1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,000 We are going to be back in Genesis this morning. 2 00:00:03,966 --> 00:00:07,966 in the next part of the narrative of Jacob's 3 00:00:07,966 --> 00:00:11,699 life, God's rogue, in 4 00:00:11,699 --> 00:00:13,333 Genesis chapter number 27. 5 00:00:14,166 --> 00:00:16,100 And we're going to look at the whole chapter. 6 00:00:16,133 --> 00:00:19,266 There's a lot of verses, and I usually try to 7 00:00:19,266 --> 00:00:23,100 read the whole chapter and then read where I get my points from, but 8 00:00:23,100 --> 00:00:26,166 because it's so many, we're just going to do that in parts, because 9 00:00:26,166 --> 00:00:29,600 I don't read quite as excitingly as Philip does. 10 00:00:29,633 --> 00:00:32,766 But we're going to start reading in verse 11 00:00:32,766 --> 00:00:36,000 number 30, and then read down to the verse number 46. 12 00:00:36,233 --> 00:00:40,266 So Genesis 27 verses 30 46. 13 00:00:42,166 --> 00:00:45,433 God's word says now it came about as soon as Isaac had 14 00:00:45,433 --> 00:00:48,433 finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly 15 00:00:48,433 --> 00:00:50,233 gone out from the presence of Isaac. 16 00:00:51,666 --> 00:00:55,233 His father, that Esau, his brother, came in from his hunting. 17 00:00:56,066 --> 00:00:59,299 Then he also made savory food and brought it to his father. 18 00:00:59,399 --> 00:01:02,399 And he said to his father, Let my father 19 00:01:02,399 --> 00:01:05,400 arise, and eat of his sons' game, that you may bless me. 20 00:01:05,533 --> 00:01:08,099 Isaac, his father, said to him, Who are you? 21 00:01:08,233 --> 00:01:11,233 And he said, I am your son, your firstborn Esau. 22 00:01:11,266 --> 00:01:14,433 Then Isaac trembled violently and said, 23 00:01:14,466 --> 00:01:17,533 Who was he, then that hunted game and 24 00:01:17,533 --> 00:01:20,766 brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you 25 00:01:20,766 --> 00:01:21,833 came and blessed him? 26 00:01:21,900 --> 00:01:24,733 Yes, and he shall be, blessed. 27 00:01:24,766 --> 00:01:27,299 When Esau heard the words of his father, 28 00:01:27,366 --> 00:01:30,533 He cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter 29 00:01:30,533 --> 00:01:33,599 cry, and said to his father, Bless me, even me 30 00:01:33,599 --> 00:01:34,866 also, O my father. 31 00:01:34,966 --> 00:01:38,566 And he said, Your brother came deceitfully, and 32 00:01:38,566 --> 00:01:40,133 has taken away your blessing. 33 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,866 Then he said, Is he not rightly named Jacob, 34 00:01:43,866 --> 00:01:45,900 for he has supplanted me these two times. 35 00:01:45,966 --> 00:01:49,033 He took away my birthright, and behold, 36 00:01:49,033 --> 00:01:52,033 now he has taken away my blessing, and he said, 37 00:01:52,033 --> 00:01:53,966 Have you not reserved a blessing for me? 38 00:01:54,066 --> 00:01:57,433 But Isaac replied to Esau, Behold, I 39 00:01:57,433 --> 00:02:00,666 have made him your master, and all his relatives I 40 00:02:00,666 --> 00:02:04,733 have given him as servants, and with grain, and new wine, I have sustained him. 41 00:02:04,866 --> 00:02:07,866 Now, as for you, then, what can I do, my son? 42 00:02:07,966 --> 00:02:11,733 Esau said to his father, do you have only one blessing, my father? 43 00:02:11,833 --> 00:02:13,466 Bless me, even me also? 44 00:02:13,500 --> 00:02:14,466 O my Father? 45 00:02:14,533 --> 00:02:16,800 So Esau lifted his voice and wept. 46 00:02:16,866 --> 00:02:19,966 Then Isaac, his father, answered him, and said 47 00:02:19,966 --> 00:02:23,033 to him, Behold, away from the 48 00:02:23,033 --> 00:02:26,033 fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling, and away 49 00:02:26,033 --> 00:02:29,033 from the dew of heaven from above, By your sword ye 50 00:02:29,033 --> 00:02:32,033 shall live, and your brother ye shall serve, but it shall come 51 00:02:32,033 --> 00:02:35,099 about, when you become restless, that you will break 52 00:02:35,099 --> 00:02:36,133 his yoke from your neck. 53 00:02:36,233 --> 00:02:39,400 So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob, 54 00:02:39,433 --> 00:02:41,966 because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. 55 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,300 And Esau said to himself, The days of mourning 56 00:02:45,300 --> 00:02:48,233 for my father are near, then I will kill my brother Jacob. 57 00:02:48,366 --> 00:02:51,733 Now, when the words of her elder son, Esau, 58 00:02:51,733 --> 00:02:54,866 were reported to Rebekah, she sent and called her younger 59 00:02:54,866 --> 00:02:57,966 son, Jacob, and said to him, Behold, your 60 00:02:57,966 --> 00:03:01,800 brother, Esau, is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you. 61 00:03:01,933 --> 00:03:05,233 Now, therefore, my son, obey my voice, 62 00:03:05,233 --> 00:03:08,633 and arise, flee to Haran, to my brother Laban, 63 00:03:08,633 --> 00:03:11,766 stay with him a few days, until your brother's 64 00:03:11,766 --> 00:03:15,000 fury subsides, until your brother's anger against 65 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,433 you subsides, and he forgets what you did to him, then 66 00:03:18,433 --> 00:03:20,400 I will sin and get you from here. 67 00:03:20,466 --> 00:03:23,633 Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day? 68 00:03:23,699 --> 00:03:27,000 Rebecca said to Isaac, I am tired of living. 69 00:03:27,133 --> 00:03:28,933 Because of the daughters of Heth. 70 00:03:28,966 --> 00:03:32,033 If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, 71 00:03:32,033 --> 00:03:35,199 like these, from the daughters of the land, what good will 72 00:03:35,233 --> 00:03:36,300 my life be to me? 73 00:03:36,366 --> 00:03:37,099 Let's pray. 74 00:03:37,133 --> 00:03:38,466 Heavenly Father, we love you. 75 00:03:38,933 --> 00:03:42,966 Lord, what a great morning it is to come and sing to you, and worship you, Lord. 76 00:03:43,033 --> 00:03:46,033 And I pray that's just what we do in this message that you bless 77 00:03:46,033 --> 00:03:49,033 the message, in spite of the messenger, in our hearts and minds, to 78 00:03:49,033 --> 00:03:51,300 your truth, and for your glory in Christ's name. 79 00:03:51,366 --> 00:03:51,966 Amen. 80 00:03:53,099 --> 00:03:55,266 Jacob, as we saw, excuse me. 81 00:03:57,500 --> 00:04:00,599 Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son 82 00:04:00,599 --> 00:04:04,033 of Abraham, was born to Rebekah, 83 00:04:04,033 --> 00:04:07,099 in the last passage that we looked at last 84 00:04:07,099 --> 00:04:10,133 month, and he was born as a twin, 85 00:04:10,133 --> 00:04:13,266 with his brother Esau, and right from 86 00:04:13,266 --> 00:04:17,399 the beginning, we've already seen the trouble in 87 00:04:17,399 --> 00:04:21,833 Rebecca's life, in Isaac's life, and now in Jacob and Esau's life. 88 00:04:21,899 --> 00:04:25,800 Jacob and Esau were fighting prenatally. 89 00:04:25,866 --> 00:04:30,133 They were struggling in the womb, the author says. 90 00:04:30,166 --> 00:04:33,466 They gave their mother, Rebecca, 91 00:04:33,466 --> 00:04:37,000 a lot of consternation during her pregnancy. 92 00:04:37,066 --> 00:04:40,066 It was a very rough pregnancy, and she 93 00:04:40,066 --> 00:04:41,933 felt awful and so awful. 94 00:04:42,966 --> 00:04:46,233 She prayed to God, if you remember it, in chapter 25, 95 00:04:46,233 --> 00:04:49,666 verse 22, says, But the children struggle together within her. 96 00:04:49,733 --> 00:04:53,699 And she said, If it is so, why then am I this way? 97 00:04:53,833 --> 00:04:56,466 So she went to inquire of the Lord. 98 00:04:57,266 --> 00:05:00,333 And so Jacob and Esau were born, and 99 00:05:00,333 --> 00:05:03,466 Jacob was such a mess from the beginning, that his 100 00:05:03,466 --> 00:05:06,466 name he got from grabbing the heel of 101 00:05:06,466 --> 00:05:09,533 his minutes older brother, as they 102 00:05:09,533 --> 00:05:11,199 were being born. 103 00:05:11,399 --> 00:05:15,066 This fact, this grabbing 104 00:05:15,066 --> 00:05:18,066 of the heel, this kind of 105 00:05:18,066 --> 00:05:21,533 trying to get his way, it was becoming very consistent 106 00:05:21,533 --> 00:05:22,666 with his character. 107 00:05:22,666 --> 00:05:26,733 His name was very fitting, that old heel grabber. 108 00:05:26,866 --> 00:05:30,300 He was always scheming on how he could trip up the next guy, 109 00:05:30,300 --> 00:05:32,466 and how he could get ahead himself. 110 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,199 And while Rebecca was going through that struggle 111 00:05:37,199 --> 00:05:40,333 of pregnancy, and she prayed to inquire why 112 00:05:40,333 --> 00:05:43,399 there was so much struggle in her womb at the 113 00:05:43,399 --> 00:05:46,966 time, that the Lord answered her prayer with 114 00:05:46,966 --> 00:05:50,100 a prophecy in the next verse in 115 00:05:50,100 --> 00:05:53,333 chapter 25, verse 23, the Lord said to 116 00:05:53,333 --> 00:05:56,566 her, Two nations are in your womb, and 117 00:05:56,566 --> 00:06:00,000 two peoples will be separated from your body, and 118 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,166 one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older 119 00:06:03,233 --> 00:06:05,333 shall serve the younger. 120 00:06:05,466 --> 00:06:09,133 So this rogue of a man, as I'm 121 00:06:09,133 --> 00:06:12,666 calling him, was set, as God's 122 00:06:12,666 --> 00:06:16,433 choice, to be a nation that would be great and strong. 123 00:06:16,500 --> 00:06:19,500 And kind of the point is that 124 00:06:19,500 --> 00:06:22,633 it is because God chose Jacob, not because of 125 00:06:22,633 --> 00:06:25,699 any good in Jacob, as we have seen, and 126 00:06:25,699 --> 00:06:30,033 as we will continue to see, as we go through 127 00:06:30,066 --> 00:06:33,133 Jacob's life, and that should make 128 00:06:33,133 --> 00:06:34,633 us feel glad, right? 129 00:06:34,666 --> 00:06:38,266 That should make us feel happy that God chooses to 130 00:06:38,266 --> 00:06:41,399 use sinners, like Jacob, and like us 131 00:06:41,399 --> 00:06:43,266 to fulfill his plans. 132 00:06:43,333 --> 00:06:46,633 And so right out of the gate, as Jacob and 133 00:06:46,633 --> 00:06:49,766 Esau grow older, the next account 134 00:06:49,766 --> 00:06:53,166 of their lives, if you remember, was 135 00:06:53,166 --> 00:06:56,699 how Jacob traded a pot of red stew for 136 00:06:56,699 --> 00:06:58,666 Esau's birthright. 137 00:06:58,666 --> 00:07:02,199 And this would begin, as 138 00:07:02,233 --> 00:07:05,266 you could imagine, to put a strain on their 139 00:07:05,266 --> 00:07:06,633 relationship as brothers. 140 00:07:06,899 --> 00:07:10,433 Chapter 26, then, after chapter 141 00:07:10,433 --> 00:07:13,733 25, tells a story of Isaac 142 00:07:13,733 --> 00:07:17,633 and his struggles with some neighbors over some wells. 143 00:07:17,866 --> 00:07:20,866 But then we come to our passage today, the next passage that 144 00:07:20,866 --> 00:07:24,233 speaks of Jacob's life in chapter 27, 145 00:07:24,233 --> 00:07:27,233 and we get a glimpse as to not 146 00:07:27,233 --> 00:07:30,300 just Jacob, the sinner, but how the whole family 147 00:07:30,300 --> 00:07:34,566 was dysfunctional, that 148 00:07:34,566 --> 00:07:37,866 each one of them was quite a mess, 149 00:07:37,866 --> 00:07:40,866 and the question is, 150 00:07:40,866 --> 00:07:43,866 will all the Hebrew nation, will God's 151 00:07:43,866 --> 00:07:48,000 chosen people come from this mess of a family? 152 00:07:48,666 --> 00:07:52,566 All four of them are shown 153 00:07:52,566 --> 00:07:54,000 here in horrible light. 154 00:07:54,133 --> 00:07:57,500 None of them are painted in a favorable light. 155 00:07:57,533 --> 00:08:00,533 There's no redeeming quality to any of the 156 00:08:00,533 --> 00:08:03,899 four people in the story, and that's how 157 00:08:03,899 --> 00:08:05,266 the Bible usually tells it. 158 00:08:05,333 --> 00:08:06,899 It tells it how it is. 159 00:08:06,966 --> 00:08:10,866 It's not a panegyric, like an old mythological 160 00:08:10,866 --> 00:08:14,000 story about a great thing or a great family of old that 161 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:17,399 would just look perfect, or that the author would take 162 00:08:17,399 --> 00:08:20,399 all the rough edges and smooth them out, so that they look 163 00:08:20,399 --> 00:08:21,600 like super men. 164 00:08:21,666 --> 00:08:24,966 But these are real accounts of real people, and 165 00:08:24,966 --> 00:08:28,066 it's over and over and over again in scripture that 166 00:08:28,066 --> 00:08:31,133 the scripture doesn't a roll over, 167 00:08:31,133 --> 00:08:34,200 a pass over, any blemish for the sake 168 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:37,333 of making the characters of the accounts in 169 00:08:37,333 --> 00:08:39,733 the Bible look better than they actually are. 170 00:08:39,766 --> 00:08:43,066 And in the end, all of the 171 00:08:43,066 --> 00:08:46,133 accounts of scripture, or how God can take those 172 00:08:46,133 --> 00:08:49,133 real pictures of fallen 173 00:08:49,133 --> 00:08:52,433 humanity, and fleshly sin, and dysfunction, 174 00:08:52,433 --> 00:08:56,100 and mess, and shape it into his ultimate will. 175 00:08:56,166 --> 00:08:59,233 And that's the theme, kind of today, is that 176 00:08:59,233 --> 00:09:02,299 God's will be done, even 177 00:09:02,299 --> 00:09:06,533 in our messes, in our dysfunction, and in our sin. 178 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:09,000 So the first part I want us to look at, 179 00:09:09,966 --> 00:09:13,033 I'm calling the machinations, because it really is 180 00:09:13,033 --> 00:09:17,000 some scheming going on here, of four sinners in our story. 181 00:09:17,033 --> 00:09:19,733 And we're going to read verses 1 through 17. 182 00:09:21,399 --> 00:09:24,600 Now, it came about, when Isaac was old, 183 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:27,666 and his eyes were too dim to see, that he 184 00:09:27,666 --> 00:09:30,833 called his older son, Esau, and said to him, My 185 00:09:30,833 --> 00:09:33,366 son, and he said to him, Here I am. 186 00:09:33,466 --> 00:09:36,633 Isaac said, Behold, now, I am old, 187 00:09:36,666 --> 00:09:38,533 and I do not know the day of my death. 188 00:09:38,566 --> 00:09:42,000 Now, then, please take your gear, your quiver, 189 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,533 and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, and 190 00:09:45,533 --> 00:09:48,666 prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and 191 00:09:48,666 --> 00:09:52,500 bring it to me, that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die. 192 00:09:52,566 --> 00:09:56,633 Rebecca was listening, while Isaac spoke to his son, Esau. 193 00:09:56,700 --> 00:09:59,833 So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home, 194 00:09:59,833 --> 00:10:03,133 Rebecca said to her son, Jacob, behold, I 195 00:10:03,133 --> 00:10:06,133 heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying, Bring me 196 00:10:06,133 --> 00:10:09,133 some game, and prepare a savory dish for me, that I 197 00:10:09,133 --> 00:10:12,200 may eat and bless you in the presence of the Lord, before my death. 198 00:10:12,233 --> 00:10:15,700 Now, therefore, my son, listen to me as I command you. 199 00:10:15,766 --> 00:10:19,000 Go now to the flock, and bring me two choice young goats 200 00:10:19,033 --> 00:10:22,133 from there, that I may prepare them as a savory dish for 201 00:10:22,133 --> 00:10:23,566 your father, such as he loves. 202 00:10:23,633 --> 00:10:26,700 Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, 203 00:10:26,700 --> 00:10:28,799 so that he may bless you before his death. 204 00:10:28,866 --> 00:10:31,333 Jacob answered his mother Rebecca. 205 00:10:31,366 --> 00:10:34,066 You would think he would say, hey, that doesn't sound ethical. 206 00:10:34,133 --> 00:10:34,899 That's not what he says. 207 00:10:34,966 --> 00:10:39,100 Listen, behold, Esau, my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 208 00:10:39,233 --> 00:10:41,466 Perhaps my father will feel me. 209 00:10:41,533 --> 00:10:44,700 Then I will be as a deceiver at his sight, and I will bring upon 210 00:10:44,700 --> 00:10:46,666 myself a curse, and not a blessing. 211 00:10:47,700 --> 00:10:50,866 But his mother said to him, Your curse be on me, my son, 212 00:10:50,866 --> 00:10:53,399 only obey my voice, and go get them from me. 213 00:10:53,533 --> 00:10:56,766 So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother, 214 00:10:56,766 --> 00:11:00,133 and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved. 215 00:11:00,166 --> 00:11:03,233 Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau, her 216 00:11:03,233 --> 00:11:06,233 elder son, which were with her in the house, and put 217 00:11:06,233 --> 00:11:09,399 them on Jacob, her younger son, and she put the 218 00:11:09,433 --> 00:11:12,433 skins of the young goats on his hands, and onto 219 00:11:12,433 --> 00:11:13,500 the smooth part of his neck. 220 00:11:13,566 --> 00:11:16,733 She also gave the savory food and the bread, 221 00:11:16,733 --> 00:11:19,966 what she had made to her son, Jacob. 222 00:11:20,033 --> 00:11:22,433 So there's four people in our story. 223 00:11:22,566 --> 00:11:26,100 There's Isaac, the son of Abraham, his wife, Rebecca, 224 00:11:26,100 --> 00:11:28,366 and there's Esau, and then there's Jacob. 225 00:11:28,433 --> 00:11:31,566 And all four of them, have 226 00:11:31,566 --> 00:11:35,100 their own motivations, and their own plans, their 227 00:11:35,100 --> 00:11:38,233 reason for doing these things, and all of their plans, 228 00:11:38,233 --> 00:11:41,766 and all of their motivations, it seemed from the story, are 229 00:11:41,766 --> 00:11:44,600 all through the eyes of flesh. 230 00:11:44,633 --> 00:11:47,866 None of them are looking at it through 231 00:11:47,866 --> 00:11:50,933 an eye for God's will, or God's law, 232 00:11:50,933 --> 00:11:54,000 or for righteousness, or how to go 233 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:55,633 through life in a way that pleases God. 234 00:11:55,733 --> 00:11:58,866 Each one of them are trying to go through life and trying 235 00:11:58,866 --> 00:12:02,033 to make their life successful in a way that 236 00:12:02,033 --> 00:12:03,233 it is fleshly. 237 00:12:04,266 --> 00:12:07,166 The first or the plans of Isaac. 238 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:10,266 Isaac knew that the end of his life was coming up. 239 00:12:10,333 --> 00:12:13,799 His eyes were going to go dark soon, and 240 00:12:13,799 --> 00:12:18,433 it was time for his blessing to be given to one of his sons. 241 00:12:18,533 --> 00:12:21,600 And at this time, the blessing is kind of 242 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:25,033 the last will and testament. 243 00:12:25,033 --> 00:12:28,333 But Isaac knew that the 244 00:12:28,333 --> 00:12:31,333 prophecy that was given to Rebecca, his 245 00:12:31,333 --> 00:12:34,466 wife, as she was praying to the Lord, was 246 00:12:34,466 --> 00:12:37,666 that the older Esau, would serve the younger. 247 00:12:37,733 --> 00:12:40,733 And he knew 248 00:12:40,733 --> 00:12:44,399 that ahead of time, but he liked Esau better. 249 00:12:45,100 --> 00:12:48,299 The reason that Isaac liked Esau better 250 00:12:48,299 --> 00:12:52,666 was because Isaac liked to eat, particularly 251 00:12:52,666 --> 00:12:55,299 the type of food that Esau cooked. 252 00:12:55,366 --> 00:12:58,433 We saw it here in the passage we just read, but also in 253 00:12:58,433 --> 00:13:00,466 chapter 25, verse 28. 254 00:13:00,733 --> 00:13:03,766 It says, Now Isaac loved Esau, because he 255 00:13:03,766 --> 00:13:05,333 had a taste for game. 256 00:13:05,399 --> 00:13:07,666 But Rebecca loved Jacob. 257 00:13:08,299 --> 00:13:11,266 Isaac was led around by his stomach. 258 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:15,233 He made a decision, not based on God's word, 259 00:13:15,233 --> 00:13:17,266 that the older would serve the younger. 260 00:13:17,266 --> 00:13:20,399 He made a decision on which son he liked, because 261 00:13:20,399 --> 00:13:24,366 he liked the taste of Esau's game and his cooking. 262 00:13:25,366 --> 00:13:28,633 So he comes up with this idea for a private 263 00:13:28,633 --> 00:13:32,100 ceremony, which was not the way these things were normally 264 00:13:32,100 --> 00:13:36,166 done, with just Esau, Isaac, 265 00:13:36,166 --> 00:13:39,633 and a ceremony, which is Esau, Isaac, 266 00:13:39,666 --> 00:13:42,066 and Isaac's stomach in attendance. 267 00:13:42,700 --> 00:13:45,733 Ralph Davies calls Isaac, 268 00:13:45,733 --> 00:13:48,733 the patron saint, of all who say, I don't really 269 00:13:48,733 --> 00:13:50,366 care what the word of God says. 270 00:13:50,466 --> 00:13:53,533 I will follow my own feelings, and 271 00:13:53,533 --> 00:13:56,766 we'll see, as we get into the next passage, next part of the passage. 272 00:13:56,833 --> 00:13:59,966 that it's not just his stomach, his 273 00:13:59,966 --> 00:14:04,866 taste, it's his feelings, his hearing, 274 00:14:04,866 --> 00:14:06,066 all of his senses. 275 00:14:06,133 --> 00:14:08,166 He's a very fleshly person. 276 00:14:08,233 --> 00:14:11,566 So Isaac plans to have this private ceremony, 277 00:14:11,566 --> 00:14:14,866 to go against the will of God, in secret, 278 00:14:14,866 --> 00:14:19,000 and give his blessing to Esau, or the last will and 279 00:14:19,033 --> 00:14:20,066 testament of his life. 280 00:14:20,700 --> 00:14:23,233 And then we look at the plans of Esau. 281 00:14:23,866 --> 00:14:26,166 Esau was a man of the present. 282 00:14:27,100 --> 00:14:30,233 As we saw last month, he is that the 283 00:14:30,233 --> 00:14:33,233 quintessential secular man, he could care 284 00:14:33,233 --> 00:14:36,233 less about the future, about the promises of God, 285 00:14:36,233 --> 00:14:39,700 about the name of his family, or even his own reputation. 286 00:14:39,766 --> 00:14:42,899 He just wanted what he wanted at 287 00:14:42,899 --> 00:14:44,233 the moment that he wanted it. 288 00:14:44,333 --> 00:14:47,700 And in the end of chapter 26, 289 00:14:47,700 --> 00:14:51,000 he marries someone from the tribes that 290 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:53,333 they were promised to have the land from. 291 00:14:53,333 --> 00:14:56,500 Verse 34, when Esau was 40 years old, 292 00:14:56,533 --> 00:14:59,666 he married Judith, the daughter of Barry, the 293 00:14:59,666 --> 00:15:02,799 Hittite, and Basimuth, the daughter of 294 00:15:02,833 --> 00:15:06,299 Elon, the Hittite, and they brought grief 295 00:15:06,299 --> 00:15:07,366 to Isaac and Rebekah. 296 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:09,000 What does he care? 297 00:15:09,066 --> 00:15:10,433 What's the big deal? 298 00:15:10,500 --> 00:15:11,466 He loved them, right? 299 00:15:11,533 --> 00:15:13,266 They pleased him, right? 300 00:15:13,366 --> 00:15:16,799 The big deal was, he was only thinking of himself, 301 00:15:16,799 --> 00:15:19,866 not thinking of the promise and the covenant of 302 00:15:19,866 --> 00:15:22,866 God, to bless his family and all families 303 00:15:22,866 --> 00:15:25,500 on the earth from his family. 304 00:15:25,566 --> 00:15:29,333 His family, Abraham and Isaac, 305 00:15:29,333 --> 00:15:32,200 had the promise and covenant of God on them. 306 00:15:32,266 --> 00:15:34,799 But he could care less about that. 307 00:15:34,866 --> 00:15:38,033 He was worried about what he wanted at the time. 308 00:15:39,066 --> 00:15:42,733 But this lack of care, this lack of foresight, 309 00:15:42,733 --> 00:15:45,766 or thinking of the future, is going to get him 310 00:15:45,766 --> 00:15:48,633 into big trouble, as we're seeing in this passage. 311 00:15:49,399 --> 00:15:52,433 And then the third person, in our story that had 312 00:15:52,433 --> 00:15:55,600 schemes and machinations, was Rebecca, 313 00:15:55,633 --> 00:15:57,299 the wife of Isaac. 314 00:15:58,566 --> 00:16:01,933 There might have been, in her mind, this idea, 315 00:16:01,933 --> 00:16:04,966 well, my husband is gone, and 316 00:16:04,966 --> 00:16:07,799 I need to help fulfill God's plans. 317 00:16:07,866 --> 00:16:10,866 I need to take action myself to make God's plan, 318 00:16:10,866 --> 00:16:12,733 and God's prophecy come true. 319 00:16:12,833 --> 00:16:14,933 What's a little lie? 320 00:16:15,066 --> 00:16:19,333 if it furthers the greater good, or the bigger plan. 321 00:16:19,366 --> 00:16:22,433 She could have reminded Isaac, that 322 00:16:22,433 --> 00:16:25,966 it was God's prophecy, that Esau would 323 00:16:25,966 --> 00:16:29,033 serve Jacob, and trusted in God, 324 00:16:29,033 --> 00:16:32,799 to keep his promise in a way that 325 00:16:32,833 --> 00:16:36,266 he would choose, but she took things into her own hands. 326 00:16:36,366 --> 00:16:40,733 And she worked out a plan from her own mind to 327 00:16:40,733 --> 00:16:42,366 make things happen. 328 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:45,433 And then the last person is Jacob. 329 00:16:45,533 --> 00:16:47,033 the rogue himself. 330 00:16:48,100 --> 00:16:51,133 Verse 11 and 12, as we saw, show that 331 00:16:51,133 --> 00:16:54,600 his concern was not for what is right, but 332 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:56,766 his only concern about what might happen to him. 333 00:16:56,833 --> 00:16:59,600 How might this hurt and affect him? 334 00:16:59,633 --> 00:17:03,233 Verse 11 says, Jacob answered his mother, Rebecca, Behold, Esau, 335 00:17:03,233 --> 00:17:05,500 my brother, is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 336 00:17:05,633 --> 00:17:08,633 Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be 337 00:17:08,633 --> 00:17:11,799 as a deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a 338 00:17:11,833 --> 00:17:13,466 curse, and not a blessing. 339 00:17:13,566 --> 00:17:15,200 Complete pragmatist. 340 00:17:15,233 --> 00:17:19,066 He's an only concerned about what might happen to him, not 341 00:17:19,066 --> 00:17:21,166 about what's right or the right thing to do. 342 00:17:21,233 --> 00:17:23,933 So all four of these sinners. 343 00:17:24,066 --> 00:17:27,200 are all going about sinning in different ways. 344 00:17:27,233 --> 00:17:30,599 They're all looking at the situation in one 345 00:17:30,599 --> 00:17:33,666 way or the other, but in the end, they're all looking out for 346 00:17:33,666 --> 00:17:36,733 number one, right, themselves, in their own 347 00:17:36,733 --> 00:17:38,666 ways and their own personalities. 348 00:17:38,766 --> 00:17:41,766 And maybe we can relate someone we know in 349 00:17:41,766 --> 00:17:44,766 our life that fits into one of these four different patterns 350 00:17:44,766 --> 00:17:48,400 of sinful behavior from our characters, 351 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:52,200 and maybe you can relate with someone in the mirror to one of these. 352 00:17:52,333 --> 00:17:53,533 And that's the idea. 353 00:17:53,566 --> 00:17:56,700 Maybe we don't want to admit it, but we probably 354 00:17:56,700 --> 00:18:00,233 have a natural inclination to one of these four different types of character. 355 00:18:01,799 --> 00:18:05,233 But all these different types of characters, and the rest of this passage, 356 00:18:05,233 --> 00:18:08,233 the rest of Genesis, be honest with you, is here 357 00:18:08,233 --> 00:18:10,933 to show us what Proverbs 1921 teaches. 358 00:18:10,966 --> 00:18:13,966 Many plans are in a man's heart, 359 00:18:13,966 --> 00:18:17,866 but the counsel of the Lord will stand. 360 00:18:18,666 --> 00:18:20,433 And so the next part of our passage, 361 00:18:20,466 --> 00:18:24,133 We see the four different characters and their schemes and machinations. 362 00:18:24,166 --> 00:18:27,400 And now we see that the plan works, the deception 363 00:18:27,433 --> 00:18:29,833 works, versus 18 through 29. 364 00:18:29,933 --> 00:18:31,433 I know this a longer passage. 365 00:18:31,500 --> 00:18:32,233 Just bear with me. 366 00:18:32,266 --> 00:18:32,799 It's a good story. 367 00:18:32,933 --> 00:18:36,000 Then he came to his father and said, 368 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:37,500 My father. 369 00:18:37,633 --> 00:18:38,533 And he said, here I am. 370 00:18:38,633 --> 00:18:39,666 Who are you, my son? 371 00:18:39,766 --> 00:18:42,933 Jacob said to his father, I am Esau, 372 00:18:42,966 --> 00:18:45,666 your firstborn, I have done as you told me. 373 00:18:45,733 --> 00:18:46,766 Get up, please. 374 00:18:46,866 --> 00:18:49,333 Set and eat of my game, that you may bless me. 375 00:18:49,433 --> 00:18:53,333 Isaac said to his son, How is it that you have it so quickly? 376 00:18:53,466 --> 00:18:54,799 My son? 377 00:18:54,900 --> 00:18:58,633 And he said, Because, the Lord your God caused it to happen to me. 378 00:18:58,733 --> 00:19:01,733 Then Isaac said to Jacob, please come close, that I may 379 00:19:01,733 --> 00:19:05,266 feel you, my son, whether you are really my son, Esau or not. 380 00:19:05,866 --> 00:19:08,966 So Jacob came close to his Isaac's 381 00:19:08,966 --> 00:19:12,166 father, and he felt him and said, The voice is 382 00:19:12,166 --> 00:19:15,299 the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau. 383 00:19:15,299 --> 00:19:18,666 He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy, 384 00:19:18,666 --> 00:19:21,666 like his brother Esau's hands, and so he blessed him. 385 00:19:21,766 --> 00:19:24,233 And he said, Are you really my son, Esau? 386 00:19:24,366 --> 00:19:25,200 And he said, I am? 387 00:19:25,333 --> 00:19:28,333 So he said, bring it to me, and 388 00:19:28,333 --> 00:19:30,500 I will eat of my son's game, that I may bless you. 389 00:19:30,599 --> 00:19:32,633 And he brought it to him, and he ate. 390 00:19:32,700 --> 00:19:35,166 He also brought him wine, and he drank. 391 00:19:35,233 --> 00:19:38,400 Then his father, Isaac, said to him, Please 392 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:40,133 come close and kiss me, my son. 393 00:19:40,266 --> 00:19:42,299 So he came close and kissed him. 394 00:19:42,433 --> 00:19:44,599 And when he smelled the smell of his garments, 395 00:19:44,700 --> 00:19:48,233 He blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is 396 00:19:48,233 --> 00:19:50,566 like the smell of a field, which the Lord has blessed. 397 00:19:51,266 --> 00:19:54,366 Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, and of 398 00:19:54,366 --> 00:19:58,133 the fatness of the earth, and an abundance of grain, a new wine, 399 00:19:58,133 --> 00:20:01,433 may people serve you, and nations bow down to you, 400 00:20:01,433 --> 00:20:04,666 be master of your brothers, and may your mother's sons, 401 00:20:04,666 --> 00:20:05,933 bow down to you. 402 00:20:06,066 --> 00:20:10,333 Cursed be those who curse you, and blessed, be those who bless you. 403 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:14,233 A lot of this, could have been avoided with 404 00:20:14,233 --> 00:20:17,366 a simple conversation between all four 405 00:20:17,366 --> 00:20:20,700 of them, an honest conversation, but that doesn't happen. 406 00:20:21,566 --> 00:20:25,833 The plan is so convoluted here, and deceitful. 407 00:20:25,866 --> 00:20:28,866 There's so many ways that the plan could go wrong. 408 00:20:28,933 --> 00:20:32,233 Jacob and Esau were obviously opposite people, even 409 00:20:32,233 --> 00:20:35,233 though they were twins, they were obviously fraternal and not 410 00:20:35,233 --> 00:20:36,666 identical twins. 411 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:40,500 But they went through the plan anyway. 412 00:20:40,566 --> 00:20:42,366 Rebecca prepares the meal. 413 00:20:42,433 --> 00:20:45,433 She dresses Jacob in a way that would cause a blind 414 00:20:45,433 --> 00:20:48,066 man to think he was Esau. 415 00:20:48,133 --> 00:20:51,866 And by the way, can you just imagine how Harry, 416 00:20:51,866 --> 00:20:55,599 Esau, must have been, for her to have to use young goat's 417 00:20:55,633 --> 00:21:00,533 pelt on his hands to trick Isaac 418 00:21:00,533 --> 00:21:02,033 to think it was Esau. 419 00:21:02,099 --> 00:21:03,433 I just think that's nuts. 420 00:21:03,466 --> 00:21:04,299 I just can't imagine. 421 00:21:04,366 --> 00:21:05,866 I know some people like that. 422 00:21:05,933 --> 00:21:08,933 Jacob goes into Isaac's room 423 00:21:08,933 --> 00:21:10,500 with full knowledge. 424 00:21:11,500 --> 00:21:15,966 100% knowledge that he is being 100% deceitful. 425 00:21:16,066 --> 00:21:19,433 He even uses the name of Yahweh 426 00:21:19,433 --> 00:21:22,133 to further his lie in verse 20. 427 00:21:22,633 --> 00:21:25,700 Isaac said to his son, How is it that you have it so quickly, my son? 428 00:21:25,799 --> 00:21:29,700 And he said, Because the Lord, your God, calls it to happen to me. 429 00:21:29,833 --> 00:21:31,766 No, he just went in the backyard and got two goats. 430 00:21:32,599 --> 00:21:34,866 But Isaac begins to suspect something. 431 00:21:35,799 --> 00:21:38,933 He tells Jacob to come closer, and he feels the 432 00:21:38,933 --> 00:21:40,200 young goat's pelt on his hands. 433 00:21:40,333 --> 00:21:44,099 But then he hears Jacob's voice, and it sounds like Jacob. 434 00:21:44,166 --> 00:21:46,433 It doesn't sound like a big outdoorsman. 435 00:21:46,566 --> 00:21:48,533 It sounds like a mama's boy, right? 436 00:21:48,599 --> 00:21:52,333 And he questions his voice. 437 00:21:52,433 --> 00:21:55,433 And then Jacob, again, lies to his 438 00:21:55,433 --> 00:21:56,500 father, verse 24. 439 00:21:56,766 --> 00:21:59,466 And he said, Are you really my son Esau? 440 00:21:59,566 --> 00:22:00,633 And he said, I am. 441 00:22:01,599 --> 00:22:04,866 Isaac, tasted the food, and it tasted 442 00:22:04,866 --> 00:22:06,533 good, like something Esau would make. 443 00:22:06,599 --> 00:22:09,666 Isaac feels Jacob, and it 444 00:22:09,666 --> 00:22:11,033 feels like Esau. 445 00:22:12,299 --> 00:22:13,866 But something is still off. 446 00:22:13,933 --> 00:22:16,933 He needs to use more of his senses to really tell 447 00:22:16,933 --> 00:22:18,000 what's going on. 448 00:22:18,066 --> 00:22:21,666 So he tells Jacob to come closer to him, so he could kiss him. 449 00:22:21,733 --> 00:22:23,299 And Jacob does so. 450 00:22:23,333 --> 00:22:26,566 And because he's wearing Esau's clothes, it 451 00:22:26,566 --> 00:22:28,233 smells like Esau. 452 00:22:28,366 --> 00:22:31,500 And so the deception will be completed here, 453 00:22:31,500 --> 00:22:34,500 when all of the senses of Isaac are 454 00:22:34,500 --> 00:22:38,533 tricked into thinking that Jacob is Esau. 455 00:22:38,566 --> 00:22:41,933 His emotions and his feelings are what's 456 00:22:41,933 --> 00:22:43,566 controlling him here, not reality. 457 00:22:43,666 --> 00:22:46,799 When all those feelings and emotions 458 00:22:46,799 --> 00:22:50,466 and senses are tricked and satisfied, he 459 00:22:50,466 --> 00:22:53,700 goes ahead and gives his blessing to Jacob instead 460 00:22:53,700 --> 00:22:55,133 of Esau. 461 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:58,666 The blessing has two different facets 462 00:22:58,666 --> 00:23:00,299 here that we can see. 463 00:23:00,433 --> 00:23:03,733 Verse 28, now may God give you the dew of heaven, 464 00:23:03,733 --> 00:23:07,066 and of the fatness of the earth, and an abundance 465 00:23:07,066 --> 00:23:08,200 of grain and new wine. 466 00:23:08,566 --> 00:23:11,633 God Isaac is 467 00:23:11,633 --> 00:23:14,700 giving the blessing of land to Jacob, and his 468 00:23:14,700 --> 00:23:15,900 mind, Esau. 469 00:23:16,033 --> 00:23:18,733 And with that is the source of wealth. 470 00:23:18,766 --> 00:23:21,900 This is basically someone willing 471 00:23:21,900 --> 00:23:24,900 their property to one of their children and 472 00:23:24,900 --> 00:23:26,099 not to the other. 473 00:23:26,533 --> 00:23:29,599 But not only that, he's praying 474 00:23:29,599 --> 00:23:33,166 that God would bless it with due, with fruitfulness, 475 00:23:33,166 --> 00:23:37,233 with abundance, so the wealth of Jacob, would increase. 476 00:23:38,266 --> 00:23:41,299 The problem is, he thinks he's giving it to Esau. 477 00:23:41,333 --> 00:23:44,933 The second facet of it is authority. 478 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,533 Verse 29, May peoples serve you, 479 00:23:48,533 --> 00:23:50,400 and nations bow down to you. 480 00:23:50,466 --> 00:23:53,766 Be master of your brothers, and may your mother's 481 00:23:53,766 --> 00:23:54,833 sons bow down to you. 482 00:23:54,966 --> 00:23:58,033 Cursed be those who curse you, and blessed 483 00:23:58,033 --> 00:23:59,299 be those who bless you. 484 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:02,400 And here, though the prophecy that God 485 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,400 had made, when they were still in the womb, to 486 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:08,533 Rebekah, is fulfilled, that the 487 00:24:08,533 --> 00:24:11,599 older son would serve the 488 00:24:11,599 --> 00:24:14,733 younger son, as hard as Isaac tried, to 489 00:24:14,766 --> 00:24:18,433 get around it, and give that blessing, 490 00:24:18,433 --> 00:24:21,433 to his preferred son, 491 00:24:21,433 --> 00:24:24,833 God still, through all these machinations, 492 00:24:24,833 --> 00:24:27,700 worked it out, to fulfill his own prophecy. 493 00:24:27,833 --> 00:24:30,533 Esau will serve Jacob. 494 00:24:30,766 --> 00:24:33,766 The deceitfulness of Rebekah and Jacob, 495 00:24:33,766 --> 00:24:35,700 and all they had done were successful. 496 00:24:35,766 --> 00:24:39,299 So now, Jacob has the birthright, 497 00:24:39,299 --> 00:24:42,366 and the blessing of Esau. 498 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:44,866 And immediately after they're finished. 499 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:48,000 Jacob leaves a room, and Esau comes in with a 500 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:49,633 big old pot of savory game. 501 00:24:49,733 --> 00:24:51,366 for his father. 502 00:24:51,433 --> 00:24:52,466 And he's excited. 503 00:24:52,500 --> 00:24:53,933 He's about to get the blessing. 504 00:24:55,366 --> 00:24:57,500 But then he finds out what happened. 505 00:24:57,533 --> 00:25:00,666 And Isaac realizes that he 506 00:25:00,666 --> 00:25:04,099 had been duped by his own wife and his own son. 507 00:25:04,133 --> 00:25:08,099 This is the dysfunctional family in 508 00:25:08,099 --> 00:25:09,733 full view. 509 00:25:10,966 --> 00:25:14,000 But in spite of all that dysfunction, the last part I 510 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:18,099 want to look at, is God's will still prevails. 511 00:25:18,533 --> 00:25:21,666 Verses 30 through 46, but we're only going 512 00:25:21,666 --> 00:25:24,200 to read 38 and 40 through 40. 513 00:25:24,533 --> 00:25:27,599 Esau said to his father, Do you have only one 514 00:25:27,599 --> 00:25:28,666 blessing, my father. 515 00:25:28,799 --> 00:25:30,599 Bless me, even me also, O my father. 516 00:25:30,733 --> 00:25:33,566 So Esau lifted his voice and wept. 517 00:25:33,599 --> 00:25:36,599 Then Isaac, his father, answered and said to him, 518 00:25:36,599 --> 00:25:39,733 Behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your 519 00:25:39,733 --> 00:25:42,500 dwelling, and away from the dew of heaven from above. 520 00:25:42,599 --> 00:25:45,833 By your sword you shall live, and your brother you shall serve, 521 00:25:45,833 --> 00:25:49,000 but it shall come about when you become restless, that 522 00:25:49,033 --> 00:25:51,566 you will break his yoke from your neck. 523 00:25:52,099 --> 00:25:55,266 Isaac was so disturbed, when he realized 524 00:25:55,266 --> 00:26:00,066 what happened, that the Bible says that he trembled violently. 525 00:26:00,133 --> 00:26:03,133 And then Esau was so distraught when 526 00:26:03,133 --> 00:26:06,766 he lost the opportunity to get the blessing, 527 00:26:06,766 --> 00:26:08,733 it says that he cried out bitterly. 528 00:26:08,766 --> 00:26:12,533 He shouted a cry, Please, 529 00:26:12,533 --> 00:26:16,200 Father, is there anything left that you can bless me with? 530 00:26:16,333 --> 00:26:17,833 Verse 35? 531 00:26:17,866 --> 00:26:20,933 Your brother came deceitfully, and has 532 00:26:20,933 --> 00:26:22,433 taken away your blessing. 533 00:26:22,566 --> 00:26:26,099 And I want you to pay attention to Esau's 534 00:26:26,099 --> 00:26:27,366 response in verse 36. 535 00:26:27,533 --> 00:26:30,766 Then he said, and you got to imagine, he's crying, he's 536 00:26:30,766 --> 00:26:34,733 shouting, he's angry and sad, is he not rightly named Jacob? 537 00:26:34,799 --> 00:26:37,566 For he has supplanted me these two times? 538 00:26:37,633 --> 00:26:39,299 He took away my birthright. 539 00:26:39,366 --> 00:26:41,933 And behold, now he has taken away my blessing. 540 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:45,533 And he said, Have you not reserved a blessing for me? 541 00:26:46,500 --> 00:26:48,766 Jacob did deceive him one time. 542 00:26:49,500 --> 00:26:52,666 But he tells a little lie here, if you remember, 543 00:26:52,666 --> 00:26:56,500 he didn't deceive him from his birth room. 544 00:26:56,633 --> 00:26:59,633 He willingly gave that up for a pot 545 00:26:59,633 --> 00:27:00,966 of stew. 546 00:27:01,033 --> 00:27:05,166 And then the Bible says that he despised his birthright after that. 547 00:27:05,233 --> 00:27:09,433 So why is he acting like he cares now? 548 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:12,766 Because he is a whiny hypocrite. 549 00:27:12,833 --> 00:27:14,400 He wanted the stuff. 550 00:27:14,466 --> 00:27:17,233 He wanted the land and the power. 551 00:27:17,266 --> 00:27:20,266 He didn't care about his name, or his family. 552 00:27:20,333 --> 00:27:23,633 He just wondered what came with the blessing. 553 00:27:23,700 --> 00:27:28,366 And the fact is that even though 554 00:27:28,366 --> 00:27:31,766 Isaac intended to give it to Esau, technically, 555 00:27:31,766 --> 00:27:35,400 as the owner of the birthright, Jacob should 556 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:37,266 have received the blessing anyway. 557 00:27:37,366 --> 00:27:40,733 And that's why Isaac and Esau were scheming 558 00:27:40,733 --> 00:27:44,633 to do it in this private ceremony, 559 00:27:44,633 --> 00:27:47,766 instead of in the normal way, with a 560 00:27:47,766 --> 00:27:50,533 whole group of people and witnesses to it. 561 00:27:50,566 --> 00:27:54,599 Their plan was to sneak the blessing onto Esau. 562 00:27:54,966 --> 00:27:56,966 But then, their plan didn't work. 563 00:27:58,099 --> 00:28:00,533 So Isaac gives Esau the truth. 564 00:28:00,599 --> 00:28:03,666 He doesn't really curse him, but he kind 565 00:28:03,666 --> 00:28:05,400 of gives him the anti blessing. 566 00:28:05,466 --> 00:28:08,533 It's virtually the opposite of the blessing that 567 00:28:08,533 --> 00:28:09,733 he gave to Jacob. 568 00:28:09,766 --> 00:28:13,066 verse 39, Isaac his father answered and said to him, Behold, 569 00:28:13,066 --> 00:28:16,133 away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling. 570 00:28:16,266 --> 00:28:19,733 And away from the dew of heaven from above, by 571 00:28:19,733 --> 00:28:22,966 your sword you shall live, and your brother you 572 00:28:22,966 --> 00:28:26,433 shall serve, but it shall come about when you become restless, 573 00:28:26,466 --> 00:28:28,933 that you will break his yoke from your neck. 574 00:28:29,366 --> 00:28:31,400 So what are we left with? 575 00:28:31,433 --> 00:28:34,433 After all this is done, and I have all 576 00:28:34,433 --> 00:28:37,599 this deceit and lies and dysfunction is out of the open. 577 00:28:37,799 --> 00:28:41,233 These four people, whose side should 578 00:28:41,233 --> 00:28:42,566 we be on? 579 00:28:42,599 --> 00:28:46,133 There's four different people, four different centers, 580 00:28:46,133 --> 00:28:49,299 four different ways that they mess 581 00:28:49,333 --> 00:28:52,466 this whole situation up, and all that we are 582 00:28:52,466 --> 00:28:55,733 left with is scorched earth. 583 00:28:55,799 --> 00:28:59,033 Have you ever been in a family situation like that, where everything 584 00:28:59,033 --> 00:29:00,233 seems to be messed up? 585 00:29:01,799 --> 00:29:04,933 But this is the covenant family 586 00:29:04,933 --> 00:29:07,266 of God. 587 00:29:07,333 --> 00:29:10,933 If this was the material that you had to work with, is 588 00:29:10,933 --> 00:29:14,066 there any way that you think you could fulfill 589 00:29:14,066 --> 00:29:17,333 the promise you made to their grandfather and father, 590 00:29:17,333 --> 00:29:20,500 Abraham, that all the families of the earth will 591 00:29:20,533 --> 00:29:24,066 be blessed from this mess of a family? 592 00:29:24,966 --> 00:29:26,599 There's no way that I could do it. 593 00:29:27,299 --> 00:29:29,099 But God can, and God did. 594 00:29:29,233 --> 00:29:32,233 In fact, he is still working that covenant 595 00:29:32,233 --> 00:29:35,833 out through all of our messed up families in 596 00:29:35,833 --> 00:29:38,933 our messed up lives, at the end of the day, in 597 00:29:38,933 --> 00:29:42,000 spite of all their plotting, and all their sinning, 598 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:45,000 God's decree, from before the foundation 599 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,000 of the world, not based on anything that Jacob or 600 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:51,366 Esau did, but his choice, for his glory only, 601 00:29:51,366 --> 00:29:55,200 his decree that the older will serve the younger will 602 00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:58,200 absolutely come to pass, no matter the 603 00:29:58,200 --> 00:29:59,866 scheming, no matter the sin, 604 00:29:59,933 --> 00:30:03,599 that happened there, everything God decrees will 605 00:30:03,599 --> 00:30:06,833 be the same, as this decree, and through 606 00:30:06,833 --> 00:30:07,900 all of this mess. 607 00:30:08,033 --> 00:30:11,099 And we should be grateful and 608 00:30:11,099 --> 00:30:14,266 glad, and give praise to him that he is able 609 00:30:14,266 --> 00:30:17,333 to do it even through sinful vessels, 610 00:30:17,333 --> 00:30:20,500 that he will have victory, no 611 00:30:20,533 --> 00:30:24,299 matter who or what, tries to stand in his way. 612 00:30:24,366 --> 00:30:27,900 He will fulfill his word, no matter what the 613 00:30:27,900 --> 00:30:31,733 resistance or rebellion of man, and 614 00:30:31,733 --> 00:30:34,733 praise him, that it's not just through negative situations, that 615 00:30:34,733 --> 00:30:37,599 he does use some positive situations as well. 616 00:30:37,666 --> 00:30:41,099 We were talking this morning about Spurgeon and his sermons 617 00:30:41,099 --> 00:30:44,233 being his wife, insisting that his sermons 618 00:30:44,233 --> 00:30:48,166 be transcribed, so that people could read them in 619 00:30:48,166 --> 00:30:51,333 their time, and even to this day, and at that time, 620 00:30:51,366 --> 00:30:54,900 some of his sermons were printed in newspapers, 621 00:30:54,900 --> 00:30:58,866 and not just in England, but also in America. 622 00:30:59,799 --> 00:31:03,366 And it was during his time that there was an evangelist who 623 00:31:03,366 --> 00:31:06,366 was requested to go to a public house, a 624 00:31:06,366 --> 00:31:09,433 bar, in the small town of Nottingham, 625 00:31:09,433 --> 00:31:12,533 England, because the pub's owner's wife was 626 00:31:12,533 --> 00:31:15,533 dying, and he was asked to go and visit 627 00:31:15,533 --> 00:31:18,299 her in her last moments and give her the gospel. 628 00:31:19,066 --> 00:31:20,233 And he agreed to do that. 629 00:31:20,333 --> 00:31:23,633 But when he went into her bedroom where 630 00:31:23,633 --> 00:31:27,166 her deathbed was, he found her, that 631 00:31:27,166 --> 00:31:31,133 she was praising Christ, and that she had become a saved woman. 632 00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:34,266 And so he asked her, how did you 633 00:31:34,266 --> 00:31:35,833 come to Christ as Lord? 634 00:31:35,866 --> 00:31:38,933 And she said, by reading that, and she held 635 00:31:38,933 --> 00:31:41,566 up this piece of torn newspaper. 636 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:45,533 And that torn newspaper held a segment 637 00:31:45,533 --> 00:31:48,533 of Spurgeon's, 638 00:31:48,533 --> 00:31:50,266 one of Spurgeon's sermons printed on it. 639 00:31:50,333 --> 00:31:54,166 But that newspaper didn't come from London, it came from America. 640 00:31:54,233 --> 00:31:57,966 And that little piece of sermon, 641 00:31:57,966 --> 00:32:01,366 printed on an American newspaper, came to her via 642 00:32:01,366 --> 00:32:04,000 wrapped package from Australia. 643 00:32:04,066 --> 00:32:07,799 So it went from preached in the pulpit 644 00:32:07,799 --> 00:32:12,066 of London to the newspaper of America, somehow got to Australia. 645 00:32:12,133 --> 00:32:15,133 Someone was done with it, used it to wrap a package, and 646 00:32:15,133 --> 00:32:17,966 when they tore a package open, they didn't throw it away. 647 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:20,933 She kept it, she read it and she became a Christian. 648 00:32:21,366 --> 00:32:24,599 God, his decree, will 649 00:32:24,599 --> 00:32:28,333 come to pass in negative and positive situations. 650 00:32:28,433 --> 00:32:31,200 He will make his will happen. 651 00:32:31,333 --> 00:32:34,799 And even if it has to circle the globe, 652 00:32:34,866 --> 00:32:36,666 God's decree will come to pass. 653 00:32:38,066 --> 00:32:42,033 This shows us that if God is nothing, he 654 00:32:42,033 --> 00:32:46,633 is persistent, and we know that he's all things, because this is how he works. 655 00:32:46,733 --> 00:32:50,566 He overcomes messes, even like 656 00:32:50,566 --> 00:32:53,799 those in our text today, with great strength, with 657 00:32:53,833 --> 00:32:56,833 great wisdom for his own glory, and he can turn the 658 00:32:56,833 --> 00:32:59,966 most unlikely circumstance, the most unlikely 659 00:32:59,966 --> 00:33:03,066 person into the instrument of his will at any 660 00:33:03,066 --> 00:33:04,099 time he pleases. 661 00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:07,366 If this rogue himself, Jacob, 662 00:33:07,366 --> 00:33:10,533 isn't proof of that, then you can look at me, or 663 00:33:10,566 --> 00:33:14,033 look at yourself and your own testimony, and how God uses you. 664 00:33:14,099 --> 00:33:17,333 Ralph Davies, again, says that stubbornness 665 00:33:17,333 --> 00:33:20,400 should be listed as an attribute of God, not 666 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:24,299 stubbornness like we have, but a holy stubbornness. 667 00:33:24,433 --> 00:33:27,433 We should take great fact or comfort in 668 00:33:27,433 --> 00:33:30,500 the fact that God will keep his word by 669 00:33:30,500 --> 00:33:33,533 any means necessary, regardless of the human 670 00:33:33,533 --> 00:33:35,466 rebellion or human stupidity. 671 00:33:36,299 --> 00:33:39,433 Now, look at the sin of this one family that we just went over, one 672 00:33:39,433 --> 00:33:42,433 situation, and there's, like, 10 more chapters of mess 673 00:33:42,433 --> 00:33:44,233 in Jacob's life. 674 00:33:44,266 --> 00:33:47,733 But we can look through that mess of Jacob's 675 00:33:47,766 --> 00:33:50,900 life, Jacob's family, and look directly to 676 00:33:50,900 --> 00:33:54,333 Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ is a descendant of 677 00:33:54,366 --> 00:33:56,233 Jacob here. 678 00:33:56,266 --> 00:33:59,333 And God promised to bless all the families of 679 00:33:59,333 --> 00:34:02,333 the world through this one family, and he 680 00:34:02,333 --> 00:34:04,500 did it through Jesus Christ himself. 681 00:34:04,566 --> 00:34:06,833 And it really is an amazing story. 682 00:34:06,966 --> 00:34:10,099 So continue to read the book of Genesis 683 00:34:10,099 --> 00:34:13,233 and see how God works out through sin, 684 00:34:13,266 --> 00:34:14,466 his will. 685 00:34:14,533 --> 00:34:17,966 But all of this started, when God made a promise, to 686 00:34:17,966 --> 00:34:21,533 Abraham, and God is still, and will continue, 687 00:34:21,533 --> 00:34:25,133 to keep that promise he made to Abraham until the end of 688 00:34:25,133 --> 00:34:28,266 time itself, when we are in New Jerusalem, 689 00:34:28,266 --> 00:34:30,133 bathed in the light of his glory. 690 00:34:30,166 --> 00:34:30,599 Let's pray. 691 00:34:30,733 --> 00:34:33,666 Hearly Father, we love you and thank you for your word. 692 00:34:33,733 --> 00:34:37,033 And I thank you, Lord, that these men and women are just like me. 693 00:34:37,066 --> 00:34:38,800 Or I'm just like them. 694 00:34:38,866 --> 00:34:39,933 We're all sinners. 695 00:34:40,033 --> 00:34:43,099 We're all messed up, but we have a great savior who 696 00:34:43,099 --> 00:34:46,133 uses even our mess and our sin to fulfill his will. 697 00:34:46,199 --> 00:34:49,266 And I pray that you continue to do that, you continue to help 698 00:34:49,266 --> 00:34:52,433 us to see that, to rest in that in our lives. 699 00:34:52,866 --> 00:34:53,400 In Christ's name. 700 00:34:53,466 --> 00:34:53,766 Amen.