October 11, 2020 - Jacob and Esau
Notes
Transcript
Are you someone that says - No I don’t live by faith?
My response would be - Oh but you do, it’s really just a matter of - in what or whom your faith rests.
A husband eats food cooked by his wife without having it tested to see if it contains poison. Why? Because he has faith in his wife that she will not try to poison him.
You take prescription drugs (EVEN though the average number of side affects for a prescription drug in this country is - 70) - you take these drugs because - YOU HAVE FAITH in the doctors you see - the lab techs you’ve never met…the research professionals you’ve never met - you TRUST they know what they’re doing...
Yet strangely, so many people become agnostics where God is concerned. This is but another of Satan’s schemes by which he causes people to reject the salvation which a loving, faithful God so freely offers.
• So far in our journey thru the OT, we've seen some men who were blessed to live by faith in God...
• ...trusting in Him regardless of the circumstance...
• BUT we've also seen the power of sin in the lives of man, and it's effect on him.
SO - we’ve seen GOD working - - And we’ve seen SIN working...
• And so we're seeing this battle build up...
• This battle between God and sin.
• Can God overcome this sin problem?
• How will He do it?
• In order for us to STAY on track with our OT series, let's revisit some of the highlights from the last couple of sermons.
• Following the incident at the Tower of Babel, we saw that God calls out Abram, and establishes a covenant with him.
• God promises Abram 3 different things IN THIS COVENANT:
• Land
• Descendants
• Blessing
• Land being - the land of Canaan
• Descendants by which a Savior would come
• And Blessing that would extend through Abram, down his line, to all of mankind, for all of eternity.
• And so this is a big deal.
• This is God revealing now His plan of salvation for Fallen man.
• We had seen that up to this point, Mankind was showing itself hopeless....completely hopeless.
• Give us a chance, we'll squander it...
• Give us another one, we'll turn and run the other way
In one of the “Big Three” conferences during World War II, Roosevelt and Churchill were trying to get Stalin to agree with some proposed strategy. When Stalin gave his reason or excuse for not agreeing with them, they said, “That is no reason for your refusal!” Stalin replied with a story of two Arabs.
One Arab asked the other to lend him his rope. The latter replied, “I can’t. I need it to tie my camel.” The first Arab reminded his companion that he didn’t own a camel. To which the companion replied, “I know that. But when you don’t want to lend your rope, one excuse is as good as any other.”
Excuses offered to God are in the same category.
They reveal that we simply do not WANT to do what He tells us to do.
• Mankind is showing itself hopeless...in rebellion against God!
• So, what does God do?
• He knows we're hopeless, and so in His covenant with Abram, God Himself - - takes the curse of the covenant upon Himself if He doesn't live up to the promises of the covenant , or if Abram fails in the promises of the covenant.
• God says - I'll take it all on me.
• "I will surrender my life in order that mankind receive the eternal blessing...unconditionally. (that’s Genesis: 15)
• And so THEN we see God beginning to fulfill the promises laid out in the covenant.
• When Abraham was 75 years old, God called him out...
• ...and when Abraham was 100 years old, Isaac was born.
• Now Isaac really does seem to be merely a bridge in this story...between Abraham and Jacob...
• But we do learn some things thru Isaac.
• One thing we see is that Isaac acquired the good and the bad from Abraham.
And it’s fitting we’re talking about this on Scout Sunday...
Where we see Parents - putting their kids on a path to build virtues in their lives...
• But we ALL KNOW - we all acquire certain traits from our parents, both good and bad...
• ...and it's no different with Abraham and Isaac.
• We heard of the great faith of Abraham, but we also learned that he wasn't a perfect man...
• Listen to what it says in chapter 26:
6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.
7 When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance.
• Sound familiar?
• Abraham did this exact same thing, telling the Egyptians that Sarah was his sister.
• Both men here...father and son...doubting God and His promises...
• But on the flip side, Isaac also acquired the GOOD of his father.
• In many, many ways, Isaac imitated his father Abraham's faith.
• Wherever Abraham would go out (as commanded by God), he would build an altar and call upon the name of the Lord...
• ...Reminding him that he needed forgiveness...
• ...That he needed a blood sacrifice that would atone for his sins.
• So Isaac SAW in his dad what it was to sin, but he also learned from his dad what it was to go to the Lord in faith, seeking and finding forgiveness.
AND SO FOR US TODAY - Parents - do your kids SEE in you WHAT IT LOOKS like to SEEK the Lord...
Do they see in you:
You seeking the Lord in prayer?
I know people that would say - Oh I NEVER saw my dad pray…never saw my mom pray
You seeking the Lord in His word?
Do they see you DEVOTING time to getting into God’s word.
You know I hear people say ALL the time - I’m just waiting for God to speak to me...
Look - He has spoken to you…it’s right here!
Isaac saw in his dad, Abraham, what it was to GO to the Lord in Faith, seeking and finding forgiveness...
• And so with that said, God continued to bless.
• Isaac would come to have 2 sons - Esau and Jacob...
• Now, even though it was clear to Isaac that the younger son Jacob would be the chosen one...the one through which the Covenant would flow...
• Isaac favored - Esau (the older)
• Why?
• The scriptures say that:
• Esau was a man's-man.
• When he was born, he came out with hair all over him...
• He was skilled at hunting...a man of the field.
SLIDE: Big Foot
• **He looked like this guy...
• Jacob was basically the opposite.
• It says that he was a quiet man and dwelt in tents.
SLIDE: He probably looked like this guy
• **He probably looked like this.
• Point being - they were different.
• Isaac favored Esau, and Rebekah favored Jacob.
• And it seems as though, Jacob was aware of his father's fondness of his brother...
Jacob KNEW that his dad Isaac favored his brother Esau
• So how does that play itself out in Jacob's life?
• How does that show itself?
• Well, it seems to show itself quite clearly in the decisions that Jacob made.
• One day Esau was out hunting, and he came back and found Jacob cooking some stew.
• Esau was hungry, and so he asked if he could have some.
• Jacob said - "Sure, you can have some...if you sell me your birthright".
• See Jacob had been after that birthright since they came out of the womb.
• The scriptures say that as Esau came out of the womb...
• Jacob followed, and had a hold of Esau's heel.
And what do we end up seeing…?
SLIDE: The Exchange of God’s Glory: For the glory of Man
The Exchange of God’s Glory
The Exchange of God’s Glory
• And so Esau, giving in to his immediate desire, sold his birthright to Jacob.
• This guy Esau SOLD HIS BIRTHRIGHT...for some stew!!
• Now we might be thinking, wow, LOSER!...
Who would trade your INHERITANCE / Your accumulated wealth - for a HAMBURGER?
We might be thinking - WHAT?
• But before we go there, let's look at ourselves real quick.
• How often do we forgo blessing - for fleeting pleasure?
• How often do we forgo blessing - in order to return an insult?
• How often do we forgo blessing - in order to gratify our earthly desires?
We live in a “RIGHT NOW” - INSTANT Gratification CULTURE -
We’ve created this for ourselves...
**When I was little - Saturday mornings were SPECIAL - why?
Because starting at like 6am - all the morning Cartoons were on tv...
I couldn’t sit down on a Wednesday evening and pull up - G.I.Joe, or Justice League on the TV...
If you wanted to watch cartoons - YOU - WAITED until Saturday morning!
Nowadays - we have ROKU…PRIME...
We can pull up any and EVERY cartoon we want - WHEN we want...
Which leads to what?
“I WANT this - now”
“I WANT that - now”
We OFTEN - exchange the Glory of God - for instant gratification!!
Someone insults you - In the MOMENT - I WANT to respond - with THIS zinger
In the MOMENT - we want to WATCH THAT thing online...
In the MOMENT - we want to EAT that…SAY that…WATCH that…DO that...
And when we do - we EXCHANGE the glory of God - for something else - for OUR OWN earthly satisfaction...
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
ESAU was hungry…He wanted to eat RIGHT NOW!
And so...
He sold his - birthright…!
Jacob (who made the stew) - His intent was to - TEMPT Esau...
Jacob knew this guy liked to eat...
Jacob took advantage of that...
• You might be thinking...Man, God's using this guy Jacob to carry on the Covenant?
• Seems like a shady character...
• Taking advantage of his brother...
• But he's not done yet...
• Years later when Isaac was old and basically blind, Rebekah conspires with Jacob to deceive Isaac into blessing Jacob instead of Esau.
• See oridnarily the birthright would be past on to the the oldest son.
• Well, Rebekah and Jacob trick Isaac into blessing Jacob.
• ...AND it works.
27 So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed!
28 May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine.
29 Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”
• It worked...Jacob received the blessing....
• But no one in this scenario honored God...
• Isaac - - knew what God had said to Rebekah that the older son would serve the younger, and yet he sets out to bless Esau the older son.
• Esau - - was ready to accept the blessing, and break the oath that he had made to Jacob in selling him his birthright.
• Rebekah - - She and Jacob actually try to achieve God's plan, with Jacob receiving the blessing, but they do it through deception and not through faith.
• And so no one in this situation honored God...
• And after Rebekah and Jacob's plot was found out, Jacob was forced to flee in fear that Esau would kill him.
SLIDE: The Exchange of God’s Glory: Leads to Exile
The Exchange of God’s Glory
The Exchange of God’s Glory
• And so we see here another instance of where sin leads to exile.
• We saw it in the garden
• We saw it happen to Cain
• We saw it at the Tower of Babel
• We see it here...
When we SIN as Christians...
Our status as Christians isn’t TARNISHED...
But our relationship with God IS tarnished - on OUR SIDE…from our vantage point!
When we SIN - as Christians - DOUBT and GUILT and ANGER can REALLY impact our walk...
We begin to - in a sense - HIDE from God...
Repentance for Christians is a way to - RENEW our CONFIDENCE…our ASSURANCE…in Christ...
WHICH - has a REAL IMPACT on our walk with Him!
Husbands - when you SIN against your wife...
You ARE still married - but the relationship is - tarnished.
A WALL is PUT UP BETWEEN the two of you...
You walk into the room - and you CAN FEEL the tension.
What’s needed? - - Repentance!>…AND forgiveness!
Wives - you sin against your husband...
Still married - but the relationship is - tarnished.
Repentance is needed! - - AND forgiveness...
This is what SIN does in the life of a Christian…this is why we REPENT...
• Jacob - SINNED - and exile was the verdict…!
During this time of exile, Jacob meets up with his uncle Laban.
• ...whom he tricked, and was tricked by...
• ...forcing him to leave again with his family
• And so this has to lead us to the question (especially if we didn't know what was to happen - if we were living at this time):
• Does God know what's going on here?
• Did He really see this coming?
• Is this really his plan?
• At the very least one might question God's judgment right?
• Promises Abraham to bless him through descendants...
• At 100 years old, Abraham finally has Isaac.
• God then tells Abraham to KILL Isaac.
• God then saves Isaac.
• Isaac then has 2 sons...
• Esau and Jacob...
• And from the beginning they quarrel...
• and from the beginning it seems they don't come any more shady than Jacob...the chosen one.
• Looking at all these situations, we've seen deception continue to grow...
• ...to continue to manifest itself in the lives of these people.
• Did God really know this was coming?
• Of course He did!
• Before Esau and Jacob were born, God said this to Rebekah.
23 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.”
• So God here, before Esau and Jacob are even born, hands out blessing to one of these babies...
• ..."the older shall serve the younger".
• Did either of these children do anything at all to miss out on, or inherit any of this blessing?
• No - God in His sovereignty decided what was going to happen.
• He's putting into motion His plan…and the Bible speaks to what God’s doing here...
10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac,
11 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—
12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”
• So in order that God's purpose in election might stand, not by works but by Him who calls...she was told...
• 'The older will serve the younger' (Esau will SERVE Jacob)
• This was God's choosing.
• Isaac was told that it would be his younger son who would be chosen to carry the line that would bring the Messiah.
• In chapter 28 God speaks to an older Jacob in a dream and says this:
13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.
14 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
• So it's an extension of the Abrahamic Covenant - thru Jacob.
• So when God says to Rebekah that the "older shall serve the younger"...
• ...He's pointing to the fact that Jacob is the chosen one...the one thru which the Messiah would come.
• But God also said to Rebekah, we just read it - - 'Two nations are in your womb'...
23 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.”
• What's He talking about?
• "Two peoples from within you shall be divided"
• A couple chapters later we see what this is referring to.
10 And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel.
11 And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.
12 The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.”
• So God not only confirms and extends the blessing of the Covenant from Abraham, to Isaac, now thru Jacob and his offspring...
• ...but He also changes Jacob's name here to Israel...
• ...saying that a nation shall come from him...a company of nations.
• And so when God said that 'two nations are in your womb"...
• He's referring to the Edomites, who were the descendants of Esau, and Israel who came thru the line of Jacob.
• God favored Jacob.
• The Israelites were God's - - chosen people.
• And in this story of Jacob we’re going to see God complete the pattern that we've seen so far in the OT.
• What's been the pattern that we've seen so far in the OT:
• People sin
• People face the consequences of that sin
• God redeems
• When Jacob was making his way back home...from the exile...
• ...he was sitting alone one night.
• As he was sitting there, a man came up to him and they started wrestling...
• The two men seemed evenly matched.
• ...this lasted all night.
• When the man realized that he didn't prevail in this fight, he merely touched Jacob's hip...
• ...and his hip came out of socket.
• So Jacob realized the strength of the man and that he had been holding back the whole time...
• that he could have crushed him if he wanted to.
• So the sun began to rise, and the man tells Jacob to let him go.
And Jacob says...
26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”
• Jacob tells him - No, I won't let you go until you bless me.
Jacob had realized he wasn’t SATISFIED with all he had been given...
That THOSE THINGS couldn’t satisfy!
SLIDE: The Exchange of God’s Glory: Leads to No Lasting Satisfaction
The Exchange of God’s Glory
The Exchange of God’s Glory
• See - IT SEEMS that Jacob had realized that all the approval he had been seeking from his dad Isaac...
• all the satisfaction he was seeking in the things of this world...
• Could only be found in God.
• And so he asks God to bless him.
And Jacob says this a few verses later...
30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”
• God saw his faith, and blessed him.
• A lady at the Foodless asked a great question:
• "Is it wrong to keep asking God for the same thing?"
• "Is it wrong to keep asking that God change you?":
• What's the response to that?
• No way...it's not wrong...
• Have you recently given up on God in a situation?
• Have you asked for blessing, only to get no reply?
• Hold on!!
• Don't let go until He blesses you.
• A theme that's been building up to this point, along the way, is that God longs to bless His people.
• And this can only be achieved, as we've seen, thru the ABOUNDING MERCY OF GOD!
Francis Chan once said:
“The irony is that while God doesn’t need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don’t really want Him most of the time.”
― Francis Chan
• Jacob was blessed...
· The great deceiver (Jacob) was blessed.
· We all know people just like Jacob
· How often are we happy when God blesses those people?
· How often do we get frustrated when God blesses people like that?
· Frustrated to the point that when God finally brings judgment on them we’re happy about it and say – see, got what you deserve!
· As if we deserve any different?
· Jacob was chosen by God, and blessed.
• And in time, Jacob (now called Israel) ended up having 12 sons.
• These 12 sons would become the 12 tribes of Israel...
• and it was through the nation of Israel that God planned to fulfill the promises to Abraham that his descendants would be a blessing to all peoples.
• But at this point, Jacob and his 12 sons are still a long way from the land that was promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
• And we'll see next week, one of their greatest struggles is just ahead.
• Even so...what should be building in us as we walk thru these passages, thru these seemingly impossible situations is not a "doubting of God", but rather, "a trusting of God"
WHY?
• ...for He has proven Himself faithful!
• This is a merciful God in the OT.
• This is who He is.
Faith through the Storm
SUMMARY:
The Exchange of God’s Glory
For the Glory of Man
Leads to Exile
Leads to No Lasting Satisfaction
Glory of Man: Have we exchanged the Glory due God - for our own glory?
Have we ignored God in our life
I first rode an airplane in 1945, flying from Mobile, Alabama, to Atlanta, Georgia. Going and coming the sun was shining, and we had a smooth flight. I trusted the plane, or else I would not have flown in it.
My third flight was to Miami, Florida. The flight down was so smooth. I was sold on air travel. But on the return trip, we had to travel through a terrific storm. Flying through the storm cloud was like flying through buttermilk. The plane bucked and reared. At times I could not even see the wings. Once when we hit a down draft, I did not know if we were five thousand or five feet off the ground. I thought the wings had broken off. I was sure we were falling.
When we landed safely in Mobile, Frances met me at the airport. After I told her what had happened, she said, “I knew something was wrong. You are green in the face.”
Well, that experience shook my faith in flying. Until one day I said to myself, “That experience should have strengthened my faith in flying. I now have seen what a plane can endure and still land safely.”
A parallel exists to having faith in God. When we see how He can bring us safely through life’s storms, our faith in Him should be strengthened that He can do it over and over again.
...Let's Pray