Series of 15 Sermons by Pastor Ron Thomas On "The Life of Jacob" 3 - "ALL IN THE FAMILY" RODGERS BAPTIST CHURCH 801 West Buckingham Rd. - Garland, TX 75040 <<==== Pastor Ron Thomas

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1/30/2002

Text: Genesis 27."And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I.

2 And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death:

3 Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison;

4 And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.

5 And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it.

6 And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying,

7 Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the LORD before my death.

8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee.

9 Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:

10 And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death.

11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man:

12 My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing.

13 And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.

14 And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved.

15 And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son:

16 And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck:

17 And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

18 And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son?

19 And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.

20 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.

21 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.

22 And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.

23 And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: so he blessed him.

24 And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am.

25 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.

26 And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son.

27 And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed:

28 Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:

29 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 every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.

30 And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

31 And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me.

32 And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau.

33 And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed.

34 And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father.

35 And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.

36 And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?

37 And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?

38 And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.

39 And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above;

40 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.

41 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 are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.

42 And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee.

43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran;

44 And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away;

45 Until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day?

46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?"

Introduction:In verse 36, we hear the voice of Esau saying, "Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing." Esau seems to imply that Jacob's name shaped him into his present identity. "Jacob is his name, and scheming is his game." However, the name Jacob was given to match his nature, his character!

Why are we the way we are? Hopefully we know who we are, and the way we are. I Thessalonians 4:3-4 reads, "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: 4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour." If we are to "possess" our vessel, we must first know our vessel, that is, know who we are and how we are. The word "possess" in the Greek is ktaomai (ktah'-om-ahee) which means to obtain, to own, to gain the mastery. The road to maturity, is coming to grips with our weaknesses, our sinful selves. It is honestly facing ourselves, assessing what is and is not consistent with Christ, and asking the Lord for the grace to change. By the way, it is always easier to identify the baggage of others than it is identifying our own.

Jacob is Jacob because of his genetic preprograming. He was born with a certain nature, a nature that manifested itself at birth, however in this passage, we understand that his mother Rebekah has the same nature. She is the one leading the way in this elaborate plan to deceive. As parents, we can see both our strengths and weaknesses in our children. They are more like us, than we would want to admit.

Jacob is Jacob because of his adamic preprograming. He is a sinner! We are all born sinners, ...born to be wild! In Psalm 51:5 David said, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." When we are saved, we are left with a sinful nature that wars against our spiritual nature. Paul in Romans 7:18 said, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing."

Jacob is Jacob because of his family of origin. Jacob is also a product of his home, his upbringing. The kind of home we grew up in, came out of, shapes us in ways we are not aware. Our family of origin has a great impact on our lives.

In the home, we learn how to relate to others. A son leans how to treat women and a future wife, by observing his father. A daughter learns how to relate to men and her future husband, by observing her mother. In the home we are helped as well as hindered! All homes include both blessings and baggage!

As we take a close look at Jacob's home of origin, we must conclude that it was dysfunctional. What is a dysfunctional family? The word "dysfunctional," means not functioning or not functioning as it should function. It is a family that works against itself, contrary to the purpose, plan, and pattern of God's Word. The function of a home or family, has to do with roles, relationships, and responsibilities. There are two sets of roles, relationships, and responsibilities, one set is godward, the other is manward. For example, a father is to work to provide for the physical needs of his family, however he is to tend to it's spiritual needs as well. A home that is not biblical in it's roles, relationships, and responsibilities, is dysfunctional.

Here in our text, we are provided a look into Jacob's home of origin. What do we see?

FIRST WE SEE ISAAC; THE IRRESPONSIBLE FATHER.

A father is responsible for his home, therefore a biblically functional family begins with a husband, father, who fills and performs all the roles and responsibilities outlined in the Scriptures. He is to be a provider, a protector, and a priest, living a godly life before his children, paving the way for faith in God.

An example of this us seen in Abraham. Notice Genesis 18:19. Here God speaks of Abraham as a father and says, "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him." Abraham was a responsible father and husband.

As we look at Isaac in this passage, it is clear that he is neglecting his responsibility, and has been for some time. Here we see two problems.

First, Isaac is living in denial of both the Word of God and the will of God. How so? In spite of God's instruction concerning Jacob's position over Esau; in spite of Jacob's obvious superior discernment and sense of value; in spite of Esau's indifference to his spiritual heritage; Isaac is determined to give the blessing to Esau! In verse 4 Isaac tells Esau, "And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die." There are two sons in this family who are competing for the same blessing, all because of the failure of Isaac!

A father's greatest role and responsibility is to affirm the Word of God and will of God in his home. He is to bring up the children in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord."

Second, Isaac has declined spiritually. Isaac is at the end of his life, and he is preoccupied with his own desires, his own will! It is evident that he has grown carnal, he has walked away from God in his latter years. Spiritually, he is not the man, the husband, the father, he used to be. The younger Isaac was quick to seek the Lord and intercede for his wife and home.

It is interesting to compare Jacob with his father Isaac. With age, there is evidence that Jacob grew wiser, closer to God!

SECOND WE SEE REBEKAH; THE MANIPULATING MOTHER.

It is interesting to observe that Isaac's intention to bless Esau was not something he shared with his wife, Rebekah. Why? He knew that she would have a problem with it! This is a house divided! Because Isaac favored Esau and Rebekah favored Jacob, there grew a great wall of indifference and secrecy between the two. Rebekah happened to overhear the conversation between Isaac and Esau.

Children are preprogramed to divide and conquer. They know how to pit one parent against the other, so that they are home free to do as they please! They know which parent to ask certain favors when the other is not around. Fathers and mothers need to always be on the same page, talking together, praying together, working together, for the good of the children.

Gaining this bit of information, Rebekah had some options. We always have options.

She could confront her husband Isaac about his decision to bless Esau. Even though Jacob was her favorite, she still had the weight of God's Word behind her. The Lord had spoken and told her as well as her husband that the older would serve the younger. This was God's Word and will.

She could have entreated the Lord for wisdom and help, so to remedy the situation. As a younger woman, she sought wisdom from God in prayer and the Lord was gracious to give her insight into her situation. James 1:5 reads, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."

Truly, Rebekah could have, should have prayed and confronted her husband. She could have sought the Lord, then sought her husband, making him accountable to God. If Isaac would not listen, Rebekah could have once again taken the matter to God, asking Him to intervene. This is what Abigail did concerning her husband, and the Lord took care of Nabal! The Lord could have caused Isaac to experience a change of heart. The Lord could have moved Esau to forfeit his right to the blessing, realizing that it was not God's will. The Lord could have seen to it that Esau had a hunting accident! Is anything too hard for the Lord? Listen, God has a thousand ways to answer every prayer!

Instead, Rebekah immediately begins to plot and scheme to get her way. In doing so she misuses her parental influence and authority. In verse 8 she tells her son, "Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee." Here Rebekah puts Jacob in a difficult situation. He is faced with obeying his mother, or obeying God; pleasing his mother or pleasing God. This is a tough place to be! Several times in this passage, Rebekah uses the word, "obey." Notice verse 13. "And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them."

We must remember that it is never right to do wrong! All authority comes from God, and we are to respect and obey that authority as long as it is affirming the Word of God and the will of God.

THIRD WE SEE JACOB; THE UNPRINCIPLED BROTHER.

Jacob is at best weak, offering no resistance to his mother's plan, except the fearful prospect of being found out. Notice verses 11-12. "And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man:12 My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing." His mother calms his fears by taking upon herself the blame and consequences of this action. In verse 13 she says, "Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them."

We can see here that Jacob is not operating on principle. No where does he say, "This is not right. This is deceit. We are not to bear a false witness. I would have to lie to my father. Have you sought the Lord about this action?" Willingly, Jacob becomes part of a conspiracy and lies to his father more than once.

We are never to operate by expediency, what the situation seems to demand; we are never to be driven by urgency, acting solely on the basis of time, the pressure of some deadline; we are never to decide upon what others in authority expect of us; but by principle, what is right according to the Word of God. It doesn't matter what everyone else is doing. The criteria for our decisions and conduct is what is right in God's eyes. We are to be a people of principal. It is never right to do wrong.

Jacob attempts to back up and brace up his unprincipled behavior by including God. Notice verses 19-20. "And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. 20 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." It is so easy to call our will, God's will. We push others away by including the name of God to cover our actions!

FOURTH WE SEE ESSAU; THE WORLDLY SORROWFUL BROTHER.

Notice verses 34-36. "And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father. And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.36 And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?" It is a strange sight to see such a strong man weep like a baby. Wailing and weeping in agony, Esau begs his father for a blessing. This is a sad and tragic moment in the life of Esau, but we must remember that he is suffering the consequences of his own actions and decisions. He willingly sold his birthright to his brother for a bowl of Jacob's Big Red. Suddenly Esau is living for more than the present. His father's blessing means something to him, but it is too late.

Esau attempts to seek sympathy and excuse his actions by placing blame on Jacob. In verse 36 it says, "And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?" Esau has a short memory. He has forgotten his own part in selling his birthright. We can blame others for our sin, we can rewrite history, but God knows all and sees all. He is the final judge, and He always gets it right!

Isaac does not attempt to reverse himself. Perhaps he is convicted and has finally surrendered to what was the plan and purpose of God all along! Verse 37 reads, "And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?"

There are consequences to sin. When we are rebellious and disobedient, we lose something irretrievable. At this point, it would be good to consider some commentary given in Hebrews 12:16-17. "Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears." There was no going back for Esau. The birthright and the blessing were lost.

Jacob is left to suffer his own set of consequences. He flees his dysfunctional home in fear for his life, forced to fend for himself. Jacob has yet to fully face himself. He is a blessed man with plenty of baggage. The good news in Jacob's life is that dysfunctional people from dysfunctional families can become functional in God's kingdom. When we turn fully to the Lord and His grace, He can rid us of our baggage, transforming a sinful past into a source of blessing and ministry. If God can use Jacob, He can use us.