Genesis 27:1-46, The Hustled Patriarch

but like I said let's go straight into the Bible say sound good let's pray Lord we just want to hear from you tonight I ask that you would speak through me I have said you would meet the needs of every person here those who are coming encouraged those who are coming depleted you know the spirits of some people here and that just emotional state is so out of whack and Lord I think you that you're a God that knows our ins and outs that we don't have to be fake we can be sincere and honest with you and I pray in this moment you would meet the needs of every person hearing my voice that your word would do what it does best penetrate hearts we love you we ask this in Jesus name and all God's people said amen we're gonna go straight into Genesis chapter 27 verse 1 and 2 let's begin it says it came to pass when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim he couldn't see that he called Esau his older son and he said to him my son and he answered him Here I am and he said behold now I am old I just I just want to point out really quick that I like how Isaac calls Esau into the room just to announce I'm old anything else dad debt dad you're already asleep that's all right that's all right he said Behold on now I am old I do not know the day of my death verse 3 and 4 look what it says he says now therefore please take your weapons your quiver in your bow and go out into the field hunt and hunt game for me make me a savory food such as I love and bring it to me that I may eat that my soul may bless you before I die there are moments that I've heard almost everyone say whether you want you deny it or not but there are moments when our body as some of you put it doesn't function correctly or it doesn't function the way that it used to and because of this you make statements after whatever it might be with I'm getting so old you've said it we've all said it the body changing makes us look at life differently and Isaac's case here in the text he believed that his death was imminent I do need to point something out though that yes his his age was increasing his age is evident in that his eyesight was weakening the text says his eyes were so dim that he couldn't see but it needs to be noted that like some of you when you make these Isaac moments where like I'm getting all that might die here pretty soon the reality is you don't know the time when that's gonna happen you genuinely don't know and in an Isaac's case he's old and listen carefully he is actually not near death Martin Luther actually was able to calculate an idea of what he believed Isaac's age to be here in Genesis 27 which was approximately 137 years old he is going to live in additional 43 years after he makes this statement and so for this guy Isaac the great patriarch to look and his eyes are good and I have to let you know I just got an eye exam and my eyes get worse every single year in half consistently the last six years I unlike Isaac had been denial and I'm probably gonna be in my 60s still wearing tight jeans with holes in it dad says and I quote it's just a cry for help it's possible but I'm not there yet in Isaac's case you call it what you will a hypochondriac a guy that's just complaining whatever it might be he's looking at life like I think I'm gonna die soon Esau my favorite son we learned that last week remember make me something savory go you're a man's man go into the field go kill something make me savory foods such as I love but the reality is it wasn't so much the taste of delicious savory steak that attracted him but rather he prided himself he prized his son Esau as that mighty hunter that's why he tells them to get that savory food for this purpose because my soul may bless you before I died in the text we're really gonna see Isaac's persistence his insistent need on giving his son Esau this blessing but it wasn't intended for Esau it never was intended for Esau and and this isn't something that Isaac is naive to remember we learned in the previous chapter that God appeared before Rebekah and then in remember she said you know there might what's wrong in this time of pregnancy and then like God appears and says there's two nations in your womb and then God specifically tells her not only are there two nations represented in your womb the older one is actually gonna serve the younger and so in Rebecca's mind she reveals us to Isaac and was like God just told me this but traditionally and culturally back then that was not something that was practice it was the firstborn that was going to receive the blessing that was going to receive the birthright that was going to receive the the inheritance and in Isaac's mind he was determined no it's gonna be passed on to Esau not Jacob despite what the Lord had revealed to my wife and and despite the character of both of these boys I think there's something to be said that especially when we're reading about Isaac here that the fact that Isaac is trying to dispense the the blessing secretly showed that he knew what he was doing was wrong he knew what this which son was to receive the blessing and I need to tell you guys something that the implications of that type of behavior in your own life when you know you're pursuing something that you shouldn't and you pursue it anyways and not so much in this light because you know cuz Paul the Apostle is gonna announce I'm the chief of sinners Paul the Apostle is gonna recognize the reality of this waging spiritual warfare that we go through but I needed to let you know that that kind of behavior that you allow to sneak into your life ends terribly it's like the trickle-down effect the trickle-down effect can work in good ways and that you could affect those around you and then when you affect that single person that you don't think is being blessed it's gonna bless the next person the next person and so forth and it's this it's the same way when it comes to sin it affects everyone we come into contact with and it especially affects when it comes to our bad behavior our family and sadly in Isaac's house every single member to entrust each other there was a dysfunction to the household of Isaac that every single one of them Esau Isaac Jacob Rebekah there was a trust issue across the board and maybe some of you have had families like that and you can relate with him right now you know take a look with me it seems that Rebekah was eavesdropping sorry accidentally listening to this father-son conversation look what it says in verses five through 10 Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son and Esau went into the field to hunt game and to bring it so Rebecca spoke to Jacob her son saying indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother's saying bring me game and make savory food for me that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death now therefore my son obey my voice according to what I command you verse 9 to 10 go now to the flock and bring me there to choice kids of the goats and I will make savory food from them for your father such as he loves then you shall take it to your father that he may eat it and he may bless you before his death now this is straight-up prima Tetons premeditated scheming taking place from Rebekah not only was she accidentally hearing what was taking place I think she was sensing something she's intently listening the woman is a pro and the moment she saw that her old son Esai went into the field she knew she had a pounce that this is the time I had to tell Jacob because remember we learned in the previous chapters she loved Jacob remember we talked about in the previous chapters with her parents when in a minute or not you have favorites you have favourites yes you do and in Rebecca's case Jacob was her favorite so this is the moment for her she's calculated this master plan but the first mistake but the first mistake that she makes she is that she announces basically to Jacob now therefore my son obey my voice according to what I command you the mistake of that declaration is that she already forgot that God made the promise to her she's manipulating it she's trying to work it out scheme in a way that gets her way because in her I mean in this moment she's already forgotten that God revealed it to her the olders gonna serve the younger the two nations represented in your belly Jacob is the guy this is something we've unfortunately all attempted like it's so interesting as we go through the genesis series there's so many things that we can relate with and in this case this is definitely true because have you ever done something where you know in your heart of hearts the Lord is making a promise to you you know he's speaking to you and in that moment you thought but how am I gonna make this work I know God revealed it to me I know goddess we came to me but how am I gonna make this work and the answer to this wonderful this wonderful riddle is you are not supposed to be the one to make it work and that's the cool thing that if God said he's going to do it he's gonna do it with or without you I don't know about you guys but that is overwhelmingly comforting to my heart because there is this attitude in the Christian realm that I need to do more things to please God or I need to do more things to figure out the will of God apart from the Word of God and then we find ourselves in frustrated moments especially when we try to manipulate it Charles Spurgeon once said good men have gone very wrong when they have thought of aiding in the fulfillment of promises and prophecies see how Rebecca erred in trying to get the promised blessing for Jacob we had better leave the Lord's decrees in the Lord's hands and I love that because it's true there is nothing more satisfying than to step back and just watch the Lord do everything guys there's nothing more and you're talking to the most impatient person alive there's literally nothing more satisfying than to just step back and be like our Lord I believe that I trust that you're gonna do a work because the result is it had nothing to do with me and had everything to do with the Lord and he gets all of the credit but with Rebecca here in Genesis 27 it wasn't the case she's continuing in her master plan she knew how her has been operated that's why she said listen son I'm gonna make a savory food from from them for you and your father because he loves it there ladies you have it's it's unfortunate I'm just gonna say it it's wrong how you know the way to a man's heart sometimes his food let me put it this way when my wife Carolyn makes green chili I mean she literally could ask for anything and she would get it like she could be like how is that green chili back hoe my gosh it's so good and she's like that's great I need you to help me hide a body and I'm like whatever yeah that's great I won't even question it and in Rebecca's case she knew her husband well enough to know that hey he's not going to tell the difference between what I'm about to cook versus what his prized son Esau is about to go into the field and cook and bring for him to eat and her scheming is only gonna make this situation more difficult because we're gonna find out at the end of this chapter two terrible things happen number one her son Jacob his life is gonna be threatened by her son Esau but not only that we're gonna find out this scheming not leads to more difficulty she's never gonna see Jacob ever again I must don't realize that by the end of this chapter that her way of manipulating the situation produces that and in fact before we go into verse 11 I just I needed a note that as well the hard lesson of Genesis chapter 27 is this that I believe there are men and women here who are genuinely in love with Jesus and you genuinely want to do any and everything in your power to know what the next step is in your life to serve Jesus but you like all of us realize that there are times where you try to manipulate it in order to make it happen faster and then in your attempt to make it work you find out that you're more frustrated than you were at the beginning but you know in your heart the Lord's made a promise to you and then as a result and here's that here's what I hope you learned from Genesis 27 that God's promises haven't changed it's just you're missing out just like Moses here's a perfect example here's the man who's gonna deliver the children of Israel and then in his mind he sees and abused one of his people being taken advantage by by an Egyptian and he kills the Egyptian and in his mind maybe that was the right thing but we're gonna find out that now no one trusts Moses and he books it and now he wanders for decades and in my opinion becomes wasted years because God's still gonna use the man to fulfill that promise to deliver God's people out of Egypt and I believe there are those in here who have that same Proclamation on your life that God's said I have great and mighty things that you don't even know of and it by attempting to manipulate those plans you're prolonging what God wants to do and the hope is this that you don't have to have wasted years because we have a good gracious God who through his we're it reveals when we were messed would we mess up and he's gonna do it here in Genesis 27 was continued Jacob said to Rebecca his mother verse 11 and 12 look II saw my brother is a Harry D man I on the other head the most smooth skinned man so good-looking well-groomed it doesn't say that verse 12 perhaps bruh my father will fill me and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him and then I'll bring a curse on myself and not a blessing verses 13 and 14 but his mother said to him let your curse be on me my son only obey my voice and go and get them for me so he went and he got them and he brought them to his mother and his mother made savory foods such as his father loved I'm laughing because I I feel like Esau is an e in the Michael Jackson song smooth criminal' I just had to do it except the lyrics would be more along the lines of like Esau you okay you okay you okay ISA you've been hit by a smooth criminal named Isaac that's what's happening in here he has this moment where Isaac is going blind Rebekah is taking advantage of her husband she's using her smooth-skinned Jacob to accomplish this and even Jacob he recognizes it listen my brother's a hairy man but I'm a smooth two skinned man and Isaac he's more and you read that and it's troubling it's troubling because Isaac is more concerned that the plan is not gonna work on the basis of appearance not the fact that they're lying and manipulating God's plans his father and they're gonna be consequences as a result and it's so true even in even today as we're listening to my voice that a lot of people are more concerned about what they seem to be appearance-wise what people think rather than what God made you to be we are so obsessed with what are people gonna think about me what are people gonna think when I makes this decision what are they saying about me and this is the most impersonal part of my pastoral characteristic I just don't care what people think because at the end of the day I know God has called me to a ministry and God has called me to allow the mark of my ministry to be by humility and that's not to say that I'm not going to face people that do not like me I'm gonna love you if you just for whatever reason dislike me some of you are like why are you talking about this because people have literally come up to me and have set the most hard terrible things to my face I don't even know this person and it's almost like this the Lord whispering like this comes with the turf in ministry but it actually comes with the turf of being a Christian I'm still called to respond in love and I'm still called to represent what God has made me to be but at the end of the day I just don't care what people think because I want to please my lord I'm more concerned about what he thinks about my character and who I am than anything else and really what this comes down to because the what truly does matter is the heart not the appearance and again what really when it comes down to is the difference between your reputation and your character your reputation is what people think you are your reputation is what people think you are based on what other people think but your character is who you are when no one is looking someone once said it's compared to this it's like looking to a bushel of apples right reputation is the top layer of apples in the market but the ones they put under or excuse me the ones they put on up they're the ones that they want to sell those are the ones that look the best and then as you uncover those apples and you look underneath and you're like this is a terrible batch of apples I'm about to buy and and that's the reputation it's what people see when they look at you but characters what's underneath deal moody and most of you might know this quote he put it this way he said character is what you are in the dark it's what you are when no one else is looking but in this case Isaac he just he was so worried that the lie that they were conjuring right here is gonna produce a curse on himself and a lack of blessing he wants that blessing remember he he tricked his brother into the birthright and now he wants that blessing not the curse and his mother left this about his mother because she's just basically like I'll take the curse what right like hey I'll catch a grenade for you I'll put my hand on a blade for you don't jump in front of a train for you I'll receive the curse it's just I mean just even thinking about that it's like yeah if if he is gonna curse you just kind of move out of the way and it's gonna hit me and then you were good he goes along with it and look what happens verse 15 through 17 so then Rebecca took the choice clothes of her elder son Esau which were with her in the house put that on Jacob her younger son and she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck then she gave the savoury food and the bread which she had prepared into the hand of her son Jacob I just want you guys from I mean I hope this is hilarious too because by the way do you realize what her son's Ages at this point he's in his 70s this isn't like your Sunday School lesson where you see young Esau and Jacob in their 20s and like you know he they're like these plush wonderful looking guys perfect and this is a 70 plus year old man going along with his mother with like okay here are the goats we just destroyed put it on your your neck and put it we're gonna put it on your hand and now you're gonna take it to your father and I'm just looking at Jacob who's like okay I'm a 70 year old man who's not gonna question any of this and again the whole picture is hilarious to me because she knew the only way that this is going to work was that the other two senses would be magnified he can't see he can feel he can taste him he can smell those are the senses she knows that they got to work with now follow me here's Rebecca's logic we need Esau's Bo to be on you Jacob we need the outdoorsy part of Esau on you Jacob we need that kind of body odor to be replicated on you Jacob and so here's smooth skin baby face Jacob like going along with it because it's like well that's the dead giveaway so she somehow again engineered a way to attach it to his skin so that she can trick her husband and look what happens verses 18 through 20 so he went to his father and he said my father and he said Here I am who are you my son Jacob his father Jacob said to his father verse 99 he saw your firstborn I've done just as he told me please arise sit and eat of my game that your soul may bless me verse 20 but Isaac said to assent how is it that you've tended so quickly my son and he said why because because because the Lord your God brought it to me and I'm sure Rebekah taught him that one and again I got just gotta say it guys there is a danger to use God's name to further your agenda and again just it's just not worth it and Isaac can't see but he's smelling something as odd in this picture verse 21 so Isaac said to Jacob come here that I may feel you my son whether you really are my son Esau or not there's this repeated questioning taking place because you know Isaac in in his observation is quick to respond with this just doesn't sound feel right at all I got a confirm if this is a lie and Jacob he took advantage of his father of his good nature cuz here's the sad reality Isaac is probably thinking like this can't be wait this can't be Jacob because Jacob wouldn't lie to me like this but this is just weird this is so odd CS Lewis once said a little lie is like pregnancy you might not not notice it at first but as the months go on it's apparent that there's a pregnancy it's true though you put lie upon lie upon lie upon lie it seems innocent and insignificant and and but it begins to take effect with women of course there's a protruding effect that takes place and with lies it's the same way it was becoming more and more apparent that something was not right here and that's why Isaac asks this question verses 22 and 23 back in Genesis 27 so Jacob went near to Isaac his father he's probably sweating he's probably beat breathing heavily he felt I mean he said hmm 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 stance so we blessed him I just you know if Robin Williams didn't pass away again this he would be Esau he would play the character of Esau he blesses him look at verses 24 through 26 and then he said and notice how he asks the question even after he blesses him are you really my son Esau he said I am verse 25 will bring it near to me and I will eat of my son's game so that my soul may bless you so he brought it near to him he ate he brought him wine and he drank then his father Isaac said to him come near now and kiss me my son the reason why he's saying that because he still doesn't believe it he felt him he tastes the food but he's got a smell he's got a heavy sauce odor now I have to tell you guys something I used to work with a guy that permeated the smell of coffee now I have to death I love coffee I drink it every single day but this guy had it to a degree I can't even begin to describe have you ever met someone that aid a clove of garlic and it literally so like went through the pores of their skin like they ate it four hours ago and their breath is wonderful but the garlic smells literally resonating off of the pores or their skin oh okay and you're kind it's not a pleasant smell imagine that with coffee the most wonderful liquid savory think God has made coming through the pores of a guy you work with and I remember one day I asked him I was like did you just drink coffee and he's like no or why and it was in the moment I realized he drinks so much coffee that it became a of his genetic coding and biological DNA and then I was sad in my heart because I was like I love coffee by the way there's no scientific data to prove that point I just I just couldn't wrap my mind around it because he wreaked of coffee and I could just imagine that's what Isaac's doing here he knows his sons Bo smell which is a sad sad thing and he's basically like all right Esau come over here so I can give you what kiss but really I just want to smell to see if it's you look what happens verse 27 he came near he kissed him and he smelled the smell of his clothing and He blessed him and he said surely the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed again it's fine for you know Isaac to kiss and smell his loved ones but you know as I leaned in to kiss my wife and smell her she's like that's creepy and like why no maybe she doesn't but here's what's happening he in the moment is tricked from from all the three senses that could be tricked and not only does he in the moment say yes this is my son he smells like the the fields of where he you know because Esau he's the man of field he's a man's man that the Huntsman kills and brings me what I need I'm gonna bless him I was coming across an article online and maybe some of you have seen these restaurants where they will do one of two things where they will put you in a restaurant and make it completely pitch dark and they'll give servers these infrared goggles so that they can see you but you can't see the food you're eating and then I just saw in New York that this new thing to avoid I don't I don't know why they're doing this weight but they blindfold the customers outside of the restaurant and they all shimmy in and they sit them down in the of these and maybe you've seen the footage of this but the point of it is that your senses heighten when you cover up another one or if you if you clothe the other one and in this case your sight now my assistant pastor who I worked with in Charleston when Carolyn and my church plants he was blind and he would say the same thing he would say food because he grew it and this is a crazy thing he lost his sight in his 20s so he grew up knowing scene understanding all that and then he lost his sight and he said and I remember instantly food changed and everything he heard changed like that and in Isaac's case you would think this overly stimulated ability to smell now and feel and taste would have been able to see the difference but he couldn't he couldn't tell the difference between a sauce food and his own wife's food here so look what happens verse 28 and 29 and therefore may God give you of the dew of heaven of the fatness of the earth now he's giving the blessing he's pouring out the blessing the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine let people serve you and nations bow down to be master over your brethren and let your mother's sons bow down to you cursed be everyone who curses you and blessed be those who bless you now Isaac in this point he's reciting the very thing that was recited to his father Abraham by God so God tells Abraham than Abraham tells Isaac and in Isaac in this moment is thinking I'm tricky you know I I am master of my own life I know God wants me to give it to Jacob but I'm doing it to Isaac and he thought he were excuse me to Esau isaac thought he was pouring the blessing out upon his first born and again this was a this was because it was a cultural practice the eldest son is the one who is going to be in charge of everything once the father passes away and again it was intended only for the firstborn son it meant that the birthright the inheritance the Lessing all came along with it not only that but the oldest son would get a double portion of all the goods that are left over but it also meant that the oldest son is the successor he takes care of all the affairs now all the issues that take place in the house so you need to understand this cultural mindset this is how it's always been done and that's why I can't make any kind of change and yet God said I am gonna reverse it I'm gonna reverse it because the older is gonna serve the younger Isaac in this moment has been verbally declared Isaac has declared verbally the blessing to his son Jacob which in that time constitutes something it's legal it's binding it's done it's done so what is he so gonna do what is the man who despised his birthright as we learned in the weeks you know weeks ago finds out that the birthright he gave to his brother for a cheap dish of stew is now also going to receive the blessing that was due to him look at verses 30 through 33 so it happened as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of his father Isaac that he saw his brother came in from his hunting he also made savory food brought it to his father because he was told to and he said to his father let my father arise and eat of his son's game that your soul may bless me he's probably smiley and he's probably like here it comes and his father Isaac said to him who are you so he said I'm your son your firstborn Esau and then Isaac trembled exceedingly and he said who where's the one who hunted game and brought it to me I ate all of it before you came and I blessed him in and indeed he shall be blessed in that moment so out there for a second it dawned on him it's the aha moment oh I blessed the wrong boy Isaac the patriarch was hustled and he knew it in that moment actually he blessed the right because it was God's purpose he just didn't like that also did you notice guys the moment he realized he was hustled he trembled exceedingly do you know why he trembled exceedingly because he was so overtaken with conviction that in that moment he knew exactly what happened he was convicted because again he knew the promise was meant for Jacob it was never meant for Isaac and he realized it in the moment that he's caught he says no authority oh god bless I tried to make it work so badly to make him be the one that was blessed and in Isaac's mind he's he's trying to pull a fast one with God as if God's gonna be fooled like I didn't see that coming cuz God can't be fooled and that's guys that's why he was convicted and I've said this before but me say it again conviction doesn't exist to just make you feel bad conviction praise God by the Holy Spirit exists so that we can recognize the issue that is before us in order to produce a change of heart and mind so that we can say thank you God or thank you that you just reveal this to me God thank you that your spirit still resides in me that your word speaks to me that the Saints are used by you to minister to me he was convicted guys and that's why I find it fascinating what the New Testament has to say about Isaac they the New Testament says speaks kindly of Isaac in fact hebrews chapter 11 the hall of faith the men and women represented it says in Hebrews 11 by faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau really can I just we just read Genesis chapter 27 together I would say it was by trickery he blessed him I would say it was by hustle and manipulation he blessed his son but it doesn't say it was by trickery it doesn't say was by NIP ulation he wasn't hustled according to Hebrews 11 it says it was by faith and I believe it was in the moment that Isaac knew that he blessed the other son that he and was intended to bless in the first place that he was beat by his own game I think he was right there that faith was birthed why do you think we pray for people that are rebelling against God for brokenness have you ever wondered that we pray for brokenness for people that are deliberately running from God or doing something that they shouldn't because generally speaking brokenness ought to produce humility and in your humility you recognize you serve a good God who not only was patient with you but in that moment of brokenness faith is produced because in that moment you realized you're not getting what you deserve that God in His love and his patience towards who says I am so relentlessly in love with you chasing after you and then when you recognize God's love for you in that moment that's why God gives grace to the humble guys you think God for brokenness because it wasn't without that brokenness you wouldn't have been on your knees and recognizing that God I needed this and I think guys I think Isaac realized that God is going to do what he promised and he was gonna do it even though Isaac himself was trying to prevent it I think in that moment that's why faith was birthed and he realized you know what God is good god even in my attempt to thwart god it's playing he did it and that's why I believe Hebrews says by faith Isaac blessed Jacob not only that proverbs 19:21 gives us insight to this idea when we make our own plans proverbs 19:21 there are many plans in a man's heart nevertheless the Lord's counsel will stand yeah we know that man plans his own way the Lord directs his steps john Geraci makes plans they seem great and then God uses someone else with better ideas that are not just the way to move and pursue but it's like thank you God that use someone else because it's your plans it's your plans Lord so Isaac was troubled because he knew what he tried to do against God and that plan to bless Esau God in that moment bless Jacob got beat him but Isaac wasn't a sore loser he saw on the other hand doesn't share that same patience give verse 34 when he saw heard the words of his father he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry he said to his father bless me me also o my father I need you guys to understand the Hebraic writing in this gives such a strong implication to describe the depth of Esau pain of hearing this for the first time it can literally be translated before can the literally be translated to mean Esau gave a shriek of heaviness and with force because he it all came crashing down on him he realized it and then you've got this man of the field crying like a baby I want the blessing it's supposed to be for me look how the broken father responds in verse 35 through 36 the boy he loves does he reverse it he said your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing and Esau said it's not rightly named Jacob is he not rightly named Jacob for he has supplanted me these two times he took away my birthright and now look he's taken away my blessing and he said have you not reserved a blessing for me okay just for purposes of discussion is Esau right here is he correct is he right about Jacob well yes but no he was right that his brother was deceitful a cheat a manipulator a deceiver but it it was not like Jacob stole Esau's birth ethos the one who made the deal we learned in a couple weeks ago that he despised his birthright hey right hey you saw you you starving I'll give you some stew to give me your birthright and he sounds like what's good as a birthright right now I need food so you're reading this and you're thinking like Esau he's like more upset with his brother Jacob because he tricked him but he agreed to it it wasn't a trick and here's the bottom line he so never ever cared about spiritual things ever and what I mean by that cuz Paul the Apostle will talk about in Corinthians that the natural man can't discern the things of the Spirit he says that the natural man doesn't understand the things of the Spirit because they're spiritually discerned now here's the implication behind that and I hope it encourages you okay we get so easily frustrated with people who are unbelievers that they don't understand the Bible that they don't understand why we serve Jesus they don't understand why we do what we do and then almost in a frustrated man or we get mad at that why don't you get it right and maybe that's for your family that it's just is living in a rebellious state you just get mad at them but Paul the Apostle says listen the natural man can't discern the things of the Spirit that means the spirit when it says the sirness things of the Spirit it means the Spirit of God resides in you because you've recognized that Jesus is your Savior that you're marked by the Spirit you've asked for forgiveness you recognize he died on the cross rose again you're a new creation now you have the spirit inside of you now you can understand the word you're not a theologian overnight but that's what he means but the natural man can't understand it so Christians be a little more patient be a little more patient with those who work with instead of getting mad at him pray for him pray that they would come to know Jesus so that they would in fact partake in this beautiful inheritance that we have in Christ which is found through the spirit and Jacob Jacob he he appreciated spiritual things he went the wrong way about obtaining it look what it says in verse 37 through 38 then Isaac answered and said to Esau and TD I have made him your master all his brother and I have given to him as servants with grain and wine I've sustained him what shall I do now for you my son can you imagine being Esau hearing that I think culturally why he's so annoyed by that because in his mind everyone else that doesn't happen for anyone else and now you're telling me my younger brother his twin brother what a younger brother he's my master knew I serve him know it needs to be the other way around and so verse 38 he saw said to his father have you only one blessing my father bless me me also my father and Esau lifted up his voice he wept the man's man crying like a baby he's frustrated he's frustrated because of his selfishness though guys it it wasn't tears of regret it wasn't tears of you know because he recognized his fault it was for his own sin guys he despised his birthright now listen to this Hebrews 12 uses this occasion of Esau as a warning for us listening today Hebrews 12 15 through 17 it says looking carefully unless anyone falls short of the grace of God lest any root of bitterness springing up causes trouble and by this many become defiled lest they be any fornicator or profane person like Esau who for one morsel of food sold his birthright for you know that afterward when he wanted to inherit the blessing he was rejected for he found no place for repentance though he sought it diligently with tears isn't that interesting and here's here's the lesson a lot of Christians today a lot of Christians today sell a birthright of intimacy with God for something cheap for something momentary for something insignificant just like he saw her hebrews just declared with repent with tears with tears he was trying to find a place for repentance but it was rejected because it wasn't sincere it wasn't a true repented heart he didn't care about his birthright he's sold it he's never cared ever and when he saw later sought the blessing yeah he was rejected his father Isaac found no place of repentance and no Esau his birthright can't it will be restored even though he wanted it back even though he wished it back into it fully of that were easy it can never ever be regained because in that culture the moment you say it it's done I can't reverse what I just said Esau okay it's done verse 39 to 40 than Isaac his father answered and he said to him behold your dwelling place she'll be of the fatness of the earth because he's asking in what blessing are you gonna give me it's gonna be the fatness of the earth of the dew of heaven from above by your sword hew shall live meaning you're gonna have to fight for everything you get and you shall serve your brother and it shall come to pass when you become Restless that you shall break his yoke from your neck now just quick historical background the children of Israel the Jews are gonna come from the line of Jacob Esau are gonna come the descendants known as the the are going to settle east they're gonna go south west toward the Dead Sea southeast excuse me toward the Dead Sea which again is modern-day Jordan and the history is gonna show biblical history is going to show this constant conflict between these two people and again as I was prepping for this I was thinking about Israel March 2020 that this year or next year we're able to visit Jordan we're gonna be able to see some of these sites from a distance we're gonna be able to let it just resonate within our our souls and if there's anything that I can encourage your life I wish I can go to Israel guys start saving now because I promise you it's worth every honey verses 41 through 42 so he saw hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him and he saw said in his heart the days of mourning for my father at at hand then I will kill my brother Jacob and the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah so he said he called Jacob her younger son had said to him surely your brother he saw comforts himself concerning you okayhow by intending to kill you now stop there for a second he saws guys the wording is imperative he's not just upset with him he hated his brother and he mainly hated him for pride in Envy pride because now his brother is gonna be preferred before him with this covenant his father just bestowed upon him but he's envying his brother because now he's gonna get the greater prosperity and that's why I think he saw could say without flinching I'm going to kill my brother Jacob he plans it he but remember in his mind he's talking to his dad and he's like dad's saying he's gonna die soon so when dad dies I'm gonna kill my brother but his dad's not gonna die for another 37 years and what's so maniacal about this is it literally brought comfort to Esau to resonate in his heart his sociopathic mind but it'll all be better when I can murder my brother and again this is where it gets crazy because now his eavesdropping mother overheard this conversation and she goes to her favorite son Jacob and she's like by the way your brother Esau is planning to murder you because you took the blessing remember we conjured this together not only that he's literally smiling right now as he's planning how to kill you Jacob like what should I do this was your idea mom and she's like it's not my problem I didn't I didn't think I was gonna get this far she doesn't say that she has the solution last verses 43 through 46 now therefore my son obey my voice arise flee to my brother Laban in Iran and stay with him a few days until your they're brothers fury turns away until your brother's anger turns away from you and he forgets what you have done to him I don't think he's gonna forget and I will send and bring you from there why should I braved all so of you both in one day and Rebekah said to Isaac I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heath if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heath let like these who are the daughters of this land what good will my life be to me I again more scheming from Rebekah here now she's trying to trick her husband even more but I need you to know when it says the few days that Jacob has planning to stay with Laban and Rebecca's family in her on 20 years he's gonna stay there for 20 years not a few days how many of you have done that where you're like I just came to Colorado to visit like and I've been here for 20 plus years in some cases that's normal and that's fine but guys the lesson again from this story is what would have happened if they didn't try to manipulate what God already knew was gonna happen maybe there had been a restored relationship with Esau maybe there wouldn't be such a dramatic conflict between these two group groups of people I think the lesson for us today is this that God in His sovereignty knows the outcome we all can conclude that and in our way to attempt to manipulate God's sovereignty leads to heartache and frustration because even though God saw he can't change his character can't change his righteousness demands that sends dealt with it his love for us can't change what can change is the outcome and the blessed the blessing right now the spiritual inheritance we've been talking about for the last couple weeks he missed out on 20 years guys he's never gonna see his mom again she said like listen when his anger dies down when his fury for you is gone I'll come for you but she's gonna die she's not she is never gonna see her son again and in this moment she's hailing in this diplomatic victory we did it my tent dwelling smooth-skinned golden boy received the blessing but at a cost it's kind of a interesting story because everyone loses in the end these main characters Isaac Rebecca Lisa Jacob they all had a trust issue with each other they all schemed and tried to in their own wisdom and energy move forward rejecting God's Word and wisdom and I'm gonna end on this and we're gonna have the worship team come up but here's the simple truth the harder you and I fight against God and the will that he has for you the harder it is to get up when we fall in her face but here's the beauty humility proceeds from brokenness you've got you've got to be broken before you realize your need for Christ and for some of you and praying and I'm just gonna say it I know it might you know in work working in leadership here at the church has me involved in people's lives and seeing the hurt and Families that just there's nothing I could do except pray for them and so oftentimes the best thing that I can do is pray for brokenness and pray that humility comes from that brokenness because through that faith is birthed and like Paul said that which you begun in the spirit even attempted to perfect in the flesh and may we not be people like that Genesis 27 next week the 28th chapter let's pray Lord we just thank you again that you're not only gracious loving and kind that even in our fickle inconsistent personality when we try to manipulate things we try to do things according to our own strength and will we fall hard I just I just pray right now for those hearing my voice that we'd be men and women that get back to that awestruck love for you that reverence toward your word again that that just excitement to do what you want to be men and women that are marked by the spirit residing in us that when the natural man as Paul puts it are looking at our life and they're asking what's different that we can point him to you that we wouldn't be men and women with our own agenda and that we would recognize for those in here that are just have been relentlessly going against your will that in this moment they can call out to you and you'll answer in this moment they can repent and you will forgive them that your righteousness demands that we that we deal with the issue of sin I know we're consumed by a culture that's obsessed with grace and love and disregard your righteousness and we want to be minimum women that recognize your righteousness our sin is separated us from you and perfect and holy God and we want to come to you saying it's it's a problem that we need your forgiveness Lord I just on the top of my head I want to pray for those represented in Congress those in higher power those you've given the titles and authority to help mark and implement law and they just plead on behalf of our nation that we'd get back to an awestruck reverence and a fear of God that we wouldn't look to men and women to appease what we think is right because as we learn from Isaac's story our senses fail a sword and we want to be men and women that look to your word and so I just pray that me as a nation can get back to the heart of worship I pray that you would raise men and women to be an influence and I pray even go before them that I pray you would bless them the way that you have blessed many people in here the way that you've blessed the family of Abraham bless us Lord as we are about to come to you in these last two songs of worship and thank you God that we can commune with you in this moment justice in Jesus name Amen let's worship

Channel: Calvary South Denver

Views: 3,026

Rating: 4.8333335 out of 5

Keywords: Calvary Chapel, Christianity, Bible Study, Jacob and Esau, The book of Genesis, Jon Geraci

Id: 0UV8-HGF32I

Length: 55min 49sec (3349 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 31 2019