"Overcoming the Esau Within" | Bill Cloud | Jacob's Tent

[Music] hi everybody this is bill cloud of surety ministries and jacobs tent fellowship wanted to take a moment and tell you about a very special event this December it's our Chanukah event the theme is shine your life the dates are December 26th through the 28th we'll start on Thursday night we'll go all day Friday and all day on Shabbat and we want to make sure that you have an opportunity to register for this event we have a limited number of seats in fact 100 or so have already been spoken for so if you're interested in hi everybody this is your Hanukkah 2009 TOCOM wanted to take a loan on a can mm I reached initially diagnosed December there you'll find some I'll show you that and you also see is we're dying you're registered the date take you to your 27th right page the post our event night and there you can purchase a party there is a nominal registration involved that simply read let us know that you're very limited number of seats and ourselves we already discipline number of seats so if you're annoying me everybody this one is my good friend Brad straw house while Brandon don't recall and one is a leading praise and worship so once again go to Hanukkah mm nice and bright come and register this our event there also access registration food built around Terry page that's simply December 26th and 28th we hope to see you there Bradshaw library and one it's a leading praise and worship so once again go to Hanukkah mm nice and bright common register oh sorry there are also access registration through the nominal Terry page that's simply December 26 Brandon or Alan whoever's back there go ahead and lower the music for us please if you don't mind and then I'm gonna ask my wife to come up here and join me here and let's see I see I see Chris I saw Adam and I don't see Jerry okay so Adam and Chris here in just a little bit I want you guys to come up and blow the shofar for us as we get started all right are you ready miss Beth won't come on up here and join me and let's everyone look go ahead and stand and we're going to just pray and ask the Father to to bless our meeting here today so come on in y'all our Father in Heaven God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob father we thank you for this day we thank you Father for your goodness to us we thank you that you have so bountifully blessed each and every one of us that we have more than enough I know that sometimes we look at our lives and we see the shortages and we see the things that we don't have but father we pray that you will help us today to look upon and to appreciate those things that we do have those things that you have blessed us with those things that you have bestowed upon us and more than anything else father we thank you for your compassion your grace and your mercy toward us we're it not for that none of us would be here today we're it not for that life wouldn't really be worth living and so we are thankful father for that mercy and compassion and grace and your forgiveness and your love to your people we assemble here today in the name of Yeshua our Messiah Redeemer and King too to acknowledge that you have sanctified this day you've set it apart from all the rest and you bless this day and we have come here to embrace the blessing that is inherent in this day we've come here to honor you to lift up your name to sanctify your great name to give you praise and glory and all the honor that you do we pray father that you will by your spirit help us and able us today to put aside all of the activities of this past week and all of the things that we anticipate in the next week and all of the cares and all of the trials and all of the challenges and yes even all of the victories we pray father that you will help us today to put all of those things aside that this day in our minds and our hearts and our spirit would be set apart as well so that we can focus solely upon you and we pray father that you will strengthen us and body that we may do that that you'll help us emotionally and mentally to be able to do that and everything that we do every prayer that we pray every song that we sing every note that is played everything that is said may it sanctify your name in this place may it glorify the son may it be pleasing in your sight and that when we have finished and we've gone our separate ways today that we will all know that you have been in our midst because if your spirit is not with us we do not want to go if your presence is not with us we do not want to go and we just invite you father to come into our midst today and have your way in this place in each and every one of us and all of these things we pray we submit them unto you and believing you to fulfill them because we pray in the name that is above all names the name of Yeshua our Messiah our king and Redeemer a man and aa man thank you you may be swell now I actually continued to stand Adam and Chris come on up here and while they're doing that getting ready we're going to pray the motto vu and then after we pray motto vu gentlemen I want you to sound the shofar and when they sound the shofar we're gonna put up a shout and we're going to glorify our King amen [Music] ha [Music] [Music] Oh No [Music] in English [Music] lightens [Music] again [Music] and in my great compassion I will come [Music] by holiness [Music] can you give me a d-minor there shabbat shalom shallow Shabbat Sabbath Abacha shabbat shalom [Music] shabbat shalom shabbat shalom shabbat Shabana schemata we need a bigger dancer shabbat shalom Shabbat Sabbath should budget by shabbat shalom shabbat but shy shopbot you shopbot your culture [Music] Shabbat but sure much about your butt shot [Music] shabbat shalom shun much [Music] shabbat shalom shabbat shalom Shasha much a much about shabbat shalom everybody up there we go shabbat shalom how y'all doing this morning do it everybody stuffed I am I'm sure we have more Turkey in makka chief today [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] sure-sure glory sure-sure power shush shush oh boy [Music] show us your glory show Josh [Music] [Music] we wanna see you [Music] I don't know how to lie every need to you [Music] you every job [Music] wanna be chatting [Music] you [Music] it's your [Music] we'll shout your praise these balls missing [Music] we'll shout shore [Music] these balls wills [Music] you are perfect in all of your ways you are perfect in all of you you are perfect to No [Music] the thousand story [Music] and the chains spoon [Music] good good [Music] [Music] yes [Music] [Music] I can [Music] I can [Music] good good [Music] it's so [Music] as you are [Music] you are yes you are you good you are you [Music] be the now the fountain I drink from Oh [Music] and let the king [Music] ransom for my life but you are [Music] you're never gonna learn you're never gonna let me down [Music] me down [Music] you're never [Music] you are good good [Music] Oh [Music] in spite of everything that goes wrong and people who disappoint and things don't go our away and we don't understand nevertheless he still is good Wow let's just pray and let's just ask him to seal that that truth in our heart today for today and and and every day that he is good pray with me father we we acknowledge we proclaim we we embrace the truth that you are good when you met Moses on the mountain and you declared the the name of the Lord and to him you testified of yourself you proclaimed of yourself that your merciful compassionate that you are good you're full of goodness and truth and we we thank you that we've been reminded this morning that that is your nature your life your love and you are good and we we pray that you will help us to hold on to that when things don't seem to be going our way when things seem to be contrary when things seem to be falling apart around us when people betray us and when people hurt us help us to remember that in spite of all these things you are good and everything that comes our way everything that we encounter if we will look to you that in some way you will use it to better us and to draw us closer to you if we if we will submit to your will knowing that you don't orchestrate or allow anything to come into our lives that it is not in the best interests in the end so help us once again father to remember to hold on to to proclaim and declare that in spite of all you are good and we are thankful for that thank you let's just remain standing and is there we go nothing let's all stand please and will recite the Shama room and it says and the Lord spake unto Moses saying speak thou also under the children of Israel saying verily my Sabbath's you shall keep for it as a sign between me and you throughout your generations that you may know that I am the lord that death sanctified you wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant it is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed and in Mark chapter 12 it says that one of the scribes came and having heard them reasoning together perceiving that he had answered them well asked him which is the first commandment of all and Yeshua answered him the first of all the commandments is hear o Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind and with all your strength this is the first and most important commandment and the second like it is this you shall love your neighbor as yourself there is no other commandment greater than these so this is the part of the service that we declared these things we reaffirm these things and I always like to remind everybody especially we have some folks that are joining us for the first time in the livestream we don't sing the SH MA just because it's the thing we're supposed to do in the order of the service we pray this we declare this we proclaim this believing that when we say these things and they resonate from within our heart and are expressed with our mouth the heavens and the earth hears these things and bears witness to this truth so join me please Shem yes I do and [Music] and do it again please chef is ah [Music] a third time with all your voice [Music] come [Music] hear o Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one blessed be his name and his glorious Kingdom forever and now the bishop started to say I'm gonna be a hosta and I'm still waiting on that cord thank you [Music] we ha ha ha you shall love your neighbor yours and apart [Music] stands over [Music] yeah clap your hands give a shout [Music] I'm not sure how we're going to do this gentlemen [Music] those of you who are out there livestream watching we have a full house today and then some yeah I want to go that way a little bit let's go that way a little bit come this way no this way all right alright let me have all of our young men and women boys and girls gather down here Hadassah is always the first one always the first one come on in gather in the stack and while they're doing that I need y'all to help me and Beth pray about something I perceive that wall is going to have to go [Music] the owners of the building just need to get that revelation to y'all squeeze down that way a little bit come down I know just tighten up gonna have to rub elbows and all that kind of stuff [Music] all right we're just going to pretend that loop it just extends out over this way and that way [Music] how many of you enjoyed having your family gathered around you this past Thanksgiving and I know we've got some some family members that have joined other part of the congregation here so it's always nice to have our children and our grandchildren gathered together with us and today in every Shabbat we want to pray that the father will put his hand a protection and blessing upon our young men our women our daughters our sons our grandchildren to protect and keep them and once again for the sake of those who may be joining us for the first time we don't just sing a song just to be singing it we're praying this we are appealing to our Father in Heaven to watch over our children and to bless them and so I always ask if you'll extend your hand this way those of you who are watching on the livestream with your children are with you put your hands on the head of your children and let's bless them may the Lord protect [Music] where you can't the shine [Music] maybe like Ruth and my day sir praise come a little closer Allison thank them [Music] and keep them from the strangers [Music] may God [Music] you may preserve you from favor them O Lord with happiness and peace over here our Sabbath bread [Music] father we thank you for our our sons and our daughters our children and our grandchildren and those children that you have brought into our lives and we do pray we appeal to you today to keep your hand to protection upon them we believe that where our strengths and where our protection ends because we were limited we believe that that's where your hand begins what we cannot do that's what you do and you keep them and you prosper them and I pray that every gift and every talent that you've created in each and every one of these young men and women and there are many talents gathered here today I pray that those talents and gifts will be home and they will mature and that they were prosper to produce fruit for your kingdom do not let the adversary seduce them away from the path that you have set them upon to use those gifts and talents for a different reason but the men that they would always be set apart for your purpose and for your kingdom so we pray that you will make our sons as minashi onufry then they will grow up into omits into the into a multitude in the midst of the earth we pray for our our daughters father that you will protect them and Mitchell will prosper them as you did the matriarch of Israel and everything they set their hand to do that is according to your purpose and will may it prosper we pray for their future spouses that today that someone will set their hand upon their head and will pronounce a blessing upon them that you will prepare their spouses even today so that when the time according to your purpose has come then you will join them to their intended spouse that together they would raise up another generation that will fear you that will serve you that will honor you with their lives and these things we pray and we believe you for because we pray in the name of Yeshua our Messiah I'm an I'm an let's give these young men and women a big hand thank you [Music] we've got as many young people as some people have in their whole congregation which blows my mind [Music] Metheny I'm gonna do like we did last week okay thank you sir a man thank you you're getting stingy with that that first chord I'm I'm waiting for you to get but but I'm getting old hey can we can we do something can we say something do you want to say it or you let me say it I know everybody knows here talk about those folks out there well you want me to tell them are you going to tell there's a baby in there we were waiting til Thanksgiving to say anything so yeah we're having a baby and we're what 12 weeks yeah heard the heartbeat heartbeats real strong and healthy everything's good Mama's healthy babies healthy [Applause] all right everybody most everybody here knew that this been this has been something I was not allowed to say when those cameras are on you don't know how many times it almost came out and one time I thought it did but but the livestream was on alright the first thing I want to do is I want to make certain that everybody has a seat alright so everybody's sitting so that's a good sign the second thing I want to do is check the thermostat because some of us are hot and some of us are freezing so we're gonna have to hit a happy medium here so I don't know what it's set on 72 oh okay we'll leave it right there in a minute I'm gonna start flicking icicles off my nerves so all right okay so those who are hot you share your sweaters with those people who are doing all of this kind of stuff alright well once again shabbat shalom everybody's it's a pleasure to have everyone here honestly I was thinking that we would be sparse and few and in between today you shocked and surprised me but it's a great group and boy if this keeps up seriously we're gonna have to start thinking about something over here no no not that soon we do have some announcements about some things that are going on but we'll we'll do those at the toward the end of the service but let's go over to Genesis chapter 25 and our Torah portion begins with verse 19 and as far as I'm concerned this is the one one of the most intriguing Torah portions in the whole scripture for lots of different reasons just like the last two or three Torah portions that we've gotten into this is yet a new beginning or a different story within the story and this one is always intriguing this one and the one that deals with Joseph more than any of the others in fact this one so much so that a few years ago I actually did a book based on the things that happen in this Torah portion but what we're gonna see is that this briefly describes the life of Isaac but really it focuses primarily anyway on Jacob and Esau because if you think about the text that's devoted to Abraham and his story and think about the text that's devoted to Jacob and his story and even Joseph after him then compare that to how much you read about Isaac there's not a whole lot comparative compared to be speaking now the rabbinical commentary I wish share was looking at shared that Abraham there's a lot of talk taught about Abraham because he was someone who taught many people about the Creator where Isaac ins concern you don't read about him doing that in fact there's only one that he is credited with anyway in Jewish commentary with a disciple and that's Jacob who is going to be Israel and I find that very interesting because Isaac is Abraham's only Son and so you sure being the fulfillment of what Isaac was to portray his focus is going to be on his people Israel and by that I mean those of us who are a faith and so anyway it's just kind of a footnote but I want to go to Genesis chapter 25 and begin in verse 19 because we're gonna see that a struggle here is introduced to us through Rebecca's pregnancy it says this is the genealogy or the told oat because that's the name of the Torah portion this is the genealogy of Isaac Abraham's son is this Abraham begat Isaac and Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah as wife the daughter of bethuel the Sirian of paddan-aram the sister of LaVon the Syrian now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife because she was barren and the Lord granted his plea and Rebecca his wife conceived but the children struggled together within her and she said if all is well why am I like this and so she went to inquire of the Lord in the it said to her two nations are in your womb two peoples shall be separated from your body one people shall be stronger than the other and the older shall serve the younger so what we want to talk about today and kind of a perhaps on an elongated way is the struggle that was going on within her and what that struggle was all about the scripture tells us that there were two nations growing inside her womb I'm gonna suggest to you not just two nations but two ideologies two ways of thinking two different mindsets two different life styles and these two ideologies and philosophies were at war from the very beginning and of course it's going to be personified in Esau and Jacob he saws the hunter he's the one that's more carnal more earthy Jacob is the shepherd he is the one that is more spiritual and so there is this struggle not just between the two brothers even while they're developing in the womb but again there's this struggle that is there because one is more carnal and one is tends to be more spiritual and so this story has many prophetic implications there's a lot of prophecy about how this war is going to culminate at the very end of time and that's a whole another vein that we could go into but what I wanted to focus on today is how this story speaks to us as individuals personally and by that I mean if we all considered ourselves Rebekah for just a moment when we were born again maybe some of us thought that now that I'm born again everything's gonna be okay and everything's gonna be easy and I'm just gonna breeze through life only to discover that things actually got a little tougher at least that's what I thought and here's why because I found out that I had not put on that immortal body that this Carlyle had not put on this immortal Bily body this corruptible body had not put on incorruption and so each and every day I was and I am and I expect that I will be at war would that conflicting nature that wants to be carnal that wants to be earthy that wants to have his way and so that's how we're going to focus on this today now let me skip over some things here and get right into what I want to talk about well I guess I should say first of all that it talks about how the fact she was barren and in the Torah portion it comes out that Isaac was 60 years old when she gave birth to these twins he saw in Jacob if they married when he was 40 that means that for 20 years she was barren and if you think about the culture of that day being bare and there was a stigma attached to it but if you have married into a family that the creator of the universe has said I'm gonna make my covenant with you in Isaac shall your seed be called and now Isaac's wife can't bear a child I would imagine she was under a lot of pressure she perhaps she felt a lot of pressure a lot of a lot of pressure to to conceive so it tells us that Isaac prayed for her he he interceded prefer the Creator listened to his prayer and he allowed her to conceive that emphasizes the fact that for Israel to exist the Creator has to intervene time and again you think about Sarah she was past the age and so she conceived past the age later on rachel is going to be the one who is not giving birth and then then the father opens up her womb so we see in the very beginning through the matriarchs that for Israel to exist God has to intervene to this very day Israel and again by that I don't just mean this political entity called Israel in the Middle East I'm talking about the people of faith his body his people his family we exist because he continually intervenes in our life he interacts with our life sometimes he does it when we don't even realize it long time ago Brandon was a first grader I think and I was in Israel for the Feast of Tabernacles I'd been there for about a month and I'm gonna make a very very long story short he had an injury to his eye and was blind in one of his eyes I was gone Beth just had a prayer meeting there in the house where we lived and just just interceded on behalf of our son expecting the next day that when he would go back or at least the doctors were expecting that this young man was gonna be blind in one eye only to find out the next day that they couldn't find any kind of injury wherever he was cut and that I was that had already healed and to this day he has 2010 vision in that eye all right now here's why I'm telling you that story is because this was all said and done before I knew anything about it I didn't know anything about it until everything was over so he intervenes in our lives he acts on our behalf and sometimes we don't even know that he's doing it only later did we find out how he saved us from this how he protected us for from that how he provided for us in this and sometimes he does those things in the midst of turmoil in things that seem to be an attack or lack here we've got barren women who desperately want to conceive a child a male child but he has to be the one to intervene so I think that's a very important thing for us to consider but the Bible tells us that when she conceived she realized that the children were struggling within her something was going on she's been barren for 20 years then she gets pregnant and you would think that she would just be the happiest woman in the whole wide world but the Bible tells us that she was disturbed because she realized that there was something going on inside her wound that wasn't quite normal and so the Bible tells us that she went to inquire of the Lord and what she discovers is that there our two children growing inside her womb there are two nations there are these two philosophies in these ideologies and these two opposing forces are not going to get along with one another and again there are prophetic implications in all of this that stay with us to this very day this war between Esau and Jacob didn't end when those men died it continued through their descendants it continues to this very day and will until the end of the age but when she went to inquire the Lord he told her that these two nations are in your womb they're going to be separated when when you give birth which suggests to me that these two were never intended to coexist with one another they were never intended to to be chums and why because one is going to portray a very carnal earthy nature one that needs his appetites his lusts satisfied immediately one who will surrender things that are holy for those things that are common in profane and so this other nature personified in Jacob is the one who is the shepherd who's the temperate one it was never intended that these two were to coexist because again they are two conflicting ideologies just as much as they are two different types of people again a carnal nature and the spiritual nature are not intended to coexist so Rebecca realized that this conflict was already underway and so she went to get wisdom and information in revelation and in the prophecy that is given to us it says that one is going to be stronger than the other and I've always understood this to mean that for instance it's there we know their names Esau and Jacob if Esau was stronger that means that Jacob was gonna be weaker but if Jacob began to get stronger that means that that meant that Esau had to decrease in strength one was always going to be stronger than the but in the end the prophecy was this that the elder the older one will serve the younger one esau will eventually bow to jacob now in a culture that puts so much prettier firstborn and the birthright going to the firstborn can you imagine growing up knowing that you are destined to serve your younger I would imagine that added some fuel to the the animosity that existed to them but what we want to take away from that is this that just like Cain and Abel who was the carnal one and who was considered righteous the righteous one is not the first form it's the other guy Ishmael and Isaac it's not the one who was born first it's the one who was born after that Isaac and so - in this case it's not the firstborn of the flesh he saw but it's the firstborn in God's eyes my friend Brad Scott is the one that pointed this out long long time ago we look at the first born of the flesh we think Esau supposed to get the birthright in the blessing we think that Ishmael is supposed to get the birthright in the blessing we think the king should have because he was the firstborn of the flesh but the firstborn that the Creator is talking about is not necessarily the first one in the flesh it's not the firstborn who man puts his seed in - it's the one that God puts his seed in - and what is his seed it's his word so this principle is very important for you and I to understand because well who was redeemed in Egypt with the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and lentils of the home who was it it was the firstborn all right but if we take this concept and embrace it what that suggests to us is that you and I are firstborn if his seed is in us we're the ones being redeemed we're the ones that are being saved we're the ones that are being delivered you his seed his word is in US and what is his word it's profound personified in the Messiah so - as many as received him he gave them the right the power the ability to become what the sons of God now your shoe is the only begotten of the Father but nevertheless you and I are considered firstborn in the sense that he puts his seed in us when he speaks to Moses in Exodus chapter 4 I believe it is he refers to Israel as my son even my first born why because his firstborn are those who have embraced his word and so then going back to our story they're never going to coexist they're never going to join arms and run the family together Esau is gonna be stronger and Jacobs going to be weaker or vice versa because once again they are two conflicting personalities philosophies ideologies temperaments and they're never going to get along by the way if Esau is ascending that must mean that Jacobs and disobedience I'll say that again if Esau is lording over Jacob also Israel that must mean that Israel is in disobedience because when Israel is walking in obedience it wouldn't be that Esau is lording over him right because that's what happens when his people walk in disobedience I'm getting ahead of myself a little bit anyway let's go back to this in Genesis chapter 25 verse 24 it says so when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth indeed there were twins in her womb and the first came out read he was like a hairy garment all over so they called his name Esau or Esav and afterward his brother came out and his hand took hold of Esau's heel and so his name was called Yaakov or Jacob Isaac was 60 years old when she bored them alright so again Rebekah was barren for twenty years she gets pregnant she realizes there's something strange going on inside of she carries these children full-term then she gives birth and the first one he merges from the womb and he is red and he's hairy according to what the scripture says he is so hairy it looks like he's wearing a coat think about that now I have to tell this story you know when Beth was carrying our first child Brandon he didn't want to he didn't want to come out of the womb basically he wanted to stay there and so finally we had to go to the hospital they had to induce labor all right and she was going to try to have it naturally and you know do the Lamaze thing and we went to Lamaze classes on Monday nights you know during football season you know and we had to go you know I had to hang out with these pardon yeah well anyway you know Lamaze you know where they do the hee hee ha ha ho ho you know get your focal point and all those kinds of things so we did all of that and then we went to the hospital and they induced labor and I'll leave some of the parts out of this story but let's just say the Lamaze went out the window and so anyway she's in labor all day going on into the evening and so finally the the doctor comes to me and he says mr. clown I'm afraid we're gonna have to operate so they ended up doing his c-section of course my response was do it get it over with let's just let's do this thing so finally they bring my firstborn son out into the nursery where they do all the little pokin and proddin and cleaning up and everything and so I got my scrubs on they the nurse asked me to come in to the little room and she puts my newborn son in my arms and I'm just crying seeing this little mean look at me you know just blinking his little eyes and then the blanket that they had had him covered in it fell off the top of his head and that's when I realized he had a conehead his head was so big he'd got stuck in the birth canal and so he did smooshed his little head into a cone and so when I saw that it freaked me out and here's what I said to the nurse Oh No I'm gonna have to call him Beldar some of you obviously are old enough to know what I'm talking about some have no idea all right but anyway she laughed my point is this that freaked me out can you imagine what would happen if you take your son into your arms and he's red and he's so hairy he looks like a werewolf or something it describes him as being hairy like he's wearing a coat so something odd is going on here something the scripture is he wants to call our attention to so the first word we're gonna look at in Hebrew is the word out the money and admony is spelled Aleph dalit mem valve new new hood a double knee and it's translated as red but it can also be translated as ruddy and I want to show you a few words that it's related to it's related to the word Dom which is the word for blood that's valid mem and then the next word there is Adam which is the word Adam or mankind by the way the word dumb you see is attached to the olive and the olive that first letter on the right the first one in the olive bed Olive is synonymous with aloof who is the master so when the creator formed the man from the dust of the earth and he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life because the life of all flesh is where in the blood it is inferred that when he breathed the breath of life into him he breathed his blood into him as well and that's what gave him that rosy complexion that ruddy or red complexion the word is also related to Adam ah which is Aleph dalit mem hey Adam ah is the word foreground or it can also be translated as Earth so here's the point I'm trying to make the way Esau is described as looking is a domani which is related to the idea of blood think about what Esau is going to be it's related to the idea of man or mankind and mankind is theologically anyway at war with the Creator because man wants to do what man wants to do and it's also related to the word foreground and so all of this is to say that when Esau appeared in the world his physical appearance was earthy it was ruddy somebody that was connected to the earth being red might even be considered to be a premonition of the fact that he is going to be a bloody man in the sense that he is a hunter and there are prophecies that tell us that he pursues blood not just the blood of game that is animals deer or what have you but also people and so his offspring who are called Edom or Edom another word that means red are throughout the history of Israel or the one or one of the peoples who are seeking to shed the blood of God's people but in the end according to the prophecy the older one is going to serve the younger one and so in the end Edom or Esau is going to be judged because of his fascination with blood and violence and these kinds of things let me read in Ezekiel chapter 35 beginning in verse 5 it says because you have had an ancient hatred and this is directed at Edom and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity when their iniquity came to an end therefore as I live says the Lord God I will prepare you for blood and blood shall pursue you since you have not hated blood therefore blood shall pursue you so the reason we read that is just to underscore the notion that Esau and his descendants are connected to blood to bloodshed to violence to hunting to be an earthy carnal this nature that is at war with the spiritual nature that's personified in Jacob who's also going to be called Israel now was esau born to be bad I don't think so I think he made choices and one of the reasons that I believe that is there is another guy in the scripture who is described as being odd the money in his physical appearance and that's ruddy you know that is his David in 1st Samuel chapter 16 he is described as being odd the money same thing it just seems to me that Esau and David decided to make different choices it seems to me that by and large even though there are exceptions to this rule David chose to rule over his appetites and his emotions and his desires rather than allowing those things to rule him Esau of course was quick to give in to his appetites I'm so hungry I feel like I'm about to die well then sell me your birthright well what good is it to me anyway give me a bowl of soup that's Esau the other word we're gonna look at here when it describes Esau when he was born the one that's translated is hairy like he was wearing a coat is the word say ah and that is Sheen I nglish say ah and he's called this because he looks fully developed he looks like a little man with all this hair on him but say art is also the word that is translated many times in Scripture as a hairy goat there are certain goats and I've seen him a lot when we've been to Israel they have this long hair on them that's the word say on a hairy goat and so what we see then is is not only is he associated with being carnal and earthy these kinds of things but he's also associated with the goats now why is that important because you don't want to be a goat when the Messiah returns do you you want to be of the sheep the Messiah is going to separate the sheep nations from the goat nations so Esau is tied to the idea of the goats particularly the goat nations I won't get off into this vein too much but in Judaism Edom or the descendants of Esau are considered to be synonymous with Western culture the Western nations in fact they would identify it as being wrong and like I said I don't want to get into that too much except to say that at the end of days when the Messiah returns it's going to be those nations that have assembled against Jerusalem against his people that he's going to judge and going to separate those nations as a shepherd would divide the sheep from the goats and so Esau becomes a term or Edom becomes a terms that's synonymous with those who are trying to destroy jacob well that makes sense doesn't it since Esau told people that he was going to kill Jacob he's always been the primary antagonist where God's people are concerned in just another word real quick it's the word say here you've heard of Mount Seir well mount Sayre is where Esau and his descendants lived well look at the word see it's it's derived from that word that means goat and so being so hairy he is called s of an S of is ein Schein love because again he's so hairy he looks like he's fully developed but here's something I thought was very interesting is the word s aa for the name s sob is related to this word Assad and Assad is the Hebrew word for a weed so it's the Hebrew word for a weed or we might even use this term ter because what does the adversary so in the midst of the wheat he sews tears for those of you who garden how difficult is it to keep weeds out of your garden every summer right it's very difficult isn't it at least for some of us it is you know and so when I go out in weed and I spend all this time in the guard to keep it all the weeds out I most of my effort most of my energy in trying to produce my squash and my beans and my tomatoes is not necessarily taking care of the tomato and squash plants it's keeping the weeds out so that they won't take over the garden and steal all the nutrients and kill my plants and destroy my garden because that's what weeds do they still they kill and they destroy and the word US of weed tear is related to the name s of or Esau and so he's that tear if you will in the midst of the wheat and by the way this is how it happens when I try to grow a garden I'll weed all day I'll go to bed I'll get up the next morning and guess what they're back it's like somebody sneaks into my garden every night while I'm asleep and put stuff in there that I don't want to be there that's what Esau represents so again this is not just talking about a person this is talking about a lifestyle a mindset of philosophy 99 ideology I would even go so far as to say a spirit so Esau is the picture for everything that is the antithesis of Jacob and Israel Jacob is supposed to be the one who is represented by the wheat the sons of the kingdom but the tares the weeds are sung in the midst of that again to do what not to coexist my squash will not coexists with weeds that are let go my green beans will not coexist with weeds that are just left to ramble what will happen if I just left them to coexist Lee what's gonna happen which one's gonna thrive because one's always going to be stronger than the other okay it says that in verse 26 that Jacob emerged from the womb and when he did so he took hold of Esau's heel perhaps you've heard me share this and because I've shared it a lot but I think people are mistaken when they presume that when Jacob took hold of Esau's heel that he was trying to supplant him that he was trying to undermine his firstborn status we do know that the struggle had been going on in the womb and we do presume that they were struggling for primacy who is going to lord over the other who is going to be the firstborn now Rebekah knows that the father has his eyes on the second born she already knows this and nobody else apparently knows this so when Jacob emerges from the womb and he's got his hand on his brothers heel there are people who use that as evidence to regard Jacob or Israel as being the supplanter a couple of things I want you to take note of the first one to make that accusation that Jacob Yaakov means supplanter is Esau so if Esau made that accusation and he's earthy and carnal and he hates Jacob and he's all of these temporal things and he's the one that makes the accusation I think I'm gonna take that with a grain of salt so how is it that Jacob gets this name supplanter it's because Esau made that accusation and that there are those who presume that Jacob was supplanting Esau by taking hold of his heel in fact here is a verse that many years ago someone not arguing with me but just discussing these things with me share with me as proof that Jacob or Yaakov is as a planter in hosea chapter 12 and begins in verse - says the Lord has an indictment against Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways he will repay him according to his deeds in the womb he took his brother by the heel and that word is octave and in his manhood he strove with God he strove with the angel and prevailed he wept and sought his favour he met God at Bethel and there God spoke and there God spoke with us so the reason I read this is some people will read that and they will interpret it to mean that the reason that Jacob is going to be punished is because he's a supplanter and that's evidenced by the fact that he took hold of his brothers heel however it that verse also tells us that he strove with God that he obtained the favor of God and he wasn't punished for those things so my point here is there are things mentioned here that are not the reason Jacob was going to be punished that had to do with disobedience and I would suggest to you that it means that includes when it says he took his brother by the heel so here's what I'm leading up to why did he take his brother by the heel because they were struggling in the womb and Esau is emerging from that womb and if he's headfirst that means his heel is hovering somewhere close to Jacobs head and so as Esau is emerging from the womb here's what I believe with my whole heart that Jacob took hold of his brothers heel to keep his brothers heel from crushing his head because in Genesis chapter 3 the Creator spoke to the serpent he said I will put enmity between you and the woman between her seed in your seed he will bruise your head and you will bruise his heel and from that day forward the adversaries been trying to reverse that he's been trying to take his heel and put it on the head of God's people and when God's people are walking in disobedience guess what he is allowed to do that because when salt has lost its saltiness what happens to it stas into the street and what trampled under foot or if you will under heel Masai said that there was coming today that when Jerusalem would be trampled down by who by the Gentiles by the nations those who want to put Israel under their heel so again I believe with my whole heart that when Jacob was being born he puts his hand on his brothers heel to prevent that heel from coming down on the top of his head because if that heel had come down hard enough on that little soft spot what could have happened where Jacob was concerned he could have been debilitated impaired at the very least if not destroyed outright and so who wants to destroy Jacob Esau so when this happened the Bible says that they called his name Jacob or Yaakov and that is you'd I goof that or vet Yaakov and here's why I believe they called him Yaakov because if you take the word for heel which is all keV and that spelled I in cuff bet that's the first word there when you take the word for heel octave and then you take the Hebrew letter yard which is the smallest of all the Hebrew letters and it is emblematic of a hand because the word for hand is yad yad when you take the hand yard and attach it to the octave of the heel the end result is Yaakov Jacob so why do they call him Yaakov because his hand was on his brothers heel that's why they called him that not because he was a supplanter not because he was a trickster not because he was a deceiver and here's something very important folks Jacob has been labeled Israel has been labeled throughout history as the deceiver the supplanter the trickster and who is the one who initiated that the one who is a deceiver supplanter and a trickster because you see Esau accuses Jakub of what he esau is guilty of the nation's accuse Israel of the things that the nation's are guilty of and so Esau is an accuser of his brother and where does that trait and characteristic come from it comes from the adversary and so Esau is this personality again not just the man who lived thousands of years ago it is this personality this mindset this lifestyle that accuses God's people of being the tricksters the deceivers the supplant errs and all of these things when in reality Jacob was trying to shield his head from his adversaries he'll later on Jacob is going to be renamed Israel and as Israel he is going to prevail over Esau instead of having to shield his head from his adversaries he'll there is coming a day when Israel will take his heel and put it on the head of his adversary and why because the Messiah has already done that I give you the power to trample on scorpions and serpents to take your heel and put it upon the head of your adversary why because when we're walking in the path that we're supposed to when we're walking in obedience when we're doing what we've been called to do as his people Israel there is a certain way that we are to walk we'll talk about this a little bit more next week but when we are walking in obedience we have the authority under the Messiah's headship to trample on those serpents those things that are our adversary to overcome those things it's when we get into disobedience that the other happens it's when we are walking contrary to his ways that he saw as it were can rise and lord over us but it is Israel's destiny to trample on his adversary in fact the word I'll cave that is translated he'll hae is also in several cases translated as en d-ind in other words in the end Jacob will put his heel on the goat nations on Esau and all these adversaries let's go to verse 27 so the boys grew and esau was a skillful hunter a man of the field but jacob was a mild man dwelling in tents and Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game but Rebekah loved Jacob so it says of Jacob that he was and some translations render it harmless some translations render it a temperate man but the word in Hebrew Tom it means he was whole he was not lacking anything and it says that he was dwelling in tents which is to suggest that he was a shepherd some in the regime interpret that to mean that he was in schools of study he was staying home and he was studying Scripture he was studying the word even though there wasn't any official written Scripture at the time so there are all these different ideas about what he was doing but the important thing is this that he was a temperate man being temperate suggests that he did not allow his emotions to rule him he ruled his emotions and once again compare that to Esau Esau someone who allows his appetites to dictate to him what he will do and what he will not to do so this temperate man this man who is a shepherd by the way here's a footnote to this Cain do you remember what the Bible describes him as being dundun dundun dundun does anyone remember he was a tiller of the ground which means what he's out there working in the dirt he's earthy what was Abel what is implied about Abel he was a shepherd because he brought the first of his flock and of their fat so Cain and Abel someone who works in the earth were associated with the earth and a shepherd and so what is the earthy guy dude where'd the shepherd is concerned kills him so here again we've got this conflict between the shepherd and the one who is of the earth it even dogs I mean that Jacob excuse me Esau is a man's man I mean he goes out he's got you know hairy and everything he's probably burly he's kind of he's ruddy looking and what does he like to do likes to hunt likes to kill stuff you know cut it up cook it bring it home for supper man's man what's Jacob doing he's hanging out with mom in the tent so you know if we just looked at the surface it'd be easy to misconstrue things here now it says that Esau was a skillful hunter in Hebrew that terminology yo Dez they literally means this that he knew hunting or he knew trapping as I eat is the word for trapping he knew how to trap he was someone who was intimately acquainted with the idea of trapping something and to trap something to hunt something in furs this deception I mean a lot of you guys like to do your hunt you don't go out in the woods announcing to the deer that you have arrived do you no you do it stealthily sometimes you do it under the cover of darkness you go out there at 3 4 o'clock in the morning before the Sun has time to get up you get up in you're blind you get up in your tree stand and you get you don't go announcing that you're there you go very quietly and you wait right and I don't know enough about it to be authoritative on it but I know little about those who have shared with me you go looking for signs don't you John you go looking for signs that indicate the prey is somewhere in the area you might even leave something laying on the ground that might want to attract them to back to that spot right so you do it stealthily you plan you plot you scheme and you may even wear clothing that blends into the environment because you don't want to be noticed because you're trying to lure the prey into your trap that's what he saw is good at he's very very intimate with that idea and so he is a he's a stalker and he's someone who is skillful at setting a trap keeping in mind this is talking about someone who is associated with blood and is associated with goats and he's also this stalker who sets trap it says in verse 28 that Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game another translation renders it this way Isaac loved Esau for game was in his mouth in fact that's the more literal translation that Isaac loved Esau because game was in his mouth so here's a question how is it that the patriarch of Israel Isaac prefers the one that God has rejected when you ever thought about that Isaac prefers the one that the Creator rejects Jacob I have loved Esau I've hated why is that it might be because it says that game was in his mouth the question is whose mouth is it referring to by the way the word game that's translated there is the same word that means trapping so we could render it this way that Isaac loved Esau because trapping was in his mouth again whose mouth is it referring to here's what I'm getting at is it possible that Isaac preferred Esau not just because he could go out and hunt and bring back meat and cook it in a nice stew that he likes but it also might be implying and this is a lot of commentary that brings this out that Isaac prefer to Esau because Esau was really good with words that presented himself in a way that was not really a true reflection of who and what he was that trapping was in his mouth that he would there are commentaries that suggest that Esau would talk to his father in a way use terminology used words asked questions that were intended to make his father think he was something he really wasn't because he was setting a trap he was setting the snare because he's really good at that there are those people who know enough about what you believe to use the lingo to use the terminology to make you think there's something they really aren't and that's why you have to observe what the fruit because Ora Tours good aura tours that history is full of those who were great orator who have led people to destruction think about Hitler he is responsible for the death of millions of people and as far as we know he didn't murder one of them but how did he get people to do what he wanted them to do words how did the adversary get the woman and eventually the man to eat of the fruit they weren't supposed to eat words Nimrod is another one he's he was a mighty hunter before the Lord and the same idea is going on with Nimrod as with Esau how did Nimrod get all these people to follow after him and rebel against the Creator words it's usually that way so trapping was in his mouth Esau and that mindset that philosophy if you will that spirit will oftentimes clothe himself in piety and painting righteousness but all the while setting a trap and let me show you this other the spirit word here hope you don't mind the Hebrew but that's what we do Thank You Nate I appreciate that let me show you the words Pharaoh because this is a word that it's underscoring what we're saying here if you take the word Pharaoh the king of Egypt that wasn't his name that was his title Pharaoh at the heart of that word the two middle letters and that's resh eye and the red line is the word rock which means evil or wicked the two words on the outside are assuming the two letters on the outside the pay and the hey if we put those together it's the word pay or mouth so what does Pharaoh represent a mouth speaking things but what's in his heart it's evil it's wickedness and who is that evil and wickedness focused upon who is who is the the focus of his ire and contempt it's God's people so he will use words to convince people that well these people are more and mightier than we are and if we go to war they'll side with our enemies and so we've got a we've got an enemy right here in the midst of us and we need to begin to implement policies that will restrict them that will oppress them and put them under our control because that's what the adversary does and he uses these words to get other people to go along with it by the way when the Pharaoh was wearing all the crowns of a United Egypt front-and-center on his crown was would a snake so all these things are connected but let's get back to Esau his physical attributes his tendencies speak of his spiritual deficiencies in other words he's earthy and we can't be earthy and carnal or for going to follow our Creator he is fascinated with blood and by that we mean the shedding of blood but you and I what are we to be we're to be peacemakers we are to love your neighbor as yourself and so he paints a picture of those who follow after these carnal tendencies but here again is my main point today if we look at ourselves and put our I was in the place of Rebecca and by that I mean we are the bride remember he sit Abraham sent his helper into the nations to fetch a bride for his son and so Rebecca becomes a picture of the bride and when we were born again of that incorruptible seed because we had to be born again we came into this world conceived in iniquity we were born in sin and so we had to be born again of that incorruptible seed but when we were born again life didn't necessarily get easier some things became a little bit more difficult the the struggles that we entered into were a bit more highlighted because we were trying to do what was right and so these physical attributes these tendencies that Esau have in some ways are descriptive of you and I that carnal nature that wants to rise up in us now I'm not talking about shedding innocent blood necessarily but all right I'm sure none of you have ever done this but there have been times in my life I knew that there was something I was not supposed to do but I wanted to do it so I began to talk to myself these words we were going on in my mind and I begin to justify in my mind why I should and why I can do this and I would keep listening to those words that were going on inside my own mind and soul to the point that I finally gave in to that argument convinced that yes this is the thing to do and then I engaged in something that was dreadfully dreadfully wrong and I did this even after I had been born again now again I know that none of you have ever had any struggles like that right everything was hunky-dory for you right but for me there have been those times when I've listened to the east saw within the one who wants to rise up and usually when that has happened in my life in times past it's usually cause I've become lazy I've become careless I've become just kind of drifting through life and I haven't really been paying attention to those things that I need to pay attention to I've been in this so disobedient mindset already and so you see the two can't get along the born-again nature and the old nature are never intended to coexist ones always going to be stronger than the other and how does Esau get stronger when the the spirit man is growing weak and so it would seem then if we want Esau to die out what needs to happen there wasn't a trick question y'all the spirit man needs to grow he needs to mature we are not to coexist with this carnal nature Romans 8 Paul talks about this beginning verse five for those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh but those who live according to the spirit I didn't know that was open those who live according to the spirit the things of the Spirit for to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace because the carnal mind is enmity against God that means the carnal mind is at war against God why for it is not subject to the law of God nor indeed can be so then those who are in the flesh cannot please God so it needs to be pointed out here that when Paul wrote this he was not writing to a group of unbelievers he was writing to people who a group of people that included believers and what was he saying that look if we've been born again of this incorruptible seed we need to be spiritually minded not carnally minded because the carnal mind is the antithesis of what the Creator is looking for the carnal mind is at war with God why because the carnal mind doesn't want to do what God said to do the carnal mind wants to do what he wants to do he has his appetites he has his lusts he has his desires and he will justify why it's okay to do these things why it's okay not to do those things if it suits him therefore those who are in the flesh cannot please God so Paul is speaking to those who are faith and he's saying to be governed by our flesh is to be carnally minded and in effect that is we're not willing to be subject to God's instructions that's the guy who supposedly against the law he's saying that if we are spiritually minded that we're going to do the things that God said to D thank you cereal you are such a servant brother thank you I appreciate that so much thank you sir so if we are going to be spiritually minded we must submit ourselves to God's instructions his laws his ways and look the spirit of truth is never going to lead us to do something that contradicts the word of truth right he's always going to lead us into the truth so the spirit of truth is not going to tell me to do something that conflicts with his word because the spirit that's telling someone to do that is not the spirit of truth it's a different spirit it's a spirit that is really good with words it's a spirit that knows how to frame words and trap whether someone else or themselves into believing that a lie is the truth and I also want to add this to that thought that the truth that we're speaking here of the truth that Paul is speaking of goes beyond the meant and that the cumin and the anise those things that are just on the surface to be led into all truth has to go beyond the things that are on the surface and it has to include the weightier matters which are what things like mercy justice truth so Esau represents that earthy carnal nature that's within us Jacob represents the spiritual the one who's been born again is it worth and what does that earthy carnal nature want to do that spirit man he wants to steal he wants to kill anyone's destroy and it's really easy to identify that carnal nature when it's blatant and obvious remember Esau was really good at setting a trap he knows how to blend into the environment and just kind of become one with the environment he knows how to set a snare to lure the prey into it what I'm trying to say here is that I can't trust the old man he will lie to me and many times he'll put on robes of piety he'll try to act all spiritual and everything and yet he has an agenda and again I'm using myself as the example but I know that when I have allowed myself to become apathetic maybe disillusioned maybe mad at what this one did or what they did and then I begin to use that anger and frustration and being disillusioned to feed my apathy well I just don't care anymore I just don't want to do this and I don't want to be around that and I just don't care anymore and before you know it that old man is saying well then why don't you just do this or why don't you say that or why don't you think this way and if we listen to that voice too long guess what we might find ourselves in that trap and we cannot allow that to happen and we need to understand I know you do but until we till we see him as he is until mortal puts on immortality corruption puts on incorruption we're going to be in this war we're gonna be continually struggling with the isaw within how we have a promise that in the end the older one is going to serve the younger one if we walk as Israel is supposed to walk if we walk in his ways up right before him even in those situations we don't understand why he wants us to do this and again I want to I want you to understand I'm I'm saying this beyond what is written on the surface sometimes we have to do what he says and we can't go to a verse of scripture to find out exactly how I'm supposed to do this do you understand what I'm saying here have you been ever have you ever been compelled to do something and you're you're not really sure how are you going to do it we have to be willing to trust him to do what is right we cannot afford to give in to our appetites or abdicate our responsibilities verse 29 it says now Jacob were y'all Co cooked a stew and Esau came in from the field and he was weary and he saw said to Jacob please feed me with that same red stew for I am weary therefore his name was called Edom but Jacob said sell me your birthright as of this day and Esau said look I'm about to die and so what is this birthright to me then Jacob said swear to me as of this day so he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob and Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils then he ate and drank arose and went his way thus Esau despised his birthright so the first thing that occurs to me here is he comes in with his ferocious appetite he sees this stew it the smells apparently are really good and he's really just so hungry he says look I'm about to die now first of all he wasn't gonna die was he he wasn't but he convinced himself if I don't have some of that I'm gonna die I have to have it so what am I willing to give up and that I might have it something common like this do not in this case something sacred something holy and so Esau the picture of someone who willingly trains something that is sacred and holy for something that is common and every day he had that meal and then what happened a few hours later he got hungry again didn't he and he was looking for something else to eat but he doesn't have anything sacred or holy to trade away at this point he's already given that away he's already traded it away we give in to our appetites and we do things that well we know we shouldn't do and once we've satisfied that appetite at that point in time is that appetite satisfied for all time no because we're just going to desire it again and we're gonna get hungry for it again in fact we might even desire even more because giving in to that attitude that mindset these actions these deeds it only kind of feeds that appetite more and more and more so it seems to me those appetites have to be starved they have to be starved so that you and I the spirit man within us grows maybe this is one of the reasons Messiah said that there are certain things that aren't accomplished unless there is prayer and fasting because one of the things that fasting teaches us is if I can curb my appetite for physical foods maybe I can also curb my appetite for things that are far more deadly than a piece of bread and a bowl of soup but Esau is that personality that way of thinking this says I want what I want and I want it now and I don't really care what I've got to give away in order to get it because the birthright meant nothing to him he despised it and by the way another thought here food has often been used or food is often the reason for many failures I can think of a couple right off the top of my head can you think of one where food led to a failure well at the very beginning God said don't eat that what did we do we ate that and then we were surprised to find that he really meant what he said he really means when I say don't eat that don't eat that there's other examples the sin of ALP or when the beautiful Midianite women went into the children of Israel to the sons of Israel seduced them they brought them to a ceremonial meal where they ate this meal dedicated to the Bale or the master of peor in Joseph's day when he was the Viceroy to Pharaoh and a famine hit the land what did the Egyptians do they sold themselves to the government that's yeah I wanted to put it that way they sold their very lives to the government in exchange for promised coming from the government that will take care of you just wanted to slip that in so Esau is someone he portrays this this appetite that's so strong that someone is willing to trade something for common what's common they're willing to trade something that has eternal value and so he's called Edom because he desired the red pottage and that word is ha Edom in fact in Hebrew there in the text it's hot atom hi Adam it's twice so literally he desired the red the red and so he was called Edom or Edom which again by the ways that's another word related to money all those different words related it's all most of it the creators trying to get a point across to us about Esau he's earthy he's of the earth he's everything you're not supposed to be he is the antithesis of what Jacob and what Israel is to be and so he represents those who desire to satisfy their whims and their carnal appetites willing to exchange those things that are holy for something that is temporal and profane but look at Jacob I think Jacob realized this about Esau and apparently Jacob has a respect for that birthright and so he's not motivated by greed he's not motivated by power or anything like that seems to me that Jacob is motivated by honor because he understands his brother is profane and why is this profane one the one who should be bestowed with this godly birthright his attempt to gain the birthright from his brother Esau was not hidden it wasn't concealed he wasn't setting a trap he wasn't setting the snare because there is a difference in being shrewd and being conniving and scheming he's just doing it very plainly I know you're hungry I just happened to be cooking some soup some traditions say that this was the day that Abraham died we you know and I don't know but he's cooking some soup and his brother comes in hungry well okay you're that hungry give me the birthright let me take care of it let me oversee it let me be the one to be responsible for that and in doing this very plainly out in the open Esau's regard for the birthright is exposed and again it means nothing to him and the birthright to mean nothing to him is is devastating because we're talking about the Covenant that the creator of the universe made with Abraham and with Isaac and now it's going to pass down to Jacob so when it comes to things that are eternal things that are holy things that are sacred this is for us today we cannot be seduced into thinking it's okay to give it away or to surrender or to compromise for something that is temporal for something that will pass away in the days ahead the years ahead more and more you and I are going to be faced with this challenge are we going to cave to the pressures and the whims of society in culture because what we hold fast to is not palatable for them it is a threat it is an indictment to them and so what does the culture want to do if that's Esau he wants to steal he wants to kill ultimately he wants to destroy he wants to stamp out what you and I are supposed to be and what we believe and the pressures will mount with every passing day and so there has to be those people who are willing because they understand the sanctity of what's been invested in us that we're not going to buckle to that kind of pressure we've been shielding our head for a while but there is coming today that we are going to have an encounter with the man who has the face of God and when we struggle with him he says you because you've struggled with God and man and he prevailed I'm going to call you Israel and when we are walking as his people Israel even though it might be with a limp we have been given the authority to trample on scorpions and serpents to overcome our adversary to put our heel on his head we need to understand that the Esau that that mindset will betray what is sacred for what's holy but he'll also at the same time lament the fact that he's lost all the goodies the blessing all the resources all those things he'll cry he'll wail over that but he'll very quickly give the birthright away why because he's profane we are to be the people who hold fast to those things that are holy to some degree every one of us struggle with our carnal tendencies and the more pressure that culture places upon us those things will probably be accentuated in our lives but we cannot allow ourselves to be deceived by what sounds good coming from the culture jacob is to overcome esau and if you and i will allow ourselves to be guided by the spirit of god the spirit of truth to walk in all truth we have a promise that in the end we will overcome messiah said i've given you this authority to overcome these things he's given us a promise that i've overcome he said therefore you will overcome if you're walking in the path that i've set before you want to close with one other thought some people might call it the spirit of Antichrist rebellion what-have-you and I think that all of those those labels work for what's going on in our world today but I don't want us to overlook the fact that the mindset of Esau is at work in our culture today and again biblically speaking Esau is Israel's primary antagonist when you go to Psalm 83 for instance and you look at those who are called the enemies of God and how they're raising their head and they're making a tumult the first one that is mentioned is Edom or Esau why because again that is Israel's primary antagonist and I want us to understand again that when we speak of Israel we're talking about us Esau is our biggest adversary because he is the one that is so crafty and clever that he can make himself out to be something he really isn't he has ways with words that present himself in a positive light he sets traps and as we know God's people have always been kind of susceptible to words that sound good and make things sound the way that we think they're supposed to be only later do we find out that those words were laced with poison so Israel is excuse me Esau is Israel's main antagonists and in our culture today I see the spirit at word there are people in this culture who despise everything that their ancestors revered Esau despised the birthright what was the birthright to Isaac what was the birthright to Abraham do we think they despised it or did they hold fast to it were they were they committed to propagating this this lifestyle this this promise in the earth so Esau is a mindset that despises everything that his father is revered I want you to think of what's going on in our culture today things that my father your father our grandfathers and those before them revered and admired is despised today and I'm talking about virtuous things they're despised today they're hated and those who despise it what do they want they want blessings they want stuff they want the material things they want the resources in fact they they expect these things some of them believe that they're entitled to these things but what is their view of if you will the birthright the responsibility so that's just one way I see that this this spirit is alive and well in our culture today and that's the one that's gonna for you and for me that's the one that wants to set a trap for us and that's why we cannot allow the isaw within to seduce us into falling into a trap we have to be those that suppress that to put that down and walk according to his ways so as this spirit out here continues to grow and thrive we need to be those who walk against the tide so I'm going to leave you with a thought that is attributed to George Washington he wrote this in 1789 it was part of his first inaugural address and he said this speaking of this nation the United States of America he said that America would endure quote until the people of America shall have lost all virtue until they have until they shall have become totally insensible to the difference between freedom and slavery until they shall have been reduced to such poverty of spirit as to be willing to sell that pre-eminent blessing the birthright of a free man for a mess of pottage in short and so they have been found incapable of governing themselves and ripe for the master so obviously what Washington was doing was saying that this nation would continue until the people of this nation start thinking like he saw I submit to you that the people of this nation large number of them think like he saw because they have given in to that nature but the most important thing I want us to take away from this is that until we see him face to face that is the Messiah we are going to be warring with this and I am NOT as concerned about it out there as much as I'm concerned about it rising up here because until I overcome the isaw within so to speak how can I expect to overcome the Esau without if I cannot govern by the help of God's Spirit my thoughts my words my deeds how can I expect that I'm going to overcome all of these things that are going on out here there are people that are described in Revelation 12 as overcoming the adversary and how did they do it it says that they overcame by the blood of the Lamb the word of their testimony and they loved not their lives even to the death which is to say that they did not allow their emotions and desires and thoughts and hurts and pains to rule them they learned to rule those things and this is my last thought we're not going to do this within ourselves we don't have that kind of strength I don't have that kind of strength so it's not by might nor by power but how it's by my spirit says the Lord of hosts and so this is always something we want to to remember to to embrace each and every time we get together anything and everything we do it has to be spirit conceived it has to be spirit lead spirit driven but if we are walking by the spirit of the truth and he will lead us into all truth and if we continue walking in that truth we can and we will because we have this promise we can overcome the adversary that's within us and once we overcome the adversary that's within us we are equipped to overcome the adversary that's out here amen boy I feel like I I don't feel like I did this tour portion justice because there is so much in here but I do hope that you hear the essence and the spirit of what I'm trying to say let's pray our Father in Heaven God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob those that you entrusted this birthright and this promised to father we come to you thankful that we have these examples that are set before us of what to do we're also thankful for those examples of what we are not to do what we are not to be and your word paints a very clear picture for us particularly in this Torah portion and I'm thankful to you Father that you've allowed us to see some of these things and understand that these these are not just stories about people who live thousands of years ago but these are stories about people who are living right now these are examples of people that we come in contact with day-in day-out most importantly in this we see the example set before us of what we are to be we are to be that one who is who is in your tent learning from you gleaning from your word who has the heart of a shepherd it's tender toward the flock the one who respects those things that are holy and sacred and and honors you by honoring them and who's not willing to sell out and so father we pray that you will help us more and more each day as we crucify our flesh and crucify our will crucify the thoughts that interrupts what you want to do in our lives that we will we will take authority over those things by the Spirit of God and that we will pull down those thoughts and these strongholds that are within us so that we can overcome this old nature this old man realizing that the struggle will continue until the day we see but we know because you promised that you've overcome therefore we may overcome so we asked father that your spirit would fill us to the to the full that we would it would be overflowing that we could walk in obedience to your word that we can be the people that you've called us to be I pray for each and every person that's here all of those who are watching and and father I just pray that what my presentation cannot impart it to them and reveal to them that your spirit has already revealed your word within the words that your spirit is imparting to them the message that you want them to take away from this this time together today and I pray father that you would encourage each and every person to renew their efforts to overcome the old thoughts the old patterns the old ways the old words the old deeds to renew our commitment to walk up right before you as your people called Israel that we might be a true light in this day and time that we might be able to shine a light upon those who are ensnared by the whims and the trends of our culture to show them the path that you've set before us we pray that you will help us to do that that's why we are here I pray for all of our Jacobs tenth family father that whatever we may be facing today whatever we may face tomorrow to know that we don't do it alone you're on our side thank you so now's the time of the service where for those who have prepared and those who have willing hearts - - Brent an offering unto the Lord let me share something real quick before you do that today we're going to go over and Beth will give you more details in just a moment but today we're gonna go over to the other building over here and we're going to from this point forward that's where we will have Oneg and that's where the youth are going to be able to meet you saw how many young people were up here right you saw that what 30 kids shared they used to cram into that little room over there well now they're gonna have room to spread out and here's why I'm just pointing that out thank all of you who are here and who are there who are supporting what we're doing in not just prayer but in very practical ways so we want you to know that when we give in an offering there we consider it as being given unto the Lord but it is enabling jacob's tent to do things to just strengthen and to undergird what the father has started here we we met just over well almost 10 months ago look what's going on right now and and we give the father all the honor and all the praise but how does he often do things in the earth he works through people so I just want you to understand that we're not just going through the motions and doing an offering just because that's one of the things you or we used to do we're doing it because it's an act of worship and that act of worship continues to help us do what we feel like we've been called to do as a group and as a family so so today when we go over there and there's other things that are in the works so the father is blessing this family he's blessing this congregation and with that blessing just like in the tour portion today comes responsibility you can't have the blessing if you reject the responsibility and so as a congregation we want to embrace the responsibility that he's bestowed upon us believing that he will continue to pour his blessings out upon our group our job is to stay pure hearted to guard our hearts against those things that would want to come in and pollute and corrupt to stand fast against that believing that if we will honor the birthright the responsibility he will continue to pour these blessings out upon us so with that said for those of you are online we encourage you if you are so led and you have a willing heart to to participate in this as well so father we receive these offerings as an act of obedience upon the part of the your servants your people who through their offering express that you have been faithful to them that you have blessed them that you have enriched their lives in so many ways and this is just as full a small manifestation and demonstration that we we give because we want to honor you and we want to express our gratitude to you through this act and so I pray father that as your people are obedient in this respect that you will pour your blessings out upon those people and that we acknowledge that these offerings are set apart they're not to be used for any common temporal purpose but they're to be used to do what you would have us to do in this family and this congregation to further your purpose in your agenda and we say this and pray in Yeshua's name a man [Music] and worthy [Music] worthy [Music] you [Music] oh great [Music] and see word you [Music] you sure [Music] [Music] just try that again yes he did did he overcome something for you did you overcome because of the power and the authority that you have in him I know I have some of these things he was talking about those trials temptations old ways that try to sneak back once in a while we have authority over that we don't have to put up with that junk he's the overcomer makes us overcome and we had probably closer to 50 children up here today is that awesome or what that's amazing [Music] and obviously we are the intense being in March we have one here where's miss c1 something back there okay you tricked me today usually over here and then we have babies Aiden he's probably in the nursery but we have a new little low C on the scene he's already arrived and so those have you coming to the shower tomorrow and then again were merciful and not making you come because we love you but anyway we'll get to meet him tomorrow but right now more about that later we want to go ahead with a prayer request we had a lot come in this week a lot going on a very dear friend of a not minding bills we've known him since we lived in Florida and Rosenberg and dick has already gone on to his reward so he's not with us any longer but they were an amazing couple and is over in Nashville and she contacted me this week and said please pray for Kate her daughter and if he ever met Kate oh my goodness is she not the funniest person to be around you just you love being around her she's jovial she just makes you feel great and she loves everybody and so Ann was very concerned she had a heart catheterization done she had some blockages so I prayed we didn't have the prayer group this week but didn't stop us from praying we can do it anywhere so we prayed for Kate and for Anne who was a very very worried you know haven't already lost her husband with heart issues she was very concerned about her daughter so the good news is that she is fine now the stents are have done their thing that she's getting to go home tomorrow and she's so much better and there's quite a few miracles that happened in this process and that one report was there's nothing there the other report came back yes there is something so anyway I'll move on but that was a really big blessing and we love you Kate we're so glad that you're doing better and looking forward to getting together with you soon we hope and hearing you laugh and tell your jokes so anyway um Cynthia is another longtime friend dear friend she teaches piano she may have taught some of your children piano she she teaches ours she's been battling some health issues and she has she's right here in Cleveland and she has for compressed fractures in her spine in addition to some other issues she's been battling so if you will please lift Cynthia up you will not meet a more godly woman than she is she's precious so if you will just lift her up you know that the pain would go away that the father would just healed her spine and the other issue she's dealing with we're praying for Jenna Davis and her family they're usually here but they're traveling to Indiana to the sons wedding and she asked that we would pray for them specifically that they would be a light and a witness to those who don't believe they'll be around some of those people at this wedding so we're praying for them I know they can do it I know he can give them that favor and open doors there we had Antonio's aunt her mania and then and Tony if I said that wrong I'm sorry but we are gonna pray for her anyway because he knows who were talking about his aunt was in a car wreck and has been dealing with eternal bleeding I didn't get an update yet so I don't know what the status is it's been a few days ago and then Kelly Goodson's aunt passed away so we'll pray for Kelly the family we're very sorry Kelly we had a write in from someone requesting para for pastor Ravi in India he needs a new school building Theresa had sent this Theresa Serna sent this request in they have been displaced twice now and it's because y adversary is angry about what they're doing they're reaching people they started out with ten or fewer children meeting on a curbside over there and the government came and kind of just did a street sweeping and tried to get rid of them didn't happen they're up to about fifty children now he's a believer they're teaching the word so you know what that means so if you will pray for pastor Ravi that they would indeed find a place and I'm praying that they're not even have to pay rent that it will be a place that's just given to them let's go one better because he can okay so let's pray that for them and that the father will show us what if anything we're supposed to do to help support that other than through prayer I want to pray for Jean everybody knows a little Miss Jean she's always around she's our Scrabble queen when it comes to putting the games together for us her son David he served our country he was honored in Washington we're so thankful to that David and Miss Jean for what she went through while your son was away serving our country and some of the situation's that we know were scary for you and for him but he is back in the States he needs a hip replacement and he's been in tremendous pain he did make the journey to spend Thanksgiving with mom and family so let's keep David in prayer Ben speaking of David I don't see our other David here today so where are you David we're praying for you too and we love you a few hellos right quick and praise reports all these people I'm blown away at where everybody's tuning in from okay so just a few okay Alison's reminding me miss Cindy we've been praying for her I talked about her and Miss Virgie our little prank grandma all the time so this morning miss Virgie told us that Cindy is not doing well right now she's having difficulties making transition into a living situation where she will not be able to live on her own anymore so if you will just keep Cindy in prayer and also keep miss Virgie in prayer she never asked for anything for herself but we know she has needs too so this Virgin we pray that your needs are answer - hello - Melbourne Australia Northern Ireland Eastern Canada Canada Pakistan we had somebody write in from Pakistan and pray for a move of God there hello to some of our people who were together it's a coat they've all gathered down in Florida so the Petersons the Hostetler's and the flemings and whoever else gathered there hey we miss those of you who are usually here and can't wait to see the rest of you tell mom she and Mike are making a cross-country move and she had eye surgery and it went very well so we're very thankful for that that can be scary we'll have some announcements after a prayer but that's all that's as far as we'll go for now all right let's all stand please again let's not just kind of go through the motions let's pray for these people you know prayer needs that you know of if you have a knee by the way if you want to put it on a piece of paper here and when their ladies get together on Wednesdays they go through the prayer requests that are here and as much as they can the ones that come in online but if you have any prayer requests put them there but let's pray believing and when we pray don't listen to me don't just kind of you know bow your head and let's get through this so we can get to the food let's pray like it was our loved one let's pray like it was you know someone who was very near and dear to us because Beth just scratched the surface of all the different requests that are coming in and asking this congregation this group of people to pray for them and so father we come to you today again thankful for your goodness in your mercy you are good that is what we heard today that you are good and your goodness extends to us and that you have allowed us to come into relationship with you to be reconciled to our Creator and you compel us to overcome the the nature that we came into this world with the one that wants to be self-absorbed the one that wants to be wants to indulge itself to come to the place of being people that prefer others over ourselves then truly do love our neighbors as ourself and in this way we express that we love you with all of our heart our soul and strength and so it is in that spirit that we come before you on the behalf of the people who've asked us to pray all of the names that were mentioned all the names that weren't mentioned but that are are any emails and posts and comments and on pieces of paper that have been entrusted to us all of those names all those people all of those needs and cares we lift them up before you you see each and every one and so together as a family of faith we we call upon you Father to have mercy and compassion upon these people who are sick and mind body and spirit and that you would heal them that you would restore them that you would strengthen them that you would encourage them and that she would send someone their way to him to encourage them to hold on to persevere and to believe that the fulfillment of the promise that you've given to them is at hand we believe that we're living in the A's of reap age of redemption and when you led your people out of Egypt and that age of redemption there were no Sikh among them and so father we pray that you will begin to heal your people as we come into this age of redemption that you will heal us of those emotional scars the mental despair you would pray father that you will heal us of the hurts and the pains that we've had to endure the disappointments and the betrayals and we pray that you will heal us of sickness and ailment and infirmity and that you that you will enable us father to put us in a position to declare to the world with evidence that our God reigns that he heals and that he restores and repairs father I pray that it is your will that one day someone will stand right here in front of this stage that should not be standing and we'll be able to share with everyone who's watching everyone's here how you have restored their life in every way how do you raise them up from a wheelchair how that you heal them of some deadly disease we pray father that that day will come and it will that you will hasten it so we pray that in the meantime that we will we will abandon the old mindset of believing that those things are four times past then they don't happen anymore that we will shed that mindset and believe that you do these things today because you don't change you are the same yesterday today and forever because your Compassion's are new every morning because you are merciful to your people we pray for the healing of your people today and we thank you and we honor you with these reports of praise where you have answered prayer believing that you will continue to do this in the future thank you in Yeshua's name a man remain standing [Music] [Music] give-give you [Music] school [Music] oh man you may be seated before we do before we do that do you want to give explanation or are we ready oh well we'll do announcements later well what we're gonna do is we're gonna come down both sides at the table again alright so and beverages and utensils are all over there right okay all right so this is kind of a new day we're not going to go back into the Haven place we're gonna go into our place over there all right that is official now so what we're gonna do is as we just after we do a hamachi and and the kiddush will dismiss you and you'll go down both sides of the tables here your plates and your food will be here and you're just gonna go out the back door and that back corridor and instead of going out the big double doors you're gonna turn right there to that door and you're gonna go in there and you'll see the seating area by the way there are restrooms over there as well so I'm as excited about more restrooms as anything so anyway so anyway that's all over there and then after we have the meal for those of you who are remaining we're gonna come back over here and we'll have our our Midrash I'm gonna guesstimate that'll be somewhere around 3:15 to 3:30 somewhere in there just depends on how quickly this goes and then the the young people that is the quiver is going to meet over here in that room after we get through with Oneg Nayla does she wear I can ask a question are you are you going to meet with the other kids are you gonna do it over there are you gonna do it here and thought about that okay we'll be thinking about that we'll get your chairs will get you chairs alright alright so after onek children that are five through ten or nine excuse me five through nine we'll meet over here in this room over on the left where the young people have been with Nayla and the quiver will be over here the rest of us will be come back over here for a Midrash so did I get all that in all right so utensils and beverages are over in the other room so let us all stand join me please baruch adonai eloheynu melech ha-olam boray puri hagafen man blessed are you O Lord our God King of the universe who creates the fruit of the vine and forgiving us you sure the Messiah who said I am the vine and you are the branches the hime [Music] motsi baruch adonai eloheynu melech ha'olam hamotzi Lechem min Haaretz man blessed are you O Lord our God King of the universe who brings forth bread from the earth and forgiving us who shoe the Messiah who said I am the bread of life a man [Music] okie-dokie [Music] you may be seated I just wanted to do something real quick right if yours this is your first time here raise your hand this for this family tell me your last name again brother Bennett the Bennett's are here this is their first time yes what's your name please white wieck's okay where are you guys from Michigan wow that's a long way to come and anyone else this is your first time here today yes oh yeah I'm Alec in rehab from Memphis this is the Blackmun's sons right okay anyone yeah the tupper's from Etowah we just want to thank and welcome all of our first-time visitors right so let's give a big hand so here's what I want to do I would like for all of our guests to get at the head of the line first why not [Music] you can still get in the front of the line but he got ahead of everything so not be honey [Music] he knew I had a few more announcements okay so did y'all have a good Thanksgiving yeah me too I ate a lot of food I have on my stretchy pants today because I ate so much food so I'm gonna eat some more good food so Max and John that was just for you and so he already said hello to the new families that was on my list of things to do so we haven't said hello to the streamers you can't say bye until we say hello first right guys let him hear it okay so are we are we good now to stand up sit down what I'm gonna do is stand up and wave everybody stand up and just say hi and thank you Sammy for panting across there and getting as many of us as you can [Music] okay okay so now it's safe to say goodbye to the live streams that will be back around 3:15 ish it's always in here so anyway we love you streamers will see you at midrash okay so are we out for the life for the streamers and Al Sammy [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: Bill Cloud

Views: 4,065

Rating: 4.9166665 out of 5

Keywords: bill cloud, shoreshim, torah, bible, shabbat, shabbat night live, hebraic roots network, brad scott, michael rood, messianic, prophecy, rapture, sabbath, daily devotional, perry stone, a rood awakening, jewish history, judaism, christianity, joel richardson, mount sinai, israel, jerusalem, conservative, hebrew roots movement, unlearn, bible truth, hebrew, yeshua, messiah, politics news, donald trump, jesus, yhwh, 119 ministries, jonathan cahn, end times, last days, monte judah, revelation, esau

Id: 4gnJ4Yen3fI

Length: 172min 20sec (10340 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 30 2019