The Birth of Two Nations

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 117

Psalm 117 ESV

Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!

Scripture Memorization: Genesis 50:19-20

Genesis 50:19–20 “But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

Scripture Reading: Romans 9:6-18

Romans 9:6–18 ESV

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

Sermon:

Well once again, and as always, good morning church. I was glad when they said to me let us go and worship in the house of the Lord.

Well, this morning, we begin in earnest the generations of Isaac. As you go through the the Book of Genesis, A lot of the big mile markers of “we're starting a new section” begin with this phrase - “the generations of...”

It's been a long time. We're in sermon 42, so we go back to Genesis chapter 2 Verse 4, “these are the generations of the Heaven and the Earth” chapter 6, verse 9. “These are the Generations of Noah” chapter 11, verse 27. “These are the generations of Terah, Tarah fathered Abram.” And here we begin Genesis 25, verse 19. “These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son.”

Abraham has died. He is dead and buried. And the Book of Genesis moves on. As we get to the New Testament, God will often be called the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. and this is because the are the patriarchs that we read of in the Book of Genesis. This book will in turn look at all of them. So we move from Abraham now to Isaac. To see how God is the God of Isaac. And we start Isaac's story with him getting a son... Two sons In fact!

In a very interesting. A very beautiful and wonderful story, but I will be honest, an extraordinarily difficult story especially when we start reading through, what does this mean for us as we get into the New Testament.… Before us today is the story of Jacob and Esau the two sons of Isaac.

And as we open God's word as we seek to hear from it in an attempt to prepare our minds and hearts. I just want us to think about. Abraham's life. and in particular I want to think of the difficulties, the trials, the troubles And the promises of God. with Abraham’s life, as with our lives, these were very much intertwined. Most of his difficulty was with the promises of God. He had the promises: you'll have descendants. You'll have children, there'll be a nation that will grow. There'll be a blessing. You'll have land. That was the promise.

The problem as that none of that is happening. He's a hundred before. He has a child… Let me be more specific: He's 100 before he has the child of Promise. He has no land really... the only land he will ever own is a cemetery. Where now he and his wife are both buried.

The promises in his life, and as he goes through it, they are intertwined with the difficulties but we can say that the reverse as well… the trials and difficulties and troubles are intertwined with the promises of God. And it Turns out that theme is going to continue. As we look at the birth of Jacob and Esau.

Our text for today, Genesis chapter 25, starting in verse 19. We will be looking through verse 28 this morning.

Genesis 25:19–28 ESV

These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham fathered 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. And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. 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.” When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

These are the words of the Lord for us this morning. Let's open our time together with a word of prayer.

Oh Lord, Our Lord, how Majestic is your name in all the Earth? You are The Sovereign King of Heaven, high and lifted up. The one who knows all things, who holds all things who directs all things you are the one who is Seated on the throne. And so we praise you for all of your wondrous works. We thank you for sending your son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We thank you for the precious gift of the Holy Spirit working within us, teaching us molding us, shaping us giving us gifts. We ask that by your spirit, you would open our eyes to see all that you have said and done. May we see clearly your work, your word, and what you have called us to as well. May we be a people changed by the hearing of your word. It's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen.

A while back, Willow was going through her Bible stories. She's been doing Bible stories in in school with Desiree, and they had just done the story of Jacob and Esau, and for some reason Desire and I were talking about well, the passage Corey read for us earlier, Romans 9, where Jacob and Esau are mentioned. And Desiree said that I should ask Willow since she learned about them. So I asked Willow who who were Jacob and Esau? They've been reading from Genesis. And Willow said, well, Esau is the furry red boy. And as we read here, that’s not not wrong. First, came out red and his body hairy like a cloak, so they called his name Esau.

So we could have said today, we'll be talking about the furry red guy and his younger brother, the heel grabber. But instead, I want to take a look and see how this Narrative sets the stage for the rest of - - In many ways - the rest of what's to come in Genesis and certainly the rest of what's going to come in the the Saga of Isaac.

What is rather fascinating as we start, Last week, we ended the death of Abraham narrative with Genesis 25, 12. “These are the generations of Ishmael.” And then we got there, something we're used to. A genealogy of sorts. These are the seams of the son of Ishmael, named after the birth nebioeth, the firstborn of Ishmael kater.… We read through, and we're used to. Here's the generations name, name, name, name. Were we to go back and look at some of the other ones that I mentioned Genesis 12 or 11? These are generations of Terror Tara, Father Abraham nabor, hair and hair, and father-in-law. We hear these are the generations into a genealogy.

We don't that get that. These are the generations of Isaac Abraham's son, Abraham, father Isaac, who's 40 years old... and we're right into a story. And this story, As I said, lays the foundation for the rest of Isaac's life, how we read through the Isaac portion of Genesis.

Really, this is the birth of two Nations. That's what God has said in this text here and the primary question then is How does this come about? What are the the facts of the story? And what does this mean, then going forward? Those are the questions to look for. And the first thing I want to note, And maybe here, just start with a lesson, a practical thought. We get a lot into theological matters and discerning “What does this mean?” We'll start here with What is a practical lesson from this story.

We should pray. \

Because the story opens with. A Praying parent.

A PRAYING PARENT

And that's actually wrong. I I wanted the A … A… A… like matching up here.

We start with a praying parent. It's Isaac, but he's not the only one so. A set of praying parents. Or some praying parents… might have been more correct...

We read that Isaac was 40 years old when he takes Rebecca. And these time frames are helpful because I think sometimes we miss this because Genesis is just boom boom boom, boom! And we're reading the stories, like Abraham, dies we're immediately into now. Now, we're with Isaac. Now, we're here.... The timeline's not that clear-cut. And so, last week, Abraham died. But as we come to our story here, he's actually not dead. While these events unfold. He was old. Not dead yet.

Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebecca. That means Abraham would have been, we'll just do round numbers. It's easier 140 if he's 100 when he's born, he's 140 now. Abraham, we read last week, lived to 175.

So, Isaac here is 40 years old when he gets married. He's gonna get married and have kids. Maybe that's his plan. That doesn't happen. Isaac will be 60. When his children are born. Isaac is 40 when he's married. And he does not have kids for twenty Years till he is 60.

What does he do in the interim? In our Grace Point two weeks ago we asked is Isaac one worthy of Praise, is he one worthy of our imitation? Is he going to be a worthy heir to Abraham in the life of faith?

And we said two weeks ago, yeah. Well, here we see why? None of this. None of the stories like we have in Abraham. There's no Problems that come up because he's going to go take a Egyptian handmaiden. His wife is Barren. So, what does he do? Verse 21 of Genesis 25 Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife.

When Trials come when troubles come when difficulties come? Isaac gets it right. He prays. He prays on behalf of his Barren wife. To use a fancy church language, he intercedes on her behalf. He lifts her up in prayer and supplication. It's interesting to me, he doesn't even pray for his own sake. Even the way I told the story. He's 40. He's not going to have a child till he's 60. Sure. But he prayed to the Lord for his wife. Because she was Barren. It's for her. His prayers are externally focused.

He prays for his wife and the Lord. We read in verse 21, grants his prayer, and Rebecca, his wife concieved.

Is prayer powerful?

It opened the barren womb of Rebecca. I'd say so.

This is the the power of a Praying parent. and we can note: Even before he's a parent, he's praying. God hears that prayer. Prayer is, in fact, what makes him a parent. God hears his prayer.

In terms of the flow of Genesis and why this is important. Abraham. Would converse with God. We saw a story before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham, even. Sort of tried to barter with God. Make deal well. What if you only find 50 40… we go down... What if you only find 10 righteous? Will you still destroy Sodom and Gomorrah on account of 10 righteous? Abraham and God, it seemed, had a relationship wherein Abraham could commune with God and God would speak to Abraham. God would Covenant with Abraham. And here is Isaac taking up the mantle — he prays.

It's not just him. Rebecca prays as well. She gets pregnant, and her pregnancy is not normal. And we, we should think through this in terms of time and context. How is she to know she had twins? There was no ultrasound to check. It wouldn't be as apparent as it is to us. And so, her pregnancy not being normal. Is affecting her. The children are struggling together within her.

That's what we like to call blatant foreshadowing. They're going to struggle a lot together. It started in the womb. These two children that will grow into two Nations are at War, even within her. They're struggling together within her, and she says, why is it? Why is this happening to me?

Isaac prayed. She got pregnant. Now, the pregnancy is not normal. Why is this happening? So she went to inquire...

Who do we go to when things are difficult, and there's trials and troubles? Who do we go to when things aren't going right? Who should we inquire of when there are trials and troubles and challenges that we Face, who should we inquire of?

The Lord.

The start. Of the Isaac Saga. Here in many ways. Is a valuable lesson to us. Pray. Go before the Lord. The Sovereign King of Heaven and Earth? The one who has the power to open the womb of Sarah and hear Rebecca, the one who has the power to do these things to save to deliver, to provide, to care for. Pray. Start with a Praying parent. Isaac gets his answer to his prayer. The Lord grants his prayer. Rebecca gets pregnant. Rebecca asks important question why? She gets an answer too. Hers comes in the form of a painful prophecy.

A PAINFUL PROPHECY

Painful, probably for her. Some of the stuff we'll talk about here, not exactly probably what you want to hear. Certainly painful for the subjects of the prophecy. That's not true. Certainly painful. Well, you know, it is, but to the point painful for one of the subjects for certain. “For the older Shall Serve the younger.”

I'm willing to say painful for both because it causes such strife and division and pain and difficulty. The younger, though, he is. The stronger, spiritually. He's not stronger physically. And though he will receive the blessing and he will be served by the older. For a time, you're gonna have to run away and hide and deal with some difficult situations. So yeah, in many ways It's painful for all involved.

What is the prophecy? It's a prophecy that comes from the Lord, verse 23 of Genesis 25,

Genesis 25:23 “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.””

Here's some family trouble. Often as not a twin, someone who's only seen and like talked to when I was a youth pastor. We had multiple sets of twins in our youth group. You think of twins, and you think, oh man, it must be nice. I think. Like only children or people who are separated in in age from their siblings, we look at twins sometimes. Think, oh man, you have, like your best friend, you always have that friend and companion. It must be great to be a twin. Not for Jacob and Esau. They're divided. This is family Strife struggles and troubles, and fighting from within the family. One shall be stronger than the other, and the older Shall Serve the younger.

Here, God is proclaiming: We're doing things my way an my way is different than what you may want, expect, or demand. It's the younger... It's through the younger that the descendants will be named. It's through the younger that the promises of God will find their fulfillment. It's from the younger. And again. We read this earlier in Romans - since before they were born. God has set his redeeming love upon the younger in such a way that his promises will be manifested through the younger. And this will cause pain and difficulty for those involved.

But this is how God has said it will happen. And so this is how it MUST happen. One of the themes we cannot miss in Genesis as we go through Genesis. Is, it's not up to man, and it's not up to man scheming, and it's not up to man's planning. And it's not up to man's ideas, and it's not up to man's will in doing whatever man wants it. Is God. And God is doing as he pleases - orchestrating a perfect, beautiful story? So that, as we read every week in Genesis, many will be kept alive as they are today, so that, as we know, fast forwarding to Jesus. Many will be saved as they even are today through the promised seed of Abraham, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who comes from Jacob... the younger. God is working this out. And so there may be pain and difficulty. We may not even understand everything that's going on in our lives, or even in this story. God is the one orchestrating this. And As God orchestrates this We're then struck with one of the most... Interesting scenes in Genesis. I Called it here, a bizarre birth.

A BIZZARE BIRTH

Maybe that's an understatement? Verse 24, when the days to give birth were completed when she has come to term, the babies are being born. Behold, there were twins. So, one of the things you start to think of is, well, wait a second. Why do we say, “behold”, “look!” - There's twins. For Rebecca. She hears the prophecy and these this two Nation thing she might not know what's going on. What exactly does this mean for her? Well, she might not know. But here, it's clear, behold, twins. Oh. I get it. This is what God means.

The first came out red. His body, like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. I'll always remember when Jaden was born. He had some hair. I would not say that he was his body like a hairy cloak. But this is the interesting part of coming from a a interracial marriage being the child of a Hispanic woman and a Caucasian man. My side of the family looked at Jayden thought. Look at all that hair he has! Desiree's side of the family looked at him and said, oh my, gosh, this poor bald baby!

No one would have looked at Esau and said, oh my gosh, this poor bald baby. He is born his body like a hairy cloak. He's a hairy child. Born with hair red all over. He is, as Willow called him a furry red boy. It's already bizarre, but that's not even the most bizarre part of this story. Afterward, his brother. Infant. Newborn, Jacob. Comes out his hand holding on to. Esau's heal! And so his name is Jacob, which means literally he takes by the heel. Heel Grabber.

We have red boy and heel Grabber. Two twins born in this bizarre scene. Setting the stage. For what is to come? The fact that Esau is hairy is actually really important. It's a key part of a further narrative. When Jacob is going to con his father. To take the blessing that Esau should deserve. Why? Because the older shall serve the younger. This goes back to the prophecy.

The fact that Jacob is a heel Grabber is important. Because he's going to go grabbing after the heels of things that that aren't His by Birthright but are his by prophetic right.

And we're gonna dive into that. We have weeks to talk about this, but the promise was the older shall serve the younger. And so, as the heel grabber grabs, we'll look at next week. Taking the birth right of Esau? Heel grabber grabs Issacs Blessing Brabbing the blessing that should have gone to the older child. This bizarre birth lays the foundation for the rest of the story of these men's lives.

We have a bizarre birth. Nothing, it seems, can go normally in the Book of Genesis. And then all of this culminates. And seeing a fractured family.

A FRACTURED FAMILY

This is what the prophecy promised: two Nations in are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided. So the prophecy has already said that there's going to be some division here. There's Nations shall be divided. From the children that are in the womb of Rebecca. But it's not just Nations.

Two weeks ago. Isaac loved Rebecca! It doesn't mean everything's just going to be hunky-dory throughout the rest of their lives. Isaac. So, here's the thing parents. Free bit of advice. Don't admit you have favorites, and then certainly don't say your favorites if you do. Right... Let's let me restate that don't have favorites. You should love all your children equally. If you do have favorites, don't tell anyone.

Rebecca and Isaac tell everyone. At least scripture tattles on them. Isaac Loved Esau. Because he ate of his game, verse 28, says. But Rebecca. Loved Jacob! The Nations that are divided divide even this house in some way.

Husband and wife divided that one loves one twin more, and the other loves the other twin more. This isn't good. Again, it's going to cause strife and trouble in the family. This lays the foundation as I've said so that later. Isaac wants to bless Esau, because that's who he loves. Rebecca wants Jacob to get the blessing, because that's who she loves. So, Isaac tries to make sure that he's blessing Esau, because that's who he loves. So, Rebecca makes sure that they can deceive Isaac, because that's who she loves. The foundation here is laid here for all of the stories to come.

And it will be difficult. There'll be trials and troubles. A family ss fractured.

And how that pans out is going to be important. And the lessons for this that we will take and glean as we go through the Book of Genesis. They're important. But the most important lesson. Most important thought, we can have. is a more profound one.

The story of Jacob and Esau is for me. One of the most difficult ones to grasp. Not because the story itself is hard. I think these these four, the way we've pulled it out here. I think it's very easy to see how the story flows, not hard. It's hard because of what it means. And it's hard in particular because of what it means. As things resonate through eternity.

Rebecca asked why? Why? Why am I experiencing this? Why am? Why is my pregnancy like this? God answer: two Nations. For us. The next question should be, well, why two Nations? And to put a sharper point on it:

When we see the difficulty between Isaac and Ishmael? We can chalk that up to, well, Abraham sinned. Abraham messed up and that caused problems. We can't do that here. Isaac prayed. God answered his prayer. And through no fault of anyone but God, and they don't mean fault in a negative sense. But this is God's doing. Only God can make twins. We have this fractured family.

Paul tells us in Romans chapter 9… It's to show forth. The mercy. And sovereignty. Of God.

Mercy in this? Romans chapter 9, verse 15, for he says to Moses. I will have mercy, on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion, on whom I have compassion.

And God will show forth mercy and compassion to Jacob. And this proclaimed before they are even born. That's an important thought for Paul if we go back. Though they were not yet bored. Romans chapter 9, verse 11, though they were not yet born and had did nothing, either good or bad. In order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works, but because of him who calls. She was told the older Shall Serve the younger. This again in verse 15 to show forth: I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy to show forth God's mercy and compassion.

The lesson above all lessons we should take from the story of. Jacob and Esau and in particular the birth of the of Isaac and Esau. Is that God is merciful.

And we get there by saying it this way: I'll ask you very pointedly. WHO In Rebecca's womb. Deserves. God's mercy?

The answer is no one. For no one is righteous. No, not one, no one serves God. We are all born dead in our sins and trespasses. Who deserves God mercies? No one. And so, God. Showing forth his Mercy places it upon Jacob. But he picks Jacob in order that we can hear this verse 11 of Romans chapter 9, so that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works. But because of him who calls!

Thisthen is ALSO the lesson, the story of Jacob and Esau above every other lesson is this?

God Is Sovereign.

Should we be praying parents? Yes, yes, parents pray. Grandparents pray. Non-Parents, pray.

Do we need to look sometimes and realize that life will not always be just a soft bed of roses that often will be laying in the Thorns? That it will be difficult and painful. Yeah. I think the painful prophecy helps us see.

This bizarre birth, and it helps us understand that that something is going on here. And when things don't go the way that we think they should, God is still at work. As we read of this fractured family, it gives us insight to understand the difficulty and pain of of. But the lesson here, above all of that, is God is Sovereign.

That all of this is because of him who calls. Though we may mean things, though things may be going on. Ultimately. God is the one who rules and Reigns.

And it's not for us To demand It makes sense.

We dont dictate that the Lord God do things in the way we think he should. Instead. May we worship The Sovereign King of Heaven?

Let's pray.

Communion:

As we prepare our hearts to come and take communion. I'd like to remind us that this is a gift from the Sovereign God — Even that we get to come to the table. I mean, it doesn't make sense.

I always try to tie to the text we just read, here's one: We think of painful prophecies, right? I said, it's a painful prophecy for those who will be the subjects of it. But when I say, prophecy, what do you think of? My Hope and prayer would be that you think of the Glorious prophecies that predict Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior. But most of those are also painful.

For, he is pierced for our transgressions and by his stripes we are healed! The chastisement that brings us peace is placed upon him. The point here being. WE are saved by painful propecies and the Body and the Bollod of Jesus are testamonies to that fact and that is waht we celebrate here at the table. That’s point number one.

But here is the second way, and the way that has been mionistering to my soul this week. God does not use ways that make sense to us. He has not asked our permission or thoughts or ideas. And just like in the story of Jacob and Esau how God chose to show his Mercy forth by choosing the younger and not the Elder so that we could just manifestly know that this must be a work of God!

So too, Jesus, our lord crucified for our sins, is God shining forth his grace and mercy in such a way that we look and say? This only makes sense if God is doing it. God chooses to reveal to us himslef and our salvation in a way that is quite puzzling but also beautiful.

I was recently reading for school. Some real, real, real, real old stuff. It's called the Third Theological oration, the third theological sermon. Is really what that would mean

but it is the third theological oration Of A Man by the name of Greg Gregory of nazianzus. He. He preached these around the year 370. So these are old. But he's reflecting on the nature of Jesus. And how it just doesn't make sense. And this not making sense becomes for us a Wellspring of joy and worship.

And so I want to read. What he said. This is a long quote. But it glorifies the beauty of our savior. Who was man and God - THAT IS THE KEY POINT IN ALL OF THIS THAT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE!

READ FROM GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS

That is. Our Savior. It's not for us to ask how or why — it is for us to glory in Wonder at the beauty of the God who would do such a thing. And as we come to the table as we come and take communion. This puzzling Juxtaposition of Jesus is what we are celebrating. For, he took and said, take and eat. This is my body broken for you. Do this in remembrance is me

He said this cup is the New Covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me, Jesus Christ, Our Lord, and Savior. Forever! It is not for us to demand it makes sense. It is for us to be ministered to. By Jesus.

Let's pray.