Letting Your Faith do the walking Part VII
A Repentant Faith
Genesis 25:19-26, Hebrews 11:20
Introduction
We have now come to part seven in our series “Letting your faith do the walking” in our journey to believing God. Tonight we will be looking at the old testament patriarch Isaac.
Tonight as we will discover Isaac’s story is one that we can all identify with. Sometimes in our lives we may know what it is that we are supposed to do, or we may know God’s plan ahead of time, but instead of waiting on God, we take matters into our own hands. We choose our preferences over God’s preferences.
Isaac was at this point in his life, and if God’s plan was going to come to pass in his life, then he needed to step back and let God work. Tonight we will learn the lesson Isaac had to learn through repentance and faith in God’s promises.
Read Scriptures: Genesis 25:19-26, Hebrews 11:20
I. Isaac wanted God’s promises fulfilled his way.
Genesis 25:23 “The LORD said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.’”
Genesis 27: 1-4 “When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, ‘My son.’ ‘Here I am,’ he answered. Isaac said, ‘I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. Now then, get your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.’”
God’s promise to Isaac is that he would have two sons, they would be two nations, but the older would serve the younger.
Esau came from the womb first so he was the oldest, Jacob came second so he is the youngest. In God’s great plan the promised seed and the people who would inherit the promised land was through Jacob, and Isaac knew this.
However, this is where he gets into trouble, and this is were we also can get into trouble. Isaac was closer to Esau, maybe because he loved fried backstrap and he loved the way Esau cooked it, and Esau was a hunter, he was a manly man, so Isaac wanted Esau to be the one who the promised seed, which is Jesus, would come.
Isaac wanted God’s promises fulfilled, because he told Esau “when you come back from hunting then I will bless you”. However, he wanted God’s promises carried out his way.
How many times in our lives, we know what God expects of us, we know what God wants us to do in our lives, and we act just like Isaac, we want God’s blessing, we just want it done our way.
II. Isaac’s sin could not stop God’s plan.
Genesis 27:22-29 “Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau." He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. "Are you really my son Esau?" he asked. "I am," he replied. Then he said, "My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing." Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come here, my son, and kiss me." So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, "Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed. May God give you of heaven’s dew and of earth’s richness—an abundance of grain and new wine. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed."”
Isaac had his plans, even on his death-bed, he was going to be disobedient to God. How many times do we see people take grudges to the grave, take hatred to the grave, take unbelief to the grave. Isaac knew what God’s plan was, which was through his son Jacob would come the promised seed, however he still wanted it his way.
Even through Isaac’s disobedience, God’s plan that he had throughout history was going to come to pass. Not even Isaac’s disobedience could stop God’s plan.
When we fast forward to our day, God’s plan is for us as believer’s to evangelize the world, so many of us refuse to get involved with that great commission. However, God’s plan to evangelize the world will come to pass, even if we are disobedient to that command.
III. Isaac’s reward was God’s plan being fulfilled.
Genesis 27:33 “Isaac trembled violently and said, "Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!"”
Isaac refused to reverse the blessing when the deception was discovered. Why? He certainly could have, but in the final analysis of this situation, he repented. Isaac turned away from his own desires and did God’s will.
We all know the rest of the story, Jacob went on to have twelve sons, who would after many years in slavery in Egypt and wondering in wilderness, would inherit the promised land, and through the tribe of Judah one of Jacob’s sons Jesus was born who is the promised seed, the Savior of the world.
Conclusion
God’s plan for our lives is always the best plan. We should stay out of the way. Maybe someone here tonight has taken matters into there own hands, and they need to repent and allow God’s will to be done.
