The Covenant Passed On; Genesis 27:1-46

Introduction

Matthew 1:1–2 “An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: Abraham fatheredA Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob…”

Looking back at King Henry VIII's family, we see a ruler who went through wives like they were sandwiches! His quest for a male heir turned his family life into a royal circus, filled with drama and absurdity.

It's a lighthearted reminder to us all that even the kings of the past had their share of family dysfunction —

Genesis 27:1–46 CSB

1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could not see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And he answered, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Look, I am old and do not know the day of my death. 3 So now take your hunting gear, your quiver and bow, and go out in the field to hunt some game for me. 4 Then make me a delicious meal that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I can bless you before I die.” 5 Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac said to his son Esau. So while Esau went to the field to hunt some game to bring in, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen! I heard your father talking with your brother Esau. He said, 7 ‘Bring me game and make a delicious meal for me to eat so that I can bless you in the Lord’s presence before I die.’ 8 Now, my son, listen to me and do what I tell you. 9 Go to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, and I will make them into a delicious meal for your father—the kind he loves. 10 Then take it to your father to eat so that he may bless you before he dies.” 11 Jacob answered Rebekah his mother, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am a man with smooth skin. 12 Suppose my father touches me. Then I will be revealed to him as a deceiver and bring a curse rather than a blessing on myself.” 13 His mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey me and go get them for me.” 14 So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food his father loved. 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes of her older son Esau, which were in the house, and had her younger son Jacob wear them. 16 She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck. 17 Then she handed the delicious food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob. 18 When he came to his father, he said, “My father.” And he answered, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” 19 Jacob replied to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may bless me.” 20 But Isaac said to his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?” He replied, “Because the Lord your God made it happen for me.” 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau or not?” 22 So Jacob came closer to his father Isaac. When he touched him, he said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. 24 Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he replied, “I am.” 25 Then he said, “Bring it closer to me, and let me eat some of my son’s game so that I can bless you.” Jacob brought it closer to him, and he ate; he brought him wine, and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come closer and kiss me, my son.” 27 So he came closer and kissed him. When Isaac smelled 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 to you— from the dew of the sky and from the richness of the land— an abundance of grain and new wine. 29 May peoples serve you and nations bow in worship to you. Be master over your relatives; may your mother’s sons bow in worship to you. Those who curse you will be cursed, and those who bless you will be blessed. 30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had left the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau arrived from his hunting. 31 He had also made some delicious food and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Let my father get up and eat some of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.” 32 But his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am Esau your firstborn son.” 33 Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably. “Who was it then,” he said, “who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it all before you came in, and I blessed him. Indeed, he will be blessed!” 34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!” 35 But he replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.” 36 So he said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice now. He took my birthright, and look, now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?” 37 But Isaac answered Esau, “Look, I have made him a master over you, have given him all of his relatives as his servants, and have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then can I do for you, my son?” 38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” And Esau wept loudly. 39 His father Isaac answered him, Look, your dwelling place will be away from the richness of the land, away from the dew of the sky above. 40 You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. But when you rebel, you will break his yoke from your neck. 41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau determined in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42 When the words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you. 43 So now, my son, listen to me. Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran, 44 and stay with him for a few days until your brother’s anger subsides— 45 until your brother’s rage turns away from you and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose you both in one day?” 46 So Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m sick of my life because of these Hethite girls. If Jacob marries someone from around here, like these Hethite girls, what good is my life?”

Prayer

Listen, know and trust the voice of God. It is full of grace and truth. Satan is the author of lies and encourages us to not trust the voice of God.

A Scheming Family (vv 1-13)

Retell the story from Isaac telling Esau prepare for the blessing to Rebekah scheming with Jacob to steal the blessing

Isaac wants to bless his favorite son

the oldest…

the manly man… the hunter, outdoors man

and what we learn is that he covered with hair

sends him out to hunt bring him a great dinner and earn his blessing

Rebekah is listening

women were not allowed in while the men were talking business

although this was not normal either, as when a blessing was passed on typically you had everyone there

she comes up with a plan to get Jacob the blessing instead of Esau

she loved Jacob more, especially since Esau married Canaanite women that drove her crazy

Jacob is to get a goat, she would cook it the way her husband liked

she would cover Jacob with the goat hair to fool her husband as well

Make note of the family disfunction

Isaac wanted to bless Esau though God said it would go through Jacob

we used to joke about who our favorites were in our house, now everyone knows that it is the grandkids

Rebekah schemed to get Jacob the blessing

was she trying to save Isaac from blessing the wrong son

remember a couple weeks ago we talked about the birth of Jacob and Esau, God told her the older would serve the younger

did she tell Isaac, did Isaac want to do this in spite of what God said

Jacob was more concerned with not getting cursed than if this was right or wrong

Mom was willing to take the curse… ok

We are this family

This is humanity

We know what God wants, yet we do the opposite

We scheme to get what we believe is God’s will and believe that the ends justify the means

the fear is not am I doing right, but what if I get caught

this is why we ask where the lines are

how much can I drink before God considers it drunkeness

at what point does it become an affair

God tells us to flee, run from these things not flirt with them

God uses these dysfunctional people to bless the entire world

God does not excuse any of this sin, but shows his sovereignty that he can use even depraved sinful people to accomplish his will

A Known Voice (vv 14-29)

Retell the story from Jacob going in through him receiving the blessing

Jacob comes in with the food… according to the plan

Isaac recognizes pretty quick that something is off

who are you…

how did you get this so fast…

but he touches the goat skinned hands and neck

he tasted the food

he smelled the clothes

Isaac blesses Jacob

passing along the covenant

the birth rite vs blessing

the blessing is passing the covenant

nations will come from you

you will rule

blessing and cursing

Jacob invokes the name of God into the lie

Yahweh - Jehovah your Elohim

your master, your Lord, the creator God

There is nothing more blasphemous than this very thing. Invoking God’s name in your lie, for your gain.

Make note of the way that God brings out the human senses out in the story

Isaac cannot see

He recognizes the voice, but it is not Jacobs

He touches his hands only to be fooled by the animal skins

he tastes the food, only to be fooled by a fresh kill, but not hunted game

he smells the garment, only to be fooled by the one who is actually wearing it

How many times have we been fooled by our feelings when we know that the voice is not right

Satan loves to speak lies to us and we can be fooled because it feels right

Did God really say… you will not surely die

when she saw that it looked good to eat…

Your feelings may be real and legitimate, that does not mean they are in line with God’s will

We like to say, “I feel…” who can argue with that or who can tell you not to feel that way

We need to know the voice of God and not listen to any other

Satan’s voice

condemns

brings fear and anxiety

leads us away from God and his ways

God’s voice

lead us to grace

lead us to refuge

lead us look more like his son

Where we are seeking the voice makes a difference

We will take advice from some sketchy people

I always wonder why politicians think I will be impressed by celebrity endorsements

read his word and let the Holy Spirit speak to you

What would have happened if he would have trusted his ears

we will never know and it is so far down on the list of things that I am curious about that I will not be thinking to ask when I get there

What I do know

God does not need our help to accomplish his will

God is sovereign over all… including sin and will use even our sin for his glory

A Broken Heart (vv 30-46)

Retell the story from Esau coming in and finding out the blessing is gone to Rebekah sending away Jacob

as soon as the blessing is given Jacob runs out

he has what he wanted

run and hide before he gets caught

Esau comes in… and Isaac knows as soon as he hears the voice

he begins to shake violently as he asks

Esau begs for another blessings

cannot believe that his father only has one

cannot believe that he has now lost both the birth rite and the blessing

Isaac basically gives him the opposite of the blessing

you will have terrible land

you will serve your brother

Is there really only one blessing to give

there is only one way

do not let the tears fool you, Esau wants to earn the blessing of God

as disgusted as we should be by the scheming and the amazement that God would bring about his people in this way

it should jump out at us when we see people trying to earn their way to the graces of God

Sin separates

there is brokenness in this family

Esau cannot believe that his father only has one blessing to give

notice that he gives the opposite of the blessing

Esau wants to murder his brother

not just because of this moment, but a lifetime of anger built up

Rebekah is never going to see Jacob again

she sends him away for protection

convinces Isaac to send him away for a wife

Our sin separates us from people who are involved as well

It is easy to see ourselves in these stories because we see this type of disfunction in our lives and the lives of those around us

Our sin separate us from God

time does not heal this wound

When Jacob comes back with all his wives, children, slaves and flocks and herds of animals Esau is ready to forgive, because he has plenty of earthly goods

If we just stay away from God our sin does not just simply be forgotten

Even when we are “helping” God, because the ends do not justify the means, we are separated from God

God does not look the other way with your sin because you are just trying to move forward with something that is in his will, all be it in a sinful way

the standard to get to heaven is perfection, righteousness

and one even little sin will separate us from God for all of eternity

he sent the law, not so that we could earn our way to salvation, but so that your sin would be revealed to you

that we are not and cannot be perfect

without intervention we would be separated from God for all of eternity

A New Covenant (Hebrews 9:15)

Amazing that the people that have so much disfunction would inherit the covenant

no more amazing that grace would be offered to us

Hebrews 9:15 CSB

15 Therefore, he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

the new covenant is not something that is passed on from one generation to the next

cannot be stolen

it is available to be inherited by all dysfunctional people who would come

The new covenant is Christ dying for the forgiveness of sins

he fulfilled the law of Moses

he offered himself as a sacrifice for all who would believe

taking our sin upon himself and giving his righteousness to us

This new covenant is symbolized in communion

Matthew 26:26–28 CSB

26 As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take and eat it; this is my body.” 27 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.