Author: Charlie Garrett

Genesis 25:24-34
Heaven’s Riches for a Meal

Introduction: Last week, we looked at some details concerning the doctrines of election and predestination. Today, we’ll see how the lives of these two babies fighting in the womb will prefigure Adam and Jesus as they grow up.

The question I want you to think about is this, “What good would all the things you have, or are looking forward to having, do for you if you were to die today?”

I didn’t realize until I was almost done with preparing this sermon that I’d come an entirely wrong conclusion about what we should learn from the account. As usual, if we rely too heavily on other people’s commentaries, we’re bound to miss what we’re actually supposed to know. Let’s not make this mistake today!

Text Verse: For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. ⁸ Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. 2 John 1:7, 8

There are deceivers and there are deceivers. Some people deceive to get ahead in life, some to hurt other’s chances at doing so. But then there are those who go out to deceive the world by denying that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. What does this mean? That Jesus didn’t live? No.

George Washington came in the flesh and nobody cares about that. He was a man who came from other men. This isn’t speaking about someone actually existing, but rather it’s speaking about the incarnation of Jesus Christ – the eternal God putting on flesh to replace the fallen deeds of Adam.

Jehovah’s witnesses deny this, muslims deny this. In fact, denying the incarnation is so serious that John calls those who do so an antichrist. Jesus came for a specific purpose and to accomplish a specific task, a part of which is prefigured in today’s verses and so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Jacob and Esau

To understand the context of what we’ll see, let me read you the pertinent verses from last week –

Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian. Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived.  But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.  And the Lord said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.”

The foreknowledge of God has been relayed to Rebekah and His plans for the life of these boys and their posterity will come about just as He has spoken. History has borne out the prophecy.

²⁴ So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb.

As we noted a moment ago from last week’s account, Isaac pleaded with the Lord for Rebekah to have a child. In His grace, He didn’t just bless her with one, but with two. God is abundantly good to us as He unfolds the future and reveals it in the present.

Rebekah’s days were fulfilled and from conception to birth is 9 months or about 270 days – now the time has arrived. Here at the moment of delivery, mom is ready to meet her boys. For those of you who love the details, the word for “twins” here is the Hebrew word thomim.

If you listen closely, you’ll hear the name of another noted biblical figure, the Apostle Thomas, the doubting one. Thomim or in its singular form thaom is directly translated to Thomas. He is noted in John 11:16 by his other Greek name as well –

Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.” (NASB)

The word Didymus means the same thing, two-fold or twin, or as we might say “ditto.” So now, when you meet someone named Thomas, you have all sorts of things you can tell him.

²⁵ And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau.

Esau is born first and so, without going any further, we know from the prophecy that he and his line will serve the next to be born. When he came out, he was red. It isn’t stated whether the red is from the blood of birth adhering to his hair or if his hair was naturally red, but Charlie’s guess is the latter. His hair is red.

One ancient Jewish scholar sees in this red color that he would be a shedder of blood, fierce, and cruel. This is born out by his descendants later in the Bible and so it’s a good supposition.

What’s also noted about him is that he was born with so much hair on his body that he looked like a hairy garment all over. This is a genetic occurrence known as hypertrichosis. Because of this, they named him Esau. Esau means “made.”

What the parents were implying then is that in the womb he was made more like a man than a child because of his premature development. Because of the early development, his youth would be more passionate and precocious than others his age.

What it also means for his future is that he is more earthly than spiritual. This will become perfectly evident as we go on and the pattern of what Esau points to is fulfilled in the writings of Paul in the New Testament. The word describing him as “red” is used about only one other person in the Bible, the great King David –

And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. 1 Samuel 17:42

David, like Esau was thought to be, was a man of blood. (Explain)

²⁶ Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob.

The one who will be served comes out last and as an indication of their future, he is holding Esau’s heel. Because of this, he was given the name of Ya’akov or Jacob. This name has a few different meanings which are based on the idiom “takes hold by the heel.”

The idea is that in grabbing someone by the heel, you will trip him up. But there is also the idea of a deceiver, one who supplants, or one who follows closely behind. All of these fit his life and circumstances. But grabbing the heel, or “following after,” is the idea that we want to get here. It points to Jesus.

There is a meaning and a mystery in the name of Jacob which looks forward to much of his life, both as one who deceives and one who gets deceived. But because he follows after Esau, there is also a wonderful pattern Paul will explain to us later.

As you’ll see in the verses ahead, the account of these boys picture fallen Adam and the risen Christ. Jacob’s first act in life is remembered by the prophet Hosea many generations later –

He took his brother by the heel in the womb,
And in his strength he struggled with God. Hosea 12:3

^{26 (con’t)} Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

Isaac was born in the year 2109AM and was married at the age of 40. Now 20 years later his children are born to them in the year 2169AM. Although Abraham’s death has already been recorded, he will be alive for 15 more years and is probably a happy grandpa.

²⁷ So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents.

In one verse, we’ve skipped over enough years to see the boys grown to where they are old enough to live and work alone. God only includes what is necessary to show us His thoughts and to lead us to Jesus. Here, in this first verse about their adulthood, God shows us two types or pictures in the two men.

The first picture is Esau. His name as I said means “made” just as Adam was made from the dust of the earth where a word similar to Esau’s name is used in Genesis 1:26, asah, when God said, “let Us make man in our image.” He was a complete man which is pictured by Esau in his exceptional birth – a developed man.

He is a hunter – one who obtains his living from the ground and he is a man of the ground. He is a picture of Adam who was taken from the ground and who was destined to obtain his sustenance from the ground that he came from. Esau can be summed up in the words from Genesis 3 which God spoke to Adam –

¹⁷ Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life. ¹⁸ Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. ¹⁹ In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”

As a hunter, he is like Nimrod and Ishmael who came before him. Both of them, along with him, picture fallen man fighting to live off the toil of the earth; they are all earthly and unspiritual.

Jacob, on the other hand is a picture of Christ. He is noted as a mild man. In 2 Corinthians 10:1, Jesus is termed gentle and meek by the Apostle Paul. But the word used for “mild” here is the word tam. This word means more than mild, but specifically “blameless” or “perfect.” Just a perfect description of the Lord he pictures.

Jacob is also noted as one dwelling in tents. Again we see Christ, first dwelling in the tabernacle among the children of Israel, later He dwelt in the Temple in Jerusalem, and finally He put on a tabernacle of flesh and dwelt among us as John records –

And the Word became flesh, and did tabernacle among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of an only begotten of a father, full of grace and truth. (1:14)

The picture of Christ that Jacob makes as he dwelt in a tent is ultimately fulfilled in Revelation 21 –

“Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.” (vs. 3)

Unlike Esau who hunted wild animals, Jacob is a shepherd, once again picturing the Good Shepherd who came to guide His flock from earth to their heavenly home. Esau is destructive in game; Jacob is constructive in sheep. And thus we see Adam and Christ.

²⁸ And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

The Hebrew literally says that Isaac loved Esau because of the venison in his mouth – very descriptive and showing his love for the meat as much as the boy. Rebekah, on the other hand loved Jacob, but no reason is given.

It could stem back to the prophecy that she was given before they were born, or it could simply be because Esau stunk like the dickens when he came home from hunting. We don’t know, but please note it doesn’t say either parent didn’t love the other child.

They merely favored one over the other. Almost every commentator in the world seems to want to find fault with the parents here, but I don’t see it that way. The Bible is simply commenting on the facts and very few are given.

The words of Malachi show us that if our thoughts about Isaac and Rebekah are negative, then our thoughts about the Lord’s dealing with these two should be negative as well because the Lord deals much more harshly with Esau.

Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” Says the Lord. “Yet Jacob I have loved; ³ But Esau I have hated, Malachi 1:2

In the end, opposites attract. Isaac wasn’t an adventurer and Esau was. Rebekah made a great adventure, leaving her home and family to go to the land of promise, and Jacob is the type to stay home, read books, and watch TV. This is how it was and there is no need to point fingers and accuse. Just accept what is given.

II. Trading Heaven’s Riches for a Bowl of Stew

²⁹ Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary.

The words here for “cooked a stew” are yazed nazid, or boiled a boiling. Jacob was in the house cooking food. An ancient Jewish source connects this cooking with a time of mourning and states that it was most likely at the time of the death of Abraham.

If so, and this is completely speculation, then they would be 15 years old. As Jacob is cooking, Esau comes in wearily from the field. This once again aligns with the curse of Adam –

“Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.”

He’s been in the field toiling and he is hungry and tired. Esau is Adam in our unfolding story. And Jacob is Jesus, at home and cooking up the greatest meal in all of history.

³⁰ And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom.

I do mission work every Saturday and one of the people I’ve gotten to know is called 39. For a while I didn’t know why he was called that. Eventually I found out that he played football at the same high school I went to and he was number 39. The name stuck.

Esau looks at the red stuff in the soup bowl and he very well may not have even known what it was because he simply says, “Please with the red, the red.” Or in Hebrew, na min ha’adom ha’adom. He’s hungry and tired and he simply wants to eat, but because of the description, he gets a nickname, Edom.

It very well could be that people already called him that because of his color, but now the name sticks because of his exclamation. And here we see him again as a picture of Adam. Adam was taken from the red clay of the earth and thus received his name.

And here we have Edom, which is the identical root for the name Adam. Both are red, both are earthly, and both are tied to the red, the red ground from which they came and from which their sustenance comes.

³¹ But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.”

Jacob intends to gain from what he knows is a quick-willed twin, and so he offers him the red, the red if he will sell his birthright. Under the Law of Moses, a birthright was a double portion of what the other children would get.

If there were six children, then the oldest would get 2/7^th of the estate. This birthright is different than that. It included being the chief of the clan and receiving all authority and all title to the estate. Just as Isaac got everything from Abraham, this same birthright would then pass to Esau. Jacob wants this.

It also involved being in the family next to the parents, the parental blessing, the promises which would lead to the Messiah, and eventually to the inheritance of the promised land, as well as the right to the priestly functions of the family.

If you’re able to see it, all of these things point to the position and status of Jesus. Jacob lets Edom know that if there was to be a meal, it would involve a transfer of these rights to Jacob.

Jacob is looking for an exchange – that which is earthly for that which is spiritual. Edom like Adam was willing to give up his spiritual inheritance for what is earthly and Jesus was willing to give up what was earthly for that which is heavenly. This is where Jacob first finds a fulfillment in his name – heel grabber.

He is looking to grab the position of the older by obtaining the birthright. And this refers back to the play on words concerning the soup. The word boil is yazed and comes from the word zid or zed, to boil in a literal sense. But just as we in English use boil to mean “rage,” the word in Hebrew means to “act proudly or presumptuously.”

Jacob is taking advantage of the situation which has presented itself to obtain the deed to the estate and all that goes along with it. Jesus will take advantage of another situation to obtain fallen man’s title deed and all that goes along with it.

And so Jacob tells Esau to sell him the birthright this day. In other words, in the open and in complete and full terms. If that is agreed on, then Esau gets his soup. Does anyone see Jesus and the Lord’s Supper here? Jesus has come to receive the promises of Adam. His red blood is the item of transfer.

If we, in Adam, want what His cup offers, we must give up any attempt at obtaining those things ourselves. We cede our right to Him to be our priest, to having claim on our estate, to all the promises of the Messiah and the rightful ownership of the Promised Land.

If we accept His offer – His blood – for us ceding our rights, the transfer is made. However, in our case, what we lose is gained in being granted life. This isn’t stretching this at all, and the next verse confirms it…

³² And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?”

Anokhi holekh lamut – “I am to die.” Esau was a real whiner about his stomach and the importance of having a meal – ask my wife,,, that’s me to a T.

I want you to not misunderstand me, there is a real occurrence which the Bible later condemns, and there is a spiritual occurrence that we need to note, as sons of Adam, and hold fast to.

In the real occurrence, Esau is giving up the treasures of heaven for a mere bowl of soup. The Bible will later call him a profane person because of this. To Esau, the prospect of his physical life was of more value than the spiritual things he would have received. In his thinking if he died, they wouldn’t have mattered anyway.

It could be that he truly was hungry and exhausted and his thought is “Well, if I die, Jacob will get the birthright anyhow.” But there is nothing to show that he was a step away from death except his own words and there is every reason to believe this isn’t really the case.

The birthright is as much a spiritual thing as it is an earthly blessing and so it would only be of value to someone with faith to understand it. If we were to look at a modern parallel, it would be education. If we are willing to look forward and understand the benefits of an education, then we will pursue it.

A better example might be someone who is willing to read and study their Bible. Unless you understand the spiritual aspect of the book and your necessity to grasp it, it means nothing to you.

It is the place where all of heaven’s treasures are revealed and yet we sell it off for TV or playing on the Wii. The most glorious heavenly treasure on earth is sold for soup.

The Geneva Bible says this about this verse – “The reprobate do not value God’s benefits unless they feel them presently, and therefore they prefer present pleasures.”

What I want you to know though, and I don’t want you to miss it, is that the spiritual aspect of what we see here is exactly the opposite. Anokhi holekh lamut – “I am to die.”

We are all destined to die. We are all Esau, walking in and looking for soup. When we die, none of our treasures will matter. Like Esau figured, someone else will get them anyway. Solomon explains this in Ecclesiastes 2 –

Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. ²⁰ Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun. ²¹ For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.

The question we have to ask is, “Am I willing to give up everything for one meal?” If that meal will give us life, then isn’t the exchange worthwhile? And there is only one meal which will satisfy. You see, in this meal we move from Esau to Jacob; from the authority of Adam to the authority of Jesus.

Just as Edom became subservient to Jacob, we too, sons of Adam, must cede our rights and authority to Jesus in order to have life. Now, hopefully now, you can understand Jesus’ words to His disciples in John 6 about the red, the red meal we’re looking at –

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.”

³³ Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.

The 16^th Century bishop, satirist, and moralist Joseph Hall had this wise thought, “There was never any meat, except the forbidden fruit, so dear bought, as this broth of Jacob.”

For nothing more than a lunch which was as much water as it was lentils, all of Esau’s treasures were sworn away. And for the same soup Jacob inherited many glories in the years ahead. And each one of them, we need to remember, is still noted today. This wasn’t just a walk in life which ended when they did.

Instead it was an account which people around the world still read about 4000 years later. The question that should come up in our own minds is, “What will I most be remembered for?” Who knows, maybe our life’s mistakes or victories will be seen by everyone who comes after us as well.

And even if they’re not, we still are living in God’s sight and he knows the moral state we’re in, even if others don’t. Again, I’ll turn to the Geneva Bible for their thoughts, “Thus the wicked prefer their worldly conveniences over God’s spiritual graces: but the children of God do the opposite.”

³⁴ And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

This is the first time bread is mentioned in the entire chapter. Esau gave up his birthright for bread and the red, the red that would keep him alive for a few more hours. We have been asked to give up our birthright for Bread and the Red that will give eternal life.

Without trying to sensationalize the life and lessons we should get from Esau, we need to at least note the attitude he presents. As I said, there is a physical aspect and a spiritual aspect to this story. And although the two are diametrically opposed in how we handle them, they come from the same account.

For the physical lesson, the author of Hebrews tells us the type of person that Esau really was. The morality he displayed becomes an example to each of us of how not to live, especially considering spiritual matters –

Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: ¹⁵ looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; ¹⁶ lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. ¹⁷ Hebrews 12

Paul writes in Philippians 3 about those who set their mind on the things of the world. What he says so closely resembles Esau, that it needs to be considered –

¹⁷ Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. ¹⁸ For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: ¹⁹ whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things.

However, in the spiritual aspect of what we see in today’s story, we actually do have to be willing to sell everything for a single meal – a spiritual meal. Continuing on in the same passage from Philippians, Paul explains to us what we receive when we give up our rights to this world –

²⁰ For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. DISCUSS

I said a while ago that being the firstborn granted the birthright. This would make one chief of the clan and they would receive all authority and all title to the estate. In today’s passage, this authority was passed from Esau to Jacob.

This transfer is a picture of the transfer from Adam to Christ. As a son of Adam, we have a right to our own birthright this fallen world – it is our inheritance. Adam had the title to the Eden and gave it up for a bite of fruit. Edom did the same thing for a bowl of soup. Both meals were temporary and unsatisfying.

Jacob received the birthright through a vow sworn by Esau and it was irrevocable. Jesus now asks each of us to give up our inheritance here in the earthly realm under Adam and submit to His rule and authority. Jacob replaced the firstborn Esau. and Paul clearly explains that Jesus replaces the first man, Adam –

However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. ⁴⁹ And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

The question for Adam’s seed is, “Do we want to live an ungodly and profane life like Esau and give up heaven’s riches for what is earthly and temporary, or do we want to sell our earthly riches for a spiritual meal which will grant us heaven and eternity.”

Remember what the prophecy about these two stated –

Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.

There are two people groups on earth right now. One is serving the older and one is serving the younger. I never fully grasped God’s words through Malachi until I wrote this sermon. Remember when I read them earlier –

Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” Says the Lord. “Yet Jacob I have loved;
³ But Esau I have hated,

The Bible says that we are children of wrath by nature. We are earthly and serving the first man, who is Adam, but we can become heavenly and serve the second, who is Christ. When we make that choice – all symbolized in the Lord’s Supper, we go from being children of wrath, to adopted Son’s of God and beloved.

Let me tell you how you too can partake of this heavenly meal…

Closing Verse: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:2 (see verse 33) “Swear to me as of this day.”

Next Week: Genesis 26:1-14 (A Famine in the Land)

Heaven’s Riches for a Meal (A Double Entendre)

When Rebekah’s days were fulfilled to give birth
Indeed there were twins in her womb
The first came out red, like the clay of the earth
He was hairy as a garment, like mohair I presume

So they called his name Esau because like a man he was made
I wonder if those who saw him stood back and were dismayed?

After Esau his younger brother then came out
And his hand took hold of Esau’s heel
So his name was Jacob because with no doubt
He was a heel grabber and supplanting was his deal

When Rebekah bore them, Isaac was sixty years of age
And his life was now turning a brand new page

So the boys grew and Esau was a skillful hunter
A man of the field was his type of life
But Jacob was a mild man and not a physical grunter
He dwelt in tents; instead of arrows he used a butter knife

And Isaac love Esau because he ate of his game
But Rebekah loved Jacob and the man he became

Now Jacob cooked a stew
And Esau came in weary from the field
And Esau said to Jacob, “I’m famished through and through
Please feed me some of that red stew before my life I yield

Therefore Edom was called his name
Both his color and the color of the soup were the same

But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day
And Esau said, “Look I’m about to die.”
So what is this birthright to me, tell me I pray?
Then Jacob said, Swear as of this day between you and I

So he swore to him and to Jacob he sold his birthright
And Jacob gave Esau bread and some lentil stew
Then he ate and drank, arose, and went out of sight
Thus Esau despised his birthright, he told it “Adieu!”

Here we are pictured by these boys
And we have choices in this world to make
Will we pursue all the earthly toys?
Or will we give them up for heaven’s sake?

We can sell our birthright for that which perishes
Or we can sell it for the thing that God most cherishes

If we sell it for a bowl of soup that Adam did make
Then it is a sad choice that we have made
But if we sell it for the heavenly cake
Then by God above it was a glorious trade

Eat of the bread and drink of the blood
Of the Lord Jesus provided freely to all
And when you do it shall be understood
That through this act Christ in you has reversed Adam’s fall

Great and glorious, splendid God above
Let us shout out to You with praises and love

Hallelujah and Amen…

 

Genesis 25:19-23
Divine Election – The Older Shall Serve the Younger

Introduction: Before I started the Genesis series, I did a whole host of doctrine sermons. I preached on heaven, hell, the Holy Spirit, Christology, the rapture, the Trinity and so on. However, I didn’t preach on Election or Predestination. Today’s passage is used by Paul to explain this and so this is where we will go too.

Unfortunately, it’s become common to reject doctrine in preaching and teaching and to just give life application sermons. In fact, it is now the standard in many churches. I was in a church here last year and the pastor, during his sermon, said that it wasn’t even a good thing to argue doctrine because it divides the church.

I was stunned at this. The Bible is, first and foremost, a book of doctrine. Without properly understanding it, you end up with cults, neurotic people, and egotistical leaders. If one doesn’t understand doctrine, then whatever the pastor says becomes, by default, the church doctrine.

Instead of the Bible, his word is what matters. If you don’t think this is important, you will. When a family member or a friend commits suicide you will inevitably ask questions of a pastor. I know because I get at least three or four of these every year either by phone or email from people I don’t even pastor.

Who will counsel you if you have marital troubles – the Bible or someone’s opinion? If you’re a Christian and you do something terribly wrong – suppose you kill someone – does the Bible say you will lose your salvation?

I have to tell you, today’s topic, if misunderstood, will lead you to believe that maybe you have. Maybe you can’t ever know if you’re saved. Can you know? If you don’t have doctrine, you have nothing. Calling on Jesus and getting saved isn’t so important if He might “un-save” you.

Here is a statement which was placed on a post on Facebook recently. Can you tell where the error lies?

“If you seriously believe that Christ actually paid the penalty due for your sins, then there are only three possibly consistent conclusions: (1) Everyone for whom Christ died will be saved, but He did not die for every individual (Calvinism), (2) everyone for whom Christ died will be saved, and He did die for every individual (Universalism), or (3) everyone for whom Christ died will not necessarily be saved, in which case the only possible conclusion is that Christ’s sacrifice was imperfect; His atonement was not sufficient to save us.”

The problem is that it leaves out an obvious fourth option. This person didn’t take the time to think his post through, or more probably, he ignored what is correct because it doesn’t fit with his theology that says we don’t have free will in salvation. Calvinism rejects that.

The answer – Christ paid the penalty for all sins potentially (unlimited atonement offered), but only those who receive His substitutionary atonement will actually have them forgiven (limited atonement actual). This is what the Bible teaches. That one must call on the Lord to be saved. Anyone can, but not everyone will.

Can you imagine a preacher saying that Christ didn’t die for every individual? So much for Peter’s words that the Lord isn’t willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

As tedious as the second portion of our sermon might seem, I’d ask you to pay heed to what God has in His word concerning two children who fight in their mother’s womb which leads to God revealing their destinies before they are even born.

Text Verse: What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. Romans 9:14-16

Too often we forget that God is sovereign over creation. When we forget, we tend to blame Him for evil that occurs and we call Him unfair in how He deals with us. But just as the pot has no right to accuse the potter, we have no right to accuse our Creator. He is God and we are man and so… May God speak to us through His name today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. The Generations of Isaac

¹⁹ This is the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son.

We now come to the eighth set of “generations” listed in the Bible. Last week we saw those of Ishmael which was a branch off the main line leading to Jesus. This genealogy of Isaac returns to the main line. So far we have seen the following generations listed –

The generations of the heavens and the earth (2:4); the generations of Adam (5:1); the generations of Noah (6:9); the generations of the sons of Noah (10:1); the generations of Shem (11:10); the generations of Terah (11:27); the generations of Ishmael (25:12)

According to the layout and structure of Genesis, this genealogy will commence with the birth of his sons. However, in order for us to see the sovereignty of God we’re given a recap of how and when he obtained his wife, Rebekah. After this we’ll see some insights of what happens before the children are born.

The coming verses show us that God is completely in charge of everything that happens. Just as He orchestrated the union of Isaac and Rebekah, He will choose when and how their children will be born and He will show us again, the doctrine of Divine Election.

^{19 (con’t)}Abraham begot Isaac.

These words are given to confirm Isaac is the legitimate and chosen son of promise. One thing I’d like you to think about concerning these two men is how their lives resemble the figures they represent – God the Father and God the Son.

Abraham is the man of faith who forged his way into the unknown, heading to the Promised Land, conquering enemies, and living in anticipation of the promised son. When the son came, he obtained a wife for him. In so many ways, he typifies God the Father.

However, Isaac consented to be sacrificed. He is a man of patience, obedience, and acquiescence. Abraham initiated, Isaac carried out; Abraham led, Isaac followed; Abraham commenced, Isaac continued. He pictures God the Son, ever obedient to the Father.

²⁰ Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian.

The year was 2149AM at the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah. This verse uses the term Syrian. Some translations will say Aramean. The location means either. The Hebrew term is Arami or Aramean, but the exact spot is Padan Aram which is located in Syria.

Padan means “plowed field” and so this is the flatlands of Syria. Interestingly, Syria is just as much in the news today as it was then. It is a land of turmoil, war, and death which we see on TV every night.

²¹ Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

Just like Sarah, who was barren for the much of her life and even for 30 years after entering the Land of Canaan, Rebekah is also barren. Her condition will last for 19 years.

Because of the inordinate amount of time without having a child, Isaac prayed to Jehovah, for Rebekah. For all we know, they could have started praying for a child after the first year. God works in His own timing and to meet His own purposes.

Eventually though the Lord granted the plea and Rebekah conceived. The long period between marriage and birth demonstrated to Isaac and Rebekah, as it does to us, that the conception wasn’t merely a natural occurrence, but a gift of grace.

The structure of the Hebrew here is worthy of note. When it says “Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife” it uses the term lenokhakh ishto. Some scholars look at this as meaning that he prayed either in the presence of, or with, his wife

No matter how he prayed, both Abraham and Isaac were molded through the exercise of faith and prayer before they were blessed with children. In today’s world, we want everything right now and we become impatient with even small delays.

However, God continues to work in each of us in the way He worked through these heroes of faith. Some of you have family members who don’t know the Lord and you are there praying. Some of you have family in jail, lost in alcoholism, or perhaps drugs. And God is pleased to allow your prayers to continue.

Eventually and according to His wisdom, a response will come. It may not always be what we want, but it will come. Let’s see how Jesus instructs us from Luke 18 in times like this –

Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, ² saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. ³ Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ ⁴ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, ⁵ yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’” ⁶ Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. ⁷ And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?

²² But the children struggled together within her;

Children will fight as children do, but this is an unusual occurrence because they beat each other up in the womb. The Hebrew word is yithrosatsu and these two were really punching and bruising each other. Mom was worried about both their safety and hers as well.

^22(con’t)and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.

Mom’s speech here is in the imperfect sense and so she is basically asking less about “why is this happening” than “if I have to go through all of this trouble, then why did I bother getting pregnant.”

This apparently isn’t uncommon to many moms the first time they get pregnant. And so off to the Lord she goes to find out what the deal is. From this verse, we can guess that there is, by now, a fixed way of inquiring of the Lord for the family of God.

It may have been to go to Abraham or a priest. Or it may have been to simply go to the Lord in prayer at a specific location. However it was done, Rebekah does, in fact, get an answer…

II. Divine Election and Predestination

²³ And the Lord said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.”

The natural order of family life is once again reversed as has already happened several times in Genesis. The younger will be ahead of the older. And thus we again see the doctrine of Divine Election introduced into redemptive history.

This doctrine will find its ultimate fulfillment in the work of Jesus and which is so clearly explained by Paul in Romans. Before they were even born, God elected the older to serve the younger.

However this serving and subordination isn’t limited to the children. Rather the verse says “two nations are in your womb.” It is therefore speaking both of the immediate and the future. In this then is also a picture of the true people of God, the elect.

I dare not even attempt to tell how much is in this verse concerning the doctrines of the Bible, the foreknowledge of God, and the confusion that results from what is being said. Seminaries have entire courses on concepts which arise from what the Lord tells her now and also what later writers of the Bible say about it.

What is being stated has led to some of the most heated battles in church history. If you follow what Calvin taught, you can trace it here. If you follow what Wesley taught, you can come here. In the end, and of all of the countless arguments about theology, there is always one right answer. God is clear, but we misunderstand.

Malachi speaks of these two children at the time before the coming of the Lord in relation to the attitude of the people in Israel –

“I have loved you,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” Says the Lord. “Yet Jacob I have loved; ³ But Esau I have hated, And laid waste his mountains and his heritage For the jackals of the wilderness.” Malachi 1

Paul builds on the words to Rebekah and combines them with what Malachi said in Romans 9 –

And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac ¹¹ (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), ¹² it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

Based on this, we find the doctrines of election and predestination. Paul actually speaks of predestination in Romans 8. Let me read you what he says so you have the starting point for the rest of the sermon –

²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. ³⁰ Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

He says God foreknew certain things about the people of the world and based on that He predestined some of them to be conformed to the image of Jesus, just as He foreknew the destinies of the two children in Rebekah’s womb.

What I am going to give you is a breakdown of four major views on predestination. I’m going to use some huge words but I don’t want you to be worried, I’ll do my best to explain what they mean, which is correct, and why. And I’ll give simple concepts to help.

When a job came open at a Church of God in Sarasota, I told my friends who attended there that I couldn’t be their preacher because they have faulty doctrine in that denomination. They asked “Why” and I told them the difference. Their answer –

“Well I believe what you believe.” My question is, “Then why don’t you leave that church? You’re only getting bad doctrine.” This is important. Should you be a Methodist, a Roman Catholic, a Baptist? Do you know what your church believes? Why not?

One thing is for sure, and it’s found throughout the Bible and is summed up in Jonah 2:9, “Salvation is of the Lord.” Within this thought is an entire debate about salvation, including election which stems from God’s words to Rebekah. Because of this, we need to look at four of the major views which people hold about it.

In order they are supralapsarianism, infralapsarianism, sublapsarianism, and Wesleyanism. As I said, only one can be correct and that is the one I have always defended and will continue to defend, sublapsarianism.

Let me explain the wrong ones, who believes them, and why. The first is Supralapsarianism (supra – above). It says that election, or predestination, is logically prior to the decree to permit the fall. In other words, even before sin entered the picture, election was made for all people.

This view involves Hyper-Calvinists and is known as double-predestination. It is held by only a small, radical, and biblically unsound group of people. This view inevitably leads to judgmental egoists who feel God loves them and hates everyone else.

Because God predestined humanity before He permitted the fall of man, He therefore elected some for salvation and elected others for condemnation. He created them saved or condemned. That is their state and they have no choice in the matter. This means that God provides and applies salvation only for the elect; limited atonement

To explain, we’ll use ducks in a river. God creates a pond and the ducks. He puts the ducks in the pond, but after the ducks enter the pond, there is a cataclysm and water starts draining from the pond into a river heading toward a waterfall. When the ones He created for salvation come along, He pulls them out of the water – whether they want it or not.

And the ones He created for condemnation… He actually pushes them down the river and into the waterfall before they can get out. This is a mean and angry God. But this is what some people believe. Double predestination means that God actually hates the non-elect, even though He created them.

With this doctrine, there is absolutely no reason to evangelize anyone. Why bother telling anyone about Jesus or sending out missionaries? God chose and that’s that. It is as close to ascribing evil to God as one can come because it, in fact, does.

The second is Infralapsarianism (infra – below). This concept says that the decree of election is logically after the decree to permit the fall. This is held by strong Calvinists, but it is not double-predestination.

God created all and then permitted the fall. Since then, He has and will continue to elect some and will pass by others. He provides and applies salvation only for the elect (limited atonement.) He chooses who will be saved and they have no choice in the matter.

RC Sproul, if you know who he is, would be in this category. This view still holds to limited atonement like the first view. In both views, God loves only the elect in terms of salvation. A problem with this is that, God is love – He loves everyone equally. There is no increase or decrease in His love for us from His perspective.

Let’s go back to the ducks to understand. God creates a quiet pond and the ducks. He puts the ducks in the pond, but after the ducks enter the pond, there is a cataclysm and water starts draining from the pond into a river heading toward a waterfall. When the ones He decides should be saved pass by, He pulls them out of the water – whether they want it or not.

The others simply head down the river and are destroyed in the waterfall. At least He doesn’t push them down the river, but He also doesn’t bother helping any of them out. They were simply not a part of his plan. This isn’t a hateful God, but He is rather uncaring about those He didn’t elect. Poor ducks…

Like the first view, there’s no reason why someone would bother telling about Jesus or sending out missionaries. They will dispute this, but it is the logical result of such a view. If God chooses us for salvation apart from our will then honestly, what is the point? Are God’s plans going to be thwarted by us somehow?

Also, proponents of this view would say that if it was intended for all to be saved, then all would be saved – because God’s sovereign intentions must come about. Therefore, if it wasn’t intended for all to be saved, then it was only intended for some, the elect.

But this is a false dilemma. The atonement of Jesus is an offering and it is intended to save all, but it only applies salvation for those who believe. Calvinism, wrongly assumes that the atonement of Jesus has only one purpose which is to procure the elect’s salvation – Jesus died so we can be saved.

In fact, Jesus’ sacrifice according to Roman’s 1 has another purpose – to reveal the righteousness of God in judgment. God sends His Son to die in your place and you turn Him down. Even without the cross we are condemned. How much more just is God in judgment because of it!

The result of the idea of limited atonement is that it denies that God really desires all people to be saved. This is contrary to His omni-benevolence and also to the Bible itself that “none should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

So you understand this view more clearly you need to consider the concept of free-will. Do we freely choose Christ, or does God choose us apart from our will. The two options are known as monergism and synergism.

Monergism teaches that regeneration is completely the result of God’s work and man has no part or cooperation in it. It is salvation by irresistible grace leading to regeneration and then to faith. In other words, a person is saved before they are saved. It is convoluted and it involves unclear thinking and a twisting of the Bible.

Also, this view actually usurps God. If you have no choice in your salvation, then how do you know you’re are saved? How can anyone make a claim that they’re saved when they didn’t have anything to do with their salvation? In other words, you are speaking for God by claiming salvation at all.

Of course, their answer is, “I believed after regeneration; therefore, I am saved.” However, there are false gospels and people believe them. There are people who believe wrongly and yet claim they are saved. When they find out they’re wrong, they change their belief (hopefully) in order to be saved. So when were they saved? When they believed correctly!

False gospels imply there is a true gospel and the spirit of the antichrist implies there is a true Spirit. Belief must precede regeneration. And it does. This is what the Bible teaches. Your faith brings salvation. Finally, monergism denies free will, but free will is necessary for love because forced love isn’t love at all.

Synergism teaches that we freely choose Christ and then are regenerated to life. This is exactly what the Bible teaches numerous times, both by Jesus’ words (e.g. John 3:16) as well as the apostolic writings (e.g. Ephesians 1:13, 14). An argument against this though is that the Bible says we are dead in our sins and that it is Jesus who restores us to life. The argument is, “How can a dead person choose life?”

RC Sproul says it this way – “You have as much power to awaken yourself from spiritual death as a corpse has the power to awaken himself from physical death.”

This is a category mistake. We are spiritually dead in our sins. We are not dead beings. God made us with the ability to reason, to choose, and to decline. In fact, this is exactly what Genesis 3:22 implies. Mixing these categories leads to bad theology, such as monergism. Go back and watch my sermon on free will in Genesis 2.

The Bible teaches what we would call anthropological hylomorphism – we are a soul/body unity. The spirit of man is dead, but the spirit of man is tied to the soul. Paul, speaking to saved believers in 2 Corinthians 5, says the soul without a body is naked. The spirit of man is made alive when we call on Christ, even if the body later dies.

This is eternal life and it occurs the moment we believe. We don’t become a soul/body/spirit unity. Rather it is our soul which is now spiritually alive. Adam’s spirit died at the fall, faith in Christ regenerates that spirit. As I said, the spirit of antichrist which John speaks of confirms this.

The third wrong concept of our four major categories is Wesleyanism – named after John Wesley. This view says that God’s election is based on His foreknowledge but not necessarily in accord with it. In other words, God’s decrees are conditional – He changes His mind.

This is the beginning of major error and it goes back to a guy named Jacob Arminius who lived in the 1500s. His view denies eternal security. It reveals a God who is changing and makes mistakes.

John Wesley couldn’t decide what was right and so he followed the teaching of Arminius after asking God for a sign and then throwing lots twice. But we don’t get our theology from happenstance and chance. Instead we get it from the Bible.

John Wesley, the Methodists, the Church of God, Mennonites, and others who hold this view are wrong. Like the previous view, they believe that God created all and then permitted the fall. Then He provides salvation for all people.

God knows who the elect are based on the foreseen faith of those who believe. Because of this faith, He applies salvation only to believers, but believers can lose their salvation.

For a duck example, God creates the pond, the river, and the ducks. He puts all the ducks in the pond and they eventually go to the river which is heading toward a waterfall. As the ducks come by, He leaves His favorite perfect duck on the shore quacking for the ducks to come out…

“There’s a waterfall ahead. If you don’t come out, you’ll get quacked up.” Some of the ducks come out and some decide they like the river. Those that come out, however, can never know if they have upset the perfect duck and have to go back in the river.

There is never true safety and in fact, these ducks can’t really tell the river from the shore. The poor ducks spend their entire life trying to please a group of lower ducks that the perfect duck left behind.

If the lower duck (a pastor), says they have been bad ducks, then off they go to the river again. Imagine being one of these poor, unsure, and ever-worried groups of ducks. Poor ducks…

Our final view is what is correct. First, it makes sense from a philosophic standpoint. Second, it makes sense from a moral standpoint. And third, it is the only view which is supported by the Bible. And it answers the question of why we fell in the first place.

It also answers where evil came from without ever ascribing it to God. I explain this in my Genesis 2 & 3 sermons. Without this view, one is forever searching for where evil came from. This is a question Dr. Sproul and others must and do ask. They can never find an answer to it because their theology leaves no room for it.

Their mistaken idea is that God created everything perfect and so if man fell, then God must have blown it by creating a being that could fall. This is particularly true because if intent to sin is evil (as Jesus clearly says), then Adam fell before the fall because he lusted after the fruit before he ate it. But they know God didn’t create evil, so “Whence comes evil?”

The correct view is sublapsarianism (sub – under/after). God’s order to provide salvation came before His order to elect the people of the world (Rev 13:8) – “I will send my Son to die, and then that all who call on Him will be saved.” It provides unlimited atonement for everyone potentially, but only for God’s people who choose Christ actually.

Like the previous two views, this view holds that God created all and then permitted the fall of man. He provides salvation for all people, but the elect of God are those who believe. God passes by those who do not believe based on their rejecting His offer of Jesus. It isn’t that He doesn’t care about them, it is that they don’t care about Him.

This view applies salvation only to believers who cannot lose it. Yes, there is security, eternal security, in the arms of Christ. A theological basis for this view is that God is omni-benevolent. In other words, He loves all of the people of the world.

Yes Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

There is no hatred of the person and no active passing by people. He offers to all and the elect respond. He desires all to repent and come to Him for His unmerited salvation and favor. This doesn’t mean there is good in us, it means we see the good in Him and we come to it.

As far as our ducks are concerned, God creates the pond, the river, and the ducks. He puts all the ducks in the pond and they eventually end in the river which is heading toward a waterfall. As the ducks come by, He leaves His favorite perfect duck on the shore quacking for the ducks to come out and offering bread which will sustain them and guide them…

“There’s a waterfall ahead. If you don’t come out, you’ll get quacked up.” Some of the ducks come out and some decide they like the river. Those that do come out are protected by this perfect duck. If they stray, it is not to the river.

There is a force field that will never allow them to go toward that terrible place again. These imperfect ducks are saved from it despite themselves. God was pleased that they believed and though they may have forgotten it (2 Peter 1:9), He never did.

They are eternally secure in the fold of His perfect duck, and this is despite the crummy pastor ducks who come behind him.

The first two views hold to salvation only for the elect. The third view holds to salvation for believers but that they can lose it. The correct view holds to salvation for believers even though it is offered to all – and that when accepted it is a done deal, the salvation cannot be lost.

There is ample biblical support for both eternal salvation and salvation offered to all. Any verses which appear to contradict these views (such as John 6:44) are taken out of context by the theologically confused Christian.

I will give two examples for you to understand what I mean. John 6:44, is used against what I am saying – “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

The simplest refutation of this is John 12:32 which uses the exact same word for draw – “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” Therefore, the context of John 6:44 must be considered to understand what Jesus was saying.

We can’t just rip verses out of context to come to a conclusion in our theology. By referring to John 5, especially verses 40-44, the difficulty is explained in the opposition of their will, their free will. Their love of honor and praise of men prevented them from believing in Him.

It wasn’t a lack of power to do what they should. It was erroneous opinions, pride, and obstinacy, mixed with contempt for Jesus. All of these are based on free will, not God’s forced will. They were not drawn by the Father because they exercised their will in opposition to Jesus.

The second and maybe most often used verses used to deny our ability to choose come from Romans 3:11, 12 –

There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. 12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”

Calvinists use these verses to say that no one seeks after God. Period. But Paul is quoting the Old Testament which is speaking of the atheist. As these were the only scriptures at the time, Paul expects that his audience would check the context.

Philosophically, the view I’ve supported today must be true. God doesn’t think sequentially – either syllogistically or discursively. Instead, all His thoughts are immediate and intuitive. Despite this, He wills things to happen in certain temporal sequence.

In other words, there is no change in God and God is outside of time. He created time for our benefit and we are living in what He created. Everything within this bubble is already known to Him, even though it isn’t known to us.

His sequence of events within creation include 1) His will to create before the fall. 2) The fall of man based on man’s free will. 3) After the fall comes an offer of salvation. If, accepted, God 4) seals the believer with the Holy Spirit.

According to Ephesians 1:13, this happens upon “having believed” and therefore this must be an eternal decision. Salvation is “according to the good pleasure of His will” not independent of it as Wesleyanism teaches.

The error of Calvinism and the error of Wesleyanism both lie in a false understanding of the sequence of events pertaining to salvation, and that misunderstanding is based on a misunderstanding of the nature of man.

What God says to Rebekah about the two children in her womb is the key to explaining what Paul is telling us in Romans. It demonstrates that God doesn’t predestine some to eternal happiness and/or some to eternal torture without regard to free will.

This is what the first two views state and is appalling in its ramifications. It demonstrates either a malicious or an uncaring God. Rather, there is a bestowing of opportunity for knowing and doing upon some men which is greater than others.

According to His own wisdom, without regard to our merits, he bestows upon us life, time, and place. Some have been created for noble purposes and some for ignoble purposes according to that placement. All who have the opportunity to hear the message are given the opportunity to respond to it.

In substantiation of this, all we need to do is look at the future of these people – the Israelites and the Edomites, who are named in both Malachi and Romans. After being subject to the Israelites, the Edomites were eventually assimilated into the Jewish society.

Then, this same group was cut off from God’s favor when they rejected Jesus. That lasted for 2000 years, exactly as the Bible predicted would happen. However, the day has come when they were regathered and have been returned to their land.

The Bible, in both Testaments says that someday Israel will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and that “all Israel shall be saved.” This includes the Edomite people that were assimilated into Israel.

And even more than that, there are Jews who have accepted Christ since the first century and who continue to do so today. They are provided the same salvation and the same promises as anyone else that come from any line of the sons of Adam.

Were, this verse to have said, “Two babies are in your womb, and two children shall be separated from your body. One child will be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger” then people might have some type of argument for a different view.

But this verse doesn’t say that. Instead it says, “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.”

Every word of God is pure and every word is intended to lead us to a right understanding of who He is and what He desires for His creatures.

There is only one option concerning the ducks on the river – God is calling out to them and He allows them the choice of coming to its banks. Once they are there, he will never allow them to suffer the possibility of destruction again.

Concerning the sufficiency of atonement, we are saved by the grace of God and we continue in that salvation despite ourselves. Concerning the scope of atonement – limited or unlimited – the answer is unlimited atonement potential, limited atonement actual.

Jesus Christ died for all people and the entire Bible supports this. He tasted death for all, however, not all are saved. Only those who accept God’s gift will receive it. Let me tell you how you can as well…

Closing Verse: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Next Week – Genesis 25:24-34 (Heaven’s Riches for a Meal)

God’s Grace, Our Choice

This is the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son
Abraham begot Isaac into the line of the Promised One

Isaac was forty years old when He took Rebekah as wife
The daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram
The sister of Laban the Syrian became his spouse for life
And so she became the daughter in law of Abraham

Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife
Because she was barren, and the Lord granted his plea
And Rebekah conceived bearing in her womb new life
But after a while in her womb there was difficulty

The children struggled together within her and she said
If all is well, why am I like this?
So she went to inquire of the Lord and there she pled
It’s because she knew something was amiss

And the Lord said to her in a striking prophecy
Words that proved He is in control of all history

Two nations are in your womb as a mother
Two peoples shall be separated from your body
One people shall be stronger than the other
And the older shall serve the younger, you see

And thus we have the doctrine of divine election
And we can see that God predestines all according to His will
In each person He understands their future selection
Of whether we will choose heaven, or if we choose hell

He allows us the choice and yet in advance He knows
What we will do about His Son Jesus
But once the choice is made, His child He hallows
And thus His grace is poured out on undeserving us

What a great and awesome Lord
Who came to save us from a certain pit of hell
And to understand His truth we have His word
And in it, of His grace and love and mercy it does tell

Thank You God for our Lord and Savior Jesus
Thank You for the saving grace He bestows on us

Hallelujah and Amen…

Genesis 24:53-67
The Son Receives His Bride

Introduction: This is our fourth sermon on Genesis 24. The length of the chapter and the detail it contains is meant to show us the importance of the account in later redemptive history. God isn’t just picking fun or beautiful stories to show us what the lives of people were like thousands of years ago.

Instead, He is selecting these stories to show us what He will later do in and through His Son Jesus for the people of the world. In the process of redeeming the world from the power of the devil, He is also securing a bride.

If we miss the significance of these stories, our understanding of His love for us and how He will accomplish His overall plans becomes obscure.

Text Verse: For as a young man marries a virgin,
So shall your sons marry you;
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
So shall your God rejoice over you. Isaiah 62:5

God is working in and through time – time that He created, to secure for Himself a people who will live in His presence for all eternity; a bride for a Bridegroom. The story of the Bible is the story of pure and undefiled love.

This love will be realized some glorious day when we are presented to Jesus as a bride adorned in white and suitable for the King of the Universe and so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Gifts to the Bride

We should look back at the actors and who they represent again. Abraham is a picture of God the Father, Isaac is a picture of God the Son, and the servant is a picture of the Holy Spirit. Rebekah then is a picture of the people of God; the bride of Christ.

Understanding these pictures helps us to understand why God has placed this story in the Bible and to help us see what He is doing in the world as He prepares for eternity with a group of people who have been called out of the world in which we now live.

⁵³ Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah.

Last week, we saw that after the servant explained his mission and the journey he took in fulfilling it, the family of Rebekah agreed to allow her to become Isaac’s wife. The agreement has been made and so the servant now brings out gifts for the bride.

The Hebrew word translated as “jewelry” actually means “instruments” or “vessels.” They may have been things she would use and also things she would wear, but he adorns her with these precious things.

This is a picture of the gifts of the Holy Spirit which God gives to His people, the bride of Christ. This is noted in Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸ Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.”

Throughout the New Testament, the gifts of the Spirit are seen in wisdom, insight, and ability. The vessels and the instruments of the Christian faith are meant to adorn us as the Bride of Christ in anticipation of the day when we meet Him. But there is more…

She is also given “clothing” by the servant. This is noted on numerous occasions in the New Testament, both from Jesus’ own words as well as that of the apostles. In Revelation, we see the garments which will be bestowed upon us. – “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments,…” (v.5)

Later, in the same chapter of Revelation, Jesus explains this to us – “I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed…” (v.18)

Rebekah has been accepted for the bridegroom as yet unseen and we can also be accepted by God and betrothed to Christ; a bride ready to meet her Bridegroom some wonderful day in the future. God leaves the choice up to us.

We can remain in the clothing we have now, soiled by sin and unfit for the King, or we can be given the pure garments of a bride, free from sin and ready for our wedding. Solomon tells us to live our lives now in that always-ready state –

Go, eat your bread with joy,
And drink your wine with a merry heart;
For God has already accepted your works.
⁸ Let your garments always be white,
And let your head lack no oil. Ecclesiastes 9:7, 8

^{53 (con’t)} He also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.

A dowry is paid to the family. Laban and the mother are both given precious gifts. The term used here is the word migdanoth. In Deuteronomy 33, it describes exquisite fruits and delicacies. In the Song of Solomon it indicates precious plants or flowers.

In general, it can mean any gifts, but they are of a kind which is inferior to those Rebekah was given. What this then is signifying is that God blesses people through the people of God indirectly. Throughout the ages, this is seen as clear as crystal.

The people of the world have benefited amazingly from Jewish and Christian scientists, scholars, writers, and theologians. Any country which has persecuted Jews or Christians has only cut itself off from the blessings of God’s people because it is through us that the world receives the indirect benefits of our blessings.

⁵⁴ And he and the men who were with him ate and drank and stayed all night.

Only after securing the bride through agreement and dowry does the servant take his time to eat, drink, and rest. And the picture is no less understandable in the work of the Holy Spirit who is working continuously though the word and through the church to bring the people of the world to understand the message of Christ. But there is a time when that work will be finished…

^54(con’t) Then they arose in the morning, and he said, “Send me away to my master.”

At some point, the work of God’s Spirit will be complete and it will be time for His presence to be removed from the world. That day is coming and that moment will be so sudden that people won’t know it occurred. 2 Thessalonians 2 explains that time –

“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He^[ is taken out of the way. ⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.” EXPLAIN

⁵⁵ But her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman stay with us a few days, at least ten; after that she may go.”

Both Laban and the mother respond here. Laban probably because he wanted a chance to make more off of the deal from the Abraham’s riches and the mother because she will miss Rebekah. Once again, we see a picture of the world at the time of the rapture.

Some will mourn over the loss of what the Christian world has offered and some will mourn over the loss of the Christians. Either way, when the moment of departure is over, it will be forever. Just as the family wants Rebekah to stay for a few days, the people who dithered will long for the church to remain as well. What is taken for granted now will seem more precious than anything else.

The Hebrew term they use for the time they want her to stay is yammim oh asor – days or ten. It is difficult to understand exactly what it means and that tell us that what they want is for her to stay an indeterminate amount of time.

And this is exactly the pattern the Bible gives us. Quite a few times, it uses the term “10 days” or “10 times” to simply mean a time of unknown duration. They want Rebekah to stay until they are ready to let her go, not as the servant wishes, but as they wish.

⁵⁶ And he said to them, “Do not hinder me, since the Lord has prospered my way; send me away so that I may go to my master.”

The servant is uninterested in their request. The bride was granted, the dowry was paid, and the task is complete with the exception of the delivery of the bride. He asks that nothing hinder what has been so divinely orchestrated.

And I am sure the same will be coming at the rapture. The Spirit will hear the call of many who wanted one last chance. He will hear the voices of those who had sat on the sidelines and refused to make the commitment they should have made.

And it will certainly pain Him to depart with the sadness of those people. But God has granted everyone a chance to call on Jesus. No wonder Paul is so adamant about our obligation to respond to the Spirit’s call as He wrote these words in 2 Corinthians 6 –

“We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. ² For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” EXPLAIN

II. The Called Out Bride

⁵⁷ So they said, “We will call the young woman and ask her personally.”

I believe that the mindset of the majority of commentaries on this verse have led us to the sorry state that we’re in today. This goes for everything from television sitcoms to Friday night sports outings. They say that this verse shows that parents should never arrange for a marriage without the consent of both parties.

This is shallow thinking, considering first that Rebekah’s parents have already agreed to the marriage and secondly, the question isn’t whether she will marry Isaac, but whether she will go now without time to prepare.

The custom of arranged marriages goes back to the very first man and woman on earth and it has been these marriages within these cultures that have been known to last. The children obeyed their parents and accepted that what they directed was correct. Love came through the union and through obedience, not the opposite.

Today, we place the priority on emotional love first and it has shown to fail, time and time again. And in the same mentality, it has ended with children who are disobedient to their parents and who dictate to them, not the other way around.

The Bible’s model of marriage is one of respect and obedience which is grounded in unconditional love, not an unknown quantity of love which then directs respect and obedience. As we continue to move away from the biblical model, we co ntinue to suffer the results of our choices in failed marriages and broken families.

⁵⁸ Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.”

The question about Isaac isn’t even raised. The decision was already made and she knows it. The question is “Will you go with this man?” In other words, “You haven’t seen the man you’ve been betrothed to and if you go you won’t see us anymore either. Are you willing to go through with it in this manner?”

And her answer is one of faith – both in the providence of God and in the promises of a marriage to a man she has only heard about.

This verse is the call of the redeemed and their answer – “Is Jesus Lord? Yes, Jesus is Lord.” We haven’t seen Him and we only know about Him by what the Spirit has provided – the gospel. We are called by the Spirit, the offer is given by the Spirit, and we respond in consent to the Spirit. “I belong to Jesus and I will go.”

⁵⁹ So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men.

Rebekah is going on the most exciting journey of her life. She is off to meet the husband she has never seen. But as she departs, others go with her, some maids and her nurse. The nurse is Deborah, whose name we get from Genesis 35.

Deborah, although unnamed here, has a more important role than you may imagine. The term used to describe her as a nurse comes from the Hebrew verb yanaq which means to suckle. She was the one who raised and breast-fed Rebekah from her birth.

Her name means “Bee” and that doesn’t tell us much until we see a fuller picture. Her name comes from the word dabar meaning “word” and is where the phase the “Word of God” comes from.

What God is telling us here, and you shouldn’t miss it because I say it to this church and to everyone I meet week after week, is that Rebekah, a picture of the church, went to meet her husband with the Bee – the Word of God, the Bible.

This is no stretch but is exactly what the Bible itself tells us. Honey was the only sweetener of the day and it is what brought the bland to tastiness, the mundane to joy, the depressed to life. And this is how the Bible is described in the psalms –

In the 19^th psalm we see a taste of this when speaking of God’s word – “Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward.”

We see it again in the 119^th Psalm – “How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (103) And in both Ezekiel and Revelation, the prophets are told to eat the scroll of prophesy and it would be as sweet as honey in their mouths.

In other words, Deborah had raised Rebekah and went along with her in her new life. We are to know God through this revelation of Himself and we are to carry it with us always until we finally meet Him. The word of God is what tends to us, teaches us, and keeps us from going astray.

If you’re relying on the Holy Spirit without the knowledge of the Word of God, you have faulty faith and theology. I honestly feel sorry for people who think all they need is for the Holy Spirit to fill them, but who don’t read their Bible

⁶⁰ And they blessed Rebekah and said to her: “Our sister, may you become The mother of thousands of ten thousands; And may your descendants possess The gates of those who hate them.”

This is the first blessing pronounced upon a woman in the Bible and it came to pass in its fullness, just as it was pronounced. “May you become thousands of ten thousands” is a way of saying a number beyond comprehension.

This was fulfilled literally in her two sons – Jacob and Esau who would become the Israelites and the Edomites. And of course it is fulfilled spiritually in the church – the spiritual descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

“May your descendants possess the gates of those who hate them” is asking that her descendants would overcome any and all of their enemies completely. This was fulfilled literally at the time of King Solomon after his father David has subdued all of their enemies.

But this is also fulfilled in Christ where the very gates of hell will not prevail over the forces of Christ and His church – “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18

The words of her family are a prophecy fulfilled in the pages of the Bible both in the world of physical reality and in the spiritual one as well – this is why this blessing is recorded for us to see.

⁶¹ Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.

Up she goes to be a bride to a man she has never met. She is, as I’ve said, a picture of the church – the called out people of God. She is a virgin just as Paul describes how we are to be –

“For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”

Paul isn’t speaking here of literal virginity, but of our virgin spiritual state in the purity of the gospel. We are to never mix in heresies of any kind. There is one Jesus and one gospel message. God isn’t confused and we aren’t to be either.

In a fuller and more detailed description of our role and our duties, Paul writes these words to his brothers in Ephesus –

“²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, ²⁶ that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷ that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. ²⁸ So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. ³⁰ For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. ³¹ “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” ³² This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” EXPLAIN

III. The Bridegroom and the Bride

⁶² Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South.

Isaac is a picture of the Son of God. Here we have a picture of where He is now during the Church Age. Rebekah the bride is coming, but before they meet, Isaac came from the area of Beer Lahai Roi, the “Well of the One who lives and see me.”

Jesus is the Living one and He is in His eternal state watching His bride, walking among His churches, waiting for the moment when the Bride will be ready. The very fact that the Bible explains where Isaac is tells us that this is what we are to learn about Jesus now.

⁶³ And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming.

We can only speculate on what Isaac was meditating about. The term is lasuakh and this is the only time in the Bible it’s used. It appears to be an act of bending the body or the mind or even both.

It could be that one of the entourage went ahead of the caravan to tell him that they’d be arriving soon. But, whatever the reason, he was out in the field in the evening and he was in meditation – maybe thinking about the beautiful wife he was hoping for.

Jesus is waiting for a bride as well and although He already knows the future, we don’t. How are you planning on presenting yourself before this great King? Right now is the only point in your life that matters. What you’ve done in the past is behind you and what lies ahead has no guarantees.

I would hope that deep in your heart, you would commit your “right now” to becoming the most beautiful part of Christ’s wedding ceremony apart from Christ Himself.

⁶⁴ Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel;

This is the seventh time the term “lift eyes” has been used so far in the Bible and I’ve never taken time to explain it. It is an idiom which means to look up or to look out intently. Normally, it doesn’t just mean to look physically, but to see something extra with your spiritual eyes as well.

In the previous verse, Isaac lifted his eyes in anticipation of the arrival of his bride. Now Rebekah lifts hers in the anticipation of seeing her bridegroom for the first time. This is a picture of the moment when God favors fallen man.

Throughout our lives, we walk in darkness, groping from one meaningless experience to another. But there is a time when the Lord lifts His eyes and they alight upon us. At that moment, He sees us in a way that didn’t exist a moment before. He sees us pure and spotless, without the sin of the past.

And at that same moment we have clarity of vision that didn’t exist even a moment before. We have, in full view, the fulfillment of the longing of our heart… we have Jesus. There will never be a second moment like this and though we were once blind, we now can see. Darkness is traded for light, vanity is traded for purpose.

When Rebekah saw Isaac, she dismounted from her camel. The word means to fall. She jumped off in anticipation. When the call is given for us to see Jesus, I will be jumping up so that I have a head start on all of you.

Isaac and Rebekah have seen each other. Right now we’re united to Christ in a form of sight that doesn’t need real eyes to be joyful, but just think about the moment when our physical eyes join what our spiritual eyes see…

⁶⁵ for she had said to the servant, “Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?”

Rebekah here is the bride of the bridegroom. In a parallel pattern of the people of God, she loves this man she has never met. The love is unconditional and faithful, not emotional or erotic. Peter describes this love of the unseen Lord in his first letter –

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, ⁸ whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, ⁹ receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:6-9

Isaac, on the other hand is our picture of Christ, he has never seen his bride, and yet he goes out to meet and receive her. This is coming, hopefully soon, and it will be the greatest moment in our lives. Paul describes it in 1 Thessalonians 4 –

¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

^{65 (con’t)} The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took a veil and covered herself.

This is an important verse to understand the nature of the Godhead. Abraham’s servant says of Isaac “It is my master.” In other words, because he is Abraham’s, and Isaac is his son, he belongs to Isaac. In the Godhead, there is a hierarchy, but not subordination.

Each member of the Godhead is fully God and is co-equal. However, there is a distinct order to the roles of each member of the Trinity.

Throughout the Bible we see statements which those who are confused about the Trinity misuse, even to the point of heresy. Jesus said that the Father is greater than Him, but that isn’t meant in the sense of more importance, but rather of logical order.

Abraham is greater than Isaac because he is logically prior to him, not because he is more human than he is. In the family, Abraham is greater than his son. The servant carries the message of the father and son just as the Holy Spirit does. It’s important to know these things and the Bible gives us clues of them as we read it.

Anyway, as soon as she learns that it is Isaac, she covers herself with a veil. This is the first of only 3 times this word is used in the Bible, all in Genesis. The word is ha’satif. From the context of the three accounts, we can be certain this is a correct translation.

What I think this veil is telling us is that there is a time between the rapture and the wedding ceremony where we will be veiled to Christ. In other words, we will be taken at the rapture, but before He actually views us in our spotless state, we will be purged of our past lives and made ready as a suitable bride. This is called the judgment seat of Christ and is seen in 2 Corinthians 5:9, 10 –

Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. ¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Once we are purged of our old selves and have received our eternal and glorified body based on what we have done with our lives, we will then be ready to have the veil removed once and for all.

⁶⁶ And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.

A full and detailed accounting of what has occurred and will occur has been given to us by the Holy Spirit, through Jesus. It is called the Holy Bible. Just as this servant is faithful to recount his mission to His Master, we have been blessed through the Lord to be given this unmatched treasure.

But how many of us let it sit gathering dust when it holds the precious words of God’s love for each of us? Are we being faithful servants of the Lord as He directs in that word? Let me give you seven things to note about this servant that hopefully you will consider in your own Christian life –

1) He didn’t go without being sent. We go at His direction, not ours. 2) He went were he was sent. We go to where the Lord wants us, not where we want to go. 3) He did only what he was directed, nothing else. In the same way, we obey the Bible and add nothing to it. 4) The servant both prayed and watched for opportunities. We cannot commune with God outside of Bible reading and prayer and once we’ve done these each day, we look for opportunities based on that. 5) He took advantage of the opportunity that God opened to him. We need to not only pray for and look for opportunities, but to grasp them when they come. 6) The servant spoke nothing except what he was directed and he spoke of the greatness and riches of his master, not himself. We need to not add to what God has revealed to us out of our own heads and we need to make sure that our words glorify God – His wisdom, His riches, and His greatness – not ours. 7) The servant presented the exact truth of the matter and expected a clear decision from his hearers. We need to present exactly what God presents and explain very precisely that heaven isn’t a place with many paths leading to it. It requires a clear decision for Christ and nothing else will satisfy God.

⁶⁷ Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her.

There is a time coming when we will be brought into the presence of Christ. It will happen so suddenly that no change in decision will be possible. Rebekah responded immediately and without uncertainty and this is what the Lord expects from us. When the decision is made, it is done – we belong to our Lord.

And just like Rebekah, He has a tent prepared for us. The splendid words of fulfillment come from the 21^st chapter of Revelation –

And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

The tent of God is with men – we will love Him and He will love us, for all eternity we will rejoice in each other and hail the great Lamb of God who has done all things for His people. But there is a second half to this verse…

^{67 (con’t)} So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

The death of the Isaac’s mother is noted for two reasons. The first is that the bride will comfort the Son in his loss. The second is that there was loss. There is a bride for a husband and husband for a bride, but there are those who won’t be in this grand wedding.

The Lord who died for all people will be grieved in his heart at those who never came into His tent, precious souls that He reached out to and who were unwilling to reach back and escape the pit of death which swallows men’s souls. Let me explain how you can be a part of the former and escape from the latter…

Closing Verse: And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. Revelation 22:17

Next Week – Isaiah 7:14 (The Christmas Story)

The Bride and the Bridegroom

The servant brought out jewelry for Rebekah
Silver, gold, and clothing to adorn her beauty
He also gave things to her brother and mother
The servant fully accomplished his assigned duty

And he and the men who were with him ate
And they drank and they stayed all night
Then they arose in the morning, the dawn was just great
And he said, “Send me away to my master, alright?

But her brother and her mother said
Let the young woman stay with us a few days
At least ten and then she may go ahead
Let us upon her tender beauty for a while gaze

And he said, “Don’t hinder me please
Since the Lord has prospered my way
Send me off, to my master give me release
It is not right that I dally the time away

So they said, “We will call the young woman
To ask her about this personally
Then they called Rebekah before the man
And asked if she would go along willingly

And she said “I will go”
It is the right thing, this I kno

So they sent away Rebekah along with her nurse
And Abraham’s servant and his men went too
And they gave her a blessing, not a curse
A blessing fulfilled in me and in you

May you become thousands and ten thousands our sister
And may your descendants possess their enemies’ gate
And she arose and followed the servant mister
Who took Rebekah and departed on this journey so great

Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Ro-ee
For he dwelt at that time in the south
He went out to meditate in the field at evening, you see
Praying to the Lord with his heart and his mouth

And he lifted his eyes and lo he looked
And there he saw, yes camels were coming
Then Rebekah lifted her eyes and her heart was cooked
She saw Isaac and jumped from the camel, her legs were numbing

For she had said who is this man walking in the field
Coming to meet us, to him shall my heart yield?

The servant said, “It is my master that you see
So she took a veil and covered herself in modesty

And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done
Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent
He took Rebekah and they were united as one
He loved her and was comforted after his mother’s heavenly ascent

What a glorious picture of Christ and His bride
The church that will ever be at His side

What a wonderful story of hope and of love
And the greatness of our God in the heavens above

Holy, splendid, and awesome Lord
How wonderful it will be to finally meet
Until then we have a gift, Your precious word
And its pages are like the honey, so sweet

Thank You for the love of our Lord Jesus
Who has done all these wonderful things for us

Hallelujah and Amen…

Genesis 25:1-18
The Man of Faith

Introduction: Today’s passage brings us to the end of the life of the great man of faith, Abraham. His life shows the unfolding process of any believer who is drawn to God. A believer hears the call and eventually comes to the decisive moment where he places his faith and trust in Him alone for salvation.

It is this act by which a person is declared righteous and is justified before God. Nothing else will do. After this call and answer comes the process of sanctification where we walk with God and grow in the knowledge of Him and become molded into His image.

We walk and fellowship with Him through prayer, reading the Bible, and communing with other believers. This is the life of Abraham in a nutshell and it is the life we are called to as well. In this great man’s life, we saw the following pattern –

In chapter 12, he was called out by God. In Chapter 15, he placed his faith in God’s promise and was declared righteous. After this, he walked in faith each step of the way until his faith was tested to the highest measure in Chapter 22 when he was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah.

In chapter 23, we saw Abraham’s sorrow at the loss of his princess and bride Sarah, but even that mournful account showed us his great faith. In the last chapter, he sent for a bride for his son and then he lived out his years full and content as we’ll see today.

Abraham has been a picture of Christ, a picture of God the Father, and a picture of the faithful soul God searches for. Let us carry with us the many lessons we’ve learned as God has displayed the life of this man in the pages of His word.

Text Verse:  “Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness,
You who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.
² Look to Abraham your father,
And to Sarah who bore you;
For I called him alone,
And blessed him and increased him.”
Isaiah 51:1, 2

Abraham is called the rock from which belief is hewn and the faith of Abraham is what digs us from the pit we were born in. Because of such faith, God blessed Abraham and increased him and He will do the same for us as we live in faith just as this great man of faith did, and so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Life Goes On

From the time that Sarah died until the time that Abraham died is a period of 38 years. From time of our last Genesis sermon where Isaac received Rebekah as his wife, which was 3 years after Sarah’s death, it is a period of 35 years.

During that time, we’ll see today that Abraham had another wife and concubines as well. For us, like Abraham, life goes on after tragedy and loss. Abraham made the most of his time and had lots of children as these years went by.

One of the important things that we should learn from today’s verses though is the scant amount of information that we receive about these 35 years. God only includes details that are necessary for us to know what He is doing in and through history as we have seen so many times already.

In the coming four verses, we will see Abraham’s line continue through another wife that he will take. In all there will be six sons, seven grandsons, and three great-grandsons of Abraham mentioned, making sixteen in all.

¹ Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Keturah.

If you can mentally follow the progression of what’s happened, Sarah dies and only afterwards Abraham finds a wife for his son. Because Sarah is dead, Rebekah moves into Sarah’s tent. Now, after that has occurred, Abraham is noted as having another wife.

The wife of the son of promise, Rebekah, receives the tent of the mother, not a second wife or concubine of the father. This follows the Bible’s concept of what we call “dispensationalism.” God works through dispensations, of which there are seven –

1. Man innocent. 2. Man under conscience. 3. Man in authority over the earth. 4. Man under promise. 5. Man under law. 6. Man under grace. 7. Man under the personal reign of Christ.

Other things are going on in the world around us, but there is an overall pattern to what God is doing. The same is true with how the Bible presents the sequence of the life of Abraham and now as it moves into the life of Isaac.

Abraham’s wife is named Keturah. This name means “incense.” As we’ll see in a few verses, Abraham has other concubines, and children through them as well, but only Keturah is mentioned. In all honesty, I couldn’t find any reason why she alone is mentioned along with her children, but the name “incense” may explain it.

² And she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. ³ Jokshan begot Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim.

Keturah had six sons by Abraham and in turn the sons of one of her sons are listed and then one of those sons has his sons listed. The name Keturah or “incense” may be given because as incense flows out and eventually disappears into the world, it seems that most of these groups of people did as well.

However, two of her sons, Medan and Midian, will later play a role in the purchase and transfer of Joseph when his brothers sell him to the Egyptians. And Midian will also be the people who Moses escapes to when he flees from Egypt.

After the time of Joseph, the line of Medan isn’t mentioned again, but the line and name of Midian will be noted many, many more times throughout the Old Testament and even once in Acts. Almost always, these people, the Midianites, will be in strife with the people of Israel, but there is one notable exception.

The people of Midian are where Moses’ wife Zipporah will come from. Her father, Reuel (also known as Jethro) who was the priest of Midian, became an instrumental figure just prior to and after the Exodus and it is from him that a notable size of the basis for our American government comes from.

When Moses was in the wilderness, he was the sole judge of the people. When his father-in-law saw this, he gave Moses advice which was accepted for the people of Israel and which eventually became a foundation of our society until not too long ago –

So Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good. ¹⁸ Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself. ¹⁹ Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you: Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God. ²⁰ And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do. ²¹ Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. ²² And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you. ²³ If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace.” Exodus 18

So the wisdom of Jethro, which was carried on even in the establishment of our nation, can be traced right back to the verse we’re looking at in the sons of Keturah the wife of Abraham.

Surely her name – “incense” – has proven true. From her the line and wisdom of Abraham has wafted around the world in a fragrant display.

⁴ And the sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.

Of all of these names of the sons of Midian, only one – Ephah – is mentioned again outside of the book of Chronicles. He along with his father Midian is mentioned in Isaiah 60 in a prophecy about the future blessings of the Land of Zion –

The multitude of camels shall cover your land,
The dromedaries of Midian and Ephah;
All those from Sheba shall come;
They shall bring gold and incense,
And they shall proclaim the praises of the Lord. (v. 6)

Even if we have forgotten who these people are or where they’ve settled in the world, the Lord hasn’t. Someday all of these lines will be known and we will be able to look back on the verses from Genesis and see how God wove it all together in His grand plan.

Now that we’ve looked at this entire group of people who came from Abraham, I will note that I went through every name and every line of each name mentioned here and I couldn’t find a single person who is included in the line of Jesus.

This is similar to what we saw about Ishmael in a previous sermon and as I’ll note again later today. It seems that the line of Keturah, other than leading to the family of Moses’ wife, is a troubling line of people who have been at war with Israel throughout the ages.

⁵ And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac.

Isaac is the son of promise and the inheritor of all that Abraham has. This was already noted in the previous chapter by the servant of Abraham who went to Mesopotamia to get a wife for Isaac. When he was there, he said this to the family of Rebekah –

“I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ The Lord has blessed my master greatly, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶ And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and to him he has given all that he has.

Imagine how Ishmael and these other sons of Abraham felt about this. This very well may be a part of the reason for their hatred of Israel even today. Stories get passed down as do bad feelings. And along with the physical blessings, it cannot be missed that Isaac’s line, the people of Israel, have also been blessed in other ways.

They have been far more educated and prosperous in both mental and spiritual understanding. Of course, with these blessings comes even more material wealth and of course, more animosity and more jealousy. There is a way around this which far too few are willing to take.

Instead of being angry at the blessings of the Jewish people, the world can join in their blessings and thus be blessed. But the exceptional person will do this and there are very few exceptional people in the world.

The Bible notes a few, like Ruth. And there are some in the church too, but for the most part the people would rather hate and take than bless in order to be blessed.

⁶ But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had; and while he was still living he sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to the country of the east.

The same groups who were excused from the inheritance were also excused from the home, but he did give them gifts while they lived at home. This may include Ishmael who was sent away a long time ago, and it included the sons of any other concubines.

However, when they were old enough to be given the boot, he sent them eastward, away from Isaac. This means that he probably had them leave before they got married or had children and so all of the grandsons, and great-grandsons mentioned above were born after the sons of Abraham had already been sent away.

It is Isaac who would receive the inheritance and his descendants through Jacob would continue toward the Messiah. The rest were sent east, which in the context of the Bible is a place of false worship, exile, and which almost exclusively lacks the true God.

If you can see it, Isaac is a picture of Jesus, who is the inheritor of all of things from God the Father. The amazing thing for each of us is that again and again the New Testament says that when we receive Jesus, we join in that inheritance. In fact, in Revelation 21:7, Jesus says that those who overcome will inherit all things.

II. The Man of Faith

⁷ This is the sum of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years.

Abraham was first noted in Genesis 11 and he was the main focus of the biblical narrative until the end of Genesis 23 where Isaac began to take the lead role. His time of life in the land of Canaan has been 100 years and this is now the year 2184AM.

The life of Abraham is singularly noted as the epitome of a person who lives by faith and he will continue to be noted in this way throughout the rest of the Bible.

But the narrative of his life comes to an end in these few verses. He died at 175 years of age. His grandfather died at 148, his father at 205, Isaac will be 180, and Jacob will be 147. So this is the general lifespan of people at this time. Now he dies and he awaits his final reward with the redeemed of the ages.

To put Abraham’s death into proper perspective, we should note that Isaac is now 75, Ishmael is now 89, and Abraham’s grandchildren, the twins Jacob and Esau who haven’t been mentioned yet are 15 years old.

And as something for us to think about, this verse actually uses the term, “the days of the years of Abraham.” The great scholar Adam Clarke beautifully states what we should take to heart –

“There is a beauty in this expression which is not sufficiently regarded. Good men do not live by centuries, though many such have lived several hundred years, nor do they count their lives even by years, but by days, living as if they were the creatures only of A Day; having no more time than they can with any propriety call their own, and living that day in reference to eternity.”

Moses sums up this thought in the 90^th Psalm –

So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom. (12)

⁸ Then Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.

This verse is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham from Genesis 15 –

Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. (15)

He attained the years God had determined and was gathered to his people. This verse, along with many other Bible references, implies that he didn’t cease to exist but his soul has continued on in another sphere. He and those with him are in a world of consciousness, but without an actual body.

In one example from Jesus’ mouth, we read this from Luke 16 –

¹⁹ “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. ²⁰ But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, ²¹ desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. ²² So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

If you read the KJV, this verse, rather than saying “breathed his last” says “gave up the ghost.” This really isn’t accurate if you think it through. Abraham had no power to keep or give up his ghost. That is God’s prerogative, not ours.

There is only one who truly gave up the Ghost and that is Jesus when He died on the cross. The terminology used in the original languages will bear this out. Jesus even states this in John 10, which is another of countless verses which point to His deity –

“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

Abraham had no such power. He breathed his last, not “gave up the ghost.”

⁹ And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, ¹⁰ the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth. There Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife.

Isaac is noted first in this verse because he is the son of promise and the one who had authority over the household of Abraham. Ishmael is an invited family member to the burial of their father, the great man of faith, Abraham.

Unless you listened to the sermon on Genesis 23, the terminology in this verse won’t make much sense. But in short, Abraham is buried in the cave which Sarah was buried in. The names of the people point to death in this world, a world owned by Satan and which is the repository for the souls of the sons of Adam.

The purchase of this cave pictured the price Christ paid to redeem Adam’s seed and it is therefore a place which is now one of comfort for believers as they await the resurrection. Understanding this, the parable Jesus gave about Lazarus makes much more sense.

¹¹ And it came to pass, after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac dwelt at Beer Lahai Roi.

The final verse of this particular section is given to show us that the blessings of God on Abraham have now been passed onto Isaac. What should be noted is that the term God, or Elohim, is used instead of Jehovah.

The work of Jehovah is described in the covenantal sense which follows the plan of salvation for the world. The blessing of God in this verse is referring to worldly blessings such as crops, herds, money, servants, etc.

This particular sort of blessing now rests upon Isaac, just as it did on Abraham. Isaac is dwelling by the well which was named when Hagar had fled from Sarah which we talked about in Genesis 16.

This area, centering on this well, is where the blessings of God first begin to come upon Isaac apart from Abraham.

III. The Generations of Ishmael

¹² Now this is the genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham.

We now come to seven verses which are given as a branch from the main narrative of the Bible. This is now the seventh set of “generations” listed in the Bible. In order, they are –

The generations of the heavens and the earth (2:4); the generations of Adam (5:1); the generations of Noah (6:9); the generations of the sons of Noah (10:1); the generations of Shem (11:10), and the generations of Terah (11:27).

In the sermon on Genesis 5, I talked about the spelling of the word toledot which is the Hebrew word for “generations.” I’m not going to go into any great detail here, but I will mention that this word toledot can be spelled in a variety of ways based upon the structure of the sentence.

In this word toledot, there can be one or two letters called vav, which is the sixth letter of the Hebrew aleph-bet. Six is the number of man in the Bible. Before the fall, toledot is spelled with 2 vavs.

From after the fall, all the way up to the time when King David is introduced, the toledot is never again spelled with two vavs.

It’s believed that the missing vavs indicate the fallen state of man. David is the final piece of the Messianic puzzle and so the second vav is reintroduced. Anyway, there are only three times out of the 30 between the fall and David that there is no vav at all.

This line of Ishmael is the first and I believe the reason is because there is no one from Ishmael’s line who is recorded in the line of the Messiah. The book of Galatians shows us that Ishmael is a type, or picture, of the law.

The law cannot save anyone and therefore there is no hope if one is of the spiritual line of Ishmael – the bondage of the law. A person must move from Ishmael to Isaac, from the law to grace, from Adam to Christ or they cannot be saved.

As I said, there is only one other line of people where there is no vav in a genealogy from Genesis to Ruth and it is in the line of Levi – one of the 12 sons of Israel. All of the other sons have a genealogy listed and they all have a vav. Levi however is mentioned twice and both times the vav is missing.

Why would there be a vav in every other genealogy of all of Israel’s sons except Levi? Because Levi is the administrator of the law! The Levites picture the law.

God is giving us amazing clues concerning the enormity of our decision to follow Christ and trust in Him alone, apart from works of the Law. One is separated from God and disqualified from the prize if they choose to participate in the mandates of the law in hopes of pleasing God.

Think of that when you are told you must observe a Saturday Sabbath, be circumcised, not eat pork, not get a tattoo, or any other thing which is found under the law but which is not mentioned in the proper context of the New Testament.

A second point to be made about the verse we’re looking at is that this genealogy of Ishmael is given and it will be followed immediately by the genealogy of Isaac, though that will be in next week’s sermon.

The custom of the Bible is to cite the lines of people who branch off from the Messiah before the Messianic line is given. This was true with the history of Cain before that of Seth, the history of Japheth & Ham before the history of Shem, the history of Haran & Nahor before that of Abram.

The pattern now continues with Isaac. This is a pattern known as the doctrine of divine election – God makes a divine choice. Isaac is the son of promise even though he is younger than Ishmael. The promise skips over Ishmael and goes to Isaac.

This pattern will continue throughout the Bible and it points to the work of Jesus, the second Adam, replacing the work of the first Adam as Paul notes in 1 Corinthians 15. In next week’s sermon, we’ll talk about election and predestination in detail.

¹³ And these were the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵ Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

The line of Ishmael is given here to show the fulfillment of the promise God made to Abraham, about Ishmael, in Genesis 17 –

¹⁹ Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. ²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.

God promised, and now we see that God delivered. Only God could look into the future and see what would occur. By speaking to Abraham as He did, the word was binding and so now we see the fulfillment of what was promised.

¹⁶ These were the sons of Ishmael and these were their names, by their towns and their settlements, twelve princes according to their nations.

Two words are used to designate the dwelling places of Ishmael’s descendants – towns and settlements. The first is khats-re-hem and would be places like living as tent dwellers in the wilderness. The second is tirotam and is translated castles or towers sometimes. This would be mountain tops, fortified caves, etc.

¹⁷ These were the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.

I have already mentioned that the only people in the generations or toledot from Adam to David without a vav were the generations of Ishmael and Levi. Interestingly, Ishmael and Levi, along with Levi’s son Amram – the father of Moses the Lawgiver, all died at the same age of 137 – the only three in the Bible to die at this age.

It’s too much of a coincidence. Ishmael, who pictures the law, and Levi and his son Amram, through whom came Moses and Aaron, all died at the same age. I think God is telling us quite clearly that the law cannot save and He is doing it through hints like these.

¹⁸ (They dwelt from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt as you go toward Assyria.) He died in the presence of all his brethren.

This final verse about Ishmael is given to remind us of when God spoke to Hagar in chapter 16 where the same words are used –

He shall be a wild man;
His hand shall be against every man,
And every man’s hand against him.
And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.” (v. 12)

Once again, we see God’s transcendence over time. He sees what will occur, tells us what will occur, and then He shows us what occurred in fulfillment of His word. These details aren’t boring repetitions. They are exciting features of God’s workings in history and for the sake of His chosen people.

The words used here, “he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren” have a multiple meaning and all apply beautifully to the sons of Ishmael. The phrase can mean he will live in the presence of, in the face of, or to the east of.

Fittingly, these descendants moved east of Israel, they are in the face of Israel, and they are in the midst of Israel – exactly as the Bible foresaw. Here we are 4000 years later and the Bible is still being validated in this line of people.

The spiritual lessons we are to learn from Abraham and Ishmael are that we can only find salvation and reconciliation with God through faith. The deeds of the law only separate us further from God. They make us knowledgeable of our sinful state and the law is given then to direct us to the knowledge of our need for Jesus.

He alone fulfilled the law and now He offers to you His righteousness in exchange for your failures. Let me take a moment and explain Christ’s work and what you can do to receive it…

Closing Verse: Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. ²⁰ Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Romans 3:19,20

Next Week – Genesis 25:19-24 – (Divine Election – The Older Shall Serve the Younger)

Living by Faith or Dying by the Law

Abraham again took a wife, and Keturah was her name
And she bore to him Zimran, Jokshan, and Medan
Also Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah, from her these six boys came
And then her sonJokshan begot Sheba and Dedan

And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim
And the sons of Midian are by name and number five
Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah it would seem
All these were the children of Keturah to keep her name alive

And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac
But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines too
And while he was living he sent them eastward with a backpack
Away from Isaac his son, to the country of the east, it’s true

From the Bible the years of Abraham’s life we can gauge
It was a total of one hundred and seventy-five years
Then Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age
And was gathered to his people, old and full, dying with no fears

And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave
Of Machpelah, which is before Mamre in the field of Ephron
The son of Zohar the Hittite, which for silver he gave
The field he purchased from the sons of Heth after Sarah was gone

There Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife
And it came to pass, after Abraham’s death, you see
That God blessed his son Isaac in his life
And Isaac dwelt at the Well of the One Who Lives and Sees Me

Now this is the genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham’s son
Whom the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant to him bore
And these are the names of Ishmael’s sons, each one
According to their generations, let’s name the whole store

The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, and Adbeel
And Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, and Hadar
Also Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah all sons of Ishmael
These, their names, by their towns and settlements, near and far

Twelve princes according to their nations
These were the years of the life of Ishmael
One hundred and thirty-seven years in his generations
And he breathed his last and died, so sounds the funeral bell

He was gathered to his people when he died
They dwelt from Havilah as far as Shur
As you go toward Assyria by Egypt on the eastern side
In the presence of all his brethren his name does endure

Thus is the story of these Bible men
But the story continues on after them

Everything leading eventually to Jesus
Who would come and give His life for us

What a gift, what a treasure
That God has given in His word
He pours out blessings which are beyond measure
Because He is a great and awesome Lord

And so Lord help us to live aright
And bring glory to You in all we do
Help us to live by faith and not by sight
Help us to be faithful followers of You

Hallelujah and Amen…

Genesis 24:29-52
A Work of the Spirit 

Introduction: Today’s sermon will have a recounting of much of what occurred in the previous sermon and so we’ll read through those verses without much commentary, but we won’t skip them as they will keep continuity in our biblical traveling adventure .

The Bible often repeats passages for a variety of reasons. Today’s repetition is for Rebekah’s family to understand that what has come about was divinely orchestrated. In the repetition, maybe we can see our own testimony about when we were called to Christ.

What happens to us is of benefit to others and so we repeat it in order for them to have the same assurance that we have. It’s important to understand then that your calling doesn’t have to be dramatic or filled with suspense in order to convince others.

Instead it simply has to be truthful and given as a demonstration of how it was molded by God into the call which forever changed your destiny.

Text Verse: Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Matthew 24:45, 46

The Lord commissions those whom He chooses. However, there are some who stand in the Lord’s house as servants but they are faithless in their tasks. Maybe they serve because the Master is kind and easy in what He directs.

Maybe they serve because they can steal from God’s people. The Lord isn’t blind to them, nor is He blind to His faithful servants. Abraham’s servant went about his task with faithfulness and he is remembered for this many eons later.

How will we be remembered when we stand before our Master? The question stands and so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Receiving the Spirit

Before we actually start looking at today’s verses, we need to remind ourselves of what these verses picture. They form a story which tells us of how God continued to select people who would become a part of the family of God, but they are also pictures of the greater story of His work in all of the people of God.

The servant pictures the Holy Spirit who doesn’t speak of Himself, but rather is given to procure a bride for the Son. Rebekah is that bride and she pictures the church of God’s people. And Isaac is the son of Abraham who pictures the Son of God who awaits the bride in the land of promise while the Holy Spirit accomplishes His task.

I want to remind you about the meaning of Rebekah’s name today so that we can see how this account is being worked together by a wise Creator who chooses each word and each action and each name to tell us of His wisdom in the unfolding story.

The name “Rebekah” denotes tying up of cattle for their own protection, the establishment of their home, and to keep them from wandering off. Within the name lies the notion that individuals are placed together by some authority higher or smarter than they.

Try to keep that in mind as you see how God has orchestrated her selection for his son of promise Isaac and how each thing that happens comes about by more than mere chance.

²⁹ Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran out to the man by the well.

Notice that the servant didn’t follow Rebekah. Instead he stayed at the well. This tells us that we don’t receive the Water of Life through our family. No one can say, “I’m a Christian” because their parents are Christians. Jesus doesn’t transfer automatically by birth, but rather everyone needs to come to Him individually.

Laban has a counterpart in the New Testament. Whether he is a saved person or not is hard to tell. One thing is sure. If he is, he is what we would equate with a “carnal Christian” in today’s lingo. Someone who made a commitment to the Lord, but who never really lives the life.

His name means “white” but it also means “brick” maybe because of what happens when you fire a brick – it turns whiter. Man was made from the dust, and in the New Testament believers are equated with jars of clay because we are vessels waiting to be filled with God’s Spirit.

Being a brick though doesn’t allow for any filling – they’re hard and they’re solid. At the building of the Tower of Babel, the term for “make brick” uses the same root words as the name Laban. Laban is a brick and unless he softens back to clay he will never know the Lord personally. What about us?

And so he, according to the verse, ran out to the man by the well. It seems as if he’s like one of us, but remember last week – it was the servant that ran to Rebekah, not the other way around. Why then is he running to the servant…

³⁰ So it came to pass, when he saw the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, saying, “Thus the man spoke to me,” that he went to the man. And there he stood by the camels at the well.

The Bible specifically notes Laban as having seen the nose ring and the bracelets that were given to Rebekah. Those precious gifts, along with what she said, caused him to rush out there to the place where the man was. But where does he stand? The Bible says, “by the camels!” Aha!

Here we have a shadow of a man known as Simon the Sorcerer who is found in Acts 8. We can’t understand Laban without noting the account of Simon and so let’s read that account together –

⁹ But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, ¹⁰ to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” ¹¹ And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. ¹² But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. ¹³ Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done. ¹⁴ Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, ¹⁵ who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” ²⁰ But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! ²¹ You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. ²² Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.” ²⁴ Then Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.”

Do you see the parallels between the two? Laban saw the gifts given to Rebekah by the servant at the well. Simon saw the gifts given by the Spirit to Christ’s bride from the Well of Salvation.

Laban rushed to where the gifts were, on the camels looking for the same thing that Simon did. What it comes down to with Laban is personal benefit rather than a desire for God.

This doesn’t mean that the brick named Laban didn’t soften back into clay and it doesn’t mean that the sorcerer named Simon didn’t repent and accept what the Spirit freely offers, but it shows us the hardness of human hearts that live apart from God.

Now think of those who come to churches and see all the gifts God offers. Do they rush to the gifts or do they, with an open heart, allow the Spirit to rush to them? The difference is more than galactic.

Whatever the final state of Simon the Sorcerer, to this day we have a term we use to describe someone like the Bible describes him – the term is “simony.” Simony is the practice of buying or selling spiritual or church benefits such as pardons, relics, etc.

And the halls of Christianity are filled with simonizers even now. Turn on Christian TV and you’ll see them by the score. Walk into many churches and money, not Christ is king. The lust for gold and wealth will always draw Laban to the camels.

And the desire to be ultra-spiritual is a type of simony in itself. There are those who pretend tongues, pretend prophecy, pretend visions, and pretend understanding of the Bible, but they are unwilling to yield their hearts. Do you know many pastors get their sermons right off the internet or from books?

Simony isn’t just a disease of lay people. Instead it is an affliction of the human heart. What out for simonizers…

³¹ And he said, “Come in, O blessed of the Lord! Why do you stand outside?

Laban in his excitement about the potential riches calls out to the servant, “Come in, O blessed of the Lord! Come inside and fill my house. It’s not out by the well that you belong, but in here.” Is this what we will call out to the Spirit? Are we calling to Him in truth?

^{31 (con’t)} For I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.”

Some ancient Jewish commentators look at this verse and comment that his preparation of the house included removing from view the idols that they worshipped. This is a good analysis too because later in Genesis, Laban will still have idols in his house.

The symbolism again reaches to each of us. Have we removed the idols from our own house, meaning our life, or have we merely hidden them from sight in order to appear ready to receive the Spirit. God does know the difference.

How many people go to church and call for the Spirit to fill them, but then spend the rest of the week running as far from the Well as possible. What are we going to do with the One who alone can bring us the true Water of Life? Are we inviting in the Spirit for the fellowship with the Lord or merely for the gifts that he brings?

And those idols in our home, how many and what a variety! We read horoscopes, we knock on wood, we have Feng Shui arrangements, we may even have a statue of Buddha somewhere – I used to have dozens. What about porn videos?

What is it that gets our attention away from Christ? These idols aren’t just detrimental to us, but to others who come to our home and see them, knowing that we are supposedly Christians.

How many of us have made an idol out of sports, money, our car, or even another person. We rush to our idols and we hide from God… except on Sunday morning. God isn’t a cosmic dummy – He does see. Let us strive to attain holiness and godliness in life.

³² Then the man came to the house. And he unloaded the camels, and provided straw and feed for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

When they got to the house, the first thing Laban did was to unload the camels and feed them. Only then does it note that he cared for the travelers. Remember, the camels are where the gifts are. Are we welcoming the Lord or trying to get goodies from Him?

As far as the washing of feet, it’s an important concept. The symbolism here reaches throughout the New Testament, but can be nicely summed up from the book of 3 John –

Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers, ⁶ who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well, ⁷ because they went forth for His name’s sake, taking nothing from the Gentiles. ⁸ We therefore ought to receive such, that we may become fellow workers for the truth.

Again though, if we do good things for those in the church, is it for the Lord’s honor or that we will benefit from our actions. What is the motivation behind our deeds? In the end, if they are deeds lacking faith, then they’re ultimately as useless as a football bat.

³³ Food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told about my errand.” And he said, “Speak on.”

This servant is on a mission and it was by a binding oath to Abraham. Before he eats a bite he wants to know if his mission will be a success. If so, his food will digest so much better and he will have the relief of knowing he had served his master well.

In a beautiful parallel from John 4:31-34, we see this account in Jesus’ life as He sat by a well in Samaria –

In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
³² But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” ³³ Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.

Like Abraham’s servant, Jesus was far more interested in accomplishing His task than He was about eating a meal. I hope this is something that each of us will reflect on also. What is important to you? Is the Bible important to you, or sitting on Facebook. Is attending church more important than the NFL?

Is helping other Christians with gifts of money or your talent as important as going out to dinner a couple times a week?  It all comes down to priorities. What are yours? Just so you know, and which I’ve said at least 3 jillions times, if you just read your Bible 30 minutes a day, you will be able to read it twice in a year.

It can be tough, but how else are you going to know God? From me? If you’re relying on me or someone on TV to reveal Him to you, then your knowledge of Him is limited to a person who could be wrong. If nothing else in your life, please read your Bible.

II. The Servant’s Faithfulness

³⁴ So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant.

In this society, a servant would be known as a servant by sight. Laban would have known this, but now he knows whose servant. This is an important verse, because although Rebekah may have told him this, until he hears it personally, he can’t be certain.

The reason this is important for us is because there is a real God and there are false gods. The messengers and servants of the false gods are out there and ready to deceive the world and to steal away those who would otherwise belong to Christ. There are false religions such as Buddhism, Islam, and others around the world.

But there are also false sects of Christianity. They bear Jesus’ name possbily, but they don’t serve Him. Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesseses, Adventist sects, and others need to be exposed in order to reveal those who serve the true Master, Jesus.

When you stand at the judgment, what will your words be? For me, “I am a servant of Jesus Christ, and Him alone.”

³⁵ The Lord has blessed my master greatly, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.

Let’s remember the role of the Holy Spirit within the Godhead from John 15 so that we can understand this servant’s role now –

²⁶ “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. ²⁷

In the same way, the servant of Abraham is being sent on behalf of the son carrying all the gifts needed to accomplish the mission.

We’ve seen many times in past sermons the increase of Abraham’s wealth and status as he journeyed to Egypt and throughout the land of Canaan. God blessed him abundantly in worldly wealth and power. All of this has been seen since He departed from his house and moved to the Promised Land.

None of it was gained wrongfully either. Abraham has been a man of integrity and uprightness and God has blessed him because of this. In a similar way, God will bless you for your integrity as well. I am not one to preach a prosperity gospel. God will not reward you because you hope for something in return.

However, He will reward you if you give out of love for Him. There is a difference. If someone tells you that God will unlock His blessings when you give to them, the very implication of what they are saying is that they are the access point of God’s blessing being realized.

It also implies that when you give to them, that you are expecting something in return. In this, there can be no true reward. Jesus teaches us in a parable in Luke 17 –

And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? ⁸ But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? ⁹ Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. ¹⁰ So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’”

In other words, do your job as a faithful Christian and expect nothing in return. What God gives you is more than you deserve already and every new blessing should be received with thanks.

³⁶ And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old;

There are a few reasons the servant said this. The first is to prove that Abraham is really his master. The servant personally knows about Sarah and he also knows that she was without a child when she left the family years earlier. They have every reason to now believe without doubt that this guy is being truthful.

The second reason is that Sarah is the cousin of Milcah, Bethuel’s mother and Laban’s grandmother. Rebekah is probably not much more than 14 or 15 years old and if Isaac was Sarah’s son from a normal age, he could be 70 or so. It wouldn’t be a good marriage for Rebekah.

But that leads to the third reason for this verse. It was to show the miraculous nature of Isaac’s birth. While Rebekah is Milcah’s granddaughter, Isaac is only Sarah’s son. She had a child despite her old age.

^{36 (con’t)} and to him he has given all that he has.

This verse is key to understanding the entire passage. The servant now gives them the best news of all from their perspective. What is Abraham’s belongs to his son – all of it. Isaac is the heir and his bride will therefore be joint-heir with him in Abraham’s house. Here we have a picture of Jesus, the church, and the Holy Spirit.

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. John 16

The servant is proclaiming the message of Christ. The Son has all things which
belong to the Father, and the bride is a co-heir with Christ. We find this in Romans 8 –

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ…

What a wonderful treat to be able to see how God has used these people and this beautiful story to show us His own plan for us and our true Husband, Christ Jesus.

The next 12 verses are a repeat of the account from last week’s sermon. As that sermon only took about 45 minutes, I’m going to repeat it completely so that you remember every thing we talked about. Ok, I won’t do that. Instead, I’m going to read the verses and give just a few comments.

 ³⁷ Now my master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell; ³⁸ but you shall go to my father’s house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.’ ³⁹ And I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’ ⁴⁰ But he said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house. ⁴¹ You will be clear from this oath when you arrive among my family; for if they will not give her to you, then you will be released from my oath.’ ⁴² “And this day I came to the well and said, ‘O Lord God of my master Abraham, if You will now prosper the way in which I go, ⁴³ behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass that when the virgin comes out to draw water, and I say to her, “Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,” ⁴⁴ and she says to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,”—let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’ ⁴⁵ “But before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah, coming out with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the well and drew water.

The story is similar to what we looked at last week, but this verse adds in something new. The servant said, “Before I had finished speaking in my heart…” The servant’s prayer was silent. This is important to note for a couple reasons.

First, Rebekah couldn’t have heard the prayer and therefore didn’t simply do the things he requested based on what he said. What happened was divinely inspired in her. It’s also important because it is something people email me about from time to time. “Is it ok to pray silently?”

The answer depends on the prayer and the person. A silent prayer was also heard by God in 1 Samuel 1:13 when Hannah, the mother of Samuel, prayed for a child. In both occasions, no vocalization occurred yet God heard and answered the prayer.

Interestingly, the 17th letter of the Hebrew aleph-bet is the letter Pe which also means “mouth.” This letter is drawn in 2 ways, one with a closed mouth at the beginning or within a word, and with an open mouth at the end of a word.  Jewish scholars say that the closed mouth refers to speech in this world, and the open mouth to speech in the world to come.

The word for mouth is Peh and is pronounced like the letter.  As believers are already “crucified with Christ” and dead to this world, we can infer that believers don’t need to vocalize their prayers to be heard.

However, non-believers must vocalize prayer. And because they are non-believers and thus not adopted children of God, there is only one prayer that God wants to or will hear from them. It is the prayer of accepting Jesus.

This goes along with Romans 10:9 – “…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” A prayer of confession is to be audible.  Let’s finish with the servant’s words –

And I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ ⁴⁶ And she made haste and let her pitcher down from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels a drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels a drink also. ⁴⁷ Then I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the nose ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists. ⁴⁸ And I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of truth to take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son.

III. The Bride is Granted

⁴⁹ Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”

This is a rather obvious plea – “I’ve told you the story and given you all the details, now please let me know your answer.” The servant has nothing further to add and so their response is all that stands between him and accomplishing his mission.

If they say “no,” then he will “turn to the right hand or to the left.” That is an idiom which means that he has other options and will pursue them. Abraham’s brother Nahor had seven other sons besides Bethuel and so he will search those families next if needed.

⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The thing comes from the Lord; we cannot speak to you either bad or good.

In the Hebrew, the order of the words is, “then answered Laban and Bethuel.” The word for “answered” is singular. Because of this, we can see that Laban gave the answer for his father. The Jewish scribe Jarchi seems to have it right when he said that Laban was wicked and impudent, jumping in and speaking for his father.

He knew that if they didn’t agree that they wouldn’t receive anything from the servant in payment for her. And so he jumped in very quickly and responded – “Oh yes, we agree. Of course we do. This came from the Lord so how can we speak against it?”

By saying this, he’s putting anyone else who would think otherwise in a bad position. If this was from God and they didn’t agree, then they’d be fighting against God. This is what Laban is implying and he’s doing it to get wealthy off his sister. Does anyone see TV evangelists written all over this?

⁵¹ Here is Rebekah before you; take her and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as the Lord has spoken.”

The bride is granted. The offer is accepted. The son will have a bride. God has taken this lovely young woman and divinely orchestrated her life so that she would come into the direct line of Jesus Christ. And in the same way, God divinely orchestrates the lives of His people whom He knows will accept the work of Jesus.

Those who do will be a beautiful bride, adorned for her husband. We will become the Master’s Son’s bride, just as the Lord has spoken. What a beautiful story of what God does for each of us who are willing to follow Him by faith and without ever having seen our precious Lord.

⁵² And it came to pass, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, that he worshiped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth.

The servant prostrated himself to the earth in humble adoration and in great gratitude for the kind hand of the Lord upon his journey. In the same way, the Spirit of God surely rejoices over each person that He woos to the point where they call on Christ as Lord.

Surely along with Him, the Bible says that the angels in heaven also rejoice over that moment. Let us be ever grateful for the day that Christ called us and made us His own. And let us pray without ceasing for others to receive the wonderful gift of life.

If you’ve never known the joy of being called by God to be united to His Son, let me take just a moment and tell you how you can have that happen in your own life…

Closing Verse: The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. ¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. ¹¹ Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward. Psalm 19:9-11

Next Week – Genesis 24:53-67 (The Son Receives His Bride)

The Bride is Granted

Now Rebekah had a brother, whose name was Laban,
And Laban ran out to the man by the well
So it came to pass, when he saw the nose ring,
And the bracelets on her wrists, he knew things were swell

And when he heard the words of Rebekah, his sister
Saying, “Thus the man spoke to me,” that to the man he went
And there by the camels at the well stood the servant mister
He said, “Come in, O blessed of the Lord! Before the day is spent

Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared everything
Even a place for the camels, so let the dinner bell ring

Then the man came to the house and the camels he did unload
And provided straw and feed for them, the camels that he rode

And he brought water to wash his feet
And the feet of the men who were with him too
Food was set before him to eat
But he said, “I will not eat until I have told what I am here to do.”

And he said, “Speak on.” It was time to hear the account
So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant, my words do not discount

The Lord has blessed my master greatly you will be told
And he has become great indeed
He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold
Also servants, camels, and donkeys, now let my words proceed

And Sarah though she was old bore to my master a son
And Abraham to him everything he has bestowed
And so let me recount to you all that has now been done
To bring me here and to whom the credit is owed

So he repeated the story of the sermon from last week
And certainly the families’ rapt attention it did pique

When he finished his retelling of the account, he then said
If you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me
If not, I will turn to the right hand or to the left instead
I’m on a mission for my master as you can plainly see

Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said
This is from the Lord; we cannot speak to you either bad or good
Here is Rebekah before you; take her and go that she may be wed
Let her be his wife; the Lord has spoken and we have understood

And it came to pass, when Abraham’s servant heard their word
That bowing himself to the earth, he worshiped the Lord

This story shows us that God is in control
Of all the details which occur in our life
All of our joys and sorrows are written in His scroll
Every happy moment as well as each moment of strife

God attends to us in each and every way
And so we should return to Him our praise each and every day

Let us offer to Him our lives to direct and use for His glory
And let us remember to tell others of the gospel story

It is through Jesus that He reveals His very heart
And it is through His Spirit that He searches ours as well
And the Spirit does rejoice when the gospel we impart
Yes, He rejoices when to others the good news we do tell

So let us share this wonderful gospel story
And to God let us give praise and honor and glory

Hallelujah and Amen…