Turn in your Bibles please to Genesis chapter 39. Today we are resuming our study of Genesis, and in particular the story of Joseph. We saw last time in our study that Joseph was a type of Christ. But that does not mean that every thing that happens to Joseph is correlated in the life of Christ, but there are some significant things that are typical of the life of Christ. Primarily, Joseph was a type of Christ in that he was despised and rejected by his brothers, he became a slave, as Christ became a servant, he went through a time of testing as did the Lord Jesus, and he became the Deliver of his people.

Today, we will be looking at the temptation of Joseph, the gift of interpretation of dreams that Joseph is given, and the exaltation from prison to second in the kingdom of Egypt. And we will be reading from chapter’s 39-41. That’s a lot of reading, but I would prefer you to hear the word of God relate the story than to hear me summarize the story in my own words. Because I believe that the word of God is more powerful than simply a telling of a narrative.

So you will remember that when we left off last time Joseph had been sold into slavery by his brothers, who had originally planned to kill Joseph, but Judah had intervened with a plan to sell him to some passing traders. And so the Ishmaelites sold him as a slave to an Egyptian named Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s bodyguard.

39:1, 2 “Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there. The LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.”

The most important statement in that paragraph is “the Lord was with Joseph.” We are told that Abraham was justified by faith, and so we understand that Jospeh was a man of faith, and thus accepted by God. As a result, the Lord was with him. That’s what it means to be accepted by God, to be saved. The Lord is with you. The Spirit of the Lord was upon Joseph. That’s the blessing of salvation. We have the presence of the Lord in us and with us, forever. Even though Joseph had been severely mistreated and sold into slavery and taken to a foreign land away from his family, the Lord was with him.

So having the Lord with him did not mean that he would not suffer. It did not mean that he would not be hated. It did not mean he would not be tempted. It did not spare him from imprisonment. Sometimes people who become saved think that, or are told that, if you come to Christ all your problems and difficulties will disappear. But the truth of the matter is that often the difficulties and trials really start when you become saved. The advantage that you have though is that the Lord is with you in and through your trials. Jesus said “In this world you will have tribulation, but take courage for I have overcome the world.”

But even in the midst of this trial of slavery, it says that the Lord made him a successful man. Vs3 Now his master saw that the LORD was with him and [how] the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge. It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the LORD’S blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field. So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with him [there] he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.”

I do not suggest that the Lord indicates here that this “success” Jospeh experiences is a universal promise for every Christian. But I do think it’s a universal principal that the Lord will bless His people. The promise given to Abraham concerning his children was that the Lord will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. And to a certain extent, that principle was being manifested in Joseph’s life. But not only because the Lord was with him, but because Joseph was with the Lord. Joseph lived his life in a way that was pleasing to the Lord. To walk with the Lord is a life of obedience to God’s word that results in God’s blessing upon your life. And we enjoy the blessing of Abraham as the children of faith.

Notice also that Joseph is handsome. Now most of us would consider that to be handsome or beautiful was a blessing. But sometimes it can be a curse, or if not a curse, then certainly a hindrance. Being good looking in the eyes of the world can attract the wrong kind of attention sometimes.

Vs 7 It came about after these events that his master’s wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, with me [here,] my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?”

The most important statement in this paragraph is “how then could I do this great evil and sin against God?” The culture of the Egyptians did not really have a problem with immorality, even in the case of marriage. The original word for Potiphar’s position indicated that he may have been a eunuch. Being a eunuch was a means by which pagan king’s kept people in trusted positions in their kingdom. Now of course, Potiphar was married, but he may have married for other reasons. Then again, we don’t know this for sure. But the word “officer” does mean in many cases “eunuch.” If that’s true, then there could have been some justification in the mind of his wife for wanting to take Joseph, and perhaps even a bit of justification in Joseph’s mind that he could do this thing.

But the important thing is that Joseph recognizes that it was a sin first and foremost to the Lord. It was a great evil. And it wasn’t mitigated by the culture, or that society, or by the fact that it could be justified on some sort of physical level, or that they were both consenting adults. It certainly wasn’t justified on the basis that love is love. Recognizing that it was a sin against God didn’t mean that Joseph hated Potiphar’s wife. It meant that he loved God more.
Folks, we are not going to have victory over sin in our life if we don’t call sin, sin. If we don’t love God more than we love the sin. Jesus said if you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

Vs 10 “As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her [or] be with her. Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside. She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside.”

2 Timothy 2:22 says, “Flee youthful lust.” That doesn’t mean that only young people can have lust. Old people can lust as well. And we can lust after a lot of things, not just sexual lusts. We can lust after power, after position, after popularity, after property. The ten commandments label lust as coveting. Coveting is wanting what is not yours.

Joseph though is about 20 years old. He’s at an age where sexual desire is at it’s peak. And the way he deals with it is to flee. Let me suggest that that is the best way to deal with lust. Flee from it. Don’t try to engage it, or wrestle with it. Don’t try to debate it. Flee from it. And let me say further, that sin starts in the mind. If you give in to it in the mind, then it’s going to be no battle at all in the flesh.

The other thing I will say about that is that when you put yourself in the wrong physical situation, then it becomes almost impossible to get out of it. Don’t put yourself in a place where you are alone with the opposite sex and there is no one around to see what you’re doing. And if you do find yourself in the wrong place, then just get out of there. Don’t try to wait it out. Don’t try to deal with temptation on your own. Run out of there. And that’s not only true in sexual temptations, but any environment in which evil is being done, or considered being done, just remove yourself physically right away. That may be an office environment, it may be a boardroom, it may be at a friend’s house, any place where you find that there is a temptation to do evil, leave that place immediately. It’s better to lose your job than to lose your soul. It’s better to lose friends than to go to a bar and hang out with them and drink with them, and find yourself succumbing to temptation.

Jesus said, in Matt. 18:9 “If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.

Vs13 When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to make sport of us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed. “When he heard that I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside.” So she left his garment beside her until his master came home. Then she spoke to him with these words, “The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make sport of me; and as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.” Now when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, “This is what your slave did to me,” his anger burned. So Joseph’s master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail.”

There is a saying that is from a 17th century playwright which you may be familiar with. “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Sounds like a verse in the Bible, but it’s not. The point being though that a woman’s love can turn to hate in a heartbeat if you should show contempt for her overtures. Joseph had not mistreated this woman other than to object to her advances, but when she finally saw that he would rather run than be with her, she gets angry and wants to see him punished. It’s very likely a charge of rape or attempted rape against a slave would mean his death. But the fact that he is not put to death, but put in prison may indicate that Potiphar had some reason to doubt his wife. But he was probably scared of her as well so he put Joseph is prison.

But the Lord was still with Joseph even in prison. Vs 21 But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible [for it.] The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.”

Col 3:22-24 says, “Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who [merely] please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”

That verse is not condoning or advocating slavery but establishing a principle that is true whether you are a slave or a servant, or an employee or any position where you work for another. And even you independent contractors work for someone. The person that hired you is in effect your employer. Whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the Lord rather than for men. Joseph employed that principal even in prison. And I can assure you that an Egyptian prison was not a country club environment. And yet Joseph was exemplary in his conduct even in prison. He didn’t employ the idea that “everyone is doing it.” That when in Rome, do as the Romans do. He did what was pleasing to the Lord even in prison.

In correlation of Joseph with the Lord Jesus, we know that He was called the Servant of the Lord, and that He was tempted in all points like we are, yet without sin. And we know that He suffered unjustly at the hands of His accusers.

In chapter 40 we read that Joseph interprets the dreams of two of Pharaoh’s top servants, the baker and the cupbearer. I’m just going to read most of this without a lot of commentary. Ch. 40:1 “Then it came about after these things, the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, in the jail, the [same] place where Joseph was imprisoned.” 

Notice that this captain of the bodyguard is the same position that Potiphar had. So it’s possible that Potiphar was over the prison that Joseph was in, and he has given Joseph the rule over all in the prison. If that is really the case, then it strengthens the idea that Potiphar imprisoned Joseph for political expediency to placate his wife, but continues to favor Joseph even in prison. But I can’t be dogmatic about that. But it does sort of correlate with Pilate who for political expediency ordered Jesus to be crucified to placate the Jewish leadership.

Vs 4 The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time. Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his [own] dream [and] each dream with its [own] interpretation. When Joseph came to them in the morning and observed them, behold, they were dejected. He asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so sad today?” Then they said to him, “We have had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell [it] to me, please.”

I find that interesting. A lot of people claim dreams and visions and seem to have no trouble finding an interpretation to that dream. But both Daniel and Joseph seem to have been given the interpretation of dreams as a gift of God, and yet on their own, they do not claim such a power. I would beware of people who claim to know the interpretation of their dreams. From my perspective, I put no emphasis on dreams whatsoever. I’ve had a lot of dreams and I don’t think any of them have ever come true, and for that I am thankful. I would discourage you from seeking revelation from God in dreams.

There is a reason that God spoke through dreams and visions in those days. And that is because there was no written scripture available. So God spoke occasionally through dreams, or visions. And in correlation with Jesus, in effect, He was the interpreter of the word of God. He was the Word made flesh. It is said of Christ in Luke 24:27 “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”

Vs 9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream, behold, [there was] a vine in front of me; and on the vine [were] three branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, [and] its clusters produced ripe grapes. “Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.” Then Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand according to your former custom when you were his cupbearer. “Only keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and please do me a kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house. “For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.” When the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably, he said to Joseph, “I also [saw] in my dream, and behold, [there were] three baskets of white bread on my head; and in the top basket [there were] some of all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” Then Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat your flesh off you.” Thus it came about on the third day, [which was] Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. He restored the chief cupbearer to his office, and he put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand; but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

I want you to look at those dreams, and ask yourself how anyone could have come up with the interpretations that Joseph did. I don’t think so. The Lord had to have first of all given the dreams to the cupbearer and the baker, and secondly given the interpretation to Joseph of the dreams, because there is no logical way that you could arrive at that interpretation unless it was from the Lord.

But Joseph was hopeful that in the case of the cupbearer, he would remember Joseph and relate to Pharaoh what he had done, and that he was being imprisoned unjustly. But like so many who are saved from a crisis situation, when they are delivered from the crisis, they seem to forget it and those who helped them. My dad who was in the service in WW2 and Korea used to call that a foxhole conversion. When you’re in the foxhole, which was a pit dug in the ground, and the mortar fire was raining down all around you, you become a prayer warrior, promising God all kinds of things if He would just deliver you. But when the battle is over and you return to normal duty, all your promises to God are quickly forgotten.

Well, eventually, after two more long years for Joseph, the cupbearer will remember Joseph when Pharaoh has a dream he can’t interpret. Gen 41:1 Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the Nile. And lo, from the Nile there came up seven cows, sleek and fat; and they grazed in the marsh grass. Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, ugly and gaunt, and they stood by the [other] cows on the bank of the Nile. The ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke. He fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good. Then behold, seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them. The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, [it was] a dream. Now in the morning his spirit was troubled, so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.”

So actually, Pharaoh has two dreams. And all that I can say about those dreams is that none of his wise mean could interpret those dreams, and I’m sure none here today could have interpreted those dreams. It would seem that in Egypt in those times they placed a great deal of importance on interpreting dreams. Maybe the same magical powers that people today ascribe to fortune tellers or palm readers, the ancient Egyptians attributed to wise men and magicians. But none of those wise men or magicians who were supposed to be able to interpret were able to do so. Because these were no ordinary dreams. These dreams were prophecies regarding the future, given by God, which Joseph would interpret by God’s divination.

Vs9 Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I would make mention today of my [own] offenses. Pharaoh was furious with his servants, and he put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, [both] me and the chief baker. We had a dream on the same night, he and I; each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his [own] dream. “Now a Hebrew youth [was] with us there, a servant of the captain of the bodyguard, and we related [them] to him, and he interpreted our dreams for us. To each one he interpreted according to his [own] dream. 1And just as he interpreted for us, so it happened; he restored me in my office, but he hanged him.” Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, but no one can interpret it; and I have heard it said about you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”

I don’t think Joseph was trying to show his humility here. I think he genuinely does not have the ability within himself to understand the dreams. But he knows that God has given the dream, and that God knows the interpretation of the dream.

And so Pharaoh repeats the dream to Joseph about these seven fat cows grazing, and these seven lean cows coming up and eating up the fat ones. And then the other is there were these full ears of corn and these thin, withered ears of corn and the withered corn starts eating up the full ears of corn until there’s just nothing but the skinny, withered ones left.

Vs. 25 Now Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams are one [and the same;] God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one [and the same.] The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind will be seven years of famine. It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do. Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt; and after them seven years of famine will come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ravage the land. So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it [will be] very severe. Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, [it means] that the matter is determined by God, and God will quickly bring it about.”

It is interesting that these dreams came in pairs. Joseph’s first dreams was in pairs. In his first dream, it was the sheaves that bowed down to his sheave and in the second dream the sun, moon and the stars bowing down to him. With the butler and the baker, there were two dreams. And now these dreams of the king are in pairs. Both of them having to do with sevens. Seven fat and seven lean. And the lean eating up the fat. And notice that Joseph says that the repeating of the dream twice means that the matter is determined by God and He will quickly bring it about.

It is also interesting that God, on certain occasions gave to pagan rulers insights into the future. God gave to Nebuchadnezzar a vision into the future which was interpreted by Daniel. I imagine it was because of their position in relation to the children of God. As they would have control over the people of God, God is showing them that He is actually the sovereign ruler who controls the events of mankind. God has given us prophecies in scripture, not so that we can know exactly all the details what’s going to happen and when, but so that we might know that He is sovereign over the affairs of men, and that His plans and purposes will be carried out.

But then Joseph adds something that is kind of interesting. I would suggest that he must have remembered his own dreams that he had when he was back in Canaan, and that the dream meant that his family would bow down to him one day. And perhaps that’s why Joseph decides to break protocol here with Pharaoh and give him some unsolicited advice. This would hardly be the kind of thing that a prisone – a slave – would have the nerve to say to Pharaoh, unless he recognized that this might be the way God had provided for him to be delivered from prison, and actually be placed in the exalted position that his dreams had indicated.

So he says in Vs 33 “Now let Pharaoh look for a man discerning and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers in charge of the land, and let him exact a fifth [of the produce] of the land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance. Then let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh’s authority, and let them guard [it.] Let the food become as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not perish during the famine.” Now the proposal seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants. Then Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is a divine spirit?” So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has informed you of all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and according to your command all my people shall do homage; only in the throne I will be greater than you.” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put the gold necklace around his neck. He had him ride in his second chariot; and they proclaimed before him, “Bow the knee!” And he set him over all the land of Egypt. Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “[Though] I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, as his wife. And Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt. Now Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. During the seven years of plenty the land brought forth abundantly. So he gathered all the food of [these] seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt and placed the food in the cities; he placed in every city the food from its own surrounding fields. Thus Joseph stored up grain in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped measuring [it,] for it was beyond measure.”

As Joseph is cited often in his circumstances a type of Christ, so we see here a correlation of Christ humbled as a servant, as a man, but obedient unto death, and then exalted by God to the highest glory. Phl 2:5-11 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. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

I trust that you will bow to the Lord Jesus as King, confessing Him as your Lord and Savior. It is He that can save you from the condemnation of death that awaits all men. It is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment. The only hope is that at the judgement you will be able to say, I belong to Christ by faith in Him. By His righteousness we are saved from the wrath to come. God has provided a Deliverer who has gone before us, paid our penalty, and provided for our eternity. Confess Him as Lord that you may be saved.

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.

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

Today is the second message in our study of Genesis, on the life of Abraham. I’m getting my outline for the life of Abraham from Hebrews chapter 11.  Of all the heroes of the faith that are showcased there, Hebrews 11 has the most to say about Abraham. 

And so, taking my cue from Hebrews, we are looking at three significant events in Abraham’s life. Hebrews 11:8 says, “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.  By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign [land,] dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise;  for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.  By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.  Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, [as many descendants] AS THE STARS OF HEAVEN IN NUMBER, AND INNUMERABLE AS THE SAND WHICH IS BY THE SEASHORE. …  By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten [son;]  [it was he] to whom it was said, “IN ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE CALLED.”  He considered that God is able to raise [people] even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.”

So according to Hebrews, last week, we looked at the call of Abraham, today we are looking at the events leading up to the birth of Isaac, and next week we will look at Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac.

Now there are a lot of events in the life of Abraham, and in some respects, I wish that we could take the time to study all of his life in detail.  But that isn’t the purpose of this study of Genesis, so I must summarize a lot of those events.  And at least according to Hebrews, these three events are most significant.But even so, what we are going to do today is try to cover 25 years of Abraham’s life in about 40 minutes.  

Genesis 12:4 tells us that Abraham was about 75 years old when God called him out of Haran to go to Canaan.  He had actually been called by God before that, when he was in Ur of the Chaldeans. But we don’t know exactly how much longer before that had been. It might not have been that long because Stephen in his sermon recorded in Acts says that Abraham was called by God when he was in Ur of the Chaldeans, and he uses the scripture in chapter 12 to support that, which says he was 75 years old. So for all intents and purposes, we will say that Abraham was about 75 years old when God called him.

Now I want to review for you the prophesies that God gave Abraham regarding having a son. God’s promise to Abraham was  for more than just a son, it was for a land, and a nation and a blessing.  But God gives this promise to him again and again, and over the course of that 25 years, God elaborates on those promises, providing more and more detail, until at last Abraham is given all the specifics of  exactly how they will be accomplished. 

I hope you don’t think it tedious to go through all of them.  Because I think it is important to see the way God works, and the way faith works. And I say “faith works” deliberately.  Because that is how faith operates.  It operates by continuing in faith, by walking in faith, hoping in faith, being obedient in faith. Faith is not just an intellectual exercise.  Faith is believing and obeying God’s word. 

The first prophesy is in chapter 12: 1 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you;  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;  And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”  So Abram went forth as the LORD had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.  

So in this prophesy, Abraham is promised a land, a nation, blessing, a great name, and that  he will be a blessing. The idea of a son is inherent in the promise of a nation, because at this time he had no son.  But overall, the prophesy is very general and sort of vague.  But Abraham is obedient to it, and Hebrews speaks of Abram going out from Ur as going by faith.

When Abram arrived in Canaan, God gave him another prophesy. Genesis 12:7  The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.  Now God specifically says this land, and to your descendants.  God gives Abram more detail as he is obedient and goes to the land God told him to go.

Immediately after that though, a famine comes on the land, and Abram has a failure of faith. He leaves the land God told him to go to, and goes to Egypt, thinking that’s the best way to avoid the famine.  Logical perhaps, but he was not trusting in God to provide for him in the place that God called him to go.  And trouble ensues as a result of his decision, which we will not revisit again.  But suffice it to say that faith that gains approval with God does not mean that it is perfect obedience.  We are not saved by perfect obedience, but we are saved by faith which is counted as righteousness.

That’s also the first time that we really encounter Sarah.  Remember our text, Hebrews 11:11 says, “By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.”  So Sarah has saving faith.  She shows faith in leaving Ur of the Chaldeans with Abraham, leaving her family, friends and community that she had grown up in, in order to follow her husband.

Peter holds up Sarah as an example of a godly woman in his epistle, 1Peter 3:5-6 which says,  “For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands;  just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.”  Peter seems to equate faith in the case of a wife with being submissive to their husbands.  

But the important point that needs to be made is that Sarah herself needs faith to be accepted by God as well. And both the author of Hebrews and Peter tell us that Sarah did indeed have faith, her own faith.  She wasn’t saved by being married to a man of faith.  She also needed faith in God, believing in His word.  I think we see something similar happening very often today.  Some men think that by being married to a sincere Christian woman, they will somehow get into heaven because of their wife’s faith.  But that’s not the case.  The only way you will get accepted into heaven will be because of your personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

So Abraham left Egypt after compromising his wife,  with his tail between his legs and went back to Canaan where he revisited the altar he had previously made to God.  I think that indicates repentance on Abraham’s part for not trusting the Lord. Then you will remember he and Lot went their separate ways, with Lot choosing the well watered plains of Jordan which included Sodom, and Abraham going the other way.

And God spoke to Abraham again. Genesis 13:14-17  The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;  for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever.  “I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered.  “Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.”

Now the Lord gives Abraham even more specifics about His promise of land and a nation. God shows him the length and breadth of the land, and says his descendants will not be able to be numbered. We don’t know how many years this has been since his initial call, but it’s probably been about 5 or 6 years by now, and yet Abraham owns no land, he is still living in a tent, and he still is childless.  

One thing we should learn about faith in addition to obedience, is that faith is patient.  Faith is waiting on God’s timing.  We often think if we pray and ask with faith, without doubting, then God will give us our requests.  But we expect God to act on our timetable.  We oftentimes can’t wait five minutes for an answer, much less five years and still remain faithful. But Hebrews says by faith Abraham lived in the land of promise.  It was promised to him, but his possession of that promise wasn’t yet realized.

We are promised eternal life as part of our inheritance.  But we do not yet possess it fully.  But we live in the land of promise. We live as if we possess it. That’s faith.

Then in chapter 15 we read, “After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.”  Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”  And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.”  Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.”  And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”  Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.”

Now God explicitly makes it clear to Abraham that his own body will produce a heir, a descendant, who will be multiplied like the stars in the heavens. More detail, more specifics, as Abraham walks in faith with God.  And we have the testimony of scripture, which says that Abraham believed in the Lord, and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.  Abraham’s faith is the perfect illustration of salvation by grace through faith.  Not by his works, not even by his obedience, but by his faith Abraham was credited with righteousness.  This is the means by which all men and women are saved.  Our faith in the Lord is the basis for God crediting us with righteousness.  And as we saw in Abraham’s case,  his faith isn’t perfect.  His obedience wasn’t perfect.  But Christ’s righteousness is perfect, and through a great exchange,  our sins were transferred to Him, and His righteousness is transferred to us. 

Hebrews makes it clear that when Abraham left Ur, he had faith.  So at the first instance of faith, his faith was credited with righteousness. Salvation only takes faith the size of a mustard seed.  Faith will be perfected as we walk with the Lord, but when Abraham obeyed by going out of Ur, faith was reckoned to him as righteousness.  All that is required for saving faith is to turn and look to the Lord for salvation.  

Well, God gives Abraham a dramatic illustration of the fact that His promises to Abraham are unconditional and unilateral. I don’t have time to go into it all today, but if you read chapter 15 you can get all the details of the ceremony which was designed to illustrate the irrevocability of God’s promises to Abraham. 

And at that time, God gave even more specific promises to Abraham, elaborating in great detail upon the initial promises.  Let me just read what God says. [God] said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.” … 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.  

I don’t want to digress into geopolitics here, but notice God says the land of Israel will be from the great river in Egypt to the Euphrates. I don’t know if that meant from the Nile or from the Red Sea. I assume it means the Red Sea.  But that encompasses a lot more territory than what Israel claims today.  It includes a lot of Lebanon and Syria and Jordan.  No wonder those countries are not friendly to Israel today.

Then we read in chapter 16 that after Abraham had lived in Canaan for 10 years and there was still no son born to them, Sarah cooked up a plan to help the Lord keep His promises, and Abraham went along with it.  Sarah had a maid named Hagar, and she hatched a plan to have Abraham go into her maid and have a child by her. Sarah encouraged Abram to take part in what was, in that day, essentially a surrogate mother arrangement. According to the popular custom, the child would be considered to be the child of Abram and Sarai, not Abram and Hagar.

But of course, this wasn’t God’s plan, it was their plan.  And it was doomed to failure. Oh Hagar had a son alright, but that caused a rivalry and jealousy that Sarah and Abraham hadn’t foreseen.  The scripture says that whatever is not of faith is sin. And Sarah and Abraham sinned against God and against Hagar in taking matters in their own hands. It is a sin very reminiscent of the sin of Adam and Eve.  This is a good reminder that results are not enough to justify what we do before God. It’s not right to say, “Well, they got a baby out of it. It must have been God’s will.” John 6:63 says the flesh profits nothing, but on the other hand the flesh  can produce something. Doing things in the flesh may get results, but we may be sorry we got them.

The name of Hagar’s son was Ishmael. He is considered the father of the Arab nations. And as a result of this birth, there has been animosity between Arabs and Jews ever since which continues to this day.  We aren’t going to take the time to study this subject today, but suffice it to say that Abraham and Sarah’s discouragement led to disobedience, which produced consequences and heartbreak for all concerned.  And their sin has long lasting consequences upon their children and their children’s children. 

Abraham was 86 years old when Ismael was born. And we are told nothing about what happened for the next 13 years. Chapter 17 starts with “Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless.”  Pretty amazing.  God was silent for 13 years, and Abraham was left to believe in God with no more validation, no verification, no evidence.  

Hebrews 11:1 says, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

But God appears after 13 years of silence without any apology, except to say that “I am God Almighty.”  El Shaddai, God Almighty. We get it backwards so many times, don’t we? We think we can manipulate God to do our will, to serve us, to answer to us.  But the Lord is God Almighty. God goes on to say, “Walk before Me, and be blameless. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.”  Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a multitude of nations. “No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. “I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.  I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

I hope you see the way God’s prophesies use a form of progressive revelation. God has promised much of this before in a more abbreviated fashion, but now His prophesy reveals an even greater magnitude to His promises. Abraham will be a father of a multitude of nations.  I think that includes a reference to us, who are by faith the children of Abraham. 

God continues in vs 15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah [shall be] her name. I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be [a mother of] nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”  Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear [a child?]”  And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!”  But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.”  Now Abraham knows that God has promised a son by Sarah, who at this time is 90 years old, and he is 99 years old. 

And then God gives to Abraham and to his descendants a sign of His covenant, which is the sign of circumcision. Circumcision is a cutting away of the flesh and an appropriate sign of the covenant for those who should put no trust in the flesh.  Abraham had tried before to achieve God’s promises through the flesh by his attempt to raise up a son through Hagar.  Now God was giving him a visible reminder that the flesh needs to be cut off if God is going to work in us. 

Gal 5:16-17 says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.  For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” That principle was what God was teaching Abraham and his descendants through the sign of circumcision. And though we are not under the law of circumcision today, we should still learn the principle.  That the flesh is opposed to the spirit, and what is of faith is by the spirit.

Then after a short time elapses the Lord appears once more to Abraham and also to Sarah before the promised birth of Abraham’s descendant.  Three men appeared as he was sitting in the doorway of his tent in the heat of the day.  Abraham must have recognized something about them as being from the Lord.  He hurries to invite them to a meal, and tells Sarah to bake some bread, while he selects a calf to cook and serve them. 

Chapter 18, vs9 Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” He said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him.  Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing.  Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”  And the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear [a child,] when I am [so] old?’ Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”  Sarah denied [it] however, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

Much has been made of the fact that Sarah laughed when the Lord said she would have a child.  Yet the author of Hebrews doesn’t mention that as a detriment to her faith.  But her faith is given as a reason for being able to bear a child. But it’s possible that Sarah laughed with a certain degree of derision when she heard the Lord say that she would have a son by this time next year. 

But you should remember that Abraham had also laughed back in chapter 17.  I can’t say for certain that their laugh was in skepticism, but I do know that God’s promises defied reality.  This couple was in their old age.  Both of them were beyond the point of being physically able to do what was necessary to produce a child.  So perhaps they laughed not out of skepticism, but a sense of incredulity.  Either way, it’s not exactly indicative of a staunch faith. But we are told that they did in fact have faith. And I must assume that means faith in the supernatural ability of God to bring about what He says He will do. “By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.”

Well, a few things happen over the course of the next year, such as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  But we will skip over that for now and go to chapter  21:1-7. “Then the LORD took note of Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had promised.  So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.  Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.  Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.  Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me. And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

God had named the son Isaac, which means “laughter.”  Perhaps it was meant as a gentle rebuke for the way Abraham and Sarah had laughed when God told them they would have a son in their old age.  But now as that promise is fulfilled, the name Isaac speaks of the joy that having the son of promise would bring, as the blessing of God that was promised long ago was being fulfilled. 

But I think the question God asked Abraham in chapter 18 is the one statement I want to leave with you though this morning.  God asked Abraham, “Is anything too difficult for the LORD?”  God is a God of impossibilities. What is impossible with men is possible with God.  Salvation is not through the efforts of the flesh.  Men cannot achieve their salvation through their own efforts. It’s impossible.  But when the disciples asked Jesus, Then who can be saved?  Jesus answered, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

The supernatural birth of Abraham’s seed through which all the nations of the earth would be blessed, was fulfilled by the birth of Isaac, but it was also prophetically speaking of the descendant of Isaac, who would be the Messiah, through whom that blessing of salvation would come.  He is the One who turns mourning into laughter, who brings the joy of our salvation. And by faith in Him who was promised by the word of God, we are credited with His righteousness.  

John 1:12-13  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, [even] to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.