Genesis chapter 27 and verse
30. And it came to pass, as soon
as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce
gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his
brother came in from his hunting. And he also had made savoury
meat and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father,
Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that thy
soul may bless me. And Isaac his father said unto
him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy
firstborn Esau. And Isaac trembled very exceedingly,
and said, Who, where is he that hath taken venison, and brought
it me? And I have eaten of all before
thou camest, and have blessed him, yea, and he shall be blessed. And when Esau heard the words
of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter
cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my
father. And he said, Thy brother came
with subtlety, and hath taken away thy blessing. And he said,
Is not he rightly named Jacob? For he hath supplanted me these
two times. He took away my birthright, and
behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast
thou not reserved a blessing for me? And Isaac answered and
said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his
brethren have I given to him for servants, and with corn and
wine have I sustained him, and what shall I do now unto thee,
my son? And Esau said unto his father,
Hast thou but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also,
O my father.' And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. And Isaac
his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling
shall be the fatness of the earth and of the Jew of heaven from
above. And by thy sword shalt thou live,
and shalt serve thy brother. And it shall come to pass, when
thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke
from off thy neck. And Esau hated Jacob, because
of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him. And Esau
said in his heart, The days of my mourning for my father are
at hand. Then will I slay my brother Jacob,
And these words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebekah. And she sent and called Jacob,
her younger son, and said unto him, Behold thy brother Esau
as touching thee doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee. Now therefore, my son, obey my
voice and arise. Flee thou to Laban, my brother,
to Haran. and tarry with him a few days,
until thy brother's fury turn away, until thy brother's anger
turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to
him. Then I will send and fetch thee from thence. Why should
I be deprived also of you both in one day?' And Rebekah said
to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth.
If Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which
are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me? Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. This account of Jacob deceiving
Isaac in order to obtain his father's blessing, when Isaac
had intended to give it to Esau, reminds us that God had made
promises to Abraham. That's what this whole important
situation and set of circumstances is all about. He had made promises
to Abraham that God would, for Abraham's sake, give him many
good privileges and blessings. He had promises given to him
of being a mighty nation, indeed many nations, of possessing land,
of ruling over his neighbours, and of much earthly wealth and
well-being. These are things that attract
men. And men, and indeed women, sometimes
live their whole lives seeking after those temporal blessings. And that's what Esau wanted. He wanted the blessing that brought
temporal good. The land and the nations and
the wealth and the power. That's what Esau desired. But more importantly, there was
a spiritual dimension to the promise that Abraham had been
given. And indeed, the promise that
he believed because Abraham was a man of faith. And it seems
that at least for some time, Isaac has forgotten those spiritual
dimensions to the promise. But Rebecca understood. The Lord Jesus Christ would come
from Abraham's lineage. Rebecca appreciated that. The
elect of God were typified in Abraham's seed. Rebecca understood
that. The faith of Abraham was possessed
by Rebecca and she knew that faith and trusting in God and
ultimately in the Lord Jesus Christ was the way of true life. And it appears at least at this
point in time, Rebecca was alone in keeping faith with God's promises. The intention of Isaac to bless
Esau was a shame and an embarrassment to the patriarch, but Rebecca
prevented him from making that terrible error. And I cannot
read these verses without feeling that Rebecca served Isaac better
by her scheming than Isaac knew. Isaac thought he was dying. In
fact, he actually had something like another 40 years left. He didn't die until he was around
180. and I am quite convinced that
on this matter, Rebecca saved his life. Isaac knew better than
to bless Esau. Esau wanted the good things in
life, but he despised the spiritual promises of the Messiah. Esau
was reprobate. He was an idolater who despised
the God of his fathers. Jacob was God's choice and Isaac
should have known this. Learning of Jacob's deception,
Esau resolved in his heart to murder his brother. And I think
it's very interesting because we read together that the blessing
that was given to Jacob by Isaac was that cursed would be him
that curses you. And the very first thing that
Esau did, hearing what had happened, was to curse Jacob, the one who
had received that blessing from Isaac. This tells us the kind
of man that Esau was. But there's more to this as well. Esau was typical. Just as Isaac and Jacob as the
inheritors of the promise of Abraham were typical, so is Esau. He is typical of flesh. He is
typical of flesh where Jacob is typical of faith. Esau is
typical of sensuality and physical desires, just as Jacob is typical
of spirituality and the desire after God. Jacob was the one
of God's choice, but Esau said to Isaac, have you not got another
blessing? Is there not another way? Can
I not get good things by another means? That is the heart of man's
freewillism. That is what men say. They say
there are many ways to get happiness in this world. There are many
ways to secure well-being. But Esau was a man of the world
and Jacob was the man upon whom God smiled. That murderous attitude
that Esau had was a picture of Satan's desire to obstruct and
stop God's purpose throughout history. Always looking for an
opportunity to destroy the Jews, always believing that by doing
so, he could destroy Christ and the coming rule of the kingdom
of God. But the Lord preserved Jacob
by having him sent away to Haran. And again, we see that this occurred
at Rebekah's instigation. There in Haran, he would marry
two wives from whom would come 12 sons, the 12 sons of Jacob,
or as we more normally know them, the 12 tribes of Israel. and from Jacob these would be
born. And once again we see God preserving
his people and securing his promise. I just want to make two quick
notes, quick points about these matters and then we will move
on. If it hasn't already become obvious
to you, I think Rebecca is the star of this story. I see in her a woman of faith
who trusted God's word, who believed his promises, and who looked
forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And let's
not lose sight of her in this grand story that is before us.
It tells us that the Lord has use for all his people. And although Rebecca as a woman
is not referred to as frequently in the scriptures as Abraham
and Isaac and Jacob, yet it is her faith, like that of Rahab
or Ruth or Esther, that was used by God to deliver his promise
and to secure his purpose of grace and salvation by the Lord
Jesus Christ. Let me put it very simply. You
and I are here today because of what Rebecca said and did
long, long ago. And here's another point. Jacob,
in many respects, is not a man of desirable qualities, and yet
God's love rested upon him, and God's grace was with him. This reminds us that God's love
does not come to us because we are good and deserve it, but
his love comes to us in order to make us good and because God
chooses freely to give it to us. Both Jacob and Esau were
sinners but God loved Jacob and hated Esau. May God Show us His
love by bringing us to faith in His Son, by forgiving our
sins and making us holy in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.