A Chip Off The Old Block? (Genesis 25:16-25, Romans 4:16-25)
Rev. William L. Barron, January 6, 2019Part of the Morning Worship at North Greenville Church series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
The accounts of the patriarchs nearly always begin with a summary of their family generations. This is true for Noah, Noah’s sons, Ishmael, Esau, and Jacob. A central message in the lives of the patriarchs in the fulfillment of God’s covenant is the need to trust God and not to run ahead. The temptation for Isaac (probably about 40 years old) and Rebekah (12-15 years old and barren) to take procuring and heir to fulfill the Abraham covenant would have been a heavy burden. They knew that an heir was promised by God, but it wasn’t happening. Temptations come, but God provides the answers. Believing and being patient is not easy. Isaac’s story is not a rerun of Abraham and Sarah, who tried to “help God out.” We learn from Rebekah to be specific in prayer, as she did when experiencing the struggles of the twins in her womb. She prayed, “Why is this happening?” The answer was that there were two nations there; one stronger, and the older would serve the younger. Esau became the father of the Edomites, who would be in constant conflict with Israel. What we see is the triumph of grace, with the Sovereign God in control. This was the fulfillment of a plan made before the foundation of the world. Jacob had the characteristic of tam, translated as peaceful, living in tents, in contrast to the adventuresome spirit that Esau had. It means literally, single-minded, connoting a focus on God, as described in James. Jacob was also a deceiver. The lesson for us is that God always fulfills His promises in His timing, not necessarily ours. We must be patient.
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Genesis 25:16–25 (Listen)
16 These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages and by their encampments, twelve princes according to their tribes. 17 (These are the years of the life of Ishmael: 137 years. He breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.) 18 They settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria. He settled over against all his kinsmen.
19 These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham fathered Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. 21 And Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. 23 And the LORD said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you shall be divided;
the one shall be stronger than the other,
the older shall serve the younger.”
24 When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau.
(ESV)
Romans 4:16–25 (Listen)
16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
(ESV)