Ms. Debbie and Chris, awesome! Alright, everybody, Mr. Chris had some dental work done this week, so he'll show you his dental work if you ask him back there.

He's recovered great from the surgery. That's kind of gross, isn't it? I know. Why do I say some of the things I say? I don't know.

I don't give, we don't give plugs, we don't give props here normally on Sunday mornings, but I want to give a plug and a prop because you have an opportunity, and I wanted to say it when your children were out of the room so they don't bug you to death.

But hey, if you ever, ever wanted to be able to bless someone, or be able to bless a child, or maybe your wife, I took Caitlin on her 21st birthday, and I don't know the name of his business.

Mr. Phil, what's the name of your business? Coastal Biplanes? Coastal Biplane. He's got a yellow biplane on the St. Simons Island Airport, okay, the open cockpit.

And he will do like 40, 40 minute tours, is that right? 35, okay. 35 minute tours, takes you over to Cumberland Island, buzzes the beaches, all the Jekyll, it is so much fun, okay?

And he's only here for a few months, and then he goes down to Key West, travels all, and I'm not giving a plug for, it's just, he's a brother in Christ, and he's here, and anybody who's ever wanted to go up in an airplane, he'll even do a roll barrel, no, I'm kidding, he doesn't do that.

Anyway, maybe if you gave him, slipped him an extra 50 bucks, you're strapped in, aren't we? Yeah, okay, there we go.

So, if your prayer life is good, and yeah, anyway, but it is worth it, it is worth it. So go, go see Phil, he's over there on the island, I don't know the number, Phil, raise your hand so they can see your handsome face.

There you go, there you go. See him at some point. Just wanted to say, it's, the weather's great to be able to do that, and to knock that out, okay?

Amen, there we go. So much for not giving plugs for anything, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and he's only back for a few more months, and so that would be a great, hey, maybe your dad's one of those, that would be a great Father's Day gift.

Yeah, there you go. Yeah, hey, we're planting some seeds here, aren't we?

All right. For those of you who are visiting, we are knee-deep in our expository study in the book of Genesis.

And I see a really good family, good friends of mine that were here at Easter time. We're still in Genesis. Guess that? Yeah, they visited us at Easter time.

We're still in Genesis. And so, actually, he had a different message on Easter, so he only heard whispers of Genesis. So there we go.

We're at Genesis chapter 27. Genesis chapter 27. We got through a lot of it last week, but today is rightly named Jacob.

Rightly named Jacob. As we ended last time in chapter 27, where we left off, we see that Isaac is digging in his heels,

and he's not going to allow Jacob to have the blessing, okay? Jacob is already, I would say, tricked, but Esau sold his birthright to Jacob.

And we understand that there's a birthright and a blessing. Most evangelical Christians think it's the same thing.

It's not the same thing. The birthright, that gives you the property, the money, all that stuff, okay?

The blessing is the father gives that, and that's where the name, the heritage, the lineage is carried on.

And so the father would bestow that on the eldest son.

And the law of primogeniture, we talked about that several weeks ago. We'll talk about it briefly today as well.

But the law of primogeniture is that the firstborn gets the blessing.

God is going to reverse all that. He says he's going to reverse it.

So anyway, Isaac digs his heels in, and he decides, I'm going to have a conversation with Esau.

I'm not going to let Rebekah know. I'm not going to let Jacob know.

But I'm going to tell Esau that I'm going to give him the blessing.

So Isaac loves him some good meat, okay?

So he says, Esau, you go out to the field. Get me some benison.

That's what the King James describes it. Get me some deer meat, because I love me some meat.

And he says, I'm about to die. He's old, but he's not about to die.

How much longer does he live?

Somebody take any notes last week?

Say again?

Another 40 years, right?

Yeah, he lives. So he's going to die, but not for another.

He just thinks he's going to die, okay?

He got on WebMD, okay, and saw he had all the symptoms and thought, I got it all.

I'm a goner. I'm a goner, okay?

So anyway, he decides that.

So last week we saw that Rebecca's eavesdropping in on the conversation.

She wasn't invited.

So she gets two goats. You go do it. And we'll bring it to your dad. We'll say that you're Esau. And we'll give him that blessing. And so anyway, he goes through all this stuff. But Jacob says, but wait a minute. What if dad discovers me? What if dad sees I might be found out that I'm a deceiver? See, Jacob isn't worried about whether this is right or not. He's worried about the 11th commandment. Thou shalt not get caught. I just don't want to get caught. I don't want to be perceived as a deceiver. We're way down that path.

Path, Jacob, you already are perceived as a deceiver. You're eating up with it. You already are a deceiver. So he's knee deep in this whole thing. But there's a problem because Jacob is what? He's smooth skin, it says. Okay, he's smooth. He's a smooth operator. Okay. And Esau is hairy. He's hairy all over. And he has a certain odor to him because he lives out in the field. So his mom says, I got plenty of Esau's clothes. We'll throw some of his clothes on you. Okay, so you'll smell like him.

And we'll put the goat skins on your hands and on your neck. I mean, that's creepy, isn't it? Because dad's blind. He's blind as a bat, but he still can smell. I can still feel and touch. And he can also still hear. So we got this going on. So anyway, Jacob goes. He gets the goats and they prepare it.

And that's where we kind of rejoin the story. And we pick it up in verse 18.

So he, that's Jacob, went to his father and said, My father. He said, Here I am. Who are you, my son?

Jacob said to his father, I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Now sit up and eat of my game that your soul may bless me.

But Isaac said to his son, How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son? He answered, Because the Lord, your God, granted me great success.

Boy, that boy's eaten up with it, isn't he? He learned from mama how to be a good deceiver, how to be a really good deceiver.

So what we got here is, this is spiritual fraud. This is absolutely spiritual fraud.

And now he's using God to further his agenda. And you know what that's called? That's called taking the Lord's name in vain.

Now we think, well, taking the Lord's name in vain, that's cursing. That's cursing. That's the one we curse.

No, a better definition, translation of that would be like, Never take the Lord's name lightly on your lips.

That would be a better translation. And taking the Lord's name in vain is where you take the Lord's name and you empty it of its real potency.

You empty it of the content of what the Lord's means. And you use it for your own agenda.

It's called God talk. We use God talk to further our agenda. We throw in some God talk.

You know, it's like, this is happening. It's like, oh, how'd you get the game so quickly?

Well, Daddy, praise the Lord. You wouldn't realize that I was just walking down the road and there was that deer.

As soon as I'd walked out, there it was. And so he's using God's name to further his agenda.

And every once in a while today, in today's life, we find a person who wants to further his agenda.

And instead of, when they want you to buy into their thing, instead of saying, well, you know, I've been thinking about this.

I've been mulling this thing over and this is what I've been thinking about.

What they, what they'll say is that, well, the Lord has spoken to me and the Lord has said, the Lord is, here's the Lord is leading me.

Okay. They throw the God card on the table. All right.

They throw the God card. Maybe the Lord is leading you. Maybe he's not. Okay.

But using, using his name, people will say, people will say these things.

And so we, when they throw the God card on the table, it's like, well, who am I to argue with God? Right?

So if you've thrown the guard, the God card on the table, that seems to be the Trump card.

But, you know, I've watched people seemingly do some pretty stupid things in life in the name of God,

knowing that God is not leading you to do that.

So we have to be careful when we use the Lord to further our agenda.

And that's what's taking place. That's exactly what's happening.

But watch, he's a little, Isaac's a little bit suspicious.

Verse 21, then Isaac said to Jacob, please come near that I may feel you, my son,

to know whether you are really my son.

And then Isaac said to Jacob, please come near that I may feel you, my son.

So he's probably thinking, where's mama? Here comes the curse. Here it comes. She's better be, better be, uh, take it at any moment. Verse 22. So Jacob went near to Isaac, his father, who felt him and said, the voice is Jacob's voice, but his hands are the hands of Esau. And he did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like his, like his brother Esau's hands. So he blessed him.

Now, you know, listen, Isaac is old. Okay. He's, he's blind and his senses are failing him. So he reaches out to feel and what he had felt deceived him. What he felt deceived him. And, and, but there's one thing that gave it away and that it was his son Jacob that he should have trusted in.

The one thing that didn't fail him. The one thing that didn't fail him was the word that he heard. Now, I'm sure that Jacob probably tried to disguise his voice.

Oh, it's Esau, your son. You know, you know, some people would say that doesn't sound like Esau. That doesn't sound like Esau.

But when, when, when he, when he heard Jacob speak his words, he said, man, that's Jacob's voice.

That's Jacob's voice. The words I hear make me think it's, it's Jacob, but my feelings betray me.

My feelings betray me. A lot of times our feelings will betray us. There's a word in this for us today.

You know, all, you know, all of our senses fail us. Okay. But, and if we're not a hundred percent sure that, that we're using the, the revealed word of God as our guide, we can be deceived.

And I can't tell you how many times I've seen people over the years and watch them get, get misled in all sorts of tangents.

I've had them come to me. Oh, brother Curtis, you know, I just want you to know, we, I went, I went to this meeting.

It was a, it was, it was an unbelievable meeting. I know that most of what took place and most happened really wasn't in the Bible or anything like that or anything that's practiced in the Bible.

But I felt the, I felt the presence of God. You were deceived. You were deceived. Okay.

And so what you're saying is that your criteria for truth and error is all about how I feel in the moment.

And it's the word that he heard that did not deceive him. His feelings are betraying him.

And so this is important when it comes to things that we practice, we get involved with in today's time.

And when we ask, is this a biblical thing, especially as New Testament believers, we have to ask these four things, you know, did Jesus mention it in any of the four gospels?

Number one, if you're wondering, is this thing that I'm feeling, did Jesus mention it in any of the four gospels?

Was it amplified in the book of Acts and practiced by the church?

Number two, number three, was it elucidated and amplified in the epistolatory literature written by Paul, John, Peter, elucidated, explained and amplified?

Okay, that's what that means, okay? And then third, that's the third thing. Let me give you an example.

The Lord's Supper. Okay, communion. We celebrate that. Did Jesus speak about it? Yes or no? Yes, absolutely.

Jesus spoke about it. Was it practiced in the book of Acts? Yes, it was practiced in the book.

Was it amplified in the epistolatory literature? Absolutely, absolutely.

Baptism. Did Jesus speak about it? Absolutely, He spoke about it.

Was it practiced in the book of Acts? Yes.

Was it written about in the epistles? Yes. Okay?

How about being slain in the Spirit?

Being slain in the Spirit, where you're like, where you fall over?

The presence of God, oh, I fall over, and you have people who have a ministry who walk around and put blankets on you as you're out.

Did Jesus ever talk about that? Did Jesus ever teach on that? Nope.

Was it ever practiced by the church in the book of Acts? Nope.

Is it ever in the epistolatory literature that they give us? Nope. Never once.

How about Christians having demons exercised?

the Holy Ghost has come inside of you, and guess what? Satan has no place in your life. Now, you give in to his schemes, you can give in to his misleadings, but you are owned and bought and paid for with a price. You belong to Jesus. So, did Jesus teach on that? No. Is that practiced in the book of Acts? No. Is it expounded on in the literature? No. Well, but what I felt was like a demon in my life.

I was there. Well, what you felt is wrong. What you felt is wrong. And what you need to trust in is that you need to trust in the word that you have heard and not your feelings because your feelings can deceive you. That's the ultimate criteria. And this is a classic example. Isaac should have trusted what he heard. The word came across to his ears. That sounds, but oh, but it feels, it feels like.

It feels like Esau. All right. We got a lot of ground to cover. Let me. Verse 24. He said, are you really my son Esau? He answered, I am.

Man, when you lie and you make a pattern of lying, lying just comes easier and easier. And then you forget what stories you told to tell that. We'll get off track. Never mind.

And then verse 25. Then he said, bring it near to me that I may eat of my son's game and bless you. So he brought it near to him and he ate and he brought wine and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, come near and kiss me, my son. He's probably still a little bit suspicious and he kind of wants to smell him. That's the idea. That's, that's the idea. Okay. So he says, come here. And so I want to give, it's an affectionate kiss that a father would give to give to it, to his son.

And then verse 27. So he came near and kissed him. Isaac smelled and the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, see, the smell of my son is as the smell of the field that the Lord has blessed.

So he probably, he's probably thought he came close enough to smell him. Yep. You stink like Esau. Get back to the field. It's Esau. He smells. Okay.

Cause he's already put the other garments on now. So he's good. He's going to bless Jacob now. And here's the blessing. Verse 28. May God give you the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. Let people serve you and nations bow down to you.

Be Lord over your brothers and may your, your mother's sons bow down to you. Curse be everyone who curses you and bless be everyone who blesses you. Now you see the shades of the same blessing that God gave to Abraham. Wasn't it? God gives it to Abraham. Abraham gave it to Isaac. And now Isaac, Isaac's given it to his, his son, Jacob's a lot of the same elements right in there. Um, I'll, I'll bless those who bless you.

I'll curse those who curse you. I'm going to give you the land, et cetera, et cetera. Now, again, we talked about the law of promogeniture. So all of this was supposed to be for the firstborn, firstborn son to take all the inheritance and the birthright. But God is reversing all of this. He's reversing as he said he would, as he said, he was, as he said, he was going to do it. Verse 30.

As soon as Isaac finished blessing Jacob. And when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac, his father, Esau, his brother came in from hunting. So Jacob exits and his father's given him the blessing and he gives him a verbal blessing. And this day, a verbal blessing from a father was like a written contract. It was irrevocable. It wasn't something like that we do today. We just kind of throw our words on. This was irrevocable that he's giving to his son.

And so Esau comes in fresh out of the field. He's waiting for the blessing to come his way. Right. He's waiting. Verse 31.

He also prepared delicious food and brought it to his father and said to his father, let my father arise and eat of his son's game that you may bless me. And his father, Isaac, said to him, who are you? And he answered, I'm your I'm your son, your firstborn Esau.

Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me? And I ate it before you came and I have blessed him. Yes, and he shall.

You know. It dawned on him that you know what I blessed the wrong boy.

I blessed the wrong boy, but actually he did bless the right boy. He blessed it. He just didn't bless the boy he wanted to bless, but he blessed the boy that God said.

And and that's the reason he trembled. I believe that he's under conviction. I believe that Isaac is under conviction.

It was like I was trying to pull one over on God and God got God beat me at my own game.

I've been there before. I've been there before a try. We talked about it last week that the ends don't justify the means.

Just because you got to where maybe God wants you how you got there is not important important. Oh, yes, it is.

There is a way there is God's way is always better.

You will you will you will bypass years of heartache.

You will bypass years of hurt if you do it God's way doing it God's way.

So I believe he's under conviction.

And so, you know, God and so he's he's he's convicted that God is going to do his will, even though, you know, it's against my will.

And so what I want you to pick up on is it's fascinating.

And when you get to the New Testament, the New Testament treats Isaac very kindly.

It treats him very kindly.

And it when it talks about him in Hebrews 11, it has the one sentence sentence and it says, by faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau.

And I would really say by trickery or by subterfuge, he blessed his son.

OK, in that situation.

But it says by faith.

And I believe it was at this moment that faith was birthed when he found out that he had been found out.

When he had been had by God at his own game, he realized that God was going to do what he said he was going to do, even though he was digging in his heels and trying to try to interject and do and lead a different way than what God said.

I believe that's when faith came over and he knew that whatever I tried, I was not going to prevail against God.

And so he said, I bless him.

And yes, he shall be blessed.

He shall be blessed.

I believe that's the moment that faith was birthed.

Yes, he shall be blessed.

There's a great proverb that I was reading this past week in Proverbs 19, 21 that says that many are the plans in the mind of man, but the purpose of the Lord will stand.

The purpose of the Lord will stand.

That proverb, it sums up the sovereignty of God.

God is sovereign.

For his plans will prevail.

God does what he says he's going to do.

Even though you might have a dysfunctional family, we serve a functional God.

He can still be functional in the midst of your dysfunction.

You're going to be blessed.

God said it.

It's happening.

And even though I tried to prevent it.

Sorry, Esau.

Sorry.

That's the whole idea behind this.

Verse 34.

As soon as Esau heard the words of his father.

He cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, bless me, even me also, O father.

But he said, your brother came deceitfully and had taken away your blessing.

Esau said, is he not rightly named Jacob?

For he has cheated me these two times.

He took away my birthright and behold, he has now taken away my blessing.

Then he said, have you not reserved a blessing for me?

Is Esau correct?

Is he correct about Jacob?

Yes and no.

He was right that Jacob's a cheat.

He's a manipulator.

He's a deceiver.

But he didn't steal his birthright.

It was a deal made.

They made a deal.

Remember?

Esau comes in on the field.

I'm so hungry.

I'm going to die.

You're not going to die.

You're just hungry, man.

And Jacob says, I tell you what.

I'll give you some of the stew.

Give me some of that stew.

I need it.

Okay, I'll give you some of the stew.

But you have to, what, give me your birthright.

Sell me your birthright.

What good's the birthright?

I can't eat it.

And the scripture says that Esau despised his birthright.

He despised his birthright.

He wasn't, and now he's saying, you know, he's true.

but they are spiritually discerned.

And so, listen, there's nothing wrong with food.

There's nothing wrong with being hungry.

But he despised his birthright.

He despised spiritual things.

And the average worldly person today despises spiritual things.

We see that all the time in our culture.

They despise spiritual things.

Jacob appreciated spiritual things,

but he was going about getting them the wrong way.

Alright?

We would call him a carnal believer.

That's what we would call him, okay?

He's not a spiritual man.

He's not a natural man.

He's a carnal man.

He's going to use fleshly means to arrive at spiritual ends.

Therefore, that's why we have the battle.

These spiritual things are good,

and they are what God wanted for them,

but he's going to use fleshly means to do it.

Anytime you and I step out on our own,

and we decide we're going to use fleshly means

to accomplish things for God,

and we can throw the God card on the table,

and we can say this is of the Lord,

and the Lord may be leading to do this,

but we want it done in six weeks instead of six months.

Or six years.

Amen.

So therefore, we have a battle.

Verse 37.

Is that where we left off?

Isaac answered and said to Esau,

Behold, I have made him lord over you,

and all his brothers I have given to him for servants,

and with grain and wine I have sustained him.

What can I do for you, my son?

Esau said to his father,

Have you but one blessing, my father?

Bless me, even me also, O father.

And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

You know, he's crying.

This is sincere.

I believe it's a sincere whispering, weeping,

but he's still governed by the flesh.

And he might be weeping now,

but he's going to lapse right back into flesh mode pretty quick.

You know?

And so, Esau lived by the motto,

Eat, drink, for tomorrow we die.

You know?

Let's get it all now.

Let's get it all.

Let's live for today.

Let's live for now.

I want to do all this.

You know, that's his whole philosophy.

And that he was completely hedonistic in what he wanted, okay?

But what he also wanted was,

I want that double portion.

The oldest son gets the double portion.

That's what I see that I'm losing more than anything, okay?

And that comes along with that blessing.

Verse 39.

Then Isaac, his father, answered and said to him,

Behold, away from the fatness of the earth

shall your dwelling be,

away from the dew of the heaven on high,

by your sword you shall live,

and you shall serve your brother.

But when you grow restless,

you shall break his yoke from your neck.

Basically, you're going to live out in the desert.

You're going to live out in open spaces.

And you're going to live in deserted spaces.

Now, just a little bit of history.

I don't want to get too deep into this.

But the children of Israel,

which the Jews will come from, Jacob, all right?

And so from Esau will arise the descendants known as the Edomites, all right?

And the Edomites will settle east and southeast of the Dead Sea,

which is modern-day Jordan today.

And the history of the people of the Moabites is very interesting

because over time there was this consistent battle between Israel and this people.

For instance, in 1 Samuel 14, King Saul, he subjugates them.

And a few chapters later, he's going to make them a vassal state.

But they rebelled against King Solomon.

And later on, to no avail, he puts a tighter squeeze on them.

And he's going to end up exacting taxes from them.

At the same time, they successfully rebelled against King Joram.

But under King Amaziah, they were once again subjugated.

So they go back and forth under the rule of the children of Israel.

Those are the descendants of Esau.

But notice what it says in the last part of verse 40.

But when you grow restless, you shall break his bow.

So the Edomites end up settling in Judah. This is important because, once again, the Edomites are under Jewish rule. And they're forced to live under Jewish rule. And they're forced to convert to Judaism. And they're forced to keep the Jewish law until a Maccabean named John Hurricanes comes and forces them to live like Jewish people. Even though they're under the lineage of Esau. Alright? And still under the thumb of the Jewish people until one guy, Antipather, comes along.

Alright? And his full name is Herod Antipather. And he gets favor with Rome and the territory. And he ends up ruling over them. And his son, his son is called Herod the Great.

And he's the king over the Jews by the Roman government. So it was Herod the Great that kills all the babies in Bethlehem. Trying to kill the Christ. Knowing it's coming. And he's the one who's in rulership in the New Testament times.

And once they're subjugated by the Jews. Okay? Now risen to authority and rulership. And I believe, I believe that's the idea when we get to that second part of verse 40.

That when you grow restless, you shall break the yoke from his neck. So even we see, even we see, I don't, we don't have time to get into all this.

But we see how all of this transpires where the descendants of the Edomites end up being the ones who try to rise up.

And they're going to kill the Christ. All of this has been foreshadowing through the book of Genesis.

So we see how all of it knits together. You with me on that? I know it's a lot of history.

We're getting ready to go into some theology here. This is really going to make you go crazy here in a second.

But that's just part of why we study the Word the way we do.

And 41 begins, and Esau hated Jacob.

Okay? Now, you don't have to turn to it, but in Malachi 1, we know that it tells us that the Lord says that I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.

Now, God doesn't explain that. He just says, I love Jacob, but I hate Esau.

You know, he doesn't explain himself.

And, you know, that bothers a lot of people.

It bothers a lot of people that God would say that I love Jacob, but I've hated Esau.

And, you know what, it bothers me as well, too.

But it doesn't bother me that he says that he's hated Esau.

It bothers me that he says he loves Jacob.

Knowing that he was such a cheat, he's such a conniver,

and that he would make the declaration, and he did so according to Scripture, before they were ever born.

He makes that declaration before they were ever born.

And he made that declaration and preferred one over another.

That was God's sovereign choice in predestination.

We'll talk about that more as we close here.

But here it says, in verse 41,

Now, Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing which his father had blessed him with.

And Esau said to himself,

The days of the morning my father are approaching, and then I will kill my brother Jacob.

But the words of Esau, her older son, were told to Rebekah.

So she went and called Jacob, her younger son, to him and said,

Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you.

All right, so you listen, little 77-year-old boy.

Mommy's going to give you some insight, and you need to listen to your mommy still, okay?

I know you're 77, but listen.

And she says, verse 43,

Now, therefore, my son, obey my voice, arise, and flee to Laban, my brother, in Haran, and stay with him a while.

I want to get back to that in a second.

Until your brother's fury turns away.

Stay with him a while.

Now, that little phrase should remind us of something that we studied several weeks back.

And if you remember, I want you to look back, just turn a couple pages to your left.

Genesis 24.

Remember, Abraham sent his servant to go find a wife for his son Isaac.

And they found Rebekah, and all this, that, and the other.

Verse 52, let's start right there.

When Abraham's servant heard these words, he bowed himself to the earth,

Let the young woman, let the young woman remain with us a while. At least ten days. After that, she may go. And we know that she's brought forward, and Rebekah says, I'll go. I want to say to you this morning, to stay there a while is not a good thing. It's not a good thing. Because what she knew not to do, what Rebekah knew not to do,

And that's why she becomes such a model of faithfulness. We said that she was a foreshadowing of the church, who answers in obedience, I will go. I will go. We talked about all the foreshadowing that's taking place in Genesis. I will go.

She said, Rather than staying there with her brother in Laban right there, she says, No, I will go.

Now she says to her son, the trickster, Therefore, arise and go to my brother Laban in Haran. Stay with him for a while until your brother's fury turns away.

She's condemning herself with her very own words. She was once a model of faithfulness before. Now she's involved in a conspiracy. She's trying to protect Jacob from his brother. Okay?

Until your brother's anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done. Like, that's going to happen?

I forgot you stole my birthright and robbed me of my blessing. It's been a while since I've seen you, bro.

I just, I just, yeah, well, I know it was a few months ago, but I totally forgot that. Okay?

Okay? Okay.

That's verse 45.

Now there's, what does that mean? There's a little implication right there.

She believes, the implication is she believes that if, she sees that God's in control of this whole thing, and God's working all this out.

She believes that if Esau kills Jacob, then God was, then all of a sudden the promised covenant that God was going to work through Jacob in this, that God will strike Esau dead too.

That's what most theologians believe in that, in that, in that moment.

She sees this. If I allow this to happen, I'll lose them both. I'll lose them both.

But she says, go away for a few days, and then, you know what a few days turn into?

Two decades. Twenty years.

She will never see her son again.

Never see her son again.

This is called your plan backfiring.

This is called your fleshly plan backfiring.

God causing it to backfire.

And I can only imagine that the last few years of her life must have been miserable.

Knowing that she's missing her son, the son that she loves.

Knowing what she's put all of her family through.

And all the conniving and everything has led to.

And Jacob's going to come back, but when he comes back, his mom's going to be long gone.

Moms, listen.

I know you love your children.

Children, I know you love your kids, but be careful about the battles that you fight.

Be careful.

And I know you like it.

You just want to make things better.

You just want to work things out, especially when there's a problem in the family.

You want to fix it.

But listen to me.

Fight your battles on your knees and not with your hands and with your mouth.

That's where the battles are won.

Intercede for your kids.

Too many times we jump the gun and we try to fix everything and we walk and we work outside the will of the Lord.

All in the name of saving my child from trouble.

Saving my child from this situation.

But that's where the battles are won.

Verse 46.

Then Rebekah said to Isaac, I loathe my life because of the Hittite women.

That's the women that Esau married and probably just all the women that she sees around anyway.

If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be?

We knew that Esau married not one, but two.

Two of these women.

Two of the Hittite women.

Driving her crazy.

And so she's like, look, if Jacob marries one, my life is going to be over.

And she thought, you know what, these people around here, they have such poor values.

They're not honest.

They're not this.

I need to send Jacob to a place where he'd be surrounded by good, wholesome, honest people.

No.

Jacob does not know what he's in for. Laban had a PhD in deception. He had a doctorate and a PhD, and Jacob's about to go to school for 20 years.

And what happens with Jacob here, his deceit backfires. Jacob deceives his dad, right?

We just saw that. Jacob will be deceived by Laban. And he's going to have to work 14 years for the woman that he loves.

Jacob is also going to be deceived by his own sons, who are going to sell off Joseph, the one that he loved.

And they're going to be deceived by his son. Look, he was killed. He was killed. Here's the blood on the hippie coat that you made for him.

He's really dead.

You know, we've all heard the saying, like father, like son. I'm telling you, like son, like mother as well too. Like daughter, like mother.

Okay? The influence of a parent in example through a life will mark a child's destiny for years to come.

It's key.

So, what do we do? What do we do with chapter 27?

Alright, we've just gotten through chapter 27. How do we explain it?

How do we? Well, thank goodness, we don't have to explain it.

God, through the Holy Spirit, and the writing of the Apostle Paul, explains it for us.

Now listen, there is a chapter that we looked at briefly a few weeks ago that tied in with all this.

And I want to revisit it today. We're going to end on this right here.

Turn with me to Romans chapter 9.

I want you to see how Paul lays out and gives us an explanation to Genesis 27.

And what's happened and what's taken place.

And I want you to turn your theological caps on a little bit, okay?

This is your all's fault because I had to sit through all these classes years and years and years ago in Bible college.

You're going to have to sit through this this morning.

So, here we go. Let's put it all together. Let's put it all together.

Romans 9, Paul begins to write, okay?

Remember when we read this,

I am speaking the truth in Christ. I am not lying.

My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.

For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,

which are the Jewish nation, the Israelites.

My kinsmen, according to the flesh, they are Israelites.

And to them, we talked about this. Remember this?

The beautiful language.

What belongs to the Israelites? The beautiful language here.

To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises.

Wow! What else is there, right?

To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is Christ, who is God over all.

Blessed forever. Amen.

But it is not as though the word of God has failed, for not all who are descendants from Israel belong to Israel.

All right?

Now, we're told, we are told, you know, that to be born of a patriarch is not necessarily to be the son of a patriarch.

All right?

In terms of covenant.

Just because you were born of a patriarch doesn't mean you're the son of a patriarch, in terms of the covenant.

And again, we said a few weeks ago that Israel, Israel is not a biologically determined people.

Israel is a theologically determined people.

Okay?

You with me on that?

That's what Paul's getting, what he's getting into.

Let's continue down.

Now, verse 7, and not all children of Abraham, because they are his offspring, are children of Abraham, because of his offspring.

But through Isaac shall your offspring be named.

This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise, who are counted as offspring.

That's how you and I get to be grafted in.

We're children of the promise.

Right?

We believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The birth, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

That's how we're grafted in.

Okay, where was I?

Oh, the account is offering.

For this is what the promise said about this time next year.

I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.

And not only so, but when Rebekah has conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born.

So we are told, in language that is non-negotiable, that the decision that Jacob would rule over Esau was made before the boys were ever born. Right? It's very clear here. As Paul says, before they had done anything, either good or bad, okay, it says in order that Paul says that God's purpose of election might continue. Okay? Stay with me here for a minute.

A couple of things here. First of all, this isn't the beginning of God's purpose of election. Alright? Some of you are real knee-deep in this whole election and predestination. This is not the beginning of it. God's purpose of election begins in the entire story of Genesis as we follow through all the successive covenants. God's purpose of election was, first of all, in the first elect man, Adam. Okay? Obviously. Elected by virtue of the fact that he's the first created.

There you go. You have that. And in that sense, God's positive will was to bring Adam into existence. But also, God ordained the fall. Alright? You with me? God ordains the fall. So then we have Noah. And in Noah, we see the first evidence of grace. Alright? Where it says that Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. And then we see Abraham. Of course, we find Abraham. He's not a perfect man. We see all this.

But it's clear. But it's clear that he is in terms of the covenant that God will make with his people. That he is elect in terms of that. But he's also in terms of salvation history. Okay? In terms of salvation history, Abraham is elect.

And Paul makes that abundantly clear. Go back and read Romans chapter 4. He shows us in that.

But now he's telling us in this passage about Israel. And he mentions Isaac. And first of all, Isaac is the son that Sarah is to bear.

Through Isaac and Rebekah, again it says in verse 9, that this was the promise about this time next year.

So the sovereignty of God right there is made clear.

Absolutely clear. And in ways that if I said it, if I said it, you should resist it.

If this is my theory, if all this is my theory, then you need to bury it.

Because what right would I have to make a statement like this?

On what authority do I have to make?

What theological basis do I have to make a authority or have any insight to say that I know what's going to happen before these boys were ever born.

Before they were ever in the womb.

Okay?

I know what this is going to mean for Israel.

Even before the boys had an opportunity to do anything good or evil.

If I spoke that, you would and you should rightly dismiss it.

I have no authority to say such a thing.

But does the Holy Spirit have authority to say such a thing?

You better believe the Holy Spirit does.

And we absolutely know that he does.

And this is the word of God.

And it says, in order that God's purpose of election might continue.

That also tells us that, again, this isn't the start.

This is the continuation of God's election.

But it's massively important, a continuation in the history of Israel and in God's salvation history.

It tells us how we're all grafted in on this.

Not because of works, but of him who calls.

The effectual call of God.

The effectual call of God.

That Abraham answered.

The call that Isaac continues.

The call that Jacob will have such an important role to fulfill.

And it says, she was told that the older will serve the younger.

As it is written in, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.

Now, if you're a little boy who was raised by a southern mom,

you would read that and go, God ain't supposed to talk like that.

That's not nice. God ain't supposed to talk that way. But God does talk that way. And he has every right to talk that way. I don't understand why he talks that way. But I know that for me to have such a thought would be sin.

Because I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. And I have no power of election. And I have no power of omniscience. Whatsoever. But he does. He does. So then what shall we say? Is there injustice on God's part? Because he says this? By no means. By no means. For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion.

compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but God who has mercy. So, in that really quick breakdown, you guys have just probably had about a half a semester.

And you can all figure it out later. And you can all figure it out later as we move along. But we get to the end of this chapter in Genesis, chapter 27.

And there's far more that we've got to go through than the story of Jacob. But right here in 27, the story of Rebecca ends.

It ends. It ends. And the treachery of this story is set before us. And the fact that somehow, this is all part of the salvation history.

And it explains how you and I are grafted in. And Paul makes it very clear, you know.

There's a lot still to go between Jacob and Esau. And, you know, there's a great problem here.

And if I have to explain it, there's no way I can. There's no way that I can explain how a con artist becomes a hero of covenant history.

But God chooses the weaker things.

God chooses the weaker things. The lesser things.

Why? Why would He do that?

Why would He do that?

Why would God choose a person like that to be part of covenantal history?

Why would God choose me to shepherd a people?

Why would God...

If you guys know every thought that had ever gone through my head,

and the things that I've experienced and done in my life,

you would say,

I am unqualified to stand here and unfold the Word of God to you,

and you would be 100% correct.

Why would God call David Drury, Foster Lindbergh, Bobby Henderson, and Tom Riccio to be elder leadership?

Because I've heard and seen these guys do some pretty whack things.

They love Jesus.

I'll tell you that.

But I've seen and heard them do some pretty whack things.

Why does God work that way?

Why would He not call in these people from Regent University,

from the theological institutes from all over the world,

who are just these great minds...

Why aren't they here doing that in this community?

Because in choosing you,

and in choosing me,

to be a vessel for His namesake,

for His glory,

guess what?

God gets the glory.

God gets the glory.

Why else in the world would you ever make it to heaven,

and be in front of Jesus,

and you get your crown of righteousness,

and you can't get it off quick enough?

And you throw it at His feet.

Because He gets the glory.

So why is it that God chooses...

I can't explain it,

but there's a lot bigger things in Scripture

that I can't explain

that we should be spending time over

than worrying about that.

But I'm thankful we don't have to explain Genesis 27,

because Paul does it for us in Romans 9.

That's why the Old Testament

is the New Testament concealed,

and the New Testament

is the Old Testament revealed.

They're intertwined.

You don't have one without the other.

They validate each other.

Come on up,

I'm going to go into something else here.

And I've gone over on my time.

So at the end of the day,

at the end of the matter,

is it right to say that God is...

And whenever we say that God keeps you

So can I have very Barbara

is that a little bit

and if it's called

that went away después

on God who grants mercy. Let's stand to our feet. God, we thank you so very much that your mercies are new each and every day. We thank you, Father, that there is nothing that we could ever do or say to ever warrant your hand in our lives.

but we're grateful. We are grateful. We are grateful for you are a good, good Father. That's who you are. That's who you are. So we gather as one heart, one people today together and we say not to Him who is able to do far more abundantly or exceedingly than all we can ever ask or make. To Him be glory.

In the church. In the church. In the church. In the church. In the church. In the church. And throughout all generations. Forever and ever. Forever and ever. Ever and ever. Thank you, Lord, for the unfolding of your word today.

May we understand, Lord, that there is a better way, a better way, a better way, accomplishing your will.

And may we listen, Lord, for the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And not try to manipulate, not try to step in and take over and not try to finagle things to work in our favor. For you are for us and not against us, Lord.

So, God, I just pray today, I just think that there are some people here today that have battled you and have battled you and still battling you even today on some things.

I pray that today would be the day of surrender.

The day of surrender. Whatever it is that you continue, you believe that God is trying to do this in your life, show you this in your life, but you're so tired of waiting on God that you've decided you're going to take things in your own hands.

Brother, sister, I want to encourage you today, in the name of Jesus, stop.

Trust in Him who commands the wind and the waves.

Trust in Him who creates the rising and the sun and the setting of the same.

Who knew you before you were ever created in your mother's womb and knows your every day and knows your every moment

and has plans for you, plans with a hope and a future.

You are not a punitive God.

You are a holy and righteous God.

We bless your name for that.

Father, if there's someone that needs prayer today, I pray that they would take the hand of someone by them

or simply come forward today or meet us in the prayer room today

and ask for that covering.

Ask to be released.

Ask for someone to pray with them that those chains would be broken.

In the name of Jesus, we ask that today.

And all God's people say,

Hallelujah. Amen.