Monthly Archives: March 2024

The wrestling match,  Genesis 32       

Last Friday I was driving by a Roman Catholic church and I saw that it was packed in the middle of the afternoon, presumably for their Good Friday service. Did you know that the Catholic teaching says that if you skip church on a holy day, and you don’t have some reason such as being disabled or something like that, then you are guilty of a mortal sin? That’s a sin unto damnation, as opposed to a venial sin, which isn’t so bad. The Catholic Church has established that the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday is a holy week. And so they have mandatory church services that are on what they call Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and of course, Easter Sunday.

Of course, the New Testament church observed the Lord’s Day on Sunday, the first day of the week, in commemoration of the resurrection. So we celebrate the resurrection every Sunday. But there is some basis for the belief that the Emperor Constantine, when he designated Christianity as the state religion of the empire, established many so called holy days to replace existing pagan holidays by changing the deity celebrated, and simply calling it by a Christian name. Thus Easter replaced a pagan Spring deity celebration called “Eostre”, which celebrated a fertility goddess. Perhaps the correlation of Easter with eggs comes from that association, but another tradition claims it has to do with the prohibition of eating eggs during Lent. But of course, there is no mention of the word Easter in the Bible, nor any symbolism of an egg used in the Bible to illustrate the trinity or the resurrection, or anything at all about Lent for that matter. But unfortunately, the evangelical church in America has retained a lot of the holy days and ceremonial practices of the Catholic Church in their attempt to be considered orthodox or liturgical.

But as Paul said to the foolish Galatians who wanted to go back to certain ceremonial laws again, he said, Gal 4:9 “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.”

The sad thing is though as I saw this great crowd of people arriving for the Catholic service I was struck by the fact that by and large, the vast majority of those attending those services were probably not saved. Now you might be horrified to hear me say that. And to tell you the truth, we all should be horrified to hear that. Some of you sitting here this morning were saved out of the Catholic Church, and I suppose you could add some credibility to that statement.

But how can I say that these sincere, God believing, religious people are not saved? The answer is because they are guilty of the same mistake that the Jews were guilty of. Paul says in Romans 9:30-32 “What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at [that] law. Why? Because [they did] not [pursue it] by faith, but as though [it were] by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.”

The Catholic Church teaches that you are saved by works. The first work is baptism, which is usually done in infancy. They teach that baptism imparts a certain measure of righteousness to one’s account, and then subsequent practices or works that you do in life add or accrue righteousness to your account. At the age of 12 you have confirmation. Then you must attend mass regularly, in fact, on every holy day. You must go to catechism classes. You must take the eucharist often, since by that they teach that you ingest the righteousness of Jesus Christ. You must go to confession, say endlessly repetitive prayers to the virgin Mary who intercedes for you. But not one of these things alone do they say will save you. But they do believe that all of those things, if done religiously, will accrue righteousness to your account so that your righteousness outweighs your sinfulness, and thus you have a pretty good chance of entering into the kingdom of heaven. Or at least, get far enough along in Purgatory that you won’t have to spend too much time there.

So the point is that a person can know all the facts about the Passion of Christ, go through the stations of the cross, celebrate the resurrection, take communion every week, and yet still come short of salvation. You can observe various so called Christian rituals and ceremonies conjured up by the church, , go to mass on all the so called holy days, and still fall short of the kingdom of God. In fact, Isaiah 64:6 says all of our righteousness is as filthy rags before God. You can even know all the details about the life of Jesus Christ; that He is the Son of God, that He died on the cross and rose from the dead and still not be saved. So it is horrific that millions of people are sincerely attending church services today commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, hearing the story of the resurrection and yet they are not saved.

In fact, I am horrified by thoughts that keep me up at night, that there might be some of you sitting here today, who may be considered sincere, respectable God fearing Christians, yet you have not been saved. And that’s possible because many so called Christians have never realized that they are lost, that they are a sinner condemned to death. You cannot be saved until you first recognize that you are a sinner, lost and without hope.

What constitutes salvation then? What must we do to be saved? First, you must recognize that you are a sinner, and that you are hopelessly lost. That’s one of the dangers of being baptized as an infant. There is a degree to which many people think that they have become a Christian at birth by being baptized, even though they had no choice in the matter. That’s the danger of joining a church and giving intellectual assent to the teachings of the church and yet never being born again. So recognizing that you are a sinner and then repenting of your sin is fundamental. Then believing that by the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ He can forgive you for your sins, because He has paid the penalty for your sins by dying on the cross. And by trusting in Him as your Lord and Savior, God transfers your sin to Him, and HIs righteousness to you, so that you are considered righteous in the sight of God.[1Pe 2:24 says, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” That’s what it means to be saved, to have new life in Christ. Dying to the sinful flesh, and living in the Spirit.

One of the best illustrations of salvation, being born again is found in the thief on the cross. He was being put to death for his sins. But he recognized that though he had done things deserving of death, Jesus had not. He recognized that Jesus was Messiah the Lord and that He would rise again from the dead. All of that theology was wrapped up in the simple statement he made to Christ, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus answered him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” This man died on the cross as a sinner, but He lived in the Spirit by faith in Jesus Christ.

So the point that I want to emphasize, is that salvation is “by grace through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” Salvation is not accomplished by works, by attending religious ceremonies, by baptism, by catechism’s, by taking the eucharist, by knowing the facts about Jesus’ birth, or knowing about His death on the cross, or by rehearsing the details of His resurrection. Salvation is realizing that you are a sinner, hopelessly lost and condemned to eternal death, and that your only hope is through Jesus Christ, and trusting solely in Him and in HIs mercy to save you.

Now we are going to look at what I believe is the climax of the life of Jacob as an illustration of salvation by grace through faith. I’m skipping over a few chapters in the life of Jacob and we come to the point in chapter 32 where he has left Laban his father in law and taken his wives, children, and all his servants and his flocks and he is headed back to Canaan after a 20 year hiatus. This twenty years were marked by Jacob living according to the wisdom of the flesh, trying to out manipulate and out deceive his father, his twin brother, his father in law, and even God. But God has not been much on Jacob’s mind up to this point, until he starts to leave for Canaan.

However, God has never forgotten about Jacob. God has visited him on more than one occasion, and in fact, God had told him in chapter 31: 3 “Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.” So God has told Jacob to return, and He has promised to be with him. But we will see that does not allay Jacob’s fears. However, true to His word, even as Jacob travels, God gives evidence that He is with him. Chapter 32vs 1: “Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him. Jacob said when he saw them, “This is God’s camp.” So he named that place Mahanaim. Which means two camps.

The Bible says that some have entertained angels unawares. I would suggest that happens sometimes even when we are unsaved. Heb 1:14 says, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?” But in this case, Jacob recognizes that they are angels. But seeing angels doesn’t save Jacob, and their presence doesn’t assure him of God’s protection, and so he comes up with a plan to protect himself.

Vs 3 Then Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. He also commanded them saying, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: ‘Thus says your servant Jacob, “I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now; I have oxen and donkeys [and] flocks and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.”‘” The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels, into two companies; for he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the company which is left will escape.”

Jacob’s chicken’s were coming home to roost. Or as the Bible says, “surely your sins will find you out.” He’s convinced that Esau still hates him and is planning on killing him. After all, with less than 400 men, Abraham had slaughtered 5 kings. Esau is a mighty hunter, and so Jacob assumes that this is an army coming to meet him with the intent of doing him harm. He doesn’t trust God to protect him, even though he has angels encamping around him. So he reverts to his same old tricks in hopes of somehow placating Esau.

But now, when he is in fear for his life, he finally prays to God. If I remember correctly, this is the first time Jacob prays to God in 20 years. He did respond to God 20 yrs earlier when he had the vision of the ladder, and he gave God a promise that if God took care of him, then God would be his God. But that was not really prayer. But now as the consequences of his sin seem to be coming back to haunt him, he realizes the need to call upon the Lord.

So Jacob prays in vs 9 “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,’ I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff [only] I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. “Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me [and] the mothers with the children. “For You said, ‘I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.'”

When God spoke to Jacob twenty years before in Bethel, in the vision of the ladder to heaven, I said concerning that vision that it was a visual and verbal presentation of the gospel. The gospel means good news, because it is the promises of God given to man. I also said that the word blessing is really a term that indicates salvation in it’s fullness. But at that time, Jacob did not reciprocate with faith in God and honor Him as his Lord. He gave a conditional promise back to God, that basically allowed him to continue to serve his own interests until such a time as when he felt that God had sufficiently proven Himself to him.

But now in this time of crisis, with impending death just right around the corner, Jacob calls on the LORD and reminds Him of HIs promises which He had made to him. He quotes God’s promises back to Him. Secondly, he humbles himself and you might even make the argument that he shows repentance to some degree. “I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant.” He also seems to indicate that rather than when he first had the vision he considered God to be something like a totem, or a genie or good luck charm on his life, now he gets his theology right. He says he is God’s servant. Not God is his servant. But he is God’s servant. That indicates that he recognizes that God is the Lord, and he is the servant of the Lord.

And thirdly, he says “I am unworthy…” The attitude of one who is depending on their works or their righteousness is that they are worthy. God owes them salvation because they have earned it. But the penitent says that they are unworthy. I’ve done nothing to deserve your mercy. I can do nothing to earn it. I can only humble myself and plead for mercy.

Fourthly, he says, “deliver me I pray.” That has been translated in some versions as “save me I pray.” Jacob believes the consequences of his sins have come to attack him. So he pleads with God to deliver him from the wrath of Esau which would result in his death. Rom 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

But though he calls upon the Lord to save him, yet he is not willing to wait for the Lord, or trust in the Lord to save him. So he makes one final effort to save himself. Vs 13 “So he spent the night there. Then he selected from what he had with him a present for his brother Esau: two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milking camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. He delivered [them] into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on before me, and put a space between droves.” He commanded the one in front, saying, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these [animals] in front of you belong?’ then you shall say, ‘[These] belong to your servant Jacob; it is a present sent to my lord Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.'” Then he commanded also the second and the third, and all those who followed the droves, saying, “After this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him; and you shall say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.'” For he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.” So the present passed on before him, while he himself spent that night in the camp.

So basically Jacob tries to bribe his brother not to cause him harm. This was not an uncommon of a practice in those days when a marauding king came to a vulnerable town, the king of town may send a present to the other king as an attempt to avoid bloodshed. Give him the loot he’s looking for and maybe your lives will be spared. Obviously, Jacob is attempting something similar. But rather than trust in God, he is trusting in his gifts to placate Esau. Jacob was willing to surrender his sheep and goats, but not willing to surrender to the Lord to take care of him. I wonder if we are guilty of trying to bribe God in order to get His blessing. What attempts do we make to give up something, hoping to placate God?

Well as God promised, He never forsakes Jacob. When nightfall comes, and Jacob is left alone, the Lord comes to Jacob. Vs 22 Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two maids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had. Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

Jacob was left alone. Sometimes God has to get you alone, often in the dead of the night, in order to get your attention. The busyness of life often keeps us from facing our eternal destiny. But when we are alone, when it finally gets quiet, then the Lord is able to convict us of our need of salvation. I remember years ago being in California, and coming under the sense of despair, that I desperately needed to get right with God. I don’t know why but I walked a couple of miles to the beach and then walked the beach for hours struggling with my thoughts, and struggling with the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Finally, when it was dark, I went home and hid in my garage with the lights off, and there finally surrendered my life to the Lord.

God comes to Jacob in the dark, when he’s all alone. God comes in the form of a man, what we call a theophany. That man was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Jacob didn’t wrestle with the Man. Instead, the Man wrestled with him. God wanted to rid all of Jacob’s proud self-reliance and deceitful scheming, and He came to make Jacob surrender. (Johnny Cash, “when the man comes around.”)

You know, a man might rebel against God and seem to be able to hold his own – for a while. But at any time, God could break a man by just the touch of His finger. It’s the patience of God that waits, it’s the mercy of God that holds back His wrath while he lets man try to wiggle his way out of God’s grip.

I think that when it says, “And when He saw that He did not prevail against him…” I think that is God sees that Jacob is not giving up. He’s determined not to submit to the Lord. Perhaps at first, Jacob only sees a man coming at him in the dark. He doesn’t know it’s the Lord. But as the night wore on, and the struggle continues until the dawn starts to break, Jacob begins to understand that it must be the Lord he is fighting against. And yet, even as that reality sinks in, Jacob doesn’t give up. He is bound and determined to maintain his independence, even if he is found to be fighting against God Himself.

But the Lord merely touches the socket of his hip and Jacob’s hip is dislocated. God reveals that His strength is so much greater than man’s that all that is needed to subdue him is just a touch. Jacob is unable now to fight against the Lord – all he can do is hold onto the Lord. There is a major change in the dynamics of the wrestling match as the dawn starts to break.
At first, Jacob was wrestling trying to get the man to let him go or to get away from the Lord. But as the dawn nears he actually starts clinging to the man. Jacob won’t let Him go. The Lord said, ““Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” As I said, I think the word “bless” is actually a euphemism for salvation. Finally, rather than fight against God, Jacob clings to the Lord. And he desires salvation more than anything else.

Hosea 12:3 says that Jacob sought the blessing with tears. “In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And in his maturity he contended with God. Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed; He wept and sought His favor.”

When my children were little, and I had to cross a busy street, I would tell them to hold my hand. Of course, they wouldn’t want to and would often try to wiggle free. But I would hold tightly their hand. However, what I wanted to teach them was to hold tight to my hand. And sometimes, when they were scared, they would hold on tightly. God wants Jacob to hold on tightly to His hand. And after a long night of fighting against God,God wounds him and he finally does hold onto Him and won’t let Him go until he knows that God has saved him. What a perfect illustration of salvation. Not on our merits, but on the merits of Him we are saved. And faith is clinging to Jesus who is strong enough, and powerful enough to save us.

Vs 27, The Lord said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there.

Of course God knew his name was Jacob. He wanted Jacob to confess what he was, a supplanter, a deceiver, a manipulator. But the Lord changed his name. Revelation 2:17 says that to those who overcome, God will give them a new name. A new name is part of the blessing of salvation. Israel means “God rules.” Jacob had tried to rule over his own life, but now he recognizes the Lord must rule over him, if he is to have life.

Jacob prevailed by surrendering. And in surrendering God did bless him. God gave him a new name, a new inheritance, a new life, a new nature. No longer is he the supplanter, trying to overthrow God and man, but he is now dependent upon his God.

Vs 30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, {which means the face of God} for [he said,] “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.” Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh. Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.

Jacob would walk from this day on leaning on his staff because of this dislocated hip that God had touched. Jacob needed a constant reminder that he was totally dependent upon the Lord and not upon his own merits, or wit, or works. And from this day on, when Jacob called on the Lord or talked about the Lord, he no longer referenced Him as the God of Abraham and Isaac, but he called him my God, the God of Israel.

Deceiving the deceiver,  Genesis 29

In our study last time, we looked at the story of Jacob and his dream about the ladder. And you might remember that I told you that the dream of the ladder and the angel’s ascending and defending upon it, and the Lord standing at the top of it, was an illustration of the gospel. Jesus said in John 1:51 that He was the One on whom Nathanael would see the angel’s ascending and descending.  So we saw that the vision of Jacob’s ladder was actually an illustration of the gospel.  Jesus is the way to God.  He is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Him.

Today we are looking at the next major incident in Jacob’s life, which is his marriage to Rachel. And I hope to show you how this story is illustrative of the love that Christ has for the church.  The church, as I have often pointed out, is the bride of Christ. Ephesians 5:25 says that Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.  So as Jacob became a servant so that he might gain his bride, so also Christ became a servant and carried out His work because of His love for the church.

Of course, Jacob is the promised seed of Abraham through whom would come a nation, the seed through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. And he has come to the land of Haran to seek a bride. And of course that is ultimately a reference to the promised seed, Jesus Christ, through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed, as He comes to earth to seek a bride, the church, made up of all the nations of the earth.

And so the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant is accomplished in Jesus Christ. Abraham is the first Jew, and in a sense, Christ is the last Jew of that lineage.  The line passed from Abraham to Isaac, to Jacob, to Judah, to David, to Christ. But the important aspect of the line was not blood lines, but a spiritual line of faith. And so the promises to Israel were fulfilled by the Messiah.  But the Abrahamic covenant continues to all nations through Christ. So that as Paul says in Rom 2:28-29  “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.  But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.”  So the blessing was never based on genetics, but on faith.

So then faith is the scarlet cord that links the lineage of Abraham to the church, the bride of Christ. Just as illustrated in the women’s Bible study that they recently had on Ruth, she was a Gentile, a Moabite. But in her marriage to Boaz, a Jew, she was brought into the covenant of Abraham, just as through Christ the church is married into the covenant. This is also illustrated in the birth of Jacob and Esau.  Both were twins from the same father and mother – Jews.  And yet Jacob will be the son of faith, whereas Esau will be the son of the flesh. Jacob inherits the promises, Esau does not. Jacob becomes Israel through whom Christ will come.  But from Christ comes salvation to the Gentiles, so that ultimately, the children of Ishmael and Esau will also be brought into the family of God by virtue of marriage to Christ. 

So Paul can say in Gal 3:26-29 “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.”

Now that’s a heavy dose of big picture theology for a Sunday morning sermon, but let’s work our way through this historical account, and hopefully by it reveal some important doctrinal truths concerning the gospel.  Jacob has left his father’s house under duress. His brother was going to kill him.  He had deceived his father.  He had stolen his brother’s blessing.  So he ends up on the run from his brother.  His mother had convinced his father to tell Jacob to go to his mother’s country to find a wife, which was a ploy on the part of his mother to get Isaac to send Jacob out of harm’s way from the wrath of Esau.

Along the way, Jacob had a dream in which he sees the Lord standing at the top of a ladder which extends from his campsite to the heavens.  And angels are ascending and descending upon it.  As I said, this is really an illustration of the gospel.  The Lord extends to Jacob a series of promises that He will bless him, and protect him and preserve him. But Jacob falls short of appropriating those promises.  He basically says “prove yourself to me, and if you do all that you have promised, and bring me back safely to my father’s land, THEN you will be my God, and I will give you my tithe of all that I have.

So as I said last time, I think at this point Jacob fails to appropriate the blessing of salvation that God was promising to give him. Instead he opts for doing things his way, focusing on obtaining the carnal aspects of the blessing, and hoping that God helps him get what he wants.  He wants the blessing of God, for God to be his genie, so to speak, who will give him his desire for physical prosperity. But he doesn’t want the Lordship of God in his life at this point.  And so he embarks on a 20 year journey into self determination.

But the sovereignty and providence and calling of God are still at work, whether Jacob acknowledges them or not.  Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to [His] purpose.”  God was working providentially to bring Jacob to saving faith in Him, in spite of the willful rebellion of Jacob, and in fact even working through Jacob’s disobedience to achieve HIs purposes.

And so even though Jacob travels almost 500 miles, alone and through uncharted territory for him, yet he ends up right at the same well that Abraham’s servant found Jacob’s mother Rebekah all those many years before. Let’s read starting in vs 1 Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the sons of the east.  He looked, and saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, for from that well they watered the flocks. Now the stone on the mouth of the well was large.  When all the flocks were gathered there, they would then roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well.  Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.”  He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know [him.]”. Laban, of course, is the brother of Jacob’s mother Rebekah. 

Jacob thinks he is the captain of his ship, but in actually, the Lord was directing his steps. Psalm 37:23 says, “The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way.”  Also, Proverbs 16:9 says, “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.”

This journey of Jacob is illustrative of how the calling and election of God works.  It does not work by exclusion of the mind and will of man.  The mind and will of man are fully incorporated in the decisions that he makes.  Man is not a robot. He does not act by pure instinct like the animals.  But God is at work in directing a man’s decisions. He is providentially directing circumstances to guide us and direct us as we go through life, in order to bring us to His desired destination.  We cannot understand how both the will of man and the purposes of God work together, but we know that they do. Otherwise, how can man be held accountable for his actions, unless he is responsible for his decisions? So though the mind of man plans his way, yet the Lord directs his steps.

So after traveling 500 miles without GPS, Jacob has come to the very well used by his Uncle Laban to water his flock, and very likely, the same well that Rebekah came to water the camels of Abraham’s servant.  What luck.

And of course, Rachel just happens to be coming to water her sheep at the very same time.  Vs  6 And he said to them, “Is it well with him?” And they said, “It is well, and here is Rachel his daughter coming with the sheep.”  He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the sheep, and go, pasture them.”  But they said, “We cannot, until all the flocks are gathered, and they roll the stone from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”  While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess.  When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.  Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted his voice and wept.  Jacob told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and that he was Rebekah’s son, and she ran and told her father.”

Some commentators say that Jacob was between 55-60 years old at this point. Rachel is presumably a young, unmarried woman.  And if she is as beautiful as the Bible says she is, then she must be quite young, as it would be unlikely for her to remain unmarried for long.  She is also working as a shepherdess, which is not the sort of job a married woman would have. So I guess Jacob could be accused of robbing the cradle.  But I think the culture norms in that region concerning marriage were a little different than they are today.

But it’s likely that Jacob has love at first sight for Rachel.  That might be evident from his showing off his strength in moving the stone on the well.  The other shepherds were waiting for the stone to be moved, and Jacob after seeing Rachel is able to move it all by himself.  The other curious thing is that he then ran up to her, kissed her and lifted up his voice and wept. I don’t know quite what to make of that.  Not usually a good way to pick up girls I would think.  But it seems to be expressive of the pent up emotions that he was feeling.  I will say though that the kiss is not a romantic type of kiss.  This is the customary kiss of greeting given by men and women of those days. And I suppose that if you or I had walked for 25 days through wilderness, and finally arrived at the exact destination, meeting the exact relatives that you had left to find, then you might be overcome with emotion as well. 

But I am reminded of Jesus who wept over Jerusalem. On what is called Palm Sunday, being celebrated by many today, Jesus came into Jerusalem on a colt of a donkey, and the crowds were calling out “Hosanna, BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!”  And yet when He approached Jerusalem, He wept over it.  Jesus knew what He came to do, and that He had been born as the seed of Abraham who would crush Satan’s head, reversing the curse, bringing salvation to Israel, yet they would ultimately reject Him as their King, as their Savior and Lord.

So after Rachel hears who Jacob was in relation to her and her family, she runs to tell her father Laban. Vs13 So when Laban heard the news of Jacob his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Then he related to Laban all these things. Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him a month.  Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?”  Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.  And Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face.  Now Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”  Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than to give her to another man; stay with me.”  So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.

It would seem that Jacob had arrived in Haran with just the clothes on his back. There is a Jewish tradition that says that Jacob had been robbed by a son of Esau when he was on the journey. And that might explain why he had no money, no dowry, or anything of his own when he arrived.  But that is not supported by scripture.  I would guess that he left in such a hurry that there was not time to get him any money or goods, and besides, he was only expected to be gone a few days or weeks until Esau cooled down. But whatever the reason, Jacob was broke.

So after a month passes, Laban says in a round about way, what do you want for your wages? Jacob was obviously working for his keep, and yet Laban knows that he must want more than that. And Jacob had no money for a dowry which was customary to give to the family of the bride. So Jacob says I will work seven years for your daughter Rachel. Seven seems to be a number associated with covenants, and so while that seems a really high price to pay for us, it was not considered a long time in that culture.  And the text says that because of his love for Rachel, the seven years seemed to him but a few days.  That’s interesting, because I would think that seven years would seem an interminable length of time to wait when you want to get married to the woman you love. But the opposite is true for Jacob. Seven years seem like just a few days because he was so much in love.

There is a parallel here to that of Jesus Christ, who humbled himself as a servant that He might perform His work on the cross to effect our salvation, that we might be joined to Him as His bride. I think we can find that servanthood expressed in Phl 2:5-8 which says, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, [and] being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” And in regards to the joy that Jacob had when he suffered as a servant for the love of Rachel, we again see a correlation in Christ, of whom it is said in Heb 12:2 “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame.

We come then in the story to Laban’s deception.  The deceiver gets deceived. Or you might say that the Biblical principle is illustrated of you reap what you sow. Gen 29:21-30  “Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give [me] my wife, for my time is completed, that I may go in to her.”  Laban gathered all the men of the place and made a feast.  Now in the evening he took his daughter Leah, and brought her to him; and [Jacob] went in to her.  Laban also gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid.  So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you deceived me?”  But Laban said, “It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the firstborn.  “Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you shall serve with me for another seven years.”  Jacob did so and completed her week, and he gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife.  Laban also gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid.  So [Jacob] went in to Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.

There would have customarily been a week long wedding feast for the marriage of Jacob and Rachel. I’m not sure how that would have worked out. Did Rachel participate in the wedding feast? I don’t know for sure all the traditions of those days and that culture.  But she would have been veiled, it would seem. However, I believe the bride and groom were kept separate at the feast, and then on the last day, the groom would go take his bride into the chamber.  

But on the last day, Laban has Leah dress in a veil and she is taken by Jacob to consummate his marriage.  It was presumably dark, and he never really gets to see her face until the morning. It’s kind of hard for us to imagine, but nevertheless, it did happen, and the fact that we are unknowledgeable about the wedding arrangements is a disadvantage to us. But that is also the excuse of Laban, that the custom of that day and country was that the younger must not marry before the older. I doubt that was actually true. It might have been the desire of the father to marry them off in chronological order, but that was probably not the truth of the matter.  He just saw an opportunity to marry off his older daughter and make Jacob responsible for her. Leah is considered less attractive, which is indicated by the phrase Leah’s eyes were weak.  No one seems to know precisely what that means, other than it it countered by Rachel was beautiful of form and face. So perhaps Leah was not found attractive for some reason and thus limited in her prospects for marriage.

I feel for both Leah and Rachel. Imagine Rachel’s disappointment.  She has been waiting 7 years for her wedding day, and she is deprived of it by treachery from her own father. And she has to endure the wedding night knowing that her sister is with Jacob instead of her.  Laban had to know that what he was doing was a great evil to everyone concerned.  And imagine Leah’s embarrassment and shame, knowing that she had contributed to this debacle.  And furthermore, that she was unloved. We don’t know if she was a co-conspirator or not. I would hope not but it would seem like she had to have wanted to participate.  But the father was in that time and place like a tribal chieftain.  What he said was law. And his daughters were completely under his authority. 

I will say though that there must be some correlation here between the loved and unloved daughters of Laban, and the twin brothers Jacob and Esau of whom one was loved and one was hated. And I cannot say that there is a direct comparison, but it would seem that God loved Jacob, and yet Jacob did not reciprocate that love for many years.  God continued to provide for him, to protect him, to offer his promises to him, but Jacob was determined to work out his “blessing” through his own deceitful efforts, though he didn’t mind if God helped things along.  But only after a long period of rebellion, did Jacob surrender to the Lord after we are told he wrestled with the angel of the Lord all night after leaving the employment of Laban.

Leah is unloved in the sense that she is not loved to the degree that Jacob loves Rachel. And perhaps that is the way that it should be understood when it says that God loved Jacob but He hated Esau.  God had no animosity towards Esau, but He does not love him with the redeeming love that He has for Jacob.

In the case of Leah, it would seem that Jacob did fulfill his obligations to her as his wife. It would have been adding insult to injury if he would have kicked her out the next morning since she would have been unable to remarry and would have been left destitute.  But God was able to use even the evil that man conspired for good. 

So vs 31 says, “Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.”   Leah conceived and bore a son and named him Reuben, for she said, “Because the LORD has seen my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.” 33 Then she conceived again and bore a son and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this [son] also.” So she named him Simeon.  She conceived again and bore a son and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore he was named Levi.  And she conceived again and bore a son and said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.” So Leah has four sons in quick succession, and the fourth son is Judah, the father of the tribe of Judah, from whom the Lord Jesus comes. 

He is the one in whom all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Though Christ is a Jew, the promised seed of Abraham, yet the good news is that all the nations, the nations that were initially represented as the unloved, will yet be given access through marriage to become the family of God through the representative seed of Abraham whose death atoned for the sins of the world.

The gospel of Jacob’s ladder, Genesis 28

The gospel of Jacob’s ladder, Genesis 28

In our study of Genesis, we come today to the story of Jacob’s ladder. I have titled my message, the gospel of Jacob’s ladder. And I hope you will see the presentation of the gospel as we work our way through this chapter.

But we should remind you of the context. Last time, we saw the deception Jacob played upon his father Isaac, which was masterminded by his mother Rebekah. He had previously bought the birthright from his brother Esau, and then when his father had planned to give Esau the blessing, he deceived his father and pretended to be Esau so he would get the blessing also.

Now Esau hated Jacob because he had stolen his blessing, and he promised to kill him. His mother heard of the plan, and she encouraged Jacob to go to her brother Laban to get a wife, but also to escape Esau’s plan to kill him. So she spoke to her husband Isaac saying that the wives of Esau were driving her crazy, and she didn’t want Jacob to marry a pagan woman, and didn’t he think that it would be a good idea if Jacob went to his relatives to find a wife. And Isaac agreed, not wanting to see his son marry a pagan woman.

And that’s where we pick up the story. [Gen 28: 1 So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, and said to him, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2 “Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. 3 “May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. 4 “May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.” 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. 6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take to himself a wife from there, [and that] when he blessed him he charged him, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram. 8 So Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased his father Isaac; 9 and Esau went to Ishmael, and married, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth. 10 Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 He came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place. 12 He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. 14 “Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants 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.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” 18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top. 19 He called the name of that place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, 21 and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God. 22 “This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”

Notice the promise given in vs 5 “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.” That promise is repeated in essence in Deut. 31:6 and then reiterated to those who believe in Hebrews 13:5; “I will never leave you or forsake you.” That is one of the greatest blessings of salvation. The continuing presence of Jesus with us forever. As Jesus said in Matt. 28:20, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” That is the blessing of salvation, that God is with us, in us, abiding with us, forever.

Now I am getting ahead of the story. But I do need to address the matter of this blessing that Jacob has received. In desiring the birthright, and desiring the blessing, did Jacob in effect become saved? Some Bible scholars see this stage of Jacob’s life as his path of sanctification. And sanctification comes after justification. We know that justification is by faith. Abraham believed God and He credited it to him as righteousness.

But have we seen Jacob believe God unto salvation? We have seen the predetermination of God to bless Jacob. We have seen the calling and election of God upon Jacob, even before he was born. But as I said last time, Jacob was not saved in the womb. Election does not save you. Believing saves you. And though Jacob desires the birthright and the blessing, and despite the fact that the birthright and the blessing have a spiritual quotient to them that Esau despised, despite all that, I don’t see that up to this point, Jacob has believed unto salvation. He wanted the blessing of God, but he did not want the Lordship of God.

So my position is that he is not saved yet. He is not a believer. And evidence of that I think is shown in this chapter, as well as in the last chapter when he said to his father “Because the LORD your God caused it to happen to me.” In other words, Jacob was claiming the help of the God of his father. He was not claiming the help of his God. Jehovah was not yet his God, He was his father’s god.

And that attitude doesn’t change even after this vision that he has, when God appears on a ladder to heaven. Even though he knows that God was in that place, that God had visited him, yet he says in vs 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “IF God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, THEN the LORD will be my God.” Even after all this special revelation that he had received, yet he still is not willing to say the Lord is my God. But he puts a conditional promise out there that God must fulfill to his satisfaction before he will say the Lord is MY God.

Now let’s get back to the story and work our way through it to see what was going on in this event. First notice that poor Isaac is being hoodwinked again by his wife and son to give his blessing to Isaac and urge him to leave the land that God had promised them. Abraham, you will remember, refused to let his servant consider taking Isaac back to the land of Haran because he knew that it would end up trapping him there. So Abraham had his servant go there and get Isaac a wife and bring her back to him in Canaan. And perhaps that is what Isaac should have done. I can’t say that this departure on Jacob’s part from the land is God’s perfect will. It wasn’t so with Isaac, so why should it be different for Jacob? And we will see that it ends up being a 20 year detour, which God promises to overturn and bring him back to Canaan.

But they are all pretty carnal people and they don’t ask God what to do. They look at the situation around them and the hatred of Esau and they make a decision that this is what is needed. And yet for all the years of Abraham’s journeying, and Isaac’s wandering, God reiterated again and again that this was the land that he was giving them. That He would provide for them and protect them there. And yet again and again they leave the land.

And then Moses makes a side note about Esau, how he sees that his mother and dad did not like his pagan wives, and so he goes out and tries to accomplish what they wanted for Jacob, which was to marry a wife who was of the same ancestral background. But Esau goes to the family of Ishmael to find a wife, not realizing that he further confirms the choice that God had made to bless Jacob and not Esau. Ishmael was outside of the spiritual blessing that God had promised Abraham. But Esau doesn’t understand the difference between the spiritual and the physical and so further compounds his situation.

Do you see how Jacob and Esau are a type of the old man and the new man? Esau is a type of the old nature, and Jacob a picture of the new nature. We see that old man clearly in Esau I think up to this point, but we do not see any evidence yet of the new man in Jacob. Except that he was foreordained for salvation before he was born and that shows interest in acquiring God’s blessing. But he attempts to acquire it through the work of the flesh rather than the work of the Spirit.

But Jacob leaves his home and travels about 70 miles on his journey to Haran, which is about a 400 mile journey. Presumably he is traveling alone. And he comes to a place called Luz, where he decides to spend the night. And he makes a pillow for his head from a rock and goes to sleep. I’ve heard a lot of poor jokes preachers have made over the years about Jacob sleeping on a rock and none of them are worth repeating. But you do have to wonder if using a rock for a pillow affected his sleep.

So Jacob had a dream. Now I have to say that this experience of Jacob and other patriarchs who had conversations with God is not the primary experience of a believer today. Yet you might ask why is there a different way of God communicating with us today than there was in those days? And the answer is that they did not have the scriptures. They had no Bible, or any part of the Bible at that point. Moses writes this several hundred years after the fact and he writes the first five books of the Bible, known as the Pentateuch. Prior to that there was only the verbal traditions past down through generations of what God had said.

Furthermore, there are no real opportunities for hearing from any preacher or prophet in those days. In fact, the only people you could consider a prophet were Abraham and Isaac. Melchizedek we know was a priest of God, but he is probably long dead by this point as nothing further is said about him after Abraham’s visit. So if there is no scripture, and no prophet, no priest, then how is a person going to hear the gospel? God Himself will speak through the pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. It’s what is called a theophany. And that’s what we see here.

But I would say that we live in a different dispensation, when God speaks through preachers and His word. Heb 1:1-2 says, God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.” And His Son has spoken to us the Word of God which was written for us in the scriptures. And in Colossians 2:18 we are warned about giving heed to false prophets who base their doctrine on visions that they have seen, which are in violation of the word of God. So I urge you to beware of those who would claim visions and dreams with special revelation from God.

But God wants Jacob to hear the gospel. [Rom 10:13-14 says for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?” And so God gives Jacob a dream in which he sees a ladder stretching from heaven to earth, and angels ascending and defending the ladder and God standing at the top of the ladder. Now God verbally speaks to him, but we must ask ourselves what is symbolized in this vision. Because if God just wanted to speak to him He could have done so without this incredible vision. There must be some symbolism there that was also intended to illustrate the message to Jacob.

One commentator, H.C. Leupold, has said, “Such a clearcut dream must embody a deeper symbolism. Why a ladder? Why the angels? Why the Lord above it? Answer, in order to convey via visible sign what the words themselves also convey as Jehovah speaks.” In other words, this is designed to illustrate in symbolic fashion what is expressed by the words that are spoken at this theophany.

So if you have a ladder that reaches from earth to heaven, then you might deduce that it signifies communication from heaven to earth. And this communication is mediated by the angels. Hebrews 1:14 says that angels are ministering spirits sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation.

There is an old African American spiritual that I remember singing as a child which is called “We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder.” And the sense of that song indicates that there is a climbing towards heaven that is done on our part which is signified by the ladder. But that is not the intention of the vision of the ladder. Salvation is not achieved by climbing a ladder to heaven. The ladder symbolizes communication between God and man, or a bridge between God and man. But man doesn’t climb up to God, rather God comes down to man.

Now there is an interesting passage in the book of John in which this particular incident is referred to. It is at the time when Nathaniel was brought by Philip to the Lord Jesus. Now, Nathaniel, in that little incident at the end of John chapter 1, had evidently been meditating on Genesis chapter 28. It’s clear from a couple of things. It’s clear, because when he comes to the Lord Jesus, the Lord said to him, “Behold an Israelite, in whom there is no guile.”

Now remember an Israelite is a descendant of Jacob. So it’s almost as if he were saying, “Behold an Israelite in whom there is no Jacob.” Now Nathaniel was a man like that, he was a man who was guileless. He was a very frank man. He said, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” He did not realize, of course, that The Good Shepherd comes out of Nazareth. But when he comes to Jesus, the Lord said to him, “Nathaniel, before you saw me, I saw you sitting under the fig tree.” And sitting under the fig tree was, according to rabbinic thought, the proper place to sit when you wanted to meditate on the Bible.

So he was meditating, and furthermore, he was obviously meditating on Genesis chapter 28, because Jesus refers to this specific incident. And he says in his conversation with Nathaniel, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? Why you’ll see greater things than these.” Then He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you shall see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

So he’s been meditating on Genesis chapter 28 and Jesus says, “Look, you want to see greater things than you have seen when you were meditating on Genesis chapter 28? You’re going to see the heavens opened.” That’s interesting isn’t it? The heavens opened as if there was suddenly access to heaven for sinful men. And you’re going to see the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. There is going to be a communion between the opened heavens and this earth down here. And you’re going to see the angels ascending and descending not upon a ladder, but upon the Son of Man.

Did you notice that substitution? That’s what you call interpreting the Old Testament by the New Testament. He was, in effect, saying the ladder in the Old Testament is symbolic of the Son of Man. It is by virtue of the Son of Man, who has opened the way to heaven. It’s by virtue of his mediation that the heavens are opened and there is communion between God and man. That is, those who approach heaven through the ladder of the Son of Man, who is the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, except by Him. So, the ladder is symbolic of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well that’s a magnificent symbolic illustration of the gospel, but the words that follow are just as great. Now notice the promises. First of all, he begins by identifying Himself, “I am the Lord. I am Jehovah. I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. The same God who had called out Abraham, who had given him the promises of which Jacob was the beneficiary. He says, “the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.” That very piece of land on which Jacob was putting his head is to be given to him. So, he is talking about something very specific, but listen to the other promises. “Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”

And then the great climatic promise; “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.” You know, our salvation is predicated on our belief in the promises of God. We don’t see our sins forgiven. We don’t enter into heaven immediately. We do not yet sense eternal life that is given to us. But we believe in the promises of God concerning these things. And that is faith, saving faith. Jacob is given all these magnificent promises of God’s blessing. And yet though he is awed by the experience of the vision, he doesn’t really believe the promises completely. He wants proof.

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of [things] hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.” Faith is not getting proof, it’s being convinced about things not seen. Jacob is impressed, but not convinced.

Jacob’s response is very interesting. You notice in verse 16 that the text says he awakened from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” How true that is of our experience. You know I have a hunch that there are lots of people sitting in this audience right now who do not realize that the Lord is in our midst. Perhaps you would rather think that the Lord is in heaven but not that He is standing in the midst of this congregation.

And the thought of the nearness of God induced fear in him. The KJV says “How dreadful is this place.” Now we do not want to be confused by the term “dreadful.” The New American Standard Bible has rendered it, “How awesome is this place.” It’s kind of like the way us southerners use the term awful. We say awfully when we actually mean “very.” Like for instance, I am awfully hungry. It should be I”m very hungry. “It would be awfully nice if you would give me some ice cream.” I don’t know why we say that. I’m awfully sorry. Well, in the KJV they say dreadful when they mean awesome.

You know, Solomon says in Proverbs that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. I suggest that the fear of the Lord is necessary before we can experience the grace of the Lord. You have to know you are condemned to death before you can value being given eternal life.

The next morning in response to his dream Jacob got up and put a memorial pillar of rocks there. He called the place Bethel; the house of God. It was his way of responding to the experience that he had had. But it was a misplaced reverence. God had not said that He abided there, and Jacob could meet with Him there. God had said 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.”

The promise of God is to be with us, to indwell us, to keep us, wherever we go. That is the promise of salvation. That is the blessing that we should seek. To have communion with God.

Vs 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God. “This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.” That’s all very nice, but he is making a conditional promise to God. And the condition is that he will wait and see if God really is with him, and really does keep him on his journey, and if He actually provides for him. And IF God really does all that, THEN Jehovah will be his God. Until He proves Himself, Jehovah is Abraham’s and Isaac’s God. Until then, Jacob thinks he is his own master.

Rom 10:9-11 says, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus [as] Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

Though God is under no obligation to prove Himself to anyone, yet by His grace He will prove His faithfulness to Jacob for the next 20 years. But Jacob will not confess the Lord as His God until he finally wrestles with the Lord and bows in submission to Him.

It’s possible to be called by God, to have an interest in spiritual things, to even be presented the gospel of God and yet not be saved. To be saved is to confess your sins, to believe in what God has done through Jesus on the cross to forgive you for your sins and to give you eternal life. I trust that you do not resist submitting to Jesus Christ as Lord, as your God, like Jacob did. That you do not test the Lord’s patience. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

God’s Sovereignty, Man’s Schemes, Genesis 27

The passage that we are looking at today in our study of Genesis may not seem on the surface to have a lot of application for us today.  I really kind of go through a debate with myself about which passages in Genesis are important for us to study and which I maybe could skip over. But of course all scripture is important, even the parts that seem less attractive than others.  In fact, maybe the parts that seem less attractive have an even greater significance because they are often overlooked.

Paul said in Romans 15:4 “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

But Jacob is not a character that we probably find attractive.  He was a schemer, a “heel catcher” according to the translation of his name.  He was a liar, a scoundrel.  And it’s to our credit that we don’t find him as someone that we would want to emulate.  Esau his fraternal twin brother was undoubtedly more of the type of guy that you would be attracted to, or that you would find appealing.  

And yet we know that the scriptures say in Malachi chapter 1 that contrary to human reason God loved Jacob and hated Esau.  Paul elaborates on that in Rom 9:10-13 saying,  “And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived [twins] by one man, our father Isaac;  for though [the twins] were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to [His] choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls,  it was said to her, “THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.”  Just as it is written, “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.”

Paul goes on to say in vs15 For [the Lord] says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.”  So then it [does] not [depend] on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

So then what we will learn from this passage then is really the sovereignty of God, that He directs in the affairs of men,  that He chooses whom He will have mercy upon, and whom He will shed His grace upon.  And salvation is not given to those who deserve mercy, or who earn mercy or who try to gain mercy through their own contrivance.  But salvation is given to those who are sinners, who are undeserving.  And Jacob is a good example of a person who is a sinner that receives the blessing of God.

And I would encourage you to think about blessing in that regard as you read the scriptures.  Blessing is really another way of referring to salvation.  So when Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, and He gave what is called the Beatitudes, “Blessed are you who mourn for they shall be comforted…etc.,” He is really speaking about the ultimate spiritual blessing which is salvation.  We have a tendency to think of blessing as physical, as material.  And that was the problem that Esau had.  

We saw last time that Esau despised the birthright, which was his spiritual blessing. But now in this passage, when the birthright is tied to the blessing, Esau mourns over the fact that Jacob has stolen his blessing from him, but he is mourning over the physical, material aspects of losing his inheritance and not mourning about his relationship with God.  He still despises the spiritual blessing, only finding value in the material blessing.

Now this is a story, Biblical history, and it would be difficult, if not pointless to try to create a four point outline from this passage in order to satisfy some sort of sermon etiquette. But if I were to do so, then we might say, 1, Isaac’s rebellion, 2, Rebecca’s deception, 3, Jacob’s participation, and 4,  Esau’s frustration.  But we will read the passage in large sections and comment on each in turn, and hopefully learn some principles in the process.

Let’s start reading in vs 1, “Now it came about, when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And he said to him, “Here I am.”  Isaac said, “Behold now, I am old [and] I do not know the day of my death.  Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me;  and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die.”

Martin Luther somehow deduced from the scriptures that Isaac was about 137 years old at this time. He would live to be 180.  So he’s going to be alive for 43 more years, but he’s convinced he is about to die.  I’ve known some people like that.  They talked about how pitiful they were and how they were going to die, and yet they lived for quite some time afterwards, albeit in misery and making everyone else’s life miserable in the process.

But it reminds me of a comedian named Spike Milligan, who created his own headstone before he died.  He had written on his tombstone, “I told you I was ill.”  I’m thinking about borrowing that for my headstone.  Isaac however, was virtually blind.  And so perhaps we should excuse his morose outlook on account of his blindness.

Now you should remember from last time that the Lord had told Rebecca that the older will serve the younger.  There is little doubt that she had relayed that word of God to Isaac.  So he knew that the plan of God was to bless Jacob even though Esau was the firstborn son, which by tradition would mean he would have the birthright and the blessing. But God had said the older would serve the younger.  And Isaac knew this.

Isaac also knew that this was in accordance with the promises made to his father Abraham that from his seed would come a nation, and from that nation would be blessed, and the nations of the world would be blessed through his seed. 

But in spite of the clear word of God, Isaac in his old age has decided that he would rather bless Esau because he loved him more.  He also knows that Esau had despised his birthright and sold it to Jacob for a mess of pottage. So he knew God’s will, and he knew Esau’s spiritual disposition did not qualify him as the head of the nation which God would bless.  And yet Isaac attempts to defy the word of the Lord and the purpose of the Lord and act autonomously to perform his own will, to elect his favorite son to the position of favor.

Yet Isaac was a man of faith.  As I said when we looked at the sacrifice of Abraham, the faith of Isaac was a tremendous thing that is unstated in scripture, but is shouted in the silence of scripture.  In his youth he submitted without question to the will of God, even to the point of losing his life.  But now somehow, near the end of his life, his love for the Lord has grown cold, and his autonomy and pride of life have grown stronger to the point that he thinks he can do what he wants, with impunity. Maybe he thinks that way because he has become excessively rich. He was far richer than his father Abraham. And I suppose that’s a temptation of the rich, that they think they are smarter than they really are, or more deserving, or superior in some way.

I also think that Isaac was a man who was ruled by his appetite. I don’t know why, but I have a really bad image of Isaac at this point in his life of looking like an older Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now, and I can’t get it out of my mind. I don’t see this in scripture, but I imagine him as old and very heavy, blind and his only comfort is found in eating.  No other pleasure in life is able to be enjoyed anymore. And I think he must have a tremendous appetite. Though I may be speculating about his appearance, his appetite is verified in scripture because it says that Rebecca when preparing his favorite stew has Jacob slay two goats for his dinner.  Two goats for one person’s meal indicates a voracious appetite.

So he calls Esau, the mighty hunter, and says I want to bless you before I die.  Go hunting for me and then make me the savory food that I love that I may eat it and then bless you.  This statement savory food that I love is repeated again and again in this story.  It turns out that Rebecca can make the same meal out of goat that he thinks is venison.  So you have to wonder what the spices were that made it so savory. Maybe he liked Mexican food.  You put enough cilantro and chiles and hot sauce on your food and you can be eating anything and it tastes good. You don’t know what you’re eating.  But notice again and again it says which I love, or which he loves. I think Isaac loved food to the point of it being sinful.

Isaac loves Esau, and he loves savory food. And ultimately his love for what he loves outweighs his love for the Lord.  Some Bible scholars see in this text that Isaac attempted to do this secretly.  In spite of knowing what God’s will was, he was going to do this before he died, without his wife knowing or Jacob knowing and in rebellion against God’s will.

But his secret is overheard. Vs 5, Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring [home,]  Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying,  ‘Bring me [some] game and prepare a savory dish for me, that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death.’  “Now therefore, my son, listen to me as I command you. Go now to the flock and bring me two choice young goats from there, that I may prepare them [as] a savory dish for your father, such as he loves. Then you shall bring [it] to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.”

It’s possible that Rebecca knew what Isaac was planning and spied on him in order to hear his plans.  We don’t know for sure.  But there is plenty of intrigue to go around, and all of the family is guilty of it to some degree.

Rebecca also commands Jacob to obey her. She uses her authority as his mother to get him to do this thing.  But I would suggest that it wasn’t hard for Jacob to participate, because we have already seen that his desire is for the birthright and so also for the blessing.  So he is a willing accomplice, but together they will bring about the deception.

However, Rebecca has more culpability in this deception because she was the one who had directly heard from the Lord concerning His blessing on Jacob.  If she would have waited on the Lord and trusted in Him, He would have worked it out in spite of Isaac’s secret plan.  But she uses her own means to work out God’s will.  And that causes all sorts of problems and longterm consequences for all involved.

Rebecca said, “I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father, such as he loves. Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.” There it is again, the savory dish as he loves.  She knows Isaac’s weakness is his appetite.  

There is a saying that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.  And a cunning wife is able to make her husband think that her ideas are his ideas so that he ends up doing as she wants him to do, all the while appearing to be submitting to him. I’m not saying that is necessarily always a bad thing, but often women have more control over their husbands than they are given credit for.

Vs11,Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth man. Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be as a deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.”  But his mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get [them] for me.”  So he went and got [them,] and brought [them] to his mother; and his mother made savory food such as his father loved.  Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.  And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.  She also gave the savory food and the bread, which she had made, to her son Jacob.

Notice that Jacob isn’t concerned that the plan to deceive his father is wrong, only whether it will succeed.  That is a common problem in the church today, not whether or not it is according to the plan of God or the word of God, but only if it will bring results.  And if it succeeds at some level then we think we have accomplished something for the Lord.  

But Rebecca assured Jacob that whatever curse may fall on him she will take upon herself. I think Rebecca did not foresee what that would mean.  For one, it would mean that she would never see her son that she loved again.  All that she had hoped to gain through this deception she would end up losing for herself because she instigated this deception.  Many a person entering into sin discounts the cost of that sin, and thanks lightly of  the consequences of it.  Sir Walter Scott is credited with the saying, “Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.”

All four of them — Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Esau — did not trust each other. Worse yet, they did not trust the Lord. Each one of them schemed and plotted against each other and against God.  Even worse is they seem to regard the blessing as magical, as something detached from God’s wisdom and will. But in giving the blessing, basically Isaac was speaking as a prophet of God, and only as his word was in accordance with God’s word could there be any blessing.

So what was conceived in the heart is then acted out. Jacob’s participation in Vs. 18, Then [Jacob] came to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”  Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. Get up, please, sit and eat of my game, that you may bless me.”  Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have [it] so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the LORD your God caused [it] to happen to me.”  Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come close, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.”  So Jacob came close to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”  He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. And he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he said, “I am.” So he said, “Bring [it] to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, that I may bless you.” And he brought [it] to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine and he drank.  Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come close and kiss me, my son.”  So he came close and kissed him; and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed;  Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, And of the fatness of the earth, And an abundance of grain and new wine;  May peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you; Be master of your brothers, And may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, And blessed be those who bless you.”

Jacob blatantly lies three times to his father.  That’s pretty brazen. Even more damning, Jacob uses the name of the Lord to add some credibility to his lies. But it’s interesting that Jacob says the LORD your God.  Not the LORD our God, or the Lord my God. It will be 20 years before Jacob says the LORD Is his God. He wants God’s blessing, but not God’s lordship.

Jacob knew that God had promised this blessing to him, so perhaps he felt justified in lying. The blessing was a gift of God, but that does not mean that we are to continue in sin that grace may abound. But the words of Isaac’s blessing echo the promises that God had made to Abraham and to Rebecca concerning Jacob. 

Vs30 Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.  Then he also made savory food, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.”  Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”  Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who was he then that hunted game and brought [it] to me, so that I ate of all [of it] before you came, and blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.”

The Hebrew phrase for trembled violently could be translated “Isaac trembled most excessively with a great trembling.” It was like he had a convulsion.  And what that indicates is Isaac feared God because he realized that God had prevailed in spite of his own efforts to subvert the will of God.  God has prevailed in His sovereignty over the affairs of man and the schemes of man.  

And when Isaac recognizes this, he trembles violently and then he says, “I have blessed him—and indeed he shall be blessed.”  Isaiah 66:5 says, “Hear the word of the LORD, you who tremble at His word.”  The word of the LORD is a fearful thing. It is irrevocable, immutable, unchanging, eternal.  It is “as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.”  Not one jot or title shall fail until all of it has been fulfilled.  You better have a holy fear of the word of God. And a pastor or a prophet better have a holy fear of the word of God and relay it faithfully just as He has given it.  I think Isaac got a pretty good sense of the importance of every word of God, that it cannot fail. That it will prevail.

Then we come to Esau’s frustration. Vs34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, [even] me also, O my father!”  And he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.”  Then he said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” But Isaac replied to Esau, “Behold, I have made him your master, and all his relatives I have given to him as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?”  Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, [even] me also, O my father.” So Esau lifted his voice and wept.

Hebrews 12:15 says,  See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;  that [there be] no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a [single] meal.  For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.

Esau’s weeping was not in repentance for his disdain for spiritual things, but it was in hope that his father would change his mind, but Isaac could not change the blessing.  What he had blessed would indeed be blessed. 

So this blessing of Esau seems more like a curse. Vs 39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him, “Behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling, And away from the dew of heaven from above. By your sword you shall live, And your brother you shall serve; But it shall come about when you become restless, That you will break his yoke from your neck.”  So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”  Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, “Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you [by planning] to kill you.  “Now therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise, flee to Haran, to my brother Laban!  “Stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury subsides,  until your brother’s anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?”  Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of living because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

So you see that the true heart of Esau is finally revealed. He plans to murder his brother.  God sees the heart.  And though Isaac saw things about Esau that he thought was appealing, yet God knew what kind of heart Esau had towards the things of God, and also his hatred towards his brother.

And the consequences of this deception for Rebecca is she sends Jacob away to her brother Laban she thinks for only a few days, but it ends up being over 20 years.  She never sees him again.  And Isaac suffers the loss of Jacob as well and sees this conflict develop between his sons that will continue for a thousand years.  

Sin is rebellion against God. Pure and simple.  And that rebellion is so foolish because we think we know best, and we do not subject our plans to God.  But thankfully, God’s sovereignty overrules man’s foolishness.

 In this tragic story, everyone lost. Each of the main characters — Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, and Jacob — schemed and maneuvered in human wisdom and energy, rejecting God’s word and wisdom. Nevertheless, God still accomplished His purpose. The tragedy was that each of the participants suffered, because they insisted on working against God’s word and wisdom.  The only saving grace is that God keeps His word, and He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy.  And but for the mercy of God, no one would be saved.

The Birth of a Nation,   Genesis 25:19-34 

We should be well able to remember the specific promises that God made to Abraham concerning his seed.  We now know that the seed spoken of was to be Isaac, born to Abraham and Sarah in their old age, long after the natural time of childbirth.  But those promises made to Abraham concerning his seed also promised that from his seed would be born a nation.  These promises were made repeatedly, and elaborated upon as time went on.  I will just take the time to read two passages where this promise concerning a nation were given.

One is found at the beginning of Abraham’s journey in his walk with the Lord; Genesis 12:2 God said, “And I will make you a great nation,] And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing.” The other is found at the time of Isaac’s sacrifice, perhaps 45 years later. Gen. 21:18 “Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.”

Now I remind us of that because we are not just looking at the birth of Isaac’s sons, but the birth of a nation.  From one man, God raised up a nation, the people of God, the chosen people of God, called Israel.  And you will remember that Isaac’s son Jacob, his name will be changed to Israel.  He will be the father of the 12 tribes of Israel which will come from his loins. 

But today the children of God are not all Israelites. All the nations of the world have been blessed through the blessing that God gave to Abraham. 1John 3:1 says, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and [such] we are.”  And Peter says, 1Peter 2:10 “for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.”

And that is the point that I want to emphasize here this morning. As we look at the life of Jacob, we do not see someone who was exemplary in his walk of faith. We see one that is a scoundrel in many respects.  And yet he is chosen by God before he is even born.  He is the object of God’s grace.  And that is the way any person is made a child of God.  Not according to their merit, but by God’s grace.

God says in Malichi 1:2 “I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you say, “How have You loved us?” “[Was] not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet I have loved Jacob;  but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and [appointed] his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.”

And Paul quotes from that verse to support his argument for God’s gracious choice in salvation. Romans 9:8-13 “That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.  For this is the word of promise: “AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.”  And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived [twins] by one man, our father Isaac;  for though [the twins] were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to [His] choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, “THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.”  Just as it is written, “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.”

So notice Paul’s commentary on this passage; before the twins were born, before they had done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of their works, but because of Him who calls.

Let’s look then at how this plays out. We are going to read starting in chapter 25 vs 19, Now these are [the records of] the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham became the father of 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.  Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived.  But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I [this way?]” So she went to inquire of the LORD.  The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.”

Notice first of all that Rebekah was barren.  This is a trend that we see again and again in the lineage of the chosen seed.  We saw that with Sarah. Now Rebekah.  We’ll see barrens initially in the life of Rachel.  And we must ask why so often in scripture was the wife barren? Well, because the scripture says that children are a gift from the Lord.  And God wanted to stress the fact that these children were given from Him, and not just the product of the flesh.  They were the children of promise.  The promise of God that He would bless Abraham’s seed, so that they became a great nation was not something that came automatically for Abraham or his line, but God wanted to show that He is the one who gives life to that which was dead.

But Isaac prayed to God for Rebekah, and God granted his petition and caused her to conceive. Isaac knew that God had previously promised that he would have a child through whom would come the promised nation. But that doesn’t preclude the need for prayer.  In fact, praying according to God’s promises is how we can be assured that God will answer our prayers.  If God has promised something, then when you pray for it, you can be assured that God will answer your prayer.

James speaks of Elijah as an illustration of effective prayer.  And he mentions that Elijah prayed that it would not rain, and then prayed that it would rain.  And God answered his prayers.  But what James doesn’t tell us, is that Elijah had already been promised that it would not rain, and then after 3 1/2 years, that it would rain again. So Elijah wasn’t using some magic prayer formula in order to make it rain, or stop the  rain, but he was simply praying what God had already told him He would do. That is effective prayer.  

I saw a billboard in front of a church the other day, one of those reader boards that you can change the message on.  I don’t know why those folks think that’s a good idea. I guess they think that they can show their humor or their spiritual knowledge off to the world.  It’s as bad of an idea as Facebook posts.  People just don’t realize that they are revealing more than they intend to, namely their ignorance.  

But this sign in front of the church said, God answer’s prayer. Period. No qualification. No explanation.  Just a guaranteed promise that whatever the prayer, irregardless of who prays it, or what it is about, God will answer it. Well, I’m sorry but that is not true, and instead of being a witness to the lost, you end up being a deterrent to the lost, because there is a good chance that they will  pray for something and not get it answered the way they wanted, and so end up deciding that God isn’t real.

But Isaac prayed according to the promises of God that Rebekah would get pregnant. And the Lord granted his prayer. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I [this way?]” So she went to inquire of the LORD.  The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.”

Since Rebekah knew that God had promised to give her a child, and he had answered her husband’s prayer for her, then she was justified in asking God what was going on inside her womb.  Because it felt like there was a wrestling match going on. And it’s to her credit that she went to the Lord, because the Lord had been the One who caused her to conceive.

The Lord said to her that she was having twins.  That would have been enlightening enough, but he also said there were two nations in her womb.  Notice God doesn’t say that there were two babies, but two nations. Each baby would be the representative head of a nation.  The Bible has much to say about representative heads.  We see in the Bible that Adam was the representative head for the human race.  By him and from him, all the people on earth were under the curse, all inherit the sin nature.  

But Christ is also the representative head of the church.  1Cor. 15:22 says, ‘For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.  Then in vs 45 So also it is written, “The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.” The last Adam [became] a life-giving spirit.

So in a similar fashion, Jacob and Esau are representative heads of two nations, one which will be the children of God, and one nation which is the children of the world.  Vs23 The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.”

God chose to go against the traditional custom of the younger serving the older. Generally the older son was the primary heir and the other brothers would get a lesser share in the estate, and  thus would in effect serve their older brother. That was what they called the birthright.  But you will remember that In Romans 9:10-13 which we read earlier, the Apostle Paul used this choice of Jacob over Esau before their birth as an illustration of God’s sovereign choice, to illustrate the grace of God in salvation.  God says that the birthright would be given to Jacob, the younger son, and his older brother would serve him.

But it’s also true that the nation that rose up from the line of Esau would be called the Edomites, and they were continual enemies of Israel until the time when they were eventually assimilated into Judean culture.  And it’s interesting to note that King Herod was an Edomite, and he was certainly can be considered the enemy of Christ.

Paul wrote that God’s choice was not based on the performance of Jacob or Esau. The choice was made when they were not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil (Romans 9:11). God announced these intentions to Rebekah before the children were born (the older shall serve the younger), and repeated His verdict long after Jacob and Esau had both passed from the earth (Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated, Malachi 1:2-3).

So what we learn is that God’s choice and election are a prerequisite for salvation. Jacob was chosen for salvation, and predestined for salvation before the foundation of the world.  But of Esau, God said that He hated him.  But that sovereign election of God raises some questions regarding the fairness of God.  


Paul addresses this in Romans 9:14-18 saying, “What shall we say then? [Is there] unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!  For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”  So then [it is] not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.  For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.”  Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

But that still doesn’t answer the question of God’s fairness.  If God sovereignly wills one to be saved, and another to be lost, then how can a just God punish someone who has no choice in the matter?  If we are not elected for salvation, then how can we be held accountable and punished for not being saved?

Paul answers that in the next paragraph, to the extent that we can understand it. Rom 9:19-27 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?”  But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed [it], “Why have you made me like this?”  Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?  [What] if God, wanting to show [His] wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,  and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,  even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?  As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.” “And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You [are] not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.”  Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved.

But though Jacob was predetermined and called to salvation, yet he also had to have faith to believe unto salvation. Jacob was not saved in the womb. He was chosen before he was in the womb. But as he grew up, he had to believe in God in order to receive the righteousness of salvation.  For we know that the scripture says Abraham believed God and he credited it to him as righteousness.  So in some mysterious way, the election of God does not negate the responsibility of man.  God does not override our will but He changes our will.  So that whosoever will may come. 

But not all Israel was saved.  Heb 3:12-19 says, Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.  But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is [still] called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.  For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,  while it is said, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME.”  For who provoked [Him] when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt [led] by Moses?  And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?  And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient?  [So] we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. Notice belief or unbelief is the means of being saved.

1Cor. 10:1-5 For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea;  and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;  and all ate the same spiritual food;  and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.  Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.

The famous preacher Charles Spurgeon was asked one day a question by a lady in his church after hearing a message about God loving Jacob and hating Esau. She said, ‘I cannot understand why God should say that He hated Esau.’ ‘That,’ Spurgeon replied, ‘is not my difficulty, madam. My trouble is to understand how God could love Jacob.’”

I think the difficulty in understanding election might be helped by saying that from the perspective of God, we are saved by election and predestination.  But from our perspective, we are saved by believing and following. As the passage we just read in Hebrews said, they were not able to enter because of unbelief.

When Peter preached his famous sermon on Pentecost, he quoted the scripture which said, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And they cried out, What shall we do?  Peter did not say, do nothing.  You are either going to be saved or you are not. There is nothing you can do, it’s up to God.  No Peter said, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” So you see that both God’s sovereignty and the penitent’s responsibility are working together to receive salvation.  We cannot understand how they work together, but we believe that God works all things according to His will. Ultimately, salvation is of the Lord.

Now vs 24 When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.  Now the first came forth red, all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau. Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob; and Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.  Jacob means one who takes by the heel, or supplants.  Jacob was by nature a trickster.  And we will see that he depended upon that trickery when he should have trusted in God.

Vs.27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents.  Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.  When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished;  and Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom.  But Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.”  Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what [use] then is the birthright to me?”  And Jacob said, “First swear to me”; 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 on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Many commentators and preachers have derided Jacob as a momma’s boy. I don’t know that is true.  But it is true that he was loved by his mother more, and Esau was loved more by his father. That’s a sad commentary on that family.  There should never be any favoritism shown by parents towards one child above another. And it obviously was like pouring gas on a fire in a rivalry that had started in the womb and continued throughout generations that followed.

But as in the case of Sarah and Abraham when they thought that God needed help in bringing about His promise, so Jacob and Rebekah seem to think the same thing. God had promised that Jacob would be first, that he would have the birthright of the firstborn, even though he had been born second.  But Jacob arranged a time when his brother came in from hunting in the fields and was famished, and Jacob just happened to have a pot of stew on the stove.  Maybe it was happenstance, but I think it probably was contrived to take advantage of his brother Esau and convince him to sell him his birthright.

But Esau is not without fault, even though he was being played.  He allowed his carnal desires to outweigh his spiritual desire.  The birthright was a favor from the Lord that was granted to the oldest son.  Esau was older than Jacob by about 30 seconds.  But it was enough to qualify him for this blessing of the birthright.  But Jacob wants that birthright, that spiritual blessing from the Lord, and though God would have been able to provide it through His means, yet Jacob buys it from his starving brother for a single meal.

But the author of Hebrews comments on this event and says that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. (Hebrews 12:16) So there was a lack of godly desire on his part, there was an immorality that he was guilty of that made him despise spiritual blessings. 

Hebrews goes on to say that in vs17 For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.”  That doesn’t mean that Esau wanted to repent of his ungodliness or his immorality.  That’s a reference to the tears that he shed when later he found his father had already blessed Jacob with the blessing that had been intended for him.  And Isaac was unable to undo the blessing because he had given it already to Jacob. Even though Jacob had used trickery again to deceive his own father, yet the blessing could not be changed.

But that only illustrates further the responsibility of man to God, and God’s choice concerning man.  Jacob did not receive the blessing because he was a nice, upstanding man.  He was a scoundrel, a trickster.  He was a deceiver and a liar. He was guilty of coveting. But yet God had mercy upon him.  

Esau seems to have a decency about him that Jacob doesn’t have.  Yet we see that Esau despised his birthright.  He despised spiritual things.  His primary  concern was for  carnal things.

And so we come to the end of this chapter.  We will continue to look at the life of Jacob next week.  But suffice it to say that you must have a desire for spiritual blessing as a gift from God, that believing in God and what our representative head Jesus Christ accomplished for us on the cross, we can be credited with the righteousness of God, and receive foregiveness of our sins. Do not be as Esau, and despise the spiritual blessings of God for the temporary pleasures of this world and as such lost his own soul.

And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.  Revelation 22:17