A Blueprint for Backsliding

Wes Terry

The Patriarchs • Sermon • Submitted 8 months ago • Presented 8 months ago

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Lead Pastor Wes Terry preaches a sermon of Jacob’s struggle to live up to his new name in God. This message is part of the series “The Patriarchs” and was preached on September 8th, 2024.

Notes

Transcript

INTRODUCTION:

Take your Bibles and turn to Genesis 33 as a we continue our series through the book of Genesis. We’ve been studying the life of the Patriarchs and right now we’re on the third Patriarch, Jacob - son of Isaac, son of Abraham.

One of my favorite quotes about the book of Genesis is that it doesn’t just show us what “happened” but what “always happens.” The more things change the more they stay the same.

This dynamic is nowhere better illustrated than in our passage today with Jacob and his season of spiritual backsliding.

Have you ever heard of the phrase “backsliding in your relationship with God?”

It’s where you stop making forward progress and start going backwards instead.

I came across a quote this week that you can’t have season of backsliding without a prior season of SLACK ABIDING.

In today’s passage we will not only see the reasons for Jacob’s backsliding but also the consequences on himself and his family and how God restores him from that fallen state.

Set The Table

For those of you who are new let me catch you up on the story. Jacob is meeting his brother Esau after 20+ years of not speaking to one another.

From the womb these two brothers were always fighting against each other.

After tricking Esau out of his birthright and tricking his Father out of Esau’s blessing Jacob had to flee to his uncle Laban 500 miles to the north.

While there he ends up getting married to Laban’s two daughters. Between them and two female servants Jacob ends up having 12 children (11 boys and one girl).

It wasn’t pretty but after 20 years Jacob leaves Laban to go back home and face his brother.

New Name Old Tricks

The last encounter we saw between God and Jacob was a night of wrestling wherein God dislocated Jacob’s hip and bestowed on him a new name.

But what takes place AFTER this transformational encounter with God is an extended season of partial obedience and spiritual compromise.

He had a new name but he’s still went back to wear some of his old clothes.

Interestingly enough we saw a similar dynamic take place in the life of his grandfather, Abraham and his Father Isaac.

It’s pretty interesting of all the people who have their names changed by God Jacob is unique in that he’s continually referred to AS JACOB for a long period after the change in name.

Peter’s name sticks, Saul to Paul sticks, Abram to Abraham stuck. But Jacob is referred to as Jacob for an extended season after Peniel.

Read The Text

Let’s pick it up in Genesis 33:1-11

Genesis 33:1–11 CSB

1 Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming toward him with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two slave women. 2 He put the slaves and their children first, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. 3 He himself went on ahead and bowed to the ground seven times until he approached his brother. 4 But Esau ran to meet him, hugged him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. Then they wept. 5 When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he asked, “Who are these with you?” He answered, “The children God has graciously given your servant.” 6 Then the slaves and their children approached him and bowed down. 7 Leah and her children also approached and bowed down, and then Joseph and Rachel approached and bowed down. 8 So Esau said, “What do you mean by this whole procession I met?” “To find favor with you, my lord,” he answered. 9 “I have enough, my brother,” Esau replied. “Keep what you have.” 10 But Jacob said, “No, please! If I have found favor with you, take this gift from me. For indeed, I have seen your face, and it is like seeing God’s face, since you have accepted me. 11 Please take my present that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me and I have everything I need.” So Jacob urged him until he accepted.

BLUEPRINT FOR BACKSLIDING

What’s so interesting about these verses is that some see them as evidence of Jacob’s transformation whereas other see it as evidence that he has not changed at all.

Those who present this as a positive case of Jacob’s transformation highlight

OWNERSHIP: Jacob’s bravery in going to the front of the line of face Esau and his troops.

HUMILITY: Jacob’s bowing down to his brother seven times demonstrating humility.

HONESTY: Jacob speaks directly and honestly with his brother when asked a question.

GENEROSITY: Jacob formally tried to steal a blessing but now he is refusing not to GIVE the blessing.

GLORY: Jacob is quick to recognize that the reason for his prosperity is God’s grace and blessings on his life.

Those who present this as a negative case of Jacob’s same old tricks highlight

FAVORITISM: Jacob breaking up his family with the least important first and most important last.

FALSE HUMILITY: Jacob’s excessive bowing of seven times to be evidence of manipulation and trickery.

DECEPTIVE PRAISE: Jacob referring to himself as Esau’s servant as disingenuous flattery.

MISLEADING GENEROSITY: Jacobs refusal to not give gift as a way to “have something” on Esau so that he wasn’t reliant on good graces alone.

The ambiguity may be on purpose because Jacob - like many of us - is a conflicted character.

He is clearly GROWING in his relationship with God. He’s not who he once WAS. But he’s not yet where he needs TO BE.

Two Way Street

What we can see for sure is a clear connection between obeying God and God’s blessing on your life.

God responded to Jacob’s obedience with a supernatural change in the heart of Esau. His heart moved from resentment and revenge to forgiveness and peace.

Jacob couldn’t have known what was about to happen because he was just as much in the dark as we are reading the story.

All Jacob had was God’s promise and that was sufficient for Jacob to move

This just shows you the goodness of God to change people we think are unable to change. It also shows you his desire for reconciliation in our relationships.

When you move towards God then he’ll move towards you!

There a direct connection between our obedience and God’s blessing on our life.

And that blessing doesn’t just impact us at an individual level but if your a spiritual leader in your home the obedience and blessing is passed on to your spouse and children as well.

The Other Direction

But what’s true in one direction is also true of the reverse.

From verse 12 onward we see Jacob slip into some of his old patterns of thinking and living and the consequences are pretty devastating.

Genesis 33:12–17 CSB

12 Then Esau said, “Let’s move on, and I’ll go ahead of you.” 13 Jacob replied, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and I have nursing flocks and herds. If they are driven hard for one day, the whole herd will die. 14 Let my lord go ahead of his servant. I will continue on slowly, at a pace suited to the livestock and the children, until I come to my lord at Seir.” 15 Esau said, “Let me leave some of my people with you.” But he replied, “Why do that? Please indulge me, my lord.” 16 That day Esau started on his way back to Seir, 17 but Jacob went to Succoth. He built a house for himself and shelters for his livestock; that is why the place was called Succoth.

On the surface these six verses may not look like much but they are actually a blueprint for how backsliding happens in the life of a believer.

Backsliding pushes us out from underneath the umbrella of God’s blessing.

For the sake of simplicity I’m going to frame Jacob’s disobedience around three W’s: the sin of worry, the sin of worldliness and the sin of worship.

These are the same things that cause many believers today to backside in THEIR relationship with God even when - like Jacob - they have every reason to do the opposite.

WORRY, WORLDLINESS, WORSHIP

First, Jacob’s vision was shaped by fear instead of faith.

Esau invites Jacob to join him and his 400 armed men to go back to Seir but Jacob declines making up some excuse about his animals and their weakened state.

Maybe Jacob wasn’t lying about the animals and he really did need to build some shelters for them to rest up and keep moving forward.

But why lie about meeting up with his brother later? Even when Esau offers to leave a protective detail behind he still refuses. Why?

Most people lie because they’re afraid of what the truth might cost them.

Maybe he was afraid that Esau’s gracious disposition wasn’t genuine.

Maybe he was afraid that if he went with Esau he wasn’t going to have room for his animals.

Maybe the fact that Esau wasn’t a believer gave Jacob pause given his new found faith.

Whatever his reasons, he lies to his brother about following him to Seir.

This deception by Jacob is what leads many people to assign him bad motives early on in this process.

His artificial humility and insistence on Esau taking the gift were all just ploys of self-reliance to ensure he could get what he needed and go on about his business.

It’s all an front for his cowardice and sinful anxiety before the Lord.

Backsliding stems from a loss of confidence in God’s character.

When fear goes from falling on you to ruling within you then decisions are made that lead to relational brokenness and God’s discipline on your life.

You allow the what if’s or the maybes to undermine your certainty in God’s promise.

Is fear causing you to do things that dishonor the Lord or deceive the people that you love?

Worldly Comfort Over God’s Will

The second reason for Jacob’s season of backsliding can be summarized under the umbrella of wordliness.

Genesis 33:18–19 CSB

18 After Jacob came from Paddan-aram, he arrived safely at Shechem in the land of Canaan and camped in front of the city. 19 He purchased a section of the field where he had pitched his tent from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver.

First, Jacob stoped short of his destination by stopping in Succoth. Now, he’s stopping short again in Shechem about 20 miles north of Bethel.

We know from chapter 35 that Bethel is where God ultimately wanted Jacob to stop but he refuses the will of God in exchange for some land in Shechem.

Why not go to Bethel? Maybe it was the hostility of the people living there.

Maybe it was the quality of the land there in Jordan Valley.

Maybe it was some kind of friendship with this man named Hamor.

Whatever the specifics, Jacob stops 20 miles short of the will of God for his life.

He established a life based on worldly comforts instead of the will of God.

Lot and Jacob’s Compromise

How do I know this isn’t the will of God for Jacob?

One reason is because of what happens when he stays there.

Another reason is Bethel is where God tells him to go after he repents.

But even before those two things we see this language of “pitching his tent outside the city.”

The last time this language was used it was used of Lot on his way to Sodom and Gomorrah.

Lot chose the Siddim Valley because it was well watered and there was green grass everywhere. Probably much of the same reason Jacob stopped in Shechem. (Gen 13:10)

He doesn’t initially go INTO Sodom just as Jacob doesn’t go INTO the city of Shechem. He pitched his tent “outside” of the city across from a neighbor named Hamor, Shechem’s father for 100 pieces of silver. (Gen 13:12)

I think the language is intentionally similar because what ends up happening to Jacob is the same thing that happens to Lot.

Spiritual compromise and harm to his family.

He’s only 20 miles north of where God wanted him to be but those 20 miles result in a spiritual and social disaster on his family.

I’m sure Jacob justified it to himself. I’m being obedient in all of these other ways. Surely God will be okay with it.

People do the same thing today.

Backsliding stems from a growing comfort with partial obedience.

At the end of the day partial obedience is still disobedience.

Just because you can justify it to yourself doesn’t mean it’s justified in the eyes of God.

Self-Centered Instead of Sincere

This leads us to the last reason for Jacob’s season of backsliding which revolves around his worship of God.

Genesis 33:20 CSB

20 And he set up an altar there and called it God, the God of Israel.

The reason I see this an evidence of Jacob’s compromise is because of it’s contrast with what Jacob does in Genesis 28:19 and 35:7.

In Gen 28:19 he connects worship with a place. He poured oil on a rock and called it Bethel.

In Gen 33:20 Jacob seems to connecting worship with himself and his personal experiences with God.

In other words, Jacob’s worship was primarily self-focused instead of fully surrendered.

But upon his repentance he learns that true worship isn’t about about a particular place or our personal experiences.

True worship is about God.

It’s not geographical. It’s not biographical. It’s theological.

That’s why God tells Jacob to name the altar at Bethel “God of the House of God.” (Gen 35:7)

True Worship

The same is true for us today. True worship isn’t about this building or even the experiences we have in this building.

True worship is giving our awe/all to God because he alone is worthy!

It’s not about God’s gifts or blessings it’s about the GIFT GIVER who is alone worthy to be praised.

You see this throughout the Old and New Testaments when it comes to the issue of worship.

True worship is not this place or that place worship is loving God in spirit and truth. (John 4:24)

Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind… offer your BODY as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1-2)

“Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.” 1 Sam 15:22

Backsliding stems from a failure to recognize what God really wants.

He doesn’t just want your money or your physical attendance at some building once a week.

And we miss the heart of worship if we think when we try harder and do better God will fix our most pressing issue whether it’s relational, financial, or some other worldly thing.

What God wants most is our HEART. And he wants us to TRUST HIM and LOVE HIM and the only way we can give evidence of that kind of worship is through obedience.

THE RESULTS OF BACKSLIDING

Jacob enters into a backslidden state because of his

shrinking confidence in the character of God,

his growing comfort with partial obedience and

his failure to recognize what God really wanted.

As a result of this season of disobedience Jacob is going to experience some devastating consequences - not just on himself but on the people he loved the most.

Again, we saw the same thing happen to Abraham, Lot and to Isaac. It seems to be a painful lesson that many fathers have to learn the hard way.

Let’s pick it back up in Genesis 34

Genesis 34:1–6 CSB

1 Leah’s daughter Dinah, whom Leah bore to Jacob, went out to see some of the young women of the area. 2 When Shechem—son of Hamor the Hivite, who was the region’s chieftain—saw her, he took her and raped her. 3 He became infatuated with Jacob’s daughter Dinah. He loved the young girl and spoke tenderly to her. 4 “Get me this girl as a wife,” he told his father. 5 Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah, but since his sons were with his livestock in the field, he remained silent until they returned. 6 Meanwhile, Shechem’s father Hamor came to speak with Jacob.

It’s hard to read this chapter as a Father to a little girl. I’m honestly amazed by the fact that Jacob chose to remain silent after the sexual abuse of his little girl.

I can’t guarantee I would’ve done the same. His seeming indifference is only going to worsen as the chapter moves on.

Response of The Sons

Genesis 34:7–31 CSB

7 Jacob’s sons returned from the field when they heard about the incident. They were deeply grieved and very angry, for Shechem had committed an outrage against Israel by raping Jacob’s daughter, and such a thing should not be done. 8 Hamor said to Jacob’s sons, “My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 9 Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 Live with us. The land is before you. Settle here, move about, and acquire property in it.” 11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Grant me this favor, and I’ll give you whatever you say. 12 Demand of me a high compensation and gift; I’ll give you whatever you ask me. Just give the girl to be my wife!” 13 But Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully because he had defiled their sister Dinah. 14 “We cannot do this thing,” they said to them. “Giving our sister to an uncircumcised man is a disgrace to us. 15 We will agree with you only on this condition: if all your males are circumcised as we are. 16 Then we will give you our daughters, take your daughters for ourselves, live with you, and become one people. 17 But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and go.” 18 Their words seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19 The young man did not delay doing this, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most important in all his father’s family. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city. 21 “These men are peaceful toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and move about in it, for indeed, the region is large enough for them. Let’s take their daughters as our wives and give our daughters to them. 22 But the men will agree to live with us and be one people only on this condition: if all our men are circumcised as they are. 23 Won’t their livestock, their possessions, and all their animals become ours? Only let’s agree with them, and they will live with us.” 24 All the men who had come to the city gates listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and all those men were circumcised. 25 On the third day, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords, went into the unsuspecting city, and killed every male. 26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went away. 27 Jacob’s sons came to the slaughter and plundered the city because their sister had been defiled. 28 They took their flocks, herds, donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. 29 They captured all their possessions, dependents, and wives and plundered everything in the houses. 30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me, making me odious to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.” 31 But they answered, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

This is such a devastating chapter.

I think it’s a really powerful warning especially to men who consider themselves responsible for the flourishing of their families.

You cannot live in a state of backsliding without cost. And the longer the season the more devastating the destruction is on you and your family.

In the case of Jacob I’d put it under 3 big umbrellas.

Living in a backslidden state…

threatens the safety the people you love.

corrupts the character of the people you influence.

numbs your soul to the damage you’ve caused.

I don’t have time to unpack all of these but they speak for themselves given the chapter we just read.

It’s a negative example of what we saw in Genesis 33. Not only do our horizontal relationships with people affect our relationship with God.

Our relationship with God affects our horizontal relationships with other people. It goes both ways! Always! By God’s design.

No Father wakes up in the morning and desires for his only daughter to get sexually assaulted by their next door neighbor.

But what many parents fail to realize is that their weak relationship with God might be paving the way for that kind of damage to take place.

Obviously Shechem was morally culpable for the hideous act he engaged in with Dinah. I’m not saying he didn’t deserve what came to him.

But had Jacob listened to God in the first place Shechem never would’ve had the opportunity to act.

Do you think that Jacob’s spiritual disengagement and toleration of his family’s idolatry had ZERO impact on the murderous schemes of Levi and Simeon?

Of course it did. Children imitate what they see in the home. Like Father like Son.

When you have a new name in Christ but wear your old clothes from the world your kids aren’t going to do what you say but what you show. Our faith is evidenced by our WORKS.

I wonder how many people might be honest about the fact that they’ve been living in a spiritually backslidden state for many years?

What if, like Jacob, your soul has also grown numb to the damage you’ve caused? What if God is breaking through that hardness of heart this morning to say WAKE UP AND SEE!

RECOVERY FROM BACKSLIDING

If that’s the case, how do we recover? How can we pull ourselves from a state of spiritual brokenness back to a place of blessing and divine protection?

Thankfully Genesis 35 gives a resolution to this tension.

Genesis 35:1–15 CSB

1 God said to Jacob, “Get up! Go to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” 2 So Jacob said to his family and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your clothes. 3 We must get up and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to the God who answered me in my day of distress. He has been with me everywhere I have gone.” 4 Then they gave Jacob all their foreign gods and their earrings, and Jacob hid them under the oak near Shechem. 5 When they set out, a terror from God came over the cities around them, and they did not pursue Jacob’s sons. 6 So Jacob and all who were with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. 7 Jacob built an altar there and called the place El-bethel because it was there that God had revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother. 8 Deborah, the one who had nursed and raised Rebekah, died and was buried under the oak south of Bethel. So Jacob named it Allon-bacuth. 9 God appeared to Jacob again after he returned from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him. 10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; you will no longer be named Jacob, but your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel. 11 God also said to him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation, indeed an assembly of nations, will come from you, and kings will descend from you. 12 I will give to you the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac. And I will give the land to your future descendants.” 13 Then God withdrew from him at the place where he had spoken to him. 14 Jacob set up a marker at the place where he had spoken to him—a stone marker. He poured a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. 15 Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

Again, we don’t have time to fully unpack everything that’s here but it’s such a powerful illustration of the goodness and character of God.

God’s calls out to Jacob WAKE UP! Just like he’s been calling out to some of you.

Jacob not only wakes up he begins to take responsibility for the spiritual leadership of his family.

He tells them to purify themselves, to change their clothes and to follow him as walks in full obedience to the will of God.

Upon their repentance and faith we see God supernaturally bless them with protection against the people who would’ve otherwise been very keen on wiping them out.

They did NOT deserve this protection from the Lord. This was a gift of God’s grace and was only given because of God’s good character not their own.

In addition to this divine protection God then renews his covenant promise to bless Jacob in keeping with his original covenant with Abraham. He reminds him of his new name and the blessed future that comes when we walk by faith.

Conclusion

So what does that mean for you and me? How do we pull ourselves from a backslidden state?

Respond to the invitation of God to get up and come back home. It’s always a simple as repentance and faith.

The Lord doesn’t need you to go back and fix everything you’ve broken. He just needs you to surrender your heart completely to him. Rest in his promise and plan for your life.

Three R’s to hep you practically implement repentance this morning.

Repent of your idolatry and unbelief.

Remember the grace and goodness of God.

Return to Bethel and the true heart of worship.

Repent

First, repent. You’ve heard me say it 100 times by now. Repentance is agreeing with God about the facts.

If you’ve been living in a backslidden state it’s because somewhere along the way you lost your confidence in the goodness of God and his design for your life and instead embraced Satan’s counterfeits in the world.

Anytime we love someone or something more than the Lord the Bible calls that idolatry. At the heart of all idolatry is sinful unbelief.

You stopped believing that God was good or that God’s Word is true or some combination of the two.

So agree with God that his design was better and your rebellion was foolish and confess that sin before him with a sincere heart.

Remember

But repentance isn’t just agreeing with God about your sin. It’s also agreeing with God about the sufficiency of His Grace in Christ Jesus.

Repentance includes the realization that you’re far worse off than you even realized but also remembering that in Christ you’re far more loved than you could’ve ever dared hope.

Remember that God loved you so much that he sent his son in to the world to live a sinless life of love and obedience to God the Father because he knew no matter how hard you tried or how many second changes you had you’d never be able to pull it off.

He’s done all the work so all you have to do is believe.

So bury your idols and pseudo Saviors and remember where true salvation is found.

Return

Finally you need to return. It does you no good to repent and remember if you’re not also wiling to exercise a little faith and obedience.

You need to return to Bethel and the true heart of worship. True worship isn’t about religious practices or sacred spaces.

True worship is about giving your awe/all to God because he alone is worthy to be praised. It’s about becoming separate and fully surrendered to God for his service.

That might mean different things for different people. Because worship isn’t just about what we do on Sunday mornings.

It’s at least that but it doesn’t stop there. Father’s worship God through the proper leadership of their families.

Mother’s worship God through the patient parenting of their crazy children.

Young men and women worship God by treasuring Christ over and against the competitors and counterfeits being forced down their throat by the culture.

Come back to the heart of worship and you’ll find yourselves back underneath the umbrella of God’s supernatural protection and spiritual blessing.

How might God be calling you to respond? Let’s do so now.

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