Sunset Road Baptist Church Sermon Notes: January 14, 2007 - God’s Con: The Rivalry (Part 1)

Sunday, January 14, 2007

January 14, 2007 - God’s Con: The Rivalry (Part 1)

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By: Rev. Steve Bass

Scripture Meditation: Genesis 27:1-36

INTRODUCTION TO THE SERMON SERIES

This morning we’re beginning a two-month long sermon series on the life of Jacob

That’s a lot of time to devote to one person- but I think he’ll hold your interest

On the one hand, Jacob was a man who had a deep- and abiding- faith in God
He also happened to be a world class con artist

Jacob was the kind of guy who:

Wasn’t reluctant about using dishonesty and deception to get what he wanted in life-
No matter who it hurt

But here’s where it gets strange: God chose this con artist to be the recipient of His special grace and favor

And frankly- it doesn’t make any sense
In fact- in a ‘just’ world the twists and turns of Jacob’s life would have never happened

But in the real world of the Bible it did happen

And it makes for a fascinating story
A story we’ll unfold over the next few weeks

We’ll begin this morning by reading Genesis 25:19-26

INTRODUCTION TO ‘THE RIVALRY’

I have a theory I’m going to put to the test this morning

My theory is that twins always know who was born first
One may have come out...

Just one or two minutes before the other
But they go through life always remembering who was born first

So, do we have any twins here today?

(Start with Nick & Nicole- then ask others)
Ask: Who’s older? You or your twin?

The reason I bring all this up is because Jacob was a twin

His brother was named Esau
And trust me- these two well-aware of who was born first! Genesis 25:24-28

Because Jacob was grasping his heel when he was born-

Esau couldn’t have been more than a few seconds older than Jacob
But to the ancient Hebrews that would have made all the difference in the world

By popping out first- Esau would have been the considered the more important child

He was the oldest and that meant he would have been entitled to a double portion of the family inheritance
It was his birthright

Now let me explain how the double portion worked

Essentially- the oldest son would be entitled to twice as much of the family inheritance as his brothers
In this case- since there were only two sons- Isaac’s fortune would be divided into three equal shares

As the oldest Esau would receive two of the shares
While Jacob would receive a single share

So let’s say Isaac’s fortune was worth...$600,000

Esau would have received $400,000
While Jacob would have received $200,000

Now to our way of thinking this isn’t fair

Children should be treated equally
Particularly if you were conceived- and born- at the same time

But that’s not the way the people of the Bible saw it

Esau was older and entitled to the best
Jacob was younger and would be left with the scraps

As you can probably guess this created a bitter rivalry between the brothers

A rivalry that would define their lives
And it wasn’t helped by the fact their Mom & Dad each had a favorite son Genesis 25:27-28

Now I don’t want you to get the wrong idea:

Isaac loved Jacob- but he preferred the company of the ruggedly, handsome Esau
Rebekah loved Esau- but she had a special place in her heart for Jacob

STEALING THE BIRTHRIGHT

Now if Jacob had been a different kind of person this arrangement might have worked out just fine

But remember- he was a con artist
His ambition was to take what belonged to Esau

His first objective was to steal Esau’s birthright. Read Genesis 25:29-34
Let’s get one thing straight:

What Jacob did was wrong
Through manipulation and blackmail he had stolen Esau’s inheritance

In other words: Jacob would now get the double portion of the family inheritance
And Esau would be left with scraps

But here’s the thing: According to the Bible- what Esau did was worse than what Jacob had done

Notice what it says in verse 34: So Esau despised his birthright.
The Message Bible probably captures Esau’s attitude a little better. It says Esau shrugged off his right as the firstborn

That was Esau’s sin

Say what you want about his methods- but at least Jacob recognized the value of the special relationship His family had with God
On the other hand-

Esau was so short-sighted, so incapable of recognizing what was really important in life
He gave up his birthright for a lousy bowl of soup!

Folks, that’s a pretty good picture of sin in the life of a Christian. When you choose to sin:

You’re giving up the most important thing you’ve got: The intimacy of your faith-relationship with God
For whatever short-term buzz sin can bring

This is what Romans 6:23 means when it says the wages (the pay-off) of sin is death

Sin always promises excitement and pleasure and good times that never end
But it always pays off in brokenness and loneliness and misery and ultimately- death

Think about it this way: Have you ever been happier after you’ve sinned against God?

If you’re a born-again Christian the answer is NO!
Read what 1 John 3:9 says.

I want you to understand what this is saying:

It doesn’t mean Christians never fall into sin
Rather it’s saying a genuine child of God can’t be happy continuing to live in sin

Whatever short-term satisfaction sin might bring
It can’t compare to the eternal joys and blessings of your life in Christ

To put it another:

It’s stupid to give up your birthright for a lousy bowl of soup!
But that was a trade Esau was willing to make- and it marked him as a fool

STEALING THE FATHER’S BLESSING

With all that in mind- turn with me to Genesis 27
Before we start reading at verse 15 let me set the stage for what’s about to happen

Even though Esau had exchanged his share of the family estate for a bowl of soup
He still expected to receive a special blessing from his father Isaac

Now there are four things you need to know about the way the people of the Bible understood these paternal blessings

First of all- by custom the blessing would always go to the oldest son

It wasn’t even a subject of debate
That’s just the way it was

Two- this blessing conveyed power

People believed the father’s blessing could literally determine the future
If the father had...

Blessed the child- he would be blessed the rest of his life
Cursed the child- he would be cursed the rest of his life

Three- the blessing had the binding force of law

In these blessings the father would designate one of the sons to become the head of the clan
Once that decision was made- it was permanent

And finally- once a blessing had been given it could not be revoked

Under any circumstances
Even if the father later realized he’d made a mistake

Anyway- when Isaac was blind and near death he called Esau and made a request

I want you to go and kill some wild game
When you get back- fix me one of these tasty meals I love to eat
And then I’ll give you my blessing before I die

It seemed like a done deal-

But Isaac’s wife Rebekah had other plans.
She was determined that her husband’s blessing...

Wouldn’t be given to her foolish older son Esau
But to her favored child- Jacob

And so she hatched a plot to trick Isaac into giving the blessing to Jacob

So get the picture here- Jacob already owned Esau’s birthright
Now he and his mother were going to steal the paternal blessing that would determine the future of the family

We’ll pick up the story at the fifteenth verse
Essentially Isaac has just handed the keys to the kingdom to Jacob

Even though...

The blessing had been gained through dishonesty and deceit
Isaac later regretted what he’d done

Jacob had become the child of the promise

THE PROMISE GOD MADE TO ABRAHAM

And oddly enough-

This was a part of God’s plan to save the world
Read Genesis 12:1-3

Of all the people on the face of the Earth God had chosen Abraham to be the recipient of His special grace and favor

God promised He would bless Abraham with riches, honor and power
God had designated Abraham as the one through whom all the nations on Earth would be blessed
And most importantly- God had decided His only begotten Son would be one of Abraham’s descendants

It was a promise Abraham believed- and God fully intended to keep

But there was a problem

Abraham and his wife Sarah didn’t have any children
I mean let’s face it: It’s hard to start a family dynasty when you don’t have any kids!

So the question was:

How was it going to happen?
How was God going to keep all the promises He’s made to Abraham?

Now here’s where you need to understand something about faith. Faith always demands two things:

One- an absolute belief that what God says is true
And two- a willingness to trust God even when it seems His promises aren’t being kept

This is what the Bible is talking about in Hebrews 11:1
Think about this in terms of your own salvation: God says if you confess your sin and believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ- you will be saved

But what happens if you...

Don’t feel any different?
Never get any written confirmation of your salvation?

To a person of faith it doesn’t matter! Faith is what lets you say:

I believe it anyway!
God said it- I believe it- and I’ll continue to believe it until I see Him face-to-face!

Unfortunately in Abraham’s case- his faith in God’s promise begins to waver

Years and years went by
But there was no baby-

Sarah couldn’t seem to get pregnant
Which meant there was no one to carry on the family’s name

So finally Sarah proposes a solution

She suggests that Abraham take one of her maidservants- Hagar the Egyptian- and have a child with her
And sure enough- within a year Hagar gave birth to Abraham’s firstborn son- Ishmael

Now according to the ancient customs we’ve already talked about-

Ishmael should have been entitled to all the rights and privileges that went to the eldest son
Which would have suited Abraham just fine. He was an old man:

He would have been glad to give Ishmael the family blessing and inheritance
But that was not God’s plan

Let’s read at what the Bible says in Genesis 17:1-19
If you look at it from the perspective of heaven- God’s decision was perfectly understandable

For better or worse- Ishmael was the result of an illegitimate relationship between Abraham and Hagar

By the way- there are no illegitimate children
Only illegitimate ways to have them

But in this case- with so much on the line- God’s plan dictated that the child of the promise:

Wouldn’t be the son of a concubine
But the fruit of Abraham and Sarah’s marriage

WHY JACOB WAS BLESSED

Now here’s what all of this has to do with Jacob’s story

The decision to skip Ishmael and make Isaac the child of the promise makes perfect sense in Abraham’s generation
But both of Isaac’s sons were the result of his loving marriage to Rebekah

In other words: There was no reason for Esau not to be the child of the promise
Except for one thing: God had an different idea

For reasons known only to Him- God decided to make Jacob the child of the promise

Read Romans 9:10-13
This sounds pretty harsh- but it doesn’t mean God abandoned Esau

In time God caused Esau to become rich and powerful in his own right
And a great nation of people- the Edomites- would trace their ancestry through Esau

But Jacob would be the child of the promise

HE would become the father of the 12 Tribes of Israel
HE would experience the assurance of God’s love and abiding presence
HE would know the joy of having an intimate faith-relationship with God
And HE would be the one God’s only begotten Son would count as an ancestor

When you think about it in those terms- it’s really ironic:

Jacob had conned and schemed in order to get something that God had intended for him all along
Jacob’s blessing was a gift of grace- plain, pure and simple

It wasn’t merited- it couldn’t be earned- and considering what he did- it certainly wasn’t deserved
But nevertheless- God chose to pour out His special love and blessings on Jacob

CONCLUSION

And here’s the thing: Grace is- was- and always will be- a gift of God

It will never be merited- it can never be earned- and it most certainly isn’t deserved
It just is

For reasons known only to Him
God has chosen to love you in Christ Jesus

I want you to read what the Bible says in Ephesians 2:1-9
Thank God for His gift of grace! Let us pray

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