Pastor Scott
Jonas
Jacob and
Esau
Genesis 25
6-7-18
Turn in your
Bibles or your phones to Genesis 25.
Last week was intense. God kept
his covenantal promise and Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah. They called him Isaac which means
laughter. When Isaac was a teenager, the
laughter turned into something else.
Abraham followed God’s instructions and brought his son up to a mountain
as an offering. Abraham trusted that God
would raise Isaac from the dead. God
told him to stop. He saw Abraham’s faith. Isaac grew up and God gave him a wife
Rebekah. The covenant has been passed
down to them. They will be the Father
and Mother of a great nation that will bless all of creation.
Just like
Sarah, Rebekah was barren. For twenty
years they prayed to have a child.
Finally, he answered their cry.
As always, the blessing of a child came with pain. The Bible says, “The children struggled together
within her.” She said “Why is this
happening to me?” Any women here
experience severe discomfort during preganancy and say “Why is this happening
to me?’ And then slowly turn towards
your spouse. Remember she didn’t know
she was going to have twins at this point.
She just feels this struggle inside of her.
She went to
inquire of the Lord. We don’t know what
this means. There are no priests, no
temple, no holy place. Abraham was still
living. Maybe she went to him because
God had spoken to him verbally and in visions.
This is what the Lord says to her, “Two nations “Two nations are in your womb and two peoples from within you[c] shall be
divided;
the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall
serve the younger.” That explained the
turmoil inside her but in a few months the turmoil would be outside of her for
the rest of her life.
Esau was
born first. He came out hairy and
red. Like he had won a race. Jacob was close behind. In fact, he was holding onto the heel of
Esau, as if that counted as a tie. The
struggle was now outside.
You and I
have a struggle as well. Jacob and Esau
represent two opposite ways of living.
Both are sinful. Martin Luther
said, “All of us are either a Jacob or an Esau.” We tend towards one or the other. Jacobs need to be sympathetic to the Esaus
and you Esaus need to be more sympathetic to the Jacobs. Let me explain.
The word that best describes Jacob is
entitled. Entitled means to give a
title, right or claim to someone. God
gave “Jacob the title of the stronger one who will lead a nation.” He goes beyond his this prophecy and feels
like the world owes him. Everybody
better get out of his way because God said that he is the chosen one. He is like Israel’s first King, Saul. Once he knows that he has been picked by God,
he believes that he is entitled to do anything in his power to win. Jacob may have lost the race to be first born
top Esau but that doesn’t matter. He is
going to win the game of life. He is
hairless which makes him sleek and streamlined.
Hair is for animals. Jacob is an
elevated being who uses his cunning to get what he wants. And God wants what Jacob wants. At least that is what Jacob tells himself as
he looks at his reflection. The actor
playing him is Cary Grant.
He’s a mommas boy. Mom dotes on him so he thinks he is the
center of the world. He’s not. He’s has narcissitic tendencies. Jacob’s name means “Grabber of the heel” in
Hebrew. But the root word of Jacob is
very close to the word “Deceiver.” Maybe
that is why a heel is a word for a bad guy.
Jacob is like the Pharisees.
Jesus is always trying to take them down a peg because they take
themselves so seriously. Their ego is so
big there is no room for other people let alone God.
Are you a Jacob? Answer these questions. Do you do whatever it takes to get what you
want? Do you believe that you are better
than others? Do you deserve things
because you want them more? Do you
believe that your faith entitles you to a better life? Are you so competitive that you forget that
those you are competing against are loved by God? Do you act as if the ends justify the means? Are you so certain that you are special that
you never question your destiny? You
might be a Jacob.
If you aren’t a Jacob then you are an
Esau. The word that best describes him
is unholy. He doesn’t care about
anything but gratifying himself. If he
is hungry, then food is his God. If he
is bored then action is his God. If he
is needs a woman then sex is his God.
He’s heard the prophecy and it is worthless to him. It’s just words. What good are words? You can’t clothe yourself with them. You can’t fill your belly with words. If you can’t touch and see it then what good
is it? God’s words do nothing for him. His parents may be religious but he lives as
if there is no creator.
He is hairy and red, a man’s
man. I’m imagining Anthony Quinn. He is a hunter who loves the outdoors. What’s not to love? If you are hungry, kill something. If you are thirsty, find water. If you are cold, lay on a hot rock. If you are tired, sleep under a tree. That is the good life. Only the physical matters, the spiritual
doesn’t exist.
As for life, he has no plan. He makes it up as he goes along. Jacob has plans, Esau just has desires. The future isn’t real. Now is real.
He is like the Israealites in the desert. All he can think about is meat. He’d definitely go back to Egypt if it meant
meat. He is like the followers of Jesus
who walked away after the feeding of the 5,000.
Esau would have stayed for the free meal but when Jesus started talking
about being the bread of Life, He’d be out of there. Life is too short.
Are you an Esau? Answer these questions. Do you live to satisfy your physical
cravings? Are you very particular about
what you eat? Do you complain in
restaurants when your demands are not met?
Do you spend more time feeding your stomach food than you do feeding
your soul the word of God? Do you behave
as if this world is all there is? Do you
act as if the prophecies of God aren’t about you?
The story of Jacob and Esau plays
out. Give me Stew says Esau. Give me your birthright, says Jacob. And God shakes his head.
Jacob and Esau two opposite
directions that we want to avoid. Martin
Luther often talked about the image of a road with a ditch on both sides. On one side we have and entitled jerk and the
other side an unholy jerk. I’ve been
both. My calling as a pastor often
encourages me to be an entitled jerk.
Look at me, I went to seminary. I
know so much. God loves me because I
know Greek. But my natural default is
probably the unholy jerk. I can focus on
my next meal or sporting event and careless about the future.
Malachi 1 2 “ I have loved Jacob 3 but Esau I have hated.” He doesn’t love the entitled and hate the
unholy. If that’s the case we are all in
a lot of trouble. Those he love often
become entitled. Remember he chose Jacob
before he was born. There was nothing
Jacob did to earn God’s love.
Jesus died for the entitled and the
unholy. Whatever your sin, it is
forgiven. Embrace your forgiveness. Remember the bumper sticker: Christians aren’t perfect just forgiven. It could say Christians are entitled and
unholy but God loves us anyway. The only
thing we can do in response to the a merciful God is to embrace our choseness. In your baptism, God promised that he will
love you. You are chosen just like
Jacob. We can’t let that turn us into
entitled annoying people. Instead, we
try to get other people to see that they are chosen too. Everyone you talk to can be chosen. We don’t know, only the almighty does. But we do know that being chosen by God makes
all the difference. Jacob’s family
became the family of God and Esau’s descendants were not.