And I want to talk to us this
morning about the faith of Rebecca. The faith of Rebecca. Rebecca's
birth is mentioned back in the 22nd chapter, in the 23rd verse,
where she is identified as Abraham's great-niece. And of course, Being a female,
her birth probably would not have been mentioned there were
she not destined for the position that she feels in the lives of
the patriarchs. But her story begins in chapter
24. So we're going to talk a little
bit this morning about that and about her faith. And this will
be a different view from what a lot of people have. Of course,
a lot of my views are different from what a lot of people have.
But I think this book is the authority. I know it is. I know
it is. Chapter 24, when Abraham is old
and he sends Eliezer, his servant, back to Mesopotamia, his homeland,
to find a bride for his servant Isaac. He told his servant, I
don't want Isaac marrying a Canaanite. I want you to find him a wife
of my own people." This is interesting because Abraham's
people were still idol-worshipping heathen. But the thought is he's
sinning for a woman, not a man. And in that culture, and it should
be more so in our culture, when a woman consented to marry a
man, her life becomes part of his life. She is not exerting women's rights. She forfeits her personal interest
and yields to her husband to help him, promote him, Encourage
him. Honor him. It's not really that
way anymore, but that's how it was. And guess what the divorce
rate was? It was a lot closer to zero than
it is now. I promise you. But it was a two-sided issue.
A man provided for his wife. He loved her. He fought for her.
He was the breadwinner. So it was just the way God says
it's supposed to be. So in this lengthy 24th chapter,
Eliezer, Abraham's servant, is sent. And he makes the journey
and he stops at a well. And he prayed to the Lord for
direction. And he asked the Lord, let the
damsel whom I ask a drink and she says
yes, she gives me a drink of water, let her be the one you've
chosen for Isaac's wife." It was very
likely that a strange man speaking to a strange young lady and asking
for a drink of water, she'd just say, mind your own business or
totally ignore him. But this servant prayed When
I ask and the young girl consents, gives me a drink of water, let
her be the one. I'll know that that's the one. So Rebecca came with the flock
and when Eleazar asked Rebecca for a drink, she said, not only
will I give you a drink, but says, I'll draw water for your
camels until they're done drinking. Now they tell me that camels
can drink a lot of water, but she didn't. So everything's falling
into place. Eleazar gives her some jewelry,
tells his business for being there, meets the family, and
they talk about it, and they said, we'll ask her. And the
question comes in verse number 58. Good chapter for you to read. We don't have time to read it
all this morning, but the question comes in verse 58. They called
Rebekah and said unto her, wilt thou go with this man? And she
said, I will go. She was moved in her heart. to
leave everything and everyone she'd ever known and to go with him. And she does
and becomes Isaac's wife. In the next chapter, chapter
25, 20 years have passed as a married
woman and no child. She is barren. She knew the story and heard
the story of Abraham, her father-in-law, how God had called him out of
heathenism and promised him that he'd be the father of many nations
and that the Messiah was in his loins. She had been told also
Isaac's story, miraculously born when his father Abraham was 100
years old and his mother Sarah, 90. And the promise of God to Abraham
was repeated to Isaac. And yet he is childless. Rebecca
is barren. Her brother-in-law Ishmael, whom
she may have never met, but heard about, he already had 12 sons. That's chapter 25, verses 13
to 15. How discouraging this must have
been to have the promise of God. No child, an old heathen Ishmael's
done got 12 sons. Well, Isaac went to the Lord
about it, and Rebekah conceived And twins were in her womb. And she had it so rough, she thought she'd die before
the children were born. And she cried to the Lord about
it. Look in chapter 25 and verse 22. The children struggled
together within her. And she said, if it be so, why
am I thus? And she went to inquire of the
Lord. And the Lord said unto her, two nations are in thy womb,
and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels,
and the one people shall be stronger than the other people, and the
elder shall serve the younger. Now that last statement is a
principle throughout the Bible, the elder shall serve the younger. It's a principle in salvation.
Adam gives way to Christ. It's a principle on the personal
level. The spirit conquers the flesh.
But I see this little statement really as a milestone in Rebecca's
journey of faith. And she gets it. She understands
it. The elder shall serve the younger. The Lord told her first, there's
not just one child in your womb, there's two. And he told her also that they
wouldn't be friends. Of course, she had already experienced
that. They had about killed one another
in her womb before they were born. And this statement tells her
that contrary to custom, contrary to established law, the elder
shall serve the younger. Verse 24, And when her days to
be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her
womb. And the first came out red all over like an hairy garment,
and they called his name Esau. And after that came his brother
out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel. His name was called
Jacob. And Isaac was three score years
old when she bare him. He was 40 when Rebekah became
his wife. Now he's three score. Now he's
60. So they'd been married 20 years
without a child. And the boys grew. And Esau was
a cunning hunter, a man of the field, and Jacob was a plain
man dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau because
he did eat of his venison, but Rebekah loved Jacob. We're talking about Rebekah's
faith. Now, and I want you to understand
this. She never just loved Jacob. because
he was her choice. Left to herself, Jacob would
not have been her choice. But she loved Jacob because he
was God's choice. The elder shall serve the younger. I'm sure as the boys grew and
as they grew up, There were many times Rebecca had the question
in her mind, how can it ever be so? But there was no question in
her heart. She knew it was so. How did she know it? Because
the word she had from God is a sure word. It cannot be otherwise. God said it. One writer said, Rebecca was
the mother of two children, but she had also been God's choice
for Isaac. God's choice for the nation that
was to come. This meant that she had to do
more on this earth than most. Merely loving her children would
not suffice. She would have to choose between
them. And she did. Esau was the outdoorsman,
a man's man. He was a cunning hunter, meaning
a skilled hunter. I mean, he could bring home the
meat. And his father Isaac liked that.
Jacob, we read here, was a plain man. I see that as being So plain
and ordinary that he couldn't possibly be anyone's choice but
God's. And he was Rebecca's choice because
he was God's choice. So one day Esau is out hunting
and he comes in tired and hungry and Jacob is in the kitchen cooking. This is chapter 25, verse 29. And Jacob sawed pottage, means
he was cooking something in a pot. And Esau came from the field
and was faint. And Esau said to Jacob, feed
me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage, for I am faint. Therefore was his name called
Edom. meaning red. Of course, long
after Esau's gone, his descendants through the Old Testament are
called the Edomites, descendants of Esau. And Jacob said, sell me this
day thy birthright. Esau was the oldest son. His was the birthright, that
is to be the head of the family. And Esau said, Behold, I am at
the point to die, and what profit shall this birthright do to me?
And Jacob said, Swear to me this day. And he swearing to him,
and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Among the other benefits of the
birthright, being the firstborn, In the inheritance, the firstborn
was to get a double portion. In other words, if there were
six sons in the family, the estate was divided up seven ways instead
of six because the firstborn got a double portion. So then
Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils, and he did eat and
drink and rose up and went his way, thus Esau despised his birthright. He thought nothing of being the
head of the family. To inherit the promises of God
through this patriarchal period, first Abraham, then Isaac, and
next was to be Esau. But we just read that he despised
his birthright. He wants nothing to do with his
father's God or his grandfather's God. But Jacob is very interested
in it. So much so that he bargains with
Esau's brother to obtain the birthright. And Esau is not hesitant
to part with it. It means nothing to him. Now
chapter 26 is about their father Isaac's life, how he strives
with the Philistines over land and over water rights and digs
wells. And finally on down in the chapter,
verse 26, Bimelech king of the Philistines comes to Isaac. And it says to him in so many
words, hey, we can live together. We can be civil. We can get along. Let's make a covenant, an oath
that we'll do it. And Isaac went along with it.
He did. He made peace, friends with Philistines. And that was
an important thing because as a result, the last of chapter
26, Verse 34, Esau, the skilled hunter, Isaac's favorite, married
outside his own people. Esau was 40 years old when he
took the wife, Judith, the daughter of Beri, the Hittite, and Bashamath,
the daughter of Elon, the Hittite. Remember, Abraham was careful
that Isaac have a wife of his own people, but Isaac was not
that careful. Here Esau has married two of
the Canaanites, Hittites. It wasn't good for the family.
It was terror in the family. Verse 35 says so, that these
two heathen wives were a grief of mine. unto Isaac and Rebekah. Now going into chapter 27, Isaac
is old and blind and he's about to be deceived. And we're going
to read this in a minute. You can blame the whole deal
on Jacob. You can blame it on Rebekah. But what happens here
is the result of God giving faith in Rebekah's heart. And so it's
of the Lord. Let's read chapter 27 verse 1. And it came to pass that when
Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see,
he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son. And he said unto him, Behold,
here am I. And he said, Behold now, I am
old, I know not the day of my death. Now therefore take, I
pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver, and thy bow, and go out to the
field, and take me some venison, and make me savory meat such
as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul
may bless thee before I die." And Rebekah heard when Isaac
spake to Esau his son. This blessing he's talking about
before he dies is in reference to the blessing of the firstborn. And Rebecca heard it. Rebecca spake unto Jacob, her son, saying, I missed the
verse. Rebekah heard when Isaac spake
to Esau his son, and Esau went to the field to hunt for venison
and to bring it. And Rebekah spake unto Jacob
her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy
brother, saying, Bring me venison, and make me savory meat, that
I may eat, and bless thee. before the Lord before my death.
Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which
I command thee." Rebecca is telling Jacob, now here's what we're
going to do. You listen carefully. Go now to the flock and fetch
me from thence two good kids of the goats. I will make them
savory meat for thy father, such as he loveth." Rebekah says,
I'm a good cook, I can fix that goat meat to where he'll think
it's venison. And thou shalt bring it to thy
father that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his
death. And Jacob said to Rebekah his
mother, Esau, my brother, is a hairy man, and I am a smooth
man. He is macho, is the word, and
I'm a wimp. I think that's modern terms. My father, Peradventure, will
feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver, and I shall
bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. Jacob says, Mom,
I don't believe it will work. And his mother said unto him,
Upon me be thy curse, my son. Only obey my voice, and go fetch
me them. And he went and fetched and brought
them to his mother, and his mother made savory meat such as his
father loved. And Rebekah took goodly raiment
of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and
put them upon Jacob, her younger son." She put some of Esau's
clothes on Jacob. And she put the skins of the
kids of the goats upon his hands and upon the smooth of his neck,
so that old blind Isaac, when he felt, would feel hairy skin. She gave the savory meat and
the bread which she had prepared into the hand of her son Jacob.
And he came unto his father and said, My father. And he said,
Here am I, who art thou, my son? And Jacob said unto his father,
I am Esau, thy firstborn. I have done according as thou
badest me. Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat
of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said
unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly?
My son, how'd you get out there and kill that deer so quick?
Get back and your mama get it fixed and everything. And he said, because the Lord
thy God brought it to me. And Isaac said unto Jacob, come
near. I pray thee that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou
be my very son Esau or not. Jacob went near unto Isaac, his
father, And he felt him and said, the voice is Jacob's voice, but
the hands are the hands of Esau. And he discerned him not because
his hands were hairy as his brother Esau's hands. So he blessed him. And he said, art thou my very
son Esau? And he said, I am. That's twice Jacob said it. And
he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison,
that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him,
and he did eat. And he brought him wine, and
he drank. And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now,
and kiss me, my son. And he came near and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his
raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son
is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed. Therefore,
God, give thee of the dew of heaven, the fatness of the earth,
and plenty of corn and wine. Let people serve thee, and nations
bow down to thee. Be Lord over thy brethren, and
let thy mother's sons bow down to thee. Cursed be everyone that
cursed thee, and blessed be he that blessed thee. So Jacob has
the blessing of the firstborn, And it's God's doing. This is
an important lesson we all need to learn. What God
does is right. I sometimes see people I almost
wish God would curse, but He's blessing them. And there's other people I wish
God would bless. And apparently he's cursing them,
but he's God. Now, after all this, Esau makes
the statement on over in verse 41 that he'll kill Esau. Excuse me, kill Jacob. Rebecca then proceeds to make
plans to send Jacob back to her homeland. Don't marry here like
your brother has done. His two Gittite wives he got
has brought much grief. The broad context of all this
is, and all these involved, is not to marry outside the family
of God. In Paul's word, New Testament,
be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Of course, if the Lord does not
prevent it, that's exactly what folks do. But God's children are to be
a separate people. This is Rebekah's faith working. And she says to Jacob, you go
to my people. Verse 45, until thy brother's
anger turn away from thee. Verse 44, she said, tarry there
with my brother. Laban, a few days, she don't
know it's going to be 20 years. Until thy brother's anger turn
away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to
him, then I will sin and fetch thee from thence. Why should
I be deprived also of you both in one day? If Esau has his way,
he's going to kill you if you stay here. I'll lose you, I'll detest him,
I will have lost you both." To be able to see Rebecca's faith
further, notice this as I was reading this chapter, four times
in this chapter, verse 6, 42, 44, and 45, She calls Esau Jacob's brother. She never calls him her son. She did call Jacob her son. Verse
six, verse eight, verse 13 and verse 43. I cannot speak as a mother, surely
humanly speaking, She had feelings for Esau on the one hand, but her faith
in God, his word to her was so strong that since Esau hated
Jacob, he hated God's choice. She must have hated Esau. God
said he hated him. Rebecca had to hate him as well.
You see, mature faith, vibrant faith, must love what God loves
and hate what God hates. You say, well, that's very inhumane. We're talking about God here. Rebecca saw. by faith, a great
nation, yet unborn, but promised of God. It had to come because God cannot
lie. And it could not come through
Esau. She knew that. How did she know? God told her,
the elder shall serve the younger. Rebecca did. what she had to
do. The faith in her heart could
not do otherwise. I'm telling you, this is so great,
folks. Listen to me. God-given faith
cannot die in the face of all circumstances. Dark as the picture may seem,
when people are shaking their heads and saying, no way, Faith
is saying it's got to be because God said it. Simply because God
said it. God-given faith cannot die. Oh, the church of Jesus Christ
in this world has been up and down, seemingly thriving and
seemingly starving. seemingly abounding and seemingly
dying. But the Church of Jesus Christ,
possessing God-given faith in the heart, cannot die. We are like a bunch of veteran
soldiers returning home from the war. Some are bandaged, some
are limping, some are missing limbs, they help one another,
they carry one another, but they all get home. All God's children make it home. Sin has shamed us, slaughtered us, left us for dead,
but we'll all get home someday. And there will be no sorrow there. Why don't you quit? I don't want
to. How will you make it? Not on
my own. What will your life amount to?
I don't know. What's the point anyway? The
point is God-given faith cannot die. Oh Lord, strengthen our faith
till we love what you love. and hate what you hate. That's
all of our trouble in this world. It's not loving what God loves
and not hating what God hates. I don't know if that's right.
Well, listen to this. Psalm 139, 21 and 22. Do not I hate them, O
Lord, that hate thee. Am not I grieved with those that
rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred.
I count them my enemies. It's not wrong to hate what God
hates and love what God loves. And that's what Rebecca's faith
did. That was Psalm 139, 21, 22. Humanism
has destroyed our society. that God loves everybody and
everything and He don't want anybody to suffer in any way. I want to tell you, sin has brought
all that on us. Don't blame God. Humanism has
destroyed our society. They say God is against war.
Read your Bible. They say God is against killing.
Read your Bible. They say God is against capital
punishment, read your Bible. They say God is against slavery,
read your Bible. They say God is against discrimination,
read your Bible. God-given faith will cause this
world to call you weird, Label yourself righteous, but look ahead. It's the work
of faith in God's children that lives on and affects the next
generation. Stay faithful. Believe as Rebecca
did. Oh, she went against the grain,
and you have to. I have to. Rebecca is not mentioned. beyond the book of Genesis. But
what she did had a tremendous impact on what happens
beyond the book of Genesis. See? Back in her home country where
she sent Jacob, he found Rachel who gave him a Joseph. who gave the whole family luxury
in Egypt to grow into a mighty people. What was in Rebecca's heart,
her husband Jacob lived to see some of it. He spent his last
17 years in Egypt. You see, God don't have to get
it all done while we're here. Really need to get a hold of
that. He was working when we got here. And if Christ don't
return, He'll be working when we're gone. My concern this morning
is to love Him, walk with Him, obey Him, cooperate with Him
while I'm here. I'm trying to do that. I hope
you are. The faith of Rebecca. It's working. It's working in
the hearts of all God's children this morning. Thank you for listening. Let's stand together.