What Happened
to Esau?
Genesis 24-27
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
25 July, 2010 PM
I.
Introduction
(Hebrews 12:15-17)
A.
Tomorrow starts our Victory Youth
Camp.
1.
We will be
looking at the life of a man named Jacob, and learning mainly from HIM, and
hopefully learning from all his mistakes
2.
But Jacob
had a twin brother named Esau
3.
Esau has ONE
BIG lesson to teach us
4.
And I
thought I might as well try and look at that lesson tonight
5.
It’s called
the crippling sin of bitterness!
B.
Look at
Hebrews 12
1.
Serious
words “lest any main FAIL of the grace of God”
2.
Look at the
words “lest ANY root of bitterness” – there are MANY roots of bitterness
3.
Notice how
Esau is the example the Holy Spirit tries to bring to our attention
concerning bitterness
4.
We will come
back to this Scripture, but first, let’s look into the account in Genesis
24-26, and see Esau’s home-life, his hurt, and ultimately, his heart!
II.
Message
A.
Esau’s Home
(Gen 24:1 – 25:27)
1.
A Right
Start (Gen 24:1-4)
a.
Isaac and
Rebekah were a match made in heaven
b.
Sought their
marriage partner by permission
1)
Got their
parent’s permission and guidance
2)
Abraham was
actively involved in helping his son find the right bride
c.
Sought their
marriage partner by faith
1)
Trusted God
to direct their steps (Ps 37:23)
2)
Trusted God
when they met
d.
Stepped out
by faith (Gen 24:58)
1)
Rebekah sure
did
2)
So did Isaac
as he approached this women he had never met before
e.
Kept
themselves pure till marriage (Gen 24:61-67)
1)
Not only
waited on the right mate
2)
But waited
for sex as well – we are designed to wait
f.
Took
commitment seriously
g.
This couple
definitely had a right start!
1)
But it is
fairly easy to start well
2)
It is a lot
harder to end well
2.
A Loving
Family (Gen 24:67)
a.
Isaac loved
Rebekah – it wasn’t an act, it was an attitude!
b.
She also
evidently loved him, and loved the family she was now part of
3.
A Praying
Family (Gen 25:19-21)
a.
Problems
require prayer
b.
Not only
Isaac, but Rebekah also prayed (Gen 25:22,23)
4.
A
a.
Two boys
were born – twins
1)
Not
identical twins though
2)
Each child
was dramatically different
3)
The same is
true with all your children
4)
One was very
hairy – Esau
5)
One was very
plain – but a bit of a hustler – a heel grabber – Jacob
6)
Bit of
competition in the home! That’s normal
b.
The house
was full of activity
1)
Esau with
his hunting
2)
Jacob with
his cooking
5.
This family
would easily pass as a model family!
B.
Esau’s Hurt
(Gen 25:28 – 27:41)
1.
This home
began to become filled with hurt instead of strength and comfort
2.
A
Backslidden Home
a.
Isaac
rejected the Lord’s instruction (Gen 25:23b). He knowingly disregarded what
God has said and made his own blessing (Gen 27:26-29)
b.
Isaac used
to go out into the fields to meditate (Gen 24:63)
c.
Now all
Isaac was interested in was the meat from the fields (Gen 27:1-4)
d.
Abraham was
very dedicated to worship, Isaac was tolerant, Esau was not interested
e.
Don’t you
try and tell me a little backsliding doesn’t hurt anybody (Mt 18:10).
Children love spirituality, and love God by nature, and are hurt when you
cool off in your relationship with God!!!
3.
A Divided
Home
a.
Each parent
had favourites (Gen 25:28)
1)
Isaac loved
Esau
2)
Rebekah
loved Jacob
3)
This is
going to lead to some serious problems down the road… like with Joseph being
Jacob’s favourite son (Gen 37:3)
4)
Did you know
that every kid KNOWS when they aren’t loved
5)
And every
kid who has too much attention turns out wrong
b.
Mom and Dad
did not agree anymore
1)
They didn’t
speak to each other much – a warning sign!!!
2)
They
evidently usually fought in their home (Pr 21:19; 26:21; 27:15)
3)
Mom sought
to manipulate her husband because of his stubbornness – which was just as
wrong as is stubbornness!
4)
Rebekah used
Jacob against Isaac, and taught him to LIE and DECEIVE (Gen 27:4-14; 22-29)
c.
Esau saw all
this, and you had better believe it hurt him (Gen 27:30-35, 41)
C.
Esau’s Heart
(Gen 27:41; Prov 18:19)
1.
Pro 18:19 A
brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their
contentions are like the bars of a castle.
2.
It became
Defiled, Ruined
a.
Esau’s heart
became like Cain’s – it became murderous (Gen 4:5-8)
b.
It was a
pitiful truth that Esau’s heart was so soiled by hurt
3.
It was
Bitter - His bitterness went DEEP
a.
Against his
father and his mother
b.
Against GOD
c.
Against his
twin brother – Jacob
4.
It was
Determined – to get Revenge (Gen 27:41,42; 32:6-11).Unstoppable!
D.
Esau’s Ruin
(Heb 12:15-17)
1.
God says He
HATES Esau (Rom 9:13; Mal 1:3) to this day! Why?
2.
He became a
Fornicator – married two wicked women of Ishmael (Gen 28:5-9)
3.
He became
Profane –
a.
Ungodly,
unholy, unclean.
b.
Treating
sacred things with contempt, disrespect, irreverence, or undue familiarity;
irreverent; impious. Irreverent in language; taking the name of God in vain;
given to swearing; blasphemous
4.
He was
uninterested in spiritual things – only in his belly being satisfied for the
moment
5.
He never
figured out how to get right
a.
Tried to get
the blessing from his father – it was gone
b.
Went out
bitter and hurt and scheming how to take revenge – for the next 14 years!!!
c.
Ultimately,
God softens him through a humbled brother, Jacob, but it wasn’t enough to
get Esau to want to get right with GOD
III.
The Remedy
A.
There was so
much that went wrong in that home
1.
Isaac did
wrong
a.
Not teaching
Esau the things of God
b.
Not obeying
God himself and honouring Jacob as the next in line for the blessing
c.
Not
honouring his wife’s urging and concerns
2.
Rebekah did
wrong
a.
Manipulating
her husband
b.
Teaching
Jacob how to lie and deceive
c.
Not
honouring her husband, and letting GOD work on him
3.
Jacob did
wrong
a.
Taking
advantage of his brother’s lack of interest in spiritual things
b.
Robbing Esau
of the blessing
4.
But ESAU was
the one who ended up doing the most damage to himself!
B.
Here is How
to get Right, Tonight!
1.
Examine Your
Heart, Your Hurts, Your Home – before your are RUINED (2Cor 13:5)
a.
Greater is
he that is in you, if you are saved
b.
You already
are more than a conqueror, if you are saved
c.
ARE YOU BORN
AGAIN? Does Jesus dwell within?
d.
Are you
hurting? Tell it to Jesus!
2.
Gauge your
Grip on the Grace of God
a.
Have deep
roots in GRACE, not Hurt (Mt 13:21)
b.
Grace is the
ability to overlook a fault – God has GREAT Grace with us
c.
Trusting in
the LORD and not in your own ways
d.
Gives you
patience
e.
Enables you
to love and bless those that USE you and hurt you
3.
Uproot ALL
forms of bitterness (Eph 4:31)
a.
Uproot
Unforgiveness – face to face with the one who hurt you!
b.
Bitterness
can be well HIDDEN – only a root, not visible, but it is there
1)
And when
something provokes you it SPRINGS up
2)
It needs to
be uprooted BEFORE it springs up
3)
Look back in
your past and start coving things in the blood of Jesus Christ
4)
Confessing
the sin of holding onto those memories for hurt’s sake
5)
And casting
them down from the place of power in your heart!
c.
Get closer
to Jesus Christ IN the hurt (Mt 11:6, 28-30)
d.
Bless your
enemies, bless them and curse not
e.
Throughout
life, you will only get Better as a Christian, or Bitter
4.
Check just
how little you love the things of God
a.
Esau cared
for nothing that had to do with God – only with hunting, fishing
b.
Psalm
119:165
c.
If you don’t
love to spend time in God’s word, and in God’s house with God’s people, and
doing God’s work, then check your heart and confess your heart as hard and
wrong!
C.
If you do
not uproot bitterness in your heart, one of these days you will seek to get
right and you won’t be able to!