Jacob part 2
Jacob: A Portrait of God’s Work of Salvation: Victory over nature, nurture, narcissism, and nincompoops
Scripture:
Genesis 25: 19 Now these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham [i]became the father of Isaac; 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the [j]Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the [k]Aramean, to be his wife. 21 And Isaac entreated Yahweh on behalf of his wife because she was barren; and Yahweh [l]was moved by his entreaty. So Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?” So she went to inquire of Yahweh. 23 And Yahweh said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.” 24 And her days to give birth were fulfilled, and behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 And the first came forth red, all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, so his name was called [m]Jacob; and Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.
So, what can be done? It would seem that we are doomed. The only way we can be saved is if God performs a miracle. And that’s what salvation is.
We just read the Scripture verses that are the basis for our time in the Word today. We finished last week with Abraham. Abraham had a son named Isaac when he was 100 and Sarah was 90. Before Abraham dies, Isaac marries Rebekah, and they have twin boys, Esau and Jacob. And Jacob is going to illustrate for us God’s plan of salvation. And that plan is to give us victory.
Today we move forward in our Firm Foundations series to the story of Jacob. He is the next major figure in Biblical history.
Jacob is a very important figure in the Bible. One of the first reasons he is, is because God later changes his name to “Israel.” And he ends up having 12 sons. His sons have children, and their families become known as tribes. So, you have here the start of the 12 tribes of the nation of Israel.
But Jacob is not only important because of his place in the history of Israel, but also because his life and calling are used in the New Testament as an analogy for salvation. He is a picture of salvation to all people.
Romans 12:10 And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; 11 for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that the purpose of God according to His choice would [e]stand, not [f]because of works but [g]because of Him who calls, 12 it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” 13 Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
His name is also emblematic of the salvation of Israel.
Romans 11:26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.”
So, today we are going to look at salvation. And Baptists often err when they think or talk about salvation. They talk about it as though it is only a moment in time. We talk about “when we were saved” the day we were saved. We used to sing a song at youth summer camps, or in youth meetings where we referred to the day that we were saved. Remember this?” It happened on a Monday, somebody touched me…it must have been the hand of the Lord. If you were saved on a Monday, you stood up when that day was sung.
And though it is true that we can know a particular day that we made the decision to follow the Lord, and it is that day that we were saved, it is an error to over emphasize that. Because it can be deceptive. It can lead a person to believe some false doctrines; that it was you that saved yourself, that once I do this one thing, God’s work in me is complete, that I could be “saved” and then walk away from God later, my life showing no evidence of faith, and that that moment when I walked an aisle, prayed a prayer, signed a card, got baptized, or whatever, guarantees my ticket to heaven when I die.
Scripture doesn’t teach that salvation is a single moment in your life. And we discover that in the story of Jacob in the Old Testament. The word I chose to describe that process of salvation is “victory.” That’s what we will look at today. First off, salvation is God choosing me. But then it is victory. It is victory over nature, over nurture, over narcissism, and over nincompoops.
I. Chosen by God
23 And Yahweh said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.”
2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
So, what do we learn from this? Before Jacob was even born, God chose him as the progenitor of the Jewish people.
Long after he died his name would be listed in the Jewish triad of ancestors; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
II. God gives us Victory over nature
Genesis 25: 24 And her days to give birth were fulfilled, and behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 And the first came forth red, all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, so his name was called [m]Jacob; and Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.
Everyone is born with a sinful nature. Jacob was the heal grabber.
Romans 6: 11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting your members to sin as [f]instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as [g]instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
III. Victory over nurture: He is born into a sinful family.
God picked us and works in us to give us victory over our nurture; our family baggage.
In the family of Jacob, mom and dad had favorites, and they were not ashamed to show it. Now the boys had two totally opposite temperaments.
Genesis 25: 27 And the boys grew up; Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a [n]peaceful man,
Esau was impulsive and hot-headed. And here it calls Jacob a peaceful man. The word peaceful here is translated other places as righteous, or upright. We know he wasn’t perfect. But what it seems to indicate is the state of his inner disposition. He lived out a quiet and steady life living in tents. He had the same disposition as his father Isaac, and his grandfather Abraham.
And his disposition is really given as a contrast to his brothers.
28 Isaac loved Esau because [p]he had an appetite for hunted game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Esau was a man’s man. Jacob was a shepherd and a momma’s boy. Jacob was peaceful, Esau was curt and brash. And Isaac was so proud of Esau and his hunting exploits. And Isaac, seemingly a quiet and simple man, enjoyed the wild game that Esau brought back. The passage literally says that he loved Esau because “His hunting was in his mouth.” In that day when a person’s diet would have been very simple, and mundane, it was pleasant, and sometimes thrilling to see Esau coming back from a hunt with a buck over his shoulders. Venison’s on the menu tonight. But Rebekah felt a great kinship with Jacob who hung around the kitchen and helped get dinner ready.
This was a family of 4 very different people. Now differences in personality and character don’t have to end badly, as this did. Members of a family can learn to grow together and cooperate and appreciate each other’s strengths and help each other in weaknesses. But this family of four became a competition. Mom and Dad played favorites. They hid things from each other. They set the boys against each other. We later find mom conniving against Isaac’s wishes with Jacob. We find Isaac desiring to bless Esau as his first born, but seemingly giving little or no thought to his second son Jacob. Then we find Esau conspiring to kill his younger brother. It’s a mess.
Jacob is born into a divided family. He has a nurture problem. The way he was raised is going to hamper him in God’s work to make him God’s man. But God chose him and is “working salvation” in him and victory over nurture.
And Jacob is like us. When we receive the gift of salvation, we all come with baggage. Personal baggage in our nature, family baggage in our nurture. I read a blurb about a man suing his family.
In 1978, Thomas Hansen of Boulder Colorado, sued his parents for $350,000 on grounds of "malpractice of parenting." Mom and Dad had botched his upbringing so badly, he charged in his suit, that he would need years of costly psychiatric treatment.
Unknown.
But salvation is God working to give us victory even over our nurture. Somone has said…
“We all have baggage. Someone who loves you will help you unpack.”
God is the one there to help us unpack our baggage.
Well the salvation that came to Jacob not only helped him overcome nature and nurture, but also his own narcissism.
IV. Victory over narcissism: Jacob, at first, chooses self-aggrandizement.
Yes, we are all born with a sinful nature, bad genes. We are all born into some level of bad parenting, or bad home life. But eventually we have to make our own choices. Jacob makes bad ones at first.
Genesis 25: 29 And Jacob had cooked stew. And Esau came in from the field, and he was [q]famished. 30 Then Esau said to Jacob, “Please give me a swallow from the red stuff—[r]this red stuff, for I am [s]famished.” Therefore his name was called [t]Edom. 31 But Jacob said, “[u]First sell me your birthright.”
What? My first thought was, this is the man that God chose. But here, his brother asked for some food, and he demanded payment for the food. You would think that since Jacob was to be the individual carrying on the spiritual heritage of the family, that he would have a richer relationship with God. You might expect that somewhere along here, we would read about Jacob praying to God, like his grandfather Abraham, or his father Isaac. But what we find instead is not a man relying on God, trusting God, but a man living up to his name; schemer.
So, what is this birthright he is asking to buy with food? Now this story goes back to what I mentioned before; the birthright of the firstborn. You see, despite the fact that God told Isaac and Rebekah that the elder would serve the younger, Esau was still the firstborn. Jacob tried to grab his foot and pull him back, but Esau was still first and Jacob second. So, what that meant was that when their father Isaac died, they would split the inheritance into three parts; two parts would go to Esau, and one part would go to Jacob. So, that’s how this story starts. Esau has been out in the field, maybe hunting, in the heat of the day. When he returns to their tent homestead, Joseph happens to have been cooking a big bowl of red beans over a fire. Esau is famished and asked for some beans.
Now this really tells you about their relationship. There is already some hostility from Jacob directed toward Esau. But, if my brother came to my house and asked for some of what I am cooking, do you know what I would do? Give him some. Really, if anyone came to my home asking for food, I would give it to them. I wouldn’t start planning a trade. But Jacob did. And he was planning on making a very good trade. He had to have already been thinking about the birthright. Maybe he considered it unfair. Probably his mother had told him what God had said about his eventually ruling over his brother. He probably thought, “right, because I’m the smart brother.”
Esau wants some beans, and Jacob says “Sure, give me the rights to your part of the inheritance. I want 2/3 when dad dies.” Jacob is that crass. So what does Esau do?
32 And Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?” 33 And Jacob said, “[v]First swear to me”; so he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 So Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank and rose and went away. Thus, Esau despised his birthright.
Now, we can’t let Esau entirely off the hook here. This passage does not look good on him either. He just sold his rights to 2/3 of the inheritance for a bowl of beans.
How much did he throw away? Isaac had inherited all of Abraham’s estate, and the Bible says of Abraham that he was "very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold" (Genesis 13:2). As an indication of how wealthy he was he had 300 servants/think employees that he was providing for. He was wealthy enough that neighboring kings came and negotiated water rights with him. And Isaac inherited Abraham’s wealth. And he too is said to have had "flocks and herds and a great number of servants" (Genesis 26:14).
And Esau threw away the rights to 1/3 of that wealth for a bowl of red beans.
But it is likely that the birthright meant even more than the financial side of the inheritance.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/25-29.htm
The birthright consisted afterwards in a double portion of the father's inheritance (Deuteronomy 21:17); but with the patriarchs it embraced the chieftainship, the rule over the brethren and the entire family (Genesis 27:29), and the title to the blessing of the promise (Genesis 27:4, Genesis 27:27-29), which included the future possession of Canaan and of covenant fellowship with Jehovah (Genesis 28:4). Jacob knew this, and it led him to anticipate the purposes of God. Esau also knew it, but attached no value to it.
He says to himself, “I’m about to die, what good is this birthright.” But the impression that the passage leaves with us is not that he was about to die from hunger, but that he’s really hungry. And that he let his stomach do his thinking, rather than his head. The passage adds this final comment, “Thus Esau despised his birthright.” The word despised can be translated “disdained” or scorned. He just tossed it aside like so much rubbish. He didn’t value it. In fact, he highly devalued it.
"Behold I am going to die (to meet death), and what is the birthright to me?" The only thing of value to him was the sensual enjoyment of the present; the spiritual blessings of the future his carnal mind was unable to estimate. In this he showed himself to be βέβηλος (Hebrews 12:16), a profane man, who cared for nothing but the momentary gratification of sensual desires, who "did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way, and so despised his birthright" (Genesis 25:34)Hebrews 12:16 that also there be no sexually immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.
And to add insult to injury, everybody started calling him Edom, or “red” from then on. He was likely called red before this because of his coloring described at his birth. But now, the nickname becomes what he is always called. They may as well have been calling him “red bean boy.” I guess maybe that’s better than “hairy.”
But back to Jacob’s salvation. With all of Esau’s flaws being considered, Jacob is still a narcissist.
“Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental health condition in which people have an unreasonably high sense of their own importance.”
Now not only did Jacob scheme to get the birthright, but he also schemed with his mother to get a blessing from his father. He is at work to push himself to the front of the line. Just as when he was a baby, he grabbed his brother’s heal to drag him back in an attempt to be first, so as an adult, he will take from others if it is to his benefit. He does the same thing later when his father is closer to death.
Genesis 27: Now it happened that when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see,
This could have been a number of medical conditions, maybe as simple as cataracts.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/27-1.htm
1. Isaac was old] According to P, Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah (Genesis 25:20); sixty years old when Esau and Jacob were born (Genesis 25:26); and a hundred years old when Esau married Judith and Basemath (Genesis 26:34).
Now, he is 137 years old. He thinks that death may be imminent. In truth, he ends up living forty more years. But because of his eyes, his age, and probably his being slowed down in activity, he thinks his death could come at any time. And he doesn’t want to leave this world without passing on “the blessing.”
“The blessing” of the Abrahamic patriarchs was considered to be very important. It was considered to be prophetic, as though, when they gave this final blessing, they were speaking for God, about the prophetic future of their child. So, he feels he needs to get this done.
that he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” 2 [a]And Isaac said, “Behold now, I am old, and I do not know the day of my death. 3 So now, please take up your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me; 4 and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die.”
Now here is an insidious element to Isaac’s character. Who should he first bless if he thinks he is dying? Jacob. Even though Jacob was born second, God had said from the start that the elder would serve the younger. And then Esau threw away his man-made first-born privileges for a bowl of beans. Isaac knew this. But when it comes to the time that he wants to convey a blessing on his boys, he not only chooses to think of Esau first he excludes Jacob. At best he should have called them both. So what happens?
5 Now Rebekah was listening while Isaac was speaking to his son Esau. Then Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring to Isaac. 6 But Rebekah spoke to her son Jacob, saying, “Behold, I heard your father speaking to your brother Esau, saying, 7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare a savory dish for me, that I may eat and bless you in the presence of Yahweh before my death.’ 8 So now, my son, listen to my voice [b]as I command you. 9 Go now to the flock and [c]get for me two choice [d]young goats from there, that I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father, such as he loves. 10 Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.”
Now here we learn of the crass and sinful nature of Rebekah. We blame Isaac because he is disregarding God’s words from the birth of the boys. But Rebekah is doing the same thing. She hears Isaac say that he is going to bless Esau and thinks that somehow this is going to undo what God said. Do you see what’s wrong with this? She’s got to make sure that God’s Word is fulfilled. No, she doesn’t. God can handle it. Does she really think that Isaac’s words are so magical, that they can undo the Word of God? It’s no wonder that these boys were so dysfunctional with parents like these. And then Jacob points out what else is so wrong with this; she is inducing her son to lie to his father.
11 Then Jacob [e]answered his mother Rebekah, “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 12 Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be as a mocker in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.”
Here we get back to Jacob’s narcissism. We get a little sense of Jacob’s nature at this point. He protests to his mother about what she wants him to do. But he doesn’t say, “This is wrong mother.” Or, “This is a sin against God mother.” But, “I’m going to get caught mother.” He doesn’t object to the scheming, but to whether the scheme will work. He says, “mom, if I go to my father, pretending to be Esau, dad will know that it is me.” He is hairy. I am smooth. This isn’t going to work. And Dad will end up cursing me rather than blessing me.”
13 But his mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son; only listen to my voice, and go, get them for me.” 14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother; and his mother made a savory dish such as his father loved. 15 Then Rebekah took the [f]best garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and she put them on Jacob her younger son. 16 And she put the skins of the [g]young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/27-5.htm
A commentary I read makes a note here: We must not think of our European goats, whose skins would be quite unsuitable for any such deception. "It is the camel-goat of the East, whose black, silk-like hair was used even by the Romans as a substitute for human hair. Martial xii. 46." - Tuch on v. 16.)
17 She also gave the savory dish and the bread, which she had prepared into the hand of her son Jacob.
Notice her deceptiveness. She is anticipating that Isaac will be suspicious. She is preparing the food like Esau would prepare it. She is sewing the hide of goats as gloves and sleeves to mimic the hair on Esau’s arms, anticipating that Isaac may feel his arms. She is dressing Jacob in Esau’s clothes. This is some kind of deception.
We will finish the story next time. He did get the blessing. But along with it came the vengeful hatred of his brother, the disappointment of his father, and, in one sense, his banishment from his family. He has to be sent away to save him from his brother.
How does all of this relate to the story of salvation? Jacob was chosen like we are chosen. Salvation is God giving us the gift of victory. Jacob entered life with a sin nature and like we do with personal and family baggage. And just like us, he spends a lot of his life, not seeking God, but seeking personal gain. And he does it with schemes, lies, and trickery. But all of that does nothing for him. Jacob spends years of his life working contrary to God’s sanctifying work in him.
Let me tell you something. If you are God’s child, He is not going to let you advance in life by sinfulness. If you are God’s child, God will discipline you. The very trickery and lies you hope will move you to your wealth, God will turn back on you, to teach you to turn to Him. Salvation is God giving victory, and it is a lifetime process. We’re going to find exactly that in the rest of Jacob’s story. God has a hold on Jacob’s life. And He begins to teach him, and humble him. We will find that God gives him victory over nature, nurture, narcissism, and next victory over nincompoops.