Sermon Tone Analysis

“These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham fathered Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife.

And Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren.

And the LORD granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

The children struggled together within her, and she said, ‘If it is thus, why is this happening to me?’

So she went to inquire of the LORD.

And the LORD said to her,

‘Two nations are in your womb,

and two peoples from within you shall be divided;

the one shall be stronger than the other,

the older shall serve the younger.’

“When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb.

The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau.

Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob.

Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

“When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents.

Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

“Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted.

And Esau said to Jacob, ‘Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!’

(Therefore his name was called Edom.) Jacob said, ‘Sell me your birthright now.’

Esau said, ‘I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?’ Jacob said, ‘Swear to me now.’

So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.

Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way.

Thus Esau despised his birthright.”

[1]

Esau’s name lives on in infamy in the pages of the New Testament.

This is in spite of the fact that almost any parent would be pleased to have a son like Esau.

Nevertheless, Esau does not receive accolades in the New Testament passages when he is mentioned.

Writing the Roman saints, Paul speaks of Jacob and Esau.

“It is not as though the word of God has failed.

For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’

This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.

For this is what the promise said: ‘About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.’

And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— she was told, ‘The older will serve the younger.’

As it is written, ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated’” [ROMANS 9:6-13].

Esau is again mentioned in the Letter to Hebrew Christians.

Again, the reference is not in the least flattering.

“See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.

For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears” [HEBREWS 12:15-17].

These two New Testament references have led many to question Esau’s salvation.

Admittedly, it is not ours to question God’s choice or to attempt to second-guess the Lord God.

However, Esau’s life and his choices mirror lifestyles and choices witnessed among contemporary Christians.

Often, the manner in which we live and the choices we make can raise questions concerning our grasp of faith and the transformation salvation brings.

Therefore, it is appropriate for us to ask the question of whether Esau was saved or lost.

In seeking the answer to this question we may well encourage our own hearts to pursue the Master, honouring Him through the choices we make and the manner in which we live.

*THE PROPHECY* — Rebekah was pregnant.

She had married Isaac when he was forty years of age, and they had been married twenty years at this point.

Marriage had not resulted in a pregnancy as she had hoped; so she prayed, asking God to grant her a child.

The LORD graciously granted her request.

I can hardly mention this without noting the contrast with so many women in this day.

In the Word of God, women find joy in bringing children into the home; they experience fulfilment as the happy mother of children.

Today—not so much!

However, after Rebekah conceived, she experienced a difficult pregnancy.

At one point, it seemed that the children would be the cause of her death.

She didn’t consult a midwife or a physician, perhaps because there were no such individuals to consult in her nomadic life; instead, she inquired of the LORD.

We aren’t provided specifics on her consultation.

If she went to a shrine or to a prophet, we are not told.

Nevertheless, she did receive an answer to her query.

“Two nations are in your womb,

and two peoples from within you shall be divided;

the one shall be stronger than the other,

the older shall serve the younger.”

[GENESIS 25:23]

What was left unsaid was that Rebekah was a participant in God’s plan to bless mankind.

Perhaps she should have known this since Isaac was a descendant of Abraham, and Abraham had received a great promise from the LORD God.

Years before Isaac was born, God had said to Abram, “‘I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.’

Then Abram fell on his face.

And God said to him, ‘Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.

No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.

And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.

And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God’” [GENESIS 17:1-8].

This was an iteration of God’s earlier promise to Abram.

“The word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: ‘Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.’

But Abram said, ‘O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’

And Abram said, ‘Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.’

And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: ‘This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.’

And he brought him outside and said, ‘Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.’

Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’

And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness” [GENESIS 15:1-6].

God continued to emphasise that Sarah would deliver a child [cf.

GENESIS 18:9-15].

Abraham’s descendants would inherit the land God had promised.

Though the Word does not say so specifically, it is virtually certain that Rebekah had heard this promise.

She undoubtedly knew that Isaac was the child of promise.

Despite the divine promise, after twenty years of marriage to the son of promise she was still childless.

Small wonder that she prayed!

The knowledge of God’s promise would have only intensified her anxiety.

However, she did pray and God had answered.

I stated earlier and I am compelled to emphasise the fact that it is doubtful that either Isaac or Rebekah fully understood their role in God’s work through their lives.

It is doubtful that any of us actually understand what God is doing in our lives at the time events are taking place.

This is the reason that we are told that “We walk by faith, not by sight” [2 CORINTHIANS 5:7].

At best, we are forced to concede that, “Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face-to-face.

Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” [1 CORINTHIANS 13:12].

In the womb, two sons were growing and already struggling for dominance over one another.

The struggle that began in the womb would continue throughout the life of these two boys; and their parents would stumble into their struggle for supremacy over one another.

What a surprise at the birth of these two boys!

It wasn’t a surprise that they were twins; Rebekah had received a divine revelation that this was the case.

What was surprising was what occurred at the birth.

First, a furry, testosterone-redolent, redheaded boy broke forth from the womb.

Those assisting at the birth must have marvelled at the ruddy little bundle of fur.

Compounding their surprise was the fierce determination of the second child whose little hand was clinging to the heel of his brother as though he was trying to pull his aside to advance himself!