This evening, we're picking up our series in Genesis, again, dealing with the life of Isaac. Isaac functions, if you recall, as a very important link in that promise chain for Israel. God gave promises to Abraham, and several hundred years later now, as Moses is leading the people of Israel in the wilderness, those promises still apply. But how did the promises get from Abraham to Israel, this new fledgling nation? Well, Isaac is a major link in that chain of those promises. He's a generational link that connects Israel to Abraham. Isaac was Abraham's son. He received the promises of the next generation. And part of his role in receiving the promises was to pass them on to Jacob, who turned out to be the younger of his twin sons. We've seen that really in this section of Genesis, Jacob's life forms more of a role than Isaac's, even though Isaac's life is what frames this entire section of Genesis. Jacob is a bit of a scoundrel, at least that's much of what we see of him. He's received the promises from God, but he received the blessings from Isaac, but he got the blessings under that veil of deception that caused Jacob to flee the promised land when his brother Esau wanted to kill him because of the deception. The past several chapters that we've been looking at have traced Jacob's life as he lived outside the promised land in Paddan Aram, which was to the north. He lived with his uncle Laban. He spent 17 years working for Laban as a dowry for his two wives, Leah and Rachel. They were, if you follow it, cousins of his. They were Laban's children. Jacob intended to marry Rachel, but Laban tricked the deceiver into marrying the older sister Leah first. That led to a bit of an unhappy home life as Jacob loved Rachel, but not Leah. Yet Leah was able to bear children when Rachel was not, increasing the tension among the tents of the family. Eventually both servants, you may remember, gave their, or both sisters rather, gave their servants as additional wives to Jacob, surrogate wives to bear sons. There was a lot of tension and a lot of conflict over 14 years as we saw a brief glimpse of that home life as Jacob lived there serving Laban. Yet hovering over everything, even over that tension, hovering over that were the promises that God had made to Jacob. God had promised Jacob descendants, like the dust of the earth was the phrase God used. Well, God gave him 11 sons with a hint that another son was yet to come. God had promised to bless Jacob. Well, God gave him wealth, great wealth, even though Laban, if you remember, did everything he could to ensure that Jacob did not receive much in the way of financial reward for the years of service. God faithfully blessed Jacob, but Jacob, When we pick up our chapter, this evening remains outside the promised land. When the 11th son was born to Jacob, Jacob stated in Genesis chapter 30, verse 25, that he should be sent away. Jacob says to Laban there in verse 25, send me away that I may go to my own place and to my own country. He states it's time to go home. Laban, however, you may remember, talked him into staying longer. Laban promised to begin paying Jacob for his labor. Well, now Jacob has worked for Laban. He's labored for Laban. And the final statement that we have in chapter 30 is that Jacob is now exceedingly prosperous. Well, as you can see from the title of the sermon on screen, it's time for Jacob's situation to change. It is time for him to go home. that the promise of land that God has given Jacob along with promise of descendants and promise of blessing, the promise of land requires that Jacob heads back to the land of promise. As we pick up chapter 31 this evening, we'll see that in the first 16 verses, we find the record of his decision to finally leave, the decision to leave. It's a large chapter. Let's jump into it by reading the verses that record the circumstances surrounding his decision to leave. Verse 1. Now Jacob heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob has taken away all that was our father's, and from what belonged to our father he has made all this wealth. Jacob saw the attitude of Laban, and behold, it was not friendly toward him as formerly. Then the Lord said to Jacob, return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you. So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to his flock in the field and said to them, you see, I see your father's attitude that is not friendly toward me as formerly, but the God of my father has been with me. You know that I've served your father with all my strength, yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages 10 times. However, God did not allow him to hurt me. If he spoke thus, the speckled shall be your wages, then all the flock brought forth speckled. And if he spoke thus, the striped shall be your wages, then all the flock brought forth striped. Thus God hath taken away your father's livestock and given them to me. And came about at the time when the flock were mating, that I lifted up my eyes, and I saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which were mating were striped, speckled, and molted. or modeled, rather. Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, Jacob. And I said, here I am. He said, lift up now your eyes and see that all the male goats which are mating are striped, speckled, and modeled, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to me. Now rise, leave this land, and return to the land of your birth. Rachel and Leah said to him, Do we still have any portion or inheritance in our father's house? Are we not reckoned by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and has also entirely consumed our purchased price. Surely all the wealth which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and our children. Now then, do whatever God has said to you. My plan really is to look at all this chapter tonight, the entirety of it. It's a large chapter, so we won't dig deeply into it. Still, I want to take this first section that we just read and break into four pieces so that we can, I hope, see God's movement in these circumstances. Seeing how God's at work, it begins by noting, first of all, in the first three verses, God's promise. God's promise, or more correctly, God's reminder of His promise. That comes in verse three. It's been three weeks, I know, since we looked at the previous chapter, so you may not remember, but that was the first time we learned that Laban had sons at all, in addition to his two daughters, Leah and Rachel. Up to that point, we'd never heard of any sons. Well, Jacob has become a wealthy man. And now we learn that both Laban and his sons are not too excited about that development. They don't like to see that Jacob's become wealthy. They collectively see Jacob's wealth as coming at their own expense. Laban, as we learn here, has attempted to ensure that most of the lambs that are born in the flocks that Jacob is caring for, most of them would go to himself, not to Jacob. Well, God overrode Laban's plans and saw to it that Jacob received the strongest lambs, and from that he built a very large flock. Jacob, we discover, has learned that Laban and his sons have become jealous, and then suddenly the Lord speaks to him. One of the things that I want to mention in passing, if Moses is very clear as he records this, he's cleverly written this chapter so that there's a lot of echoes between what he writes here in this chapter and the earlier experience of the Isaac had. I'll mention a couple of these as we go, but there's several of them throughout the chapter, echoes of earlier times in the previous generation. For example, Isaac had experienced the Philistines becoming jealous of him because Isaac had become wealthy. And that's back in Genesis chapter 26 verse 14. The Philistines' jealousy was used by God to prod Isaac into returning to the center of the promised land. Isaac had been right on the border of the land. Well, now God again used jealousy to prod movement, coupled, of course, with the direct statement we read in verse 3. Essentially, if you want to summarize the statement God gives in verse 3, God tells Jacob, go home. But he does so in a manner that reminds Jacob of the promise that God himself made when Jacob was leaving the land back in chapter 28. In chapter 28 verse 15 God told Jacob that he would be with Jacob as Jacob departed the land. That he would watch over him as he left the land and that God would bring Jacob back. Now God tells Jacob again that he will be with Jacob as he returns to the land. that the first time God said he would be with Jacob, it was to alleviate Jacob's fear about leaving. Now, all these years later, God's word is designed to alleviate Jacob's fear of returning. Having spoken to Jacob there in verse three, then the next several verses, four through nine, focus on God's faithfulness. God's faithfulness. See, essentially when Jacob talks to Rachel and Leah, he recounts the events that were recorded in the previous chapter. It's the same thing that we saw the years of service between year 14 when he finished serving for Rachel and year 20 now we'll learn when he departs. During those intervening years, here's what happened. We already learned that Jacob became wealthy. In fact, when Jacob later recalls God's promise in chapter 32, Jacob himself interprets the promise when God says, I will bless you. He interprets it as God saying, I will make you prosper. He expected it to be a material blessing. Well, we know from chapter 30 that God made Jacob wealthy. But now we learn that God did that in a context where Laban proved to be a real scoundrel. Ten times apparently Laban changed the terms of the agreement that he made with Jacob. Each time Laban changed apparently in an attempt to lessen the portion that went to Jacob. Laban wanted to give Jacob as little as possible. Yet each time God ruled the events so that Jacob came out on top. Verse 5, God of my father has been with me. Verse 7, God did not allow him to hurt me. Verse 9, God has taken away and given to me." God, God, God. Jacob has no doubt that the God is the one who's shown his faithfulness, and he wants to make sure his wives understand that as well. God is the one that has provided this, and despite all that Laban has done, God has been blessing. Yet not only does Jacob have God's faithfulness to encourage him, he also has God's command in verses 10 through 13. Jacob tells his wives that not only has God done this over the course of years, God directly talked to him. God commanded him that he should return to his homeland. In fact, God reminded Jacob of the vow that Jacob had made when he was leaving 20 years ago. As Jacob was fleeing for his life, possibly, probably, even on the very first night, he stopped at Bethel in chapter 28. During the night there, that's that night of, we call it Jacob's Ladder, when Jacob had that dream of angels going up and down and he heard God speak. Well, that was when God directly revealed himself to Jacob for the first time. That night, if you recall, Jacob became a true worshiper of Yahweh. And in response, Jacob vowed, in verses 21 and 22 of chapter 28, that he would worship God upon his return to the land, and he would offer God a tenth, a tithe, of all that he had received from God upon his return. And then he set up a stone as a pillar to remember the event. Well, God now reminds Jacob of that vow. They made those many years before. The implication is that the time has arrived for Jacob to make good on that vow. God commands him to arise and leave the land where he's found the prosperity. He's to go back to his land of birth. He's to return to Bethel. He's to fulfill the vow he has made. Which brings us to the final stage in this first section. We see God's reward. Both wives are ready to go. Rachel and Leah, as soon as Jacob says, God's told me it's time to go, they both say, let's go. Following the pattern set by Rebecca a generation earlier, they demonstrate they're ready to leave their family and go with Jacob back to the land of Canaan. In their minds, their father's actions demonstrate that Laban has no fatherly concern whatsoever for them. Laban took all the services that Jacob offered as a dowry, but has not provided anything willingly for them as his daughters or as the mother of his grandchildren. At the same time, both these wives recognize that the God has stepped into the breach and caused their father's attitude, or the breach that was caused by their father's attitude, and God has provided for them. God has taken from their father what he should have willingly given to his daughters and his family of his grandchildren, to the one who worked for him. God has taken what their father Laban should have given, and God has given it to them. In fact, Moses puts a very strong word in the mouths of Rachel and Leah when they describe what God has taken away from our father. He surely, look at verse 16, surely all the wealth which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and our children. That word taken away is a strong word. It's used in Exodus 12, 26, except there it's translated differently. There it's translated as plundered. When the Israelites leave Egypt after God has slain the firstborn of all the Egyptian families and the livestock and everything, remember the Israelites ask Egypt for gifts, and they're given all kinds of gifts just to leave. And in Exodus 12, 36, we're told that the Israelites plundered the Egyptians. Well, it's the same word. The wives are saying he has justly plundered their father for the inheritance that their father was unwilling to give. And they, the wives, are completely willing to put their trust in God. They encourage Jacob to do whatever God has directed him to do. And let's head to Canaan. Now, before we move into the second major section of this chapter, I want to pause just for a moment and make an observation. Let's observe that often prosperity can keep us from breaking out of our daily routine and doing what we should be doing for God. Jacob needed a very strong nudge here to do what he needed to do. Remember, I mentioned that he'd recognized that it was time for him to head back to Canaan in chapter 30, verse 25. Right after Joseph was born, right as he ended his 14 years of committed service to Laban, Jacob knew it was time to go home. But Laban offered him wealth. And over the next six, seven years, depending on how you do the math, Jacob acquired lots of wealth. Jacob needed a very strong nudge. He stayed, even when Laban had shown himself less than honorable and changed the agreement over and over, he stayed. Laban treated him in underhanding ways, but he stayed. Why? Well, it seems the reason he stayed is because he was acquiring great wealth. He was acquiring wealth, he was prospering. Yes, God was the one who blessed him with the wealth, but God also had to change the circumstances through jealousy and direct commands here before Jacob was willing to walk away from the comforts that he was accumulating there in Paddan Aram. This is probably one area of great danger to us as Americans that we should recognize. We love our comforts. We love our prosperity. We love our entertainment. We love our distractions. We love our successes. We love wealth. The question is, are our love for these things getting in the way of doing what we should be doing for God? How many times have we said that we don't have time to do something that would magnify Christ? We don't have time to meet with someone for discipleship. We don't have time to serve in some capacity of need at church. We don't have time to volunteer to help a friend. We don't have time to build a gospel relationship. We don't have time because our time is being consumed with prosperity. Does God need to nudge us to? God gave Jacob a very firm nudge here. Do we need that? The first 16 verses have recorded the decision to leave. The rest of the chapter causes us to see the danger in leaving. Often we discover that doing the things that God wills for us to do, the things that show obedience to God, these very things bring danger and hardship into our lives. That's unexpected. We expect that doing what God wants will yield an easy path. The reality is oftentimes just sitting fat, dumb, and happy in our prosperity is the easy path. Doing what God wants us to do is the hard path. We're surrounded by a world that hates God. We really ought not be surprised that falling God is truly the harder path. Well, when Jacob decides to head home, he too experiences problems. In fact, there are several factors that combine to create danger for him and his family at this very moment in time when he steps out in obedience to God. The rest of the chapter is long, so I think we'll read it as we work our way through the subsections, rather reading all of the second main section at once. In the first subsection, we find what I'm calling Laban's warning, verses 17 through 24. Laban's warning. Follow along as I pick up in verse 17. Then Jacob arose and put his children and his wives upon camels. And he drove away all his livestock and all his property, which he had gathered, his acquired livestock, which he had gathered in Paddan Aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, then Rachel stole the household idols that were her father's. And Jacob deceived Laban, the Aramaean, by not telling him that he was fleeing. So he fled with all they had, and he rose and crossed the Euphrates River and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead. When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, then he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him a distance of seven days' journey, and he overtook him in the hill country of Gilead. God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream of the night and said to him, Be careful that you do not speak to Jacob, either good or bad. I think it's safe to say Jacob's departure does not go smoothly. Of course, the fact that Jacob tries to sneak away doesn't help, nor does the fact that Rachel steals the household idols as she leaves. That doesn't help either. You know, Laban may have just ignored the abrupt departure of Jacob and his family, but there's no way Laban will overlook the taking of the household idols. Now, I don't really know what to make of the theft of the idols. Is Rachel still an idol worshiper? I don't think so. Back in verse 16, she and her sister Leah had both acknowledged God's power. So I don't think she's an idol worshiper, but I really don't know. Is she taking the idols because she considers the gold that they're made of rightfully hers, that her father should have given them as inheritance? Again, I don't know. I don't know what the reason is. It would seem if she would have taken them because she thinks they're an inheritance, that really she'd go Leah the older rather than Rachel. Why do you know if that her actions here unnecessarily complicate their escape from Laban by raising his ire that much more? It's also interesting that Moses creates a wordplay between verses 19 and 20. In verse 19, Rachel stole the household idols. In verse 20, what we have translated as Jacob deceived Laban is literally Jacob stole the heart of Laban. Moses seems to suggest that Rachel and Jacob, they're kindred spirits. Both are comfortable with these less than honorable methods of getting what they want. Rachel steals the idol, Jacob steals his family. Anyway, the combination here of their actions, Jacob's and Rachel's, they incite Laban to give pursuit with his kinsmen. Look at some of the phrases in verses 22 through 26. Jacob fled, he, that's Laban, overtook. In verse 23, verse 25, Jacob pitched his tent. Verse 25 again, the kinsmen camped. Verse 26, like captives of the sword, Several of these words are militaristic terminology. Moses is using military terms to describe this encounter between Jacob and Laban. Make no mistake about it, Laban is pursuing Jacob as an enemy. It's not a father-in-law coming to say goodbye, it's an enemy chasing him. Yet before Laban has a chance to speak to Jacob, before Laban has a chance to do anything, God warns Laban to not speak either good or bad, literally good or evil. Laban is chasing Jacob. Laban has brought plenty of people to ensure that he can do whatever he wants when he catches Jacob. But now for a second time in Laban's life, God prevents Laban from acting in any fashion that will interfere with God's program. You see, Laban himself used this exact same phrase back in Genesis 24 verse 50. That's where we find Abraham's servant arriving. A generation earlier, Abraham's servant coming seeking a wife for Isaac, and he meets Rebekah. And Abraham's servant explains to Laban that God had led him to Rebekah, which would be Laban's sister. And Laban recognized that he could not interfere with what God was doing. He could not speak either good or evil. Well, God uses that phrase now and warns Laban again, do not interfere. Of course, this does not mean that Laban's just going to walk away. He's not going to turn around and head back home without having a say. So in the next section, subsection, we have Laban's accusations in verse 25 through 43. Verse 25, Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen camped in the hill country of Gilead. Then Laban said to Jacob, What have you done by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword? Why did you flee secretly and deceive me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with joy and with song and with timbrel and with lyre, and did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now you have done foolishly. It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob. Now you have indeed gone away, because you long greatly for your father's house. But why did you steal my gods? Then Jacob replied to Laban, because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. The one with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsmen, point out what is yours among my belongings and take it for yourself. For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two maids, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's tent. Now Rachel had taken the household idols and put them in the camel's saddle, and she sat on them. And Laban felt through all the tent, but did not find them. She said to her father, Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is upon me. So he searched, but did not find the household idols. Then Jacob became angry and contended with Laban. And Jacob said to Laban, what is my transgression? What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me? Though you have felt through all my goods, what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. These 20 years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flock. That which was torn of beasts I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it myself. You required of my hand whether stolen by day or stolen by night. Thus I was by day, the heat consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. These 20 years I've been in your house. I served you 14 years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, and you changed my wages 10 times. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, so he rendered judgment last night. Then Laban replied to Jacob, the daughters are my daughters, and the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to my daughters, or to their children whom they have born? In verse 27, Laban uses the same phrase that he accuses Jacob as Moses used in verse 20. Why did you steal me? That's the phrase that Jacob used there. Moses plants again, why did you steal? Laban accuses Jacob of sneaking off with his family. He points out that he has plenty of power to do what he wants to Jacob at this point, but he won't because God intervened and warned him off. Then Laban adds, why did you steal my goods? Jacob's answer to Laban's first accusation is essentially, I stole the family because I was afraid you would not let my family go if you knew what I was about to do. Jacob, however, is clueless about the second accusation. He doesn't know anything about Rachel taking the household idols. He thinks Laban's making up a false accusation. So, rashly, he states that, if these gods are found anywhere among my family's stuff, the guilty person is to be put to death. So, unwittingly, Jacob has placed Rachel, the wife he loves, under a death penalty. As we read here, Labanese searches the entire camp for the idols. Rachel adds further deception to her actions by sitting on the idols and claiming that she cannot rise in her father's presence due to cultural modesty. The thing that's interesting is Moses is silent about Rachel's actions all the way through. We're left really with our understanding of scripture overall to recognize that what she does is sinful. What we see is that, number one, God preserves the family of His promises once more. Despite the foolish, sinful, impetuous actions that they engaged in, God preserves them. And that's really an oft-recurring event during these narratives. Time and time again, we see Abraham do foolish things. We've seen Isaac do foolish things. We've seen Jacob do foolish things. And God just keeps preserving the family of the promises. So we see that, number one. But number two, we also see Jacob finally erupts. He loses it. As far as Jacob is concerned, Laban has falsely accused him of stealing. And in Jacob's mind, this is par for the course. But this time, it happened before all the kinsmen. And Jacob lets the years of frustration go as he reviews the countless ways that Laban has treated him unjustly. In the process of his complaint, though, Jacob lifts up God's sovereign goodness. Look at verse 42. God is the focus. The God of my father, the God of Abraham, the fear of Isaac, He says, God has seen my affliction. God has rendered judgment. Jacob's essentially saying that by warning Laban to leave him alone, God has shown that it was right for him to sneak away with all his family and wealth because Laban would have truly taken it from him. What Jacob has received has come from God's gracious hand, not from Laban's. Laban really doesn't have a solid answer. He never admits that Jacob is correct, but he claims there's nothing he can do about the things as they stand. He doesn't admit that Jacob has right to all these goods, but he agrees that Jacob can take the family and wealth and continue on his way to Canaan. Before Laban leaves Jacob, the final verses record Laban's treaty. Picking up in verse 44, So now come, let us make a covenant, this is still Laban speaking, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me. Then Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. Jacob said to the kinsmen, gather stones. So they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. Now Laban called it Jagar-sharaduthah, but Jacob called it Gilead. Laban said, this heap is a witness between you and me, therefore it was named Gilead. and Misbah, for he said, may the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other. If you mistreat my daughters, or if you take wives beside my daughters, although no man is with us, see, God is witness between you and me. Laban said to Jacob, behold this heap, and behold the pillar which I have set between you and me. This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness. I will not pass by this heap to you for harm, and you will not pass by this heap and this pillar to me for harm. The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judged between us. So Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac. Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and called his kinsmen to the meal. And they ate the meal and spent the night on the mountain. Early in the morning Laban arose and kissed his sons and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place. I said Laban couldn't really counter Jacob's charges, and since he couldn't counter the charges that Jacob made against him, that he'd been unfair, Laban actually is the one who appeals for a peace treaty. Laban wants to enter into a covenant with Jacob, much like, again, this echo back to Isaac. Isaac parted ways with Abimelech back in chapter 26 with a covenant of peace. So Jacob takes and sets up a stone as a pillar, and then he tells the kinsmen to come and form a heap of stones, and they all share a meal. Both Laban and Jacob, they name the stone heap as a monument. Laban gives an Aramaic name, whereas Jacob uses Hebrew, but both names simply mean this heap is witness. It's not exactly a creative name. They just use their own language. The heap is witness. Laban adds the name Mishpah to the pile, expressing the wish that the Lord will keep watch between them. He expresses the thought that God will keep him and Jacob separated, and that they will not attack one another, and that God will ensure that his daughters are safe, that they're cared for by Jacob. And then the covenant is ratified with a sacrifice and a meal. And the next morning, Laban and his kinsmen, they depart in peace. Well, that completes our review of this chapter. And the second section here is this danger of leaving. So we've observed that the God has worked throughout. God moved Jacob to head for home. God protected Jacob and his family if they departed Laban. Despite the foolish and even sinful actions on their part, God protected them. Throughout, God shown his faithfulness. So the question once again is what can we learn from this? I think the overall lesson that we can take away this evening is that God protects his people as he moves them to fulfill his plans. God protects his people as he moves them to fulfill his plans. I think that statement contains both aspects of what we've seen this evening. We see God's protection and we see God's movement. God protects his people and God is one who moves his people so that they fulfill his purposes, his plans. I've already pointed out that sometimes God has to create unpleasant situations to move us. We like our comforts, and God needs to cause us to leave those comforts behind to serve him. We like our stability, but God, by contrast, requires movement of us as we serve him. So we may need God to give us a strong nudge to move us where we can serve him effectively. fulfilling what he has planned for our lives and for our church. That's why I asked Pastor Aaron to pray again that God would give us an opportunity to plan a church in Detroit. It will be very uncomfortable for us to get involved in something like this. God needs to move us along. At the same time, sometimes we resist moving in the direction that God wants us to move because of fear. Our text this evening should remind us that God will protect us as long as necessary, whenever necessary, so that we can fulfill His plans. Now, God's protection is no guarantee of a long life. If not a promise of invincibility, we are not invincible. but we are protected to do what God wants us to do. God's protection is a guarantee that God will enable us to do what He intends for us to do, to do our part in fulfilling His plan. Even our foolish efforts will not hinder His protection. Even sinful actions cannot foil His protection. Now, that doesn't excuse either foolishness or sin, But should it embolden us, God will protect us to fulfill His plan. God protects His people as He moves them to fulfill His plans. Now, this evening, I'm going to pray, and then after I pray, we're going to have a song. I forgot to warn the sound booth that there's a song, a video to play. It's a song I played one other time, but I think it's a good reminder to us as Americans that we may need God to nudge us to fulfill his plans, and then Dale will come and lead us in our closing after that. Let's pray. Father, I do ask that you would work within us and through us so that we would Be bold to fulfill the purposes that you've placed before us, the plans that you have for us. May we not get wrapped up in our own comforts and the prosperity around us, but may we live our lives serving you. We pray this in Christ's name, amen. I dwell in a land of rich prosperity. I live in a home of warmth and beauty. With surety these comforts and pains can become A snare to me I'd go on That in peace and security temptation awaits me there To forget you, to forget the one from whom all blessings flow To neglect you, to neglect the one to whom I love I owe To forsake you, to forsake the one who is the giver of all, but not prosperity, so easily distract me from devotion, from devotion to you. As I daily feast on food from my table, as I shelter myself in a home strong and stable, as I work with the strength that God has enabled, I'm reminded, so soon reminded, that in a land that flowed with milk and honey in a time that was free, was free from hostility when virus fields would yield their plenty. It was then God's people went astray They forgot the one from whom all blessings flow. They ignored you. They ignored the one to whom their love they owed. They forsook you. They forsook the one who is the giver of all. They let prosperity so easily distract them from devotion, from devotion to you. Let me cautiously walk in this land of prosperity, my mind and my heart. Let me guard so attentively, for no human soul can possess double loyalty. I live for God, or I live for money. Let me thank you, Lord, for every blessing. Let me loosely hold to every possession. Let me purpose in my soul. My one and only passion is to know you, to love you. I want to thank the one from whom all blessings flow. I want to love you. I want to love the one to whom my love I owe. I want to know you. I want to know the one who is the giver of all. Let not prosperity so easily distract me from devotion. From devotion. From devotion. Devotion to you.