Sermon Tone Analysis

Jacob and Esau

1. Recap and Historical Context

Genealogy

Now these are the records of the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham became the father of Isaac; and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife.

Establish need: what is the purpose of genealogies?

Too often we overlook Genealogies without paying the attention they justly deserve, being the very word of God and profitable for teaching.

- Genealogies are essential for accuracy in historical accounting so that we (today and in the generations to come) can keep track of the things and people that have come before us.

“Where did you come from where did you go where did you come from cotton eye Joe is not the theme of Genesis.

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-One of the reasons the word of God is considered a historically reliable document (even among non-believing historians) is because of its exceptionally accurate genealogical accounting and track keeping.

* Illustration: It would almost be like some random south African dropped into your church wanting to go into ministry that no one knows anything about, not so reliable right...There are definitely some of you who are thinking, Jip, seems a little sketch.

- Well fortunately for all of us, Gods word doesn’t do that to us, for the most part we know where everyone worth knowing comes from and how God brought them to that point.

- Really the only people I want to remind you of here is Abraham and Sarah the parents to Isaac and the promise that God made them which would pass down to Isaac and his son.

Recap:

1. Abraham and Sarah

i. Receives 3 specific promises which we will see God bestows on Jacob instead of Esau.

b.

God promised REDEMPTION: He gave a promise of redemption through the seed of Abraham, that many nations would be blessed through Abraham, and those who blessed him would be blessed and those who cursed him would be cursed

c.

God promised LAND: That God would Give His people land, The promise Land Canaan (now: parts of Israel, Syria, Lebanon)

d.

God promised FRUITFULNESS: that God would give Abraham uncountable descendants, as the stars in the night sky and the sands of the sea.

2. Faith of the parents (Isaac and Rebekah) & Faithfulness of God

Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived.

A. Isaacs Prayer (faith displayed)

Transition:The lives of Isaac and Rebekah are brief in this passage and the focus although impactful during the narration of their lives, quickly changes to the lives of Jacob and Esau.

But we can certainly see faith on both the parts of Isaac and Rebekah.

· In this one verse we should notice three things, 1) Prayer matters to God, 2) The spiritual leadership of the husband and 3) God opens and closes the womb/ All life begins with God

a. Prayer matters to God

We see Isaac expressing humility and earnest faith in the Lord to provide that which he wants but does not have, that God calls a blessing.

It is clear to Isaac that without the intervention of God and His miraculous works they would never be able to conceive.

· The grammar here is indicative of an active response to the prayer of Isaac,

o Although God certainly did know this prayer would take place and that He did know how and through whom His chosen nation would be established.

o This verse does not tell us that it was based on Gods foreknowledge that He answered the prayers of Isaac, rather that it was a petition made to God and that was why God answered.

o The wording is clear; Moses wants us to hear that Gods action to answer is a reaction to or a result of the prayer Isaac made.

b.

The spiritual leadership of the husband:

· scripture is indicating the spiritual leadership of Isaac over Rebekah.

Obviously, Rebekah desires children, but God tells us that Isaac prayed on her behalf.

· Isaac here shows a great deal of faith.

We don’t see in this verse but Isaac being 40 at marriage and 60 when Rebekah conceived shows a 20 year struggle to have children,

· His prayers were most likely many.

And at 10 years in, did not faulter to his own methods unlike his parents.

o Practical: Like Isaac, we as men should be showing initiative in this way, both in the church but especially in marriage, even that time leading up to marriage.

o Are you setting the standard through your example for your possible future spouse in your prayer life, faithfully seeking after God?

o Moreover, Are you faithfully praying in line with that which God calls blessings and a good thing, such as future spouses and children.

o It is never too early, Isaac did not have children and yet faithfully prayed for them, if you do not have a wife yet, it is never too early to faithfully pray for the desires of your heart in line with Gods word.

o If your prayer life struggles now, I can guarantee you, it will struggle in your future marriage, and will certainly be difficult to be an example and leader in that way.

c.

God opens and closes the womb:

· Illustration: Now as newlyweds being 6 months in Lia and I don’t have children yet, but it is certainly our hope and desire, so this is a passage that is a good reminder for us on how we should always be open to children and how we view them in general, never as being hindrances but as blessings.

Yet the flip side of that coin is barrenness, something which I have certainly thought about, ironically even before marriage.

I have often sought the Lord with my anxieties concerning, what if I never have a child of my own, knowing that children are a blessing from the Lord and that being my desire?

o We might not have children yet, but I am certainly praying in that direction, both for wisdom in timing and for God’s grace and favor, with the understanding that God hears my prayers and only by His divine intervention will He bless us with them in His proper time.

· I must spend some time here on barrenness and faith to conceive as we see it mentioned now for the second time in scripture.

· When thinking about life, there are 3 things that come into play.

The Purpose of Children, Gods hand in the start of life and where there is no life.

· 1) The Purpose of Children

o First and foremost is that children are irrefutably a blessing from the Lord

o They are the typical way (But not only way) that God chooses to bless marriages.

It is the reason why all these women who were barren in scripture are pleading with the Lord for children.

It is to receive His blessing in this way.

· Practical: And you might be thinking how is this relevant to us who are unmarried.

“if fail to plan you plan to fail,” in other words you want to be prepared for the very real possibilities of the trials that one might face in the not to distant future.

· I mention this because we live in a time, where to be without children is regarded as a selfish joy, we must adopt the proper frame of mind and biblical lens that children are a good gift from God and as a blessing they should be valued and sought after in marriage.

§ Ps. 127: 3-5 children are a gift from the Lord and the fruit of the womb, how blessed is the man whose quiver is full.

God is clear that they are blessing and a gift.

We see this further in the expression of His love and expression.

§ God specifically sees Leah, Jacobs first wife is unloved as Jacob loves Rachel instead, so God dealing tenderly with Leah blesses her with a child.

He blesses the world through Jesus the son of Mary, He hears the prayers of Hannah, and lifts the shame of Elizabeth, all by His gift of children.

· 2) Gods hand in the Start of life

o Second: Only God can give life, he uses us as the vehicle, but scripture is clear throughout the matriarchs of the faith, without the intervention from God there can be no line of Jesus.

Sarah was barren and God intervened, then Rebekah, Then Rachel and even Elizabeth (mother of JTB, the man who paved the way for Jesus’s ministry) in the new testament.

It was only by the gracious hand of God that they could give birth.

§ Psalm 139:13–16“you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

my frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance, in your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me when yet there was none of them”

§ Jer 1:5 “before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.”

o if you do not have a proper understanding of children and Gods hand in them, how then will you be able to ever deal biblically, honoring God with such an event and think rightly about them:

§ if it were you who potentially struggles to conceive.

Or

§ As you one day walk through marriage and having children or delaying them for which reasons are you doing so?

§ And how you might offer biblical counsel to those that are facing these painful struggles.

· 3) Gods hand where there is no life

o Lastly: As we see here and in 7 other passages, God is even in the midst of barrenness.

o God in the specific case of Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel is not giving these woman matriarchs of the faith children for the purposes of showing that none of this redemption plan can be made possible without His constant intervention.

§ It serves as an encouragement that God must be an active partaker in our lives.

§ There is nothing of these men or woman that are special, they were only remembered because God chose to use them, they were only fruitful because God gave them children.

Children is yet another avenue od Gods sovereignty being displayed.

o On the practical side: I have sat with many a dear brother in Christ that have wrestled with infertility, God has given some victory in this area and others not, whom I still sit with today and pray for Gods intervention.

This is a topic close to home.

And yet the principals of Gods sovereignty and hand in children remains true.

Children are a blessing that only God can give.

§ Let us have faith if ever you find yourself in such a situation personally or in bearing the burdens of others in remembering these principles and passages.

· 7 women in scripture were barren for a time, and God gave them a child at some point in their lives.

In the case of Sarah and Rebekah they waited 25 and 20 years respectively and Sarah was 90.

There should always be hope, that God is able to do the impossible do not let your faith dwindle as time passes.

· Yet if He chooses not to bless one in this way let us hold onto these words of Abraham as God is about to destroy Sodom and all its inhabitants in gen 18:25 (will not the God of all the earth do good)

· Rom 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purposes.

· And the barren woman who is a believer always has a place and purpose in the family of Gods house Psalm 113:9 He makes the barren woman abide in the house As a joyful mother of children.