The Steadfast Love of God

Prayer

A Study in Contrasts

I want to begin this morning with teaching you a new word, a Hebrew word, hesed (give it a try).

Hesed is a word used over and over again in the Old Testament, most often to describe God. And it’s one of those words that doesn’t translate easily - there’s no single word in English that is its equivalent.

It’s most often translated as steadfast love, faithful love, sometimes loving kindness. The idea is that God is so firm, so consistent in his love towards us, it’s steadfast, you can rely on his generous love towards us.

I share that word because this morning, as we make our way through the story of Old Testament, book of Genesis - particularly now we really getting going with the story of the people of Israel, I want to take two stories this morning - because I think they offer a beautiful contrast in what it means to live in reliance upon God and his hesed, his steadfast love - and what it looks like when we don’t.

This is same thing Paul writes about in the New Testament when he talks about life in the Spirit, when we walk in step with the Holy Spirit, versus life in the flesh, when we’re dependent upon ourselves, our strength, our resources.

Stories we’re going to look at move us into the next two generations of Patriarchs of the people of Israel.

We’ve been focused on Abraham, the one with whom God starts the formation of his people with the covenant promise to make Abraham the father of a great nation, blessing all other nations. And last week we talked about the birth of his son, Isaac, the son through whom God was going to keep his covenant promise - as well as the head-scratching story of God commanding Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, to him.

Today, we begin years later: Sarah has died, Abraham is really old now, and Isaac is grown up. In Genesis 24, we see the story of Abraham sending his faithful servant (whose name we never learn) to go back to his home country and find a wife for Isaac among his relatives there.

Which, as we’ll see, the servant does, bringing back Rebekah, who marries Isaac. After a while Rebekah becomes pregnant and gives birth to twin boys, Esau and Jacob. And that brings us to third generation - started with Abraham and Sarah, then their son, Isaac and his wife, Rebekah, and then Esau and Jacob. Our second story involves Esau and Jacob, with Jacob stealing the blessing his father intends for Esau.

These are both long stories, so I’m going to summarize them and refer to the especially relevant verses. As we go through the stories, be attentive to what the characters are relying on (hesed!) and what the end result is.

Let’s make our way through Genesis 24, story of Abraham’s servant traveling to his former country to find a wife among Abraham’s relatives for his son, Isaac.

Abraham calls for his senior and most trusted servant, and asks him to swear that he will get a wife for Isaac not from among the Canaanites, but from among his own people.

Servant agrees to do so, loads up ten camels and makes his way to the town of Nahor, where he waits by the well outside of town - the well which the women would go to every evening to draw water.

Genesis 24:12-14: Then he prayed, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness (hesed)to my master Abraham. 13 See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14 May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness (hesed) to my master.”

So, that’s the prayer he lays before God - the servant praying that God would show his master, Abraham, hesed, loving kindness, by giving him success in finding a wife for Isaac.

It’s rare you see prayers answered so quickly - and I mean quickly - verse 15 says that before he finished praying, Rebekah appeared with a jar on her shoulder. Rebekah is daughter of Bethuel, son of Milkah, wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. And, apparently, a beautiful woman to boot.

Rebekah makes her way to the spring, filling up her jar and the servant runs to her and asks for a little water from her jar, which she immediately gives him. And then she volunteers to draw water for his camels. To be clear, this is no small task - there’s a reason the servant asked for this to be sign. A camel that hasn’t had water for days can drink up to 25 gallons of water. The jar the women would carry held 3 gallons. Remember, there were 10 camels.

Now, likely they’d drank something along the way - but still, that’s a lot of water, she’s going to have to fill that jar over and over and over again to give his camels a drink. But Rebekah doesn’t skip a beat, she does exactly that.

Servant asks if it might be possible to stay at her father’s house - and he learns that she is indeed a part of Abraham’s family. Servant’s response? Praise! -Right then and there he praises the Lord, vv. 26-27, Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness (his hesed) and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”

So servant goes to Rebekah’s father’s house, explaining why he’s come - and Rebekah’s father and brother agree to the marriage. So Rebekah returns to land of the Canaanites, to Beer Lahai Roi, and she and Isaac are married.

So, before we move to our next story, in Genesis 27, a few important things to know about what happens in-between.

First, Abraham dies. So Isaac is now the patriarch of the family. Though Rebekah is initially childless, Isaac prays on her behalf and she conceives.

During her pregnancy, she experiences this strange jostling in her womb. So she asks God what’s happening. God responds, saying to her (this is essential), Genesis 25:23...

The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

So, she is pregnant with twins, they are already fighting in the womb, and catch this, the older will serve the younger. So, Rebekah gives birth to two boys, the first is Esau, which means hairy, because he is. The second is Jacob, and he comes out grasping Esau’s heel, which is what his name means, he grasps the heal. Which is an Hebrew idiom for deceives. So, his name means he deceives. (So, hairy and deceiver)

One important note, Esau loves to hunt, he’s an outdoor guy, while Jacob is a homebody, likes to stay around the tents. And catch this, Genesis 25:28, Isaac loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

This brings us to our second story in Genesis 27. Jacob and Esau are grown, and Isaac is old and failing in health. He has lost his sight - he’s blind. Isaac decides to pass the fatherly blessing onto his oldest son, Esau.

Esau is go out hunting, whatever game he kills he is to bring back and prepare as a meal for he and Isaac to share. And so he does.

But Rebekah is listening in - she wants Jacob to get the blessing, so she hatches a plan, telling him to get some young goats and bring them to her so she can prepare them as a meal for Isaac. Then Jacob is to present it to Isaac as Esau in order to get the blessing.

As you might imagine, Jacob is scared - but not about deceiving his father, but about getting caught. Sometimes we mistake fear for goodness - we act not out of goodness, but simply because we are afraid of the consequences.

But Rebekah persuades him to do it - and so he does (gets the goat, she cooks them). Then, to complete the charade, she dresses Jacob in Esau’s clothing and puts goatskin on his neck and hands to simulate Esau’s hairiness - he must have been really hairy.

Jacob brings the meal to Isaac, presenting himself as Esau. Now, Isaac is blind, but he’s not dumb. He’s suspicious, it doesn’t sound like Esau. But eventually the feel of the “hair” on the skin and the smell of Esau’s clothing persuade Isaac and receives the meal from Jacob and blesses him, Genesis 27:27-29...

So he (Isaac) went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed. 28 May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness— an abundance of grain and new wine. 29 May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. (and catch this!) Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.”

Right after Jacob leaves, having received the blessing, Esau returns with the meal he had prepared for his father with the game he killed. And, of course, they both realize that they have been duped - their response is strong - it says the Isaac trembled violently. And Esau, upon hearing that the blessing has been given to Jacob and cannot be revoked, “burst out with a loud and bitter cry - bless me, me too, my father!”

Then they realize that Jacob was true to his name - deceiver, he had deceived Isaac in order to get the blessing that Isaac had intended for Esau.

Story ends with Isaac giving Esau a blessing that almost sound more like a curse - you will live by the sword and you will serve your brother.

Esau is so embittered by the betrayal that he holds a deep grudge against Jacob and vows to kill him when his father dies. Rebekah hears of Esau’s plans and so sends Jacob away, under the guise of finding a wife from among their family.

So Jacob leaves for Paddan Aram, where his uncle, Laban, lives - we’ll follow up on that next week.

Relying on Hesed

I know I gave you quite a condensed version of those stories (I strongly encourage you to read through the chapters yourself), but I hope you noticed the strong contrast between these two stories. It’s very telling how the stories end.

In the first story we see beautiful turn of events as Abraham’s faith is honored, his servant’s prayers answered and God provides a wife for Isaac.

And on the other hand, we see Jacob and Esau - what should have been a beautiful moment of blessing ends up in bitterness and deep divide in the family.

At root, what made the difference, was hesed, God’s steadfast love, his loving kindness - or rather the willingness to trust God’s hesed. To live in such a way that reflects relying on the Lord - his provision, his guidance, his way. Abraham’s servant trusted God’s hesed, Isaac and Rebekah and Jacob and Esau did not.

Abraham’s servant, his whole mindset is, I know the Lord has hesed toward my master, Abraham. He’s going into this task trusting it. He’s not trying to make the match happen, figure it all out. He prays right at the beginning - Lord, show your hesed. Show your loving kindness to my master.

And as soon as he realizes that God is responding to his prayer - he responds in praise. Right then and there, he’s having a conversation with Rebekah and then he bows down and worships God, Praise be to the Lord, who has not abandoned his steadfast love (hesed) and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord led me (he’s got hesed for me, too).

There’s a part of the story, when he lays out everything that’s happened to Rebekah’s brother and father - essentially to communicate to them, God led me here to get this woman as a wife for my master’s son. Then he says this, vs. 49, “Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.”

There’s no undue pressure or attempt to force this to happen, no matter how much he believes that God has led him to this place. He just tells them the story and then says, if you’re willing to give Rebekah in marriage, tell me - if not, tell me that so I can be on my way.

When we live in God’s hesed, there’s a security there, a knowing - it will all come out well. I don’t know how exactly, but I’m trusting him. So Abraham’s servant doesn’t have to put undue pressure on them, or try to manipulate or deceive, he just tells the story - and gives them the freedom to respond, yes or no. Just tell me.

Which is exactly what we don’t see in second story - filled with deceit and manipulation. “I have to work to make things happen the way I want them to be.”

Remember God’s word to Rebekah during her pregnancy. - the older will serve the younger. God already told them that this was his plan for these two brothers, that Esau would serve Jacob. The covenant promise would come through Jacob.

So the problems start right at the beginning with Isaac. In spite of this word from God, Isaac chooses to bless the older - his favorite - instead. And Esau goes right along with it - he wants the blessing.

It’s this favoritism that causes a lot of difficulties in this family (and will continue to do so, right on to the next generation). Entirely natural to favor certain people, even within your family. We all have relationships that simply come easier, connection.

But favoritism rears its ugly head when we give preferential treatment, when we neglect the less favored. Spiritual maturity is to grow in love for all - those we don’t favor - to learn more to enjoy and appreciate them

Of course Rebekah and Jacob are no better. Instead of dealing with this openly and honestly, trusting God, his word, his hesed - they work to ensure the blessing for Jacob in their own way - which involves deceit, trickery.

They get what they wanted, but at a heavy price. Remember Isaac’s violent trembling - his own wife and son have worked against him, tricking him. Esau cries out bitterly. As we saw, he becomes so embittered by the betrayal, that his becomes murderous, he vows to kill his own brother. Then when he learns that his parents can’t stand the idea of their sons marrying Canaanite women, he goes and intentionally marries one.

So, good things happening all around in Isaac’s family. And all because they lived out of their own flesh, they trusted themselves - they were going to work to make happen what they wanted to happen. They did not live in humble reliance on God and his hesed, his loving kindness, his steadfast love, like Abraham and his servant did.

Spiritual Disciplines - how do we nurture living in dependence on God’s hesed, his steadfast love? This is so essential, very heart of what it means to become like Jesus, to grow in love. It cannot happen unless we are rooted in God’s love.

Difficult thing is that you can’t force love. It can only be humbled received. God’s love is always right there for us. Question is whether or not we will slow down to open ourselves up and receive that love.

Spiritual Discipline of silence, open your heart to God (Lord, I give your love and will full access to my heart).

To put that trust in God’s steadfast love into practice. No better examples than what Jesus teaches in the sermon on the mount, primary purpose is to show us what true righteousness looks like. What it looks like in our lives when we become people firmly rooted in God’s hesed.

Let your yes be yes, your no, no - I approach people the same way Abraham’s servant did, asking them with no shading of deceit or undue pressure or manipulation, resorting to playing on pity or using flattery. But asking them in a way that gives them complete freedom, plainly or simply.

I don’t have to judge or condemn others (which typically comes out of a sense that I have to earn my goodness, I have to appear to be better than others).

I don’t have to worry or go chasing after all the things I think I need in life, I can live in quiet and restful contentment, knowing the Father knows my needs, he has hesed towards me.

Don’t have to seek revenge, break off relationships - when I am rooted in Jesus’ love. Instead I can return good for evil (not Esau!). I can love my enemies, I can pray for those who persecute me.

Consider how you might put one of these into practice (how you use your words…thoughts when you see people…when you find yourself worrying over something…or hurt and wounding by another, feelings of resentment or dislike).

Inspiration - Word “hesed” appears in OT 248 times, over and over again, expressing God’s steadfast love

Most often, in the Psalms, prayers of praise and trust in God’s loving kindness, his unfailing love

Began the service with this, let’s finish: Psalm 33:18-22...

But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.