WEBVTT

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Good morning. How are y 'all doing today? Amen.

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Today is our baptism day. I'm so excited to be

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able to share this with, I mean, as a church,

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to share it with those of you that are getting

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baptized today. But if you didn't sign up to

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get baptized today, in between now and the time

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we invite you all up, the Lord tells you, you

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need to get baptized today. I just want you to

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know you can do that. We have clothes in the

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back you can change into, and so don't let the

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Lord dissuade you if he's leading you to do that.

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But I am Pastor Nathan, and I just want to say

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welcome to everybody that is joining us here

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for the first time today. Or if you're joining

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us online for the first time, we just want to

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say welcome. We're so glad you're here to worship

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with us here at Hosanna. And so today we're going

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to be talking about something that none of us

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have ever experienced, okay? It's called family

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drama. Nobody's experienced that, right? Yeah,

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we have all experienced family drama in one way

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or the other. Every family has it. It's practically

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a rite of passage to be alive in this world.

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And one of the most common versions of family

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drama is sibling rivalry. Growing up, me and

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my brother Norman, we were experts in sibling

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rivalry. We fought over toys. We fought over

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the Nintendo. When mom and dad were gone, we

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shot each other with the BB guns across the hallway.

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And then the parents would come home and go,

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why are they BB? embedded in your bedroom door

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and we'd be like, they just happened to show

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up there, you know? When I was a teenager, my

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best friend Dan and I were very much into wrestling

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and there was a wrestler at that time named the

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Ultimate Warrior. And so again, when mom and

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dad would leave, we would take all the pillows

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and mattresses and couch cushions of the house

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and cover the floor with them and then make my

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brother and his friends be our opponents. And

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a whole lot of fun for us. Not so much for him,

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but... You know, our rivalry would just go on

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and on and on, and my brother had a temper. We

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called him Stormin Norman because he would lose

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it, right? And he came after me at times with

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the dog chain, just swinging that thing around.

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He came at me with a hammer a couple times, and,

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you know, maybe there was a couple times he came

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at me with a knife. And so good news, he's not

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a serial killer, okay? He is actually a pastor

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now. And so we're very blessed at what God does

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in people's lives through just the power of Jesus

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Christ. But the Bible, you know, this book we

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have that is God's word to us, it doesn't hold

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back on stories of family drama within the families

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of those that are his people. You know, as we've

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gone through Genesis, we've looked at Abraham's

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life. And, you know, we started with the family

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drama with Adam and Eve and came. and Abel. And

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then we get to Abraham, and you have the drama

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with Sarah and Hagar. And then there was the

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drama between Ishmael and Isaac. And then as

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you go through the Old Testament, you get things

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like King David and all of his sons and family

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was just a mess. You get to King Solomon, right?

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And his life is an episode of Real Housewives

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of Jerusalem. It's just nuts, you know, the drama

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that you see throughout the families of God's

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people. But one of the... most well -known or

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likely most well -known stories of family drama

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and sibling rivalry is the story of Jacob and

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Esau. It is a long story that takes place through

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many chapters of Genesis, and really, it's a

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snapshot of Isaac's family life. And if we were

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to summarize that whole life, we would say Isaac's

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family life is a textbook on how not to do family.

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But beneath all of the drama and the dysfunction

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is a bigger story. It's a story of God's unrelenting

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plan to sanctify his people, even through their

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dysfunction and their deception and their drama.

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It's also a story about how despite our weaknesses

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and our failures and our selfish actions that

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we could take at times, God does not and will

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never quit calling us back to his will. He will

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never stop bringing what he started in our lives

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to completion, as the Bible tells us. And that

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is an incredible hope. It's not a license to

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be dramatic. It's not a license to cause drama,

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of course. But the hope of knowing that when

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we mess it up royally, when we just do everything

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wrong, God's will, God's promises are gonna come

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true because they're not based on us. See, one

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of the most hopeful verses in all of scripture

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is found in 2 Timothy 2 .13, and it says this.

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If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for

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he cannot deny himself. That is one of the most,

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if not the most hopeful verse in all of scripture

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because what that tells us and what the story

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we're looking at today in Genesis is all about

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is that God keeps his promises. His will will

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be done even when his kids totally blow it because

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his faithfulness to himself is based on himself,

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not on us and not based upon what we do. But

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before we get into that later on, we're going

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to spend some time in worship now because we

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want to just... Praise God. We want him to know

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our gratitude and our thankfulness. That's why

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we worship God, to just say, Lord, you're so

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awesome. You're so almighty. You're so beautiful.

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You're so wonderful. And we get to do that through

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song. And so we're going to spend time together

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as a body to do that before we get into the Bible

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study this morning. But first, join me in prayer.

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Father, we're so grateful to you. We're so grateful,

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Lord, that you sent your son to this earth to

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die for us. Jesus, we're so grateful that you

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lived a perfect life that is then attributed

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to us through our faith in you, God. Lord, none

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of this is stuff we deserve, but Lord, we're

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so grateful because you know how dysfunctional

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we are. You know the drama that we bring into

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our own lives, Lord, through our sin nature,

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and yet, God, despite all of that, the promises

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you have made to us as your people, Lord. The

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promises you have made to those who trust in

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you, who have put their faith in you for their

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life and their salvation and their eternal hope,

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those promises are unwavering. Your will will

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be done because you are God Almighty, Lord. And

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for those of us that just are struggling or have

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had struggle or God are gonna be struggling in

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the future, may we hang on to those promises,

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Lord, that you are faithful even when we are

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faithless because you cannot deny yourself. Lord,

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we love you. We want to just worship you now.

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God, just speak to us in our hearts. Let us speak

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to you through our words and our song, Lord.

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Be blessed. We love you so much. It's in Jesus'

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name we pray. Amen. We are going to be primarily

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in Genesis 27 this morning. We are starting in

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the last couple verses of Genesis 26. But as

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I said, we're talking about family drama because

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that is what the life of Isaac's family is all

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about. Family drama. You know, as we saw last

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time in Genesis 26, Isaac has learned the valuable

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lesson for his life that God was with him. So

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Isaac, as a man, as the son of the promise, now

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carrying forth all those blessings forward, he

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didn't need to fear. He didn't need to worry.

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He didn't need to worry about trying. to figure

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things out and lie to protect himself and all

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these things because God had said to him, proven

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to him, that my presence is with you always in

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every situation. And so I'm sure Isaac lived

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a life with that. But as he got older, we're

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going to see as we get into Genesis 27, he grew

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to start struggling with, and maybe he struggled

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with it his whole life, but the struggle was,

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I know God is with me, but I still want to get

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my own way anyways. Anybody identify with that?

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Right. Another thing none of us have ever struggled

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with, right? And so, but the background to Genesis

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27, really the background of showing us how the

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ongoing family drama in Isaac's life that began

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with his sons continued through other things

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that happened in their family. So if you read

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with me in Genesis chapter 26, verse 34. It says,

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when Esau was 40 years old, he took as his wives

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Judith, daughter of Beri the Hethite, and Basemath,

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daughter of Elon the Hethite. They made life

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bitter for Isaac and Rebekah. These two verses

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set the stage for what we're going to see in

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chapter 27. They set the stage for Isaac's personal

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struggles, his own wrestling with how to follow

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God and get his own way and all of that. It creates

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the stage for how all of that spills over into

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his family and the ongoing family drama that

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he deals with. And primarily what we read here

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is that his older son, the son that Isaac favored,

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even though God had specifically said Jacob was

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the one that God was going to choose, this son

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goes on to marry pagan women. So earlier in his

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life, he sold his birthright for a bowl of stew.

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Now he brings pagan women into the family. And

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so when it says Hethites there, the other word

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for that is Hittites. That might be the one you're

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more familiar with, is that these Hittite women

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that came from a culture of paganism, they worshiped

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false gods. And so Esau thought, those would

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be good women to marry and bring into my family

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that worships God with my dad, who is the son

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of the promise. Obviously, culture clash, it

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tells us right there that they made life bitter.

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for Isaac and Rebecca. That word bitter means

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distastefully unpleasant, okay? You ever tasted

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something bitter? Yeah, it's pretty distastefully

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unpleasant. And so it just was drama in their

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life. And so then we get to Genesis chapter 27

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in verse one. It says, when Isaac was old and

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his eyes were so weak that he could not see,

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he called his older son Esau and said to him,

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my son. And he answered, here I am. He said,

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look. I am old and do not know the day of my

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death. So now take your hunting gear, your quiver

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and bow, and go out into the field to hunt some

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game for me. Then make me a delicious meal that

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I love and bring it to me to eat so that I can

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bless you before I die. So we do kind of a time

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jump from chapter 26 into chapter 27. Isaac is

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now in the later years of his life. And what

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we're gonna see here is he's not only visually

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impaired, his eyesight has gotten bad, but he's

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also spiritually impaired. See, what we know

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from Isaac, even all the way back through Genesis

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25 and 26, is that he was a man that was fond

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of the comforts of life. And what we're gonna

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see in this chapter is that he had grown to be

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real fond of the comforts of life, meaning that

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he loved good food. He loved his older son because

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he was the one that could go out and hunt game

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and bring in good food. We saw that in Genesis

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25, 28, where we're specifically told that Isaac

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favored Esau. modern language, because he could

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barbecue, right? Now, that's a, people that could

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barbecue well, yeah, I love you too, you know,

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it's, good barbecue is great, but his priorities

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were out of whack. That also, as Isaac's life

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progressed, I believe that that lesson about

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God is always with me, he never doubted. He never

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let go of that lesson, but As he got older, even

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though God is always with me, God's presence

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is with me, I don't have to fear, I don't have

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to worry. Still, physical, practical things are

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more important to me than the spiritual things.

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In fact, what's more important to me than the

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character of my older son is the fact that he

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could barbecue well. And so he's like, I'm gonna

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bless you. I know you sold your birthright to

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Jacob, your younger brother. I even know that

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God prophesied before you guys were born that

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you were gonna serve Jacob. but you're the one

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I want to bless. And so go make me a good meal

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so I can bless you before I die. Now, I believe

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his blindness probably likely made him very reliant

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on his family. You know, it's like if you've

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ever had somebody in your household that is handicapped

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or disabled, obviously they become very reliant,

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especially if you can't see, you're helping them

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around the house and stuff. And then unfortunately,

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what we see here is he's calling out to his older

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son and saying, come here, I have a plan that

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I want to enact. Because, you know, when people

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are handicapped and relying like that, sometimes

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it can become quite demanding. about what they

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want and how. When I was growing up, my father

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was disabled. He had multiple sclerosis and a

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whole list of other things. And in the later

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years of his life, he had lost the use of his

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hands and lost the use of his feet. And so he

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was wheelchair bound. And then eventually was

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completely reliant on my mom, who was his full

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-time caretaker to, you know, we had one of those

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cranes and lifts to lift him into the bed and

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back into the wheelchair. And so as the years

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went on and he became more and more dependent,

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he also got a little bit more demanding. demanding

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and belligerent on stuff. And, you know, I remember

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in my early 20s, you know, he would be in the

00:13:01.240 --> 00:13:03.620
back bedroom and he'd be calling out, Landa!

00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:07.419
Landa! Just screaming across the house. And,

00:13:07.460 --> 00:13:09.299
you know, my mom would go in and, hey, what's

00:13:09.299 --> 00:13:11.379
up? You know, what do you need? But for anybody

00:13:11.379 --> 00:13:13.240
that's ever been a caretaker, I'm sure you've

00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:14.980
experienced that there's those times where you're

00:13:14.980 --> 00:13:17.000
just kind of out of patience, you know, and it

00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:19.399
gets really rough. And so there'd be times where

00:13:19.399 --> 00:13:21.879
he would be screaming, Landa! And then my mom

00:13:21.879 --> 00:13:23.360
on the other side of the house would go, what?

00:13:24.860 --> 00:13:27.720
And they would have this back and forth. Now,

00:13:27.820 --> 00:13:30.799
that was, you know, entertaining as it was for

00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:32.879
me, just watching this scream match go back and

00:13:32.879 --> 00:13:34.840
forth. But my mom had this parrot in Amazon,

00:13:35.059 --> 00:13:37.519
one of those big green and yellow parrots. And

00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:39.659
the funniest thing that I've ever experienced

00:13:39.659 --> 00:13:42.460
in my life was one day they're having their screaming

00:13:42.460 --> 00:13:44.179
match and then it's all quiet and the parrot

00:13:44.179 --> 00:13:49.620
goes, Linda! Linda! And then starts going, what?

00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:54.210
What, what, what, what, what, what? And that

00:13:54.210 --> 00:13:56.590
didn't make my mom any less angry at the time,

00:13:56.610 --> 00:13:58.330
because now the bird's screaming at her too,

00:13:58.450 --> 00:14:01.230
but that has nothing to do with the study. I

00:14:01.230 --> 00:14:05.529
just thought it was hilarious. But Isaac here,

00:14:05.649 --> 00:14:08.070
he's blind, he's dependent, but we're gonna see

00:14:08.070 --> 00:14:09.970
a little bit of stubborn pride in him because

00:14:09.970 --> 00:14:12.789
he's trying to enact a plan to do an end around

00:14:12.789 --> 00:14:16.230
God's will. Now, although he lives to 180 years

00:14:16.230 --> 00:14:19.250
old, it tells us that later in Genesis, the thought

00:14:19.250 --> 00:14:22.950
is that he's about 137 years old right now in

00:14:22.950 --> 00:14:25.389
the chronology of his life. And so he still has

00:14:25.389 --> 00:14:28.090
another 40 years or so of life to live, but still,

00:14:28.210 --> 00:14:30.250
he's an old man. He's saying, I gotta get my

00:14:30.250 --> 00:14:32.590
affairs in order. I gotta start setting things

00:14:32.590 --> 00:14:36.769
up. Here's the problem, he knew the history of

00:14:36.769 --> 00:14:40.210
his sons. He knew about the womb wrestling, he

00:14:40.210 --> 00:14:43.049
knew about the birthright stealing, and I believe

00:14:43.049 --> 00:14:45.889
he knew because I believe his wife told him about

00:14:45.889 --> 00:14:49.070
the prophecy that the younger son is gonna rule

00:14:49.070 --> 00:14:52.090
over the older son. He knew about all of that,

00:14:52.230 --> 00:14:56.440
but he had his favorite. Isaac, we're told, his

00:14:56.440 --> 00:14:59.320
favorite was Esau, the son of strength, the son

00:14:59.320 --> 00:15:02.759
of power. And so Isaac here is launching a secret

00:15:02.759 --> 00:15:07.360
plan to bless him instead, despite what God had

00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:10.200
said. Now, if you ever have a clear word from

00:15:10.200 --> 00:15:12.980
the Lord about anything, and you go, I don't

00:15:12.980 --> 00:15:15.929
like that. I guarantee that if you try and figure

00:15:15.929 --> 00:15:18.289
out a secret way to get around God's will, you

00:15:18.289 --> 00:15:21.049
will lose, okay? Period, end of story, right?

00:15:21.309 --> 00:15:22.769
That's what we're gonna see here in the story.

00:15:22.889 --> 00:15:25.490
But still, like Isaac, there's many times where

00:15:25.490 --> 00:15:28.149
we think, well, if I do this and I do this and

00:15:28.149 --> 00:15:30.830
I do this, maybe I could do an end around God's

00:15:30.830 --> 00:15:33.549
will. And this is what Isaac is doing. So we

00:15:33.549 --> 00:15:37.399
have here Esau, the not. chosen son, who married

00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:40.559
pagan wives, who sold his birthright because

00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:43.299
it had no value to him, who really showed no

00:15:43.299 --> 00:15:47.240
spiritual depth in his life as a member of this

00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:50.440
is God's family here, he is the one that Isaac

00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:53.740
chooses. And we might ask the question, why?

00:15:54.559 --> 00:15:57.659
Well, it's very simple. Isaac had stopped thinking

00:15:57.659 --> 00:16:01.820
spiritually. He wasn't thinking in terms of the

00:16:01.820 --> 00:16:03.659
things that were important to God at this point.

00:16:03.720 --> 00:16:06.740
He was thinking in terms of what he wanted. He

00:16:06.740 --> 00:16:09.460
wanted his favorite son to inherit the blessing.

00:16:09.639 --> 00:16:13.299
And so he admired Esau's strength. He admired

00:16:13.299 --> 00:16:15.980
Esau's manliness. Remember we talked about how

00:16:15.980 --> 00:16:18.820
he was that outdoors guy that liked to go hunting

00:16:18.820 --> 00:16:22.259
and hiking and all that stuff. And Isaac is letting

00:16:22.259 --> 00:16:28.000
all of that external physical stuff outweigh

00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:31.990
what's really important. That outward stuff is

00:16:31.990 --> 00:16:34.110
way more important than God's character. Now,

00:16:34.110 --> 00:16:36.769
this isn't an Esau compared to Jacob thing, because

00:16:36.769 --> 00:16:40.309
Jacob's a punk too, but we'll get to that. This

00:16:40.309 --> 00:16:44.210
is Esau compared to what he should be as a godly

00:16:44.210 --> 00:16:47.169
man, what Isaac should be, what he saw in his

00:16:47.169 --> 00:16:50.889
grandfather Abraham as Esau was living, but this

00:16:50.889 --> 00:16:52.730
is the one that Isaac wants. And so he tells

00:16:52.730 --> 00:16:55.909
him, hey, go hunt, make me a meal, and I can

00:16:55.909 --> 00:16:59.289
bless you before I die. Now, Isaac here is pouring

00:16:59.289 --> 00:17:03.629
all his energy into the wrong thing. All his

00:17:03.629 --> 00:17:05.750
energy here is being poured into, I want to get

00:17:05.750 --> 00:17:09.730
my way, not God's way. That I'm going to scheme

00:17:09.730 --> 00:17:12.549
and plan to get what I want instead of submitting

00:17:12.549 --> 00:17:15.589
to what God wants. And I believe he knew what

00:17:15.589 --> 00:17:17.890
he was doing was wrong because there's the implication

00:17:17.890 --> 00:17:21.990
here of secrecy, right? This isn't a family meeting.

00:17:22.190 --> 00:17:24.490
This isn't a everybody come in. I have a word

00:17:24.490 --> 00:17:26.109
from the Lord that he's changed his mind and

00:17:26.109 --> 00:17:31.190
it's Esau. He's going, Esau, come here. Come

00:17:31.190 --> 00:17:33.569
here, where's your mom? She's in the other room?

00:17:33.630 --> 00:17:36.190
Okay, sweet, come here. Hey, this is what I want

00:17:36.190 --> 00:17:39.470
you to do so I can bless you before I die. And

00:17:39.470 --> 00:17:41.049
I just believe that that shows that he knew what

00:17:41.049 --> 00:17:43.509
he was doing was wrong. He was willing to defy

00:17:43.509 --> 00:17:45.809
God's word to bless a son unworthy of blessing,

00:17:46.029 --> 00:17:50.029
and in doing so, he lit his whole household on

00:17:50.029 --> 00:17:54.490
fire. Now, while the whole family was sinful,

00:17:54.920 --> 00:17:56.819
Because there's no hero in this story in Genesis

00:17:56.819 --> 00:18:00.200
27. We're going to see throughout the whole story,

00:18:00.339 --> 00:18:03.759
but Isaac, he was the head of the house. He was

00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:07.420
the husband. He was the father. He was the one

00:18:07.420 --> 00:18:10.200
that carried the responsibility to set the tone

00:18:10.200 --> 00:18:13.480
and to lead by example. And he's doing exactly

00:18:13.480 --> 00:18:17.480
the opposite here. And the consequences for him...

00:18:18.220 --> 00:18:20.400
straying from the example, the godly example

00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:23.160
that he should be setting, is family drama that

00:18:23.160 --> 00:18:25.619
carries down through the life of his family.

00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:28.420
And so, man, if you're in this room, obviously

00:18:28.420 --> 00:18:30.779
listening, if you're a husband, if you're a father,

00:18:30.839 --> 00:18:33.220
even if you're a single man, we have to understand

00:18:33.220 --> 00:18:36.180
that our example carries weight. Our example

00:18:36.180 --> 00:18:39.119
carries great weight, and it has great consequences

00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:42.559
in the lives of our families. If you're the type

00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:44.559
of guy that comes to church and you're like,

00:18:44.619 --> 00:18:46.920
hey, we carry my Bible and we're all spiritual

00:18:46.920 --> 00:18:48.579
and we come to church, but then for the rest

00:18:48.579 --> 00:18:50.500
of the week you're cussing and you're drinking

00:18:50.500 --> 00:18:55.500
and you're just living sinfully, you are responsible

00:18:55.500 --> 00:18:57.940
for how that example affects your wife and affects

00:18:57.940 --> 00:19:00.599
your children. You are responsible for that.

00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:03.000
God is going to hold you to account for that.

00:19:04.009 --> 00:19:05.809
Now, it's not gonna be like God says, you're

00:19:05.809 --> 00:19:08.009
no longer saved, get out. We know our salvation

00:19:08.009 --> 00:19:10.509
is secure through the blood of Christ, but the

00:19:10.509 --> 00:19:15.250
difficulty, the drama, all the tragedy that comes

00:19:15.250 --> 00:19:17.890
in the lives of our families based upon our bad

00:19:17.890 --> 00:19:21.009
example, we're culpable for that. And so it's

00:19:21.009 --> 00:19:23.369
so important to make sure you're setting the

00:19:23.369 --> 00:19:25.750
right example as a godly man and a husband and

00:19:25.750 --> 00:19:28.869
a father. And so verse five, the story advances

00:19:28.869 --> 00:19:30.890
here and it says, now Rebekah was listening to

00:19:30.890 --> 00:19:36.009
what Isaac said to his son Esau. Now, some people

00:19:36.009 --> 00:19:37.930
are like, well, was she eavesdropping or not

00:19:37.930 --> 00:19:41.130
eavesdropping? And the verb tense in was listening,

00:19:41.349 --> 00:19:44.130
it's an active verb tense. It means that she

00:19:44.130 --> 00:19:46.789
was actively trying to hear what was being said.

00:19:46.910 --> 00:19:51.190
I call that eavesdropping. I call that spying.

00:19:51.609 --> 00:19:55.089
And the question it raises for me here is, have

00:19:55.089 --> 00:19:57.930
things gotten so bad in this family that mom

00:19:57.930 --> 00:20:00.690
is spying on dad? Maybe dad's spying on mom,

00:20:00.769 --> 00:20:03.410
who knows. And they're just listening into secret

00:20:03.410 --> 00:20:05.470
conversations. That's apparently what's going

00:20:05.470 --> 00:20:09.069
on here. And we know that each spouse had a favorite,

00:20:09.190 --> 00:20:11.150
right? Isaac's favorite was Esau, Rebecca's was

00:20:11.150 --> 00:20:14.690
Jacob. And so the divide in this family must

00:20:14.690 --> 00:20:16.670
have been pretty intense by this point. And so

00:20:16.670 --> 00:20:19.150
it goes on to say, so while Esau went to the

00:20:19.150 --> 00:20:21.849
field to hunt some game to bring in, Rebecca

00:20:21.849 --> 00:20:25.569
said to her son, Jacob, listen, I heard your

00:20:25.569 --> 00:20:28.500
father talking with your brother Esau. He said,

00:20:28.539 --> 00:20:30.599
bring me game and make a delicious meal for me

00:20:30.599 --> 00:20:32.559
to eat so that I could bless you in the Lord's

00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:35.839
presence before I die. Now, my son, listen to

00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:38.200
me and do what I tell you. Go to the flock and

00:20:38.200 --> 00:20:41.059
bring me two choice young goats, and I will make

00:20:41.059 --> 00:20:42.940
them into a delicious meal for your father, the

00:20:42.940 --> 00:20:45.799
kind he loves. Then take it to your father to

00:20:45.799 --> 00:20:47.799
eat so that he may bless you before he dies.

00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:50.700
Jacob answered Rebecca, his mother, and said,

00:20:50.740 --> 00:20:55.160
look, my brother Esau is a hairy man. I'm a man

00:20:55.160 --> 00:20:58.390
with smooth skin. Suppose my father touches me,

00:20:58.430 --> 00:21:01.769
then I will be revealed to him as a deceiver

00:21:01.769 --> 00:21:04.490
and bring a curse on myself rather than the blessing.

00:21:04.990 --> 00:21:08.349
Now Jacob, in case you're wondering here, doesn't

00:21:08.349 --> 00:21:11.390
care about the right and wrong of what his mom

00:21:11.390 --> 00:21:15.009
is suggesting. Jacob's only concern here is about

00:21:15.009 --> 00:21:18.220
getting caught, right? We already know he's a

00:21:18.220 --> 00:21:20.599
lying schemer. We're gonna see that for multiple

00:21:20.599 --> 00:21:23.220
chapters ahead of us. So it's like, I don't wanna

00:21:23.220 --> 00:21:26.500
get caught and cursed instead of blessed. We

00:21:26.500 --> 00:21:28.519
don't see him objecting to his mother's plan,

00:21:28.700 --> 00:21:30.440
right? He doesn't go, mom, that's dishonest.

00:21:30.440 --> 00:21:33.660
Nope. It's just like, what if I get caught? That'll

00:21:33.660 --> 00:21:36.299
be bad. So his mother said to him in verse 13,

00:21:36.460 --> 00:21:39.440
your curse be on me, my son. Just obey me and

00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:42.099
go get them for me. So he went, got the goats,

00:21:42.299 --> 00:21:44.259
brought them to his mother, and his mother made

00:21:44.259 --> 00:21:47.259
the delicious food his father loved. Then Rebecca

00:21:47.259 --> 00:21:49.380
took the best clothes of her older son Esau,

00:21:49.460 --> 00:21:51.819
which were in the house, and had her younger

00:21:51.819 --> 00:21:54.619
son Jacob wear them. She put the skins of the

00:21:54.619 --> 00:21:57.000
young goats on his hands and on the smooth part

00:21:57.000 --> 00:21:59.700
of his neck. Then she handed the delicious food

00:21:59.700 --> 00:22:01.539
and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.

00:22:02.420 --> 00:22:06.380
Now, Rebecca is very sure of herself, right?

00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:09.859
She's almost too sure of herself. Now, on one

00:22:09.859 --> 00:22:12.519
hand, we might look at Rebecca and go, oh, what

00:22:12.519 --> 00:22:15.980
a devoted mom. She just wants what's best for

00:22:15.980 --> 00:22:18.720
her son. She's willing to even take the curse

00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:21.500
if he gets caught. Aw, right? But on the other

00:22:21.500 --> 00:22:24.839
hand, what we're seeing is mom is a schemer,

00:22:24.839 --> 00:22:29.660
just like her son Jacob. Or Jacob's a schemer,

00:22:29.660 --> 00:22:33.680
just like his mom Rebecca. You see that phrase,

00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:36.920
the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. There's

00:22:36.920 --> 00:22:39.569
a lot of truth into that statement. Now, if we're

00:22:39.569 --> 00:22:42.289
honest here, you know, we could also make a parallel

00:22:42.289 --> 00:22:44.849
between Isaac and his favorite Esau. I believe

00:22:44.849 --> 00:22:47.170
Isaac and Esau were very similar because what

00:22:47.170 --> 00:22:49.529
we saw in Isaac is he's just kind of a chill,

00:22:49.690 --> 00:22:52.170
go with the flow kind of guy, right? He's not

00:22:52.170 --> 00:22:53.930
about rocking the boat and ruffling feathers.

00:22:54.109 --> 00:22:56.970
He's just like, just let things happen. He likes

00:22:56.970 --> 00:22:59.690
food. He likes the creature comforts of life.

00:22:59.990 --> 00:23:02.910
And he's just kind of... Almost a bit simple,

00:23:03.069 --> 00:23:06.509
not dumb, but just a simple guy. And Esau comes

00:23:06.509 --> 00:23:09.390
across the same way, right? Almost more of just

00:23:09.390 --> 00:23:11.509
the big oaf who likes to go hunt animals, right?

00:23:11.730 --> 00:23:15.769
And he's just a simple dude that likes the physical

00:23:15.769 --> 00:23:18.049
things of life. Well, Rebekah's favorite son,

00:23:18.190 --> 00:23:21.569
Jacob, he's sharp and he's shifty and he's strategic.

00:23:22.650 --> 00:23:25.930
He goes, is that a coincidence? Probably not.

00:23:26.829 --> 00:23:29.569
Again, the example we set for our kids, oftentimes

00:23:29.569 --> 00:23:32.339
they will... follow the examples we set. And

00:23:32.339 --> 00:23:35.380
so, Rebecca, she knew her husband's habits, she

00:23:35.380 --> 00:23:37.480
knew what his favorite food was, and so she pulls

00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:40.319
out all the stops, cooks his favorite meal, and

00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:43.079
then dresses Jacob in full -on Esau cosplay,

00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:46.160
right? Goat boy, that's what she dressed him

00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:49.539
up as. puts the goat skins on his arms and his

00:23:49.539 --> 00:23:52.339
neck, apparently because Esau was that hairy,

00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:54.960
right? We've talked about that, right? Sasquatch

00:23:54.960 --> 00:23:57.839
is the other way to name him. Have you ever touched

00:23:57.839 --> 00:23:59.380
goat hair? You ever been to a petting zoo and

00:23:59.380 --> 00:24:00.960
you touch goat hair? It's like a Brillo pad,

00:24:01.140 --> 00:24:03.519
right? You're like, how? This is gross. This

00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:06.140
is rough. This is coarse. That's apparently how

00:24:06.140 --> 00:24:09.079
Esau was from head to toe, just covered in hair.

00:24:09.380 --> 00:24:12.779
And so she dresses him up in this, and it's possible,

00:24:12.819 --> 00:24:14.880
I don't know, that maybe Jacob felt ridiculous.

00:24:15.180 --> 00:24:16.500
I mean, if you could just picture it in your

00:24:16.500 --> 00:24:20.559
head, what a silly image, right? But mom was

00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:23.880
there, coaching him from the sidelines. Go get

00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:28.539
him, goat boy. And so the real issue here is

00:24:28.539 --> 00:24:34.390
that Rebekah and Jacob... they believed in the

00:24:34.390 --> 00:24:36.650
blessing. They believed in the birthright, right?

00:24:36.690 --> 00:24:38.769
We talked about that when Jacob stole the birthright

00:24:38.769 --> 00:24:42.190
from Esau. Esau's sin was he didn't value God's

00:24:42.190 --> 00:24:44.329
word. He didn't value God's blessing. He was

00:24:44.329 --> 00:24:46.549
like, that's nothing. I'm hungry. I have a physical

00:24:46.549 --> 00:24:49.460
need, so the spiritual need is irrelevant. Jacob,

00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:51.720
although he's a punk, he's a liar, he's a schemer,

00:24:51.720 --> 00:24:54.119
he apparently put great value in what God had

00:24:54.119 --> 00:24:57.319
said, enough to scheme to steal the birthright.

00:24:57.400 --> 00:25:00.559
And so we see that now his mom is also part of

00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:02.220
that same type of thinking. And that thinking

00:25:02.220 --> 00:25:05.200
is, yeah, I believe in God's word, but God needs

00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:08.680
my help in order for it to happen. And so what

00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:10.599
it seems here is that Rebecca and Jacob believed

00:25:10.599 --> 00:25:14.279
God needed their help to pull off what was God's

00:25:14.279 --> 00:25:18.259
will. And so they scheme, even though God had

00:25:18.259 --> 00:25:20.240
already said, look, Jacob is the one I've chosen.

00:25:21.940 --> 00:25:24.039
But they still think they need to go lie and

00:25:24.039 --> 00:25:25.940
they need to deceive and they need to engage

00:25:25.940 --> 00:25:28.400
in trickery and all this stuff because apparently

00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:30.980
it's justified in their head. There is a good

00:25:30.980 --> 00:25:34.640
thing we're going after, but our unrighteous

00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:37.799
means of going after it are justified. Why? Because

00:25:37.799 --> 00:25:40.769
we're going after something good. And this mindset

00:25:40.769 --> 00:25:42.609
is still around today in the world. It's still

00:25:42.609 --> 00:25:44.490
around in the church. And it goes like this.

00:25:44.589 --> 00:25:47.769
Wrong isn't really wrong if it helps God's will,

00:25:47.950 --> 00:25:52.630
right? Here's how it looks in the workplace.

00:25:54.390 --> 00:25:58.670
God wants me to provide for my family. God wants

00:25:58.670 --> 00:26:01.130
me to, you know, earn so I could, you know, get

00:26:01.130 --> 00:26:03.809
clothes and food and all that. So, you know,

00:26:03.829 --> 00:26:06.750
being shady on this business deal or lying to

00:26:06.750 --> 00:26:09.930
close this sale, it's okay. Because after all,

00:26:09.930 --> 00:26:12.390
what's gonna come of it is money, and God wants

00:26:12.390 --> 00:26:16.309
me to provide. Or, and this is something that

00:26:16.309 --> 00:26:18.509
has happened in the church, God wants people

00:26:18.509 --> 00:26:21.150
saved, and so we wanna draw people into the church,

00:26:21.230 --> 00:26:23.789
and so what we're gonna have is twerking dancers

00:26:23.789 --> 00:26:28.849
on stage at our Easter service. That really happened

00:26:28.849 --> 00:26:35.630
at a mega church here in America. Foul. Doing

00:26:35.630 --> 00:26:38.049
wrong to accomplish God's will is still wrong.

00:26:39.690 --> 00:26:43.009
Period. God doesn't need our lies. He doesn't

00:26:43.009 --> 00:26:44.769
need our shortcuts. He doesn't need our gimmicks.

00:26:45.190 --> 00:26:47.589
He doesn't need our scheming. What he wants from

00:26:47.589 --> 00:26:52.430
us is trust and obedience. What he wants from

00:26:52.430 --> 00:26:54.930
us to say, God, you said so, so it's going to

00:26:54.930 --> 00:26:59.009
happen. I don't need to worry about that. God,

00:26:59.109 --> 00:27:01.309
you tell me what to do. If you want me to be

00:27:01.309 --> 00:27:02.990
involved in this process, God, I'm here. I'm

00:27:02.990 --> 00:27:04.910
listening. Speak to me. But what God doesn't

00:27:04.910 --> 00:27:07.210
want from us to say, you know what? I'm afraid

00:27:07.210 --> 00:27:08.849
that God's will is not going to happen because

00:27:08.849 --> 00:27:10.710
of this circumstance here, so now let me go get

00:27:10.710 --> 00:27:13.710
engaged and do unrighteous things to make sure

00:27:13.710 --> 00:27:18.170
God's will happens. An English theologian named

00:27:18.170 --> 00:27:21.309
Griffith Thomas from the late 1800s to early

00:27:21.309 --> 00:27:24.430
1900s, he said this, righteousness can never

00:27:24.430 --> 00:27:27.150
be laid aside even though our object is yet more

00:27:27.150 --> 00:27:30.130
righteousness. In personal life, in home life,

00:27:30.230 --> 00:27:32.630
in church life, in endeavors to win men for Christ,

00:27:32.829 --> 00:27:35.430
in missionary enterprise, in social improvement,

00:27:35.509 --> 00:27:37.509
and in everything connected with the welfare

00:27:37.509 --> 00:27:41.009
of humanity, we must insist upon absolute righteousness,

00:27:41.390 --> 00:27:44.990
purity, and truth in our methods, or else we

00:27:44.990 --> 00:27:48.190
shall bring utter discredit on the cause of our

00:27:48.190 --> 00:27:52.720
Master and Lord. I knew a story of a guy once

00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:55.380
and he was talking about when he first got saved,

00:27:55.519 --> 00:27:57.839
right? He was a fighter, all of him and his friends,

00:27:57.920 --> 00:27:59.299
they would always go to bars and get in brawls

00:27:59.299 --> 00:28:03.940
and stuff. And he got saved, one of these guys

00:28:03.940 --> 00:28:05.559
got saved and he thought, oh my gosh, I gotta

00:28:05.559 --> 00:28:08.380
go tell my friends all about this. So he went

00:28:08.380 --> 00:28:10.079
to his friend's house and he decked him across

00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:15.079
the face. He goes, you need to get saved. Well,

00:28:15.180 --> 00:28:16.859
the guy got saved, but I wouldn't say that's

00:28:16.859 --> 00:28:20.150
an effective method of evangelism, okay? You

00:28:20.150 --> 00:28:22.369
know, it's really tough. Like when there's a

00:28:22.369 --> 00:28:24.170
harvest crusade, you know, we say invite people

00:28:24.170 --> 00:28:26.390
to the harvest crusade. But what you don't do

00:28:26.390 --> 00:28:28.269
is lie to them and trick them and tell them it's

00:28:28.269 --> 00:28:29.710
something else. So when they get there, aha,

00:28:29.930 --> 00:28:32.309
because you're bringing discredit upon the name

00:28:32.309 --> 00:28:35.869
of the Lord. And so doing wrong to accomplish

00:28:35.869 --> 00:28:38.869
God's righteousness, don't do that. So verse

00:28:38.869 --> 00:28:42.230
18, when he came to his father, he said, my father.

00:28:42.789 --> 00:28:46.049
And he answered, here I am. Who are you, my son?

00:28:46.730 --> 00:28:49.329
Jacob replied to his father, I am Esau, your

00:28:49.329 --> 00:28:52.529
firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please

00:28:52.529 --> 00:28:54.349
sit up and eat some of my game so that you may

00:28:54.349 --> 00:28:57.609
bless me. But Isaac said to his son, how did

00:28:57.609 --> 00:29:01.069
you ever find it so quickly, my son? He replied,

00:29:01.250 --> 00:29:03.329
because the Lord your God made it happen for

00:29:03.329 --> 00:29:06.609
me. Did you notice a nuance in what he just said

00:29:06.609 --> 00:29:12.230
there? The Lord your God. Jacob is not at this

00:29:12.230 --> 00:29:16.009
point claiming God as our God. Very interesting.

00:29:16.640 --> 00:29:18.660
And this is going to be a struggle and a wrestle

00:29:18.660 --> 00:29:21.880
that Jacob has for most of his life. Then Isaac

00:29:21.880 --> 00:29:24.240
said to Jacob, please come closer so that I could

00:29:24.240 --> 00:29:26.779
touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau

00:29:26.779 --> 00:29:29.599
or not? So Jacob came closer to his father Isaac.

00:29:30.180 --> 00:29:32.539
And when he touched him, he said, the voice is

00:29:32.539 --> 00:29:34.640
the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands

00:29:34.640 --> 00:29:37.619
of Esau. He did not recognize him because his

00:29:37.619 --> 00:29:39.680
hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau.

00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:43.450
So he blessed him. So we have Jacob here who

00:29:43.450 --> 00:29:46.349
is the product of his mother's love and his own

00:29:46.349 --> 00:29:48.809
self -promoting heart going along with his plan

00:29:48.809 --> 00:29:51.950
to the best of his ability. He pops in, hey,

00:29:52.009 --> 00:29:56.450
dad, I'm here. And it didn't initially work.

00:29:57.309 --> 00:30:00.829
Who are you, my son? What do you mean I'm here?

00:30:02.069 --> 00:30:06.910
So Jacob then goes to pile lie upon lie upon

00:30:06.910 --> 00:30:10.549
lie to get the blessing that was already his.

00:30:11.909 --> 00:30:14.670
Lie one, I'm Esau, you're firstborn. No, he's

00:30:14.670 --> 00:30:18.210
not. Was his voice shaking? Did he practice in

00:30:18.210 --> 00:30:19.849
front of the mirror before he went in to see

00:30:19.849 --> 00:30:24.410
his dad? First red flag to the dad. How did you

00:30:24.410 --> 00:30:29.650
go hunt, come back, clean, kill, cook, prepare?

00:30:31.069 --> 00:30:35.490
That's a little suspicious. The Lord made it

00:30:35.490 --> 00:30:38.650
happen for me. You know what you don't want to

00:30:38.650 --> 00:30:43.400
do if you're going to tell a lie? Bring God into

00:30:43.400 --> 00:30:47.279
it. I don't think the Lord is pleased by that.

00:30:47.579 --> 00:30:50.119
So now Jacob is name -dropping God to back up

00:30:50.119 --> 00:30:53.920
his first lie, telling a second lie. You know,

00:30:53.940 --> 00:30:58.079
Jacob is just trying to do what works here. From

00:30:58.079 --> 00:31:01.240
what we know about Jacob's life, we could surmise

00:31:01.240 --> 00:31:03.619
that this was just a regular part of his behavior,

00:31:03.700 --> 00:31:06.440
that he was a liar, that he was probably good

00:31:06.440 --> 00:31:09.240
at lying, right? And we do the same thing. How

00:31:09.240 --> 00:31:11.160
many of you have ever told a lie to cover a lie?

00:31:12.680 --> 00:31:15.000
And then you get so many layers down, you can't

00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:18.240
remember what the original lie was. And you eventually

00:31:18.240 --> 00:31:20.279
get caught because you're like, oh my gosh, there's

00:31:20.279 --> 00:31:22.740
too many branches on this story. This is what

00:31:22.740 --> 00:31:25.180
Jacob's doing here. Now, he knew God wanted him

00:31:25.180 --> 00:31:28.519
blessed. I believe Jacob knew that, that I've

00:31:28.519 --> 00:31:30.480
got the birthright, that mom has told me my whole

00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:34.380
life, I'm the chosen one. But he's justifying

00:31:34.380 --> 00:31:38.180
sin and then deeper sin and then deeper sin to

00:31:38.180 --> 00:31:41.250
make it happen. Isaac still isn't sure, and so

00:31:41.250 --> 00:31:43.650
eventually he's like, well, you sound like Jacob,

00:31:43.730 --> 00:31:47.809
but you're hairy like Esau, and so you're goat

00:31:47.809 --> 00:31:50.369
boy for the win, right? So here's the tragic

00:31:50.369 --> 00:31:53.269
part. We look at this story, and we go, this

00:31:53.269 --> 00:31:55.470
is supposed to be a godly family. The son of

00:31:55.470 --> 00:31:57.869
the promise and his wife Rebecca, whom God provided,

00:31:57.990 --> 00:32:00.849
and their sons, and you have mom scheming, the

00:32:00.849 --> 00:32:03.930
son lying, dad not trusting his family, and no

00:32:03.930 --> 00:32:10.589
one trusts each other. Drama. Why? Because nobody's

00:32:10.589 --> 00:32:14.170
trusting God here. Nobody's just relying on,

00:32:14.190 --> 00:32:18.430
God said so. Why are we fighting over this? Everybody's

00:32:18.430 --> 00:32:21.190
scheming and trying. They're treating the promise

00:32:21.190 --> 00:32:24.549
of God like it's some prize to be stolen rather

00:32:24.549 --> 00:32:28.549
than a promise to be received. And so verse 24,

00:32:28.809 --> 00:32:34.170
again he asked, are you really my son Esau? And

00:32:34.170 --> 00:32:37.490
he replied, I am, the third lie. Now, when I

00:32:37.490 --> 00:32:39.390
read this, I was like, okay, what made Isaac

00:32:39.390 --> 00:32:43.190
so skeptical in general, right? Obviously, it

00:32:43.190 --> 00:32:45.950
was the voice. That was a little odd. But, you

00:32:45.950 --> 00:32:47.430
know, he didn't say, well, the voice doesn't

00:32:47.430 --> 00:32:49.190
make sense. You saw him good. He just kept saying,

00:32:49.250 --> 00:32:50.990
are you sure? Are you sure? Are you really sure?

00:32:51.190 --> 00:32:53.670
Are you really, really sure? What made him so

00:32:53.670 --> 00:32:56.730
skeptical? Well, you go back to Genesis 25, and

00:32:56.730 --> 00:33:00.569
we see what was Isaac's problem when he lied.

00:33:00.710 --> 00:33:03.470
We see that he, in his fallen character, was

00:33:03.470 --> 00:33:06.839
a liar. just like his father Abraham in his fallen

00:33:06.839 --> 00:33:10.920
character was a liar. And guess what? Liars assume

00:33:10.920 --> 00:33:14.779
everybody else is lying too. That's just the

00:33:14.779 --> 00:33:17.259
life they live. They're skeptical. And then,

00:33:17.279 --> 00:33:20.119
of course, yeah, Jacob's voice. I already know

00:33:20.119 --> 00:33:22.240
he stole the birthright. Is something going on

00:33:22.240 --> 00:33:25.579
here? And yet he goes along. He finally says,

00:33:25.700 --> 00:33:28.420
okay, I believe you. And I mean, probably because

00:33:28.420 --> 00:33:31.549
he just couldn't imagine. That my son Jacob would

00:33:31.549 --> 00:33:34.170
lie to me like three, four, five, six times in

00:33:34.170 --> 00:33:36.369
a row. I just can't imagine that. I don't know.

00:33:36.450 --> 00:33:38.970
But Jacob lies again because that's what schemers

00:33:38.970 --> 00:33:43.450
do. Mom's off in the rafters as head coach. Keep

00:33:43.450 --> 00:33:47.369
lying. And this whole scene is just pathetic.

00:33:48.390 --> 00:33:53.789
It's talk show worthy. Like where's the lie detector

00:33:53.789 --> 00:33:55.829
test, right? Somebody needs to come on and start

00:33:55.829 --> 00:33:57.809
talking about what's true. The deeper issue,

00:33:58.049 --> 00:34:00.630
like I said, is nobody is trusting God here.

00:34:00.710 --> 00:34:04.029
Nobody is resting on God's word. Nobody is resting

00:34:04.029 --> 00:34:07.750
on God's grace. They're just fighting over something

00:34:07.750 --> 00:34:10.269
that God said, why are you guys fighting over

00:34:10.269 --> 00:34:14.090
something that is not yours to procure? I already

00:34:14.090 --> 00:34:18.809
said who I'm gonna give it to. And then the other

00:34:18.809 --> 00:34:21.590
reality here is Isaac could bless Esau 100 times.

00:34:22.820 --> 00:34:25.940
But without God's approval, it didn't mean anything.

00:34:28.639 --> 00:34:31.980
Isaac's thinking that he has the power to thwart

00:34:31.980 --> 00:34:34.760
God's will. If God didn't honor the blessing,

00:34:34.920 --> 00:34:37.659
it didn't mean anything. Isaac blessing his kid

00:34:37.659 --> 00:34:40.199
was simply an affirmation or supposed to be an

00:34:40.199 --> 00:34:43.019
affirmation of what God had already said. Isaac

00:34:43.019 --> 00:34:46.539
had no power in this situation, but in his own

00:34:46.539 --> 00:34:50.500
selfish physical mind, he thought he did. So

00:34:50.500 --> 00:34:53.619
verse 26. Then his father Isaac said to him,

00:34:53.679 --> 00:34:57.179
please come closer and kiss me, my son. Maybe

00:34:57.179 --> 00:35:01.219
one last time to satisfy his unease. So he came

00:35:01.219 --> 00:35:03.739
closer and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his

00:35:03.739 --> 00:35:06.739
clothes, he blessed him and said, ah, the smell

00:35:06.739 --> 00:35:09.260
of my son is like the smell of a field that the

00:35:09.260 --> 00:35:12.960
Lord has blessed. You ever met somebody that

00:35:12.960 --> 00:35:15.679
likes the smell of something that just repulses

00:35:15.679 --> 00:35:20.960
you? Right? Campfire smells are wonderful. you

00:35:20.960 --> 00:35:23.760
know? And some people love the outdoor smells,

00:35:23.860 --> 00:35:25.820
and some people are just like, that is just disgusting,

00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:29.679
right? But he's like, this musky smell of my

00:35:29.679 --> 00:35:32.300
son. All right, I could finish my blessing. Verse

00:35:32.300 --> 00:35:35.320
28, may God give to you from the dew of the sky

00:35:35.320 --> 00:35:38.139
and from the riches of the land an abundance

00:35:38.139 --> 00:35:41.559
of grain and new wine. May people serve you and

00:35:41.559 --> 00:35:44.360
nations bow in worship to you. Be master over

00:35:44.360 --> 00:35:46.500
your relatives. May your mother's sons bow and

00:35:46.500 --> 00:35:49.300
worship to you. Those who curse you will be cursed,

00:35:49.360 --> 00:35:53.340
and those who bless you will be blessed. Isaac

00:35:53.340 --> 00:35:57.829
thinks he's talking to Esau. And he gives the

00:35:57.829 --> 00:36:00.590
blessing of just the abundance, right? Dew was

00:36:00.590 --> 00:36:03.309
a favorite metaphor for God's goodness throughout

00:36:03.309 --> 00:36:06.250
Scripture, his way of providing life and abundance,

00:36:06.469 --> 00:36:08.570
right? It came from the idea that the weather

00:36:08.570 --> 00:36:11.610
in Israel was typically very arid, and there

00:36:11.610 --> 00:36:14.349
wasn't a whole lot of rain, and so the wind that

00:36:14.349 --> 00:36:16.289
would come off the Mediterranean Sea would have

00:36:16.289 --> 00:36:18.630
moisture in it, and it would just condense into

00:36:18.630 --> 00:36:20.289
dew on the ground. And so that was typically

00:36:20.289 --> 00:36:23.170
the idea of provision and God granting life.

00:36:24.860 --> 00:36:27.400
and grain and new wine and fertile land, right?

00:36:27.440 --> 00:36:30.440
It's just God's gonna bless you and provide for

00:36:30.440 --> 00:36:32.980
you. But in verse 29, we see the true depth of

00:36:32.980 --> 00:36:37.059
Isaac's pride on full display. He wants nothing

00:36:37.059 --> 00:36:40.139
less than an empire for his son Esau. May the

00:36:40.139 --> 00:36:42.320
nations bow to you. May the peoples bow to you.

00:36:42.519 --> 00:36:44.679
And then on top of that, look at what he says.

00:36:45.500 --> 00:36:49.599
He's saying, may your mother's sons bow in worship

00:36:49.599 --> 00:36:55.750
to you. Who is that referring to? Jacob. He's

00:36:55.750 --> 00:36:59.590
directly, knowingly and willingly rejecting God's

00:36:59.590 --> 00:37:02.409
word to his wife, Rebecca, that the older will

00:37:02.409 --> 00:37:06.389
serve the younger. Instead, he's trying to be

00:37:06.389 --> 00:37:10.889
sneaky, blessing Esau with power over your mother's

00:37:10.889 --> 00:37:15.989
sons. He even goes on to use the same curse language

00:37:15.989 --> 00:37:19.809
that God gave to his father, Abraham, that those

00:37:19.809 --> 00:37:21.610
who curse you will be cursed and those who bless

00:37:21.610 --> 00:37:26.239
you will be blessed. Here's the twist. It wasn't

00:37:26.239 --> 00:37:31.099
Esau. He accidentally gives all of this to Jacob,

00:37:31.119 --> 00:37:33.260
but it wasn't accidental at all. God knew exactly

00:37:33.260 --> 00:37:38.380
what he was doing. We go, why is God allowing

00:37:38.380 --> 00:37:41.619
all this just weirdness and these lies and deception

00:37:41.619 --> 00:37:43.719
and stuff? I can't answer that question for you

00:37:43.719 --> 00:37:48.409
outside of this. God's will will be done. God's

00:37:48.409 --> 00:37:51.329
will will be done. Isaac thought he had outmaneuvered

00:37:51.329 --> 00:37:55.789
God. God outmaneuvered the outmaneuverer. Meanwhile,

00:37:55.889 --> 00:37:58.030
Jacob slips out again, probably feeling like

00:37:58.030 --> 00:38:01.230
I got away with it again. I got away with it

00:38:01.230 --> 00:38:04.829
again. This is great. We're going to read in

00:38:04.829 --> 00:38:07.510
later chapters. Jacob didn't get away with anything.

00:38:08.030 --> 00:38:10.329
He's gonna pay for what he's done. But here in

00:38:10.329 --> 00:38:12.190
verse 30, it says, as soon as Isaac had finished

00:38:12.190 --> 00:38:14.389
blessing Jacob and Jacob had left the presence

00:38:14.389 --> 00:38:16.869
of his father Isaac, his brother Esau arrived

00:38:16.869 --> 00:38:19.510
from his hunting. He had also made some delicious

00:38:19.510 --> 00:38:21.949
food and brought it to his father. He said to

00:38:21.949 --> 00:38:24.190
his father, let my father get up and eat some

00:38:24.190 --> 00:38:27.929
of his son's game so that you may bless me. But

00:38:27.929 --> 00:38:32.269
his father Isaac said to him, who are you? He

00:38:32.269 --> 00:38:35.429
answered, I'm Esau, your firstborn son. Isaac

00:38:35.429 --> 00:38:39.320
began to tremble uncontrollably. Who was it then,

00:38:39.480 --> 00:38:41.760
he said, who hunted game and brought it to me?

00:38:42.199 --> 00:38:44.500
I ate it all before you came in, and I blessed

00:38:44.500 --> 00:38:48.519
him. You see, these verses hinge on one phrase,

00:38:48.579 --> 00:38:52.360
that Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably. That

00:38:52.360 --> 00:38:54.880
word in the original language means a physical

00:38:54.880 --> 00:38:58.980
response to an understanding, meaning that Isaac

00:38:58.980 --> 00:39:01.860
is having this overwhelming physical response

00:39:01.860 --> 00:39:05.000
to the realization that something had gone very,

00:39:05.099 --> 00:39:07.579
very wrong in his plan to resist God's will.

00:39:09.000 --> 00:39:15.800
In the moment, he's realizing, oh no. What has

00:39:15.800 --> 00:39:19.900
happened? In this moment, I believe he knew he

00:39:19.900 --> 00:39:23.420
had sinned, and now he knew that God knew that

00:39:23.420 --> 00:39:26.719
he knew he had sinned. And that was his trembling

00:39:26.719 --> 00:39:30.599
uncontrollably, that his secret was out, as if

00:39:30.599 --> 00:39:33.079
God wasn't there through the whole thing anyways.

00:39:34.779 --> 00:39:37.380
That God had overruled him. Even when he didn't

00:39:37.380 --> 00:39:39.739
like God's plan, he could do nothing to stop

00:39:39.739 --> 00:39:43.460
it. This is what Isaac is realizing in this moment.

00:39:43.579 --> 00:39:46.699
So I believe he was humbled. I believe he was

00:39:46.699 --> 00:39:49.059
defeated because he doesn't even try to revoke

00:39:49.059 --> 00:39:52.760
the blessing. Right? He doesn't go, go get your

00:39:52.760 --> 00:39:55.699
brother, come back. I unbless you. Okay, I bless

00:39:55.699 --> 00:39:57.780
you, Esau. He doesn't even try to do that. He

00:39:57.780 --> 00:40:01.159
just simply says in the next part, indeed, he

00:40:01.159 --> 00:40:09.119
will be blessed. He now knew beyond a shadow

00:40:09.119 --> 00:40:12.260
of a doubt that you can't win against God. You

00:40:12.260 --> 00:40:15.400
can't trick God. You can't find a way around

00:40:15.400 --> 00:40:20.159
his will. It's impossible. God's will will be

00:40:20.159 --> 00:40:23.019
done. And which is really interesting because

00:40:23.019 --> 00:40:25.239
later in Jacob's life when he's wrestling with

00:40:25.239 --> 00:40:28.559
God as he's coming back from exile, in the story

00:40:28.559 --> 00:40:31.980
of him wrestling with God, his hip gets touched,

00:40:32.079 --> 00:40:34.860
he's crippled, and God renames him Israel in

00:40:34.860 --> 00:40:38.630
that moment. Now, typically, when we hear a study

00:40:38.630 --> 00:40:41.570
about that, we go, Israel, that word means governed

00:40:41.570 --> 00:40:46.210
by God, right? And that's one way it could be

00:40:46.210 --> 00:40:49.789
translated. But if you dig deeper into the meanings

00:40:49.789 --> 00:40:52.730
of the word, the root of Israel, what it really

00:40:52.730 --> 00:40:56.550
means is God wins. It's one of my favorite stories

00:40:56.550 --> 00:40:59.889
in all of Scripture. Who wouldn't want to be

00:40:59.889 --> 00:41:05.340
called God wins after fighting against God? And

00:41:05.340 --> 00:41:06.420
we're going to deal with that when we get to

00:41:06.420 --> 00:41:09.639
that story. But verse 34, when Esau heard his

00:41:09.639 --> 00:41:11.480
father's words, he cried out with a loud and

00:41:11.480 --> 00:41:13.699
bitter cry and said to his father, bless me too,

00:41:13.960 --> 00:41:17.340
my father. But he replied, your brother came

00:41:17.340 --> 00:41:19.940
deceitfully and took your blessing. So he said,

00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:22.860
isn't he rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated

00:41:22.860 --> 00:41:25.500
me twice now. He took my birthright and look,

00:41:25.559 --> 00:41:27.820
now he has taken my blessing. Then he asked,

00:41:27.860 --> 00:41:31.880
haven't you even saved a blessing for me? Anybody

00:41:31.880 --> 00:41:36.699
see a problem in what Esau said? Rightfully.

00:41:36.780 --> 00:41:39.940
Isn't he named Jacob? Isn't he rightfully named

00:41:39.940 --> 00:41:41.739
that? It means schemer. It means supplanter.

00:41:41.780 --> 00:41:44.480
It means heel grasper, deceiver, right? He's

00:41:44.480 --> 00:41:46.559
named deceiver for a reason. But then he says,

00:41:46.619 --> 00:41:49.159
he has cheated me twice. He took my birthright.

00:41:49.219 --> 00:41:54.159
Is that true? No, Esau gave it up. He said, this

00:41:54.159 --> 00:41:57.559
has no value to me. I'm hungry. Just like with

00:41:57.559 --> 00:41:59.400
the birthright, Esau is the one who is ultimately

00:41:59.400 --> 00:42:03.619
responsible for losing both. Hebrews 12 verses

00:42:03.619 --> 00:42:06.119
15 through 17, I'm not going to read it in the

00:42:06.119 --> 00:42:09.380
verses themselves, but it confirms that Esau's

00:42:09.380 --> 00:42:12.059
sin was that he prioritized himself over God.

00:42:12.280 --> 00:42:15.440
He prioritized his own comfort, his own needs

00:42:15.440 --> 00:42:18.059
over the spiritual things. He lost everything

00:42:18.059 --> 00:42:20.639
because he was more important than what God wanted.

00:42:21.860 --> 00:42:23.920
God had already foreseen it before their birth.

00:42:23.960 --> 00:42:27.099
That's why he declared that the older is going

00:42:27.099 --> 00:42:31.199
to serve the younger. Now, yeah, Esau was completely

00:42:31.199 --> 00:42:35.760
right to say, isn't he rightly named Jacob? But

00:42:35.760 --> 00:42:38.460
God's will surpasses names and schemes and human

00:42:38.460 --> 00:42:42.320
wisdom and human understanding. Like, we look

00:42:42.320 --> 00:42:44.880
like, why would God use this guy Jacob to be

00:42:44.880 --> 00:42:46.860
the son that carried the blessing and promise

00:42:46.860 --> 00:42:50.179
forward? If you're asking that question right

00:42:50.179 --> 00:42:51.980
now, I want you to ask yourself another question,

00:42:52.019 --> 00:42:54.239
and if you can answer that one, then you'll get

00:42:54.239 --> 00:42:56.679
an answer to the Jacob one. Why did God call

00:42:56.679 --> 00:42:58.880
Jacob and use Jacob even though Jacob was a sinner?

00:42:58.980 --> 00:43:01.340
Why did he call you and save you even though

00:43:01.340 --> 00:43:04.579
you were a sinner? If you can answer that question,

00:43:04.840 --> 00:43:08.380
then you're going to have the answer to why he

00:43:08.380 --> 00:43:14.510
used Jacob. He didn't condone Jacob's sin. But

00:43:14.510 --> 00:43:16.710
God knew what God wanted to do, and God's will

00:43:16.710 --> 00:43:18.090
was going to be accomplished no matter what,

00:43:18.150 --> 00:43:20.909
and he worked in and through that. Now, Jacob

00:43:20.909 --> 00:43:24.779
goes on to pay for it, like I said, but... Esau

00:43:24.779 --> 00:43:27.699
never owned the fact. He never took responsibility

00:43:27.699 --> 00:43:30.420
for his own sin. He never said, I'm the one who

00:43:30.420 --> 00:43:32.599
sold my birthright. I'm the one that devalued

00:43:32.599 --> 00:43:35.059
God's word. And so he's still blaming. He's playing

00:43:35.059 --> 00:43:37.699
the victim card here. Haven't you saved a blessing

00:43:37.699 --> 00:43:41.000
for me? That's victim language. Poor me, poor

00:43:41.000 --> 00:43:43.840
me. I'm the innocent victim here. And he's not.

00:43:45.480 --> 00:43:47.559
His question about haven't you saved a blessing

00:43:47.559 --> 00:43:51.210
for me, it wasn't about spiritual legacy. He

00:43:51.210 --> 00:43:53.590
only cared about what served him materially.

00:43:53.809 --> 00:43:59.289
His anger was about losing the stuff. Not losing

00:43:59.289 --> 00:44:01.630
anything that has anything to do with God. That

00:44:01.630 --> 00:44:04.909
didn't matter to Esau. And so verse 37, Isaac

00:44:04.909 --> 00:44:09.349
answered Esau, look, I've made him a master over

00:44:09.349 --> 00:44:11.889
you. Still, he's like, I can't change it. This

00:44:11.889 --> 00:44:15.250
is God's will. I've given him all of his relatives

00:44:15.250 --> 00:44:17.170
as his servants and have sustained him with grain

00:44:17.170 --> 00:44:19.860
and new wine. What then can I do for you, my

00:44:19.860 --> 00:44:23.260
son? Esau said to his father, well, do you only

00:44:23.260 --> 00:44:28.199
have one blessing? Bless me too. Esau wept loudly.

00:44:28.679 --> 00:44:32.159
You know what this verse reminds me of? There

00:44:32.159 --> 00:44:35.199
is a verse that talks about all the people in

00:44:35.199 --> 00:44:37.940
this world who say no to Jesus, no to Jesus.

00:44:38.039 --> 00:44:39.840
I don't need him. I don't believe in him. I don't

00:44:39.840 --> 00:44:41.460
want Jesus to run my life. I'm gonna make my

00:44:41.460 --> 00:44:44.119
own decisions. And one day, they're gonna be

00:44:44.119 --> 00:44:47.820
in a place. Where they are weeping and gnashing

00:44:47.820 --> 00:44:54.059
their teeth. And it's too late. This is what

00:44:54.059 --> 00:44:58.199
I see here, that Esau is weeping loudly. Maybe

00:44:58.199 --> 00:45:00.380
in this moment he was starting to realize what

00:45:00.380 --> 00:45:02.980
he had lost because of his selfishness. It doesn't

00:45:02.980 --> 00:45:05.960
say that here, that's conjecture. But verse 39,

00:45:06.139 --> 00:45:08.269
his father Isaac answered him. He's like, all

00:45:08.269 --> 00:45:10.250
right, I'll give you a blessing. Look, your dwelling

00:45:10.250 --> 00:45:12.110
place will be away from the riches of the land,

00:45:12.210 --> 00:45:14.269
away from the dew of the sky above. You will

00:45:14.269 --> 00:45:16.250
live by your sword and you will serve your brother.

00:45:16.389 --> 00:45:18.530
But when you rebel, you will break his yoke from

00:45:18.530 --> 00:45:23.550
your neck. So Isaac, now a broken man, realizing

00:45:23.550 --> 00:45:28.510
that he tried to fight God and God won. That

00:45:28.510 --> 00:45:30.429
there's nothing you could do to go against God's

00:45:30.429 --> 00:45:32.349
will. And so all he could offer his son, his

00:45:32.349 --> 00:45:35.969
favorite son, was really an anti -blessing. Look.

00:45:36.599 --> 00:45:39.000
All I can tell you is that God's will is going

00:45:39.000 --> 00:45:41.800
to be done. I gave the blessing away. Your brother

00:45:41.800 --> 00:45:45.840
Jacob has it. As far as Esau's future, you're

00:45:45.840 --> 00:45:47.699
going to have life away from abundance, away

00:45:47.699 --> 00:45:49.760
from the dew. You're going to have a life marked

00:45:49.760 --> 00:45:51.920
by struggle. You're going to have a life marked

00:45:51.920 --> 00:45:55.840
by difficulty. And then eventually, I mean, you're

00:45:55.840 --> 00:45:57.420
going to have a life in submission to your brother,

00:45:57.460 --> 00:46:01.179
but eventually you'll break away from that. And

00:46:01.179 --> 00:46:04.579
so even though Esau's loud weeping Probably,

00:46:04.579 --> 00:46:07.320
most likely, primarily just frustrated selfishness.

00:46:07.860 --> 00:46:10.320
But even then, God didn't discard Esau, didn't

00:46:10.320 --> 00:46:12.340
throw him in the trash, say, you're nothing to

00:46:12.340 --> 00:46:14.880
me. Because later on in Esau's life, he does

00:46:14.880 --> 00:46:18.320
become a blessed man. The very end of this story

00:46:18.320 --> 00:46:20.420
between Jacob and Esau, Jacob's coming back from

00:46:20.420 --> 00:46:22.039
exile and he's like, my brother's gonna kill

00:46:22.039 --> 00:46:24.059
me because he wanted to kill me when I fled.

00:46:24.219 --> 00:46:26.119
So he's sending all these riches and all these

00:46:26.119 --> 00:46:28.659
horses and all these gifts ahead of him. And

00:46:28.659 --> 00:46:31.159
so Esau's and his men are coming to meet Jacob

00:46:31.159 --> 00:46:34.199
and there's just like, row after row of gifts

00:46:34.199 --> 00:46:37.639
and gold and stuff. And then when Jacob finally

00:46:37.639 --> 00:46:39.440
meets up with Esau, he's like, he's gonna kill

00:46:39.440 --> 00:46:43.099
me and I deserve it. Esau says, hey, bro, I don't

00:46:43.099 --> 00:46:46.219
need any more stuff. In Genesis 33, nine, he

00:46:46.219 --> 00:46:50.199
says, I have enough. I'm okay. We'll get to that

00:46:50.199 --> 00:46:52.380
story when we get there. But this story, as we've

00:46:52.380 --> 00:46:54.559
looked at it today, if you're looking for a hero

00:46:54.559 --> 00:46:56.559
in the story, you're not gonna find one. Everyone

00:46:56.559 --> 00:47:00.119
was a selfish sinner in this story. Isaac resisted

00:47:00.119 --> 00:47:02.320
God's word. Rebecca tried to manipulate God's

00:47:02.320 --> 00:47:04.420
promise into reality through deception. Jacob

00:47:04.420 --> 00:47:06.960
knowingly joined the lie, even dragged God's

00:47:06.960 --> 00:47:09.159
name into it. Esau didn't care about God's word

00:47:09.159 --> 00:47:11.420
until it personally cost him. And the bottom

00:47:11.420 --> 00:47:14.320
line is everyone was trying to grab onto God's

00:47:14.320 --> 00:47:18.000
blessing without submitting to God himself. That

00:47:18.000 --> 00:47:21.880
doesn't work. This is a story of family drama,

00:47:22.079 --> 00:47:25.179
ambition, lies, manipulation. And in the end,

00:47:26.730 --> 00:47:29.550
Although God's will was done, there was incredible

00:47:29.550 --> 00:47:32.409
unnecessary misery and suffering that came as

00:47:32.409 --> 00:47:36.130
a result of their actions. Rebecca ends up having

00:47:36.130 --> 00:47:38.630
to send Jacob away. Her favorite son, the love

00:47:38.630 --> 00:47:40.329
of her life, go away because your brother wants

00:47:40.329 --> 00:47:44.489
to kill you. Jacob's gone for 20 years. As far

00:47:44.489 --> 00:47:46.550
as the record in Genesis, there's no indication

00:47:46.550 --> 00:47:51.260
that she ever saw her beloved son again. Jacob,

00:47:51.280 --> 00:47:53.659
he faced the just consequences, right? He went

00:47:53.659 --> 00:47:56.539
into exile, and then he lived for years being

00:47:56.539 --> 00:48:00.280
deceived by his uncle Laban. He got what was

00:48:00.280 --> 00:48:02.579
coming to him in that sense. You're gonna deceive

00:48:02.579 --> 00:48:04.079
your brother? You're gonna steal the birthright?

00:48:04.440 --> 00:48:06.880
You're gonna live a life like this? Well, then

00:48:06.880 --> 00:48:09.059
you're gonna go be deceived. You're gonna live

00:48:09.059 --> 00:48:10.840
the life of one being taken advantage of under

00:48:10.840 --> 00:48:14.380
your uncle Laban. Isaac, I believe for the rest

00:48:14.380 --> 00:48:16.079
of his life, he had to live with the bitter knowledge

00:48:16.079 --> 00:48:19.880
that he helped tear his own family apart. because

00:48:19.880 --> 00:48:23.219
he wouldn't just submit to God's will. And then

00:48:23.219 --> 00:48:27.460
Esau lost everything because he never truly valued

00:48:27.460 --> 00:48:30.380
what God wanted to give him. But again, the beauty

00:48:30.380 --> 00:48:32.699
in this story, the wonderful beauty is that God

00:48:32.699 --> 00:48:35.239
kept his word in spite of all of this. Despite

00:48:35.239 --> 00:48:38.039
of Isaac's rebellion, despite of Rebecca and

00:48:38.039 --> 00:48:40.900
Jacob's scheming, despite Esau's indifference,

00:48:41.159 --> 00:48:47.300
God's will prevailed. And that's hope. Hopefully

00:48:47.300 --> 00:48:50.099
you take heart in that today, that God's unshakable

00:48:50.099 --> 00:48:53.659
determination will bring his plan to completion,

00:48:53.900 --> 00:48:57.079
specifically his plan in your life, what he has

00:48:57.079 --> 00:49:00.300
for you. He will bring it to completion, even

00:49:00.300 --> 00:49:03.860
when we stubbornly fight him. Some people are

00:49:03.860 --> 00:49:05.539
gonna hear that and go, oh, Pastor Nathan, you're

00:49:05.539 --> 00:49:07.340
just giving us license to sin and do whatever

00:49:07.340 --> 00:49:13.000
we want. No! The idea here is God's will's gonna

00:49:13.000 --> 00:49:17.099
be done. We can either go along with his plan,

00:49:17.239 --> 00:49:19.340
and that's the easy way, or we can fight against

00:49:19.340 --> 00:49:23.199
it and have harsh consequences and drama and

00:49:23.199 --> 00:49:25.380
all of this in our life. Either way, God's will

00:49:25.380 --> 00:49:28.440
is going to be accomplished. So don't try and

00:49:28.440 --> 00:49:31.199
manipulate God's word, right? Remember, if we

00:49:31.199 --> 00:49:34.579
are faithless, he remains faithful because he

00:49:34.579 --> 00:49:38.420
cannot deny himself. Don't try and use unrighteous

00:49:38.420 --> 00:49:40.980
means to achieve righteous ends. Don't fight

00:49:40.980 --> 00:49:45.070
against God's plan. Submit to it. Be a person

00:49:45.070 --> 00:49:46.849
that instead of trying to figure out how to get

00:49:46.849 --> 00:49:49.590
around God, just simply say, here I am, Lord.

00:49:49.949 --> 00:49:53.469
Your servant is listening. What do you want me

00:49:53.469 --> 00:49:57.510
to do? Simply be the one that walks with him

00:49:57.510 --> 00:50:00.050
in peace because the alternative is bringing

00:50:00.050 --> 00:50:04.210
chaos into everything in your life. When he speaks,

00:50:04.329 --> 00:50:08.909
just say, God, your will be done. Because it

00:50:08.909 --> 00:50:13.960
will be done. Either the hard way. Or the easy

00:50:13.960 --> 00:50:19.079
way? Let's pray. Father, we love you so much.

00:50:19.340 --> 00:50:21.579
We're so grateful to who you are and your word.

00:50:21.780 --> 00:50:23.500
Lord, we're grateful that you even show these

00:50:23.500 --> 00:50:25.420
stories, Lord. Sometimes we might look at these

00:50:25.420 --> 00:50:28.460
stories and go, wow, they're messed up. And Lord,

00:50:28.519 --> 00:50:32.179
it's really a story of our own life. God, we're

00:50:32.179 --> 00:50:34.139
all messed up. We're all sinners, Lord, and it's

00:50:34.139 --> 00:50:37.860
only because you have saved us that God, through

00:50:37.860 --> 00:50:41.139
the opportunity that you created for us to simply

00:50:41.139 --> 00:50:44.510
believe in you, to believe in what you did on

00:50:44.510 --> 00:50:46.329
the cross, to believe that your death was the

00:50:46.329 --> 00:50:48.969
full and perfect and adequate atonement for our

00:50:48.969 --> 00:50:52.090
sin, that through faith in you, we are washed

00:50:52.090 --> 00:50:54.730
clean of the sin, the stain of sin, we are freed

00:50:54.730 --> 00:50:57.710
from the consequence of that sin, Lord, to grasp

00:50:57.710 --> 00:50:59.789
onto the promise that we are gonna live eternally

00:50:59.789 --> 00:51:06.500
with you. All of that undeserved. But Lord, that

00:51:06.500 --> 00:51:09.059
doesn't mean that we're free from endeavoring

00:51:09.059 --> 00:51:11.079
to live a life here on this earth that glorifies

00:51:11.079 --> 00:51:15.400
you, to live a life of obedience. Lord, you tell

00:51:15.400 --> 00:51:17.639
us that here on earth we have a born -again spirit

00:51:17.639 --> 00:51:20.800
that is still living with our dead flesh. And

00:51:20.800 --> 00:51:23.119
they war against each other, God. And your word

00:51:23.119 --> 00:51:25.219
tells us that the one we feed is the one that's

00:51:25.219 --> 00:51:28.159
going to win the battle. So Lord, let us be people

00:51:28.159 --> 00:51:31.340
who feed our spirit more than we feed our flesh.

00:51:33.579 --> 00:51:36.280
That we wouldn't bring and invite chaos into

00:51:36.280 --> 00:51:39.019
our families and into our lives through our selfishness,

00:51:39.059 --> 00:51:42.019
through living according to the flesh. But instead,

00:51:42.139 --> 00:51:45.480
God, that we would have peace and blessing and

00:51:45.480 --> 00:51:51.719
everything that you have for us by living in

00:51:51.719 --> 00:51:54.800
line with your will, to follow your will. As

00:51:54.800 --> 00:51:57.000
your word says, to keep step with the spirit.

00:51:58.460 --> 00:52:01.949
God, we're so grateful to you. We love you. We

00:52:01.949 --> 00:52:03.530
ask that you would bless us and our families,

00:52:03.590 --> 00:52:06.309
bless our workplaces, bless our ministries, bless

00:52:06.309 --> 00:52:09.369
our church, Lord. Bless every church that is

00:52:09.369 --> 00:52:11.429
following you, God, that we would be lights on

00:52:11.429 --> 00:52:14.610
a hill, salt to this earth, and beacons of truth.

00:52:15.469 --> 00:52:19.769
It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, you

00:52:19.769 --> 00:52:21.929
know, the greatest expression that we have yielded

00:52:21.929 --> 00:52:24.010
ourselves to God and received that promise of

00:52:24.010 --> 00:52:27.489
salvation is baptism. It's in fact the thing

00:52:27.489 --> 00:52:30.489
that the Bible tells us to do, to publicly proclaim

00:52:30.489 --> 00:52:33.070
to the world that I have given my life to Jesus.

00:52:33.769 --> 00:52:35.809
It's not a proclamation that I'm perfect now.

00:52:35.949 --> 00:52:38.590
Nope, none of us are that. But it's a proclamation

00:52:38.590 --> 00:52:42.230
that the promise God made to me, that if you

00:52:42.230 --> 00:52:43.710
trust in me, you put your faith in me, I will

00:52:43.710 --> 00:52:46.719
save you. you will be forgiven that that has

00:52:46.719 --> 00:52:49.039
happened in our lives. And so that's what we're

00:52:49.039 --> 00:52:50.500
gonna be celebrating here in a moment. We have

00:52:50.500 --> 00:52:52.360
two people that signed up today to get baptized.

00:52:52.760 --> 00:52:55.039
But if the Lord has spoken to you over the course

00:52:55.039 --> 00:52:56.739
of today's message that you need to take the

00:52:56.739 --> 00:52:58.980
step to get baptized today, we have clothes for

00:52:58.980 --> 00:53:00.840
you that you could change into. We have towels

00:53:00.840 --> 00:53:03.280
so that you could dry off. But here are the instructions.

00:53:03.639 --> 00:53:05.159
For those of you that are getting baptized today,

00:53:05.239 --> 00:53:06.860
as soon as I invite you up, you're gonna come

00:53:06.860 --> 00:53:09.199
down the aisle here and go into the back where

00:53:09.199 --> 00:53:11.119
we have some changing booths that you could change

00:53:11.119 --> 00:53:13.039
into the clothes you're gonna be getting baptized

00:53:13.039 --> 00:53:17.280
in. Myself and Pastor Manuel will go back there

00:53:17.280 --> 00:53:19.059
to get changed as well, and then we will be performing

00:53:19.059 --> 00:53:21.699
the baptisms today. And so for those of you that

00:53:21.699 --> 00:53:24.119
are here to observe that, family members that

00:53:24.119 --> 00:53:26.260
are visiting specifically to see this, you are

00:53:26.260 --> 00:53:28.119
free to come forward to sit in the front rows

00:53:28.119 --> 00:53:29.980
and be right here. If you want to take pictures

00:53:29.980 --> 00:53:33.219
or video, feel free to come forward. But if you're

00:53:33.219 --> 00:53:36.239
seated in the front half of the sanctuary and

00:53:36.239 --> 00:53:39.000
you're not coming forward, I'm going to ask you

00:53:39.000 --> 00:53:41.539
that during the baptism, while we're all worshiping

00:53:41.539 --> 00:53:44.059
together, that you don't stand up. Okay, if you're

00:53:44.059 --> 00:53:46.260
in the back, go crazy. But if you're in the front

00:53:46.260 --> 00:53:48.900
half... Don't stand up because we have cameras

00:53:48.900 --> 00:53:50.739
and stuff here and there's oftentimes family

00:53:50.739 --> 00:53:52.420
members and friends that are watching online

00:53:52.420 --> 00:53:54.739
and they want to be able to observe their loved

00:53:54.739 --> 00:53:57.280
ones getting baptized as well. And so if you're

00:53:57.280 --> 00:53:58.860
getting baptized today, go and stand up, come

00:53:58.860 --> 00:54:01.619
forward. Pastor Manuel, are you already in the

00:54:01.619 --> 00:54:02.900
back? Oh, you're right there. All right, go ahead

00:54:02.900 --> 00:54:04.840
and come forward. And then while we're performing

00:54:04.840 --> 00:54:07.000
the baptisms, our worship team's going to be

00:54:07.000 --> 00:54:09.880
leading us in worship. Feel free to just praise

00:54:09.880 --> 00:54:12.480
God and be a part of it and celebrate these baptisms

00:54:12.480 --> 00:54:14.920
with us. But I do encourage you, you know, if

00:54:14.920 --> 00:54:17.769
you don't have to leave, Stay if you can. If

00:54:17.769 --> 00:54:20.210
you have to go, that is totally okay. But we

00:54:20.210 --> 00:54:22.250
do our baptisms this way as a part of our service

00:54:22.250 --> 00:54:25.630
because we want the body to be the public that

00:54:25.630 --> 00:54:27.550
is here celebrating with our brothers and sisters

00:54:27.550 --> 00:54:29.909
getting baptized. That is what this is all about.

00:54:30.070 --> 00:54:32.869
And so I am blessed to be able to be a part of

00:54:32.869 --> 00:54:34.769
this with you. I'm blessed to celebrate this

00:54:34.769 --> 00:54:36.969
moment in our brothers and sisters' lives because

00:54:36.969 --> 00:54:40.449
we all know that God has done a mighty work transforming

00:54:40.449 --> 00:54:43.050
our lives. And that is what he's done here today.

00:54:43.250 --> 00:54:45.969
And so with that, One final prayer and then we'll

00:54:45.969 --> 00:54:48.010
get started. God, bless this time, bless this

00:54:48.010 --> 00:54:51.150
baptism today, bless this moment, Lord. Do everything

00:54:51.150 --> 00:54:53.510
that you do spiritually in this moment where

00:54:53.510 --> 00:54:55.329
we take this step of obedience to get baptized,

00:54:55.570 --> 00:54:58.050
Lord. God, we're here to celebrate you and what

00:54:58.050 --> 00:55:00.289
you've done in our lives so that, Lord, we would

00:55:00.289 --> 00:55:02.550
learn to grow more and more as people who walk

00:55:02.550 --> 00:55:05.150
according to your spirit, Lord. Let that reality

00:55:05.150 --> 00:55:06.929
be the truth for those that are getting baptized

00:55:06.929 --> 00:55:09.510
here today. We love you and we thank you. It's

00:55:09.510 --> 00:55:10.750
in Jesus' name we pray, amen.