[00:00:00] Welcome to Gracious Words. Gracious Words is taken from the Weekly Women's Bible Study,
[00:00:15] taught by Cheryl Brodersen at Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California.
[00:00:35] God was calling Jacob back to Bethel, back to the place where he met God and received
[00:00:40] his promises. But this journey also meant an uncertain reunion with his brother Esau,
[00:00:46] where we see God's faithfulness to Jacob prevail.
[00:01:14] Now here is part one of Cheryl's message titled, Back to Bethel.
[00:01:20] So I'm going to take you back to the 60s real quick, 1960s, to a pastor's home. To what
[00:01:26] it was like to be Pastor Chuck's youngest daughter in the 1960s. So let me tell you
[00:01:32] this, Saturday nights were my favorite night, not my favorite day but my favorite night
[00:01:39] of the week. I played hard all week long. I remember my mom sometimes would come in
[00:01:45] and she'd say, you smell like a puppy dog. And that was my nature because I played so
[00:01:51] hard. Saturday was the day that my mother cleaned the house. And so she tried to get
[00:01:58] rid of all of us. So either my father would take us to the beach or we had to play
[00:02:04] outside. No one was allowed in the house on Saturday till mother was finished. On Saturday
[00:02:13] she changed all the bedding. All the bedding got changed, brand clean sheets. You come in
[00:02:20] and the house smelled so fresh till I brought my puppy dog scent in. I might be on a long
[00:02:27] bike ride with friends. One of our favorite things to do is to take pieces of cardboard
[00:02:33] and slide down ice plant hill sides. I love to climb trees. I love to run. I help the boys
[00:02:41] next door make underground forts. That was my Saturdays. Then Saturday night dinner would
[00:02:48] be at five o'clock wherever we were. My dad had this special whistle which meant, and
[00:02:53] we could hear it no matter where we were, meant come running home for dinner and it
[00:02:57] was like this. Let me see if I can do it. Never mind. My dad would do that whistle and we knew
[00:03:08] it was come home now. If we didn't respond to that then he did this whistle that went
[00:03:12] do do do do do do. And you better get home. That was like your last chance. You better
[00:03:17] get home. Now Saturday nights was also very exciting because it was the night that
[00:03:22] my dad made dinner. Now my mom made dinner Monday through Friday nights. That
[00:03:27] was her responsibility. Sunday afternoons we got to go out for the church
[00:03:33] actually paid for the pastor's lunch at whatever restaurant we chose and my dad
[00:03:39] was very very careful about what restaurant he chose because you were
[00:03:44] paying for it. That was a provision in his contract with Calvary when they
[00:03:50] hired him because they couldn't pay him enough for four children so they said
[00:03:54] but we'll pay your Sunday dinner. So that was when that was the only time during
[00:03:57] the week we got to go out to dinner. Okay enough about that. Back to my dad. He made
[00:04:03] dinner Saturday nights and it was so great because when dad made dinners we
[00:04:08] didn't have to have vegetables. It was the only night of the week there
[00:04:12] were no vegetables. I was like yes it's dad's night and there was his
[00:04:16] secret sauce. No matter what he made it had Chuck Smith's secret sauce and I want to
[00:04:23] tell you something about his secret sauce. Every secret sauce contained ketchup
[00:04:28] just for the record and it was water and ketchup or it was hot sauce and ketchup
[00:04:34] you know La Victoria and ketchup but every single sauce contained ketchup
[00:04:41] and he you never knew what dad was gonna make unfortunately because it
[00:04:46] usually had to do with whatever somebody in the church had given us that week. It
[00:04:50] could be swordfish, a la ketchup. It could be abalone steaks, a la ketchup. It could
[00:04:57] be venison, a la ketchup. So even though I like those dinners I was suspect. I
[00:05:03] way I was suspect especially the elk dinner that was not happy. My dad and
[00:05:10] I always did something experimental. Now Saturday night was my big bath night. Now
[00:05:19] I took baths I just want you to know. Puppy Dog took baths Monday Tuesday
[00:05:23] Wednesday Thursday Friday but this was the big one. This was the big bath because
[00:05:28] mom was not gonna allow any dirty child back in those clean sheets. This was
[00:05:32] the night I washed my hair. You see back in the 60s we washed our hair
[00:05:36] only once a week. Once a week and we didn't blow dry it because they haven't
[00:05:42] quite been perfected yet. Most of them burned out so most of you had the bonnet
[00:05:47] hairdryer remember the bonnet hairdryer that had a hose most of you are like
[00:05:51] was that the Dark Ages? Yes, we rode our dinosaurs to the bonnet hairdryers. So
[00:05:58] there are bonnets you wear these bonnets in the hairdryer but I was too young
[00:06:02] for the bonnet but I would use something called luster cream that was my shampoo
[00:06:08] and it was almost solid so you would unscrew the jar and you had to be at
[00:06:13] least seven before you could wash your own hair and you would take a little you
[00:06:17] know little take your fingers and just a little swipe of luster cream wipe it
[00:06:22] and do this and you know what this is gonna come as a shock to so many of
[00:06:26] you but we didn't even know there was such a thing as conditioner. We didn't
[00:06:31] even know I mean what you did is you just took a comb and you had to comb out your
[00:06:36] hair after your bath to get all the tangles out and so after my bath my
[00:06:43] hair was washed my mom would spend about 30 minutes getting every single
[00:06:48] tangle out of my hair and then she would take the rags because we had
[00:06:54] these rags that were made out of old sheets and she would do my hair in
[00:06:58] rag curls every single Saturday night because you know what Sunday was a
[00:07:06] coming the next morning was Sunday and all this was in anticipation of Sunday
[00:07:14] morning going into the house of God and I got to wear fresh clean pajamas
[00:07:19] because we'd have one pair of pajamas to wear during the whole week and then
[00:07:24] Saturday night my fresh pajamas and I still remember the feeling of climbing
[00:07:31] into bed with fresh hair fresh pajamas in those fresh sheets and feeling so
[00:07:39] clean so loved and so excited about Sunday morning and Sunday school and
[00:07:50] going to church so excited I'm gonna tell you one other secret that my dad
[00:07:56] didn't know Sundays on the way to church was the only time during the week that
[00:08:02] I was allowed to chew gum dad didn't know it my dad was very against gum
[00:08:08] gum and cigarettes mortal sins but my mom would pass us all out a piece of
[00:08:14] gum and we could chew it in the car and then she would pass the Kleenex
[00:08:18] around just about a block from the church so we would all spit it out before dad
[00:08:21] could see and then she'd throw that Kleenex away so dad didn't know that we were
[00:08:26] all in the gum chewing habits especially on a Sunday morning I mean
[00:08:29] that might have been really bad but there's nothing like a clean start
[00:08:35] nothing at all like a clean start because all of us during our lives and
[00:08:41] during the week we pick up dirt and germs and dust why because germs dirt and
[00:08:50] dust are everywhere there is no escape in the same way we get spiritually
[00:08:58] groinny we pick up various pollutants just from living in this world we don't
[00:09:05] do it intentionally like hey I'd like that virus I'd like that germ we don't
[00:09:11] want them but they just happen it's it's life on earth maybe you remember the
[00:09:17] exchange between Jesus and Peter in John chapter 13 that's where Jesus knowing
[00:09:23] that his time had come knowing that God had put all things under his authority
[00:09:27] he got up from dinner and he took a towel and he filled up a basin with
[00:09:34] water and he began to go from disciple to disciple washing their feet
[00:09:40] and when he came to Peter Peter said not so Lord I will never allow you to wash
[00:09:46] my feet and Jesus said Peter if I don't wash your feet you can have nothing to do
[00:09:52] with me then Peter said and this is so Peter isn't it Lord then not only my
[00:09:58] feet but my whole body and the Lord said Peter he you are already clean
[00:10:07] through the word which I've spoken to you he who is cleansed only needs his feet
[00:10:13] cleansed you see we need regular cleansings we just need times to get
[00:10:23] those pollutants out of us that we have unintentionally picked up in this
[00:10:29] world as believers we pick up unknown spiritual pathogens we pick up fears
[00:10:36] do you ever have like where did I get that fear I don't remember having that
[00:10:41] fear before I used to know them all by name where did grumpy come in you know
[00:10:44] we pick up these fears we pick up hostilities all of a sudden we don't
[00:10:50] like someone or you know they don't like us we pick up enemies wrong priorities
[00:10:55] bad habits we just pick them up without realizing it unintentionally and
[00:11:01] because of this we need to make regular forays to the house of God for cleansing
[00:11:10] refocusing remembering renewal and redirection Jacob had picked up quite a
[00:11:18] few spiritual pathogens in the 21 years and even previously before his time at
[00:11:27] Bethel it was at Bethel where he first encountered God Genesis chapter 28 it was
[00:11:33] at Bethel where he first had the promises of God applied to his life given
[00:11:42] to him by God himself it was at Bethel that Jacob had made a covenant with
[00:11:50] God but since that time Jacob had married two wives he had fathered 11 sons one
[00:11:59] daughter and had another child on the way he had become a wealthy and successful
[00:12:04] man and during that time God had kept his promises to Jacob he had prospered
[00:12:11] Jacob wherever he went he had protected Jacob and they had even brought
[00:12:18] Jacob safely back to the land of promise however during this journey this 21
[00:12:26] years Jacob and his family had picked up some unhealthy fears hostilities
[00:12:33] enemies habits and idols God was calling Jacob and his family back to
[00:12:41] Bethel and this was a call to cleansing a call to new priorities a call to
[00:12:46] remembering God's promises and faithfulness a call to renewal of God's
[00:12:51] promises and a call to redirection for Jacob and Jacob's sons lives in Genesis
[00:12:58] 35 1 God said arise go up to Bethel and dwell there and make an altar there to
[00:13:06] God who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother go
[00:13:12] back to that place where you first encountered me first directly face to
[00:13:21] face where you first heard my promises you first met me you first knew that I
[00:13:31] wanted a covenant with you where you came into covenant with me why because
[00:13:37] Jacob had picked up fear no doubt the experience of leaving Laban was traumatic
[00:13:44] Jacob was vulnerable he had wives and servants and livestock and children and
[00:13:52] Laban was angry and aggressive Laban was not someone you wanted to cross and
[00:13:59] Laban had pursued Jacob and caught up with him and it was only God's
[00:14:05] intervention the fear of God that kept Laban from harming Jacob and taking back
[00:14:11] all that Jacob had acquired from taking back Jacob's wives and Jacob's livestock
[00:14:17] and Jacob's children have you ever noticed that sometimes the fear doesn't
[00:14:22] hit you when the event is happening it hits you afterwards any of you ever
[00:14:27] have that where you know the car swerves towards you and you're
[00:14:31] just like and you you avert the danger but afterwards you realize how close it
[00:14:37] came to it and you're like shaking like I I almost died five minutes ago you know
[00:14:43] if you find yourself shaking or you know someone yells at you you know at the
[00:14:50] market this has happened to me they just start yelling at you and at the
[00:14:55] time you're just like I'm sorry you're having a problem God bless you have a
[00:14:59] great day may you be saved if you want counseling I know a place and you're
[00:15:05] fine and then you get in the car and you're like I had that happen so much
[00:15:11] when I was in college there was this man I didn't we didn't call it stalking
[00:15:16] them we didn't know what stalking was but there was this guy who would just
[00:15:19] show up every place I was if I was at the beach there he was if I was at
[00:15:23] church there he was if I went to the market there he was and he'd be like
[00:15:27] hi Cheryl and I I was so dense I was like gosh that's weird how that guy has the
[00:15:32] same schedule as me and he's kind of strange but oh that's interesting until
[00:15:37] he showed up at my college and I was at UCI and it came out of a class and he's
[00:15:42] there and he's standing he's like hi Cheryl this says the Lord you will be
[00:15:48] my wife really loudly in front of all these people I've been sharing Jesus
[00:15:52] with and telling him no being a Christian is not weird at all and there he
[00:15:57] is and I'm just like what in the world are you doing here and you grab my arm and
[00:16:04] he said you're gonna be my wife and I was saying let go of my arm let go of my
[00:16:10] arm and then I had this tall guy he wasn't a Christian his name was J I was
[00:16:14] sharing Jesus with them and I worked with him at a shoe store and he was
[00:16:18] like what can I do what can I do now let me tell you this J was a nice guy he was
[00:16:26] probably about six feet tall and 120 pounds it was not much J could do this
[00:16:31] guy was big and I said to him Jake just go get campus police I still come get
[00:16:36] campus police go get campus police I still got my own go get campus police
[00:16:40] right now and now there's a crowd around me you know they're all like and
[00:16:45] he's going the says the Lord and you know you're just like this is so
[00:16:50] humiliating but he's so strong I can't get my arm list and the next thing I
[00:16:55] know here at campus police and they've got their whistle and they're running
[00:16:58] towards me and you know he sees them and he takes off running and I got to
[00:17:06] my car and I locked the doors and I said God thank you thank you for
[00:17:11] saving me I get home and the minute I walked through the back gate of our house
[00:17:17] and around and I saw my dog I fell apart I started sobbing convulsively I fell on
[00:17:25] my knees I couldn't move I was going I guess because I felt safe and there's
[00:17:31] my dog like you'll beat him up right and my mom she's upstairs she's like
[00:17:35] what's that rocket you know what's wrong with you you know like the neighbors we
[00:17:44] do have neighbors and I come running in the house and she looks at me she's like
[00:17:49] what's wrong what happened and I tell her and she's like give me a minute she
[00:17:54] runs and she calls my dad my dad rushes home there's more to that story but
[00:17:59] that's another day I just want to tell you that the fear hit me afterwards not
[00:18:06] at the moment that it happened when he had my arm I was like the Lord and kept
[00:18:12] a security will do with you and then when I saw my dog it it was when it hit me
[00:18:21] so hard sometimes that's how fear is isn't it and I until that day I wasn't
[00:18:26] afraid of men or people that showed up at markets in places that I was but after
[00:18:32] that it was like I was on high alert I found this fear and this sense of
[00:18:38] vulnerability entered into my life now Jacob has no sooner left the land of
[00:18:49] promise when he hears his brother is on his way with 400 men why would Esau
[00:18:55] come with 400 men if his intentions were friendly or good I think his intention
[00:19:02] was to drive Jacob out of the land to say no and he was bringing a show of force
[00:19:10] and this word strikes fear into Jacob to make matters worse Jacob has wrestled
[00:19:19] all night with a heavenly personage and his hip is disjointed he's in tremendous
[00:19:26] pain walking is agony but we read about his encounter with Esau in Genesis 33
[00:19:35] perhaps Jacob when God said he would take care of it perhaps Jacob hoped that
[00:19:41] Esau would not find him that God would divinely hide Jacob in his company or
[00:19:46] that Esau would be distracted and turned back or that Esau would be divinely
[00:19:51] defeated or weakened as he was it's like Lord why do I have to have the hip out
[00:19:56] of joint don't you think you should have given that disjointed hip to Esau
[00:20:00] isn't that just the way of God's Lord why are my enemies so strong why do I
[00:20:06] have to be the weak one did Jacob expect a positive reception
[00:20:15] Jacob begins to bow before his brother once twice three times four times five
[00:20:22] six seven he's apologizing with every bell he's apologizing you see Jacob have
[00:20:31] been the one in the wrong Jacob deserved that type of reception you know
[00:20:37] it's one thing to get together with someone like oh we're gonna get together
[00:20:42] when they're the one who's done you wrong you could say you know what my
[00:20:46] heart is clean I forgive you but you've got the advantage but what about when
[00:20:51] you're the one who done somebody wrong song what about when it's you and and
[00:20:58] you're the one you're in the wrong and you need mercy and you don't even
[00:21:06] know if that person has the ability to give mercy this is Jacob he needs Esau's
[00:21:13] mercy he what he did was absolutely wrong he deceived his brother he took his
[00:21:21] birthright and his blessing and he did it by deception what is he going to
[00:21:29] expect then Jacob's wives and children come before and they bow and Esau begins
[00:21:39] to run towards Jacob Esau is barreling toward him the hunter is coming at him
[00:21:54] full speed and Jacob can't run his hip is out of joint this must be probably one
[00:22:03] of the most frightening moments of Jacob's life because he has no idea what
[00:22:10] Esau is going to do when he meets him he is coming at him full force but
[00:22:17] suddenly as he gets close his arms open wide and he embraces his brother falls on
[00:22:26] his neck and weeps can you imagine Jacob can you imagine the cortisol in his system
[00:22:34] can you imagine the fight or flight but he can't do either on these there and
[00:22:41] now an embrace and they weep together then Jacob has to press Esau into accepting
[00:22:54] his gift of all the life stock Esau volunteers to accompany Jacob into
[00:23:01] the land but Jacob obviously did not want to chance upsetting or
[00:23:08] offending his brother again you know like good we got these now this is good how
[00:23:14] about if we just well you know I'll go a little slow you go ahead if someone said
[00:23:19] see her later you go to see her I'll go to check them and we'll see her later
[00:23:25] no doubt the fear came after this encounter the fear often operates
[00:23:35] this way we can be brave and calm even filled with faith in the moment then when
[00:23:40] it is over we think I never ever want to go through something like that again and
[00:23:47] we kind of have a fear of the very thing that God just brought us through we
[00:23:54] never want to repeat that this is when fear grips us and begins to attach
[00:23:59] itself to our thoughts Lord I know you're gonna bring me through but I
[00:24:04] just don't even want to go through something like this again but Jacob also
[00:24:10] picked up hostility and enemies not only is laban hostile to Jacob but there is a
[00:24:18] boundary that is set up just right at the base of the mountains of Gilead that
[00:24:23] said Jacob not allowed no crossing back for Jacob in Proverbs 16 it says if
[00:24:35] our ways please the Lord he will make our enemies to be at peace with us we receive
[00:24:41] power and peace from God when we yield to him God's long expected meeting with
[00:24:46] Esau was a marvelous event God so turned Esau's heart that he was eager to be
[00:24:52] reconciled with his brother earlier Esau had cared nothing for his birthright
[00:24:56] and he cared little for old grudges now God was faithful and touched Esau's
[00:25:02] heart we hope you have been blessed by today's Bible study for more information
[00:25:06] about the gracious words radio program and the teaching ministry of Cheryl
[00:25:10] Brodersen please visit our website at gracious words.com coming up next time
[00:25:16] on the gracious words program will look further at Jacob's return to Bethel as we
[00:25:21] continue our series our great creator in the book of Genesis with Cheryl
[00:25:25] Brodersen we do hope you make plans to join us again for more
[00:25:29] information please visit our website at gracious words.com
[00:25:52] this program is sponsored by Calvary Chapel Coast Amesa California
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