Genesis chapter 27. And the title of the message this
morning is The Blessing in Disguise. The Blessing in Disguise. And
we have here the deception of Rebekah and Jacob in disguising
Jacob as Esau in order to receive the blessing. Now, we have here
the history of this deception written in Holy Scripture the
deception of Rebekah and Jacob to steal the blessing that belonged
to the firstborn, to Esau. Now remember, before these two
children were born, Rebekah was given a covenant promise of God. that according to this sovereign
election of God, God said, I have loved Jacob and hated Esau. This is it. Go back to Genesis
25 and read this with me. In verse 23, the Lord said unto
Rebekah, Two nations are in thy womb. Two manner of people shall
be separated from thy bowels. The one people shall be stronger
than the other." And listen, "...and the elder shall serve
the younger." Now we know this speaks of the election of God
even because the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 9 reveals this. Go over to Romans chapter 9 and
see this. The Apostle Paul uses this very
Scripture to prove the election of God, the sovereign election
of God. Romans chapter 9 and verse 10. And not only this, but when Rebekah
had conceived by one even our father Isaac for 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 is said unto her, The elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated." So in these two men, in these
two men are two peoples, two distinct and separate peoples,
those chosen and loved of God from eternity and those who are
hated of God and left to themselves. Now Jacob pictures to us the
whole church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.
These are the saints of God, the sheep of Christ, given to
him by the Father. It was for these elect people
that Christ came into the world. It was for Jacob, for his church,
for his people, he came to give his life a ransom. It was for
them alone He died and rose again, and it is for them alone the
Spirit of God comes and quickens to life and faith in Christ,
only for the elect. Do you not see that Jesus Christ,
when He came into the world, He was destined for victory? The Scripture says in Isaiah
42, He shall not fail nor be discouraged. In Matthew chapter 1 and verse
21, it says, Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sins. These people, like Jacob, will
have an interest in Christ. Now, as Jacob, he desired, as
you could read this account all the way through, Jacob had an
interest in the birthright. in the birthright. You remember
the birthright was that in Abraham, Abraham was given the promise
that in Isaac shall thy seed be called. In Isaac or through
the seed of Isaac should Christ come. And so Jacob was taught
this from his youth, that Christ should come by the seed of Isaac.
But now then, look, there were two that came from the seed of
Isaac. So which one? God said the younger will be
the one. God chose Jacob. And so Jacob
had an interest in the birthright. And listen, only the elect will
have an interest in Christ. Only the elect will have an interest
in Christ. But Esau, he pictures the other
half. He pictures all those men not
chosen of God, but left to their own lusts and desires, which
by nature are sinful and rebellious. You know, Scripture says this
about man. The Scripture says that the carnal
mind is enmity, is hatred against God. And here's the proof. It is not subject to the law
of God. Neither indeed can be. No matter
how hard you try, you can never and you do not desire to obey
the law of God. That's natural. That's natural
for all of us. No man by nature desires to obey
God. Not one of us. The Scripture
says, "...the natural man receiveth not the things of God, for they
are foolishness to him." Is this word foolish to you? Well, that's
just because you're natural. It's natural for this word to
be foolish. And you know what? No matter how hard you try, you
cannot receive this word except God give it to you. You can't. You can't receive it because
you're spiritually judged, condemned. As Esau was a man of the earth,
a man who despised his birthright, even so men by nature, evil men
of perdition, despised the gospel of Christ. These wicked men,
God has given the law into their hearts. You know what? Everybody
in here has the law of God written in his heart. You know how you
know that? Because when you do evil, your conscience bothers
you. Isn't that evident? Look around
you. God has given this world as proof
of His power and His majesty and His deity. So that every one of us is without
excuse. You have no excuse. God's given
His law to you. God's given to you a picture
of His power and deity. And yet because you are spiritually
dead, you will not and cannot come to God by Christ. Therefore,
For these wicked men that God hates, when God says, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. You know what God does to everyone
he hates? He leaves you alone. Gives you what you want. You
know what you want by nature? You don't want God. And you know
what? All he has to do is just give
you what you want. If God hates you, you'll die in your sins. And you know what? You are willing,
you're willing to go to hell. You want, you want to go there
because you don't want anything to do with God. And listen, if God had not made
an election of grace, if God had not chosen some to save,
none of us would be saved. Isaiah tells us that. He said,
if God had not left a remnant, we should all be as Sodom and
Gomorrah. We'd all be like that. That's
what we are by nature. So Jacob, in this book, in this
type, is a picture of the elect of God. He is a picture of the
chosen of God, the loved of God. Those who receive the birthright
and the blessing of God. And yet notice, this was promised
to Rebekah as I just read to you, that the elder shall serve
the younger. But I want you to see that everything, every experience
went against the promise. Every experience went against
the promise. Look at chapter 25 and verse 28. She had the children, they started
growing, and look what happens. And Isaac loved who? Esau. He loved Esau. Why? Because he did eat the venison. But Rebekah loved Jacob. Now, Isaac knew of this promise. Isaac knew that the elder should
serve the younger. And yet, listen, Isaac rebelled
against God and loved Esau. More than Jacob. He did it for his own appetite. Because Esau could give him the
venison he loved, he loved Esau and rejected God's purpose. And we see this in our text most
clearly that when he was about to die, who was he determined
to bless? Even at his deathbed, Isaac was
still rebellious against God's purpose and he was determined
to bless Esau. He was determined to do it. Therefore,
Rebekah, in love for Jacob, was in league with him to help fulfill
God's promise. Now, Jacob, in verses 29 through 34,
he buys the birthright. He buys it for a bowl of soup.
In other words, you see how much Esau hated Christ. Esau hated
Christ and he had birthright so much that he would rather
have a bowl of soup than to have Christ. And therefore, again, now Rebekah,
just like Jacob, is trying to help God fulfill His promise. She starts planning. She hears
that He's going to bless Esau. And what does she do? She goes
and makes a deceptive plan in order to help God. She tries to help God out. And so she gets Jacob involved
in this plan and they say, well, okay, well, let's make this soup
out of some goats and we'll cover you up to look like Esau so you
get the blessing. I pray God teach us this. If
you're a believer in Christ, listen to this. God don't need
your help. Matter of fact, they did this
and truly God blessed it. God did bless it. But I promise
this, they suffered because of it. After this, Jacob had to
run for his life. Rebekah never saw her son again
this side of heaven. And Jacob had to work for that
wicked man Laban for 20 years, married a wife that he didn't
even love. Why? Because of his deception. So
God did not excuse their sin even though He used it. He didn't
excuse it. I know many believers who sin
openly against God and say, well, you know, I'm doing it for God.
Liar. That's just all you can say.
That's a liar. If you're in open rebellion against God, you're
doing it for yourself. And I tell you, God may, in spite of you,
bless it, but you're not going to escape the consequence of
it, so don't think that you will. They didn't escape the consequence
of this, even though God used it. Now, I'm going to show you
how God uses it. Okay? God uses this as a picture of
how He saves His people. This deception is a picture of
how God saves His people. Now Jacob, by birth, being the
second born, had no right to the blessing. By nature, he had
no right to the blessing. He was the secondborn. Only the
firstborn had a right to the blessing. Listen, is that not
a picture of us? By nature, we have no right to
the blessing. We have no right to the blessing
of God. By nature, we have no right. But when Jacob What Jacob did
in this deception, God does in true holiness for his elect people. God is pictured to us by Isaac
in this, who desires upon his death the appetite of venison. Look at that. Go to that first
verse there. And Isaac's old and he's blind
and he tells his son to go on out and kill the venison. He said, take your bow, take
your weapons and go out to the field and get me that deer meat
that I love so much and bring it to me and then I'll bless
you. Listen, even so does God before
the blessing require that his justice be satisfied. Nothing can satisfy the justice
of God but the death of the guilty. Nothing. The soul that sinneth,
it shall surely die. Sinners see that God's justice
and anger are slow, but they're sure. They're sure. God who is
holy cannot and will not excuse sin. I want to make that very
plain. God will not excuse sin. God
cannot excuse sin. God is holy. And I'll tell you this, as Isaac
sent out his eldest son to kill that unclean animal, I'll tell
you this, God will one day send out His Son to take vengeance
on His enemies. One day Jesus Christ will come
again. And when He comes again, He won't
come in mercy. He'll come in vengeance. He'll
come in judgment. And God will destroy all of His
enemies. I remember that verse in Revelation,
I think it's six. It says that they hid themselves
from the wrath of the Lamb. The wrath of the Lamb. They hid
themselves. It is Christ, the Lamb of God,
who will come the second time in holy vengeance. And yet this
message of justice When I tell you God will come in vengeance,
you know what that message will do? Without the Holy Spirit,
it'll do nothing. Threat of punishment, because
it is slow to be executed, only hardens sinners. You know that? That's what it says in Ecclesiastes
chapter 8. It said that because the evil
sentence is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts of men are
fully set to do evil. But listen, I'm like a watchman,
and I'm here to just tell you the warning. I'm here to... I want my hands to be clean of
your blood. Listen to me, God is coming in
holy vengeance against sin. And He will punish every guilty
sinner. The arrows of God are sharp in
the heart of the king's enemies. The sword of God's justice is
sharp and ready to fall on all who have not fled to Christ for
refuge. But seeing Jacob was also a sinner
like Esau, seeing all the elect are sinners as well as all of
those that are not, where then is the hope? Scriptures are clear. All have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is none righteous. No,
not one. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. They are altogether become
unprofitable. There is none that doeth good.
No, not one. Not one. Isaiah said this, he said, from
the sole of your foot to the crown of your head are nothing
but wounds and bruises and pussy sores. He said that's all you
are by nature, it's full of sin. Full of sin. How then should Jacob, the deceiver,
the sinner, receive the blessing? How shall the elect, who by nature
are sinners, be accepted with God? Well, herein is the gospel. Look at this. And Rebecca, she
told Jacob this, and then in verse 8 she says, Now therefore,
my son, obey my voice, according to that which I command thee.
Here's the gospel. Here's how it is that Jacob should
be blessed. Go now to the flock and fetch
me from thence two good kids of the goats, and I will make
the 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. Behold, here is the picture in
these two goats of both the death and the righteousness of Christ.
the death and the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The first goat
was killed to make the savory meat, to satisfy Isaac. Even so, the only thing that
satisfies the justice of God for the sins of Jacob is the
death of Jesus Christ. This is the only thing God will
accept, is the death of His Son. I'll tell you this, I have no desire to approach God
in my own righteousness. I have no desire to take my sacrifices
and good works and try to bring them to God. Because all they deserve is hell. Except our sins be paid, except
God's justice be satisfied with the offering of Christ, we cannot
be accepted of God. Therefore, for Jacob, for his
elect, Christ was taken from among the flock. He was made
flesh. He was taken from among men because
by man sin came. Even so, by man must sin be punished. Must righteousness come. And
Jesus Christ was made flesh by the will of the Father. Why did
the Son of God become flesh? Why was that necessary? Because God could not die. He must be made a man so that
He could die in the place of sinners. In the stead, in the
room of sinners. Behold, Christ was made of a
woman, the Scripture said, made under the curse of the law, made
under the law, that He should redeem us from the curse of the
law. How? By being made a curse. By being made a curse for us.
By bearing our sins in His own body on the tree. When Christ
died, He didn't die as a normal death. Matter of fact, he died
a supernatural death in that he bare our iniquities and suffered
under the vengeance of God. It was not the nails that caused
his pain, it was the vengeance of God upon his very soul for
our sins. He suffered, he bled, he died
so that the justice of God should be satisfied. Therefore, because he was taken
from among men, he is a faithful high priest that offered himself
to God without spot and without blemish in the stead of his people. Now notice Jacob's objection
to this. In verse 11, Jacob, he said this,
Behold, Esau, my brother, is a hairy man, and I'm a smooth
man. If my father feel me, and I shall seem to be to him as
a deceiver, and I shall be a curse upon him, and not a blessing. Jacob says, you know, there's
a difference between me and him. How is the death of this animal
going to satisfy God? How is the death of Christ going
to satisfy God? I'm guilty. How is it possible? How can I, a deceiver, a sinner,
a rebel, be accepted by the sacrifice of another? How can the unjust, the guilty,
be justified and accepted? Notice the answer Rebecca gives.
She says in verse 13, upon me, Be thy curse, my son." Do you not see these are the
words of the Lord Jesus Christ to every sinner who comes to
Him guilty? He says, I bore the curse. Yes, you are a sinner, you are
a deceiver, yet I bore that in my own body on the tree. I was
made a curse. See that God is not unjust to
pardon His people even because sin has been paid. In fact, justice
is satisfied. You know, most people think that
God loves at the expense of His justice. That God somehow sets
aside His justice, He puts it over here, and He doesn't look
at it, and He says, Oh, I just love you. I just love you unconditionally
without any merit. No! God never sets aside his
justice for his mercy. You and I do that all the time.
We're offended, and yet we can say, eh, I can love you anyway. God's not like you and me. God,
in order to have mercy, justice first must be satisfied. And
I tell you, the only reason he can have mercy is because justice
was satisfied. When Jesus Christ died, He said,
it is finished. God's satisfied. Scripture says,
by His one offering, He hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified. By His one offering, He put away
sin forever by the sacrifice of Himself. But there is a difference. See,
then, there's a difference. Jacob said, he said, my brother's
a hairy man and I'm a smooth man. And I'll tell you this,
there is a difference between us and Christ, isn't there? To
be a smooth man in our day, I guess people like that, that's a good
thing. You know, people like the smooth...
Back in this day, it was a shame. If a man didn't have a beard,
he was really ashamed to not have one. It was a symbol of
authority. It was a symbol of reverence
to have hair. And so in this, Jacob is a picture
saying, look, Christ is full of righteousness. But I myself
am full of sin and shame. And this is what the second goat
was for. The second goat was to picture
the imputed and imparted righteousness of Christ. Look at this. In verse 14, he went and fetched
it, and he brought the kids, the goats, and she made the meat,
and Rebekah took the goodly raiment of Esau that was in the house
and put it on Jacob, her younger son. And she put the skins of
the kids of the goats on his hand and his neck. She skinned
that goat and put it on his hands so he would feel like his eldest
brother. So, when he went in and Jacob
were said to come here, let me touch you, when he touched, he
would feel the hair like his eldest brother. And so, in order for Jacob to
be blessed, he must be as his eldest brother. And so, Jacob
goes in to his father, in verse 17, he goes in, and his father
asks, who are you? And he said, I'm Esau. I've done
what you told me to do. I made this soup for you. Now
bless me. Sinner, let us see that we, if
we should ever be loved and blessed and accepted of God, you must
be as righteous as your eldest brother. You must be as righteous
as Christ. His righteousness must be your
own righteousness. You see, Jesus was not a sacrifice
in general, but rather a specific sacrifice. That goat was not
sacrificed for anybody else but Jacob. That goat was not placed
on anyone's skin except Jacob's skin. And I tell you, Jesus Christ,
when He died, He died for His people, and His righteousness
is specifically for them. It is there to cover their sins. He is their representative man. Therefore, all He has done for
us in the flesh is accounted by God as our own. All of us who believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, His righteousness is ours. Because he was my representative
man, everything he did became mine. It was mine. Every good
action, every good thought, every righteous deed he performed is
my righteous deed in the eyes of God. You know, in Jeremiah 23, you
know what the Lord's name is called? The Lord, His name shall
be called the Lord our righteousness. And in Jeremiah 33, we read what
the church is called. And her name shall be called
the Lord our righteousness. You see, we have the same name
as His, even because we have the same righteousness as His. You see, I, as Jacob, only desire
to be found in the very skin of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Jacob's answer to his father
was this. His father said, how did you
do this? He said, how did you do this so quickly, my son? In
verse 20, and this is my answer, is the same as Jacob's. Believer's
answer is the same as Jacob's. Because the Lord thy God brought
it to me. How in the world can you and
I claim to be as righteous as the Son of God? I'll tell you
how. The Lord thy God brought it to me. He gave it to me. He imputed it to me and He imparted
it to me in the new nature. Behold, this is the experience
of grace in every child of God. We did not seek God, He sought
us. He found us in the wilderness
of our sins and the Holy Spirit in power gave us a new heart
to see our sin and need of Christ. I tell you, if you ever see your
need of Christ, because the Holy Spirit gave you it. If you ever
believe in Christ, and listen to this, God is sovereign. God is sovereign. God has already
chose His people from before the foundation of the world.
Christ has already died for those people. And yet the Scriptures
are just as clear, you are responsible to believe on the Son of God.
Now, if you don't believe on the Son of God, that's your fault.
and you'll die in your sins. But if you ever believe on the
Son of God, that's God's fault. If you ever believe on the Son
of God, because God brought faith to you. God gave it to you. Where then is boasting? It is
excluded. Who among the sons of God have
any room to boast? Who? Who maketh thee to differ
from another? Or what hast thou thous not received? And if you've received it, why
do you boast as though you haven't? There's no boasting here. I am
made in the very image of Christ because God willed it so. And
there's no other reason. There's no other reason. And
in verse 21, look at this. He said, draw near. Isaac said
to Jacob, come near. I pray thee that I may feel thee.
my son, whether or not you are my very son, Esau." Listen, God cannot and will not
bless a fake son. Now you fake being a son of God
all you want to. God's not fooled, okay? You may fool me or somebody else,
but you won't fool Him. He won't bless a fake son. For God only desires and is pleased
with those who are in His Son. If you are His Son, indeed, you
must be in His Son. You must be in union with Christ. Jesus, God said, this is my beloved
Son in whom, not with whom, in whom I am well pleased. And I
tell you, if you are ever pleasing to God, you must be in Christ
in order to be pleasing to God. See that all who believe on Christ
are in Christ. He is the head and we are His
body. That's how much in union I am
with the Son of God. We are one in Him. And therefore, we who come to
God, we who are drawn of God, seek only to be found and robed
in His righteousness. I don't want to appear before
God in any other way. Do you? How will you appear before
God? In whose righteousness shall
you appear before God? Make no mistake, you will appear
before God. In whose righteousness will you
appear? Yours? Oh, no. Not mine. I have none. I have
none. Therefore, we who approach unto
God are seen only in Christ. Therefore, we who are in Christ
draw near. Draw near unto God with a full
heart of assurance. Why? Because Christ has washed
away thy sins. Because Christ has robed you
in His righteousness. And the Father is well pleased
with you who are in Christ. John said this, Herein is love
made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment.
Believer, when the day of judgment comes, that won't be any fear
for us. Won't be any fear. And I'll tell you, we should
not even fear now. I know you do. But you shouldn't. Why is that? Because as He is,
so are we in this present world. How is He? How is Christ? Well, He's righteous. So am I
in this present world. How is He? Glorified! Wow, so
am I in Him in this present world. He is accepted and so am I in
Him. See that the very skin of Christ
is upon us. the very skin of Christ, so that
when God feels after me, you know what He feels? He feels
His Son. So when I embrace my God and
my Father, He may embrace me and say, My Son, My Son. But there is a difference. Notice
this in verse 22, "...And Jacob went near to his father, and
he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands
are Esau's hands." See here, there's a picture here of the
dual nature of the believer. He has been given the righteousness
of Christ in the inner man, yet he still has the old man strung
about his neck like a rotten corpse hanging off of him. He
has the old flesh that still drags upon him, that brings him
down, that casts his thoughts downward, but yet he has a new
man that looks to God, that looks to Christ at all times by faith. There is a struggle in his very
breast that despises his sin and his nature and yet clings
to God in Christ. Is that you? That's me. I know that's me. It's Jacob's voice, yet it's
Esau's hand. I have Christ's righteousness,
yet I still have Jacob's voice. I still have Jacob's voice. The
dual nature of man that is in us as believers in Christ. And
yet notice this. Even at this, so He blessed him. Even in spite of this, He blessed
him. Why? Because it was God's purpose
and will. Because Christ had bought us
and paid for us Because Christ robes us in His righteousness,
God can do nothing but bless us. Bless us. So then the question comes, are
you my very son? Are you Jacob? Have you come to God in the very
skin of Christ, by the very blood of Christ, and forsaken all else? If you don't, that's your fault. If you do, to God be the glory. Great things He hath done. He blessed him. And I say with
Jacob, I am your very son. I am your very son. And as Isaac ate the meat, he
blessed him. And you know what? He said, come
near and kiss me. There is nothing I would rather
do than kiss the face of my God. and Savior. There's nothing in
my heart that I want to do except feel His embrace in my heart. He is everything to me. He is
my blessing. To be in Christ there is no greater
blessing because in Christ we are accepted
of God. destined for eternal life and
glory. And even though we struggle in
this flesh, we have this hope. One day, we shall appear and
be like Him. For we shall see Him as He is. I pray that God would bless this.
My heart's desire and prayer is that You are Son of God. That you would believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. And if you do, you should give
all the glory to God. Because He alone makes us sons.