Jacob’s departure

Good morning everyone, it is so good to be here this morning with you all. Right now we get to send out the kiddos to their class where you have the opportunity to learn about God in a way that makes sense to you. Then, remember, you gotta pay attention real good so that you can come find me after service and tell me something you learned today. Then of course we also want to welcome those of you joining us online, etc.

Have you every been angry? I mean really angry? Like angry enough you were ready to kill someone…I’m not talking about some frustration with your spouse where you say, I could kill you…I’m talking about an anger so hot that given the opportunity in that moment, you would kill the other person? I’m not proud to say that i have been there myself…a couple of times. I won’t go into the details of the situation, but I will tell you that I was so angry at the situation that I, as well as others with me, were fully prepared to go and make one of our friends no longer exist. Then I’ve had others so mad at me that they threatened to kill me if they ever saw me again. I’ve had people open fire at me and I’ve had people chase me in their car while I drove away because there were to many people for me to deal with at that time. Why do I tell you all of this…becuase anger can really make a HUGE impact on your life for a very long time if you allow it to take hold. There was a Roman philosopher that lived when Jesus was alive, he died in 60 AD. Anyway, he said something that really speaks to our anger.

The best remedy for anger is a little time for thought.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

See, I can tell you that this idea, even though I didn’t know it, kept me from jail back in my late teens. Once I cooled down I no longer felt the need to kill anyone, oh I still didn’t like them, and there was a broken relationship, but there was no need to kill anyone anymore. Maybe you have been so angry that you said you could have killed someone in that moment, but when that moment passed you are grateful you didn’t act on that initial impulse. Maybe you’ve said those words, but you never would act on those words, but you were just so mad…today we are going to look a little bit at being mad and what one brother did with that anger and what another brother did because of that anger. Just to catch us all up real quick though, Jacob has just tricked Isaac into giving him the blessing and Esau has just seen that Jacob has again taken everything that mattered to him. Which to be clear, is his fathers inheritance, his fathers, blessing, and his fathers affection. Jacob has taken the inheritance for a bowl of soup…Esau should only be mad at himself for that one. Jacob has tricked Isaac into giving him the blessing, which from Esau’s perspective means that Isaac has given Jacob his affection and taken it away from Esau. So what we are going to look at today is the fact that Jacob is going to move away…but why…that is the question and there are two reasons for that we will look at this morning. First of all…

To protect Jacob’s life (v. 41–45)

Let’s dive in and take a look at this scripture and see whats going on here.

Genesis 27:41–45 ESV

Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban my brother in Haran and stay with him a while, until your brother’s fury turns away— until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereft of you both in one day?”

This reminds me about a nice kid that grew up in West Philly and one day he was shooting some b-ball outside of the school when a couple of guys who were up to no good started making trouble in his neighborhood. Poor kid got in one little fight and his mom got scared and said, “you’re movin’ with your auntie and uncle in Bel-Air” Of course if you don’t know what Im talking about I feel so sad for your childhood…or for your kids childhoods.

Anyway, whats really going on here? Well first of all, Esau’s anger has stirred up into a plan to murder Jacob. Esau has moved past being anger and has now begun to lay out the plan of when he will kill his brother. Basically he is saying that when my father dies, I will kill Jacob. So Esau is sitting on his anger and just letting it simmer and grow hotter and hotter over time instead of working through things. Esau carried a hateful grudge against his brother and planned to kill him. After all, if Esau couldn’t enjoy the blessing, neither would Jacob. The man who was destined to live by his sword, that’s what Isaac just told him, would start by using it first at home. Now, Esau is waiting until his father dies. This means either that Esau respects his father to much to do this while his father lives, or it means he fears his fathers response after he would kill his brother. Remember what happened to Cain after he killed Able after all.

Well, Rebekah heard what was going on…she heard about Esau’s anger and likely heard his murmurings and plans to kill Jacobs once Isaac would die. So…being the the big planner, she now plans to send Jacob to Haran to live with her brother Laban and then send for him when it was safe for him to return home. She assumes that Jacob will cool down and things will be ok eventually. So Rebekah tells Jacob to flee to her brother Laban. The “few days” that Rebekah intended turned out to be twenty years, and she never saw Jacob again on earth.

This is kind of funny, and shows how God is working in this whole situation becuase Rebekah decided she needed to get involved in making sure that God’s will would be done. The word “flee” kind of becomes a motto of Jacob’s life, later he will also flee Laban when Laban is deceiving him. So…it’s a little ironic that Rebekah tells him to escape to “my brother Laban in Haran”, who he will later escape to return to Canaan. Rebekah’s “brother,” though providing Jacob’s two wives, will not be a lasting refuge for Jacob while his own brother was a threat.

You see, when we decide to get involved in God’s plan and do things our own way, we just make things messier. I’ll tell you…I’ve read these stories for years and never realized that God was using these men and women despite their own wickedness, and thank goodness for that becuase that means that God can use you and me despite our own wickedness. Even in all of this though…Rebekah knew that God was still working. Rebekah knew that God was holy and that God was just. That is partially why she is sending away Jacob. She knows that Jacob is the son of the promise, but maybe she didn’t trust Isaac to do what God was telling him to do so she got involved, you know…just to help out. Ladies…your husband is the spiritual leader of your household…you are his helpmate, but it is not up to you to attempt to force him, or worse, trick him to do what you feel the Lord is leading him to do. You may be wrong…but even if you’re right, you are not the Holy Spirit. Husbands, equally, lead well so that your wives are not anxious that you are not following the Lord.

So we saw one reason that Jacob is going to move way…what is another reason?

To secure a suitable wife for Jacob (27:46–28:5)

Yeah…thats right, he needs to have a wife that is not part of the Canaanite religions. Now, let me be very clear here for a moment because there is some confusion in various Christian circles. The problem with Canaanite women was not that they were Canaanite, it was that they were pagan and worship multiple deities. God is one God and will not share his worship with other false gods or idols. Therefore, having a wife that already is set in the ways of worship household idols and various other false worship patterns is not a healthy way to start God worshiping family.

Let me say this again for those of you that are not married yet. Getting married to someone that worships false gods, even if they don’t “go to church” is not a healthy way to start a family. Look for people that believe what you believe and worship the God that you worship. They don’t have to attend LRBC…but they do need to worship God and attend church somewhere. Rant over.

Let’s go ahead and take a look at this passage

Genesis 27:46–28:9 ESV

Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I loathe my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?” Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women. Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!” Thus Isaac sent Jacob away. And he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother. Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram. So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father, Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.

So Rebekah wants to send away Jacob to find a wife that will not be a woman that is worship false gods. She already has a son that has a wife that does this, and she has expressed it is miserable. Since Esau’s two heathen wives were an aggravation in the home, not just to Rebekah but to Isaac also, Rebekah used this as a reason to discuss Jacob’s future with Isaac. Now that Jacob had the covenant blessing, it was important that he marry the right woman and not one of the pagan Canaanite women that would drive him away from God. Let me just say it clearly…Jacob must not marry a Canaanite woman. This is not because of her nationality, but because of her religion…or really, religions. So they agree to send him away to Haran to find a wife with Rebekah’s brother Laban.

Isaac of course agrees with this and calls for Jacob to come see him. I can just imagine Jacob’s response when hearing that dad wants to see him after the trick he just pulled. He is likely expecting his dad to scold him and maybe get out the belt and deal with things the way fathers deal with things ya know…That’s not what happened though is it. See, Isaac had been caught in his own issues…He knew that Jacob was the son of the promise and he attempted to do things his way. Listen, Rebekah and Jacob may have had their own plans, but Isaac knew what was supposed to happen…more than that, he knew that God’s plan are better than his plans. Do you know that?

Listen, not only did Isaac speak lovingly to Jacob, the way a father should speak to a son, but he also gave him another blessing before he left on his trip to Haran. This time it was not the blessing of a father, it was the blessing of The Father…Isaac passed on the blessing of Abraham to Jacob Jacob would be the fulfillment of God’s promise to bless all the earth through Jacob’s descendents. Now it is interesting that even through Jacob is the second generation born in Canaan, they are still referred to as sojourners or foreigners because God has not yet fulfilled the act of giving this land to his people. Keep watching for that in Exodus.

Let’s also briefly look at

Esau’s response (v. 6-9)

Esau’s response to this news was more evidence that he despised everything spiritual. His answer was to simply go out and take another wife. Not to look for repentance or to look for hope and understanding, but to simply double down on doing things his way…which if we are honest is what he has learned from Isaac and Rebekah so far. So because Jacob was looking for a wife among his Uncle Laban’s children, Esau decides that he needs to choose a wife from his Uncle Ishmael’s family. Maybe he thinks this will qualify for some sort of blessing…

You know, another thing I see when I was reading this is a son who has been rejected by his father, or at least feels as though he has been rejected by his father. He and his father share many things. His father loves his cooking, and they share a love of the outdoors and a love of game. Jacob was more similar to Rebekah, he wasn’t a hunter, he didn’t have what it takes to be out in the wild like Esau and Isaac could…But there was something missing between Esau and Isaac wasn’t there. We don’t read about how Isaac and Esau talk about why the blessing needs to go to Jacob as that is God’s desire. We don’t read about any attempts to bring Esau into compliance with the will of God. Of course, that would have meant that Isaac would have had to admit that he was trying to bypass God’s direction himself, but what a better way to bring a father and son together than to confess together. I dunno, and maybe we don’t read that simply because Genesis was already long enough and there wasn’t enough room to have all of these interactions written down. However, I wonder if Esau would have been so angry and would have married Canaanite women in the first place if he would have understood God’s promises…maybe he would have done everything exactly the same. However, what do we see in the end for Esau? Esau saw that his father was displeased with the Canaanite women for Jacob and so he went and married Isaac’s brothers daughter. Of course, Ishmael was the daughter that was born out of the sin of Abraham, but this was Esau’s attempt at trying to get back into his fathers good graces…Ishmael and Esau, the two outcast sons…both wilderness tribes that historically oppose the tribes of Jacob.

So what do we do with this? What does all of this have to do with our lives today?

How do we Apply this?

Listen, first of all I want to encourage everyone here today and joining us online to look at your own lives for areas of deceit. If there are areas of deceit, then I want to ask you to do one of the following these.

Offer forgiveness where needed

Let me just explain what this means real quick ok. First of all, forgiveness does not fix everything. Forgiveness is an offer where you tell the person that you forgive them for their part of this broken relationship. This is for your heart and for your relationship with God. How can you accept God’s forgiveness when you refuse to offer forgiveness. There are multiple passages that we can talk about on this topic if you are interested in talking about it, but it is your responsibility to forgive others. And…forgiveness means they don’t owe you anymore, ok…no more hanging in over their heads or making them pay for it passive aggressively, ok…

and

Seek Reconciliation when available

This is the other half of forgiveness. Without forgiveness, there can be no reconciliation, but without reconciliation there is no relationship. You know the people in your life where you have a broken relationship with. Seek reconciliation with them. Maybe it means that you have to start it. You go and apologize and ask for their forgiveness for your part. You then express your hurt that they were a part of and you forgive them. Within this process, you must both repent of your actions to the other person.

Jacob should have gone to Esau, and he will later, kind of. Esau should have gone to Jacob. Isaac should have sat everyone down. None of those things happened, and so we have a brother that is prepared to kill another brother. We have a son that is seeking approval from his father by marrying again. When you pretend something hasn’t happened you are not allowing any kind of reconciliation and you not only hurt your relationship, but you hurt those around you too.

I also want to encourage you to Actually trust in God’s promises and seek his guidance in your life and circumstance. Listen, I know you have some pretty hard stuff going on in your life…but I also know that God’s Word has the answers you have been looking for. Are you struggling with relationships? Are you struggling with parenting? Are you struggling with your marriage? Are you struggling with pornography? Are you struggling financially? Are you struggling at work? Listen…every single one of those catagories are catagories that I know for a fact more than one family is struggling with here at LRBC. Do you know what else I know about every one of those issues? There are Scripture to help you manage those issues. If you are nervous to ask someone, then let me give you some advice…Google goes a long way to help you find Scripture. Search, what does the Bible say about my finances. Then look at the scriptures that will pop up. Now, don’t read all the random sites that are seeking to give you advice, look at the Scripture and read those. Open them in your Bible and allow God’s Word to minister to you.

Here’s the deal, and Im about to pray to close us out…but I just wanna say this last thing, and I want this to be the last thing you remember me saying this morning. God can redeem your mistakes and use them for his glory. Don’t think you’re to far gone or that God can’t do anything with your situation, or that you’ve made God to mad…listen, I’ve already had all of those thoughts, but here I am. God can redeem your mistakes and use them for his glory.

Let’s pray: (pray for God's guidance and provision in our lives)