Sunday Night, March 10, 2019 PM

Sunnyside Baptist Church

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they take the flower back home with them and present it to the rest and want to give you frankincense.

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Okay, so chapter 2 verse 1, now when anyone presents a grain offering as an offering to the

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Lord, his offering shall be a fine flower, and they shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it.

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So, this is a very finely ground flower, so the best of the best, again, you pour oil on it, and it's going to help it burn, and you put frankincense on it, so it's going to burn sweetly.

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It's going to be a sweet aroma to the Lord. Then he will bring it to Aaron's sons, the priests, and shall take from it his handful of this fine flower of its oil with all of its frankincense, and the priests shall offer it up in smoke as its memorial portion on the altar, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the

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Lord. The remainder of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons,

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I think most holy of the offerings of the Lord by fire, and then they get to eat that. But notice verse 2, he shall bring it then to Aaron's sons and the priests, and shall take from it his handful, so out of all the fine flower, that's hard to say, of all the fine flower that he brings to the priests, he takes just one handful out of it, and takes the oil with, notice, all of its frankincense.

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He puts all the frankincense in that one handful. He doesn't put it in the flower, he puts it in that handful, and that's what's offered up to the

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Lord. Otherwise, yeah, that would be pretty nasty having to eat perfume.

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It's definitely something very, it says soothing aroma to the Lord, and it's something that they all recognized was something very special, very fine, given to the

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Lord to worship him. Yeah. David, did you have a question?

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Yes. I think we should.

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It's a good question from Genesis 25. It certainly grabs our attention, doesn't it, when we read

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Genesis 25, and you can imagine Rebecca's plight in this situation.

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In Genesis 25, we come to verse 19, we have heard that, we've heard about the descendants of Abraham, we've heard about the descendants of Ishmael, but now we're focusing in on Isaac, and it was

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Abraham's ardent wish that Isaac not marry a wife from Canaan, but that there would be a daughter from Abraham's own people somewhere that he would marry.

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And so, Isaac is now married, and we come to verse 19 of Genesis 25, says, now these are the records of the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son.

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Abraham became the father of Isaac, and Isaac was 40 years old when he took

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Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel, the Aramean, of Paddan Aram, the sister of Laban, the

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Aramean, to be his wife. So, he's 40 years old by the time he gets married, and this would be, in today's age, our culture would be, well, it's a little bit old to get married, in this culture, very old to get married, but he waited, according to honor his father, and got married to the daughter that his father approved of, to the woman that his father approved of.

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Verse 21, Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was barren.

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How did he, how did they know that she was barren? Well, we'll find out later that Isaac was 60 years old, 60 years old when

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Rebecca conceived the twins and gave birth to the twins. So, for 20 years,

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I mean, it became obvious, and Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was barren, and the

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Lord answered him, and Rebecca, his wife, conceived. The first thing we see in the passage is the way that Isaac loved his wife.

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This passage, verses 19 through 34, is all about love. We would be surprised by that, but indeed, it is all about love, this particular portion of Genesis 25.

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First thing we see is that Isaac loved his wife, and so he prayed for her.

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He prayed for her. This is what a husband does when he loves his wife. He prays for her. Her burdens are his burdens, and he interceded for her, and the

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Lord was gracious to answer. Someone else who loves his bride is Jesus Christ.

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Romans 8, 34 says that Jesus Christ intercedes for us. He intercedes for his bride.

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I thank God that Jesus Christ is at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us, and this is why there is, therefore, now no condemnation.

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He's the one who died for us. He's been raised. He's at the right hand. He's praying for us, and so we see this love that Isaac had for his wife.

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Now, verse 22, the children, but the children struggled together within her.

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Now, what are the babies called inside her womb? Children.

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No, not fetus. Children. Children. They are genuine, unique individuals, children, struggling within her, and she said, if it is so, why then am

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I this way? Remember that question. Remember that question, if it is so, then why then am

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I this way? It is the question that Paul will bring up in Romans 9. He actually takes

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Rebecca's language to ask the question in Romans 9, but it's a good question to ask.

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If it is so, then why am I this way? And she did the right thing. She went to inquire of the Lord, right?

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I don't get this. This something's wrong. I don't understand this. Something is not right, so she goes and inquires of the

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Lord, so she prays. The Lord said to her, two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be separated from your body.

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One people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger. Two nations are in your womb.

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This is a continuation of what God told Abraham, you will be the father of many nations.

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And here he's got grandsons who will be nations. Ishmael himself would give birth to many nations.

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He would be the father of many nations. And here we have two nations coming from Isaac.

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One would be stronger than the other. They would be separated from her body.

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They were going to be apart from one another, opposed to one another indeed. One will be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.

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Who was stronger? Was Jacob stronger or Esau stronger?

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Yeah, I don't know. I read that and I thought, well, which one was stronger? Because Esau was the one running around with 400 armed men, so at one point,

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Esau looks a little stronger than Jacob. Jacob was pretty terrified of him. And in certain points in history,

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Edom, the nation that came from Esau, was stronger. And at other points, especially under David and Solomon, Jacob was stronger.

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But I think, ultimately, what it's pointing at is that there's going to be a disparity between the two.

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One would be favored by God, empowered by God, strengthened by God. It was never said of Edom that one soldier could chase 10 and 10 could chase 1 ,000.

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It was never said of Edom. But it does say that the older will serve the younger.

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And so this is God's decision. We have already seen from time to time in the scriptures the reversal of the birth order, which you call primogeniture.

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The chosen seed of Adam and Eve, the true inheritor, their true son, if you would, representative for Adam's family was not

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Cain, who killed Abel, it ended up being Seth, a younger. When it comes to the birth order in Noah's sons,

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Shem, the blessed one, was not the oldest. And so we see this again and again, but here

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God says it very specifically, the older shall serve the younger. And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb, just as God said.

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Now, there first came forth red all over like a hairy garment, and they named him Esau, which means hairy.

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So they named him Harry. And eventually he got the nickname Red. I'm not picking on you.

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Okay? I'm just, I'm not. I mean, this is the way the Bible reads. So his real name was

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Harry, but his nickname was Red. And afterwards, his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau's heel.

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So his name was called Jacob, meaning heel grabber, supplanter, deceiver. There are certain ways you can read

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Yahob as Yahweh protects, which is a great way to read it.

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But he was named this because he was a known deceiver and supplanter. And here he is as an infant grabbing the heel, and so they named him that.

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And Isaac was 60 years old when she, Rebecca, gave birth to these twins.

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Now, when the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man living in tents.

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So Esau loved the action, Jacob loved the peace. Their opposite in personality as well as appearance.

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Now, Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for game, but Rebecca loved

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Jacob. What do you think about this? Parents and their children, a description of, well,

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Isaac loved Esau, but Rebecca loved Jacob. What do you think about that? What does that sound like? Not fair.

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It sounds like favoritism. A recipe for disaster. We know that in our homes, right?

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We know that by experience. We know that from our extended relatives and so on. We know that there's a problem if parents play favorites and decide to love one but not the other.

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I mean, that's a bad deal. We all know that. So, and when it comes to love, first we see a husband loving his wife, and so he prays for her.

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And now we have parents who are loving their children, but we see them loving them in a way that is not righteous, right?

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Isaac loved Esau and Rebecca loved Jacob. This is not saying that they were totally against the other, but the point is it's emphasizing the favoritism.

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What do you think? Is God's love unrighteous like this? Of course not.

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He's God. He's righteous. He's good. He's perfect. And so the way that he loves is always righteous and perfect.

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Now, we can certainly complain about the way that Isaac and Rebecca loved, but we can't complain about the way that God loves.

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And that's pretty much Paul's point in Romans 9. So we need to go ahead and flip over to Romans 9, where Paul quotes this very passage in Genesis.

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It's always helpful to see how the apostles and Christ himself, how they interpreted the

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Old Testament. They said, well, Jesus said very often, have you never read? And he'd quote a little bit of scripture and then he would apply that, would interpret it correctly and then apply it.

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And here, Paul does the same in Romans 9. He starts off in Romans 9 by confessing his very, his deep grief, his great sorrow for his fellow

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Israelites who have rejected Christ, who do not believe, who although they were given so much in the scriptures, they're not trusting in Christ.

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And it brings to mind, you know, well, is there something that has failed? Has God failed? Has his promises failed?

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Because not all the Israelites are believing in their Messiah. And of course that can't be true.

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Let God be true and every man a liar. He's already said that in Romans 3. And so he explains, verse 6, here's how we are to understand it, verse 6.

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But it is not as though the word of God has failed, for they are not all

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Israel who are descended from Israel. There's a mind bender for you. Well, how can that possibly be?

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What do you mean they're not all Israel who's descended from Israel? That doesn't make any sense. He explains, nor are they all children because they're

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Abraham's descendants. But through Isaac, your descendants will be named.

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That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.

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Do you see what Paul is doing? He's pointing out that you're not one of Abraham's descendants just because you're a child in the genetic lineage of Abraham.

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This is often the... Remember the Pharisees getting really mad with Jesus and they said, are we not

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Abraham's children? And he's like, no, you're not. The devil is your father.

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And, you know, that didn't go well, that conversation. But Paul's pointing out that not everybody who has come from Abraham is a

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Jew. We already know that because there was Ishmael and then there was... But not even everybody who came through this lineage should be considered as Israel because they have to come through the promise.

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That is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. And then he starts talking about the promises.

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Notice the promises. For this is the word of the promise. At this time, I will come and Sarah shall have a son. There's one promise, which he will talk about at length in Galatians as well.

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And not only this, but there was Rebecca also when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac.

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For though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to his choice would stand not because of works, but because of him who calls, it was said to her, the older shall serve the younger, just as it is written,

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Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. Now, this portion where it says,

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Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. For this, we have to go...

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I want to say to Malachi unless my brain is totally glitching. Malachi 1. The oracle of the word of the

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Lord to Israel through Malachi, I have loved you says the Lord, but you say, how have you loved us? Was not

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Esau Jacob's brother declares the Lord, yet I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.

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So Paul reflects when it comes to who are the children, who are the children of God, verse 8.

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It depends not on your genetics, and it's not to depend upon your performance, but it depends on God's purpose.

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That's what he says. So he quotes not only Genesis 25, but he also quotes

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Michael 1, and then he says, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated. Now, from this proceeds a great deal of objection, a great deal of discomfort.

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Many different things that Paul brings up says, yes, I know you're going to say this, and I know you're going to say this, and I know you're going to say this, because he's heard this before.

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Here's what we don't want to do. Okay. We do not want to read Romans 9, and the things that make us uncomfortable, and then find a way to interpret those things, so that we no longer feel any discomfort whatsoever.

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Oh, good. I don't feel bad anymore. Because then, why all the objections? If we can explain these verses away, so that we don't have discomfort anymore, why are there so many objections in the text?

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They're there because it's uncomfortable. Notice what he says.

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Verse 11, for though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to his choice would stand, not because of works, but because of him who calls, it was said to her, the older shall serve the younger, just as it's written,

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Jacob I love, but Esau I hate. Now, remember when Jacob and Esau grew up. There was Esau. And what did he like to do?

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Oh, he liked to hunt. He goes out, he kills game, and he makes it. Boy, does Isaac love that.

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Give me some venison, man. He loves the fact that Esau goes out and hunts, and brings home the game.

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And this is a reason given for why Isaac preferred Esau, because of what

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Esau did, the kind of guy Esau was. And Rebecca favored

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Jacob. We're not told exactly why. We're not given the cause there. But Jacob was a peaceful man.

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He stayed closer to home. And for some reason, Rebecca preferred Jacob. Maybe she just had mercy on him.

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She could tell there was favoritism towards Esau, and so she naturally responded to that, trying to balance things out and preferred

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Jacob. But do you notice that we see when we read Genesis 25, we sense instantly that it is wrong, it is unjust, it is unrighteous for the parents to play favorites based on the personality or the performance of this child versus that child, right?

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We knew that immediately. Now when God, sovereign, righteous, holy

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God, makes a choice to love one and hate another, and he does so before they're ever born, and has no regard for their performance or personality, why do we protest?

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Well, what's the character of God? Is he still righteous? Is he still good? Yes, but it sure makes me feel uncomfortable.

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But you know, it was really Isaac and Rebecca who did the unrighteous choosing, wasn't it?

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Because they were looking for performance and personality. But God, in his holiness and his righteousness, loved one and hated the other, and proved it in the course of history.

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Now let's, sure, it's

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God's choice. It's God's purpose. I probably said purpose.

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Did I say purpose? Definitely election. Now let's think about Jacob for a second.

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Let's think of Esau. Esau ended up marrying about three different women. They were all despised by his parents.

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He made his living going around with a band of marauders. Genesis 36, one of the saddest chapters in the whole

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Bible, it is full of Esau's success, the way that he had children and the success of his sons who became clansmen and then became kings and ruled over a good section of a fortified area in the ancient

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Near East. And it's one of the saddest chapters in the Bible because God has never mentioned it all. How do you know that God hates someone?

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He just lets them go. Go do whatever you want, however you want, with whoever you want, and he does not interfere.

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That's how you know God hates someone. He just let Esau go, do whatever he wanted, and Esau did whatever he wanted, and all he did was according to his own sinful nature, and he was good at it.

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He was successful. He left his mark on planet Earth. Ever heard of Petra? He was someone in history, and in his story in Genesis 36,

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God is never mentioned. That's how you know God hates you, and he just lets you go. Now, how do you know God loves you? He hounded

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Jacob. He would not let that guy alone. He even wrestled him.

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I mean, he would not leave Jacob alone. He proved how much he loved Jacob. Now, let's think about Jacob's character for a moment.

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Upstanding guy? The kind of guy you want to go into business with? The kind of guy you want your daughter to marry?

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No to all of it. This guy was by name a crook, and God gave him a new name and a new meaning for the name, but God chose to love him, and when he loved him, he just never let him go, and he loved him, and he loved him, and he loved him, and Jacob was then known as Israel.

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He crippled him, made him walk different, never was the same after that. So we see the difference there, and it wasn't based on Jacob being a better guy, smarter, made better decisions.

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No, none of that, none of that. That is the message of grace. That's the good news of grace.

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It is not based on our record, how good we do, not our lineage, none of that.

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It's based on God, it's based on God, and all the objections that come after that, you know,

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God might be unjust. Well, why does he still find fault?

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Who resists his will? And so all these objections that we read about, verses 14 and following, the answer time and again is

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God is God, we are not, and God saves according to his grace, and not according to us, which is really good news.

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I would hate to perform for my salvation. That would,

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I'd lose every time. I would flunk that test every time, and I would hate to perform for my child's salvation, to do enough to get

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God, convince God to save my child. I would, I could never do enough. So it's in the hands of a sovereign and gracious and righteous and just and holy and merciful

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God, and that's exactly where you want salvation to be, right in his hands. Well, there's a lot more,

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I think, that we could talk about. Does that help your, was it nations or was it individuals?

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It has to be individuals first, because he goes on to mention in Romans 9, talks about Pharaoh, and also all the objections are put into the personal.

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Right, it's not about, no one's objecting in Romans 9, in Paul's examples of objections.

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None of these example objections are angry about what God does with nations. It's about what God does with individual people, and so that's where the emphasis is here, but the reason why nations come into it is because those nations came out of real individuals.

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Jacob was the father of Israel, and Esau was the father of Edom, and so those particular individuals did, because the way

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God dealt with them, did have an impact through history in terms of nations. Right, which is, again, where we want it to be.

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I hate to have that resting in my hands.

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All right, well, we're out of time. We did make it through part of Genesis 25, but we'll talk more about the stew, and the selling of a birthright, and all of that in our next opportunity.