Good to see all of you. I also have a quick announcement on the building. You are now the lovely, proud owners of a dumpy warehouse. (Laughter) [Applause] We’ve outgrown this place, so we purchased another place a block away, and right now the plan is to open that up in the fall of 2006 and do 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 5:00, 6:00, 8:00, and me on a moped. I almost said scooter and a mosquito flea to kill me for that. It’s a moped. So that is the big plan until they get cloning figured out. So that’s what we’re working on right now, and so we have to raise $3 million for the furnishings and the build-out of this building, $4 million which is the purchase price will be financed by the bank. We have just opened up fundraising in the last couple weeks so go ahead and do what you can. We’re about almost $500,000.00 toward our $3 million goal. So here’s what we’ve got coming up is an open house, and today’s the 10th, right?

Response: Yeah.

I don’t know. Yeah, next week – next week we are going to do an open house, and so we are gonna cut our services a little bit short. It’ll be about twice as long as a normal church, and it’ll be a little shorter than you’re accustomed to here, and we’ll shorten it a little bit, and before and after every service next week, since it’s just one block north, we’re gonna leave the building open, give you a little tour, let you check it out, see what your new space looks like and get an idea of where we’re going so that you know where your money’s going. So next week come prepared to take a few minutes and just pass on through. We’d love for everyone just to check it out and see what they can do. So, that’s all I’ve got.

Nice blank slide – if you are new we are in the book of Genesis, and we have been studying this book for almost half a year. We are now coming up about the midway point of the book. We’re in chapter 27 as of tonight, and we’re gonna continue studying it through the end of the summer into the fall, and I’ll go ahead and pray, and we’ll jump right in. I hope you guys are enjoying this series. I sure am, and tonight we’ll cover some more ground so good to have you all and good to see you.

Father God, thanks for a chance to get together and study your word together here in this place as your people. As we study, Lord God, we ask that you would come and give us that which we need. You know that some of need encouragement or comfort or conviction or insight. Some of us have varying kinds of needs at this time, God, and you know our hearts. You know our minds. You know our lives. You know everything about us, and so we ask that you would come, Holy Spirit, and that you would impart to us exactly what it is that you know that we need this evening. We ask, Lord God, that this would happen as we study your word. That our ears would be attentive and our hearts would be obedient to that which you would have for us, and when all is said and done it’s our hope, and it’s our request that Jesus would get his glory and that we would get our joy, and it’s in his good name we pray. Amen.

Here’s what we’re gonna do tonight. You’re gonna take a look at a believing family. We’d call them a Christian family today, and it’s interesting ‘cause as we go through Genesis a lot of what we are learning is through the lens of snapshots of family life, and I asked some of the services earlier; how many of you like those reality TV shows, especially the ones where they go into somebody’s home and they show their family, right? Like that Nanny 911 or the Supernanny show where you say, “I don’t think I’m a good parent.” And then you watch the show, and they got, like, a three-year-old chain smoking with a handgun. (Laughter) You’re like, “Actually, I feel like we’re doing pretty good.” You know, the little demon’s got Tourette’s, and there’s just blood all over the house, and you’re going, you know, “Oh, good, I feel better.” And, see, we love to look at the worst part of other people’s lives. Part of it is there’s just something sick and wrong with us, but sometimes too we can learn things from their life.

Well, 4,000 years ago there wasn’t reality television, but what there was was there was Scripture being written about these families. So what we’re gonna look at today, we’re gonna look at a 4,000-year-old family at some of their lowest points and some of their most grievous sins, and we’re gonna go right into their home and right into their head, and we’re gonna learn vicariously through them. So we’ve already dealt with Abraham and Sarah. Then they had a couple of boys. Well, Abraham and Sarah had one boy. Abraham and his girlfriend had another boy. That was a lot of drama and trauma. We dealt with that. So when Abraham, Isaac and Esau, and we’ve now looked at Isaac and his family. He now has twin boys, Jacob and Esau, and we’re gonna deal with them today.

Jacob is a believer, but he’s a momma’s boy. He wears pastels. He drives a Cabriolet. He’s that guy, you know? (Laughter) He loves boy bands, and he’s just – he’s that guy, you know? And then Esau is the unbeliever, but he’s the man’s man. He drives an F-150. He loves heavy metal. He wears boots. He watches ultimate fighting. Did you guys catch that on Spike last night? How many of you caught that? Boy, that was good, that second fight.

Response: The second fight.

That second fight was money. (Laughter) If you don’t know what it is, you should. At Mars Hill we kind of put Esau and Jacob together, and that’s a Mars Hill man. We love Jesus like Jacob, and we drive trucks and fight like Esau, so that’s kinda our view of a Godly man here. And so what we’re gonna look at here is we’re gonna look at these two brothers and their life together with their parents, some of the low points of their existence, and it starts in Genesis 27. I’ll just read the first four verses to set it up, and we’ll look at the rest on the overhead.

It says, “When Isaac” – that’s their daddy – “When Isaac was old” – he is at least 100 years old at this point – “his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, ‘My son.’” Now here’s the deal. Daddy loves Esau ‘cause he’s the man’s man. Momma loves Jacob ‘cause he’s the momma’s boy, and so daddy is gonna get his unbelieving, Godless son, and here’s what they’re gonna set up – “‘Here I am,’ Esau said. Isaac said, ‘I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death.’” Now the truth is he’s not near death, but he thinks he is. Some of you are old, and you feel this. You’re like, “Man, my knee, my hip, things are flying out of me. My parts are breaking.” You know, he’s at that point in his life where he’s leaking a lot of oil, but he’s still got a lot of miles left, and so it’s kinda hard to know, you know? “Am I out?” No, no, no, you just keep putting oil in her; she’ll keep going down the road. That’s where he’s at. He’s about 100 or more years of age. He’s gonna live to 180, but he thinks he’s dying ‘cause he’s gone, essentially, blind, and he’s having some health complications.

“‘Now then, get your weapons – your quiver and bow – and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me.’” They love venison. They love wild game. These are men’s men. They like wild game. “‘Prepare me the kind of tasty food that I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.’” What this is, this is the deathbed blessing which is reserved for the firstborn son, and it is a prophetic promise that essentially comes from the father and is honored by God. It’s much more than just wishful thinking; it’s a promise given prophetically. Now here’s the problem. First problem, they’re doing this in secret. It’s supposed to be an open, public matter with the family. The reason they’re doing it in secret is because they’re sinning. Dad has his favorite; mom has her favorite. In Genesis 25:23 God already said that though the twin boys were born at the same time it was Esau who came out first, so he was the firstborn. Jacob was born second, but God elected Jacob to be the son of the promise, so he was to get the family blessing, and he was to carry on the family legacy that ultimately led, many years later, to Jesus.

So here’s what Daddy’s doing. Daddy’s sinning. Daddy’s sinning. He’s choosing the boy that God didn’t choose to bless him in secret because he knows if mom and the rest of the family finds out there will be chaos. So Dad is sinning with his favored son who’s a Godless man, and he is concealing it. So he has set up this chaotic situation in his household. He’s not being a very Godly man. He’s not being a very good father. So that sets up the drama. The blessing is supposed to go to Jacob. No, it’s going to Esau in secret. It sets up the tension, and here’s how the story goes.

“Now Rebekah” – that is Isaac’s wife, the boy’s momma – “was listening,” – oh, look at that. (Laughter) Look at that, ladies. What is she doing? (Laughter) “I was just checking in.” No, Paul calls it busy-bodying. You’re like – (Laughter). Some ladies gotta know everything. They gotta butt into everything. They gotta check out everything. Sometimes in the church it’s always in the name of a prayer request. “Anything I can pray for?” (Laughter) “Anything? Oh, I won’t tell.” Yeah. (Laughter) Rebekah was listening. She’s a busybody. She’s butting in, right? – “as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, Rebekah said to her son Jacob,” – now this is her boy. “Oh, I love him. He’s such a good boy, nice boy. Now, he’s not a boy. He’s a man, right? These guys didn’t get married till they were 40. Now they’re older than that. They’re maybe in their 50s, as old as my dad, and you’re gonna see that this woman still treats this man like a little, itty-bitty boy, and he goes for it. This is a problem, right?
Genesis says, “A man’s supposed to leave his mother and father, become his own man.” That’s the way it’s to be. Paul says in Corinthians, “When I became a man I put childish ways behind me.” He’s still very boyish. Some of you ladies married this guy. This’ll help. (Laughter) This’ll help, right here. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, Rebekah said to her itty, bitty boy, Jacob, “‘Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, ‘Bring me some game, prepare me some tasty food to eat, that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’” “Uh-oh, son, dad’s sinning. What should we do? What should we do? What should we do? Should we pray? No. Should we talk to him? No. I have another idea.” “‘Now, listen my son, carefully, to what I tell you’” – she says this a couple times, and I don’t like it because if you’re in your 50s, and your mom pulls out the wooden spoon and says, “Now, you do what I say,” it should not have the same force as when you were four, right? It just shouldn’t. You should go, “I love you, have at it. I’m doing what I want to do, all right?” (Laughter)
“‘Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats so I can prepare some tasty food for your dad, just the way he likes it.’” She’s a good cook. She can make goat taste like venison, nice lady. That’s one of her good qualities. “‘Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.’” “Here’s what we’ll do. We’ll trick the blind, old fool in Jesus’ name, and we’ll get you the holy blessing from the Good Lord.” (Laughter) She’s just like Eve taking matters into her own hands. She’s just like Sarah with Hagar taking matters into her own hands. She doesn’t pray, talk to her husband, nothing. “Hey, they’re sinning. Let’s sin. That’ll fix it. It always does. All right, good.” “Jacob said to Rebekah his mother,” – ah, this guy, I just tell you, this guy – ‘But my brother Esau is a hairy man.’” Code word for, “he’ll kill me. I’m a wuss. I couldn’t beat my way out of a wet paper bag.”
He’s just that guy. (Laughter) Just, you know, glass jaw, cardigan sweater, hm, you know, he’s really – oh, gosh, you know, this guy. “My brother Esau is a hairy man.” Illustration, he’s the fuzzy buddy. He’s a Wookiee. He’s a dude of dudes, right? (Laughter) And I know you’re supposed to be clean shaven like the metro sexual guy on the Calvin Klein ad on the side of the bus. He looks, like, 13 until he’s 90. He’s clean shaven. No, no. (Laughter) – “‘and I’m a man with smooth skin.’” I am Abercrombie and Fitch guy, you know, and – “‘What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him’ – appear? No, you would be tricking him. (Laughter) “Now I know it looks like I’m ripping you off.” Well, there’s a reason for that. “You’re ripping me off,” yeah – “‘and I’ll bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.’” Now, question wise, is he repentant?
Response: No.
He’s confessing. Ha, let me explain this. Some of you go, “This looks like it might be convicting.” It will, just hang in there. (Laughter) Here’s what happens. We sin, and we get convicted from the Holy Spirit, and then we confess. That’s evil. Are you gonna do it? Totally. (Laughter) Just checking, that’s confession. Confession is, “That’s wrong.” Repentance is, “I’m not gonna do it.” This is where some Christians, like this guy, they’re very confusing because you go up to them, and you say, “That’s a sin. That’s wicked. That’s evil. That’s wrong.” And they go, “Yeah.” “You’re still gonna do it, huh?” “Oh, yeah, probably twice.” (Laughter)
And see this is the process. The Spirit of God convicts of us sin like Jesus promised to God’s gospel. We get convicted of sin. Then we confess, “That’s wrong.” The repentance is, “I’m not gonna do it.” How many of you have friends like this? They’re very confusing ‘cause they keep confessing their sin and doing it. How many of you, you go, “Oh, that’s wrong.” Yeah, this is wrong. You don’t do that. When you’re convicted, you repent. You don’t just confess. Here he confesses, but he never repents. He’s gonna do it, and here’s what he’s worried about. Not sinning, he’s worried about consequences. This is a wicked person. A wicked person says, “I want to sin. I would just like to not have any consequences.” Well, if you don’t sin, you won’t have consequences. “No, no, no, no, I’m gonna sin. I just don’t want consequences.”
That’s what he’s trying to set up. So he tells his mom, “Okay, good plan, let’s rip off my brother, but what if they find me out? Well, okay, let’s make some more plans as opposed to repenting of the plan we already have.” “His mother said to him, ‘My son, let the curse fall on me.’ – wow – ‘just do what I say.’” Now, you mothers – okay, listen mom, listen, don’t just tell your kids, “Do what I say.” Because you might be evil. (Laughter) You go, “Oh, yeah, in fact, I am evil,” you know? (Laughter) “If they do what I say they’ll go to hell. Yeah, I should tell them something else.” Okay. Now here’s what you tell them, “Obey God.” That’s what you teach children to do. You teach children , you say, “Okay, now the Bible does say ‘honor your mother and father, obey your mother and father,’” but ultimately your mother and father are supposed to obey and honor the Lord.
So the way it’s supposed to work is the Lord leads the parents who lead the child, but the parent can’t just say, “I’m the parent; do what I say.” They have to say, “I’m the parent; do what the Lord says.” It seems subtle, but it’s very big. She’s telling her son, “Obey me and disobey God. Dishonor your father, lie, scheme, deceit, steal. Do that. Obey me. I’m your mother.” Again, this guy’s in his 50s or so, but how many of you, you’re still getting pushed around by your mother. How many of you mothers are still pushing? How many of you ladies married this guy? “I was talking to my mom today.” “No, no, no, no. She rides a broom to our house for the visit. No, do not listen to her.” (Laughter)
So he went. He does what his mother says, not what God says, all right? He’s the believer, but he’s got some flaws. “Got them, brought them to his mother. She prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son,” – now it’s getting really ugly – “which she had in the house, and put them on her son.” She dressed him. (Laughter) This is a jacked up family. Okay, I love my mother, but if in 20 years she’s dressing me, something profoundly wrong has happened. (Laughter) Right? Like, if you don’t have jurisdiction over your wardrobe, you have really not entered into full manhood just yet. (Laughter) She dresses him.
“She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskin.” I love that. He just can’t grow a beard. He doesn’t have a lot of testosterone, so we’ll just fur him up; that’s what we’ll do. (Laughter) Golly, isn’t that funny, right? So they fur him up so he feels like me, right? That’s the way it goes. I’m like a Wookiee. Yeah, he’s trying to fake it. There’s always the pretenders trying to come off masculine. That’s the point of the text right there. (Laughter) “Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.” She’s doing all the work. He’s obeying his mom, gonna go sit – and, you know, too, his dad’s a blind, old man. Even if you’re a total atheist, you go, “That just seems wrong, tricking the blind guy.” (Laughter) “I think they have a special place in hell for those people. That’s just not nice. Tricking blind guys, that’s not good. I don’t even know verses, but I know that’s wrong.”
“He went to his father and said, ‘My father.’ ‘Yes, my son,’ he answered. ‘Who is it?’ Jacob said to his father, ‘I am Esau your firstborn.’” He’s a liar. He comes in with the intent to deceive, sets up his blind dad, and now he’s gonna lie. “‘I have done as you told me.’ – another lie – ‘Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing.’” Another lie, it’s not even game. “Isaac asked his son, ‘How did you find it so quickly, my son?’” Usually you gotta go hunt, grill it, kill it. You know, there’s a lot of steps here. It’s work. How’d you get the food so fast? Here’s what he says, “‘The Lord your God gave it to me,’ he replied.” “Oh, praise Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. I opened the door and there was just – there was wild animals, and I pulled the bow and killed the big one, and its skin fell off, and it dropped right into the pot, and Holy Spirit – whoo, I’m shaking. I feel it. Thank you, Lord. Somebody give me a hanky. I’m feeling the Ghost showed up, daddy.” (Laughter)
How many of you when you sin you lie? When it seems like you’re getting caught you start pulling out Christian words, right? That’s what Christians do. What happened? “Oh, shekinah, glory, Lord, temple,” whatever comes to mind, doesn’t have to make any sense. Just anything that sounds King James – well, I was beseeching me for art thou and – (Laughter) just start pulling out words. You’re like, “Man, I gotta sound Spirit filled now. I gotta make something up ‘cause I’m in trouble.” That’s like the terror alert. “We’re up to orange. I’m in deep trouble here.” This is what he does, “Oh, the Lord,” – now how many Christians, this is what we do. We’re sinning like nuts. We’re about to get caught, and we start getting real spiritual with our talk, real Christian jargon – whoo, and what we do is we say, “Well, the Lord, brother, the Lord provided.” No, he didn’t. Just ‘cause your life is going the way your depraved heart wants it to go doesn’t mean that the Lord provided. “Oh, you know, I didn’t think the Lord wanted me with a stripper, and hey, the Lord provided a stripper. You know, hey, praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus.” No, that was Satan. You’re evil. You’re wicked. That was the wrong guy. You’re on the wrong team. Just ‘cause it happened doesn’t mean it was the Lord.
He’s sinning and blaming it on the Lord. This is blasphemy, right? This is terrible. He’s committing blasphemy in the midst of deception to his blind, old father. This is the believer. The story goes on, “Then Isaac said to Jacob, ‘Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.’” Let me touch you. See, and it’s interesting – it’s interesting how when we sin we’re premeditated. We decide to sin, and we think through all the ways we could get caught, and we try to cover our tracks before we even sin. That’s what he does. He thinks through how to sin most effectively. “Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, ‘The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.’ He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. ‘Are you really my son Esau?’ he asked. ‘I am,’ he replied.”
Lying to his dad, this is a very troubled family. Are you getting that picture? Very troubled family – “Then he said, ‘My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.’ Jacob brought it to him and he ate. He brought some wine and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, ‘Come here, my son, and kiss me.’ So he went to him and kissed him.” Just like Judas, this is the kiss of betrayal from the one who is supposed to be trustworthy because they are so close, and he goes and he kisses his dad with a kiss of betrayal just like Judas Iscariot who betrayed the Lord Jesus some years later. In their mind they’re justifying all of this. “Our dad was gonna do the wrong thing. We will take matters into our own hands, and we will get the right results.”
Here’s what matters, the ends and the means. The ends and the means, they both matter. Dad’s problem, he has the wrong ends. Mom’s problem, she has the wrong means. They’re both wrong. “When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, ‘Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.’” He apparently smells like a dude, right? Aw, he smells like a hunting, fishing, outdoor, free range, dude of dudes, love that, not like Jacob. Jacob smells like potpourri. (Laughter) This boy smells like boy. How many of you, you’re married to that guy. You go, “Oh, I know that smell. That’s not so good.” (Laughter) You notice the woman never says that. It’s only the dude who thinks that’s a good smell.
“‘May God give you of heaven’s dew and of earth’s richness – an abundance of grain and new wine. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and may those who bless you be blessed.’” That is a prophetic series of promises that will be enforced by God, and they are uttered from the father to the son. He thinks he’s giving them to Esau which would’ve been wrong. He’s giving them to Jacob, but it’s through deception so that’s wrong too. “After Isaac finished blessing him and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting.” Ha-ha, with a bow in his hand and a dead animal. This like the opening of every episode of Cops, right? (Laughter) Somebody did something bad. Somebody else walks into a weapon and looks surprised, and then it’s a big mess from there.
“He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his dad. Then he said to him, ‘Father, sit up, eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.’ His father Isaac asked him, ‘Who are you?’” – okay, now the plot thickens. This is where the camera pans in and the real serious music kicks in. Uh-oh, the tension mounts. “‘I am your son,’ he answered, ‘your firstborn, Esau.’” What now? “Isaac trembled violently.” Let me drill down on this. We would call this a panic attack. We would call this anxiety, okay? Some of you in this room struggle with anxiety and panic attacks. For some of you, it is legitimate medical condition. I am not disagreeing with that, and I am not trying to dismiss that. Some of you, however, you have panic attacks and anxiety for the same reason Isaac does. Isaac is wicked. Isaac is sinning. Isaac is trying to bless the wrong son that God told him not to bless. He’s hiding it from his wife and his other son. He’s doing so deceitfully. He has woven together this whole web of deception and trickery, and now he’s getting exposed, and his anxiety is over him being found out.
For some of you, you don’t need medication, you need repentance. Your anxiety comes from the fact that your whole life is a joke, and it’s a lie, and it’s hypocrisy, and it’s a tangled web of deceit, and your anxiety is over it being made known, you being found out, you getting caught doing whatever it is you’re doing or being whomever you’re being, and there’s that anxiety of, “How do I cover my tracks? How do I keep this from being exposed? How do I keep this part of my character from being manifest and made known?” And there’s this anxiety as soon as it starts to come unraveled. That is the trembling of Isaac. That is the anxiety and panic of Isaac. And for some people who have panic and anxiety, it is not medication that will help. It is only repentance.
He feels overwhelmed because sin is making itself manifest in his life. He is now in the process of reaping what he has indeed sewn, and he should be panicked. He should be anxious. He should be shaking. He is in the process of dishonoring God and destroying his family. He is in the process of dishonoring God and destroying his family. Anxiety is the natural bodily response to that kind of open rebellion and evil. It’s the people who don’t have anxiety and don’t panic when they live this way that are the most unhealthy. Their conscience has been obliterated. Their heart has been hardened. Their eyes have been blinded. Their ears have been deafened. They are unaware of what kind of true offense they are committing to God. It doesn’t bother them in the least, and they sleep well. Those are people that are in the most trouble.
This is a believer whose web of lies and deceit is being made known, and he’s panicked, and he trembles violently, which is the bodily response to the exposed sinner. It’s the way the body manifests what the spirit has been aching under. “Isaac trembled violently and said, ‘Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him – and indeed he will be blessed!’” Because once this prophetic blessing is given for the father it is irrevocable much like a contract upon its signing. “When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, ‘Bless me – bless me too, my father!’” Hebrews talks about this as well, that he just wept bitterly, and he wanted so much to receive his blessing, but it was irrevocable, and he couldn’t exchange the condition he was in for the one he aspired to.
“‘But he said, ‘Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.’ Esau said, “‘Isn’t he rightly named Jacob?’” Jacob means deceiver. Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? Jacob means deceiver and supplanter. He’s a trickster who overtakes his brother’s position of preeminence in this family. “‘He has deceived me these two times.’” Let me ask you this; is that totally accurate? You gotta be careful. A lot of people say, “We gotta take Esau at his word.” Well, Hebrews 12 says he’s a Godless man, and so I don’t always assume that the Godless man has the facts straight pertaining to his own sin. Where does he believe he was deceived the first time? It was with his birthright; you guys remember that? The birthright is upon the death of your father you become the head of the family. You get honor and prestige, double portion of the inheritance. It’s a very prominent thing. Tied to the birthright is the blessing. They go together. So whoever gets the birthright is also supposed to get the blessing. What he says is, “When my brother stole my birthright he deceived me.” No, he didn’t. Remember the story?
Esau comes home. Jacob’s home. Esau says, “I want some soup.” Jacob says, “I’ll trade you for your birthright,” which is evil, but Esau said, “I don’t care. Fine, I’ll take the deal.” Hebrews says he despised his birthright. This would be – I gave this example earlier – this would be like you put your house on the market, and you get a fair assessment. It’s valued at $425,000.00. You have an open house. Somebody walks in and says, “I’ll give you 27 bucks.” And you say, “Deal, let me sign the contract, 27 bucks. That sounds good. I can go get some hamburgers with that. Thank you, Jesus.” And then five years later you go, “I was deceived.” No, you were stupid (Laughter), but you weren’t deceived. They told you $27.00, and you said, “Yeah, I’ll go have it my way right away. That’s a deal for me. Go get myself a bag of Whoppers and call it even.”
That doesn’t make you a person who was deceived. It makes you a person who was foolish, and this is what happens, right? We get sinned against, and what do we say, “You did evil.” Not really – not really, because if you went along with it you’re morally culpable as well. This is the gal who says, “He took my virginity.” Uh, not really, you kind of got drunk and jumped him, and that’s not a total victim, right, you know? Not really – not really. You’re morally culpable. You saw it coming. You knew exactly what you were doing. You can’t cry victim, but here’s what happens. When we feel like we’ve been hurt we like to reinterpret the facts around those painful events and memories so that they’re most conducive to us being a victim, and this is the American dream. Grow up and be a victim and sue somebody and live happily every after in group therapy. That’s the American dream. ‘Cause we’re all victims. None of us have ever sinned. We’ve all been sinned against which is curious ‘cause I’m not sure who’s done all this evil in the world. Apparently there’s one person out there who’s really busy ruining the rest of our lives, ‘cause we don’t do anything bad, but boy, we sure get a lot of evil toward us. It’s a very curious equation. I’m still working on it.
“‘Isn’t he named Jacob? He deceived me these two times.’” He did deceive him the second time, but the first time, nah, I don’t buy that. “‘He took my birthright.’” Not really, you gave it to him for lunch. (Laughter) This is revisionist history here – “‘and now he’s taken my blessing!’” Well, the birthright and the blessing go together. When you give away your birthright, you give away your blessing. You didn’t have a right to it anyways. “Then he asked his daddy, ‘Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?’ Isaac answered Esau, ‘I have made him lord over you,’ – boy, isn’t that what every brother wants to hear. He’s your lord now. He’s in charge – “‘and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you?’” “I gave him everything. I thought it was you. You’re on your own, kid. I got nothing for you.” “Esau said to his father, ‘Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!’ And then Esau wept aloud.”
Let me go right at you on this. Here’s what you want to do. Here’s what you want to do. You want to feel bad for Esau, right? He got ripped off, and now he’s crying. You go, “Well, if he’s crying – there, there, buddy. I’m sorry. He’s a jerk. I know. I know. I know. He’s a bad brother. He’s evil. You’re a great guy. Yeah, there’s nothing wrong with you. Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Don’t do that. Esau is evil, and so is Jacob. Now we grew up watching westerns, so what we want to do is say, “Black hat, white hat – who gets the white hat?” Nobody – nobody get the white hat, but here’s why you want to side with Esau. Esau is dumb and evil, and you relate to him. (Laughter) Right? And because you relate to him you go, “I’m dumb and evil, and I cry. He’s a good guy. He’s a good guy. Give him a white hat.” No, don’t do that. Don’t do that.
Here’s what he’s done so far. He’s Godless, hates God. He’s got two unbelieving wives. He’s trying to cut a deal with his dad who he sucks up to to take the birthright and blessing back from his brother. He’s lying, and he’s manipulating, and here’s why he’s crying. He was sinning, and his brother was better at it, like, “I’m only junior varsity evildoer. He’s varsity. Oh, trumped again.” Right? That’s what’s going on. (Laughter) Do you see repenting here, “Oh, God, forgive me for what I’ve done”? No, here’s what he’s doing. “Doh, I lost.” Just because someone’s crying doesn’t mean they’re the victim.
Just ‘cause somebody cries doesn’t mean they’re the victim, but what victims – here’s what happens. When we sin we have a propensity to reinterpret the facts so that we were sinned against, not that we participated in any way. We’re total victims. We cry, cry, cry, everybody comes around. They identify with us. They say we’re great, wonderful. “Oh, we totally understand.” And then we get all this love and attention and accolades and support when we’re evil, and it’s a trick, right? Not everybody who cries is a victim. He’s crying over the consequences, not over his sin. He’s not crying that he offended God. He’s crying that he doesn’t get a lot of money. That’s what he’s crying about.
I’ll give you an example. I got two sons, love them both, but the other day the five-year-old comes down – oh, wait, first the three-year-old comes down the stairs crying, weeping like someone had assaulted him repeatedly. [Crying] You know, they’re just to that point where they got no joints. They’re just like gummy, just flopping around like a perch on a dock, just [Crying]. I’m thinking, “Oh, my gosh, what did the five-year-old do to him?” I look at him, “What happened, buddy. What happened, man? What happened?” [Crying] I’m thinking, “Oh, my gosh, it must be terrible. He can’t even talk.” Down comes the five-year-old, and I said, “What happened.” He said, “He whacked me with a sword.” I said, “So why is he crying? He whacked you. Did you hit him?” “I didn’t hit him.” “Did you beat him up, retaliate?” “No.” “What did you do?” “Nothing, he hit me with a sword, and then he started crying and ran downstairs.” (Laughter) I said, “Well, what is he crying for?” He said, “I don’t think he wants to get a spanking.” (Laughter) [Applause] Three, man, he inherited this sin nature that just – it can manipulate and change the topic just like that. Like, “I’m gonna get in trouble. It’s time to create a diversion.” (Laughter)
That’s Esau. Some of you are like that. You’re like, “Okay, okay. I’ve done lots of wicked things, evil things. I’ve reaped what I’ve sewn. I’ve ruined my life. I’ll cry. Then nobody will come up and say, ‘Well, you’re just an evil sinner, and you’ve ruined your whole life. What are you doing?’ ‘Cause when I’m crying then they’ll feel sorry for me.” That’s the whole culture of therapy. That’s the whole deal. Somebody gets on TV and cries. They’re like, “You made them cry. What were you thinking? They’re crying.” (Laughter) God forbid I get a TV show. I’m telling you; I’m gonna assault that guy. “Oh, you think you’re crying. Here, show me the glass jaw. We’ll give you something to cry about.” Not everyone who cries should be crying, and not everyone who cries should get the kind of support and love and empathy that crying people get. Now if you’re legitimately hurt, if you’ve been legitimately wounded, we’ll talk about that.
This guy, no. No, no, no. He’s a Godless man. He’s not repentant. He doesn’t want to walk with God. He has given away his birthright and his blessing. He has no right to it. He’s tried to get it back through scheming against his scheming brother. Both of these boys are bad. I’ll read the rest. There’s a lot, and I’ll just read the rest and try and summarize it for you in the time I’ve got. Verse 39, “His father Isaac answered him, ‘Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness, away from the dew of heaven above. You will live by the sword, and you will serve your brother, but when you grow restless you will throw his yoke from off your neck.’” “Son, it’s gonna be hard. You’re a Godless boy. You’ve committed some grievous sins. I tried to trick your brother and mother and make it all good, but I can’t. So this is how it’s gonna go.”
So how does Esau respond? “Esau held a grudge against Jacob” – he gets bitter, hates his brother – “because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, ‘The days of mourning for my father are near, and then I will kill my brother Jacob.’” “I hate him. I will wait for an opportunity, and I will slay him like Cain killed Abel.” “When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said,” – she is into everybody’s business, isn’t she? – “she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, ‘Your brother Esau is consoling himself with the thought of killing you.’” Now, let me point this out. This is where we cannot base all of our decision making on our emotional happiness. Okay, I’m not against emotion or happiness. He was just crying. What has cheered him up? A murder plot. (Laughter) If your goal is to be happy, it could lead you to a really dark place.

Like, “I feel bad. I feel bad. I’m crying. I could use a gun, and I could use a bow. I could whack them. I could use jujitsu. I could just grind them and pound them. Oh, I feel so much better, all these options. Lord Jesus, how should I murder them? Please – oh, and then I felt like the clouds lifted, and the sun came down, and the angels sang, and emotionally I just felt better – about murder.” (Laughter) Okay? If you don’t repent and you want to feel better about your feelings, what you will do is you will just dream of new ways of committing more egregious sins to cover your other sins, and that will give you emotional consolation. How many of you have done this? I mean, don’t raise your hand, but how many of you have done this, right? (Laughter) “Well, I feel bad so I will plot some wicked thing, and that will make me happy ‘cause I’ll get my vengeance. ‘Cause I’m bitter. ‘Cause I hold a grudge.”

The story goes on, “‘Now then, my son,’ – I love this gal. What does she say, Mars Hill? – ‘do what I say.’” Isn’t this how we got into the mess? “Now son, you’re in trouble. Just do what I tell you.” “Well, mom, that’s how I got into trouble was doing what you said.” Right? “Oh, there’s a fire, son. Grab that gas. Chuck it on that fire. Okay. Now we got a big fire. Son, just listen to me.” You’re like, “No. No, no, no. We’re done.” Isn’t it amazing though? Control freaks, manipulators, bossy people, they just keep going, right? They just don’t give up. They just keep pushing. Even though they sin, cause devastation, destroy the family, ruin everything. It doesn’t matter; they just keep going. That is this woman. She’s destroyed the whole family, and she’s gonna stay at it. She’s just gonna hold the reins right through the end. “I’m in charge. I’ll keep things under control. Everyone should obey me. I’m not talking to my husband. I’m not praying to the Lord. Everybody do what I say. I’m the mother.” Yeah, you are.

Verse 44, “‘Stay with him for’” – oh, here’s what she says. Verse 43, “‘Then my son, do what I say. Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran.’” “Go see my brother. Get in your Cabriolet and run for your life.” (Laughter) “Go, boy, go. He’s gonna kill you. Run.” “Okay, mom.” Off he goes to Laban. (Laughter) Laban, oh, do you know anything about Laban? If Esau is junior varsity wicked evildoer, and Jacob is varsity, Laban is pro. He is gold winning evildoer. The answer for her is, “Do what I say. Go to my brother Laban.” He gets to Laban. Laban’s got two daughters, one hot one and one with a lazy eye. (Laughter) I’m not even kidding. It’s in the book. We’re gonna get there in a few weeks. (Laughter) You’re going, “I don’t like this.” It’s in there. It’s a crazy story. I mean, I’m serious. It’s a crazy story, man.

So who does he want, the lazy eyed one or the hot one? Duh, he picks the hot one, and he works for years to get the hot one. “Finally, I get the hot one.” Goes into the dark tent, consummates the marriage, wakes up, “Ah, it’s the lazy eyed one. I didn’t get the hot one!” (Laughter) Comes out, “Laban, what did you do? You tricked me.” “Ha-ha, yes, I did, junior varsity; I sure did.” (Laughter) [Applause] He doesn’t have a lot of moral high ground. “You’re a liar and a deceiver and” – Laban’s like, “And that’s how you got here. Ha, I win.” (Laughter) “You want to work some more years to get the hot one?” And he does, 20 years – 20 years. You reap what you sew, right? You’re a deceiver, an evildoer, a liar. You can’t really come back and say, “Hey, I stole that car. You stole it from me. That’s wrong.” It just doesn’t sound right, right? When they do to you what you did to someone else you’ve just lost the moral high ground.

He goes to Laban – this’ll be great in the rest of the book. “‘Stay with him,’ she says, ‘for a while until your brother’s fury subsides.’” She’s so cute. You ever seen a brother’s fury subside? You ever seen a guy like, “I am gonna murder him,” and then two days later like, “I’m fine.” (Laughter) “I had a chili dog, and I’m fine.” It doesn’t go away. She’s so cute, and she’s this naïve woman who thinks, “Oh, it’ll just blow over. My family will come back together. It’ll all be good. It’ll just fix itself. Time heals all wounds.” (Laughter) It doesn’t. I don’t know. “Just go away for a few days till he calms down. How long is her boy gone? Twenty years, does she ever see him again? Never, she dies without ever seeing her son again. She’s no prophet; that’s for sure. What she wants is control, to have her son at her hip under her control. What she gets is a life that ends without seeing her son for 20 years.

See, sin has consequences, and they linger, often times, for years. “‘When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?’” “You’re gonna kill each other. Just go away son. You’ll be back in a couple days.” No, 20 years, and she dies, and it’s all over. “Then Rebekah said to Isaac,” – and I think this is so clever. Ladies, read this with me. “Then Rebekah said to Isaac, ‘I am disgusted with living because of these Hittite women.’” (Laughter) How many Christian ladies are like that? Just evil, they’re like, “Oh, those ladies just drive me crazy. I could hardly live with those wicked women. They’re gossips and busybodies and control freaks, and they disrespect their husband, and they boss their kids around, and they create mayhem. I can barely tolerate them.” (Laughter)

This woman has no self-awareness whatsoever. Oh, she’s very mouthy. Yeah, (Laughter) yeah, we know she’s like you. Yeah, we know. This is the kind of person – men and women are like this – will see things in people, particularly unbelievers that just drive us crazy not realizing that we possess those same sinful tendencies. Here’s what she says, “Here’s what’s ruining my life, all those non-Christian women.” It looks like the biggest problem regarding women in Rebekah’s life is obviously Rebekah, right? Rebekah is the biggest problematic woman in the life of Rebekah, but she just doesn’t see it. She doesn’t see it. “If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.” He needs a good, Godly woman like his mother. Who’s gonna boss him around? Who’s gonna tell him what to do? Who’s gonna meddle in his affairs? Who’s gonna ruin his life? We need to go find a good, Christian girl for him. This woman is amazing.

So she sends him back to her home country to find a woman just like her. How many women want their sons to marry a woman just like them? And the guy’s thinking, “Lord Jesus, deliver us from evil. Amen.” (Laughter) “I love my mom, but no, please.” Hey, this is what happens. Women who don’t deal with their own sin, they see themselves as virtuous. They see other women as evil, and then they push their family to the brink of disaster and destruction, and then they continue to maintain control and boss everybody around, and then they want their sons to marry someone just like them, and they want their daughters to be just like them, and the folly and the devastation continues for multiple generations into the future, and it just keeps going. It’s gone from Sarah to Rebekah, and Rebekah’s working real hard to make sure that when she’s dead and gone these same kind of women commit these same kinds of sins.

So Isaac does just what she says. “Isaac called for Jacob, blessed him and commanded him. “‘Do not marry a Canaanite woman.’” Why? They’re not believers. They don’t love God. This is a believing family. They do have some moral defects. “Whatever you do – we already got enough trouble – find a nice girl. Go to Mars Hill. Carry a Bible. Give the impression that you’re a good catch. Land a nice girl.” That’s what he tells his son to do. “‘Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.’” We’re gonna deal with that. This is a funny story. “‘May God Almighty bless you, make you fruitful, increase in numbers’ – that is the Abrahamic covenant and blessing – ‘until you become a community of peoples.’” The literal translation is a congregation of nations. This is the promise that through this crazy family would come the church that would be open as a congregation to all races and nations of people.
“‘May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien,’ – so that’s the promised land – ‘the land God gave to Abraham.’ Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.” So that sets the stage where he goes away for 20 years. We’re gonna deal with him in the coming weeks.
The last person we gotta deal with is Esau, but what happens to Esau? Moses tells us, “Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, ‘Do not marry a Canaanite woman.’” Here’s what Esau hears. Jacob was told not to marry a Canaanite woman. What do you think Esau’s gonna do? Marry a Canaanite woman. What do people do that hold grudges and are bitter? Do they live their life for God’s glory? Do they live their life for their good? Do they live their life for their children’s good? No, they intentionally live their life just to cause those that they are bitter against to suffer harm. Bitter people take great delight in just causing other people difficulty. That’s what he’s doing. That’s what he’s doing. “My parents hate it when we marry non-Christians. I’ll go marry a non-Christian.”
How many of you ladies have intentionally brought home this guy just to freak your parents out? Your parents are bossy, overbearing. You’re mad at them, angry at them. You’re like, “I’ll show them. I’ll go marry – I’ll go date, at least, some freaky nut job, bring them home, and just watch my dad’s head explode and my mom spin like a top. That’ll be great.” (Laughter) “Hi, it’s Johnny. I love him.” “John – what – John – what – whoa. Johnny doesn’t have any teeth. He can’t read. He rode here on a BMX bike. The only thing he’s good at is fireworks. What is he doing here?” (Laughter) “Oh, I love him. He got straight A’s in rehab. He’s amazing.” (Laughter) You’re like, “Oh, no, and does he have a job?” “Oh, yeah, yeah, he sells things in bags to kids at school.” “No, no, no, no, no, no.” “I love him. I love him. I love him.”
This is what bitter people do. They just – they do anything to make other people miserable, and they get their joy from watching other people be miserable. How many of you are raising this kid, this openly defiant kid? Whatever you say, they do the opposite. So you try reverse psychology. You say, “Do not eat your vegetables, and do not read the New Testament.” (Laughter) And they go, “Oh, get carrots and Paulian literature. I’ll show you. I’ll show you.” (Laughter) And the parent’s thinking, “Oh, I won. I got them. I got” – no, you didn’t ‘cause their heart’s still evil, and they’re working out of rebellion. That’s why reverse psychology with kids just trains them to have hard, bitter hearts.
This is this guy. He just is so ticked. It’s like going to your dad, “Hey, dad, what would I do that would be the worst thing I could ever do?” “Well, marry an unbelieving stripper.” “All right, I’ll be back in a minute.” (Laughter) That’s what he does. Is he a Godly guy? Is he a brilliant guy? Is he a repentant guy? No, he’s a continual fool. “Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac, so he went to Ishmael” – is that bad blood in the family? (Laughter) Oh, man, this is like one of the Bush girls running off and marrying one of the Clinton boys. I mean, this is bad, you know? This is no, not – this is not good. These two sides don’t get along. Remember, Abraham had a wife who gave birth to Isaac. Had a girlfriend, gave birth to Ishmael. Isaac’s son, Esau, says, “What can I do to freak my dad out? I’ll go find my uncle Ishmael and marry one of his Godless, Rastafarian daughters with clear heels. That’s what I’ll do.” (Laughter) And this is gonna freak his mom and dad out for sure. “So he went to Ishmael, married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition” – in addition to the crazy wives you already – he had.
You know what’s worse than marrying a Godless woman? Having a busload of Godless wives, this guy’s driving around in a bus. You know, “Here’s my atheist, my stripper, my drug addict. Hey, dad, we’re coming over for Thanksgiving.” (Laughter) And he just loves to watch his parents suffer. That’s what he does because he has a grudge, because he’s bitter, because he’s unrepentant, because he only sees himself as a victim, because he won’t own his own sin, because he won’t acknowledge the fact that many of the problems in his life are because of his own doing.
So let me wrap it all up tidy for you. The first thing, the family sins – for those of you that are parents or will be parents, see the family sins. First sin, does this family ever get together in the whole story and talk? They never get together. Daddy talks to Esau. Mommy talks to Jacob. Then Jacob goes and talks to daddy. What you don’t see, the family never sits down and puts it on the table and works it out. The family does not work as a unit. The second thing, do you ever see the mom and dad talk? You don’t. Mom talks to son. Dad talks to son. Mom and dad never talk. Dad starts by doing things in secret trying to hide it from the wife. “Don’t tell your mother.” Mother’s tried to do things in secret. “Don’t tell your father.” They never talk. They never talk about anything that matters. I’m sure they’re having chit-chat about nothing, and they’re scheming behind each other. They have lost all trust in one another. He’s gonna sin. She finds out through gossip, through eavesdropping, busybodying. They never talk. The family never works together, and the parents never talk, and each favors a child, and favoritism with children creates family trouble and drama and strife. It creates nothing but problems.
If you’re gonna have kids, don’t favor one over the other. Love them all. Kiss them all. Hug them all. Tell them all you love them. Buy them all presents. Take them all out. Make sure that you split your time and your affection equally. They don’t do that, and it creates this division in the household. Even with your kids, you know, some of you grew up, and your sister was sweetie pie, and you were idiot, and you’re like, “We got nicknames, but mine’s not as good.” (Laughter) Love all your kids. Some of you right now you say, “Well, I was the spoiled brat. My parents let me get away with murder, and every time I sin my mom or daddy who favored me always tried to cover it up and tried to protect me from the consequences and give me a favored, sheltered life, and I’m the spoiled brat.” And some of you say, “Well, I was the other one. I was the one that wasn’t love, was overlooked, was neglected, and now I’ve sinned a lot and rebelled a lot just to get back at them and to show them and to make them hurt. So I identify with Esau.” You gotta acknowledge all this and own it and deal with it before it continues into the next generation.
Now here’s the thing too. We look at this. Is everyone in this story a sinner? You gotta get this. You gotta get this ‘cause in our therapeutic culture you’re gonna come to the story looking for the victim. People are sinned against; that’s true, but they’re all sinners. Let’s start with Isaac, daddy. Does daddy sin? Yeah. God says, “Bless Jacob.” Daddy says, “No, I’ll bless Esau in secret behind mom’s back. It’ll be deception and trickery ‘cause he’s my favorite son.” That’s all sin. How about momma, does she sin? Yeah. Yeah, she undermines dad. She plays a trick on her blind, old husband. She favors her momma’s boy son. She thinks through all of the ways that she could deceive him most effectively and keeps bossing her adult, male son around. Yeah, she’s a sinner.
How about Isaac, is he a sinner? Yeah. Rebekah? Yeah. How about Jacob, the favored boy, is he a sinner? Yeah, he confesses his sin; he doesn’t repent. He does what his mother tells him to do instead of what God tells him to do. He intentionally deceives and tricks his father, and rather than dealing with his sin, confessing it, trying to bring peace in the home, he leaves the family in ruins, and he runs for his life as a coward, very selfish, very irresponsible. Here’s how he deals with his sin. Rebekah deals with sin through continued control and manipulation. We see that Jacob deals with it through confession without repentance and fleeing because he just wants to avoid dealing with the consequences of his sin. Well, what about Esau, does he sin? Yeah, he’s Godless. He sold his birthright. He gave up the right to his blessing. He was seeking deceitfully to take it back – the blessing at least – in secret with his father. He is running around with non-Christian gals, and he is marrying multiple Godless women. He holds a grudge, and he’s plotting murder. Don’t put the white hat on him. He’s not a good guy.
And we read the story, and here it is. Esau’s answer, “I’ll deal with my sin through more sin.” Jacob’s answer, “I’ll deal with my sin by running away from it.” Rebekah’s answer, “I’ll deal with my sin by still sinning the same way. I won’t change.” Isaac deals with his sin this way, passive, lets it all go, doesn’t like confrontation, doesn’t really get involved. The story ends. It’s not very happy, is it? It’s not very happy. You read it. It doesn’t say, “And they lived happily ever after.” Because the Bible is an honest book, and the truth is not everyone lives happily ever after, and the truth is not all relationships get restored, and the truth is not everyone dies on good terms, and the truth is sins don’t stop with one generation; they often get passed to others.
The reason why it’s not a happy story, the reason why it doesn’t have a joyous conclusion is because no one repents in the whole story. Isaac doesn’t say, “I’m the head of the home. I sinned. I favored a son. I’ve raised two brats. I’ve not talked to my wife. I’m hiding things from her.” Mom doesn’t step forward and say, “And I’m a controlling, manipulating, busybody.” And Isaac and his sons don’t step forward and repent. Jacob doesn’t say, “And I’m a momma’s boy and a coward and a deceiver, and I disobey God, and I’m a secret, little sinner.” And Esau doesn’t step forward saying, “I hate God, and I’m a pervert, and I’m an idiot.” Nobody owns it, so it just keeps going because the only way joy comes in is when there’s repentance, when we acknowledge our sin, and we don’t deal with this coping mechanisms around our sin, but we own our stuff.
Now here’s where there hope comes. My goal in teaching the Bible to you guys is always really simple. You see it coming a mile away every week, no big surprise. I’m looking for sin and God. That’s what I’m always looking for in the text. Okay, we see the sin. Now here’s how we see God. Three quick questions, this’ll be my conclusion – probably. (Laughter) First question, does God ordain or decree their sinful acts? No. Does God say, “Okay, Isaac, favor a son, manipulate circumstances. Esau, go get some non-Christian wives. Jacob, be a momma’s boy and a trickster and a deceiver, and Rebekah, be a controlling busybody. Okay, good.”
See, God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. You know, God is not a bad God. God is not a sinner. God doesn’t tell people to sin. God doesn’t decree sin. God doesn’t ordain sin. A lot of you say, “But God let me do it.” Well, that doesn’t mean it was Godly. There’s a lot of things that happen on the earth that displease God. That’s why he gets angry. That’s why he sheds tears. Second question, God didn’t ordain these sins, but does he allow these sins to happen? He does. He does. He allows dad to be tricked. He allows mom to get her way, so it seems. He allows these things to happen. So God doesn’t ordain sin, but there are occasions where he allows us to sin, but does God ultimately work all of this out for his sovereign, providential good? He totally does.
All right, this is one of the great themes in Genesis. Genesis 50:20, “What is meant for evil God uses for good.” Rebekah meant evil. Isaac meant evil. Jacob meant evil. Esau meant evil. God meant good. God works out all things for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. My point is this. Not everything that happens is the will of God, but everything that happens is used for the will of God. That you and I are sinful, but God is bigger than we are, and that no matter what happens God in his infinite ability can work it out for something that is good and beautiful in the end. Okay, now here’s my point. Through this whole crazy family, who comes? Jesus Christ, through this family, read Matthew 1. This is Jesus’ family history.
God comes into human history through this family, to what? To live without sin, to what? To die, well, why? For our sin, what kind of sin? Well, all of this, anger, jealousy, lying, deceiving, stealing, all of it, take all your stuff, and just put it in that junk drawer called sin, all of that. Then what’s he do? He dies, why? ‘Cause sin leaves to death. It’s killing this family. Ultimately, it kills us. What does he do? He rises three days later to conquer sin, conquer death, to make us new creations in Christ, to fill us with the Holy Spirit and empowering grace to go live new lives so that this kind of folly doesn’t get passed on from one generation to another to another, but it comes to an end. That certain things stop.
Maybe your dad was a jerk. Maybe he was an alcoholic. Maybe your mom was just out of her mind, and she was impossible to deal with, but unless you own your own sin and how you’re behaving like your parents, you continue that, and you hand it off to your kids. ‘Cause here’s what happens. This is what happens. Jacob runs away from home. Does he become a daddy? He does. Does he have sons? He does. Does he favor one son over the others, play favorites like his daddy? Yeah, that boy’s name is Joseph. Do the brothers get jealous of Joseph like Esau got jealous of Jacob? Yes. So what do they do? They lie to and trick Jacob like he lied to and tricked his old man. You reap what you sew. They tell him, “Oh, your beloved, youngest boy that you love and favor, he got killed.” And they sent him off to Egypt. That’s the rest of Genesis. Just like he was separated from his daddy for many, many years, his favored youngest son will be separated from his daddy for many, many years because he will commit the same sins that his mommy and daddy committed. He never did figure this out, and so he was separated from his son like he was separated from his daddy, and what happens to him is repeated in mirror image in his children.
And part of what the Gospel does is it disconnects us from sin on the earth, and it reconnects us to God the Father so that we can live new life through Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit under the governance of God the Father, and Peter says it this way, “That God has delivered us from the empty and hollow way of life handed to us by our fathers.” Don’t just cry, repent. Don’t just run, repent. Don’t just confess, repent. Don’t just take control and try and salvage the mess you’ve made, repent. Don’t stand back idly by and let things run their course anticipating that time will heal wounds, repent. Don’t be angry and bitter and live your life out of a grudge in spite, repent. Repent, that’s the only way that joy comes. God opposes the proud. He gives grace to the humble. Humble yourself before God, and he will lift you up in his time. That’s his promise. At Mars Hill we always call you to repentance of sin, faith in the Lord Jesus.
It’s your prayer time now. It’s your time for the Spirit of God to convict you and bring you to repentance and newness in life. Faith and trust in the Lord Jesus then to partake of communion remembering his body and blood, giving your tithes and offerings as part of your worship, and then raising your hands and singing and celebrating, why? You say, “But if I look at myself I find no reason for joy.” Look at yourself long enough to repent, and then look up to your hope, and you’ll have reason for joy. Christ is alive and well. He will forgive you. He will embrace you. He will cause you to be a new creation. He will fill you with his spirit, and he will, by his empowering grace, enable a new life so that it’s just not like father like son, like mother like daughter in the sins of the fathers being visited to future generations. I’ll pray.
Father God, thank you for our time together to study your word. God, I thank you that the Bible is the most honest book that has ever been written. God, I thank you that it’s not filled with myth and fable and folklore and folly. It’s the blood and guts of real people in real life with real sin and real problems and real families and real consequences. God, it’s more real than anything on television. It’s more real than anything we would’ve ever imagined. God, I thank you that when we read the Bible we see that all have sinned and fallen short, even the patriarchs. God, you reveal yourself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God, as we get to know them that seems a little scandalous to us. These were some pretty sinful men, but God, thank you that you’re willing to embrace them, and you’re willing to embrace us because indeed we are no better than they. God, I pray for those who are here thinking that because their life is going well that they’re Godly when, in fact, they’re just like Jacob. They’ve been given grace, but maybe they’ve also been spoiled. God, I pray for those who are here, and they’re bitter like Esau living their life with a grudge.