There’s a big, old house in Cambridge, Massachusetts, not far from Harvard University. In 1757 John Vassall built it as his residence. But in less than 20 years he and his wife, and 5 children, fearing for their lives, abandoned it to seek the protection of the British Army stationed in Boston.
That’s when another famous American moved in—General George
Washington. He and his staff took it over, and the rest is history. It was
there, in a room on the right side of the entryway, that Washington met Ben
Franklin and Washington’s generals to plant the seeds of the American
Revolution.
Not long after the decision was made to rebel against the
Crown, Washington discovered that his army was completely out of gun powder. He
ordered a colonel to Marblehead for a fresh supply. When the colonel returned
that evening he found Washington pacing in front of his headquarters. Without
returning the colonel’s salute Washington demanded, “Have you got the powder?”
“No sir,” replied the colonel. Without any hesitation, Washington began berating
the man with what one historian called “extremely severe language.” Finally
Washington said, “Then why did you come back here without it?” “Sir,” the man
said sheepishly, “because there’s not an ounce of it in Marblehead.”
Greatly disturbed and chagrined, Washington turned to the
colonel and said, “Colonel, here is my hand, if you will take it, please
forgive me. The greatness of our danger made me forget what I owe you.”
Now imagine George Washington apologizing to a lowly colonel
for following his orders and coming up empty.
A little more than 100 years ago Thomas Edison stood outside
his plant in West Orange, New Jersey watching it burn to the ground. As his
costly experiments were burning up in the flames, he called his son, Charles.
“Come here! You’ll never see anything like this again!” He then called his wife
saying the same thing to her. As the 3 stood gazing at the blaze, Edison said,
“There go all our mistakes. Now we can start all over again.” And in 2 weeks he
started rebuilding his plant. And in 2 months he invented phonograph.
Lincoln once said, “The man who is incapable of making a
mistake is incapable of anything.” And the Bible would agree with that. That’s
why the pages of Scripture are full of human mistakes. Adam’s choice to eat of
the tree of good and evil was a mistake. Esau’s choice of a wife was a mistake.
And yet, as we’ve already seen, time and time again, God uses our sins and our
mistakes to bring forth His glory. And nowhere is that clearer than in today’s
text.
Look what Jacob says in verse 38, “But Jacob said, ‘My son
shall not go down with you, for his mother is dead, and he is the only one
left...’” Now, on the face of it, that sounds like a logical statement. Rachel,
his wife, had 2 boys—Joseph and Benjamin. From Jacob’s perspective Joseph’s
dead and Benjamin’s in danger. So he says to ten of his sons, who have just
returned from Egypt with the news that the Prime Minister of Egypt wants to see
Benjamin, “Over my dead body. There’s no way I’m going to lose Benjamin too.”
But he’s wrong. It’s a mistake. In fact, when he finally
obeys and relinquishes Benjamin to the care of his brothers a cascade of
blessing flows not just to him, but to his entire family.
What we have here is another example of a serious mistake in
judgment that is prompted by fear rather than faith. What we have is another
perfect example of what it means to trust in yourself with all your heart and lean
into your own understanding.
We will dig into all of this on Sunday in a message
entitled, “A Logical, Laughable Mistake.” In preparation for Sunday, you may
wish to consider the following:
1. As you read the text: Genesis 42:38-43:34, do you think
Jacob is living up to his new name?
2. Is Jacob a picture of fear or faith?
3. What is the cause of Jacob’s fear?
4. Why does the thought of sending Benjamin down to Egypt scare
Jacob?
5. How long has Jacob had to stew on Joseph’s demand?
6. What does Genesis 43:6 tell us about Jacob?
7. What does his counsel in verse 11 say about Jacob?
8. How about what he says in verse 14, what’s that tell you
about him?
9. What’s the significance of his referring to God as God
Almighty in verse 14?
10. Does Jacob get what he wants from God?
See you Sunday at 9:00 AM and/or 11:15 AM.
