Genesis 27-35
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A Deceiver Receives God’s Promises
A Deceiver Receives God’s Promises
CONTEXT
A Deceiver Receives a Blessing
A Deceiver Receives a Blessing
READ — Genesis 27:18-29
So he went in to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the Lord your God granted me success.” Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands. So he blessed him. He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” Then he said, “Bring it near to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.
Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said,
“See, the smell of my son
is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed!
May God give you of the dew of heaven
and of the fatness of the earth
and plenty of grain and wine.
Let peoples serve you,
and nations bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you,
and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”
EXPLAIN
Isaac had come up with a plan for Esau to bring him his favourite meal so that he could bless him as his firstborn son.
Back in Genesis 25 we read of God’s prophecy about the twins in Rebekah’s womb:
Genesis 25:23 (ESV)
And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”
We don’t know why Isaac was not following God’s Word. Maybe:
He didn’t know.
He forgot.
He ignored it.
Rebekah though, had not forgotten!
She was so committed to God’s plan for Jacob that she was willing to receive a curse if her plan was found out.
Her plan works perfectly!
Isaac blesses Jacob as the one through whom the promise to Abraham would be continued.
God’s Word comes to pass, affirming that His promises are true, and that He is able to do what He says He will do.
Esau is not thrilled, and vows to kill Jacob.
So Rebekah hatches a new plan to get Jacob out of there.
She tells Jacob she does not want him to marry a foreign woman, so Isaac sends Jacob to Rebekah’s family to find a wife.
On the way, God Himself affirms His promise to Jacob.
Genesis 28:10–15 (ESV)
Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set.
Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep.
And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven.
And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!
And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
God affirms his promise to be with Jacob… to accomplish his purposes in his life, and not to leave him until he has.
We can point forward to Christ from this passage.
Jacob dreams of a ladder between heaven and earth.
Jesus would later come to bridge the gap between heaven and earth. He tells Nathanael…
And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
None of us can go to heaven because of our sin, but when we place our faith and hope in Christ, we can through His righteous life!
APPLY
God’s promises are true. He will bring them to pass. We can trust God.
What promises do we have in Christ that are sometimes hard to believe or trust?
What are we to make of Rebekah and Jacob’s deception? Is lying ever okay?
Story of me telling the kids a present (mini hockey sticks) was for someone else. Was that a lie?
As God’s children, we must strive to faithfully represent Him as His image-bearers.
We must never justify sinful behaviours since we are representing God.
So Jacob returns to Rebekah’s family to seek a wife, and he falls in love with Rachel.
He promises to work for 7 years for her hand in marriage.
Now we are going to see the principle, “you reap what you sow” in action.
Jacob had been sowing deception, and now…
A Deceiver Reaps Deception
A Deceiver Reaps Deception
READ: Genesis 29:21-25
Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?”
EXPLAIN
Jacob’s question “Why then have you deceived me?” ironically mirrors his father’s complaint to Esau in…
But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.”
Jacob was now on the other end of deception, and it did not feel good!
Rachel helped her younger son deceive Isaac, and now her brother Laban hatched a plan with his oldest daughter Leah to get her married.
She was not as beautiful as Rachel, and he saw this as an opportunity to make sure she would marry.
But sin always brings problems with it. After Laban gives Rachel to Jacob, we read…
So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.
This was going to begin a rivalry between these two sisters as they compete for Jacob’s love through child-bearing.
After having 11 sons through Leah, Rachel, Rachel’s servant Bilhah, and Leah’s servant Zilpah, Jacob wants to leave Laban and go back to his family and home country.
Laban however, knows that he has been blessed because of Jacob and wants to keep him around, so he asks what it will take to keep him there.
He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it: let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages. So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.” Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.” But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons. And he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban’s flock.
Once again, the deceiver has reaped what he has sown… deception.
Laban takes advantage of Jacob and tricks him.
But God was protecting Jacob, and uses this as an opportunity to make Jacob wealthy.
God reveals a mating plan to him where all the flocks give birth to striped, speckled, or spotted, depending on Laban’s mood that day.
God caused Jacob to become extremely wealthy despite Laban’s deception.
APPLY
God will ultimately protect us as His children, and bless them.
Does God protect us from all the consequences of our sinful actions? Why or why not?
Can you think of a time when you reaped what you sowed?
We know that God will ultimately protect us from the sinfulness of our decisions, but that should never excuse our actions.
We sin, and make poor choices, and we must accept the fruit that comes as a result of those decisions.
We must be careful not to blame God for the circumstances that we have brought on ourselves.
After fleeing with his family and possessions, Laban chases down Jacob, and they end up making a covenant before separating.
But now Jacob has a new problem as he must deal with his past deceptive actions as he fearfully makes his way to meet his brother… Esau.
Jacob sends some messengers to let Esau know that he is coming, and they report that Esau is on his way with 400 men. Jacob is terrified!
He separates his family into two camps, so that if Esau attacks, at least one camp has a chance of survival.
This will be Jacob’s greatest trial, but God will use it to change his identity…
A Deceiver Receives a New Name
A Deceiver Receives a New Name
The first thing we see Jacob do is to pray, and call on God to remember His promise.
READ: Genesis 32:9-12
Genesis 32:9–12 (ESV)
And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ”
EXPLAIN
Jacob has fully embraced God’s plan for his life, and has learned to trust him.
His prayer is instructive for us. This is a great model of prayer.
Jacob acknowledges who God is.
“O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac”
He has been faithful in the past, so He will continue to be faithful now.
Jacob acknowledges God is the One who has called him.
“O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’”
You have called me. This is Your plan.
Jacob acknowledges he doesn’t deserve it.
“I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.”
What I have and who I am is because of You. I did nothing to deserve it. It is because of Your mercy and grace.
Jacob makes his request.
“Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau,”
He is not entitled. He does EXPECT God has to give him what he wants.
Jacob shares his heart/feelings.
“for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children.”
Jacob doesn’t try to hide his emotion, but speaks his fears and worries honestly.
Jacob rests in God’s promise.
But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ”
He calls on God to remember His promise to him.
After this, Jacob sends his brother Esau a generous gift, hoping it will appease his anger.
He also divides his family into camps for their protection.
We pick up in…
Genesis 32:22–30 (ESV)
The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had.
And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.
Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.”
But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
And he said to him, “What is your name?”
And he said, “Jacob.”
Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.”
But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him.
So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”
Once Jacob realizes he is not merely wrestling with a man, but with God, he does not want to let go until he receives a blessing.
What is the significance of God asking “What is your name?”
When trying to get the blessing from his father, he lied about his identity. Now he was talking with God, and knew he couldn’t fool him.
What is the significance of Jacob’s name change?
Dr. Rabbi Tzemah Yoreh
“Your name shall no longer be Jacob” – people will no longer say about you that you received the blessings through trickery and deceit (the meaning of “Jacob”), but rather with striving and openly (the meaning of “Israel”).
APPLY
Like Jacob, we struggle to find our identity in Christ.
Too often we associate with our past life, or past sin, and fail to live in the blessings that He has given us.
We must remind ourselves who we are because of our faith in Christ!
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our lives should be marked by the confidence that we have before God…
Not based on anything we have done…
But based on our faith in Christ’s perfect life, sacrifice, death, resurrection, and ascension.
Praise God!!
Let’s pray.
Take a couple minutes to quietly reflect on this question.
Write down your answers on a piece of paper, or somewhere in your phone.
What stood out to you in today’s lesson? What is an area of your life that you want to be praying for?
Today we are going to break up into a few small groups, and intentionally spend some time in prayer.
We need a few leaders.
Groups of 4/5.
These groups are safe places. You should never share something that someone says in the group with others. We must protect one another!
Feel free to share what impacted you from the lesson, have some discussion, and maybe even share your prayer request with others.
Spend time praying together, and for one another. You do not need to feel obligated to pray. Only do so if you feel comfortable. I would encourage you to do it even if you’re not though. We grow when we are uncomfortable, and willing to step out and take risks.
Feel free to hang out and chat afterward.