Let's read these verses, verses
23 to the end of the chapter. Genesis 25, verse 23. The Lord said unto her, that
is, Rebekah, two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of
people shall be separated from thy bowels. And one people shall
be stronger than the other people. The elder shall serve the younger. And when her days to be delivered
were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. The first
came out red, all over like a hairy garment, and they called his
name Esau. And after that came his brother
out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel. His name was called
Jacob. Isaac was threescore years old
when she buried them. The boys grew. Esau was a cunning
hunter, a man of the field. Jacob was a plain man dwelling
in tents. Isaac loved Esau because he did
eat of his venison, but Rebekah loved Jacob. Jacob sowed pottage,
and Esau came from the field. He was faint. Esau said to Jacob,
Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red for I am faint, therefore
was his name called Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me this
day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at
the point to die. What profit shall this birthright
do to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this
day. And Esau swore unto him, and
he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and
pottage of lentils, and Esau did eat and drink and rose up
and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. This begins the story of Jacob
and Esau of which much is written in Old and New Testament. Much is said about Jacob and
Esau. Two men. from the same parents,
but very, very different. And before they were born, in
verse 23, the Lord said, before they were born, two nations are
in thy womb, speaking to Rebecca, and two manner of people shall
be separated, divided, come out from the same parents, yet very
different. Now, this certainly has historical
or national significance, but that is not the real story here.
That's not what the Lord is showing us or teaching us. The purpose
of this story is to show us that there are two kingdoms, two nations,
two kingdoms, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of man, the
kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of this earth, and two manner
of people. God's people and the people of
this world. That is what this story is about. 1 Peter 2, Peter said this of
God's people, you are a chosen generation like Jacob, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar or purchased or different people
than the people of the world. God's people. And they are Judah. They are in the minority. And
we're going to see in the next message today, they're in the
minority. Now, as said, there are two nations.
The Lord said there are two nations that came out of the same parent. Two kingdoms. But there's really
only one king. A real king. A kingdom of God,
the kingdoms of man, are both ruled over, really ruled over,
by the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the King of kings and Lord
of lords. Now, these two kingdoms, let
me just briefly describe each one. Two kingdoms. There's the
kingdom of God. Then there's the kingdom of man,
of whom Satan is called the God of. the ruler of, though he doesn't
really rule. He's just allowed to do so in
the purpose of God. God's the king. The kingdom of
God is spiritual, the kingdom of heaven. It's unseen. Very real, but unseen. The kingdom of man is a material
world that you see, very clear to see, very obvious. The kingdom
of God or heaven is eternal. It is forever. There's no end. There's no beginning, really,
no end. The kingdom of man is temporary,
and it's about to all end very soon. The kingdom of God is holy. Holy. Nothing in it to defy. Completely holy and righteous
and pure. The kingdom of man of this world,
Scripture calls it this present evil. Everything in it, of the
world, the Lord said, is not of God. The lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, that's the kingdom
of man. The kingdom of God is a kingdom
of glory, of which we have just caught
a glimpse of. The kingdom of man is a kingdom
of shame, a kingdom of vanity, emptiness. The kingdom of God
is a kingdom of peace. The kingdom of man is war, fighting,
strife, division. The kingdom of God is a kingdom
of happiness and joy. The kingdom of man is a kingdom
of misery and sadness and death. The kingdom of God is a kingdom
of righteousness. The kingdom of man is sin. The
kingdom of God is all glory to God. The kingdom of man is glory
to man. The kingdom of God is where God's
Word rules and reigns in the hearts of God's people, in their
minds. The kingdom of man is all man's
thoughts and opinions and ways, which are the end thereof is
death. The kingdom of God is where Christ
the King reigns and rules, and all of His subjects love Him
and follow Him and esteem Him and admire him. The kingdom of
man, they have no king but Caesar. And whoever that fellow may be
in office at the time, that's who they follow. A very different
kingdom. And two manner of people. Look
at Malachi 1. Malachi 1, with me, and Romans. Turn to Romans 9. These go together
and hold both those places. But Malachi 1 is the last last
chapter of the Old Testament, Malachi 1, which the Lord tells
us the meaning of this whole story. Malachi 1, verse 1, the burden of the word
of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. He says, to Israel. Remember,
Israel is Jacob's name, Prince. God says, I have loved you. saith
the Lord. Yet ye say wherein, or how hast
thou loved us? And the Lord explains, Was not
Esau Jacob's brother, saith the Lord? Yet I loved Jacob, and
I hated Esau." Some twist that to mean that God loved
Jacob less. That's not possible. The love
of God is perfect. Whomever God loves is a perfect
love, an eternal love, a saving love. Ours, we may have love
that seems to be less than. We may seem to love one more
than the other. But not God. Not God. Because He goes on to say in
verse 3, I laid His heritage to waste for the dragons of the
wilderness. I destroyed it. So look at Romans
9. Now, the Lord explains this much further in
Romans 9. Two manner of people. One people
chosen by God. The other people passed by. One
people loved by God. The other people hated. Romans 9. Now, the first thing
this teaches us, the first thing this story of Jacob and Esau
tells us, and how significant it is that the very first book
of the Bible, the Lord shows us right here, as He did with
Cain and Abel. But He shows us right here that
salvation is of the Lord, that salvation is by the will of God,
that salvation is by the sovereign, electing grace of God. that salvation
is according to the sovereign, predestinating will and purpose
of God, to the praise of the glory of His grace. That shows
us right here from the beginning. Romans 9, he says in verse 6,
speaking of how the Word, the truth was preached in Israel,
but all didn't believe, but he says, as though the word of God
had taken none effect. For they are not all Israel which
are of Israel, neither because are they the seed of Abraham
are they all children. But in Isaac shall thy seed be
called." And now the whole eastern world had no trouble with, and
to this day they have no trouble with God choosing Abraham. The
Jews and the Arabs are fine with that. They both acknowledge or
call Abraham their father. Ishmaelites. But now God goes
on further. He says in verse 7, Isaac shall
thy seed be called. In Isaac, God said, I chose Isaac,
not Ishmael. Ishmael was the firstborn, but
he was an illegitimate son, a son produced by Abraham and Sarah,
not God. Isaac was the miracle child.
Isaac represents Christ, the son of promise, but he also represents
God's people who were born of God, not man's free will. Born
of God. God's choice, not man's. That's who Isaac represents.
And so now the whole Arab world hates this. The whole Arab world
hates that God said, I chose Isaac. Jews loved it. But then he goes on further and
he says, Sarah shall have a son, verse 10, not only this, but
when Rebecca had conceived by one, even by her father Isaac,
the children being not yet born. Before these two sons, Jacob
and Esau, were born, neither having done any good or evil,
that the purpose of God according to election might stand. It's
not of works. They hadn't been born yet, 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? This is unfair. God forbid. such talk. 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, or that is, man's free will. It is not according to
the will of man. Not of him that runneth, or worketh,
or trieth, or striveth, but of God that shall with mercy for
the Scripture saith, read on, to Pharaoh, and I love how it
says the Scripture says to Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have
I raised thee up, he raised up Pharaoh, to dump him in the river,
that I might show my power in thee, and my name be declared
throughout all the earth. Therefore God hath he, God, mercy
on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. What do you say these days? All right, that clearly tells
us, God's Word clearly tells us that the purpose of God according
to election will stand. I know the Scripture says the
foundation of God stands as sure. Having this seal, the Lord knoweth
them that are His. How does He know them? He chose
them. He's not waiting on someone to
choose Him. He already chose them. He knoweth
them that are hid, and He gave them to Christ. Go with me to
Ephesians 1. Ephesians chapter 1. Now, as
I said, the whole world, that is the eastern world, loved the
fact that God chose Abraham. The Gentile world didn't like
it. But then God said, I chose Isaac. Well, the Arabs hate that, and
they hate the Zionists that say Israel is His chosen people.
But then God goes on to say, you're not chosen because you're
Israel, you're chosen because God makes you a Jew. God chooses to whom He wills. It's not a national people, but
it's a spiritual people whom God chooses. It has nothing to
do with man's choice of Him. None whatsoever. Now the whole
world hates that. This is not on, is it? The whole
world hates that. But who loves to hear about how
God chose somebody and loved somebody like Jacob? I'll tell you one fellow that
loved Jacob. And our Lord said, Oh, the sons
of Jacob, all you sons of Jacob, because I'm the Lord and I change
not. Because I chose you. Because I loved you. Because
I called you. Because I brought you. Because
I taught you. Because I led you. Because I kept you. Because I
fed you. Because I did it all. You're not concerned. You're
not going to die with the rest of the world who, like Esau,
hates God, hates His purpose, hates His Word, hates His birthright,
hates His covenant, hates His Son, loves themselves. That was
Esau. Oh, you sons of Jacob. All the
sons of Jacob. All the chosen ones. loved of
God, love the glorious, blessed truth. And it is mercy to them,
it's not a doctrine, it's mercy to them that God, to think, just
to think, God would love me and choose me. They don't understand. They don't have any trouble with
God hating anybody. They just wonder and marvel that
God would love Who loves this? The sons of Jacob. All the sons of Jacob. The rest
argue against it. The irreligious world that doesn't
worship God, they all say, those that don't care about God anyway,
don't come to worship God anyway. They all say, I don't like that.
Well, it's obvious. You don't come to hear it. Why would God love somebody like
that, that doesn't give him a thought, doesn't give him any thanks,
doesn't love his son, doesn't worship him? Why should God love
somebody like that? He doesn't. He doesn't. But the religious
world, the religious world that thinks that they did God a great
favor by accepting him, how that God is so pleased with them because
they let Jesus into their hearts. The religious work. The self-righteous
work. Those who think that church can't
be church without them. That God needs them and loves
them so much. Good little boys and girls. Let God be God. They hate this too. Because the
Scripture tells them that you're unclean, you're no good, you're
a worm. None righteous, no, not one.
And everything you've ever done accounts for nothing before God.
It wasn't your choice, wasn't your will, wasn't your blood,
not the will of the flesh, not the will of man, but it's God.
They hate that. Well, who loves it? Sinners saved
by grace. Thief on the cross. Mary Magdalene. Saul of Tarsus. They love this. The sons of Jacob love this. Like Jacob. They know who chose
them. In Ephesians 1, they know who
chose them. They know who first loved them,
but they didn't love Him until they found out that He chose
them. Ephesians 1, verse 3, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings. unseen blessings in heavenly
places or things in Christ, according as God hath chosen us in Christ
before the foundation of the world." Before the foundation
of the world. Who chose who? It says God had
chosen us, His people. When did He choose them? Before
the foundation of the world. The children being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, but the purpose of God
according to election stands. It's not of works. Not of works. That's a break. Why? Why did he choose Jacob
over Esau? Was Jacob just a naturally born
better boy than Esau? Scripture says we're all born
in sin. Scripture says there's none that
doeth good, no, not one. None that calleth, none that
seeketh. That's what the Scripture said. And Jacob didn't until
the Lord called him. And look at verse 5. It says, He predestinated us,
that is, those chosen ones, under the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to Himself. And here's why He did it. to
the good, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the
praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted,
not we accepted Him, but He accepted us in the beloved. To the praise
of the glory of His grace. Because none would choose Him,
none would hear Him, none would need Him, unless He chose them. Unless he quickened them, they're
dead. That's just so. That's just so. And there's a
difference, though. Go back to our text in Genesis
25. There is a difference. And God
makes the difference in these two manner of people. Two different
people. Once born of God, there's a new
creature. There's a new person. Altogether
different than that man of flesh. They're all together different
like Jacob and Esau. There's a difference. And this
difference is not owing to either one of
these fellows, but it plainly shows us that God made this difference. Two sons came out of the same
parents, but they're all together different. Completely different.
And what a picture this is. And a verse that when the Lord
first and revealed himself to me and the truth to me, and I
began to love it. I believe he changed me from
a Esau to a Jacob. Born of the Word, a verse that
I kept coming back to and kept coming back to that just really
meant a lot to me was this, For who maketh thee to differ from
another? And what hast thou that thou
hast not received? In other words, you don't believe
what you believe, you don't know what you know, you don't love
the truth, but you received it because you received the love
of the truth. And what hast thou that hast not received? Now,
if you received it, why would you glory as if you had not received
it? God's people don't. They don't. The difference underscores,
the difference between these two boys underscores the truth
of God's sovereign grace. Regenerating grace. Same parents,
but so different. All right, look at it. Verse
25. First came out red all over like a hairy garment. They called
his name Esau. And later on, they called him
Edom, which means red. He ate that red pottage. That's what he was after. That
was what he really wanted, red. Because you've got red hair,
that's not what this is talking about. Or a hairy person. I'm
glad of that. Because I'm hairy all over. And
red hair, if you're from Ireland or Scotland, you've got red hair
in your heritage. That's not what this is talking
about. It's all symbolic, you see. This
whole story is symbolic. Symbolic. Red and hairy, like
an animal. And that's what he ended up being.
He was out in the field like a beast all the time. It's symbolic. Red being a symbol of blood,
violence, brutish. A brutish. Scripture speaks of
brutish people. That is, people who are ruled
by their brute passions or animal instincts and passions. whose
God is their belly. That's what the Lord said of
Esau, whose God was his belly. It showed us that. He wasn't
interested in anything that had to do with God. He just wanted
something to eat. And he'd sell it. He'd sell his
soul for a bowl of beans, red beans. It's all symbolic. Jacob. And that covering, that covering all over like a
big hairy covering, rough garment. That doesn't hide his nature.
It reveals it. Jacob came out smooth. He said
that in chapter 27 to his mother. I'm smooth. I have hair all over
me. In other words, he's naked. Well,
he needs a covering. Well, his covering's not a natural
one. Jacob's covering's not a natural one. Are you getting the picture
here? All the sons of Jacob, they're not born with a natural
covering. They need the Lord to robe them,
cover them with a garment. They're not born with one. But the natural-born sons of
this world think they have one. Esau was a cunning hunter, man
of the field. Now this, again, is not against
hunting. I've been hunting since I was
a boy. My dad hunted. My older brother. Love to hunt. Other men do. He
was a man of the field. It's not against this, but what
this is showing us is that he was a stalker, a predator, a
natural-born killer, like a fox, like a wolf. And he was a man
of the field. He was always away from home,
roaming, looking for game, out sporting around. You won't find
him sitting in a tent like Jacob. You won't find him reading, meditating,
worshiping, calling on God like Jacob. Not him. It's impossible
to get him to sit. He's out. He's gone. You won't
find him anywhere. That's Esau. And that's all of
us by nature. Again, that's all of us by nature.
The old man, that old twin, just won't sit still. Won't sit and
listen to the Word of God. It's the hardest thing in the
world to get anyone to come and just sit and listen to the Word
of God. We've got better things to do. We've got things we'd
rather be doing. We'd rather be out sporting. Right? Jacob was a plain man. I have missed this. All these
years, I've missed this. John Gill didn't miss it. Matthew
Henry didn't miss it. The word plain means pious, devoted,
committed, a homebody. I have wrongly talked about Jacob
in a bad way. God doesn't talk about Jacob
like that. He said, Jacob, my love, was a plain man dwelling
in tents. He loved to be at home with those
he loved. He was a shepherd. Plain man. Did you see a reference in your
Bible to plain man, verse 27? Plain man. If you'll notice,
it refers us back to chapter 6, verse 9. The word plain is
the same word used when God said of Noah that he found grace. Not so many times I've talked
about it. We all do. We talk about Jacob. And I, you
know, we add to God's Word and things like this. We say, I'm
the God of, I'm the Lord who changes not, therefore you sorry,
sons of Jacob. And I can say, God didn't call
him a sorry son of Jacob. And I regret ever saying that.
He wouldn't like it if I called your son sorry. God doesn't tell
him that, but Jacob does. God made him different. He wouldn't be God if He didn't
make him differently. God would be a sorry Savior if
He didn't make a man different, change him. That's just so. Jacob was different. He was a
follower. He wasn't a stalker and a predator.
He's a follower, keeper of sheep. This is what Brother Gil and
Brother Henry show us. Now, there is a picture, and
this is the way we've always preached it, that Jacob was a
schemer and a conniver and all that. He came out of that womb, verse
26. He came out of the womb, his
hand took hold on Esau's heel. Did he know what he was doing? Did Jacob know what he was doing?
He was first born, he took hold. Did he know what he was doing? Why no? He doesn't know what
he's doing. He's a child. The Lord is showing
us here something. He's teaching us something here.
The Lord has just said, now the elder is going to serve the younger.
The younger is going to get the birthright. The younger is the
one I love. The younger is going to lay hold
on the Lord Jesus Christ. He's going to come forth when
he's born of God. I want the birthright. I want the birthright. He wasn't
maliciously saying, I want out first. He wasn't capable. He's too young. The Lord is showing
us something. That this desire that God puts
in His people, His sons of Jacob, this desire He puts in them for
the birthright, is not natural born. It's supernatural. This
is all of God. Chapter 27, remember? When we
all say, well, Jacob deceived his father. Hold on now. Hold
on now. Who told him to do that? Rebekah hit. Rebekah hit his mother. He said,
I can't do this. I'll be as a deceiver. Rebekah
said, you let the curse be on me. This has got to happen. Now, no doubt this is a story
like Abraham and Sarah producing a child. No doubt that's a story
that shows that. But God put it there. to show
this boy, this younger one, is going to get the birthright,
even if he has to lay hold of it, of whatever it takes. And
that chapter 27, I can't wait to get to that. What a picture
that is. The usurper? Yes, in a great
sense, we have usurped our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the heir
of all things. That's substitution in it. But
we get it according to the purpose of God. Christ was made a curse
for us, and we get the blessing. See, that's all in God's purpose.
But the fact is, Jacob wanted the birthright. Paul said, if
by any means I might attain unto the resurrection. And Esau didn't care anything
about it. What's the birthright? Here's
the key to this whole story. The key to the whole story is,
what is the birthright? The birthright was not just inheritance,
things, house rule, ruling over one over the other. That's not
it at all. It's not it at all. It's the
covenant that God made with Abraham. The covenant blessings, the favor
of God. It's the blessings of God that
God told Abraham. I am your God. I'll be with you. I'll bless you. I'll bless your
people, your seed in you, all your blessings, Abraham. I've
called you out of Ur of the Chaldees, out of the whole world. I've
chosen you, Abraham, to bless you, your blessing, your portion.
Yes, Lot got Sodom and almost was destroyed. Abraham, you get
me. Here's the birthright, all the
blessings of God, all the favor of God, all the acceptance of
God, the salvation of God, the sure mercy, the covenant keeping
blessing, the promises of God, eternal blessings, salvation,
no matter what you do, no matter where you go, I'm your God. Abraham thought, that's my salvation.
Isaac said, that's my salvation. Jacob said, that's my salvation. Give it to me. I've got to have
it. Well, Jacob, you can't get it
by your own strivings and all that. And Rebecca made the mistake,
too. Here, didn't she remember? God
said this is going to happen. Didn't God say the elder shall
serve the younger? You don't have to do anything.
This is going to happen. Yet, Jacob, there's a picture
and even Rebecca's a picture. Oh, we want God's purpose to
be But you don't get it by your
own fleshly means. It's going to happen. How would
God have accomplished it had not Jacob and Rebekah deceived
Isaac? I don't know, but He would have.
But yet, there's not a more beautiful picture of how we come to God
in Christ in chapter 27. But that's chapter 27. But here
it is. The Lord is showing us. Birthright
is God's favor bestowed on the firstborn. God's favor bestowed
upon the firstborn. Who's the firstborn among many
brethren? Who is the heir of all things? Who has God given
all things to? Who is God's heir? His only begotten
well-beloved Son. That's Jesus. Christ. And all
the sons of Jacob know that. And they want this birth God. They want to be found in Him.
They want to be blessed in Him. They want to be joint heirs with
Christ. A spiritual thing. He saw all
he thought about was himself and his belly. Not Jacob. Not Jacob. And it's clear here. Have you ever seen this? That
Jacob said in verse thirty-one, sell me this day thy birthright. Why do you say this day? They
talked about it before. They talked about it before.
You reckon Cain and Abel had talked about these things before,
before Cain rose up and got mad at him? Certainly. He said it
again down in verse, and Esau said, I'm going to die of hunger. He wasn't dying of hunger. He
just thought he was. He said, what good, what profit
is this old birthright to me? Jacob said, swear to me this
day. They talked about it before. Jacob was interested. Jacob wanted
it. Jacob needed it. Esau, he talked about it. Esau
didn't care about it. Jacob did. Jacob did. So it says, he swore to me this
day, and he swore unto him, and so Esau sold his birthright unto
Jacob. Sold himself. Sold his soul to
Jacob. Jacob gave Esau what he really
wanted, bread and pottage, a bowl of beans. And he ate and drank,
and now I'm fine now. I've got what I wanted now. And
he left, and he despised his birthright. The Scripture says
he was a profane man. Profane man is not just somebody
that uses profanity. A profane person is someone who
only cares about their belly and their appetite and things
of this world and gives no thought to God. That's a profane man. And they usually show it by their
profanity, the way they talk about God and so on and so forth. So they talked about it before. Give me this day, your birthright. Now again, let me close with
this. Why did God, why did Jacob desire the birthright that Esau
didn't? Sovereign grace. After we're
born sons of Adam are enmity against God. They receive if
not the things of God, their foolishness to him. Neither can
they. We're all born like Esau, but
we must be born again, like Jacob, must be born again. And God always referred to himself
as the God of Jacob. Not the God of this world, but
the God of Jacob. I am the God of Jacob. Jacob
have I loved. He changed his name, too. He
always called him Jacob and called him Israel. He always called
him Jacob, Sir Planter, and Israel. We're both sinners, saints. Oh, my. And the rest of this
book, Genesis, the rest of this book, our story is full of stories
after stories after stories of God's wonderful dealings with
Jacob, leading Jacob, wrestling with Jacob. revealing himself
to Jacob, keeping Jacob from all his enemies, and finally
bringing him home to stay where Joseph reigns and rules, and
burying him with his kinfolk. Why? Because God chose Jacob,
or Jacob knows that, and oh, he loved him. Jacob. Happy is he that the God of Jacob
for his head.