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I’m gonna invite you to Genesis. Chapter 25 is where we’re going to be together today, Genesis chapter 25. And we’re in a transitional chapter of Genesis. It’s kind of interesting. It comes right in the middle of the book to be in a transitional chapter, but we’re going to be covering generations. We’re going to see the torch really passed from Abraham. And if you’ve been following along in the book of Genesis, just to give you a really a categorical way of thinking about it, the first 11 chapters teaches us God created us for a purpose beautifully. You have intrinsic worth. Your value is not based on what you do, but who you are made in the image of God. Uh, which was an important lesson to a group of slaves who have been human trafficked, who’ve only been treated based on what they can, what they can do, not who they are. So they discover God made us for a reason, a purpose that we’re no accident. We have value. But what we find very early in our creations we rebel, we run against God and we destroy things. We live for our glory rather than his glory is to the destruction of people around us. First 11 chapters of Genesis. That’s what you find repeated over and over and over. It’s like the next generation thinks we’re going to do it differently, right? We’ll show them. And then they start to live as if they’re God, and it leads to the same conclusions.
Finally, in Genesis chapter 12, we see the grace of God being ministered to a one specific family that he promises through that family, all nations, all people groups will be blessed. That’s through Abraham. And from Genesis chapter 12 to 25, we’ve been following the story of Abraham and Sarah as they stepped out and followed God by faith. And now we’re going to read about starting. As we go through this transition, we’ll get to the story of Jacob and then finally ending Genesis with with the story of Joseph. And so the remaining 25 chapters of Genesis will deal with the the story of Jacob and Joseph and how the Lord continued to fulfill his promises. But that’s this is what we see in that transitional chapter of Genesis 25 from one generation to the next, how the Lord continues to work. Because the main character in all of Scripture is the Lord. It’s incredible when you hold the Bible in your hands and you think, this is 66 books written over 1500 years, three different continents, three authors, and one theme. I’m lucky if I keep a thought together for five minutes, right? It is powerful that the Word of God over that long of a period of time carries one grand story, and it’s the redemption of God for his people. It’s the pursuit of God for your life and for me, for his glory and our benefit for all of eternity.
And that’s the story of the Bible. So anytime you read a a story in Scripture, it’s important to remember the main character in all of it is always the Lord. And in Genesis 25, this is exactly what you see as you progress through the life of Abraham and Isaac. And to Jacob in Genesis 25, and as we look at their story, what we’re going to discover through each of really those stories as they unfold is, is for means to experience God. We’re going to use as it passes from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We’re going to use their stories to talk about how they experienced God, to encourage us to experience the Lord and our our relationship with him. There’s something we can glean really from Genesis 25, far beyond what I’m going to share with you, but I at least want to highlight these four thoughts that we’re going to learn together. Four means to experience God. Point number one, we’ll say, is the grand theme to all, all of these points. If you don’t do point one, you might as well forget the rest of these. But point number one is this fully surrender to the Lord. Fully surrender to the Lord. If you don’t see your need for the Lord, you’ve completely underestimated the state of your soul, the importance of eternity, and what Jesus has accomplished for you on the cross.
Right? Um, but I find that this is an important theme to to remind Christians of over and over, because we have the tendency of complicating what the Christian life is about. One of my favorite chapters in all the Bible is Philippians chapter three, where Paul says, I counted all his dung for one purpose, that I may know him. Paul’s single pursuit of his life. He talks about abandoning a religious life for one desire, and that is to know Christ. And in knowing Christ, he makes Christ known. What I mean is, as God’s works, his transforming power in Paul and Paul’s desire is to know the Lord, he glorifies the Lord and everything that he does. Because our tendency as human beings is we share the things that we love. And if you love the Lord, it’s going to be known about your life. And as you grow in your relationship with the Lord, it’s it’s known about your life and so fully surrender to the Lord. It’s one of the freeing things I love about being at ABC is when I look at people, I say, look, um, you know, welcome. I’m glad you’re here, but I want you to know we’re not about one church versus another church. Um, I’m not about leaving one religion and joining another religion. Uh, we have one desire for your life, and that is to know Jesus. But here’s one of the beautiful things we discover, as you know, Jesus, is that you start to want to walk with people that know Jesus in the same way, and you want to fulfill the mission that God has called you on.
And the way that you do that is by learning to do it with other people living on that same mission. It’s far more powerful when God’s people can do it together as long as God’s. People carry some certain characteristics in the way you do it together, because none of us are perfect. But but to but to look in Genesis chapter 25 and understand this fully surrender to the Lord. And you see this unfolding with Abraham as it comes to the conclusion of his story. In fact, I’m going to read the first 11 verses of this chapter to you, and you’ll see that really the the summary of his life brought down to just one verse. But it’s a powerful verse and what it speaks to, the importance of, of Abraham’s relationship to the Lord. So it starts this in Genesis chapter 25, verse one, Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. I pronounce those all correctly. Jokshan father Sheba and Dedan, the sons of Dedan, were Asherim and lutetium, and Lunam the son of Midian were Eppa and Epher, and Henoch and Abida. And what other other Star Trek name that is, and all these were the children of Keturah.
And Abraham gave all he had to Isaac, but the 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. Verse seven. These are the days of the years of Abraham’s life, 175 years. And Abraham breathed his last, and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years. And he gathered to his people Isaac and Ishmael. His sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah and the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamri. I showed you a picture of this a couple of weeks ago. This cave still exists. It’s called the tomb of the patriarchs. The patriarchs are buried there if you want to look it up later, you can. But verse ten, the Field of Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with Sarah, his wife. After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son, and Isaac settled and bear lay high ROI. That’s how you say it. But, um, Abraham, Abraham. It summarizes his life in really being surrendered to the Lord. And it calls him. It says about him. He’s full of years. And there’s a couple of things that this says about Abraham. One is, uh, he was really old, right? There is a there is a quantity of life here, right? 175 in fact, just a little bit before that, it says he was an old man, right.
An old in age. This guy was old. Old. But but it’s not just saying about the quantity of life. It’s also talking about the quality of life, the way in which he grabbed hold of his life. And we might, even looking at Abraham’s life, say he honestly didn’t really even start to live until he was 75 years old. But but it was at that moment God’s grace came into his life and awakened him to the importance of what life was about and experience that being, experiencing that life with God. And so Abraham, he grabbed a hold of it. And by faith in Hebrews 11, starting in verse eight, it talks about he, he, he longed for something greater than really this earth had for him, something beyond what this life offered. But he lived for God’s glory. Now, I love this about Abraham, how important this is, because there is this I find tendency in our lives that if we’ve if we’ve gone through difficult things or we’ve had difficult things happen to us, that sometimes we can just call it quits, like you could say about your life. Um, maybe not you specifically. Right? You guys are great. But other people. Other people, um, they they died at 45, but they weren’t buried till they were 95, right? Like they got stuck with where they were and they couldn’t get past what it was that happened to them.
And sometimes we have this tendency of looking at that. And the reason we say that is people is because, well, um, I can’t forgive myself right now. Like what I did was so bad. Like, how could God love me? I can’t even love myself or I can’t forgive myself? And can I tell you very easily? The problem with that scenario is you think too much about yourself. I know it sounds. It sounds, um, humbling that kind of a comment. But really, it’s pride in disguise. God is so much greater than the things you’ve gone through. And thank the Lord. Abraham discovered that at 75 years old, and he was willing to let go of what his past had been in order to grab hold of what God was calling him to. But it’s got to be a surrendering of your life. Some of the most miserable people on the planet are people who call themselves Christians, who live half for the world and half for the Lord. Right? You think you do enough to make God happy with you, but you keep the rest for yourself. That is one of the most miserable places to live your life. And sometimes I tease and I tell us, you know, the Bible at least says sin is fun for a season, right? Like you’re going to you’re going to live for the world.
It might as well go all in. Like, at least it’s fun for a season, right? I mean, it’s going to have something to bite you in the rear in, in the end, but but at least it’s fun for a season. Like there’s there’s no peace in trying to live in both places. But when you understand exactly what Jesus has done for you, how much greater? Is to completely give your life over to him, because that’s the purpose for which you were made. And you get to walk in that joy. And this is what Abraham does at 75 years old. Uh, there’s a story about a pitcher named Satchel Paige. Um, satchel Paige, one of the incredible things about Satchel Paige. He signed a major league contract to pitch in a baseball game at 59 years old. 59 years old. He did this for for the A’s, and he pitched for three innings. He only gave up one hit, no runs. People were amazed by that. 59 years old. When the man turned 62, he pitched in another exhibition game and one of the people he pitched against was Hank Aaron. He retired six batters in in those innings when he pitched, and people were amazed by this. One of his biographers just wouldn’t get over the fact how old he was, and kept talking to him about how he’s able to do this at his age.
And finally, Satchel Paige, he right. Satchel Paige looked back at the biographer and said this. How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were? That’s a profound right. Like, just stop telling me my age and I will just tell you how I feel, right? Like, um, you’re only as old as you feel. Age is just a number. And God’s got a plan for your life, so who cares when it starts? The important part is that you start. And that when you go, you. You lay down your life for his glory. And this is what you see with the life of Abraham. He he gives his life. He is full of years. Not just quantity but also quality. God, what is it you desire to do in my life and even shares with us in chapter 25 how Abraham continued to live that story. In fact, it does so by talking about that Abraham got remarried after Sarah died. Abraham almost lived four more decades. And Abraham, just because you have the passing of one spouse doesn’t end the life of the other spouse. It doesn’t mean everyone has to get remarried. That’s certainly not what it’s saying, and people certainly have an opinion on that. If you if you find yourself in life becoming a widow, like, I don’t want to pretend what it’s like to go through that pain. But but people certainly develop opinions, right? Some expect you to live like a month, others live like a monk, and others want you to get back out and date again.
Like in either case, can I just tell you what’s important in that situation? Regardless if you find yourself married again or not? Um, it’s how you choose to honor the Lord. And it just so happens in Abraham’s life. Grief gave him the opportunity to be able to love again, and he found the opportunity to to do that. But that doesn’t have to be everybody, right? In Matthew 23, um, uh, it talks about Jesus as coming or excuse me, Matthew 22, verse 23 to 33. Uh, Jesus has asked the question about a lady who was married and, and widowed and and married again and widowed and happened seven times. And Jesus talks about the importance of marital relationship in that. I think that passage can be used to talk about the freedom to remarry. The same is true for First Corinthians seven. Like that may be in the cards for you in the future, and other people are going to have opinions about that. Um, but what’s important, more than any of that, is how you choose to honor the Lord. And as you follow him, God will set that path before you and what it is that he desires. But God’s heart for you is that you would know him, and it highlights it again in this, in this story, by talking about when it talks about Keturah, it refers to her as a concubine, even though this is Abraham’s wife.
And the question some ask is, why in the world would it do that? And I think it’s speaking to the importance of of who Sarah was in light of the promises of God as Abraham is now married. Keturah meaning it’s highlighting in this passage that while Keturah is Abraham’s wife, it’s showing the significance of God’s promise that God would bring a deliverer who would bless all nations, all people, groups, through through Sarah and Abraham. And he is highlighting what God wants to do through the life of Isaac. Now, it doesn’t mean that Abraham is mean to his his other sons that he has. In fact, I think in verse six it talks about how Abraham sets all of his sons up to succeed. He provides for them what they need. He helps them get set up. But then Abraham knows that God wants to work through the life of of Isaac. But through it all, what you see in the life of Abraham is this willingness to surrender to to the Lord God. What is it that you desire to do? In fact, this is contrasted very clearly through what it shares with us in verse 12 to 18 and verse 12 to 18, then goes on to tell the story of Ishmael.
If you remember the story of Ishmael, this was Abraham’s other child he had through Hagar. This was not following according to what God would desire. This is taking matters into their own hands. But God has Ishmael and and it gives you the lineage of Ishmael in this story. It tells you all the kids that Ishmael has. But one of the things that is very clearly absent in this section of the Bible is the communication about the Lord and Ishmael’s life, because Ishmael is not interested in the Lord in his life. And so what it’s showing. Yes. Is the really the difference? Is it telling you all about Ishmael’s life? But it doesn’t say he’s full of years. It just says he lived a certain amount of years. And so it’s speaking to the importance of how Abraham walked faithfully. And the Bible is really setting up here future generations. So as you read throughout the rest of the Scripture, you know, where certain people groups come from because Ishmael, Ishmael had children. And through that there were people groups that that came through the lineage of Ishmael. But what’s painfully absent from this story is Ishmael’s desire to also follow after the Lord. So when it comes to following God in your life for means to experience point number one, fully surrender to the Lord. And don’t don’t neglect the simplicity of that you’re calling today. It’s not about what you do.
It’s about who you know, who God is calling you to become. And in surrendering your life to him, God will take care of the details of how you live. Point number two, then, is learn to wait on the Lord. Learn. Learn to wait on the Lord. And if I could just say culturally, if there’s one thing out of these four points, that is, I think more important in this culture than maybe some others, it’s learning to wait on the Lord. Um, we’re doing a mission trip this summer to Africa, and one of the things that I like to tell the groups when we get together in the beginning is when it comes to Africa, we’re going to make a plan, and you just be prepared to throw that plan out the window. Right? Just don’t bring your watch. Don’t bring your watch. There are some cultures they they don’t operate the same as other cultures. And and our culture waiting on the Lord is is important. And and you’re going to see this told in the story of Isaac in this passage. Isaac. Isaac is one that learned his lessons from his father. Because you remember how the story goes. Abraham 75. He’s told by the by the Lord, follow me, and I’ll give you a land, and I’ll give you a lineage. And Abraham follows him. For 25 years they waited you think Abraham might have felt embarrassed and foolish? He’s 100 years old before he has a kid.
But year nine, you know, 24, when he’s 99, he’s wondering, God, are you going to deliver on this? What did I do? I left everything that I was familiar with to pursue you. How difficult that would be. At one point, Abraham tried to take matters into his own hands. When or Sarah came up with the idea. I should say that to to have Hagar the Concubine have a child, as if they were saying, look, God promised this, promised us this, but he must need our help, right? And so they they get ahead of the Lord. They don’t wait on the Lord, but they, they, they take matters into their own hands. And out of that comes Ishmael and all sorts of conflict. And Isaac. Now in a similar situation, I think he learns from the lessons of his father how important that is. Right? To look at these Bible stories and learn the lessons so you don’t have to learn it the hard way. I tend to be the person that still wants to experience it myself, right? Like I don’t, I don’t always learn my lessons from others. I sometimes I have to learn it the hard way. But thank God Isaac learned it, um, through his father’s example. And look at this. Verse 19. These are the generations of Isaac. Abraham’s son. Abraham fathered Isaac, and Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel, the Aramean of Aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to his wife.
And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife because she was barren, and the Lord granted his prayer and Rebecca, his wife, conceived. Now look at this. So he’s praying for his wife to have children. Verse 26, it tells you how long he waited. After talking about the birth of the kids. After his brother came out, uh, Esau came out with his hand holding, This is Jacob being born and holding Esau’s hill. So his name was called Jacob the deceiver. And Isaac was 60 years old when she bore them. So he was 40 years old when he got married, but he was 60 years old when the children were born. Similar to his father, who waited 25 years. Isaac is waiting 20 years. But as Isaac had learned through his own father, when Ishmael wanted to kill him, right? The reason Ishmael was sent away because he had ill will toward Isaac. Isaac learned from that not to get ahead of the Lord, but rather to wait for him to see how how God desired to work things out. And so for 20 years, Isaac, he’s praying for his wife. He knows God had promised that through his family would come a deliverer for all people groups. So God would have to bring a child. And and Isaac waits for the Lord.
Because in your own life, can I just tell you in in Scripture, the Bible reminds us of that over and over again. A couple of my favorite stories in Scripture. Uh, Mark chapter four, if you remember in the 30s, verse the 30s, that Jesus, there’s a story of Jesus with his disciples on, on a boat. And these disciples are are familiar with the sea. I mean, they’re professional fishermen. If anyone can handle the sea, it’s the. These guys, but all of a sudden they find themselves in a storm and they’re struggling and they’re gritting their teeth and they’re fighting and they’re straining, and the waves keep coming, and they get to the point where they think they’re going to die, right? Uh, sometimes people just get out of shore and panic. You know, some people don’t like being on boats. Some people don’t know how to swim. These guys, they’re familiar with these waters. They’ve been through storms. They know what it’s like. But for these guys to panic, you could imagine how extreme the moment is. And then as you read the story, you come to find out Jesus is on the boat. But what’s Jesus doing? He’s sleeping. Jesus is sleeping. And one of the disciples, do they start to freak out? Not only that, the storm’s happening, but how in the world could Jesus sleep at a time like this? We’re about to die and this guy is catching some Z’s, right? And then so they wake Jesus up and this panic.
And then what does Jesus do? Peace be still. Peace be still. This moment of life where they’re getting ahead of God and they’re they’re panicked and they’re trusting in all of their own strength to accomplish everything around them, to do everything that they know because, well, they’re they’re fishermen. If anyone can get them out of this, they can do it. And they get to this place of utter hopelessness because they don’t know what else to do. But what do they discover? That’s where God exactly needed them to be so they can learn the most important lesson. That he is enough now for some of us, it’s not until we’ve lost hope in all other things, in our own efforts, that we truly start to open our eyes to the reality that God is what we need. To wait for him. A second story like that is is John chapter 11, when Jesus’s best friend dies. Lazarus. And when when Jesus is told that Lazarus is sick. You already understand from the very beginning of chapter 11, if they’re coming to tell Jesus that Lazarus is sick. The situation is dire, right? He’s got a cold. Come check it out. I mean, there’s a problem here. And what does it tell us in verse five and six that Jesus waits for two days for their well-being? It’s like, are you kidding me? Like you have the ability to heal anything, any time.
How is it for my well-being that you just let me die, right? That doesn’t make any sense. Jesus, you should immediately just stop what you’re doing and go help your friend go. Go rescue him from his sickness. And then in verse 15, it tells you he looks at the disciples and says, it’s for your benefit that this takes place, right? Like, come with me. This is this is for your well-being. And then when Jesus gets there, he’s weeping over the death of his friend. The man has power over death, and he’s weeping. He’s about to raise the dead, and he’s weeping about this, and it signifies the importance of life. And the question is, if Jesus had the ability just to help his friend, and they came to him and told him, why did Jesus wait? What was Jesus thinking? Did Jesus not care? Does Jesus not care about me? Right? That’s the question we ask ourselves when we go through difficult times. God, where are you? You must not love me. I must be the exception to everything you say in Scripture. And then we start to panic and do things in our own strength. Why would God let Lazarus die? Because he wanted to teach them something so much more powerful about his presence in their life, that there is nothing that can stop what God desires to do, not even death.
Because how important it is for all of us to learn that lesson in the adversity of what we experience in life. To wait on the Lord. Hey, what God wants to do is far better than anything I’m going to do in my own strength. And if I do things in my own strength, it just gets messy. Ishmael showed us that with the life of Abraham. And here you have again the story of Isaac, and he’s demonstrating what it means just to trust in the Lord and see the goodness of God made known. Point number three. Then invest in what God desires to do in others for means to experience God. Point number three invest in what God desires to do in others, which is an interesting way to talk about experiencing God. But if you think about it, highly important. Everyone’s made in the image of God being made in the image of God. If you want to see God work, look at how God is working in the hearts of people to display his glory in this world. I mean, God’s gifted us all uniquely, and we have the privilege to serve and encourage one another in our relationship with him. One of the primary ways God wants to work in this world is to the miracle. He works in our hearts to minister to the hearts of people around us.
And so God, God is very much interested in how you invest in the lives of people, because the work he did in you, he wants to do through you to the hearts of others. And you see this with Rebecca in the same spot talking about Isaac. You see Rebecca seeing the hand of God work in her life by providing children, and now she’s seeking after the Lord and what God must be doing in these kids because there’s something happening to her. In verse 22, it says 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. 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. When her days to give birth were complete, behold, there were twins in her womb. The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak. That’s so gross. And so they called him Esau. And they should have called him gross. Right? And, um, afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel. So his name was called Jacob the deceiver. So you ain’t got you got a Furby and you got a deceiver. That’s what she gets. And that’s what you’re that’s what you’re giving birth to.
Of course you’re going to seek the Lord. What do I do here? God. Um. But but here’s what she finds out. She seeks after the Lord, and God hits her with this zinger from the beginning. You’re not having one, you’re having two. You got you got some twins. And not only that, you’re having twins. God has a plan for their lives. And not only does God have a plan, they’re going to become two nations. And not only are they two nations surprised they’re they’re boys, which is why they’re fighting in your womb right now. And that’s just what they do. Um, but through that, there’s there’s some things that we learn through through Becca being involved in, in her children and seeking after the Lord and what God desires to do when she she learns that she’s having twins and God has a plan. What we discover is the value of human life from the womb. I think there are plenty of passages that speak about this. Psalm 139 is incredible in the way that God has designed all of us, but God gets very specific in his his plan for these. Particular children, showing that God has a purpose and a plan for children starting from the womb. That everyone’s made in the image of God, which I find important to highlight while we’re collecting baby bottles for the Pregnancy Resource Center. Having just got out of January, the Sanctity of Life Month, and this is not the only time you see this communicated in Scripture and to to to Jeremiah.
God says, before I formed you, I knew you. And not that Jeremiah knew God, but God knew about Jeremiah. Or when when Mary and Elizabeth interact in Scripture, when they’re both pregnant. It tells us in Luke chapter one, verses 41 to 44, that when Elizabeth sees Mary coming to her, that John the Baptist in Elizabeth’s womb leaps in worship. I mean, a child in the womb worshiping the Lord. Uh, even in King David and second Samuel, chapter 12, when he’s losing his child, verse 23, David says, I, my child isn’t coming to me, but I’m going to go see my child. And Psalm 23 verse six, David clearly said, we sang it this morning, and the house of God forever. David knew he would be in the presence of the Lord forever. So when David knew he was going to be in the presence of the Lord forever, and David talks about seeing his child one day, David saying his his child is before the Lord’s presence. I find that those verses incredibly comforting to to families that may have lost a child, ever had a miscarriage, to see how God views the importance of life, that it is a soul and God cares for that soul. Not only does she she learn that God has a plan, but she learns these kids are going to become two nations.
The idea of these, these, these two nations speaks to the importance of how God can take something so small and feeble and do great things with it, but it really depends on what it surrendered to. Um, you know, for all of us, God made us all strong. And if you choose to use your strength for your glory, it’ll be to the detriment of the people around you. But if you use it for his glory, it should be a blessing to the people around you that God is raising up two nations within her. How important it is for her to to nurture those children before the Lord, and what they will be capable of doing. Same thing is true for you as a parent or us as a church. When we think about the young people that are a part of ABC, to invest in the lives of the young people, to help them become who God has called them to be, because God desires to do something more than just in you, but through you. When it comes to, to, to the life of these children, you see through this text, they have different personalities, right? It says when the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, which Jacob was a quiet man dwelling in tents. Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
I love this dads like you feed my belly. You know I love you. And and I’m saying their parenting was perfect. They’re obviously a little different in their love here, though. I love each child equally. That’s not what it says in this verse. They’re they’re not the the best of parents. But but it is highlighting the uniqueness of these children when it comes to parenting. You can’t always parent your kids the same way, right? They’ve got unique personalities and and how they are cared for. And what you learn about Jacob. He’s a mama’s boy, right? He’s a lover, not a fighter. He likes being in the air conditioning, working a desk job. The boy, he will never have dirt under his nails. He probably drives a Prius and carries a Yorkie with a sweater. That’s. That’s kind of the. I’m sorry if you. I only say that because I drive a Prius and have a Yorkie with a sweater. I’m just kidding. I don’t I do have a little dog, but I don’t have a Yorkie with a sweater. Um, Esau. Esau. He’s like, he’s probably always listening to country music, driving his 4×4 with a shotgun in the background, dirt under his fingers constantly. And if he’s not hunting, he’s working on his truck. You know, that’s that’s Esau. Two different personalities here. And how you parent is important. But understanding, understanding the the calling of the Lord in their lives.
And it goes on further and it just shows the brokenness of these two people and their need to be nurtured. You know, it’s interesting, out of all the creatures God made when it comes to human beings, like there’s no other creature in the animal kingdom that that spends 18 years nurturing something else to become what God has called it to be. You know, some some are like your birth and kicked out of the nest, right? Like, and you think how unique it is as human beings speaking to the importance of rearing children, because if they don’t align their heart with the Lord properly, the way that they can lead their lives can be destructive to other people. And I don’t say all that to guilt everyone around us. Right? Like you don’t have to have the the perfect home to live a godly life. And and the Lord can certainly forgive you where you are. I remember when my my son was born and I walked out of the hospital, I kept thinking to myself, surely someone’s going to take him away before I get like, they just hand me this kid, you know, like it just I know where he came from. But like, it just walking out of the hospital and and thinking, I’m responsible for this life. It was overwhelming, but, you know. Regardless of where you’ve come from, if your home life was good or if it was broken, you have a Heavenly Father that loves you and he is good and he is perfect.
And he will guide your life to nurture home, to nurture your children, to help them become who God has called them to be. I think the aim of parenting is not primarily focused on what your children do, but who God has called them to be. But one of the things it’s important to know is that we’re all fallen. Your children aren’t born good and then corrupted. I hate to break that to somebody if you believe that, but we’re all born sinful in our nature, which means our bend is to live for our glory and not for God’s. And you see this with Jacob and Esau. Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came into the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob, let me eat some of the red stew, for I am exhausted. Therefore his name was called Edom. Jacob said, sell me your birthright now. And Esau said, I’m about to die. Of what use is the birthright to me? And Jacob said, swear to me now. So he swore to him, and sold him his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. I know like these guys are definitely in their teenage years here.
Um, and the reason I know that is because, uh, Esau is he’s he’s way emotional in his reaction. Like, no one, no one that’s about to die from starvation is going to pick lentil soup as the way you give your. I mean, who does that? He’s like, he is certainly overstating his problem. Someone needs to step in and be like, look, Saul, you’re at about a ten right now. I want to need you to bring this down to a two. All right. This is. You’re a little bit hungry. Let’s not get all up in our emotions here. Let’s just focus. Right. You’re about to give your birth right away. You need some wisdom. This is. This is not a good decision. And helping him think through that. And Jacob’s the same. He’s taking advantage of his brother rather than bless or serve his brother. He’s taking advantage of his brother. And then it says to you something interesting, uh, he that Esau despised his birthright. And what he’s saying is not just saying Esau didn’t want his birthright or because Jacob took the birthright. Now he doesn’t like it anymore. What he’s saying, what he’s saying is Esau didn’t carry a concern for what it was that God had put him in a position to do. And what I mean is, we’ve talked about the idea of firstborn a few weeks ago in the family, the tradition responsibility was the firstborn.
If a father died, the firstborn was given a double portion of the inheritance. And the reason was, is because it became his responsibility to become the father figure to the family, to look after the needs of the family. And so by Esau, rejecting his birthright, it’s demonstrating how selfish he really is. He’s he’s not only saying, he’s only concerned with what he gets in that moment, just gratifying his flesh, but he doesn’t give a rip about the people around him, because that was the position that God had him in by being a firstborn. So it becomes important to nurture the hearts of children. One of my favorite verses in the Bible. So in dealing with children, Psalm 127, verse four, like arrows in the hands of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. I think if there’s ever been a great verse that that painted parenting, it’s this one. Because, parents, this is what it says you are, you are a warrior. You have gone to battle. And then there’s there’s never an ending to win. That battle could happen. Um, even last night, my wife, I asked her how was. How was your sleep last night, honey? And she said it was terrible. And I said, why was it terrible? She said, because you snore. And I said, well, I know that. But she said, no, no, no, you invented a new snore. And I said, oh, really? What’s this? She said, now when you snore, you actually say something that sounds like mom, right? So she’s like, I kept waking up all night thinking the kids were calling for me, but it was just your creative snore, right? By the way, I don’t want you to fix my story.
I love my story. So don’t tell me. Don’t tell me whatever you think is going to be best for that. But, but, but that’s what I know. She doesn’t love it. But, um. But when it comes to parenting, this is what it’s like, right? And you’re a warrior. It’s 24 hours a day, seven day a week job. But but then it also says to us, look, as parents, warriors, children are arrows. I think what a beautiful description of kids, right? Just get them out of the house. No, just kidding. But it’s saying you get to launch them into this world to become who God’s called them to be. More than just what they do. You get to nurture a heart in the Lord to make a difference. You get to send that arrow. You get to spend those formative years of their life pouring into them the goodness of who the Lord is. How important that is that we invest in the lives of others. And it doesn’t just have to be in terms of a parent, but we could we could carry it in terms of just relating to people in general.
God wants to do something in the hearts of people around you and to keep our eyes open to that. Point number four, and this last point, I’m just going to tell you this is anecdotal. This is not directly from a verse in this passage, but it’s something that you see demonstrated in the lives of the patriarchs over and over again. And it’s what allows them to do what God’s called them to do. And it’s this be ready to forgive along the way. Be ready to forgive along the way. You don’t see the word forgive in this story, but it certainly lived out in the lives of the patriarchs. No one in this story lived perfectly, and no one in these stories are treated perfectly. And you’ll see this throughout the rest of Genesis. Abraham had tension with Hagar, and so did Sarah. Isaac certainly had trouble with Ishmael. Jacob had battles with Esau. Joseph has battles with his brothers, which we’ll read in the end, but it’s the ability to forgive that gives them the opportunity to continue to move forward. And when it comes to forgiveness, it doesn’t mean you have to be best friends with people. In fact, that would be a probably terrible advice. Um, because it takes time to rebuild trust. But but letting go of the past to trust in what God desires to do in the present is important, and forgiveness becomes a central part of that.
It doesn’t mean like sometimes if someone’s wronged you, that you can’t call authorities. I mean, that’s why police exist. If something that significant has happened and that’s completely okay to utilize resources like that if something bad happens. But it does mean vengeance is not ours. And what God wants to do is going to be greater than anything you do in your own strength anyway, so why waste it? Forgiveness. Forgiveness, though, is is hard. And the reason forgiveness is hard is because in order to forgive, a piece of you must die. And what I mean is, you die to the person that you would become if you didn’t forgive. Meaning you died to a person becoming a person of bitterness. You died to being a person of resentment. You died to being a person of vengeance. You died to a person that gets stuck in the past and can’t move forward, so that you can become all that God has called you to be. Unforgiveness will eat your life like a cancer. It will poison your soul. So to forgive is to kill the unhealthy person and path it can create, so that you can step into what God is calling you to be. And you don’t read the word forgive. But you certainly see, in order for these patriarchs to move where God has called them to, those were the kind of people they were.
In fact, one of the things that I love when Jesus teaches us to pray in Matthew chapter six, he really teaches four ideas in the Lord’s Prayer. Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as tho as as we forgive those who have trespassed against us, versus the kingdom, power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. You know, I think about that prayer. How important it is. What God is calling us to one is to recognize the sacredness of who God is, right? How holy are you, Lord? And then to realize God has called us on mission. Your kingdom come. And then to pray. God, provide for me what I need today to be successful. Give us this day our daily bread. It’s just saying, as I wake up today, Lord, you know what I need and be there to meet that need as I live for your kingdom, knowing the holiness of who you are. And in all that Lord, I realize I’m going to have to be a forgiving person, the kind of person that that learns about your forgiveness because, well, you had to forgive me. And in order to to live how God has called us to live, to let go of that resentment and vengeance for the purpose of living for something so great, much greater.
And when we can let go of of of the bitterness of the past in order to walk in forgiveness, today now gives me the freedom to do what God has called me to. If I want to experience the Lord, it’s to walk in that path of forgiveness with him, not only being forgiven by him, but forgiving others through him, because what God desires to do is far greater than anything I do in my strength. Uh, there is a story of of Abraham Lincoln. I’ll close with this. Or not. Abraham Lincoln. Excuse me. Get my presidents wrong. George Washington. George Washington. There we go. Uh, George Washington, after he came to the fight in the the Revolutionary War, he led us through the Revolutionary War, George Washington’s concern became that the people would not use the victory to walk in the new freedom they have found, meaning their life would just simply be about hanging their hat on that victory, but never truly moving forward. And he was worried, and he saw that victory as a defining moment of of an opportunity to now walk in a new path. And guys, you know, the same thing is true for us. You know, it’s good to know the gospel. If you know the gospel that Jesus forgave you of your sins, that you could have relationship with him, that you could come to God no matter how broken you feel and say, God, forgive me and find that new life in him.
That’s important. But what’s also important is to learn to walk in the victory of that gospel every day. That the same way you start that journey with Jesus is the same way you continue that journey every day, being made new in Christ, walking in that freedom because God wants to do something new. In fact, thinking about the Revolutionary War, George Washington said this it is yet to be decided whether the revolution must ultimately be considered as a blessing or a curse, not to the present age alone. For with our fate will the destiny of unborn millions be involved. And what he’s saying is, look, it’s it’s good that we’ve got this freedom now, but what you do with it matters. Same thing is true with your relationship with the Lord. It’s great. God can forgive us. But what are you going to do now because of it? Just hang your hat on the gospel and say I’m saved and I live however you want, or continue to experience the goodness of who God is surrendering to the Lord. Point number one fully surrender to him. Point number two learn to wait on the Lord as you go along. Invest in what God is doing in others and be ready to forgive along the way.