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Sermons from the
Book of Genesis |
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Rebekah and Isaac wanted a baby. They begin to seek God for a baby. God heard and answered their prayer. He not only gave them a baby, but blessed them with two babies. Rebekah found herself giving birth to twin boys. We read in Genesis 25: 24, “And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.” Someone has said that a perfect example of minority rule is a baby in the house. Isaac and Rebekah found themselves with two little rulers in the house. Yet these twin boys were not identical twins. They were un-identical twins. They were different in looks, likes, and loves.
It is the difference between these twin boys that provide us a important truth that needs to be understood by every believer. We read in Gal.5:17, “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” Esau and Jacob are a type of this conflict that is going on in every believers life. Esau is a type of the flesh and Jacob is a type of the Spirit. Esau is representative of the man who walks after the flesh and Jacob is representative of the man who walks after the Spirit.
Hebrew legend has it that while Jacob and Esau were still in their mothers womb, Jacob said to Esau, “My brother, there are two worlds before us, this world and the world to come. In this world men eat and drink and traffic and marry and bring up sons and daughters; but all this does not take place in the world to come. If you like, take this world and I will take the other.” Legend goes that Esau was well content to take this world.
Let’s notice these un-identical twins and consider the important truth they typify and represent. First, notice with me:
1. A WAR WITH THE FLESH THAT IS PICTURED
The Apostle Paul described a war that rages in every believer in Romans 7:21-23: "I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” Paul described 2 laws that existed within him. Paul was saying that there was something in him that made him want to do what was right. But there was another law that warred in his members. When he desired to do good, there was something in him that asserted itself against the doing of good. Something in him pulled him to do good and something in him pulled him to do wrong and each of these was trying to suppress the other.
What is Paul talking about? He is talking about a war that goes on in every believer. It is a war between the flesh and the Spirit. We see these laws and the war between them pictured in Esau and Jacob. Notice with me:
A. The Individual Characteristics Of These Twins
We read in Genesis 25:23, "And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger." God told Rebekah that there were two nations in her womb. He was saying that each would be a leader of their own people. He also described these twins as “two manner of people.” He was saying that they even though they were twins, they would be totally different.
We see in their individual characteristics how different they were. First there was Esau. We read of his birth in Genesis 25:25: "And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau." The first of the twins that was born was Esau. Esau was born with a ruddy complexion and I can imagine a head full of red hair. In fact, he had red hair all over him like a hairy coat. He was in every sense a reddish baby. John Phillips in his commentary on Genesis says, “He looked more like a baby animal than anything else, all covered with hair.” I don’t think the neighbors were "oohing" and "aahing" and talking about what a pretty baby he was.
Esau is a type of the flesh. He was born first. Man is born physically before he is born spiritually. Red is symbolic of the Adamic nature, the old man. The name “Adam” mean “red.” Hair in the Bible is symbolic of natural energy. Esau is symbolic of the flesh and the man who lives after the flesh and in his own energy.
Then there was Jacob. We read of his birth in Genesis 25:26: "And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them." We are not told what Jacob looked like, but the description of Esau’s appearance would seem to suggest they looked nothing alike. Verse 28 tells us that Isaac loved Esau and Rebekah loved Jacob. Isaac was drawn to Esau and Rebekah was drawn to Jacob. When the neighbors came over Isaac said, “Come here and look at my little mountain man. Check out that beard.” Rebekah said to everybody, “Look at Jacob. Doesn’t he have the cutest dimples.”
Jacob is a type of the Spirit and the man who lives after the Spirit. He is a type of the new man. We read in Genesis 25:27, "And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents." The word “plain” means “upright” or “pure.” Jacob was not a perfect man, for we will see that he had his faults. But he did have a heart for the spiritual while Esau only had a heart for the physical.
These un-identical twins represent the distinction between the flesh and the Spirit. There is that which is drawn to the earthly and that which is drawn to the eternal. There is the old man with physical interests and there is the new man with spiritual interests. We also see:
B. The Intense Conflict Of These Twins
Now brothers are going to fight. If you have more than one child in the house, there will be war. But these brothers were fighting before they ever got here. Before there was ever war in the world there was war in the womb. Notice Genesis 25:22, "And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the Lord." The word “struggle” means to “break in pieces.” There was a Tyson-Holyfield fight going on even while they were in the womb. There was an intense struggle going on between these brothers.
Notice Genesis 25:26, "And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them." When Esau was born even then Jacob was trying to trip his brother and make him fall.
This struggle reminds us of the conflict and war that is going on in the life of every believer. Again I refer to Galatians 5:17, "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." The “lusteth” means “to set the heart upon.” It speaks of a strong desire. What Paul is saying is that the flesh longs to control us and at the same time the Spirit longs to control us. There is a constant war going on for that control.
Again I refer to Romans 7:23, "But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." The word “warring” literally means to attack. When there is a desire to do good, that desire is attacked by the flesh and there is a pull to do wrong. There is an intense struggle going on in each believer.
James said in James 4:1, "From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?" There is that part of us that is still attracted to the world and all that is therein. That’s why certain things tempt us, entice us, and lure us. But on the other hand there is that part of us that longs to do what is right. There is that part of us which is attracted to spiritual things. There is a part of us that is drawn to the things of God.
I heard about a woman that came home with an expensive dress. Her husband was irate. He said, “Why did you buy that expensive dress. You know we didn’t have the money.” The wife said, “The devil made me do it. He said it looked good on me.” The husband said, “Why didn’t you tell the devil to get behind you?” She replied, “I did and he said it looked good from behind too.”
There is a war going on for control. It was a struggle that begin the moment we were saved. It will not end until we get to heaven. The Esau of our life wants control and the Jacob of our life wants control. Furthermore, notice:
B. The Inverted Conditions Of These Twins
Things were totally reversed or inverted when it came to these twins. We read in Notice Genesis 25:23, "And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger." Since Esau was the first-born he was the one entitled to the rights and privileges of the first-born. But God reversed the order and declared that Jacob would receive the privileges and rights of the first-born. The elder was to serve the younger, and the younger was to be the stronger than the older. We are reminded that God’s plan is that spiritual is to be the strong one in our life, not the flesh. The new man is rule over the old man. The believer is to triumph over the flesh, not the flesh triumph over the believer.
Many believers instead of living victoriously in the Spirit are living defeated in the flesh. Instead of mastering they are mastered. Instead of being a victor they are a victim. In this struggle for mastery, the second born (new man) is to rule over the first-born (old man).
Secondly, notice:
2. A WALK IN THE FLESH THAT IS PRESENTED
We see pictured in Esau and Jacob the war that is going on in our life for control. Now we see presented an example of one that walked controlled by the flesh. The story is a familiar one in the Bible. It is the story of an expensive bowl of stew. It is the story of Esau selling his birthright for a bowl of pottage. He gave up the spiritual to satisfy the physical.
As we look at Esau we see that he:
A. Lacked A Control Over The Physical
The Bible describes how Esau had been out hunting and he comes in from the field and he is starved to death. Jacob had a pot of stew on and Esau said to him, “Give me a bowl of that stew.” Jacob means “schemer.” He knew that he had been chosen by God over Esau so instead of waiting on God to work things out, he begins scheming and says, “I tell you what. Sell me your birthright and I will give you a bowl.” We know the story of how Esau sold his birthright for bread and pottage of lentiles.
I want you to get the picture. Esau is hungry. His stomach is crying out, “Feed me!” His hunger speaks of the physical and his birthright speaks of the spiritual. But in Esau’s case, the physical had a stronger pull on him than the spiritual. The flesh was the dominant desire in his life. His flesh cries, “Feed me,” and he feeds the flesh at the expense of the spiritual. Instead of Esau controlling the flesh, the flesh controlled him.
The Bible teaches us that man is a house of 3 rooms: Body, Soul, and Spirit. Our Body is the visible part of our house. It is the part of us that is seen by others. By it we relate to the world around us. We see, touch, taste, feel, etc., by our bodies. Our Soul is an unseen room. Our soul is that part of us that contains our nature and our personality. It consists primarily of mind, emotion, and will. In reality, the soul is the real us living in our bodies. When you look at me you see my house or body, not the real me.
Woodrow Wilson’s favorite limerick went like this:
I know how ugly I are, I know my face ain’t no star, But I don’t mind it, Cause I’m behind it; It’s the fellow in front Who gets the jar.
Our Spirit is that part of man that brings him in contact with God. By our spirit we relate to God and He relates to us. It is this that makes man different from all other creation. A flower has a body but no soul or spirit. A dog has a body and soul but no spirit. Only man has a body, soul, and spirit.
Paul had this 3 room house or this trichotomy in mind in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” If I were to ask you what are the three rooms of man, most would say, “Body, soul, and spirit,” and in that order. But notice carefully that God’s order is spirit, soul, body. It is when this order is reversed that we have trouble.
In Esau’s case, he lived in the order of body, soul, and spirit. His body was in control thus his decisions, his mind, his will, and emotions were influenced by what the body wanted. His body controlled his soul. God’s order is spirit, soul, and body. The spirit is to influence the soul, thus the body is a servant to the spirit. Our soul will always be controlled by either the body or the spirit. It all depends on which is first in our life.
The Spirit will say on Sunday night, “Go to Church.” But the body says, “This is my only day off and I need to rest.” The Spirit says “Read your Bible,” but the body says, “I’m tired and need to go to bed.” The Spirit says, “Turn that channel,” but the body says, “I like this.” The Spirit says, “Don’t do that, it grieves God,” but the body says, “Do that, it makes me happy.” The spiritual is to control the physical, not the physical control the spiritual. There is to be a control over the physical. In Esau’s case he lacked this control, thus yielded to what the flesh wanted. The result was, the spiritual was sacrificed for the physical.
We also see that Esau:
B. Lacked A Concern For The Spiritual
Notice Hebrews 12:16-17: "Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears." Here we are given great insight into the heart and character of Esau. Verse 16 says that for one morsel of meat he sold his birthright. He lacked a control over the physical. Why? Hebrews tells us that he lacked a concern for the spiritual. In Esau’s case there were not desires that were mastering but there were desires that were missing. In the first place he was unfaithful to God. Verse 16 speaks of him as a fornicator. We get our word “pornography” from this word. It is a word that can either speak of physical or spiritual adultery.
In the case of Esau I believe it speaks of spiritual adultery. He was unfaithful to God. He was having an affair with the world and being unfaithful to God. (Cp. James 4:4) In the second place he had little concern for the things of God. We also read in verse 16 that he was a profane person. The word does not suggest that he was a out-right wicked man. No, I would think that Esau was the kind of person you would want for your next door neighbor. The word speaks of the secular verses the spiritual. Someone who has a desire for the world rather than a desire for God.
Esau lacked a desire for spiritual things. The things of eternal value had little interest for him. The things of God had little attraction for him. He is the kind of person who would attend Church on Sunday morning but have no desire to come back on Sunday night or Wednesday night. He was the kind of person that never had a desire to read and study God’s Word or pray. He never had a desire to serve God. The reason he lacked a control over the physical was because he lacked a concern for the spiritual. Notice Genesis 25:32: "And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?" To him the spiritual was of little profit. It was the physical that meant the most to him.
Esau is an example of a someone who walks after the flesh instead of after the Spirit. What does God say? Galatians 5:17 tells us to walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh! There is a war with the flesh. There is a walk in the flesh. How are you doing? |