The Bible is the inspired, inerrant
Word of God. Every story in the Bible is given
to teach us the Gospel. In Galatians Chapter 4, Paul
tells the story of what took place in Genesis Chapter 16,
where Abraham and Sarah did not wait
on the Lord, and Sarah comes up with a brilliant idea for
Abraham to go into her servant, Hagar, and have a child, and
God's will would be done through that, through them helping out.
And I would have never have guessed that that's supposed to teach
us the gospel. But if you go into Galatians chapter four,
you find out that that teaches us of law and grace. And that
rule of interpretation is upon every story, without exception,
in the Old Testament. Now, the story we have before
us is a story of deceit, fraud, and manipulation. there are no
heroes in this story humanly speaking Isaac goes against what
God had already said that Jacob would have the blessing and he
tried to make sure Esau had the blessing Rebecca had already
been given the promise that her favorite Jacob would have the
blessing yet she still tried to manipulate this situation
and she used deceit and fraud in order to make sure she got
what she wanted even though God had already said that Jacob was
going to have the blessing. Esau is the one who was robbed
of the blessing, but we know from chapter 25 that he thought
so little of God that he sold his birthright for a bowl of
soup. The birthright meant that the
Christ would come through him if he had the right of the firstborn.
The birthright meant that he would get everything. It represents
Christ being all, and that was so without value to him that
he was gonna sell all that for a bowl of soup. So here we have
the story of him being cheated out of his blessing through his
brother Jacob. Jacob is a deceitful man. Nobody else like that? Jacob's a deceitful man. Jacob
is a fraud in many ways. And he seeks to swindle his brother
out of the blessing. Those are the four characters. Now let's look in verse 1 of
chapter 27. I repeat, in this A story of
deceit and fraud and manipulation. We learn how a sinner can approach
God. You can learn from this how you,
I can learn from this how I can approach the living God. Verse 1, Genesis 27, and it came
to pass, there's our phrase that comes across the scripture so
many times, God purposed it, it came to pass. This was all
according to God's purpose. Every event, every detail was
all according to God's purpose. And it came to pass that when
Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see. Isaac was blind. He called Esau, his eldest son,
and we know from Genesis 25, his favored son, and said unto him, my son. And
he said unto him, behold, here I am. And he said, behold, now
I'm 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." And Rebecca heard. when Isaac spake to Esau, his
son. Now remember, Isaac favored Esau. Rebecca favored Jacob. And she heard where her husband
said, I'm gonna give the blessing to my son Esau. And she, in spite
of the fact that God had already told her that Jacob is the one
who will receive the blessing. And that Esau would be servant
to Jacob. God told her that. But she couldn't
wait. She wanted to make sure she manipulated
this situation to get what she wanted. And she was gonna use
deceit and fraud. I tell you, this is one dysfunctional
family. And you see that so clearly in
this passage of scripture. And Rebekah heard when Isaac
spake to Esau his son, and Esau went to the field to hunt for
venison and to bring it. And Rebekah spake unto Jacob
her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speaking to Esau thy
brother, 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 thence two good kids of the goats and I will make them savory
meat for thy father such as he loveth. She knew how to make
this meat. And thou shalt bring it to thy
father that he may eat and that he may bless thee before his
death. Jacob said to Rebekah his mother
behold he saw my brother's a hairy man, and I'm a smooth man My
father per adventure will feel me and I shall seem to him a
deceiver And I shall bring a curse upon me and not a blessing that
you put yourself in his place You would be afraid to do this
as well And his mother said unto him
verse 13 upon me Be thy curse my son Only obey my voice. Do exactly what I say to do. And go fetch them. And he went
and fetched them and brought them to his mother, and his mother
made savory meat such as his father loved. You know, before
the father would give the blessing, he had to have what he loved. He had to have what he loved
before any blessing would be dispensed. Verse 15, and Rebecca took goodly
arraignment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in
the house, I guess his best clothing, garment. And she put them upon
Jacob, her younger son. And she put 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." Now can you imagine how nervous
Jacob must have been as he approached his father? He knows he has Esau's,
his brother's, garment on. Made him smell like Esau. His
neck and hands were covered with goat skins to make him feel hairy,
like his brother, Esau. But he can't change his voice. He can't imitate Esau's voice. And so you can imagine how nervous
he was, thinking, what if this brings a curse upon me, rather
than a blessing? Verse 18, and he came into his
father and said, my father. He said, here am I, who art thou
my son? You know, um, Isaac smelled a
rat. He knew something was going on.
He couldn't see. He wasn't sure. Something's not
right. And Jacob. said unto his father
when he said, who art thou my son? I am Esau. That firstborn. Now how do you reckon he felt
when he said that? He knew it wasn't so. But he still comes
into his father's presence as Esau. I am Esau. thy firstborn. Look what he says
next, I have done according as thou hast made me. I've done
everything you told me to do just like you told me to do it. Arise, I pray thee, sit in need
of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. He had to have
the blessing. And Isaac said unto his son,
How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, because the Lord
thy God brought it to me. Now you want to talk about brazen
lying. He even implicated the Lord in this. The Lord brought
this to me. Is there any doubt that Jacob
was a sinner? That is established. And I hope
you see that he is no different than you or me. 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 it. He felt hairy just like Esau. And he said, the voice is Jacob's
voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau, and he discerned
him not. He could not tell the difference. Because his hands were hairy,
as his brother Esau's hands So he blessed him. Why did he bless him? Because
he could discern no difference between Esau and Jacob. Verse 24, and he said, art thou
my very son Esau? He said, I am. He lied again. You have to think
he was very nervous while this was going on. 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 in him, come near now and kiss me my son. And he came near and he kissed
him. And he smelled the smell of his
raiment. Remember that raiment that Rebecca
got him? What she's doing is working.
It's working. See, the smell of my son is the
smell of the field, which the Lord hath blessed. Now, Rebecca's
scheme worked perfectly. Now, the blessing is announced.
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 blesseth thee. What a blessing. Verse 30, And it came to pass,
as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarce gone out
from the presence of Isaac his father, I'd say something like
five minutes later, He's gone out, then Esau, his brother,
came in from his honey. And he also had made savory meat
and brought it into his father and said to 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'm thy son, thy
firstborn, Esau. And Isaac trembled. very exceedingly
and said, who? Where is he that has taken venison
and brought it to me? And I've eaten of all before
thou camest and thou blessed him and yea, he shall be blessed.
This blessing is irreversible. It's irreversible, I can't change
my mind. It's irreversible, it's immutable. He's been blessed, he's blessed. And when he saw, heard the words
of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter
cry and said unto his father, bless me. Oh, even me also, oh
my father. And he said, thy brother came
with subtlety and has taken away thy blessing. And he said, is
not he rightly named Jacob, heel catcher? For he has supplanted
me these two times. He took away my birthright. Now
wait a minute, wait a minute. He didn't take away your birthright.
You sold it to him. You sold it to him. We always make things
better than they really are. He took away my birthright, behold
now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, has thou not reserved
a blessing for me? And Isaac answered and said unto
Esau, behold, I've made him thy Lord. And all his brethren have
I given to him for servants. And with corn and wine have I
sustained him. What shall I do now unto thee,
my son? And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing,
my father? Bless me, even me, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice
and wept. You remember how that's quoted
in Hebrews 11? Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. And afterwards, when he would
have got it and repented. It was too late even though he
sought it with tears. He sought a change in his father's
mind and his father's mind could not do it. The blessing could
not be reversed. And Isaac his father answered
and said unto him, behold, thy dwelling shall be in the fatness
of the earth and the dew of heaven from above. And by thy sword
shalt thou live and shalt serve thy brother. And it shall come
to pass when thou shalt have the dominion that thou shalt
break his yoke from off thy neck. And Esau hated Jacob. because of the blessing wherewith
his father blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, the
days of mourning for my father at hand, then will I slay my
brother Jacob. And these words of Esau, her
elder son, were told to Rebekah. And she said and called Jacob,
her younger son, and saith unto him, behold, thy brother Esau
is touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill you.
Now, therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise. Flee thou
to Laban, my brother to Haran, and tarry with him a few days,
until thy brother's fury turn away, until thy brother's anger
turn away from me, and he forget that which he had said he was
going to do to you, and I'll send and fetch thee from thence.
Why should I be deprived also of both of you in one day?" And
so Rebecca, in her deceitful, fraudulent, manipulating ways,
Says to Isaac, I'm weary because of my life, because of the daughters
of Heth. If Jacob take of a wife of the daughters of Heth, such
as these, which are the daughters of the land, what good shall
my life be to me? See what she's doing? She wants
her son in this land, but she's not gonna tell. Isaac, why? So she makes up and concocts
this thing about how she'll probably kill herself if this happens.
That's basically what she's saying. And Isaac was manipulated once
again by his wife. Now there are four characters
in this story, this highly dysfunctional family. Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob,
and Esau. And God does what only God can
do. He brings good out of evil. Do you know he always does? He
always brings good out of evil. God is good. Whatever he does
is good. And he always brings good out
of evil. And you see how You think, why
is this story in the Bible? I mean, are there any heroes
in it? Humanly speaking, they're not. But we're not speaking humanly,
are we? This story is given to teach us how a sinner approaches
God. Isaac is a type of God the Father.
Esau is a type of Christ. Rebecca is a type of the Holy
Spirit and Jacob is a type of the believer. And when someone
says, how can you say that God always brings good out of evil?
All the horrible things that take place. What's the most evil
thing to ever take place? The murder of his son. the malicious,
hateful murder of the Son of God. That is the most evil thing
to ever take place. What is the most glorious thing
to ever take place? The death and the accomplishments
of the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
the first thing I want to be Brief, I'm not gonna go over
every verse of this, but the first thing that I want us to
notice is that it had already been determined before these
boys were born that Jacob would obtain the blessing according
to the purpose of God. Let me quote this scripture to
you for the children, talking about Jacob and Esau, 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. AS IT IS WRITTEN,
THIS IS GOD'S WORD, JACOB HAVE I LOVED. This deceitful, conniving, manipulating,
dishonest man? Jacob, have I loved? And Esau, have I hated? Now, I've said this before, I'm
gonna say it again. I can see why God would hate
Esau, because I can see why he'd hate me. I really can't, I can
see why God would despise me. What I'm amazed by is his love
for this man, Jacob, this deceitful, sinful man, Jacob. Jacob is going to obtain the
blessing according to God's sovereign purpose, and I make no apology
for that. This is God being God. It's pointed out that Isaac had
become blind. Now Abraham died at a good old
age. He was real healthy. You know,
when Moses died, it said, his eye was not dim, nor his natural
force abated. But here old Isaac is blind.
You know why? Because this could never take
place without him being blind. The Lord, in his good providence,
makes this man blind for glorious purposes, to teach us something
of his gospel. Old Isaac, it seems like he was controlled
by what tasted good to him. Why did he love Esau in the first
place? Genesis 25 says because he loved
the venison he brought him. That's why he loved him. This
guy gives me good stuff to eat. I like him better. And he is
getting ready to die and he thinks about what he likes to eat. I've
got to have what I love to eat. And so he tells his boy, go out,
Hunt, bring me what I love to eat. You see, God's gonna have to be satisfied.
He's gonna have to have what he loves. And remember, Isaac
is a type of God here. He can only be satisfied with
what he loves. You go out and go hunting, bring
me back in what I love to eat. Well, Rebecca hears, and she
goes to her son, Jacob, and says, your father's gonna bless Esau. Now, God had already promised,
but she didn't believe. She wasn't any different than
Sarah was, really, in Genesis chapter 16, when Sarah tried
to get things going. Well, Rebecca does, too. And
she tells him what he needs to do. Look in verse. Five, and
Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau's son, and Esau went
to the field to hunt for the venison and bring it, and Rebekah
spake unto Jacob her son. She wasn't gonna simply trust
God, she was gonna take care of this situation. Behold, I
heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, 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. Do exactly what
I say to do. Notice she tells him to get two
kids. Why not one? Why do you have
to have two kids to provide that which the father loves? How many goats were used on the
day of atonement? Two. One for the sacrifice by
death. The other to teach us how that
happened because sin was transferred to the scapegoat. And only that
will give what the Father loves. Perfect atonement, perfect justice,
absolute grace. You know, that's the amazing
thing about the cross of Christ. Two things that couldn't happen
at the same time in our human experience, justice and grace,
take place. Absolute justice and absolute
grace. That's what the Father must have.
He's a just God and a Savior. He must have absolute justice
and absolute grace. Now, we read in verse 10, and
thou shalt bring it to thy father that he may eat, and that he
may bless thee before his death. And Jacob said to Rebekah's mother,
behold, he's on my brother's a hairy man, and I'm a smooth
man, my father Provencher will feel me, and I shall seem to
him as a deceiver, and I shall bring a curse upon me and not
a blessing. Can't you imagine why he felt
that way? I'd be there, right there with him. I'd be scared
to death of what's going to take place. And his mother said unto
him, remember this is the Holy Spirit, this typifies the Holy
Spirit. And she gives the gospel, upon me be thy curse. And that's
what the Lord said. Remember when he said with regard
to being a surety to Judah, what you, you put what he owes you
upon my hand, of my hand, thou shalt require it. Now that's
what she's saying, trust, trust what I'm saying. Even if it scares
you to death, trust what I'm saying and do exactly as I say,
the curse is not going to come upon you. Do what I say. I think it's interesting. All
he did was what she said. He didn't come up with any of
the, he didn't even come up with the idea to come back to the
father. He sure didn't think of the meat that the father would
love and the two goats. He didn't think of being covered
with goat skins and having on a raiment that smelled just,
he didn't, he just did what his mother told him to do. Now, very
wise. Very wise. Trust Christ only,
period. Trust Christ only. You don't have anything else.
Trust Christ only. And he went and fetched and brought
it to his mother and his mother made savory meat such as his
father loved and Rebecca took goodly raiment and her eldest
son Esau which was with her in the house and put them upon Jacob
her younger son. Now you know that that is being
clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. That's how she
approached, being he approached with the righteousness of Jesus
Christ. And she put the skin to the kid
to the coats upon his hand and upon the smooth of his neck.
And she gave the savory meat and the bread which she had prepared
in the hand of her son Jacob. Now Jacob's given everything.
He didn't come up with the idea. He didn't come up with the things.
It's all given to him. And his mother says, go to your
father like this. And he came into his father and
said, my father. And he said, here I am. Who are
you? My son. And Jacob said unto his
father, I am your father. Esau. Now what would have happened
if he would have came in his own name? He would have been rejected right
now. And when a sinner comes into God's presence he comes
only in the name of Christ. No other way. And somebody says, well isn't
he lying? Listen, if I'm in Christ I answer to his name only. I'm Esau. Look what else he said
next. I've done according as thou badest
me, verse 19. Do you know that the Lord Jesus
Christ did exactly what the Father bade him? And I come in his obedience. I come in his name, I come in
his obedience. Now, if you would come to God,
you're going to come only in the name of Jesus Christ, wearing
his righteousness, bringing that which the Father loves, the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ, nothing else, nothing of your own. If you even are hinted to be
who you are, Jacob, you'll be rejected. You must come only
in the name of the Son, only in his obedience. I pray thee,
verse 19, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. And
Isaac said unto his son, how is it that you found it so quickly?
And he said, because the Lord thy God brought it to me. Now
that's, the Lord did it. How are you coming into my presence?
The Lord did it. I come no other way. I come in
his name, I come in his obedience, I come in what he did. I come
no other way. 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 he said, The voice is Jacob's,
but the hands are the hands of Esau. For me or you to come into
God's presence, I'm going to have to feel just like Jesus
Christ. When God touches me, He's going
to have to touch the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only way I
can come. And Jacob, verse 22, went near
unto Isaac his father, and he felt him. He said, The voice
of Jacob's voice, but the hands of the hands of Esau. And he
discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother
Esau's hands. So he blessed him. Now for me
to come into God's presence, There can be no discernible difference
between me and his son. If God can discern any difference,
I'll be cast off. The only way I can come is if
all God sees, feels, smells is his son. That's the only way
a sinner like Jacob can approach the Father and be accepted. And
that's the only way me and you can approach God and be accepted. Just the way Jacob did. With Christ's righteousness,
with Christ making me smell like him, feel like him, And he asked him again, verse
24, art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am. I won't answer
to any other name. Are you Todd? No, no, no, no. Only one way I come pleading
the name, the merits and the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Verse 25, 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 arraignment and blessed him.
You see, he smelled just like Jesus Christ. so that the father
could kiss him. And this is my son. Now that's the only way I'm gonna
come into God's presence by his grace. I will not come any other
way. I must come to this sense that
Father can discern no difference between me and Jesus Christ. Somebody says, but how could
that be? You're not Jesus Christ. I'm in him. And I'm one with
him if I'm a believer. Both he that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified are all of one. One with Christ. Not two real
close together. United to Christ. Therefore God give thee the dew
of heaven and the fatness of the earth and plenty of corn
and wine. Let people serve thee and nations bow to thee. Be Lord
over thy brethren. Let thy mother's son bow down
to thee. Cursed be everyone that curses
thee and blessed be he that blesseth Now, why is it that the blessing
could not be reversed? You'll notice after Esau comes
in five minutes later, verse 33, and Isaac trembled very exceedingly
and said, who are you? Where is he that hath taken venison,
brought it to me, and I've eaten all before him? Camest thou and
blessed him? Yea, and he shall be blessed.
This blessing cannot be reversed. He's blessed. It cannot be reversed. Why? With regard to God's blessing,
here's why it can't be reversed. Number one, it's eternal. And that which is eternal necessarily
is. Number two, this blessing, you know, every
type falls to the ground. Every type falls to the ground.
We have here this deceiver, this deceitful man getting the blessing. But in the gospel, God's righteousness
is seen in the blessing. I'm given the blessing because
I am righteous. And I'm getting the blessing
because in Christ, I am perfectly righteous. I have no sin. And the righteousness of God
demands that the blessing come to everybody that Jesus Christ
died for. Remember, that publican, I don't
remember if I said this here Sunday school, I said this already
once this morning, Christ said with regard to that man who was
beaten on his breast, crying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Remember what the Lord said with
regard to that man? I tell you, there's the authority,
I tell you. It's not Todd telling you, this
is me saying it. I tell you, that man went down to his house
justified. without guilt, not guilty, having
never sinned. And that is what the gospel does. It makes people like Jacob to
where God says, turn with me to Numbers 22. Actually, it's somewhere in Numbers. Where does it say God has not
beheld iniquity in Jacob? Numbers, I'll find it. It'll
take me just a second. Somebody find that for me. It's
in numbers somewhere in that. 23, 21. See, I told you. Verse
20 of chapter 23. Behold, I've received commandment
to bless, and he hath blessed. I cannot reverse it. He hath
not beheld iniquity in Jacob. Do you see that? He hath not
beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in
Israel. The Lord God is with him, and
the shout of a king is among them. And I know exactly what
that shout was and is. It is finished. And that's why folks like Jacob
and me and you can approach the living God through Christ and
be accepted. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that you would enable us to approach you the way Jacob
did, in the name, in the righteousness, and in the merit of thy dear
son. Lord, do for us what we cannot
do for ourselves, for Christ's sake. Bless this message according
to your will. In Christ's name we pray.