Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Deceiving And Being Deceived!

Galatians; 6:7
(Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.)
A man reaps what a man sows. One example in the Bible is in the book of Genesis. The deceitfulness of Jacob. When Isaac was close to death, he called his first born son Esau and ask him to go hunting and bring in some wild game and fix it the way he liked. Then He was going to give him the blessing before he died.
Genesis; 27:3-4
(Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go to the field and hunt game for me. And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.")

Prior to this day, Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob for some stew of lentils. He had come in from the field and was starving and Jacob had just cooked up some stew. He wanted some of the stew at whatever the cost.
Genesis; 25:31-34
(But Jacob said, "Sell me your birthright as of this day." And Esau said, "Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?" Then Jacob said, "Swear to me as of this day." So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.)

Now when Isaac was about to give Esau the patriarchal blessing which he had sold to Jacob, Rebekah overheard him and called in Jacob to plan the deceit of Isaac. She had Jacob go out to the field and get two choice kids of goat and bring them to her and she would prepare them the way Isaac liked them. Jacob could then take them into his father and receive the blessing. He did what his mother said and received the blessing from Isaac. Thus they deceived Isaac because he could not see well enough to know that it wasn't his son Esau.

When Esau found out what Jacob had done, he was very angry and threatened to kill Jacob. Rebekah found out about the threat and sent Jacob away to her brother Laban in Haran. When Jacob came to Haran, he saw Rachel coming to water her fathers sheep and he rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well so Rachel could water the sheep. He went to Laban, Rebekah's brother and asked for Rachel his daughter for his wife. He promised to work for Laban for seven years in exchange for his daughter Rachel. When the seven years was up he went to Laban and said he wanted Rachel his wife. But Laban took Leah his first born daughter and sent her to Jacob and in the morning he realized that he had been deceived.

He had deceived Isaac and now Laban had deceived him.
Genesis; 29:25
(So it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you deceived me?")
He had run to Laban from his brother Esau because he had deceived his father and now Laban had deceived him. What ever a man sows, this he will also reap. He had been deceitful and now been deceived.

God tells us that what ever we sow we will also reap.
Galatians; 6:8
(For he who sows to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap eternal life.)
If you chose to live a worldly life, you can expect nothing but sorrow and corruption. If however you chose to live by the Spirit, and give your life to Jesus as Lord and Savior, you will reap eternal life. The choice is yours to make.

God Bless You!

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