Genesis 27 - Part C

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That's connectwithskip.com. Now let's get into today's teaching with Pastor Skip Heitzig. Now listen very carefully. Isaac was old. His senses were failing him. He reached out to feel, and what he felt deceived him. But there was one thing that gave away his son Jacob that he should have trusted in. There's only one thing that didn't fail, and it was the word that he heard. When he heard Jacob speak his words, he said, that's Jacob's voice.

It's the words that I hear that make me think it's Jacob, but my feelings are betraying me. You know, a lot of times our feelings betray us. Our senses fail us. And if we're not absolutely 100% using the revealed word of God as our guide, we can be deceived.

You don't know how many people over the years I've watched get into all sorts of tangents. The things like, well, I went to this meeting, and I know there's nothing really about it in the Bible. The word doesn't say what they practiced was right, but I felt the presence of God. You're being deceived. You're simply saying the criteria for truth and error is how I feel about it at the moment. It's the word that he heard that didn't deceive him.

His feelings betrayed him. And so what we do when it comes to, is this thing a biblical thing that we practice? We ask this, especially as New Testament believers, did Jesus mention it in any of the four Gospels? Number two, was it amplified in the book of Acts and practiced by the church as it was birthed? And number three, was it elucidated and amplified in the epistolatory literature written by Paul, John, Peter, et cetera?

So example, the Lord's Supper, did Jesus speak about it? Yes or no? Yes. Was it practiced in the book of Acts? Yes.

Was it amplified in the epistolatory literature? Yes. Baptism, did Jesus mention it? Yes. Was it practiced in the book of Acts? Yes. And was it spoken of and written about by the, yes, in the epistles?

Being slain in the spirit that is falling over, oh, the presence of God, boom, and you have catchers catch you. Did Jesus mention it? Nope. Was it practiced in the book of Acts? Never. Was it ever talked about or amplified in the epistles? Never.

Or the notion of Christians having demons cast out of them, did Jesus ever predict that? Nope. Practiced in the book of Acts? Nope.

In the epistles? Nope. Oh, but I felt so. What you felt was wrong. What you need to trust is the word that you heard, not the feelings that you feel, because they can be deceptive. So that is the ultimate criteria.

This is a classic example of that. Verse 24, and he said, are you really my son Esau? You see, he's still suspicious. Are you you really my son Esau? And he said, I am. And he said, bring it near to me, and I will eat my son's game so that my soul may bless you. And so he brought it near to him, and he ate, and he brought and he brought him wine and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, come near now and kiss me my son. Probably still suspicious, he wants to smell him, is the idea. Come here, let me give you, you know, it's an affectionate kiss the father would give his son.

Come near that I might kiss you. And he came near and kissed him, and he smelled the smell of his clothing. And he blessed him and said, surely the smell of my son is like the smell of a field, which the Lord had blessed. So he brought him close and he thought, yep, you're Esau, take the blessing and get out of here.

Go out to the field. Here's the blessing, verse 28-29. Therefore may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of the grain and wine. Let people serve you and nations bow down to you.

Be master over your brethren and let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you and blessed be those who bless you. Can you read into that shades of the blessing that God gave to Abraham and that Abraham gave to Isaac and now Isaac is giving to Jacob.

Many of the elements are the same. I'll bless those who bless you, curse those who curse you, I'll give you the land, etc. Now there was the law.

Do you remember the law we talked about a couple weeks ago? The law of promigeniture, the law of the firstborn. The firstborn son in the family always got the blessing, the inheritance, the birthright.

He would take over and be the head of the family, take over the father's agenda, be in charge of the family. He got a double portion of all of the goods that were left over, but it meant he was the successor in the lineage to his father. And I explained to you that's why Elisha the prophet said to Elijah, give me a double portion. What that means is I want to be your successor as the prophet of Israel, as the ambassador of God for this people.

That was the law of promigeniture. God said he would reverse it here. Now it happened as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac, his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. So exit Jacob with the blessing in hand. His father gave him his blessing. He spoke it verbally and in those days a verbal oral blessing was as binding as a legal written contract.

Did you know that? It was irrevocable. A blessing of a father to his son spoken orally was irrevocable. So enter Esau fresh off the field, can't wait for the blessing to come his way. He also made savory food and brought it to his father and said to his father, let my father arise and eat of his son's game that your soul may bless me. And his father Isaac said to him, who, who are you? He said, I am your son, your firstborn Esau. Then Isaac trembled exceedingly and said, who?

Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came and I have blessed him. And watch, and indeed he shall be blessed. It dawned on him and he realized now that he had blessed the wrong boy. Actually, he blessed the right boy. That was God's promise.

But in his mind, it's not what I wanted. I blessed the wrong boy. And the reason he trembled is he's under conviction.

I believe he's under conviction. It's like, you know what? I was trying to pull a fast one on God and he beat me at my own game. And it's this conviction of God, God is doing his will, even though it's against my will. Now, this is what I want you to pick up on.

I find this fascinating. When you get to the New Testament, the New Testament treats Isaac very kindly. Did you know that? Did you know that when it talks about Isaac in the hall of faith in Hebrews chapter 11, it says this, one little sentence, by faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau.

Really? I would say by trickery, he blessed his son. By subterfuge, he blessed his son. But it doesn't say by trickery.

It doesn't say by subterfuge. It says he did it by faith. I believe it was at this moment that faith was birthed is when he found out that he had been had found out, beat at his own game by God. And he realized God is doing what he said he would do, even though I tried to prevent it. And he believed and by faith, he said, I blessed him and indeed he shall be blessed. I believe that's when faith was birthed at this very moment.

Indeed, he shall be blessed. There's a great proverb that I marked. I want to read it to you in Proverbs 19. It's in verse 21.

Listen to this. There are many plans in a man's heart. Nevertheless, the Lord's counsel, that will stand. That is a proverb that sums up the sovereignty of God. God does what he does, and you might have a dysfunctional family, but you have a functional God who does what he wants in the midst of a dysfunctional family. You're going to be blessed. God said it. It's happening, even though I tried to prevent it.

That's the idea behind it. Verse 34. When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, bless me, me also my father.

Now here's manly Esau, man of the field, wailing and crying like a baby. No, no, I want the blessing. But he said, your brother came and with deceit, he has taken away your blessing. And Esau said, is he not rightly named Jacob?

Be careful now Esau, because the blessing was whoever curses Jacob is going to be cursed. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we return to Skip's teaching, if you've ever wondered what the Bible has to say about some of our culture's big issues, we have a great resource for you. When you give a gift of $50 or more this month to support the ministry of Connect with Skip Heitzig, we'll send you God Speaks, Biblical Answers for Today's Issues. This special resource bundle contains six of Pastor Skip's booklets that address topics like suicide, why the truth matters, heaven and hell, and the church's response to racism. You'll gain valuable insight into what God's Word says about the big questions in our culture and get equipped to stand for the timeless truth of Scripture.

Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copy when you give $50 or more. Now let's get back to Skip for more of today's teaching. Is he not rightly named Jacob for he has supplanted or tripped me these two times. He took away my birthright and now look he has taken away my blessing and he said have you not reserved a blessing for me? Was Esau correct? Was he right about Jacob?

Yes and no. He was right that his his brother was a cheat, a manipulator, a deceiver, but it's not like he stole the birthright. Right? There was a deal. He goes tell you what I'll make you that red chili stew but I want the birthright.

Who cares about my birthright? You're gonna have it. I don't want it. He despised it and the deal was made. Now he's saying it was all a trick. Here's the bottom line. Esau never cared about spiritual things.

Never did. He was a natural man. The New Testament first Corinthians would call him the natural man. The natural man, it says, does not understand things of the spirit.

They are spiritually discerned. A natural man, the Greek word tzukikos, means one governed by the flesh, one governed by the appetites of the of the flesh, the body, dominated by the flesh. Doesn't really care about spiritual things but cares a lot about the flesh, physical things.

He was a natural man. Nothing wrong with food, nothing wrong with your hungry, but he despised his birthright. He despised spiritual things.

That's the average worldly person. They despise spiritual things. Jacob appreciated spiritual things but he's going about getting them the wrong way. We would call him a carnal believer.

Not a spiritual man, not a natural man, but a carnal man. He's going to use fleshly means to arrive at a spiritual end and hence the battle. And Isaac answered and said to Esau, indeed I have made him your master. Imagine how he felt as he heard that Isaac felt. And all his brethren I have given to him as servants with grain and wine. I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you my son? Esau said to his father, have you only one blessing my father? Bless me, me also.

Oh my father. And Esau lifted up his voice and he wept. He wept.

It was sincere weeping but he's still governed by the flesh and he'll lapse right back into that very very shortly. Esau would have lived by the motto, eat drink for tomorrow we die. Have fun now. Get all you can do.

Everybody's doing it. Life's all about the now, all about you. You know, make your own way. That was his whole philosophy.

He was completely hedonistic but he wanted also the double portion of his father's goods, the blessing that would come along with that. And Isaac his father said and answered and said to him, behold, verse 39, behold your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above. That is, you're going to live out in the open spaces. You're going to live out in the desert, the deserted spaces. Of the dew of heaven from above, by your sword you shall live. You're going to have to fight for everything you get and you shall serve your brother.

And it shall come to pass when you become restless that you shall break his yoke from your neck. The children of Israel, the Jews, will come from Jacob. From Esau will arise the descendants known as the Edomites. The Edomites will settle to the east southeast of the Dead Sea out in modern day Jordan.

The history of the people of the Moabites is very interesting. Over time there was this consistent battle between Israel and this people. For instance, in 1 Samuel chapter 14, King Saul subjugated them. A few chapters later he made them a vassal state. They rebelled against King Solomon later on, but to no avail.

He put a tighter squeeze on them and exacted taxes from them. As time went on they successfully rebelled against King Joram, but under King Amaziah they were once again subjugated. So back and forth, always under the thumb of the children of Israel, these descendants of Esau.

But notice what it says, it shall come to pass when you become restless that you shall break his yoke from your neck. The descendants of Esau in that area southeast of the Dead Sea, after several years the Nabateans, just keep that name in mind, we'll refer to them later on. The Nabateans, in fact the whole book of Nehemiah, Obadiah, is about the Nabateans in this area in Edom. They pushed out these Edomites. They pushed them out of the land and so the Edomites settled in Judah, once again under Jewish rule. While they lived in Judah they were forced to convert to Judaism, forced to keep Jewish law, by a Maccabean ruler named John Hyrcanus, forced them to live like Jewish people even though they still had the lineage of Esau. Still under the thumb of the Jewish people until one guy by the name of Antipater, his full name Herod Antipater, got favor with Rome and territory was given to him to rule over and it was his son called Herod the Great who was called the king of the Jews by the Roman government. So it was Herod the Great that killed all the babies in Bethlehem trying to kill Christ who is now in rulership in New Testament times, at one time subjugated by the Jews but now really risen to authority and rulership and is in charge and that's the idea I think at the end of that verse.

That is the prediction and it came to pass. By the way, please be careful how you interpret scripture. I take it very literally. Sometimes there's obvious figurative applications to it and yet a literal lesson is drawn from the figure but whenever you read a prophecy and it literally is fulfilled, it then doesn't make any sense years later to say, well I don't believe in the literal interpretation of the Bible. I really can't take it word for word. I go, why?

You have plenty of precedent to do that. I'll get off that soapbox, our time is about out. Verse 41, look at this. So Esau hated Jacob.

You don't have to turn to it but listen to this. Malachi chapter one, you know what it says? The Lord says, Jacob I have loved, Esau I have hated. And God doesn't even explain himself as to, you know, why he does that. Now that bothers a lot of people. That God would say, Jacob I have loved, Esau I have hated. That bothers them.

And you know what? It bothers me. It doesn't bother me because he hated Esau. It bothers me because he loved Jacob. Knowing he was such a cheat and a conniver and yet he would make that declaration and he did so, according to scripture, before they were born. He made that declaration and preferred one over the other.

That was God's sovereign choice in predestination. But here it says, Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, the days of mourning for my father are at hand and I will kill my brother Jacob. In the words of Esau, her older son, we're told to Rebekah.

So he sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerned with his father. And he said, he sent himself concerning you intending to kill you. Now therefore my son, Sonny, 77 year old, Sonny boy, come here. Sonny listen to me. Obey my voice. Arise, flee to my brother Laban.

Oh yeah, he's really a winner in Haran. And stay with him a few days until your brother's fury turns away. Until your brother turns away from you and forgets what you have done to him and I will send and receive from there. Why should I be re-bereaved also of you both in one day? Go away for a few days. You know what a few days turned into?

Two decades, 20 years and she will die without ever seeing her son again. This is called your plan backfiring. Your fleshly energy backfiring. You wanting to wait on God backfiring.

Your carnal nature backfiring. And I can only think that the last years of her life were miserable lonely years as she was thinking about all the paces she put her family and her sons through. 20 years and when he comes back his mom will be long gone. Sad. Mothers, I know you love your children. Be careful about the battles you fight. And I know you'd like to just make it all better for them. And so what do you do when there's this problem in the family?

You want to fix it. Fight the battle on your knees, not with your hands or your mouth. Fight it on your knees. Pray for them.

That's where the battles are won. And Rebekah said to Isaac, look at this closing comment, I am weary of my life, I would be too, because of the daughters of Heth. Now her son Esau married a couple of Canaanite pagan girls, drove her nuts. Thought they were a bad influence. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me? As she thought, you know these people around here have such poor values.

I need to get them around my family. Such wonderful values. Honest, salt of the earth kind of people like me and my brother Laban. Jacob does not even know what he's in for. This guy Laban has master deceit better than anybody. He's like a PhD in it.

This guy here is a neophyte. He's about to go to school for 20 years. And what happens with Jacob in the deceit backfires against him. He deceived his dad. He will be deceived. Jacob will be deceived by Laban. He'll have to work 14 years for his wife, the one he loved, because Laban will deceive him. Number two, his own sons will deceive Jacob in selling Joseph to the Midianites as they go down to Egypt and then lie and say, oh he got killed by an animal.

Here's his blood in this hippie coat that you gave him. You will reap what you sow. Jacob will reap what he sown. This woman will reap what she has sown. You've heard the old saying, like father, like son. It's also true like mother, like son or daughter.

The influence of a parent in example through a life will mark a child's destiny for years to come. We're glad you joined us today. Before you go, remember that when you give $50 or more to help reach more people with the gospel through Connect with Skip Heitzig, we'll send you God Speaks, biblical answers for today's issues, which contains six of Pastor Skip's booklets to help you understand what the Bible says about big issues like racism, the importance of truth, suicide, and heaven and hell. To request your copy of God Speaks, biblical answers for today's issues, call 800-922-1888.

That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskiff.com slash donate. For more from Skiff, be sure to check out the many resources available at connectwithskiff.com slash store. Come back next time for more verse by verse teaching of God's word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever-changing times.