There you go. We will look at verses 24-34. And the title of the lesson is the selling of the birthright. The selling of the birthright.
Now, verse 24, it says, And when her days to be delivered were
fulfilled. Behold, there were twins in her
womb." What a surprise to her. What a surprise. She wasn't expecting
that. That's why she said, why am I
thus? Why am I having all this trouble? There were twins in
her womb. One loved of God and one hated. Jacob have I loved, he so have
I hated. One chosen, one rejected. And the only thing I can say
to that is even so, Father, it seemed good in thy sight. Now
that is enough. That's enough for you who believe.
For us who believe, that's enough, isn't it? Even so, Father, it
seemed good in thy sight. I'll leave those things with
God, those mysterious things. I'll leave those with him. But they were twins, and this
just jumped out at me when I read this. They were twins, but they
were not identical twins. I went to school with identical
twins. I couldn't tell them apart. I had a difficult time telling
them apart. But there was also another, there
was a lady in Ashland that had twins, and they were not identical
twins. They didn't look anything alike.
They were nothing alike. And when I read this, the first
thing I thought of is when I look in the mirror, I see twins. I see twins. Not identical twins. They're not identical, but I
see twins. I see Esau in me. I see Esau in me. I see that
earthy in me. I see that natural. in me, and
I see Jacob. He's harder to see, but I see
him. Peter said, Lord, you know all things. You know I love you. You know you love Jesus Christ.
If you love him, you know you love him. You cannot love Christ
and not know him. You can't do that. And I can
see that the Lord has made a difference. I can see that I, hate things
that I once loved, and I love things that I once hated. I can see that. I can see twins,
but not identical twins. There are things in this world
I'm still attracted to. Esau was a hunter. I like to
hunt. I see that in me. But Jacob was
a quiet man. He was a content man. We'll see
this here in a minute. He was a content man. I have
a real contentment in the Lord Jesus Christ. I do. And I believe
you, you who believe, you have a real contentment in the Lord
Jesus Christ. You're content with him. He's
enough. He's enough. I see twins. And it says here
in verse 25, the first came out red all over like a hairy man.
That was me. That's my first birth into this
world. Earth, earthy of the earth, red,
red clay. That explains me like Adam. And
hairy like a garment, like the beast of the field. David said
in one place, I'm like a beast before you. You ever been there? You know there's that part of
you that you just, you know it's nothing but a beast. That's all
it is. Everything about Esau speaks
of this world. Self-will, self-gratification,
sought his own glory. Let me tell you about myself. My three favorite people, me,
myself, and I. Wasn't it like that? Isn't that
the way it was? And it says here in verse 26,
and after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on
Esau's heel, and his name was called Jacob.
Now Isaac was 60 years old when she bared them. When these twins
are born, Jacob has a hold on the heel of Esau. Remember last
week, it said the elder shall serve the younger. By the power
of God and the grace of God, he makes that old nature serve
that young nature. And right here at birth, when
Esau comes out first, Jacob has a hold of his heel as if to rein
him in, as if to pull him back in. Esau's not gonna have the control.
He's not gonna have the birthright. It's interesting that Moses would,
in writing this, would make, that the Holy Spirit would move
him to make, to write in such detail. To write in such detail
that Jacob had a hold of the hill of Esau when they were born. And the boys grew. Verse 27,
and the boys grew, and Esau was a cunning hunter. Do you remember
someone else that was said to be like that? That we looked
at? His name was Nimrod. He wouldn't build cities for
himself. He was a hunter, not only of animals, but he became
a hunter of men. He subdued men to himself and
made them his servants. But Esau here is a cunning hunter,
a man of the field. You can just write over top of
that, a man of the world. He was a man of the world. That explains who Esau was, a
man of the world. And Jacob was a plain man, dwelling
in tents. Now, if it were not for the grace
of God, you and I would want to be like Esau. We would envy
Esau. If it were not for the grace
of God and the teaching of God's spirit, we would say, we would
say God loved Esau instead of Jacob, because Jacob's life was
a difficult life. When Pharaoh asked him about
his life, he said, my days have been few and full of trouble.
And when he met Esau, Esau had an army. He had an army. I mean, if you, on outward appearance,
on outward appearance, it looked like God favored Esau instead
of Jacob, but Jacob had my love. And that's why I have stripped
Jacob. That's why I have put Jacob through the furnace. That's
why I have weaned Jacob from this world, because I love him. And he let Esau have it. He let
him have the world. He let him have the things of
this world. That old nature does not go away
when one is born again. It says, and the boys grew. That
old nature is not eradicated, is it? It stays with us all the
way to the grave. All the way to the grave. But
notice here that Esau was a man of the world. He was a hunter,
a cunning hunter. He spent his life on his passions.
But Jacob was a plain man dwelling in tents. He described here as
a plain man, and I looked some of this up, it meant he was a
quiet man. He was a quiet man. He was a
shepherd. A shepherd. Boys, it just seems
like our Lord does it. Our Lord was a shepherd. Our
Lord was a quiet man. His voice shall not be heard
in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break,
and a smoking flax shall he not quench. Meek and lowly. Meek and lowly. He enjoyed life, Jacob enjoyed
life on the quiet side. And it says he dwelt in tents. I think this shows a couple things
here. He was a content man. He wasn't
after a name for himself. He was not trying to make a name
for himself, even as our Lord, who made himself of no reputation. That being so, why would I try
to make a reputation for myself if my Lord didn't? That's just a side note. But he, like Isaac and Abraham,
was looking for a city. Looking for a city. Esau was
a cunning man. Esau, I'm sure he built his house. He was a builder. He was a man
of the world. But Jacob was a quiet man, a
content man, living in tent, like Isaac and Jacob. or Isaac
and Abraham, looking for a city, a pilgrim. He was a pilgrim. Have you and I really grabbed
hold that we are just pilgrims here? We literally are just pilgrims. And pilgrims don't hold on so
tightly to things because they're going to be leaving. They're
not going to be hanging around. We don't build monuments to ourselves. We let things go. We let them
go. While Esau was building, Jacob
was looking. Big difference. Big difference. In verse 28, and Isaac loved
Esau because he did eat of his venison. But Rebecca loved Jacob. You know, we are attracted to
those things that are most like us and others. Isaac was taken up with this,
I think, the strength and the vigor and the manliness of Esau. He was taken up with it. He was
impressed with it. Jacob wasn't like that. Jacob
wasn't like that. No more than the Jews were impressed
with Christ because He was meek and lowly. They weren't impressed
with Him at all. But we should not show respect
to persons, especially with our children. That's a bad example
in the home, to try to set one over another. It's not a good
example, is it? But here we come now in verse
29. Here we come. And this is a terrible thing for one, for
Esau. Esau sells his birthright. Now it says, Jacob saw a pottage.
And Esau came from the field. He came from the world. He was
faint. He was faint. Does that remind
you of a scripture? Is there a scripture that jumps
out in your mind? As soon as I read that, I thought
of John chapter four, that woman at the well. And the Lord said,
he that drinks of this water shall thirst again. He shall thirst again. Esau came
from the field, he came from the world, he'd been out there
hunting, been out there Doing what he enjoyed and he came in
and he was faint, it says, faint. He thought he was gonna die.
He felt like he was gonna die. He's out there enjoying himself. And he comes in from the world
and he's faint. And Esau said to Jacob, feed
me. Feed me, I pray thee. with that same red potage. He
looked over into that pot of soup. And he said, feed me with
that red potage right there. Just feed me. For I am faint. Therefore his
name called Esau. Esau, what he's doing here, he's
feeding. It's more than just, there's
more than just a little hunger going on here. He's feeding his
appetite. He wants to feed his appetite
and he wants it now. What was that commercial? I want
my money and I want it now. Remember that stupid commercial? That was irritating. I guess
it wouldn't be if you had money, but. I want my money and I want
it now. That's Esau. I want this red
potage and I want it now. Satisfy me now. That's us by
nature, isn't it? That's why you can have McDonald's.
That's why we have these fast food restaurants, because we
want it now. We don't want to wait for the
wife to cook it, or nowadays saying that, you're going to
get shot. But here, I'm going to say it,
whether you like it or not. For Vicki to fix me something
to eat, for it to take 45 minutes to an hour, we don't want that
now. We want to drive through and get it. That's the way we
feed our appetite by nature. It's now. Satisfy me now. I'm faint and ready to die. Oh,
I doubt that. You're just hungry. If I don't satisfy my appetite,
I'm gonna die. You know, I think everyone here
has experienced whatever it is that you like, you want it, and it
comes upon you. It's like the alcoholic. You
know, he sobers up, and he says, I'm not going to drink no more.
I'm done. I'm going to straighten up my
life. I'm going to straighten my life up. A few days go by,
and that appetite comes back, and he can't control it. He can't
overcome it. There's one thing he or she has
to do. I'm faint. I'm gonna die if I
don't get this. I'm gonna die if I can't fulfill
the lust of my flesh. I'm gonna die if I can't. That's Esau. That explains Esau. Esau was a man of just his passions. He was a man of his self. He
indulged the lust of his flesh. And here he is. This is a type
right here. This is a real picture. of a
person who is a slave to their appetite. A slave to their appetite. Except
one person, I know one person that was not a slave to his appetite. He went 40 days and 40 nights
without eating. And Satan came to him and said,
You turn these stones into bread and eat. You're hungry. There's nothing wrong with that.
You're faint. You don't eat, you're gonna die.
And he said, no, no. Our Lord had the power. He had the power to turn those
stones into bread and eat. Just like in one place, he said,
I can raise up children to Abraham out of these stones. If God can make us out of dust,
if he can create a man out of dust, don't you think he can
create one out of stone? Of course he can. He has the
power to do it. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can
deliver us from being slaves to our appetite, whatever that
appetite is. And he can do it. But here in verse 31, Jacob said,
sell me this day thy birthright. Thy birthright. This was not
the way to handle it. Jacob, now here comes the nature
of Jacob out. Okay, here's this quiet little,
here's this quiet man. He's a quiet man, he seems content,
a shepherd, dwelling in tents, but he's a supplanter. He still
has a fallen nature like everybody else. God has to save Jacob just
like anybody else he saves. And this is not the way to handle
this. We should wait on the Lord. The Lord said the elder shall
serve the younger and we don't need to plot and plan and do
like Sarah did with Abraham and Hagar. But God allowed these
things to happen as an example and a lesson to us. We are in
class. We need to learn something when
we open the Word of God. Jacob handled that wrong. He
should have waited on the Lord. We do not hold people hostage
when they are in distress and get out of them. what we're after,
what we want. Jacob lives up to his name. Or
maybe I should have said Jacob lives down to his name, supplanter. We see that here. But God overrides
it. And his purpose is accomplished. And Esau said, behold, let's
talk about this. Let's talk about this. I'm at
the point to die, I'm gonna die. If you don't feed me that red
potage, I'm gonna die. And what profit? Now that's the
world, isn't it? That's the world. Let's talk
about profit here. Let's think about this. What
profit shall this birthright do me? Esau's appetite was more
important to him than the birthright. It was far more important, his
appetite was far more important to him than his birthright. I think
of people, I scribbled this out a little bit ago, I think of
people when they are confronted with the gospel. Christ says,
come to me, all you that labor and heavy laden, I'll give you
rest. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
And a person looks at that, and one of the things they're thinking
of is, I like my life better than that. I like my sins better than that.
Better than what he has to offer. What's this birthright profit
me? And you'll notice he says this.
This is very telling right here. This is very telling. What profit
shall this birthright, not my birthright, he never laid hold
of. He never laid hold of the birthright. What prophet shall this birthright
that you're talking about, Jacob? Jacob brings up the birthright.
Esau never even thought about it. He never thought about it. It was never his. It was never
personal to him. You know, Paul called the gospel
his gospel. He called the gospel his gospel. What prophet, listen, what prophet
shall this gospel do me? What prophet shall this gospel
do me if I'm gonna die? That shows ignorance, doesn't
it? Ignorance of God, ignorance of
yourself, ignorance of Christ. What prophet is there in the
gospel for me? What's he gonna do me? It was
all business with him. It was all business. What profit? He probably the
first capitalist. Him and Nero. What profit? That's all he thought of, profit.
And Jacob said, swear to me this day. And he swore to him. And he sold his birthright unto
Jacob. He never realized the consequences
of what he just did. until years later. And then he
came and he sought it bitterly with tears, it says, but he found
no place of repentance. He couldn't change his father's
mind. What's done is done. God's purpose was fulfilled,
even though Jacob showed who he was as supplanted, but God
overruled it for his good. to accomplish his purpose. Now
what did Esau sell here? He sold his birthright. That was a big deal then. That
was a big deal. The birthright for the firstborn,
he became the priest or the leader in the home and the family. He
got a double portion of everything. But more importantly, listen,
more importantly, in this birthright, the Lord Jesus Christ, the promised
Messiah, was to come through the firstborn. They were to come
through his lineage. That was the promise. He would
come through the firstborn. That line. He was a spokesman for God. That
meant nothing to him. It meant nothing to Him. The coming of the Messiah, coming through His lineage, meant
nothing to Him. The Messiah meant the Savior,
the Redeemer, meant nothing to Him. What? What is this birthright gonna
do me? What good's it gonna do me? It had to do with things
spiritual. It had to do with things spiritual.
It had to do everything with the Lord Jesus Christ. It had
everything to do with connection to salvation in Christ. And he saw it as useless. He said, if I die, what good
is it going to do me? See, everything with him was
touch, taste, and feel. He was spiritually dead. He didn't
see anything in it. Jacob did. Jacob did. At that time, I don't know how
much, but he did. He did. And then Jacob gave Esau bread
and pottage of lentils, and he did eat and drink, rose up. Boy,
this is a telling statement. And went his way. He didn't go
the way of the Lord. He went his way. He probably
picked back up his bow and arrow and headed back to the field.
You know, he's going back to the deer stand. That's where
he was headed. That's where he was headed. Back to the field. Back to the world. Back to the
world. Thus, Esau despised his birthright. By doing this, by
making nothing of it, by his statement. What good is it going
to do me? What profit is it going to do
me? I want you to notice something
here. Esau sold his birthright for something that was very common,
lentils. That was very common in that
day. You could get them anywhere. You can get them anywhere. People sell their souls for common
sins Every day. Every day. They sell out their
soul for another morsel of sin. There's pleasure in sin. There
really is. There really is. There's pleasure in sin. For
a season. For a season. And in a little
while, that season's gonna be over. Then comes the consequences. The spirit, someone said, the
spirit of the Epicureans came from Esau. Because the motto
of the Epicureans was this. Let us eat and drink for tomorrow
we die. That was their motto. Let us
eat and drink. Well, tomorrow we die. Yes, you're
right. Tomorrow we die. Then what? Then what? You know, in the scriptures,
Esau's called a profane person. After selling his birthright,
he revealed himself, and he's called a profane person. I tell you, What a privilege
we have in having the Gospel preached
to us. We have the Word of God, we open
the Word of God, the Gospel is preached to us. By God's grace, some believe
it, and others, for a little bowl of soup, sell out. and wasn't
nothing to do with it. What profit? I can't see how
this is going to be enjoyable. I can't see what I'm going to
get out of this. But thank God, thank God that
he has some Jacobs that he loves. Jacob have I loved.