• ¹ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ² For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:1-2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
• ‭‭²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. Hebrews‬ ‭11:21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
• Two nations: 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.” Genesis‬ ‭25:23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
• There is a difference between what God determines to bring to pass and what He merely foresees and permits
• Esau was only interested in instant gratification.
  • ¹⁶ lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. Hebrews‬ ‭12:16‬ ‭NKJV‬
• God hated that Esau rejected the blessing. It hurt Him.
• God chose Jacob because he showed up.
  • ¹⁶ So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭20:16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
  • God chooses those who accept.
• When we try to seize control and arrange for our own happiness, we end up frustrated, and discouraged, and we turn on one another.

If you’re in faith, you don’t manipulate.

• Jacob had a pattern of scheming in order to seize control–arranging for his own happiness and success.
• Growing up, Jacob noticed that his dad favored Esau:
  • ²⁸ And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭25:28‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
• Rebecca favored Jacob. She avoided conflict and resorted to manipulation. Jacob spent his time with her.
  • Faith does not manipulate.
  • ‭‭¹⁴ But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. ¹⁵ This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. ¹⁶ For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. James‬ ‭3:14-16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
• Struggle with Esau: Jacob schemed and seized control, instead of trusting God’s Word.
  • ²⁹ Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. ³⁰ And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom. ³¹ But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.” ³² And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?” ³³ Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 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. ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭25:29-34‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
• Struggle with Isaac:
  • ¹ Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” And he answered him, “Here I am.” ² Then he said, “Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death. ³ Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. ⁴ And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.” ⁵ Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it. ⁶ So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, ⁷ ‘Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ ⁸ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. ⁹ Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. ¹⁰ Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death.” ¹¹ And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. ¹² Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.” ¹³ But his mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭27:1-13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
    • Instead of confrontation, Jacob chooses manipulation. Rebecca is the influence of this decision.
  • ¹⁸ So he went to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” ¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” Genesis‬ ‭27:18-29‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
    • • There is always an inward voice that you recognize, but your feelings will deceive you.
    • A blessing could be given regardless of birthright. However, a greater blessing was given to the one who held the birthright. After Jacob’s deception, Esau complained that “he took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Esau begged his father for some type of blessing to be given to him, and he did receive a secondary, inferior blessing (verses 38-40).
    • An interesting parallel took place later in the life of Jacob. Jacob’s son Joseph had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Manasseh was the elder son and should have had the birthright. But when Jacob bestowed his blessing upon his grandsons, he crossed his hands, much to Joseph’s surprise, placing his right hand on the younger son. In this way, Ephraim, the younger son, received the greater blessing
• The escape:
  • ⁴¹ So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” ⁴² And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you. ⁴³ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban in Haran. ⁴⁴ And stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away, ⁴⁵ until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved also of you both in one day?” ⁴⁶ And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭27:41-46‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
    • Again, instead of confrontation, Rebekah chooses manipulation.
• ¹ Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. ² Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. ³ “May God Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples; ⁴ And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land In which you are a stranger, Which God gave to Abraham.” ⁵ So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. Genesis‬ ‭28:1-5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
  • Rebecca never sees Jacob again.
• God is faithful in in spite of sin and brokenness.  In spite of the bad parenting, the sibling rivalry, the marital distance, God will use the blessing to heal the brokenness.
  • ¹⁰ Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. ¹¹ So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. ¹² Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³ And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. ¹⁴ Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. ¹⁵ Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” ¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” ¹⁷ And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” ¹⁸ Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. ¹⁹ And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. ²⁰ Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, ²¹ so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. ²² And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭28:10-22‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
    • The tithe is the covenant response to God’s grace.