In Genesis 35, 21, Israel journeyed
and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar. It came to pass
when Israel dwelt in that land that Reuben went and lay with
Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard it. Now the
sons of Jacob were twelve, the sons of Leah, Reuben, Jacob's
firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and
Zebulun. The sons of Rachel, Joseph, and
Benjamin. And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's
handmaid, Dan and Naphtali. And the sons of Zilpah, Leah's
handmaid, Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob,
which were born to him in Padan Aram. And Jacob came unto Isaac,
his father, unto Mamre, unto the city of Arba, which is Hebron,
where Abraham and Isaac sojourned. And the days of Isaac were 104
score years. And Isaac gave up the ghost and
died and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of
days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried
him. Just before the mention of Isaac's
death there, we have this genealogy of Jacob's sons. And then just
after the mention of Isaac's death, at the end of chapter
35, we're given a genealogy of Esau's sons in chapter 36. And there's a lot of speculation
as to why the Bible even includes the mention of Esau's family
at all, but there are some clear reasons, I believe, in the text.
Remember that Jacob and Esau here stand in the book of Genesis
and in Romans 39, Romans chapter 9, as being typical in illustrating
God's sovereign purpose of election as he deals with sinners in grace
or withholds his grace as he is pleased. Paul said in Romans
9, 11, for the children being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, And this is talking about these sons we
just talked about, Jacob and Esau, who buried their father
Isaac. And we have Jacob's family. And then in chapter 36, the whole
chapter is giving Esau's family. And these two men, before they
had done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according
to election, might stand. not of works, but of him that
calleth. That's the purpose of God according
to election. It's not of works, but it's of
God that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, and Esau, but Esau have I hated. And so as these two
men picture and are used to illustrate there God's purpose of election. So the lives of these two men
in the book of Genesis teach us much concerning the lives
of the saints of God and the reprobate, those who are the
objects of God's love and those who are not, who are the object
of his hatred. Esau, from the very first mention
of his name, We find him despising the birthright that God had ordained.
The promise of God's blessing meant nothing to him. With the
birthright went the blessing of God, and he knew that. But
he was hungry, and he said, what good is this birthright doing
me? I'm hungry, I want what I want, I'm gonna satisfy this flesh.
All that he cared about was the satisfaction of the flesh. And
so that's the first thing we learn about him. Listen again
to the way Paul describes him in Hebrews 12, 15. I'll have
you turn to some scripture later, but listen to that. Hebrews 12,
15, looking diligently, warning now that lest any man fail of
the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble
you and thereby many be defiled, lest there be any fornicator
or profane person as Esau. spiritual fornicator, spiritual
profanity, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright to
satisfy his own flesh. He sold the very blessing and
favor of God. For you know how that afterward,
when he would have inherited the blessing, in other words,
he wanted the benefits of it. He wanted the outward blessings,
but he was rejected for he found no place of repentance, though
he sought it carefully with tears. We see what he was interested
in, the satisfaction of the flesh. I'm hungry, I need something
to eat, and I want it right now, and I don't care what it costs
me. And so his desire for the birthright afterward, he was
wanting the blessing of it. It was the same thing. I want
what satisfies me. I want the part of God's blessing
and favor that makes me happy, that I like. And, you know, that's
the world. Everybody loves Jesus, the healer,
Jesus, the, you know, the free food source. but not the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so Esau was the same. Afterward he would have inherited
the blessing, but he was rejected, for he found no place of repentance,
though he sought it carefully with tears. You don't get repentance
that way, by working it up. That's the gift of God. And God
didn't give it to him, because God hated him. It's just that
simple. God prospered both men and their
families outwardly, though Jacob's life was full of trouble and
trial. He was deceived and used by his
uncle Laban, and he feared death at the hands of Esau, and prayed
to God for mercy there. And then again, when his sons
killed those men in Shalem, in chapter 34, because of how the
prince's son there, Shechem, had treated their sister, Dinah,
Again, that he feared for their lives because he thought that
the friends of those people in the land would destroy them.
But the Lord protected him. And then his wife, Rachel, dies
in chapter 35. And then Isaac, his father, and
all of the trouble in the rest of Jacob's life, as we see in
the rest of Genesis, is full of heartache and fear in so much
that he says in Genesis 42, 36, all these things are against
me. Esau, on the other hand, prospers
greatly also, but he was able to say to Jacob in
chapter 33, I have enough, my brother, keep that thou hast
to thyself. Jacob made him a gift of great
value. He said, you keep that, I have
everything I need, all the riches that I could possibly want. And
we're not told whether Esau had any of the kind of tribulation
and sorrow and trouble that Jacob did, but we do know from the
word of God that the wicked often do not. They often prosper in
this world without the kinds of trouble and trial that God's
people endure in this life. And we know why, don't we? We
don't always know why. We're not always happy about
it. were like the psalmist in Psalm 73 who stumbled at the
prosperity of the wicked and saw wicked men who had no trouble
or trial like he did. And he said, my feet had well
nigh slipped until the Lord revealed the truth to me. And the truth
is that though the wicked prosper in this life, the blessing of God doesn't come
with the prosperity of this world. Not often. If you're an object
of God's grace, don't covet what this world has. I'm saying that
to myself, because we're prone to. Read Psalm 73. I planned
to read the whole psalm tonight. I won't take the time, but you
read that again. And we're all prone to that.
As we live in this world and we see this world and we're still
full of flesh. And don't despise the chastening
of the Lord or his trying of your faith. The trying of your
faith is precious. And he chastens his children.
He chastens those that he loves. Oh, the flesh doesn't want it. But the spirit, how could we
have it any other way? He dealeth with you as with sons.
Would you have him deal with you another way? Now back here in Genesis, as
I said, we have genealogies of both families in chapter 35 and
chapter 36. And then the rest of the book
of Genesis is a record of things that happened in the lives of
Jacob. and his family, and there's never mention made again of Esau.
Or his sons for that matter really, they're mentioned in passing,
some of them, if at all. The Edomites as a nation are
mentioned later, of whom Jacob was, Esau was the father. But you'll notice if you read
chapter 36, and we won't take the time to read all of chapter
36 tonight either, that Esau's sons All of them were dukes of
one place or another. Look at the word in the chapter. I counted 30 some odd times that
it says, and his son was the duke of one place or another
in that chapter. And so as we've seen what little
we know of Esau's Personality, we saw him to be a man of the
aspirations of the flesh, preferring the satisfaction of the flesh
over the true blessing of God. And it seems his children learned
this from him. But as Jacob and Esau part ways,
our attention is drawn to Jacob and his family. And Esau and
his family are forgotten. Why, Jacob have I loved. God
mentions the wicked. They're listed here. He's not
unaware of them, but his blessing is not upon them. Prosperity
in this world is not necessarily a blessing from God. His children,
I'm sure Esau was proud of them. Don't you imagine? Duke this
and Duke that. All of his children had the respect
and admiration and riches of this world. Prosperity in this
world is not necessarily a blessing from God. It can be, but it can
be a curse too. The wicked live in this world
lives without consequence other than the judgment of God, which
is the consequence of their sins. What difference does any of it
make? That's why we don't read anything
about it. It's not worth reading about. Is it? Of what interest
is a godless life? Of what value is it? Men are
born into this world and are taught by their parents, as Esau's
children no doubt were taught by him, to get all that they
can, to do everything they can to get ahead, to seek pleasure
and riches and the praise and respect of men. How do you become
a duke in this world, if not by selling the birthright? You
think about that, generally speaking now. How many dukes do you know
in this world that know God, love God, worship God? You think you could be one without
selling the birthright? Do you? You think you could be
president? No way. No way the way this world is
could a child of God ever get that far. You'd probably get
stoned before you'd ever make it to the White House. You reckon?
If you told the truth, you would. You'd have everybody in this
country hating your guts, except the rest of God's people. Isn't
that right? But no matter what you aspire
to or attain in this life, a godless life is a wasted life. It's of
no consequence. I used to ask myself at the end
of the day, now and then, What difference does it make how many
forklifts I sold today? What difference does that make?
Of course it's important to provide for your family, but to what
end? So they can grow up and sell
forklifts? Is that what it's all about? What is it all for
if God's not glorified? Or if I don't have His blessing
and favor? In Ecclesiastes 2, 14 through 16, Wise Solomon said, one event
happeneth unto them all. The wise man and the fool, they
all die the same. The wise of this world, the rich
of this world, the prominent in this world, and the beggar
on the street, they all die the same. One event happeneth unto
them all. And what's the point of it? Psalm
37, 16, David said, a little that a righteous man hath is
better than the riches of many wicked. And it's not because
there's anything wrong with riches or any virtue in poverty. It has nothing
to do with that. The point is, if you have Christ,
you have everything. If you have not Christ, you have
nothing. Whether you're rich or poor,
it doesn't matter. A little that a righteous man hath, that's
the key. The key is not the rich and poor,
it's the righteous and wicked. The rich and poor are added there
because most people think the blessing of God is riches. The
blessing of God is righteousness. What shall it profit a man if
he gained the whole world and lose his own soul? I know that
young people, I say this to the young people, especially you
have dreams, don't you? I know I did when I was young
too. My dreams are different now.
My desires are different. And I know it's popular to say,
never stop dreaming. And be all you want to be. You
know, you can be anything. That's true. You set your heart
to it. Something that you love, now
it'll have to be something you love. If you don't love it, you
won't stick with it. Whatever it is, I guarantee you,
you're not going to force yourself. That's absolutely right. You
can be whatever you want to be in this world, but don't forget
God. It doesn't matter what you are.
If you forget God, it's a waste of time. It'll be a curse to
you and everybody that knows you and loves you. God's blessing is upon Jacob
and his family. And mentioned among the sons
of Jacob in chapter 35 is one of his sons that was born unto
him by Rachel. His name is Joseph. And Joseph is one of the clearest
and most, if not the most, detailed and beautiful and intricate types
of the Lord Jesus Christ in all of the Word of God. And that's
why I've entered into this study with hesitation. We see in Him the Lord Jesus
in so many ways, even His birth. was by God's special grace. You
remember Rachel was barren. She became very jealous of her
handmaid because she was barren for a long time. And in Genesis
30, 22, it says this, listen carefully. And God remembered
Rachel and hearkened to her and opened her womb. And she conceived
and bare a son and said this, God hath taken away my reproach. You think about this. Somebody
that can't have a baby has a baby. And when she does, she says,
God has taken my reproach away. And she called his name Joseph.
And said, the Lord shall add to me another son. And that one
whom Joseph pictures, the Lord Jesus Christ, was also born of
a woman who could not have children. Though for another reason. And
surely we must look upon the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ
and say what Rachel said upon the birth of Joseph. The Lord
hath taken away my reproach. How can you see the Son of God
born into this world and hear the angel singing his glory and
shouting hallelujah and saying we bring you good tidings of
great joy? Unto you is born this day in
the city of David a Savior. Unto you is born God's Redeemer
of His people. We see this woman who can't have
a baby have a baby. And we say, the Lord has taken
away my reproach. Isn't that what Simeon said?
In effect, when he looked into the face of the little baby,
the Lord Jesus, and said, mine eyes have seen God's salvation.
He's taken away my reproach. And when we begin reading in
chapter 37, let's look at chapter 37. We won't read chapter 36
because, like I said, it's just a record of the family of Esau
who are conspicuously never mentioned again. Some of his sons, I believe,
are mentioned later in Scripture in passing. And when we begin
reading chapter 37, we see right away Jacob typical of our Lord. And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein
his father was a stranger in the land of Canaan. And these
are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being 17 years old, was
feeding the flock with his brethren. And the lad was with the sons
of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives. And
Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. Now Israel
loved Joseph more than all his children because he was the son
of his old age. And he made him a coat of many
colors. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him
more than all his brethren, they hated him and could not speak
peaceably unto him. It's hard not to notice the contrast
here. how that Joseph's father loved
him dearly, but his brethren hated him. And we can't read
of Father Jacob's love for Joseph without thinking of the words
of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus, as he spoke audibly from heaven. In Matthew 3, 17,
it says, lo, a voice from heaven said this is my beloved son in
whom I'm well pleased. John 335 says the father loveth
the son. Jacob, every step, everything
about him pictures our Lord, just about. The father loveth
the son and hath given all things into his hands. When our Lord
prayed in John 17 unto the Father, he said in John 17 5, And now,
O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory
that I had with thee before the world was. We have no idea what
love is, do we? The Father loveth the Son as
his only begotten. John 118, no man hath seen God
in any time, the only begotten, which is in the bosom of the
Father. He hath declared it. He also loves the Son as his
perfect servant. The perfect man. My representative and my sin
offering. John 10, 17, therefore doth my
father love me because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. But as Joseph's brothers hated
him, Christ's brethren, according to the flesh, that is the Jews,
despised the Lord Jesus Christ. John 1.11 says, He came unto
His own, and His own received Him not. That's talking about
His own nation, Israel. John 15.22. Turn there with me. Let's turn to John 15. Let's
look at this part together in closing. I've stopped saying I'm going
to be brief tonight, because when I say that, it doesn't happen.
So I'm just going to sneak up on you. John 15, 22. The Lord Jesus Christ
speaking here, he says, if I had not come and spoken unto them,
they had not had sin. But now they have no cloak for
their sin. Remember what it said in Genesis
37 2 there? We kind of snuck past it. It
said this, Joseph being 17 years old was feeding the flock with
his brethren. And the lad was with the sons
of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives. And
Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. We see that
here in our Lord's language, don't we? That he revealed their
sin. If I had not come, they wouldn't
have had sin, not in their own minds. They wouldn't have been
called to account for their sin, but now they can't hide it. They
have no cloak for their sin. Verse 23, he that hateth me,
hateth my father also. Think how this is pictured too
by Joseph's brethren hating him so. How could they do that to
their father? They threw him in a pit and dipped
his coat in animal's blood and went back to their father and
said, he's dead. They hated him too, didn't they?
You couldn't do that to somebody you love. Verse 24, if I had not done among
them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin. But now have they both seen and
hated both me and my father. But this cometh to pass that
the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law. They
hated me without a cause. And so already in Joseph's life,
we get just an introduction here. I want to talk about that coat
of many colors, but I want to spend more time on that, so we
won't include that tonight. But in every way here so far
in his birth, his miraculous birth, the special grace the
Lord gave that he might be born and caused his mother to say,
the Lord has taken my reproach away. And then in the love of
the Father for the Son. He loved him as his only begotten
before the world was. He was in the bosom of the Father.
But also, because of what he did, because of his obedience
to God, because of his service, because of his accomplishment
of the work the Father sent him to do of the redemption of his
people, Representing them perfectly, doing always those things that
please the Father. And all of that culminating in
Him laying down that life, that perfect, holy, sinless life.
He said, therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my
life. Because I, the spotless Lamb, lay down my life. that I might take it up again.
Therefore doth he love me. And then, to see the hatred of
this world. We tend to talk about they hate
the Lord. By nature, that's us, isn't it?
That's us. And our love is so weak and fickle
and unreliable. But this world truly did hate
him freely, without a cause, the same way that he loves his
people. We've got no excuse for hating the Son of God. And He
had no reason to love us. He just did. Behold what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we might be called
the sons of God. And so in every way, Joseph so
far pictures Him, and we're going to see more and more beautiful
types of the Lord in him. But in closing, let me make one
more spiritual application concerning the love of the Father for the
Son. Turn to John 17, verse 20. Neither pray I for these alone.
The Lord is as our great high priest. He's entered the holy
place here into the presence of the Father, and he's put the
incense on the censer. This is the prayer. This is the
sweet-smelling savor of God, of Christ, in the nostrils of
God. He says, I don't pray for these alone, these twelve, these
disciples that you've given me, but for them also which shall
believe on me through their word. And that's how we believe, don't
we? They preach to some, who preach to others, who preach
to others. And one day it came down to me, and the word of God
came where I was. Through somebody that had believed,
from somebody that had believed, from somebody that had believed,
God used me and these means, the preaching of the gospel,
to save his elect throughout the ages. And his word came to
us one day. And he said, I pray for them,
I pray for them, that they all may be one as thou father art
in me. And I in thee, that they also
may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent
me. And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them,
that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, and thou
in me, that they may be made perfect in one. And that the
world may know that thou hast sent me, and has loved them as
thou hast loved me. The love of Jacob for Joseph,
the love of the father for the son, is the same love with which
God loves you and I. His sheep, because we're in him,
we're one with him. He's in us and we're in him and
we're one. That's what he prayed for. And
God loves us as he loves his only begotten son. I'll quote
it again now. Behold, what manner of love the
father hath bestowed upon us. What manner of love that we should
be called the sons of God. I think we need to do a lot more
beholden of that, don't you? Let's bow in prayer.