The Descendants

I think I need to pray before we jump into the word. Is that okay? Let's do that.

God, we thank you. We thank you that we get together.

! We thank you that we are able to have so many different spaces together.

But there really is only one purpose to our gathering, and that is to glorify and worship you.

And so now we open up your word. We ask that you would speak.

May the words that we hear today come straight from your heart and cut straight into ours.

Let's speak. We are listening. In your name we pray. Amen.

Can I invite you to stand for the word of the Lord?

Amen.

These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son. We are in Genesis 25, verse 19.

Genesis 25:19

Abraham fathered Isaac, and Isaac was 40 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.

And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren.

And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah, his wife, conceived.

The children struggled together within her, and she said,

If it is thus, why is this happening to me?

She went to inquire of the Lord.

And the Lord said to her,

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.

When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb.

The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau.

Afterward, his brother came out with his hand holding Esau's heel, so his name was called Jacob.

Isaac was 60 years old when she bore them.

When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field,

while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents.

Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted.

And Esau said to Jacob,

Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted.

Therefore, his name was called Edom.

Jacob said, Sell me your birthright now.

Esau said, I am about to die. Of what use is a birthright to me?

Jacob said, Swear to me now.

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 his way.

Thus Esau despised his birthright.

This is the word of the Lord.

Please take a seat.

So we continue into the journey of Genesis,

and Gabe last week spoke to us,

and he really kind of spoke this one phrase over us

that I think just perfectly sums up what the faith really is about,

and that is God is sovereignly for you.

God is sovereign.

He's in control.

But it's even more than that.

He's not just sovereign and in control of everything.

He's not just got the whole world in his hands.

He is for you.

He cares for you.

And we were just presented with this truth,

and we wondered whether we can even just sit in that truth and go,

Wow, God is in control of my life.

And not only that, he is for me.

For God works for the good of those who love him.

What the enemy sometimes means for evil always,

God turns for good.

So he controls, he orchestrates everything so that I am loved and good

and living in this favor,

and that his promises will be carried out through me and my family

and will continue.

Isn't that just a beautiful truth?

But here's the problem with that truth.

That's theology, and it's correct, and it's true, and it transforms lives.

But the reality often is it's really hard to live out.

You hear that kind of promise spoken over you one day,

and you're lifted, and you're inspired, and you're encouraged,

and you're comforted, and then you go home,

and then you go to work,

and suddenly you're just crushed with the reality.

And so even though that promise still remains somewhere in our psyche,

the moment we walk back into our broken workplaces,

the moment we walk back into our broken families,

suddenly we're like,

Well, God, how are your promises even going to come about?

Because my family, my life, my work is pretty messed up.

And so you have this tension between theology and reality

that actually is something that I want to talk about.

And here's my line for today,

which is God's perfect plan will be carried out,

but it will be carried out through imperfect people.

It will be carried out through imperfect families that are broken.

We all sit and go,

Wow, we have problems in all of our lives.

We all have different challenges and problems,

and you often wonder,

How is God going to fulfill those promises?

You see, even though there is this incredible scene

where Isaac's waiting for a wife,

and just magically at a well, prepared for him,

this beautiful lady that he's been waiting for all these years.

Boom.

God's timing.

It's perfect.

He knows way more than we do.

Sadly, Genesis doesn't just finish there,

and then says,

Isaac, Rebecca lived happily ever after,

and God's promises were forever fulfilled in their lives.

What you see, the next chapter,

is a broken family.

If God's promises are going to actually pass on,

you wonder,

Oh, how is he going to pass that on?

And what you wouldn't have guessed

is that he passes that promise on

through a family of four,

filled with dysfunction,

two brats of sons,

who actually don't even really prioritize God at all.

And then you've got a father and a mother who,

actually, they each choose their own favorite,

and then it leads to dysfunction in the family.

And you're like, wow,

God's perfect plan gets carried out

through imperfect people.

And we're going to unpack a little bit of that today

because chapter 25,

suddenly you see this plan,

this promise played out,

and it's filled with grief,

it's filled with deceit,

and it's filled with sin,

and it's filled with pride.

And that's all pretty jarring,

but I'm hoping as we get to the end of this,

we will realize that actually that's encouraging as well.

There's a group of guys,

we've been reading 2 Peter,

and 2 Peter chapter 1, I think,

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

says this about,

actually, what we believe

aren't just cleverly devised,

they're not just myths,

they're not just things,

they're not just fairy tales

that we've tried to believe

to help us feel better about our lives.

These are real stories about real people.

Why?

Because it's just so messed up.

It's just so messed up.

If you were going to make something up,

you wouldn't make it up like this.

And yet, here you see a family

that is completely broken,

that is used by God.

So, unfortunately,

this is going to be the last time

we hear of Abraham

because we are seeing here,

chapter 25,

you can just follow along with me.

So, after Sarah dies,

Abraham actually takes another wife,

and actually,

she bears lots of children for him.

Verse 5,

Abraham still, though,

gives all that he has to Isaac

because he knows the covenant

is going to go through this one boy.

He's going to go through Isaac.

All these other concubines

and their children,

he actually still gives gifts,

but then he actually sends them away.

So, he's still focusing.

God's going to fulfill his promise

through the covenant

that is going to go through

this one boy, Isaac.

So, verse 6,

But to the sons of his concubines,

Abraham gave gifts,

and while he was still living,

he sent them away

from his son Isaac

eastward to the east country.

These are the days of the years

of Abraham's life,

175,

and then Abraham breathed his last

and died in a good old age,

an old man,

and full of years,

and was gathered to his people.

I was just stuck there

for a little bit

as I was preparing this week

and go, wow,

Abraham,

the founder of the faith,

he dies.

And this week,

for whatever reason,

I've been surrounded

by death myself.

I went to a funeral yesterday.

Joe and I have a beloved aunt

who's getting very,

very close to the end,

and she was a superhero

to us growing up,

and we saw her this last week,

and we were like,

oh, this is the end.

And it makes you think,

especially if you're young,

maybe you don't think about death.

I can tell you I think about death

all the time,

because it will happen

to every single person

in this room.

So even though there are promises

that God gives us,

isn't that reality

just sobering?

That all of us,

at some point,

will die.

Genesis 5 has this list

of people who will die,

almost just to repeat

that there are consequences

to our actions,

and death was the thing

that was introduced

into creation.

And now you see Abraham,

Abraham,

still dies.

It makes you think

about what this life

really is about,

but then even though

you see Abraham dies,

the God of Abraham

continues to live on.

It's not just about

Abraham either.

In fact,

the Bible kind of gives him

his credit and says

he dies at a good old age,

and then he gets buried,

and actually at that moment,

Isaac and Ishmael

get back together

to bury their dad.

They bury dad

in the same place

where mom is,

and verse 11,

it just almost casually

says,

after the death of Abraham,

God blessed Isaac,

his son.

So the legacy continues,

and it goes into

this next passage

about Isaac.

Isaac's a really

interesting character.

Dad Abraham,

son Jacob,

both guys get a lot

of time,

get a lot of time

in this book.

Isaac himself

doesn't really get

that much time.

We don't know that much

about Isaac,

but we get a little bit here.

But before I talk about Isaac,

verse 12 to 18

tells you a little bit

about Ishmael.

Ishmael was the son

who came from Hagar,

the Egyptian,

remember that,

and he was sent away.

It's really interesting

because actually

he didn't treat Isaac

very well,

and he wasn't part

of the covenant,

he wasn't part

of the promise,

he wasn't going to be

part of God's plan,

so he gets sent away,

but it's interesting

because the writer here

kind of gives you

a little bit of an update

about how Ishmael's doing.

And Ishmael has these sons,

and actually these sons,

in verse 16,

these are the sons of Ishmael,

and these are their names

by their villages

and by their encampments,

12 princes.

So Ishmael has 12 sons,

but they're not just sons,

they're princes.

They're actually wealthy.

And it's really interesting

because even though

he's not part of God's plan,

even though he doesn't fear God,

even though he doesn't love God

or follow God,

yet God is still good

for his promise.

Because remember what we said?

That he will still

look after Ishmael.

He's not going to be part

of the plan,

but he's still going

to look after him.

Even though Ishmael

was mistreating Isaac,

yet God still was good

for his promise.

It makes me think,

well, I don't know

where you guys are

in your faith,

but for those of you

who are like,

I don't know if God loves me,

I don't know if God,

actually if God knows

everything that I do,

then actually I wouldn't

be part of this promise.

Isn't it interesting

that even Ishmael

still gets the blessing,

still gets looked after,

and if God is going

to care for Ishmael,

he's going to care for you.

He's going to care for me still.

But that's not going

to be the main part

of our story

because after that,

he gives an update

on Ishmael.

We then move into the part

that I just read,

which is here.

These are the generations

of Isaac, Abraham's son.

So Isaac is 40 years old

when he took Rebecca

and they married.

And that's where you think,

oh, God blesses Isaac.

God blesses Isaac.

And of course,

Isaac's like,

look, I remember

that there was this

traumatic incident

where dad walked me

up the mountain

and he tied me up.

But actually,

God then replaced me

and so I got to continue living.

So God's going to carry out

his promises through me.

So what's the next thing

that you expect to happen?

Isaac's living his life,

growing up,

finds a wonderful wife,

gets married,

and he's like,

well, my baby's coming soon.

Because that's got to be the way

because that's what God promised.

And what happens here?

Because she was barren.

Wow.

Almost just again.

Just like his dad

and just like his mom.

Rebecca is barren.

And so what does he do

as a 40-year-old man

who's just married his wife,

waiting for God's promises to come?

He waits.

He waits.

And he waits.

And how does he wait?

He waits through prayer.

You can see what he does here.

Whereas dad did not do this.

Dad waited

and then decided to take matters

into his own hands.

Or rather,

mom then offered

a bit of a dodgy plan

to do it.

Whereas Isaac here

actually prays.

So his default

when he's waiting

is to pray.

And I asked a few months ago

how well do we wait?

And so I'm not going to labor

on that topic

because what we see here is,

again,

God's chosen one,

the one that God blesses,

still has to wait.

It makes me think

as I struggle with waiting,

and again,

it's in the 2 Peter passage

and in the book of James,

where we've been reading

about just patience.

We think that when God blesses us,

when we follow God,

then everything will happen

immediately, instantly.

Yet that is never the case.

Rarely ever the case.

There is beauty in the waiting.

God uses the waiting.

God sees whether we're waiting well

and through the waiting,

and that's when he's really

molding us,

molding our desires.

And so you see Isaac here waiting,

and how long does he wait for?

God's chosen one

who God blessed

waits for 20 years

for a baby.

The Bible almost

says it casually.

If we just take a peek

later on,

same chapter,

verse 26,

Isaac was 60 years old

when she bore them.

Just casually.

They got married at 40,

they had their first baby at 60.

20 years of waiting.

So quick question here,

what are we waiting for?

How well are we waiting?

And in our waiting,

do we go to God?

Do we pray?

God doesn't answer

always with yes,

immediately,

now.

And we have to be prepared

that sometimes God's answer

is not what we want.

That's when you go back

to that truth.

But God is sovereignly for me,

sovereignly for me.

So I wait

with that kind of trust.

So he waits,

and it's waiting,

and it's forcing him

to surrender.

And finally,

as if this is just

such a casual bit,

verse 21,

he's praying,

and the Lord granted his prayer,

and Rebecca,

his wife,

conceived.

So God is sovereign,

he's completely in control.

But yet he still ordains

the means,

which is prayer.

He ordains the means,

which is prayer,

and also the ends,

which is the final conception.

So you see,

even though we are waiting

and God is in control,

he still hears,

he still listens,

and he still wants

this communication,

he still wants

this relationship with us.

And so,

of course,

it says it casually

here in one sentence,

we now know

that that's 20 years

of waiting and praying.

And I hope that's

of comfort to someone

who has been waiting

for a loved one

to come to Christ,

waiting for the job,

waiting for the spouse,

whatever it may be,

wait well,

and pray whilst you wait.

And of course,

they have the baby,

they conceive,

the children struggle together

within her,

and she said,

if it is this,

why is this happening to me?

So,

I've never bought twins before,

personally,

but she wouldn't have known that

because there were no ultrasounds

at that moment in time.

So she finally gets pregnant,

and she's getting pretty big,

much quicker

than she expected.

And actually,

I'm guessing she's in a lot of pain.

Why?

Because the twins are wrestling

inside her.

And so she's like,

God,

why is this happening to me?

I'm guessing she's also thinking,

maybe it's because I'm too old,

maybe it's because I'm 60,

maybe it's because I'm past the age,

maybe this isn't going to go well.

And so she's waiting

and she's wrestling,

and what does she do?

She does the same thing

that her husband does.

She goes to the Lord.

So she went to inquire of the Lord,

and the Lord actually responds to her.

Wouldn't that be just amazing

when we go and inquire of the Lord,

and we hear just clearly

what the Lord says to her.

And here we go.

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.

So her first point of contact

is to pray as well.

He's not getting what he thinks

he wants or needs.

He goes to pray.

She gets it,

but it's not quite what she's expecting,

and it's confusing.

It's scary.

So what does she do?

She goes to pray,

and the Lord responds and says,

what's actually happening

is the curse from Genesis 3

where we said that there will be

two groups of people.

One will trust in God,

and one will follow,

and one will not.

Now they're happening in your womb,

that these two people

in your womb

are going to represent two nations,

and it's going to be a little bit different

to what you think

because the one shall be stronger

than the other.

The older shall serve the younger,

which goes completely against

the ancient tradition.

Actually,

this is not hard

for us Chinese people

to understand

because the firstborn

was the one

who gets the double blessing,

and the others

just get whatever's left,

and so this would have been

the same here,

but God's saying,

hey,

I'm going to change

human tradition upside down.

It's not going to be

what you think.

It never is what you think

when it comes to the kingdom of God.

You think one way,

the world thinks one way,

and that's just foolishness

to the kingdom of God,

and it's going to be

this other way,

and this time you see

it's going to be

the younger one

that actually comes out

with the blessing,

but of course,

how it all happens

is very interesting.

When her days to give birth

were completed,

behold,

there were twins in her womb.

The first came out red,

all his body,

like a hairy cloak,

so they called him Esau,

and then his brother came out

with his hand

holding Esau's heel,

so his name was Jacob,

and the boys grew up,

and then they have

two very different boys.

One's a jock,

and one's a nerd.

One's a jock.

He likes to go out

and hunt.

A man of the field,

skillful hunter,

and while Jacob

liked to sit at home

in quiet,

in solitude,

and read,

and game,

and one actually goes out

to cause destruction,

and the other just simply

just stays at home,

and here comes

that special line

that maybe some of us

in our families

have also experienced.

Isaac loved Esau

because he ate of his game,

but Rebecca loves Jacob.

Oh, the destructive outcomes

that come with favoritism.

When a parent favors

one child over the other,

and the emotional

and mental

and sometimes physical trauma

that comes with that,

God's perfect plan

happens through

an imperfect family

that is dysfunctional,

and what you see

of Isaac and Rebecca

are not quite

these godly

founding father,

mother material.

You see just a dad

who starts to lose his way

and who prefers the son

who will actually

bring him back

that Wagyu steak

just the way he likes it,

and you see this other son

who is favored by mom

because he likes

to stay at home with her

to talk

and to hang out

and listen,

and yet God's perfect plan

continues through this.

The interesting thing is

Jacob,

we always think

is just this,

again,

this patriarch,

this guy who is holy

and perfect,

but no,

what we actually see

if you look into his story

is he's a scheming,

manipulative man.

Of course,

Esau just seems dumb,

but Jacob kind of knows

exactly what he's doing.

And then we head into

a really interesting passage,

which I think is where

we'll probably just spend

a little bit of time

just to focus on,

which is this little,

little passage

from verse 29 to 34.

So, you know,

these five verses here

actually gets quoted

later in scripture,

which we're going to go

on a little bit of a journey

in a bit,

so bear with us for now.

So, Esau goes out to hunt.

He hunts,

and he hunts a lot,

and he's very good at it,

and he's exhausted from it.

Meanwhile,

Jacob has just finished

the book that he's reading,

and so he's like,

I'm going to start

cooking some food.

And so he's cooking this stew,

and then Esau comes in

from the field,

and he was exhausted,

and Esau said to Jacob,

let me eat some of that red stew,

for I am exhausted.

Therefore,

his name was called Eden,

which means red.

Imagine this,

you make one mistake

in your life,

one little mistake,

because you were hungry that time,

and then for the rest of your life,

you are named and mocked

because of that one mistake.

So that's exactly

what it says here.

And Jacob said,

he's probably planning this already,

because this happens every day.

Esau with all his muscle

and all his masculinity,

goes out and hunts this beef for us,

and it's great,

but he comes home,

and he's exhausted,

and he's grumpy,

and he's hungry.

Meanwhile,

Jacob is at home

reading novels,

and he's seen this before

in a book,

and he realizes

this is the moment

where you get

to the heart of a man

through his stomach,

and he wants the birthright.

And remember,

mom's probably whispering to him,

hey,

do you know when I was pregnant

with the two of you,

God actually spoke to me.

He told me

that you're actually

going to be better

than your brother.

You're actually going to

rule over your brother.

So you see,

Rebecca,

this image that we had

at the beginning

where she was so kind

and hospitable

at the well

in the last chapter,

you see her turning

a little bit,

and no doubt,

that would have been part of

maybe why Jacob

was the way he was.

So anyway,

Esau comes charging in,

he throws his axe

on the side,

and then he comes in,

he says,

oh,

that smells so good.

And we find out later

that it's actually lentil.

Does anyone like lentil?

Yeah,

lentil.

It's great,

it's cool,

I'm good for you.

It's got to be lentil

and avocado.

Avocado was definitely

on the side there.

And then so Esau says,

oh,

I'm so hungry.

Give me some of that stew.

And then Jacob says,

sure,

you have to give me

your birthright.

Straight out of nowhere,

you have to give me

your birthright.

And then Esau responds to him,

I'm about to die.

What use is a birthright to me?

Can you see

just the melodramatic nature

of this older brother here?

But before we talk more

about this,

don't we all have that?

What we're talking about here

is actually an idol.

And what we're talking about here

is actually when we put something

that is supposed to be God,

that isn't God,

we all have this.

When we don't have something

that we really want,

it almost messes up

the way we approach life

altogether.

If I don't have that girl,

my life is just

not worth living.

It's just,

I'm just going to be living

in black and white

for the rest of my life.

I won't see color

until I'm in that relationship.

Unless I get that job,

my life is completely

meaningless.

There's no point in living.

If I don't have that soup,

I'm about to die.

That is the lie of idolatry,

where you think that you really

need something,

and it affects the way

you look at everything.

And I'm just going to pause there

for a second,

because I know for a fact

that there are idols

in this room.

John Calvin says,

the human heart

is a factory of idols.

We all have them.

What is the thing

that you have,

well, sorry,

that you want,

and that if you don't have,

your life is just not perfect?

Well, I'm here to tell you

that even if you have it,

it won't be perfect.

But actually,

your very thirst for it,

your very hunger for it,

actually stops you

from enjoying the goodness

that God actually has for you.

I had a little bit of this

happened to me,

and I have a few friends

in this room

who talked to me about tech.

I like tech,

and I like gadgets,

and this week,

there was the latest iPhone

that was released.

Of course,

I have been waiting

for many years

for the new iPhone

to come out.

And so last Saturday,

I think it was 8 p.m.,

was the day

that pre-orders began.

Come on,

any nerds,

just nod with me,

just tell me

that I'm not alone in this.

Okay, I am really alone.

I'm the only one

with this idol.

All right, fine.

8 p.m.

last Saturday,

my kids were supposed

to go to sleep,

but I was like,

Daddy's got something

really important to do.

If I don't make this pre-order now,

I won't get the phone next week.

And it's funny,

I made the order,

and praise the Lord,

it happened,

internet connection

and everything.

And you know what?

Then I spent the last week

waiting for it,

and I was just looking

at my old phone

with more and more disdain.

Just as it was going,

I was like,

you are so slow.

You are so dumb.

And now you're overheating.

I don't,

like,

you are affecting,

you are just killing my vibes,

and I'm not living

my full life with you.

Don't we have that?

Oh,

but then the moment

the new phone came,

it was fun for about 60 seconds,

and I was like,

I can't tell the difference

between the cameras anyway,

and I'm like,

okay,

here we are.

And that's exactly

what happens with an idol.

You're just yearning for it.

If only I get it.

If only I get it,

my life will be complete,

and I'll be happy,

and I won't be dying.

But you get it?

And it's really casual

in the way he says it.

Verse 34,

Jacob gave Esau bread

and lentil stew.

He ate and drank and rose

and went his way.

And that was it.

He pre-ordered,

he ordered,

he traded in,

he collected,

he activated,

restored.

And that was it.

I wonder how we are

with our idols.

The things that we're chasing

and saying,

God,

please give me that.

And I wonder whether actually

we really in some ways

are the same.

And it's this idea

of just instant gratification

that we all want.

You see in scripture,

eating is a problem.

And it all started

because there was a fruit

that looked good.

Reminds me of Philippians

where it says,

their end is destruction,

their God is their belly.

They glory in their shame

with minds set on earthy things.

I wonder whether we

have those things

where our minds

are set on earthy things,

where we actually glory

in our shame,

where actually our God

is our belly.

That's why a spiritual discipline

like fasting is so good

because you're actually

telling God actually,

all I need is you.

All I want is you.

This hunger that I feel,

this hunger strike that I have,

this hunger that I feel,

I want to direct all of that

hunger and thirst for you

because blessed are those

who hunger and thirst

for righteousness,

for they shall be satisfied.

It's funny,

the moment we get that job,

get that person,

get that phone,

get that thing,

it's good for a little bit

and then suddenly,

it's gone.

That satisfaction is gone

and that yearning

then goes somewhere else.

Not knowing that really

that yearning points us

to a place

which is called eternity.

Ecclesiastes 3.11 says

that God has planted eternity

in the heart of man

and we just try and fill

that gap

that only eternity

can fill

with all the things

of this world.

C.S. Lewis says

that we are half-hearted creatures.

We just fill ourselves

with money,

sex and power

and whatever the latest,

newest thing is

and actually,

what we deprive ourselves

is infinite joy.

He talks about it

in his book,

The Weight of Glory

where actually,

that stops us

from enjoying

what we're supposed

to enjoy

because we are so,

it's actually,

we're not yearning

for the right things.

That's what we're supposed

to be going for here.

But then this comes

a really harsh quote

and this is where

we'll kind of land

and spend some time on

before I finish.

Thus,

Esau despised

his birthright.

I was like,

whoa,

that's a strong word.

My man was hungry

and he was exhausted

because he was hunting

for his family

because he has a nerd

of a brother

who doesn't go out

to feed the family.

So,

therefore,

he's got to go out

and get the food

and he's exhausted

and he chooses

the soup

and yet what we see here

is he despised

his birthright.

Worse still,

this little interaction here

ends up

being recorded

and retold

through many places

in scripture

and this is what

we're going to do today.

So,

if you have your Bible,

you can go with me

to the final book

of the Old Testament

which is Malachi

because we're going

to look at that

because it didn't

make sense to me.

He was hungry.

Yes,

I get it.

His birthright

was something

that was very important

but in that moment,

his God was his belly

and he gave it up

and then from then on

it was recorded

that he despised

his birthright

and later it gets

even worse.

Malachi,

so the last chapter,

the last book,

sorry,

before the New Testament,

chapter one,

the oracle of the word

of the Lord

to Israel by Malachi,

verse two,

I have loved you,

says the Lord,

but you say,

how have you loved us?

Is not Esau

Jacob's brother,

declares the Lord.

Yet I have loved Jacob

but Esau

I have hated.

Whoa.

Esau gave his birthright

up for a bowl of soup,

probably not the best idea

or at the very least

a very bad deal

and yet you get to the point

where now it's recorded

that not only did he

despise his birthright

but then God hates him.

Is that confusing to you?

It's a little bit overwhelming

for me

and let's just carry on

a little bit

and bear with me.

We're going to keep going now

towards the end of

the New Testament

in the book of Hebrews

so see if you can find that.

Chapter 12.

Bear in mind,

Hebrews chapter 11

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

is the hall of faith,

hall of fame.

These people who were trusted,

who weren't perfect either,

who didn't really get

what God promised them

but they saw something,

they saw a city

much further,

a country much further

than they were yearning for

and then the beginning

of chapter 12

talks about Jesus

and then

with all these famous people

in the Bible

in Hebrews 11

and then talking about Jesus

and guess who shows up

in the middle of Hebrews chapter 12?

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

Poor Esau.

Redhead guy.

The skillful hunter.

And it says this.

Hebrews chapter 12

Hebrews 12:16

verse 16.

That no one is sexually immoral

or unholy

like Esau

who sold his birthright

for a single meal.

For you know that afterward

when he desired

to inherit the blessing

he was rejected

for he found no chance

to repent

though he sought it

with tears.

Whew.

Trust me,

I didn't really want to

kind of go into all this

because it doesn't seem

the most pleasing

and doesn't seem

the most kind of cushy

and lovey-dovey

but here we have

someone who chose

a bowl of soup

an idol

for instant gratification

but then you end up

in a place

where it's recorded

in scripture

that not only

does God love his brother

but he actually hates Esau

and then you see here

in Hebrews 12

that he is not only

just choosing a bowl of soup

he's also sexually immoral

or unholy

like Esau.

And here we have again

the slippery slope of sin

because that was one

isolated event

of him deciding

that actually

actually so the word hated here

the word despised here

was actually a Hebrew idiom

that I want to unpack

a little bit

and that word

doesn't actually mean

I hate you

that it's not quite

the modern interpretation

what it really meant

at that time

the readers would have understood

was actually

he just passed over it

he just didn't choose it

he rejected it

so in some ways

when it says that

thus Esau

despised his birthright

it actually just meant

he just didn't choose it

that's all it meant

okay so it wasn't

hate or despise

he didn't grow up

at school going

man I hate the fact

that I have this

double portion inheritance

I hate the fact

that I'm going to get

so much more money

than the rest of my siblings

it wasn't that

it was simply

he was saying

actually

I just don't choose it

it's not important

to me

which in one hand

if you say it like that

doesn't sound as serious

as despise or hate

until you are talking

about God

think about us

think about the times

that we pass over

God

think about the times

that we know

that we want to spend

time with God

and read our Bible

and do our prayers

and be in devotion

with God

and then yet we choose

to pass over him

to do something else

like what

like scroll

on Instagram instead

in some ways

it isn't that different

this guy who

is hungry

choosing a bowl

of soup

ends up being described

as sexually immoral

and unholy

the word there

another version

would be

he spoke profanity

over this birthright

what was he saying

what does profanity mean

we all know

it's actually

it just means

it's the opposite

of holy

it's common

it's

so basically

what it's saying

is that Esau

had something

that was so holy

so precious

that represented

God's covenant love

and yet he just

dismissed it

and said

whatever

he treated it

like a thumbs up

like on Facebook

with the added context

that no one uses

Facebook anymore

that's what he

treated it like

he decided

I don't want

this unconditional

covenantal love

and promise

fulfilled by God

and I'm going to

choose this

thumbs up

on a website

that no one uses

anymore

that's why

it was unholy

that's

he chose

the other

he chose

to pass over

was what he was saying

and actually

it's interesting

he says

sorry

in Hebrews 12 17

for you know

that afterward

when he desired

to inherit the blessing

he was rejected

for he found

no chance to repent

though he sought it

with tears

because there comes

a moment

where it's too late

now scholars

are here

very clear

here saying

what he's doing

he's not saying

actually later

we'll find in Genesis

he gets very angry

that he's lost

his birthright

because suddenly

that bowl of soup

wasn't worth it

right

and we've all

had that before

where we've given

into some kind

of temptation

some kind

of desire

made a choice

and chose

to pass over God

and then later

we're like

oh my goodness

now I'm feeling

the pain

but what it's saying

here isn't

that he was repenting

what he was sad

about

and what we know

that he was sad

about

wasn't the fact

that he lost

his birthright

or rather

it wasn't the fact

that actually

he lost God

it was simply

the fact

that he lost

the riches

that came

with the birthright

the blessings

so he wasn't

actually upset

that he was

distanced from God

he was just

simply upset

that he didn't

get the material

things

that he was

supposed to have

this tells me

something else

Isaac

and Rebecca

were part of the covenant

they had two boys

twins

Esau and Jacob

this was a covenant

family

what does this tell me

it's very possible

for you to live

and grow up

in a covenant family

and still lose

your inheritance

I don't know

whether that sends

chills down the spine

of someone who

has grown up

in church

who thinks

well as long

as I go to church

because my parents

went to church

because my grandparents

went to church

I'm going to be okay

I'm going to get to heaven

well

Esau was part

of the covenant

family that God

was going to use

to save mankind

and yet he still

lost it

what that does

I hope it doesn't

fill you with fear

but I hope that

fills you with humility

that oh gosh

salvation belongs

to God

I'm only here

I'm only here

because of him

and so let me not

pass over him

let me choose him

because otherwise

I choose all those

other things

it does

when it comes to God

it amounts to hate

because God says

I don't want to just

be your first priority

I want you to be

your only priority

I don't just want

to be your number one

on the top of your list

and then have all

your other things

I want to be

your only one

I want to be

your list

and if you don't

choose me

essentially

you are

passing over

me

because the earthly

things will pass away

they are so small

the joys that we

think we have

are so small

as C.S. Lewis

in that book

Way of Glory continues

it's like us

playing with mud

depriving ourselves

of the true joy

that we're going to get

that is the problem

of idolatry

Jesus later

says in Luke 14

hey if you don't hate

if you don't despise

your father, mother,

brother and sister

you can't follow me

and those are strong

words but now we know

that that was a Hebrew

idiom not necessarily

for actual negative

sentiment

it was simply

if you pass over me

if you choose others

if you choose other

things before me

then it's not going to

work

the only way it works

is for people who

not only believe in me

but then choose to

follow me

one final passage

and this is where

we'll finish

is Romans chapter 9

Romans 9 · chapter mention

because poor guy

gets another mention

Hebrews 11

is pretty famous

and he gets mentioned

in Hebrews 12

poor guy

Romans 8

is probably the most

famous

and Romans 9

he gets another mention

so Romans 8

this is the most

highlighted chapter

of my Bible

by the way

just to show you

just to have a look

so if you're like

oh what should I read

today

go to Romans 8

and if it's a little bit

like kind of confusing

to understand

use the NLT

use the message

use whatever it is

start there

and this

this is it

okay

but then

after this

because this is the big part

and actually a lot of our

worship songs come from

this passage

if God is for us

who can be against us

nothing can separate

from the love of Christ

for God works for the good

of those who love him

I am a new creation

there is now no condemnation

for those in Christ Jesus

Romans 8 has everything

and Esau

my man Esau

shows up in Romans 9

Romans 9:10

verse 10

and not only so

so actually

just a bit of context here

Paul's writing

to the Jews

who are saying

well

just because you're a Jew

doesn't mean you actually

get into the kingdom of heaven

you can actually be a Jew

and still miss out

you can grow up

in a covenant family

but still miss out

because it ultimately

still comes down to

what are you choosing

and so he carries on

and this is where

he gives the example

and not only so

but also when Rebecca

had conceived children

by one man

our forefather Isaac

verse 11

though they were not yet born

and had done nothing

either good or bad

in order that God's purpose

of election

might continue

not because of works

but because of him

who calls

she was told

the older will serve

the younger

as it is written

Jacob I loved

but Esau

I hated

he was quoting Malachi

which is where we

just read

and you're like

oh that's really

unfair

that's really unfair

that's really sad

that this guy

in that one moment

of anger

and hunger

gives his birthright

and now it's forever

recorded

that he is unholy

sexually immoral

and hated

by God himself

but what it means

is that he was

passed over by God

that he wasn't

chosen by God

because he didn't

choose God

himself

a lot of people

look at the Jacob

Benesau story

and go

that's harsh

that's a little bit

unfair

but that's where

the gospel comes in

that's where we need

to understand

what the gospel is

in some ways

Paul here

is being

a pastor

in that time

as a scholar

of that time

and he's doing

an exposition

of Genesis chapter 25

Genesis 25 · chapter mention

and he's trying

to explain to people

what that whole

interaction meant

yes it looked like

it was just about

a bowl of soup

but it was about

so much more

about that

and what it really

was about

was this concept

called

unconditional election

what it's really

about is this topic

called predestination

what it's really

about is this

idea

this concept

called radical

grace

if you're here

sat going

that's unfair

we all have

different children

they all make

different mistakes

why does he

one gets recorded

as loved

and the other

gets recorded

as hated

that just doesn't

seem fair

for Esau

but here's

the thing

when we're talking

about radical grace

verse 11

though they were

not yet born

and had done

nothing

either good

or bad

it tells you

salvation

isn't based

on what we do

and this gets

a little bit

uncomfortable

and churches

don't often

like to spend

too much time

on this

but there's

this concept

that actually

the very fact

that we are saved

is not by

our own doing

the very fact

that we are saved

is not by

our own

doing

it is

God

who saves

it is

God

who chooses

it is

God

who is

sovereignly

for us

this wasn't

about a bowl

of soup

St. Augustine

said this

that actually

if both

Esau and Jacob

got what they

deserved

neither would

have the blessing

both

would be

cast out

Charles Spurgeon

says the mystery

isn't really

why

Esau

got left

out

the mystery

is why

Jacob

got chosen

that's the

mystery

because you'll

see that

Jacob

doesn't really

have that much

good about him

and yet he

still gets

chosen

why

because God

is sovereignly

for us

and he has

chosen

his way

to save

mankind

and it's

through people

who are

imperfect

and you carry

on in

Romans 9

what shall we

say then

is there

injustice

on God's

part

by no

means

for he

says to

Moses

I will

have

mercy

on whom

I have

mercy

I will

have

compassion

on whom

I have

compassion

this speaks

directly against

this culture

of meritocracy

where you're

saying I

will get to

heaven

because of

what I do

because of

how good

I can be

because of

how much

the Bible

I read

or how many

sailors I can

show up to

how much

serving I do

in church

this goes

completely

against that

the gospel

is saying

that actually

none of us

deserve it

none of us

deserve it

not even one

Romans 3

says we all

fall short