Internal Relationships Family Part 2 — Westlake Bible Fellowship

0:00 Introduction to Genesis 27

Okay. For this session, we're going to be in Genesis 27. So if you wouldn't mind turning there, Genesis 27. And then just in light of what we're talking about here regarding inherited relationships, pretty much what we're talking about is those relationships, right, that that we really didn't have a choice in the matter. You didn't choose who your parents were.

You didn't choose who your brother or sister were. K? But they're important to God. I said that, as we looked at this morning, that whole dynamic of the family. But I just want to share something really quick before we get into Genesis, which has always been a blessing to me, is many of you are familiar with this story.

You remember that the ark is to be brought to Jerusalem and you remember that in transit, right, as they're bringing the ark, we remember that Uzzah, remember he puts his hand on the ark, which you're not supposed to do, and God strikes him dead. It says after that that David was afraid of the Lord, and he said, how can the ark of the lord come to me? And so, David wouldn't move the ark of the lord with him into the city of David. But what David did was he took it right into the house of someone and some of you who remember but it went into the house of Obed Edom, the Gittite. Now, I want us to understand something.

When we talk about the ark of the covenant, right? It was as close to a visible representation, right? Of god himself as men would see until the coming of Christ. That was the ark. And here, David is afraid to bring the ark into the city of David and so he tells Odum, Edom, hey, listen.

Why don't you take it? Now, what happens next is amazing, right? It says that and the lord blessed Edom and all his household. In fact, you read the next verse, it was told to King David. It says, the lord has blessed the house of Obed Edom and all that belongs to him.

And it tells us why. Because of the ark of God. Hey, listen. I wanna encourage you guys where if nothing else, right, that you might get, from some of these messages is this. K?

Is that Obed Edom, the Gittite, he took seriously the glory of God, and his household was blessed because of it because of it. Take seriously the glory of God in your homes, in your houses. And hey, listen, I want to encourage you this morning because you know what? There's a lot of things you could have done this weekend. Maybe not with the rain and stuff like that.

But, right, you could have slept in, could have stayed home, got some things done around the house. Right? Some of you flew in from different places this weekend. Right? Listen, be encouraged.

Hey, I love the fact that of all the things you've been doing this weekend, you're here sitting under the teaching of God's word. And to me, that's a testimony to that. You take the glory of God seriously. And I want to encourage you to keep doing that. Take the glory of God seriously, especially your household because I believe that your household will be blessed if you take the glory of God seriously.

And so here we're gonna look at Genesis 27. As I had mentioned earlier, we're gonna kinda look at this in a negative light now as we look at a family here, that the scriptures talk about. And, before we get into Genesis 27, I wanna read one verse in Hebrews. It's Hebrews, chapter, 12. And it says this, it says, lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.

For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected. For he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears. And before we get into our text here, I want to remind us, this family that we're looking at, we're looking at the family of Isaac and Rebecca. You're familiar with Isaac? Isaac was the son of Abraham, the son of promise.

Right? And when we first read of Isaac and Rebecca, we can envision a happy, spiritual couple. I mean, after all, Isaac was a dedicated man, right? He had put himself on the altar in obedience to the lord. You can read that in Genesis chapter 22.

He trusted god to choose his wife, Rebecca. We read that in Genesis 24. And the wife that god sent, Isaac, loved dearly. We read also that both Isaac and Rebecca, they knew how to pray, right? They they often sought the mind of the lord for their home.

You can read that in Genesis 25. What more could a married couple want, right? But in spite of these advantages, the family self destructed rather quickly. It began when Isaac asked Rebekah to lie to Abimelech, just like his dad did. The trust and respect factor was broken.

6:23 The Dysfunctional Family

We have disdain. And and and that disdain, it may be expressed amongst family members, but sometimes it's repressed. It's a repressed anger towards those in their family. It could be distrust. Right?

Seen in the in the faulty patterns of communication. There's deception. Right? The inability to speak truth to other family members. And then there's deceit, where it's just absolute refusal to face the truth.

And listen, you may find one or more of these traits in healthy families from time to time. You'll learn from us that I'm not asked to come speak to you about relationships because we have a perfect family. I tell people all the time is that we are far from perfect, but we're real. Okay? And so you'll you'll get a taste of that this weekend, I'm sure, if you just observe us close enough.

Okay? Right. So some of these things, we understand that you can find some of these things from time to time, even in healthy families. Right? But dysfunctional families adapt these traits to a normal pattern of life.

And really, right, dysfunctional families are not something new. They go back to the beginning of time. The real cause of being dysfunctional goes back to the entrance of sin into the human race. Ever since Adam and Eve disobeyed God, every family has been dysfunctional, right, to one degree or another. Consider the first family.

Adam and Eve, they blamed each other for their disobedience. Right? Consider their children. Right? Cain murdered his brother.

Consider Noah's three sons, how they disgraced his father by uncovering his nakedness. As we already mentioned, Abraham lied about his wife Sarah, calling her his sister. Look around you. Right? How many families do you know?

Right? Including husbands and wives, parents, children, or siblings that have had or even now are having family problems. It's another reason why I'm so passionate about this is because it's just too common. How many problems there are in the families today, in the homes? And so now we're going to look at Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, and Esau.

As I said, all four here, I believe, are presented in a negative light in this chapter. Okay? And here's what's crazy about this is what you'll notice in this chapter, that never are all four people together at the same time. Isn't that sad? I just stressed the importance, right, of family time, time together.

Right? And we looked at even these... This family and how they started off. But you'll notice that the all four of them are never together at any one time.

And so before we begin this, let's

just again, ask the Lord's help here. Our father, we again thank you for your word. We thank you for your Holy Spirit. I I just am thankful again for, all those who are here, this morning who take your glory seriously. And, we pray that even as we look at this family in a negative light, we pray that, we can learn, just some positive things, that we can apply to our own relationships, within the context of our homes.

And so we, again, would ask for your help, pray for understanding, in Jesus' name, amen. So I think chapter 27 is one of the saddest chapters in Genesis. Everybody is doing the wrong thing. Everyone, especially Isaac. Especially Isaac.

And we know that Isaac is one of the outstanding types of Christ in the Old Testament. Right? We know the story of Genesis 22. Beautiful type of Christ as he allows himself to be placed on the altar. But Isaac is no type of Christ here.

He's a type of, a backslidden, worldly, carnal Christian, if he's a type of anything here. First thought I want us to bring on is that it's a sad fact, right? That while we at one stage of our lives mirror the beauties and the graces of the Lord Jesus, we may at another stage reflect the exact opposite. And so I want to encourage you again is, again, I don't know what your background is. I don't know where you're coming from.

But please don't have that first message this morning discourage you. Or you might say to yourself, well, John, I didn't do those things with my family. You know, we we didn't have a spiritual family. I didn't take the spiritual lead there. Right?

12:29 It's How You Finish

We have a pretty good healthy family. Yeah, got John. Amen. We do all those things. Well, listen, take warning because over and over in scripture here, we see those who started well and finished poorly.

Once Isaac was a Christ like man. Once he became obedient to death on Mount Moriah. Once he was a well digger, leaving behind him a trail of blessing and refreshment for others. But that was a long time ago. In fact, thirty seven years have passed since chapter 26.

Isaac is now 137 years old. His sight has failed. He thinks he's about to die. And he has now become sadly unspiritual. My prayer is, Lord, help me to finish well.

Help me to finish well. A good beginning doesn't guarantee a good ending. That's one of the repeated lessons in scripture. And unfortunately, it's tragically confirmed in the lives of people like Lot, Gideon, Samson, King Saul, King Solomon, Demas. And now you can add Isaac to that list as well.

So what I'd like to do in this session here is I want to study each family member and see how they contributed to the problem. And hopefully, we look at each family member, right, that you can see yourself maybe in some of these and certainly we can avoid these problems, right, or correct them.

And so the first thing we're going

to look at is we're going to look at Isaac's decline. Isaac's decline. Please look at me at the first four verses here of Genesis 27. Now it came to pass when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see that he called Esau, his older brother, his older son, sorry, and said to him, my son. And he answered him, here I am.

And he said, behold, now I am old. I do not know the day of my death. Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver, your bow. Go out to the field and hunt game for me. Make me a savory food such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.

The story here begins with Isaac believing that he's about to die. As I said, Isaac is 137 years of age. If you remember his stepbrother, remember Ishmael? Ishmael, he died at this age. He actually died at 137 and perhaps, maybe this is why Isaac thinks he's about to die.

I don't know. Right? But he was mistaken. Okay? Isaac will actually live another forty three years.

You can read that in chapter 35. Okay? He will die at the ripe old age of 180. But here at 137, Isaac's thoughts are full of death. And there are two things that occupy Isaac's mind and governs his heart.

Two things you'll notice here. In light of he thinks, right, that he's about to die. Notice the two things, right, that occupy his mind and govern his heart. The first one is his palate. He wants to enjoy a good meal of venison cooked by his favorite son, Esau.

Stress is placed on the love that he had for wild game and tasty food. Now listen, I like food too, and I especially like venison. But if you look at Abraham, right? When Abraham prepared for death, you know what his concern was? Getting a bride for his son, Isaac.

To maintain that covenant promise. When King David came to the end of his life, he was making arrangements, right, for the building of the temple. Paul's burden before his martyrdom was that Timothy be faithful to preach the word and to guard the faith. But Isaac, the man who meditated and prayed in the fields that evening, right, the one who petitioned God on behalf of his wife, his desire is for a savory meal of venison. And maybe I'm being too little too harsh on Isaac.

I don't know. But I believe his palate governed his heart. Instead of seeking to heal the family feud that he and his wife had caused by their own selfish favoritism, Isaac is perpetuating the feud that destroyed his own family. And so we see that not only is he governed by his palate, but he's also governed by his ballot. Isaac's fondest dream was to ensure that before he dies, his favorite son, Esau, obtains the cherished blessing.

And so he sends Esau out to hunt some game so that he can bless him before he dies. What's wrong with that? Ordinarily, nothing would be wrong with that. Right? Esau was the what?

Firstborn. But remember, before the boys were born, God had told Isaac and Rebecca that who was to receive the blessing? Jacob. God told him. God told Isaac before the boys were born that Jacob was to receive the covenant blessing.

You can read it in Genesis chapter 25. And yet, even though God told him that, Isaac is planning to give the blessing to Esau. Surely, Isaac knew that Esau had despised his birthright already. There's no way he wouldn't have known about that. I'm sure he knew about it.

And that he had sold it, remember, to Jacob? That really Esau had disqualified himself, if you read that too, by marrying heathen women? Isaac knew all this stuff. None of it matters right now to Isaac. He wants his favorite son to have the blessing, and he has to connive to make that happen.

If he has to connive to make that, that's exactly what he'll do. If he has to deceive his wife and his other son, then so be it. Did Isaac really think that he could fool God? I guess so. That he could give the blessing to his worldly, unbelieving Esau?

And so Isaac here is in deliberate defiance to God's will. Listen, brothers and sisters, that's a bad place to be. If you know what God has told you to do or what God has told you not to do and you still are in defiance to that, the Lord can't bless your home. Here we see Isaac's decline where none of that matters to him. The fact that God told him that Jacob would receive the blessing.

The fact that Esau, right, has practically disqualified himself, not only by selling his birthright, but marrying heathen women. Isaac doesn't care. He wants what he wants. But not only that, not only do we see Isaac's decline, but we see Rebecca's deception. Many are familiar with Sir Walter Scott's.

21:12 Rebecca's Plan and Jacob's Deception

Now Rebecca was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son and Esau went to the field to hunt game to bring in. So Rebecca spoke to Jacob her son saying, indeed, I heard your father speak to Esau, your brother, saying, bring me game and make savory food for me that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. Go now to the flock. Bring from their two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father such as he loves.

Then you shall take it to your father that he may eat it, that he may bless you before his death. When Jacob said to Rebekah, his mother, look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I'm a smooth skinned man. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him. And I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing. But his mother said to him, let your curse be on me, my son.

Only obey my voice and go get them for me. And he went and he got them. He brought them to his mother and his mother made savory foods such as his father loved. And then Rebecca took the choice clothes of her her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house and put them on Jacob, her younger son. And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.

Then she gave the savory food and the bread which she had prepared into the hand of her son Jacob. As you see here, she not only secretly listens to Isaac, but now she repeats to Jacob what she overheard. And she cooks up this scheme of her own. Still more deception, more secrecy. Her plan is simple.

Jacob's to co kill the two choice goats. Rebecca will cook up a tasty meal for Isaac, and Jacob will serve it to his father while pretending to be his brother, thus tricking Isaac into giving him the blessing. It sounds like Days of Our Life or something like that. It's a soap opera here. But it is tragic, I think.

Right? I think it's so tragic when a husband and a wife once so dedicated to the Lord and to each other have now excommunicated each other and no longer discuss God's word or pray together.

That's another thing you'll

see here. Never once in this chapter did you see any of them together at the same time, and you don't see any of them consult the Lord. Not one time. Knowing that Jacob was chosen to receive the covenant blessing, Rebecca immediately took matters into her own hands to make sure her favorite son got what the Lord had promised him. Had she and Jacob talked with Isaac and while Esau was out hunting perhaps, right, we would have seen maybe they would have seen the light.

Right? Maybe he would have agreed with them, Isaac. But instead, Rebecca chose to control Jacob and deceive her husband. And this is amazing. Right?

Jacob's concern wasn't, is it right? His concern was, but is it safe? What if I get caught? Jacob had no guilt, only fear regarding the plan. Notice the verse eleven and twelve that Jacob says, I shall seem to be a deceiver.

No wrong. You wouldn't seem to be a deceiver. You would be deliberately deceiving him. Right? There's a vast difference between appearance and reality when deception is involved.

I would seem like I'm deceiving him. No. You actually would be. And so, of course, Rebecca's philosophy is what? The end justifies the means.

She couldn't trust God to fulfill his plan. She had to help God out because it was for a good cause. Hey, listen. There is no place for deception in the life of a believer. We read in second Corinthians 11 verse three that Satan is the deceiver.

But Jesus, in John 14 verse six, is the truth. Psalm 32 verse two, it says, blessed is the man in whose spirit is no deceit. Another thing that's interesting here is that all down the chapter, we see Isaac being deceived by his senses. His sight has failed him. Right?

He was blind. I mean, he really couldn't see. His smell deceived him. Right? He thought from the the earthly smell of the garments that that Jacob was Esau.

And we're going read that in just a second. Right? His taste failed him. Right? He thought goat was venison.

Right? His feeling failed him. Right? He thought goat skin was actually Esau's hairy arm. His hearing rang true.

Right? We're going to see that in a second. He couldn't believe what he had heard. He he thought he heard Jacob. But here's a mistake that Isaac made too, as we're considering this deception here, right, and how his senses deceived him, Isaac made the mistake of trusting his feelings.

27:25 Don't Trust Emotional Feelings

And so we have the sorry spectacle of a wife deliberately setting out to deceive her husband, having first persuaded herself that it was right and proper for her to do so. I feel like we're susceptible to doing that, aren't we? Taking matters into our own hands. We think, hey, listen, God's okay with this because it's a good cause. But unfortunately, Rebecca, she would pay the price.

In the end, she would pay the price. God does not permit his people to get away with that kind of thinking. Before the day is over, her beloved Jacob, remember her favorite, he would be fleeing for his very life. Off to Paran Aram. And you know what?

She would never see him again. She paid the price. Her favorite son. This would be the last time she ever sees him, all because of her deception. And so we see Isaac's decline, and we see Rebecca's deception.

But I want you to notice Jacob's defense. Okay? Beginning in verse 18. And so Jacob, he went to his father and he said, my father. And he said, here I am.

Who are you, my son? Jacob said to his father, I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done just as you told me. Please arise, sit, and eat of my game that your soul may bless me. But Isaac said to his son, how is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?

He said, well, because the Lord your God brought it to me. Isaac said to Jacob, please come near that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son, Esau or not. So Jacob went near to his... Isaac, his father, and he felt him and he said, the voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. And he did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like his brother's Esau's hands, and so he blessed him.

Then he said, are you really my son, Esau? He said, I am. He said, bring it near to me and I will eat of my son's game so that my soul may bless you. And so he brought it near to him and he ate and he brought him wine and he drank and then his father Isaac said to him, come near now and kiss me my son. And he came near and he kissed him.

And he smelled the smell of his clothing and blessed him and said, surely, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed. Therefore, may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. Let people serve you and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren and let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you.

In cooperating, with the scheme here, Jacob was only obeying his mother, but he could have refused. He could have suggested maybe to his mom, hey, let's just face this situation honestly. Right? Let's confront dad. But once Jacob put on Esau's clothes and he took the savory meal in his hands, the dye was cast, and he had to play the part successfully.

Notice how one lie leads to another. For deception can only be defended by more deception. And so I want you to notice Jacob's defense here. First thing we notice is Jacob lied about his name. Jacob was an accomplished liar.

Who are you? Demanded the old blind man. I am Esau. Man, deliberate deception. I want you to notice, lie number one.

You're first born. Lie number two. I have done just as you told me. Lie number three. Please arise, sit, and eat my venison.

Lie number four. That your soul may bless me. Interesting. Right? Four lies in a single breath.

He is certainly, an accomplished liar. But not only did he lie about his name, he lied about his game. He claimed to have obeyed his father's wishes, which was a lie. And he called the goat's meat my game, which was a lie. And this is what's sad, right?

He even gave credit to the Lord for helping him find the venison. Do you remember that? Jacob's like, wait a minute, how did you get that venison so quick? Oh, the Lord helped me get it. Whoo.

Man. By the way, that's lie number five. Hey, but he not only lied about himself, but he lied about the Lord. He added the name, right, of the living god to his deception to give it added acceptability. Whoo.

That's dangerous. To use the lord to cover up a sin, I believe is a step towards blasphemy. And yet I've heard people do it. They'll use the Lord to credit their deception, to give his acceptancy. This is what Jacob's doing here.

34:03 Jacob Lied About His Claim

He says, I am. Lie number six. How tragic is it to see a son dishonor his father in such a way? After Isaac had eaten the meal, he asked Jacob to kiss him. And that kiss, really to me, was the seventh lie, for it was hypocritical.

How could Jacob claim to love his father when he was in the act of deceiving him? You see, the stage was now set for the giving of the blessing. And in essence, Jacob, right, now received from Isaac the blessing revealed in the Abrahamic covenant. And that blessing basically involved three things, personal prosperity, preeminence, and protection by God. One other note, right?

In this scenario, who is deceiving whom? On one hand, Jacob is definitely deceiving his father Isaac. However, Isaac, because he thinks Jacob is really Esau, thinks he's deceiving Jacob by giving the blessing to Esau. You see how crazy this is? Both intend to deceive the other, but only Jacob succeeds.

And here, want to encourage us today. Right? Maybe some of these things that we're looking at describe your relationships. I don't know. But here's the cool thing about God.

Right? The most amazing point, right, through all this is that even through this act of deception, God's will is still done, isn't it? God's will all along was for who to receive the blessing? Jacob. Now that doesn't justify the deception.

Right? But here's what I want to encourage you with. To me, it does demonstrate how God works through the weakness of sinful man to accomplish his purpose. Hey, listen. Don't worry about whatever mistakes you've made.

Don't worry about how weak you might be. Right? God can still accomplish his purpose through you. I mean, if you can ever see it in the example here. I mean, this family is dysfunctional.

Right? There are all kinds of lies and deceit, deception going on, and through it all, God accomplishes his will. It's not like God said, hey, I had a will, and you know what? You guys messed it all up. No, god has a purpose and he wants us in line with his purpose and his will but if guess what?

If you're not going to be, god can still accomplish his purpose. That should be encouraging to you and to me. Is it, yeah, you know what? You're going to make mistakes. You're going to fail.

Doesn't mean God gives up on you. Right? God can still work through the weakness of sinful man to accomplish his purpose. And so I think in that light, I think this is a story of the sovereignty of God. Right?

It reminds us of the words of Joseph, right? That he would speak many years later when he was talking to his brothers, right? He said, you meant it for evil but god meant it for good. Both Isaac and Jacob had less than pure motives, but God overruled their bad motives to ensure that his will was ultimately done. As Jacob left Isaac in his tent, I think both men were satisfied in a job well done, pleased with themselves that they had outwitted the other.

39:23 Isaac's Decline, Rebecca's Deception, Jacob's Defense

We read that portion in Hebrews, which is important. If we didn't have the portion in Hebrews, you might sympathize with Esau here. So obviously, it didn't take long for Isaac and Esau to discover the conspiracy, but each man responded differently. Take a look at verse 30 of chapter 27. Now it happened as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father that Esau, his brother, came in from hunting.

He also had made savory food and brought it to his father and said to his father, let my father arise and eat of his son's game, that your soul may bless me. And his father Isaac said to him, who are you? And so he said, I'm your son, your firstborn Esau. Then Isaac trembled exceedingly and said, who? Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me?

I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him, and indeed he shall be blessed. When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, Bless me, me also, O my father. But he said, Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing. And Esau said, Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times.

He took away my birthright and now look, he has taken away my blessing. And he said, have you not reserved a blessing for me? Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, indeed, I have made him your master, and all his brethren, I have given to him as servants. With grain and wine, I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?

And Esau said to his father, how? Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me, me also, oh, my father. And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. Then Isaac, his father answered and said, and behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above, but your sword...

By your sword, you shall live and you shall serve your brother. And it shall come to pass when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck. I want you to notice, as I said here, how each man responds differently. Okay? As we consider Esau's despair here.

You read there that Isaac, it said, trembled greatly. Okay? Actually, if you look at the Hebrew word there, it actually is more of that Isaac was agitated. Interesting, right? Even after all this, after trying to outwit God and realizing then that God had ultimately succeeded in accomplishing his will, you would think Isaac would be remorseful.

You would think that he would repent and apologize. But instead, when it says he's trembling, he's actually agitated. He's so mad because he knew that the Lord had overruled his own selfish plan so that his favorite son didn't receive the blessing. Sad. And then you look at Esau.

It says, Esau wept and begged for a blessing. Again, please, before you feel too sorry for Esau, remember that the problem ultimately started because Esau despised his own birthright. Read that in Hebrews. Right? If he had properly valued that birthright, things would have been different.

The man who despised his birthright and also married two pagan women He's now crying, crying for his father to bless him. But praise God, we have Hebrews 12 that gives us commentary on this event. You see, Esau tried to repent, but Hebrews tells us that his own heart was too hard. Right? Esau is upset because he couldn't change his father's mind.

Esau's tears are not tears of repentance for being an ungodly man. But they are tears of regret because he didn't receive the covenant blessing. Esau wanted the blessing. But, this is important, he didn't want to be the kind of man whom God could bless. Maybe this morning you want God's blessing.

You want God to bless your home. You want God to bless your marriage. You want God to bless your family. You want God to bless your ministry. Whatever it is.

Right? You want God's blessing. But are you the kind of man or woman whom God can bless? Have you ever thought of that? God was not going to bless Esau.

He was a worldly carnal man. He did all the things god told him not to do and yet, I've seen, I've experienced that. We're living in a time where the church says, hey, god. I want to do whatever I want to do but I still want your blessing. It doesn't work that way.

It doesn't work that way. Esau, when you see him here crying, there's no repentance here. He's an ungodly man. He's just upset because he didn't get what he wanted. And so in a sense, Rebecca and Jacob won.

45:54 What They Lost

His brother tried to murder him. To avoid that, Jacob was forced to leave his father's house. Jacob reaped what he sowed. His uncle Laban, remember him? He deceived him.

He was forced to leave in secret. He experienced the despicableness of his son, Reuben, the treachery and cruelty of Simeon and Levi towards the Shechemites. He had to feel the loss of his beloved wife, Rachel, during childbirth. He experienced the supposed untimely death of Joseph. And to top all that, he was forced by famine to go into Egypt.

And there he died in a strange land. Man, listen. Rebecca and Jacob gained nothing that God would not have given them already. But look at how much they lost. Hey, listen.

It's encouraging to know, right, that God will still accomplish his purp... His purpose. Right? Even though we may sin, even though we make mistakes sometimes. But in the process, sometimes there's things we lose along the way.

Yeah, Jacob still received the blessing. Right? But because of this whole deception amongst the family here, the dysfunction of this family, right, there was lots of things that they lost. And so lastly, see here, once again with Jacob, just wanna add one more point here, is we see Jacob's departure. As we said, Esau has in his heart to kill Jacob.

We see this in the last few verses here of 27. It says, beginning in verse 41, so Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, the days of mourning for my father are at hand, then I will kill my brother Jacob. And the words of Esau, her older son, were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you.

Nice. Nice. His dad dies, but he comforts himself knowing that he's gonna kill his brother. Now, therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to my brother Laban and Haram.

Stay with him a few days until your brother's fury turns away, until your brother's anger turns away from you and he forgets what you've done to him. I don't think he's going to. And then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved also of you both in one day? And Rebecca said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth.

If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth like these who are of the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me? And so at this point, Rebecca, right, she steps back into the picture. She's in charge again. And she tells Jacob to flee to her brother, all right, Jacob's uncle, Laban in Haran. It's about 500 miles away.

She tells him to stay with him for a few days until Esau cools down and then returns. We know that Jacob was there for years, years. And she told Isaac that Jacob had gone to look for a bride, another act of deception. And of course, these few days turned into twenty years. And as I mentioned before, Rebecca never saw her favorite son again.

I'll say it again. Oh, what a tangled web we weave when we first practiced to deceive. And yet, God would work through their conniving. Their activities only succeeded in doing what God's oracle had predicted. God's program will triumph, often in spite of human activities.

And so this story is one of parental favoritism, which tore their family apart. This story is also an account of spiritual insensitivity. All the natural senses play a prominent part, especially the sense of taste in which Isaac prided himself, but which gave him the wrong answer. Reliance on one's senses for spiritual discernment not only doesn't work, but it often messes everything up in life. Most importantly, the story is about deception.

Jacob's only hesitancy was his fear that he would be cursed instead of blessed. Jacob would later learn, right, just as his grandfather Abraham did, that blessings are given by God, not gained by deceit. Let's pray. Our father, we come before you. And even as we said, we acknowledge our enemy, the great deceiver.

We acknowledge that deception should have no place in the life of a believer. And yet, for some reason, that's often what happens, especially amongst those we love. Among loved ones, we deceive one another. We connive. We're often selfish.

51:50 Encouragement from Our Savior

Lord God, just pray that you would help us to get in line with what your will is, that you don't have to accomplish these things in spite of our own human activities, but that we would be right in line with you, with your will, and with your purpose, especially when it comes to, the relationships in our homes. So, Lord God, again, thank you for, understanding. I pray, Lord, that we would not just be mere hearers of your word, but doers of your word as well. And I just pray, Lord, that as the Psalmist said, that if if there were anyone here that were to hear your voice, I pray that we would not harden our hearts, Lord God. And we pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Internal Relationships Family Part 2 — Genesis 24-27

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Internal Relationships Family Part 2 — Genesis 24-27

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