Sermon Tone Analysis

We are continuing our series What your name: The Life of Jacob.

This series explores the highs and lows of Jacob in Genesis.

Through Jacob’s birth, family conflict, and relationship with God, we see God’s redemptive plan on the move.

God transforms Jacob from a deceptive young man into Israel: the one who wrestles with God.

Last week we look at how we can rely on God Promise and not really another else.

People make promise all the time when they can’t keep them or forget they made that promise.

You see with God that doesn’t happen.

When He makes a promise it will happen.

It might take years.

Like it did for Rebekah to have children.

God’s promise never happen when we really want them too but they happen when He whats them too.

These promise are always keep and will come true one day.

We just do not know when that day is.

This week we will be look at an exchange between Esau and Jacob over the birthrights the both have.

If you have your bible turn to Genesis 25:29-34.

If you don’t have your bible you can follow along on the screen in a few moments.

Before we look at today passage.

I have a question for you.

Have you every found it difficult to remember your goals with facing difficulties?

When we face temptations, it’s difficult to remember the larger goals we are pursuing.

We want to take the easy way out when life gets difficult.

The ability to endure a little bit of discomfort in the short term, however, is key to achieving our long-term goals.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, by J. R. R. Tolkien, powerfully illustrates this axiom.

Nearly all of the characters are tempted by the ring’s power.

They want to use it to accomplish a short-term goal.

However, only Frodo Baggins is able to withstand its temptations long enough to achieve the greater goal: defeating evil.

How can we keep are eyes on the goal and not fall into quick term success.

Let’s take a look at what happened between Esau and Jacob.

Join me has I read.

Esau was very hunger

I picture Esau being so hunger that he was hangery.

Have you very been so hunger that you would do anything and everything to get something to eat?

I know I have before.

Especially when I have worked a full day doing manual labor.

That is exactly was doing.

He had worked so hard that he worked up a hunger and was willing to do anything to get food.

He was even willing to sale is birthrights so he would live and stop being hungry.

its not say that we was about to die of hunger but that is what he felt.

You see Esau was going off how he felt at the time.

He had no concerned with what the future holds.

The Birthright

What was included and why is this so important?

In Israel the firstborn son would inherit his father’s estate and all the property was divided with the firstborn receiving a double share.

Esau was the first born.

He should have have received the biggest portion but he instead have them to Jacob for a bowl of soap.

Jacob took advantage of Esau

Jacob saw how badly Esau wanted the food that he had prepared.

He saw an opportunity to take all of the birthright for himself.

This was not something normally would happen.

Jacob know that he would be able to use the birthright.

Remember the promise God made to Rebekah back in verse 23.

God said that the older child would serve the younger.

This moment right here is set up for that.

You see Jacob knew how ridiculous this offer was.

Asking Esau to give up is birthright for soap.

Would you be willing to give up your house or car or job for food.

That what Esau did.

He gave all of it over to Jacob.

Esau despised his birthright

Esaus filled his belly and was satisfied.

Then he just got up and carelessly went about his without any thought or regret about this bad bargain.

By doing this he despised his birthright.

He didn’t care what would happen to him.

He most likely told himself that everything would be ok and that he really didn’t need the birthright in the first place.

We can be like this too.

Some time we can chase a short-term success but forgot about the long term goals.

Don’t chase short-term success.

It will often short-circuit your goals in life.

In 2002, General Motors determined to boost its share of the US automobile market to 29 percent, a position the company hadn’t held since 1999.

The company was obsessed with the number.

It offered crazy purchase incentives, such as zero-interest loans, to drive sales.

Executives even started wearing lapel pins with the number 29 to keep the goal front and center.

But they missed it.

Why? GM blamed the competition, especially from South Korea.

‘If the competition would just play a little fairer, we could do it,’ one executive complained.

But analysts said GM became so focused on the goal, the company undercut its own business to attain it.

Because of reckless decisions made in pursuit of their goal, the company ended up bankrupt several years later and dependent on federal bailout dollars just to survive” (Michael Hyatt, Your Best Year Ever [Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2018], 158).

We must make are decisions based on God’s promised future.

rather than our current situation.