Genesis 25

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Genesis 25:11-34

“And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi. 12 Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto Abraham: 13 and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, 14 and Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, 15 Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah: 16 these are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations. 17 And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people. 18 And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of his brethren. [see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmaelites] 19 And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begat Isaac: 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padam-aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian. 21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD. 23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels: and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. 24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. 26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them. 27 And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. 28 And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: 30 and Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. 31 And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. 32 And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? 33 And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.”

Introduction

[Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED533]

“We have come to the death, the passing of Abraham, being gathered to his people, wonderful to see Isaac and Ishmael together there at this grave, as is often the case. Somebody has to die for people to make up. Don’t wait for it to be the other person, it could be you. It’s wonderful to see them gathered there, Abraham laid in the tomb next to his beloved wife, Sarah. We’ve come as far as verse 11 there in chapter 25, “And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.” “the well of him that lives and sees.” So we now are going to get a picture of Ismael and his descendants, just for God to move that out of the way so we can then follow Isaac through Jacob to the Messianic seed, to Christ. There’s a lot of facets to this as we come to this and look at this, this evening, there’s certainly the historical reality of it. And God is separating a people to himself from Isaac and Rebekah, we will have Jacob and Esau, Jacob certainly the line that God will follow, ah, wrestling with Jacob, subduing him, changing his nature, we have then the 12 sons of Jacob which will become the 12 sons of Israel, the 12 tribes of Israel, following that down to the Messiah. There is that part of it. There is in the picture of all of this, the type, we talked about it of course, Isaac being a picture in many ways of Christ, the promised son, miraculously born, yielding himself to the father on Mount Moriah, not struggling but willingly, carrying the wood and so forth. And then Isaac disappearing until Eleazar, the Comforter, brings the bride, Rebekah. That’s when he shows back up again on the pages of Scripture. So it’s interesting, we have Isaac as a picture of the Lord, the Promised Son, miraculously born, we have a picture of Rebekah then as a picture of the Church, the Bride of Christ. And there’s some very interesting things that play out there as we go through these chapters this evening. But there is also the very human side of all of these characters that God brings before us. We are all so incredibly human, and to me there’s great beauty in the honesty of God in regards to putting these people in front of us. So Isaac dwelling by this well, verse 11.

The Line of Ishmael

Verse 12, “Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto Abraham:” Now we know at least Hagar was a believer, it is debatable whether Ishmael was or not. “and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, and Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah:” (verses 12-15) those are names you’d have picked for your kids too. [laughter] “these are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles;” their fortresses, “twelve princes according to their nations.” (verse 16) God had said that back in chapter 17, verse 20, that he would bless Ishmael and these things would take place. “towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations. And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people.” (verses 16b-17) and it doesn’t say he died in a good old age, it just brings his passing before us. “now he was gathered unto his people” now it’s the same phrase used of Abraham, he was gathered unto his people. It says he gave up the ghost, it doesn’t seem to be a struggle there. And scholars are divided over whether Ishmael had faith in the God of Abraham, certainly his people have a faith, as time goes by, a lot of Islam is made up of the children of Ishmael. And it’s a difficult study to follow those things out. If you go to Genesis chapter 10, if you like to study these things out, you’ll find the children of Shem, and you have there the Iranians, they are of the same blood of the children of Israel [not really, except as predecessors of Abraham, but branching off and going in a different direction]. You find out that Egypt is Mizraim [and later, after Egypt falls under Nebuchadnezzar in the mid-500s BC, Egypt ceases to be an empire, and the Egyptian race is supplanted by Ishmaelites, who sort of take over Egypt and all of North Africa. The Egyptians of today are not pure Egyptians, but are Arabic, of Ishmaelite blood]. Again, the Chaldeans, the Iraqis are not really Arabs [they could be], properly the Saudis, Kuwaitis can be considered Arabs, those who lived in the desert and the south they called Arabs. But the Kurds are not Arabs [no, the Kurds are descended from the ancient Medes], the Turks are not Arabs [no the Turks and Turkish peoples going all the way across southern Siberia to Mongolia are Edomites (see Edom-Obediah https://unityinchrist.com/prophets/edom/Edom%20in%20Prophecy%201.html and https://unityinchrist.com/prophets/edom/Edom%20in%20Prophecy%202.html)]. You know, as you follow these families out it’s an interesting study. People ask me, and I don’t know where to get one concise study that ties together Genesis chapter 10, the sons of Ishmael, following them out to the present, if you find one that does a good job, let me know. [Comment: Chronologically, Genesis chapter 10 comes before Ishmael and Esau were born, before those two individuals turned into the Arabic and the Edomite or Turkish races. So how they fit into the races mentioned in Genesis 10 requires them to be added into, melded into those previous races, and in some instances, due to Ishmael and Esau (who became the Edomites) being descended from Abraham, Ishmael and Esau supplanted other races due to God’s faithfulness to them as children of Abraham.] But interesting study to follow these names. There are several scholars that say there’s actually a prophecy hidden in these names, that’s not on the surface, because I looked. So digging no doubt into the entomology of the names and their roots may give us something, but ‘these are the sons of Ishmael, these are the years of his life, 137 years and he dies, he’s gathered to his people.’ Ah, Isaac will outlive him by 58 years [at 195]. “And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: and he died” “fell” not normally the word used for death, does it mean he collapsed, did he have a heart attack, hit with a weapon, it just says “he fell in the presence of his brethren.” (verse 18) [see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmaelites]

The Birth of Jacob & Esau, Both Destined To Become Two Vastly Different Nations, Peoples

Quickly moving on, the Holy Spirit’s done with that, now to Isaac “And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begat Isaac: and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padam-aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian. And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.” (verses 19-21) Now if you look down, we will find out that Isaac was 60 years old when the boys were born, so she’s barren for 20 years. He takes her to be his wife when he is 40, and for 20 years she’s barren. For 20 years, did Isaac pray for 20 years, or did he pray the more desperate she became, as we look at Hannah, as we look at other Scriptures about women who were barren. And we have women in the church that want children, they go to fertility doctors, and that can become a labor, very expensive. But it’s heartbreaking sometimes to see that, we don’t know, how long did Rebekah go to Isaac, how long did she say ‘God is not blessing,’ we don’t know on the history side of that, but it was 20 years before she conceived. It does say that Isaac intreated the LORD, which is a picture of Jesus Christ, ‘whose ever at the right hand of the Father, where he ever liveth and maketh intercession for the saints,’ if it’s a picture of the Lord and the Church, then it should be a picture, husbands, of you and I and our wives. Do we intreat the Lord for our wives? If there is a barrenness in the life of our wives, just in the sense of unfruitfulness, they want to grow, they’re struggling with something, husbands, how much time do we pray for our wives? Here Isaac seeks the LORD on behalf of Rebekah, and it says that he is entreated for her, and she conceives. “And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. And the children struggled together within her;” notice, plural, children, because there’s twins, “and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.” (verses 21-22) now there may have been twins before this, but these are the first ones brought in front of us. Your wife ever ask a question like that? You want to give the right answer, don’t you? You need to break the code. She’s saying ‘If I was barren, if you’ve entreated the LORD, if he’s granted conception, what in the world is going on, I mean, this 3^rd trimester is like the 20^th trimester, what’s going on inside?’ “If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.” (verse 22) that’s a great thing to do, gals, whether your husband’s doing it or not, “And she went to enquire of the LORD. And the LORD said unto her,” ‘here’s your problem,’ “Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels: and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.” (verses 22b-23) ‘it’s noggin-head and Israel in there, instead of in Foxnews, in your womb.’ Just imagine, there’s two nations in there, two manner, two natures, two different kinds of people shall be separated from thy bowels, “and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.” Now she got a mouthful from the LORD. What an interesting picture, Isaac the promised son, intreating the Father in heaven for his bride, who desires to be fruitful instead of barren. God grants that she would be fruitful. There is never spiritual progress without warfare. You can write it down, you can carve it on your forehead and look in the mirror every morning and read the same thing. There is never spiritual progress in our lives, in regards to bearing fruit, in regards to putting aside our barrenness without struggle, it’ll never happen. And of course the picture here, interestingly, is a picture of Rebekah’s a type of the Church, and the LORD says to her ‘There are two natures within you, there is the older one, and the younger one.’ There’s the old nature, but the elder’s going to serve the younger, there’s the new-birth, and there’s the old nature. Welcome to the world of Christianity, when you get saved, one battle ends, and another one begins. It says in Galatians that the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit lusteth against the flesh, so that you cannot do what you would, they’re entrenched against each other, there’s not a third option, so that you can’t do what you would. Every believer in this room has that struggle. Now again, Spurgeon’s encouragement was ‘Dead men don’t wrestle, before I was saved this wasn’t going on. The wrestling within,’ he said, ‘should turn us into a tiger for Jesus Christ,’ it’s the evidence of the new birth. There are two natures now, that are struggling. There’s the old nature, and there’s the new nature, the new-birth, struggling within. You don’t reform the old nature. Some of us are convinced, ‘we go on with the Lord, hey, when I’m five years old, ten years old, fifteen years old in the Lord, I won’t struggle with this anymore.’ [he laughs] No, the Bible doesn’t say that. The Bible says you consider the old man dead, you don’t reform him, because he will never be reformed, he’s as vile now as he was the first second you got saved. That traitor within, it tells us not to let sin reign, not to let our carnal nature reign, but that traitor is there. His power is broken in our lives through the new-birth, the power of the Holy Spirit. But as a Christian you need to understand, if you want to step out of your barrenness and you want to be fruitful, and you want to accomplish something for Jesus Christ, there’s going to be resistance, there’s going to be warfare, there’s going to be a part of you that doesn’t want to do that, that doesn’t want to leave your comfort zone. You know, you’re [a part of] the Bride of Christ, you’re saved, you’re [a part of] the Promised son, you’ve given yourself to him, you’re married to him. But what if you’re tired of your barrenness, you decide, ‘You know what, I want to step out, before Christ comes I want to accomplish something, I want to hear ‘Well done thou good and faithful servant,’ I want to do something for Jesus before he comes, I really want to serve.’ You can be assured that if you want to step out of your barrenness and you want to be fruitful, there’s going to be that struggle, there’s going to be a wrestling. And instead of being condemned about it, the great thing to do, as Rebekah did, go and talk about it, and say ‘Lord, if it be so, why am I thus?’ he understands what that means. And he’s going to say ‘Because there’s two natures within you, and in the final analysis the old nature is the older, and the elder is going to serve the younger, the new-birth,’ in the final analysis that’s what’s going to take place. But it is a struggle for all of us, for me, for all of us. ‘Historically, there’s two nations within thy womb, two manner of people, Esau and Jacob, they’re twins, obviously they’re not identical, so they’re fraternal, and two different kinds of people are going to come out of you.’ That’s just remarkable, “And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels: and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.” (verse 23) now initially “the stronger” was Esau, he was very domineering, very strong, very powerful man. Ultimately Jacob ends up with the upper hand, ‘one shall be stranger than the other, and the elder, the firstborn shall serve the younger.’ Now Rebekah knows this, she understands. Whatever her belief system was when she was in Padan-aram, she’s left all of that to be Isaac’s wife, to live under Abraham, she has been introduced to the True and Living God. God withheld her from bearing fruit until the day would come when Isaac would say ‘I’ve entreated the LORD for you and I believe the LORD’s going to answer,’ she conceived, in that no doubt her faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob becomes very solid and very genuine, to the point where she goes to beseech the LORD, and he actually speaks to her. [Comment: now that makes sense, as far as the spiritual analogy is concerned, Abraham being symbolic of God the Father, Isaac symbolic of Jesus Christ, and Rebekah symbolic of the Bride of Christ, the Church, naturally God would be speaking to her. That never occurred with Jacob’s two wives, Leah and Rachel, or their handmaids who became Jacob’s concubines, no Godly contact with any of them besides Jacob himself.] So, Rebekah coming into her own in regards to her own belief and her own faith in the God of Abraham. Now he answers, and he gives her this answer, ‘two nations, two manner of people, the elder’s going to serve the younger.’ [Comment: following the symbolism, Jacob becomes Israel, and represents the 12-tribed nation of Israel. Esau, the worldly one, represents the Gentile world in general, all the world that is not Israel.] “And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.” (verses 24-25) what a romantic description of birth, the first one came out red and hairy all over, like a garment, so they called his name Esau, which means hairy. You just ask for it, you know, no imagination here, you have a red hairy kid, what do you name him?--hairy. Now it wasn’t a bad choice, we’re going to find out years after this when he goes to deceive his father, him and Jacob, Jacob has to put goats hair on his hands and his neck, he really was hairy. He was not only hairy when he was born, he also felt like a goat when he was a man, so this is Hairy, Esau. “And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.” (verse 26) he was grabbing hold of his brother’s heel, they were fighting even when the older one was born, the other one wouldn’t let go of his ankle, he had ahold of him, they’re still wrestling. “and his name was called Jacob” Jakob, it’s heel-catcher. So Hairy and Heel-catcher, ‘What do we name them, well the first one’s red and hairy, let’s name him Hairy, and the second one came out holding onto his brother’s heel, we’ll call him Heel-catcher.’ Boy we could have some strange names if you look around this room, huh? [laughter] Well here they are, “the boys,” Hairy and Heel-catcher. [Comment: two of my grandkids we call “the boys,” they’re a wonderful pair too, I love them both dearly.] “and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.” Guys, how’d you like to be 60 and have twins [especially those twins 😊]? One of our great couples in the church who was 50 years old, and the youngest that was 26 had just moved out, and she thought ‘I’m 50, I’m 50, it’s gas pains,’ so they went to the doctor, and found here she was 5 months pregnant [laughter]. He said, ‘Mam if you’re five months along, he’s healthy, he’s coming.’ So they told me, they’d love to be part of the Over 50’s fellowship, but there’s no childcare [loud laughter]. But Isaac’s 60 and having twins, gotta keep a house busy, especially if you name them Hairy and Heel-catcher.

Never Show Favouritism To One Child Over Another

“And the boys grew:” that will always happen, “and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.” (verse 27) now the only other place we have that description “a cunning hunter” is in regards to Nimrod, so it’s foreboding, he was a cunning hunter, a man of the field. So two different kinds of guys. Esau’s hairy, manly, testosterone through the roof if he’s got hair like a goat growing on his neck and hands, and he’s a hunter. And we’re going to find out Isaac loves him because of his venison, because he could always go out and get game, he’s a man’s man, reads Sports Illustrated, Stream & Field Magazine, shops at Kabella’s, this is Esau. It doesn’t say he’s vile or angry, but just that kind of a guy, a man’s man. Jacob it says “is a plain man,” what does that mean--just plain? can you say “neighbourhood?” Does he come in every day, put on his sweater and put on his slippers, just a plain ‘oh Jacob’s home,’ [laughter, nice reference to Mr. Rogers]. Now it’s an interesting Hebrew word, if you’ll get back on track, please. It’s used 13 times in the Old Testament, 9 times it’s translated “perfect,” it’s used that way of Job, 2 times it’s translated “undefiled,” one time it’s translated “upright,” and only one place is it translated “plain,” and that’s here. So Jacob was 9 times, “perfect,” Jacob was “undefiled,” Jacob was “upright,” two different kinds of men, one was out for the hunt, the slaughter, the other was pastoral, protected and covered [when you see what race the Edomites became, things haven’t changed much from that Biblical diagnosis, as we’ll see Esau was father of the Edomites, who became the Turks.]. One was bloody, the other had his affection set on things above. Jacob doesn’t do everything right, he has a reputation, but his desires are in the right place, the way he accomplishes his desires are not always right. So we have these two men described, they grew, Esau was a cunning hunter, an outdoorsman, in the field, nothing wrong with that. Jacob was an upright man, a perfect man, “dwelling in tents” like Abraham his grandfather, and like Isaac. “And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.” (verse 28) that is not a good reason to favour one child over another, ‘I like the boy who brings home the meat,’ I mean I’m a carnivore but God doesn’t give me that freedom. Besides that I have to buy meat to feed them all, they don’t bring it home. “Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.” Now we’re going to see an interesting pattern in the humanness of all of this, you guys. Abraham loves Ishmael, Sarah ends up despising him, and certainly in many ways Isaac becomes the favorite son, he learns favouritism, many of those reasons were right, no doubt some of them were wrong because they were in a human family. Isaac grew up in an environment where he ended up being the favoured son. Sarah was meanspirited sometimes, we saw that, Abraham sometimes didn’t seem to know how to handle the situation. But in a home when one child is favoured over another, there’s always results from that in the long run. It just happens. And sometimes it’s not made a whole lot of as time goes on, you know, our skin gets pretty thick. But we see in this situation, here’s Isaac now, the next generation, Isaac is favouring one son, the one that brings home the meat, and Rebekah is loving Jacob. Now Rebekah knows that the younger would end up being served by the older. I don’t know when she told Isaac, ‘this is what the LORD said,’ whether Isaac believed it or not. But we see this favouritism. Interesting thing is, we’re going to see Jacob, he’s going to free himself from Esau, Esau’s going to want to kill him, because Jacob is going to deceive his father to get the blessing [which is the birthright], which God said he would have anyway, he didn’t have to deceive anybody to get it, but he goes by his own means to get it. He’ll flee from Bethel then to Padam-aram, and he works seven years there for Rachel, whom he loves, and is deceived by Laban, it’s in the gene-pool, Laban, and he wakes up in the morning after his wedding with Leah! And old uncle Laban says ‘Oh, didn’t I tell you about our custom? We never let a younger daughter get married until the older one’s married, just work seven more years.’ The interesting thing is, Jacob then on the way back will wrestle with God [Yahweh-God, the LORD], after he has ten sons. Joseph will be the son of his old age, and then ultimately Benjamin, those will be the two boys that grow up under Israel instead of Jacob, they grow up under much more of a subdued father [worn out], and no doubt Jacob will sit down and talk to those boys about the dream he had at Bethel, how God revealed himself, how he knew what was going to take place, that he would come back to this place, God would bless him. How then he was deceived for seven years, all the things he went through. Joseph will be deceived by his brethren, he will then because of a dream that he has, like Jacob, he will then be carried to Egypt, and through a dream there, there’s 7 years of plenty, then there’s 7 years of famine, there’s the reliving in many ways of the bent of the parents. The Bible tells of that, the bent of the mother and father is passed onto the next generation. It’s the word that’s used for bending a bow and arrow, so it’s not necessarily evil all the time, but we have certain bents. And the thing you have to watch with your kids, don’t favour any one of them. I have four kids. Well they’re adults now. They’ll still always be my kids, always be able to beat ‘em, if I can’t beat ‘em in a fair fight, I’ll beat ‘em in a dirty fight, but I’ll always win. But anyhow, that’s another subject. And I’ve shared this with you guys before, Joanna’s my oldest of the four, and I can tell you why I love Joanna the most out of the four, her character, her strength, her stubbornness, reminds me of myself so much of the time, her gifts, her openness, her perception. The second one is Mike, this is why I love Mike the most of the four, his depth, deep, still waters run deep, his perceptions, his honesty, he knows Jesus, he really knows Jesus. Josh the third, I’ll tell you why I love Josh the most out of the four, his tenderness, his sensitivity, God’s given him great, great gifts, and they’re deep, I have to dig them out, way smarter than I ever was. Hannah the fourth, I’ll tell you why I love Hannah the most out of the four, has the gift of mercy, she is tender, she weeps with those who weep, she finds those who fall down and cry. When she was at elementary school the nurse said ‘She’s my assistant, every kid that gets hurt on the schoolyard Hannah brings them into the nurses office,’ you know, that’s always been there. But my point is, they’re all so different, and they’re all so distinct. And I never, ever want to favour one over the other. Don’t do it, if you’re letting it happen at home, don’t do it. Because our natural tendency is to love the one that brings home the meat. Our spiritual side might love the one that has the spiritual promises. Don’t do it, because it gets passed along. It gets worked out. God ultimately has his purposes. It tells us in Romans chapter 9, verse 13, and it’s a whole other subject, ‘Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated.’ [It’s because God hates bloodshed, which the Edomites and Turks are known for.] So that the sovereignty of God, the election of God would be worked out. What do we do with that? You do with it whatever you want to do with it. Charles Spurgeon said “I’m not amazed that he hated Esau,” he said “I’m amazed that he loved Jacob.” These two characters now come before us, in this very human family. God using their humanness, God using their commitment to him, God taking all things and weaving them together and putting a picture and a type in front of us of Christ and the Church [and the Gentile world] and the lessons we’d learn about our own struggles. A remarkable, remarkable passage, “And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.” (verse 28)

Esau Sells Jacob His Birthright For A Bowl Of Beans

“And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:” (verse 29) ‘Oh, what’s the matter, Hairy?’ “and Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.” (verse 30) you know, that’s such a picture of the flesh ‘Feed me.’ You know, the perfect picture of the flesh is a dog, I’m sorry, if you’ve ever had a dog, you raise a dog, a dog just is the flesh, just no conscience, no spirit, just a soul and a body, and it’s just ‘Feed me.’ The most exciting thing in our dog’s life was going through a drive-through, he could not believe that you could pull up to a window and people would give you free hamburgers, he would be in the back seat going ‘Whoo!, whoo! whoo!’ he would be so excited they’d be handing food out the window, that was his whole life, his whole life was food, it was such a picture of the flesh. And all the other things they do that we don’t talk about in church, just. Esau said to Jacob ‘Feed me!’ “I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.” They started to call him Edom, which means red, I’m sure he appreciated this as time went on. He’s called Esau because he’s hairy, and sometimes they call him Edom because he sold his birthright for some red stew, and that’s not going to sit well with him I’m sure. “And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.” (verse 31) ‘you’re hungry, you really want to eat, you’re at the point of death, you’re famished,’ Now it tells us in 26:1, it says, ‘There was a famine in the land besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham.’ So when there’s a famine in the land, usually there’s a famine in the land because there’s a drought in the land, if there’s a drought in the land the herbage suffers, if the herbage suffers, it’s hard for a hunter to find game, that may be why has gone for a long time and unable to get anything, besides the sovereign hand of God keeping him from getting anything. Jacob, who was told by Rebekah that the older would serve the younger, that the birthright would be his, in a sense, is not trying to take the things that are his by faith. It isn’t wrong for him to desire that, but the way Jacob accomplishes things so often, it’s such a picture of the way we connive when we’re afraid to let the Lord work it out. “And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?” (verses 31-32) Now look, it isn’t like ‘What a surprise this is, I didn’t know he felt this way.’ No doubt Esau over the years had said ‘Birthright, big deal, who cares about a birthright? A double portion of dad’s inheritance, who cares? I live in the field, I shoot the deer, I can eat all I want, I’m dependent on the land, I don’t need anybody’s help, I’m a man’s man, self-made man.’ There had to be some of that, for Jacob to understand he kind of despised the birthright, it wasn’t anything special to him. Jacob, because his affections are set on things above, understands what the birthright is about, not only comes the double portion of blessing, but the Messianic blessing, the blessing of the Promised seed, what everything Abraham and Isaac had been about would fall to him in regards to the coming of the One that was promised. There were huge pictures in regards to eternity that were attached to this birthright. [Comment: as we get further along in Genesis, up to Genesis 48, I will explain what the birthright is, as the promises of God evolved from Abraham, through Isaac and Jacob, and then were handed to Joseph and his two sons Ephraim & Manasseh, and where the Messianic Promised Seed would go to Judah, another tribe in the 12-tribed nation of Israel. These became divided, by Jacob on his deathbed, in Genesis 48:15-22 and 49:8-12, as seen in 1^st Chronicles 5:1-2, so we see the birthright went to Joseph and his two sons, Ephraim & Manasseh, and the promise of the kingly line leading to Christ went to Judah, who became the tribe of Judah. More on this later.] Jacob said ‘Sell me this day thy birthright, and Esau said, Behold, I’m at the point of death, what profit is the birthright to me anyway?’ “And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way:” isn’t that a picture of the flesh? “thus Esau despised his birthright.” (verses 33-34) The writer to the Book of Hebrews will tell us this, ‘Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord, looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many are defiled,’ And how sadly we have seen a root of bitterness in one individual infect others, because nobody’s content to be miserable alone, they want to get everybody to join their side, and they don’t care about the blood-bought Bride of Christ. They think they have some sense of entitlement that they’re allowed to cause division in Jesus’ Bride, blood-bought, ‘lest there be any fornicator, sensual man or a profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For we know that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing,’ that’s the double blessing, and even then I don’t think he understood all the spiritual implications, ‘he was rejected, for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.’ What he sought was the double portion, it doesn’t say Esau was not able to come to the LORD, offer a lamb, and repent and receive God’s forgiveness, it says there was no repentance that would bring back to him the birthright that he had so despised and given up. Why? It says two things, it says he was sensual, number 1, and man in our culture, is that something we have to guard ourselves against or what? I mean, television commercials, billboards, magazines, everywhere we look in our culture there is something that appeals to the Esau that’s in each of us. He was sensual, and it says [number 2], he was profane, “profanum” in he Latin, “outside the temple,” outside the threshold of the temple, he had no holy place within him, he had no sanctuary within. Jacob made lots of mistakes, but Jacob had his sight on eternal things. Jacob had a heart for the things of God. Esau was sensual, not just sexually, he sold his birthright for a bowl of beans, just what would satisfy the flesh, sensual in that sense, and he was profane, he wasn’t worshipful. He wasn’t antagonistic, he didn’t hate the God of Abraham, he didn’t want to destroy their faith, he was completely benign in regards to it. He had no sense of right or wrong about it, he just didn’t care, he was profane, it was all common to him. He was outside the precincts of the temple, as it were. And it warns us, look, in the culture we live in, look out, lest you find yourself driven by sensuality, you would give up your birthright to satisfy something your flesh wants today. You’re a son or a daughter of the Most High God, he calls us to live a certain way, and we can get in that frame of mind, where a sexual experience, something we want materially, something that we can get right now, we’re willing to push aside the truth of spiritual things to satisfy our flesh, that’s sensual. And as we feed that and feed that and feed that, we become profane, there’s no room for spiritual hunger in us anymore. Billy Graham talked about traveling in China, and he saw this guy who had this dog fight, and had these two dogs that would fight all the time, and the guy who owned the dogs would always win, he’d always bet on the right side. And Billy Graham said “How come when you bet on the black dog, the black dog wins, when you bet on the white dog, the white dog wins, how do you know what dog’s gonna win?” and the guy said “The dog I feed is the dog that wins.” And we have to guard ourselves because we have enough Esau’s and enough Jacob’s struggling within us that we need to take note, because there is a part of each of us that would love to just have satisfaction right now. And sometimes through hurt or frustration we can just want to cast off restraints and say ‘I don’t care, God’ll forgive me anyway, I’m just gonna…’ you know, then we carry something with us, we have settled for less, we have a conscience that has a mar on it, all of God’s grace is there, his forgiveness is there. My encouragement to you would be whatever you’ve done, as far as being a Christian, if you’ve compromised, hey, step away from that, take the higher road, move forward tonight, and do the things that you know the Spirit is leading you to do. Set you affection on things above. Because I guarantee you this, we’re closer to the coming of Christ than any generation of the Church that’s ever lived [and we’re far closer now, with Vladimir Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine and the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war that is frightening the daylights out of Europe and the NATO nations, who are re-arming in such a manner not seen since the end of World War II (what’s coming due to that? see https://unityinchrist.com/prophecies/2ndcoming_4.htm).] And he could come at any time. Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage and lentils, “and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way:” like nothing happened, ““thus Esau despised his birthright.” (verse 34)

Genesis 26:1-18

“And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. 2 And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: 3 sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I swear unto Abraham thy father; 4 and I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; 5 because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. 6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: 7 and the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, he said, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon. 8 And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech the king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. 9 And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her. 10 And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us. 11 And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. 12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. 13 And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: 14 for he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him. 15 For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth. 16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we. 17 And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 18 And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.”

“And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:” (verses 1-2) Now look at what the LORD says, now evidently “the boys” are grown and not with them, at this point it just seems to be Isaac and Rebekah. [So if the boys are 20-something years old and moved out, Isaac is 80-something years old.] “the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt,” so evidently that is where he was headed. He got as far as Gerar, which was on the border of Egypt, it’s down in the Philistine country, kind of where Gaza is today on the border of Egypt, and the LORD said... Now you’d think that would make an impression, wouldn’t you? And says him “Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:” Now a hundred years before this, Abraham had done the same thing, he’d gone down into Egypt. And here’s Isaac, the apple not falling far from the tree, in a jam, in a famine, having known the stories, had he heard of all of this? He’s reproducing, he’s heading toward Egypt, he’s taking note of the weaknesses and the shortcomings and character of his father, he’s watched those things over the years, and he’s headed down to the same place. The LORD appears to him for the first time now officially that we know of, we have the LORDeHH appearing unto him and saying “Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee;” notice it sounds so much like Abraham “for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I swear unto Abraham thy father; and I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed” singular “all these countries; and in thy seed” the Messiah “shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;” (verses 2b-4) that is the birthright, that now Jacob is about to take hold of. “because that Abraham obeyed my voice,” ‘your father obeyed me,’ “and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” (verse 5) Abraham did not live in Gerar. You know, isn’t it interesting sometimes how we may be content to say ‘Hey, I’m not crossing into Egypt, I’m just kind of living on the border.’ And there are a lot of Christians who want to live on the border, ‘oh I didn’t cross over, I just kind of live on the border.’ Dads, and you’re to be the high priest in the home, if you live on the border, your children will take note that it’s just cool and fine to live on the border. [And when they see what’s about to happen to this current Sodom and Gomorrah, the coming destruction, it would be really wise to more away from that border.] ‘Well I know getting drunk is wrong, but I just have a beer and a half, I start to get a little buzz I stop,’ [now Calvary Chapels, first formed as sort of a hospital kind of church during the drug and alcohol crazed Hippie era, don’t promote drinking at all within their congregations, whereas the Bible preaches extreme moderation in alcohol consumption], ‘how close to the edge can I get without falling off, I want to be as carnal as I can without falling to hell, can I do this, can I do that, can I get away with this and still go to heaven?’ you want to live on the border. What that tells me, when I’m getting like that, is that I’ve forgotten about Jesus, what it tells me about you when you’re living like that is you haven’t really seen him face to face. Because the secret to separation is not separation from, it’s separation unto. It’s not separation from alcohol, from drugs, from sensual things, that’s not the secret of separation, the secret of separation is separation unto. If you watch young people walk into here, and I can tell whether they’re engaged before they tell me. They start to loose weight, they start to comb their hair, they’re on the love-diet, that walk in here on Sunday they wear the same shorts and same shirt, and you’re going ‘Oh agghh’ you know, ‘cut me a break.’ But there’s not struggle there, you’re not hanging around your old friends, because you’re so in love with that person, that’s all you can think about, you’re not separated from, you’re separated unto. God is saying ‘Your father obeyed me, oh he made his mistakes, but he didn’t settle by the border, he came back all the way, he dwelt at Mamre, he dwelt in the plains, he dwelt in the land.’ He says ‘I will give you all the blessings I gave your father,’ “because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” (verse 5) [Some feel, Messianic Jews, Sabbath-keeping Churches of God, that this verse, verse 5, indicates that Abraham and the line of Shem coming from Noah somehow had knowledge of God’s Laws, even though those laws hadn’t been codified into the Law of God given to Moses in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. This could be true, but we’ll have to wait until the Wedding Feast of the Lamb to find out for sure.] “And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:” (verse 6) God told him to sojourn in the land, it says here, Isaac dwelt, not sojourned, he dwelt in Gerar. He settled right on the border of the land.

He Told The King, ‘She’s My Sister’

“and the men of the place asked him of his wife;” and guess what he said? It’s an old story, isn’t it? “and he said, She is my sister:” (verse 7) ‘dad did it,’ your dad was telling a half-truth which was a full-blown lie, he’s telling a full-blown lie, which is a full-blown lie. “She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, he said, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.” (verse 7) Now she’s no spring chicken anymore, but evidently she’s still beautiful. The boys are grown, Isaac and Rebekah are without the boys. You know if the two boys were there he certainly couldn’t say ‘Oh she’s my sister.’ ‘Oh you’re a family and this is your sister?’ Even in ancient cultures they knew that adultery was wrong, so if they liked your wife they killed you, then you’re no longer married, then they could take her, she was single then. “And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time,” how long? “that Abimelech the king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.” (verse 8) now Abimelech is the title of the Philistine king, now this is a forerunner of the Philistines that would be there in the days of David. You gotta love the King James, he looks out the window and they’re playing baseball [laughter]. Evidently Isaac’s got to first base, and Abimelech says ‘That’s a funny way for a brother and sister,’ they’re sporting. “And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.” (verse 9) ‘What’d mean telling me she’s your sister, I seen you guys sportin’ out there.’ He doesn’t make up an excuse, he just says ‘Well, because I said to myself, lest I die for her, I was afraid.’ “And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.” (verse 10) Abimelech and the Philistines are more righteous than our culture, they wouldn’t have let Desperate Housewives be on television back then. He says if someone had committed adultery with her, guiltiness would have been brought our nation. Imagine that? Imagine our president or presidents saying, some presidents you can imagine, some presidents you can’t imagine…imagine saying that? We can’t believe this other person put one of our leaders, a congressman, a senator, a president, a vice president, put one of our leaders in the danger of actually unknowingly committing adultery, and it would have brought guiltiness on our nation that we don’t want there. Boy, that would be refreshing to hear, wouldn’t it? “And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.” (verse 11) Now God had just appeared to Isaac, and said ‘I’m going to be with you, I’m going to protect you, I’m going to bless your seed and make them like the stars of heaven, I’m going to put all of the blessings of Abraham on your life.’ He was more willing now at this point to believe Abimelech than he was to believe God earlier in the chapter, this is a man who is growing in his faith and his experience with God. He could have just trusted God all along, because you see the way Abimelech feels, and Abimelech, whichever Abimelech this is must have heard from the older Abimelechs what happened with Abraham and Sarah. And this Abimelech says ‘Anybody who touches this guy or his wife, you’re a dead man.’ That could have happened right off the bat without him lying.

Whenever You’re Doing Well, You’re Being Blessed, Envying Will Occur

“Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.” in spite of himself, not because of himself, “And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: for he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.” (verses 13-14) Whenever you’re prospering in any way, and the blessing of God is on your life, there will be Philistines around who envy. If you’re growing in a ministry, and it’s flourishing and is being fruitful, there’s going to be some Philistines around envying. If anything’s going on good in your life, there’s always some Philistines around envying. God is blessing Isaac, his possessions become great, God is blessing him, and the Philistines envied him. “For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth. And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.” (verses 15-16) Imagine that, Isaac and his household had become mightier than the Philistine kingdom at that point in time. “And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.” (verses 17-18) We’re going to pick up here next week with Isaac in this endeavor. Isaac is a man of the tent and the altar, but he’s always the man that digs the well. Not only does he dig the well, we always find him by a well, seven times he’s by a well. But he unclogs the wells of his father Abraham that the Philistines had filled with earth, with dirt. Remarkable picture. In that culture how important a well was, or a spring of water. And when the earlier Abimelech had made a covenant with Abraham, he told him to go wherever he wanted in the land. For the Philistines in this day to come and have been clogging those wells with dirt, with earth, signified they had no regard for the covenant that had been made with Abraham. In the meantime Isaac is growing great, all of this in the natural, but in the spiritual, Isaac going back to the wells that were dug in the days of his father Abraham, and he’s opening those wells again, and calling them by the names that his father had called them. Man oh man, we need to do that in the Church today. There is a well called Blood, and so much of the Church today doesn’t want to talk about it and doesn’t want to acknowledge it and it has been filled with dirt. But the blood of Jesus Christ is a fountain, pure and powerful, and it is our hope in this world to be washed in the blood of Jesus Christ, what a refreshing well and fountain flows from there. There’s a fountain called sin, there’s a fountain called repentance, there are these places where we find life, where we find refreshment, where we find renewal. And how important, some of them have been clogged with dirt and nonsense and the culture and compromise, and so much of what it does in the name of religion. And Isaac, it says he’s unclogging these wells, how many has he remembered being at as a boy? He actually remembered the names that his father Abraham had given to those wells. And as he’s reopening them he’s renaming them with the names that Abraham had given to them. What a remarkable picture. You know, I want my sons and my daughters, in their life, if they ever sense the wells that refreshed and renewed their mother and I, if they ever sense they’re clogged, I want them to dig and to reopen them and to remember their names, and to be renewed, to be refreshed by them. We don’t have to discover how to do ministry “cool,” we have a heritage, we have wells that have already been opened, we have a legacy, we have a foundation, we have a beginning, we have a source to return to, we have the Book of Acts and the Gospels of Jesus Christ. Our problem is getting back to our beginnings, not trying to find some phony way to be culturally “cool.” Because you know what, people get tired of that nonsense. Because life becomes painful, and there’s suffering and struggling, there’s disease and there’s hardship, and there’s age. And when those things come, people want reality, not games, not fluff, they want depth, they want living water, they want hope and life, redemption, the cross and the blood of Jesus Christ and the love of God, fresh and alive and powerful in their lives. And when we breathe our last in this world, we want all of the wells open and flowing, all of them open and flowing. Read ahead. This is really the only single chapter just on Isaac in the Bible. Isaac is always either tied to Abraham or tied to Jacob. In some places Esau’s in there, but the one chapter he stands alone is this chapter where he’s reopening the wells of his father. So we’ll have to come back here, we’ve run out of time this evening, and we’ll pick up there next week and we’ll move onward from there. I encourage you, read ahead the next two chapters, you’re familiar with them I’m sure, Jacob’s ladder, some of these things, but what an incredible place to be, what great lessons are there. Let’s stand, let’s pray together, let’s sing a last song. If you have questions, if you’d like to pray with us after we’re done singing, make your way down here, we’d love to pray with you, give you a Bible, love to talk to you, the pastors and the elders will be here. But let’s lift our hearts to the Lord, I encourage you dads, take a stand. I encourage you as Christians, the Esau and the Jacob within each of us, there’s always that tendency to settle for less, for immediate satisfaction. Parents, don’t ever favour one over another, we have so many human examples, drawn out in great detail to us in the Scripture. Don’t be discouraged if there’s two nations fighting within you, two people, two natures, because ultimately the old man is going to serve the new-birth, the older’s going to serve the younger, God’s going to make sure that happens if it’s in your heart, he is faithful, that he will continue that good work he’s done and he will complete it. But let’s bow our hearts…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Genesis 25:11-34 and Genesis 26:1-18, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]