God's Chosen One Genesis 27:30-46

The Simplicity of the Gospel and the Two Ways to Live

If you're in the church long enough, you know a thing or two about gospel tracts. They are these little pamphlets of paper that communicate the gospel in a clear manner over a few pages. Many tracts that I've seen, I would not recommend.

And some of them, and let me explain why, some of them present a watered-down version of the gospel, while others promote a cheap understanding of Christianity, treating Jesus more as fire insurance and not the forever treasure that he is.

While there are many tracts that are problematic, there are some that are solid that I would recommend. One of those tracts is titled, Two Ways to Live, and we actually have it on the back table there.

And this is a tract that I like to use if I pass it out to someone. And one of the reasons I like this tract so much is because I like the title, Two Ways to Live. I love how simple it is. It tells the reader that there are two paths in life.

As Jesus described in Matthew 7, 13, the broad way that many travel down that leads to destruction, and the narrow way that less travel down that leads to life. We live in a world that's become complicated.

And what I want you to understand is that this is by design. And it's not by the Lord's design, although everything happens under his sovereignty, but specifically, it's under the design of the devil.

He knows how simple the gospel is, and he desires that people not know how to come into a right relationship with God. But the Bible makes it so clear that a child can understand the good news of Jesus.

John 3, 16,. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. What life is all about is really that simple. Will you choose the path of following the Lord, or will you choose the path that leads to destruction?

There's two ways to live. It's always sobering walking through a cemetery. And it's sobering because each tombstone marks a life that was lived. Every person buried chose one of two paths. The path of following God, or the path of forsaking the Lord and going in some other direction.

And everyone in this room, of course, we're here right now. You can hear my voice. Your heart is beating. You're drawing breath. And everyone in this room is on one of two paths. In our sermon series through Genesis, we are looking at the story of two twin boys with two very different outcomes in their life.

One story ends in eternal life, and the other in eternal destruction. Last week, we saw how Jacob inherited the blessing, and God's big plans for the world would run through him. What the Apostle Paul says in Romans 9 is that not only did Jacob receive the blessing, but he also received eternal life.

And we will see this today as we look at the other side of the story. Esau would not only miss out on the blessing, but he would miss out on eternal life. And so we're going to see this sad story today in Genesis 27.

And our focus today is going to be on verses 30 through 46, so I encourage you to turn in a Bible with me there. Genesis 27, as we look at the story of Esau. And of course, we've already seen part of his story, right?

We saw it at the end of chapter 25, when he forfeited his birthright. And now we're going to see how he is rejected to receive the blessing. And so our big idea last week, this is a two-part sermon. Last week was point one, today is point two.

The big idea for this sermon is God is sovereign over the destinies of believers and unbelievers. And last week, the first flip side of this is that he uses providential means to bless one forever. And we saw that, that was Jacob last week.

The second flip side that we'll see today is that he uses providential means to forever reject the other. To reject the other. In verses 30 through 46. What we will see is the other side. Now that Jacob has received the blessing, there's no turning back and Esau finds out this horrible news.

Esau Loses the Blessing and the Birthright

In verses 30 and 31. So please look with me there. As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac, his father, Esau, his brother, came in from his hunting.

He also prepared delicious food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, let my father arise and eat of his son's game, that you may bless me. So Esau hunts the game that Isaac told him to get and prepares the meal, thinking, I'm going to get the blessing.

Remember, he already forfeited his birthright. And what I explained last week is that by forfeiting the birthright, he was forfeiting the blessing. But apparently, he didn't understand that. Nor did Isaac.

But the Lord providentially said, okay, he's not getting it. It's going to Jacob. So Isaac hunts the game that Isaac told him to get and prepares the meal, thinking he's going to get it. And Isaac is obviously confused.

As he thought the same thing as Esau, he's going to get the blessing. So here's verse 32. His father Isaac said to him, who are you? He answered, I am your son, your firstborn, Esau. So Isaac finds out that he did not bless Esau but someone else.

And this is his response in verse 33. Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.

So Isaac, he wonders, if not Esau, then who is it that I blessed? Remember, Jacob deceived Isaac. He had the hair on his hairless skin. He and Rebecca fooled him. And you'll notice at the end of verse 33 that he says that whoever it was that I blessed, he will be blessed.

So there's no revoking this blessing. And we might wonder, why can't he revoke it? But the text tells us it can't be. Once the blessing was given, it stood firm. And Esau knows this. And this is his response in verse 34.

As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father. Think about the most painful moment in your life where you cried out in pain.

Where something you were looking forward to or something you treasured was taken from you in a moment. That's a sick feeling. That's what Esau is feeling here. And even after Esau knows that the blessing belongs to someone else, he wonders if maybe he could also get this blessing.

Maybe he can share in it along with whoever took it from him. And this is what he says in verse 35. As he finds out who stole the blessing. But he said, this is Isaac speaking here, Okay, so Esau finds out.

And we know Esau is not a man of high character. He's not going to take this well. Verse 36, we see this. I mentioned a few weeks back that the name Jacob means cheater or deceiver. And of course, again, that was the original name.

And of course, it's okay to name your child Jacob. We talked about that before. But he's named this to predict what kind of character he would have, at least in the earlier part of his life. Things would end much better for Jacob.

He would be counted among the faithful along with Abraham and Isaac. But at this point in his life, this title as cheater or deceiver is very appropriate for him. Esau references that he was not only cheated here, but he was also cheated with the birthright.

Remember, the birthright was the inheritance. It was getting all of the material possessions, the land, the houses, all those things, the money they had. The blessing was the family line is going to continue through them.

This blessed family line that started with Abraham went to Isaac and would go either to Jacob or Esau. And this is what he forfeited. And he still wonders if this blessing can be his. And this is what he says in verses 30.

This is what Isaac answers him in verses 37 and 38. Isaac answered and said to Esau as he longs to share in this blessing, Behold, I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants.

And with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son? And Esau responds to his father, Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father. So in verse 37, Isaac tells Esau the superior position that he has already placed Jacob.

Esau asks if there is one more blessing for him and Esau weeps as he says this. We need to feel the pain of Esau here. This is the worst moment of his life as he desires to be blessed. He sees his life crashing down before him.

And in chapter 25, remember he already forfeited the birthright and now he's forfeiting the blessing. And all these promises that this land would be his and this blessed offspring would be his and they would dwell in the land forever, these were not for him but rather for Jacob.

This is like being promised a billion dollars, a billion dollar inheritance and then at the last minute finding out that it was taken from you and given to someone else. When I was a sophomore in college, I ran a race, it was a national race in Ohio and I got third place in the race.

And during the award ceremony they were calling everybody, what place people got and they called them up to come up to the front and get their award and stand up for the pitcher. They didn't call my name.

They just kept going through and they actually announced third, second, and first and they didn't call my name. And some of the other athletes who knew that I got third place started looking around and saying, well, what about him?

And it was interesting because even after they did this, they actually wanted just to keep going and just pretend like the mistake didn't happen. And thankfully, one of the coaches from the other team actually went up there and said, you need to fix this.

And so they fixed it and called me up there. But in that moment, I was going to lose something that I thought was mine. And it was a sick feeling. You think you're going to get something and you don't.

And what we have to understand is that God not only rejected Esau from receiving this inheritance and being heir of the family line, but he also has rejected him from salvation. And this is the mystery we talked about last week.

God passes over him. But at the same time, Esau willingly chooses earthly things over God. A passage I read a few weeks back from the Apostle Paul in Romans 9 explains this. Romans 9 is a salvation chapter that explains the Lord's choice.

In chapter 9, verse 13, he said, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated or rejected. Jacob is chosen. Esau is not. I also mentioned Hebrews 12, 16, and 17 earlier on in the sermon, that by forfeiting the blessing and God's big plans for his life, he was forfeiting his salvation.

He sought repentance, but it was too late. His eyes were so much on earthly things that he reached a point where he could no longer desire God. He wanted the blessing, but he did not want to repent. He did not care about being in a right relationship with God.

He only valued the blessings of this life. He loved the gifts, but not the giver. And when you treasure the gifts, but you care nothing for God, who gave the gifts, the gifts become your gods. And we think about that this week, right?

We just had Thanksgiving dinner. Around that table, idolatry can take place. If you think about it, if we make family our idols, if we make food our idols, these are good things. But the moment we elevate them above God, they become gods.

A place they never belonged. We must worship the Lord only. When Jesus, when the Ten Commandments, when it says, you shall have no other gods before me, we think, okay, metal images, right? In the Old Testament.

That's what they had. They made all these images of these false gods. That also applies to anything else you put above God. And this is all too common for people in this world. And you have to ask yourself the question, does this describe you?

Are your eyes on earthly things? Would you rather have a few good days here on earth than an eternity of fullness of joy with God? Many would. That's the great tragedy of our world. Esau is the ultimate example of misplaced priorities.

Because misplaced priorities is idolatry. How foolish it is to worship the temporary pleasures of this life and fail to worship the one who gives you pleasure forevermore. Do not live for any endeavor other than God and His will.

And if you depart from God and pursue something else with your life, you will be lost forever just like Esau was lost forever. So this sermon today is a warning. It's a warning to everybody in this room.

Do not be like Esau. If you are truly following God, you are making your life count and keep going. But the one who is not following the Lord is wasting his or her life. One of the greatest tragedies is when people waste the gift of life that God has given them.

And whenever I see people get rich and hold tightly to the pleasures of this world, I think how tragic. Think about the stories of the people who win the lottery. Those don't end well, do they? Story after story after story.

People win the lottery. Their life goes to shambles afterwards. There's a reason. They're treasuring that which can never satisfy them. And they forsake the one who can. Jesus' words on this could not be more clear.

In Luke 9, 24 and 25, John Allen Chau gave up his life this week, 26 years old, to get the gospel to a place where it has never been. Do you think he lost his life? In an earthly sense, he did. But he gained his life in an eternal sense.

And he's with the Lord right now. Think about this. Actually, the verse I just read there, that's Tony Dungy's. Some of you know who Tony Dungy is. He won the Super Bowl with the Colts. I know him mostly because he was the defensive coordinator for my favorite football team, the Vikings.

But he was at the highest stage in the NFL. And he said, this is my favorite verse because I know what it's like to be at the top in the world and how that will not satisfy you. Because Tony Dungy is a strong Christian and his treasure is in Christ.

If you truly desire life forever and give yourself over to Jesus, if you want to be miserable and live in spiritual death, don't follow him. Those are the two paths that you face. But if you do choose the path of Esau, you will be miserable forever.

You can take that to the bank. Esau forfeited salvation and he fulfilled the prophecy of Genesis 25 -23 that he would not be chosen and blessed of God. The older will serve the younger. And we know that he was not chosen because he was rejected by God and he willingly rejected the Lord.

We see both things in play here. And so you might ask the question, how do we know we are chosen to be forever blessed by the Lord? And the answer is that you want the Lord. John 6 -37 says, If you want Jesus, then you have him.

And this means that God chose you and you will be blessed beyond measure now and forever. So Esau does not get the blessing and he misses out on so much more than that. But Isaac does pronounce his future to him.

And you will notice that what Isaac is going to say here will come to pass. So this is like a prayer, but it's also a prophecy. So let's look at verses 39 and 40. One author I was reading described this as an anti-blessing.

So Esau did not get the blessing. He got the opposite of this. This is more like a curse than a blessing. In verse 39, we read that Esau will not have the blessing of the land that Jacob will have. Esau would not know the blessing of the land but a different one.

In verse 40, we read that he will live by the sword and serve Jacob. But in verse 40, we read that he will grow restless and he shall break Jacob's yoke from his neck. So in other words, Esau will free himself from Jacob.

And we'll see that in Genesis 32 that says that Esau and his people, the Edomites, they settled in the land east of the promised land in Seir. But the history of the Edomites would be predominantly one of inferiority to Israel.

And so this prophecy, of course, comes true. This is not a bright future. Esau is one of the most tragic men in the history of the world. John MacArthur, a pastor from California, compared him to Judas as the two most tragic figures in history.

The glory of God and the glory of heaven was right before them. Think about Judas, Jesus, for three and a half years with him. They did everything together. The same one who created him and created everything.

The God-man himself was with him and he gave it up. He sold him for a few pieces of silver. And they chose, both these men, Esau and Judas, for his earthly gain over an eternity of happiness with the Lord.

Do not make the same mistake because the world is going to try to pull you in. I'm telling you right now. For the remainder of Esau's life, he would show himself as an unbeliever through and through, showing his rejection of the Lord.

And we'll see that more next week. A few weeks ago, we looked at how Isaac was a peacemaker and not one in pursuit of conflict and he showed godliness. Esau, on the other hand, is one who always pursues conflict.

That's what unbelievers do. And he finds himself in conflict the rest of his life and he seeks vengeance always. And let's read this in verse 41. We're going to see how he seeks vengeance here. Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him and Esau said to himself, the days of mourning for my father are approaching.

Then I will kill my brother Jacob. He wanted vengeance. There's hatred, deep hatred in his heart. And word got out that Esau wanted to kill Jacob and Rebecca responds by sending her son away. We'll see this in verses 42 through 45.

But the words of Esau, her older son, were told to Rebecca, so she sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you.

Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban, my brother in Haran, and stay with him a while until your brother's fury turns away, until your brother's anger turns away from you and he forgets what you have done to him.

Then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereft of you both in one day? Do you see that? That's interesting here. We could pass over this if we're reading too fast. Esau comforts himself by planning to kill you.

That's where he's getting his joy. That's what keeps him going every day. He wants to kill his brother. We see the evil in his heart. Of course, we know from what Genesis 25 says that Rebecca liked Jacob better, but Isaac actually liked Esau better.

In an effort to cover for Jacob, Rebecca has to say something to Isaac other than Esau's trying to kill him because she's worried maybe Isaac will think he's worthy of death. And so this is what happens in verse 46.

Then Rebecca said to Isaac, I loathe my life because of the Hittite woman. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me? So the reason that she sent Jacob away is that Esau desired to kill him.

And she may be guarding her real reason here because she did not want word to get out to Esau through the grapevine that she knew of his plans. And maybe Isaac would spill the beans. But as we see here, God is sovereign over the destinies of believers and unbelievers.

And the second flip side of this is that he uses providential means to forever reject the other. And as we see here, the outcome of Esau's life. Okay, so to summarize this big sermon from last week and this Sunday, God is sovereign over the destinies of believers and unbelievers.

And the two flip sides we've seen, he providentially uses means to bless one, and he providentially uses means to reject the other. That's what we need to see in this narrative. It's kind of an odd narrative that through deceit, Jacob receives the blessing.

And yet, we know that God uses this for his good even though these are strange circumstances about which they come about. And what we have seen is the Lord's plans to bless Jacob forever and not Esau.

Do Not Be Like Esau

And as we close out this sermon, let us heed the warning of the author of Hebrews. This is what I want to leave you with today. Do not be like Esau, who gave up everything for something temporary and ultimately unsatisfying.

Instead, you must desire God and drink of his infinite greatness. You must understand that heaven is never going to be boring. And we have to ask the question, why is heaven never going to be boring? It's because God is going to be there.

And God is an infinite being. And what infinite means is that he has no limits. We're always going to be learning new things about him. We're created to know him. We're created to be in fellowship with him.

And so by choosing Christ, by following Jesus, this is the path you're choosing. And the other path is a path of misery. Because remember, if you miss out on this path, the path you're choosing is hell.

If you reject God, he rejects you. So, we need to understand that. When you drink the fountain of God, you will never go hungry and never go thirsty. And that's what Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4.

And we know that his words are true. And in the history of the world, many, many people have missed out on this. Do not be one of them. Be one who chooses God and experiences his forever blessing. Next week, we will see the two paths that both of these sons, Jacob and Esau, take after the blessing has been delivered.

Let's pray. Father in heaven, I thank you for warnings in Scripture that we need to take heed. And I pray, Lord, that this would stick in our minds today. That the devil would love nothing more than to snatch this out of people's brains and have them think about something else.

Instead, to take this seriously. To take the message of this passage seriously. And so, I pray that everybody in this room would take this seriously. This is sobering to ponder. Because 100 years from now, Lord, every one of us will be in one of two places.

And my prayer is that everybody in this room would be in paradise with you forever. And I pray for that, Lord. Would you do that? And would everybody here respond appropriately to this call? In Jesus' name, amen.