Sermons from Lone
Rock Bible Church Isaac’s Broken Home (Part I) The spiritual shortcomings of Isaac
and manipulation of Rebekah have clearly done more harm than good and will carry a costly
price tag for their entire family. A fly on the wall in this home would see how these
people sinned against God as we review seven conversations: 1. Isaac and Esau (27:1-4); forgetting
God A pastor friend, who was also on a
Quick Response Unit, told me about a call he went on, a call that was made by a little kid
in a family. The boy called 911 on behalf of his mother. When the deputies and the QRU
arrived, she was in the freezer, bound with duct tape. She said her husband had done it.
“Where is he?” “He’s asleep, back in the bedroom.” Of course the deputies sprung into
action and arrested the guy amidst his protestations, whisked him off, only later to find
that Mom had set the whole thing up. The kids had helped her with the duct tape and helped
her into the freezer while Dad was asleep in the back. That’s called a broken home, a
blue-ribbon mess of a family. The little boy was so glad to see the pastor show up as part
of the QRU because he had met him at Awana, one of the few sources of stability the boy
had ever had. What a mess! We think, “My home is not that
bad!” Neither was Isaac’s. After all, God had spoken to this man. He is in line
for the Messiah. His wife Rebekah delivered to him miraculously, children conceived and
born miraculously. His home knew something of the blessing of God but as we come into
Genesis 27 the impression is, “What a mess!” We’re familiar with the way
Rebekah and Jacob conspired to get the blessing from Isaac for Jacob rather than for Esau,
so that each parent’s favorite is brought into play. You realize what a deal this
could be. I come away with the conclusion that we need to learn to trust God more than we
trust ourselves. I think this family spells it out for us. This morning we’re going to play
the role of a fly on the wall in this home long ago. We’re going to hear seven
conversations. Conversations between Isaac and Esau, then Rebekah and Jacob, then Isaac
and Jacob, and on and on. We’re going to see revealed in these conversations what
went wrong here. Nothing good really happened until conversation number seven. In the
meantime, we see God being sinned against and it helps us understand what could possibly
bring this family to this point and perhaps it will help us in our own homes. If nothing
else, we need to trust God more than we trust our own devices because He is the only one
who can put these things together. 1. Isaac and Esau (Genesis 27:1-4);
forgetting God Isaac was 137 years old at this point.
Please keep in mind that age is interesting in Scripture, particularly in this era. The
patriarchs lived to be quite old and Isaac lived the longest. He will live to be 180,
according to Scripture. How could they live so long? Could it be that God was exemplifying
in these patriarchs His blessing of long life? Genesis
27:1-4 We are a fly on the wall and what do
we see? We see an old, old man sitting in his house, perhaps on his porch, staring out
through eyes that don’t work. He is no doubt pondering his age, thinking, “I’m
getting up there.” He had a half brother, Ishmael, who had died at 137 years. Ishmael
was Abraham’s son by Hagar. Isaac and Ishmael of course knew one another. He had been
without his half-brother for about 14 years. He’s probably thinking, “Here I am
at the same age he was. I can’t expect to go much longer.” It’s interesting as we watch
Isaac through this story, how keenly aware he is yet of his other senses. He’s still
concerned with dying. It doesn’t matter how old you get, you still are concerned
about what happens at the end; what is that going to be like and what can I anticipate. Isaac, this blind old man, takes the
initiative. He totally intends to bless his older son, Esau. Esau will get Isaac’s
blessing. That’s deliberate. That’s by design. We wonder why. God had said
clearly that Jacob is the one through whom the messianic line will come. Yet we see Isaac,
for reasons that aren’t as clear as we might wish, determined that Esau will be
blessed by him. Esau was his favorite. Was Isaac in some sort of depression
funk, sitting there pondering old age and sightlessness and wondering about the future? Is
he in dementia? Is he getting forgetful? Normally in dementia, long-term memory tends to
work better than short-term memory. His long-term memory is what I am wondering about. He
remembers very well. Or is he simply disobedient? Remember, Esau was his favored son.
One thing we can learn about Esau, clearly and repeatedly in Scripture, is that he was
earthy. Esau was the one who loved to take his bow and arrows; he spent his time out there
in the earth, in the world, in the forest, in the hills. He loved the world. It was his
bread and butter. It was his sustenance. It was his priority. And Esau was the favorite of
his father. What I am suggesting here is that
Isaac had an unhealthy connection with the world and he is playing it out through his son,
Esau. Not the son of promise, but the older one. He was earthy and so was Isaac. Notice,
“Take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out in the field and hunt game for
me.” All “this world” stuff. And prepare a savory dish. He wanted a savory
dish, one that appealed to his senses. “Come and prepare it for me and I want to eat
it.” All of this language is earth language. “And that my soul may bless you
before I die.” My time on this earth is limited, he thinks. Isaac had forgotten God. Between 30
and 40 years have passed since God had said the older shall serve the younger. Time had
gone by and time had not been the friend of Isaac. His life was wrapped up in this world.
I think about his blindness and I wonder if perhaps his worldliness, his close ties with
temporal things, might have led to his blindness. Possibly could God be saying, “You
need to walk by faith, not by sight.”? Isaac was very slow to learn the lesson. What he thinks now, whether he is
depressed or whatever in his reflective mood, regardless, when it is time for him to make
his last adjustment, he turns to the world and not to the Lord. He turns to Esau and not
to Jacob. Wouldn’t it be nice if somehow this could have been changed around? Isn’t
it confusing for us to imagine this patriarch who had all this knowledge and all this
blessing from God that he would do it right. Too bad Isaac didn’t have the awareness
or the fortitude to say, “Esau, Jacob gets the blessing, not you.” Why the boys had not been schooled in
this since tiny, I don’t know. Why they hadn’t been made to understand that the
gifts God had given and the heritage God was establishing was going to come through one
rather than the other. Why it is that it didn’t register with Isaac that Esau had
rejected his birthright. He despised his birthright because of his earthly attachments.
Was Jacob wired better than he was to receive this blessing, I don’t know. But here
Isaac is clearly dropping the ball. He should have come clean with these boys. It should
have been the topic of family discussion from day one. If you look at these seven
conversations at the most critical moment the family is on the brink of shattering and it
will. Notice who talks to whom. We have Isaac and Esau talking, Rebekah and Jacob talking,
Jacob and Isaac talking, but we don’t see everybody talking together. You never see
Rebekah and Esau talking. And you don’t even see Jacob and Esau talking. The family is already splintered. The
fracturing has already begun and Isaac is responsible, because he is the father. He had
failed to lead. He had failed to communicate. At this point, in Genesis 27, it is too
late. Jacob and Esau are old enough for Social Security at this point. It is too late. So
what we might expect in this home is exactly what is going to happen. 2. Rebekah and Jacob (27:5-17);
“helping” God We’re not the only fly on the
wall. Right around the corner lurks Rebekah. Remember, Esau was Isaac’s favorite but
Jacob was Rebekah’s favorite. Rebekah was determined that Jacob would receive what
was best. She had her mind made up. She is suspicious. She is eavesdropping. She has a
suspicious streak because she is an underhanded person and underhanded people tend to
think everybody else is. She could see something was coming. She could sense some major
transition was in the wind so she is hanging around waiting to see what would come. Once
she heard the words from Isaac to Esau, “Go out in the field, take your gear and
bring me a savory dish,” she knew she had to act and act decisively and quickly. It’s
as though she was poised for this. What is she thinking? She’s
remembering. Her mind is fine. She remembers what was told her back in the 25th
chapter and the 23rd verse about these twins. Remember they were wild in her
womb. She had a turbulent pregnancy. She asked, “What is this?” God graciously
responds and says two nations are in your womb and two peoples shall be separated from
your body. One people shall be stronger than the other and the older shall serve the
younger. She thinks, “Great, because the younger is my favorite.” But the older is going to get the blessing of his
father. She’s thinking, “I have to
do something in order to help God out.” That’s where she is going. She is
remembering God’s words to her. She is reflecting on her favorite son Jacob who is so
much like her. She is remembering that she has problems with Esau. Esau despised his
birthright. She thinks, “That figures. This red hairy guy, doesn’t talk to me,
doesn’t stick around, only eats and leaves.” It’s interesting as you look
at the way these parents treat their children. It is as though Isaac clearly favors Esau
and seems ok with Jacob. He doesn’t dislike him. But it doesn’t seem to be that
way with Mama. Mama clearly favors Jacob and doesn’t seem to like Esau. Esau had married two Hittite women.
She is thinking that the only family blessed of Yahweh is my family, hundreds of miles
away. That’s why I am here. Abraham had sent his servant clear over there to get her
for Isaac. She understands that’s the way it is supposed to be. Esau doesn’t
care. He goes out and marries not one, but two Hittite women and brings them home. It used to be back in the days of
“Leave It To Beaver” and “Father Knows Best” that the kind of humorous
side of in-law relations was the son-in-law/mother-in-law. Clearly here the greatest point
of strife is between daughter-in-law and mother-in-law because they compete for junior.
That is compounded when everybody lives in the same place. So here comes Esau with wife number
one, then wife number two. You have a disobedient, worldly son occupying the same
household with his two wives. How do you suppose they got along with Rebekah? How do you
suppose they got along with each other? She has had a belly full and she says so. “I
can’t stand it any more,” she will tell her husband later. Jacob cannot do this
like his brother had done. We’re getting a little ahead of ourselves, but she is not
in good straits over her daughters-in-law and this son, who she doesn’t seem to care
for anyway. There had to have been serious strife in that home. That is not all she is thinking. She
is reflecting on the past. Jacob is supposed to get it all and she is thinking how
miserable she is with these two Hittite daughters-in-law. She is thinking also about her
future. She doesn’t have Genesis to read. She doesn’t know that her blind
husband will go on for another 43 years. She is thinking about her future as a widow in
that culture. Who would she rather live with? Esau and his two wives, whom she doesn’t
like anyway, or her favorite son, Jacob? So she springs into action. Rebekah’s husband is not leading
spiritually. Years ago we were starting a Bible training center class with a brand new
batch of students. We went around the room -- who are you, where are you from -- because
folks come from all over the place to study the Bible. I can well remember getting to this
one lady who said, “I just figured since my husband isn’t going to lead
spiritually, I’d better get to know the Bible better so I could.” I thought I
didn’t want to be a fly on the wall in that home! God’s Word does a work though,
doesn’t it? Rebekah’s husband isn’t
leading spiritually. I wish I had a dollar for every wife who is unhappy with the way her
husband leads spiritually. The kingdom of God is teeming with them and Rebekah seems to be
breaking trail. What does she do? She devises a scheme. She is going to help God! Good
thing for God that she is there; otherwise, however in the world would Jacob get what is
coming to him? She comes up with an elaborate scheme
in desperation. This is how it looks in Genesis 27. She said to Jacob, look here. Listen
to me and do what I command you. I’m the authority now, Jacob. (She is confusing him
here.) 8 Now therefore, my son, listen to me as I command you. Go now to
the flock and bring me two choice young goats from there that I may prepare them as a
savory dish for your father, such as he loves. She is going to fool her husband and
Jacob is going to help her 10 Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that
he may bless you before his death. She
thinks he is dying. 11 Jacob answered his mother Rebekah. “Behold, Esau my brother
is a hairy man and I am a smooth man. She brings it back to herself. “My
son, just obey my voice and get them for me.” She is clearly
overstepping her bounds here and she is headed for disaster. What she hopes to preserve,
she is going to lose because she is jumping in where she really had not ought to be. Jacob went and got them, did as he was
told. They skinned out these goats. Rebekah gets some of Esau’s clothes and the goat
skins and strategically wraps them on her son Jacob and prepares him to go in and see his
father -- and swipe Isaac’s blessing for Jacob instead of for Esau. She just doesn’t
see any other way of doing it. Her language betrays the fact that it is about her. “My
words.” “My commands.” “My wishes.” How many wives have taken matters into
their own hands when it seems God isn’t going to come through for them? We will never
know. Rebekah wasn’t the first. Her mother-in-law did a similar thing. God had
promised seed through Abraham and Sarah. It didn’t seem to be happening quickly
enough for Sarah so she said to him, “Listen to my voice. Take my handmaid.”
Culturally, it was allowable that a handmaid of a barren woman could proxy children for
her. Take my handmaid, Hagar, and have children through her. Abraham did, and what is the
result? Ishmael -- the father of the entire Arab world. What did she solve here? Scripture indicates that Sarah learned
her lesson. She is recorded in I Peter as a woman who submitted well to her husband. Sarah’s
interference led to disaster -- the whole Arab nation. It’s Rebekah’s turn now.
She is a conniver. She learned this at home. We’re going to meet her brother and
family in greater detail later, back in Haran. Her brother Laban is a “schlictmeister.”
He could sell used cars to a used-car salesman. This is where she has come from, so it is
natural for her to take matters into her own hands, but the disaster will be no less for
her. She thinks she is setting up the family. In effect, she is ruining it. She just doesn’t
know it yet. Rebekah never met Sarah, who might
have been able to tell her a thing or two about learning to trust in God. In I Peter 3, the apostle Peter is
encouraging believing wives to be careful how they behave and how they appear. He is
saying external things are by far secondary to who you are on the inside. I Peter 3 She eventually learned and that is
great. She could have helped her daughter-in-law, Rebekah, at that point. Rebekah might
have gently reminded her husband of the promise to Jacob. She might have done that, she
didn’t. Communication is not real powerful in their home. She might have taken Jacob
aside and said it looks like we have a problem, we need to pray and see how God would work
this out. But she didn’t. Much of what makes this whole account
of Rebekah and Jacob and their deceit in getting the blessing so confusing to us, so
difficult, is because we stop and look at this and if we are honest, we say to ourselves
that we don’t know how we would have done it any better or any differently. We would
say what is she supposed to do? Clearly, Esau is getting the blessing , that is Isaac’s
intent. She knows he is not supposed to. What should she do? We come up empty, it seems,
because we are drawn into this story. We think she really is in a spot. Jacob has to have
that blessing, so the end must somehow justify the means, or let’s just soft-soap it
a little bit and get God off the hook. Maybe we can even get Rebekah off the hook with
something like, “God is going to use Rebekah’s lying and their sin to get Jacob
his blessing.” I think no. That is the easy way out.
That’s not where this is going. I’ll tell you in advance where this is going.
What is going to happen here is that there is going to be a blessing. It’s going to
be given to Jacob by a blind father thinking it is Esau, but it isn’t the full
Abrahamic blessing of the covenant. It is a watered down, diluted one. Isaac never had it
mind to give the whole thing to Esau, just an earthly blessing. But we don’t
understand. What we are so slow to grasp is that this Abrahamic blessing that would lead
to a Messiah and to salvation of the world was never Isaac’s to give. It was only God’s
to give and God will give it. Somehow Isaac thought so and Rebekah
thought so and Jacob thought so. The only one who didn’t care about it was Esau. They
all were under the impression that somehow Isaac had this power to transfer an eternal
covenant blessing to the wrong son. He didn’t have it, yet they were all convinced
that he did. Naturally, we are just like these
people. We really think God needs our help. You don’t believe it? What about that
recent publication, “This Is The Way to Raise Children”? You mean if I just do
these things my kids will love and honor and serve Jesus? Are you serious? Do we really
think God needs us at that level? I think about spiritual heritage. I totally believe in
it. The Bible teaches that the Christian home is sanctified by a believing parent or two.
There are principles for childhood. I can introduce you to families where parents did
everything they could do and their kids went off the deep end. I can introduce you to kids
that didn’t come from a Christian family who are walking with God. Who did that? My
dad didn’t give me my faith; God did. We do this in so many arenas. We think
we’ll just set things up and we’ll help God out. If you don’t have a
purpose driven situation you just probably aren’t going to make it. There are a lot
of good principles in that material. God doesn’t need it. He is capable of going
straight to the heart. How about how we run church? If you
just have it this way, everything will be right. Really? Does God need the church
constitution, the church program, to get done in people’s hearts what he intends to
get done? No, He does not. Can we help facilitate? Sure. But the minute we think He needs
us, we just got glory, we just got the credit. God doesn’t share the glory or the
credit. If you don’t use this Bible
translation, God isn’t going to bless. Is that right? Who came up with that
translation? People did. They got it from some Greek and Hebrew manuscript. Where did they
come from? People collected them. So if you don’t use this
translation something is wrong. Are you kidding me? Does God need that? No. God needs his
Word of truth. We need it in terms we can understand. That, of course, is the design of
the human element. The minute we think that something we do or something we can come up
with is what God needs, we are in serious trouble. We are in sin. I have even known of
those who teach that if we just do this and this and this, Jesus will come back. So . . .
Jesus is up in heaven, Lord and master of everything, waiting for the likes of us to get
it together so He can return? That’s absurd. God doesn’t need our help. Jacob is going to get the blessing
that will resound into eternity but it isn’t because his Mama helped God. Quite the
contrary. Her scheme is going to backfire in a huge way. We get caught up in this passage
because we really think God needs Isaac in order to perpetuate the promise. No, He doesn’t,
as we shall see. It was never Isaac’s to bestow, but God‘s. We need to learn to trust God more than we trust ourselves.
"Scripture
taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Jim Carlson 2005, Lone Rock Bible Church, Stevensville Montana, USA |