Hebrews 11, this one verse will
be our text. Hebrews 11 verse 20. By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob
and Esau concerning things to come. Now, there are so many pictures
of the gospel, the truth and the gospel in the story of these
two boys, Jacob and Esau. There are so many pictures. As
you look at their entire story, every detail of it deserves its
own message. There are subject matters that
we see so clearly. And each of them deserve their
own message. But rather than doing that this
morning, I want us to take a look at each of these pictures, each
of these details and see our Savior in it. And I pray the
Lord will reveal his truth and his gospel through this, through
this entire story. Now, we're going to start at
the beginning when these boys were in the womb. before they
were ever even born. Go with me if you would over
to Genesis 25. Genesis 25 verse 19 says, And these are the generations
of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac
was 40 years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter
of Bethuel, the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
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. The first thing that we see in
these two boys is the inward struggle that goes on inside
a believer. Inside a child of God, sin reigns
in every human being. Right now, every soul on this
earth, sin reigns. And what that means is sin is
king. Sin rules, sin dictates, and
sin is happy in everybody. Sin loves where it lives. Even
in religion, sin just loves the pride. Sin feeds on pride. Sin feeds on self. Everything
that's self loves it. Sin is extremely happy until
God takes out the heart of stone and puts in a heart of flesh. A new heart. One that loves God
and hates sin. That's what happens. It's called
the new man. Once that new man enters the
child of God, war breaks out. As soon as God does that war
breaks out between evil and good. Sin and righteousness, wickedness
and holiness. You can read Romans seven. And
it's a great depiction of a believer, you can read Galatians five and
see this inner struggle. Between this new man and this
old man. Every child of God can relate to this question that
Rebecca asked. Every single child of God. Every
believer who experiences this war will be brought to the place
where that believer says the exact same thing, if it be so. And I'm talking about believers,
God's true people, they will be brought to the place where
they say, if it be so, if I'm a child of God. If I belong to him, if he has
redeemed me, if he has called me to himself, if I'm saved,
why am I thus? Why am I still like I am? If it be so, then why am I still
like I am? Why does sin still so easily
well up inside me? she went to inquire of the Lord.
And every believer who does will hear through his word the exact
same answer from the Lord. Verse 23, 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. One is going to win. Which one? Verse 23 says, the elder shall
serve the younger, that old man, the one who was there first,
the one that loves sin and the one that loves self, he won't
win. He won't win. He is going to
serve that new man, the one that God creates in the center, the
brand new man, which is Christ. Christ in us. In the end, love
and righteousness and holiness will reign and the reason is
because Christ reigns. Christ reigns in his people.
So the first thing we see in these two boys is the two different
natures that are inside a child of God. The struggle that takes
place between them. The next thing that we see in
Jacob and Esau is God's sovereignty. God's sovereignty. Sovereign
means ruler. It means controller. It means
owner. It means the absolute authority. It means no one and nothing is
higher. God is the Sovereign. He does what He wants to. That's
what it means. He does what He wants to. With whoever He wants to. God
Almighty is God Almighty. God Almighty is God Almighty. Everything is in His hands. Everything is in his hand. Life
is in his hand. Death is in his hand. He saves
who he wants to, and he passes by whoever he wants to. He calls that in his own word
right here, his election. God sovereignly chooses to save
whoever He wants to save. What is the deal with salvation? What is the truth of salvation? How does this work? Here's the
answer. God Almighty is God Almighty. He was, is, always will be. He created us. He owns us. We belong to Him. He chooses as he will whom he
will save. He elects his people. He starts
the work, he finishes the work. That's the truth of salvation.
Well, what must I do? Bow to the sovereign God. We clearly see this in Jacob
and Esau. If we see it anywhere, we see
it in Jacob and Esau. Turn with me if you would to
Malachi chapter 1. Last book in the Old Testament. Malachi chapter 1. Malachi said in chapter 1 verse
1, the burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet you say, wherein hast thou
loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother,
saith the Lord? Yet I loved Jacob. And I hated Esau and laid his
mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness."
God said to his people, I've loved you. I've loved you. They said, why have you loved
us? He said, because I'm God and that's what I chose to do.
That's why. In the same way that I chose
to love Jacob and hate Esau, I've extended sovereign love
to you. I've extended sovereign grace,
sovereign mercy to you. Go with me over to Romans chapter
9. Romans chapter 9 verse 6 says,
Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect, for they
are not all Israel which are of Israel. Not every Israelite
has been chosen. Verse 7, Neither because they
are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall
thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God. But the children
of the promise are counted for the seed. The children of the
promise. What he's saying is God chose
a people. God chose to make a promise to
a particular people. Verse 10 says, And not only this,
but when Rebekah also had conceived by one, even by 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 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 will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth. Man does not have a free will.
The only being on this earth that has a free will is God Almighty. Man has a will, but it's bound
to sin. And that's what men and women
ought to put on their building. Bound will Baptist Church. That's what it is. Bound to sin. So it says in verse 16, it's
not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
that showeth mercy. What that means is the God is
the God. The God is the God. It means
the God is our God. He's going to do with us whatever
it pleases Him to do with us. And He said, it pleased me to
choose Jacob and reject Esau. It pleased me to choose one and
pass by another. Now, do we reply against this? Do we say, now wait a minute.
God forbid. God forbid. Verse 20. Nay, but,
O man, who art thou that replyest against God? Shall the thing
formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus?
God forbid. This is a sovereign God we're
dealing with. And we clearly, clearly see that
in the story of Jacob and Esau. Go with me back to Genesis 25. Genesis 25 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, and his name was
called Jacob. 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." Now that
verse right there, verse 28, makes it sound like Esau was
Isaac's son. And Jacob was Rebecca's son,
and they were both pulling for their own. You know, this one's
mine and that one's yours, and I want mine and you want yours.
That's not the case. That's not the case. Esau was
Rebecca's son, too. This woman was a believer with
natural affection. That was her firstborn. That
was her son. Not only did she love Esau, she
believed God. That's the key. She believed
God. God said to her, the elder shall
serve the younger. That's what God told her. The
elder is going to serve the younger and she believed God. That is
what God's Holy Spirit does. He believes God. When God's spirit
comes to a center, he brings faith and he causes that center
to believe God. In this story right here, Rebecca
represents God's Holy Spirit. That's who she is in the spiritual
story we're looking at. She represents the work of God's
Holy Spirit, which is called predestination. It's a wonderful work. It is
a wonderful work, and we'll see it here in just a second. Verse
29 says. And Jacob sod pottage, he made
some pottage and Esau came from the field and he was faint, he
was starving. 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, that means red. And Jacob said, sell me this
day thy birthright. Esau said, I want that pottage. And Jacob said, I want that birthright. I have to have that birthright. I have to have the birthright.
Now, we naturally think of this birthright as receiving all of
Isaac's money. And all of Isaac's cattle and
all of Isaac's servants and being named the head of the family,
the patriarch of the family, and all of that happened. All
of that happened, but this birthright here. Means so much more than
that. It meant so much more than that.
God told Abraham that the blessing was going to come through his
seed. That's what God told Abraham.
The blessing is going to come through your seed. And Galatians
3 verse 16 tells us that that seed is Christ. He didn't say seeds as of many. But he said seed as of one, which
is Christ. That's what Galatians 3.16 tells
us. And God told Abraham that that
seed was not going to come through Ishmael. It's going to come through
Isaac. And Abraham told Isaac this. Well, now Isaac has two boys.
And Isaac has told them the same thing, especially Esau. Son, it has to be you. You're
the firstborn. Now, let me explain, son, what
God said. This is what was preached to
me, and I'm going to preach it to you. I'm going to tell it
to you, son, listen. This birthright represents the
line to the blessing of God. God said there's going to be
a direct line to the blessing. This birthright represents the
family of God. Being in the family of God. This birthright represents union
with Christ. This birthright represents being
one of his people, being called one of his people. And Esau said,
I could care less. I really honestly could care
less. That means nothing to me. Nothing. You don't understand. This is life eternal. Union with
Christ. I could care less. I could care
less. It's more important to me to
be identified with that bowl of soup than to be identified
with Christ. And Esau is. He's identified
with that bowl of soup. That is more important to me
than everything you're telling me about this birth right. I could care less. Not Jacob. Now, Jacob was what he was. We
give Jacob a hard time. He was a trickster. He was a
supplanter. We give him a hard time. But
do you know what Jacob said? I have to have it. I have to have it. At all costs,
I have to, Esau, I have to have it. I must have that birthright blessing. Every single believer will say
the same thing. Every single believer, I must
have union with Christ. Everything else is a bowl of
soup. Jacob had the whole pot here. Take it. Take it all. I must be identified with him. I must be in the family of God. This is not a doctrine to God's
people. I mean, I must. This is not morality
to God's people. I must. I must. A little later on in Jacob's
life, God wrestled with him. He wrestled all night long with
Jacob. And the Lord said to him, the
morning's coming. You're going to have to let me
go. And Jacob said, I can't. I can't. Let me ask you a question. Can you let go of Jesus Christ?
Can you? You're gonna have to let me go.
I can't. I can't. I can't. Not unless you bless
me. Break me if need be. I have to have the blessing. Can we say that? I have to have
the blessing. I have to. Did God bless him? Did God bless him? Listen to
what God said. He said, I am the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. Not Abraham, Isaac, and Esau. I am the God of that sinner right
there. But don't you know how he got
it? I know how. I identify with him. I'm the
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Here is how the blessing came
to Jacob. Go to chapter 27, Genesis chapter
27. Verse one, 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, he called Esau and
said unto him, my son. And he said unto me, 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.
Now, clearly Esau is a picture of an unbeliever. He represents
a soul that God has not chosen to show mercy to. But right here
at this moment, he represents the firstborn of the father. The one that the father loves,
the one that the father said he will accept, the one that
the father gave the task to. He represents Christ right here
at this moment. He represents Christ. And the
father said to his son, a sacrifice must be made. That's what he
said. In order for this blessing to be received. If I'm going
to give this blessing, a sacrifice must be made. And God, the father
said the exact same thing to God, the son, exact same thing. Bring before me the lamb slain. Bring before me the only thing
that will pay the debt for sin, the lamb slain. Verse five says,
and Rebecca, and we remember that she represents God's Holy
Spirit. And Rebecca heard when Isaac
spake to Esau, his son, father, son, and spirit were in the council
together. And the father told the son,
you're the one I will accept. Bring that sacrifice before me
and the blessing will be received. Now, here is the work of God's
Holy Spirit in the predestination of a center. God, the Trinity. Predestinated a work concerning
the center. God's Holy Spirit carries out
that work. in the center and on the center. What does the work of predestination
do? What is predestination and what
does that work do? It conforms the center to the
image of Christ. That's what it does. It conforms
the center to the image of Christ. It plunges that center into Christ. Verse six and Rebecca spake unto
Jacob, her son saying, behold, I heard the father speak unto
Esau thy brother saying, now this is the spirit speaking to
the center. I heard the father speaking to
the son 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. Go now to the flock and fetch
me from thence two good kids of the goats and I will make
them savory meat for thy father such as he loveth. And I shall
bring it to that father that he may eat and that he may bless
thee before his death. And Jacob said to Rebecca, his
mother, behold, Esau, my brother is a hairy man and I'm a smooth
man. 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 knew what he was. He knew
what he was. He said, I'm a sinner and I'm
going to be found out. He's going to find out my transgressions
are ever before me. When I stand before him, he's
going to see me for what I am. Verse 13, and his mother said
unto him, upon me be thy curse, my son. That's the voice of the
Lord Jesus Christ. God's Holy Spirit bears witness
of him. God's Spirit points sinners to
him. God's Spirit reveals the words
of Christ himself. Fear not. Your curse was upon
me. Verse 13, 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
put them upon Jacob, her younger son. She went into Esau's closet,
took his good clothes, and put them on her son. Verse 19, 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. She conformed him to the image
of the beloved. She prepared for him and she
gave to him everything the father demanded. She made that sinner
acceptable in the Father's sight. Verse 18, 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. Now how full of awe is it? How
awesome. How full of awe is it to think
that this is telling us when we sinners who have been predestinated
to be conformed to the image of His Son? How full of awe is
it to think that this is what we get to say as we stand before
Him? This is what we get to say. He
said, I will only accept My Son. I will only accept my son, verse
19, 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. That's Christ speaking
to his father. And Isaac said unto his son,
How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? How did
you kill an animal that fast? You were supposed to go hunt.
How did you do that so quickly? He said, Because the Lord thy
God brought it to me. He pleaded the grace of God and
the work of God. Verse 21, 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 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, and his brother Esau's
hands as his brother Esau's hands, so he blessed him. And he said,
Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am. 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. He smelled his righteousness. He smelled his sacrifice. And he blessed him, and he said,
See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the
Lord has blessed. 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 blessed thee." That's
the words of God the Father to Christ His Son. Cursed be everyone
that curseth thee, and blessed be everyone that blessed thee.
Let everything and everyone bow down to you. Isaac gave the blessing
to Esau, didn't he? Who was Isaac blessing? He was
blessing Esau. But Jacob received the blessing
in Esau. And God the Father has given
all of his blessings to God his son. But we sinners have received
the blessings in Christ the son. Ephesians 1 verse 3 says, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. It's all in Christ. And verse
30 says, 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, he was immediately gone out,
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? And he said, I am thy son, thy
firstborn Esau. And Isaac trembled very exceedingly
and said, Who? Where is he that hath taken venison
and brought it me? And I have eaten of all before
thou camest and have blessed him? Yea, and he shall be blessed."
He is going to be blessed. I have blessed him and it's going
to stand. My promise will not return to
him void. And verse 34 says, When Esau
heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding
bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also,
O my father. Hebrews 12 summarizes all of
this by saying, Esau sold his birthright for one morsel of
meat, and afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing,
he was rejected. That's going to be the case for
so many people in that day. So many people. The call of the
gospel goes out, this is life eternal that they might know
thee. It goes out, he that hath the son hath life and men and
women live their lives on this earth saying, I could care less. I could care less. But once they
see him, They're going to realize what they gave up for a bowl
of soup on this earth. A bowl of soup. And Hebrews 12
says Esau begged Isaac to change his mind. And Isaac wouldn't
do it, even though he sought it with tears. I can see Esau
saying, and I'm closing, I promise, but I can see Esau saying, Here
he is crying, begging. What about me? What about me?
The father has said the blessing has already gone out. It's going
to stand true. I can see him saying, but dad,
I'm the one who deserves it. And I can see that. Dad, look
at everything I've done. All my life here. Look how I've obeyed you, everything
you ever asked me to do, I went and did it. Jacob is nothing but a lying
sinner and you gave it to him. He doesn't deserve it. He does
not deserve it. I could even see Esau saying,
I prepared this sacrifice myself. With my own two hands. Jacob's sacrifice was prepared
for him by somebody else. He's not even here on his own
merit. He's not even here on his own merit. He's here on the
merit of another. That's right. That's right. But the gospel for Jacob was
this right here. Isaac said, what's done is done. What's done is done. I have blessed
him and he shall be blessed. And that's the gospel for you
and me. That is the gospel for you and
me. God Almighty will keep his promise. He will. He is the faithful God. He is
the covenant God in Christ. All of his promises are yay and
amen. While they're saying, look what
we've done and look at them while the books are open in Christ. Yeah. And amen. It's all going
to stand in Christ. It's all going to stand. We're
going to close with this verse of scripture. Go with me to Malachi
three. Malachi three. This is the gospel for every
one of us. Malachi three verse six. For I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not concerned. That's the reason. Every sinner
who receives the blessing in Christ shall be blessed. Everyone. All right, stand together
with me.