The believer doesn't have any
peace in this world anywhere but in Christ Jesus the Lord.
And God won't let His children forget that. He just won't let
us forget that. The affections of our natural
heart may keep us from beholding our Lord's eternal will, His
purpose. But God's faithful to keep us
in spite of our rebellion or in spite of our lack of understanding,
our own ignorance. And by the gracious, faithful,
caring, chastening hand of his heavenly Father, Isaac never
failed to believe God. Our text this morning is Hebrews
chapter 11, verse 20. By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob
and Esau concerning things to come. The title of the message
is Blessing of Faith. Blessing of Faith. We use that
term blessing often. You'll hear people say, I've
been blessed. And usually it's after we finally lay hold of
some temporal thing that we've been wanting for a long time.
And they will cry out, oh, I've just been so blessed. We label these things that we
want as blessings. And therefore much, if not most,
of what we call blessings are merely just the lusts of covetous
flesh. Blessings from God are more than
temporal things, much more than temporal things. God's blessings
are spiritual gifts, faith, repentance. Love, joy, long-suffering. These
are blessings. Those are blessings. A blessed
man is one who is able to submit to God's will with patience,
whatever his temporal lot may be. Whatever comes down the pipe. And that's what the Holy Spirit
is pointing out to us in this verse. Jacob was blessed by God
because Isaac was blessed by God. Now let's start here with
a word about the blessing. The blessing spoken of here when
it says Isaac blessed Jacob is a blessing of prophecy. It's
a blessing of something that's going to come to pass. We see
here it says concerning things to come. The substance of this
blessing pertains to eternal salvation. There was quite a
bit that was going to happen as far as this world was concerned
and temporal things that Jacob was going to gain. But everything
spoken of to him in this blessing had to do with spiritual blessings,
with spiritual inheritance. Through Jacob, the Lord would
fulfill his covenant promise to his own son because it would
be through Jacob's lineage that Christ would be born into this
world. Through Jacob, Christ would come and He would put away
the sins of His people as He promised the Father He would
do. Jacob, this blessing, ultimately had its spiritual end in all
God's elect being saved is what this blessing had to do with.
And Isaac himself, he only owned a spot of land. That's all he
owned was a spot of land big enough for him to be buried on.
But, he believed God concerning the promises that God had promised
him that were sure to come. He believed God concerning the
promises of a son. And that from this son, or in
this son, by this son, the Lord would bless a people out of all
nations. And he believed that that son is Christ Jesus the
Lord. As Abraham saw the Lord's day,
Isaac saw it. Abraham is his father. And you
know, Abraham taught his son. Abraham taught his son, as a
faithful father teaches his son. And so that's why the Scripture
says, but he didn't see these things that were to come by the
natural eye. He saw them by faith. Faith is
the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen. And that's why we read here in
Hebrews 11 verse 20, By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau
concerning things to come. Now, the origin of this blessing
is the Lord. The blessing went to the one
whom the Lord chose to have it. That's who it went to. And the
power in this blessing is from the Lord. It's not Isaac's power,
it's the Lord. We'll read here that Isaac blessed
Jacob before the Lord. It's the Lord that blessed Jacob.
It's the Lord that blessed him. Isaac verbally spoke this blessing
to Jacob, but this is the Lord's doing. This is his will that
this blessing would go upon Jacob. And the natural heart now cares
nothing for spiritual blessings. The natural heart doesn't care
for spiritual blessings. Esau is an example here of what
most folks want when they speak of blessings and when they say,
I've been blessed. Esau, everything that he considered
a blessing was temporal things. He came to his brother, Jacob,
on one occasion, and he said, he was faint, and he said, give
me some of that red that you're cooking there. And Jacob has
told him, sell me your birthright. And what Esau said was, I need
some personal gratification right now. What good are promises down
the road to me? And that's the heart of natural
man. That's our heart by nature is, I need this now. I want it
now. I don't care about the promises."
And that was Esau's heart. He knew that it didn't please
his father to marry more than one wife, or to marry a Hittite
woman, and yet he went down and took two wives, Hittite women,
which was directly against his earthly father's will, he knew
that, and against God's will, and he did it anyway. And then
when he comes to Isaac, and he's wanting a blessing, we'll see
truthfully, all Esau wanted was an earthly blessing. He wanted
an earthly blessing. When later on, years down the
road, whenever Jacob came and met Esau, and Jacob sent all
this, Jacob was kind of scared of Esau, and he sent all this a treasure to Esau to try to
bribe him. And Esau said, I'm content. He
said, I'm content. He was happy with what he got.
He was mad because Jacob got the blessing. But he didn't really
want the substance of the blessing. He just wanted to be blessed
over his brother Jacob. But let's see here the Lord's
will concerning this blessing. And let's see Isaac's will concerning
this blessing. If we're going to understand
something about this faith of Isaac in blessing Jacob and Esau. Look with me at Genesis chapter
25. Genesis chapter 25. We'll do
a lot of reading this morning because I want you to see this
in Scripture. Genesis 25 and 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. 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. And the Lord said unto her, Two
nations are in thy womb. 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.
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 a hairy garment, and they called his name Esau. This was
the firstborn. And after that came his brother
out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel, and his name was
called Jacob. Now, you see here what the Lord
said, the elder shall serve the younger. Esau is going to serve
Jacob, and Esau's people are going to serve Jacob's people.
That was the Lord's will concerning this thing. Now let's see what
Isaac thought about this. And Isaac was threescore years
old when she bare them. 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. Isaac loved
Esau because, Scripture says. He loved Esau because. That means there was some merit
he saw in Esau that made him love Esau. The other son, Jacob,
stayed in his mama's kitchen a lot. And he was a mama's boy. And he hung around his mama all
the time. And Esau was a hunter. He liked to go out and hunt.
And he brought home deer, venison. And Isaac liked venison. And
he liked what this boy brought him and fed him. And so naturally,
Isaac's determined to give his blessing upon Esau. He's the
firstborn. He's in all ways more favorable
than Jacob. And Isaac wanted to give him
the blessing. even after he had sold the birthright to Jacob,
even after he rebelled against his father and went down and
married these two women. Still, Isaac was determined to
give him the blessing. Now let's look at chapter 27. And I'm persuaded here that Isaac
knew something of the Lord's will that he made clear to Rebekah. I just believe he did. And Isaac
knew something of the Lord's will in choosing Jacob and not
Esau. And it may be that Isaac was determined to justify himself
in this thing that he was determined to do because he was going to
eat some of this venison one more time. And you know how we
justify ourselves in our rebellion. Jacob, and let's see what happened.
It calls Esau. Genesis 27. And it came to pass
that when Isaac was old and his eyes were dimmed 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, and Esau went to the field for venison
to bring it." Now, the Lord chose Jacob. How? How did he choose Jacob? He chose
him freely. Scripture says, the two having
done neither good nor evil, that the purpose of God according
to election might stand. He chose Jacob freely. But God chooses in a way man
doesn't choose. God's blessings to his children
in faith is that faith which bows to the will of God even
when it goes against what we want. even when it goes against
what we want. Well, we know that the wrath
of man shall praise God, and the remainder thereof He'll restrain
it. The wrath of God praises man,
and the remainder thereof He'll restrain it. Now there in Genesis
27, how's the Lord going to bring to pass His sovereign will? How's
He going to bring all this to pass? He gives Rebekah and Jacob
space to connive and to rebel against Him. That's what they're
doing. That's exactly what they're doing.
They're thinking, we can help God out on this thing. Isaac's
going to give this blessing to Esau. We have to do something
here. And be that as it may, the Lord
overruled. The Lord would not have allowed
this to come to pass if it didn't praise Him. And if it didn't
praise Him, He would have restrained it and stopped it from happening.
The wrath of man shall praise God. The remainder He'll restrain.
He won't let it come to pass. Now, let's see what happens here. Verse 6, 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. This is Rebekah and Jacob. And
she tells Jacob, Go now to the flock and fetch me from thence
two good kids of the goats, and I'll make them savory meat for
thy father, such as he loveth. 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, Behold, Esau,
my brother, is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. My father,
peradventure, will fill me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver.
And I shall bring a curse upon me and not a blessing. 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 Rebecca took goodly raiment
of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and
she put Esau's clothes on her younger son Jacob. And she put
the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands and upon
the smooth of his neck. And 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 Isaac said,
Here am I. Who art thou, my son? And Jacob said unto his father,
I'm Esau, thy firstborn. You see, Jacob was a trickster. He was a supplanter. There's
nothing good in this boy. When he thought about going and
doing this thing, going to his father, he wasn't worried about
the fact he was going to be lying to his blind father. He was just
worried about he might curse me and not bless me. He was just
worried about himself. And so he comes there and he
says, I'm Esau. And Isaac says, He said, I've
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? Now listen to this boy. Listen
to what this boy said. Because the Lord thy God brought
it to me. And this is the one God's going
to bless. This is the one God said, I love
him. How could he love him? He viewed him in Christ. That's
how he loved him. He viewed him in Christ and he
loved him. 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. And Jacob went near unto Isaac
his father, and he felt him, and he 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, I am. And he said, Bring this meat
to me, and I'll eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless
thee. And he brought it near to him, and Isaac did eat. And
he brought him wine, and Isaac 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,
now he blesses him. Now everything he's saying here
to him is going to sound a lot like what he ends up saying to
Esau. But these things have to do with spiritual blessings,
whereas Esau's have to do with nothing but temporal, carnal
things. What he says here has to do with
some carnal things as well, but it's mainly spiritual blessings.
Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and 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
curseth Thee, and blessed be he that blesseth Thee. Now let's
stop right there. Stop right there, just a second.
I said to you in the beginning that the blessings that the carnal
heart desires are just temporal blessings. And these blessings
are fulfilled in Christ Jesus the Lord. He's the one to whom
this blessing has to do. He's the one in whom all this
blessing is going to be fulfilled. This is the blessing that God
gave to Abraham when he said, in thy seed, all the nations
of the earth shall be blessed. That seeds Christ, Paul tells
us in Galatians 3.15. He didn't say seeds as of many,
but in thy seed, in Christ. Jacob is the one all this blessing
is going to come through because Christ is going to be born of
Jacob's lineage. And so these things have to do
with spiritual blessings. Now, here comes a trial for Isaac. Here comes a trial for Isaac.
As far as he knows, he's blessed his son Esau. As far as he knows,
his will's been done. He's blessed his son of his choice,
Esau. But now let's see what happens.
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 savory 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? 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 to me? And I have eaten of all before
thou camest, and have blessed him." I wonder what the Spirit of the
Lord revealed in Isaac's heart at this moment right here. Isaac
has to know something of God's will. Jacob is going to receive
the blessing. Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. And Isaac
knows His will was contrary to God's will. He loved Esau and
hated Jacob. And even after his son Esau rebelled
like he did, Isaac was still determined to give that boy this
blessing because, not unmerited favor, merited favor, because
of something in that boy. And perhaps he remembered his
dad's story, Abraham's story, who told him over and over, son,
you were born by promise as a child raised from the dead. That's
how God's people are raised up, son, in Christ Jesus the Lord. Not by man's strength, not by
man's works, but by God's mercy and grace. That's how sinners
are saved. Perhaps he remembered his father's
words as they walked up Mount Moriah. And he said, Father,
here's the wood and here's the fire. Where's the lamb? And Abraham
said, My son, God will provide Himself a lamb. God's going to
move everything according to His sovereign, eternal purpose.
And He's going to provide Himself a lamb. And perhaps he thought
about that shiny blade on that knife when Abraham drew back
and was about to pierce him through the heart. And Isaac is bound
to that altar and he looks over and he sees that ram caught in
the thicket. And beholds God providing Himself
a lamb. And that lamb dying in His room
and His stead on that altar that He might go free. And perhaps he heard the Lord's
words echoing in his ears Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I
hated." And perhaps he saw his own rebellion against God in
the trickery of his son Jacob and how his son Jacob had just
tricked him. The despised son Jacob came in
the name of Isaac's well-beloved son Esau. Just as sinners come
in the name of God's well-beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and
no other way. No other way to find acceptance
with Him. Jacob came with the covering of Isaac's beloved son,
Esau. Just as sinners come with the
covering of Christ Jesus, the Lord our righteousness. Jacob
smelled like Isaac's choice son. When Isaac smelled him, he smelled
like the field. Just as sinners, when they come
in Christ, are a sweet-smelling savor unto God because of His
offering and what He did. And Jacob came to Isaac with
that savory meat. That savory meat that was that
choice meal of his father. That choice offering that his
father desired. That Isaac desired. Just as sinners
come to God, with Christ, our one offering. He's the only thing
we have to offer God. But that's the only thing God
will have offered to Him, is the Lord Jesus Christ. And in
God freely loving Jacob, now Isaac beholds how God had freely
loved him. Isaac beholds that in spite of
my will, in spite of what I want, in spite of what I've desired
to bless my son Esau, God's will is going to be done. And Isaac
beholds, I don't want it to be done any other way because I'm
just like my son Jacob. I'm just like my son Jacob. I'm
a supplanter. I'm a trickster. And I don't
know if he said it loudly or if it was just a whisper of thankful
amazement, but as he trembled exceedingly there, look there
in verse 33. He said, I've blessed him. Yes. and he shall be blessed." By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob
and Esau concerning things to come. This is his son Esau that he
loves. And he's blessed Jacob. And he
says, and I'm not going back on it, he has the blessing. God has brought it to pass so
that the one He determined to have the blessing has the blessing
and He shall be blessed. But His trial is not over. Isaac,
do you really love Me? Do you really see that My love
for you is not based on anything in you, Isaac? that my passing
by whomsoever I will is of my sovereign right and purpose according
to election? Do you see that in spite of Rebekah's
rebellion, in spite of Jacob's rebellion, yea, in spite of your
own unbelief, that my will shall be done? You behold that, Isaac?
Will you bow to me even at the expense of that son that you
loved, that was your choice? Will you bow to my will even
though it means passing by him? Let's see about that. Verse 34,
And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with
a great and exceeding bitter cry. This boy is over 40 years
old. This is a grown man. And he cries
with a bitter and exceeding cry at his father. And he says, Bless
me! Me also, O my father! And Isaac
said, Thy brother came with subtlety and hath taken away thy blessing.
And Esau said, It is not he rightly named Jacob, for he hath supplanted
me these two times. He took away my birthright. Behold,
now he has taken away my blessing." You see the difference between
Esau and Isaac? When Isaac discovered that he
had been tricked and fooled by this thing, he didn't call for
Rebekah and Jacob. and raise a fuss and get all
upset and say, now let's straighten this thing out like Esau would
have had him do. Esau said, he's a supplanter,
dad. Don't you see he's a trickster?
He don't deserve what you've given him. I do. I deserve it. I deserve it. And Isaac said, 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 I have given to him for servants. And with corn and
wine have I sustained him, and what shall I do now unto thee,
my son?" He's got it all. He's got all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus the Lord. I don't have
anything to give you, son. And Esau thinks about that a
minute. Esau says, Passed out but one blessing,
my father. It don't have to be all that.
I don't need all that. You got something you can give
me? Give me something I can use right now. You got something
I can have right now? Because his heart was set on carnal things.
His heart wasn't set on things above. Bless me, even me also, oh my
father. And Esau lifted up his voice
and wept, wept. He's going to turn his father's
heart if he can. But he couldn't change his heart.
He couldn't change Isaac's heart. And Isaac says, now I'm going
to bless you, son. I'm going to give you something.
But it's not according to what I was determined to give you.
It's according to God's will. I'm going to give you what God's
determined for you to have now. And Isaac, his father, answered
and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness
of the earth and of the dew 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, which he did in years
to come. But Esau was content with what
he received, just as every carnal sinner is satisfied so long as
he has plenty of this world. He was angry not because he didn't
receive the substance of the blessing that Jacob had, that
spiritual substance. He was angry and jealous because
Jacob was blessed and he wasn't. You see, the carnal heart, when
they cry unfair and unrighteousness to God for choosing Jacob and
passing by Esau, for choosing whom he will and passing by others,
it's not that the carnal man wants the substance of God's
blessing. It's that they just want to be
chosen. And that can't be. Carnal man
wants a God that is like a lucky rabbit's foot that he can just
rub when he needs Him. Like salt he can throw over his
shoulder. Like candles on a birthday cake where he can make a wish
when he wants something. Temporal. Carnal. The spiritual
man that's born of God wants Christ. He wants Christ. He wants the substance. He wants
to be with his Lord. Esau didn't care about that.
But Isaac, let's get back here to Isaac. The Lord, sovereign
Lord of glory, blesses His children like He blessed Isaac. And here's
the blessing. It's not temporal things. It's
not carnal things. It's spiritual blessings. He
blessed Isaac with faith. He gave Isaac faith. And in all
this patent place of self-will in Isaac's household, everything
that took place here, Isaac's brought to see God and to behold
Him. And he said, I'm not going back on this thing. He submitted
himself to God, even when it meant turning his back on one
of his sons. He said, I can't help it. I've
got to follow God. That's what God's going to cause
every sinner that he chooses to save. That's what he's going
to cause us to do. We're going to take sides with God against
ourselves. against our personal wants, our
personal desires, against whatever appears in this world by carnal
reasoning to be the way, He's going to make us turn from that.
And He's going to make us deny our own flesh as much as Isaac
denied his own son Esau. Because He's going to have us
follow Him. What did the Lord Jesus say? If a man doesn't leave
father or mother, if he loves father or mother more than me,
he's not worthy of me. If he loves son or daughter more
than me, he's not worthy of me. The Lord will have our heart,
all of it, or He won't have any of it. We're going to come to
Him by faith. And the Scripture says, by faith,
Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. This
is the heart that Job was given when after all his substance
was taken away, his house, his children, his health, he said,
Behold, He taketh away, who can hinder him? Who shall say unto
him, What doest thou? What did Eli say? It's the Lord.
Let him do what seemeth him good. That's what Isaac said. Let me
give you an application here. Sometimes we don't feel as though
we have blessings, that we've been blessed. But mark it down,
the next time we feel that way, if we examine ourselves in God's
light, We'll find that we feel that way in times when we don't
have some temporal, carnal thing that we long for. Or when some
carnal, temporal thing that we want has been taken from us.
That just may be our greatest blessing. The blessing itself and the enjoyment
of the blessing is in seeking those things which are above.
in seeking Christ Jesus the Lord. That's where the blessing is.
When we come into trials, because of our flesh and our spirit,
we war within ourselves. But the blessing is when God
gives us faith to behold the Lamb. To behold His choice. His choice Son. And to behold
that His will is going to be done in glorifying His Son. And
when we can behold Him by faith, whatever it is that we're going
through, whatever trial it is we have, do you think this was
a trial for Isaac? When he sat there and beheld
what he had done himself and that Jacob really received this
blessing and he was not going to give this, that was a trial
for him. But when we see a trial and it comes to us this huge
giant oak that just is too massive for us to overcome, When God
brings us to the end of the trial and truly blesses us with spiritual
blessings, with faith to behold Him and repentance to turn from
our own way to Him, we behold that that oak tree was nothing
but a little toothpick is all it was. It had very little to
do with what we needed or didn't need. It's just something God
uses and when He's done with it, He'll flick it out of the
way. But the blessing is to bring us to His feet to behold Him.
That's it, every single time. And let me show you the amazing
thing about this. The amazing thing about this.
When He does it, we realize we don't have faith. We can't produce
faith. We can't keep faith. And if it was left up to us,
we'd bypass faith if we could get out from under whatever the
trial is and get that temporary thing that we really want for
ourselves. We'd pass it up every time. But He won't let us. He
won't let us. He's given us the gift of faith
and He strengthens us. And everything He did here for
Isaac, was Him strengthening Isaac's faith to behold Him.
And Isaac believed Him. And when it was all said and
done, the Lord said, Now, Hebrew writer, you go in My Word and
you write down these words. This is the most amazing thing.
I keep telling this to you every time we're going through this
11th chapter of Hebrews. We keep seeing the faithfulness
of God. And every time that God brings
us to this place, we don't start going, oh, I have great faith.
Oh boy, my faith's good. And all this hoopty-doo that
people talk about their faith. We say, behold His faithfulness.
And the amazing thing is though, as our Lord says, now Hebrew
writer, write down, by faith, Isaac. blessed Jacob and Esau
concerning things to come. Look at the faith of my son.
Look at the faith of my son. He did it. My son Isaac, believe
me. You see the blessing in that? God did it all. But he said,
Isaac believed me. He trusted me. That's true faith. True faith looks outside of itself. True faith looks at its object
and says don't look at me. Don't look at me. Look at Him.
Look at Him. I am what I am by the grace of
God. Look at Him.