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All right, so a sermon for this evening We were obviously focusing on Genesis 25 here and what we see in Genesis 25 is the the birth of Jacob and Esau And that's going to be what we're gonna be spending some time on this evening. He's just talking about Jacob and Esau Probably more on Esau than Jacob So we're looking at more of more places where we compare scripture here that is bringing up Esau Jacob is Has a lot that you can talk about Jacob is a real major carrier Character in the scripture and his name is changed from Jacob to Israel Right, and there's a lot of things that we go into on that So this is gonna have more to do what I'm teaching on this evening is more to do about Jacob and Esau individually as well as the the greater meanings and teachings that God brings us Through their lives, so this is gonna be very similar to the way that in Galatians it explains Abraham and The you know, the son of the concubine Ishmael versus Isaac right and we get a little bit of that here but but this in a similar context how the Bible says that you have agar and Sinai and you know, the things are an allegory between the bond woman and The free woman between Sarah and Hagar and and and God's Divinely giving you know The writers of the New Testament giving the Apostle Paul in that instance in Galatians You know the the the full understanding of why those some of these stories are even contained in Scripture Right. There's as I mentioned this morning. There's always a reason why things are Here it's not just it's not just to record facts the the The whole story with Abraham is more than just to record facts. There's teaching and there's multiple layers of understanding that God has contained in the scripture I Mean if you just take that the story with Abraham and Sarah and and Hagar right You can look at that story and say we've got the meaning of You know just the faith that Abraham had and in responding to the promise of God and having a lapse of faith and in trying To do things just through his own means and trying to interpret what God might have meant by by him having a child and thinking that he Had to get involved in having a child outside of with Sarah and everything else and and you know All those different influences and the thing like that. That's one reason why that story is Contained in Scripture and you can learn a lot from just those events in that light or in that context But then even more broadly than that when you go to Galatians you start to see wow there's even more here that goes further in the detail as to you know, the the bond woman versus the free woman because Hagar was there was their bond made and and you know All of this teaching that you get it's between the child of promise and the child of the flesh Which then relates to the law versus grace and there's so many other layers that you get into When you read about these stories, so it's not just simply a matter of historical fact, even though they factually all Happened right. It's these weren't just made up stories in order to teach that but God is able to bring the truth Through these stories. So we're going to do something similar. We're looking at Jacob and Esau Okay, because there's greater teaching that goes on and and more understanding that we get especially in the New Testament and I think this is extremely important because near you know, we get deeper into this I'm going to help you hopefully be able to understand Romans 9 a little bit better Which is a passage that Calvinists really turn to and turn on its head and will twist out of context But if you don't have a good Understanding of Old Testament of Jacob and Esau. It's easier to twist Romans 9 later on so that's kind of just to give you a little roadmap of where we're going with this You know keep in mind all the things that we read and understand here because it brings up these exact Situations in Romans 9 so when you're reading the New Testament, you're seeing okay Well, this is talking about things that happen in the Old Testament You better make sure first of all You understand what even happened in the Old Testament and know the story well enough So that when the New Testament is shining more light on it or talking about it you already have seen and know what happened in the past and and Know how these stories can be referred to and and making sure they're applied appropriately in the New Testament. So Let's dig in here in Genesis 25 we're gonna start reading in verse number 21 the Bible reads and Isaac and treated the Lord for his wife because she was barren and The Lord was and treated of him and Rebecca his wife conceived now real brief side note You know every time you read about in the Bible When people are barren women are barren you go to the Lord is the solution to that problem Going to the Lord the Bible says that the Lord opens up the womb Okay, and that he can bless and we don't need to turn to any of our own devices to open up the womb God is capable of doing everything even those who? You know the world would call barren and have had problems the Lord can open the womb the Lord can open up the womb and he does that and We saw I brought this point up in the past, you know where You know, we see Isaac praying For his wife to conceive and it takes 20 years before the conception actually happens Abraham and Sarah they were childless until I mean Abraham was a hundred years old and Sarah was like 90 years old So It can take a long time no doubt about it, right but God is capable of opening up the womb No matter what, right? I mean he is he is able to do that and we need to have the faith and trust in that and that it you Know oftentimes when you're praying it may take longer than you would like for prayers to be answered But we have to just trust in the Lord that the Lord is good and he he can hear it he'll hear our prayers let's get to you on here because that's not that wasn't the focal point of the story at all, but Let's keep reading verse number 22 It says in the children struggled together within her and she said if it be so why am I thus and she went to inquire? of the Lord so the prayers answered she Becomes pregnant she conceives and then it turns out that she's pregnant with twins Now it's interesting here because she's already starting to feel you know, this turmoil going on in the womb Right. So even from the womb we're seeing that Jacob and Esau Are button heads they're at odds with each other they're brothers that are just always gonna be fighting with each other and The reason why it even like why would it bring up just her having problems with in the womb because there's a greater teaching to that and ultimately what you're gonna see I'm gonna make mention of this and point this out as we continue through this is that the greater meaning we're gonna be focusing on between Jacob and Esau and when we read these stories about Jacob and Esau is That by and large it's talking about nations and groups of people more than just the individuals More than just the Jacob the person in the east side of the person when when we learn about them and read about them They the the the characteristics and the traits and and the things that are going on carry forward To two nations not just to two individuals It's really important to understand that as we get into other passages and other scriptures How that all makes sense then and applies appropriately as we see over and over again And as I just said look at verse number 23 The Bible says and the Lord said under because she goes to inquire why why am I having all this problem in my room? Like it feels like who knows what's going on, right? Well, why is that happening and the Lord? answers her prayer answers a request and said two nations are in thy womb and two manner of people Shall be separated from my bowels and the one people shall be stronger than the other people and the elder shall serve the younger So this is the problem. This is the answer that the Lord gives Saying it's because this goes obviously he says two nations and two men are people that goes way beyond just the individuals So the teaching that's going on here. There's obviously something special going on With these children there's something special going on with Rebecca, right? Hey giving birth to these nations of people Jacob and they did they became they went on to become heads of Great households in the sense that they had many Descendants after them and had their own domain their own Land and their own You know nation basically Esau Spawned off the Edomites. So when you read about Edom and the Edomites, that's all from Esau We'll get to that a little bit later as well. And then Jacob becomes Israel, which of course are the Israelites the nation of Israel coming from Jacob so and what we see here is that the two nations are two manner of people and One's gonna be stronger than the other and the elder it says shall serve the younger look at verse 24 It says and when her days to be delivered were fulfilled behold There were twins in her womb and the first came out red all over like an hairy garment and they called his name Esau 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 three score years old when she bare him So here Isaac just saw some up for he was 60 years old when they when they gave birth He was 40 when he and they entreat the Lord So it took 20 years for that that prayer to be answered but it was answered and One of the interesting here it's like, you know, you start looking at these things I Think it's it's really it's really cool, but it's interesting how Jacob it says that his hand took hold on Esau's heel So Esau was the firstborn but even right from the beginning right from before the birth. They're at odds with each other Esau's coming out first and Jacob's already like wait where you think you're going, you know, I'm coming up after you and And we see that I think symbolically is showing that he's going to pull him back and then Become as if he were the firstborn because just in general in a Bible the way that that that The biblical culture is is actually set up and even of God Is that the firstborn receives a double portion of the inheritance within a family so that that firstborn son is going to be the one That's going to receive the extra blessing when it comes to Families and we see here that Esau. Yes He's the firstborn But God has already prophesied that the elder is going to serve the younger that even though he's the firstborn That the younger is going to have dominion over him and we see right from the very beginning He's his hand has taken hold on Esau's heel. He's he's right there ready to To not let him get ahead of him and his name was called Jacob and Isaac was three scores old when she buried him so Let's keep reading verse number 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 and Isaac loved Esau because he did he of his venison But Rebecca loved Jacob and Jacob sawed Pottage and Esau came from the field and he was faint and Esau said to Jacob feed me I pray thee with the sit with that same red pottage for I am faint Therefore was his name called Edom so All names have meaning right especially in the Bible. We see a lot Esau gets a new name here called Edom and The reason why is because of this event that happens where he comes in from the field and he's like I'm starving Right, so obviously he didn't catch any game or whatever because he was super hungry from being out and hiking and doing you know Hunting and everything else he's doing so he comes into his brother and it's just like give me some food cuz I'm hungry give me some of that red pottage and he says from faint and It says because of that his name was called Edom now. I Don't normally put much stock in Going back to diction you know to dictionary definitions of words and other languages that I don't know But I do like looking up the name just to see what what it says so for Edom and this is probably true But it says it was like it's like red. It's just a word for a word meaning like red or ruddy and It makes sense with him being called that because it was red pottage She says that he was is asking for now I think there's more to the meaning of him getting that name Edom than just that obviously him also being Red when he was born and just you know he's a hairy man just looked all red when he came out also, I think is fitting to call him that and Ultimately though I don't think either I mean you never see the word Edom or Edomites really being used in a positive sense either and getting this name at this point Where he's he's asking for that red pottage and the way that he gets it is very dishonorable and very You know would be looked down upon because he ends up selling his birthright so as we keep reading here It says in verse 31 and Jacob said sell me this day and I birthright and he said I said behold I am at the point to die and What profit shall this birthright do to me and Jacob said swear to me this day, and he swear unto him He sold his birthright unto Jacob Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils and he'd eaten drink and rose up and went his way thus Esau despised his birthright now Talk about not having a really good value on your birthright to sell it for a bowl of soup Right for some beans or whatever just for some lentils a birth the birthright of the firstborn That's like that's the inheritance. That's what you're gonna receive From your father as getting that birthright All of that now he has sold his inheritance off to Jacob to satisfy His flesh to satisfy that fleshly desire to satisfy his belly Now I personally don't believe that he was literally on death's doorstep when He when he was when he sold that that birthright unto Jacob. I don't believe that I think He could have probably done something to retain that birthright if you know holding it in high enough regard to not just die and When you see Esau and you see his behavior and that there's more of a pattern of behavior It also makes more sense that if this was all we had you wouldn't be able to say as much But we see Esau also acting on Desires and kind of making really bad choices For not good reasons just to spite people and going after heathen women and things like that where He's also demonstrating a lack of restraint of his self In those areas and we'll get to another another section here in just a minute Actually, yeah right here If you want to flip over keep a place in Genesis because we're gonna go back to Genesis again in a minute Go to Hebrews chapter 12 Because Hebrews 12 also sheds light on the type of person that Esau was When it describes him as profane He's a profane person Hebrews chapter 12 we're gonna pick up in verse number 14 in Hebrews 12 verse Number 14 about reads follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and Thereby many be defiled lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau who for one Morsel of meat sold his birthright. So obviously here Esau is being used as a very bad example of someone who the Bible says is Profane just some profane person like Esau like that Esau who? Sold his entire birthright who treated his birthright as as next to nothing for the price of One meal one more so just one morsel of meat. I mean he didn't sell it for okay Now you got to be supplying me with food every week every time I go out hunting and you need you know No, it was that's it that one that one little bit of food that's what I want and and he sold it for that and The previous verse at verse 15 talks about you know a person failing of the grace of God and a root of bitterness springing up trouble you this Action from Esau selling his birthright made him bitter It made him bitter against Jacob for I would say probably his entire life He had his bitterness now Just just welling up within him because he sold his birthright in the Bible even says that he despised his birthright. He hated it So talk about not having a motivation either to even Help out at home help out your dad see when you know When you're in a family and we got to put ourselves again in in more of this context of what people How life was like? When you understand the birthright because nowadays You know families a lot of people get more split up and inheritance especially in a really rich society May not be as big of a deal but when you're living and And you know it's just kind of expected that that the inheritance passes down You know from father to his children, and and that's what you have to work with Going forward is that you're you're relied on from your parents to do the war the family business work And then that's going to carry forward to you So the more that you'd be helpful at home and helping your dad and helping everything out in the end It's still going to ultimately come back and be a benefit and a bonus for you. Well not for Esau Because he sold his birthright. He's gonna have no part in that going forward He already sold his claim to the family business essentially is what it is So someone especially with someone like Jacob was very successful and someone who God blessed tremendously You know Esau's getting none of it So the the better that the more that Jacob is blessed I think the more bitterness is going to even well up Inside of Esau here and then in verse number 17 Hebrews 12 the Bible says 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 and this is an important concept now flip back if you would to Genesis 27 But this concept of someone and because in Hebrews, it's just using Esau as an example For something for a teaching that that hopefully other people wouldn't fall into being like an Esau Right, don't be like him don't be some fornicator profane person like Esau That would have a root of bitterness springing up within you and end up failing of the grace of God Because when Esau then wanted to inherit a blessing It was done. It was too late. He found no place of repentance and in finding no place of repentance here This is talking about not his own repentance He found no place of repentance in the person giving the blessing Because that's what we're gonna see here and when we read this in Genesis chapter 27 Esau's pleading with Isaac to give him a blessing in Genesis 27 it's the story where Jacob pretends to be Esau. So Isaac is getting ready to die and He sends Esau out to get him some venison Right, you all remember that story and then he's out hunting Well, Rebecca, she favored Jacob and she wants him to get the blessing instead of Esau, so she tells him to dress up and pretend like he's Esau and they you know, they put Animal skin on him. So he feels real hairy and everything else and he goes in Pretending to be Esau so he could get that blessing from Isaac And that's exactly what he does and then when Esau comes back, you know Isaac's like wait, who are you? you know what's going on and he realizes what happened and Then and this is where in Hebrews 12 That is saying when he would have inherited blessing he was rejected for he found no place of repentance. It's when he's Pleading with Isaac saying well, don't you even have a blessing for me? Can you just give me a blessing? He didn't read him, but you know what? He doesn't really get a blessing and we're gonna read we're gonna read the story so you can see that That he doesn't you know, Isaac really doesn't bless him The best that he gets has just said well that yoke of bondage eventually is going to be taken off of you But but that's it he's not he's saying you're gonna live by the sword You're gonna you know, you're gonna live out but you know the dew of the heaven and you're gonna be you know Doing all this stuff, but it's not a real blessing at all So he's rejected and the teaching the overall teaching that the greater teaching is You know not to be like a person who treats things so lightly and so little and that you just you just have disdain for the inheritance and you think about You know putting this in a spiritual light not just a physical line of Well, what inheritance do we ever look for? We have an inheritance in heaven Right and that if you are just so profane to just reject that and treat it as nothing Early on you can find yourself Rejected and then God will have no place of repentance because he's already rejected you and that's why I'm glad also I preach a sermon I did this morning because it goes hand-in-hand with this concept of Getting to a point where you know You're rejected and it's done and God isn't going to change his mind and feel sorry for you When you already he you had the opportunity you had the inheritance man Everything ready to go and you just Tree is nothing you hear the the what God what Jesus has done for you the inheritance that you have available to you It's right there and you reject it and you disdain it and you tree is nothing then you know what when don't don't be upset later when you could have inherited a blessing, but you're rejected and Even with tears and any I think I want to hear that I think about Judas Right Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ But what did Judas do Judas repented, but you know what God didn't repent on his judgment Judas felt sorry Judas wanted to undo what he did against Jesus Christ. He felt bad about he felt so bad. He went and hung himself. He killed himself. I Mean it that's a step some serious repentance. I want someone feeling sorry for their sin Judas absolutely did but you know what that didn't save him that didn't save his soul Because his heart was already hardened he was already a devil the Bible first him as a devil He was the traitor he is a son of the devil He couldn't have gotten saved because his heart was hardened. It doesn't matter how bad they feel about it There's people who will reprobate today That genuinely feel really bad sometimes over the things that they do and may feel real. Sorry about something Too late Done and that's a warning That people can fail of the grace of God. That's a failure because God's grace is available But when you fail that grace and you just don't accept that grace What do you expect you didn't accept that grace you didn't accept that free gift Let's read that story though and because you know that Hebrews is talking about here in Genesis 27 We look at verse number 34 Genesis 27 About reason when Esau heard the words of his father. He cried with a great and exceeding Bitter cry and said unto his father bless me Even me also my father so this is that blessing that he's seeking. That's what this is the blessing He's seeking with tears. I mean, it's an exceeding bitter cry, right? He's really upset because Isaac already had told him and explained to him Hey your brother came in here and got your blessing and he's gonna be blessed because I can't undo that I gave him the blessing and he's gonna get that blessing There's no changing. It's already done. I've already blessed him in the name of the Lord I Can't is this basically like what else am I gonna do verse 35? He says and he said that brother came with subtlety and have taken away that blessing and he said it's not he rightly named Jacob For he has supplanted me these two times and look at this attitude just shows you a little bit. He took away my birthright First of all, I said you took he didn't take it away. You sold it to him Now you can say maybe that was a mean thing to do or jerk thing to do To not give him any food unless he sold him his birthright. I agree with you on that, right? He should have just given it to him, but he didn't steal it. He didn't take it away. He sold it to him and He saw had no value for that birthright to sell it for so cheap So he says here he took away my nets not quite true he saw why don't you own up to your own self selling it and then it says and behold now he had taken away my blessing which He did He deceived his father and and stole that blessing from him that would have gone to Esau But again, you can say he's just kind of getting what he bought anyways because the blessing would come with the With the with the inheritance and he said has thou not reserved a blessing for me So he's basically saying can't I get anything verse 37 and Isaac answered and said on Esau behold I have made him thy lord and All his brethren have I given to him for servants and with corn and wine if I sustained him And what shall I do now unto thee my son? So he's basically saying look I basically gave him all the blessing So what am what more can I do for you now? I'll pause right here to just just to again, bring our minds back to the understanding that What what is what we're being taught here has more to do with the symbolism And what what it means who Jacob is and who Esau is as a nation as a group of people more than just the individuals I'm not saying that Jacob was more worthy as a person at this point than Esau was and I don't think that's what the Bible Tried to teach this actually happened, but the but the greater teaching is that well God chose You know Jacob was going to be his vessel and that the elder was going to serve the younger now We'll get into that in just a minute But it has more to do with with how God is dealing with the people than it is with the individuals But let's let's let's keep going here. So he's he's saying What basically what else can I give you verse 38 and Esau said his father has thought but one blessing my father blessed me Even me also my father Esau lifted up his voice and wept so he's obviously really upset about this verse 39 Isaac his father answered and said unto him behold thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above So he's saying he's gonna live Just in the the fattness of the earth and the dew of heaven from I mean it's that's not having like a structure over his head Right. He's gonna be more wandering Wandering if the dew of heaven is coming down then You know He's that's gonna be his dwelling place and it says by the sword shalt thou live living by the sword is not a good way To live that doesn't sound like a great blessing either that you're just gonna be you know at odds and fighting with people and and taking up your sword and Shalt serve thy brother again. You're gonna be a servant You're not going to be in charge and it shall come to pass When thou shalt have the Dominion that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck It basically saying that your servitude will ultimately end one day. That is the best blessing that he gets out of this which I mean Not really a great blessing, right? I mean overall When you look at it, that's why the Bible says, you know what he was trying to find The blessing and here blessing he was rejected. He didn't end up really getting a blessing And I said verse 41 an ace in Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him and Esau said in his heart the days of mourning for my father at hand Then will I slay my brother Jacob and you know, some of the bigger picture items here is what Esau and Jacob represent Jacob being continuing with the blessings of God Being a child of God whereas Esau is one who follows his own belly and follows on lusts and follows on desires and is a profane person and What's going to happen is? That the That those people are going to serve God's people and that's a promise That's going to happen in the second coming of Jesus Christ that there's going to be you know, right now Believers have it are the ones who get persecuted and have things stolen from them and will end up You know not being on the good end of things but in the millennial reign of Jesus Christ It's going to be the exact opposite Where they're going to be serving you and that's also a prophecy of that event I'll turn if you would to Romans chapter 9 because I really I want to spend the most time just on this aspect here at least understanding the stories of What happened with Jacob and Esau in these in these scriptures in Genesis? Romans chapter 9 When we get to Romans chapter 9 We've already seen now that There are two peoples, there are two nations, there's two nations that were born that are at odds with each other right one would be considered maybe a holy nation one that's set apart by God and the other one is the nation that Just follows their own lusts and follows their own belly, right? Those are the kind of the two main distinctions between these these nations these groups of people And When we get into Romans 9, we're going to start reading verse number 6 You're going to see what the context is before we get into the passage where that people like to to use to promote their their Calvinism of Predestination and basically God picks and chooses who's saved Who's saved when we understand the whole context of what this passage even talking about so look at verse number 6 it sets it up Really well Bible reads not as though the Word of God has taken none effect for they are not all Israel which are of Israel that statement right there is really important because it's saying that it's just it's it's starting this premise and in leading into the rest of this passage Saying look not everyone who's physically Israel who feel is physically descended from Israel is actually of Israel They're not all considered by God to be of Israel just because they physically descended That's not what matters Verse 7 neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called That is they which are the children of the flesh These are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed so He's already bringing up the fact that it's not the flesh that matters It's the spiritual application and all these things that matter so when we continue on to read about Jacob and Esau It's this same mindset. It's not the children of the flesh. It's not the physical Edomites or the physical Israelites that matters it's what they represent that matters It's just like with You know the children of Abraham. It's not being a physical seed of Abraham because Abraham had Isaac and Ishmael Right, but it's not teaching that no son of Ishmael could ever be saved because they were born of Ishmael But that's what the the spiritual application Looks like is that the the children the bond made are rejected and a children promise are accepted But that's the teaching that's a greater teaching to understand that you want to be a child of promise But you don't get to be a problem a child of promise physically. It's not about the physical It's not about the flesh You can become a child of promise spiritually right, so we want to be children also of Jacob or Israel not of Esau Spiritually the physical the flesh doesn't matter either way It's the the spiritual application of what they represent so let's keep reading here Verse number nine for this is the word of promise at this time will I come and Sarah shall have a son and not only This but when Rebekah also had conceived by one even by our father Isaac For the children being not yet born neither having done any good or evil That the purpose of God according to election might stand not of works, but of him that calleth This is a parenthetical statement Okay, just as much truth as any other statement, but when you read the parenthetical statement understand that You're still reading the sentence like if we remove that parenthetical statement the sentence is still you know to get the the whole Context of what you're reading if we skip verse 11 real quick It says and not only this but when Rebekah also conceived by one even by our father Isaac It was said unto her the other shall serve the younger and in between that it explains Well at this time when Rebekah conceived The children weren't even born yet, and they haven't done good or evil right obviously they're still in the womb And it says that the purpose of God according election might stand not of works, but of him that calleth That's why she received the the That the elder shall serve the younger and what this is explaining is that this is according to God's will God was This is according to God's will God wants the elder to serve the younger for his purposes Okay, not based on as I was talking before it's not based about You know Esau being a worse person than Jacob just individually and that somehow Jacob was just more righteous in general And he's always Jacob did all kinds of bad things. I mean he was real deceitful You know he you know up until much later on in his life He was not like this good guy so God isn't rewarding Jacob Individually and blessing him because oh he did really good and and Esau was really bad This is a greater teaching that God has in mind that he's just establishing it to be this way That has nothing to do with their individual works That's what this parenthetical means and that's what this is saying but the way that the Calvinist love to go to this verse and and try to push this is That see it doesn't matter who does good or evil that God is just going to pick according to his will And this person is going to be saved and this person is going to be damned and he's just doing Everything the way that he wants it done and that it basically nothing ultimately matters That's what they try to push on A ver on this verse and as we continue on through the rest of Romans 9 that understanding But can you see how That's not what that's saying It's just explaining The elder serving the younger has to do with God the God ordained that to happen for his purposes for his teaching whatever But it has nothing to do with with the one being better than the other but he is using that To make a broader application and a teaching for for everybody to be in the Word of God and When it was said unto her as we already Had read the elder shall serve the younger Remember when we looked at that at that statement that was in the same verse of Genesis 25 verse 23 Where the Lord said two nations are in thy womb and two manner of people That's the same verse where he continues on to say the elder shall serve the younger. So he's not talking about the individual there He's talking about the nation He's all about the nation of Esau or the Edomites serving the Israelites That was a prophecy because if you go back and we look at the lives of Jacob and Esau Individually just their individual life. Where do you see Esau serving Jacob? we see Jacob going away for a while because he's all wanted to kill him and Then when he comes back We see Jacob sending all of these gifts and all these blessings to Esau because he doesn't want Esau to kill him He's worried about Esau. Esau shows up. He's got a bunch of guys Like I think he's ready to fight but he you know, he receives all these gifts He's like, oh my brother they make it good Esau goes to his land Jacob goes to his land and you never hear or see anything about Esau the man serving Jacob the man Because that's not what this prophecy was about It's about two manner of people and two nations where the elders going to serve the younger where the Edomites were Tributary or in service and servitude to the Israelites That's what it's talking about So Even this parenthetical it's not about God picking and choosing Jacob over Esau Just for his will of like who's being saved and nothing to do with salvation They do with nations of people and who God is going to lift up and who God is not going to lift up Which also goes hand in hand with the teaching I already gave Last week on the presidency and rulers and everything like that that God can lift up rulers and take down rulers as He as he will and that's that's a completely biblical concept But that's also a far cry from picking and choosing people just to get saved right applying something that's physical of a nation or a leader being lifted up and brought up to honor among the nation or brought to dishonor among the people is Different than a soul being saved and going to heaven They're two completely different things and you can't confuse the two or mix the two up Because the Bible has already told us that the Lord is not willing that any should perish But that all should come to repentance when it comes to salvation. God wants everybody to be saved for God So loved the world For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son That whosoever believeth in him shall not perish forever lasting life The will of the Lord would be that everybody would get saved That's what he wants, but that's not what happens and it's not because God is not almighty and God is not in charge It's simply because he gave us a will He gave us a will to choose what we're gonna do in this life He didn't make us robots He didn't make us just a bunch of Chemicals and and you know firings and in the synapses of your brain that just determines who you are and it's really not you at all Right. He's given us a soul And he's given us the ability to choose Otherwise so much of the Bible would just make no sense if we really at the end of the day had no choice Why does the Bible say behold I've set before you two choices right choose life. Oh But well you can't really do that anyways because God's already done that for you and he made you to either choose good or bad And that's you know, like how stupid is that? For thousands of years You have the free will offering Right, you've got the sin offering these other offerings and every go and then you've got the free will offering Which is not something you have to do, but if you want to But it's not really free will because every time that you thought you're going to do something good for God and to show them how Happy you are or whatever and how blessed you are by giving the free will offering God already made you do that It's stupid I Mean if you just take a bit a step back and just think about these things like that makes no sense at all Continue Out of Romans 9 so that was the one passage it was said unto her the elder shall serve the younger right Right after it said that well, it doesn't matter the good or evil. That's just according God's election that they also stand Well, what was the purpose of it? Because he's talking about two nations Romans 9 13 says as it is written Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated and Again, they'll turn to this and say see look God loves one person hates another person Doesn't matter them doing good or evil just to what God designed or what he'd wanted in his Sovereign heart to just choose that I'm gonna hate this person love this person Well, how about we go back to where that's written to go back to the book of Malachi chapter 1 because that's actually where that's written You'll never guess what we're gonna find there Just as Genesis 25 we saw that there's two nations We saw he's not just referring to the individual guess what we're gonna find in Malachi 1 he's talking about two nations again So that the loving the one and hating the other What is he talking about? He's talking about the nation's look at verse number 2 of Malachi 1 Bible says I have loved you said the Lord yet. Ye say wherein has thou loved us was not Esau Jacob's brother Said the Lord yet. I love Jacob and I hated Esau and laid his mountains And his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness Look at verse 4 whereas Edom saith now Edom is referring to that nation that group of people We are impoverished we Edom saith is he saying I am impoverished If it's referring to Edom the person No, it's his heritage. It's a group of people we are impoverished But we will return and build the desolate places thus that the Lord of hosts they shall build But I will throw down and they shall call them the border of wickedness and the people against whom the Lord of indignation forever So the loving Jacob and hating Esau has to do with the people With the groups with the nations with the establishing of one and the bringing down of another it is not referring to the individual soul of The person Jacob and the person Esau it wasn't in Genesis 25 or in 27 or in Malachi chapter 1 And says verse 5 there and your eyes shall see and you shall say the Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel So back to Romans 9 Because that's that this is the big you know these verses right here This is what the Calvinists want to hit you with Saying see God just picks and chooses. I mean it's right there. Don't you believe the Bible I do Don't you read the Bible? When the New Testament is talking about these stories Yes, it says Jacob and Esau here in Romans 9 13 But when he said that and it was written what was he talking about? He wasn't talking about the individuals talking about the nations when it was said the elder shall serve younger was he talking about the person Individually no he's talking about the nation So why do you make me think why you're going to teach that this is talking about God's sovereignty to pick and choose who's saved And who's not saved can't apply it that way misappropriation of Scripture Verse number 14 Romans 9 what shall we say then is there unrighteousness with God because then you can continue on here When you already understand the context of what he's even teaching and what he's talking about he's bringing up these examples He already said dealing with groups of people that they're not all Israel which are of Israel Right it's not about the flesh not about the physical, but a physical nation doesn't even matter Right that that if you want to be spiritually applied. That's what what matters He says what shall we say then is there unrighteousness with God God forbid for he said to Moses I will have mercy on whom I love mercy, and I'll have compassion on whom I love compassion So then it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth But of God that showeth mercy and again. Amen. It's an attribute of God that God has the ability to lift up and to cast down but nowhere is this talking about in the context of a soul if God wants to raise up any person or group of people Physically in a nation in you know even just with blessings of goods on this earth Hey, that's his prerogative, and he can do whatever he wants, and we're going to see the example. That's also brought up here in the next verse verse Where did we leave off? 14 let's read I don't want to skip any verses here verse number 15 for you say it to Moses I love mercy on whom I love mercy, and I'll have compassion whom I love compassion So then it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth But of God that showeth mercy and again, they'll focus on this saying see it's not your choice if you want to be saved It's of God that shows mercy, but look Salve it mercy of the mercy of salvation isn't the only type of mercy that you can get from God Nowhere in the context is he bringing up eternal life is he talking about eternal damnation is he talking about a person soul being saved Nowhere in the context is it talking about that at all quite the contrary So when he says it's up to God to show mercy on a Nation that is his prerogative on a group of people absolutely he does that Not when it comes to a soul going to heaven or hell But when it comes to everything else he's talking about in context here of course that lines up With God and who he is and then other places are reading in Scripture Verse 17 for the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, and he uses Pharaoh as the example This is great. I love that he uses Pharaoh as an example because we just taught on this too When it came to repentance though it came to Pharaoh's heart being hardened, and when it comes to Pharaoh being a reprobate For the scripture says unto Pharaoh even for the same purpose have I raised thee up that I might show my power in thee And that my name might be declared throughout all the earth Therefore so he uses Pharaoh as the key primary example of what the point is trying to illustrate here Therefore I see mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hardeneth Pharaoh being used as the example we see Pharaoh being Lifted up that God said hey, I put you in this position because I wanted the whole world to see how powerful I am But God did not Make it so Pharaoh could not have put his faith in the Lord Until Pharaoh already hardened his own heart against the Lord After Pharaoh made his own choice God hardened his heart and Then he's using him and harden his heart saying now. He's just not he's just going to be completely irrational and Continue to allow these plagues to continue because God wanted those plagues to happen to demonstrate that he is the Lord and he is in charge of the whole, you know universe and I'd like you to do whatever he wants and Make that point really clear It's not though about the individual salvation And Well, this is kind of the last point but what we're gonna end up seeing is there's a difference between God being able to know what's gonna happen with a person so he can lift up and bring down whoever would because he already knows How they'll respond and God making them do the things that they do God's not forcing these people. He's able to lift up people to a position Just to make them in everybody's eyes and everyone sees what's going on Right, and he's able also to abase people and bring them down And he did that with Nebuchadnezzar We already saw that too. He's able to raise up and bring down. Let's keep reading here So therefore because of that he has mercy who has mercy who he will hardeneth thus wilt I'll say then unto me Why does he yet find fault for who hath resisted his will? Again, there's this whole passage of Calvinists just have a field day with this ripping it out of context and trying to make it say something It doesn't actually say nay But oh man who art thou that reply us against God shall the thing formed say to him that formed it? Why is thou made me thus? Which is true. I mean you can't if God wants to do something you can't argue against him But this is not teaching that God just wants to send people to hell Because he doesn't he's already said that Verse 20 nay, but oh man who art thou that reply us against God shall the thing formed say to him that formed it? Why is thou made me thus? Has not the Potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? What if God willing to show his wrath and to make his power known? Endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to Destruction and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy Which he had a for prepared unto glory even us whom he hath called not of the Jews only but also the Gentiles so it's making it this big point here and What I like out verse 22, I think continues to clarify verse 21 honor and dishonor honor is tied often with with financial Blessing with how much God's gives you right honor your father mother is actually taking care of them It's not just like this respect thing so if God's honoring one person dishonoring another he's gonna be lifting him up bring him down Either in the eyes of the people or even just financially making more influential and more powerful by bringing one unto honor and one on a dishonor God can do that as he wants to and God did that with Pharaoh you say even someone who's fitted to destruction like Pharaoh is a wicked person if God wants to He could show long suffering and mercy for a really long time on a person who deserves a lot of wrath and a lot of You know judgment from God he could extend a lot of mercy just to bring them down when he wants to bring them down and God's totally capable of doing that and you can't speak against God doing that and if God shows Mercy unto some wicked people more than unto other wicked people. Well, that's doing what he wants to do He's not unjust for it and here's the thing. Here's the concept that I think everyone needs understand When when you're in a position of receiving mercy the person giving the mercy There's no unfairness in how you apply mercy to people Because if you're applying mercy, they don't deserve it at all. So no one that's receiving mercy deserves it So you can't say oh you gave him more mercy than me Hey be thankful for the mercy that you got because you didn't deserve it either and he doesn't deserve it either He doesn't deserve you so you can't you can't compare it all like oh, I I deserve this much mercy because he got this much mercy same Who are you thinking you're talking to? Right, none of you deserve it and this is the mercy he's gonna show so God willing to show his wrath To make his power known he endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted destruction What if God wants to do that? Can you do that? Yeah Of course he can Which comes right after the Potter having the power over the clay to bring one to honor and one to dishonor And Then he's making the even larger application though of God using this on again a group of people not of the Jews only but also of the Gentiles of God giving that Nation that's going to bring forth the fruits thereof that they're of Israel now That God is is replacing the physical Jews with a nation who's going to bring forth the fruits thereof and And That's the biggest that's the greater application that's being met that's being taught here anyways He's on the group verse 25 as he saith also an OZ I will call them my people which were not my people and her beloved which was not beloved So he's saying I have the power to lift up another group of people if I want to I Can raise up the Gentiles under honor? Were in the past they were and unto dishonor I Can lift I could take down Israel Right and lift up eat them if I want if eat them becomes my people they were not my people and now they are He's saying I can do that as I will Verse 26 and it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them you're not my people there Shall they be called the children of the Living God now just flip back one chapter to chapter 8 When you're when you're trying to understand all the predestination stuff and all the you know God-willing this and making things happen and I already made mention of this but it's important to understand You know predestination you think like well, I don't even have a choice in that then if it's predestined That's that man so and and I understand why you could think that way because that's how it sounds or could sound But when it comes to predestination, you know, I don't even have a choice in that then if it's predestined It's not something that occurs Through none of your own action or choices it comes through a foreknowledge from God of What you would do of what you will do or whatever right look at verse number 29 of Romans 8 The Bible says for whom he did foreknow He also did predestinate to be Conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren we can be predestinated to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ and We could have been predestinated forever Because God knew already Who's going to God already knew before before he created everything? He knew who would exist on this earth Just as he still knows all the people were gonna be born today and tomorrow and next day and you know All people have ever existed and he knows Their hearts the choices they're gonna make and and whether or not they would accept him and reject him and he knows all of that In advance and is able to predestinate according to his foreknowledge, but foreknowledge is not equal to forcing something on people And I've used this illustration in the past but as Parents if you see a child standing up on a chair getting a real dangerous position You could already have a foreknowledge of going. No, I see exactly what he's doing. He's gonna fall He's gonna get hurt or whatever, right and you can step in and prevent that But it doesn't mean that you force them to do that, but you could just see it happening. You know, what's gonna happen Right, you can have that foreknowledge and then having that foreknowledge you can say well now I'm gonna go and make sure it doesn't happen Because I already have that foreknowledge, right? I could I can Be there to help him or whatever God had a foreknowledge of choices that we can make so now he can predestinate us To be conformed to the image of his son He already knows but but that doesn't mean he he forced that on anybody knowing in advance what you do Verse number 30 says moreover whom he did predestinate them He also called in whom he called them. He also justified whom he justified them. He also glorified so I really hate the the Calvinist teaching and doctrines and it's so easy for that that garbage to slip in because it's slick the way that they teach it and It Requires a little bit more study. I think to defend against it Obviously it feels wrong just by hearing like that doesn't sound like the God that I know that he's just You know damning people to hell whatever but they're not gonna they're not gonna teach it that way either They're not gonna. They're not gonna say it the way that I say it. They don't like the way I say it They're gonna say oh, that's not what we believe well Hyper Calvinism when you get down to it when you really take it to its logical end Which is all hyper Calvinism is is just you take the premises and say no this I mean If if you're gonna make these rules and these assumptions and and understand doctrine this way You've got to apply it all the way through and when you apply it all the way through you end up with a God Whose will it is that little children are defiled and that pedophiles? Hurt people and that cannibals eat people and that all the worst things that happen in this world. It's still all of God Okay, and that's wicked and there's a weird perverted God if you believe that God just wants all of these horrible things to happen to innocent people That's not the God of the Bible It's not The reason why those things happen is because people are sinners and God has given a free will for man to do things and if he intervened every single time Someone's gonna do something bad. Guess what? You don't really have free will You never do the things that you would have otherwise done Part of what goes along with a free will is the ability to do bad and the ability to go to good The ability to hate and the ability to love you have it. You don't have it if there's no choice There's no will there's no But God in his in his will decided to create beings that had a will For his purposes for his glory for his joy for his satisfaction for his own Desires, that's the way he made us but that's the reality of the situation and God did make us for his pleasure, but he wants to and I made this point before too. I'll make it again If you try to think of things from a perspective of God Which is really hard for us to do because he's so far above us anyways, I Like in it too, you know if you were able to create some some robot right And you made it you programmed it to just always say I love you How was your day and care about you know, like like you come home from work and you've created this robot And it always said the right thing and it just did everything you told it to do and you know Is that gonna be fulfillment? To you or is that gonna be vain and empty because all it's doing is Exactly what you just pre-programmed for that thing to do It's going to be meaningless because you're essentially just telling yourself that you love you Right just because you put that voice in something else It's not real So it makes sense for God to make a creature To Be able to even have the ability To tell its creator. I do love you and it's real because you've given me a will And I understand all the things that you've done for me and I've seen the love that you have for me and I in turn Love you. We love him because he first loved us But now that love means something Because it's real. It's true. It's not fake It's not it's not just hardwired into you that well, you're just gonna do this because I just want you to love me It makes sense why God would create a people and the risk is well, maybe they'll reject me right But you have something real And you have people who really? Love you and it's not just pre-programmed. That's the real God. That's the true God who made people like that that we're not just Robots who have no will God's not some You know like a six-year-old boy with a magnifying glass just you know torturing ants just as he will or whatever, right? God's a lot more sophisticated than that. I Love the God of the Bible. I hate the God of Calvinism Hopefully this helps you understand Romans 8 and 9 a little bit better when we understand Jacob and Esau and what the Scriptures referring to That it's not about the individuals when we're reading those passages about the nations It's a much bigger picture and a much more. There's a lot more symbolism, too I didn't get into but there's a lot more symbolic references. Just even understanding that's about the nation's Let's always have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord. We thank you so much for your word. We thank you for Giving us layer upon layer upon layer of truth contained in your word. Lord. I pray to please just open up our understanding Help us to learn more help us to know more about you and be able to show others the love that you've had for the world that you were willing to make the sacrifice of your only begotten Son to come and Die for us Lord help us to reach other people with that great truth of love and help us to Just bring more people to you in Jesus name we pray. Amen