IDENTITY THEFT

Jason and Erin W. A match made in heaven.

Isaac insists on a good meal before he blesses his son. It is reminiscent of Esau’s own trading of the birthright for a pot of stew… it casts Isaac in a similar role to that of Esau.

The end game for Jacob had been to wrestle the blessing from Isaac… although Isaac does not seem to be completely convinced that Jacob is Esau, he gives in and “blesses” Jacob. Gen 27.27..

Genesis 27:27 ESV

27 So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed!

DIVISION

Spiritually this family is a mess. The home is divided. (Gen 25.28)

Genesis 25:28 ESV

28 Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

It is a simple statement… Isaac loved Esau, REbekah loves Jacob.... but it’s as complex as can be.

DIVISION

IMPATIENCE

Impatience....Isaac is about 137 years old at this point… he’s acting like he will die soon. But he actually lives to be 180. He wants Esau to have the blessing, so much so that he is hurrying the transfer… he’s getting ahead of God’s will.

Impatience with God… Mom, spiritual condition, Margaret Pearson sings in Nursing Home.

Imagine namaans leprosy and dipping in the Jordan... or jerichos walls and only 5 times around...

We’ve become impatient with God’ in his word about his return...saying that he didn’t really mean a literal physical return, so now we have to step up to the plate...

In a sense, Christianity has become impatient with God’s word to us. We can’t believe a loving God would condemn sin... so we don’t.

We want God to become as educated as we are, because we know better.

It is plain what God’s will is, it has been stated in the Word before, in Genesis 25:23.....

INSERT GENESIS 25.21-23 Text here

Genesis 25:23 ESV

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.”

It appears that not only is Isaac trying to accomplish his own will, he also is attempting to thwart God’s stated plan.

Notice, Isaac has changed. This one who at one point threw himself down on an altar to die for the Lord’s will, (Jacob in the doctor’s office) now wants to feed his belly before he can pass along the blessing. This one who once was true to God, now finds himself feeling his son’s arms, smelling his son’s clothes, and eating his son’s food instead of trusting God at his word.

In a sense when Isaac feels, smells and eats... he’s confirming NOT that he’s in God’s will but actually that he’s out of God’s will....

Notice, REbekah has changed. She hadd been told by God that Jacob would receive God’s blessing, yet she schemed and plotted to make sure that Esau was left out. Instead of going to God in prayer, she counted on herself to carry it out. This would be characteristic of Jacob when he grew old....

Rebekah paid dearly for her sin.

She never saw her son again. (Gen 27.43-45

Esau deliberately tried to hurt her

her bad example before Jacob cost him twenty years of trial.

Jacob Has Changed.

He knew God’s promise for his life. Yet, he listened to his mother instead of God. They hurried to finish their plan, to carry out their plot.

Jacob is the poster child for hypocrisy, for doublemindedness. His word and his actions do not agree. He says one thing and does another. Look at verse 19

Genesis 27:19 ESV

19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.”

He tells three lies on one breath.

I am Esau

I have done

eat my venison (it is goat)

And Jacob pays for his hypocrisy....

Laban deceived him about his wives

Laban deceived him about his wages

Jacob’s children would kill a goat to deceive their father about Joseph.

Be sure your sin will find you out. Numbers 32.23...

Esau has been changed...

Hebrews 12:17 ESV

17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

Esau was remorseful for what he lost, but not repentant for what he did.

Esau’s tears did not change Isaac’s mind.

Esau’s crying could not alter the blessing of Jacob.

Esau retaliated by hurting his parents in his marriages.

Esau responded by plotting to murder Jacob.

Everybody has changed.... the one constant is God.

God, the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not.

DIVISION

IMPATIENCE

Isaac has changed

Rebekah has changed

Jacob has changed

Esau has changed

sin always brings heartache.

sin in the home always brings misunderstanding. Isaac and Rebekah divided their home, they took sides with their boys… instead of praying for them, they plotted for them… instead of following God’s way, they made their own path.... instead of fulfilling God’s will, they attempted to fulfil their own will.

We never get too old or too tempted to fail.

Did God fail Isaac? No, God has stated his intentions for the birthright and the blessing. Isaac failed God.

Genesis 27.33a Isaac trembled violently. Isaac got a taste of God’s ability to overrule the plans of we humans. Our plotting, our trying, our selfishness… God always rules and overrules.

Did God fail Rebekah? No, God has stated his intentions. REbekah failed God.

Did God fail Jacob? No, God has stated his intentions. Jacob failed God with plotting and conniving.

Did God fail Esau? No, God has stated his intentions. Esau failed God in selling his birthright, ....

The grace of God did not fail Esau. Esau failed the grace of God.

Genesis 12:2–3 ESV

2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

In what appears only as a selfish attempt to rob his brother’s blessing, Jacob’s scheme turns out to be a link in the chain connecting the blessing of the offspring of Abraham with the rise of kingship in the house of Judah.

The grace of God did not fail Jacob, Jacob failed the grace of God.

The grace of God did not fail Rebekah, Rebekah failed the grace of God.

The grace of God did not fail Isaac, Isaac failed the grace of God.

The grace of God did not fail Esau, Esau failed the grace of God.

But God’s will still was accomplished.

Bottom Line:

Believing God’s Word Means Trusting God’s Ways

Our lives should be a response to God’s grace. His revealing Himself to us. His revealing His plan to us. His choosing us. But so often our response to God’s grace is so much less than it ought to be.

Reservations about God’s ways should not remove us from God’s will. Daniel in the Lion’s Den. Raise your staff to cross the Red Sea. Ananias- Go down to Jerusalem and find a man named Saul who’s been killing Christians.

We walk by faith not sight. 2 Corinthians 5.7aa

Kelly and Alex…Annalynn.... surgery went well, awaiting results..... The other family, amassed an army of prayer warriors. death came knocking.

And we sometimes so disagree with his grace we try to change his plans. We sometimes so disagree with his will that fail to be his people.

And he loves us still.

But that doesn’t mean we should just fail his grace to receive his grace. It means we live for him with the calm assurance that no matter how many times we stumble and fall, he accepts us still.

This story isn’t about how God has given up on us because we’ve failed him. This story is about how God never gives up because He loves us. This story is about God’s unconditional love and unmerited favor no matter what.

The story isn’t just a nice Sunday School story about how Jacob disguised himself as Esau to steal his blessing. It isn’t about identity theft for Jacob. It’s about how we Christians can identify as people of His living word but then not live like we believe his written word.