Genesis #25: The Blessing - The high cost of getting your way
Notes
Transcript
Handout
I shared with you all that I was a really happy man… as a football coach for years, to finally be back out with kids on the field has been great. The other thing is that this is the season for NASCAR and Hockey… two sports I love for the same reason. You may say, NASCAR and Hockey have nothing in common… I say oh cont-rare.... hockey has fights and NASCAR has crashes.... every red blooded american guy loves those.
For the same reason we get caught up in today’s text because it’s straight out of a sitcom…
Have you ever had one of those experiences as a family when you are glad no one saw that. You kids did something out of character… maybe it was dumb or it was mean… they stole the family car late one night… maybe they wrecked it - Maybe they got suspended from school for taking a pocket knife or a lighter to school - you caught them sneaking out… or sneaking back in - and you as a parent reacted and afterward… I’m glad no one saw that.
Or maybe you were in a restaurant and a kid starts going bananas and mom or dad matches them banana for banana … You are like…
At least we aren’t that bad....But we are.
At least we aren’t that bad....But we are.
We get the idea that the people and families in the bible are holier than thou and they don't have real craziness happening.
a crazy family...
God chose to use a messed up family as the family of God.... and he wanted the Israelites to know that His will was ultimate, that his plans were fixed, that it’s best to just get on page with his plan… that’s the best thing to do.
But you know.. we all figure there’s a better way and it just so happens that I know the better way.
This is where we buy into the idea of pragmatism. IF it works, must be ok.
That’s what it means to be Pragmatic - doing whatever works. Getting there is the most important thing - not how we get there.
This chapter is all about pragmatism and how when that’s our way of getting things done, instead of trusting God’s way, it creates all sorts of issues.
That’s the bottom line today… Getting my way has a very high cost.
I was trying to think of the most dysfunctional family on TV that we could all remember. Probably the only one is a show that’s not on any more… PTL… Married with Children. Watching it was like watching NASCAR… you knew a crash was going to come, sooner or later…
That’s how I’m approaching out text today… like a TV show of a messed up family… that God decides to use.
Let’s get started in Genesis chapter 27
This is the opening scene.
1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” he answered.
2 Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death.
3 Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me.
4 Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.”
5 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back,
6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau,
7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’
8 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you:
9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it.
10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.”
11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin.
12 What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.”
13 His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.”
The Schemes of Man
The Schemes of Man
Isaac was not like his father.
Abraham was known as a man of great faith… great belief in the promises of God.
Remember he went up on the mountain to sacrifice the promise of God… to give up that which he had hoped for? That wasn’t Isaac.
Isaac old - seeing his life fade - wants to bless his son.
And he seems to be in a hurry to get it done.
He lives for another 40 years or so, but of course he doesn’t know that.
Weakness of the aged is thinking death is nearer than it is; while the foolishness of youth is found in thinking death is further away.
Weakness of the aged is thinking death is nearer than it is; while the foolishness of youth is found in thinking death is further away.
Cultural practice of ceremonially blessing the son. This was a celebration.
Here in private… he knows he is doing wrong.
20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
He knew of God’s promise to Rebekah.
23 The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”
Willful disobedience. Why?
27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Why? Simple, Esau was his favorite.
He wanted “his way… and he was doing all he could to make it happen - in spite of God’s promise - that’s why Rebekah wan’t there. He’s trying to be sneaky.
And right there… we notice the camera pulls back and you see a shadow by the door scurry away. It is Rebekah
She heard Isaacs plan - and she immediately moves to undermine it - BUT shes protecting God’s promise? - right? She’s doing the right thing… right?
IT’s true that her actions are rooted in a belief that God has a plan. But where is she putting her trust? In her abilities to pull it off or in God’s ability to do what she can’t?
This is classic: Ends justify the means?
Sinful impatience… does God need our help?
why not talk?
I think of all the problems in our marriage that could have been avoided with healthy communication - not the communication we are good at. What’s for dinner? Goodnight. Morning… what’s for dinner… good night.
Communication - sharing our heart… our fears - encouragement -
Yes guys that means talking… and listening… and ladies that means holding back on some of those details, cause we tend to phase out after a few minutes.
Instead of talking to her husband though, Rebekah decides to just take matters into your own hands
Mom - bossing her son - he was 50-60 at this point - Don’t do this… that goes for moms and husbands. NOw if you are 50 and still in mom adn dad’s basement - then yes do what they tell you… but if you are grown up - then be that
Isaac knows this is wrong...
Confession but not repentance
13 People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.
So we see here in the opening scene that everyone is fully committed to having their way.
Let’s see what happens in the next scene: Start commercial
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14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it.
15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob.
16 She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins.
17 Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.
18 He went to his father and said, “My father.” “Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”
19 Jacob said 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 give me your blessing.”
20 Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The Lord your God gave me success,” he replied.
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”
22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him.
24 “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked. “I am,” he replied.
25 Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.” Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank.
26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”
27 So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of 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 you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness— an abundance of grain and new wine.
29 May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.”
A Family of Deceivers
A Family of Deceivers
If you thought Isaac may not fully understand what’s happening here… the moment he put the goatskin on his hands and his neck… that’s out the window. He knew what he was doing.
He takes the goat stew into dad and lies to him point blank.
Even invokes God in his scheme.
That reminds me.... if ever someone tells you God told them… an alarm goes up in my head.
If what God told them isn’t in the Bible, or closely similar to it, let that be a warning. If they say… the lord told me… you need to do this or that… I say, thank you… I”ll be waiting for God to tell me. You see the spirit is alive in me and if you are a believer in you. God can speak directly to you… he doesn't need to tell my aunt to tell me.
Now if you feel God speak to you about someone… try this instead… it’s how they did it in the NT
They said it “Seemed right to the Spirit and Us”
Anyway… back to Jacobs scheme.... Whenever step one in your plan is to lie. You need a new plan.
Even blind, “hungry Isaac” knows something is wrong
But the one who uses deception is often deceived.
But the one who uses deception is often deceived.
Jacob is cool… not easily rattled… deceiver!
Senses are warning him… but he wants to get this done… he’s in a rush
20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
Tells us the spirit is at work in this...
God sometime allows wickedness to prosper as it accomplishes his plans.... not approving of… still holing the schemer guilty
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Jacob has the blessing… God's plans can’t be stopped.
Now we see, the fall out of the family.... this is the crash, the high cost of trying to get our way disregarding God’s plan.
30 After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting.
31 He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”
32 His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” “I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.”
33 Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!”
34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!”
35 But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
36 Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”
37 Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”
38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.
39 His father Isaac answered him, “Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness, away from the dew of heaven above.
40 You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.”
The Cost of Deception
The Cost of Deception
This scene is all about Isaac and Esau… two men who have had their scheme backfire on them.
Esau knew the birthright belonged to Jacob…
God had promised it to Jacob at their birth, and he traded it for a bowl of soup if you remember, and now his own heart told him he didn’t deserve it…
But that didn’t matter. He would do everything he could to get it, even join dad in his scheme. But it didn’t work.
But it doesn’t stop him from crying over something he gave away a long time ago
Jacob didn’t take the birthright, Esau sold it
Jacob didn’t take Esau’s blessing, it didn’t belong to Esau
But that didn’t stop Isaac. The fact that there was nothign left for Esau here shows just how determined Isaac was to thwart the will of God.
This isn’t a slip… Like Jacob’s wearing goatskin. This fact reveals Isaac’s heart.
And what does it get him?
Look at the closing scene:
41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42 When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you.
43 Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran.
44 Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides.
45 When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”
46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”
The cost of “our way”
The cost of “our way”
Isaac wants to bless his favored son, instead he put him under a curse. He wanted fresh venison, he got spiced goat. NOw he’s left with a fractured family. Isaac sought his own way and not only did he not get his way, but he paid a very high price.
Rebekah wanted God’s chosen son to to be chosen… albeit for selfish reasons. The blessing she wanted for her son, he would have to leave behind. What she thought would be a few days with her brother turned into 20 years. In fact she would never see her favored son again. In fact she was estranged from both her sons and emotionally so from her blind husband. She got her way… but she paid a very high price.
Esau is furious… this anger destroys his relationship with his brother, his father, and his mother. We might be tempted to feel sorry for him as we last see him in tears, but he brought all this on himself. His ancestors continue to be enemies of Israel for years to come. He certainly didn’t get his way, and for striving for it, he paid a very high price.
Jacob - relationship with brother
He was to kill him… he’d be polite about it and wait till after his father died… but he was going to kill him.
Rebekah - cost her both of her sons
How to pay the right price?
25 There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.
There’s a better way
There’s a better way
True God calls us to do the right thing… but in order for it to be truly right, God calls us to follow through in the right way.
What is the right way? It’s the way that has already been paid.
It’s the way of Jesus. The right way is under the power and direction of the Holy Spirit that comes to live inside you when you put faith in Christ.