Scripture: Genesis 25:19-26

C.I.: A Family's Tragedy: Division

Last week… - Today we will focus on a situation that is all too common in many American homes, division .
Sadly, for the generation following Abraham, there is plenty of division to go around.

•  The Extent of the Division, (Genesis 25:27-34)

•  The Divided Loyalties of the Parents, (vs. 27-28)

•  ( vs. 27-28 ), “When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field; - but Jacob became a peaceful man, living in tents. – Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for game; - but Rebekah loved Jacob.”

•  After their birth, the first thing we hear about this family is a serious problem… favoritism !

•  The greatest thing Isaac had to give his sons - was the covenant God had given to Abraham, ( Gen. 12:2, 7 ), “I will make you a great nation & I will bless you and make your name great … to your descendants I will give this land.”

•  All fathers should be concerned - about the spiritual welfare of all their children, ( Eph. 6:4 ).

•  Yet Isaac is more concerned about his own physical desires – and played favorites w/sons.

•  Rebekah is also guilty of favoritism.

•  Perhaps it is because of her own ambition – that Rebekah loved Jacob more than Esau, for God had told her, “…the older shall serve the younger,” ( Gen. 25:23 ).

•  While Isaac was choosing Esau - “Prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die,” ( Gen. 27:4 ) - Rebekah's favoritism caused her to willfully seek to deceive her husband – so that her favorite could be blessed. – ( Gen. 27:8ff ), “Listen to me my son and do as I command you…!”

•  While each parent may have believed they were doing what was best for their children – yet Isaac's lust for food & Rebekah's ambition caused both of them - to divide the family.

•  Is it possible that we guilty of the same thing?

•  Do we push our children to succeed – at what they want – or for what we want?

•  Would they say – we care more for their physical welfare or their spiritual welfare? – (I.E., do we teach them how to “make a living” – or how to “make a life”?!!!)

•  Parental rule to remember - “Love each child equally – just not the same!”

•  This is how God loves!

•  ( Matt. 5:45 ), “God causes His sun to rise on the evil AND the good, and sends His rain….”

•  God makes His spiritual blessings available to everyone – ( Jn. 3:16 ), “For God so loved….”

•  Yet for those who receive His blessings, these He treates differently - ( Eph. 1:3 ), “Blessed be the God … who has blessed US with every spiritual blessing….”

•  “How do we reconcile this?” you may wonder - ( Rom. 2:13, 15 ), “No partiality…for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law will be justified.”

•  The Divided Loyalties of the Children, (vs. 29-34)

•  ( v. 29 ), “And when Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field & he was famished.”

•  The things the sons were “hungry” for – is what divides them:

•  Esau is hungry for the world.

•  His first love is for worldly pursuits (hunting, outdoors, etc.)

•  He has no time for his father's business.

•  The covenant of God that his father had received – was of little importance to Esau.

•  Jacob's hunger is for family & God.

•  He stays close to the tents – i.e., the workers, duties, and affairs of the family.

•  He also heard about God's covenant – yet Jacob was as famished for the covenant of God as Esau was for food.

•  ( vs. 30-33 ), “Esau said to Jacob, ‘Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.' . – But Jacob said, ‘Sell me your birthright.' – And Esau said, ‘Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?' – And Jacob said, ‘First swear to me'; so Esau swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.”

•  Both Jacob & Esau came from same family – but notice the difference in their character…

•  Esau cared more about the physical than the spiritual :

•  “I am famished!” – His physical needs were uppermost in his mind.

•  How many today are hypnotized by their focus on the physical??

•  ( I Cor. 2:14 ), “A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; - for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are….”

•  ( Matt. 13:22 ), “The one on whom the seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of….”

•  Yet God says, “Seek FIRST God's kingdom and His righteousness, and all these….”

•  Esau cared more about the present than the future :

•  “I am about to die; so of what use then is my birthright to me?”

•  ( I Cor. 15:32 ), “If the dead are not raised, let us eat & drink, for tomorrow we die.”

•  ( II Cor. 5:10 ), “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for their deeds in the body, according to what they have done….”

•  ( Jms. 4:14 ), “You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow, you are like….”

•  ( v. 34 ), “Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. – Thus, Esau despised his birthright.”

•  Esau weighed God's blessings against a bowl of soup – and he valued the soup more highly!

•  This wasn't a spur of the moment decision – this was who Esau had become!

•  CHOICES (thoughts, words, actions) demonstrate our character, ( Heb. 12:16 ), “See to it that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.”

•  ( II Thess. 1:7-8 ), “When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels….”

•  What do our choices say about us? – In what direction is our character leading us/our children?

•  Fortunately, as we make new, different choices – it changes our character & our destiny!

•  ( Ezk. 18:23 ), “Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked – rather that he should turn from his wicked ways and live?”

•  ( Acts 2:36-38 ), “Let all the house of Israel know for certain, that God has made Him….”