WEBVTT 00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:13.300 Hello and welcome to the Kalamazoo church of Christ podcast. 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:14.839 Thank you so much for listening. 00:00:15.300 --> 00:00:16.199 We're startup church. 00:00:16.280 --> 00:00:23.460 We just planted in September, 2020 and at the Kalamazoo church, we believe that Christianity is done best when it is done together. 00:00:23.539 --> 00:00:32.299 And so if you live in the Kalamazoo area, we would love to connect, be it coming to a Sunday service, one of our small groups, or even just grabbing coffee with a member to learn more. 00:00:32.500 --> 00:00:36.439 You can visit kalamazoo.church in order to do that. 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:50.280 We pray that you are inspired by what you hear today, his life, um, Jacob story is such a pivotal moment, but it's such importantly woven into everything that came before him and especially everything that comes after him. 00:00:50.359 --> 00:00:51.439 So we're going to dig right in. 00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:52.460 So we're going to get right in this vehicle. 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:55.479 We're going to drive, please, you know, strap in, get buckled. 00:00:55.479 --> 00:00:56.979 We're going to jump right into this thing. 00:00:58.280 --> 00:01:00.179 Yeah, yeah, I do. 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:02.500 I think I already said I do have a vehicle now. 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:03.140 It's great time. 00:01:04.180 --> 00:01:10.060 Um, I, I, I feel, I feel, uh, I'm adulting a little more, uh, in the last few weeks than I had beforehand. 00:01:10.180 --> 00:01:11.140 I'm really excited about that. 00:01:11.939 --> 00:01:14.879 Um, all right, we're gonna, we're gonna jump in. 00:01:15.019 --> 00:01:18.420 So this first part kind of want to do a little background info into this, right? 00:01:18.500 --> 00:01:19.739 The greatest promise, right? 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:21.439 This is what happens before Jacob. 00:01:21.939 --> 00:01:23.459 This is so important, right? 00:01:23.459 --> 00:01:24.760 Genesis 12, one through three. 00:01:24.859 --> 00:01:26.340 One thing that we've read before, right? 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:34.379 Now the Lord said to Abram, go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you and I will make you a great nation. 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:38.599 I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. 00:01:39.079 --> 00:01:42.439 I will bless those who bless you and him who dishonors you. 00:01:42.500 --> 00:01:46.980 I will curse and all in, in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:53.480 So this is your first time here, or if you've been traveling with this, the same pace that we've been. 00:01:53.599 --> 00:02:02.120 If you're reading this, something that we've proposed is how will God make Abram, Abram's family a great nation, right? 00:02:02.200 --> 00:02:09.900 How will one family, one line be blessed through the entirety of human mankind, right? 00:02:09.979 --> 00:02:21.800 God reaffirms his covenant with Abram a couple times and he has to keep reminding Abram because he waits until Abram is basically as good as dead to, to finally give him a son, right? 00:02:21.800 --> 00:02:28.840 And right, this is, this is all through kind of looking at the timeline here as we get into Jacob, right? 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:32.939 So they name their son, Isaac, right? 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:43.879 They have a son, you know, Abram is a hundred years old and they named him Isaac because that's the one, it means he laughs, but Isaac is more than just a firstborn. 00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:46.080 He's the son of a promise. 00:02:47.020 --> 00:02:52.639 His physical inheritance of sheep and tents and servants was large because Abram was being blessed. 00:02:52.740 --> 00:02:58.379 He's a very wealthy man of the earth standard, but his spiritual inheritance was priceless. 00:02:59.180 --> 00:03:04.419 Isaac held the promise of Abram and the promise would be passed down through him. 00:03:05.500 --> 00:03:17.400 And then Isaac marries Rebecca and they get pregnant and the drama intensifies and we'll kind of, you know, this, this car stopping at this, uh, this pit stop and they have twins. 00:03:18.520 --> 00:03:21.659 The promise has to run through one of them, not both. 00:03:22.919 --> 00:03:26.460 And now here's where the drama kind of sets. 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:32.800 Esau is born first, but Jacob is grasping at his heel. 00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:35.400 Esau means red and hairy. 00:03:36.020 --> 00:03:37.879 That will matter later. 00:03:38.020 --> 00:03:39.099 I'm just going to set that for you. 00:03:39.939 --> 00:03:44.520 Jacob means heel grasper, which was an idiom for trickster or deceiver. 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:47.259 That will also matter as we get into the text. 00:03:48.300 --> 00:03:51.740 But first a bit of a background of the title of this lesson. 00:03:51.860 --> 00:03:54.620 It was Jacob, birthright and blessing. 00:03:55.060 --> 00:03:55.939 So go to the next slide. 00:03:56.699 --> 00:03:57.360 The birthright. 00:03:58.259 --> 00:04:00.039 Esau had the birthright. 00:04:00.539 --> 00:04:08.300 He was the first son out, the firstborn, which meant he would get a double portion, a double portion of everything Isaac had. 00:04:08.300 --> 00:04:10.259 Jacob would get a single portion. 00:04:11.479 --> 00:04:16.519 And then the second, the blessing, more of the spiritual side of this, you know, inheritance. 00:04:17.240 --> 00:04:22.500 This was like a prophetic word spoken over the oldest son that he had, that had the greatest meeting. 00:04:22.980 --> 00:04:27.180 It was passed down of the leadership and direction for the future of the family. 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:31.579 Most importantly for this family, the future of God's family. 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:37.759 And if you don't know Jacob, we're going to get into it a little, it'll make a lot of sense. 00:04:38.220 --> 00:04:41.339 If I grew up religious, so like the story of Jacob, right? 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:43.899 Everything we've been looking through Abraham, right? 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:53.279 And Isaac and Jacob, like it's like refreshing old cod libs that had kind of been sitting there since, you know, it was eighth grade, the first time we did like a real deep dive in the Old Testament. 00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:56.519 And let's be honest, I probably was sleeping through at least half those classes. 00:04:56.519 --> 00:05:12.860 So I'm really grateful to get to look at this from a strong spiritual, I really want to dig into this, but it's so innate in our human nature to look at this story and have great insight, in hindsight, knowledge, you know, it's like, oh, well, I would, this is obviously would have done it this way. 00:05:13.060 --> 00:05:14.019 I would have done it this way. 00:05:14.040 --> 00:05:15.959 This is the way that I would want to do this. 00:05:16.699 --> 00:05:24.199 What I love about Jacob, and more importantly, the story of birthright and blessing is it's simplistic relatability. 00:05:25.139 --> 00:05:28.160 The story can come down and circle around one word. 00:05:28.759 --> 00:05:35.149 That word is hunger in the literal and the figurative sense, right? 00:05:35.149 --> 00:05:38.629 How relatable, how relatable. 00:05:39.870 --> 00:05:41.470 As humans, we are driven by hunger. 00:05:42.569 --> 00:05:46.709 You know, that has not changed since the Old Testament, whether we like it or not. 00:05:47.769 --> 00:05:51.290 Our hunger determines a lot of the actions we do on a day-to-day basis. 00:05:51.910 --> 00:05:55.769 How many times you're like, I'm not doing anything until I have some food. 00:05:56.490 --> 00:06:00.189 You know, even the idea of like, we kind of hunger for coffee as a substance, right? 00:06:00.209 --> 00:06:01.290 This morning, right? 00:06:01.290 --> 00:06:06.949 I tried to get there early, and there was no coffee, and I was like, I'm going to need coffee before I go out there and speak, right? 00:06:06.970 --> 00:06:07.790 I'm like, I need it, right? 00:06:07.910 --> 00:06:15.449 A lot of the things we do are determined by this, you know, this desperate need for hunger to fulfill it, to satisfy it, right? 00:06:16.509 --> 00:06:22.290 So what we do is really determined by the satisfaction of hunger. 00:06:23.529 --> 00:06:25.750 I'm going to tell you a story about this, all right? 00:06:27.050 --> 00:06:28.269 Uh-oh, uh-oh is right. 00:06:29.529 --> 00:06:36.470 So when, not the bean burrito, when I, there's a story about bean burrito, if you want to hear it, Jaren will tell it halfway. 00:06:37.089 --> 00:06:42.589 When I was 15 years old, I got my first elk when I was hunting. 00:06:42.990 --> 00:06:44.889 It was in this place called Gunnison, Colorado. 00:06:45.230 --> 00:06:48.129 Kind of like everything, that will matter, the place matters. 00:06:49.370 --> 00:06:53.509 You know, there are different types of hunts that you can do for different animals. 00:06:53.930 --> 00:07:07.050 I know in the Midwest, especially, it is very typical to sit up in a tree blind or some kind of, you know, stationary, you know, setting and wait for the animal to come to you, right? 00:07:07.110 --> 00:07:12.310 Be patient, sit, let it come, and then when it comes, you can imagine the rest, right? 00:07:13.870 --> 00:07:19.050 For elk especially, and especially in Colorado, you're hiking. 00:07:19.790 --> 00:07:21.490 You're hiking in the places to get it. 00:07:22.569 --> 00:07:27.910 You know, the hike that we had to do, so Gunnison sits in this little valley. 00:07:28.050 --> 00:07:30.310 It sits in this, and there's a massive canyon on the back side. 00:07:30.410 --> 00:07:41.949 So there's a lot of hills and little valleys to get up and down places, and I could talk a lot about how, what valleys and how we did it, but that would take so much time to explain. 00:07:42.230 --> 00:07:45.089 But the whole lesson, we're going to, we're going to condense it into this. 00:07:45.649 --> 00:07:47.810 We hiked up across some valleys and some hills. 00:07:47.810 --> 00:07:52.170 It was about three to four miles in, and God bless my brother. 00:07:52.209 --> 00:07:53.490 My brother does more hiking than me. 00:07:53.589 --> 00:07:57.009 He is more athletically in shape, and he's just a, he's a crazy hiker guy. 00:07:57.069 --> 00:07:58.310 He's one of, you know, he's one of those guys. 00:07:58.410 --> 00:07:59.970 He'd be Alex's, like, best friend right there. 00:08:00.069 --> 00:08:01.410 They'd go hiking everywhere, right? 00:08:02.709 --> 00:08:06.029 And he hikes on the top of the mountain, scares all the elk down. 00:08:06.189 --> 00:08:12.290 I get an elk, but in all the excitement, kind of forget one thing. 00:08:12.670 --> 00:08:14.470 We hiked three to four miles in. 00:08:15.029 --> 00:08:17.170 You have to hike three to four miles out. 00:08:17.610 --> 00:08:23.050 And when I hiked in, I didn't have 200 extra pounds of meat to carry out. 00:08:25.990 --> 00:08:28.209 And that time, it was getting so cold. 00:08:28.509 --> 00:08:31.610 Gunnison is extremely cold, because it sits on the backside of a canyon. 00:08:31.769 --> 00:08:33.629 A lot of cold air blasts through it. 00:08:33.908 --> 00:08:38.190 It's probably somewhere in, like, five to zero degree range. 00:08:38.428 --> 00:08:42.009 I have to take my gloves off to, you know, properly dress the elk. 00:08:42.009 --> 00:08:44.870 Get it ready to transfer back to the car. 00:08:45.529 --> 00:08:49.669 And I just remember, we got some rope, got it in the hind legs. 00:08:49.970 --> 00:08:56.950 And me and my brother carrying the whole thing behind us, just rope over the shoulder, and just carrying it up and down these hills. 00:08:59.500 --> 00:09:00.899 I'd die today if I tried that. 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:03.620 I'd just be like, it's either the elk or me are going. 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:06.279 One of us is staying, one of us isn't, right? 00:09:06.379 --> 00:09:08.039 Like, if you guys want the elk, that's fine. 00:09:08.120 --> 00:09:09.100 Like, I'll stay here. 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:11.259 This is my, I guess this is my time to see Jesus. 00:09:11.259 --> 00:09:14.320 But 15-year-old, I was like, I'm getting this elk. 00:09:15.179 --> 00:09:16.620 And we got back to that car. 00:09:16.679 --> 00:09:17.980 My hands were so cold. 00:09:18.059 --> 00:09:19.940 It was probably one of the coldest I've ever felt in my life. 00:09:21.080 --> 00:09:23.120 And I was hungry, right? 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:24.059 I got there. 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:28.039 And so we traveled about 10 minutes back into town, 15 minutes. 00:09:28.100 --> 00:09:28.860 It's not far from it. 00:09:29.399 --> 00:09:31.399 And we stop at this little diner. 00:09:32.759 --> 00:09:34.139 Gunnison is a po-dunk town. 00:09:34.519 --> 00:09:36.799 It is the idea of a one-horse town. 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:41.379 It's not known for its five-star food dining. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:44.399 We get to this meal. 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:46.200 And I remember it to this day. 00:09:46.299 --> 00:09:49.240 I ordered a full rack of ribs. 00:09:50.500 --> 00:09:53.419 I can guarantee you those ribs weren't good at all. 00:09:54.120 --> 00:09:55.620 We're in a small town. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:59.379 I guarantee you today, if I were to eat that, I'd be like, that probably wasn't a good meal. 00:09:59.860 --> 00:10:10.299 But after all that walking, after the highs and lows of getting into my first animal and all the pain, those are the best ribs I've ever had in my life. 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:12.700 I was so satisfied. 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:15.360 No one could tell me differently. 00:10:15.820 --> 00:10:20.340 I would have done just anything to satisfy that hunger in that moment. 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:24.200 And so enough with that hunger. 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:26.679 Take that in mind, that desperateness. 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:32.659 And now we're going to take that right into what Jacob and Esau and their story, the hunger, the different types of hunger they have. 00:10:32.659 --> 00:10:33.919 So let's jump into this. 00:10:34.100 --> 00:10:34.720 Genesis 25. 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:38.019 Genesis 25, verses 29 through 34. 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:39.480 This is the first part. 00:10:39.580 --> 00:10:41.179 This is about the birthright. 00:10:41.659 --> 00:10:49.059 Verse nine, it says, once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 00:10:49.240 --> 00:10:53.960 When he said to Jacob, quick, let me have some of the red stew, I'm famished. 00:10:54.679 --> 00:10:57.320 This is why he was also called Edom. 00:10:58.179 --> 00:11:01.299 Jacob replied, first, tell me your birthright. 00:11:01.299 --> 00:11:04.559 Look, I'm about to die, Esau said. 00:11:04.820 --> 00:11:06.440 What good is the birthright to me? 00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:08.879 But Jacob said, swear to me first. 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:12.279 So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. 00:11:12.820 --> 00:11:15.639 And Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:18.500 He ate and drank and then he got up and left. 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:21.299 So Esau despised his birthright. 00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:24.159 Just a quick little thought here. 00:11:24.279 --> 00:11:27.980 Jacob secures the double portion birthright that we talked about in the beginning. 00:11:28.820 --> 00:11:30.019 Should have been Esau's. 00:11:30.019 --> 00:11:33.710 I just explained how I'm a hungry man. 00:11:33.970 --> 00:11:37.909 I would have done a ton for that full rack of ribs. 00:11:39.129 --> 00:11:44.169 I'd like to say I would not been so hungry to give away a birthright, but that's the idea we're in. 00:11:44.309 --> 00:11:52.409 Coming home from such a famished time, the willingness to change anything and Jacob's willingness to get anything. 00:11:53.090 --> 00:11:59.769 There's something deeper going on with Esau than just hunger, but first let's see what happens to the second part, the blessing. 00:12:00.250 --> 00:12:00.990 This is a big one. 00:12:00.990 --> 00:12:02.269 It's gonna be on here. 00:12:02.370 --> 00:12:03.750 I don't know how well you can read it. 00:12:03.950 --> 00:12:09.429 It was tough to put 40 verses on two slides, but Genesis 27, verses one through 40. 00:12:09.429 --> 00:12:10.169 I'm gonna read it all. 00:12:10.649 --> 00:12:14.309 Once again, buckle in, get on your Bibles, read it with me here. 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:23.240 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau, his older son, and said to him, my son. 00:12:24.139 --> 00:12:25.100 Here I am, he answered. 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:30.539 Isaac said, I am now an old man and don't know the day of my death. 00:12:31.320 --> 00:12:36.700 Now then, get your equipment and your quiver and your bow and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. 00:12:37.539 --> 00:12:44.740 Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat so I may give you my blessing before I die. 00:12:45.799 --> 00:12:48.919 Now Rebecca was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. 00:12:49.759 --> 00:13:07.220 When Esau left for open country to hunt game and bring it back, Rebecca said to her son Jacob, look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, bring me some game, prepare me some tasty food to eat so I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die. 00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:10.879 Now my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you. 00:13:11.419 --> 00:13:19.539 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. 00:13:19.879 --> 00:13:24.500 Then take it to your father to eat so that he may give you his blessing before he dies. 00:13:25.820 --> 00:13:32.879 Jacob said to Rebecca, his mother, but my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin. 00:13:33.580 --> 00:13:35.100 What if my father touches me? 00:13:35.580 --> 00:13:40.860 I would appear to be tricking him and he would bring a curse on myself rather than a blessing. 00:13:41.659 --> 00:13:45.500 His mother said to him, my son, let the curse fall on me. 00:13:46.059 --> 00:13:48.799 Just do what I say, go and get it for me. 00:13:49.480 --> 00:13:55.259 So he went and got them, brought them to his mother and she prepared some tasty food just the way his father liked it. 00:13:55.659 --> 00:14:03.559 Then Rebecca took the best clothes of Esau, her older son, which she had in the house and put them on her younger son, Jacob. 00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:07.440 She also covered his hands and the smooth parts of his neck with goatskin. 00:14:07.779 --> 00:14:14.159 When she handed to her son, Jacob, the tasty food and the bread she had made, he went to his father and said, my father. 00:14:15.179 --> 00:14:16.799 Yes, my son, he answered, who is it? 00:14:17.980 --> 00:14:20.860 Jacob said to his father, I am Esau, your firstborn. 00:14:21.279 --> 00:14:22.480 I have done as you told me. 00:14:22.899 --> 00:14:24.379 Please sit up and eat some of my game. 00:14:24.820 --> 00:14:26.659 So you may give me your blessing. 00:14:27.659 --> 00:14:31.980 Isaac asked his son, how did you find it so quickly for me? 00:14:32.779 --> 00:14:34.799 The Lord gave me success, he replied. 00:14:35.539 --> 00:14:42.620 Then Isaac said to Jacob, come near so I could touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son, Esau or not. 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:54.080 Jacob went close to his father, Isaac, who touched him and said, the voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau. 00:14:54.740 --> 00:15:00.759 He did not recognize him for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau, so he proceeded to bless him. 00:15:01.620 --> 00:15:03.360 Are you really my son, Esau, he asked. 00:15:04.500 --> 00:15:05.539 I am, he replied. 00:15:06.279 --> 00:15:11.279 Then he said, my son, bring me some of your game to eat so I may give you my blessing. 00:15:12.419 --> 00:15:16.159 Jacob brought it to him and he ate and he brought some wine and he drank. 00:15:16.620 --> 00:15:19.480 Then his father, Isaac, said to him, come here, my son, and kiss me. 00:15:19.480 --> 00:15:21.340 So he went to him and kissed him. 00:15:21.559 --> 00:15:32.320 When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed. 00:15:33.559 --> 00:15:38.720 May God give you heaven's due and earth's richness and abundance of grain and new wine. 00:15:39.500 --> 00:15:42.720 May nations serve you and people bow down to you. 00:15:43.299 --> 00:15:47.860 Be Lord over your brothers and may the son of your mother bow down to you. 00:15:48.299 --> 00:15:52.580 May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed. 00:15:53.799 --> 00:16:01.279 After Isaac finished blessing him and Jacob had scarcely left his father's presence, his brother came in from hunting. 00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:05.519 He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. 00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:10.820 Then he said to him, my father, please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing. 00:16:11.320 --> 00:16:14.179 His father, Isaac, asked him, who are you? 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:16.480 I am your son, he answered. 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:17.659 Your firstborn, Esau. 00:16:18.259 --> 00:16:23.539 Isaac trembled violently and said, who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me? 00:16:23.860 --> 00:16:26.139 I ate it just before you came and I blessed him. 00:16:26.460 --> 00:16:28.240 And indeed he will be blessed. 00:16:30.350 --> 00:16:38.730 When Esau heard his father's word, he bursted out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, bless me too. 00:16:38.889 --> 00:16:40.070 Me too, my father. 00:16:41.149 --> 00:16:46.690 Esau said, but he said, your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing. 00:16:47.490 --> 00:16:50.009 Esau said, isn't he rightly named Jacob? 00:16:50.389 --> 00:16:52.750 This is the second time he has taken advantage of me. 00:16:52.950 --> 00:16:55.830 He took my birthright and now he's taking my blessing. 00:16:56.169 --> 00:16:59.490 Then he asked, haven't you reserved any blessing for me? 00:17:00.190 --> 00:17:08.068 Isaac answered Esau, I have made him Lord over and he made all his relatives and his servants and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. 00:17:08.269 --> 00:17:12.088 So what can I possibly do for you, my son? 00:17:13.150 --> 00:17:16.348 Esau said to his father, do you have only one blessing, my father? 00:17:16.608 --> 00:17:18.108 Bless me too, father. 00:17:19.348 --> 00:17:20.348 Then Esau wept aloud. 00:17:20.930 --> 00:17:27.750 His father, Isaac answered him, your dwelling will be away from earth's richestness, away from the dew of heaven above. 00:17:28.150 --> 00:17:31.109 You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. 00:17:31.809 --> 00:17:35.089 But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from your neck. 00:17:37.789 --> 00:17:39.089 There's a lot here. 00:17:42.470 --> 00:17:47.049 You can hear even from Isaac, the greatness of this promise. 00:17:47.829 --> 00:17:52.130 The promise that now is in Jacob's hands. 00:17:53.470 --> 00:17:58.049 It's so interesting because all five of the senses are mentioned in this account. 00:17:59.190 --> 00:18:07.390 Isaac hears the voice of Jacob, but he feels the goat skin of the hairy man who resembles Esau. 00:18:08.029 --> 00:18:13.829 He tastes the wild game that he loves that reminds him of Esau. 00:18:14.549 --> 00:18:17.250 And then when he brings Jacob in, what does he smell? 00:18:17.789 --> 00:18:19.289 Smells the clothes of Esau. 00:18:20.549 --> 00:18:25.910 The only sense missing in Isaac was the sight because he could not see. 00:18:26.730 --> 00:18:34.609 But God allows Isaac to see in a greater way and choose the son that he thinks he wants and Rebekah wants. 00:18:36.069 --> 00:18:41.029 Esau begs for a blessing through tears, but it really sounds more like a curse at the end. 00:18:43.190 --> 00:18:45.450 So Jacob takes the blessing and the birthright. 00:18:45.450 --> 00:18:53.109 And in doing so, he has jumped the line into what we know is the greatest promise any man has ever received. 00:18:53.950 --> 00:19:01.049 A promise from God himself to save the whole world through your family, through your line. 00:19:03.250 --> 00:19:04.369 So much to take in. 00:19:05.170 --> 00:19:07.710 So what are we to take from these accounts? 00:19:08.690 --> 00:19:14.970 It's interesting that both of the blessings and the birthrights are taken by trickery and they're revolved around food. 00:19:15.750 --> 00:19:18.829 Once again, not much is new around the son. 00:19:18.930 --> 00:19:23.430 How many things do we do for hunger of any type? 00:19:24.930 --> 00:19:37.450 Something important here, the wrong takeaway would be to look at Jacob and imitate Jacob by exactly what his actions were. 00:19:38.349 --> 00:19:40.529 Jacob was a man of trickery. 00:19:40.809 --> 00:19:41.930 It's in his name. 00:19:42.829 --> 00:19:44.049 He's a deceitful person. 00:19:44.049 --> 00:19:46.990 This is a descriptive text. 00:19:47.230 --> 00:19:49.490 It's not a prescriptive text. 00:19:50.269 --> 00:19:51.990 Is God condoning cheating? 00:19:52.829 --> 00:19:53.309 No. 00:19:54.049 --> 00:20:01.009 We have to be careful not to moralize this story and use it word for word what we're supposed to do. 00:20:01.970 --> 00:20:08.910 There is a moral to this story, but we need to look in the New Testament book of Hebrews to see it more fully. 00:20:09.049 --> 00:20:10.990 I don't know if it's on here, but you can... 00:20:10.990 --> 00:20:11.410 Oh, it is. 00:20:11.410 --> 00:20:11.829 There we go. 00:20:13.670 --> 00:20:14.690 Who's in the wrong? 00:20:14.910 --> 00:20:17.529 Hebrews 12, verses 15 through 17. 00:20:19.539 --> 00:20:26.039 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 00:20:26.920 --> 00:20:36.859 See that no one is sexually immoral or godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance right as the oldest son. 00:20:37.640 --> 00:20:41.799 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. 00:20:41.799 --> 00:20:45.779 Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done. 00:20:47.769 --> 00:20:53.170 You're gonna find out real soon, Esau's catching a lot of straight bullets in the New Testament. 00:20:54.289 --> 00:20:58.029 You know, Esau is called unholy, immoral, and ungodly. 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:06.619 From what I read, in my mind, my instinctual mind, I'm like, yeah, what Esau did was certainly rash. 00:21:07.059 --> 00:21:10.200 It was extremely foolish, but unholy? 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:11.960 Godlessness? 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:14.140 These are serious accusations. 00:21:15.900 --> 00:21:17.740 And we can look at it this way. 00:21:18.380 --> 00:21:19.640 Let me go to the next slide with this. 00:21:20.859 --> 00:21:24.779 Part of holiness is honoring the greatness of God. 00:21:25.579 --> 00:21:28.640 It's understanding that God is a completely different level. 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:35.119 And then treating God and the things of God like they deserve to be treated is essential for holiness. 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:37.900 These things are not mundane. 00:21:39.500 --> 00:21:46.539 Like we're gonna get into in a few weeks, when God talks to Moses through the burning bush, he says, this ground is holy. 00:21:46.839 --> 00:21:48.039 Take off your sandals. 00:21:48.599 --> 00:21:49.599 It's special. 00:21:50.059 --> 00:21:51.220 It's set apart. 00:21:52.720 --> 00:22:04.380 And we might think that holy means kind of reverent songs, or these rituals, or just kind of these things that we do in our silence, and our trying to be like reverent. 00:22:04.819 --> 00:22:12.579 But it just means that we need to recognize the holy and treat it differently than we treat anything else. 00:22:12.579 --> 00:22:17.779 Put it in its place, which is way, way greater than anything in our place. 00:22:18.500 --> 00:22:19.640 Holy means set apart. 00:22:20.140 --> 00:22:24.549 And we saw glimpses of this in the cutting of the covenant in Genesis 15. 00:22:26.920 --> 00:22:28.400 So think of that. 00:22:28.900 --> 00:22:30.420 Think of what the Hebrew writer says. 00:22:31.059 --> 00:22:36.140 The Hebrew writer accuses of Esau of not understanding this greatness of the promise. 00:22:36.619 --> 00:22:41.160 Or maybe even worse, Esau knew and didn't care. 00:22:42.970 --> 00:22:48.730 This is the promise that has to go through one line and will ultimately result in all nations being blessed. 00:22:48.950 --> 00:22:57.569 This is the line that salvation runs through, that the future of our world depends on, that the only reason that we are in this room, this is the promise. 00:22:57.710 --> 00:23:00.490 It's the most important thing that has ever happened. 00:23:02.369 --> 00:23:03.609 And Esau gave it up for soup. 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:20.460 God uses the second round of trickery to make sure the blessing wouldn't run through this man who refused to understand how great his blessing was, or even didn't care enough to take it seriously. 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:25.180 We can look at this and shake our heads at Esau. 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:26.619 We got great hindsight. 00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:30.220 This is one of an all-time great mistakes. 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:33.160 But we shouldn't be so quick to judge Esau. 00:23:34.059 --> 00:23:41.019 The Hebrew writer is calling us to examine if we haven't become unholy or godlessness ourselves. 00:23:42.099 --> 00:23:45.380 And we would be wise to examine Jacob's ambition. 00:23:46.059 --> 00:23:50.079 We shouldn't be more aggressive about receiving God's promise in our lives like he was. 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:56.299 You know, interestingly, Jacob is the star of Genesis. 00:23:57.980 --> 00:24:00.500 Genesis has some big names, right? 00:24:00.599 --> 00:24:02.339 We've covered Adam and Eve. 00:24:02.539 --> 00:24:03.480 We covered Noah. 00:24:04.259 --> 00:24:05.539 We covered Abraham and Sarah. 00:24:05.960 --> 00:24:07.019 Just covered Isaac. 00:24:07.799 --> 00:24:13.220 And later on, we'll be covering Joseph in the awesome technicolor dream coat that that man has. 00:24:14.359 --> 00:24:16.940 You know, Jacob is in half of the chapters. 00:24:17.400 --> 00:24:19.140 More air time than anyone else. 00:24:19.460 --> 00:24:21.579 He got a good slot for the evening show. 00:24:22.299 --> 00:24:26.440 Next week, we'll see how Jacob wrestles with God, and he is renamed Israel. 00:24:27.380 --> 00:24:36.059 Yes, these people who are going to become a blessing to the whole earth through Abraham's promise are named after Jacob. 00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:37.619 This is the second part. 00:24:37.619 --> 00:24:45.309 The Bible has quite a bit to say about this. 00:24:46.309 --> 00:24:49.789 Malachi begins his prophecy with this, and Paul even quotes it in Romans. 00:24:50.109 --> 00:24:52.990 It's not on here, but I'll have these two verses. 00:24:53.150 --> 00:24:53.809 I'll say them out loud. 00:24:54.410 --> 00:24:55.829 They both go around this. 00:24:55.890 --> 00:24:56.869 I have loved Jacob. 00:24:57.529 --> 00:25:00.869 I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated. 00:25:01.470 --> 00:25:05.170 It's in Malachi 1, verses two through three in Romans 9, 13. 00:25:06.009 --> 00:25:09.369 Malachi 1, verses two and three, Romans 9, verse 13. 00:25:10.910 --> 00:25:13.829 Once again, Esau's getting dragged through the mud. 00:25:14.470 --> 00:25:18.910 Why such a strong reaction, even from God himself regarding these two brothers? 00:25:20.349 --> 00:25:24.890 Could it be that Jacob understood just how important and amazing the promise of God was? 00:25:27.269 --> 00:25:30.150 He would do anything to get it and live in it. 00:25:31.430 --> 00:25:35.690 To raise his family, the next generation, with the greatest promise in the world. 00:25:36.529 --> 00:25:42.109 A promise that should have been available, except God initiated with his grandfather, Abraham. 00:25:43.529 --> 00:25:47.529 Jacob, for all intents and purposes, he believed the promise. 00:25:48.450 --> 00:26:02.710 He gave it the right value, and knew that he had to have it, even if it meant living up to his name, being a trickster, being someone who isn't looked at with great esteemed value in his family. 00:26:03.769 --> 00:26:04.809 Except for Rebecca. 00:26:04.910 --> 00:26:06.049 Rebecca loved her son. 00:26:06.049 --> 00:26:08.309 But he did. 00:26:08.390 --> 00:26:09.329 He gave it the right value. 00:26:11.650 --> 00:26:13.690 Esau had a worldly hunger. 00:26:14.890 --> 00:26:15.970 Jacob had a different hunger. 00:26:16.470 --> 00:26:18.650 A hunger to seek out God's promise. 00:26:20.329 --> 00:26:22.650 There's something about a hunger that isn't physical. 00:26:23.769 --> 00:26:25.230 Something that drives you. 00:26:25.690 --> 00:26:29.910 Something that is so stronger than anything that the world can offer. 00:26:30.430 --> 00:26:34.009 And that's something that Jacob would have done no matter what. 00:26:35.210 --> 00:26:36.829 Esau hungered for bean soup. 00:26:39.779 --> 00:26:41.019 What are you hungry for? 00:26:43.680 --> 00:26:45.140 Jacob, I loved. 00:26:45.480 --> 00:26:47.240 But Esau, I hated. 00:26:48.299 --> 00:26:51.079 There's an obvious application here. 00:26:52.200 --> 00:26:55.680 Jacob was hungry for the promise, and he didn't even know how it was gonna work out. 00:26:56.119 --> 00:26:57.700 It's only Genesis 26. 00:26:57.819 --> 00:26:59.319 There's a lot of Bible left to go. 00:26:59.980 --> 00:27:01.019 What faith? 00:27:01.660 --> 00:27:02.339 And here we are. 00:27:02.500 --> 00:27:03.819 Old and New Testament complete. 00:27:04.119 --> 00:27:06.119 We can see the big picture of Jacob's blessing. 00:27:06.420 --> 00:27:06.619 Amen? 00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:09.940 We get to read the story of Jesus's death, his sacrifice. 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:11.880 The first church being put. 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:12.420 Acts. 00:27:12.759 --> 00:27:13.920 Everything that has fallen in. 00:27:14.039 --> 00:27:15.359 Everybody here that studied the Bible. 00:27:15.460 --> 00:27:20.380 We are the living embodiment of the promise lived out. 00:27:21.859 --> 00:27:27.420 But he became the nation of Israel because he had a hunger deeper than Esau's. 00:27:28.440 --> 00:27:30.799 John tells us how the promise was fulfilled in Jesus. 00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:32.339 John 1, 12 through 13. 00:27:32.920 --> 00:27:38.299 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. 00:27:38.299 --> 00:27:43.059 Children born out of natural descent, nor of human descent, or of a husband's will, but born of God. 00:27:43.720 --> 00:27:47.740 Because of God's plan to fulfill his promise, we can now become children of that promise. 00:27:48.259 --> 00:27:49.680 We inherit the blessing. 00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:54.740 We inherit the birthright to be called sons and daughters of God. 00:27:55.279 --> 00:27:59.160 Not through a bloodline or human blessing, but through our faith. 00:27:59.480 --> 00:28:03.200 And the faith that we have that Jesus is bigger than anything in this world. 00:28:05.529 --> 00:28:06.809 We can look at all of that. 00:28:07.589 --> 00:28:10.390 I'm gonna take this question again and add a few more to it. 00:28:10.829 --> 00:28:12.309 What are you hungry for? 00:28:13.869 --> 00:28:15.589 Which son are you more like? 00:28:16.849 --> 00:28:18.470 What promises are you living for? 00:28:18.849 --> 00:28:21.230 What blessings are your heart going after? 00:28:21.829 --> 00:28:29.109 Do you yearn for a holy blessing or a quick fix to your hunger? 00:28:33.880 --> 00:28:36.700 We're more not like Esau a lot of times. 00:28:37.660 --> 00:28:39.440 We love just the simple soup. 00:28:39.960 --> 00:28:47.180 I can sit here and I'll be first in line and be like, yeah, I am kind of the, where's my soup? 00:28:47.240 --> 00:28:47.839 Just give it to me. 00:28:47.859 --> 00:28:48.299 I don't care. 00:28:48.539 --> 00:28:49.519 Like, give me, right? 00:28:50.759 --> 00:28:52.700 But we can look at this in a lot of ways. 00:28:52.779 --> 00:29:02.500 Obviously, maybe not in a straight like hunger for the literal sense of food, but how many things going back to the holiness do we see as just as holy as God? 00:29:03.359 --> 00:29:09.599 Think about the little things like a job that takes over a Sunday, right? 00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:16.519 Or a job that takes over just your life in general, especially in college. 00:29:16.680 --> 00:29:17.500 I did this too. 00:29:17.720 --> 00:29:20.380 I did this my first summer when I was working construction. 00:29:20.779 --> 00:29:22.259 I was like, I can't have my quiet times in the morning. 00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:24.440 I gotta wake up at 4.30 to get this done. 00:29:24.599 --> 00:29:26.240 And I just don't know if I'm gonna do that. 00:29:26.299 --> 00:29:27.180 I gotta get my sleep, right? 00:29:27.299 --> 00:29:30.619 Like I was taking this job or this money I was making it. 00:29:30.700 --> 00:29:33.759 It was just as holy as my quiet time, right? 00:29:33.920 --> 00:29:36.160 That's what my action showed, right? 00:29:36.420 --> 00:29:44.519 The slightest inconveniences can cause us to miss our quiet times that day or something like a small group meeting or church even. 00:29:45.700 --> 00:29:53.380 Haven't shared our faith in months because we just don't remember how good it is to fulfill that promise and share that promise. 00:29:55.220 --> 00:29:58.619 We may not despise the blessing sometimes. 00:29:59.119 --> 00:30:02.519 We definitely don't give it the holiness that it deserves. 00:30:04.160 --> 00:30:08.759 And if we don't, what will happen is we're gonna be very much like Esau. 00:30:08.759 --> 00:30:11.640 When we want the blessing, it's already been taken. 00:30:11.779 --> 00:30:13.700 And then we come to it like, well, why isn't the blessing to me? 00:30:13.759 --> 00:30:14.720 Why did God do this? 00:30:14.920 --> 00:30:16.339 Or why am I not being blessed? 00:30:16.460 --> 00:30:18.720 Because you didn't reserve it as holy in the first place. 00:30:23.720 --> 00:30:27.700 We've only just begun the biblical story. 00:30:28.200 --> 00:30:30.019 This journey through the thread. 00:30:30.519 --> 00:30:35.440 But we're already picking up on so many powerful themes and we're gonna end with this idea. 00:30:37.180 --> 00:30:39.599 One such theme is that of covering. 00:30:41.160 --> 00:30:45.559 Adam and Eve try to cover themselves after their sin exposes them. 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:52.180 Even as they're being punished, God graciously makes a covering for them out of animal skin. 00:30:53.019 --> 00:30:55.400 It's technically the first sacrifice in the Bible. 00:30:55.980 --> 00:30:58.259 And it's from God to his people. 00:30:59.420 --> 00:31:07.700 And now we see it again, Rebekah covering Jacob in animal skin so he'll be rough and hairy like Esau so he can secure the blessing. 00:31:08.799 --> 00:31:09.579 It's not fair. 00:31:09.599 --> 00:31:10.279 It's not fair to Esau. 00:31:11.140 --> 00:31:14.920 When Esau hears about the covering up, he cries loud and begs his father. 00:31:15.740 --> 00:31:18.720 And when we read it, we think this isn't fair. 00:31:20.119 --> 00:31:21.619 Well, this theme continues. 00:31:22.900 --> 00:31:26.700 Right, it's gonna be something that we see over and over and over again. 00:31:26.859 --> 00:31:28.279 It goes all the way through Jesus. 00:31:29.000 --> 00:31:30.259 That's the great cover up. 00:31:30.759 --> 00:31:32.019 And it's so unfair. 00:31:33.059 --> 00:31:37.420 Have you even considered just how unfair Jesus covering you up is? 00:31:38.150 --> 00:31:38.420 Right? 00:31:38.420 --> 00:31:40.819 Jesus has covered up our sin on the cross. 00:31:40.940 --> 00:31:42.539 Become the Lamb of God. 00:31:42.720 --> 00:31:43.980 It's not fair. 00:31:44.299 --> 00:31:45.839 He didn't deserve the cross. 00:31:46.680 --> 00:31:48.420 We don't deserve such a great sacrifice. 00:31:49.940 --> 00:31:54.259 You see, God doesn't just switch firstborn Esau to bless Jacob. 00:31:54.720 --> 00:31:56.259 He makes us the new Israel. 00:31:57.440 --> 00:31:59.140 He does it because he loves us. 00:31:59.740 --> 00:32:05.940 He's covering our sin, allowing us to switch places to be his firstborn. 00:32:07.240 --> 00:32:10.140 We are living in the greatest cover up the world has ever seen. 00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:14.519 We've been inserted into an unbelievable and undeserved promise. 00:32:15.400 --> 00:32:16.779 It's all the biggest thing. 00:32:16.819 --> 00:32:20.400 It's all the biggest thing that's ever happened in our world. 00:32:20.900 --> 00:32:27.279 We've been given a birthright and a blessing because of the sacrifice of Jesus. 00:32:27.740 --> 00:32:35.559 And we get to remember it every time that we come into church, that we read our Bible, that we just make God holy. 00:32:35.559 --> 00:32:36.799 Let us pray. 00:32:38.119 --> 00:32:58.079 Dear God, I am so grateful that in our unique human nature, through someone like Esau who was just stubbornly hungry, just didn't care, and through someone who was a trickster, you saw ways to use your promise to give us your Son. 00:32:58.559 --> 00:33:07.619 You used our human nature, the way we are, some of our faults, some of our failings to make sure that we're covered in all of our sin. 00:33:08.059 --> 00:33:09.579 I'm so grateful for that, God. 00:33:09.980 --> 00:33:17.079 I'm grateful that you showed us great people like Jacob who had a deep hunger for your word. 00:33:17.359 --> 00:33:18.819 God, let us have a hunger. 00:33:19.740 --> 00:33:21.559 Personally and as a church. 00:33:21.779 --> 00:33:28.140 As a church, we should hunger to love people in a way that we maybe haven't before or even just to make it stronger. 00:33:28.579 --> 00:33:33.059 Personally, hunger for great quiet times to get closer to you, God. 00:33:33.059 --> 00:33:36.200 Hunger to invest in His people and to the church. 00:33:36.880 --> 00:33:39.599 Just have a hunger to make everything that you are holy. 00:33:40.500 --> 00:33:42.180 We love you and praise you in your name. 00:33:42.680 --> 00:33:42.900 Amen. 00:33:43.579 --> 00:33:44.940 All right, that is church. 00:33:45.140 --> 00:33:48.900 Please go pick up your kids because they're probably hungry and want some food. 00:33:49.799 --> 00:33:53.920 Thank you so much for listening to the Kalamazoo Church of Christ podcast. 00:33:54.299 --> 00:33:57.559 If you're in the Kalamazoo area, we'd love to get connected. 00:33:57.839 --> 00:34:05.220 Please go to kalamazoo.church and fill in your information to come to a Sunday service or any other event that we have going on. 00:34:05.440 --> 00:34:07.839 In any case, you'll be hearing from us next week. 00:34:07.960 --> 00:34:08.280 Come on. 00:34:20.650 --> 00:34:22.130 Too busy saving souls.