What About the Kids? (Genesis pt. 43)
Text: Genesis 25:12 – 34
By: Ken McKinley
(Read Text)
Well, the last time we were here… last Sunday, we looked at the death of Abraham. And now Genesis is moving on from Abraham to his children and his grandchildren. And this passage today is one of those that’s made for a sermon. It breaks down into three points. From verses 12 – 18 we are told about Ishmael’s line. And if you remember from last time, we saw that Ishmael was at Abraham’s funeral, so it’s a natural place to put into the text a little about Ishmael and his descendants. Then verses 19 – 26 we are told about Isaac’s line, and we’re given a little bit of a glimpse into Isaac’s struggles in trying to have a family as well. We’re told that Rebekah was barren. And then in verses 27 through 34 we’re told about Jacob. And this is kind of a foreshadowing of what’s to come. Moses gives us a glimpse into how things are going to play out in Jacob’s life, even though he’s going to go back to telling us about Isaac in the next chapter.
So let’s begin with verses 12 – 18. Now if you remember back in chapter 17, verse 20, God had told Abraham that He would bless Ishmael, even though Isaac was the promised son. Abraham had desired that Ishmael would be the one who entered into covenant with God, and God told him no, that it was going to be Isaac, but God did promise Abraham that He would bless Ishmael. And so Ishmael is blessed by God, but he’s not part of the covenant community. And we talked about that a little last week when we talked about the difference between saving grace and common grace. And so once again; God is faithful to keep His promise. He told Abraham that Ishmael would receive temporal blessings, and here Moses is recounting for us how God kept that promise and has indeed blessed Ishmael. We’re also given a little insight into Ishmaels territories and his offspring. And again we see from where Ishmael settled, that he would be the father of the Arabic people. He’s territory is basically modern day Saudi Arabia. This is also the last time we hear about Ishmael in the Bible, at least as far as him actually doing anything.
So the first point, and the first thing we’re reminded of is; that God always keeps His promises. We’ll see this happen again and again as we continue through Genesis.
In verses 19 – 26 we get to the second point, or part of the passage.
And what we see in these verses is that Isaac has a test very similar to his fathers. His wife is unable to have children. He and Rebekah go twenty years before they ever have any children. And so Isaac goes to God and prays for his wife. Husbands should always pray for their wives. I pray from MJ every night. She’s at the top of my prayer list. I imagine she prays for me as well, “God help that poor man who is my husband. You know he needs it.” Right?! And Isaac prays for Rebekah. Now when it says he prays for her, it wasn’t like he waited 20 years before he prayed. What verse 21 is talking about, was an ongoing, continual prayer. It took 20 years before God answered the prayer with a “yes”. Prior to that time, God was answering the prayer with “wait”.
And so verse 22 tells us that Rebekah conceived… but she was pregnant with twins and they “struggled against one another in her womb.” And I guess its women’s intuition (which I believe the Bible makes a strong case for), but somehow, she knows something isn’t quite right, and so she goes to the Lord in prayer and asks Him what’s going on?
God tells her; in verse 23, “Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.”
And so again, just like in the life of Abraham, we’re seeing that God is sovereign, and that He’s going to do things His way. The covenant line isn’t going to come about by the will of Isaac. Rebekah is barren. She can’t have children, and there’s nothing Isaac can do about it. But he knows who can do something, and so he goes to God in prayer. And finally God answers with a yes, and Rebekah conceives… but not only is she going to have a child, and not only is it going to be a male to carry on Isaac’s line, but there are two boys, and God shows His purpose of election by saying, “The older will serve the younger.” And the Apostle Paul tells us in the Book of Romans chapter 9, that God’s choice had nothing to do with who Jacob and Esau were, or what they were like, or even what they were going to do later in life. It simply had to do with the sovereignty of God in election. Let’s turn there and look at that real fast, (Read Romans 9:6-13).
So you see what Paul was saying here? In the context of that passage in Romans, Paul was dealing with a question that would be raised against what he had been saying. Prior to this Paul was saying that God sent Jesus the Messiah, the Savior, to save Israel, but many of the Jews, many of the Israelites had rejected Jesus as the Messiah, and so Paul says, “It’s not that the Word of God has failed – because they are not all Israel, who are of Israel.” In other words, not everyone who is physically descended from Abraham is actually a child of Abraham. In verse 7 he makes the distinction, that it was through Isaac that the seed would be called, and then he explains himself even further in verse 8, talking about the “children of the flesh,” and how they aren’t the children of God. When we began our study in Genesis we began by talking about the “Seed of the Serpent” and the “Seed of the Woman.” And that’s a theme that’s carried on throughout the Bible, all the way to the New Testament. In verses 10 – 13, he gets to Jacob and Esau, and shows us that it was Gods sovereign choice of election. Later on, we learn that the “seed of Abraham” are actually those who have the faith of Abraham, whether Jew or Gentile. It doesn’t matter. What matters is faith, not ones nationality. Faith in Christ.
We’ll look at this a little bit more in a minute, but for now, let’s go back to our text in Genesis chapter 25.
You notice that God also tells Rebekah that “one people will be stronger than the other.” And in that instance, He’s not talking about Esau being a manly man, and Jacob being a momma’s boy. He’s talking about Israel being stronger than the Edomites. If you know the history of Israel, then you know that they were continually beating up on the Edomites. It’s kind of like OU scheduling Ball State at home. Any time the Israelites needed a victory in battle, they would go and fight the Edomites and whip up on them.
Then the two boys are born, Esau comes out hairy and red… don’t ask me? And Jacob comes out holding on to his brother’s heel. In-fact the name Jacob means, “One who trips up.” And we find out later, that he’s kind of conniving and tricky.
The point we see in this second portion of the text is that God is in control, and that it’s “not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” And “mercy” is the optimal word there. Because without God’s mercy, both Jacob and Esau would be lost. If God had only been just in this instance, or in your case, or in my case, or in anyone’s case, none would be saved. But He is a God of mercy and grace!
And we should thank Him every day for that! It’s God’s mercy that makes all the difference between Jacob and Esau.
Alright… the final point we see is in verses 27 – 34. And here we see Esau and Jacob’s character displayed in the choices they make. And neither one of them comes out looking very good. We’re told that Esau is a manly man. He likes to hunt, and do manly things. Jacob likes to hang around the tents. Now this isn’t saying that Jacob’s effeminate or anything like that. But he’s certainly not the rough and gruff guy that his brother is. What it means when it says Jacob was a man of the tents, is that, Jacob took more of an interest in the affairs and business of the home. He was the one who dealt with Hittites and others who lived nearby. He’s the one who did all the business when it came time to sell the sheep and the cattle. Esau didn’t want anything to do with that stuff. He wanted to hunt and eat, and do his own thing, whereas Jacob took an interest in the affairs of the estate. Esau didn’t care about taking a leadership role, and really didn’t care about his inheritance, he just wanted to be left alone so that he could do whatever he wanted to do, but Jacob, did care… he cared so much he was willing to lie and cheat to get things done. Jacob cared so much about the affairs of the estate, that he was willing to swindle his brother in order to get it. And that’s what we’re seeing here in our text. It’s a contrast between two character types and two personality types, and the great thing about the Bible is that it makes no effort to cover the sins of Jacob or Esau, or Isaac, or Abraham, or Noah, or anyone. It lays it all out, warts and all, for everyone to see.
Now in Jacob and Esau’s culture, the birthright belonged to the oldest born son, but we have historical documents that tell us that a birthright can be traded or sold. One document tells us about an adopted son, who bought the legitimate son’s birthright for 3 sheep. Apparently they were a modest family of limited means, and he managed to buy the legitimate son’s birthright for the price of those sheep. Now in comparison, Isaac was very wealthy. He had inherited all of Abraham’s possessions, and so Esau had a lot to lose, but we see that he really didn’t care about it. He just wanted to do his thing, his way, and not be bothered with all the other. And he gives it up without even thinking about what he’s doing.
In the New Testament, Jesus asks, “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet loses his own soul?” What did it profit Esau to gain a bowl of soup, and yet lost his inheritance and birthright. So what we see with Esau is someone who only cares about the here and now. He only cares about what he wants, and he wants it immediately. He’s someone who is dominated by the fleshly nature. Basically; he valued the temporary blessings of this world, more than the eternal blessings that were to come.
Now like I said; Jacob wasn’t really any better, but as we go on in Genesis, we’ll see God work on him, and begin to change him and mold him and make him into something else… something better. God’s going to use these character traits of Jacob, and turn them into something that glorifies Himself, rather than Jacob. And as we look at Jacob in the weeks to come, we’ll see that God didn’t choose Jacob because he was good… Jacob becomes good, because God chose him.
And that’s the 3rd and final point. God’s ways are not our ways. His ways are far beyond our ways. And His plans are beyond our comprehension. Our job is simply to know and understand this, and by knowing and understanding this, we should trust Him in all things, no matter what comes our way.
LET’S PRAY
