Two Manner of People

Pastor Andy Davis preaches an expository sermon on Genesis 25. Abraham, the father of many nations, had a lasting legacy of two sorts, the physical and the spiritual descendants.

Introduction: A Divided Nation

This will be the last sermon I’ll preach in this series on Genesis. We began this time in chapter 12 and up through Chapter 25, so in one sense, really just tracing out the life of Abraham. And in this chapter, Abraham dies, but the focus of the whole chapter is really on Abraham’s legacy. We’re going to try to understand the entire chapter as a whole, not just the death of Abraham, but his legacy in the world.

After the last two presidential elections, experts say that we live in a deeply divided nation. They speak of red states and blue states. If you don’t know which kind you live in, just look at maps. They are available on the internet. Doesn’t really matter, but you are in this or that kind of state, they’ll tell you. And after the last presidential election, some members of the media were willing to acknowledge, it seems to me for the first time that religious and moral issues were at the core of the motives for many of the votes cast. Moral issues like abortion, fetal STEM research, gay marriage, showed up high in post-election polls in key states. Now some experts, as I look at this say that the division is so deep that it can never be repaired, that essentially we look at the world differently, that there are substantial world views so different, diametrically opposed from one another that we can scarcely co-exist in America.

And some say this is a new phenomenon. However, almost 4000 years ago, two pre-born infants shared the same tiny space inside their mothers womb. They struggled together, fighting, pushing, shoving, motion opposing motion, little knowing that their physical struggles represented forever a timeless and spiritual struggle. That struggle, in my opinion, is of far more eternal significance than any political struggle in any single nation at any moment in history. That struggle is over the existence and the purposes and promises of God himself. Now, those two infants were born and grew to be men who looked at life radically differently from one another, one would embrace and love the physical world as though it was all there is. He would live for a good bowl of soup, for an exciting hunt, for the smell of the fields early in the morning, for the love of a beautiful woman at night. He was a sinner, unconcerned with a savior, and his name was Esau.

The other would live a reflective life, musing on how to take the cleverest advantage of any situation handed to him. He would meditate on the promises that were made to his father, Isaac and his grandfather Abraham, and he would come to cherish them as unspeakably precious. He would suffer greatly as a result of his conniving cleverness to make those promises come to pass, he would wrestle against God and win, and he would limp the rest of his life because of the struggle. He was a sinner, desperate for a savior, and He trusted him, and his name was Jacob.

Now, pre-born Jacob and pre-born Esau inside Rebecca’s small womb, struggling against each other, represent generations of believers and unbelievers sharing this small planet in the midst of the cosmos, trying to live life together, looking at things very differently from one another. We drive on the same roads, we shop in the same store. For small periods of time, we stand in the same elevators, we share a very small space together, we attend the same sporting events, some of us root for the same sporting teams, and we enjoy the same good meals and good experiences in this world, but we see everything differently from one another.

This, in my opinion, is the unifying story of Genesis 25. Big picture. This is what Genesis 25 is about. We are two manner of people in the King James version of the verse on the cover of your bulletin. We are two manner of people, it says in Verse 23, “And the LORD said unto her, ‘Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated.’” We are two manner of people. And this was Abraham’s lasting legacy.

I. Abraham’s Lasting Legacy: The Father of Many Nations

The Final Chapter of Abraham’s Earthly Life

Now, as you look at Abraham’s lasting legacy, he was called the father of many nations. This is, as I mentioned in Genesis 25, the final chapter of Abraham’s earthly life, and he had a lasting legacy of two sorts or two kinds.

A Lasting Legacy of Two Sorts

There was Abraham’s physical legacy, he was the father of many nations physically. He had lots of sons who themselves had even more sons, and so they became nations. He was the father of many nations. But he also had a spiritual legacy, a timeless example of a faith-filled life, a faith-filled son, Isaac, to carry on God’s promises, and all of those unfulfilled promises that God had made to him. For example, in Genesis 12:3, that first one, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” That’s an unfulfilled promise when Abraham dies here in Genesis 25, now ultimately fulfilled in that latter son of Abraham, Jesus Christ, as it says in Matthew 1:1, “A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham.” And so Jesus, the Son of Abraham, fulfills Genesis 12:3, that through Abraham’s offspring, all peoples on earth will be blessed.

Significance of this Chapter

Now the significance of this chapter is how these two legacies fit together. How do Abraham’s physical descendants relate to his spiritual descendants? How do they fit together? Not all of Abraham’s physical descendants cherish the promises made to Abraham their father. Not all of Abraham’s physical descendants have faith. But all of Abraham’s physical descendants are blessed in this life in some way by God himself, and all of Abraham’s physical descendants experience the kindness of God the creator, and all of Abraham’s physical descendants sin and stand in danger of the wrath of God. On the one hand, you have Isaac. On the other hand, you have Ishmael. On the one hand, you have Jacob, on the other hand, you have Esau, all four appearing in this chapter.

On the one hand, Isaac and Jacob were sinners who knew God who believed Him, who cherished and trusted in the promises made to their father, Abraham. They lived for a place in the eternal city of God. On the other hand, Ishmael and Esau, were sinners who did not know God, did not trust in Him, despised the promise is made to their father, Abraham, they lived for earthly pleasures, earthly blessings, earthly stuff. And yet all of them were descendants of Abraham. They had to coexist in God’s physical world for a while.

Overview of the Chapter

Now, let’s look at the chapter and just kind of overview it, so you get a sense of what’s here. In verses 1-6, we have the account of the rest of Abraham’s family. Keturah and her sons. More on Keturah in a moment. But here is Keturah, another wife of Abraham and her sons. Verses 7-10, we have at last the death and the burial of Abraham. In verse 11, the statement of God’s blessing on Isaac. In verses 12-18, we have God’s blessings on Ishmael, how God blessed Ishmael. In verses 19-34, collectively, we have the birth and development of Jacob and Esau. Verse 19-21, Rebecca’s bareness, the story of her bareness, and Isaac’s effective prayer to God concerning that bareness. Verse 22-23, Rebecca’s suffering as the twins within her womb were pushing and poking and prodding, and she was in some pain and wanted to know what was going on, and so God gave her the prophetic answer we’ve already mentioned concerning two manner of people within her. Verses 24-26, Jacob and Esau were born and they are described. In verses 27-28, we see Jacob and Esau developed up to adulthood and they are described, and then in verses 29-34, we have the account of what I call the most expensive bowl of stew in history. That’s the entire chapter.

II. Abraham’s Fleshly Children

God’s Faithfulness to His Promise

Now, let’s dig in and see if we can understand it. First, Abraham’s fleshly children. God made a promise to Abraham in Genesis 17:5. In Genesis 17:5, God said to Abram, at that time, “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.” That’s a promise. Now, at that point, he was not the father of a multitude of nations, but that was a prophetic word that some day he would be the father of many nations. It was a prophecy. Patriarchs of many nations are mentioned right in this chapter, Genesis 25, so this is a clear fulfillment of God’s prophecy in Genesis 17, It’s come to pass, it’s beginning to come to pass by the time we have Genesis 24 written, and yet in the midst of it, God clearly identified which of Abraham’s many sons alone was to be the child of promise. Look at verse 5. It says “Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac.” And again, in verse 11, it speaks of the blessing of Isaac: “After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.” And so there’s clearly a singling out of Isaac, the child of the promise, he’s the one who’s gonna take on his father’s spiritual legacy.

Now a key biblical point, essential to this sermon and to the next many that I’ll be preaching in Romans 9, and that’s where we’re going. I preached through four chapters of Romans 1-4, took a break, preached five through eight to the long break, and now we’re going back to Romans 9, and I think it seems a reasonable bridge from Genesis 25 right over to Romans 9, because the whole issue of Jacob and Esau is foundational to the argument Paul makes in Romans 9 as we’ll see. I’m not gonna develop that fully today because we’ll have a chance to develop it fully when we look at Romans 9. But in Romans 9:6-8, Paul says this: “It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.’ In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.”  I think Genesis 25 is key for seeing that. We have lots of children of Abraham in Genesis 25, but we got the blessing on Isaac.

Keturah and Her Sons

Now, who is Keturah? In verse 1, we meet Keturah. Verse 1, it says, “Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah.” She’s called a wife there in verse one. 1 Chronicles calls her, however, a concubine. I don’t really know what a concubine is, I have to be honest with you. I read about them in the Bible, but how they’re different from a wife, I don’t know. But there in 1 Chronicles, she’s called a concubine: “The sons born to Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan.” It is a disturbing thought, isn’t it, that Abraham had another wife after Sarah. Even more disturbing was I thought that Isaac was a miracle baby on both sides of the equation. So it’s presented to us in Romans 4. Abraham, it says in Romans 4, “…he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead — since he was about a hundred years old — and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.” You see, it’s not just Sarah, but Abraham. And there Paul is really playing up the fact that God has power to give life to the dead. And he says, just as he made Abraham’s dead body come alive so that he could father a child, so he will make your dead body come up out of the grave and give you resurrection and eternal life.

That’s the point he’s making, but both Abraham and Sarah were dead in some manner of speaking. Abraham’s body was as good as dead since he was about 100 years old. Sarah’s womb also dead. Well, how then does he father these children with Keturah after the fact? Well, interpreters, conservative interpreters take two approaches, one, as they say, it wasn’t after the fact, this happened earlier, but it’s only being reported now. So he married Keturah while Sarah was still alive. Well, that’s troubling in other ways now, isn’t it? Okay.

The other is that God so thoroughly and completely healed his good-as-dead body, that he was able to go on in a rather normal way and father other children after that, but that Isaac himself was still a child of the promise, a supernatural baby that would never have been born if the Holy Spirit hadn’t worked. I’m not totally satisfied with either one of those explanations, but what can you do. There is Keturah, and so we’re trying to understand it.

You’re saying this is what happens in this church, I come in not having any problems at all with these texts, and then I go out having deep questions, and I never even noticed that there was a difficulty here. But we need to face these things head on, even if we don’t have good answers. Henry Morris put it this way: “When God heals, he heals completely, restoring the injured member or diseased organ back to full soundness again. In order to father a son in his old age, Abraham’s reproductive system had to be rejuvenated. The one-hundred-year-old man became a man of thirty or forty again, in that respect at least.” Well, that’s Henry Morris’s explanation. That’s good enough for me, I guess, at this point. But at least we say this: we have sons by Keturah.

Now, who are these sons by Keturah? Well, the answer is they’re six more nations. Really, six more nations. He was the father of many nations. And if you look at the names, and if you know enough of some of the Scriptures, the Old Testament, you’ll start to recognize some of them. Zimran, Jokshan, Medan… Well, here’s Midian, for example. Does that sound familiar, Midian? Alright there’s the Midianites from whom came Jethro, the priest of Midian, who took Moses in when he was fleeing from Pharaoh and became Moses’ father-in-law. But then later, things turn sour between the Midianites and the Israelites, of course. They attacked and opposed the Israelites as they were on their way to the promised land, and then later formed raiding parties and swept in so fiercely and savagely that the Israelites in the Promised Land are living up, in the Book of Judges, living up in mountains and caves, and Gideon has to come rescue them. These are the Midianites. So the clear lesson is, not all who are descended physically from Abraham are children of the promise. These folks were Israel’s bitter enemies.

Ishmael and His Sons

And then in the same chapter, you’ve got Ishmael and his sons. We’ve already met Ishmael in Genesis 16, but remember at that time that his mother, Hagar, was Sarah’s maid and she became pregnant by Abraham and she was told that Ishmael would be, you remember, a wild donkey of a man, and that his hand would be against everyone and everyone’s hand would be against him. Remember also in Genesis 17, Abraham’s prayer for Ishmael. Genesis 17:18-21 says, “And Abraham said to God, ‘If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!’ Then God said, ‘Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers [that’s Ishmael, the father of twelve rulers], and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.’” Genesis 17.

And so descendants of Ishmael are reported here in Genesis 25. And they’re also very significant in the Bible. The Ishmaelites lived in Arabia, and they moved in caravans through the desert, they were desert dwellers. It was the Ishmaelites that bought Joseph from his hate-filled brothers and carried him down to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar. Ishmaelites did that. If you look at the names, Nabiath, Kedar, Tema, Dedan, they’re all mentioned later in Isaiah. You probably don’t know that, but it’s kind of fun to get a concordance and look. These folks show up later in Isaiah’s prophecy. However, like sons of Keturah, they are usually seen as enemies of God, enemies of God’s people, with one key exception that I’ll mention at the end of the message.

Esau

And then thirdly, you have in this chapter Esau, Esau himself, one of the twin sons of Isaac and Rebecca, but ultimately he became the paradigm example of a faithless unbeliever, a godless man. And so all of these folks in this chapter that I’m mentioning here are physically descended from Abraham, and yet despise the promises that God made to Abraham. Keturah’s sons, Ishmael’s sons, Esau, they descended physically from Abraham. They were children according to the flesh, but they are examples of pagan nations, of unbelievers, Romans 9:8, remember the key lesson. Romans 9:8 “…it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.”

III. Abraham’s Spiritual Children

Isaac: Faith-filled Inheritor Blessed by the Lord

Alright, now let’s talk for a moment about Abraham’s spiritual children. We’ve looked at his children according to the flesh. What about his spiritual children? Well, they’re called children of the promise. They represent the elect, the saved, the believers, the Lord’s people, Christ’s sheep. There’s a lot of different ways of speaking of them. Galatians 3, child of the slave woman versus the child of the free woman, that’s the language used there. Isaac is the example here. A first of one of Abraham’s spiritual children. He is a faith-filled heir of the promises, and he’s blessed by the Lord. He’s the miracle son. He’s the paradigm of a child born not by the flesh, but by the Spirit. He is the heir of all of Abraham’s possessions. Look at verses 5-6. It says “Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.” So the sons of the concubines are not left out. But they are not heirs and they don’t get the blessings that Isaac gets.

More significantly, much more significantly, Isaac is the heir of the promises God made to Abraham. He’s his spiritual heir, most of which had still not been fulfilled. It says in Romans 4:13, “Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world…” Isn’t that incredible? Think about that: heir of the world! The meek will inherit the earth, Jesus said. And so in Romans 4:13, Abraham’s spiritual descendants, they’re heir of the world, and Isaac represented that. Isaac was also especially an inheritor of a lifestyle of faith, a way of living that was different than those around him, a lifestyle of faith trusting in God and turning to God to help solve life’s problems. Look, for example, at Verse 21, It says there, “Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.”

“Isaac was also especially an inheritor of a lifestyle of faith, a way of living that was different than those around him, a lifestyle of faith trusting in God and turning to God to help solve life’s problems. “

So, by the way, this is much superior to what Abraham did when Sarah was barren. You remember she gave the advice, “Why don’t you go sleep with Hagar?” What does Isaac do? He said, “Let’s turn this to the Lord in prayer, let’s pray about this.” And how much superior is that, and God blessed in an amazing way. Isaac’s prayer then displays the characteristic of the children of God. By faith looking up to God, asking Him to meet life’s challenges, in prayer, trusting, not with self-confident actions or with sinful response. We also see it in Rebecca’s prayer. She also is a faith-filled godly woman, and so when she’s troubled by the jostling that’s going on in her womb, what does she do but turn to God in prayer. And she wants to know what’s going on. Verse 22, “The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.” So this is a lifestyle of faith, the way of addressing the problems of this world by faith.

Now, especially, though, Isaac was heir of an outlook on this world, which is based in faith. We just see this world and the next one differently than people who have no faith. We see sunrises and sunsets, and meals and warmth and family — we see all of those things differently because of our faith, and especially because we know this world, this physical world, is not all there is. There’s something beyond it. And Isaac was an heir of that way of looking at the world.

And it’s talked about in Hebrews 11, the faith chapter. And there in Hebrews 11, verse 9 and following, it says, “By faith [Abraham] made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. … All these people [Abraham, Isaac, Jacob] were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers [in this world].” That’s just a way of looking at the world that we have as believers. This is not our home, we’re just passing through. And the earthly blessings and comforts we get along the way are not the ultimate end of our soul. They come and go, but our soul lasts forever in Christ. And so Isaac lived that way of looking. For all of this, Isaac was said to be blessed by the Lord, verse 11, as I mentioned. God blessed his son, Isaac, with that outlook of faith.

Jacob: Faith-filled Conniver Blessed by the Lord

We see it also in Jacob. Now, we’re not going to be tracing out the life of Jacob at this point. We’re jumping off the Genesis train before we go on with Jacob. That’s a long story that goes right to the end of the book. And God willing, maybe in the future, we’ll come back and look at Jacob. But you know his story, you’re familiar with him and how he lived this. He was a conniver, he really was, he was a con artist, but he was also blessed by the Lord. Just like Isaac, Jacob would be heir of the same lifestyle of faith and of the promises made to Abraham. Unlike Isaac, Jacob was a conniver and a con artist who tried to use his own cleverness to accomplish God’s purposes. But still he cherished the promises of his father, Abraham, and of God, and He cherished and trusted in those promises and lived accordingly.

IV. What is Common: Sinfulness, Earthly Blessings and Pain

Birth

Alright, now, we’ve got two manner of people then, do you see it? Physical descendants, and then the spiritual ones. What is common between the two? John F. Kennedy in his commencement address at American University, June 10, 1963, this was the height of the Cold War, just eight months removed from the Cuban Missile Crisis, a time when American students were hiding under their desks regularly in missile drills, really a kind of a terrifying time in which it was really easy to forget that Russians were really human beings, just like us. And John F Kennedy preached this address, commencement address, and he said this: “… in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.” Well, that’s what I’m getting at here. What do we share in common with the Ishmaels and the Esaus that we live with every day?

Well, Abraham’s spiritual children, fleshly children, share some common experiences. Both experienced physical birth, obviously. They’re born physically, and Jacob and Esau, sharing that same little womb, pretty soon are gonna have to experience the stabbing brilliant light that hits the eyes for us. You wonder what that must be like for an infant, the first vision of light, the no longer muffled sounds, the first experience of physical pain perhaps, or at least at that level; breathing. They went through it together, and those experiences symbolized their physical life. They have bodily lives with physical needs, air and water, and food and warmth, protection, love, parenting, education. These would be common.

Death

Secondly, both would face physical death. Both would face a physical death. At the end of, the other end of their lifespan waits the specter of death for everyone. Most obviously in this chapter is Abraham’s death. Abraham dies right in this chapter. Look at verses 7-8: “Altogether, Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people.” Now, this is really striking. Frankly it could have been a whole sermon into itself. Abraham was called God’s friend. He walked with God, he was faithful to God, he loved God, he cherished God and God loved him, and yet he died. He died physically. “For the wages of sin is death…”, it says in Romans 6:23. And Hebrews 9-27 says, “It is appointed unto man to die once and after that, to face judgment.”

That is our lot. Even Abraham had to go through it. No one is exempt from the humiliation and suffering of death. So we’ve been visiting nursing homes and hospitals, I’ve spoken to some of those I go visiting with, and we talk about this and say, Well, I always remember as I’m walking through these halls, I’m heading towards something like this, probably, if the Lord doesn’t take me in my young age. And that’s humbling. We’re all heading there. That’s where we’re going. Happened to Abraham. It’ll happen to us. All of us share that.

Now, Abraham seems to have been let out easily. He lived, it says, a good full life and died full of years and was gathered to his people. These are kind of comforting words, but he died nonetheless. Remember that it says in Psalm 116:15, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” And so it’s a cherished and precious thing, even if they die violently as martyrs, it’s still precious in God’s sight.

And both Isaac and Ishmael shared the experience of standing over their dead father’s body and looking down at this patriarch, dead. What must have been going through their minds? You know, it’s a scary thing when you bury your father. You know, you’re the next in line. The generation is removed and now responsibility is yours. And so Isaac took on the responsibility of being kind of the head, patriarchal head, of God’s redemptive community, his covenant community. He was next in line, and it must have been a striking thing. Both Isaac and Ishmael shared that experience. Death comes to everybody, believer and unbeliever alike.

Earthly Blessings

Thirdly, both enjoy earthly blessings. God loves all human beings in some ways. He loves all human beings in some general ways. When I speak this way, I speak of the doctrine of common grace blessings. These are blessings given to people who never acknowledge God for those blessings, never give thanks to Him, don’t even know he’s giving them to them. But he gives them nonetheless. And so Jesus said, “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect” when it comes to loving your enemies. “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” So the sunrise and the rain, examples of common grace blessings that God gives to everybody, regardless of their spiritual standing. God loves people in this way.

Your five senses are saturated every day with the goodness of God, are they not? We should never forget that. The rich flavor of roasted meat — that’s what they loved back then; the sweet fragrance of a rose, the laughter of children playing, the warmth of the sun on your face, softness of a warm blanket, the joy of seeing your wife smile or feeling your father’s strong hug when you’re a little child. The wonder of a line of marching ants carrying something, as long it’s not part of your house, that not so much… But even that’s kind of amazing and wonderful in a different way — call the exterminator. But just an amazing thing. We all get to watch it. Or the majesty of a soaring eagle riding on a thermal and never flapping its wings, I find that amazing just to watch it, and God puts that display on for everybody; everybody can look at it.

The memory of the funny things your children said and did when they were little, or are still saying and doing now, and the happy anticipation of good times with friends, God lavishes earthly blessings on the elect and non-elect alike, on the righteous and unrighteous alike, on the believer and unbeliever alike.

Earthly Pain

Fourth, both experience earthly pain. Both experience earthly pain and suffering. Both elect non-elect have to bury loved ones and grieve their loss as Isaac and Ishmael did. Both the elect non-elect have to struggle with family conflict as Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau all experienced. Both elect a non-elect have physical illnesses, even grievous physical illnesses, bodily weariness and fatigue. Both elect non-elect have great disappointments and plans that go awry, so you don’t get what you want.

Sinful in Need of a Savior

And fifth, both are sinful and in need of a savior. Both the elect and non-elect are sinful and in need of a savior. Esau was a sinner. He had very little interest in spiritual things, seemingly no walk with God whatsoever. He was what some would call a good old boy who liked a good hunt. He liked a bowl of stew, he liked the smell of the field. None of those things are wrong because Isaac liked them too. He enjoyed the game that his son brought back, but Esau, he had pride and anger and lust and laziness and selfishness and covetousness; he twisted the truth and exaggerated and slandered his neighbors and enjoyed gossip. And more than anything, he lived a life independent from God.

Jacob was a sinner. He cold-heartedly took advantage of his brother’s hunger and swindled his brother out of his birthright. Later, he would cold-heartedly take advantage of his father’s blindness and swindle his brother out of his blessing. Jacob saw the value of the promises of God, but He sinfully sought to bring them about by his own conniving lying ways. And like Esau, his heart was sinful, as are all human hearts. He had pride and anger and lust and laziness and selfishness; and liked gossip and slander; twisted the truth and needed a savior.

Most common spiritual connection between the elect and non-elect is this: neither one has any claim on the thrice Holy God for anything. We don’t deserve a thing except wrath. That is common between us. “As it is written [in Romans 3]: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’” And it says in another place, in Romans 11:32, “For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.” What does that mean? No one will be standing on Judgment Day, saying, “I made it to heaven my way.” No, no, no. Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. That’s what’s going to happen.

V. What is Different: God’s Electing Purpose and People’s Saving Faith

God’s Electing Purpose

So what is different between the two? Well, God’s electing purpose and the lifestyle of faith that comes as a result of that. God’s electing purpose.

You know, it says, “Before the twins were born…” Look at Romans 9, you don’t have to turn there, but just listen. Romans 9:10, it says, “Not only that, but Rebekah’s children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad — in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls — she was told, ‘The older will serve the younger.’ Just as it is written: ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.’” Romans 9:10-13.

And note the key phrase there: “in order that God’s purpose in election might stand.” Like I said, we’ll have more time to get into that shortly in Romans 9. But Paul’s proof is that God statement to Rebecca happened before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad. It was not based on their history or track record, but based on God’s purpose in election in the end. That is the ultimate difference between Jacob and Esau. Not because Jacob had something that God couldn’t have given to Esau.

Faith and Faithlessness

Secondly, though, we do see a clear distinction, and it is highlighted in Genesis 25, in the way that each of them lived, and frankly, and the way each of them believed. Look again at the most expensive bowl of stew in history: “Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.) [How would you like to be named after stew? I mean, that’s really striking, when you’re named after stew, it’s pretty bad, that’s the big achievement of your life that you really like red stew, or at least that you traded your birth right for it. Verse 31:] Jacob replied, ‘First sell me your birthright.’ ‘Look, I am about to die,’ Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?’ [Talk about tyranny of the urgent, you know? I seriously doubt that there was not enough fat stored up in his body to make it through that experience of hunger, but all he knew is his stomach was growling and he needed to eat something, and the birthright meant nothing to him.]“But Jacob [persisted], “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. [So he got some bread in addition. So that’s good. Actually, Jeremy and I have talked a lot about whether the stew was even any good or not. It would be just like the devil to sell your birthright for stew that wasn’t even that very good. It’s a debate back and forth sometimes, and I think it’s really, really good, that’s kind of the devil’s way, so you get enticed into more… I think it probably wasn’t. That’s my guess. I don’t know what kind of a cook Jacob was, but does it really matter? All we know is that he looked on the stew as more valuable than the birthright. And it says,] He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.”

That is huge, it’s huge. The birthright represented the connection with the promises of God, with Abraham and Isaac, with all that God had said he was going to do with those promises that were as yet unfulfilled, and it says, the Hebrew there, “despised” means “thought little of, blew off.” It was nothing to him. Lightweight, appraised it’s weight and threw it out. He despised it. And it says in 1 Samuel 2:30, “But now the LORD declares: ‘Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me [same Hebrew word] will be disdained.’” You honor God, consider him weighty and worth something, you will be honored, but if on the other hand, you despise him — and that’s what it was; the birthright was God. It was His promises — and he despised it. That’s why the text highlights it. So Esau despised his birthright. It’s big, what he did. All Esau cared about was his stomach. He lived a godless, faithless life. Hebrews 12:16-17 says this: “See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.”

Now, Jacob was a man of faith in this one regard: he cherished and valued and yearned for the fulfillment of the promises of God. His sinfulness came in, as I’ve mentioned, in how he went about trying by his own strength to fulfill them. Esau cared nothing for the promises made to Abraham and Isaac. The basic disposition of soul that differed from Jacob and Esau was faith. That was the difference.

VI. Key Lesson: Your Earthly Father Does Not Determine Your Eternal Destiny

Abraham’s Descendents

Now, key lesson from all of this: Your earthly father does not determine your eternal destiny. It’s not biological, it’s spiritual. Not those who are born, but those who are born again. It’s not a physical lineage, but a spiritual one that we’re talking about here. Not all Abraham’s physical descendants are accepted by God. This is the very issue that Paul is gonna wrestle with in Romans 9-11: Just ’cause you’re Jewish doesn’t mean you’re going to heaven. He’s gonna deal with that. That’s the topic of Romans 9-11. We’ll get to that, God willing, next week. So not all of Abraham’s physical descendants are accepted by God.

Ishmael’s and Esau’s Descendents

Conversely, though, not all of Ishmael’s and Esau’s descendants are rejected by God. Isn’t that marvelous? Look this one up later, but listen, Isaiah 42:10-12 — I love this: “Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them. Let the desert and its towns raise their voices; let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice. Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them shout from the mountaintops. Let them give glory to the LORD and proclaim his praise in the islands.”

Kedar, Sela, who are they? Well, you know. Kedar was Ishmael’s second born, Sela was a city in Edom, an Edomite place. Descendants of Esau. Isaiah is prophesying a time when there will be some from Kedar and some from Esau praising God from the heart.  He says it again later in Isaiah 60:7, “All Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you [speaking to the Lord], the rams of Nebaioth will serve you; they will be accepted as offerings on my altar, and I will adorn my glorious temple.” You say, “What does that mean? The Rams of Nabaioth. Well, Nabaioth is Ishmael’s first born. Look right here in Genesis 25. He’s Ishmael’s first born. Some day, some descendants of Nabaioth are gonna be praising God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, praising Him from their hearts. And some day they will adorn God’s glorious temple.

God’s Purpose in Election

Therefore, summing up, first essential issue, God’s purpose in election, as we will see in Romans 9 — the secondary essential issue, hearing God’s promises with faith — but the overarching issue is God’s glory in the salvation of elect from every nation.

As it says in Revelation 7:9-10, “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Through faith in Jesus Christ, in the blood that he shed on the cross, there will be people from every tribe and language, and people and nation, including descendants of Ishmael and descendants of Esau, standing before God praising Him for salvation. Amen! And so therefore, it’s not who your physical father is. It’s not being born in the right family. It’s being born again into the family of God.

Application

Two manners of people

Now, what application can we take from this? Well, first, accept this: two manners of people live in this world. Two manners of people live in this world. Don’t expect all the red states to get blue or all the blue states to get red or whatever it is. It’s two manners of people are gonna live in this world: the saved and the unsaved, the elect and the non-elect. It’s the way it is.

“Two manners of people live in this world …: the saved and the unsaved, the elect and the non-elect. It’s the way it is. “

Common Grace and Sorrows

Secondly, understand what we share in common with people around us who are unsaved. We share all the joys and sorrows of physical life on earth from birth to death and everything in between.

Expect Problems

Third, expect problems from living in a mixed world. Expect problems. Don’t be shocked or surprised when people who are not Christians have interesting world views that are different from yours and expect problems from that.

All Have Sinned

Humbly accept this simple fact: both elect and non-elect share the same wicked and evil heart and are desperately in need of a savior. Where, then, is boasting, brothers and sisters in Christ? There is none.

Earthly Excellence Apart from Christ

Humbly acknowledge that in some significant way, some unsaved people may excel us in some interesting and key virtues. There could be some Hindus that are more generous to the poor than we are. There could be some Muslims that are more zealous and willing to die for their faith than we are. There could be some atheists that are more intellectually acute and hard-working than we are. But let me tell you something: love for the poor and generosity to them, zeal for the faith and willingness to die for it, and intellectual sharpness and hard work do not save your soul. What can wash away your sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ alone saves souls.

Grieve for the Esaus

We are surrounded by Esaus everyday. Grieve for them. Grieve for them, as Paul does in Philippians 3:18. He says, “…or, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.” [Grieve for them. Paul says, “I say it with tears.” He’ll say it in Romans 9, “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.”] But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”

Power to Save

And know this, that God has the power through the Gospel of Jesus Christ to save even the most wretched looking Esau-like person. You don’t know who the elect and non-elect are. You just don’t. They don’t wear E’s on their forehead. I’ve never seen that. I don’t know who they are. I do know that God can save a wretchedly Esau living person. He’s done it again and again and again. And so this gives us tremendous hope in evangelism. It doesn’t matter how entrapped in an Esau-like lifestyle they are, how enslaved to some sin they are. Jesus can free them; he can liberate them.

Make Faith the Center of Life

Resolve not to live your life like Esau, as though this world is all there is. Don’t build your life on a sandy foundation, which can, like Job, get swept away in a day, because everything physical can be taken away as Job experienced. Physical earthly blessings are blessings from God, but he can take them away or give them as he chooses and not be any less loving to any of us, and I include in that physical health, loved ones that are still alive and around us and blessing us everyday, material possessions, jobs, all that stuff is fair game. God owns it all. Don’t live for those things as though they were all there is in this world. Make instead the promises of God through Christ, the center of your being.

Hunger and thirst for Christ’s Kingdom

And finally hunger and thirst for the day when Jesus will clean it all up and there will no longer be in his kingdom, two manner of people. Listen to the prophecy He gives us plainly in Matthew 13:41-43 “The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”

These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.

Introduction:  A Divided Nation

Experts say we live in a deeply divided nation… they speak of “Red states” and Blue states”… after the last Presidential election, some members of the media were willing to acknowledge that religious and moral issues were at the core of the motives for many of the votes cast… moral issues like abortion, fetal stem cell research, gay marriage showed up high on post-election polls in key states

Some say the division is so deep it can never be repaired… that essentially we look at the world differently, that there are substantial world-views so diametrically opposed that we can scarcely coexist in America

And some say this is a new phenomenon

However, almost four thousand years ago, two preborn infants shared the same tiny space… the womb of their mother.  They struggled together, fighting and pushing and shoving… motion opposing motion, little knowing that their struggle represented forever a timeless struggle

This struggle would be far more vital and of far more eternal consequence than the outcome of one political contest in one nation on earth.  This struggle would be over the core issue of the existence and promises of God.

They would grow to be men who looked at life radically differently:  one would embrace and love the physical world as though it was all there is.  He would live for a good bowl of soup, an exciting hunt, the smell of the fields in the early morning, the love of a beautiful woman at night.  He was a sinner unconcerned with a savior.  His name was Esau.

The other would live a reflective life, musing on how to take cleverest advantage of whatever situation faced him;  he would meditate on the promises made to His father Isaac and grandfather Abraham, and he would come to cherish them as unspeakably precious.  He would suffer greatly as a result of his own conniving cleverness, he would wrestle against God and win, he would limp the rest of his life from the struggle.  He was a sinner desperate for a savior and He trusted Him.  His name was Jacob.

Pre-born Jacob and pre-born Esau… inside Rebekah’s small womb… struggled against each other… as generations of believers and unbelievers have done in this small planet God created for His glory so long ago.  We share the same roads, the same supermarkets, the same elevators.  We attend the same sporting events, cheer for the same teams, read the same newspapers.  We visit the same national parks, breathe the same air, react the same way to a sudden cloudburst.  But we see everything of value radically differently.

This is the story of Genesis 25… we are “Two manner of people” in the KJV translation of verse 23

vs. 23  And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated

I.  Abraham’s Lasting Legacy:  The Father of Many Nations

A.   The Final Chapter of Abraham’s Earthly Life

B.    A Lasting Legacy of Two Sorts

1.   Abraham’s Physical Legacy:  “The Father of Many Nations”

2.   Abraham’s Spiritual Legacy

a timeless example of a faith-filled life

a faith-filled son (Isaac) to carry on God’s purposes all the unfulfilled promises God had made to him

Genesis 12:3  “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

ultimately… Jesus Christ Himself, the Savior of the World

Matthew 1:1  A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham

C.    Significance of this Chapter:  How These Two Legacies Fit Together

Not all of Abraham’s physical descendents cherish the promises God made to their father

Not all of Abraham’s physical descendents have faith

BUT all of Abraham’s physical descendents are blessed in this life in some way

All of Abraham’s physical descendents experience the kindness of God the creator

All of Abraham’s physical descendents sin and stand in danger of the wrath of God

On the one hand:  Isaac… on the other hand, Ishmael

On the one hand:  Jacob… on the other hand, Esau

On the one hand… Isaac and Jacob were sinners who knew God, believed Him, and cherished and trusted in the promises made to their father Abraham… they lived for a place in the eternal city of God

On the other hand… Ishmael and Esau were sinners who did not know God, did not trust in Him, despised the promises made to their father Abraham… they lived for earthly pleasures, earthly blessings, earthly stuff! YET all were descendents of Abraham… and they had to co-exist in God’s physical world for a while

D.  Overview of the Chapter

Vs. 1-6:  The Rest of Abraham’s Family:  Keturah and Her Sons

Vs. 7-10:  The Death and Burial of Abraham

Vs. 11:  God’s Blessing on Isaac

Vs. 12-18:  God’s Blessings on Ishmael

Vs. 19-34:  The Birth and Development of Jacob and Esau

(19-21) Rebekah’s barrenness and Isaac’s effective prayer

(22-23) Rebekah’s suffering and God’s prophetic answer

(24-26) Jacob and Esau born and described

(27-28)  Jacob and Esau developed and described

(29-34)  The Most Expensive Bowl of Stew in History

II.  Abraham’s Fleshly Children

A.   God’s Faithfulness to His Promise

Genesis 17:5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

1.   This was a prophecy which begins to come true even in this chapter

2.   Patriarchs of many different nations mentioned in this chapter

3.   God lavished many blessings on Abraham and showed His faithfulness to His Promise

4.   Yet in the midst of it, God clearly identified which of Abraham’s many sons was alone the child of promise

Genesis 25:5  Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac.

5.   Key Biblical point essential to this sermon:

Romans 9:6-8  It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are

Israel.  ⁷ Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”  ⁸ In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.

B.    Keturah and Her Sons

1.   The problem of Keturah

a.  who was Keturah?

i)     verse 1:  “wife”

vs. 1  Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah.

ii)   1 Chronicles:  “concubine”

1 Chronicles 1:32  The sons born to Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan.

b.   disturbing thought… Abraham’s wife AFTER Sarah???

c.    even more disturbing thought:  I thought Isaac was a miracle baby on both sides of his parents

Romans 4:17-21  As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed– the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.  ¹⁸ Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”  ¹⁹ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead– since he was about a hundred years old– and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.  ²⁰ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,  ²¹ being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Was Abraham’s body “as good as dead”?  If so, how was he able to father six more sons by Keturah?

Two possible answers:  1)  Abraham married Keturah before Isaac was born, and it’s only being reported here, now… or, 2)  God completely restored Abraham’s body when he was one hundred, enabling him to father many more children

Henry Morris:  “When God heals, he heals completely, restoring the injured member or diseased organ back to full soundness again.  In order to father a son in his old age, Abraham’s reproductive system had to be rejuvenated.  The one-hundred-year-old man became a man of thirty or forty again, in that respect at least.” 2.  Who were Abraham’s sons by Keturah?

Answer:  six more nations, fleshly descendants of Abraham!!!

Genesis 25:2  She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah.

Example:  Midian… the Midianites, from whom came Jethro, the priest of Midian who took Moses in when he was fleeing from Pharaoh, and who became Moses’ father-in-law… BUT it was also the Midianites who later attacked the Israelites as they were travelling to the Promised Land and whom Gideon defeated in the book of Judges… they became bitter enemies of Israel

Clear lesson:  not all who are descended physically  from Abraham are Abraham’s spiritual offspring… children of God!  Some became bitter enemies of the people of God!

C.    Ishmael and His Sons

1.   We’ve already met Ishmael in Genesis 16

2.   Remember at that time that his mother Hagar was told he would be a wild donkey of a man and his hand would be against everyone

3.   Remember Abraham’s prayer for Ishmael in Genesis 17

Genesis 17:18-21  And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”  ¹⁹ Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.  ²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.  ²¹ But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.”

4.   Descendents of Ishmael also very significant in the Bible

Ishmaelites lived in Arabia and moved in caravans through the desert

Ishmaelites bought Joseph from his hateful brothers and sold him as a slave to the Egyptians

Nebaioth, Kedar, Tema, Dedan all mentioned later in Isaiah and other places as desert-dwelling tribes in Arabia HOWEVER… like sons of Keturah, they were usually seen as enemies of the people of God… with one key exception, which I will mention at the end of this sermon

D.   Esau

1.   Twin son of Isaac and Rebekah

2.   Ultimately became the paradigm example of a faithless unbeliever

3.   Physically descended from Abraham… YET he despised the promises God had made to Abraham

Summary:  Keturah’s sons, Ishmael’s sons, and Esau ALL descended physically from Abraham… children according to the flesh.  BUT they are all examples of pagan nations… of unbelievers

Remember the lesson from Romans:

Romans 9:8  it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.

III.  Abraham’s Spiritual Children

Called the “children of the promise”… they represent the elect, the saved, the believers, the Lord’s people

Galatians 3:  Child of the Slave woman vs. Child of the Free Woman

A.   Isaac:  Faith-filled Inheritor Blessed by the Lord

1.   The miracle son… the paradigm of the child of God

2.   He is the heir of all Abraham’s possessions

Genesis 25:5-6  Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac.  ⁶ But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.

3.   Much more significantly he is the heir of the promises God made to Abraham…  most of which had still not been fulfilled

Romans 4:13  Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

Amazing:  “heir of the world”…

4.   Isaac was especially heir of a lifestyle of faith, which put its ultimate stock in the future promises of God

a.   lifestyle of faith = trusting in God and turning to God to solve life problems

Genesis 25:21  Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.

NOTE:  This is much superior to what Abraham did when he took Sarah’s advice and slept with Hagar, her maid

It displays the characteristic of the children of God… meeting life’s trial with prayer and not with self-confident action or sinful response

See it also in Rebekah’s prayer

Genesis 25:22  The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.

b.   especially, Isaac was heir of a general outlook of faith that saw the whole world in terms of God and his promises to Abraham

Hebrews 11:9-16  By faith [Abraham] made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.  ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. …    ¹³ All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.  ¹⁴ People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.  ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.  ¹⁶ Instead, they were longing for a better country– a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

5.   For all of this, Isaac was said to be blessed by the Lord

Genesis 25:11  After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.

B.    Jacob:  Faith-filled Conniver Blessed by the Lord

1.   Just like Isaac, Jacob would be heir of the same lifestyle of faith and of the promises made to Abraham

2.   Unlike Isaac, Jacob was a conniver, a con-man who sought to make the promises come true through his own efforts, schemes and machinations

3.   Ultimately, like Isaac, Jacob cherished the God of his father Abraham, and cherished and trusted in the promises of God

IV.  What is Common:  Sinfulness, Earthly Blessings and Pain

Illus.  John F. Kennedy’s Commencement Address at American University on June 10^th, 1963… at the height of the Cold War, just eight months removed from the Cuban Missile Crisis, dealing with the fear that Americans had of the Soviet Union

“For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.”

So also, Abraham’s spiritual children and Abraham’s fleshly children also share some key common experiences

A.   Both Experience Birth

1.   Jacob and Esau share the same tiny space inside their mother’s womb

2.   Both of them have the same shocking experience of physical birth… the flash of light, the loud sounds, the pain, the first breaths

3.   This experience symbolizes their shared physical lives… bodily lives with physical needs… air, water, food, warmth, protection, love, parenting, education

B.    Both Face Death

1.   At the other end of the lifespan waits the specter of death FOR EVERYONE

2.   Most obvious point:  Abraham died

Genesis 25:7-8  Altogether, Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years.  ⁸ Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people.

a.    Abraham called God’s friend… walked with God faithfully

b.   YET he died

Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death

Hebrews 9:27  Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment

No man is exempt from the humiliation and suffering of death… it is a universal death penalty under Adam

HOWEVER… his death was gentle, perhaps a reward for Abraham’s faithfulness

Genesis 25:7-8  Altogether, Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years.  ⁸ Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people.

Psalm 116:15  Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

3.   Both Isaac and Ishmael shared in the experience of standing over their father’s dead body at the tomb

Something terrifying about burying your father… as the next generation, you now step up into the role he occupied… the world gets scary, the time for maturity has come.  It is now Isaac’s turn to carry the banner of Redemptive History… it is now for both Isaac and Ishmael to contemplate their own deaths

The burial place:  Machpelah, the small piece of the Promised Land that Abraham bought for Sarah’s tomb Death comes to everyone, believer and non-believer

C.    Both Enjoy Earthly Blessings

1.   Ishmael enjoyed the blessings of twelve sons… the richness of family life

2.   Isaac enjoyed the joy of a wonderful marriage

3.   Both of them enjoyed the pleasures of spectacular desert sunsets and cool spring rains

4.   Esau loved a good stew… but it was Jacob that made it… they had this in common, they both enjoyed good food

5.   God’s common grace blessings He lavishes freely on believer and unbeliever alike

Matthew 5:45  your Father in heaven … causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

The five senses are saturated day after day by the goodness of God, and He gives His gifts freely whether the people who receive them ever acknowledge God or not

•       The rich flavor of roasted game

•       The sweet fragrance of a rose

•       The laughter of children playing

•       The warmth of the sun on your face

•       The softness of a wool blanket

•       The joy of seeing your wife’s smile or your father’s strong hug

•       The wonder of a line of marching ants

•       The majesty of a soaring eagle riding on the thermals

•       The memories of the funny things your children did when they were young

•       The happy anticipation of good times with friends

God lavishes earthly blessing on the elect and non-elect, on the righteous and the unrighteous alike

D.   Both Experience Earthly Pain

1.   So also both experience earthly pain and suffering

2.   Both elect and non-elect have to bury loved ones and grieve their loss, as did Isaac and Ishmael

3.   Both elect and non-elect have to struggle with family conflict as Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Esau all experienced

4.   Both elect and non-elect have physical pain, illnesses, bodily weariness, fatigue

5.   Both elect and non-elect have great disappointments and plans that go awry

E.    Both Are Sinful and Need a Savior

1.   Most significantly, both elect and non-elect are sinful and in need of a savior

2.   Esau was a sinner:  he had very little interest in spiritual things, seemingly no walk with God whatsoever… he was a good old boy who loved a good hunt, and a bowl of stew and the smell of the field;  he had pride and anger and lust and laziness and selfishness and covetousness;  he twisted the truth and exaggerated and gossiped and slandered… more than anything, he lived a life independent of God

3.   Jacob was a sinner:  he cold-heartedly took advantage of his famished brother and he swindled his brother out of his birthright;  later he would lie to his blind father’s face at the time of blessings;  Jacob saw the value of the promises of God, but sinfully sought to bring them about by his own conniving lying ways;  and like Esau his heart was sinful as are all human hearts;  he had pride and anger and lust and laziness and selfishness and covetousness;  he twisted the truth and exaggerated and gossiped and slandered

4.   Most common spiritual connection between both the elect and non-elect:  BOTH HAVE NO CLAIM ON GOD,  both deserve eternal condemnation, would have no  possible standing before God apart from a savior

Romans 3:10-12  As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;  ¹¹ there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.  ¹² All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

Romans 11:32  For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

V.  What is Different:  God’s Electing Purpose and People’s Saving Faith

A.   God’s Electing Purpose:  “Before the Twins Were Born…”

1.   The central difference between Jacob and Esau was the purpose of God in election

2.   So says Paul in Romans 9

Romans 9:10-13  Not only that, but Rebekah’s children had one and the same father, our father Isaac.  ¹¹

Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad– in order that God’s purpose in election might stand:  ¹² not by works but by him who calls– she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”  ¹³ Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

NOTE THE KEY PHRASE:  in order that God’s purpose in election might stand

3.   Paul’s proof:  God’s statement to Rebekah before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad

4.   God has a purpose in election… and in the end, that is the ultimate difference between Jacob and Esau

B.    Faith and Faithlessness:  Jacob and Esau

1.   The central lesson of the account of Jacob and the stew

Genesis 25:29 – 34  Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished.  ³⁰ He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)  ³¹ Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”  ³² “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”  ³³ But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.  ³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.  

2.   The birthright represented being heir of the promises of God to Abraham and Isaac… Esau

DESPISED it

Hebrew word means he treated it with contempt;  thought it a trivial, light, meaningless thing

1 Samuel 2:30  But now the LORD declares: ‘Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained.

To despise God’s promise is to despise God Himself… that was Esau

3.   All Esau cared about was his stomach… he lived a godless, faithless life

Hebrews 12:16-17  See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.  ¹⁷ Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.

4.   Jacob was a man of faith in this one regard:  he cherished, valued, and trusted in the promises of God… his sinfulness came in how he went about by his own conniving means to accomplish God’s ends

5.   Esau cared NOTHING for the promises made to Abraham and Isaac

6.   The basic disposition of soul that differed from Jacob and Esau was this:  FAITH

VI.  Key Lesson:  Your Earthly Father Does Not Determine Your Eternal Destiny

A.   Not All Abraham’s Physical Descendents Are Accepted by God

1.   Just because Abraham is your father doesn’t guarantee you will be saved

2.   Jews had to wrestle with this issue in a major way… it is the huge theme Paul deals with in Romans 9-11

B.    On the Other Hand:  Not All Ishmael’s and Esau’s Descendents Are Rejected by God!!!

Isaiah 42:10-12  Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them.  ¹¹ Let the desert and its towns raise their voices; let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice. Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them shout from the mountaintops.  ¹² Let them give glory to the LORD and proclaim his praise in the islands.

Kedar was Ishmael’s second-born;  Sela was a city in Edom, descendents of Esau!!

Isaiah is prophesying a time when there will be heartfelt worship of the true and living God from physical descendents of Ismael and Esau

Isaiah 60:7 All Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth will serve you; they will be accepted as offerings on my altar, and I will adorn my glorious temple.

Nebaioth was Ismael’s first-born, and Kedar his second;  these are desert-dwelling, Arabian tribes now

C.    First Essential Issue:  God’s Purpose in Election

D.   Secondary Essential Issue:  Hearing God’s Promises with Faith

E.    Ultimate End:  God’s Glory in the Salvation of Elect from Every Nation

Revelation 7:9-10  After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.  ¹⁰ And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

VII.  Application:  Living in a Mixed World

1.     Accept the simple fact:  Two manners of people live in this world… the saved and the unsaved, the elect and the non-elect

2.     Understand what we share in common with the unsaved:  we all share the joys and sorrows of physical life on earth… from birth to death and everything in between

3.     Expect problems from living in a mixed world… sharing elevators and elections with unbelievers is a challenge;  America as a whole will never share our Christian worldview

4.     Humbly accept the simple fact:  both elect and non-elect share wickedness and sin at the heart

5.     Humbly acknowledge, in some significant ways unsaved people may excel beyond saved in key virtues:  some Hindus may be more generous and compassionate on the poor than some Christians;  some Muslims may be far more zealous and willing to die than some Christians;  some atheists may be better thinkers or harder workers than Christians

6.     YET:  faith in Christ alone saves souls… it is not compassion for the poor or a zealous willingness to die or good thinking and hard work that washes away sin;  nothing but simple faith in the promises of God as fulfilled in Christ saves our sinful souls

7.     Surrounded by Esaus:  GRIEVE FOR THEM

We are surrounded by people like Esau who live for an exciting sporting event, or a good meal, or a beautiful pagan wife, or a fun time… that is the American dream gone bad, and it has eternal consequences

Philippians 3:18-21  For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.  ¹⁹ Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.  ²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,  ²¹ who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

8.     Know that God has power to save even the most wretched Esau-looking person by the gospel of Jesus Christ… so never give up on someone living for earthly pleasure… but warn them of their danger

9.     Resolve not to live like Esau:  a life of earthly passions, living for a good bowl of stew or an exciting sporting event, or a beautiful pagan wife or a good time

10.  Make faith in the promises of God through Christ the center of your being

11.  Hunger and thirst for the day when Christ’s Kingdom will come and His will will be done on earth as it is in heaven;  then all the godless will be rooted out and perfect unity will reign

Matthew 13:41-43  The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.  ⁴² They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.