Remember:
Jacob Lies:
Sin Will Take You Further Than You Want To Go.
Sin Will Cost You More Than You Want To Pay.
Why God Permitted The Action Of Jacob?
Sovereign God Allows Many Things To Carry Out His Will.
But Jacob Should Have Been Patient And Waited On God.
Remember:
Jacob Meets God In Christ Pre-Incarnate.
Jacob Is Blessed After A Lengthy Struggle.
In The End, Jacob Does What We All Must Do.
He Confronts His Failures.
His Weaknesses, His Sins, His Ailments,
And Faces God.
APPLICATION:
God Providence In The Life Of A Believer.
God Might Bring Crisis Into Your Life.
God Wants Us To Cast Ourselves Totally On Him.
God Wants Us To Look To Him For Deliverance.
God Will Always Accomplish His Perfect Will.
Despite Our Trials And Tribulations.
Know That Our Strivings Are Never Void Of God’s Presence.
Real Growth Experiences Always Involve Struggle.
Though We May Fight God's Will For Us.
God Will Bring Blessing When We Surrender To Him.
Remember:
Jacob Faces Himself:
God Changed Him.
He Is Given A New Name.
ISRAEL: Which Means Struggles With God.
An Exhausting Struggle That CHANGED HIS NATURE.
Remember:
Jacob Faces Revival In His Life:
God Revives His People Through Renewed Promises.
Jacob Returns To Beth-El.
God Speaks To Jacob, Calling Him Back To Beth-El.
Arise, Go Up To Beth-El, Dwell There, Make An Altar.
God’s Protection Of Jacob When He Comes To Beth-El.
It Was Dangerous For Jacob To Set Out To Beth-El.
He Now Did What Was Right Before God.
He Did This Despite The Danger.
He Trusted God's Protection.
APPLICATION:
It Is More Dangerous For Us To Disobey God.
Trust The Lord With A Radical Obedience.
No Matter What The Circumstances Look Like.
The Safest Thing To Do Is The Will Of God.
Remember:
God Speaks To Israel Again At Beth-El.
(STRUGGLES With God At The House Of God.)
God Said:
I Am God Almighty. (El Shaddai = Self Sufficient One )
A Nation And Many Nations Shall Proceed From You.
Kings Shall Come From Your Body.
The Land Which I Gave Abraham And Isaac I Give To You.
To Your Descendants After You I Give This Land.
Do You See It:
GENESIS IS AN HISTORICAL RECORD OF THE SURETY OF GOD'S WORD TO KEEP HIS PROMISES !!
GENESIS CAN ANCHOR YOUR FAITH: GOD'S WORD IS TRUE AND GOD'S PROMISES ARE SURE.
SO TODAY: THE SUCCESSION OF ESAU: GENESIS 36:
One Possible Outline: Esau’s Separation From Jacob.
1. His Immediate Family: The Wives, Sons, And Daughters Of Esau. Verses 1-5.
This Is The Genealogy Of Esau.
2. His Decendants: The Separation Of Jacob And Esau. Verses 6-8.
The Land Was Could Not Contain Both Families.
Plus All Their Livestock And Other Possessions Were Abundant.
3. His Legacy, His Enemies, His Nation: Edom And The Chiefs Of The Edomites. Verses 9-43.
The Nation Of Edom Is Established.
KEY TAKEAWAY:
No Amount Of Success In This Life Will Make Up For Failure To Trust God.
FYI: The Legacy Of These Brothers: Esau And Jacob. Gen 36-37.
Genesis Provides A True Idea Of Their Real Character.
ESAU'S HISTORY.
ESAU WAS A MEMORABLE PERSON.
MEMORABLE: The Circumstances Of His Birth.
MEMORABLE: The Sale Of His Birthright To Jacob.
He Had Already Come To This Conclusion.
Long Before The Time Jacob Made The Offer.
His Birthright Was Of No Value To Him.
MEMORABLE: The Disinterest In Godly Things.
Esau Had No Conception Of The Glory Of The Promises To Abraham And To Isaac.
Esau Could Not Associate The Value And Meaning Of The Birthright.
MEMORABLE: The Marriage Outside Of The Clan.
Without Any Consultation With His Parents.
He Married Into The Canaanites, Descendants Of Ham, The Profane Son Of Noah.
This Led To An Intermixture Of Clans And The Worship Of False gods.
MEMORABLE: The Determination To Take Revenge.
He Wanted Absolved Because He Was Not To Blame.
But Esau Was A Man Of Ungovernable Impulse.
But Esau Had No Fixed Principles.
However: God Was Going To Answer Jacob's Prayer.
God Was Already Breaking Down The Barriers.
Esau Prepared For A Full Reconciliation With His Brother.
Esau's Hot Impulses Were Quickly Cooled At The Sight Of His Brother.
They Actually Settled Their Differences Peacefully.
Esau's Warmheartedness Shines Out At This Point.
Now The Issue:
The Land Was Not Enough To Maintain Both Households.
Esau Took All That He Possessed.
Esau Went Into A Land Far Away From His Brother (Known Now As Edom).
The Two Ethnic Groups Were Kept Apart In All Ways Including Geographically.
ESAU'S CHARACTER.
MEMORABLE: The Mystery Of Human Nature As Illustrated In The Life Of Esau.
MEMORABLE: Esau Was Undoubted Attractive In His Temperament And Character.
He Seemed To Have A Happy And Bright Disposition.
Nothing Appeared To Worry Or Trouble Him.
He Seemed To Took Life Easy.
He Never Seemed Concerned With Its Shadows And Difficulties.
He Seemed To Have An Affectionate Disposition.
His Devotion To His Father Is Evident In The Narrative,
He Was Impulsive And Had The Elements Of Good.
He Was Capable Of Generous And Warmhearted Perspective.
His Attractiveness, However, Was Almost Entirely On The Surface.
Look Below The Surface: Find Much That Was Objectionable And Even Repulsive.
A Man Whose Life Was Very Worldly:
Purely Physical Desires And Tastes.
He Lived For Personal Enjoyment At The Present Moment.
He Was Prepared To Sacrifice Everything Else To Gratify His Own Desires.
To Barter His Birthright For Food.
To His Ill-Advised Marriage With Two Canaanitish Women.
We See How Entirely Earth-Bound He Was.
He Had No True Conception Of The Value Of Things Spiritual.
The Promises Of God Had Made No Impression On Him.
The Spiritual Ideas Associated With The Covenant Were As Nothing To Him.
He Was In Every Sense Worldly.
He Had Everything That The World Says Makes Someone Successful.
His Family Was Large And Powerful.
The Prototypical Natural Man Has Been Fruitful And Multiplied.
His Children Are Chiefs And His Legacy Complete.
BUT: No Part Of His Life Was Devoted To God.
This Was At The Root Of His Trouble.
God Was Not In All His Thoughts.
APPLICATION:
Example In The New Testament:
The Rich Young Ruler Who Came To Our Lord.
He Had The Advantages Of Age, Position, Wealth, Opportunity, Earnestness, And Even Moral Integrity.
And Yet When He Was Put To The Test.
He Revealed His Deliberate Unwillingness To Surrender To Christ.
He Was Unwilling To Allow The Lord Jesus To Be The Master Of His Life.
Divine Grace Is Absolutely Essential.
EXPERIENCE SHOWS THAT NOTHING BUT DIVINE GRACE
CAN GUARANTEE PERMANENT CHARACTER CHANGE.
"Without Me Ye Can Do Nothing" Is A Universal Truth.
No Education, Circumstances, Opportunity Can Change The HEART.
Most People Choose Earthly Treasure And Earthly Pleasure.
Most People Sacrifice The Spiritual Opportunity That Might Be And So Bring About Irrevocable Disaster.
Grace Is Needed For Character Change At Salvation.
That Explains Why Character Is Linked To One's Salvation.
That Explains Why A New Nature At Salvation Is Essential.
OPPORTUNITY COMES TO ALL.
God Intended Jacob To Inherit The Spiritual Blessings Of The Covenant.
Esau Had A Sufficient Opportunity Of Enjoying Blessing At God's Hands.
His Boyhood Was Spent At Home Under The Influence Of His Father And Mother,
It Is Evident He Became Aware When It Was Too Late For The Blessings That He Had Missed.
He Had Been Trained And Taught To Value Those Blessings.
He Deliberately Set Them Aside And Despised Them.
NO ONE CAN SAY HE HAD NO OPPORTUNITY OF SEEKING GOD IN RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Opportunity May Easily Be Lost Through Unfaithfulness.
When Esau Afterward Desired To Inherit The Blessing He Was Rejected.
For He Found No Way Of Changing His Father's Mind.
Though He Sought A Blessing Earnestly With Tears.
THE MERCY OF DIVINE GRACE.
We Are Encouraged By The Revelation Of God In Christ.
To Believe Divine Grace Can Do Much To Enable Us.
To Live With Godly Character.
We Never Can Be What We Otherwise Might Have Been.
BUT, Grace Can Do Much To Overrule Our Mistakes And Even Our Sins.
Esau Always Had To Be Content With God's Second Best.
APPLICATION:
It Is True That What Is Done Cannot Be Undone.
But It Is Equally True That What Is Done Can Be Mended By Divine Grace.
So Be Encouraged In Spite Of Our Past.
Live In God's Merciful And Loving Commands.
Know His Discipline Will Deal With Us Faithfully And Lovingly.
And In Spite Of All Our Sins And Shortcomings.
Bring Glory To His Name Out Of The Remnant Of Our Life.
Remembering The Past,
Trusting For The Present,
Hoping In Him For The Future.
For Many Success Is Found In What Our Children Achieve.
But Achievement Cannot Bear The Weight Of Eternity.
Only Living For Christ Gives Us A Purpose For Eternity.
Paul Says This To The Church In Philippi:
“I Consider Everything A Loss Because Of The Surpassing Worth Of Knowing Christ Jesus My Lord,
For Whose Sake I Have Lost All Things. I Consider Them Garbage, That I May Gain Christ”
(Philippians 3:8).
Paul Had The Worldly Success Every Pharisee Would Want.
He Had The Proper Standing In The Community.
But Once Paul Experienced Christ, Everything Changed.
Success And Standing Became Garbage Considering Christ.
Only Knowing Christ Has Surpassing Worth In This Life.
Esau Might Have Tasted Worldly Success But Knew Nothing Of The Beautiful Power Of Grace.
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