Sermons – Grace Evangelical Free Church // Wyoming, MN

Genesis 29:1-30 Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east. 2 As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep lying beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well’s mouth was large, 3 and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place over the mouth of the well.

4 Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do you come from?” They said, “We are from Haran.” 5 He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” They said, “We know him.” 6 He said to them, “Is it well with him?” They said, “It is well; and see, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep!” 7 He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered together. Water the sheep and go, pasture them.” 8 But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”

9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. 10 Now as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. 12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s kinsman, and that he was Rebekah’s son, and she ran and told her father.

13 As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things, 14 and Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month.

15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” 16 Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. 18 Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19 Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.

21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” 22 So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. 23 But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. 24 (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) 25 And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” 26 Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. 27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” 28 Jacob did so, and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 29 (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) 30 So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.

Intro And Background

This week we are in Genesis 29 and see the story of Jacob obtaining wives. This passage moves the story along as Jacob marries and with it the promise of offspring. But within the story there are several themes occurring that again highlight God’s providential work through, and for people. One thing I have learned as we’ve worked through Genesis is the varying ways God works out his purposes.

Genesis 28:10-22 Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. 12 And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 14 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

18 So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19 He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, 21 so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, 22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”

INTRODUCTION

In case you’re just joining us, or in case you forgot where we are in Genesis, we’ve made it all the way to the second half of Genesis 28 (we’re more than half done with the whole book!). After God’s Creation of the heavens and earth, after Adam and Eve’s rebellion and fall, after the great Flood of judgment, and after the confusion of languages and dispersion of mankind at Babel, God chose to reconcile a people to Himself through one particular man and his offspring. Thus, apart from any particular merit in Abraham, God chose him and made a covenant with him. God’s covenant with Abraham included the promise of land and descendants beyond number. But more importantly, it included the promise to be Abraham’s God and the God of Abraham’s offspring; to redeem them and have fellowship with them, to lead and guide them, to protect and provide for them. For his part, Abraham was simply to trust in God, and he did.

And then Abraham, according to God’s promise, had a son. His name was Isaac. And then, according to God’s promise, Isaac had two sons, one who would receive the promise (Jacob) and one who would not (Esau). As they grew older, through some serious shenanigans, Jacob drew his older brother, Esau’s, hatred and was therefore forced to flee to a new land.

That’s where we pick up this morning; with Jacob fleeing to his mother’s homeland, Heran. While there, God came to him in a dream and in it reiterated the covenant promises He’d made with Jacob’s grandfather. In response, Jacob worshiped God and committed to honor God as his God. Those, then, are the two main parts to this story: 1) God’s gracious and glorious visit, and 2) Jacob’s faithful and worshipful response.

In this short story we see a few things. We see that God was indeed a glorious God, that God was still committed to the gracious covenant He’d made with Abraham, that Jacob was still the beneficiary of the covenant promises of grace, and that Jacob acknowledged God as the gracious and glorious ...

Intro and Recap

Good morning. If you were here last week, Pastor Dave preached the first part of this larger passage by saying that there were 6 scenes to this passage. He covered the first 4, which range from chapter 27:1-40.

There were four interconnected scenes that show the twisted dynamics of a family God had chosen to bless. Isaac loved Esau, Rebekah loved Jacob. God had already promised that the older, Esau, would serve the younger Jacob. All four characters are never together in one scene, but each character influences all the scenes. And we saw how each character acted foolishly and sinfully in trying to get their own way. Let me do a quick recap:

Scene 1. Isaac is old, he’s lost his sight, and he calls his favorite, eldest son Esau. Isaac instructs him to hunt and cook some game and present it so that Esau will receive a blessing. So Esau leaves to go hunt and prepare wild game.

Scene 2. Isaac’s wife, Rebekah overhears, and in tells their other son Jacob what Isaac plans to do. Now God had promised that Jacob, the younger son, would receive the blessing, so Rebekah schemes with Jacob to get the blessing. She has Jacob dress up as the hairier, smellier older son Esau and bring a meal to Isaac.

In scene 3 Jacob, disguised as Esau comes to Isaac with the meal. Even though Isaac is old and blind he is suspicious of Jacob, but eventually he’s convinced that he is talking with Esau, so he he gives his blessing. The problem is Isaac thinks he’s blessing Esau, while Jacob actually receives the blessing. Pastor Dave explained last week that this blessing was actually like an oath before God. It was an irrevocable, declaration on his son. Isaac proclaims prosperity from the land, that other nations will serve him, and a curse on those who would curse Jacob. Then Jacob exits just before Esau enters.

Scene 4 is where the bomb goes off and everything breaks loose. Esau comes in to Isaac, presents him with his own meal, and then Isaac realizes that they have been tricked by Jacob. When Esau asks for a blessing, Isaac refuses. Instead Isaac curses Esau prophesying that he will live in another land away from blessing and prosperity.

This week we look at the last two scenes of the story we started last week featuring the blessing of Jacob and the curse of Esau. How do the characters respond to Jacob getting the blessing? While the human responses aren’t very encouraging, take heart in the truth that God Almighty works through people to carry out his perfect plans, even if it means exile. And in all of it, we should see ourselves in the characters and realize how unworthy we are to receive God’s blessing.

Our text this morning is Genesis 27:41 through 28:9. There are two final scenes, plus an epilogue that we will look at this morning. The last two scenes are the resolution of the big blowup over the blessing. Each character responds to the blessing in different ways and each help move the focus of Genesis from Isaac and Rebekah to the third generation, focusing on Jacob. One thing to keep in mind as we work through the text is that God ensures that his plans and promises will prevail, despite how foolish and wicked his people act.

Scene 5-Esau’s Hatred and Rebekah’s protection (27:41-46)

The first scene this morning, which is actually the 5th in the narrative, features the response of Esau and Rebekah. Look at verse 41

Gen. 27:41 Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

Esau was denied the blessing by Isaac because of Jacob’s trickery. And his response is hatred. Esau didn’t get what he wanted, and Jacob did, and that caused him to hate his brother. Not only does he hate his brother, but he plots to murder Jacob. Instead of lashing out in rage and immediately hunting him down,

INTRODUCTION

In isolation (from the rest of Genesis) and from 10k’ this is a dramatic though fairly straightforward story. Jacob, with the help of his mother, Rebekah, tricked their dying father/husband, Isaac, into blessing Jacob rather than his brother, Esau. Upon finding out—understandably—both Isaac and Esau became enraged. Having experienced Esau’s heart of rebellion and having caught word of his murderous intentions, Rebekah pleaded with Jacob to flee to preserve his life.

The story is filled with lying, hatred, and threats of murder—all things that create significant intrigue. If this were the start of a secular novel it’d probably become a best seller. As a biographical sketch of the chosen family of God, however, it takes on a different tone.

We’ll quickly see that “all the participants were at fault. Isaac, whether he knew of the earlier sale of the birthright or not, did know the oracle of God that the elder would serve the younger; yet he set himself to thwart it by blessing Esau. Esau, in agreeing to the plan, broke his oath to Jacob (25:33…). Rebekah and Jacob, with a just cause, went about achieving it by deception, with no faith or love. Theirs would be the victory—although they obtained only what God declared they would receive anyway—but they would reap the appropriate fruit of hatred and separation (Rebekah never saw her beloved Jacob again)” (Ross, CB, 471-2).

All of this unfolds over the course of six scenes. We’ll consider the first four this morning and then the final two scenes next Sunday. But what are we to do with all of this? What are we to make of the story as a whole? And what are we to make of the specific questions (ethical and otherwise) it raises? Is lying OK? What’s the deal with the blessing; why does Isaac treat it like some sort of single-use, irreversible magical spell? And why would its use on Jacob necessitate a curse upon Esau? Did Isaac not understand that Jacob was the chosen one of God, did he not care, or did he simply think this was a different matter? Lying, hatred, and murderous intentions.

And above all, from all of this, I want you to see a few familiar things: 1) God’s will, will be done—even through the foolish choices of His people; 2) Seeking to manipulate God’s will is folly of the highest order—even if God turns it to good; 3) Choices have consequences—even if God largely shields us from them; and 4) If God’s grace is able to reach this family, it can reach anyone—even if we don’t deserve or seek it. Let’s pray, asking God to help us see and apply these things as we work through the various scenes of this story.

BACKDROP: ESAU THE STINKER (26:34-35; 27:46)

Before we get to the scenes, we need to consider two curious passages that sort of bookend or frame the first five scenes and significantly inform the sixth. On their own we might wonder why they are in here. In the larger context, however, they explain a lot. Let’s look at 26:34-35 and 27:46.

26:34 When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, 35 and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.

27:46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I loathe my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

Short version: Esau was a stinker and he married a pair of stinkers. In doing so he continued to show total disregard for the ways of the LORD. He was, from what we can tell, almost entirely secular and carnal (or profane as I said in a previous sermon) and in that, he continually caused trouble for the people around him. Again, that fact goes a long way in shaping this story. Even while largely in the background, Esau’s worldliness negatively affects many,

Genesis 26:12-33 And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The LORD blessed him, 13 and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. 14 He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him. 15 (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

17 So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them. 19 But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, 20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah. 22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, saying, “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”

23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.” 25 So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

26 When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army, 27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?” 28 They said, “We see plainly that the LORD has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD.” 30 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. 32 That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” 33 He called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

INTRODUCTION

In my initial reading of this passage I came away with a bunch of questions. What’s up with the wells?. Clearly they are an important part of this section, but why? I wondered why the Philistines would have stopped up—rather than used for themselves—the wells of Abraham. Why was Isaac so compliant when the Philistines contended for the wells he redug? Why didn’t he put up more of a stink about the men of Gerar coming in and claiming the wells/water? Why did God appear as He did to Isaac? What was the significance of His appearing at that place and point in time? Was Isaac’s peace treaty with Abimelech a good thing in God’s sight, or merely a convenience thing in Isaac’s?

As is often the case, however, after spending more time reading, thinking, studying, and praying through the passage, it quickly became clear that those weren’t really the right questions. (There’s an important lesson in there for all bible study. Be careful with your initial observations from a passage.) They weren’t wildly off or entirely irrelevant, but answering them wouldn’t quite get me to the heart of the matter either.

After working through the passage more thoroughly I think there are two main points to...

Genesis 26:1-14 Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines. 2 And the LORD appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. 4 I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

6 So Isaac settled in Gerar. 7 When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance. 8 When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with Rebekah his wife. 9 So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’ ” 10 Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11 So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

12 And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The LORD blessed him, 13 and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. 14 He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him.

INTRODUCTION

The story of the chosen family continues in this section. As we work our way through this second part of Genesis (the first part, chapters 1-11, tells the story of the beginning of the whole world, while the second part, chapters 12-50, tells the story of the beginning of one particular family), we are following Abraham’s family and the unfolding of the promises of God to them. To this point we’ve encountered some remarkable stories, haven’t we? With Holy Spirit inspired commentary, we’ve seen that Abraham and his offspring acted in ways that have ranged from sacrificially faithful and godly to selfishly treacherous and diabolical. And yet, while the people of the promise have come in and out of obedience, the God of the promise has remained perfectly steadfast, preserving this often wayward family through all kinds of situations.

So far we’ve moved through the story from Abraham to his sons, Ishmael and Isaac, to Isaac’s sons, Jacob and Esau, and now back to Isaac. In this scene Isaac encountered a situation that was out of his control. It was a situation so significant that it forced him to alter his course. Thus, as we look in on the events of this passage and the unforeseen circumstances it presented Isaac with, we’re forced to ask (again) one of life’s big questions—the question of how we ought to respond when we come up against something significant and unexpected.

And to that end, the main things I hope to help you see concerning this passage and that question are: (1) while our circumstances often, necessarily determine our actions, they are not meant to determine our hearts, (2) God gives sufficient instructions to His people to navigate any circumstances in a manner pleasing to Him, and (3) God ultimately responds to His people according to His promises, not our actions. Let’s pray for God’s help now.

CIRCUMSTANCES OUGHT TO SHAPE OUR ACTIONS, NOT OUR HEARTS (1)

So how do you respond when unforeseen, difficult circumstances come your way?

Genesis 25:27-34 When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. 28 Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

29 Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) 31 Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” 32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

INTRODUCTION

Do you believe you deserve God’s love and mercy and grace? Do you believe you deserve God’s kindness and blessing? Do you believe you deserve to be in fellowship with God? Your answer to these questions will determine almost everything about how you live. In our passage for this morning we find the beginning of the Bible’s answers to these questions. To help you see them more clearly, let’s start with the end in mind.

In other words, in this passage we find the start of the Bible’s teaching on several keys to truly understanding the good news, the gospel, of Christianity. The first thing to see is that we do not deserve to be included in the blessings of God. Nothing in us deserves to be loved by God or saved by God. That is because we are sinners (Romans 3:23) and our sin (even though for most people it doesn’t seem or sound or look like it) is a declaration of war against God (Romans 5:10; 8:7-6).

Another key to really grasping the gospel, and which we begin to see in this passage, is the fact that apart from the grace of God we would never understand Christianity to be good news and, therefore, we would never even seek it. The bible says that apart from God’s work in us the gospel will always seem foolish (1 Corinthians 1:18) and that we would never believe it on our own (Romans 8:6). We don’t deserve God’s favor and we would never even pursue it apart from God’s help. Our only hope, then, is that God would intervene on our behalf; that God would extend His mercy and grace and love to us even apart from our deserving it or even wanting it.

The last key to the gospel with seeds planted in these verses, then, is that God has in fact set His mercy, grace, and love upon His people in awesome ways. While we were still in sin and rebellion against God He loved us and sent His Son to die for us (Romans 5:8). If we do come to truly love God and trust in Him to save us and lead us, it is only because He first set his love and grace upon us, not because we deserved it but because He chose to be merciful (1 John 4:19).

Again, teaching the very beginning of these three things (especially the first—that nothing in us deserves God’s kindness) is largely the point of this passage. Based on the actions of every one of the people in this passage, it’s easy to see that none of them deserved God’s covenant promises. They all acted foolishly and in ways that are contrary to God’s will. Truly, Jacob, the one God had chosen as the recipient of His promises, may have been the least deserving of all. And yet God chose him. God set His love and blessing upon him so that Jacob would choose God.

In all of this we must find ourselves. That is, in this story about these undeserving people, we find a mirror. And if, by the grace of God, we’re able to rightly see ourselves in that mirror, we’ll see clearly that we do not deserve God’s favor any more than the people in story did. And if, by God’s grace, we’re able to rightly see ourselves in that mirror, we’ll also find hope that God might set His favor upon us even though we do not deserve it.

Genesis 25:12–26 These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham. 13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael; and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages and by their encampments, twelve princes according to their tribes. 17 (These are the years of the life of Ishmael: 137 years. He breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.) 18 They settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria. He settled over against all his kinsmen.

19 These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham fathered Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. 21 And Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. 23 And the LORD said to her,

    “Two nations are in your womb,

and two peoples from within you shall be divided;

the one shall be stronger than the other,

the older shall serve the younger.”

24 When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

INTRODUCTION

Each week I try to think of a new way to say the same thing at the beginning of each sermon: This stuff is awesome! The God of this passage is awesome! The principles embedded in it are awesome! This is the very awesome Word of God! You’d be foolish not to lean way into this awesomeness even as my delivery of it waxes and wanes. Fight off tiredness. Fight off the desire to be entertained. Fight off any informal compact you’ve made with yourself to dial in only enough to get the lowest hanging fruit of this sermon. Fight off the temptation to leave without a specific prayer and plan to conform yourself in the Holy Spirit’s power to the things this passage presents. Fight for all the holiness and joy that this text has for you!

With that, this is text and all it implies are awesome. From Ishmael, Jacob, and Esau we find four key themes and one more to rule them all. God’s promises are certain, conflict is inevitable, prayer is God’s primary solution to conflict, and all life is from God. The one that binds them all together and makes them possible is the sovereignty of God. All of that and a bit more are in this short passage. Let’s pray that God would open all of that to us and transform all of us to it.

ISHMAEL’S LINE AND DEATH

Genesis 25:12-18 briefly and unceremoniously records Ishmael’s line and his death. There are two things for us to note here. First, God kept His promise even to Ishmael. Back in Genesis 17:20 we read these words of God, “As for Ishmael…behold, I have blessed him…he shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation.” It is significant, therefore, that in Genesis 25:16 (eight chapters later) after listing the names of Ishmael’s offspring we’re told, “These are the sons of Ishmael…twelve princes according to their tribes.” Ishmael wasn’t the child of the promise—indeed according to God’s wishes he was driven away from the promise along with his mother—but God still kept His word concerning him. We’ll see more of this in just a bit.

Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. 2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. 5 Abraham gave all he had to Isaac. 6 But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country.

7 These are the days of the years of Abraham’s life, 175 years. 8 Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. 9 Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, 10 the field that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife. 11 After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac settled at Beer-lahai-roi.

INTRODUCTION

We’re about to turn a page on the story of God’s plan of covenant salvation—from Abraham and his son, Isaac, to Isaac and his sons, Jacob and Esau. Concerning the nature of His promises, God has taught us much through Abraham and He will teach us a great deal more through Isaac and Jacob. Before we get there, however, this short passage teaches four more things we don’t want to miss from Abraham’s life and death.

But here’s the thing, Grace, as much as we learn about salvation from the story of Abraham while he was alive, we learn much, much more from the way the way the New Testament describes him. For that reason, having come to the end of Abraham’s story in Genesis, in the second part of this sermon I’ll unpack a few aspects of how Abraham was understood in NT times and by the NT authors.

The main point of all of this is this: God would be perfectly faithful to the covenant He made with Abraham, but He would do so at a time and in ways no one could have predicted. And from that we catch a wonderful glimpse of the creative, faithful, gracious, omnipotent and triune nature of God. And from that we gain more and more understanding of what we must do to be saved and fuel for our worship of our Savior. Let’s pray.

ABRAHAM’S DEATH

The main points of this section are, (1) to highlight the significance of Abraham in God’s plan of salvation, and also (2) to demonstrate that God’s plan wasn’t dependant on Abraham. That is, as I said earlier, the main point of our passage is that God would be perfectly faithful to the covenant He made with Abraham, but He would do so at times and in ways no one could have predicted. Abraham was chosen by God to receive the covenant promises and he was mostly faithful to God in them. But when Abraham died, God’s unfolding plan would not die with him. It would continue on through Isaac and then, as we will see, through his offspring and then theirs and then theirs, until reaching its true fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

Again, then, from this short section I want to draw your attention to four things that largely summarize the key points of Abrahams life and significance in God’s plan.

Abraham Was Questionable as a Husband

The first thing to see is that Abraham was questionable as a husband. As we saw from the first pages of Genesis, God created marriage and He created it to be between one man and one woman. There can be no doubt as to the uniqueness of Abraham’s marriage with Sarah or the fact that he did love her, but there can also be no doubt that he was far from being in complete compliance with God’s marital design. To save himself Abraham twice handed Sarah off to pagan rulers and charged her to lie to them. What’s more, though culturally acceptable at the time, Abraham took concubines against God’s good design. The exact timing and nature of his marriage to...

Read Genesis 24 at esv.org.

INTRODUCTION

In the midst of a book filled with sin, rebellion, sacrifice, and difficulty, this passage is a sort of sweet respite. It’s easy to imagine how hard it would have been for Rebekah to leave her family on such short notice, but even that is cast in a light of rightness and willingness. This chapter is one of obedience, grace, trust, warmth, and the clear unfolding of the plans of God concerning His promises to Abraham.

Genesis 24 is one of the longer chapters in the bible, but its basic story can be summed up in just twelve words: God provided a wife for Isaac through the faithful submission of others. Wrapped up in the length and simplicity we find two absolutely profound themes that continue on throughout the entire bible: providence and submission. While these words often illicit all kinds of thoughts and emotions, the main gift this passage provides is that it helps us see the preciousness of both when they are rightly understood and applied. Let’s pray then, that God would help us see and apply these things in even greater ways as we look in on the next stage in God’s covenant faithfulness to His people. That is, may we delight even more in God’s good governance and our submission to it.

THE PRECIOUSNESS OF GOD’S PROVIDENCE

The first thing I’d like to draw your attention to is the preciousness of the providence of God that is on full display in this chapter. Let’s start with a definition. And let’s start our definition with a pair of contrasts.

Providence vs. Deism

What is God’s providence? It is not deism. According to deism god has no direct involvement in the affairs of the world at all. A deistic god is like an absent watchmaker; who made a watch, wound it up so that it would continue on its own, and then left the watch to continue functioning without intervention. In deism there is no specific direction or plan for creation, only outer boundaries and basic inner rules. There are many possible outcomes in any given situation and god has no influence over (and possibly no preference about) any of them. In deism god is entirely hands off. Anything that looks like divine involvement is at most a remnant of the past.

Providence vs. Fatalism

What is God’s providence? It is not fatalism. Fatalism is the idea that some force (external, internal, or both) has fixed every single outcome. All things are predetermined. We experience reality unfolding exactly as we take in a movie—we don’t know what happens next until it happens, and we might not understand everything that happens, but nothing can be altered, it has all already been entirely determined. In fatalism mankind is entirely hands off (in any truly meaningful sense anyway). Anything that looks like real choice is at most an illusion.

Providence

If God’s providence isn’t deism or fatalism, what exactly is it? It is the manner by which God continually directs all things in a particular way for the good of His creatures.

Here’s how the Heidelberg Catechism words it (27): ” The almighty and ever present power of God by which God upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty—all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but by his fatherly hand.

The heart of the meaning of providence is God’s provision of all good things through His all good rule of all. At the same time, it’s important for us to understand that within God’s providential rule His creatures make real choices that really affect the world. In divine providence both God and man are hands on. Anything that seems entirely natural or fixed is simply a misreading of ...