INDEFATIGABLE FAITHFULNESS
An exposition of Genesis 35-36
at West Hills Evergreen on April 30, 2017
INTRODUCTION: The book of Genesis has been an exploration of, or perhaps more
accurately, a pilgrimage into the faithfulness of God.
PROBLEM: As we’ve watched God interact with creatures like us, as we’ve watched the story
of human history unfold, we’ve seen basically two things…we’ve seen humanity stumble, fall
and fail in their obligations to God, yet despite this, we’ve seen God show Himself gracious
forgiving and faithful to humanity in all of His words and ways. And I have felt frustrated at
times because I have recognized that I am too impoverished in my language to offer you words
and descriptions that give you an adequate handle on the nature of the faithfulness of God which
we have been observing.
But I came across a word this week…and oh baby…we are going to learn it together this
morning. And I realize that this word will probably NOT work it’s way into your work
conversations or your evangelism, or your family worship with the kids. But hopefully this word
can strike your mind the way the Lord struck Jacob’s hip…once God touched it he was never the
same. This Word isn’t the whole picture of God’s faithfulness, but it’s strong enough to get you
walking with a limp you ready? The word is INDEFATIGABLE…God’s faithfulness is
INDEFATIGABLE. The word indefatigable means to persist tirelessly, to be unwearied;
determined, tenacious, dogged, single-minded, unswerving, unfaltering, unshakable, unremitting,
indomitable, relentless…INDEFATIGABLE…
That is a big word that is not big enough to describe the bigness of our God…but let me
suggest that what most of us need in our life is a better grasp of God’s indefatigable faithfulness.
Why am I anxious about the future? Because I believe God is faithful but not that His
faithfulness is indefatigable. Why do I worry about what I will eat and drink and wear despite the
fact that Jesus told me not to, because I believe God is faithful but not that His faithfulness is
indefatigable. Why do I look at my hard circumstances, my trials, the hard days and the dark
days and say why God why, why are you letting this happen? Because I believe God is faithful,
but not that his faithfulness to me, to His people is persisting tirelessly, unwearied, determined,
tenacious, unswerving, unfaltering, indomitable relentless Indefatigable.
You know what it means that God’s faithfulness is indefatigable? It means that while I’m
sleeping God is awake. It means while I’m resting God is at work. It means when I am distracted
God is paying attention. It means when I sit down to think out my plans, God has already thought
things thourgh. The claim that God is faithful means when I think things are falling apart God is
causing things to fall into place! Why, because God’s faithfulness is indefatigable. Here is the
burden of my text, and the only thing I hope you will leave with today:
MAIN POINT: God faithfulness is indefatigable, so put away all false hopes and trust
completely in Him.
SETTING THE CONTEXT: We are back in Genesis this morning, please open your bibles to
Genesis 35, we are going to be covering two chapters this morning, 35 and 36, and contrary to
my normal pattern I am not planning on reading the extended genealogy of Genesis 36 to you,
just the narrative of chapter 35 and I will make a few brief comments on 36.
Let’s settle back into the context shall we. We are trying to read Genesis from the
perspective of it’s first audience. The the nation of Israel have been rescued and redeemed from
slavery in Egypt by the power of God, and for the glory of God’s name. The people were brought
to a mountain, they entered a covenant and were brought to a land which God commanded them
to invade. The first generation buckled at the sight of the large inhabitants and refused to enter
despite the promise that God would go before them and deliver them from their enemies. As a
consequence, the people of Israel were sent away to wander the desert until every adult of that
generation had perished and the new generation was ready to receive the command to go in. But
now the people are back at the border of Canaan, the land promised to their forefathers, and they
are sharpening their swords on the plains of Moab, staring across the river Jordan at the massive
fortified walls of the city of Jericho. And God is once again saying…go in. I recognize that you
do not have the weapons, the man power, the siege equipment to destroy that city…you don’t
need that stuff…you need to trust in my indefatigable faithfulness.
And the question that haunts these narratives, the question that haunts Moses’ first
readers are two-fold, FIRST maybe it would be easier if we just turned around and went back to
Egypt? Yeah we were in slavery but at least we had garlic and leaks remember? Is obeying God
worth it. And second, even if we don’t go back, can we really trust God to lead us safely forward
into the land of giants? IF we obey God can we trust Him with tomorrow? Only if His
faithfulness is indefatigable. In our story, Jacob has come back to the land of Canaan after a 20
year journey away…God met him at the border, confirmed His grace, power and promises, and
pacified the wrath of his brother whom he had betrayed. But rather than returning to the town of
Bethel as Jacob had promised, he settled last week in a town called Shechem, a lucrative center
of trade and attempted to live at peace with the Canaanites. We then witnessed a terrible conflict
between Jacob’s family and the Shechemites, the prince defiled one of Jacob’s daughters and her
brothers responded with a horrific display of unjust violence. It is now after the slaughter of the
Shechemites, and Jacob is terrified as we saw at the end of chapter 34, that the people of Canaan
are going to see the sins of his sons and gather against him and put the whole family to death.
Let’s now humble our minds and open our hearts to the reading of God’s Word.
READING: [1] God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there
to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” [2] So Jacob said to his
household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and
purify yourselves and change your garments. [3] Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I
may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with
me wherever I have gone.” [4] So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the
rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.
[5] And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them,
so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. [6] And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which
is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, [7] and there he built an altar
and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from
his brother. [8] And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below
Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth.
[9] God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him.
[10] And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but
Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. [11] And God said to him, “I am God
Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and
kings shall come from your own body. [12] The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give
to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” [13] Then God went up from him in
the place where he had spoken with him. [14] And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had
spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. [15]
So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.
[16] Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath,
Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor. [17] And when her labor was at its hardest, the
midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for you have another son.” [18] And as her soul was departing
(for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. [19] So
Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), [20] and Jacob set
up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day. [21] Israel
journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.
[22] While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's
concubine. And Israel heard of it.
Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. [23] The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob's firstborn),
Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. [24] The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. [25]
The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant: Dan and Naphtali. [26] The sons of Zilpah, Leah's servant:
Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.
[27] And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron),
where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. [28] Now the days of Isaac were 180 years. [29] And
Isaac breathed his last, and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his
sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
PRAYER: God, we need a greater vision of your faithfulness. We need you to help us LORD,
you have drawn us to yourself in Christ, it is the desire of our hearts not to treasure idols but to
set our hope completely on you, purify our hearts and minds Lord God, by the power of Your
Holy Spirit. We have no hope this morning, in the thoughts of the mind of a mortal, I bring
nothing of value this morning…our only hope is that you will speak to us in power. Speak O
Lord, your servants are listening. In Jesus’ name amen.
ROAD MAP: 1.) what the journey to Bethel teaches us about Jacob and ourselves, 2.) what it
teaches us about God, 3.) how these chapters apply to us in the 21st century
WHAT THIS STORY TEACHES US ABOUT JACOB AND OURSELVES - all the worry and
scheming was ultimately pointless
1. So we have briefly introduced the terror of the situation. Jacob is understandably afraid
because his sons have committed a great sin. Not only in the eyes of God, but also in the
eyes of the surrounding culture.
1. Dinah the daughter of Jacob was defiled by Shechem the prince of the city (a great and
terrible sin). But in response Shechem approached the family in repentance and said I
want to take responsibility for my sin let me marry Dinah, I will literally do anything, or
give you everything in order to make this right. And in response to Shechem’s sincere
attempt at reconciliation, Simeon and Levi deceive Shechem saying, if you and your
whole town will become circumcised as we are we will give you Dinah as a wife. To
which Shechem agrees.
2. And last week we saw Simeon and Levi defile God’s holy sacarment of circumcision,
using it to perpetrate a mass murder of an entire town. While all of the battle ready males
were recovering from the circumcision, Levi and Simeon went through and slaughtered
them all. There has been sin against God.
3. But there has also been sin in Canaan. For the Canaanites, a lawful response to sin was
an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth. In response to the defiling of Dinah…the brothers
didn’t take Shechem’s life…they took his life, his father’s life and the life of every man
in that town, and then plundered their homes and took their families. A great sin has been
committed in the land of Canaan.
4. And something I didn’t get into last week was the fact that Jacob isn’t even supposed to
be here. He isn’t supposed to be in Shechem he was supposed to return to Bethel to fulfill
his vows to the God who delivered him back to the land of his father safely as He had
promised.
5. As we looked at the event’s of Genesis 34 last week, we were all supposed to be thinking
to ourselves…none of this would be happening if Jacob had remained faithful to his vow
to God, none of this would be happening if Jacob would have sought the Lord instead of
seeking the wealth of Shechem. You ever have that thought? None of this would be
happening if I had sought the Lord instead of seeking whatever the other thing was?
6. Jacob has every conceivable reason to be afraid…my family has violated the law of the
land and any moment the inhabitants could band together against me…and worse my
family defiled the sign of God’s covenant…in what universe would a reasonable person
come to my aid now…in what universe could there still be grace?
7. I have something to tell you…IN THIS UNIVERSE THERE IS STILL GRACE
8. Look at 35:1 GOD SAID TO JACOB…
9. Jacob is in a tent somewhere cowering under the weight of his guilt, under the threat of
just violence against Him…and was He seeking the Lord? NO. But the Lord was seeking
Him. The God of grace shines light in the darkness. If you are struggling with guilt
because of some recent sin, if you are wondering to yourself in what universe is there
still grace for me…I want to tell you in Jesus’ name that there is therefore no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. If you have put your faith in Him you
belong to Him, and if you belong to Him you are forgiven in Him. If you turn to Him you
will not find condemnation but grace and grace abounding. Is He seeking you this
morning? He would say the same thing to you he is about to say to Jacob.
2. God said to Jacob…arise go up to Bethel and dwell there. Build an altar there to the God
who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.
1. So God looks into this crazy broken situation and he says…I don’t want you to worry
about all the things that have just happened…I don’t want you to focus on the fact that
your life is basically spinning out of control I want you to focus on obeying me and
doing what you promised you were going to do.
2. And he reminds Jacob about the first time they met. Interestingly enough it was very
similar to the circumstances he is presently living in. When they first met, Jacob had
manipulated Esau into giving him the birthright, and then lied to his father to steal
Jacob’s blessing and Esau was in a murderous rage. And so Jacob ran away to his uncles
house. And on his lonely terrified journey, Jacob fell asleep in the wilderness, which was
a very dangerous way to expose oneself. The last person he probably wanted to see was
God, fearing that God would come in judgement. But God appeared to him and said I
will be with you to protect you, I will keep you and bless you and I will lead you safely
back to Bethel and to your fathers house. God came and spoke grace.
3. But now God has spoken to Him again…in another seemingly irreparable situation…and
his word is not a word of judgement but again, a word of grace. A word that requires
Jacob to recall how indefatigably faithful God has been in all that has happened over the
last 20 years.
4. And for the first time in his life…Jacob hears this Word of grace and decides I’m not
going to scheme, I’m not going to strategize, I’m not going to try and seize control of this
situation, I’m going to trust and obey God and let him deal with the things I can’t control.
3. Jacob finally responds to God according to his vow in verse 2-4, and this response has two
components: putting away the idols and purifying themselves. And this actually gives us a
beautiful picture of what true repentance, true sanctification, true faith looks like.
1. Jacob says put away the foreign idols in verse 2, in verse 4 they gave over the rings that
were in their ears, which were probably good-luck charms or something to that effect.
The first response to God’s grace and faithfulness is to make a clean break with all the
false hopes in the household. To make a clean break with putting your hope in money,
remember the household idols of Rachel were the claim to her families inheritance.
2. Jacob we will not tolerate idols in our home, even if it means we lose a bunch of money.
And this is a right response to the grace and faithfulness of God, to make a clean break
with every alternative hope, to make a clean break with every affiliation with sin and to
determine that you will place all of your hope in God. AS Paul says to Timothy in 2
Timothy 2 let all who name the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. But as I have tried
to say before, that is only half of the battle of sanctification. Living for God isn’t simply
avoiding sin…it is also becoming who God made us to be in Christ.
3. Jacob says purify yourselves and change your garments. This is a ritual cleaning to
prepare themselves for worship. This kind of action is going to be picked up in Exodus
and Leviticus when the priests will be commanded to purify themselves before serving in
the temple. And it is this exact imagery that the apostles have in mind when they start
taking about putting off sin and putting on righteousness. Eph 4:22-23 says put off your
old self, which belongs to your former manner of life, and is corrupt through deceitful
4.
5.
6.
7.
desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds and to put on the new self-created
after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Put away the idols, put on a
purified life. And this is the right and the only response to such overwhelming grace and
faithfulness, put away the idols, put on trust and obedience. Put away false hopes, put on
righteousness and holiness. This is how Jacob responds…and then what happens?
Verse 5? What does that say? It says there was literally nothing to be afraid of? Why, because
Jacob figured it out? Because Jacob schemed his way out of his problems? No! There was
nothing to be afraid of because God was with him. God was working behind the scenes. God
was relentlessly, unswervingly, tirelessly working all things together for the good of those
who love Him and are called according to HIs purposes. What do you think that is saying to
the tribes sitting on the shores of the Jordan preparing to enter this same land?
Verse 6-7 Jacob get’s to Bethel and builds an altar and changes the name of the place from
Luz to El-Bethel from Luz to the God of Bethel. Just as God changed Jacob’s name from
Jacob to Israel, from evil grasper to one who strives with God, so Jacob renames the place
after the God of faithfulness who has been with Him. And then what happens in verse 9? It
says God appeared.
On the other end of obedience was the God of grace. In the day that God spoke, He called
Jacob to walk through the land of his enemies with all his family, and to trust that God
Himself would protect them. He was called to obey the Word, to walk by faith and not by
sight. And my goodness, on the other end of faith and obedience was God himself, speaking
Himself speaking words of blessing.
1. Brothers and sisters is this why you obey? Is this what you are striving for in your
obedience? SO that one day soon your faith will give way to sight and the LORD Jesus
Christ Himself will look you in the eyes with pure unadulterated love and say well done
my good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your master? What greater joy could
there be in the universe than hearing those tender words spoken over your eternal soul?
On the other end of Jacob’s obedience was the God of grace speaking blessing,
reiterating all of his precious promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
2. And so in verse 13-14 Jacob set’s up a stone pillar as a kind of altar and pours out a drink
offering and praises the God indefatigable faithfulness. Jacob deserved wrath, but God
showed Him grace. Jacob had messed up everything, but God brought him safely
through. And on the other end of His obedience was not a pacified dictator but a gracious
Father, ready with arms open speaking words of unimaginable blessing.
3. And it is at this point in the story I think…that Jacob is finally, truly changed. The lesson
from the wrestling match at Penial has finally set in…and the biggest reason I say that is
that for the first time in the whole narrative, Moses is going to start referring to Jacob as
Israel.
Let’s look at what happens next. It says in verse 16 that they journeyed on from Bethel
towards Ephrath which is behtlahem, and to everyones surprise, Rachel is pregnant. She goes
into labor but it says “she had a hard labor”, meaning she probably knew this birth was going
to claim her life. The midwife tries to comfort her saying don’t be afraid you are having a
son but it doesn’t help. In verse 18 as she is dying she uses her dying breath to tell Jacob to
name the boy Ben-Oni or son of my sorrow and pain.
8. The birth of this son, claims the life of his beloved wife Rachel…and her dying wish is that
he name the child in a way that reminded him of the terrible grief that his birth caused. But
after all that has happened, and all that he has seen, Jacob refuses to interpret these events as
a bitter providence. Jacob says I have seen this too many times before…something bad
happens and I think it’s the end of the world, but it isn’t long into God is forcing me to look
back and remember that His faithfulness is indefatigable.
9. I will not name this child son of sorrow…I will name this child son of the right hand. I will
name this child son God’s power and favor towards me. God’s right hand in Scripture is the
place of his power and the place of His favor. Even in the death of my wife, Jacob seems to
say…I will put my trust in the faithfulness of God. Rachel dies and is buried and Jacob sets
up a pillar over her tomb which most likely means he worshipped there.
1. And it is here, for the first time, that Moses calls him Israel. Israel journey on and pitched
his tent beyond the tower of Eder.
2. Israel has accepted that life and death come from the Lord, that success and failure come
form his right hand of blessing, and whether God gives or takes away…his heart will
choose to say blessed be the name of the Lord. Do you know what this means?
10. Israel is free from the slavery of his old ways by the grace of God. In verse 22, something
terrible and tragic happens…Reuben Israel’s first born goes and lays with Bilhah, his father’s
concubine and Israel hears about it.
1. There is a lot of discussion in the commentaries about why this story, which seems like
kind of a really big deal is related in such a short and ambivalent way. After all, that
move by Reuben probably isn’t so much about sensuality as it is about an assertion of
power. It’s a claim to leadership of the family. Why does Moses just gloss over this? Why
does Israel just gloss over it?
2. There isn’t enough data to prove anything but here is my thought to throw on the pile of
ideas…maybe Moses wants us to see that now that Israel has been changed…he can even
keep something like this in proper perspective. Is this really ugly and terrible and going
to have a lot of ramifications? Yes. But God is with us, and His faithfulness is
indefatigable.
11. Moses then reiterates the names of Israel’s 12 sons in verse 23-26 and tells us in verse 7 that
God brought him all the way back to His father Isaacs house, just as He had promised. After
20 years apart, Isaac was still alive. And when he finally died, Esau and Jacob buried him
together. The hatchet really was buried, the two of them really did intend to coexist in peace.
12. Now I want to stop and look back. What does this story teach us about Jacob and by
implication about ourselves? It teaches us that all the worrying, all the scheming all the
grasping was utterly pointless. God was faithful throughout the whole story to bring his
promises to pass. Every time a crisis was introduced in Jacob’s life, it wasn’t God who
panicked…it was Jacob. It wasn’t God who felt out of control…it was Jacob.
13. Jacob became Israel when He finally yielded to this fact. When he received His
circumstances as the good plan of His Father in heaven, even the hard to understand stuff.
14. When he stopped believing He was in control of His world and accepted that God was in
control of His world he was set free from slavery to his old way of life, praise the Lord. And
if we worship the same God, what does this teach us about ourselves?
1. It tells us that all the worrying, all the scheming, all the grasping that you and I do is
utterly pointless!! If you belong to Jesus Christ brothers and sisters He has determined
that all things will work together for your good. He has promised us this…is His version
of good often very different than mine? Yup. But He has promised to make us like Jesus,
to make us holy, to work in us so that we put away what is earthly in ourselves and put
on Colossians 3 as God’s chosen ones, holly and beloved, compassionate hearts,
kindness, humility, meekness and patience etc.
2. God isn’t doing good to you by removing all the things in your life that make you feel
impatient, God is doing good to you by cultivating the beautiful fruit of patience in your
heart. And He cultivates that beautiful fruit by showing not just your mind but your heart
that you are not in control of the world, He is, and He is doing good to you in how He
runs things.
15. Here is the crazy thing I’ve been thinking about all week. Jacob didn’t really accept this deep
down until near the end of his life. He went through life not really believing this…and who
was the one who suffered as a result? God? No man…Jacob. God’s faithfulness was as
relentless and tireless as ever throughout the whole story…but Israel didn’t experience peace
until he accepted and yielded to it.
16. And pretty soon he’s gonna die…and God is going to have to start over with a whole new
generation. The utterly faithful one…is going to have to condescend again to reveal his
faithfulness to His creatures and to convince them that their scheming and striving is
pointless. And he is going to do it over and over and over and over and over…generation
after generation…how long would you stick with this kind of an agreement? But God
doesn’t let go…God doesn’t stop, God doesn’t simply turn humanity over to a life of
agonizing faithlessness…why? Because God has made a covenant to bless and his
faithfulness is indefatigable. But now let’s close by briefly reflecting on what this teaches us
about God:
WHAT THIS TEACHES US ABOUT GOD AND HOW WE SHOULD RESPOND
1. Genesis 36 is the genealogy of Esau and I’m not going to torture you by reading the whole
thing because it really only says one important thing over and over and over again. You see
this story has basically followed the life of one man and his family since Genesis 27, and we
have seen God working powerfully and imperceptibly in all his circumstances to bring about
His own purposes and blessing to Jacob.
2. And that is how the majority of us experience the world, we see how God has dealt with us,
and over time, those of us who are in Christ become convinced that God really is relentless
in his faithfulness to bring blessing from every circumstance, even broken ones. But chapter
36 asks us to remember something else…God made a promise to Abraham saying I will give
you descendants like the stars of the heavens, I will give you descendants like the dust of the
earth. 36:1-8 describes Esau leaving the land of Canaan and settling in Seir which in Israel’s
day was known as Edom.
3. And starting in verse 9 to the end of the chapter it starts listing name after name after name
of kings and chiefs and tribes and sons and daughters and lands, generation after generation
after generation…and we are forced to sit back and say while we get wrapped up in God’s
4.
5.
1.
2.
faithfulness to the one man Jacob God is filling the earth with demonstrations of His
faithfulness. You are supposed to hear behind every name of this chapter…the echo of God’s
promise to Abraham…like the stars of the sky, like the dust of the earth…so shall your
descendants be.
And no matter where Israel looked to the left or to the right…they see demonstrations of
God’s covenant faithfulness.
Let’s be honest that word “Indefatigable” is only scratching the surface. The life of Joseph
and the genealogy of Esau is merely the next step in the plan of redemption through which
God intends to summon the nations from the ends of the earth. To bring mercy and steadfast
love to all the peoples of the world. God is always doing, far more, than we can think or
imagine in His faithfulness and power.
How should we respond? Put away your tiny hopes and purify yourselves for the God of the
bible. Humble yourselves under God’s mighty hand recognizing that He will exalt you at the
proper time.
If you are thinking, I see that He was faithful to Jacob, how do I know he will be faithful to
me? The answer is simply and straightforward….look at the cross look at the cross look at
the cross. The cross says I will never leave you nor forsake you. The cross says I have
overcome every conceivable obstacle to my steadfast love toward you.
God faithfulness is indefatigable, so put away all false hopes and trust completely in Him.
COMMUNION: