3 Pillars And A Tower

[0:00] Thank you for choosing to listen to today's message by Rev. Dr. David Edgley. We know you will be blessed as you seek and serve God. We believe that this message will stir up a desire for more of God even as you listen.

[0:14] Be blessed. Three pillars and a tower. Jacob, he left home, he was going, he got to a place called Luz. And he slept there and had a dream.

[0:27] And in his dream, God spoke to him. And then he woke up, he said, God was here. I did not know. That was not an experience. It was a dream.

[0:42] If you have a dream that you are eating, and when you wake up, you are very full, it's a dangerous dream. What were you eating when you are full, naturally?

[0:54] You can't eat in a dream and be full. You can't get pregnant in a dream. Can you? You can't get pregnant in a dream.

[1:08] So what I'm trying to tell you is that the dream he had was not an experience. Dreams are not experiences. The first pillar he built was the, no, that wasn't an experience.

[1:22] So it's actually, we can't classify it as a pillar. Really? He built a pillar, but it was a pillar reflecting the actual experience he had later when God told him, go to battle.

[1:32] So when he got to battle, you know that God came to him and he says that you are now Israel, you are not Jacob. Because that was, when he went to battle in Genesis 35, he built the altar.

[1:46] There God appeared to him. That one is a practical experience. The dream was not an experience. And he woke up from the dream and vowed that God, if you do this for me, it was still a pillar of God's protection, a pillar of God taking care of him.

[2:05] So now what's the first pillar? The first pillar is actually a pillar of God's protection anyway. But the first pillar he built out of experience was in Genesis 31.

[2:19] Genesis chapter 31, verse, let's start from verse 50. How Laban was coming to Jacob to come and attack him.

[2:30] And then God appeared to him. He said, may God appear to your enemies. And change their heart condition in your favor.

[2:41] So God appeared to him and said, don't touch Jacob. Because he's my vessel. Don't touch him. And so when they met, they went through all the pleasantries.

[2:52] And they came to a conclusion. Read the verse 45. Before you go to, read the verse 25. So Laban overtook Jacob.

[3:04] Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountains. And Laban with his brethren pitched in the mountains of Gilead. Where? Gilead. Say Gilead. Gilead. Say Gilead.

[3:15] Gilead. The mountains of Gilead. That's where this whole transaction took place. Verse 35. And she said to her father, let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise before you.

[3:27] Let's go to 45. So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. Then Jacob said to his brethren, gather stones. And they took stones and made a heap.

[3:39] And they ate there on the heap. Laban called it Jagar Sahadutha. But Jacob called it Gilead. And Laban said, this heap is a witness between you and me this day.

[3:51] Therefore, its name was called Gilead. Also Mizpah. Because he said, may the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent from one another.

[4:02] If you inflict my daughters or if you take other wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us, see, God is witness between you and me. Then Laban said to Jacob, here is the heap and here is the pillar which I have placed between you and me.

[4:19] This heap is a witness and this pillar is a witness that I will not pass. The pillar is what? The witness. He said the pillar is a witness.

[4:30] First case 721. If I don't find out, I'll just leave it to them. Because I want to show you something briefly. Yeah, it should be 720. Oh, is it calling us?

[4:41] Then he set up pillars by the vestibule of the temple. That's the one I was looking for. When Ptolemon was building the temple, he set up what? Pillars by what? The vestibule.

[4:52] Read it. Okay. Then he set up pillars by the vestibule of the temple. He set up the pillar on the right and called its name Jachim. And he set up the pillar on the left and called its name Boaz.

[5:05] Now, this is the pillars in the temple. When Solomon was building the temple, he had to set up two pillars. Not one. Two. Two is a sign of witness. He said, in the mouth of two or three witnesses, let the matter be established.

[5:20] Jesus said, where two or three are gathered in my name? There I am. He said, if two of you, if two of you shall agree touching anything on earth and pray about it, it shall be done by my father.

[5:31] Two is a sign of witness. And so, in the tabernacle, in the temple, the pillars in the temple, Solomon said, there are two.

[5:42] So, pillars are a sign of witness. Now, back to Genesis chapter 31, verse 51. Then Laban said to Jacob, here is the heap and here is the pillar which I have placed between you and me.

[5:57] This heap is a witness and this pillar is a witness that I will not pass beyond this heap to you. And you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me for harm.

[6:08] The God of Abraham, the God of Nahum, and the God of their father judged between us. And Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac. Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain.

[6:20] So, you see, the pillar, the first pillar was a witness between Jacob and Laban. Laban was coming to attack him. And then God spoke to him.

[6:30] And he said, okay, you can go. Don't do anything harm to my... In fact, when you read the story, and he said, the children are mine. Because they are his grandchildren. Because they're wives. They are my daughters.

[6:41] They don't take another wife. They are my daughters. That guy is a very serious mafia. He said, they are my daughters.

[6:52] And you have... Yes. You have lived with me. He said, the flock, they are my flock. I can't imagine. That's why he thought Jacob shouldn't live.

[7:04] The children are my children. He said, but now you can go. And this pillar... In verse 45, he said, the sword has a pillar. And Laban said, it will be a witness between us.

[7:15] So the pillar was a pillar of God's protection. In his journey, that first pillar, actually by experience, was a pillar of divine protection. Then he goes to Bethel.

[7:28] And then that's chapter 35. And he builds the second pillar there. When he went to Bethel, that was the house of God. The first one was the pillar of God's protection.

[7:38] Of God's care. Of God's defense. And the second one was the pillar of God's house. The witness of God's house. Now, it's good for God to protect you.

[7:51] It's good for God to do things for you. It's good for God to supply all your needs according to his riches in glory. It is good for all the other...

[8:01] These things to be added to you as you seek the kingdom. It is good. But that is not the ultimate. The more you work with God, the more you find out that sometimes things can be a bit tougher.

[8:12] So, God provided for him. But that wasn't the ultimate. He was so well provided for, he was comfortable. And God told him in Genesis 35 that get up and go to Bethel.

[8:26] So, God asked him to go to Bethel and build an altar there. And when he went to Bethel, he built an altar there. Genesis chapter 35 from verse 10. And God said to him, So, Jacob set up a pillar in the place...

[9:07] Jacob did what? Set up a pillar. Where? In the place where God talked with him. Did you see that? So, this talking with him is an experience. It wasn't a dream.

[9:19] Where Jacob spoke to him, it was an experience. So, Laban spoke to him, it was an experience. It wasn't a dream. So, that was a real experience. So, the first pillar was the experience of God's protection.

[9:32] And then the second pillar was the experience of the house of God. Because God spoke to him, God told him, go and build me. God is interested in you building his house. He has a purpose.

[9:44] The reason why he gave you the job is not because people will see that you are blessed. The reason why he gave you a job is because of his house. Some people, as soon as they get married, you will see them again.

[9:54] The love of God goes down. And some will use the care of pregnancy. You know, pregnancy becomes the reason why they can't pursue God. But as soon as they get pregnant, you will see that, yes, they are pregnant.

[10:08] Because some pregnancies are different. How many of you have missed church service a few times, and then you realize that now getting in the flow, sometimes you are used to not being in the flow.

[10:24] So, when you are not well, and you are not going to church or going for meetings, even when you are well, you are not still well fully. So, sometimes people become used to being absent from Hebron, from fellowship, that they become so used to it now, when they can even move themselves out of comfort, from comfort.

[10:53] Move themselves out of the comfort zone, out of relaxation to go. Now it's too much. So, they choose to stay out of Hebron and stay somewhere else.

[11:05] Go to Bethel, and there, build me a pillar. The first pillar was the pillar of God's protection, of God's care. The second pillar was the pillar of God's house.

[11:16] And then let's see the third pillar. All right. Verse, where were you? Chapter 35. Genesis chapter 35. Verse. We read from verse 15.

[11:30] And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel. Then they journeyed from Bethel, and when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor.

[11:46] Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, Do not fear, you will have this son also. And so it was, as her soul was departing, for she died, that she called his name Ben-Oni, but his father called him Benjamin.

[12:03] So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar on her grave. Jacob did what? Set a pillar on her grave.

[12:13] Let's all say that together. Amen. And Jacob set a pillar on Rachel's grave. Let's say that together. And Jacob set a pillar on Rachel's grave.

[12:25] One more time. And Jacob set a pillar on Rachel's grave. And Rachel was someone he loved, and Rachel was the result of his natural choice.

[12:37] Natural choice. It's natural. He chose Rachel based on his natural taste, his natural bent, his natural inclination. And Benjamin is a type of Christ.

[12:53] So Benjamin was being born. So Benjamin was being born. Rachel died. So someone was dying. Someone was being born. So you have to either save your wife and lose your son, or save your son and lose your wife.

[13:08] The son was representing Christ. The wife of God. The wife of God. The wife of God representing his natural choice. But God takes you to a place, brings you to a place where is no more your natural choice.

[13:20] Your natural choice must die, and you have to build a tomb. A tomb. The pillar was built on the grave of his natural choice. It was like a tombstone.

[13:35] This is me. I said, you don't know me. Rachel must die. Your natural choice must go so that Christ can have a full expression in your life.

[13:49] You must come to a place where your natural choice dies. And then Christ rises. Christ is born. Christ is birthed. Some of us are natural choices of man, woman, for marriage, wife, husband.

[14:08] You don't know. God is waiting for that natural choice to die. Hey, I didn't say God wants to kill your wife. Go and learn how to handle her.

[14:20] Don't tell me God should kill her. I was not led. I just chose her because I wasn't spiritual enough. Then don't worry. Now that you are spiritual, you have what it takes to make.

[14:34] I'm talking about you are being led by your natural self to go in a certain direction. How can you say that I had this child through fornication?

[14:47] It was my natural choice. So what? So what are you going to do? Once you say that child should die, what are you going to do? Some things are irreversible.

[15:00] Marriage, having a child. And these are things that you don't toil and reverse my heart. Magado Shagayas.

[15:17] Then what happened? He built. You like what I'm about to teach you? Quiet. Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Edom.

[15:28] And it happened. When Israel dwelt in that room. It's okay. It's okay. Israel. Israel. That's the first time Bible called him Israel. After he built a pillar in the house of God. Now, his name was changed in 28.

[15:40] He said he will be Israel, no more Jacob. But Bible never referred to him as Israel until after he had the actual Bethel experience. Then Bible started calling.

[15:51] Bible said, then Israel journeyed and did what? And pitched his tent beyond the tower of Edom.

[16:01] Beyond where? The tower of what? Edom. The tower of Edom. Do you know what Edom means? Okay, find it out quickly.

[16:15] Edom is like a tower of flocks. What does it say? What does it mean? In Hebrew, the meaning of the name Edom is flock.

[16:28] See, flock. Tower of flock. Where the flock will flourish. So, he was good. Some of you, for information, because of time.

[16:40] Jacob, that was not his destination. He was on his way to Genesis chapter 35, verse 27. Listen to this. Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kezat Abba, that is Hebron.

[16:57] Where? Where was Isaac based? Hebron. What did you say about Hebron? Where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt. Abraham and Isaac. That's where, that's their family location.

[17:08] Do you know what Hebron means? Do you know what Hebron means? Abraham settled in Hebron. Isaac, after Isaac, he virtually didn't move out of Hebron.

[17:21] He tried to go, but he didn't go. He stayed there. Isaac stayed. So, Jacob traveled and went and went. Now, he was on his way back to Hebron. But when he got to the tower of Eda, he settled.

[17:39] You are going to Hebron. Why do you settle in Eda? Hebron means fellowship. Eda means tower of flock.

[17:52] Three pillars and a tower. The tower where he settled was a big mistake. What does Eda mean? Eda signify the place where things are working for you.

[18:06] Things are comfortable. You are too tired to continue. You are too tired to continue the journey. It's okay. This place is good. My flock can have a good place to grow.

[18:21] But is there anything wrong with Eda? Let me show you what's wrong with Eda and what happens to people who settle in Eda. Number one, what's wrong with Eda? Because Eda is not your destination. Hebron, fellowship is your destination.

[18:34] Why are you sacrificing fellowship for comfort? Why are you sacrificing fellowship for the comfort, the temptation of comfort?

[18:49] Don't succumb to that temptation. The pressure is high. But that's not where God has meant for you to settle. And you know what happened to him, sir?

[19:01] You know what happened to him, Eda? I heard Bishop Doug say something which was a blessing. He said, many people have turned church to a casino. Las Vegas.

[19:13] You see, you give to God because of a covenant. You don't give to God because you want to receive back immediately.

[19:26] So, you give to God. You gift 300 or 30 pounds. You are expecting that by next week, it should be 300. See, that casino, casino lifestyle. Casino.

[19:37] Casino. Gamblers in the temple. Gamblers. And we have preachers who are specialists in that. Not because their hearts are bad But sometimes you are so bent on comfort and settlement You can miss the purpose of God Why do you stop pursuing God?

[20:01] Because you are tired, you can't afford to rest Because that is not the location Sister, are you listening to me? You can't afford to, oh yeah, I'm tired You can't be bothered You better start getting bothered Because of the tsunami that is coming You are in Taiwan Having fun But there's a tsunami coming And he said, I can't be bothered I've traveled a lot, this time I won't leave now Hey!

[20:36] Let's see what happened to him at the tower After building 3P, let's see what the tower brought to him And it happened When Israel dwelt It happened Hey!

[20:48] Are you ready for this? When Israel dwelt in that land That Reuben went and lay with Bila His father's concubine Oh, Reuben Reuben See, that tower of comfort is a place of immorality It was a place of a trap That's where sexual immorality came into the family It broke into the family Some of us, your most vulnerable moments Is the moments when you are very comfortable and resting In your spiritual passage In your spiritual passage Your most vulnerable moments Yes You lose God You are no more alert It's okay, I'm relaxing Chill out Hey!

[21:33] You get You keep getting troubled by temptation And I can't stop this thing I think You need proper trouble You know, when you have trouble You lose taste for food Maybe Things are too comfortable Hey!

[21:54] When trouble hits Brother When trouble hits You will never have a chance to even fornicate Because the trouble The police is after you They are about to Put you in prison or something Or they are about to seize your house Or your Something And make you You don't even have appetite to eat Something's coming I can't be bothered You can't be bothered I'm telling you The doctors have told you that The thing they have seen in your kidney It looks like It's a rattlesnake Because The church relaxed We We were in the tower of Ida Dangerous!

[22:38] And what happens in the tower of Ida Is strange temptations Especially Sexual temptations Look at Look at Reuben Reuben went and slept with this The same thing happened In 2 Samuel chapter 11 Verse 1 2 3 And I think I will end there Some of us are still in We are You are beginning to settle down Maybe you need some problems It will jack you up I don't know How it's true No I'm not saying God should bring you problems I'm saying maybe Because when things are rosy You easily forget what's important You settle so quickly Whilst you are on your way to Hebron Now you are settling in the tower of Ida Because your flock can eat well They can flourish You are not thinking about prosperity Thinking about Sunday morning You are polishing your car Sunday morning

[23:40] So the only time I have free To be able to paint this house God has given me Is the time to worship So let me convert my worship into painting Whilst you are painting Whilst you are painting You climb up the painting And then you saw something through the window Temptation was lurking Read it Second Samuel 11 From verse 1 It happened in the spring of the year At the time when kings go out to battle When kings go out to battle When church members are coming to catch their glory You are home When you were so David was a king That's the time kings go for battle Tower of Ida The place of temptation And then you You see the day The sound that you didn't go to church That's when a lot of things started coming You decide to watch television And you saw your ex-boyfriend

[24:42] Being interviewed on BBC What? And then Afterwards you sent him a text Was that you? He said yes girl It was me Where are you?

[24:53] So I'm coming I'm coming Where can we meet? Tower of Ida Tower of Ida It came to pass At the spring time When kings went for war That day King David You were supposed to be on the battlefield Battleground What are you doing at home?

[25:14] Because now he's prosperous He's a king He can choose Because people will tell him that No Stay Because you are worth more than us So you don't go and fight We'll fight If we die We die But you don't have to come Stay So David relaxed And was Can you imagine?

[25:30] If he was someone He would even go into a place of prayer But he was relaxing And walking on his balcony He was walking on his balcony He was walking on What is that?

[25:42] So You know what he saw Somebody baffing The woman was baffing He cleaned the place I see Where is he going?

[25:55] I see What? King What was he supposed to be doing? Whoa He moved forward Take off A job Who is that?

[26:11] Go and look for her Bring her Where is the king? They went and brought her He said Who are you? Come on Come on Sit down Have some tea Where was he supposed to be?

[26:26] Battle for Have some You see How the devil gets you? Have some tea Come on Come on Get her Sit here Sit here Sit here Sit here Sit here Hey Sit here Sit here Hey Hey Hey Hey Honey Hey Hey Amen Are you all right?

[26:47] I'm here Hey You okay? king at the time kings went for war he was sitting at home and i began seeing he started moving on what he was seeing in the day of comfort you become very vulnerable go to hebron what are you doing in eda what are you doing sister i know you are tired but you can't settle in either you can't say you can't settle you've come this far by faith you cannot say i'm tired but i can't stop running who for the joy that was set before him and showed the cross long story short he slept with a woman and the woman came back he said uriah's wife let's organize his execution so he killed the man because he wanted the thing he called you don't go and fight you two come come come and be with by your wife you're asked no i can't go home because we my friends are at war why should i go and relax with my wife i can't go and relax say you called me i'll sit at the gate tomorrow morning i'll go back to war if you finish one said no no go to your wife he said no i can't go come and drink some no no i'm supposed to be fighting and then he said you're going to go he wrote a letter gave the army commander please put him where the army is furious so he can die because what has happened i have to cover myself you see one thing led to another and then to cut a long story short nathan after he did die took the woman married nathan when god sent the prophet nathan go to and tell david there was a man who had a lot of sheep and his neighbor had only one sheep and this rich man with a lot of sheep he had a visitor when his visitors came he wanted to make food for them he went to his neighbor and caught the one sheep and slaughtered it to serve his visitors david said such a man must die immediately such a man nathan said you are that man interesting story see the bible and i like david david said god that's when he wrote sam 51. lord i've seen how could i have done he didn't intend to but you see when you start relaxing you will do what you would vow never to do never to do tower of it is too expensive for your future but in i want to end this thing quickly just to draw your attention sexual immorality entered his family jacob because of where he's 12 because that his firstborn lost a birthright sexual immorality was waiting to attack his family and guess what david that singular thing he did most of us have been realized god forgave him in um second samuel chapter 11 god forgave him god forgave him god forgave him verse 14 god said your sins are forgiven your sins because david was genuine he was genuine he was he didn't mean to do that so god forgave him is it verse 14 read the verse 14 see he killed someone took the wife and god forgave him and the woman was pregnant god said this child will not live the child will die what happened so david said to nathan i have sinned against the lord

[30:49] and nathan said to david the lord also has put away your sin you shall not die god god said god has also put away your sin however he said you slept with someone's wife privately your own they will sleep with your own publicly seriously since that time david's dynasty and david's kingship and god's program in david's life was heavily interfered with heavily it was through that solomon couldn't even be the actual heir of jesus christ through mary that's why the kingdom got divided david he said in your time i'm forgiving you but your family would never remain the same again absolutely his son raped his other daughter so your son raping your daughter in his family it was that that that opened the door one one open the door son raped his daughter absolutely raped my sister my half sister my sister you my half brother he organized and killed him and absalom now organized to overthrow david and all this and then david run from the house run from the palace was away he wrote a lot of some god deliver me from my enemies his own son and then when he was away absalom lined his women on the rooftop one after the other firing them why why did that happen david you should have been at the battlefield god forgive you but there are some things that can ma and destroy everything that you have lived for same one relaxation it's not every movie you will watch it's not every place you can eat from it's not every party at this stage of your life and your work with god it's not every party you can attend yeah because for most of some of some of those things it's the tower of either you will never come back the same god will forgive you you still come and continue to show your power oh lord but a lot has been stripped out of your life one relaxation three pillars and a tower that tower of temptation that tower of comfort that tower of convenience is where satan is lacking it's lacking he's waiting when you are comfortable he's waiting you're serious i'm getting what i'm saying some of us are called to be big men of god great women of god but one relaxation when church members are all together in one place praying what are you doing in the restaurant eating call your starbucks it's prayer meeting so when people come to church and they leave church and go and say i don't know what is wrong with them you are we are it's different if church has started what are you doing tower of ida tower of ida yeah listen when when people are sick i've seen it i'm a pastor for a long i've been a pastor for a little while now when people are sick and they have a court case or they have a critical situation pastor yes please yes pastor yes pastor pastor please pastor please as soon as the court case is over as soon as the healing comes as soon as the cancer is gone because now they have comfort what is it if one church i'm coming why are they putting pressure on me like that why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why you were not married you will never say that

[34:57] you were determined so first i said lift up your hands your hands go higher than everybody the pastor says oh may god bless you are the first to you're already on the floor pastor bless me pastor bless me pastor bless because you have a court case because you have a problem because you have a situation you are quick to kneel down you are quick to lie down you will be near you are lying and rolling on the floor yes man of god yes lord yes yes yes yes lord now now you have got a job now you have got a job we saw can we give god thanks and then you sit down and cross your legs hey tower of eda satan is waiting oh yes it's gradually coming from your roof he's making holes you sit down and be watching tv he's punching holes in your roof he's about to create a big hole and then dive on you i've been just seeing every time terrorism watch security severe we don't hear anything it's when we are all relaxed don't relax don't relax don't relax i know ladies who would have been married by now have been married by now have they not settled in the tower of eda oh yeah they would have been married by now when they got their own hey nobody they don't care so our instructions didn't matter anymore our instructions the instructions that could help them didn't matter because they knew this man is for for me for life the man said what do you want i'll take out my tongue and give it to you i can share my liver with you if you want so they knew i've arrived i know some of us may be tired but you are meant to be in hebron not the tower of eda do not settle i'm a voice of one crying in the wilderness god is talking to you tomorrow it may become a major prayer topic god i didn't know that's what i'm telling you ahead of time where you are trying to settle is satan's territory he's actually watching you he's waiting for you to settle then he can visit you you have kept a very good record up to now please keep running and maintain that good record keep running keep running we thank god for using the server reverend dr david entry to share this awesome word if this message has blessed you in any way please spread the word by sharing it and send us an email to amen at carries.org remember to stay connected with us on facebook instagram youtube and twitter for regular updates on what god is doing here at caris ministries stay blessed