Tag Archives: jacob and esau

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; C.P. – Press In

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In Dr. James Dobson’s article “The Target of Sibling Rivalry is You,” Dobson says that siblings often fight to manipulate their parents’ behavior. This seems to be the case for biblical brothers Jacob and Esau. Through the years, Esau won his dad’s favor and Jacob won his mom’s, pitting one parent against the other.

Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him.

Genesis 32:11

Jacob and his mother Rebekah got what they wanted – Jacob acquired Esau’s birthright and blessing – but at a great cost. Jacob had to flee for his life from his brother. While away, he endured trials at the hands of his father-in-law, but God blessed him through it all. Though God told Jacob to return to his homeland and that He would bless him, Jacob feared his brother. That’s when he uttered today’s verse. God not only heard him but had already dealt with the problem before Jacob prayed. Both men had matured over the years and were able to love and forgive each other.

You can trust God’s promises, regardless how things appear or what has happened in the past. Prayerfully and boldly press in and claim God’s promises for your loved ones and this nation.

Recommended Reading: Hebrews 4:11-16

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – The Reluctant Patriarch

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John MacArthur

“By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come” (Heb. 11:20).

When you disobey God, you forfeit joy and blessing.

Isaac is a fascinating Old Testament character. He was Abraham’s long-awaited son, the covenant child, the child of promise. Yet aside from that, he was rather ordinary, passive, and quiet. Just over two chapters of Genesis center on him, whereas the other patriarchs (Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph) command about twelve chapters each.

In the final analysis, Isaac believed God and submitted to His will. But overall, his spiritual character seems more reluctant than resolute.

After a famine prompted Isaac to move his family to Gerar (a Philistine city on the border between Palestine and Egypt), he received a vision from the Lord. In it God passed on to Isaac the covenant promises He had made to Abraham: “Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. And I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 26:3-4).

You would think such promises would infuse Isaac with boldness and confidence, yet no sooner had he received them, then he lied to the men of Gerar about his wife, Rebekah, because he feared they might kill him to have her (v. 7).

It was only with great difficulty and prodding that the Lord finally brought Isaac into the Promised Land, where He once again repeated the covenant promises (vv. 23-24).

Later in his life Isaac even sought to bless his son Esau after Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob (25:33). Only after he realized that God’s choice of Jacob was irreversible did Isaac acquiesce.

Isaac is a vivid reminder of how believers can forfeit joy and blessing by disobeying God. But he’s also a reminder of God’s faithfulness—even toward reluctant saints.

Is your obedience reluctant or resolute?

Suggestions for Prayer

  • Thank God for His unwavering faithfulness to you.
  • Seek His forgiveness when your obedience is reluctant or withheld altogether.
  • Ask Him to teach you to love Him in the same unwavering, resolute way He loves you.

For Further Study

Read of Isaac in Genesis 25:19—26:34.

John MacArthur

John MacArthur –Defeating Death

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John MacArthur

“By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come. By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones” (Heb. 11:20-22).

Faith triumphs over death.

Commentator Matthew Henry said, “Though the grace of faith is of universal use throughout the Christian’s life, yet it is especially so when we come to die. Faith has its great work to do at the very last, to help believers to finish well, to die to the Lord so as to honor Him, by patience, hope and joy so as to leave a witness behind them of the truth of God’s Word and the excellency of His ways.”

God is honored when His people die triumphantly. When we’ve lived a life to His glory, and joyfully left the world behind to enter into His presence for all eternity, He is pleased, for “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones” (Ps. 116:15).

Many believers who have dreaded facing death have experienced a special measure of God’s grace that made their final hours the sweetest and most precious of their lives.

Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph are examples of men who faced death with great faith and confidence. Each “died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (Heb. 11:13). They hadn’t seen all God’s promises fulfilled, but by faith they passed them on to their children.

These men didn’t have perfect faith. Joseph was exemplary, but Isaac and Jacob often vacillated in their walk with God. Yet each ended his life triumphantly. That’s the reward of all who trust God and cling to His promises.

Like every believer before you, you haven’t seen the fulfillment of all God’s promises. But certainly you’ve seen far more than Isaac, Jacob, or Joseph did. How much more then should you trust God and encourage those who follow you to do the same?

Suggestions for Prayer; Thank God for His marvelous grace, which triumphs over sin and death.

For Further Study; Read the final words of Jacob and Joseph in Genesis 48:1—49:33 and 50:22-26.

 

 

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team;  G.C.  – Twins

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Can you name all the twins in the Bible? When you get past Jacob and Esau, and Thomas and his unnamed sibling, also consider looking for spiritual twins. Consider how grace and mercy look similar…and then think about joy and generosity. Many believe generosity and joy are so deeply connected that neither can be understood fully apart from the other. Have you ever authentically given without feeling a quiet sense of joy? Or have you ever experienced great gladness without an element of another’s generosity?

And day by day…they received their food with glad and generous hearts.

Acts 2:46

The connection between joy and generosity is not only rooted throughout Scripture, it stands as the center piece of the gospel itself. Hebrews 12 describes Jesus as the most lavish gift giver of all time – in that He gave His perfect self to be sacrificed for sin, and He viewed His own generosity as a “joy set before him.” (Hebrews 12:2)

Could you use a bit more joy today? Look around. Discern the places or people in America that need your generosity. Pray for the courage to let go and give of your time and talents to meet the needs of others. Then get ready for a twin sighting, for joy is on its way.

Recommended Reading: II Corinthians 9:6-15

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – Jacob and Esau

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CharlesSpurgeon

“Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” Romans 9:13

Suggested Further Reading: Ezekiel 33:11-20

My soul revolts at the idea of a doctrine that lays the blood of man’s soul at God’s door. I cannot conceive how any human mind, at least any Christian mind, can hold any such blasphemy as that. I delight to preach this blessed truth—salvation of God, from first to last—the Alpha and the Omega; but when I come to preach damnation, I say, damnation is of man, not of God; and if you perish, at your own hands must your blood be required. There is another passage. At the last great day, when all the world shall come before Jesus to be judged, have you noticed, when the righteous go on the right side, Jesus says, “Come, ye blessed of my Father,”—(“of my Father,” mark,)—“inherit the kingdom prepared”—(mark the next word)—“for you, from before the foundation of the world.” What does he say to those on the left? “Depart, ye cursed.” He does not say, “ye cursed of my Father,” but, “ye cursed.” And what else does he say? “into everlasting fire, prepared”—(not for you, but)—“for the devil and his angels.” Do you see how it is guarded. Here is the salvation side of the question. It is all of God. “Come, ye blessed of my Father.” It is a kingdom prepared for them. There you have election, free grace in all its length and breadth. But, on the other hand, you have nothing said about the Father—nothing about that at all. “Depart, ye cursed.” Even the flames are said not to be prepared for sinners, but for the devil and his angels. There is no language that I can possibly conceive that could more forcibly express this idea, supposing it to be the mind of the Holy Spirit, that the glory should be to God, and that the blame should be laid at man’s door.

For meditation: For meditation: The love of God towards a sinful Jacob should surprise us more than the hatred of God towards a sinful Esau.

Sermon no. 239

13 October (Preached 16 January 1859)

 

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The Reluctant Patriarch

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“By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come” (Heb. 11:20).

Isaac is a fascinating Old Testament character. He was Abraham’s long-awaited son, the covenant child, the child of promise. Yet aside from that, he was rather ordinary, passive, and quiet. Just over two chapters of Genesis center on him, whereas the other patriarchs (Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph) command about twelve chapters each.

In the final analysis, Isaac believed God and submitted to His will. But overall, his spiritual character seems more reluctant than resolute.

After a famine prompted Isaac to move his family to Gerar (a Philistine city on the border between Palestine and Egypt), he received a vision from the Lord. In it God passed on to Isaac the covenant promises He had made to Abraham: “Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. And I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 26:3-4).

You would think such promises would infuse Isaac with boldness and confidence, yet no sooner had he received them, then he lied to the men of Gerar about his wife, Rebekah, because he feared they might kill him to have her (v. 7).

It was only with great difficulty and prodding that the Lord finally brought Isaac into the Promised Land, where He once again repeated the covenant promises (vv. 23-24).

Later in his life Isaac even sought to bless his son Esau after Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob (25:33). Only after he realized that God’s choice of Jacob was irreversible did Isaac acquiesce.

Isaac is a vivid reminder of how believers can forfeit joy and blessing by disobeying God. But he’s also a reminder of God’s faithfulness–even toward reluctant saints.

Is your obedience reluctant or resolute?

Suggestions for Prayer:  Thank God for His unwavering faithfulness to you.

Seek His forgiveness when your obedience is reluctant or withheld altogether.

Ask Him to teach you to love Him in the same unwavering, resolute way He loves you.

For Further Study:  Read of Isaac in Genesis 25:19–26:34.

Uncategorized

Defeating Death

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“By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come. By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones” (Heb. 11:20-22).

Commentator Matthew Henry said, “Though the grace of faith is of universal use throughout the Christian’s life, yet it is especially so when we come to die. Faith has its great work to do at the very last, to help believers to finish well, to die to the Lord so as to honor Him, by patience, hope and joy so as to leave a witness behind them of the truth of God’s Word and the excellency of His ways.”

God is honored when His people die triumphantly. When we’ve lived a life to His glory, and joyfully left the world behind to enter into His presence for all eternity, He is pleased, for “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones” (Ps. 116:15).

Many believers who have dreaded facing death have experienced a special measure of God’s grace that made their final hours the sweetest and most precious of their lives.

Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph are examples of men who faced death with great faith and confidence. Each “died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (Heb. 11:13). They hadn’t seen all God’s promises fulfilled, but by faith they passed them on to their children.

These men didn’t have perfect faith. Joseph was exemplary, but Isaac and Jacob often vacillated in their walk with God. Yet each ended his life triumphantly. That’s the reward of all who trust God and cling to His promises.

Like every believer before you, you haven’t seen the fulfillment of all God’s promises. But certainly you’ve seen far more than Isaac, Jacob, or Joseph did. How much more then should you trust God and encourage those who follow you to do the same?

Suggestions for Prayer:   Thank God for His marvelous grace, which triumphs over sin and death.

For Further Study: Read the final words of Jacob and Joseph in Genesis 48:1–49:33 and 50:22-26.