Reformed Sermons and Sunday Schools at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Petaluma, CA Rev. W. Reid Hankins

Sermon preached on Genesis 38 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 04/14/2024 in Petaluma, CA.















Sermon Manuscript







We continue today our sermon series through Genesis with another example of sinful failings among the patriarchs. We might immediately wonder why this passage is here, as it interrupts the current storyline. Yet, each of the patriarch sections in Genesis has had such an interrupting passage, one even where the patriarch’s sin failed with at least some negative ramifications on a woman under their care. Abraham lied about Sarah to Abimelech, and Isaac did the same thing. Then there was the violation of Dinah with Jacob failing to properly vindicate her. Today’s passage is along those lines, yet with some unique features.







Yet, if this is following the same pattern in those previous sections of Genesis, we might wonder why this strange chapter is about a failing of Judah instead of about Joseph. In fact, Joseph will show himself to overcome sexual temptation next chapter with Potiphar’s wife. Genesis clearly wants us to see today’s chapter in contrast to that because the verse before and after our chapter tells us about Joseph being taken to Potiphar’s house. Indeed, that contrast surely shows Joseph as more righteous than Judah.







Yet, still, we can ask the question. Why does this chapter put a prominence upon Judah, when so much in Genesis is setting us up to see that Joseph is going to be the leader over and even savior of all his brothers. We saw that story started last chapter, with Joseph’s brothers, Judah especially, selling him off to Egypt. In the end, we’ll see Joseph used by God to save his brothers from famine and death. This strange chapter is in the middle of that larger story about Joseph, and seems to interrupt it and give a prominence to Judah over Joseph, even while for the moment it shows Joseph more righteous than Judah.







I believe this passage reminds us that God’s providential workings to redeem his people have a wonderful complexity to them. God would use Joseph to save his people, but here God is also setting up things for the future where he would use Judah’s line to save his people in an even bigger way. Indeed, while Genesis tells us the story about how Jospeh is favored over his brothers, and he will even receive the family inheritance over them all, Genesis is also giving us prophetic hints that God will ultimately in the future take the leadership away from Joseph’s line and give it to none other than Judah. That is so important, because Jesus will be born the line of Judah. But none of that future would have happened if the events of our chapter take didn’t take place.







Let’s dig in to the passage. Let’s begin first to understand the cultural practice that we see here known as the levirate law, the law of the “husband’s brother”. While foreign to most cultures today, it was considered a very honorable practice back then, and some places still practice it today. Basically, the levirate law was if a married man died before having any male heir born to him, it was his brother’s duty to take the wife of his dead brother and have a male child with her. The child born in that situation would be considered the heir of the deceased brother, even though biologically that was not the case. This would protect inheritance rights. It also was a way society tried to care for the widow too, as son would care for a widowed mother in her old age.







And so, this was a widely practiced custom back then among many peoples, and it would later become formally instituted as civil law for the nation of Israel, Deuteronomy 25:5-10. Deuteronomy even showed the honorable nature of this practice by how it handled a brother who refus...

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 04/14/2024 in Petaluma, CA. This week we discussed common questions for apologetics.

Sermon preached on Genesis 37 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 04/07/2024 in Petaluma, CA.















Sermon Manuscript







Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.







We begin the final section of Genesis, starting here with the words of, “These are the generations of Jacob.” Here, we will learn more about the lives of Jacob’s twelve sons, with a big focus on Joseph. Indeed, this section of Genesis arguably has the most vivid and gripping narrative of the whole book. We’ve been watching the family of Abraham growing. We’ve seen God starting to fulfill the covenant promises that he gave to Abraham. But in this final section of Genesis, the very existence of this family of God’s people will become threatened. Yet, we will witness God’s saving work through this section to preserve God’s people. Let us remember why this is significant. At this time, this family represents the visible church on earth. And it would be through this family that God’s saving work through Jesus would come about. So, the hope of the world literally relies on this family’s survival. But God would preserve them. This final section will show us how God does it. Today’s chapter is just the beginning of the setup, however, as we see the sibling rivalry between the sons of Jacob, specifically the animosity that develops between Joseph and his brothers.Let’s begin in our first point for today to consider the brothers’ growing hatred of Joseph. There were several factors that built upon each other that resulted in how greatly they hated Joseph. We see the first reason for their hatred in verse 2. Joseph was out pasturing the flock with some of his brothers and he came out and gave a bad report of them to their father. Now, presumably the report he brought back was accurate. There is nothing here to suggest that it was a false report of them. But the language here to describe Josephs report is one of whispering, similar to how gossip might also be described. So, the text subtly casts his report in a negative light. Basically, Joseph here becomes a tattle-teller. And so this is the first reason our passage gives us of why the brothers would have hated Joseph – no one likes a tattle-teller. In a section of Scripture that paints Joseph fairly commendably, it is important to see right off the bat that he is not perfect.Next, we see that their father Jacob AKA Israel favored Joseph over all of them. Verse 3 says that Jacob literally loved Joseph more than all his other sons. The reason given is that he was the son of his old age, but we can also remember that he was the firstborn son of Rachel, the clear favorite wife of Jacob. What makes matters worse for Joseph in terms of his relationship with his brothers is that his father publicly displays his favoritism through this coat. Jacob makes this coat of many colors for Jacob, clearly distinguishing him from the rest of the sons. At this, verse 4 clearly notes that this caused his brothers to hate him, when they saw how their father favored him. Already by this point they had so much hatred for him that they couldn’t even speak peacefully to him. They envied Joseph for how much their father loved him, so they hated him for it. This would be an example of what’s forbidden by the tenth commandment of “You shall not covet.”Their hatred is further escalated by these two dreams that Joseph has. Maybe if Joseph had enough sense to not tell the dreams to his family, things might have been different. But, verses 5-8 records his first dream of sheaves and how he shared it with his brothers. The interpretation the brothers conclude is that it foretold the brothers would one day bow down before Joseph. This part about the dream starts and finishes by noting how it caused the brothers to hate him all the more. Then the second dream is there in verses 9-13,

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 04/07/2024 in Petaluma, CA. This week we discussed apologetics in personal evangelism.

Sermon preached on Matthew 28:1-10 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 03/31/2024 in Petaluma, CA.















Sermon Manuscript







Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.







Each year at the anniversary of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead we take a break from our normal sermon series to rejoice in this fact of history. Jesus Christ is risen indeed! The reason Jesus died on the cross was to save God’s people from their sins. All sin deserves God’s judgment, but Jesus went to the cross as an offering to God in our place. He bore God’s wrath as he died there on the cross. For all who have put their faith in him, he paid for all of your sins there at Calvary. But if he remained dead, it would imply that he had not been able to pay the debt in full. It would imply that the God’s wrath yet remained on him. But he rose from the dead on the third day, and it showed that he had overcome. Jesus paid it all. For we who have turned to Jesus in faith, the resurrection tells us that we are victorious in Christ. When God comes to judge the living and the dead, we will not need to fear, because we have found a mighty refuge in Jesus. This is what we will consider again this year as we think about the resurrection of Jesus.







But I wanted to particularly consider the resurrection in reference to the what we find in verse 2. There, it speaks of a great earthquake that was connected with the resurrection account of Jesus. Earthquakes are scary. If you’ve ever been through a big one, you know what I am talking about. Today’s message will help us to think about earthquakes, both in general, and as it relates to the resurrection.







Let us begin in our first point to think of earthquakes in the past. What I have in mind, is what do we learn about earthquakes from the Old Testament? In short, what we find is that often earthquakes recorded in the Bible are an expression of God’s judgment, and related to that, an expression of his presence coming to earth. To clarify, this does not mean that all earthquakes are a specific judgment of God upon some specific people for some specific sin. That would be presumptuous to claim that, unless God’s Word specifically told us that. Yes, earthquakes are here in general, because we live in a world cursed by God because of mankind’s sinful rebellion. In that sense, every destructive earthquake is a general judgment of God. But there have been some earthquakes in history that the Bible has identified as specific judgments of God and specific expressions of his presence on earth.







Let me give you just a few examples where the Bible connects certain earthquakes with his judgment and presence. For example, the prophet Isaiah foretold a coming judgment in Isaiah 29:6 saying, “You will be visited by the LORD of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.” Ezekiel too in Ezekiel 38:19 prophesied of God saying, “For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, on that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.” Amos speaks of God’s judgment as the roaring of the LORD, making an earthquake analogy (1:1-2). Jeremiah 10:10 speaks of how at God’s wrath the earth quakes. Nahum 1:6 speaks of God’s wrath that breaks rocks into pieces when it comes, alluding to earthquakes. Or you see this poetically in the Psalter too, such as Psalm 99:1. There it says, “The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!” And, of course, you have Mt. Sinai trembling greatly when God descended upon it in the day of Moses (Exodus 19:18). These are just some of several biblical references.







This should not surprise us that the Bible would make a connect...

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 03/31/2024 in Petaluma, CA. This week we discussed apologetics in personal evangelism.