All right. Genesis 25. The Spirit of God was pleased to
set forth the truth of God's good pleasure to have mercy and
compassion on whomsoever He will. And in the verses that we're
going to look at today, He did so through the conception of
two children that would be born to Isaac and Rebecca. And the account of these two
boys, their birth, and the distinction that was made between the two
is precious. Because from the birth of one
of these boys, our Lord would, humanly speaking,
be brought into this world. Now in verse 19 of Genesis 25,
and as I read this, and this is, I know that there are verses
that we'll find, and it just gives lineage, and lineage, and
lineage, and lineage, and you're trying to just read these words.
But it was made very clear to me the reason, somewhat, of the
reason why of the record of lineage. And I want us to look at verse
19 through 23. The scripture says, and these
are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham begat Isaac. Now, did you notice how specific? Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham
begat Isaac. Now, the Spirit of God moved
upon Moses to declare the certainty of the posterity of Abraham into
Isaac because it was through Abraham and then Isaac that God
had promised to bless them. Abraham begat Isaac. The Lord
told Abraham that he was going to have a son through his wife,
Sarah. Genesis 17, 19, and God said, Thy wife shall bear thee a son
indeed, and thou shalt call his name Isaac. And I will establish
my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after
him. Now, turn to Hebrews. Keep your place right here. Turn
to Hebrews 11. The birth of this boy. going to set forth, as I said
a moment ago, Hebrews 11, the absolute sovereignty of God. Abraham and Sarah had gone past,
humanly speaking, had gone past the age of childbearing. They were old. Hebrews 11, 11
and 12, says this, through faith, also Sarah herself, received
strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child when
she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of
one, one man, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars
of the sky in multitude and as the sand which is by the seashore
innumerable. Abraham begat Isaac. And this
was the son, back in Genesis 22, where I'm gonna look now
for a second, Genesis 22, this was the son through whom God
tempted Abraham. Genesis 22, verses one to four,
and it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham,
said unto him, Abraham, and he said, behold, here I am. And
he said, take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest,
get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt
offering upon one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of. And
Abraham rose up early in the morning, saddled his ass, took
two of the young men with him, Isaac his son, claimed the wood
for the burnt offering, rose up, went unto the place from
which God had told him that on the third day, Abraham lifted
up his eyes and saw the place afar off. Look at verse seven. Isaac spake unto Abraham his
father, and he said, My father? He said, Here am I. My son? He said, Behold the fire and
the wood. Where is the lamb for the burnt offering? And Abraham
said, My son God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.
So they went up, both of them together. And they came to the
place which God had told him of, and Abraham built an altar
there, laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his son, laid him
on the altar upon the wood. Now, what we're getting ready
to witness is we're gonna see through Isaac. Abraham begat
Isaac. Isaac, the one that God gonna
tempt, Abraham. Then Isaac was the one that God
Almighty would demonstrate physically. his good pleasure to provide
his son, the lamb, in the stead of his people, in the stead of
his elect. He's going to show them, I'm
going to bless through Isaac. You take him and you offer him
to me. Scripture says, verse 10, Genesis 22, and Abraham stretched
forth his hand. God told him, you offer him there
for a burnt offering. He took He stretched forth his
hand, took the knife to slay his son. The angel of the Lord
called unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. And
he said, here am I. And he said, lay not thine hand
upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I
know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son,
thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes
and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket
by his horns. And Abraham went and took the
ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his
son. And Abraham called the name of
that place Jehovah-Jireh, as it is said to this day in the
mount of the Lord, it shall be seen." So here's Isaac. God tempted
Abraham through him. God demonstrated the substitutionary
death of the Lord Jesus Christ. This was the son of whom Abraham
sent, look over Genesis 24, sent his servant to take a wife for
this boy. And he said, I want you to go
and you get a wife, listen to the instructions. Genesis 24,
verses one through four, Abraham was old. well stricken in age,
and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said
unto his eldest servant of his house that ruled over all that
he had, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and I will
make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God
of earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the
daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, but thou
shalt go into my country, and thou shalt go to my kindred,
and take a wife unto my son, Isaac. Here's the son. God's going to provide a wife.
He gave Abraham instruction to give to the servant. This is
where you go. Don't you go anywhere but right
here. And Isaac was the son who after
the servant had gone and found and prayed and sought the Lord
and God had providentially shown him Rebekah. And this was the
son. that were standing, waiting,
meditating, look at Genesis 24 verses 63 through 67. And Isaac went out to meditate
in the field at the eventide. And he lifted up his eyes and
he saw, and behold, the camels were coming. And Rebekah lifted
up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel,
for she had said unto the servant, what man is this that walketh
in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, it
is my master. Therefore she took a veil, covered
herself. And the servant told Isaac all
things that he had done and brought Isaac unto her. I'm sorry, brought
her unto his mother, Sarah's tent and took Rebecca and she
became his wife and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted
after his mother's death. So all the wisdom of God to set
forth and establish the truth and the fact of who Isaac was. No speculation. No grounds for
debate. This is the son of promise, the
one with whom the Lord has made covenant. Grace and mercy. It's going to be shown to Abraham's
family right through Isaac. And the reason was Isaac was
a type and a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so these scriptures
are very, very specific when it talks about it. Like I said,
no arguing here. The name and the honor of the
Lord Jesus Christ is at stake and nothing else matters. Back in Genesis chapter 25, verse
20, and Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah, the wife,
the daughter of Bethuel, the Syrian, of Padan Aram, the sister
to Laban, the Syrian. Now here again, the Spirit of
God has moved Moses to set forth Rebekah's lineage. Abraham, who
just read, specifically told that servant, this is where you
go. You go to my family. Don't you
go anywhere else. So Rebecca was of the country
and of the kindred of Abraham. She was the daughter of Bethuel. And Bethuel was Abraham's nephew. And she was the sister to Laban. Both, they're said to be Syrian,
they were living in Syria, but when you trace their lineage
back, Nahor was Bethuel's daddy, which was Abraham's brother,
and they were all from the Chaldees, they were from Ur of the Chaldees.
So this is his family, this is where he found her. So we have
to be, again, you'd be very specific on the lineage of who this is. Verse 21, and Isaac entreated
the Lord for his wife because she was barren. And the Lord
was entreated of him, and Rebekah, his wife, conceived. Now, the Lord had promised the
blessing. And now he's 40 years old. when he took Rebecca to wife. And we just look and we're gonna
find out that when these two boys were born, he was 60. So
he's, at this point, it's almost 20 years. He's waited. But you know, the Lord and his
blessing is the Lord's blessing to bestow in the Lord's timing. You know, we've read that scripture
in Ezekiel chapter 36. I'll read if you wanna look at
it, Ezekiel chapter 36, and the promises of God that has been
given to God's people. Ezekiel 36, scripture says in
verse 25, I'll sprinkle clean water upon you. You shall be
clean from all your filthiness. I'm gonna sprinkle you with the
blood of Christ. All your filthiness, I'll cleanse
you. For all your filthiness, your idols, I'll cleanse you.
A new heart also I'll give you. A new spirit will I put within
you. I'll take away the stony heart. I'm gonna bless you and
bless you and bless you. And then verse 37 says, and thus,
for the fulfillment of the promises. Thus saith the Lord, I will yet
for this be inquired of by the house of Israel. to do it for
them, and I will increase them with men like a flock. God calls his people out of darkness,
and they realize something of the blessing that had been promised
them in Christ Jesus, and they ask for it. God's promised them.
He said, yep, I'll be inquired of. Now, did God tell Abraham
that he was gonna bless him and bless Isaac? His covenant was
gonna be with Isaac, yes. Was it gonna come through his
seed? Yes. Was he married to Rebecca? Yes. And Isaac entreated the Lord
for his wife because she was married. He was praying for her. God's promises encourage our
prayers as the promises of God are innumerable. First Thessalonians
5, 17 says, pray without ceasing. We don't know how to be thankful.
We don't. We're so proud. We're just so
forgetful. We get off on tangents and we
just, you know. He prayed for the Lord's blessing
for his wife. And the scripture says, and Rebecca,
his wife, conceived. Abraham, Isaac, Rebecca's faith
is gonna be tried. and proven, just like all God's
sheep. The Lord had promised that in
his seed, through his seed, through Isaac's seed, right on it, all
the nations of the earth would be blessed. And now here he is,
40 years old, when he married Rebecca, and he doesn't have
any kids. And time seems to be slipping
away. 60 years old, that's almost,
you know, not quite, But we wait on the Lord, and while we're
waiting, we continue to knock, and we continue to seek, and
we continue to ask, because the Lord is faithful, and he's going
to manifest his will. 2 Corinthians 1.20, all the promises
of God in him are yea, and in him, amen, unto the glory of
God by us. Isaac entreated the Lord. He made supplication. And God blessed it. And Rebecca conceived. And verse
22 says, and I've noticed this, there was something that I've
heard, when these were originally written, they weren't broken
down in verse number 20, 21, 22. It was just a continual writing. And so it would have been written
in verse 21 into verse 22, and Isaac entreated the Lord for
his wife, because she was barren, and the Lord was entreated of
him. And Rebekah, his wife, conceived,
and 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. Now, the Spirit of God makes no mention concerning the
time frame between conception and the beginning of a struggle.
I know there was a time there. It doesn't say how long, but
the struggle between the two sons. But in time, the struggle
became apparent. And this was no natural movement
of children. Now, okay, all I know, all I
know about having kids is what I've heard from women that's
pregnant. That's all I know. And whenever
a woman that is carrying a child, when she says, she said, oh,
wait, hold just right here, just feel, feel right here. And look,
and you just feel a little movement. You know, she said, yeah, I feel
it, yeah, I feel it. A little movement here, they
feel a little twinge. You ladies that have children,
you know, okay, you know what I'm talking about. I don't know
what I'm talking about, but you do. But you have, you feel movement,
okay? All right, well, The children
struggled together within her. Now, based on the wording, and
it's always good, how many times have you heard me say, look the
words up, find out what they mean. The word struggled. This is no natural, just what
we would know of a child kind of kicking and moving, maybe
his elbow or whatever he's moving. The word struggled. They struggled
together. That is, they crushed. They struck one another. That
word struggle, it's a word that is expressive of violent internal
commotion, as if the unborn children had been dashing against one
another within her womb. And with that struggle that was
going on, Rebecca, I mean, these boys were fighting. This wasn't,
I mean, you look up the word, crushed. I mean, they just, you
know, they struck each other. They were getting it. They were
going after it. And Rebecca, the children struggled
to gather within her, and she said, if it be so, why am I thus? If it be so, if, all right, here
again, if it be so, to understand what she said. I mean, she knew
she was pregnant, if it be so. That's not what she, she knew
she had kids. If this is set upright, if this
is set, yeah, if this is set upright, if this is just, what
I'm saying is the Lord had promised this. The Lord had promised that
there would be, she's gonna have children. God had promised it. Now if this is upright, if this
is just, a root word that means if this is erect, if this is
fixed, if this is appointed, obviously from being told of
her husband, obviously she knew something of God's covenant,
God's promise. If this be so, why am I thus? I mean, it's as if her question
seems to be, if this is of the Lord, Why am I experiencing this, this
struggle that's going on with me? I mean, people talk about,
you know, once a believer, you know, the Lord saves them, there's
no struggle. Oh, my friend, please. If this is so, why am I experiencing
this struggle? What a picture is set before
us, before Rebecca conceived. All was quiet, all was good,
you know. And likewise, before spiritual
regeneration, there's an ignorant, I don't know any other words
to say it, an ignorant quietness within a dead heart. There's no thoughts of standing
before God. There's no thoughts of leaving
this world without Christ. The thought of lifting up, as
that rich man lifted up his eyes out of hell. And he said, Father
Abraham, I'm being tormented in these flames. And there's
no fear of God, there's no reverence for God. But here now, here's
conception. Just now there's turmoil and
there's confusion, or struggling, not confusion, there's a struggle.
It's just that, it's that flesh, picture that flesh warring against
the spirit. And no sooner is the new man
formed within us and that flesh now begins to conflict with the
spirit. Galatians 5, 17, for the flesh
lusteth. against the spirit and the spirit
against the flesh. And these are contrary to one to the other.
So you cannot do the things that you would. If it had been the
Lord's will that there would be one child, there would have
been no struggle. I don't doubt that a bit, but
she must be the mother of both. She must be. For it was the Lord's
will to reveal his sovereignty and his right to do what he will,
with whom he will, the way he will. It's his right to do that.
And here, now, as of this moment, Rebecca, she doesn't know. She
doesn't know what's going on. The scripture says, the children,
verse 22, struggled together within her, and she said, if
it be so, why? Why am I thus? And she went to
inquire of the Lord. Now, here again, we're not told how she went to inquire of the
Lord. And when I read that, when I
first read it, just a reading, just to read it, in my mind,
I just thought she's just gonna pray about it. Okay, that would
have been my assumption. That's not exactly what's being
said here. The wording used, she went to
inquire, is a word meaning she went. It means to go, to walk,
or to come. And there's, in my marginal reading,
there's a reference in my Bible to 1 Samuel 9, 9, and here's
what it says. Before time in Israel, when a
man went to inquire of God, now it says here that she went to
inquire of the Lord. Now, I'm not gonna go any farther
than what it says. That's what I'm gonna tell you
what it says. And it says, when a man went to inquire of God,
thus he spake, Come, let us go to the seer. For he that is now
called a prophet was before time called a seer. But again, seeing
that the Spirit of God was pleased to be silent and to say nothing
more, then she went to inquire of the Lord. And I know what
1 Samuel 9, 9 says. So all I can say is she knew
the right thing to do. She knew the safest thing to
do. She would go and inquire of the Lord to quiet and settle
her heart, to seek Him, to inquire of Him who rules in the army
of heaven among the inhabitants of the earth, to seek His word,
seek His guidance, casting her burden upon the Lord, and the
Lord mercifully answered her. It says it here to be the last
verse for tonight. 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, the answer and the explanation
of the Lord's words concerning the two nations and two manners
of people, two manner of people within a womb, two different
nations with opposite loves and interests, two people who, but
for the grace of God, will never agree upon eternal issues, eternal
issues of godliness life and salvation, one being stronger
than the other, the elder serving the younger. The explanation
for that is given by the spirit of God in Romans chapter nine. So let's, let's turn there as
we kind of come to an end here. Romans chapter nine here. I'm so thankful that the Lord
himself would give us understanding Tell us, when she said, why am
I thus? They're struggling. If it be
so, if it be so. This is of the Lord. I know it's
of the Lord. Why? Why? Why is this struggle going
on? And the Lord told her, and now
the Lord is going to reveal the meaning. Romans nine, verse 10.
And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even
by our father Isaac, For the children being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, now here's why am I
thus? Why am I thus? I'm gonna go inquire
of the Lord. The children being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of
God, according to election, might stand not of works, but of him
that calleth, it was said unto her, the elder shall serve the
younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I'll have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. Now you
think about what he just said. He said to Pharaoh, this is why
I put you on the throne. I put you on the throne of Egypt.
I made you Pharaoh. I gave you all of this, you know,
delegated authority. Verse 17, for the Scripture saith
unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up,
that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might
be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy
on whom he'll have mercy, on whom he will, he hardeneth, he
leaves them to themselves. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why
doth he yet find fault? Now, you know what he just asked,
but I'm gonna tell you anyway. Somebody will hear that and they'll
say, well, now, well, if the Lord's the one that does it or
doesn't do it, and if he just leaves me alone, I'll be hardened. And if he doesn't have mercy
on me, then well, how can he blame me? Listen to the answer. For who hath resisted his will? Nay, but, O man, who art thou
that replies against God? What he's saying is this, you
question God's right to do what he, who are you? Who are you? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel
under honor and another under dishonor? The Lord showed through these
two boys struggling, showed Rebecca, showed us that strife, that animosity
between the flesh and spirit. God has the right. to show mercy or withhold it. He has the right. He has the
right to show compassion or withhold it. His grace is irresistible. His grace is effectual. His grace
is only found in the Lord Jesus Christ. And if he allows me or
you to go through this world arguing against him, In that
day, when we stand before Him, He will say, depart from me. You that work iniquity, I never
knew you. I never knew you. My friend,
we don't argue with God. Why am I thus? Because there's
two nations in you, and I'm gonna show you that struggle. That is between the flesh and
the spirit. And I have the right to love
Jacob and hate Esau. I have the right. And no man
has the right to question him. God is God. So the Lord was pleased
to reveal to Rebecca his right and sovereignty with men. And
to him, He's declaring that He loves one and hates another. And that declaration of His will
and purpose is not up for debate. It's not up for question. You
know, we would all admit the truth that that truth can only
be received from a heart made new. And if you want to know
if there's a heart that's made new, you'll agree with Him. You will agree with Him. You're
right. You're right. You're heavenly. I'm earthy. You're God. I'm a
worm. You're the Lord. And these boys
that struggled within the womb, they came out. We're going, Lord
willing, we'll look at it next time. Esau was born first. They
were twins. Twin boys. One of them came out
first, the other came out, and the second one came out, Jacob
grabbed his foot. I mean, they fought right on
into the birth. And that struggle is gonna continue
as long as this world continues. And these boys, that's what the
Lord said, these boys not being yet born, they hadn't done any
good or evil. They were two boys that were
conceived in the womb of this woman. And they hadn't done anything
but that the purpose of God, according to election, might
stand not of works, but of him that calleth it was said. The elder, the older of the two,
the one who would normally have received the blessing and the
special honor and privileges of the family, the elder shall
serve, he's gonna Be the word, word is actually a slave to be
subject to. He's, he's, he do not have the
authority or the priority over the younger. God is God. He's the God that rules in heaven
and earth. And even in the birth, the conception
and soon to be birth of these two boys, God gonna teach us
something about the difference of grace and works, law and grace,
mercy and the lack of. I pray God bless this to our
hearts for his glory and our good, eternal good. Amen. Okay, Gary.