SIN & GRACE: A ONE-SIDED CONTEST
GRACES PRODUCES THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH
GENESIS 27:41-28:9
INTRODUCTION
What surprises you more, that you are a Christian or that others are
not? What is more shocking to you, that some people love sexual promiscuity
or that you love sexual purity? What amazes you more; that some people
abuse their children or that you do not? What puzzles you more; that 60,000
of the 85,000 people who live in the greater Janesville area are not in
church this morning or that you are in church? What seems stranger to
you, your co-workers use vulgar and profane language or that you do not?
As I listen to our conversation as Christians about the state of the world,
I believe that most of us are more surprised others do not believe in
Christ and do not live like Christians than that we do. Our expressions
of shock and horror at the wickedness and blindness of those who do not
know Christ contain in them a not so subtle pride. When you say things
like, "Can you believe how that woman screamed at her children in the
store?"—you show you are more surprised that she lives like that than
you do not. We show that we do not really believe what the Bible clearly
teaches. "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who
understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together
become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." When we
talk like this we show that we are only paying lip service to what the
Bible says, "it is by grace that you have been saved".
One of the chief goals of God in the world is to convince human beings
that we, in ourselves, have no desire and no ability to do good. God wants
you to know and feel the fact that you, in yourself, hate him and his
ways. God’s aim is to persuade us that we cannot do anything to gain or
earn salvation. Anytime anyone does what is truly good by God’s definition
of good, it is a miracle. Any time that anyone believes in Christ and
loves God and people more than themselves it is a work of supernatural
power. Anytime anyone resists doing evil because they love God, it is
a greater work of God than the work of creating a star.
This is the point of the story we are examining in the book of Genesis.
The family of Isaac is as wicked and dysfunctional as a family can be.
Moses in recording this story does not pull any punches as he exposes
the evil that these people love and the evil ways they live. His point
is that we look at these people and see ourselves. But then, he also wants
us to marvel at the amazing grace of God. He chooses to love some of these
people and to save them from their sins. Every one of these people, Isaac,
Rebekah, Esau and Jacob only do evil and deserve nothing but death, destruction
and hell. But God, in his great love, gives life and faith and salvation
to some of these people because, "it is by grace that you have been saved."
The prophet Malachi, the last book in the OT, uses what God does in these
chapters of Genesis to convince God’s people that they ought to be surprised
that God loves them. Malachi 1: 2-3 says, "I have loved you," says the
Lord. "But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’ "Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?"
the Lord says. "Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated…" Was it
unfair of God to hate Esau? Absolutely not, Esau hates God. Was it unjust
for God to love Jacob? Absolutely, because Jacob clearly does not love
God. This is what we saw in last week’s story. What we are going to see
today is that when God loves, chooses and blesses wicked people with salvation,
it is an entire salvation. He does not leave people in their wickedness
but his grace powerfully changes them. This week we are going to see what
the apostle Paul says in Ephesians 2:10, "We are God’s workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us
to do." In other words, the unfailing evidence that God is saving wicked
people like us is that we change from being people who love evil to people
who love the good, who truly love God.
MAIN POINT
Grace always produces faith that leads to obedience therefore,
I. Anger and hatred reveal an unconverted heart (v. 41)
Esau is Isaac’s firstborn son. As the firstborn, he ought to have received
the rights and privileges, the blessing of the firstborn by his father
Isaac. However, according to God’s will and contrary to all human expectation,
that blessing was given to Jacob through the evil scheme of Rebekah and
Jacob. Esau is overwhelmed with sadness and despair as the reality of
what Jacob has done becomes known. He, correctly, accuses Jacob of stealing
his birthright and his blessing. He cries out, weeps and pleads with his
father to give him a blessing as well. Isaac, in obedience to God’s command,
refuses to give him any blessing. We left Esau at the end of the story
last week weeping in great sorrow while Isaac, as prophet of God, declares
God’s judgement upon him and his descendants for his despising of God
and his promises.
As the story opens this week in v. 41, we discover that Esau’s sorrow
has turned into a smoldering grudge. He is inflamed with hatred towards
Jacob and determines that as soon as his father dies he is going to murder
Jacob. He sooths the pain of injustice with fantasies of revenge. How
much like Esau we are! When others offend us, we spend our time daydreaming
about what we are going to say to "put them in their place." Or we fantasize
about how we are going to humiliate them in front of others or do things
to harm them. Esau looks forward to the death of the father he supposedly
loves in order that he might safely kill his brother. He is after justice.
What rightfully belongs to him has been taken and he is going to make
sure that the criminal who took it from him is punished. When we remember
that God is the one who determined that Jacob receive the blessing we
see that Esau’s anger is ultimately directed at God.
Esau is not sad because of what he has done to God but because of what
has been done to him. He is not angry because of the ways God has been
dishonored but because of how he has been dishonored. His anger and hatred
show that he is a spiritual adulterer. He does not love God or his promises.
He does not want God or his promises. He loves being treated like the
firstborn. He loves the respect, power, and possessions that come with
being the firstborn. He is not interested in God.
Thus, it always is with anger and hatred towards other human beings.
Esau is a prime example of the truth of 1 John 3:15, "Anyone who hates
his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life
in him." He displays the truth of James 1: 1-4, which tells us that when
we hate and fight with other humans we are merely showing what we really
love and hope in. We prove we are spiritual adulterers. We are really
hating and fighting with God. If we were to ask Esau, "Why are you angry
and why are you plotting murder?" He would tell us it is because of what
Jacob did to him. It’s wrong and unfair for Jacob to steal what rightfully
belongs to him. He would not say it is because he does not love God or
his ways. But the truth is that is exactly why he hates and plots. He
needs what he needs and what he needs is not God.
Our anger and desires for revenge show that we believe we need something
or someone more than God. You and I do not have a right to be angry. We
are to submit to God and find our joy in knowing and loving him. Every
true Christian fights off anger by remembering that they have never been
treated the way they deserve. Every true Christian thinks more about the
ways they have sinned against God than they do about the ways others have
sinned against them. Every true Christian rejoices and delights in God
and his promises and so hardly notices when others harm them. Every true
Christian is so amazed that God killed Jesus for their sins that they
delight to love those who despise them just like Jesus loved them when
they were despising him.
Grace always produces faith that leads to obedience, therefore…
- Anger and hatred reveal an unconverted heart
- And…
II. Fear always leads away from God (vv. 42-46)
Rebekah finds out that Esau is plotting Jacob’s murder. How does she
find this out when we were just told that Esau "said to himself" that
he would kill Jacob? We are told in v. 42 that Esau’s plan was "reported"
to her. This has got to mean that she has spies in Esau’s household who
have overheard him either muttering to himself or telling his plot to
a trusted comrade or family member. She is one resourceful lady! She has
considered every possibility and has a contingency plan ready. She calls
in Jacob and commands him to flee to her brother Laban. She is certain
that with Jacob no longer present that the sting of what Jacob did will
go away and Esau will give up his plan to murder his brother. She believes
this will only take " a few days". After commanding Jacob, she goes to
Isaac, in order to get his cooperation in her plan.
What are we to make of Rebekah? John Calvin, in his commentary portrays
Rebekah as living by faith for the most part. She is trying to protect
the heir of God’s promises and so sends Jacob away. She doesn’t tell the
whole truth to Isaac because she wants to spare him the pain of knowing
what’s really going on. Besides, she doesn’t really lie, as she truly
is upset about Esau’s Hittite wives. I don’t believe that Calvin is right.
He ignores a number of indications in the text that Rebekah is not living
by faith but rather by fear. She says what her motive is at the end of
v. 45. She is afraid of losing Jacob by murder and then Esau by being
punished for the murder. She fears bad things happening to her children
and so she comes up with a plan that does not deal with the problems in
her family but simply avoids them. When I read about Rebekah I’m reminded
of what Proverbs 14:1 says, "The wise woman builds her house, but with
her own hands the foolish one tears hers down."
Aside from the fact that her motive is fear and not faith, I think there
is four things in the text that show she is not doing the right thing.
First, she lies to Jacob about what Esau said. She leaves out the
fact that Esau is not planning on killing Jacob until Isaac dies. She
lies in order to manipulate Jacob to do what she wants. Second,
even though she knows that Esau is ready to wait a long time for revenge
she tells Jacob he will only have to stay away for a short time. She either
is living in denial or lying again or hoping that Isaac dies quickly.
Third, she tells Jacob to flee to Laban in Haran when she knows
that Abraham forbade Isaac from going back there. She is sending Jacob
to a place that, as far as she knows, God does not want him to go. Fourth,
she lies to her blind husband. She is not living in submission to God
or to her husband. She does not trust God or her husband. She has this
thing figured out, there is only one way to take care of this problem,
and it is her way. A final indication that she is not doing the right
thing is that this is the last time she shows up in the Bible, except
for a brief mention at the end of Genesis as to her being buried in the
cave at Macpelah. Her death is not even reported. There is no word of
commendation for her in the NT. This is especially striking as Sarah is
mentioned a number of times in a positive way.
Rebekah’s fear is the cause of this whole mess in the first place. If
she had trusted God to fulfill his promise Esau would have no occasion
to be angry with Jacob. Her fear is driving her now to send Jacob to a
place that, as far as she knows, God doesn’t want him to go. She is not
seeking to reconcile her two sons but is only seeking to avoid conflict.
She continues to despise and be at odds with her husband. Her fear causes
her to manipulate people and ignore God and his promises. This is what
fear does to us. We use people and God to keep what we fear happening,
from happening. We don’t care what God wants or what happens to others
as long as what we fear does not happen.
Grace conquers fear by teaching our hearts that the only one we should
fear is the God who has the power to not only kill us but also send us
to hell, as Jesus said in Luke 12. Rebekah doesn’t fear God; she only
fears life not going the way she wants it to go. It does not occur to
her that God might not be pleased or that he might have a different idea.
Grace teaches our hearts to rest in God alone, that he alone is our refuge
and fortress. We do not need to fear because God is with us, what can
man do to us? What is motivating you, fear of bad things happening or
faith in God and his sure promises?
Grace always produces faith that leads to obedience, therefore…
- Anger and hatred reveal an unconverted heart
- Fear always leads away from God
- And…
III. God and his promises occupy the attention of true believers (vv.
1-5)
What Isaac does in vv. 1-5 of chapter 28 is a stunning display of the
effects of God’s grace in a person’s life. If you are going to be impressed
with what Isaac is doing here, you must remember where he has come from.
He has lived for over 40 years with his heart firmly attached to Esau.
He loved Esau and the food that Esau provided him. He was opposed to God’s
plan to have Esau serve Jacob. He plotted, along with Esau, to rob Jacob
of any blessing. He lived for all those years in a state of conflict with
his wife over their sons. He was a worldly man, who loved the pleasures
of this world rather than the promises of God. But, as we saw last week,
at the pinnacle of his rebellion towards God, God opened his eyes to see
what he had done. Remember, when Isaac blessed Jacob, he believed he was
blessing Esau. At that moment, he was certain that he had thwarted God,
Rebekah and Jacob. He was gloating in his successfully defying God. Then,
when Esau entered and Isaac realized that the trick was on him, he didn’t
get mad or sad, he feared God. He repented of his evil affection for Esau.
He affirmed that God’s plan was right and that Jacob was the blessed one.
He refused to give in to the pleading of Esau or to join him in hating
Jacob.
Now, he publicly and openly confesses that he loves God and God’s plans
for Jacob. He is a changed man. He loves what God loves and hates what
God hates. He embraces God’s entire plan and is certain it will come to
fruition. Notice how direct, forceful, and certain he is in vv. 1-5. He
commands Jacob to not marry a Canaanite woman. He tells him to go back
to Paddan-Aram in order to find a wife. He tells him to only take a wife
from among the daughters of Laban, Rebekah’s brother. No other relatives
will do. Then he calls God by the name that God revealed himself to Abraham
when he confirmed his promise to Abraham. He calls him God Almighty, the
God who is able to accomplish his entire holy will. The God who cannot
be thwarted and whose purposes never fail. He repeats the promises that
were given to Abraham and then to him by God. He knows that Jacob will
become a "community of peoples". He knows that he will possess the land
of Canaan. He knows, because God is God Almighty that Jacob will not stay
in Haran but will return. Then notice in v. 5 that Jacob immediately obeys
God’s command through Isaac.
Isaac is not angry about how shamefully Jacob and Rebekah have treated
him. He is not afraid of what will happen to Jacob and to his descendants.
He is amazed by God’s grace towards him. He knows that it would be right
for God to kill him and send him to hell for his rebellion. So, like a
man who is on his way to be executed when he receives word of the presidential
pardon, he is full of joy and gladness. He is confident that the God who
has pardoned him and who has made promises to him will certainly do all
that he has promised. He knows that this Almighty God who overcame his
evil plans and saved him is able to overcome everything that sets itself
up against Jacob and God’s plans for him. He is living by faith in the
promises of God.
I received a letter from a friend of mine who is a missionary in Zambia,
Africa. He told me this story about one of the African church planters
that work with him by the name of Denny Mushali. Denny returned to the
city he was planting a church in, called Shangombo, after a week of meetings
in another town. He arrived home at night and the vehicle he was riding
in let him out in the market place of his town. His bags were put down
by the side of the road. But by the time he made it around the vehicle,
someone had stolen his luggage. While this would not be a great loss to
those of us who have too many of most things, to Denny, it represented
significant depletion of his limited possessions. A few days later, he
told a friend about his loss. After describing what he had lost, his friend
said, "I think I have your shirt in my closet." They hurried to the friend’s
house and sure enough, he had Denny’s shirt. He had bought it at an ad
hoc used clothing sale just the day before from a man he did not know.
They presumed he was the thief and set out to track him down.
The tracking took a little longer than expected, 12 days to be exact.
The trail took them through numerous villages where Denny had never traveled
before. As he went, he shared the gospel. Four people professed faith
in Christ, three people were set free from demon activity and many villages
asked him to return to teach the good news. They did finally catch the
thief and return him to Shangombo for trial and then incarceration. However,
a new problem surfaced, who would feed this man while he was in prison,
as he had no relatives in the area? Yet, food was prepared and delivered
day after day to this incarcerated thief, much to the surprise of his
fellow inmates. When they inquired as to whom was taking care of him the
thief replied, "It is the very man from whom I have stolen. The man and
the people from his church are caring for me. He is a man of God and from
what I have learned from him I will not steal anymore."
Denny, like Isaac, lived by faith. He did not get angry. He did not fear.
Rather he trusted God and obeyed him while living in the circumstances
God brought to him. Like Isaac, he provided for the man who sinned against
him, thus displaying the greatness of Christ. Difficult circumstances
do not intimidate the one who is living by faith in this Almighty God.
Sin and suffering are merely opportunities for God to show off his powerful
grace by producing obedience in us and shedding his love through us into
the lives of others. When Christ saves a person, God’s purposes become
his or her purposes. Obedience becomes what she longs to do. The Christian
is happiest when he or she loves others out of the joy of knowing Christ.
Grace always produces faith that leads to obedience, therefore…
- Anger and hatred reveal an unconverted heart
- Fear always leads away from God
- God and his promises occupy the attention of true believers
- And…
IV. Human effort can never achieve salvation (vv. 6-9)
Notice how Esau responds to Isaac’s very public declaration of God’s
blessing on Jacob. He makes the mistake that every human being naturally
makes in relation to God and his ways. He sees that God blesses Jacob
through his father. But notice what he fixes upon. He notes that Isaac
commands Jacob to not take a Canaanite wife but to go to Paddan-Aram to
get a wife. Then he sees that Jacob obeys. Then he draws a false conclusion.
He concludes that the reason God blesses Jacob is because he does not
take a Canaanite wife but obeys his father by going to Haran. He concludes
the reason Jacob is blessed is because Jacob obeys. This
is a very natural way of thinking. The entire human race naturally thinks
this way about God and his relationship to humans. What he does not understand
is that God is blessing Jacob in spite of Jacob’s disobedience. The result
is that Jacob obeys.
It is the testimony of the Scriptures from beginning to end that salvation
is entirely a work of God. The blessing of God is poured out on the unbelieving
sinner and it creates the fruit of obedience. The Holy Spirit gives life
to spiritually dead people whom then delight to trust in Christ and to
give up the whole world in order to have him. C.H. Spurgeon, explains
this in a sermon based on 2 Corinthians 5:18 which says in part, "…and
all things are of God". He says, "If your heart begins to yearn for the
Father whom you have angered and wronged and if your feet desire to leave
the mountains of sin and vanity and to tread the right road, it is a Father’s
hand that draws you, it is a Savior’s voice that sweetly impels you to
seek his face…. Do you see the missionary, leaving house and home and
all the comforts of his native land, to go and do battle for Christ among
a people who will scorn him, mistrust his motives and repay his self-denial
with persecution? See him struck down with fever and when barely well
he pulls himself out of bed, stands beneath a tree, and preaches the gospel.
He continues to labor until worn out; he commits his body to the earth,
far from his homeland and his friends and family. Shall we applaud the
man? Shall we with clamorous songs sing his praise? He has done valiantly
but let us remember that everything in him that was good, was of God.
He would have been idle and indifferent and careless to the souls of men
had not God made him what he was."
But Esau doesn’t see this as the explanation of Jacob’s obedience and
of God’s blessing. He presumes, as all of us naturally presume that the
obedience produces the blessing. He realizes that his marriage to his
Hittite wives displeases Isaac and therefore God and so he concocts his
own solution. He goes to Abraham’s family, to the descendants of Ishmael
and marries a woman who is a relative of Abraham and Isaac. Why does he
do this? He wants the blessing of Isaac, the blessing of God. But he wants
it on his terms. He seeks to merit God’s favor by his own work. But notice
what he does not do. He does not repent of his hatred of Jacob and affirm
God’s choice of Jacob. Esau is unwilling to cast himself upon the mercy
of God in Jacob. Instead, he seeks to show that he does not need Jacob
to get God’s blessing. He does not get rid of his Hittite wives. He does
not repent of his sins. He believes that this "work" of getting a wife
from among Ishmael’s relatives will cover over the offense of having two
Hittite wives.
Esau is a prime example of human arrogance. He believes that he will
get God’s blessing without turning from his own sin and by refusing to
trust the promise of God in Christ. He believes that God’s blessing comes
to those who obey. He fails to realize that there is no one who does good
and so anytime God blesses a person it is never in response to what they
have done but always an expression of his grace. The obedience is the
fruit of God’s blessing, never its cause. You cannot eliminate the guilt
of your sin and earn the kindness of God by some self-righteous act. God
never acts kindly to people because he is obligated to do so by our goodness
or obedience. He is always kind to sinners like you and I because he decides
to be kind. But then, his kindness always produces obedience in us. Do
not make the mistake that Esau made. Do not think that you obligate God
to bless you by your obedience. God never responds to us in that manner
because we, by our own will, have never done a good and righteous deed.
God treats sinners like us with kindness. He is gracious and his grace
always produces faith that leads to obedience in us. "For we are God’s
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared
in advance for us to do." May he receive all the praise and honor for
his powerful salvation.
Grace always produces faith that leads to obedience, therefore…
- Anger and hatred reveal an unconverted heart
- Fear always leads away from God
- God and his promises occupy the attention of true believers
- Human effort can never achieve salvation
© Copyright
2001 John Swanson.
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