Sinful People, Faithful God

And I'm one of the pastors here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church.

And it's my joy to bring God's word to you this morning.

And we're continuing today in our series on Genesis,

which tells the origin story of God's people, Israel.

This summer we are in the story of Isaac and Jacob,

mostly Jacob, which shows up in chapters 25 through 36.

And to a certain extent, it is the same theme as the Abraham story last summer.

We are continuing to ask, what does it look like to follow God in faith?

But the story of Isaac and Jacob adds some more layers, some new themes that are introduced.

So if you were here with us two weeks ago, you'll remember that Isaac repeats the sins of Abraham.

And so we talked about God's work in and through dysfunctional families.

Now, I warned you at that time, this was going to be a repeated theme that showed up again

and guess what?

This week we return to the same topic, God's work in and through dysfunctional families.

God's faithfulness to sinful, rebellious people, people who trust themselves rather than God.

Now, as we come to this story, I will share with you, this is one of the major stories in all of Scripture.

It is 42 verses that we're going to read this morning, but it is in fact only one sermon.

So as I tell you from time to time, I will say something, not everything.

Also, in light of the fact that it is 42 verses, sometimes if we're honest, it can be hard to stay focused

and keep on track as we read a long passage together.

So if that's you, I have a job for you to help you stay awake.

I want you to count as we read together how many times the phrase delicious food shows up in this passage.

Okay?

So mark delicious food is what you're looking for.

Mark it, write the number at the bottom.

We can hand them out.

We'll grade each other's papers at the end of class.

We are in Genesis chapter 26, starting at verse 34, which you will find on pages 7 through 9 of your worship guide.

Genesis 26 · chapter mention

As we turn there, remember that this is God's word.

And Isaiah chapter 40 tells us that the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

And so that's why we read now Genesis chapter 26, starting at verse 34.

Genesis 26 · chapter mention

When Esau was 40 years old, he took Judith, the daughter of Beri the Hittite, to be his wife,

and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.

Chapter 27.

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

Verse 5.

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 his 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.

Verse 14,

So he went and took them, and 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 goats she put on his hands,

and on the smooth part of his neck.

And she put the delicious food and the bread,

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

Verse 18.

Excuse me.

So he went into 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 you.

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.

Verse 26.

Then his father Isaac said to him,

Come near and kiss me, my son.

So he came near and kissed him.

And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments

and blessed him and said,

See, the smell of my son

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

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 his hunting.

He also prepared delicious food

and brought it to his father.

And he said to his father,

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

that you may bless me.

His father Isaac said to him,

Who are you?

He answered,

I am your son,

your firstborn Isaac.

Then Isaac trembled very violently and said,

Who was it then that hunted game

and brought it to me?

And I ate it all before you came,

and I have blessed him.

Yes, and he shall be blessed.

Verse 34.

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,

O 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,

O my father.

And Esau lifted up his voice

and wept.

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.

I invite you to pray with me

as we come to this portion of God's word.

Our father in heaven,

we do thank you again this morning

that you speak to us in your word,

and we ask that you would do it.

You'd do what you've promised to do,

that by your spirit

you would help us

to understand spiritual things.

You'd open our eyes,

that you'd soften our hearts,

that you would lift Christ high

in our sight,

in our vision,

that we would grow

in our love,

in our affection,

our reverence,

our all,

our obedience to him.

And we ask all of these things

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

If you look on page 9

of your worship guide,

you'll see a quote

from Revenge of the Tipping Point

by Malcolm Gladwell,

which says this,

Communities have their own stories,

and those stories are contagious.

And you might be thinking,

wait, is Matthew confused?

Is he preaching the same sermon

from two weeks ago?

Because this is not the first time

you've seen this quote.

This is, in fact,

the same quote we printed

in the worship guide

when we were in Genesis chapter 26.

Genesis 26 · chapter mention

Now I told you about that quote

because remember,

I said this,

families also have their own stories,

and those stories are contagious.

So remember,

there's a story

that is driving the Abraham family,

and it is this,

it is all up to me

to protect and provide for myself.

That's the story

that Abraham passed to Isaac.

It's my cunning,

it's my schemes,

those are actually

what are going to make the difference.

I have to make it happen,

I have to manage life,

I have to make it work.

And when you live by this story,

as we've seen,

it means fearing man more than God,

it means trusting in schemes

more than God and his promises.

And so that's why,

chapter 26,

we saw Isaac lies about Rebekah

in the same way

that Abraham lied about Sarah.

This is the default story,

it's the story that Abraham

and his descendants turn to,

and this story continues

to drive this family

in this passage.

It explains the trickery

and the lies

that show up throughout.

Now to understand all this scheming,

we have to review one other thing.

Remember from four weeks ago,

chapter 25 of Genesis,

there is a rivalry

between Jacob's,

Isaac's sons.

Okay, Jacob and Esau

have a rivalry

that started in their mother's womb.

And it's actually worse than that,

it's not just that

they have a rivalry,

it's that mom and dad

have picked sides

in this battle.

Rebekah loves Jacob.

Isaac loves Esau.

With all that background,

we come to this passage

before us this morning,

which is a story

about who gets the blessing.

Who gets the blessing

that God gave to Abraham?

Remember we talked about

the chain of custody,

when the blessing gets passed

from Abraham to Isaac.

Now there's two sons,

not one.

Who does the blessing pass to?

We're going to look at two things

this morning.

You'll see on page nine

of your worship guide,

our sermon title,

Sinful People,

Faithful God.

And that's our outline

for right now.

Sinful people comes first,

and what I'm going to do

essentially is this,

I'm going to show you

everyone's really bad behavior.

Okay?

No one comes out of this story

looking good.

First,

Isaac behaves poorly.

Isaac has a scheme,

verses one through four,

and he summons Esau

and only Esau

to receive the blessing.

This is not how this

is supposed to work.

If you're familiar

with the story of Genesis,

you know there's going to be

another blessing seen

in chapters 48 and 49

where Jacob calls

all his sons.

Okay?

You're supposed to bring

the whole family in.

Everyone takes part in this.

And so Isaac is kind of

doing this run-around play.

He's going to try to do it

so that one son

and only one son

gets everything.

He wants Esau

to get all of it.

Now there's an irony here.

Had he not done this,

Rebecca could not run

the play that she ran.

Okay?

If he had brought

both sons in,

actually he would have

prevented what happened

to him.

By the way,

he's also not really

supposed to do this

until he's about to die.

He says in this passage,

hey, I don't know

when I'm going to die.

Well, he doesn't die

until Genesis chapter 35,

Genesis 35 · chapter mention

which is over 20 years later.

So he's giving

the blessing early

and he's sneaky about it

so he can only give it

to one son.

By the way,

God already said

in Genesis chapter 25

Genesis 25 · chapter mention

when the two sons were born

that it was going to be

Jacob who came out on top.

So Esau's not just being sneaky,

he's actually trying to subvert

what God has already revealed.

And in the blessing,

he tries to reverse that.

If you look at verse 29,

he's setting it up

because he thinks

he's blessing Esau.

He's setting it up

so that Esau actually

ends up on top.

Okay?

So Jacob is a,

so excuse me,

Isaac is just a trickster here.

And it gets worse.

What did we find out

at the end of chapter 26?

Esau has taken foreign wives.

So Isaac should know

that this son,

by the way,

it's not that they're foreign,

it's that they're pagan.

That's the problem.

We'll talk about that next week.

Isaac should know

that this son,

this is for you military people,

is unfit for command.

And yet he's still going

to give him the blessing.

Isaac behaves poorly.

Isaac wants his favorite son

to have the blessing.

Well, guess what?

Rebecca wants her favorite son

to get everything.

And so she has this scheme

and her scheme is that

Jacob pretends to be Esau.

That's verses 5 through 17.

All this trickery, by the way,

is not innocent at all.

Remember, we looked

at the ninth commandment

in our confession of faith.

Rebecca and Isaac,

excuse me,

Rebecca and Jacob

are breaking the Ten Commandments

left and right.

So track with me.

The third commandment says,

do not use God's name in vain.

Oh, look at verse 20.

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.

It's using God's name in vain.

No, the Lord did not grant him success.

He's lying through his teeth.

Fifth commandment,

honor your father and your mother.

Here he is taking advantage

of his father's old age

and lying to him.

This is only possible

because Isaac actually can't see.

Okay, he's taking advantage

of his father's infirmity.

If that's not dishonoring,

I don't know what is.

Then we move on

to the ninth commandment.

Don't bear false testimony.

Jacob explicitly lies twice.

Verses 19 and 23.

He says, look, I am Esau.

Of course, the whole performance

is a lie.

We don't need two verses

to prove it.

The whole narrative

ties up Rebecca as well.

She is guilty

as the planner

of the deception.

Rebecca and Jacob

behave poorly.

Now, what about Isaac and Esau?

We've already talked about Isaac

a little bit,

but we're going to talk about it more

because it continues to get bad.

Isaac and Esau

both break the first commandment,

which is this.

You shall have no other gods

before me.

God is clearly

not their first love.

The author goes out of his way

to tell us

what Isaac loves

more than anything else,

which is what?

He loves that delicious food.

Now, we already know that

from chapter 25.

Why does Isaac prefer Esau?

It says it explicitly.

Secondly, Isaac loved Esau

because he ate

of his game.

This has been going on

for years.

And like father,

like son,

Esau has the same problem.

What did Esau do

in chapter 25?

He sells his birthright

for food.

Both father and son

are ruled

by their stomachs.

By the way,

I think I got the count wrong

on delicious food

as I was reading it.

How many did you guys get?

Okay, yeah.

I think I only,

I only even had four

in what I listed here,

but it showed up

even more than I realized

because I didn't do

my count right.

Why does it show up

six times?

So that we can know

without a doubt

that there is nothing

that Isaac loves

more than food.

Verse four,

prepare for me

delicious food

such as I love.

Verse nine,

go to the flock

and bring me

two good young goats

that I may prepare

for them delicious food

for your father

such as he loves.

Verse 14,

and his mother

prepared delicious food

such as his father loved.

Verse 31,

this is now Esau.

He also prepared

delicious food

and brought it

to his father.

Esau gave up

his birthright

for vegetable stew.

Isaac now gives up

his integrity,

his faith in God

for one nice meal.

like father,

like son.

By the way,

there's no rule

that says

you have to send

your son

to go do

some special feat

before you give

the blessing.

Okay,

so Isaac has just

cooked this up

so that he can

have a nice meal.

Remember,

we get to see again

how this works

in Genesis chapters

Genesis 48 · chapter mention

48 and 49.

Jacob does it.

He doesn't send

anyone to prepare

him a meal.

Okay,

he actually just

blesses them.

And that's what

Isaac is supposed

to do here.

So he is just

steered and ruled

by his outrageous appetite.

We're supposed

to walk away

from this thinking,

man,

this is really gross.

Here's this man

who has just

completely lost

the plot.

What should he be doing?

We found out

at the end

of chapter 26

that Esau

got married

when he was

40 years old.

Now that matters

because we were told

that Isaac

married Rebecca

when he was also

40 years old.

So the timing

is the same.

What's different?

Isaac should have

been doing

what Abraham did.

Isaac should have

been going out

and finding

godly spouses

for his sons.

That's what Abraham

did.

Abraham sent

his servant

and said,

I can't have

my children

marrying pagan

wives.

I need you

to go find

someone from

among our own

people.

Isaac's lost

the plot.

He doesn't even

realize what's

supposed to be

happening,

how he's supposed

to be taking

responsibility

and agency

to carry on

God's blessing.

No,

he is worried

about his

next meal.

There's a whole

other sermon,

by the way,

about how Isaac

does not end

well.

And the author

of Genesis

goes out of his

way in a way

we don't have

time to go

into this

morning to

highlight how

poorly Isaac

ends his life.

Okay,

I said both

Isaac and Esau

break the first

commandment,

you shall have

no other gods

before me.

We've talked

about Isaac,

now it's time

for Esau.

Esau is also

ruled by his

appetite as

we've discussed,

not just his

appetite for

food,

he's ruled by

his lust

for women.

The end of

26,

which we read,

he decides to

go get some

foreign wives

and what does

verse 35 tell

us?

They made

life bitter

for Isaac

and Rebecca.

Remember I

said foreign

wives,

the problem

is not that

they're foreign,

the problem

is that

they're pagan.

So Esau

has gone

out,

he's married

women who

do not

worship the

true and

living God.

They don't

share the

religion of

the Abraham

family.

They're not

people who

follow after

Yahweh and

so it

shouldn't

surprise us

that they

make life

so miserable

for the

extended family.

We're going

to spend

more time on

that next

week so I

won't say

any more.

But in

short,

in case I

haven't made

it clear,

everyone

behaves

poorly.

Isaac

behaves

badly.

He tries to

give the

blessing to

his favorite

son even

though God

had already

said that

Isaac would

rule.

Excuse me,

that Jacob

would rule.

He serves

his stomach

rather than

God.

Rebecca

behaves

badly.

Rebecca

deceives and

dishonors the

husband she

should be

protecting,

especially

because he's

blind.

Jacob

behaves

badly.

He deceives

and dishonors

his father,

his father

defrauds

his brother,

takes God's

name in

vain.

Esau

behaves

badly,

marries

pagan wives

rather than

women who

fear the

Lord.

Everyone

behaves

badly.

But how

does God

behave?

Remember I

told you we

have two

points,

sinful

people,

faithful

God.

We're

going to

turn now

to faithful

God.

God

behaves

is this.

God

accomplishes

his

purposes

no

matter

what.

In the

midst of

everyone's

sin,

God

keeps his

promise.

Remember

his promise,

Genesis

Genesis 25 · chapter mention

chapter 25.

Jacob and

Esau are in

the womb.

he says

the older

will serve

the younger.

And what

ends up

happening?

The older

serves

the younger.

Now that

doesn't mean

the end

justifies the

means.

It doesn't

make anyone's

sin correct

in this

passage.

What it

means is

this.

No matter

what your

scheme,

God will

come out

on top.

no matter

the

actions

of men,

God's

end

state

will be

accomplished.

One

commentator

says this,

it is

clear

that God

can accomplish

his holy

purposes

by using

not merely

unholy

people,

but even

the unholy

actions

of those

he has

chosen.

it is

not just

that though,

it is not

just that

God accomplishes

his purposes

no matter

what,

it is also

that God

is faithful

to his

people

no matter

what.

God made

a promise

to Abraham.

He made

a promise

to Abraham

that his

descendants

would be

as the

sands on

the seashore

and the

stars in

the sky.

He promised

to Abraham

that his

descendants

would be

the blessing

to the

nations.

And you

know what?

God is

going to

keep that

promise.

The men

and women

he has

chosen

break the

Ten Commandments

left and

right.

God's

promise

is

unbroken.

God's

kingdom.

point is

this.

The

generational

sin

of your

family

cannot

stand

in the

way

of the

freight

train

of God's

kingdom.

God

no matter

how

powerful

the

forces

that

flow

down

to you

from

previous

generations

God

is

more

powerful

still.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 23 · chapter mention

chapter

23

his

word

is like

a hammer

that breaks

a rock

into pieces.

there is

nothing

so

powerful

that

God's

word

is not

more

powerful

still.

Now I'm

not peddling

cheap grace

here.

Sometimes

it's tempting

for people

to hear

things like

that and

think oh

so what

Matthew's

saying is

I can

do

whatever

I want

and it

doesn't

matter.

No.

In this

one day

and this

one episode

the Abraham

family has

made a

mess that

will echo

for hundreds

of years.

Next

week you're

going to

see that

Esau

threatens

to kill

Jacob

and so

Jacob

has to

run away

and doesn't

see his

brother again

for 20

years.

Remember

that Jacob

is Rebecca's

favorite

son.

She

will

never

see him

again.

Isaac

gets to

watch this

unfold in

his old

age as

his sons

are at

each other's

throats.

By the

way Esau's

descendants

become the

Edomites

and the

Edomites

are going

to be a

thorn in

the side

of God's

people for

hundreds

hundreds

of years.

This is

not

insignificant.

I am

not telling

you, oh

God is

faithful, do

whatever you

want.

No, I'm

saying God

is faithful,

follow his

commands.

Choose the

easy way,

not the

hard way.

It's the

same quote

from two

weeks ago,

page nine

on your

worship guide

from Crime

and punishment.

Your worst

sin is that

you have

destroyed and

betrayed

yourself for

nothing.

Isaac,

Jacob,

Esau,

and Rebekah

have all

thought that

their scheming

was going to

be the answer

and the only

people they've

punished are

themselves.

One author

says this,

trusting God

is hard,

but failing

to trust God

is even

harder.

Trusting God

is hard,

failing to

trust God

is even

harder.

God will

accomplish

his purposes.

God will

keep the

promises that

he has

made,

and our

actions still

have consequences.

We can

still betray

ourselves,

for nothing.

Do you

want to

avoid

pain?

Do you

want to

do what's

for your

good

and God's

glory?

Proverbs

Proverbs 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

tells us

how to do

that.

Trust in

the Lord

with all

your heart

and do

not lean

on your

own

understanding.

In all

your ways

acknowledge

him and

he will

make straight

your paths.

Be not

wise in

your own

eyes.

Fear the

Lord and

turn away

from evil.

Remember the

story of the

Abraham family.

It is all

up to me

and my

cleverness

and my

skill and

my ability

to control

and manage

the world.

God

is all

and the

gospel tells

the opposite

story.

The gospel

tells the

story of

Psalm 23.

The Lord

is my

shepherd.

I shall

not

want.

Surely

goodness

and mercy

will follow

me all

the days

of my

life.

And I

don't have

to scheme

and lie

and plan

for that

to happen.

what everyone

in this

story

misses

is to

trust

in God

and his

provision.

And as I've

told you many

times, we

have even

greater reasons

to trust in

God than

Isaac and

Jacob and

Esau and

Rebecca did.

Because we've

seen something,

we look back

to something

that they only

look forward

to, which

is the

death and

the resurrection

of Jesus

Christ.

that God

sends his

one and

only son

to live

the perfect

life that

we should

have lived

and to

die the

death that

we deserved.

If he

did that,

will he

not do

everything

else?

Remember

Romans

Romans 8:32

chapter 8

verse 32.

He who

did not

spare his

own son

but gave

him up

for us

all,

how will

he not

also with

him graciously

give us

all things.

Sinful

people,

faithful

God.

What love

could remember,

no wrongs

we have

done,

omniscient

all-knowing,

he counts

not their

sum.

Thrown

into a

sea,

without

bottom

or shore,

our sins

they are

many,

his mercy

is more.

Let's

pray.

Our

Father in

heaven,

we thank

you and

we praise

you that

you keep

your promise

no matter

what.

We ask

that you

would root

that deep

in our

hearts that

we would

trust you

rather than

ourselves,

that we

would look

to you

and your

provision

more than

anything else,

that you

would

lead us.

Psalm 23

says,

lead us

streams of

water.

Ask all

of these

things in

Jesus'

name.

Amen.