Genesis #29 - Unlikely Grace #1 - The God of the Upside Down (Gen 25:12-34)

It's our habit here at Redeemer to walk our way, section by section, portion by portion, through books of the Bible. And for quite some time, we've been marching our way through Genesis, taking breaks here and there to look at other things in God's word.

Returning to Genesis and the Unlikely Grace Series

But today we return to the book of Genesis. And this is a series that I have titled, Unlikely Grace, Unlikely Grace, God's Grace in the Lives of Imperfect People. I'll say more about the series and why I've given it this title in just a few moments.

But for now, if you have a Bible, and I hope you do, take it and turn with me to Genesis chapter 25. Genesis and chapter 25. If you grabbed one of the red hardback Bibles that we give away, that's on page 20.

Genesis chapter 25. Genesis 25, and we are going to read verses 19 through to 34. Genesis chapter 25 from verse 19 through to 34. Page 20 in the red hardbacks that we give away, Genesis chapter 25, verse 19 through to verse 34.

If you're able to do so,.

Can I invite you to stand with me out of reverence for God's word. It's our custom here at Redeemer that we stand when we read our sermon text. Knowing that in this moment, God is going to be speaking to us through his word.

Genesis chapter 25, beginning in verse 19. Francis says, these are God's words. These are the family records of Isaac, son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac. Isaac was 40 years old when he took as his wife, Rebecca, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.

Isaac prayed to Yahweh on behalf of his wife.

Because she was childless.

Yahweh was receptive to his prayer and his wife, Rebecca conceived. But the children inside her struggled with each other and she said, why is this happening to me? So she went to inquire of Yahweh and Yahweh said to her, two nations are in your womb.

Two peoples will come from you and be separated. One people will be stronger than the other and the older will serve the younger. When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb.

The first one came out red looking, covered with hair like a fur coat and they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out grasping Esau's heel with his hand. So he was named Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.

When the boys grew up, Esau became an expert hunter and outdoorsman but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home. Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game but Rebecca loved Jacob. Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field exhausted.

He said to Jacob, let me eat some of that red stuff because I'm exhausted. That is why he's also named Edom. Jacob replied, excuse me, first, sell me your birthright. Look, said Esau, I'm about to die.

So what good is a birthright to me? Jacob said, swear to me first. So he swore to Jacob and sold his birthright to him. Then Jacob gave bread and lentil stew to Esau. He ate, drank, got up and went away.

So Esau despised his birthright. Pray that God will bless that reading of his word once again and give us understanding. Allow me to pray, ask for the Spirit's help and we will get to work in this passage.

Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, we thank you because every time we read your word, you have something for us. Lord, we pray that as we come to this passage, the truth that it teaches to us. Father, I simply pray that whatever we hear, whatever we learn from this, we pray that your Spirit would use it for our good and for your good.

We ask all these things in Jesus' name and for his sake.

Amen.

Please be seated. I've tagged this message, the God of the upside down, the God of the upside down as we come to this first message in this series, unlikely grace, God's grace in the lives of imperfect people.

Like I said, it is good to be back in the book of Genesis. We've been out of it for quite some time, but I had to go look, remember how long it was. June the 4th was the last time that we were in the book of Genesis.

Since it's been that long and we've got some folks visiting with us as well and people watching online who maybe haven't been with us in this series, allow me to quickly do some review of the book of Genesis just so we're all on the same page.

Genesis is volume one of Moses' divinely inspired history of the nation of Israel. Really, it's early years. He writes this, I believe, towards the end of his life as Israel is preparing to go into the land of promise.

And really what he's doing by the design of God's spirit is he's giving Israel really their story. How did they get to this point that they're on the verge of entering into this land that God had promised them?

How did we get from the creation of the world to that point? That's really what, really, Genesis right through to Deuteronomy covers. That's really a five-volume history. We know it as the first five books of our Bibles.

And so Genesis is volume one of that history. And as you come to the book of Genesis, Genesis divides into two parts. Easy way to remember Genesis. Genesis really breaks up into four key events in the first 11 or so chapters, and then four key people.

So you have the events of creation, you have the events of the fall and the fallout from that, you have the flood, and then you have the Tower of Babel. Four key events, and that's really your first half of Genesis, and then your second half are four key people.

By the way, the first half of Genesis covers about 2 ,000 years, so it's covering a long period of time in relatively few words. But with the second half, it slows down a lot, and it's much more focused on individual people.

And so you have Abraham, you have Isaac, you have Jacob, and then you have Joseph as the four key people in the book of Genesis. So far in our journey of Genesis, we've in two series made our way basically through the four key events and the first of these four key people.

Our first series was one called Foundations, Genesis 1 to 11, and the Story of Everything. And then we did another series called The Gospel According to Abraham. Both of those are on our website and on our church app if you want to listen.

But last time we were in Genesis, which was chapter 25, verses one through 11, our trek through the jungles of Genesis as it were, concluded with the death of Abraham and the baton being passed from Abraham to Isaac, the son of promise.

And so that's where we find ourselves as we come to chapter 25 and verse 12. I've called this series Unlikely Grace, God's Grace in the Lives of Imperfect People, because as we're going to see as we work our way through the lives of really Isaac and Jacob about who we're going to cover in this series, as you look at them, neither Isaac nor Jacob are perfect people.

In fact, at key moments in their story, we're going to discover that they're incredibly flawed. But even in their weak and undependable moments, even in those, we're going to see that those are avenues through which the grace of God is very clearly shown.

And sometimes it looks unlikely, there'll be moments in this narrative, let me just warn you in advance, where the text will leave you scratching your head and thinking, what on earth did I just read?

And there'll be moments where you'll be like, oh, that's not what I expected. But I believe that that's what exactly Moses wants you to feel. That as you come to this section, we are going to be amazed at the grace of God that is shown to people who on the surface.

Don't deserve it.

But that's the point, none of us deserve God's grace. God's grace in that sense is unlikely when it comes to all of us. So that's what we're going to be seeing as we march our way for the next few months through this section of God's word.

And even as we come to this chapter in chapter 25, we're in for some drama, we're in for some intrigue, and we're in for some insights into how God works in some highly upside down ways, at least from how we would operate as human beings.

In fact, that's kind of the big idea I want to leave with you this morning, is my big idea for this message. That we can always trust that God is at work, even in ways that might and should at times be upside down from how we work.

That we can always trust that God is at work, even in ways that might and should be upside down from how we work. I hope you picked that up as we read this section. The interesting things are happening here, and you may have thought, how on earth are we going to get to the grace of God from that?

Well, bear with me, I think once you pay a little close attention to the text, that this actually becomes a little more apparent. So again, my big idea for this message, we can always trust that God is at work, even in ways that might and should be upside down from how we work.

For the rest of our time, I want to consider three upside down portraits of God at work in our text, which should deepen our trust in the Lord. Three upside down portraits of God at work in our text, which should deepen our trust in the Lord.

Well, let's begin our journey through this passage with a quick look at point number one, the God who keeps all his promises. The God who keeps all his promises. We won't dwell here for too long, but there are some good lessons to learn from the section that we didn't read in verses 12 through 18.

So look at chapter 25, verse 12 with me. He says, these are the family records of Abraham's son, Ishmael, whom Hagar, the Egyptian Sarah slave, bore to him. You may remember this, those of you who've been here regularly through our series in Genesis, but if not, when you see that phrase family record, it's something like a mile marker.

It's telling you that you've made some progress in your reading through the book of Genesis. We've moved along in the timeline as it were. You hear that and you know that you're making the journey the right way.

This is actually the seventh time in Genesis, this phrase, the family records has been used. And actually this is the shortest of the seven. One of the things you'll notice is that this language is usually reserved for major events and major characters.

But what's interesting about this one is that this is the last time I'm actually gonna hear about Ishmael. At least as a person, we'll hear about his descendants. But as a person, the curtain is closing on Ishmael's involvement in this story.

Which then begs the question, if we're not gonna hear from him, why is his family records included here? Well, there's all kinds of reasons.

That you could probably give,.

But I think the answer to that question is actually given to us in verse 12. Did you catch the description of Ishmael's son in verse 12? Excuse me, not Ishmael's son. Of Ishmael in verse 12? These are the family records of Abraham's son, Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian Sarah's slave bore to Abraham.

Before anything else, Ishmael's important because he is Abraham's son. Abraham is the man to whom God made covenant promises. And so by his connection to Abraham, Ishmael was actually an important person.

The reminder about Hagar the Egyptian is supposed to cast your mind back to Genesis chapter 16 and that whole indecent proposal that Sarah made to Abram that he accepted. But it's interesting, all of those sordid details aren't mentioned here.

Ishmael's story, if you will, is not defined by the fact that he was the product of a extramarital relationship between Abraham and Hagar. No, he's defined here as Abraham's son. And because he was Abraham's son, God promised that he would take care of Abraham,.

Excuse me, of Ishmael.

So back in chapter 17, verse 20, let me read it to you, Genesis 17, 20. As for Ishmael, this is Abraham going before God and saying, well, what about Ishmael? God's making all these wonderful promises to Isaac.

And he says, well, what about Ishmael? Well, he says, as for Ishmael, I have certainly heard you. I will certainly bless him. I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly.

You will father 12 tribal leaders.

And I will make him into a great nation. So God promised that he would take care of Ishmael. Well, did God bless Ishmael? Did God make good on his promise? I spared everyone the long list of names in verses 12 through 18, you're welcome.

But I'll read it. And as I read, I want you to count how many names are here. So verse 13, the text says, these are the names of Ishmael's sons. Their names according to their family records are Nebaioth, Ishmael's firstborn, Kedar, Adbil, Mibsam, Mishma, Juma, Massa, Hadad, Tima, Jetur, Naphish, and Kadima.

I don't know about you, but I count 12. Exactly as God promised. Think about this, was Ishmael the child of promise? No, actually he was the product of Sarah trying to rush the promise along. He wasn't the child of promise.

Was Ishmael as far as we know a worshiper of the true God?

Text doesn't tell us, it's up for debate. More than likely not. If that is true that he's not the child of promise, as far as we know, he's not even a worshiper of the true God. What is Ishmael's only claim before God?

Why should God keep his promises to Ishmael? All right, let's personalize it for a moment. What is your only claim? What is my only claim? What is anyone's only claim before God?

You ever thought about that?

Why should God keep his promises to us? Well, God keeps his promises because that's who he is. God is the God who keeps all, you might want to underline that word, all. He keeps all of his promises, even the ones that seem somewhat ancillary.

As I try to apply this, I think the application of rights itself, but indulge me for a moment.

Let's do a thought experiment.

Take a trip in your mind for a moment to the plains of Moab. That's where the original audience would have been as Moses wrote this. This is the generation after the Exodus. They're on the verge of entering into the land of promise.

You can imagine the question that's on everybody's mind.

In this moment.

Here we are, two million people about to go into the land that God promised us. Their parents' generation didn't believe God and didn't make it. And so the question on everybody's hearts and minds, you can only imagine is, can God do this?

Does God keep his promises?

Well, for those who've been hearing this narrative, he did that with Abraham. God promised Abraham that he would have a son and from that son, he would have a nation. And there they are, the nation. God promised Abraham that that nation would go into slavery but that he would bring them out.

And he did. There was this tiny little thing called the Exodus. Two million people are moved out of the land of Egypt. A major world superpower gets embarrassed in the process. God had kept all of his promises.

And I think this is why I think this section is here. This section is here as a reminder to us that God keeps all of his promises, even the ones that we might think are small and insignificant. God didn't need to tell us.

Have you thought about this?

God didn't need to tell us what happened to Ishmael. He's not really an important character in the story.

But God does.

Why?

Because he wants us to be able to trust him to keep all of his promises. And here's the take home point. If God was willing to do that for Ishmael, who wasn't one of his covenant people, what won't he do for us, who are his covenant people?

Let's grab a plate, as it were, and come back to 2023 for a moment. If God keeps what we might think are ancillary promises, why can't we trust him to keep all of his promises in Christ? His ways might not always add up to us, but we can always be assured that somehow and in some way, God keeps all his promises.

And so the first portrait of God we learn from this passage that he is the God who keeps all his promises, but there's a second portrait we learn about God from this passage and that he is the God who upsets expectations.

He is the God who upsets expectations. So coming back to our text, with the loose end of Ishmael's story all wrapped up, we can now turn our focus to the first of two major characters in this series, Isaac.

So verse 19, we pick it up. It says, these are the family records. There's that language again, story's moving along. These are the family records of Isaac, son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac. Now this is more of a reintroduction than an introduction.

We've kind of grown up with Isaac a little bit. If you've been with us in this series through Genesis, I'd have been hearing about him from before he was born. You know, I kind of feel a little affection for Isaac having spent this long in Genesis.

And I was like, I remember him when he was just a little boy. We've been with him from when he was born to being picked on by his older brother to nearly getting sacrificed. I still have the question.

I wonder what that conversation was afterwards between Abraham and Isaac. I guess when I get to him and I can ask them. You saw that. We even saw him get married, chapter 24. And in case you forgot, Moses gives you a summary in verse 20.

Like he was 40 years old when he got married. But now we come to this passage. As we come to this passage, it's now about 20 years on from when we last saw Isaac give or take. Isaac is married to Rebecca.

And there's no doubt that Isaac knows his family history. And we get an insight into that from verse 21. So look at verse 21 with me. The text says, Isaac prayed to Yahweh on behalf of his wife.

Because she was childless.

Now, to Isaac's credit, this is not the first time we have heard the language of Isaac praying. Back in chapter 24, when the servant had been sent to go and get Rebecca, the text says that when they were coming back in the early evening, Isaac went out to walk.

The word for walk is actually the word for prayer. In the evening, it seems that this was his custom. He would go out into the field to go and pray. So we can give Isaac credit. He's a prayerful man. I'm not privy, none of us are really, to any of the conversations that happened between Isaac and his dad.

But I have to believe he knew enough about his past, number one, not to repeat it. You don't see him saying, okay, look, my wife Rebecca was childless. We might need to go get some help here. You don't see that here to his credit.

He knew enough about the past not to repeat it. But he also knew enough about the past.

To go straight to God.

Give Abraham credit. He eventually does that. But Isaac is a little quicker off the draw here. Let's give him his points. And I mean, I have to be, I think we can all agree. It's not as though a shortcut wasn't a temptation.

The practice of giving a slave to a husband so that she could have children for him wasn't uncommon in the ancient Near East. But I like what one commentator, Ian Duguid, in a commentary called Living in the Grip of Relentless Grace on this actual section.

I love what he says.

He says, quote,.

In so many situations, the choice that faces us is essentially the same as that which faced the patriarchs. Believe God even when it doesn't seem likely to work or follow Satan's shortcut. So how does Isaac respond?

He's a model of faith. He prayed to the Lord for Rebecca. The Lord answered his prayer and she became pregnant. Isaac demonstrates dependence by not enforcing his will or seeking a shortcut. He demonstrates dependence by bending his knee in prayer.

And I think that's the best stance that we can take in tough situations. This is a way, point of application. When we face tough situations, our first instinct should not be, what shortcut can I take to get out of this?

Our first instinct should be, let's go to the Lord in prayer. We can do lots of things after we've prayed, but we can't do anything more.

Before we have prayed.

But prayer doesn't necessarily eliminate problems in our narrative here. Look at verse 22. So 21, she gets pregnant. Verse 22, but the children inside of her, pay attention to that, by the way, text just kind of says it as a matter of fact, but the children inside of her struggled with each other.

And she said, why is this happening to me? So she went to inquire of the Lord. Once again, we see faith on the part of first Isaac and now Rebecca. Rebecca does well in responding to this very real internal wrestling match happening inside of her, by going to God and seeking answers.

And as she does, the answer she gets is actually quite shocking. So verse 23, and Yahweh said to her, two nations are in your womb. Two peoples will come from you and be separated. One people will be stronger than the other and the older will serve the younger.

This was more than two squabbling boys fighting in there. You can put it like this. This is global politics in the womb, but that's not the crazy part. I have to imagine, you know, I've had a few friends in life who've had twins and what have you, and the wives will speak to this experience.

So that part isn't the part that I find to be crazy. I can only imagine if you've got two kids in very close quarters all the time, they will find a way to fight. That's not the crazy part. Here's the crazy part for me, especially if I put myself in the world of the original audience, is what God says right at the end.

It's not just that there are two nations at war. Did you catch it in the text? The text says that the older will serve the younger. That's the part that's not normal. And for Moses' audience, when they would have heard these words, you can just imagine, they're reading this and they hear that.

You would have just seen heads bob up, ears would have started to perk up.

Why?

Because that's not what happened in the ancient Near East. In the ancient Near East, the oldest child received double the inheritance. What you did was, once how many kids you had, you divided up all your property, the oldest child, the oldest son typically, would have double the inheritance.

Of all the other kids.

They would also kind of become the clan leader, if you will. But that's not what God says is going to happen here. What God says is going to happen here is, the younger will be the leader, the older will serve the younger.

This would have been a massive no-no in the ancient Near East.

But with God,.

If you can put it like this, it's a yes, yes. This is how God operates. It's unsurprising if you've read Genesis up to this point. God seems to have this thing for working with younger siblings over older ones.

So all the way back in Genesis chapter four, it's Abel who's the younger sibling who's accepted when Cain isn't. Isaac himself, if you think about it, he's the younger sibling.

He's not the older sibling.

But he's the child of promise over Ishmael. You see, if you read Genesis, it becomes apparent that God is in the business of upsetting expectations. Catch this, just because he can. Nothing in the text tells you why he does this.

And really, God does not really owe us an explanation as to why he does it.

He just does.

And that's actually Paul's explanation of this scene in the New Testament. Keep a finger here in, or a ribbon or something, here in Genesis 25. Come all the way to Romans nine with me for a moment. Romans chapter nine.

Romans chapter nine, Paul is answering the question.

Of is God,.

Interestingly, if God is faithful to all of his promises to redeem and to keep his people, what happened to his original covenant people,.

Israel?

That's what he's really dealing with.

In Romans nine,.

10 and 11. And Paul's point is very simple, that Israel's unbelief doesn't call the faithfulness of God into question. This is not the time for a full study of Romans nine, because I love this chapter.

But now jump down to verse six with me. Romans chapter nine, reading in verse six. Romans nine six,.

Paul says,.

Now it is not as though.

The word of God has failed,.

Because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.

Neither is it the case.

That all of Abraham's children are his descendants. On the contrary, your offspring will be traced through Isaac.

That is,.

It is not the children by physical descent who are God's children, but the children of the promise who are considered to be the offspring. Well, this is the statement of the promise.

At this time,.

I will come and Sarah will have a son. And not only that, the text says, but Rebecca conceived children.

Through one man,.

Our father, Isaac. Here's where this gets interesting.

Verse 11.

For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad,.

So that God's purpose, according to election,.

Might stand not from works, but from the one who calls, she was told the older will serve the younger. God's decision, according to Paul, wasn't grounded in anything that the boys had done. It wasn't that Jacob was a good kid and Esau wasn't.

That's not really the issue. God's grounding was,.

God's decision, excuse me,.

Wasn't grounded in anything that might make sense to us. And that makes sense. He's self-existent and he's eternal. Nothing he does is obligated to us as creatures. So I think Paul's point is very simple and it's the point that I think this passage, come back to Genesis 25, makes for us.

That God is in the business of upsetting human expectations. That God is in the business of turning the unconventional on its head. That God is in the business of saying,.

That might be how you do it,.

But I do things my way. I mean, isn't that what he tells us in his word? You don't need to turn there, but Isaiah 55 verse 8, my thoughts are not your thoughts and your ways are not my ways, says the Lord.

I mean, think about it. Isn't this just how God likes to work? I mean, God creates a world in six days when he could have just done it in a single word.

You ever thought about that?

He takes six days. He really draws this out from a being who could speak the world into existence in one motion and it would be done. Of all the people in the world that he could have called, he calls a pagan idolater, Lord Abraham to be the vehicle for his blessing.

Oh, by the way,.

Abraham's well on his way to being a hundred and his wife is not that far behind him. Oh, but God says, oh, this woman who's way past the age of giving birth to children, she's going to give birth to a son.

That's like, this is just how God works.

I mean, it's just like God.

To bring about the salvation of the world through a teenage virgin from the middle of nowhere. I have to be honest, this is not the way that I would do things. This is not the way that if the plan of salvation were put in my hand, which praise God, it is not.

But if the plan of salvation were put in my hand, this is probably not the way I do it. I want something a little more foolproof and something a little more efficient. I'm an efficiency. It makes sense to me that you do this in the quickest, most efficient way possible.

But here's the wonderful thing. God doesn't have to make sense to me. And I'll put it to you that if the version of God that you have in your mind is one that makes sense to you, it might not be the God of the Bible.

Think about it. If you could figure God out, then you can't be all that big and amazing, which is the God of the Bible. He's bigger and more amazing than all of us. And if I can make it personal for a moment, as I look back on my own life, there are moments where I'm tempted.