for success. There’s always a reasonable chance for success as long as you are alive!
The believer takes the offensive only with aggressive thinking of metabolized doctrine in his soul.
The offensive begins from the base of spiritual self‑esteem, and combined with the different stages of suffering for blessing, the believer advances to spiritual maturity.
The church age believer must know when to use offensive action and when to use defensive action in the Christian way of life. Against Satan and all fallen angels, the divine commands usually call for defensive action.
The 12 spies were on the offensive when they were told to go on a reconnaissance, which we have noted is a military survey of enemy territory to gain information about the enemy.
Offensive action is related to the angelic conflict and is also related to the execution of the PPOG for the church. All angelic creatures, including demons or fallen angels, are watching every Church-age believer putting on the full armor from God.
a. The evangelism of mankind.
b. The function of the problem solving devices.
c. Understanding and using your very own assets of your escrow account.
d. The execution of the PPOG.
e. The effective function of Christian service in the production of divine good rather than dead works.
When it says submit to God, submitting to God is part of your offensive action.
1Pe 5:5-9, “You younger believers, likewise, be subordinate to the authority of your elders [pastor]; clothe yourselves with humility toward each other because God makes war against the arrogant [believer] but he gives grace to the humble [believer].”
vs 6 Humble yourselves under the powerful hand of God, in order that He may promote you in the proper time.
vs 7 Casting all of your anxiety [cares, worry, fear] on Him because He cares for you.
vs 8 Be sober, or attain spiritual self-esteem, be alert. Your enemy, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
vs 9 But resist him or stand your ground against him, that’s defensive action, by being firm in your faith strong in doctrine.
Eph 6:13, “Therefore, pick up and put on the full armor from God, that you may be able to stand your ground in the evil day, even after you have done everything to hold your ground.”
(1) The evil day is any time of demonic or satanic pressure on the believer from the strategies of the devil.
(2) The evil day is Satan attacking both the grace of God and the judicial decisions of God.
(3) The evil day is any time the believer’s defenses are weakened because of negative volition toward doctrine.
(4) The evil day is the breakdown of the defensive system provided by God through the rejection of Bible doctrine.
(5) The evil day is the temptations from the arrogance complex of sins which duplicate the original sin of Satan in the prehistoric angelic conflict.
(6) The evil day is the believer being overrun by the cosmic system and Christian degeneracy.