Sermons

Genesis 25 - Would You Prefer Promises or Stew?

July 22, 2012 Speaker: Series: Genesis

Topic: Sunday Worship Passage: Genesis 25:1–25:34

[Text: Gen. 25)

Scripture Intro: Chapter 25 is a chapter full of opposites: earthly gifts vs. heavenly promises, princes of earth vs. children of heaven, dad’s favorite vs. mom’s favorite, hunger for stew vs. hunger for a better inheritance, the natural order of things vs. God’s order. The point is two-fold; to teach the people of God about the LORD’s power to choose and to push them to make a choice for themselves.

[Read and pray]

Genesis 25 is a transitional chapter – closing the section begun in Genesis 11 with the toledot (genealogy) of Terah and opening the toledot of Isaac. Abraham’s part of the Story of Redemption has come to an end and Moses gives us an epilogue of sorts to complete the account before he moves on to Isaac and his family.

It’s tempting to breeze through such a section, but to do that would mean missing something we were prepared for back in Genesis 3. There God told the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.” We’ve focused a lot on the promise connected to the Offspring (singular) of the woman, that is, Jesus, who has conquered over Satan through His death and resurrection and won forgiveness and life for rebels like us. What we haven’t spent as much time on is the reality that there are two offspring in view in Genesis 3; the Offspring of the woman (who is one with those who are joined to him by faith) and the offspring of the serpent who ultimately stand in opposition to Jesus – never even desiring to submit to the Kingship of God.

So, Genesis 3 (and the rest of Scripture) tells us that in this world there will always be two families in opposition, two kingdoms at war, two kinds of people – those born of God and united to Christ by faith and those belonging to the family of Satan who remain under the wrath and judgment of God because of their rebellion.

Genesis 25 illustrates that reality in a cascade of opposites. What it shows is the direction of two human families – two opposite trajectories – and the difference between the two families is not good vs. evil, hard work vs. laziness, or any human difference at all. The difference is that one family has been left in their natural state after the Fall and the other has been given grace simply out of God’s good pleasure.

Here’s the problem for you and me. By our sinful nature, we belong to the wrong family. By nature I’m the wrong brother in the story we’re about to explore. By nature, you and I both need the transforming grace of God to bring us out of the family of the serpent and into the family of God.

The hope this passage gives to disobedient children like us is that there is a God in heaven who does what pleases Him and it pleases Him to have mercy on us by adopting us, at great cost to himself, to bring us into His family.

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The contrasting of two families is throughout the passage. Look at the details of the opening. After Sarah died, Abraham took another wife and (amazingly) had six more children! But v. 5-6 tells us that Abraham did not give his sons all the same thing. To the sons of his concubines (likely a technical term, which is in the plural since it likely refers to both Keturah and Hagar) he gave gifts…and sent them away. But to Isaac he gave all he had. Abraham isn’t playing favorites. From chapter 21 we know that Abraham loved his sons, not just Isaac. But Abraham was being obedient to God’s promise that all the blessings that were given to him would go to Isaac since God said, “through Isaac shall your offspring be named,” that is, through Isaac the promised redemption of the earth from sin and rebellion would come. When it says Abraham “gave all he had to Isaac,” some limit it to mean all his earthly possessions. But limiting to that would be to downplay the difference between the gifts. It would simply mean that Isaac got more of the same thing his brothers received. But Isaac did not only receive earthly blessing. His inheritance was of another sort, a heavenly sort, as he received all the promises of God that had belonged to his father, Abraham. This transfer of blessing is confirmed in v. 11 when, after Abraham dies and is buried with Sarah by Isaac and Ishmael, the text says, “God blessed Isaac….” And as Abraham’s spiritual heir, we’ll see, as the Story continues, Isaac embracing the promises given to him by God’s grace.

In that same picture, however, is Abraham’s other son, Ishmael. Just as soon as the blessing of God is confirmed to be on Isaac, the text tells us about Ishmael’s family and the different kind of blessing that God gave to him. Back in chapters 16, 17 and 21, God promised that Ishmael would become a great nation, too. Chapter 17 promises specifically what comes about in chapter 25 – Ishmael will be the father of twelve princes, but twelve princes who settle and live in opposition of their kinsmen as v. 18 tells us.

There is blessing for all the children of Abraham, but the differences in the blessing given reflects the reality that there are two families being contrasted here. For the natural children, the blessing is only earthly, temporal and will not last. The blessings they enjoy are real and important – family, love, even security - end at death. But for the children of God’s promise, chosen by God himself, the blessing has implications for life on earth but find their fullness after death and are eternal. The gift of faith in God – that comes from God and through which the righteousness of God is given to believers – is a lasting blessing. That is what Isaac is given.

So the first half of Genesis 25 deals with the differences between two families, so to speak; the spiritual family of Abraham, brought into the world by the power and choice of God, and the natural family of Abraham, brought into the world by the will of a man. But what we see is that the pattern of contrast continues through the rest of the chapter, too, even between the sons of Isaac. Both of Isaac’s sons, humanly speaking, could have inherited the heavenly blessings of Abraham, especially the older son because of the culture of the day. But so that the purposes and choice of God might stand and it be proved that redemption doesn’t depend on human effort or will, God chooses one of Isaac’s boys, the younger one, to receive all the blessing God can give. But it happened in such a way as the older son could not blame God. His actions were his own and revealed him to be, by nature, a member of the wrong family.

In v. 19, the toledot of Isaac opens and the reader’s attention is directed toward Isaac’s family. In v. 21, the text tells us that the gift of faith is at work in Isaac as he knows where to go when life isn’t the way it is supposed to be in this world broken by sin. How long did he pray for his wife? He was forty when they married and v. 26 tells us he was sixty when the boys were born. Did he pray for 20 years? Did he think, “Why us? Will we be childless as long as my parents were?” We don’t know exactly, but we know that the LORD heard him, granted Isaac’s prayer and Rebekah conceived.

But there was opposition between the sons even in the womb as the boys struggled within her. Rebekah knew what to do, too, as she asks the LORD what all this means. And God answered her.

“Two nations are in your womb,

And two peoples from within you shall be divided;

the one shall be stronger than the other,

the older shall serve the younger.”

“Two” again. Opposition. Division. Two nations. Two families. Two directions. Two outcomes. The only difference is grace that turns what is natural on its head.

When the boys were born, they couldn’t be more different. The first, Esau, was born in a sweater of hair. The younger got a name that means “he cheats” because he came out holding his brother’s heel (which was how that culture depicted deception). The grown boys couldn’t be more different, either. Esau was everything his father wanted – a hunter, an outdoorsman, who was apparently amazing with a grill. But Jacob was his mother’s favorite as he preferred the quiet home-life.

The difference between the brothers came out one day, v. 29 tells us. Jacob and Esau were just their normal selves one day – Jacob in the house cooking and Esau in the field. Esau asks for some red stew (which because of its significance in the story earned him a not-so-great nick-name which meant “Red”- an eternal reminder of his choice). Jacob says, “Sure. You can have some…if I can have your birthright.” Jacob, we can be fairly certain, knew about God’s promise regarding him, that, even though he was the younger brother, God was going to bless him instead of Esau in a reversal of the natural order of things. And to have the birthright would be to possess fully all the blessings of Abraham that had been passed down to Isaac. We’re talking about earthly blessing and heavenly blessing, abundant grace and forgiveness and intimacy with God. We’re talking about being the means through which blessing would come to all the families of the earth! There is nothing better in the entire world than to be the recipient of this grace from God through the birthright!

But what does Esau do? He thinks, “What use is a birthright to a dead man?” He doesn’t understand that the grace of God can make dead men alive. So, he sells his blessing for a bowl of stew, swearing to give it to Jacob, eats and then walks away as if it meant nothing. He prefers stew to the promises of redemption.

Don’t get me wrong. We, nor the original audience, can commend Jacob for how he dealt with his older brother. He certainly lived up (and will continue to live up) to his name as a cheater. But can we at least commend him for his recognition that this blessing from God was something worth having? It meant everything to him and, even though he should have waited until God gave it to him in God’s timing, he desired it earnestly!

But what we see in Esau’s heart is that it was truly only a matter of time before the birthright was Jacob’s anyway. V. 34 tells us that this event showed how Esau despised the promises that could have been his and in doing so showed himself to be of a different family than God’s. Yes, God had promised the blessing to Jacob, but here we see that Esau what quite fine with that arrangement. That’s because Esau’s family was a natural one and, like every human apart from grace, stood in opposition to the family of God, willingly remaining under the curse of sin in rebellion against God rather than being redeemed from it by grace. Like sinful Adam choosing fruit over intimacy with his Maker, Esau preferred stew to God’s promise. That’s the absurdity of sin on display.

This all gave me pause when I realized it. Stew against promises. Would I have really made that same choice? Do I make that same choice today? Yes, because apart from God’s grace my nature is the same as Esau’s. I sin because I’m a sinner. It’s what I do. Apart from grace, if I have a choice, I’m going to choose sin every time.

And so we’re back to the problem with which we started. By nature, we belong to the wrong family. By nature I’m definitely more “Esau.”

What’s more, this isn’t about “being an Esau” vs. “being a Jacob.” The text is making it clear that Jacob, through his actions, actually shows how unworthy he is of the promises and blessing of God! His actions line up more with the family of the serpent than the family of God! That’s the nature of sin. Because of our sin we belong to the wrong family. We want the wrong things. By nature I’m content with stew when there are eternal promises to be had!

The Scriptures of the New Testament speak into that reality as it contrasts what we are by nature with what we are by God’s grace in Christ. Ephesians 2 says,

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked ... [W]e all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

(Ephesians 2:1-3)

“…were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” So by nature we are in opposition to God – rebellious children who’s settling for mere earthly joy, comfort, security and pleasures deserve nothing but the swift and full justice of God. But Jesus takes what is natural and transforms it, transforms us – not merely our behavior (obviously, because we sometimes fall back into our sinful choices) but Jesus transforms our identity, our nature. His grace takes us out of our old family and puts us into a new one – the family of God – because in the Gospel Jesus becomes our brother. That’s why Paul goes on in Ephesians 2 to essentially say (and I’m paraphrasing some of it),

“Look, you remember that at one time you didn’t have any place in the family of God. You weren’t in a relationship with God, you weren’t in community with His people and you didn’t even have any of the promises of God to hold on to for hope. In this world you had nothing because you didn’t have God as your Father. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by taking salvation through human effort out of the picture for you, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God...”

(Ephesians 2:11-19, partially paraphrased)

By resting in Jesus and receiving him as our only hope, God takes people like you and me who “were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind “and turns us into children of God to become “members of the household of God….” The grace of Jesus makes us sons and daughters of God because the hostility between us and God, caused by our sin and rebellion, fell in full force on Christ’s shoulders on the cross in thick, deep darkness. Like the completely faithful, always loving older brother each of us longs for, our brother, Jesus, endured the wrath that belonged to children of wrath and satisfied divine justice, giving him the right to claim us for himself and unite us to himself. And he does claim us and unite us to himself. He does it through giving us a beautiful gift that you should not despise. The gift of faith is a grace that God gives us in Christ through His Spirit and is the only way of salvation out of our old nature and family.

So what about you? If you haven’t yet rested in Jesus, you have to understand by now that none of us deserve to be brought into the family of God but each of us needs to be brought into the family of God. The hope of us natural children of wrath is that Jesus has made a way for us to be part of a family, truly and forever, a family of peace and acceptance and newness and forgiveness and unconditional love. Would you despise such a gift? Consider this text to warn you of such an act! Despising Christ through love of stew or pleasure or wealth (or even a self-righteous hope of salvation through right doctrine) is rebellion that leads to death. There are only two families on this earth, only two offspring; those who are joined to Christ by faith and belong to the family of God and those who belong to a different master bound for eternity apart from the presence of God…and wouldn’t have it any other way.

But if you have set your hope in Christ as your faithful Savior, this passage is an encouragement to you that your older brother’s work, the work of the Sovereign God Himself, is what has brought you into a new family – you are a child of the King now! And if that’s true, then it changes things.

First, it challenges us to consider – and repent – of the ways in which we still favor our stew over God. Just because I belong to a new family, doesn’t mean I’ve lost all my old ways. The Scriptures talk about our old and new as “flesh vs. Spirit,” where our sin nature is at war against the Spirit of God that He sets in the hearts of those who rest in Christ. We repent and continue believing that Jesus is enough for us and has covered over our sins.

Thinking about repentance, where do you favor the things of this world over the promises of God in Christ? In your finances? Do you prefer the control or security or comfort money affords? Jesus did not come to control or manipulate our giving but to free it. What would it look like to repent of worshiping a useful and good thing like money and instead use it in line with the new nature given to you by grace?

Perhaps your “stew” is prestige or honor or simply being well-liked by other co-workers or neighborhood moms. Maybe it’s preferring your independence to living in dependence on Christ. There are so many ways in which we can choose the earthly (even the good things in this world) over the promises of God in Christ. But take heart that God knows our sin and weakness and has covered over it all in Christ. Your salvation is secure because it doesn’t depend on you, but on your God who says, “…I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”  (Romans 9:15 ESV)

But this work of God in Jesus, this transformation from one family into another – out of darkness and into light – means something else. It means that we are free to act like members of a new family, not just avoiding the things of the old family, but taking up the new and joyfully submitting to another work of God in which He shapes us and molds us into the image of our older brother, Jesus. We take on a new family likeness, so to speak, as we do the works our Father prepared ahead of time for us to do.

It means, like Jacob will learn after a long time, that “loving our neighbor as ourselves” is actually a blessed thing and not a drudgery. Don’t get me wrong! It can be really hard. But really hard and really good often go together, do they not?

There’s one last contrast I want us to see, one last difference between the natural and the spiritual, the family of the serpent and the family of God in Christ. It has to do with what is lasting. Esau’s choice was immediate and fleeting. He ate, walked away and, I’m fairly certain, was hungry again after a few hours. His hunger was assuaged immediately but only temporarily. What about Jacob? Even though he didn’t deserve what he was given - the blessing of the birthright and the promises that would be attached to it – what he was given lasted forever. In Bunyan’s work, Pilgrim’s Progress, he says it beautifully, “That which is last, lasts forever…”

In Christ there is the hope of an eternal home, a forever family, an unbreakable adoption, a permanent transition, everlasting peace as you are so secure in him that the old nature has no lasting fight in it that can endure the resurrection God intends for His children when Christ returns. The victorious Offspring has brought you into his family and united you to himself. You aren’t who you used to be. The old has gone. The new has come in Christ.

Varina Sized

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