The Birth of Two Nations; Genesis 25:19-26
Life of Christ - Isaac • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 6 viewsResting in his grace means we do not have to keep a law to ourselves to remain in his grace. Take a deep breath and breathe in the grace of God.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Speak on Minnesota
Evil thrives on chaos and it is easy for us to get caught up in it
we can easily add to it with our speech
we should speak truth, peace and love into every situation
even our words that are truthful can be wrong when our hearts are not right
I am going to say this truth so that those people…
we are in a very dangerous spot in our country
we have people using the phrase civil war
even with a large majority not wanting anything like that, you have a VERY loud few on both sides that believe that is what needs to happen
1 An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:
2 Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob…
Series Recap
Abraham
Abram - told to leave his family and the place he knows to a place God would show him
he was given 3 basic promises
He would have descendants as numerous as the stars
He would have land for them
God would protect him
bless those who bless
curse those who curse
He goes… and has two sons
Ishmael through human planning
Sarai gives her slave to Abram, Hagar, and they conceive a son
this is not the son of the promise
Isaac only a way that God could do
Sarah, 25 years after God calls them to go, has a boy at the age of 90
Abraham tested by being told to Sacrifice Isaac
He went… no questions, believing that God was going to do something miraculous
Today - We continue with Isaac
we do not get a lot in terms of the narrative for Isaac
his birth and the sacrifice are the biggest part of the narrative
but he does get married to Rebekah and like his parents, they struggle to get pregnant
19 These are the family records of Isaac son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac.
20 Isaac was forty years old when he took as his wife Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.
21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord was receptive to his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.
22 But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.
23 And the Lord said to her: Two nations are in your womb; two peoples will come from you and be separated. One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.
24 When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb.
25 The first one came out red-looking, covered with hair like a fur coat, and they named him Esau.
26 After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel with his hand. So he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.
Pray!
Resting in his grace means we do not have to keep a law to ourselves to remain in his grace.
God’s Intervention
God’s Intervention
God intervenes or his people would be lost for eternity
Speak of how Isaac got married to Rebekah
When his mother died Abraham sent one of his servants back to where his family was to get Isaac a bride
the servant goes to the well, prays that God would have the interaction go a certain way and it did
so the servant goes and speaks with the family and it is Abrahams family, the girl agrees to go back with the servant to be Isaac’s wife
Isaac was 40 years old when he was married and scripture tells us that he was comforted after his mother died, by his marriage
Fast forward, Isaac and Rebekah are having the same issue that Abraham and Sarah had. They cannot get pregnant.
The fulfilment of God’s promise is always sure, yet it is often slow. Matthew Henry
Abraham was not simply promised a son, but that a nation would come from him. Descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky.
At what extent does Isaac believe this?
I would assume that he believed greatly after the Mt. Moriah trip. He is praying for a child to come to fulfill the promise to his father that nations would come from his line.
19 These are the family records of Isaac son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac.
20 Isaac was forty years old when he took as his wife Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.
21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord was receptive to his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.
The Bible is a collection of stories that have been passed down
Abraham, that we know of, did not write any of this down, but the stories were passed down and Moses wrote down the first five books of the Bible
I wonder how many times Isaac heard the story of Sarah laughing when she heard that she was going to have a baby when she was 90 years old
Abraham was 160 when Jacob and Esau was born
and lived another 15 years, I am sure they heard the story plenty of times from grandpa
Isaac went to the Lord for his wife
she was barren,
it had been 20 years of marriage
many people of been through this and struggle with infertility
you have prayed and prayed, cried out and still nothing
I do not want to minimize that by sounding like all you have to do is pray
if you are, bring that to your church family
not necessarily broadcast it out as a prayer request at the end of service
but find a group of people, couples and ask your church family to join you in prayer
Isaac does not go the route of his parents
he does not attempt to gain the promise that was given to his father by sleeping with other to get a son
instead he goes to the one place that he knows can help
God hears and answers with twins
The Lord heard his prayer and she conceived
There are some things that only God can do, and he is the author of life
some people have tired to have children and still beg God
if you need to see proof, or talk to somebody that has been down that road, go talk to the Wagners and learn how God can do miraculous things
that does not mean that if you pray for a little one you will end up with 10
If God does not intervene there is not life
If God does not intervene we do not have life
not just physical life, but spiritually we are dead and would stay that way if not for him
The Bible talks often of infertility
we saw this with Sarah, we see it with Rebekah, as you go on in the lineage you will see it in Rachel (Jacob’s wife), Samuel’s mother
their wombs were closed, God intervenes and there is life
I believe this points to a larger point that God is making in scripture, that life comes from him. Apart from him is bareness, death.
Apart from God’s merciful intervention, people naturally oppose him.
R. Kent Hughes
Our sinful nature passed down from generation to generation, is motivated by self and opposed to God
unless God intervenes there is no hope
unless God intervenes with Isaac and Rebekah, the promise made to Abraham is over
God’s Selection
God’s Selection
There are certain words in the bible that we do not like
I said last week that I do not like the word test
it meant that God does test us
of course when I say things like that it pops up, so I saw it again in my personal time in the bible this week.
like God laughing as he points it out again to me… look, I said it over here too
selection might be one of those words for you
selection, chosen, predestined…
we do not like the idea that we are not in control
22 But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.
23 And the Lord said to her: Two nations are in your womb; two peoples will come from you and be separated. One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.
I love that she went to the Lord when she did not understand what was happening
there is a temptation, another study of this passage
a father who trusted the Lord raised up a son, who trusted the Lord and prayed for his wife, then led his wife to trust in the Lord so that when she is questioning things, she goes to the Lord
but the Lord led me in a different direction as I was preparing this week
We don’t always understand the ways of God
Rebekah has gotten pregnant, yet she can feel that something is not normal
she is going to have twins
the Lord reveals to her what is happening
The Omniscient Lord reveals what is going on not just in her womb, but in the redemptive future
two nations are in your womb
The Israelites and the Edomites
Something different about the two
they would always struggle together
the younger would rule the older
Is God telling her what will come of these boys, or what he will do in the boys life
he is telling them that the younger is the one who the promise will continue in
why… because that is what he chose in his perfect will,
there are some things that we feel like we need to know
Scriptura scripturam interpretatur — Latin for “Scripture interprets Scripture”
this is not the only place in scripture that God tells us about this
2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. Yet you ask, “How have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” This is the Lord’s declaration. “Even so, I loved Jacob,
3 but I hated Esau. I turned his mountains into a wasteland, and gave his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
6 Now it is not as though the word of God has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
just because your bloodline can be traced back to Israel, the person, does not mean that you are a part of Israel the promise
7 Neither is it the case that all of Abraham’s children are his descendants. On the contrary, your offspring will be traced through Isaac.
8 That is, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but the children of the promise are considered to be the offspring.
9 For this is the statement of the promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.
10 And not only that, but Rebekah conceived children through one man, our father Isaac.
11 For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might stand—
that is that before they were out of the womb, God has chosen for the promise to go forward from Jacob, not Esau
some like to explain this away by saying in God’s omniscience, his all knowing, God knew that this person would come to faith, would live for him, would…
12 not from works but from the one who calls—she was told, The older will serve the younger.
NOT FROM WORKS…
this includes future known works
God did not save you because he knew you would have a good heart
your heart desires wicked things
God did not save you because of your talents and gifts
He gave you those and could have given them to anyone
13 As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.
This still leaves us as to why…
we feel like this is unfair
I believe that we look at this from the wrong understanding
we think that all people start off from a point of goodness
how can a loving God let some people go to eternal torment
the truth is that we are all evil
there is none that righteous (good), not one
Jesus told the rich young ruler that the only one that is good is God
it is out of his grace that any are saved
to the glorify his wondrous grace
3 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ.
4 For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.
5 He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One.
God chose to lavish his grace upon you that you would be holy (set apart) and blameless (your sins removed) for himself
God’s Grace
God’s Grace
One of the main points of looking at the lineage of Jesus is that we can see that God is not reacting
that God did not send his son because he tried everything else and as a last resort sent his son
he told Eve in the garden that one would come who would crush the head of the snake
he told Abraham that the entire world would be blessed through the son of the promise
this story of the birth of Jacob, son of Isaac, is another step in that lineage
24 When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb.
25 The first one came out red-looking, covered with hair like a fur coat, and they named him Esau.
26 After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel with his hand. So he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.
God’s grace has been set out for you from the foundation of the world
Jacob, the younger, grasping his brother’s heal is the chosen son
tradition holds that the older is the one who all things would go through
now we have two older sons that are not the sons that God will bring about his grace
Ishmael, who was self effort to gain a son and a heir
now Esau who would was older by just a minute,
God’s grace is not set on future events
if this were so Jacob is not the man you would want
he is a trickster, takes the birth rite from his brother and tricks his father into blessing him instead of his older brother
God’s grace means you can rest
not that you can sin… or should sin to show everyone how great his grace is
1 What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply?
2 Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
But you do not have to live up to some standard to receive it
because you never kept some standard to earn it
if this was required it would not be grace
no, you can now rest in the grace of the God who called you to himself
we do not have to earn our way to life with him
we can be honest with him about our needs and shortcomings
we can breathe knowing that everything relies on his strength and his wisdom
God’s grace should lead us to worship
