Beginnings: Oh, To Be A Jacob

Psalm 16

Psalm 16 NIV

A miktam of David. 1 Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge. 2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” 3 I say of the holy people who are in the land, “They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.” 4 Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more. I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods or take up their names on my lips. 5 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. 6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. 7 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. 8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, 10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. 11 You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Matthew 6:19–24 NIV

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Hebrews 12:14–17 NIV

14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.

I. Oh, To Be A Jacob

Introduction:

Does your family have a family heirloom that is passed on generation to generation? Some people love these heirlooms for the sentimental value. If you have ever watched Antiques Roadshow, you will have seen some of these folks. They may be told that a family heirloom is worth thousands of dollars, or just $5. The antique dealers than ask, “Would you like to sell this article?” The response, “Oh no, I have no desire to sell it. I wish to keep it for the sentimental value.”

Then there are others who with no hesitation, sell the item. They hold no sentiment for the articles beyond the cash they can get out of them.

Today’s story is about two brothers and their desire for their inheritance. They each wanted the inheritance for different reasons, but neither one understood the true value of the inheritance at the time.

Stand with me as I read Genesis 25:19-34.

Genesis 25:19–34 NIV

19 This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married 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 answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. 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.” 24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. 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. 29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.) 31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” 32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” 33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.

The Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God!

Pray

Sermon:

Last week, we saw Abraham tested by God. God asked Abraham to offer Isaac upon an altar and that Abraham did. However, God did not permit Abraham to lay a harmful hand upon Isaac. What Abraham experienced was a walk-through of what God would do in the future in offering His only Son to die as a sacrificial lamb for us all.

Sometime after this, Sarah dies and Abraham sends his servant to his family in Chaldea to secure a wife for Isaac. Not much more is told about Abraham other than he married in time after the passing of Sarah. He had several more children and lived long enough to probably know Jacob and Esau in their teen years. Then Abraham dies.

We know Isaac was the son for whom the promise by God is passed on. But Isaac has a rather minor part in scripture. We know he faces a famine and prepares to go to Egypt as his father had done, but this time God steps in and tells Isaac to stay despite the famine and He will provide for Isaac. And so God does. Everywhere Isaac sets foot, he found water and God blessed him. He became wealthy despite the famine that was destroying everyone else.

And Isaac had his down sides too. He also commits the same sin his father did in declaring his wife is his sister, which could have placed her in jeopardy except God steps in again. His behavior toward his so-called, “sister” is noticed by Abimelech and Isaac is cast away from the Philistines since they blame him for risking the wrath of God upon them if anyone had taken Rebekah for a wife.

Isaac and his wife, suffer the same issue that Abram and Sarai struggled against; infertility. Isaac intercedes on behalf of his wife to God and God answers. Rebekah is blessed by not only one child, but twins. However, these two are contentious with each other even before they are born and God makes a startling revelation to Rebecca.

Genesis 25:23 (NIV)

23 ...“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.”

Now, Isaac seems to have done a fair job of serving God, but he becomes conflicted by God’s choice of Jacob since Esau is his favorite. Surely Rebekah would have told Isaac of God’s proclamation, however, Isaac clearly fights in this story to give his blessing to Esau. But before we go there, let us step back a moment and look at...

A. Isaac’s Two Sons (Genesis 25:27)

Genesis 25:27 NRSV

27 When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents.

Even this little bit of commentary is enough to give us an idea of these boy’s personalities. Esau is a man’s man which appeals to his father. Not only that, but now in his old age, Isaac is blind. One of the few pleasures he has in these days is eating and Esau is able to provide what he likes best to eat; wild game. Esau prefers the tangible things of life. He could be a country song cliche liking “whiskey, women, and wine” if you will! :-) Esau was not the sentimental type. He would be the one in the family selling the heirlooms to support his bad habits.

Jacob on the other hand, is a mom-ma's boy. He is the sentimental one. As such, he is his mom’s favorite. But there is a lot more to these boys than this. So let us take a closer look at them.

1. Esau: Son of the World (Genesis 25:24-25, 27, 29-34; 27:30-41)

As we read of the account of Esau, we find a man focused on the things of this world. In fact, the scripture say that Esau was a man of the field. In the scriptures, “field” is often used to refer to “the world.” He preferred to roam and hunt rather than be tied down with the administrative household things. There was freedom in the field. No one to tell you what you should or should not do. He lived by his emotions and for the immediate moment.

Genesis 25:29–30 (NRSV)

29 Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. 30 Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, for I am famished!”

There was nothing courteous about Esau. He just came demanding what he wanted. In fact, it must have been the same when he married for we find he was married to two Hittite women. Typically, the marriages were arranged by the father, but this was obviously not the case. Isaac would never have arranged such a marriage. In fact, as much as Isaac loved Esau, his wives were a problem for Isaac.

Genesis 28:8 NIV

8 Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac;

So, Esau had not sought his father’s permission to marry, but had just done as he always had, taking what he wanted. Perhaps he was the prototype for Edgar Rice Burrough’s Tarzan. “Me Tarzan, You Jane. Me take!” :-)

The reality is that Esau lived as an entity all too himself. He disdained the birthright, because it represented something that would tie him down. It required taking responsibility of tasks and seeing to the needs of others. It called for looking to the future and making wise choices. It was a ball and chain to Esau, so he willingly relinquished it for a bowl of the “red stuff.”

But there is even something deeper here. Esau would have grown up learning about God. Isaac built altars and made sacrifices as his father had. Not only that, but Abraham was still alive for several years with these boys. I can just imagine him pulling Jacob and Esau up on his knee when they were young and telling how God had pointed to the sky to describe their descendents. He would have been excited to share the inheritance that he was able to leave the boys because God had promised it. But Esau was never affected by such stories. To own land, held no interest for Esau as it would just tie him down.

Essentially, it was not the birthright that Esau was rejecting as much as it was God that was being rejected. Esau was not willing to follow God in obedience, as he preferred to be a free spirit. If you question just how devoid of God’s truth Esau was, look at how he tries to make it right with this father later when he acknowledged his father’s dislike of his wives.

Genesis 28:9 NIV

9 so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.

First of all, adding another wife to the mix will not solve anything, just make matters worse. More family drama, just what they all needed!

Second, Ishmael was rejected by God. The promise was to Isaac. How would marrying Ishmael’s daughter accomplish anything? Did he really think his dad would be pleased by his marriage to his brother’s daughter? The brother who had treated him so poorly when he was little that the brother was asked to leave?

Esau is totally out of touch with God and Godly things. You have to wonder why it was that Isaac was so determined to give this son the blessing.

But, now let us look at Jacob.

2. Jacob: Son of the Spirit (Genesis 25:27, 29-34; 27:5-30)

Jacob is the complete opposite of Esau. In many ways, Esau was lazy. He didn’t want to work, he preferred the play of hunting. He didn’t want responsibility, or to oversee tasks. However, Jacob is different. You get the idea that he was the one about the house seeing to things that needed to be done. When Esau returns from hunting, what is Jacob doing? Cooking a meal.

We are told that Jacob was a “tent dweller.” In verse 27 it says he was a “quiet man” or others translate this as “plain.” Plain is used to convey, “complete, usually pious, gentle and dear.”

Jacob is obedient to his mom, even when she asks him to do something that isn’t right.

Jacob was a thinker and he looked ahead to the future. Unlike Esau who was not interested in the stories told by his father and grandfather, Jacob was interested. He was interested in it all. The promise of land, position, descendants, and a relationship with God.

Now, do not misunderstand me. At this point, Jacob knows about God, but he does not yet have that true experience with God just yet. However, he is obviously intrigued by the idea. Maybe he is like so many of us that grew up in Christian homes. We grew up believing in God and perhaps even considered ourselves Christian, but it took a difficult situation for us to earn how to put our full trust in God. That is where I believe Jacob was.

Jacob has also grown up with a mom telling him that God has chosen him. Unlike Esau who isn’t interested, Jacob wanted it. But how could he get it when Esau was the firstborn and had his father’s favor? That day when Esau demanded the “red stuff”, Jacob was presented with a great opportunity. Perhaps Jacob knew Esau was due back and this was his plan all along. We do not know. However, Jacob had lived with Esau long enough to know how his brother was. Being the thinker that he was, it didn’t take long to decide that this gave him the opportunity to get what he wanted. (Too bad grandfather Abraham had not warned him against jumping ahead of God!)

But the Birthright was just half of it. The rest would come with the blessing of His father come his time to die. How would he ever get that? Well, when the time came, his mom provided his chance to get...

B. The Blessing (Genesis 27:1-40)

It is sad to see that there are some sad family dynamics going on in this patriarchal family. Before I explain, look with me at the event as it took place.

Genesis 27:1–10 NIV

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.”

This family has some serious issues with deception. Jacob is often accused of being a “deceiver,” but he seems to come by it naturally. Abraham tried to deceive Pharoah and Abimelech about his relationship with his wife. Isaac does the same with another Abimelech later (Abimelech is a title not a name). Now Isaac tries to go behind Rebekah and Jacob’s back to give Esau the blessing and Rebekah then uses Jacob to deceive Isaac to get the blessing. No wonder Jacob had an issue with manipulating and deceiving people!

Now, typically, when the time came for the father’s final blessing, it was a time of family celebration. A feast was prepared and the family all came before the father as he bestowed a blessing upon each son. In this case, Isaac tells his son Esau as if in secret. Rebekah and Jacob are not invited. Isaac must realize that Rebekah will not agree and so he seeks to do this behind her back.

However, it is not Rebekah he should be thinking about, but it should be God. God has spoken. Just as God had made it clear that it was not Ishmael who was chosen, but Isaac. So, God has stated that Jacob is the chosen son. Isaac of all people should have understood that. Even if he did not believe what Rebekah heard, surely he should have seen that Esau did not have the right spirit for it.

Hopefully, you know the rest of the story. Jacob dons Esau’s clothing to smell like Esau. His mother then covers his arms with the skin of a goat in order to make the smooth arms of Jacob feel like the hairy arms of Esau. She then cooks the meal according to Isaac’s taste and sends Jacob into his father.

Now, Jacob is shaking in his sandals. He is not opposed to this except, what if he is discovered? Surely his father will curse him. That would be worse than not getting the blessing, however, his mom has an answer for that.

Genesis 27:13 (NIV)

13 ...“My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say...

So, Jacob deceives his father. What is worse is he uses God to do so.

Genesis 27:19–20 NIV

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.

Then Jacob receives the blessing.

Genesis 27:27–29 NIV

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.”

Have you ever been caught doing something you shouldn’t? You get that sick, queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach and you are afraid of what is to come.

Well, that is exactly where Isaac is in the next moment. No sooner has Jacob left when Esau comes in. In that moment, Isaac realizes that he had tried to do something that God was not going to allow him to do.

Genesis 27:33 NIV

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!”

The passage tears at your heart as you hear Esau beg for a blessing.

Genesis 27:34 NIV

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!”

Unfortunately, Isaac in his deception had given a full blessing to Esau with nothing left over. Typically, a blessing is given to each son, but Esau had not planned on giving any blessing to Jacob. He had given the fullest of all in his intent to bless Esau.

Conclusion:

Now this sounds like a sad story of a dysfunctional family. And dysfunctional they will continue to be as we will see moving forward with future generations. However, none of us are perfect. We all have our own dysfunctions in life. At the heart of this story is God’s mercy. God seeks us despite our dysfunction and He calls us to be His children. Esau will never learn this. Esau will be the father of Edom. Edom becomes an enemy of God’s people and even of God. God tells us so in Malachi.

Malachi 1:2–3 NIV

2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. “But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’ “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob, 3 but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”

Now, God does not hate anyone. However the term here denotes an enemy. Esau had no interest in God. Esau isn’t all bad, in fact, later he seems really glad to see his brother return. Here again, Esau is at the beck and call of his emotions. His father and mother gone, Esau welcomes his last living family member into his arms. I see it in many families. Even when there have been hard feelings, it somehow changes when there is no one left but each other.

However, Esau’s descendents have no interest in Jacob’s family. In fact, they take up arms against them in future generations.

Esau wasn’t interested in the promise of God. He did not care about land, or the future. However, he still expected a blessing. He wanted the wealth that would be passed to him with that blessing, but he was unwilling to live for that blessing. He wanted to live life for his own sake. Esau represents many so called believers today. They live life for themselves. They do not have time for church. They never take time to ask God what He would want of their life. They are ignorant of God’s word and God’s way. When they feel it is necessary, they fly off to do something to appease God and it is usually much like Esau marrying Ishmael’s daughter. It shows they have no real understanding of Godly things. The church is full of couples living together outside of marriage. Homosexuals declaring they are accepted by God if they are monogamous. There are nearly as many divorced inside the church as outside the church. And they all expect to be received by God upon his return. But like Esau, they will one day find out that there is no blessing for them.

Matthew 7:18–23 (NIV)

18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Many just do what they think is good and assume they are doing the will of God. However, doing the will of God means communing and asking God what He would have you to do. It is a two-way relationship, not just keeping rules that you think make you a good person.

Last week we read that we are declared righteous by our faith, but it is fruits that are the evidence of that righteousness. In other words, we are not saved by our actions. We are saved by faith in Christ Jesus. However, our actions speak to the change that our salvation has made in our lives. Our actions are fruit of that salvation. The fruit is supernatural in that it does not come from us keeping rules, but our responding to the Spirit within us in a relational way. There are many in and out of the church declaring themselves believers, but there is no fruit to give evidence to it, just man determined “good deeds.”

There was no fruit in Esau’s life. Not as a young man, nor as an old man.

However, Jacob is a different story. Jacob was ambitious. He wanted the blessing he had heard about all his life. But it was not just the land and descendants he was interested in. He truly had an interest in God also. We will see this in his attitude next week and the weeks to come. He was not perfect but he was sensitive in his spirit to spiritual things. It is that heart for God that distinguished him over his brother.

Proverbs 24:16 NIV

16 for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.

Romans 8:1–14 NIV

1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. 12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. 14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.

Esau was carnal with occasional moments of spiritual acts and in those moments, it was evident that he really did not have a knowledge of God or Godly things. He represents the carnal nature of this world.

Jacob was spiritual and acted regularly on that spiritual nature. He was imperfect by nature, made perfect by God’s act of grace. He represents the spiritual man of God’s kingdom.

None of us are better or worse than Jacob. However, Jacob’s life helps us to see how God can work in us, despite ourselves. As Jacob’s story continues, we will see how God works in Jacob’s life to accomplish His purpose.

Jacob, for all his imperfections, has one thing we all should aspire to and that was a heart for God.

Do you have a heart for spiritual things? Do you do good deeds to please God but miss the mark like Esau’s marrying Ismael’s daughter? When was the last time you spent more then 5 minutes in prayer? Do you read from God’s Word daily and take time to be quiet with God? When was the last time you spent time just listening to hear from God? A relationship with God is like a relationship with people. It takes time. It requires conversation and listening.

In the next part of Jacob’s story, he will be learning to listen to God. Have you learned to do that?

Pray