Here’s the audio for the sermon I preached on Genesis 25.
NOTES:
GENESIS 25 “Jacob and Esau”
INTRO: Most Prized Possession—trade in for a hamburger? Closest friend—trade for a milkshake?
-No! Why? 1. Foolish; 2. Immoral—you are not valuing the person you are trading in.
-What about Christ? Will you treasure him, or trade in him for something else?
-This is the question I’d like us to consider as we look at our passage today.
-Will WE treasure Christ or trade him in?
CONTEXT: Story of Abraham—God’s promise and covenant with him (Gen 12:1-3)
-Life of Abraham: God’s promise and protection—all the nations blessed through him!
-Last week: God’s provision of a wife for Isaac.
–Today: A few important scenes in the story of Abraham: Abraham’s death, birth of Jacob and Esau
2 Things to See about God and A Question to Consider
-Will WE treasure Christ or trade him in?
2 Things to See about God: God is FAITHFUL and God is SOVEREIGN
The Bible is a revelation of God from God.
-Here we learn true things about who God is, and who we are.
1 GOD IS FAITHFUL (1-18)
God is faithful! àHe does what He says; He stays true to His Word and Character
-He does not abandon His people.
-God’s Faithfulness in the life and death of Abraham (1-11)
-Abraham has another wife and multiple children through her, but he gives all he has to Isaac (1-5)
-Abraham’s lives a long life: 175 (7) and his death in an old age is a example of God’s faithfulness (8)
-See 15:15 “good old age”
-God blesses his son Isaac, after Abraham’s death (11)
-This also is an example of God’s faithfulness.
-God’s Faithfulness in the life of Ishmael (12-18)
-Ishmael was Abraham’s son through Hagar, but not the heir.
-God promised to make him fruitful and multiply and faither “12 princes and make into great nation” (17:20)
–NOTICE: 25:16 “12 PRINCES”
SEE THIS: God is faithful! He always does what He says…
OBJECTION: But I struggle to believe that. I’ve been praying and don’t see him answer. Or suffering and not help.
ANSWER: It hard to wait for God’s answer to pray, or to continue to struggle and suffer.
-But that does not mean that God is not faithful to His word or His people.
-The Bible records the faithfulness of God: here we see most clearly what He is really like.
APPLICATION: See again the trustworthy faithfulness of God!
-Spouse, friends, employers, self with may be unfaithful.
-But God is always faithful—He does what we says
2 GOD IS SOVEREIGN (19-28)
God is sovereign=God is in control.
-Lamentations 3:37-38; Prov 16:33; Gen 50:20
-God’s sovereign provision of Rebekah (19-20)
-See Genesis 24àGod orchestrates and bringing this about
-God’s sovereignty and human prayer (21)
-Rebekah was barren, but God responded to the prayer of Isaac
-God’s sovereign rule and human prayer work together, in God’s mysterious way.
-This gives us courage to pray: God is sovereign, AND He responds to the prayer of His people!
–NOTICE: Isaac and Rebekah had to wait 20 years until Rebekah got pregnant (26)
-Just as Abraham had to wait and learn to trust God (25 years), so did Isaac and Rebekah
–QUESTION: How long have you been waiting for God to answer prayer?
-God’s sovereign plan for the two children in Rebekah’s womb (22-28)
-The children struggle within Rebekah’s womb and she inquires as to what is happening (22)
-God responds (23):
“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided;
the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”
-NOTICE: God has determined the fates of these 2 boys before any of their decisions.
-Older will serve the younger.
–Romans 9:10-12
-The birth of the 2 boys (24-26)
-Esau was born first, then Jacob.
APPLICATION: God is sovereign—He is completely in control.
-Nothing happens outside of God’s perfect plans.
-From the small to the big, painful to the pleasant, perplexing to the plain.
QUESTION: Do you really believe that? Do you believe that GOD is sovereign over your hard situation?
*If we really believed that God was sovereign…
-We would be less anxious…
-We would trust Him more, even in hard situations
-We wouldn’t grumble and complain so much.
-WILLIAM COWPER: “God Moves in a Mysterious Way”:
“Blind unbelief is sure to err and scan His works in vain, God is His own interpreter and will make it plain.”
-Former Senator Ben Sasse: Dying of pancreatic cancer
-NO MAVERICK MOLECULE!
***SUMMARY: 2 Things to see about God—God is FAITHFUL and God is SOVEREIGN
- A question to consider: Will we treasure Christ or trade him in? (27-34)
-College friend who traded in Christ for a romantic relationship with a non-Christian.
-Another friend who traded in Christ for time with ease and time with family.
-A different friend faced enduring and perplexing pain, but has chosen to trust God and cling to Christ through it all.
-Will we treasure Christ or trade him in?
-All of us will either TREASURE Christ or we TRADE Him for something.
-2 Different Lifestyles/Personalities (27-8)
–Notice: Favoritism—Isaac loves Esau because he at his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob
-NOT a good thing, but God works through messed up people—like us!
-Esau Sells His Birthright (29-34)
-Setting: Jacob at home cooking stew, and Esau comes from the field exhausted (29)
-Esau is hungry and tired! (Hangry?) (30)
-Jacob demands an exceedingly unfair demand—sell me your birthright now! (31)
-Commentators: tone and situation suggest this was premediated.
-Esau’s response: ‘I am about to die; of what use is birthright to me?’ (32)
–Commentators: this likely a big exaggeration—like when our kids ‘I’m starving to death!’
-We see this in his speech: he wouldn’t have been so vocal if actually on brink of death
-We see it also in post-meal departure.
-Jacob’s insistent demand and Esau’s wiliness to sell (33)
-Conclusion: Quick meal, and on his way (34)
-Esau despises his birthright (34b)
-Esau has done what is foolish and immoral: traded in his precious birthright for a bowl of stew!!
*NEW TESTMANT INTERPRETATION OF THIS EVENT: Hebrews 12:16-17
-Context: Jewish Christians were tempted to compromise and go back to Judaism
-12:16-17—Esau is an example of one who foolishly and sinfully traded in what is precious for what is temporary
-Esau traded in his birthright (precious) for a bowl of stew!
-Don’t make the same mistake! Keep clinging to Christ, even in the face of temptation to trade him in!
**APPLICATION: Will we treasure Christ or trade him for something else?
-Treasure Christ, or trade him in for a romantic fling with someone not your spouse?
-Treasure Christ or trade him in for money or career advancement?
-Treasure Christ or trade him in for other people’s respect and family approval?
-Treasure Christ or trade him in for sports, hobbies and video games?
-Treasure Christ or trade him in for entertainment and distractions?
-Treasure Christ or trade him in for your children’s activities?
DAILY: We are daily faced with the decision: treasure Christ or trade Him.
***CHRIST: To trade in Christ for something else is foolish and immoral
–FOOLISH: There is nothing more wonderful and precious than Christ
–IMMORAL: Christ is precious, He deserved to received and treasured and loved, not traded in.
GOSPEL: SAVED TO TREASURE CHRIST àMATT 13:44
-GOSPEL: We are shown the infinite beauty of Christ.
-We are saved from the folly of sin, so that we might cling to Christ
CLOSE: Christ is better than all the treasures of this life.
May God grant us the grace to treasure Him above all.
