From Beguilement to Blessing Part 2

Turn with me in your Bible to Genesis chapter 27. We began this story last week the guilement blessing and its backlash by By looking at the characters involved in this Wonderful marvelous story and as we read this story I'm afraid that most of us see ourselves in this family situation as you read about the deception as you read about the lies We can really put flesh to the to the scriptures by realizing that there's a lot that they did that we do in our own lives We began by looking at the beguilement Looking first of all at the condition of Isaac We saw where he was deteriorating physically as well as spiritually.

He was an old man. He was a hundred and thirty years of age He was well up in his Years and yet beyond that there was more than a physical problem. There was a spiritual problem He was a man who began so well way back in Genesis 22 as a son of promise There on Mount Moriah being offered up as a sacrifice to God and willingly subjecting himself to his father's Desire to sacrifice him because God had said this is what we're going to do He began so well, but now we see this man beginning to deteriorate and it's not so bad that his eyesight physically had gone dim But it was the fact that his spiritual eyesight had gone dim as well We saw that over 20 times the word savory dish the word eating the word venison is used because this man was operating in the Realm of the flesh and he was not walking in the realm of faith and thus he began to make his decisions Based on his affection and his emotions toward his son Esau We went from the condition of to Isaac to look at the conniving of Rebecca.

Oh, she was listening Whether she was behind the curtain whether she was in another room She she heard the words of Isaac to his son Esau and she knew what God wanted She knew that Jacob was to be the son of promise She knew what God had said that the older would serve the younger and she wasn't going to let her husband bless Esau Because once he blessed him it would be set in stone and the blessing will be passed on through Esau And that's not what God wanted. So what does a woman to do? What does a wife do when she knows that her husband is in the wrong?

What does a woman do when she she believes what God says and knows what God says? Does she go to her husband and confront her husband? Does she talk to her husband say honey? You're doing the wrong thing. Does she go into her closet begin to pray for her husband, honey. You're doing the wrong thing Oh God intervene on behalf of my husband. He's about to make a huge mistake That's what a godly woman would do that's not what Rebecca did she set out to control the events Even though she knew the plan of God she decided to make sure that in her own power She could make the plan of God operate how foolish we think that that can happen And so she said to her son Jacob you go out kill some of the livestock I'll make the savory dish and what we're gonna do is we're gonna we're gonna put some hair on your arms and we're gonna make Your father think that you are Esau.

We're gonna make a smell like Esau We're gonna make it feel like Esau The problem is that when it works out the way you want it to work out you think you've won but in the end Rebecca loses We'll see that today But the conniving of Rebecca, why couldn't she sit down with with her husband and talk to him? Why couldn't they sit down as a family and talk together as a family work through the issues? The secrecy in the family the mistrust in the family comes to a head So everybody is deceiving everybody else.

Everybody's lying to everybody else and nobody's seeking God. Nobody's obeying God Sound like your family sounds like 21st century Christianity to me. I mean, that's the way it happens in so many families It's amazing and that's why the book of Genesis is so is so relevant to our lives because we can see what these people are doing and say I do the same thing and God says yes but but look at me and trust me and watch how I work because I can Override all of your sin all of your rebellion and I can bring about my great purpose But please trust me he says depend upon me so you move from the the the condition of Isaac to the conniving of Rebecca to the conduct of Jacob Jacob is your classic mama's boy.

He's 70 years of age, and he's just kind of doing whatever mama wants him to do It's those standing up and and and saying mom. This isn't right. This is dishonoring to the Lord I can't go through with this deception. I can't go through with this lie. I can't go through this with this perverse plan This is this is against what God wants. I know God wants me to be blessed God told you and dad about that but but mom let God do what God's gonna do He doesn't need us to bring about his perfect plan That's what Jacob should have done and Jacob Involves himself in the in the wickedness in the lie in the deception in the plan of defilement He asks not is this true but is this safe mom am I gonna be okay mom and Mom comes back and says listen, if it's not okay, I'll take your curse Just listen to me She says Listen parents if you're gonna tell your children to listen to you Make sure you say the right thing Make sure you lead him in the in the proper way Make sure you tell him the truth and Rebecca was telling her son a lie and so we see the conduct of these people says this Over in the book of Proverbs the 19th chapter verse number 5 a false witness will not go unpunished and He who tells lies Will not escape Need to remember that verse as we study the rest of Genesis 27 and get into Genesis 28 29 and following And as we get into the life of Joseph and his brothers It just goes on and on a false witness will not go unpunished It says in verse number 9 of Proverbs 19 a false witness will not go unpunished and he who tells lies will perish God's very clear about that thus we have the the beguilement and You gotta ask yourself the question.

How is it that Isaac was so done to buy into this deception? I mean this guy Where was he was he so spiritually distraught that he couldn't even think properly. What is it that caused him to believe? Jacob was Esau we'll pick up our narrative in verse 18 because that's where we left off last week Which is just at the 27 then he came to his father and said my father. He said here I am Who are you my son and Jacob said to his father? I am Esau I number one.

You're firstborn Lie number two. I have done as you have told me lie number three Get up, please sit and eat of my game that you may bless me Lie number four and I think said to his son.

How is it that you have it so quickly my son? How is it that you were able to go out and hunt and bring the venison back to me? So quickly, how did you do that? Here is the clincher. This is what convinces Isaac That Jacob is Esau Here's the line because the Lord your God Caused it to happen to me. Can you believe that? This man dishonored his mother this man dishonored his father and now he is going to dishonor God He brings God into his lie. He brings God into the scenario because God Caused it to happen to me.

Now. That's the clincher Because you see down deep in Isaac's heart he wanted Esau to have the blessing He wanted Esau to be the son of promise. He knew what God said in Genesis 25 He knew what God's promise was that the older would serve the younger but down deep in his heart He wanted Esau because he loved Esau and the clincher for Isaac was this Esau's come around Esau now recognizes God in his life And if I bless Esau God will understand because now God will say yes Esau has Demonstrated a godlike heart and therefore yes Esau can be the son of promise.

So in his mind he is Rationalizing everything about what has taken place and although it's the voice of Jacob now He hears the words the words. Maybe he's been longing to hear forever God It's the Lord God Jehovah, it's the great God of the universe God has caused it to happen to me. Look what God has done. Oh, yes, my son Esau Believes in my God. Oh now my God will understand why I will bless him. You see that that's the clincher Jacob knew it. He knew it. So he brings God into the Deception, how dare we do that?

So he says God it's God he caused it to happen then Isaac said to Jacob Please come close that I may feel you my son. You see down deep. He's desperately thinking if this is really Esau I I've got to know it for certain So I got to feel him whether you are really my son or not Esau or not first 22 So Jacob came close to Isaac his father and he felt him and said the voice is the voice of Jacob But the hands are the hands of Esau And he did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands So he blessed him and he said are you really my son Esau?

He said I am I am So he said bring it to me and I will eat of my son's game that I may bless you and he brought it to him And he ate he also brought him wine and he drank then his father Isaac said to him Please come close and kiss me my son So he came close and kissed him and when he smelled the smell of his garments He blessed him Oh Isaac so desperately one of the son he loved to turn to God and now it's happened He believes the lie hook line and sinker. He is caught up in the web of deceit Come to me my son and as he smells them the aroma of the outdoorsmen of the hunter confirmed that his mind Because he wants to confirm it in his mind, this is Esau he must now be blessed And so he blesses him and that's point number two the blessing We're gonna know three things about this blessing this morning Three things that I hope will bless you because if you're a born-again believer today this blessing to some degree does affect you Listen what he says See the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the Lord is blessed now may God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and an abundance of grain and new wine may People serve you and nations bow down to you be master of your brothers and may your mother's sons bow down to you Cursed be those who curse you and blessed be those who bless you What a marvelous blessing now, remember he thinks he's blessing the son.

He loves He thinks that God is gonna change his mind and God is gonna approve of his blessing, but instead he is doing Exactly what God said what happened the older would serve the younger and Jacob would be the son of promise And three things I want you to notice about this blessing number one.

It's prosperity number two It's preeminence and then number three its protection First of all, I want you to notice the perpetual Prosperity that is given in the blessing.

He blesses him and speaks of the material blessing as well as the spiritual blessing Oh, your land will be fertile. Oh, it'll be full of great grain and new wine It is going to be a wonderful land for you and I am going to bless you remember as he gives his blessing This is God speaking through him. These are the words of Isaac, but they are God's ordained inspired words Blessing to Jacob that would carry on down through his sons he blesses him so he gives the the promise of of a Perpetual prosperity that will go from generation to generation and then he speaks over Again in Genesis 27 of the political preeminence He says what that nations will bow down to you many people serve you and nations bow down to you be master of your brothers And may your mother's sons bow down to you now Listen, no nation ever bowed to Isaac in no nation.

Excuse me ever bowed to Jacob and Some say well, this is the bowing of the nations under the United Kingdom under the rule of King David and Solomon That could very well be but I believe it's more than that I believe it's a fulfillment of Philippians chapter 2 when it says that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father it's the promise of the seed that through you will come the Messiah and every knee and every nation will bow and subjection to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and That's what the promise was to to Judah the fourth son through Leah But that scepter should not depart from from Judah until Shiloh comes It's a promise of the coming Messiah that he will rule on this earth and nations will bow and subjection to his kingship and Then the third element of this blessing is the personal protection those who curse you I will curse and those who bless you.

I will bless Same thing God said Abraham back in Genesis 12. It just happens over and over again Listen, if you want to be on God's side, you got to be on Israel's side Why because God says if you bless Israel, I will bless you if you curse Israel, I will curse you And that's the way it's always been I wear in my right hand a ring in Hebrew that says Shalua Shalom Yerushalayim, which is pray for the peace of Jerusalem Psalm 122 verse number 6 so reminded to me that every time I feel it every time I I Grip my hands together.

I'm reminded to pay pray for the peace of Jerusalem I'm reminded to pray for the peace of Jerusalem because they're they're never going to have peace until Messiah comes and I want Messiah to come and I want to pray that they will experience the peace of God in their lives and The Psalm 122 verse 6 goes on to say these words that may all who love thee prosper God says listen you love my people you pray for my people and you'll prosper I will bless those who who bless my people But I will curse those who curse my people the promise of protection that God has given to his people That's why the nation of Israel will never be destroyed And what do we learn from this we learn two things about the character of Almighty God one is that he loves no matter what?

God is so good Jacob's a deceiver He's a liar But God's love is unconditional We serve an amazing God Remember the covenant is not about Jacob Nor was it about Abraham? Nor was it about Isaac and nor will it be about Judah. Wait till we get to Genesis 38 and read about Judah Oh my word, you're it's gonna it's gonna rock your socks, man It's unbelievable, but through him comes the Messiah why because the covenant promise is not about the people. It's about the God of the people It's about God And not only do we learn about the love of God his unconditional love, but we we learn about the faithfulness of God That God keeps his word Because see we we've been studying the book of Revelation on Wednesday night.

We we know about the Abrahamic Covenant We know about the covenant being passed down We know that Israel is going to have a land and we know that the Messiah is going to come and rule from the city Of Jerusalem and we know that Israel will be exalted again But we know in Zechariah chapter 8 that in the millennial kingdom There'll be ten Gentiles hanging on to every robe of every Jew saying take us to your Messiah Show us your King show us your Shepherd. We want to see him We want to worship him and they'll be dragging Gentiles to Jerusalem to worship their King That's the faithfulness of God God's gonna do that because God said he was gonna do it because God's gonna rule in that city every knee and every nation will Bow its objection to his kingship.

What a tremendous blessing. Aren't you glad you came today? Are you part of that blessing if you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you're a part of the dew of heaven You're a part of the blessing that God gives as the water of life to man and you could see the hand of God operating In your life, but number three, we need to look at the backlash.

We looked at the but we looked at the beguilement We've looked at the blessing now. We need to look at the backlash What happens well?

Esau comes back there's four things. I want you to see we'll read through the text together to point them out verse number 30 Now it came about as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of the Isaac his father That Esau his brother came in from his honey Then he also made save you food and brought it to his father He said to his father let my father arise and eat of his son's gain that you may bless me And Isaac his father said to him. Who are you?

Where did you come from? He says I am your son You're a firstborn Esau oh My word you got to be kidding me. What's the very next word first number 33 then Isaac trembled Violently this man was shaken to the core.

You've got to be kidding me. You're Esau What have I done? I blessed the wrong son and God's plan He blessed the right son, but in his plan he blessed the wrong son You're Esau and the Bible says that he shook violently The first thing I want you to see in the backlash is Isaac's trembling violently the text says and he said who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me so that I Of all of it before you came and blessed him stop right there.

Who was that? Listen, he comes listen to the realization that his plan didn't work that his desires Were not going to come about because I want you to listen to the very next phrase Yes, and he shall be blessed He gets to the point and realizes he was wrong. He was wrong all along He resigns himself to the fact that yes God's Word is true What God had ordained has now happened and that one will indeed be blessed Because God is in control and I am NOT and Isaac finally comes to that conclusion So when you get to Hebrews 11 He's recorded in the Hall of Faith and Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future Isaac did the will of God and thus Submitted himself finally to the will of God Second thing I want you to see is Esau's tears Says this when Esau heard the words of his father He cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father bless me even me also my father He said your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing They said is he not rightly named Jacob for he has supplanted me these two times He took away my birthright and behold now He has taken away my blessing and he said have you not reserved a blessing for me?

But Isaac answered said to Esau behold I have made him your master and all his relatives I have given to him as servants and with grain and new wine I have sustained him now as for you then What can I do my son and Esau said to his father? Do you have only one blessing my father bless me even me also all my father So Esau lifted his voice and wept then Isaac his father answered and said to him behold Away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling and away from the dew of heaven from above and by your sword You shall live and your brother you shall serve They shall come about when you become restless that you shall break his yoke from your neck Esau wept bitterly, but these were not the tears of repentance.

These were the tears of remorse They were the tears of regret. He wanted his father to bless him But he wasn't concerned about the fact that he was an ungodly man He was concerned about the fact that he didn't receive the blessing from his father So he had tears of regret and tears of remorse And the Bible tells us over in 2nd Corinthians chapter 7 these words verse number 10 for the sorrow That's according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret leading to salvation But the sorrow of the world produces death here the sorrow of the world.

Oh, he cried He had tears the writer of Hebrews records it Well Hebrews chapter 12 verse number 15 see to it that no one comes short of the grace of God That no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble and by it many be defiled that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau Who sold his own birthright for a single meal for you know that even afterwards when he desired to inherit the blessing He was rejected for he found no place for repentance though. He sought it with tears So he Isaac blesses him He blesses him with the blessing that deal with wealth as well as war but not of eternal worth And Esau's dwelling would be away from the blessings of Jacob and to this day to this day The Edomites have served the sons of Jacob the land is not fertile They settled down in Mount Seir to south of the Dead Sea a very unfertile land It's a present-day Jordan and it's a barren land, but the blessing upon Esau was not what Esau wanted So what does he say in verse number 41?

So he saw bore grudge against Jacob because of the blessing With which his father had blessed him and Esau said to himself the days of mourning for my father are near Then I will kill my brother Jacob. There's a man with no repentance So we see the backlash in Isaac's trembling in Esau's tears and thirdly in Rebecca's turmoil It says this now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebecca She sent and called her younger son Jacob and said to him behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by playing to kill You now therefore my son obey my voice and arise Flee to Iran to my brother Laban and stay with him a few days until your brother's fury subsides Until your brother's anger against you subsides that he forgets what you did to him Then I shall send and get you from there.

Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day? Rebecca her turmoil. What does she do the gears begin to go into motion again? I'm gonna get my son out of this I'm not gonna let Esau kill him I've got a plan Rebecca always had a plan Go to my brother Laban Go stay with him And I want you to be there a few days and then when when all this rubs off and Esau I mean after all he's this doesn't you know, this will go off. I mean, he's the man of the flesh Anyway, he doesn't care too much about it. So when it all subsides I'll call you back and you come back to me in a circle the phrase a few days Why because a few days turned into a year Turned into seven years It turned into 14 years It turned into 20 years and she never sees Jacob again And she never sees her grandsons Her turmoil It will last the rest of her life Because of her deception her lying her cheating her conniving Her desire to control the events of the family She would never see the son.

She loves so desperately ever again, nor would she see his offspring sad case for Rebecca the pleasures of sin They last for a season And lastly It says in verse number 46 and Rebecca said to Isaac I am tired of living because the daughters of hath Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of hath like these from the daughters of the land. What good will my life be to me? She's concerned about the the wives of of Esau They're wearing on her so much so that she was unable to see the hand of God moving in her life Which leads us to Jacob's travel.

We won't spend a lot of time here cuz we're talking about it next week Oh his travels a long travel It's many years and we will see this man be paid back over and over again for his lies and deception before you leave You need to admit no to things lies in deception always result in devastating consequences always But number two our Lord and his decrees rule over all I see God's hand and in Isaac's blindness I see God's hand and Rebecca's deception.

I see God's hand and Jacob's deceit I see God's hand all over Genesis 27. Listen to the words of Proverbs 1921 There are many devices in a man's heart nevertheless the counsel of the Lord that shall stand God rules over all Forever let's pray