2 Nations Are In Your Womb (Soul)

2 NATIONS ARE IN YOUR WOMB (SOUL)

Gen. 25:22-27

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: PASSWORD TO HEAVEN

1. A Woman died & went to the pearly gates. Peter was there & said, “To come in you have to correctly spell a word.” “What word?” “Any word.” “Ok, I’ll spell LOVE – L O V E.” “Great,” Peter said, “You can come into Heaven!” She went in.

2. Peter then asked her if she could take his place for a moment. That if anyone came up, she should follow the same procedure of admittance. “Okay.”

3. In a few minutes she sees her ex-husband coming toward the gates. She said, “What are you doing here?” He said, “I just had a heart attack. Wow! Am I in heaven?” She said, “Not yet. You have to spell a word correctly.” He said, “What word?” There was a long pause and she said, “Spell ‘Czechoslovakia.’”

B. STRANGER THAN FICTION

1. The Bible is the seedbed for so many interesting themes! Have you ever heard of a reality TV show which featured pregnant women who were pregnant with twins? On this imaginary show, imagine that they only feature women whose twins are fighting in the womb! So they set up a sonogram on the motion picture set and have the spectators watching on a large screen as the twins shove, wrestle, and punch! How crazy is that?

2. Think how the betting community would get involved and billions of dollars would be on the line about which baby would win the fight! That’s precisely the kind of weird scene the Bible portrays in Genesis 25:21-26.

3. Isaac married Rebecca when he was forty years old (25:20); she was probably 18 or so. They had no children for 20 years (25:26). Isaac prayed for her and she became pregnant; you might say the offspring was conceived by prayer – it was a sign from the Lord, a lesson for all generations. She never had any more children. The scripture gives us some other interesting tidbits.

C. TEXT

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 [“hairy”]. 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob [“grasps the heel”]. 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.” Gen. 25:22-27.

D. PRIORITIES OF THE 2 PEOPLES

1. Esau was counted the firstborn, therefore all the spiritual heritage of his grandfather Abraham was legally his by right. But Esau loved this world and had no appreciation for spiritual things.

2. Jacob on the other hand, who was born second, coveted spiritual blessings far above all else and eventually persuaded Esau to sell him his spiritual inheritance and stole Esau’s blessings.

3. Title: 2 NATIONS ARE IN YOUR WOMB (SOUL)

I. 2 BABIES IN THE WOMB WRESTLING: 3 SYMBOLIC MEANINGS

A. JEWS VERSUS ARABS

Prophetically these two “nations” [Jews & Arabs] have been warring in the middle east for thousands of years. THERE WILL NEVER BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST UNTIL THE PRINCE OF PEACE – JESUS CHRIST – COMES!

B. BELIEVERS VERSUS UNBELIEVERS

1. This struggle – two nations or two worldviews – struggled inside Rebecca like the same two destinies struggle together in this world for the hearts and minds of people.

2. One worldview appreciates spiritual things above physical, and the other values physical things above spiritual. The Lord Jesus indicated that it’s extremely difficult to for the monetarily rich to inherit the kingdom of God.

3. The prophecy about the two babies will also come true – “The older will serve the younger.” It wasn’t fulfilled immediately, but eventually, those who chose God ruled over those who chose this world. It’s a future prophetic certainty.

C. CHRIST’S NATURE (IN US) VERSUS THE FALLEN NATURE

1. A third struggle goes on, in microcosm, in our hearts – 2 divergent natures clash. Paul says, “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you don’t do [what] you want” Gal. 5:17.

2. Paul says, “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it” Rom. 7:19-20. John confirmed that even though we’re Christians and desire to serve God, there’s still the desires of our flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life that attempt to lure us away from complete devotion to God (1 Jn. 2:16).