· Sometimes, we can forget that God is still Sovereign over even the largest storms.
· At times we can dwell so much on the potential trial or problem and focus so much on the storm that we lose focus on God who is bigger than the largest storm.
· At other times, we can fail to turn to God in the midst of the storm.
· Or we can become numb to the news of the storm and be unaffected by the potential suffering and difficulty and loss and fail to turn to God in faith
· We can be overly aware of problems
· We can be overly aware of the storm clouds brewing and start to worry and be anxious.
· We can see the rain coming and the lightening flashing and hear the wind roar and forget that we serve a God who is over all and who is faithful over every area of our lives.
· But even the largest storms in our lives are nothing in comparison to God
· Even as Christians who have been made born again by God now, we can forget that it is God who chose us and called us out of darkness – just like He called Abraham (and called him out of a dark land) – we can forget that God has always been faithful.
· And we can forget that as Christians, we are called to live by faith in Him. Not perfect faith – not a faith that earns anything but a faith that is aware of God and dependent upon God, even in the midst of failing – even when we don’t feel like we have any faith on our own.
Main Idea: The God who chooses us is always faithful and calls us to faith in Him
1. God is faithful to His promises· We see God’s faithfulness to Abraham throughout the generations
Genesis 12:1-3 "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
· In these verses of Genesis 25, we see the culmination of God’s promises to Abraham.
· Abraham had been blessed in every way God had promised and his life had been good and full of years – there was nothing left for him to do – his mission was completed and he had lived a full and prosperous life.
· Even in the listing of the sons of the concubine Keturah, it is clear that God truly made Abraham a father of many nations.
· And we read in these genealogies, that God had not just been faithful to Abraham, He was faithful to Hagar
Genesis 16:10 "I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude."
· Now, we see that her offspring had indeed become a multitude and Hagar is honored by name here in verse 12 – to show that God was faithful to His promise to her
· God was faithful to the promise about Ishmael back in Genesis 17:20
Genesis 17:20 “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation.”
Genesis 25:16 These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages and by their encampments, twelve princes according to their tribes.
· Despite all of the failings of Abraham, despite the trials, despite the hardships, despite weakness, despite sin – God is consistently faithful to His promises.
· Every Word of God is faithful and true and the genealogies in this chapter of Genesis are far from throw-away verses or verses to be skipped over quickly and now onto the good stuff.· These verses are a testimony. They are a memorial and they are a monument to the unrelenting faithfulness of God.
· On this side of the New Testament, we know that all the families of the earth have been blessed through the seed of Abraham , in Jesus Christ.
· And if you are a Christian, you have the privilege of continuing to be a part of fulfilling God’s promise, as you share the gospel and live a life that is a blessing to your nation.
2. God’s promises are given by His Sovereign Grace
· This passage is very clear that God’s promise and His calling do not come through human effort or by earning any favor with God – it is clear that God’s promises are given by His Sovereign Grace. · God did not choose Abram because he was a great man or because of anything he had done
· Instead, it was because God chose him, Abram became Abraham, and Abraham became great because God chose to bless him at times despite him
· God poured out His grace – His undeserved favor on Abraham and Sarah and gave a barren old woman children.
· God sovereignly over-ruled the limitations of her body to give her a child supernaturally in Isaac
· Ishmael was the firstborn – but God in His Sovereignty over-ruled human convention and human methods and God called Isaac to be the heir of the promise even before he was born.
· God sovereignly gives barren Rebekah a child.
· The marriage was clearly set up and ordained by God. Rebekah was an industrious woman of great character and integrity and she responded to the work of God with great faith.
· Isaac was the chosen and ordained heir of God and God hand-picked Rebekah for him
· But despite their character and despite them both being chosen by God to have children - Rebekah was still barren.
· She was barren so that God could demonstrate His Sovereign Grace.
· And, Isaac and Rebekah needed to learn the lessons of faith for themselves and they needed to understand that the promise does not come through natural but supernatural seed.
· This marriage was clearly from God in order to provide children of the promise that He had made with Abraham and yet, God did not provide children until they relied on Him, looked to Him and prayed that the LORD would grant them children.
· This whole story shows the overarching, sovereign grace of God as He chose Jacob.
“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."
· The LORD had already chosen Jacob over Ishmael, even before they were born – before they had done anything either good or bad.
· We see God’s prior choosing of His people in this verse, which the apostle Paul later uses to demonstrate God’s divine election of His chosen race.
Romans 9:8, 10-16 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring…. 10 And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad- in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of his call- 12 she was told, "The older will serve the younger." 13 As it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." 14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
"certainly, here Paul seems to have caught well the spirit of Genesis. There is no disguising the failures of the chosen line. Noah stumbles, Abraham goes astray more than once. Isaac and Rebekah are partisan. Jacob is at times positively obnoxious., and the author of Genesis does not disguise his disapproval of such conduct. Yet despite their sinfulness, God’s chosen are preserved and blessed. God’s saving purpose is not thwarted by human weakness, though it may be delayed. God chooses the patriarchs not because they are particularly loveable characters but because of His declared intention that in them all the families of the earth should find blessing. So the patriarchs emerge from Scripture not as lily-white heroes but as real men of flesh and blood, red in tooth and claw. And with them and their failings, everyone can identify.” – Gordon Wenham
· God’s ordering of the history of the patriarchs, is meant to show us that God controls our history as well· The Sovereign choice of God is meant to give us hope – not in ourselves but in God who is always faithful to His promises and who brings about His plans through his people.
John 15:16, 19 “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you…. but I chose you out of the world..."
· The reversal of inheritance from Esau to Jacob by God’s decree brings hope. Because without the sovereign grace of God, there would be no hope for change – only the law and justice but no hope.
· Because of the grace of God that is contrary to human earning or merit, we have hope for change in our lives.· These verses are also meant to help us not fall into the temptation to think that we can earn God’s grace in any way.
Galatians 3:2-3 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
· It is obvious in the stories of the patriarchs that they all failed. Abraham failed many times and Isaac and Jacob failed too.· In these verses, Jacob was a shrewd, conniving, unkind and stingy man – who sought to manipulate his brother to get the promise –but God still poured out His grace on him.
· And we need to see that not even our failures keep God’s grace from us. When we fail, we are meant to immediately turn to God and to go into His throne room with the righteousness of Christ on, (even when we are guilty in ourselves), precisely so that we can receive more mercy and more grace to help us in our time of need.
3. We cause problems when we don’t act in faith
· The product of Abraham’s faithlessness was many years of problems. Abraham’s descendants from Hagar and the concubine Keturah caused problems for Israel for hundreds of years· God in His grace and goodness worked all of Abraham’s mistakes and sin for the good of His people ultimately – to test them and refine them and make them see their need for Him.
· But humanly speaking, many of the problems Israel faced were the result of Abraham’s acts of faithlessness
· Jacob took advantage of his brother and used the situation to get what he wanted.
· Although Jacob had faith that God’s promises were true – he didn’t trust God to make them true for him, apart from his own sinful manipulation.
· This planted the seeds of bitterness in the brothers’ relationship and we will see later, it led to serious and lasting conflict for them and their descendants.
· In verse 29-31, we have a short picture of who Esau was. He was a rough man who lived by his senses.
· His desire for food wasn’t wrong and even him asking for stew wasn’t bad – but he was willing to give up what was truly good for him and what was most precious for a fleeting moment of physical gratification.
· Esau foolishly gives up the only thing of lasting and eternal value that he had – his birthright as the heir to the promise - for just a bowl of stew.
· Clearly, Esau only has contempt for his family inheritance and despises his birthright.
· He is not only selling his inheritance, he is giving up pursuit of the promise of God and the blessing of God – and Esau doesn’t seem to care.
· He doesn’t care because he lacks faith – he lives by his senses and he can only see the here and now and all he knows is that it seems like he is going to just die if he doesn’t get food.
· So, instead of looking to God and trusting God, he does the unthinkable and gives up God’s promises in order to eat and be satisfied now.
· And this is meant to be a warning to us, so that we would not just seek to eat of the things of the flesh and be satisfied now
Hebrews 12:15-16 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.
· In the end, Esau was found unholy and he failed because he gave up all of God’s promises for a single meal· Like Esau, the temptation for us to give into our desires often comes when we are tired and we feel like we deserve some rest – some relaxation – some gratification.
· Perhaps you are tempted to live this way by indulging in pornography or maybe you get drunk to drown your sorrows or take drugs illicitly to ease your pain or maybe you overeat to feel better or maybe you under-eat to feel better about yourself?
· Maybe it isn’t anything so transparent or obvious for you.
· Maybe you are tempted to just be self-indulgent and lazy because you are exhausted and you sit around while your spouse serves you.
· Kids – maybe you are tempted to be lazy and waste time because you just want to be entertained and have fun – and you don’t serve your parents and your family or you give up the opportunity to learn and grow through studying for fleeting fun now.
· Parents, maybe you are like me and you live by your senses in your parenting and parent out of convenience at times – getting angry or impatient when the kids don’t make things easy on you and you are led by your senses and parent by doing what is expedient and not what will bring real and good fruit.
· There is great hope for us though. Not only is there no condemnation for us who are in Christ Jesus, we serve the same great Redeemer that treats us according to His grace (just like Abraham and Isaac and Jacob did).
4. We receive God’s promises through faith.
· Isaac prayed in faith for almost 20 years despite Rebekah’s barrenness· Rebekah’s barrenness was no judgment from God though; it was all in His divine plan. God was testing Isaac’s faith and he passed the test.
· Unlike his father and those after him, he did not resort to multiple wives or concubines to bring about God’s plan.
· For us, at times, God allows us to wait so that He can test and ultimately strengthen our faith in Him, because He wants us to live a life that is dependent on Him for our good.
· In the end, our goal is to be able to say with Paul,
2 Timothy 4:7-8 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
· We will be rewarded not according to what job we had or how much money we made but according to our faithfulness in fighting the good fight, finishing the race and keep the faith.· Rebekah sought God in faith, despite excruciating pain once she had conceived. Rebekah prayed when she experienced difficulty and hardship.
· She was obviously a God-fearing woman, who expected God to help and answer her prayer in faith.
· Rebekah asked a question that almost every human asks “ why is this happening to me?”. But she sought meaning for her life in God.
· They received children of the promise by the grace of God that came through faith
· We see that Jacob too had faith in the real promises of God, even though it was flawed
· There is absolutely no excuse for Jacob’s unkindness and calculating manipulation of Esau and it brought many problems. But in the end, Jacob had faith in God, even though it was corrupted by sin and he received the promises of God – even though he didn’t deserve to.
· God’s purposes prevail, even when we don’t understand them.
“God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs,
And works His sovereign will.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dreadAre big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain."
-William Cowper
· Even in the midst of barrenness, suffering, hardship, relational problems and our own failings, we can hope in the sovereign grace of God and receive His promises by faith – because He is a faithful God· We can rest in God and trust in Him knowing God who calls us to faith in Him has chosen us and he is always faithful.
Potential Application Questions:
1. How does knowing that God chose you and called you before you chose Him give you confidence in His grace?2. Are there any areas where we feel like our failures keep us from God’s grace? If so, what is the remedy for this?
3. Is there any area where you can be tempted to try to get the good things you believe are rightfully yours through your own efforts?
4. What areas are you tempted to give into your passions – your fleshly desires or senses – thinking that they are all that matters – as if you are going to die if you don’t get what you feel you need?
5. Where is God prompting you to turn and receive His promises through faith?
6. How does seeing that God is faithful to His promises, generation after generation, encourage you to faith in Him?
7. How is God calling you to trust in Him in the midst of the storms of life?
8. How can you practically encourage one another and build one another up in God’s grace? (1 Thess. 5:11 & 5:14)
