Now, our Lord said all things were written concerning him. When he preached from the books
of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms and all the scriptures,
he said, are they which testify of me." That's why this book
was written. This is God's book, this is God's
word, and God Almighty wrote this book to point us to Christ. That's it. That's why. That's
why he wrote this book. And every event, every person,
every story somehow relates to and points to the work of the
Lord Jesus Christ for sinners. Everything. Everything. Our story here this morning is
of two sons, Jacob and Esau. You've heard of them. Jacob and
Esau. That passage in Malachi 1, Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated? I never thought of that in relation
to this. But do you know, if God's going
to love us, He's got to pour out His wrath on His firstborn. Jacob have I loved, sons of Jacob. Therefore, my own son, my firstborn,
the one with the rights I'm going to pour out my anger and hatred
and wrath against him." Ever thought of that? Well, these
are the two sons of Isaac. Two sons of Isaac. Isaac is the
father. And Isaac says to Esau, his son,
his firstborn, his well-beloved son, he says, verse 3 and 4. Look at it again. Isaac says
to his son, his firstborn, verse 3, Now therefore take, I pray
thee, thy weapons, thy quiver, thy bow." Your weapons. I bet you Esau made these things
with his own hands. Take these, your weapons, and
go out to the field. and hunt me, take me some venison,
some deer that I love. Make me savory meat such as I
love. Keep saying this all the way
through this story. Such as I love. Such as I love. 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. I'm going to bless you. So the Father says to the eldest,
the firstborn son whom he loved dearly, he said, you go to the
field and you get that which I love so dearly and you bring
it back to me and I'm going to bless you. And so it was in the
beginning. God the Father, God the Son,
in a covenant. And God the Son, in a covenant,
agreed that Christ would go into the field, that Christ would
come to this earth, be born of a woman, made under the law,
born of a woman, come as a man to this earth with his own faculties,
quiver, bow, weapon, himself. That Christ would come to this
earth as a man. And do that which God Almighty
loves dearly. Live a holy life. Holiness unto
the Lord. Righteousness unto God. Provide
and establish a righteousness which is savory to God, well-pleasing
to God. And then be made sin, be made
a sacrifice, to be made the lamb slain for God's elect. Go to the cross and suffer their
punishment. Listen to this. And Christ did
that. Christ did that. He said that
Isaac told Esau to get me that savory meat. Savory. I mean, it smells good, it is
good. It just appeals to me. And listen to this. This is exactly
what it said of our Lord's sacrifice. It says, He gave Himself for
us, an offering, a sacrifice to God for us. A sweet-smelling
savor. And what Christ did when He came
to this earth was well-pleasing to God the Father. He said something. Go to the field. Go to the field. Go to earth. Live a holy life. Die a substitutionary death. Bring me that sacrifice. It's
well-pleasing to me. And so He did. Now Rebekah, Isaac's wife, Rebekah,
Jacob's mother, heard this. She heard this conversation between
the father and the eldest son, between Isaac and Esau. She heard
all of it. Now, she wants Jacob to be blessed. She wants her son Jacob to have
the blessing. And so, verses 5 and 6, let's
read this, verses 5 and 6, Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau
his son. And Esau went to the field. Well,
he left. Esau left. Went hunting for venison to bring
him. He went to do that work. And
verse 6, And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold,
I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother." And he said
this, and then she starts to tell. Well, the Holy Spirit, Rebekah
here is a type of the Holy Spirit of God, equal with the Father. The Holy Spirit of God heard
and spoke to Jacob, the sons of Jacob. The Holy Spirit of
God heard God the Father and God the Son in that covenant. Why? Because he was there too. He was in on it too. The Holy
Spirit. This covenant was between the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit heard
this. And he conveys this. He takes
every single son of God, every single son of Jacob. every single one whom God loves,
whom God elects, whom Christ died for, every single one of
them, and instructs them, teaches them, convicts them, leads and
guides them into all truth, points them to the Lord Jesus Christ.
That there's but one way to be accepted by the Father. There's
only one way. I was there. This is what pleases
the Father. I heard him. Now listen to me
very carefully. This is how it's going to have
to be. If you want the blessing, if you want accepted by the Father,
listen to me. OK? This is what we're going
to have to do. All blessings now are in the
firstborn, all blessings from the Father. He has the right,
the firstborn. Well, look at verse 7. Now, here
she relates what the Father said. Rebecca heard it and just repeated
it to Jacob. The Father said, bring me venison
and make me savory meat that I may eat and bless thee before
the Lord before my death. This is what the Father said
to the Son. The Father said, whatever the
Son brings him is well pleasing to him. That the Father is well
pleased for his sake, for the Son's sake. Are you with me?
I'm making it clear. The Father is well pleased with
what the Son does. Now listen to me, my other son.
You're going to have to bring what he was going to bring for the Father to accept you. All blessings are upon the firstborn,
and somehow we're going to have to make you be appealing to the
Father, well-pleasing to the Father. in the firstborn. Okay? And this is exactly what
God the Father said of God the Son. I'm well pleased for his
righteousness, sir. And all who are blessed will
be blessed in the Son. All will be blessed because of
Christ's sweet-smelling life and sacrifice. And the Holy Spirit
teaches this to every single son of Adam. There's not one
single saved son of Jacob who does not know that their acceptance
with God is because of Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ alone.
There's not one single son of Jacob whom the Holy Spirit does
not teach that there's only one way to be accepted, to be blessed,
and that's in the Beloved, the one that has the right to it. All of them are taught of God
the Holy Spirit. And they come to Christ. Alright, now old Jacob's getting
worried. You mean I'm going to have to
look like Esau? I don't look anything like Esau.
Look at verse 11. He said, Esau's a hairy man. There's not a hair on my body. I don't look like him. I don't
sound like him. I don't feel like him. I'm not
like him. Well, he's a hunter, he's tough,
he's a man's man. I'm a wimp. I'm mama's boy. Well, he's ready and he's strong
and he's fearless and he's a great mighty man. I've been sitting
at home with mama. I don't even resemble. How am I going to be made to
look? We're not even close. Not even close. You know, every
single son of Jacob, every single son of God, every single one,
the Holy Spirit comes to. The first thing He teaches them
is, now, you're nothing like Christ. You're not acceptable. You're not holy. You're not righteous. You're not anything. You're not
altogether lovely like Christ is. You're altogether unlovely.
He'll convince us of sin. of our unworthiness, of our unloveliness,
of our, God, how could God love me? There's nothing lovely about
me. This is what we're going to do. If you'll listen up, we're
going to make you lovely. We're going to make you lovely. Well, old Jacob, he's still worried. Still worried. Look at verse
7 and follow on. She said, Now therefore, my son,
do you obey me now? Do you do as I say? Do you do
as I say? Verse 8. Obey my voice according
to that which I command thee. Do as I say now. Would you listen? Do as I say. I'm going to prepare
you, I'm going to make you meet, I'm going to make you fit to
go before the Father now. You do as I say. And this is
what the Holy Spirit said, that you just listen. If you'll listen,
if you'll hear, this is what needs to be done.
Okay? Now you go, go to the flock,
verse 19, or verse 9, I'm sorry. Go to the flock, fetch meat from
the fence, two good kids of goat, and I will make them." Say, I'm
going to make them savory meat for you. I'm going to do this
for you. You're not going to do it, I'm going to do it. I'm
going to make you fit, prepare you. I'm going to do it all.
I'm going to prepare this meat that your father loved, and you're
going to bring it to the father. Verse 10, you're going to bring
it that he may eat, and he's going to bless you. He's going
to bless you. Jacob. Oh, poor Jacob. I can relate to him. Is this
going to work? Mom, is this going to work? Look at
verse 12. Esau said, My father's going
to fear me. Mom, Dad's going to lay hold
on me. He's going to lay hold of me.
Dad knows. Fathers know things. My dad's
been able to see right through me from the very beginning. He
knows me. He knows what I've been like since I was born, a
Jacob. And you want me to go up close
and try to be like Esau? He's going to feel me, verse
12, and I'm going to seem as a deceiver. He's going to curse
me. He's going to curse me, not bless me. He's going to curse
me. But Rebecca says no, verse 13. You do what I say. Would you listen to me? Do what
I say. Obey my voice. Upon me be thy
curse, my son. You go fetch. You go fetch now. What I told you, fetch. Now, if you'll believe Christ,
you'll just look to Christ. Don't. Don't. You try to make
that meat, you don't know the recipe. You don't know the herbs
and spices that your Father did. You don't know the ins and outs
of what He likes about that venison. You bring it to me, I'm going
to prepare it, and you too. Don't try to do it yourself.
Bring it to me, I'm going to prepare it. I know what the Father
loves. That reminded me of Romans 8. It says that the Spirit maketh
intercession for us. With groanings it cannot be uttered. Are you hearing me, Jacob? Sons
of Jacob, are you hearing me? Huh? The Holy Spirit said, listen
to me now. You obey my voice. I'm going
to take the blame. And I'm going to get the credit. Are you sure? Yes. Couldn't be
more sure. Okay. Verse 14. He went. He went. And he fetched and he
brought him to his mother. He brought it right back to her,
just as she said. And his mother made savory meat,
such as his father loved. She knew what he loved. She knew
everything about it. And she made it. Now, listen,
I mean, let me rehearse this again. OK, now Esau is the oldest
born son. It's always been that the oldest
son received the blessing. The firstborn son is the heir
to all that the father had. Always has been that way. Esau
is the rightful heir. Esau deserves the blessing. Esau
was the father's favorite. I had an older brother. My oldest
brother. Generally, it seems to be that
the oldest son most resembles the father. Mine did, my older
brother. And he was lovely. He looked like Dad. He was like
Dad, and Dad sure loved him. That's all right with me. He
was deserving of that love. He was more like the father than
I am. deserve the blessing. And the
Lord Jesus Christ now is God's well-beloved, only begotten Son.
He's the firstborn. He's most like the Father. Well,
He's exactly like the Father. And He's well-pleasing, and that's
all right with me. The Father loves the Son. Everything
about Him. He loves His work. He loves His
talk. He loves His walk. He loves His
smell. He likes his touch, he loves
his kisses, he loves his hugs. That's my boy, my firstborn,
my oldest son. I'm well pleased in him. He's
most like me. Well, how is Jacob? Jacob, like
I said, Jacob's a shriveling little peanut fellow. He is not like anything like
Isaac and Esau. How is he going to receive the
blessing in the stead of Esau? How is Jacob going to come to
the Father and the Father accept him just like he accepted Esau? Well, Rebekah is going to have
to make Jacob to be like Esau. Rebekah is going to have to make
him look like him, smell like him, feel like him, and most
of all, the most important thing of all, Jacob's going to have
to have that savory meat that his father loved. Or he's going
to be cast out. And look like him, smell like
him, feel like him, and have that dead meat that he loved. All right, so here's what she
did. Look at verses 15 through 17. Verse 15, Rebecca took goodly
raiment of her eldest son Esau. She took the clothes that belonged
to her oldest son, Isaac's oldest son Esau. She took his best clothes, which were with her. She had
them. They were hers to give. And she took those and put them
on Jacob. She roped him. She covered him
in Esau's clothes. And it's not all. Verse 16, and
she put skin in, so she killed those animals, those innocent
animals. She killed them and skinned them. and took those skins and wrapped
those skins around his hands, where the father would be touching
those hands, you know. Matt says to move his neck, wrapped
him around his neck there where the father would be grabbing
him around the neck, you know. Come here. Grab my hand. Come
here. Put those skins on him. And that's
not all. She, verse 17, gave the savory
meat. Now she fixed it up. All this
venison is just right. And she put it in his hand. This is the best story. This
is the best message I've ever heard. She did all this for him. Jacob's just standing there. He didn't put the clothes on.
He didn't fix the meat. He's just standing there and
mama is doing it. Come here, Jacob." He put his
clothes on, here, just right. You know, he wears them just
like this. I don't like it. This is the way he saw, where's
his clothes? It's got to be just right. Clothes in, you know. Does it tie? He wore a tie. He
didn't wear a tie. Put those skins on. Do I have
to wear it? Yes. We're going to come up close.
We don't want to be so close and yet so far away. It's got
to be just right. Every jot, we're going to leave
no stone unturned. Here, put those on. Now wait.
Okay, I'm ready. No! No, don't go yet. Here. This is the best thing of all.
This is what he's waiting on. Take this meat, this savory meat
that he loves. Here, go. Take it. Now, even though Jacob's robed
and looks like him and smells like him and has all this, what
do you think he's thinking, Henry? It's not going to work. You reckon? I know I've got everything, Patricia.
I'm going to go find me out. But you know what he did? He
went anyway. I want to bless him. So he came. Came to the father. Here it comes. Here it comes. Jacob went. He said to his mother, now you
sure this robe, this is his best robe? This is the best robe.
It will cover you. It will cover you. And this is
me just the way it is. Just exactly like you. Just go.
Okay? Go, Jacob. Go. So he went. Came to the Father. Verse 18. He comes. Now, you
reckon he's praying. You reckon he ran into the presence
of his Father and said, Here I am! You reckon that, Ben? He reckoned he went up presumptuously
and proud, and I got him made. I'm sure he'd get the blessing
as if he'd already gotten it. Oh, man. He's got everything
he needs. He's got everything his mother
told him, but he's scared. He's fearful of the Father. He's
afraid of the Father, and he's afraid his own sins are going
to find him out. I'm Jacob. I'm not Esau. I'm Jacob. I know what Mom told
me to bring, and I've got to hear it, but I am Jacob. I know he saw, but he went anyway. And he said, look at what he
said, verse 18, Father, my Father, the Father said, here am I, who art thou? My son? I am that I am. Who art thou? My son. What's he going to say? Verse 19, Jacob said unto his
father, Esau, I am Esau. I'm sure he said it. His voice
was trembling. It got a catch in his throat,
Ed. He saw. He saw. I'm your firstborn. I've done. Now he gets a little more courage
here now. I've done according as you bade
me. Here, rise, I pray thee, eat
my Venice, I have what you love. Bless me. Bless me. Now, is everyone understanding
what this is about? Huh? Our Lord, it says, He opened
their understanding that they might understand the Scripture.
Do you understand what this story is all about? You understand
why this took place? There's no meaning to this otherwise. This speaks of the Lord Jesus
Christ. If we're going to be accepted by God, we're going
to have to be just like Christ. We're going to be accepted in
the beloved, because there's nothing lovely about us. God doesn't
accept us. And the Holy Spirit has to make
us acceptable. The Holy Spirit has to do this.
Apply the blood of Christ. The Holy Spirit imputes the righteousness
of Christ. The Holy Spirit gives us repentance
and faith. The Holy Spirit must bring us
to the Father. The Holy Spirit must give us
that spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Father. The Holy Spirit
must teach us to say whenever the Father says, Who are you?
Why should I bless you? You've got to say, Christ! Christ! Christ! Christ was obedient. Christ did
it all. Christ made the sacrifice. Christ
is well-pleasing to you. Who are you? I'm in Christ. Do you understand that? Is that
your plea? Is that your plea? We'll be found out if it's not. Well, look at this. Boy, I love
this. Verse 20, Isaac said unto his son, How is it that you found
it so quickly, my son? Where did you get this? How did
you get it so quick? Why, I just now told you to go
get it, and here it is, like it was already prepared. How did you get this, son? Where
did you come by this? Verse 20, Jacob said, The Lord
brought it to me. The Lord did this. How'd you come here? The Lord
brought me. How do you have this righteousness? I didn't do it.
He gave it to me. Huh? How'd you find out about
this? The Lord taught me. How, how, how, how, Lord? Salk
me, balk me, balk me, talk me? The Lord did this. Why are you
saved? It's of the Lord. Salvation's
of the Lord. Where'd you get this? The Lord
did it. Had nothing to do with it. That's the confession of faith
of every believer. Jonah 2, 9, Mary. Jonah 2, 9. Salvation of the Lord. How did
you get there? How did you come here? Did you
make a decision? Did you make yourself righteous? Did you do
this? Did you do that? No, no, no. The Lord did this.
He's already prepared for the foundation of the world. And
he just gave it to me. Free gifts. Salvation is by grace.
By grace I'm saved. It's not in myself. And what
I have learned, I learned from the Spirit. It had nothing to
do with it. Oh, look at this. Look at this
now. Verse 21 through 23, And so Isaac said unto Jacob, Come
near, I pray thee, come closer, that I may feel thee, my son. I want to touch you. I want to
lay hold on you, whether you're my son Esau or not. You come
here, close. I've got to lay hold on you.
You've got to be laid hold on by the Father, to touch you,
to see whether or not you're really are the one. Jacob went near unto Isaac his
father, and Isaac felt him, and said, Well, the voice is Jacob's, but the hands are the hands of
Esau. This one that's talking to me
is a sinner. That's the voice of Jacob, and
that's the voice of the son of Jacob. But now, I feel nail-scarred hands. Son of God, Christ, the works
of Christ. Verse 23, and so he discerned
him not, didn't find him out. He wasn't found out. His sin
didn't find him out. Be sure your sin will find you.
Does that scripture ever worry you, trouble you? Be sure your
sin will find you. Sin, singular, sin. Let me tell you something to
be sure of. Be sure Christ put away your sin. You'll not be
found out. To the Father, uh-uh. You'll
not be discerned as the cheat and surplanner that you are.
Because his hands were hairy, because the works Christ did,
he did on your behalf. Huh? His brothers, he saw the
hands. So he blessed them. He blessed
them. He did it. But he asked them again. Who
are you? Verse 24. Are you, let me ask
you one more time, now that you have the blessing, are you indeed
my son? Are you my very son, Esau? I am that I am. I am that I am. Well, bring me
that meat. Verse 25, he said, bring it near
to me. I'm going to eat that my son's venison, 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. Wine? Oh, wine. He loves wine,
yes. And the father rejoiced in that
which the son brought. And his father Isaac said unto
him, verse 26, Come near now. Come real close now. and kiss
me. Come real close now and kiss
me. I love to kiss my son. I love
to hug my son. I love. Come real close. And now Jacob's heart is pounding
more than ever, isn't it? Pounding more than ever. But he comes right up, right
up to the Father. I mean right up close where there's
absolutely no escaping now. If he's going to be found out,
it's going to be when he comes, it just bears off, just comes
right up close and he puts his arms around his dad and his dad
puts his arms around him and they cheek to cheek kiss each
other. Look at verse 27. He said, It's
the smell of my Son, Esau. He smells of the field. He's a sweet-smelling savor to
me. And Jacob, in that father's arms,
he's thinking, I can't believe it. I can't believe it. Mom was right. She was right. Verse 28, he said, Therefore
God give thee of the dew of heaven. He blessed him with the fatness
of the earth and plenty of corn and wine. Bless you with all
the blessings in spiritual places, in heavenly places. in the word,
firstborn, well-beloved son. You are my son in whom I am well
pleased, and everything I have belongs to you. Yeah, you, son."
It was Jacob. Why was Jacob blessed? He looked
like he saw. He felt like he saw. He smelled
like Esau. He had what Esau loved to bring
to the father and what the father loved to receive from the son.
He was made fit by Rebecca, his mother. He was totally passive
in this whole story. He found out about it. He learned
of it. He was taught. He was brought. He was blessed. Accepted in the
blood. Huh? You see that? That's why that story happened.
That's why that story happened. I hope that's your plea. All
right, let's stand and sing a hymn. What number? 175. It's all the same, standing on the promise. Standing on the promises of Christ
my King Who comes to make His presence known Holy in the highest
I will shout and sing Standing on the promises of God Standing,
standing Standing on the promises of God my Savior Standing Standing,
I'm standing on the promise to a girl. Standing on the promises
that cannot fail, when the hardest ones of doubt and fear assail,
by the living Word of God I shall prevail. Standing on the promises
of God, standing, standing, Standing on the promises of God my Savior. Standing, standing, I'm standing
on the promises of God.