Family Feud: A Battle of Two Natures
Notes
Transcript
One day I was called to make a hospital visit to one of my church members in Banner Elk, NC. Joe was about to have surgery, and it was a very critical. He had been suffering from cancer for some time and he had basically exhausted all of his options. I didn’t know Joe very well, other than he was on our church membership list but had only met him once as he was not a frequent attendee. I brought a long with me our church matriarch, Ms. Wanda, who not only knew every member past and present, but basically everyone in the whole town. We walked into the hospital room and there was already a visitor there, a man I was much more familiar with, Fred. Fred and Joe were both smiling as they sat chatting with each other. As we entered, I almost felt like I was interrupting the two older gentlemen’s conversation. We joined in and visited, we prayed, and we left. Joe’s surgery was a success and I was told, came home great. What was most fascinating to me about my interaction with them was what Wanda would tell me as we exited Joe’s hospital room following our visit, Wanda made me aware, That was the first interaction Joe and Fred had had with each other in over 30 years!…I looked at her confused. I said “They look like best friends.” She told me they were. They were as close as brothers. But they got into a property line dispute for their cows and they never got past it. I just stood there amazed.
If you live long enough sooner or later you're going to encounter a crisis, a tragedy, a trial, a maybe even a feud. It's in these storms that reveal the strength of the foundation! And when those storms come across your life, you will be left standing or falling.
That's why God has given us the book of Genesis! To show us how to build our life on a solid foundation!
We're going to learn today from portions of Genesis surrounding the story of twin brothers Jacob and Esau. We will learn about a never ending war in the life of every follower of Jesus Christ. This is a war that you face from the time you wake up in the morning until you fall asleep at night. In fact, some of you here today have already experienced that war in deciding whether you wanted to tune in or show up here this morning at all.
As we learn about this war we're involved in I want to show you from the Word of God how you can live in peace.
having said that, lets start with prayer and then we will open our Bibles together.
Lets pray,
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 25 verse 21
And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
It is here one of most significant family feuds began, right in the womb. I imagine it is hard enough to be pregnant, but then to have two babies fighting already.
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.
She asked God, if it is thus, “Thus” referring to God’s will, why was she enduring such pain.
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.”
So it was prophesied to Rebecca a great quarrel would arise. I wonder if learning of such a future would’ve lead her to try and prevent it. The text though seems to allude she actually took matters into her hands to fulfill it, but was it in God’s way or in her way? Lets keep reading.
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.
Its rather fitting that Jacob and Esau’s quarrel began in the womb, maybe as to who would come out first because an obvious reason for their lifetime feud was, for the birthright.
For us to better understand this feud we must also understand what is meant by the birthright. Because it was more than just who got more land and more cows and camels.
“The promises made to Abraham and confirmed to his son were held by Isaac and Rebekah as the great object of their desires and hopes. With these promises Esau and Jacob were familiar. They were taught to regard the birthright as a matter of great importance, for it included not only an inheritance of worldly wealth but spiritual pre-eminence. He who received it was to be the priest of his family, and in the line of his posterity the Redeemer of the world would come. On the other hand, there were obligations resting upon the possessor of the birthright. He who should inherit its blessings must devote his life to the service of God. Like Abraham, he must be obedient to the divine requirements. In marriage, in his family relations, in public life, he must consult the will of God.”
White, E. G. (1890). Patriarchs and Prophets
it was a great honor to receive the family birthright, but it was also a great responsibility and vow to God.
Tradition suggested Esau would receive the birthright.
Prophecy told them it would be Jacob.
Isaac made known to his sons these privileges and conditions, and plainly stated that Esau, as the eldest, was the one entitled to the birthright.
It was Esau who came first! And the Bible describes Esau as coming out red. In fact the name Esau means Red or earth colored.
remember God gave the first human he ever made, The name "Adam." The name comes from a Hebrew word that means "Red" because God formed him from the dust of the ground! The name "Adam" is a nickname. It means Red.
So here's Esau, he came first and he's very much like Adam. He's red! He looks the part of leader But not Jacob! And so the difference in their appearance also caused a division in Isaac's home. Another difference was their personalities and activities.
These two boys grew up in the house and had the same parents but were so different. Esau was a macho boy and Jacob was a mamma's boy! Esau was an outdoors man, a man of the field. I can see deer horns and hides hanging in his bedroom.
Jacob on the other hand was a "mild man, dwelling in tents." He enjoyed the indoors while Esau enjoyed the outdoors. While Jacob was not seemingly an outdoorsman. Don’t think for a second, he was not competitive. He was, in fact quite opportunistic.
Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
As a child I remember hearing this story in Sabbath school, and thinking, he gave up his birthright for lentil stew??! Lentil stew was probably my least favorite thing to eat. I love it now, but i wouldn’t give up an inheritance for it.
As we examine these brothers I, in no way want to paint Jacob, as some saint growing up. His actions seem to be filled with trickery and deceipt. But one thing, I will say, is his eyes were on the prize. How he went about gaining the prize were not exactly ethical. However, Esau is guilty of something here in this instance to. He is guilty of something you and I are guilty of quite often. What I am referring to is exchanging something temporary for eternal. Taking our eyes off the big picture of what God is offering, by putting our heart more into the world and flesh over something spiritual and Heavenly.
God has strong thoughts for people who follow the example of Esau.
He was a man more interested in the physical than in the spiritual.
Now what did God think about this? Well listen to Hebrews 12.16, "lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright." For one mouthful of food he sold his birthright. And for that God called him "profane."
Now what does that mean? Well the word "profane" means no place for God in your life. It means to place your back to the temple. He was a man who put spiritual things behind him and material things before him! He was a materialistic man rather than a spiritual man.
As you read further into the story, it doesn’t appear Esau was uninterested in the inheritance of wealth, or even the power of being leader of the family. He really just didn’t have interest in being the Spiritual leader. He wanted the blessing and reward without the commitment.
As mentioned before, Jacob is not innocent. In fact he spends a large portion of his life being far from innocent. That said he did desire the right thing, which was to be blessed by God the way his grandfather Abraham, and father Isaac had been blessed. He wanted to be the seed of God’s people.
Rebecca wanted this for Jacob as well. It was mentioned earlier, that Isaac bonded with Esau more and Rebecca loved and preferred Jacob. I am not a parent yet, but that has never stopped me from dolling out the parenting advice. ;) Parents love your children equally. Celebrate their differences but don’t let your things in common or lack their of lead to preferring one child over the others. This only drives wedges of jealousy between the siblings.
This wedge had existed from the womb and had only grown larger as the twin brothers grew older. The favoritism each parent displayed clouded their judgment into matters of deceit. I am sure many of you know this story well, but there is an element of the story I have never heard preached or shared, and that was both Isaac and Rebecca attempted to pull a fast one on the other.
Patriarchs and Prophets Chapter 16—Jacob and Esau
Isaac, old and blind, and expecting soon to die, determined no longer to delay the bestowal of the blessing upon his elder son. But knowing the opposition of Rebekah and Jacob, he decided to perform the solemn ceremony in secret.
Rebecca was confident in God’s desire for Jacob to receive the birthright. I don’t pretend to know her exact motivations. She may have been motivated by her love for Jacob, it could have been because of what god had told her regarding Jacob, and it may have been even attempting prevent Isaac from incurring Divine displeasure at giving the birthright to Esau. I would guess this was a marital squabble for years between Isaac and Rebecca. It appears they had reached an impasse and both took matters into their own hands.
Isaac, following the costom of making a feast for this great occasion, albeit in secret, sent Esau out to bring back a kill from the field and make a savory meat. Once he returned, the birthright would be his.
However, the walls were not thick enough to prevent Rebecca from catching wind of Isaac’s plot.
Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau,
Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you. Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father, such as he loves. And you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.” But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.” His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.”
As you can see, this plan didn’t exactly make Jacob feel good.
Patriarchs and Prophets Chapter 16—Jacob and Esau
Jacob did not readily consent to the plan that she proposed. The thought of deceiving his father caused him great distress. He felt that such a sin would bring a curse rather than a blessing. But his scruples were overborne, and he proceeded to carry out his mother’s suggestions. It was not his intention to utter a direct falsehood, but once in the presence of his father he seemed to have gone too far to retreat, and he obtained by fraud the coveted blessing.
So he went and took them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared delicious food, such as his father loved. Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. And the skins of the young goats she put on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. And she put the delicious food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
Now at this point in his fraudulent plan, i imagine, Jacob must’ve been sweating bullets. He must have been trembling as he enacted the mission his mother had placed him on.
So he went in to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” 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.” But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the Lord your God granted me success.”
Here is where Jacob really most sacrifices his integrity. When push came to shove, he doubled down on his lie and told him God had provided speedily giving an allusion of God was giving Isaac even more justification to follow through with giving the birthright to Esau, whom he had been deceived was standing before him.
Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands. So he blessed him.
Patriarchs and Prophets Chapter 16—Jacob and Esau
Jacob and Rebekah succeeded in their purpose, but they gained only trouble and sorrow by their deception. God had declared that Jacob should receive the birthright, and His word would have been fulfilled in His own time had they waited in faith for Him to work for them. But like many who now profess to be children of God, they were unwilling to leave the matter in His hands.
This is something we all need to understand about trusting in God. If He has promised you something. He will see it through. We do not need to bend or break our Christian ethics to accomplish some greater good. When we take matters into our own hands, we take them out of the hands of the Redeemer, and we experience repercussions. David, no saint himself, had a chance to kill Saul to achieve what he had been previously anointed to do. He chose, in this instance to trust in God’s timing and not his own. Jacob and Rebecca would now have to suffer a great repercussion for this deception.
As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. He also prepared delicious food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.” His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.”
The harsh reality had dawned on both men. Esau filled with desperation followed by anger. Isaac, maybe more a realization of what God’s will actually was.
Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.
Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:
“Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be,
and away from the dew of heaven on high.
With this realization, Esau was consumed with hatred for his brother. The text goes on to say he reasoned, once his father passed away, he would kill his brother.
Now Rebecca had to make her hardest decision, she had to send her precious Jacob away to protect him from his brother. Maybe one day his anger would subside.
Patriarchs and Prophets Chapter 16—Jacob and Esau
Esau was not shut out from the privilege of seeking God’s favor by repentance, but he could find no means of recovering the birthright. His grief did not spring from conviction of sin; he did not desire to be reconciled to God. He sorrowed because of the results of his sin, but not for the sin itself.
Jacob did have remorse for betraying his father, his brother and His God…and seperating from his family was in some way his penance for his own sin.
Patriarchs and Prophets Chapter 17—Jacob’s Flight and Exile
He feared that he had lost forever the blessing that God had purposed to give him; and Satan was at hand to press temptations upon him.
Patriarchs and Prophets Chapter 17—Jacob’s Flight and Exile
he was so utterly lonely that he felt the need of protection from God as he had never felt it before. With weeping and deep humiliation he confessed his sin, and entreated for some evidence that he was not utterly forsaken.
Now I want to pause on the story of Jacob and Esau for just a moment and talk a little bit about what they represent in the Christian walk. You see, Jacob and Esau remind me a lot of Mary and Martha in the new testament. I’ve mentioned before the church is in need of both Mary’s and Martha’s. We need dedicated workers, like Martha, and we need Heavenly minded Mary’s. I would also suggest to you, while Esau was not blessed with the birthright, the blessing he cried to Isaac over was not outside his reach. God has use for the Esau’s out there, the same as he had use for the Son of Adam and Eve, Cain. The problem was Esau had pride in his heart, he had a since of entitlement rather being a servant of God. God wants our hearts more than anything else. And thus we see the true feud which originated in the womb of Rebecca. It was a war within, following after God and the pursuit of Heaven, versus desire of Earthly treasures. Jacob ultimately desired something eternal. Esau only wanted that which was right in front of him. It’s a choice you and I have to make as well. If the last several months have taught us anything, it is that life can change very quickly. The luxuries we have and experience in this country, can and I believe will, be gone very quickly. Our eyes need to be on more than acquiring notoriety and great possessions. We must not follow the example set by Jacob and Rebecca.
Even in knowing God’s will, we ultimately must have the patience necessary to allow God to put his plans into action. We must not betray God by trying to see His plans come to fruition by our own means. That is the testimony and down fall of Judas. My friends, God keeps his promises! His will is sure! Will you but trust Him?
Now I don’t have time this morning to tell all of Jacob’s story following his runaway. I will save that for another day. But because this is a story of a family feud, lets skip ahead to the reunion.
God did bless Jacob and he found both earthly wealth and happiness in his faithfulness to the Lord. He was blessed with a great family. It was time though to return to his family he had left. It was time for the feud to end.
He took his family with him but he feared greatly his brother’s wrath. In fact Jacob needed an evening to collect his thoughts alone before he was to see his brother.
That night, Jacob was seemingly attacked and a great struggled ensued.
Patriarchs and Prophets Chapter 18—The Night of Wrestling
While he was thus battling for his life, the sense of his guilt pressed upon his soul; his sins rose up before him, to shut him out from God. But in his terrible extremity he remembered God’s promises, and his whole heart went out in entreaty for His mercy. The struggle continued until near the break of day, when the stranger placed his finger upon Jacob’s thigh, and he was crippled instantly. The patriarch now discerned the character of his antagonist. He knew that he had been in conflict with a heavenly messenger, and this was why his almost superhuman effort had not gained the victory.
Jacob realizing his need, decided he couldn’t survive any longer until he had found peace with his sins of the past.
Patriarchs and Prophets Chapter 18—The Night of Wrestling
He must have the assurance that his sin was pardoned. Physical pain was not sufficient to divert his mind from this object.
Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
Patriarchs and Prophets Chapter 18—The Night of Wrestling
Through humiliation, repentance, and self-surrender, this sinful, erring mortal prevailed with the Majesty of heaven. He had fastened his trembling grasp upon the promises of God, and the heart of Infinite Love could not turn away the sinner’s plea.
The error that had led to Jacob’s sin in obtaining the birthright by fraud was now clearly set before him. He had not trusted God’s promises, but had sought by his own efforts to bring about that which God would have accomplished in His own time and way. As an evidence that he had been forgiven, his name was changed from one that was a reminder of his sin, to one that commemorated his victory
His name was no longer Jacob, but Israel.
Jacob now truly held the blessing of God, the birthright was now rightfully his.
The same God who painfully empowered Jacob also softened the heart of Esau. Once a man who desired to end the feud of his heart by killing his brother in the same way Cain struck his brother Abel, now he felt nothing but compassion and love for his brother Jacob.
I spoke to Fred at prayer meeting the following week and asked him about his reunion with his former friend Joe and asked him what had made him decide to go see him?
He told me he had wasted to much time stewing in anger, he had already lost his wife, he didn’t want to live another day in a pointless fight with his best friend.
Church family, you can hold onto hate, you can pursue the world, but I promise you the world is not enough. A world gained without knowing the love of God and having your family to share in joy. You can acquire all the wealth in the world but if you don’t have God with you, you will never know the birthright blessing God has for each of his children. Isn’t it wonderful to know we have assurance of eternal blessing, if we will but surely accept the wonderful gift.