Jesus Sustains Us For His Glory (1 Kings 19:1-18) | Adult Sunday School & Worship Service

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Good morning, everyone. Good morning. Good to see each one this morning. We're glad you're here and ready to study

God's Word in our adult Sunday School class. We're going to return to 1

Timothy chapter 6 this morning, and there's an outline out there someplace. If you don't have one, raise your hand.

There's the outline monitor. We'll pass you one. Let's commit our time to our

Lord this morning as we usually do and ask His blessing on our study this morning. Our Father, we thank

You for the privilege that we have to be able to gather together in the name of our great

God and Savior, Jesus Christ, to open Your Word and be taught by Your Spirit. Pray now that You would accomplish every divine purpose that You have for us and that You would be glorified in it.

And we just thank You in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. So this morning, once again, back to 1

Timothy chapter 6. We're going to be looking at verses 17 through 19 this morning. And this is house rule number 20.

Be rich in good works. Okay? I thought if I didn't add that last part,

I might have a great big gathering here of people that wanted to get rich this morning. So I just put that on there because, well, that's actually what the passage says.

So it has to be there. And that's what we're going to be looking at this morning. During the second week of January in 2016, the

United States was in the midst of a presidential campaign, as you remember. It's like we're always in the middle of a presidential campaign.

But also in the news was another story that was becoming very, very popular, and that was the

Powerball Lottery. Since the previous November, 18 drawings had failed to yield a winner, causing the grand prize to increase to over a billion dollars.

The drawing was scheduled for Wednesday night, the 13th of January. And it drew so much publicity over the weekend prior to that, that the estimated payout prior to the weekend was $1 .3

billion. The lottery's own projections even had trouble keeping up with the amount of money that was pouring in.

And by Monday, the estimated payout had reached $1 .4 billion. And on Tuesday, it hit $1 .5

billion. At the time of the drawing, it topped out at $1 .58 billion, making it the largest

Powerball jackpot payout in history. Ultimately, three people shared the winnings on that one. If you win the $1 .5

billion Powerball jackpot, you may not be as lucky as you think.

Many winners befall the so -called curse of the lottery.

And some squander their fortunes in a very short period of time, and others meet very tragic ends.

An author named Don McKay, he's a financial consultant to lottery winners, and he's also the author of a book called

Life Lessons from the Lottery. In an interview with Time Magazine, he said this, So many of them wind up unhappy or wind up broke.

People have had terrible things happen. People commit suicide. People run through their money.

Easy come, easy go. They go through divorce or people die. It's just upheaval that they're not ready for.

It's the curse of the lottery because it made their lives worse instead of improving them.

Studies show that about 70 % of the people who suddenly receive a windfall of cash will lose it within a few years, according to the

National Endowment for Financial Education. Here are some of the stories of past winners that those who participate in the lottery should know about.

One man named Jack Whitaker was already a millionaire when he won $315 million in a lottery in West Virginia in 2002.

The then 55 -year -old West Virginia construction company president claimed he went broke about four years later and lost a daughter and a granddaughter to drug overdoses, which he blamed on the curse of the

Powerball wind, according to ABC News. He says, My granddaughter is dead because of the money, he told

ABC. You know, my wife had said she wished that she had torn the ticket up. Well, I wish that we had torn the ticket up, too, he said.

Whitaker was also robbed of $545 ,000 sitting in his car while he was at a strip club eight months after winning the lottery.

He said, I just don't like Jack Whitaker. I don't like the hard heart I've got, he said.

I don't like what I've become. In his interview with Time Magazine, this author,

Don McKay, said of Mr. Whitaker, He's the last person I would have prototyped for going completely crazy, but he did.

No question it was because he won the lottery. Another man, Abraham Shakespeare, was murdered in 2009 after he won a $30 million lotto jackpot.

The 47 -year -old Florida man was shot twice in the chest and then buried under a slab of concrete in a backyard,

ABC News reported. A woman, Dee Dee Moore, who authorities say befriended him after his lotto win, was found guilty of first -degree murder in 2012.

His brother, Robert Brown, told the BBC that Shakespeare always said he regretted winning the lottery.

I'd have been better off broke, he said that to me all the time.

Another one, Sondra Hayes, won the Missouri lottery in 2006 and split a $224 million

Powerball with a dozen coworkers. The St. Louis woman is now a retired social worker and wrote a book,

How Winning the Lottery Changed My Life. She told the Associated Press she had to adapt to this new life, which changed how she saw her closest family and friends.

I had to endure the greed and the need that people have trying to get you to release your money to them, she said in 2012.

That caused a lot of emotional pain. These are people who you've loved deep down, and they're turning into vampires trying to suck the life out of me, she said.

Another, Donna Micken, won $34 .5 million in the New York State lottery in 2007.

She said the big win ruined her life and led to, quote, emotional bankruptcy.

Most of us think that winning the lottery is the ultimate fulfillment, she said, but I found that wasn't the case.

She wrote a blog post in 2014 saying most people look at winning the lottery as some magic pot of gold waiting for you at the end of the rainbow.

She said she had considered herself a happy person before the win. When we won the lottery, my inner dialogue was manic.

I became more concerned about how I was being judged and perceived, not realizing I was the one doing the judging in the first place, she wrote.

If you ask me, my life was hijacked by the lottery. This article and others written at the time talk about how so many people win huge sums of money, and they are within a few years, or at least by the end of their lives, bankrupt.

Of course, many questions come to mind when we hear these stories. How do you lose a massive fortune like that?

Right now, some of you are probably thinking, well, that wouldn't happen to me. Well, maybe not. Hopefully, certainly, as believers in Jesus Christ, we should be able to bring a biblical perspective to this.

We're going to be talking about that later. But it's not always just lottery winners. A man named

Huntington Hartford, he lived from 1911 to 2008. So you can see his lifespan there, 1911 to 2008.

Huntington was the heir to the great Atlantic and Pacific tea company, Fortune. This company, which started just before the

Civil War, is better known as the A &P supermarket chain. A &P was the first U .S.

coast -to -coast food store, and from World War I to the 1960s was what Walmart is for today's

American shoppers. Huntington inherited approximately $90 million when he was 12 years old in 1923.

He had $90 million when he was 12 years old. What could go wrong, right? Adjusting for inflation means that he was given almost $1 .3

billion as a child after taxes. Huntington declared bankruptcy in New York in 1992, approximately 70 years after being handed one of the largest fortunes in the world.

Huntington had the reverse Midas touch. He lost millions buying real estate, creating an art museum, and sponsoring theaters and shows.

He combined poor business skills with an exceptionally lavish lifestyle. That's a bad combination, too.

After declaring bankruptcy, he lived as a recluse with a daughter in the Bahamas until the end of his life in 2008.

Huntington's life story, coupled with academic research that suggests people quickly spend their windfalls, means not only that you have very long odds of winning the

Powerball jackpot prize, but you have just as long odds of keeping the money around after winning it.

What's going on? That's more than 70 % of the population. Where does this desire to be wealthy come from?

And why does wealth not satisfy that desire, nor improve the lives like people thought it would?

And in some cases, their lives end absolutely tragically, as we have seen. Secular psychologists, secular sociologists, certainly are going to have their answers, right?

We've seen a couple of them. But you and I who know the Word of God know that the

Bible has the real answer to this. We saw Paul deal with the issue of money back in chapter 3, back in verse 3 and following of chapter 6.

And it was the false teachers. You remember he said that the people who are false teachers, who abandon the

Word of God, and the people that listen to them, he calls them, they are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

And of course we understand the godliness there is not real godliness, it's that they just simply think being somehow attached to Christianity or religious things is going to be profitable for them.

And he goes on to talk about, it is a desire to be rich, and they fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires, that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils, it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith, we've seen that before in 1

Timothy, and pierced themselves with many pangs. And notice how every single time he references this, he focuses on the internal spiritual aspect of that person.

It's not their environment, it's not their social situation, it's not their marriage, their spouse, or anything else, it's not their job, it is a function of who they are internally and spiritually.

So, this morning we're going to see Paul really balance out this passage. He's going to, in this passage, verses 17 -19, address the issue of people who are rich.

And it's a very interesting passage, because it really does almost read like a proverbial statement. And so it can be applied to both unbelievers, and specifically in the case of the church here at Ephesus to believers.

I'm just going to read through these three verses to just sort of set this up a little bit, and then we'll walk through the passage together.

He says, As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

They are to do good, and to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Well, that's our passage this morning. And it's really pretty easy to outline. Essentially, again, it reads almost like a proverbial statement.

There's a negative statement, and then there's a but right in between the negative and the positive, the but just sort of a hinge point there.

They're not to do this, but they are to do this. And so this morning what we're going to see, if we want to be rich in good works, it's really important that we don't do what he says, and that we do what he says we are to do.

And so we're going to see this morning that it extends from those who are false teachers, of course, who need to view their riches, their finances in the proper perspective, but also it applies to those who are in the church.

So the first thing we're going to see this morning from this passage is that when we set our hope on money, our focus is on the present.

He says, As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches.

The word haughty here literally means high -minded, an elevated mindset, an elevated mindset from which you could very possibly look down on other people who don't have the same amount of material wealth as you do.

Christians who get distracted by thinking that having more money will bring happiness or security forget who they are and where they are going.

They lose what we commonly call an eternal perspective on life, an eternal perspective on life.

And we see this all through the Bible, how important this is. And the Bible is full of warnings to believers and their attitude toward money or possessions.

And, of course, Proverbs, the wisdom literature, is just chock -a -block full of statements concerning how we are to relate to riches and material things.

For example, Proverbs 11, 4, Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

Now there, that certainly is applicable to an unbeliever. If you focus on this life and the riches and all that that you think are profiting you, out there on God's calendar is a day that He has ordained that is a day of wrath.

And all of your money, all of your riches, all of your material possessions, will not profit you in that day.

But righteousness delivers from death. And again, Proverbs 16, 16,

How much better to get wisdom than gold? To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

Very simple statements comparing two things. It's better to get wisdom.

The wisdom of knowing God and having a personal relationship with God is much better than any kind of material wealth you can imagine.

So the believer is encouraged to pursue wisdom rather than riches because of the fact of eternity.

Keep your mind focused on eternity, not just on what's here and now. For the

Christian who has trusted in Jesus Christ for their salvation and has set their hope on money or material things, they're in danger of forgetting what their

Savior taught. In Matthew 19, a very familiar passage, Matthew 19, verses 16 -30, an encounter with a man, it says,

And behold, a man came up to him, to Jesus, saying, Teacher, what good deed must

I do to have eternal life? Now, right out of the starting blocks, there's a problem. What must

I do? So you know what his mindset is concerning salvation. What must I do to inherit eternal life?

And Jesus responds to him by saying, If you would enter life, keep the commandments.

And then the man says back to him, Which ones? Give me a list.

Give me something I can do, and I'll do it. He thinks he can do what it takes to enter the kingdom of God.

And Jesus said, You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness.

Honor your father and mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The young man said to him,

All these I have kept. He really hadn't. What do I still lack? Jesus said to him,

If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.

And come, follow me. When the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

And Jesus said to his disciples, Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.

Again, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus looked at them and said,

With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

There was a prevailing mentality in the day that if a person had material wealth, that they had riches, that that was a sign of God's blessing.

And we're going to see, of course, it came from God. They also thought that if a man or a woman was somehow physically disabled in some way, or born with a certain disability, that that was a sign of God's curse.

You remember when they encountered the man born blind, the disciples said to Jesus, Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?

And of course the lesson was, neither one of them did. But that was a prevailing attitude. It was a common view in ancient times.

Wealth or health was a sign of the blessing, or lack of it, of the cursing of God. Paul says to charge the rich not to be high -minded or haughty.

Riches can blind a person to their spiritual needs. And that's true both of unregenerate people in particular, but also it applies to Christians as well.

It's easy to fall into the thinking that wealth is always a sign of God's blessing.

Be careful, because there's false teachers, there's con artists out there as we know, who will propagate that and build great big ministries where they get very, very wealthy.

So if we set our hope on riches, on material possessions, our focus can become fixed only on the present and on ourselves, and we can easily become high -minded, as Paul says.

A second thing can happen. Our funding is selfish. This is a counterpart to what we're going to see in verses 18 and 19.

We tend to spend our money only on ourselves. Well, of course, if your focus is only on the here and the now, you're going to focus on funding only your personal needs.

If you set your hope on money, your focus is on the present, our funding can be selfish. Listen to James 5, verses 1 -6.

I mean, this is just some blunt forced counsel here. James says, In the day of slaughter, the slaughter is for that which has been fattened for the slaughter, right?

Like a fattened calf, right? But these people have fattened their own hearts for the day of slaughter.

In other words, this is going to come back to judge them. The present -focused and self -focused world of unregenerate people forms the backdrop in this passage and also a warning to believers.

And the wages of sin is still death, is it not? Wages of sin is death, and God says, Vengeance is mine,

I will repay. And payday is coming for those who have rejected eternal life, for the temporary here -and -now life and luxuries that they can enjoy.

In fact, as we know, the so -called prosperity preachers, their focus is always on the present, always on the here -and -now, right?

A very well -known, very popular book written by Joel Osteen was not your best life in eternity.

It wasn't your best life in the kingdom of God. What was it? It was your best life now, right?

And if you just don't recommend it, but if you just analyze them a little bit, every single one of those folks talk about the here -and -the -now, your wealth now, the money now, your health now, all of it.

So if we set our hope on money, our focus is on the present, our funding is selfish. And there's a third one.

Our foundation is really shaky. That's why he calls it the uncertainty of riches.

Don't set your hope on the uncertainty of riches. Setting your hope on material things is like building a high -rise building, 30, 40 stories of high -rise building, but building it on cardboard boxes.

It's not going to last. It's not going to stand. This is, as we can see, and I'm not well -versed in economics.

There are some people here that are. Some of you guys are. But, I mean, we can all see the uncertainty of the financial situation that even right now is taking place in our country.

I mean, it's volatile. It's crazy things. What can you count on for next week and next month as far as what is taking place?

And again, back to the wisdom of the Old Testament and the wisdom literature, Ecclesiastes 5 .10,

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income.

This is also vanity, or emptiness. And again, from Ecclesiastes 6 .1

and following, There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind.

A man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them.

This is vanity. It is a grievous evil. And we see this all around us.

People work hard, and yet other people enjoy the fruits of their labor. And clear back in the wisdom literature of the

Old Testament, this is called an evil. And again, back to Proverbs 23, verses 4 and 5,

Do not toil to acquire wealth. Be discerning enough to desist.

When your eyes light on it, it is gone. For suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.

Boy, can you ever identify with that nowadays? What would we call that? When money just sort of sprouts wings and flies away?

Or it devolves in value because of inflation? Or, I'm talking to Brother Dave about the

Weimar Republic in the 1920s in Germany. I mean, a person could have a bushel of money, but it wouldn't even buy him a loaf of bread because of inflation.

That's what can happen when you put your trust in wealth, in money. Jesus told a parable in Luke chapter 12 to highlight the foolishness of trusting in material things.

Luke chapter 12, and the well -known story, Luke 12, 15 and following.

And he said, Take care and be on your guard against all covetousness. For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

And he told them a parable saying, The land of a rich man produced plentifully. And he thought to himself,

What shall I do? For I have nowhere to store my crops. And he said, I will do this.

I will tear down my barns and build larger ones. He's going to build his own storage center for his stuff.

And there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Fool soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years.

Relax, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him,

Fool, this night your soul is required of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?

So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.

So, if we set our hope on riches, our focus is on the present, just the here and the now, our funding tends to be selfish, and our foundation is really, really shaky.

And if you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you don't have a foundation. It's not just shaky.

You're like this man who went to bed that night thinking that he had his whole life planned out.

And he didn't wake up on this planet. He woke up in the presence of God as his judge.

And God said, You fool. That was a foolish thing to do. So, when we set our hope on riches, that's what can happen.

But, and we have that very strong contrastive term here, but, Paul says, don't set your hope on the uncertainty of riches, but, and I'm going to supply what's not in the text, set your hope on God.

It's actually there, but it's very common in the Greek text for there not to be a verb the second time it's used like that.

But, set your hope on God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

When you have your hope set on God, and not on the temporary uncertain things of this world, first we see our focus is also, also on the future.

Of course it's on the here and the now. God knows that we have to live in this world. He's the one that put us here.

But he's also the one that provides what we need. We have to focus on what we have to take care of here.

We have families to provide for. We have jobs to go to. We have bills to pay. All of that. God knows that. And that's why

Paul says he richly provides us with everything to enjoy. We need to understand that.

And it's not an either or situation. It's a both and. Our focus is not just on the here and now, however.

It's also on the future. This makes all the difference in the world. When our hope is on him, we won't be haughty.

We'll understand where our material wealth comes from. It comes from him. He supplies it. That precludes us, hopefully, from being conceited or prideful.

We will acknowledge that it is God who provides all that we have, and he richly provides us everything to enjoy.

That's contentment. Not because we have everything, but we know that everything we do have came from God.

And he wants us to enjoy what we have. In other words, we will be content. You remember that?

Back to chapter 6, verses 4 and 5 and following. They imagine that godliness is a means of gain.

Now, there is great gain in godliness with contentment. True godliness is going to be godliness with contentment.

Why? Because you're going to understand that everything you have is a gift from God, by his grace, and that it is to be enjoyed because of that.

And then he even says, but if we have food and clothing with these, we will be content.

So again, this little three -verse section here is a balance for what he talked about before concerning our material possessions and things.

So our focus is also on the future, not just on the here and now. Scripture is so important about the believer keeping an eternal perspective.

In Hebrews 13, verse 5, keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have.

For he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. You can only do that if you understand the second part of that.

I mean, if you want to have your life free from the love of money, if you want to be content, keep your focal point on God.

Keep your heart and mind fixed on God and his promises to you. I will never leave you nor forsake you.

In the Apostle Paul, Colossians 3, 1 and 2, if you have been raised up with Christ, he's speaking to Christians.

This is a conditional sentence that he's assuming is true. He's not questioning this. If you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

He doesn't say don't pay any attention to them. When he says set your mind, he's talking about the major part of your thinking, your focal point of your thoughts, and your heart and mind will be fixed on Christ, seated at the right hand of God.

So if we keep our hopes set on God and the things of God, the things of this life will be kept in their proper perspective.

And we will live in the present. Of course, we have to, as long as the Lord has us here.

And we can enjoy with contentment what the Lord provides for us, but we will do all of that with an eternal perspective.

And, B, our funding will include others also. Paul says that the rich Christians are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share.

Paul says this because he understands if you keep that perspective, an eternal perspective on life and eternity, you'll have an eternal perspective on your possessions.

Back to Proverbs 11, verse 24, One gives freely, yet grows all the richer.

Another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. You take these things and you tell them to a person who doesn't understand

Scripture, who is an unbeliever, they're absolutely counterintuitive, right? And there's

Proverbs telling you, yeah, one gives freely, yet grows richer. Another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.

Generous giving or sharing is a mark of true Christianity. In fact, at the birth of the church at Pentecost, Luke records what happens when 3 ,000 people were saved, okay?

This goes back up to the upper room, to John chapter 17 and the high priestly prayer, and you can just track this flow of characteristics all the way through.

People come to Christ, there's unity, and that unity produces mutual love within the body of Christ.

But in Acts chapter 2, verses 41 through 47, Luke says this. Remember, Peter preached on the day of Pentecost.

He then calls people to repentance, and here's what happened. So those who received his word were baptized, and baptism is the first step of obedience.

It's the first visible, objective evidence of salvation. Why? Because it's obedience.

They were baptized, and there were added that day about 3 ,000 souls, and they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, and that fellowship is made up of the breaking of bread or communion and prayers.

And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common, and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.

Very important, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising

God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

There's a revolutionary thought. The church is made up of people who are being saved, and it's the Lord who adds them.

But for our purposes here, distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.

Very important. This passage and many others are commonly used to try to promote some sort of a Christian socialism.

Nonsense. You can't get that out of that passage. They distributed to people to meet their needs, of course. Again, Acts 4, verses 32 -35, the persecutions were taking place, and they had been imprisoned and beaten, and they came back out and Peter preached again, preached the gospel.

And it says, Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.

And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.

There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was said and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

They met the needs in the church. The preaching of the gospel produced people who were saved.

That salvation, as they fellowshiped together, produced unity in the spirit and working of the spirit, and that resulted in love within the church and the meeting of needs within the church.

And so if we set our hope and keep our hope set on God, our focus is also not just in this life but on the future, but our funding will include others as well as we have seen.

And finally, C, very important, our foundation is solid.

Verse 19 says, Thus, I'll go back to 18, they are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Truly life. We set our hope on God and not on the things of the world. When we are generous stewards of what

He has given us, we are storing up treasures for ourselves as a good foundation for the future.

Paul makes use here of what's called the reflexive pronoun. This is an investment in the future, but it's also an investment in yourself, just like Proverbs said, just like the

Lord taught. And He's taught it consistently. In Matthew 6,

Jesus said, Do not lay up for yourselves, notice the reflexive nature of this, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. That's, again, a reference to keeping an eternal perspective.

If your treasure is just physical in this world, that's where your heart's going to be.

But if you have made an investment in the future by obedience to the

Word of God, then your heart and your mind and your thoughts are going to be fixed on Christ and who

He is and what He has accomplished for you and the fact that He's coming back, and that's what

Paul is saying here. And by doing that, you will be laying a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

We've seen Paul use this little phrase, take hold. Remember what he said to Timothy back in 612?

Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called. He's not talking about getting saved.

He's saying wrap your mind around it, Timothy. Get your head in an eternal perspective so you can live your life out based on that.

And this is the same thing he's saying here. Take that same principle and teach it to the people in Ephesus so that they'll understand that they have to lay up a good foundation for the future so that they can lay hold of that which is really life, truly life.

And that is a good foundation. The flip side of that is people that don't know

Christ, people that are unregenerate, they don't have a foundation, but they've also made an investment in the future except payday for them is going to be the wrath of God for their sins.

And that is an infinite difference compared to what God has called us to.

So when we set our hope on riches, our focus is only on the present. Our funding tends to be selfish, and the foundation is really shaky.

But, strong contrast, when you set your hope on God, the focus is also on the future.

You'll have an eternal perspective. The funding of our, the way we handle our funds will include others, and our foundation is solid.

Very interestingly here, Paul, many commentators have noticed that he sort of is using a, kind of a, he takes a hold of these words, and it's kind of almost a play on words.

Have you noticed? He uses the word rich as an adjective, as a noun, as an adverb, and as an infinitive.

And I just sort of made a sentence there on your outline. Rich believers should not set their hopes on uncertain riches, but on our

God who richly gives us all things and motivates and enables us to be rich in good works.

Do you have any thoughts or questions about what we've seen? Yeah, there's been quite a few, in fact.

Having wealth is not a sin. It, as we've seen, it's all about how do you relate to it?

How do you relate to it? Where is your mindset, where is your focus? And understanding that it all comes from God, no matter how much or how little.

And yeah, there's a lot of men of God and women of God who have used their wealth to advance the gospel as they should and to bless the church.

Anything else? Oh, yeah.

Yeah, and the definition of rich. Basically, the biblical definition of rich is having enough food, shelter, and clothing, and a little bit more.

That's it. Based on that, probably most of us would be considered rich by biblical standards.

Now, I know when we hear, think of rich people, and they're in the news all the time, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, like that.

Well, of course, they're rich, fabulously wealthy. Not meant to be envied.

Not meant to be envied. One heartbeat away from eternity. And when that happens, they leave it.

They not only leave all that wealth, they leave this earth house behind. They don't even take that with them, right?

And so, you can only have that perspective from understanding the word of God.

Any other thoughts or questions you might have? Let me just close with this.

Back to Proverbs. Just absolutely full of good wisdom. Proverbs chapter 30, verses 7 through 9.

And it reads just like a prayer. Two things I ask of you. Deny them not to me before I die.

Remove far from me falsehood and lying. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, who is the

Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my

God. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word today and thank you for your spirit who is our teacher.

Apply these rules to our heart, these words, and cause us to be obedient.

Help us to keep an eternal perspective so that we may do all things for your glory.

And now, Father, as we gather to worship, we pray that you would bless our time of fellowship, that you would give strength and great joy to those who would lead us in worship and in the preaching of your word today.

Take your word, apply it to every heart that is here, every mind, accomplish every divine purpose, and we will praise you in Jesus' name.

Amen. Amen. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen. ♪ Incline your ear to me, I knew ♪ ♪

And hear my cry for mercy heard ♪ ♪ You to count my sinfulness ♪ ♪

How could I come before your throne? ♪ ♪

Yet for forgiveness, ain't my case ♪ ♪

I stand redeemed by grace alone ♪ ♪

And I will wait for you, I will wait for you ♪ ♪

On your word, I will rely ♪ ♪

And I will wait for you, surely wait for you ♪ ♪

Till my soul is satisfied ♪ ♪

So put your hope in God alone ♪ ♪

Take courage in his power to save ♪ ♪

Completely and forever one ♪ ♪

But Christ alone is satisfied ♪ ♪

He has come to make a way ♪ ♪ And God himself has paid the price ♪ ♪

That all who trust in him today ♪ ♪

Find healing in his sacrifice ♪ ♪

That all who trust in him today ♪ ♪

Find healing in his sacrifice ♪ ♪ Through the storm and through the night ♪ ♪

I will surely wait for you ♪ ♪ For your love is my delight ♪ ♪

Oh I will wait for you till my soul is satisfied ♪ ♪

Amazing grace how sweet the sound ♪ ♪

That saved a wretch like me ♪ ♪

I once was lost but now am found ♪ ♪

Was blind but now I see ♪ ♪

Grace that taught my fears ♪ ♪

Grace my fears relieved ♪ ♪

How precious did that grace appear ♪ ♪

My chains are gone I've been set free ♪ ♪

My God, my Savior has ransomed me ♪ ♪

And I know now his mercy reigns ♪ ♪

Unending love, amazing grace has promised good ♪ ♪

His word holds secure, he willed my shield and portion ♪ ♪

As long as life continues ♪ ♪

My chains are gone I've been set free ♪ ♪

My God, my Savior has ransomed me ♪ ♪

And I know now his mercy reigns ♪ ♪ Unending love, amazing grace has promised good ♪ ♪

His word holds secure, he willed my shield and portion ♪

Our call to worship comes from Psalm 95. O come, let us sing for joy to Yahweh.

Let us make a loud shout to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving.

Let us make a loud shout to him with songs of praise. For Yahweh is a great

God and a great King above all gods and whose hand are the depths of the earth. The peaks of the mountains are his also.

The sea is his for it was he who made it and his hands formed the dry land. Join us as we sing this morning and please stand as we sing

Standing on the Promises Medley. ♪♪♪ ♪

Standing on the promises of Christ my King ♪ ♪ Through eternal ages let his praises ring ♪ ♪

Glory in the highest I will shout and sing ♪ ♪

Standing on the promises of God ♪ ♪ Standing on the promises that cannot fail ♪ ♪

When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail ♪ ♪ By the living word of God I shall prevail ♪ ♪

Standing on the promises of God ♪ ♪ Standing, standing ♪ ♪

Standing on the promises of God my Savior ♪ ♪ Standing, standing ♪ ♪

I'm standing on the promises of God ♪ ♪ What a fellowship, what a joy divine ♪ ♪

Leaning on the everlasting arms ♪ ♪ What a blessedness, what a peace divine ♪ ♪

Leaning on the everlasting arms ♪ ♪ Leaning, leaning ♪ ♪

Safe and secure from all alarms ♪ ♪ Leaning, leaning ♪ ♪

Leaning on the everlasting arms ♪ ♪ Are you washed in the blood?

♪ ♪ Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow?

♪ ♪ Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? ♪ ♪ I'm standing, standing ♪ ♪

Standing on the promises of God my Savior ♪ ♪ Standing, standing ♪ ♪

I'm standing on the promises of God ♪ ♪ Yes, I'm standing, standing ♪ ♪

I'm standing on the promises of God ♪ ♪♪ ♪

Yes, your mercy is all my key ♪ ♪ I have no defense, my guilt runs too deep ♪

The best of my works, bears your hands and your feet.

Jesus, your mercy is all I need. Jesus, your mercy is all my boast.

The goodness I claim, the crowns of my hope. Whatever I lack, it's still what

I need most. Jesus, your mercy is all my boast.

Praise the King who bore my sin, took my place when

I stood condemned. Oh, how good you've always been to me.

I will sing of your mercy. Jesus, your mercy is all my rest.

When fear's raining down and enemy's dressed. The comfort

I cling to in life and in death. Jesus, your mercy is all my rest.

Praise the King who bore my sin, took my place when

I stood condemned. Oh, how good you've always been to me.

I will sing of your mercy. Jesus, your mercy is all my joy.

Forever I'll lift my heart and my voice. To sing of a treasure no power can destroy.

Jesus, your mercy is all my joy. Praise the

King who bore my sin, took my place when

I stood condemned. Oh, how good you've always been to me.

I will sing. Praise the King who bore my sin, took my place when

I stood condemned. Oh, how good you've always been to me. You've always been to me.

I will sing of your mercy. Praise the

King who bore my sin, took my place when I stood condemned. Oh, how good you've always been to me. Praise the King who bore my sin, took my place when

I stood condemned. Oh, how good you've always been to me. And the lives of those who prove his faithfulness who walk by faith and not by sight.

By faith our fathers drove the earth with the power of his promise in their hearts of a holy city built by God's own hand, a place where peace and justice reign.

We will stand as children of the promise. We will fix our eyes on him, our soul's reward, till the race is finished and the work is done.

We'll walk by faith and not by sight. By faith the prophets saw a day when the longed -for

Messiah would appear with the power to break the chains of sin and death.

And wise triumphant from the grave, by faith the church was called to go in the power of his spirit through the laws to deliver captives and to preach good news in every corner of the earth.

We will stand as children of the promise. We will fix our eyes on him, our soul's reward, till the race is finished and the work is done.

We'll walk by faith and not by sight. By faith the mountains shall be moved and the power of the gospel shall prevail.

For we know in Christ all things are possible through all who call upon his name.

We will stand as children of the promise. We will fix our eyes on him, our soul's reward, till the race is finished and the work is done.

We'll stand by faith and not by sight. You may be seated.

Just a couple of announcements this morning.

First you'll notice as you came in, in the foyer there is a place where you can pick up some baby bottles if they're not all gone by now.

That is a fundraiser for the local crisis pregnancy care center and you pick those up on Mother's Day and fill them with loose change and bring them back on Father's Day.

And so you will do that, there's somebody out there who will sign out those bottles for you so that you can take those home with you. A couple weeks ago

I mentioned that we were, I offered to give away copies of God Doesn't Whisper if you don't have that book and you're confused about how and if and when

God speaks to you and after the service they were all gone out of the foyer. If you were here a couple of weeks ago or if you're still confused and you meet those qualifications, you don't have the book and you're confused about how

God speaks to you, you can get a free copy of that. They're still out there so I wanted to make that available in case there was anybody who wanted a copy but did not get one.

And then on May 14th there's a young marriage fellowship at 6 p .m. so please take note of that in your bulletin and on the welcome table out in the foyer.

I want to make mention of the fact that this last week it was brought to our attention the possibility that the Supreme Court in our country might overturn

Roe versus Wade or at least issue a decision that would nullify that, you can't call it a law but that horrible opinion by the

Supreme Court and it's something that as God's people we have been praying for and hoping for and expecting for over a generation.

This would be a reminder to us again that God controls the king's heart so whatever the motivations are of the people who are on the

Supreme Court that they would issue this decision and overturn that precedent it is a work of God to do so and it would be a gift of common grace to a nation not only that does not deserve it but is ill deserving of it.

So whatever is happening there in the unfolding of God's providence and his purposes it is something that as God's people we should be praying for this and ask that this thing would stand and it would make obviously the case of fighting for justice in our own nation much easier because we would be doing so at a local level.

The best thing that can come of this is that lives will be saved as a result of this decision and that is ultimately what we pray for and we work for and we long for and we trust

God for that and we should be praying at the same time for a revival in our own land. So let's bow our heads together we will pray and then we'll read from Romans chapter 9 together.

Our Father we are reminded again of your absolute and utter sovereignty you rule in the affairs of men the heart of the king is in your hand to do to with as you please and we know that no purpose of yours can be thwarted that you accomplish your purposes in the heavens and on earth and that you rule here we pray that justice would be done it is the role and responsibility of earthly governments to rule according to the principles of your word and the justice and the law that is revealed therein and we live in a nation that calls evil good and good evil it is completely backwards it is darkness it is under judgment and yet if this gift of common grace that you would give to this nation would stand we would be delighted to see it and we pray that you would allow this to stand that the supreme court would issue this decision and that they would not be cowered into fear by people who seek to do them harm we pray that you would protect them ultimately we pray for the salvation of those who rule over us for the president the vice president those in congress and our supreme court being that they are locked in darkness and that their minds are in darkness and their hearts are in rebellion against you they cannot discern right from wrong they call evil good and good evil because they are depraved and they need grace and they need salvation and we pray that you would do that we pray that revival would come to this land because of your church and through your church and that your people today around the world would be faithful to pray and to preach your word and may you do a work in our hearts as we gather together and in the hearts of your faithful people who gather together around this globe in our own land we pray that you would give grace to faithful shepherds who preach your word to do according to your word and to preach it accurately rightly powerfully and that the hearts of your people would be transformed we pray that you keep us faithful in the proclamation of the gospel in the preaching of righteousness so that your word would be honored in this land that your word would be honored in your church and that your name would be glorified among the nations that is our desire we pray it in Christ's name amen will you turn please to Romans chapter 9 for the scripture reading we're going to begin reading at verse 6 this is not necessarily along the theme of what

I just prayed or what we just announced but it does tie in with the message later from Hebrews chapter 11 Romans chapter 9 and we're going to begin reading at verse 6 and we will read through to the end of verse 18 when you found your place would you stand with me as we read

Romans chapter 9 verse 6 but it is not as though the word of God has failed for they are not all

Israel who are descended from Israel nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants but through Isaac your descendants will be named 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 for this is the word of promise at this time

I will come and Sarah shall have a son and not only this but there was Rebecca also when she had conceived twins by one man our father

Isaac for though the twins were not yet born and had done 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 will serve the younger just as it is written

Jacob I loved but Esau I hated what shall we say then there's no injustice with God is there may it never be for he says to Moses I will have mercy on whom

I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion so then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs but on God who has mercy for the scripture says to Pharaoh for this very purpose

I raised you up to demonstrate my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth so then he has mercy on whom he desires and he hardens whom he desires may

God bless the reading of his word sing your song again whatever may whatever lies before me let me be singing when the evening comes bless the lord of my soul oh my soul worship his holy name sing like never before oh my soul

I'll worship your holy name rich in love and slow to anger your name is great and your heart is mine for all your goodness

I will keep on singing ten thousand reasons for my heart to find bless the lord of my soul oh my soul worship his holy name sing like never before oh my soul

I'll worship your holy name and on that day when my strength is failing the end draws near and my time has come still my soul will sing your praise unending ten thousand years and then forever more bless the lord of my soul oh my soul worship his holy name sing like never before oh my soul

I'll worship your holy name bless the lord of my soul oh my soul worship his holy name sing like never before oh my soul

I'll worship your holy name worship your holy name in Lamentations chapter 3 verses 22 through 24 it says the loving kindness of Yahweh indeed never cease for his compassions never fail they are new every morning great is your faithfulness

Yahweh is my portion says my soul therefore I will wait for him let's sing

God Moves God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform he finds his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm deep in his dark and hidden minds with never failing skill he fashions all his bright designs and works his sovereign will so God we trust in you oh

God we trust in you oh fearful saints do courage take the clouds that you now tread are big with mercy and will break in blessings on your head just not the

Lord by feeble sense but trust him for his grace behind a frowning providence he hides a smiling face so God we trust in you oh

God we trust in you when tears are great and comforts few we hope in mercies ever new we trust in you

God's purposes will ripen fast unfolding every hour the bud may have a bitter taste but sweet will be the flower blind unbelief is sure to err and scan his work in vain

God is his own interpreter and he will make it plain so God we trust in you oh

God we trust in you when tears are great and comforts few we hope in mercies ever new we trust in you so God we trust in you oh

God we trust in you when tears are great and comforts few we hope in mercies ever new we trust in you you may be seated we please now turn to Hebrews chapter 11

Hebrews chapter 11 we're going to read together verses 17 through 22 before we do let's bow together in prayer our gracious God we thank you for your word for the clarity that it brings to our hearts and to our minds for the light of your truth for the wisdom that it contains for the righteousness that it speaks of we thank you for making clear to us your nature your character your plan and purposes for time and for eternity and we thank you that we can read of these things in your word which never changes is always true inspired inerrant and a source of truth and light to us your people and so we pray that you would help us to submit our hearts and our minds to your word and make these sometimes difficult things easier for us to understand we see your sovereign hand and may you encourage and edify and equip us your people today through your word we ask in Christ's name amen

Hebrews chapter 11 beginning at verse 17 we'll read through verse 22 by faith Abraham when he was tested offered up Isaac and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son it was he to whom it was said in Isaac your descendants shall be called he considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead from which he also received him back as a type by faith

Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau even regarding things to come by faith Jacob as he was dying blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshipped leaning on the top of his staff by faith

Joseph when he was dying made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave orders concerning his bones and we've finished our study of Abraham which took us to the end of verse 19 in Hebrews 11 and we move on in verses 20 through 22 to three descendants of Abraham they are his immediate descendants

Isaac Jacob and Joseph Abraham's faith is the focus of this large portion from verse 8 through verse 17 sorry verse 19 but then starting at verse 20 we have this rapid fire three examples of faith in Isaac Jacob and Joseph and Isaac is mentioned in verse 20

Jacob in verse 21 Joseph in verse 22 and these three really take us through the rest of the book of Genesis we saw how

Abraham takes up from Genesis 12 through Genesis 25 was it 25 no it's earlier than that he dies well whatever we'll see here in just a second that passage 12 chapters on Abraham and then the rest of the book of Genesis is taking up with the son of Abraham Isaac his son

Jacob and then one of Jacob's sons Joseph and though more of Jacob's sons are mentioned Joseph really gets the lion's share of attention at the end of Genesis and by the time we get to the end of the book of Genesis all those descendants of Abraham that are the promised descendants of the promised seed the descendants of Abraham that nation they're all in Egypt and Joseph is the ruler of Egypt and the amount of focus that Hebrews 11 gives to Abraham is somewhat indicative of his importance in the book of Genesis because there are 12 chapters devoted to Abraham or just a little bit more than 12 chapters but that type of proportionality is not the same for the next three characters particularly with Joseph you only get one mention one verse given to Isaac and one to Jacob and one to Joseph in Hebrews 11 and yet for Jacob and for Joseph there are nearly 12 or 13 chapters devoted to each of them in the book of Genesis as well and yet the author of Hebrews just makes mention of them before he gets down to Moses beginning in verse 21 or sorry 23 and then verses 23 through 29 is the description of Moses' faith now this is particularly seems out of focus especially out of proportion especially when you consider

Joseph, Joseph was a man of exemplary faith who by faith endured temptation and trying and burdensome circumstances and probably more affliction than any young man should be asked to bear in his lifetime and yet he only gets mentioned in one verse, verse 22 so before we get to Moses down in verse 23 we want to look at each of these three patriarchs

Isaac and Jacob the son and the grandson of Abraham to whom the promises of the Abrahamic covenant were specifically reiterated by God himself and then

Joseph in verse 22 and my plan is to take one sermon for each of these men one sermon for each of these men so that means we're not going to be able to give you an overview of everything that happened to these men but instead for each of these we're just going to take the incident that the author gives us in Hebrews chapter 11 and look at that incident now as it turns out today that's a large portion of scripture in the book of Genesis so we're going to be turning back there here in just a moment but before you do,

I see some of you starting to go back there, not yet, Genesis is an easy book to find so wait until I tell you to get back there, you don't have to search for it like Ecclesiastes or Obadiah or something like that I want you to notice a couple of things here in the

Hebrews text, first notice that the example for each one of these three men is something they did when they were dying, look at verse 21 by faith

Jacob as he was dying you see it in verse 22 by faith Joseph when he was dying now verse 20 does not say that Isaac was dying when he blessed his sons

Jacob and Esau but it did happen at the end of his life and Isaac was convinced that he was dying or at least felt the foreboding sense that death was near which prompted him to give the blessing to Jacob and Esau, we read that in Genesis 27 verses 1 and 2 now it came about when

Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see that he called his older son Esau and said to him my son and he said to him here

I am Isaac said behold now I am old and I do not know the day of my death he had lost his eyesight and he felt that his death was imminent and that's what caused him to bring

Esau in to try and bless Esau and Jacob as well so all three of these men what is noted in Hebrews 11 is something that they did in their life at the time of their death and for Isaac it is when he sensed that death was near, now as it turns out he didn't die for another 14 -15 years after that but he felt as if he were dying and the

Lord let him live a little bit longer, so for all three of these men the evidence of their faith comes at the end of their life, in death, now this is where you might expect on a

Mother's Day for me to do a whole sermon on the subject of death like I did when we were in Ecclesiastes but I'm not going to do that, I'm going to reserve talking about the imminence of death for later on because I have two more opportunities to do this, verse 21 and 22, second

I want you to notice the details that are contained in verse 20, this should frame our thinking of our observations when we get back to the book of Genesis, there are three specific details, number one,

Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau and this tells us exactly the event that the author has in mind, second the giving of the blessing was an act of faith now this is going to cause us a little bit of a conundrum when we get back and start looking at some of the details of the story itself but just notice that it is by faith that Isaac blessed

Jacob and Esau and then third, the blessing concerned things to come and it is that fact that indicates to us that the blessing, though as misguided as it might have been,

Isaac was doing it yet in faith so it is the blessing of Jacob and Esau, the giving of the blessing was an act of faith and the blessing concerned the things to come now with that in mind, go back because you've just read the entire passage that deals with Isaac here, go back to Genesis chapter 22 and we're going to pick up the narrative there, we're going to go through the life of Isaac and particularly this incident that's mentioned in Hebrews 11 verse 20,

Genesis 22 and our going through this and looking at these three things as they unfold and dealing with the issues that they raise, this is going to serve as our exposition of Hebrews 11 20, by faith

Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau even regarding things to come, it was Isaac and Jacob who were blessed, it was an act of faith and it concerned things to come now when we last left off with Isaac, he was crawling down off of the altar on Mount Moriah freshly bound and the angel had preserved his life and then there was a sacrifice that was made and Abraham according to verse 19 of Hebrews 11 received

Isaac back as it were, as a symbol or a parable if you were of resurrection and immediately after that the covenant is reaffirmed, look at Genesis 22 and I'm just going to fill in some details we're going to be zeroing in on chapter 27 but we're just going to catch up, we're going to make up some time between Genesis 22 and Genesis 27

Genesis 22 verse 15 and the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and he said, by myself

I have sworn declares the Lord because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed

I will greatly bless you and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies, in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed my voice, now

Abraham heard that promise from the Lord we might assume if it were an audible voice that Abraham heard that Isaac would have heard that as well and he would have been privy to this promise, in chapter 23

Sarah dies and this is where Abraham buys the burial plot from the sons of Heth and buries

Sarah after her death, Abraham in chapter 24 Abraham's servant is sent to find a bride for his son

Isaac his only son, remember prior to this Ishmael and Hagar and those descendants have been sent away they're no longer with Abraham in chapter 25

Abraham has more children and then he dies look at chapter 25 verse 5 now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac but to the sons of his concubines

Abraham gave gifts while he was still living and sent them away from his son Isaac eastward to the land of the east these are the years of Abraham's life that he lived, 127 years

Abraham breathed, sorry 75 years, Abraham breathed his last and died a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life and he was gathered to his people, then his sons

Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite facing

Mamre the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth, there Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife, it came about after the death of Abraham that God blessed his son

Isaac and Isaac lived by Bir Laharoi Genesis 25 verses 12 -18 was

Ishmael's descendants and where they settled and then we get to Isaac's life in Genesis 25 verse 19 and Isaac's life really takes up the better part of 3 chapters from chapter 25 verse 19 to chapter 28 verse 5, just 3 chapters of material,

I want to pause to know for a moment, you and I might expect more material on Isaac's life wouldn't we? than 3 chapters, we get 12 -13 chapters on Abraham, we get a lot on Joseph but why only 3 chapters on Isaac, Isaac is the son of the covenant, he's the promised son we saw the barrenness we saw the promise given to Sarah and the conflict in the home and how that was resolved and she finally has a son in her old age according to the promise of God and then the covenant is reiterated to Abraham concerning that particular son and no other son and then he offers up Isaac on the altar

Isaac becomes himself a willing sacrifice in that whole ordeal and climbs down off of the altar and we think this is the son, the only son of Sarah this is the son of promise, this is the son of the covenant and all we get is 3 chapters on him, we get a lot more speaking of Jacob I mean all of Jacob's conniving and his shenanigans with Laban and his wife and his 4 wives and all of the bickering and the stuff that goes on with that, we have all of that laid out for us in detail and of course

Joseph's life that's worth at least 12 chapters, I wish there were 40 chapters on the life of Joseph but we would expect more from the author of Genesis, Moses on Isaac but we don't get that much on Isaac he is given considerably less time than the other 3,

Abraham, Jacob and Joseph, John MacArthur says this, Isaac was easily the least spectacular and the most ordinary of the 4, he was less dynamic and colorful, being generally quiet and passive and overall he probably had the weakest faith we know more of his failures than of his successes, we know more of Isaac's, we know of Isaac's faith but we know more of his failures than we do of his successes, he lived in terms of the record of Genesis a pretty bland life the only thing that might be considered a test of his faith is when

Rebecca is barren for 20 years and he's praying for a son, that's really the only conflict of faith that we would get from Isaac, it is a reminder to us that you can have genuine faith present, which was in Isaac when he was offered on the altar, you can have genuine faith present in a man and still have profound character flaws and disappointments it's possible, it's not to excuse the profound character flaws it's not to excuse the sin but it is to recognize something that we have to be aware of and we have to acknowledge and that is you can have real and genuine faith and people that you just don't want to emulate in some other ways faith is present alongside sometimes deep flaws and abiding flaws now let's look at the birth of Esau and Jacob chapter 25 verse 19, now these are the records of the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son,

Abraham became the father of Isaac and Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah the daughter of Bethuel, the Aramean of Padan -Aram the sister of Laban, the

Aramean to be his wife now Isaac was 37 when his mother Sarah died because Sarah was 90 when she gave birth and 127 when she died so that means

Isaac was 37 when Sarah died and then he took his wife Rebekah 4 years later because that passage we just read said he was 40 years old when he took

Rebekah to be his wife and chapter 24 ends with the statement, thus Isaac was comforted after his mother's death now there's something to psychoanalyze there if you wanted to psychoanalyze something, namely that he was 37 years old, a mature man when his mother died and you could have seen it coming, he's 127 years old, he had time to prepare for this and then his mother dies, he's in mourning for at least 3 years and finally gets a wife and it's when he gets a wife that thus he is comforted concerning his mother's death 3 years is 3 years is a little long to mourn that I think, maybe it's because I'm an emotionally barren wasteland of a human being, that could be possible and I might expect somebody to kind of especially in a rugged environment like that to kind of man up and deal with that situation but that seems a little long, especially when when you get married finally at the age of 40 the thing that can be said is that that comforted you concerning your mother's death that seems a little unhealthy to me, just a little bit, but maybe not,

I will ask Isaac when I get to if indeed that was the case Genesis 25 verse 21

Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was barren and the Lord answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived. Rebekah faced the same thing that Sarah did, that is a long time of being barren for 20 years and notice that her barrenness is not attributed to sin or lack of faith or lack of piety or lack of prayer or anything like that.

And notice also that Isaac did not do what Abraham did and take another woman as a handmaid to try and bear a child.

Isaac had to know that he was the son of promise that the promises of many descendants would be fulfilled through him.

He knew that and yet even though his wife was barren he did not make the same mistake that his father Abraham had made. Probably because Isaac had grown up in a house where that mistake had caused an untold amount of stress and divisiveness and chaos and he didn't want to repeat that.

And so instead Isaac prays and the Lord answers the prayer verse 22 But the children struggled together within her and she said

If it is so, why then am I this way? So she went to inquire of the Lord. The Lord said to her, pay attention to this statement.

Two nations are in your womb and two peoples will be separated from your body and one people shall be stronger than the other and the older shall serve the younger.

When her days to be delivered were fulfilled behold there were twins in her womb. Now the first came forth red all over like a hairy garment and they named him

Esau. Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau's heel so his name was called

Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them. Now parents if you think that your kids fight let me introduce you to Jacob and Esau.

These are two guys who are doing a UFC match in the womb of their mother struggling together even while they're in the womb so much so that she notices this and is a cause of anxiety to her and even when they come out,

Jacob who's just let go of the chokehold on Esau is at least grabbing on to his heel not willing to let go of him.

Jacob was born second, Esau born first and this by God's sovereign design. And this is what is mentioned here in verse 23 is quoted in Romans chapter 9 to demonstrate

God's sovereign purposes in choosing Jacob the younger as the one to whom all the promises and the blessings would be given.

And the younger would be served by the older. So Esau is born first, Jacob is born second the rights of the family inheritance should go to Esau and the blessings of the

Abrahamic covenant would most naturally go to Esau and yet God, before they were born, before they could do anything good or bad sovereignly announced his choice that it would be

Jacob who would receive that and not Esau. Romans 9 verse 10, and not only this but there was Rebekah also when she had conceived twins by one man, our father

Isaac, 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 will serve the younger just as it is written, Jacob I've loved but Esau I've hated. That's a quotation from the book of Malachi, it's not here in Genesis but the older will serve the younger quoted in Romans chapter 9 verse 12 is from the book of Genesis.

God's choice was revealed of which of these children would be the heir of the promises and that before either child could do anything good or bad.

In other words it was revealed to Rebekah who the heir was to be before either of them were born so that nobody could look at the one and say well this one is more beautiful on the outside, he deserves the blessings or this one is certainly more

God inclined individual, he is to deserve the blessings. No, God determined the order of that, that Esau would be born first,

Jacob would be born second but Jacob would get the preeminence and so now that Esau is born first and Jacob is born second and yet God has said

Jacob should have the preeminence, we might ask how is that going to happen? Esau being born first he would receive the double share of the inheritance, he had the birth right and not only that but as the firstborn he should be the heir to the

Abrahamic covenant and the Abrahamic promise. So those two things stand in the way of God accomplishing his purposes for this family.

So how is it that Esau would become lesser than Jacob and Jacob would get preeminence in both of those areas?

The answer comes in verse 27. There are two events that change all of this. Verse 27, when the boys grew up Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field but Jacob was a peaceful man living in tents.

Now Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for game but Rebekah loved Jacob. When Jacob had cooked stew

Esau came in from the field and he was famished and Esau said to Jacob, please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there for I am famished.

Therefore his name was called Edom. Let me pause there for just a moment. The Edomites come from Esau. The nation that you read of the

Edomites in the Old Testament, there's the book of Obadiah describes their actions against their treachery against their brother

Jacob. Whenever you read the Edomites in the Old Testament they come from the line of Esau. Verse 31, but Jacob said, first sell me your birthright.

Esau said, behold I'm about to die. So of what use then is the birthright to me? And Jacob said, first swear to me. So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.

Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew and he ate and drank and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Now you can see the family dynamics already at play. Esau was a rough man, a rugged man, a hunter, a manly man.

Jacob less so. That doesn't mean that Jacob was effeminate. It just means that Jacob had different interests and a different temperament than Esau.

Esau liked to hunt food. Jacob liked to cook food. They had those different interests and temperaments and that endeared them to different parents so that Esau became

Isaac's favorite and Jacob became Rebecca's favorite. You can see that the family situation is less than ideal already.

And this is evident all the way through the following narrative. Esau's temperament and values are on display in his selling of the birthright to Jacob or his trading it away for a pot of stew.

It was an act of blasphemy and just what we've read there is enough to see that Esau was a profane man with no interest in spiritual things and no interest for the long term.

He was not a man who considered what might become of his immediate actions. He acted instead in the minute.

And this example from Genesis is cited later in the book of Hebrews chapter 12 where Esau is mentioned and his work, his act of selling his birthright is compared there to immorality, being godless and immoral.

It wasn't just the bartering away of a little bit of inheritance money. What Esau did there was despise the

God of the covenant who was promised in that covenant and in that birthright. So Hebrews 12 verse 15 says,

See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble and by it many be defiled and that there be, listen, no immoral or godless person like Esau who sold his own birthright for a single meal.

For you know that even afterwards when he desired to inherit the blessing he was rejected for he found no place for repentance though he sought for it with tears.

And we're going to see that described here in just a moment. With that act, Jacob secured the birthright of his family line which was a double inheritance, the right to control the estate and what we learn from Esau is that he was a basically materialistic man thinking of the now and the immediate desires.

He was profane and did not value God or the God or the covenant or his blessings.

He had no regard for his family name or his family honor or his family inheritance all of which was tied up in that birthright.

And Esau is a man who sought to satisfy his carnal fleshly lusts in one moment of time without ever thinking of the consequences of that long term.

That is why he was an immoral man and that is why the act of selling the birthright is compared to immorality and godlessness.

So he's a profane man. He even married pagan women. Genesis 26, 34 and 35 says when

Esau was 40 years old he married Judith the daughter of Biri the Hittite and Basimith the daughter of Elon the Hittite and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

These are pagan women that are part of the idolatrous culture around them and these are the ones that Esau took as wives.

Later on, skipping over chapter 27 just for a moment, you don't have to go there. You can if you want. Verse 6 of chapter 28

Jacob is sent by Isaac away to get a wife. Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed

Jacob and sent him away to Padon Aram to take for himself a wife from there and that he blessed him, he charged him saying you shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padon Aram.

So Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased his father Isaac and Esau went to Ishmael and married besides the wives he had,

Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebuchadnezzar. Now this seems like an attempt by Esau to gain

Isaac's favor after the blessing has been given to Jacob back in chapter 27 which we're going to look at here in just a moment.

He sees that God that the wives around him displeased Isaac and so he sees

Jacob being sent away to find a wife elsewhere and Esau seems intent to either regain the family status or the approval of his father and so he goes to marry a cousin of his which was

Ishmael's, one of Ishmael's descendants, still in the Abrahamic line but not back where Abraham and Sarah had come from and this seems like just an attempt to curry favor but God had rejected

Ishmael's line and so this couldn't end in God's blessing. As much as Esau wanted maybe to try and get that blessing back, what was done in chapter 27 was done.

The covenant is confirmed in chapter 26 to Isaac in chapter 26 verses 2 -5 and chapter 26 verse 24.

So you can see that everything that is going on here, this thing is what would you say of the whole thing?

You'd say the whole thing is just a complete dog's breakfast and we haven't even got to the dog's breakfast part of it. The dog's breakfast is in chapter 27 but the family dynamics that are playing into this, the sin that is there, the lack of concern for spiritual things on Esau's behalf, that is all setting up for chapter 27 so now turn to chapter 27.

By the time we get there, because of chapter 26 and the confirming of the covenant in verse 24 Isaac knew of God's promise he knew that God had intended for the younger to be served by the older, that Jacob was to receive the inheritance and the blessings of the

Abrahamic covenant. He knew that this would be carried on through his sons and he knew that God had chosen

Jacob to do that but Isaac had his favorite and it's

Esau. Now we pick it up in chapter 27 verse 1. Now it came about when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see that he called his older son

Esau and said to him my son and he said to him here I am Isaac said behold now I am old and I do not know the day of my death now then please take your gear, your quiver, your bow and go out to the field and hunt game for me and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love and bring it to me that I may eat so that my soul may bless you before I die.

Now notice the expectation of death there which mentioned just a moment ago and notice that some time has come to pass the time has come for Isaac to pass on this blessing to his sons now what

Isaac is about to do is a sinful action but what he is doing was intended by him to give and to bestow the

Abrahamic blessings, the promises given to Abraham in chapter 12 and 13 and 15 and 17 of Genesis to bestow all of that on Esau that was

Isaac's intention and this parental blessing was to be bestowed in this way and it seems understood by everybody in the text that the blessings would be conferred in this manner it's not explained why everybody understood that but everybody seems to understand that Jacob, Esau, they do,

Rebecca does Isaac does, everybody understands that the blessing was to be communicated in this way parental blessing or benediction would actually communicate the promises and the action of God on behalf of the one who was to receive it this has to be unique and we have to wonder why did

Isaac think this we don't see this with Abraham we don't see a moment in Abraham's life where he pronounces blessing over Isaac and confers the blessings on Isaac Abraham doesn't do this but for some reason

Isaac understood that this was to be done by him toward Jacob or Esau and he knew that it was to be

Jacob but he instead intends it for Esau but everybody in the passage understands that this parental blessing is to be bestowed in this manner and nobody questions that so it appears to be a historically unique situation where Isaac either is told to do this or he feels compelled to do this in some way but everybody understands that once he does this this is done, there's no going back this is not

Isaac's attempt to merely well wish blessings upon his children whoever it is that receives this blessing gets it and that's it, it's done everybody seems to understand that now by the way that raises a question

I don't have time to answer this in depth but should you and I do this, is this something we're to do as parents? is

God obligated if I speak good into the life of my child if I put my hands up and I speak over my children certain blessings, is

God obligated to fulfill those blessings? Does he do that? This seems to be historically, this is described but it's not prescribed, it doesn't mean that I shouldn't pray for my children, it doesn't mean that I shouldn't ask for God to bless my children in certain ways we can do that, but God, I can't just ex -cathedra announce a blessing and God is obligating himself to do that, that's not how this works, we might wish that it worked that way,

I could just lay my hands on my children you'll be wealthy beyond your wildest dreams you will possess the Idaho panhandle, you will wash your hands in the blood of your enemies

I might wish that I could just bestow these blessings upon my children, but I can't do that because God is not obligated to fulfill those blessings or things that I announce, but in this context, it seems that this is exactly the way it was to unfold, nobody doubted that this is how the blessing was to be bestowed.

Now you can see the problems with Isaac already, he's playing favorites, he has his favorite Esau, Isaac seems somewhat similar to Esau in that he is driven by his fleshly desires, he just wants a good meal you give me a good meal,

I'll bestow upon you the Abrahamic covenant, I mean it's almost as if any sort of spiritual consideration is just, is taken right out of the mix as far as Isaac is concerned, he just wants a good food a savory dish like he loves and if he gets that from Esau, he'll give the blessing in exchange for this, this seems like an entirely carnal transaction that is about to occur, and he is intent on giving the blessing to Esau even though he knew as the

Lord told Rebecca, the older will serve the younger he knew that Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob earlier and he knew that Esau was a profane and fleshly man, that would have been evident to him because he has taken wives that caused him and Rebecca great grief and yet he preferred his son who had no spiritual inclination whatsoever and was a profane man, he preferred him over Jacob.

Isaac's intentions are clearly sinful in the passage, I think we have to understand that, verse 5,

Rebecca was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau, so when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home,

Rebecca said to her son Jacob behold I've heard your father speak to your brother Esau saying bring me some game and prepare a savory dish for me that I may eat and bless you in the presence of the

Lord before my death, now therefore my son listen to me as I command you, go now to the flock and bring me two choice young goats from there that I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father such as he loves then you shall bring it to your father that he may eat so that he may bless you before his death so Rebecca concocts this entire charade to trick

Isaac into giving the blessing to Jacob instead of Esau, this entire charade involves of course deception and lying and Jacob rightly understands that there is a real and genuine danger in trying to deceive his father into giving him the blessing instead of Esau, verse 11,

Jacob answered his mother Rebecca behold Esau my brother is a hairy man and I'm a smooth man, perhaps my father will feel me, then

I will be as a deceiver in his sight and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing, but his mother said to him your curse be on me my son only obey my voice and go get them for me so he went and got them and brought them to his mother and his mother made savory food such as his father loved, then

Rebecca took the best garments of Esau her elder son which were with her in the house and put them on Jacob her younger son and she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck, she also gave the savory food and the bread which he had made to her son

Jacob what a great idea this is we all recognize how tragic this is, how this whole thing is being set up for destruction, and what does that passage tell you about the kind of man that Esau was, that if you felt a goat skin you would think that's

Esau, if you smelt a goat skin you'd think that's

Esau I went to school with a guy like that, not the smell part but the hairy part I went to school with a guy when

I met him in 9th grade he was already shaving, in 10th grade he would shave in the morning and have a 5 o 'clock shadow by 1 o 'clock in the afternoon, you could ask him how many days have been since you shaved and he would say he didn't count them in days, he counted them in hours and he's the type of guy sitting in English class next to him, his black hair would be sticking out behind his collar like this because he shaved all the way down to his collar bones in 9th and 10th grade that was the case there's something wrong with somebody who has to shave their forehead to be recognizable now

I'm not going to comment on not that he smelled bad but the hairy part, there's some people that are like that, now that's odd in Sandpoint, when you go to school in Clark Fork it is not uncommon to have somebody who is old enough to buy you alcohol in school with you when you're in 8th and 9th grade but in Sandpoint this was an oddity and he was my age, it's not that he was older than me he was my age and that hairy verse 18, then he came to his father and said, my father, and he said, here

I am who are you my son? Jacob said to his father, I am Esau your firstborn I have done as you told me, get up please sit and eat of my game that you may bless me

Isaac said to his son, how is it that you have it so quickly my son? He said, because the Lord your

God caused it to happen to me, so now Jacob has brought God into this deception now he's using

God as a leverage point to deceive his father, now keep in mind Isaac knew that it was wrong for him to give the blessing to Esau but that's what he's intending to do and now

Jacob comes in pretending to be Esau and he uses this little reference to God not only to suggest that God is complicit in this but also to suggest that God must be blessing

Isaac's plans to give Esau the blessing by making it so easy for this whole plan to unfold, oh

God's hand is in this father, don't worry about it, I am Esau, he lies about his identity verse 21, then

Isaac said to Jacob please come close that I may feel you my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not now

I want you to put yourself in Jacob's position for just a moment you've got to at that moment be thinking to yourself okay, the jig is up this whole thing is going to come crashing down like a house of cards so Jacob came close to Isaac his father and he felt him and said the voice is the voice of Jacob but the hands are hands of Esau, he did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like his brother

Esau's hands, so he blessed him and he said are you really my son Esau and he said I am, so he said bring it to me and I will eat of my son's game that I may bless you and he brought it to him and he ate he also brought him wine and he drank and his father

Isaac said to him please come close and kiss me my son, see something was off he sensed it was so, something was off, verse 27, so he came close and kissed him and when he smelled the smell of his garments he blessed him and said see the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the

Lord has blessed I think that's a euphemism of some kind, the smell of the field in other words, you smell like what belongs outside, not what belongs inside you smell like a goat you smell like the field that the goat lives in, it's not just the hair it's the smell, now how it is that Esau ended up with three wives we'll never know, that has to be a mystery in and of itself, how he got three wives out of that deal, a guy that smells like that and hairy like that some of us have difficulty just getting one wife and we don't have to shave our forehead in order to get her so Isaac felt the clothes, the clothes were right, he smelled his son the smell was right, the feel of his hands was right, felt like a goat the voice was all right or all wrong, and Isaac thought to himself yeah, seems legit so verse 27, he came close and kissed him and we smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the

Lord has blessed, now listen to the wording here of the Abrahamic covenant, may God give you the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth and an abundance of grain and new wine, may people serve you and nations bow down to you, be master of your brothers and may your mother's sons bow down to you, cursed be those who curse you and blessed be those who bless you there's references there to national as well as personal financial blessings as well as eschatological blessings the material blessings are mentioned, the dew of heaven the fatness of the earth, the abundance of grain and new wine, national blessings of the nations that would come who would bow down to those who came from the one who possessed these blessings, which is now

Jacob and notice the language at the end of verse 29, it is the language taken straight out of Genesis 12, verse 3 when

God first appeared to Abraham I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed now

Isaac's intention is to bestow the Abrahamic covenant promises to Esau and he is bestowing these blessings he's checking and he's double checking but the deception has been effective verse 30, now it came about as soon as Isaac had finished blessing

Jacob and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of Isaac his father that Esau his brother came in from his hunting then he also made savory food and bought 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,

Isaac his father said to him, who are you? now Esau had to be wondering so I know my dad's eyesight is going but now his mind must be going he's not asking who are you because he doesn't know who

Esau is, but he's asking who are you because he's convinced, he's already given the blessing to Esau, he's already encountered him and now here's somebody else coming in with the same thing and Isaac is starting to put two and two together at this moment and he said, verse 32

Isaac his father said to him, who are you? and he said, I am your son, your firstborn Esau then Isaac trembled violently and said, who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me so that I ate of all of it before you came and blessed him and this last statement in that verse is the statement where he is coming to an understanding that what is done is done, yes and he shall be blessed he understands,

I can't go back on this I've already given this blessing to Esau Esau intended

Isaac intended the blessing for Esau but Jacob now has stolen it, the material blessings, the ruling of the nations, the descendants being preserved everything promised to Abraham and it seems to be entirely materialistic intentions by Esau in even wanting this blessing

Isaac knows that what he has done is done and Jacob has received it, verse 34 when 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 my father and he said, your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing, then he said, is he not rightly named

Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times, he took away my birthright and behold now he has taken away my blessing and he said, have you not reserved a blessing for me you can hear the distraughtness in his voice over this circumstance

Jacob means supplanter or heel holder or heel catcher remember he was born holding on to Esau's heel and they thought, oh cute, we'll just name him

Jacob which means heel grabber and as it turns out, Jacob ends up grabbing Esau's heel throughout his life and taking these two things he's done it twice now where he's tripped up Esau he got the birthright from him by selling it to him for a cheap bowl of soup and now he has connived his way through and gotten the

Abrahamic blessings on top of that, verse 37 Isaac replied to Esau behold I made him your master and all his relatives

I've given to him as servants and with grain and new wine I have sustained him now as for you then, what can I do my son

Esau said to his father do you have only one blessing my father bless me, even me also father so Esau lifted his voice and wept now why is

Esau weeping does he really want the God of the covenant there's nothing that indicates he wants the

God of the covenant what has Jacob been given new wine, fatness of the field nations serving him master of all those are the things that Esau has his eyes on it's not that he wants the giver of the gifts he wants the gifts that in itself is the indication of a carnal person they want all the blessings that God can give them without wanting

God himself so Esau has lost out on these material blessings and he wants the benefits of it without having to have any kind of a relationship or covenant with Yahweh at all he's already taken pagan wives who are not worshippers of Yahweh at all man is a profane man

Genesis 27 verse 41 sorry no look at the blessing if you want to call it that that Esau gets in verse 39 then

Isaac his father answered and said to him behold away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling and away from the dew of heaven from above by your sword you shall live and your brother you shall serve but it shall come about when you become restless that you will break his yoke from your neck that's the closest thing to a blessing in the passage is just that statement and as it turns out there were a number of times throughout the history of those two nations the

Israelites and the Edomites that the Edomites did kick off that yoke of Israel from their neck and they ended up doing much treachery and harm to the

Israelites as they fought and warred against them verse 41 so Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing which his father had blessed him and Esau said to himself the days of mourning for my father are near then

I will kill my brother Jacob now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah she sent and called her younger son

Jacob and said to him behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you now therefore my son obey my voice and arise flee to Haran to my brother

Laban stay with him a few days until your brother's fury subsides until your brother's anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him then

I will send and get you from there why should I be bereaved of you both in one day Rebekah said to Isaac I'm tired of living because of the daughters of Heth if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth like these from the daughters of the land what good will my life be to me so she uses this as an excuse to send him away to some other place to get a wife which he eventually does now

Esau's sin in this issue is obvious it is his murderous rage he demonstrates here that whatever grieved him about losing this blessing it was not that he lost

God that's not his interest because immediately after losing all of the financial and the material blessings

Esau is filled with an ungodly unholy and even demonic rage that he is willing to kill his brother because of what his brother did in chapter 28

Isaac and Rebekah send him away to get a wife to Rebekah's family and the covenant then is confirmed with Jacob in verses 3 and 4 and Jacob now recognizes the purpose of God in all of this and this brings us now back to Hebrews brings us back to Hebrews how is what

Isaac did an act of faith how is what he did an act of faith how do we sort this out

John Owen says this quote and there is none in the scripture speaking of the stories in scripture there is no story in scripture filled with more intricacies and difficulties as unto the right judgment of the thing that is related though the matter of fact be clearly and distinctly set down in other words what we read here is clearly laid out for us but it is so confusing as to what is going on here the intricacies make this very difficult to unscrew and to untie it's like a knot the whole represents unto us divine sovereignty wisdom and faithfulness working effectively through the frailties and firmities and sins of all the persons concerned in the matter now there is sinful conduct on behalf of every person in this narrative and that we cannot deny the whole family acted shamefully

Isaac who is the head of the family is driven by his own desires for meat and the fulfillment of his own lusts has a very materialistic view to a degree himself and he has an unbalanced and preferential love for one child based only on those desires and he failed to heed the plan and purpose of God revealed to Rebecca that the younger should be served by the older he failed to heed that and intended to confer the blessing on one to whom it was not to be given and I just want you to notice that Isaac's sin here ends up affecting the entire family everybody's deception all of the lies and the murderous rage that follows all of it comes because the head of the family did what was sinful and wrong and if he had just been obedient and done what he should have done and had not sinned in that way if there had not been that dynamic that Isaac had contributed to then none of the rest of this would have followed suit there's sin in this family and enough to go around because one man did not do what he was supposed to do and so Rebecca's sin is a response to that Isaac's Jacob's sin is a response to that and Esau's sin is a response to that he's filled with murderous rage because his father refused to do what his father should have done so his failure to lead his family in godliness and obedience created the occasion for all of the other sin that we've read about in chapter 27 but set aside the sin for a moment there is obviously faith that is present in all of these people as well this is why it's difficult there's faith present in this

Isaac believes the promises doesn't he he believes them he knows he believes that god is going to bestow these blessings as he promised

Abraham on whomever it is on which he lays his hand he is speaking of things future that he is certain that god is going to fulfill

Isaac is misdirecting those blessings but he's still acting in faith in that he is expecting god to fulfill his word upon whomever it is that he lays his hand

Rebecca believed the promises as well which is why she wanted them to be given to Jacob and she obviously believed what god has said that the younger shall be served by the older she believed that as well that was an anchor for her faith she knew it was supposed to go to Jacob so she's working in faith to try and get these blessings to go to Jacob instead of to Esau even though what she's doing is sinful

Jacob believed the promises which is why he wanted them and Esau believed that these promises would be fulfilled which is why he wanted them so all of them are expecting god to fulfill his future promises all of them have a measure or a degree of faith in some way in all of this even though there is tragic sin that is interwoven in all of it so how can it be said that Isaac is acting in faith because he believed that god would fulfill his promises as he had said and the things that he is promising are things that were yet to come that he believed with certainty god would do

Hebrews 11 verse 20 by faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau even regarding things to come so faith was present in Isaac even though he was moving the wrong direction faith was present and it was moving him but god's providence was directing that to accomplish his purposes

Isaac had faith that was present he's moving the wrong direction with that intending the wrong thing sinfully there is faith mixed with sin but god by his providence over rules all of that and after the deception is revealed

Isaac acknowledged the divine providence in it when he said yes and he shall be blessed it was almost as if at that moment he realized god's been orchestrating this we've been sinning we've been acting in faith it's a mingled mixed up mess a dog's breakfast as you were but god has been sovereign over all of this we're already over time let me wrap up with a couple of closing observations first god uses obviously deeply flawed people you know how

I know that because all of you are deeply flawed people oh me too if god didn't use deeply flawed people he wouldn't use people because we're all deeply flawed we're all deeply broken everyone we read about in scripture is us the sinful proclivities the lack of understanding the misdirected faith all of that that's us and yet god did not reject them he did not command nor did god approve any of the sin he saw the true faith in them and accepted them on the basis of that faith even though they were misguided as to the accomplishment of god's promises god did accept them and he pardoned their sin and we can be thankful for that because inside of all of us even on our best days with our best of good works that we do in faith there is always mixed in with that a measure of sin unbelief bad motives pride selfishness it's always mixed in there one of the things

I'm longing for in heaven is the fact that we will be able to do all that we do without any mixture of those wicked things but while we are here those things are mixed together irreparably so it's just part of being human we're very complicated beings number two god by his providence accomplishes his purposes and this does not excuse our sin does not excuse our unbelief it doesn't incentivize sin there were real consequences to everything that unfolded in chapter 27 murderous rage of Esau Jacob flees and he's missing from the family for over 15 years there was estrangement that happened in the family as Jacob and Esau didn't speak to each other for a decade and a half and they're estranged from one another and we cannot say well since god uses by his providence he uses even human sin to accomplish his purposes and his purposes will stand that does not excuse us to say well then