Genesis 28:1–4 NKJV Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. “May God Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples; And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land In which you are a stranger, Which God gave to Abraham.”

Genesis 28:13–15 NKJV And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”

•     Last week we started our series from Genesis 25 titled “When Heaven Met’s Earth”

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•     In this series we are looking at the remarkable events in Genesis 28.

•     Here in Genesis 28 we se Jacob running for his life… His brother Esau has said that he plans to murder Jacob, and so Rebecca tells Jacob to flee to her uncle Labon’s house.

•     Jacob, on the run and suffering the REAL LIFE consequences of his sin, exhausted, alone, and with nothing to his name except a staff and the clothes on his back… finally calls it a night, and falls asleep with a rock for a pillow.

•     As he is sleeping God shows him a vision of this ladder, commonly known as Jacob’s ladder. This ladder reaches to the heavens and has angles ascending and descending upon it.

•     Now the reason why this series is called “When heaven meets earth” is because God is showing Jacob that in fact there are angles working on his behalf, we talked about that fact last week.

•     God is comforting Jacob by letting him know that he is not alone, and that heaven was not as far off as maybe he thought… in fact heaven’s angles were right there, right where he is… working hard for the glory of God and the fulfillment of God’s plans.

•     If you missed that sermon I encourage you to go back and listen to it as it really tees up the rest of this series… and I think it will bless you in whatever season you are in…

•     So now we continue the series and what I want to talk about today is two things that I think should be very familure to you if you have been apart of this church for any length of time… two points this morning:

•     When heaven meets earth God blesses us…

•     And when heaven meets earth God Keeps us…

•     He blesses us and He keeps us…

•     That phrasing should sound familure because it comes from the Preistly Blessing, the blessing that Aaron was commanded to bless Israel with… we can find that blessing in Numbers 6.

Numbers 6:24–26 NKJV “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’

•     Right? We pray this prayer in Hebrew and in English every Sunday! And it starts with those beautiful lines “The LORD bless you and keep you”.

•     Now I have talked before about blessing, as Genesis (well the whole Bible really but Genesis in particular) is full of blessings.

•     But I don’t think I have ever preached fully on what it means for God to keep us.

•     So we will talk about booth of these things this morning, but I will spend a little more time talking about God keeping us, because that is not something I normally preach on.

•     Y’all ready to get into it? Ok, point one, when Heaven Meet’s earth God Blesses us. Let’s start this point by looking again at the first few verses of Genesis 28

Point One – God Blesses Us

Genesis 28:1–4 NKJV Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him… “May God Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples; And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land In which you are a stranger, Which God gave to Abraham.”

•     I like these verses because it highlights something that I want to talk about… who is the source of these blessings?

•     First it says Isaac blessed Jacob… so is Isaac the source?

•     Then it says “May God Almighty bless you…” So is God the source?

•     Finally it says “Give you the blessing of Abraham”… so is Abraham the source, or is a blessing something that can be handed down.

•     Well all of these things can be true… a blessing is a bestowal of God from one person to another, or from one person to a physical thing.

•     God can bless you, you can bless God, you can bless food, God can bless the land…

•     A blessing is a spiritual bestowal of good.

•     Good will happen to you! Food you will become good. Land you will produce good.

•     And if you were with us when we went through James you know that all good comes from God.

James 1:17 NKJV Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

•     Now keep that verse in mind, we are going to come back to it because it connects with “When heaven meets earth”. But for right now focus on this “If it is good it came from God”.

•     So in other words a blessing is asking or even prophesying that God will make something good or do something good for someone.

•     Now a little more teaching here… a blessing is almost always a greater blessing a lesser.

•     Priests bless the People

•     Fathers bless the Sons

•     Kings bless the Subjects

•     God bless the Man

•     The only time this isn’t really true is when man blesses God, but that is a different topic all together and it comes from Him, is done through Him, and goes to Him anyway. Blessing God is when we please God by doing His will and singing His praises. Other than that, when we are talking about blessing we are talking about the greater blessing the lesser.

•     So Isaac blesses his son Jacob. Yes Isaac is the one blessing.

•     And God blesses His servant Jacob… so YES God is the one giving the blessing… both are true… and it is God who gave Isaac the authority to bless Jacob in the first place and God who will do the blessing.

•     But it is important to note that God does give authorities POWER to bless… not just to ask for a blessing, but to actually proclaim the blessing.

•     And this is where it is important in powerful, spirit filled living. Parents, employers take good notes, ministers take good notes, deacons take good notes, Disciplers take good… this is for you.

•     YOU HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO BLESS PEOPLE UNDER YOU. Your children, you employees, your employees, your disciples.

•     If God has placed you in a position of authority He has placed you in a position to bless. To bestow the good things of God to those under you.

•     But this doesn’t mean you get to say whatever you want whenever you want… blessing someone is a very spiritual and prophetic thing. It is the connection of man and heaven working together for good.

•     I will give you an example… when I was driving home from Florida this year… I flew down there to pick up a vehicle… and at my very first stop for gas I hold the door for this lady and she is on the phone and is cussing.

•     She gets of the phone and apologizes and says “Your not like a priest or anything right?”

•     “As a matter of fact, I am a pastor”.

•     To that she gets white faced… i mean past embraced… but then she looks me in the eyes, grabs my hands and says “Bless me! I won’t let you leave until you bless me!”

•     Now something interesting happened in that moment, because I could tell she was earnest… not earnest in a desire to live for God… but she earnestly respected me as a spiritual authority and she earnestly wanted good from God.

•     So I prayed… and as I prayed, church I am telling you, heaven came down, the windows of heaven began to open, and God gave me the words to bless this woman.

•     I did not bless her with money, or health, or things like that… no God showed me what to bless her with… blessings of wisdom in her current circumstance… blessings for her children and family… blessings of salvation “God want’s you to be saved and is drawing you, if you will turn to Him He will save you”.

•     Now it wasn’t anything particularly deep, but it was God given and heaven sent. You see when you are really blessing someone it is really as if heaven comes down as a part of that blessing. Remember that James verse?

James 1:17 NKJV Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

•     The gift is from above and comes down… it comes down from heaven. This is the same language we see in many other places in the Bible, notably the tithing blessing from Malachi.

Malachi 3:10 NKJV Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.

•     When you bless someone it is literally heaven meeting earth to bestow good on that person. It is not of your own power, but it is of your authority… but just like me with that woman, you don’t get to just say whatever you want or whatever they want, instead you bless how heaven leads you to bless. It is why Jacob got the blessing he got and Esau got the blessing he got, had nothing to do with deception and everything to do with Isaac blessing in faith… Isaac was in tune with heaven when he spoke that blessing, deceived as he was… which is why he said “I have blessed Jacob and indeed he will be blessed”.

•     So what is the take away of this point? First? God has good for you and wants to bless you.

•     Second, live a heaven bound life… the closer you are to heaven the more abundant those blessings become.

•     Third, put yourself under the leadership of Godly men who will bless you with heaven sent blessing.

•     And finally, if you are in that position of authority, use that authority to bless!

•     Okay, that was a lot of teaching… but let’s move on to point two this morning which is this phrase “God Keeps Us”… when Heaven Meets Earth, God Keeps Us.

Point Two – God Keeps Us

Genesis 28:13–15 NKJV And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”

•     Behold I am with you and will keep you wherever you go… God speaks this blessing to Jacob, as Jacob is in such a low and vulnerable place… God says “I will keep you”.

•     This is the first time in scripture we see this concept, that God will keep us. Of course it is most famous, probably, in the Priestly blessing “The LORD bless you and keep you”.

•     But here it is for the first time “I will Keep you”… what exactly does that mean?

•     Well, before I prepared this sermon I thought it meant “God won’t let you go” and I think of that verse “Nothing will pluck you from God’s hand”.

•     But that is actually not what this word keep means here.

•     You see the Old English word “keep” means something much different…

•     In modern English we think of the word keep as meaning “Hold on to” or “To stay in my possession”.  Like “Mom I found this rabid racoon in the yard, can we keep him”?

•     It means “I want it to be mine”… and certainly God wants us to be His, that is very true… but it is not what the word keep here means, nor what it means in the Preistly blessing.

•     The Old English word “keep” means “To guard or protect… to keep safe”… What is the strongest part of the castle called? Where everyone runs to for shelter? That part of the castle is called “THE KEEP”.

•     The Hebrew word for keep here is “shāwMAHR” which literally means to guard or protect.

•     And if you read Genesis 28:15 in other English version you will see that it can be translated as “I will guard you” or “I will protect you” or even “I will watch over you”.  God is OUR CASTLE KEEP. He guards us and watches over us, He protects us. He is a fortress that will not be shaken, who’s walls will not fall and who’s gates will not fail.

Proverbs 18:10 NKJV The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.

Psalm 18:2 NKJV The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm 46:1 NKJV God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

Psalm 61:3 NKJV For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy.

Psalm 91:2 NKJV I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”

Psalm 144:2 NKJV My loving kindness and my fortress, My high tower and my deliverer, My shield and the One in whom I take refuge…

•     God is our KEEP… this is a famous hymn by Martin Luther  “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott”

•     Ein = “Ine” (rhymes with line)
feste = “FES-tuh” (short “e” like in pet).
Burg = “Boorg” (like boar + g). The “u” is like the “oo” in book, but a bit tighter
ist = “ist” (just like it looks, ist).
unser = “OON-zer” (the “u” like “oo” in soon).
Gott = “Got” (like cot but with a hard G at the start).

•     A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing;

•     This is who God is, our KEEP, our fortress… And when you realize saints, that Jacob is running for his life… that he feels alone, and exhausted… and as I suggested last week he very well may be giving himself over to death in this moment, expecting his brother to overtake him.

•     It is in this moment that God doesn’t just comfort Jacob by showing him heaven coming to earth… but He says “Listen… you think I am sending you these angels for you to die? No! I am going to protect you, I am going to watch over you, I am going to guard you like a mighty fortress… I will be your strong tower, I will be your keep.

Genesis 28:15 NKJV Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”

•     Here is what God is showing me through all of this… maybe it is just for me… but here is what God is showing me… God is our strong tower in a very real sense… not just in a “well that is a nice thing to say” kind of sense… not just in a  “Well one day I will be in heaven so I guess ultimately no weopon formed agaisnt me shall prosper…” BUT NOW. I CAN RUN INTO THE KEEP NOW!

•     When I am suffering from sickness and migraines and other nasty attacks that I know are not from God… I don’t need to just wallow in my own pain, as I am often want to do… to just wait it out and suffer until I die and then I get to rest…

•     I CAN, IN THIS LAND… THE LAND THAT GOD HAS BROUGHT ME TO… I CAN RUN INTO THE KEEP. HERE AND NOW! Because Heaven meets earth right here, right now… I don’t have to wait until I get there… the ladder is set, the angles are descending, the fortress is calling… run into the keep.

•     If you are overwhelmed by emotion, run into the Keep.

•     If you are ashamed of all your sin, run into the Keep.

•     If you are fearing for your life, run into the Keep.

•     If you are exhausted from all that has been placed on your shoulders, run into the Keep.

•     Everything you do that is drawing you nearer to God is drawing you nearer to the keep.

James 4:8 NKJV Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

•     Draw near to God and He will draw near to you, YOUR KEEP. Everything you do to draw near to God get’s you more secure within His walls.

•     Start with repentance… sin will bring you out of the keep. So cleanse your hands and purify your hearts.

•     Move into worship, and praise… prayer and fasting… reading the Word and fellowshiping with believers. Tithes and offerings… Serving and gathering in the church…

•     Anything and everything you do that brings you closer to God brings you deeper into the walls of the Keep…

•     But the enemy wants to draw you out… He want’s to seperate you from the Keep… he can’t destroy you while you are in the mighty fortress who is our God… so he calls you out…

•     He tempts you to leave the walls… to leave the God you love.

•     With every sin, every doubt, every prideful or lustful thought… you walk further and further away from God’s protection… you leave the keep.

Isaiah 59:2 NKJV But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.

•     So the take away from this point… don’t fall for the tricks, stay away from sin and temptation… and if you have fallen in sin… okay, so did Jacob… cleanse your hands, repent, purify your mind, and return to God.

•     If it’s not sin that’s got you down, maybe it is stress, or depression, or anxiety… Jacob was probably feeling all of those things as well… Remember God’s words to Jacob as he slept on that stone pillow “I WILL KEEP YOU”… run back to the Father, and He will Keep you, Amen?

•     So let’s close this thing down… if someone wants to come and play.

Conclusion

Numbers 6:22–27 NKJV And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:

“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’

“So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”

•     THE LORD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU… Good for you bestowed upon heaven, and protection for you to enjoy that good, here and now.

•     But this blessing is not for everyone… this blessing is for the children of Israel… God’s people… and because of Christ we can all be a part of God’s people, we can be grafted into the vine of Israel… if we would just be born again.

Now before I bless you with the preistly blessing I want you to look one more time at verses 22 and 23.

Numbers 6:22–23 NKJV And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:

GOD GAVE THESE WORDS FOR ME TO BLESS YOU! HE GAVE THESE EXACT WORDS. THIS IS A BIG DEAL. THIS IS NOT JUST LITERAGY, THIS IS HEAVEN MEETING EARTH ON YOUR BEHALF. THIS IS THE AUHTOIRTY THAT GOD PLACED OVER THIS HOUSE BESOTWING THE GOOD THINGS OF GOD ON YOUR LIFE. RECIEVE THIS BLESSING IN FAITH!

Join us this Sunday at either 8:30AM or 10:30AM for worship followed by this message from the Word of God.

Christian Life Church of Cedar Rapids
2808 Schaeffer DR SW,
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
www.CedarRapidsChurch.com