Sibling Rivalry

Good morning. It's my privilege this morning to be able to open God's Word with you.

And we continue in the book of Genesis this morning, specifically in chapter 27,

! And then we'll leak into chapter 28 as well, the first section of 28.

But before we stand and read it, let me just tie into what we've heard over the last few weeks.

Just a couple of points I would want you to remember as we look into chapter 27.

The first is this. You would remember that Rebecca was barren, and she was barren for quite a number of years.

Isn't it interesting that Sarah was barren? Now, here we see that same pattern again.

Rebecca's barren. And Isaac prays for her, and she received child, and she had twins.

And they were struggling. There was a battle going on within her, so much so that she diligently, fervently prayed to God.

I guess worried maybe what was going on. She didn't want to lose her children after having waited so long

and being blessed to be pregnant.

And the Lord said this to her as she prayed.

It's in chapter 25. It says,

Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided.

The one shall be stronger than the other. The older shall serve the younger.

And I want you to see, remember as well, this truth is that the boys grew up, and they were extremely different.

Here in the Scripture it says,

Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field.

When Jonathan preached on this, a man's man.

He was a tough guy, an outdoorsman.

And then we see that Jacob was a quiet man dwelling in tents.

So his personality, his interests, vastly different than Esau's.

And we see conflict in the family.

We see a little bit of a picture into the family as we read the very next verse.

It says,

Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game.

He was a man that enjoyed the hunt, and he would bring back the spoils of the hunt.

And Isaac loved that.

And Rebecca loved Jacob.

Gosh, I don't think it's healthy to have favorites, is it?

And yet we see this dysfunction spelled out in Scriptures here.

What we also see about Esau is this, is that Esau despised his birthright.

You remember the scenario where he came back famished from a hunt, didn't have any food, was starving.

His brother had lentil soup, maybe had a little more than that.

He said, please give it to me.

He said, I will if.

If you sell me or give me your birthright, then I'll give you all the food you want.

And he despised his birthright, meaning he wasn't really interested in spiritual things.

And then we see this promise of God to Isaac.

You know, God promised Abraham, if we were to look back in Genesis 12,

just this beautiful promise of how he would use Abraham to bless the whole earth,

to bless nations, to bless peoples all around the earth.

There's a land promise involved.

We will multiply you.

And here we see again that he's now promising to Isaac,

and it sounds very similar to what he said to Abraham.

This is God continuing to accomplish his covenant promise,

and he's choosing to do it through Isaac.

And he says to Isaac, as the Lord appeared to him,

sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you.

For to you and your offspring I will give all these lands,

and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.

The blessing that he received from God was powerful,

a reminder to him of what he had blessed

or what he had promised in the life of Abraham his father.

And then one more thing I want you to see.

Last week when we finished, there was a little caveat of truth there

that really is going to play into what we're looking at in chapter 27.

So at the end of 26, in the last verse, it says that,

or the last two verses, so when Esau was 40 years old,

he took Judith, the daughter of Beri, the Hittite, to be his wife,

and Basmath, the daughter of Elon, the Hittite.

And they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.

So I see here a lack of leadership, spiritual leadership in the life of Isaac.

Would not Isaac have counseled his son to not marry with the women of this land,

this land of Canaan?

Which is exactly what Abraham instructed his servant to do for Isaac.

to send a go to the land, and you find a wife,

a wife that is a part of our people, and bring her back.

And we see that it was Rebekah, and we are part of that.

We've seen how that story has played itself out.

And now here we are at chapter 27.

And so in honor of God's word, I would ask if you're able to please stand

as we read chapter 27 and the first part of chapter 28.

It's a little bit long, so hang in there.

When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see,

he called Esau, his oldest son, and said to him,

My son.

And he answered, Here I am.

He said, Behold, I am old.

I do not know the day of my death.

Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow,

and go out to the field and hunt game for me,

and prepare for me delicious food such as I love,

and bring it to me so that I may eat,

that my soul may bless you before I die.

Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau.

So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it,

Rebekah said to her son Jacob,

I heard your father speak to your brother Esau.

Bring me game and prepare for me delicious food

that I may eat it and bless you before the Lord before I die.

Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you.

Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats

so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father.

Such as he loves.

And you shall bring it to your father to eat

so that he may bless you before he dies.

But Jacob said to Rebekah's mother,

Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man,

and I am a smooth man.

Perhaps my father will feel me,

and I shall seem to be mocking him

and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.

His mother said to him,

Let your curse be on me, my son.

Only obey my voice and go, bring them to me.

So he went and he took them,

and he brought them to his mother,

and his mother prepared delicious food such as his father loved.

Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau,

her older son, which were with her in the house,

and put them on Jacob, her younger son.

And the skins of the young goat she put on his hands

and on the smooth part of his neck.

And she put the delicious food and bread

which she had prepared into the hand of her son Jacob.

So he went in to his father and said,

My father.

And he said, Here I am.

Who are you, my son?

Jacob said to his father,

I am Esau, your firstborn.

I have done as you told me.

Now sit up and eat of my game,

that your soul may bless me.

But Isaac said to his son,

How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?

He answered,

Because the Lord your God granted me success.

Then Isaac said to Jacob,

Please come near,

that I may feel you, my son,

to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.

So Jacob went near to Isaac, his father,

who felt him and said,

The voice is Jacob's voice,

but the hands are the hands of Esau.

And he did not recognize him

because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands.

So he blessed him.

He said,

Are you really my son Esau?

He answered,

I am.

Then he said,

Bring it near to me,

that I may eat of my son's game and bless you.

So he brought it near to him,

and he ate,

and he brought him wine,

and he drank.

Then his father Isaac said to him,

Come near and kiss me, my son.

So he came near,

and he kissed him,

and Isaac smelled the smell of his garments

and blessed him and said,

See, the smell of my son

is the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.

May God give you of the dew of heaven

and of the fatness of the earth

and plenty of grain and wine.

Let people serve you

and nations bow down to you.

Be Lord over your brothers,

and may your mother's sons bow down to you.

Cursed be everyone who curses you,

and blessed be everyone who blesses you.

As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob,

when Jacob had scarcely gone out

from the presence of Isaac his father,

Esau his brother came in from hunting.

He also prepared delicious food

and brought it to his father.

And he said to his father,

Let my father rise and eat of his son's game

that you may bless me.

His father Isaac said to him,

Who are you?

He answered,

I'm your son, your firstborn, Esau.

Then Isaac trembled very violently.

And he said,

Who was it then that hunted the game

and brought it to me?

And I ate of it before you came.

And I have blessed him, yes,

and he shall be blessed.

As soon as Esau heard the words of his father,

he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry

and said to his father,

Bless me, even me also, my father.

But he said,

Your brother came deceitfully,

and he has taken away your blessing.

Esau said,

Is he not rightly named Jacob?

For he has cheated me these two times.

He took away my birthright,

and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.

Then he said,

Have you not reserved a blessing for me?

Isaac answered and said to Esau,

Behold, I have made him lord over you,

and all his brothers I have given to him for servants.

And with grain and wine I have sustained him.

What then can I do for you, my son?

Esau said to his father,

Have you but one blessing, my father?

Bless me, even me also, my father.

And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

And then Isaac, his father, answered and said to him,

Behold, away from the fatness of the earth

shall your dwelling be,

and away from the dew of heaven on high.

By your sword you shall live,

and you shall serve your brother.

But when you grow restless,

you shall break his yoke from your neck.

Now Esau hated Jacob

because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him.

And Esau said to himself,

The days of mourning for my father are approaching,

then I will kill my brother Jacob.

But the words of Esau, her older son,

were told to Rebekah.

So she sent and called Jacob, her younger son,

and said to him,

Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you

by planning to kill you.

Now therefore, my son, obey my voice.

Arise, flee to Laban, my brother, and Haran,

and stay with him a while

until your brother's fury turns away,

until your brother's anger turns away from you,

and he forgets what you have done to him.

Then I will send and bring you from there.

Why should I be bereft of you both in one day?

Then Rebekah said to Isaac,

I loathe my life because of the Hittite women.

If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these,

one of the women of the land,

what good will my life be to me?

Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him

and directed him.

You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women.

Arise, go to Padan-Aram,

to the house of Bethul, your mother's father,

and take as your wife from there

one of the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother.

God Almighty bless you

and make you fruitful and multiply you

that you may become a company of peoples.

May he give the blessing of Abram to you

and to your offspring with you

that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings

that God gave to Abraham.

Thus Isaac sent Jacob away

and he went to Padan-Aram,

to Laban, the son of Bethul, the Aramean,

the brother of Rebekah, Jacob, and Esau's mother.

Esau saw Isaac had blessed Jacob

and sent him away to Padan-Aram

to take a wife from there.

And that he had blessed him,

and that as he blessed him, he directed him,

you must not take a wife from the Canaanite women.

And that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother

and gone to Padan-Aram.

So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women

did not please Isaac, his father,

Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife,

besides the wives he had,

Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael's,

Abraham's son, the sister of Naboth.

That's a long one.

Pray with me right quick.

Father, we love your word.

And I just ask this morning

that you would teach us from your word this morning.

Show us what you would have us see.

Help us to live in a way

that would bring honor and glory to your name.

And I pray in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Y'all can have a seat.

I'll start with a quick story this morning.

When I was much younger,

I had a good friend of mine,

Butch Floyd,

who was gracious to me.

I used to play a lot of golf

and he was a member at the Atlanta Athletic Club,

which is a really nice golf course in Atlanta.

And he invited me often to play golf with him

and member guests and just other rounds.

I was a youth pastor.

His son was in my youth ministry.

That's how we connected.

And he just wanted to bless me.

He did it in many ways.

On one particular occasion,

he called and said,

Hey, can you play this week?

I'm like, sure.

He said, I got somebody else

that's going to play with us.

I'm like, okay, cool.

And he said, yes,

one of the Atlanta Braves.

Now, the Atlanta Braves started their run in 1991,

if you're a fan,

and they went 14 straight years.

But before they started the run,

this would have been in the very late 80s,

this was the guy who was the best pitcher

on the Atlanta Braves.

And I don't know if you're like me.

For people that are famous,

I have this thought in my mind

that they're probably going to be a little stuck up.

And they're going to view me

as being a second-class citizen,

and they're not going to really want to talk to me

or show any interest.

I don't know why,

but that's just in my mind

that my expectation was

that the guy's going to be hard to talk to.

He's going to be aloof.

He's going to be, you know,

just a little proud of himself

for what he's accomplished.

And so my expectation as I walk into it,

I'm like, I don't want to ride in a cart with him.

You ride with him,

and I'm going to ride over here.

You know what was interesting is

his name's Jose Alvarez.

He played 88, 89 in that time frame.

And, man, he was the most pleasant guy

to be around, very gracious.

I mean, he didn't wait for me

to come up and introduce myself.

He came to me to introduce himself

and asked me about my family

and asked me how I was doing.

Just very, very gracious guy.

He was humble.

He didn't seem to have a silver spoon

in his mouth, so to speak.

Down to earth, gracious,

and not ashamed of his faith in Christ.

And I was shocked.

And not only did I play the one time,

played multiple times with him.

And each time it proved to be real.

It wasn't something he was putting on.

But my expectations were totally wrong.

I don't know if you've ever had that experience.

That one, in this case, was very pleasant,

that my expectations were wrong.

Well, let me share a verse out of the New Testament

before we really dig into the text here

that ties into this concept of expectation.

In Matthew 22,

Jesus is talking to the Sadducees.

They're trying to trip him up.

And they're asking him about life after.

They say there is no life after.

It just ceased to exist.

And he's saying, no, no, no, no.

Do you not know what God said

to Moses at the burning bush?

Do you remember what he says?

He says, I'm the God of Abraham

and Isaac and Jacob.

And in my mind,

that God would say that they're mine.

These men are mine.

Especially when I was a younger believer,

in my mind, I'm thinking,

these guys must be honoring to God.

They must walk in a God-honoring way.

They must be faithful men

that God would say they're mine.

That was my expectation.

And lo and behold,

two of those men we see

in bold view this morning.

And we see this family

that is a wreck.

It is a mess.

We see this,

the ugly warts of sin

in bold view this morning.

In the lives of two of those three men

that God said,

I'm the God of Abraham

and Isaac whom we'll see

and Jacob whom we'll see.

But what we're going to see

is men that are

less than faithful

and a mess.

Their life is a mess in many ways.

There's friction in this family

that is palpable as we read this.

Did you feel it?

Look with me,

starting in verse,

I'm on the wrong page,

starting in verse 1 of 27.

I mentioned before,

why is it that Abraham,

being the spiritual leader

of his family,

would allow his son

to go off and marry

Canaanite women

when he knows

they're not supposed to do that

as people of God?

Where's the leadership?

And Isaac,

here it says,

Isaac was old.

I looked at,

if you do a little biblical math,

you'll come up with,

or at least some have come up with,

he's roughly 137 years old now.

And it's evident

that something's going on

because he's lost his vision.

His eyes aren't working.

He evidently has lost his taste buds

because they aren't working.

I'll tell you why in just a minute.

And he is wanting

to set his house in order,

it seems.

He feels like the day of his death

is just around the corner.

Even in verse 4,

you see,

he says,

I want to bless you

before I die.

As if he feels like

his death is imminent.

So he's trying to set

everything in order.

He wants to name his,

he wants to give a blessing

to his son with the birthright.

The son that he chooses.

And isn't it interesting?

He says,

he calls Esau.

And he says,

hey, Esau,

do me a favor.

I don't know when I'm going to die,

but you know what I crave?

I crave the food

from the deer.

He doesn't say deer here,

but he's out in the field.

I said,

please go hunt

and go kill one of the beasts

that you normally kill.

And could you prepare it

and bring it to me

so that I can enjoy this meal

before I bless you?

Because I want to give you

my ultimate blessing.

And so what does he do?

He takes off Esau.

We'll talk about Esau in a minute.

He takes off.

Do you hear what he's attempting

and desiring to do here?

We heard earlier

that Isaac loved Esau.

Why?

Because he liked the game.

I mean, it was...

So he plays favorites

because his belly is full,

because he likes the way

the thing tastes.

And honestly,

do you notice this?

He said,

take your weapons

and your quiver

and your bow

and go to the field

and hunt game.

He's like,

you're my warrior, man.

Go out and fight.

I mean,

you've always been successful.

Can you do me a favor

and go do it now?

It's as if he's really...

He has this idea of manhood

and he has this desire

to bless the one

whom he loves the most,

that is Esau,

because Esau is a man's man.

And he likes that in a man.

Whereas the other son,

Jacob,

is more of a...

The Bible doesn't tell us a ton,

but it does say

that he tends to be in the tent.

He's not an outdoorsman.

We can imply from the text.

He's a little soft.

If you were to put the two

up against each other

and say,

okay, y'all duke it out.

Who do you think is going to win?

It's hands down,

no question.

The man's man,

the tough and rough

and tumble guy

is going to win

every single time.

So I'm sure this mindset

is in the heart

of Isaac

and he just likes him better.

He wants to give his blessing

to this son

who would represent

his likes

and his wishes

and his will

more so

than Jacob.

But if I was a godly friend

of Isaac,

you know what?

I'd go up to him and say,

Isaac,

man,

what are you doing?

Do you not remember

what God said

to Rebecca,

your wife,

when she prayed?

And I'm sure,

you know,

remember when she shared it with you?

That the older

is going to serve the younger

and that

even though he's stronger,

it says that your youngest son,

Jacob,

is going to be the one

that's going to have the blessing.

Are you,

are you trying to undo

what God has already declared

he's going to do?

There's a willingness

to ignore

the declaration of God

that he gave

and do things

his own way.

It doesn't reflect

a guy that is surrendered

to God

and full of faith

in God.

He's going to do it

how he wants to do it

because he's the father

and he's going to give

the blessing.

And there's some sense

that this blessing

is a

one-time thing

is what it seems like

in the scriptures

because if you were to flip over

to verse 37

where Esau comes back

and says,

don't you have another blessing?

And he says,

behold,

I've made him Lord over you

and all his brothers.

I've given him

servants

and grain

and wine

and I don't have anything left.

I've already given it to him.

It's as if it is

a one-time

blessing.

It has a spiritual component

to it.

And we'll see more

about how Isaac

handles this whole thing

as we walk through.

But let me step

into Rebecca.

Let's look at Rebecca.

So you've got

the patriarch.

You've got Isaac,

the man who is

the man of God

according to Christ.

And what I mean by that,

he says,

I am the God of Isaac.

He's mine.

And then Rebecca,

notice what she did.

She's like,

either she's eavesdropping,

which the scripture

does not say that,

or she just happened to be,

it is a tent

and sound does carry.

So she's in the tent

and she overhears

this conversation about,

hey,

I'm ready to bless you.

I'm ready to give you

the blessing

that you would be

the spiritual head

going forward,

that you receive

the covenant promises

of God

that came to Abraham

and came to me.

I'm going to give them

to you as your father.

It's what I'm,

it's in essence

what he's saying.

You're going to be

the spiritual head

of the family.

Totally in opposition

to what God said.

And Rebecca heard it

and said,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no.

Uh-uh.

Golly,

this is serious.

I'm putting my own spin

on this,

okay?

That isn't exactly

how it's articulated

in the scripture.

But notice what she does.

Rebecca tries to aid God

in fulfilling his promise.

Do you think she remembered

what God had told her

that the younger

will serve the older?

Sure she does.

And here she is

trying to twist it

so that she can accomplish

what she knows

ought to be accomplished.

Her faith in God

is not very strong here,

is it?

Instead of saying,

God,

I know you're almighty,

I know you're sovereign,

I know you're able,

I know you're going

to figure out a way.

Instead of going to prayer

and saying,

God,

I'm surrendering this to you,

I'm submitting it to you

for you to handle,

she says,

I need to take care

of this now.

If I don't take care

of this,

this is going to really

be a big problem.

My husband is going to go

against,

I can't talk,

go against what God

has declared.

I can't let him do that.

I've got to help God here.

And what's she do?

She comes up with this plan.

She calls her younger son,

Jacob,

who is much more compliant

in his own right.

And she says,

hey,

here's what we need to do.

We're going to trick him.

I'm going to get a couple of goats,

which by the way,

do you think deer and goat

taste alike?

Why is she going to get two goats

when he's going out

to get a deer?

And venison is a lot different

than goat.

She probably already knows

that his taste buds are gone.

He can't tell the difference

between goat and deer.

And evidently,

he couldn't as we walk

through the story

because he ate goat

and thought it was deer.

He thought it was from the field.

So his condition

must have been pretty bad

in this scenario.

So she knew

that she could trick him

with a different food,

with goats.

And then she had this brainstorm.

I'm going to take the hair

off the goat.

I'm going to tape it on.

Or I'm going to wrap it around you

so when he feels you,

he's going to feel all that hair

and think,

oh yeah,

of course it's Esau.

I don't know what I can do

for your voice,

but let's just hope

he can't hear real well.

And so she said,

and he says,

listen,

Jacob is over 40 years old here.

He's a man.

And his mom's coming to him

and saying,

I want you to do this thing

which you know is not right,

but we got to trick him

or else you're going

to miss out on this.

We got to help God

and make sure this comes to pass.

And he said,

wait a minute,

what if he fills my neck

and fills my hands?

He knows it's not me.

And she had a plan,

right?

She comes up with all this,

I'm going to give you garments

so that when he smells,

he's going to smell him.

I want you to lie.

I want you to tell him

that you're Esau.

We've got to trick him

so he blesses you.

Are you with me?

Come on,

you with me?

Let's go.

And if I were a friend

of Rebecca,

godly friend,

and I went to her,

I said,

Rebecca,

what are you doing?

Why are you trying

to control this situation?

Do you not have

any faith in God?

Do you not think

God's able to handle

this situation?

The God who spoke

the world into existence,

you've seen this play itself out

as you walked

and you washed it

in the life of Abraham.

And you lived it

in your life.

You've seen the faith

of God,

how he's,

what he's done,

how he's blessed.

And yet,

she wouldn't believe it.

So you're just like,

Rebecca,

no, no, no, no.

Have faith.

God will make this

come to pass.

You don't have to help him.

You don't want to talk

your son into doing

that which is sinful.

Why do you want him

to be deceptive?

Why are you willing

to deceive?

Come on.

That's not the way

to live a God-honoring life.

And then we look at Jacob,

a 40-year-old guy

who lets his mom

talk him into something

that's utterly sinful.

Where is he to say,

no, no, that's not right.

Mom, that is not right.

We should not deceive him

like that.

That's not the way

we're supposed to live.

That would be dishonoring

to my father.

But instead,

what does he say?

He says,

Mom, I'm not worried

about what's right and wrong

in a sense.

I'm just worried

about success.

Is this thing going to work?

Yes, I want

the spiritual blessing.

Have you noticed

as we've read

through the text,

not just this morning

but previously,

that he was interested

in spiritual things.

He desired the birthright,

which is the spiritual leadership

of the family.

There's some desire.

He's leaning that way.

He's just going about it

the wrong way.

He's trying to accomplish

something out of his own

deception,

his own man-made wisdom.

And it's utterly sinful.

Again, remember the expectation

I talked about?

Surely God would pick

godly men,

men that are full of faith,

that are honoring to him

to accomplish his plan

to fulfill his promise,

right?

Well, we got two strikeouts

going on.

We got two guys

that are not walking by faith,

that are trying to do things

in their own way,

full of sin,

and yet,

for some reason,

God is going to use them

and the promise is going

through these men.

Hard to fathom.

But I want you to see

as this plays itself out,

so the meal takes place,

he blesses him

with this powerful blessing

that echoes Genesis 12, 3,

the blessing of Abraham.

And I would say this,

it has a spiritual element

to it predominantly.

Yes, there's material,

there's land,

there's his possessions,

they're involved in this,

but it is a conveyance

of the spiritual head

of the family.

It's a spiritual blessing

upon this child.

And then,

what happens?

And then,

as he's walking out the door,

you can almost see it

in the movie, right?

You got,

he's taking a step out

and in the back door,

guess who's coming in?

Hey, pop,

I got some food for you.

Man, I've been out

to the field,

he's like,

wait a minute,

I am so confused.

Who are you?

Well, I'm your son,

I'm your son Esau.

And what does the scripture say

took place at that moment?

Verse 33

is a pivotal verse

in this section.

And verse 33 says this,

Isaac trembled very violently.

At that moment,

when he understood

what had just taken place,

is that he had been duped,

he had been deceived

by his younger son

who had pretended to be Esau,

and he had come in,

and he had given the blessing

to him,

and then,

I mean,

to Jacob,

sorry,

and then when Isaac comes in,

he shudders violently.

I'm messing names up.

When Esau comes in,

Isaac shudders violently.

Why?

It's because he realized

right then

that he had gone

against the will of God.

He realized

his sin.

He recognized

that he had done

exactly what he shouldn't have done.

That is,

he's given the blessing

to the one he shouldn't have,

but because of the circumstances,

the blessing landed

on the son

that it should have landed on,

and at that moment,

I think that he was struck

with his sin.

At some point,

we will notice this,

is that if we look,

skip ahead to 28,

so in 27,

Jacob is blessed

by deception,

but in 28,

I want you to notice

that Jacob is blessed

by intention.

Isaac called Jacob

and blessed him

and directed him,

you must not take a wife

from the Canaanite women,

and then if you look down

at the verse three,

God Almighty bless you

and make you fruitful

and multiply you,

may give you

the blessing of Abraham.

Do you see the difference?

His intention

was to bless

the wrong son,

and God didn't

let it happen.

Even though

the deception

and conniving

was involved,

ultimately,

the will of God

would not have allowed it.

Did God need

Rebecca to help him?

Did God need Jacob

to deceive?

No.

They did that

on their own volition,

but I do want you

to notice

that what God

had declared

came to pass,

and this is the first point.

If y'all are looking for,

okay,

what's the main point here?

Let me just share this.

Is that God,

excuse me,

sorry,

the sovereign plan

of God

will be accomplished

in spite

of the sinful desires

and plans

of men

and women.

Let me say it again.

The sovereign

will of God,

the sovereign plan

of God

will be

accomplished.

There's no power

or force

on all the earth

can change

what God

has planned.

We might not

understand

how it comes

to pass.

God takes even

the sinful

actions of people

and he

weaves his plan,

accomplishes his will,

even though

they did it

out of their own volition.

God in his sovereignty

is able to cause

things to come to pass,

his plan to come to pass.

He had already

declared it, right?

And when I,

when this

recognition

hit Isaac,

he recognized

that he had

purposefully done

what,

it was opposite

of what God

had declared.

He recognizes sin

and I believe

that there's a

repentance

from here

forward.

We see that

blessing

that is actually

as if he is

honoring the will

of God

and say

he will be blessed.

You know why?

It's because God

declared it.

He knows

that God

declared it

and yet

he ignored it

because of his

own personal

selfish desires

and now

he's become

aware,

oh no,

wow,

did I just

do that?

Did I just

intend

to do

just the opposite

of what God

had intended?

Am I trying

to come

against the

plan of God?

What have I

done?

Esau,

we don't

see anything

godly in Esau

either,

do we?

Matter of

fact,

if we were

to turn

again to

Hebrews,

which we've

done in

previous weeks

here,

we would

see a

guy who

is sexually

immoral

and how does

that play

itself out?

Well,

he's marrying

Canaanite women

because he's

lusting after

that type

of a life.

He is

willing to

go against

the decree

of Abraham

his grandfather,

the declarer

that you

shall not

take a

wife from

the Canaanites

and we

see it

again over

here that

that declaration

is made by

Isaac again

when he

gave a

direction

to Jacob,

don't take

a wife

from this

Canaanite

tribe,

you go

back and

you take

a wife

from our

people

and yet

Esau

could care

less.

He's doing

his own

thing,

his own

way.

Esau

could care

less about

spiritual

things.

This whole

headship and

family,

you know what

he wanted?

He wanted

all the

wealth,

he wanted

all the

privilege,

he wanted

to be able

to make

all the

decisions.

He wasn't

interested in

spiritual

things.

Even when

he's crying,

even saying,

God,

Father,

bless me,

bless me,

bless me.

It's not

the spiritual

element of it

that he's

interested in.

It's all

the other

things.

It's the

wealth,

it's the

esteem,

it's the

leadership

that he

wants.

We see

his heart,

he's willing

to entertain

murder.

His intention

because he's

so mad

is he's

going to

kill his

brother.

He's going

to fix

this problem.

One way

or the

other,

he's going

to get

that blessing.

He's going

to get

the wealth

that comes

from being

the older

son.

I wrote

a note

over here

in Hebrews

and it

says this,

his desire

was for

worldly gain

and pleasure.

He treated

spiritual things

with contempt.

The word

of God

says that

no one

is,

the author

of Hebrews

is instructing

the readers

of the letter.

he said,

see to it

that no

one is

sexually

immoral

and unholy

like Esau.

A willingness

to walk

outside the

boundaries

of what

God

had called

him

to.

What do

you notice

about his

family?

There's one

more thing

Rebecca

here has

not done,

is she?

She overhears

or she

learns of,

somebody

comes and

tells her,

say,

hey,

by the way,

you've got

a problem

going on.

Just want

to make

you aware

that Esau's

plan is

to kill

Jacob.

Time

your husband

dies,

their dad

dies,

that he

intends

to kill

him.

And she

said,

oh man,

I got

to fix

this problem

too.

And so

what does

she do?

She goes

to him

and said,

I loathe

these Hittite

women,

these wives

that are

just destroying

our family.

please,

please send

Jacob away

to marry

one of our

people.

Send him

to my

brother,

Laban,

and let

him take

a wife

there.

And so

what does

he do?

He's like,

oh yeah.

So Isaac's

like,

yes,

of course.

Why did

I ever

let Esau

marry

Canaanite

women?

What was

I thinking?

That is

not what

God desires.

So yes,

he calls

him in

and he

blesses

him and

says,

do not

take a

wife from

here.

I want

you to

go to

Laban.

I want

you to

take a

wife from

there.

Go.

And what

did he

do?

He took

off.

Do you

see the

controlling

hand of

Rebekah

in this?

You see

how she's

conniving

even here?

She's like,

I've got to

protect him.

I've got to

keep him

from being

killed by

his older

brother.

And so I'm

going to

come up

with a

plan where

surely

Isaac will

hear the

wisdom in

this and

he'll do

it.

Well,

did he?

Yes.

This family,

it is a

mess.

I don't

know that

Rebekah ever

saw her

son again.

This one

that she

favored who

she's trying

to help

stay alive

sent him

away and

said,

you stay

there until

I call

you back.

Did she

ever call

him back?

Never did.

She died

in childbirth,

I believe,

if I remember

correctly.

Now,

you don't

hold me to

that,

but we'll

hear it as

we go

forward.

The second

point is

this.

is that

sin always

causes chaos

and destruction.

Sin always

causes chaos

and destruction.

Do you see

it?

Do you see

destroyed

relationships

here?

Do you see

chaos in

their family?

Deception,

they're not

honoring each

other,

they're not

living faith-filled

lives.

They're doing

things their

own way,

they're manipulating,

they're willing

to walk head

first into sin,

they know

it's sin

and they're

doing it

anyway?

You know,

and it begs

the question

to me,

it begs

this question,

God,

why would

you choose

to use

men whose

lives are

messed up

like that?

Why would

you do that?

I mean,

of all the

people you

could have

used,

why do you

choose these

two men?

they don't

follow you

in faith,

they don't

even do

what they're,

they don't

honor you,

they're willing

to be bold

face in

their sin?

Do you

see yourselves

anywhere in

this story?

have y'all

ever deceived

anyone?

Have you

ever come up

with a plan

to say,

I'm going to

figure out

how to get

my way

and I'm

going to

trick somebody

to get

my way?

Have y'all

ever hated

someone so much

that you'd be

willing to kill

them or at

least hurt

them or at

least get

back and

retaliate?

have you

ever

tricked

someone by

lying over

and over

and over

and over

and over

again to

try to

get your

way?

You know

what's true

of all of

us?

There's not

a single

one of us

in here,

especially

before we

were in

the kingdom

that's

faithful to

God,

that honors

God,

that's free

of sin.

You know,

none of

us are

worthy of

being chosen

to be used

by God,

are we?

Not one

of us.

All of

us are

full of

sin.

You know

what?

Isaac and

Jacob were

not worthy

to be used

by God.

It's not

like they

were godly

men.

You know

what?

They were

broken

men in

need of

life change.

They needed

the touch

of God.

They weren't

able to be

faithful without

the touch

of God.

You know

what?

Neither

are we.

but by

the grace

of God

that God

would change

our heart.

Do you

remember a

time in

your life

when you

lived for

self?

You know

it's true

for all of

us in

whatever version

or whatever

form that

takes.

That is the

natural condition

man.

God

is that we

are focused

on self.

Until God

comes and

touches us

and brings

us into

his kingdom

through salvation

through faith

in his

promised son

Jesus

none of us

are going to

be faithful.

None of us

are going to

honor God.

We're always

going to walk

in that sin

path.

It's different

for all of

us but we

need the

life change

that God

brings through

his son

Jesus Christ.

Amen?

Apart from

God changing

Isaac and

changing his

heart and

showing him

his sin

he would

continue to

go down that

road but by

the grace of

God you know

what God did?

He chose him.

He said you're

mine.

And you know

what he did to

Jacob?

This guy who

was willing to

lie to his

father over and

over again.

Even when he

said are you

sure?

You're my son

Esau.

Yes sir.

There I am.

God needed to

change his

heart too.

You know

what?

God needs to

change all of

our hearts and

perhaps that's

already happened

in your life.

Has there been

a time in each

of your lives

when you've

recognized your

sin and you've

recognized that

God's provided a

Messiah Savior

so that we

could be in

relationship with

him so that we

can be his?

you know apart

from God's

touch and

God's draw

we'll never

know him.

Apart from

God saying

even in your

sin I'm

going to love

you anyway

and I'm

going to

draw you

into this

relationship with

me through an

understanding of

your sin

a recognition

of how that

separates you

from me

and I'm

going to

let you

I'm going

to share

with you

the powerful

life of

Jesus so

that you

understand that

he lived and

died in your

place so that

you could be

related to me

so that you

could receive

my salvation.

It's my hope

that all of

you have

understood the

need for his

touch and his

draw in your

life.

Let's pray.

Father it

is shocking

to me how

you take

sinful men

and you

change them.

God you

change them

so much

that their

life is

different.

God how

you show

them their

sin.

You show

us our

sin.

And Father

you transform

our lives.

You give us

a new heart.

Your word

says that

you'll take

our heart

of stone

and you

will change

it out

with the

heart of

flesh.

One that

is tender

to you.

One that

honors you

and you

will give

to us

your Holy

Spirit that

we might

know you.

We might

be marked

by you.

So God

for all

of us

this morning

Lord we

want to

embrace this

truth that

is so

apparent here

is that you

are sovereign

in every

way and

your will

will be

accomplished.

God help

us to walk

by faith

and help

us not to

walk in

sin and

manipulation

and lies

and Lord

help us to

trust you

in every

way in

our lives.

For those

of us in

the kingdom

God those

of us who

are Christians

I pray that

you would

give us

faith.

Help us to

walk in

faith like

the apostle

said increase

our faith and

so God would

you increase

the faith of