Genesis 25:19-34, Psalm 119:105-112, Isaiah 55:10-13, Psalm 65:1-13, Romans 8:1-11, Matthew 13:1-9, Matthew 13:18-23
A). JACOB AND ESAU.
Genesis 25:19-34.
1. The two nations in Rebekah’s womb.
GENESIS 25:19-20. As the genealogy passes from Abraham to Isaac we are told that Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah.
GENESIS 25:21. Once again there is a record of prolonged barrenness within the family. However, the couple were prayerful about the matter. “Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife” – probably holding her up in prayer constantly over the long years of her barrenness. Then at last, “Rebekah his wife conceived.”
GENESIS 25:22. But this was not the end of their troubles. Ere long Rebekah became aware of a struggle within her womb. She, in her turn, “went to inquire of the LORD.”
GENESIS 25:23. The LORD answered with a poetic oracle. “Two nations are in thy womb…; and one people shall be stronger than the other; and the elder shall serve the younger.” This is totally prophetic of what would happen with Esau and Jacob; and later also with the two nations of Edom and Israel.
GENESIS 25:24-26. When the twins were born, Esau came out first, “red all over like a hairy garment.” As his brother came out, “his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob.” The name Jacob means ‘supplanter,’ and the struggle that had been going on in the womb now continued in the daylight.
The time markers in this passage indicate that Rebekah’s barrenness lasted nearly twenty years. In Genesis 25:20 we were told that Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah; and in Genesis 25:26 we now read that Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.
2. Esau sells his birthright.
GENESIS 25:27. God has given His oracle, so the passage now concentrates on “the boys.” Of course, they both grew: but they could not be more different. “Esau was a cunning hunter,” but “Jacob was a plain man dwelling in tents.” Esau was no doubt skilful at what he did but, as would transpire, Jacob was a quiet planner, who would wait his opportunity to manipulate events in his favour.
GENESIS 25:28. Typical of that culture in those days, and of many cultures since, the father tended to favour the firstborn. Isaac also favoured Esau for what he brought to the table: “because he did eat of his venison.” But Rebekah “loved” the home-loving Jacob.
GENESIS 25:29. Jacob saw his opportunity on one of Esau’s less successful hunting days. Jacob prepared red lentils for a meal, and “Esau came from the field, and he was faint.”
GENESIS 25:30. “Feed me, I pray thee, with some of that red stuff,” begged Esau, “for I am faint.” Therefore, tells the narrative, his name was called “Edom” (which incidentally translates as ‘Red’).
GENESIS 25:31. This was the moment that the scheming Jacob had been waiting for. “Sell me this day thy birthright,” demanded the younger twin. The holder of the birthright would normally receive a double portion of their father’s estate upon his death.
GENESIS 25:32. But Esau had no thought for anything other than his short-term hunger. “I am at the point to die,” the heir exaggerated. “And what profit shall this birthright do to me?”
GENESIS 25:33. Not satisfied with mere words, Jacob made Esau swear an oath. This sealed the deal, and even Isaac would be powerless to reverse the damage done by Jacob to Esau in this interaction. Oaths were made before God, and were therefore binding!
GENESIS 25:34. As the scene draws to a close, Jacob gave Esau bread and lentils, and Esau “ate, drank, rose up, and went his way.” The verdict of Scripture is, “thus Esau despised his birthright.”
This is a fact that would play into the hands of Jacob, who later compounded his deceit by going on to steal Esau’s blessing (cf. Genesis 27:36). In the New Testament these two incidents are held together as a warning against our own forsaking of our spiritual heritage (cf. Hebrews 12:16-17).
The Bible does not necessarily condone Jacob’s scheming, but we do see that he was a man with a destiny that undermined the right of primogeniture, and which allowed ‘the last to be first, and the first last’ (cf. Matthew 20:16).
B). THE LIGHT OF GOD’S WORD.
Psalm 119:105-112.
PSALM 119:105. “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
The word of God, the Bible, is totally reliable (cf. Hebrews 4:12). The Psalmist unreservedly relies upon it. Furthermore, Jesus is the Word (cf. John 1:1), and He is the light of the world (cf. John 8:12). He has promised to be with us always (cf. Matthew 28:20), and will direct our steps (cf. Proverbs 3:6).
PSALM 119:106. “I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.”
The Psalmist is resolved to obey what the word of God has shown him. That is what it is to ‘walk in truth’ (cf. 3 John 1:3). It is one thing to own a Bible, another to live by it. ‘Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only’ (cf. James 1:22).
PSALM 119:107. “I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word.”
When we recognise our afflictions it is well to address our petitions to the LORD, who alone is able to hear and answer prayer. Our lives are in constant need of renewal, and renewal of life is God’s speciality (cf. Isaiah 40:31).
PSALM 119:108. “Accept, I beseech thee, the free will offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments.”
“Free will offerings of my mouth” stands for ‘the sacrifice of praise… the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name’ (cf. Hebrews 13:15). The prayer being answered, it is appropriate that we return thanks unto the LORD. ‘O give thanks unto the LORD, for He is good; for His mercy endureth for ever’ (cf. 1 Chronicles 16:34).
PSALM 119:109. “My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.”
We may sometimes speak of ‘taking our life into our own hands.’ Yet this is not what is happening here. Rather, the Psalmist is commenting on the very frailty of his life, and his resolve to remain loyal to the LORD no matter what.
PSALM 119:110. “The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts.”
A snare is set by "the wicked," but the Psalmist remains steadfast. Nothing is going to deflect him from the right path. He will continue on in God’s precepts even in the face of opposition.
PSALM 119:111. “Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.”
I wonder if we can envisage the word of God as our HERITAGE. What set us on the path of life was the word of God. What sustains us along the way is the word of God. And what lies ahead of us is a rejoicing of heart in THE Word of God, which is Jesus.
PSALM 119:112. “I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes always, even unto the end.”
God has written His word upon our hearts, and inclines our wills to keeping it. We are ‘not under the law’ (cf. Romans 6:14): but we have the law within us (cf. Jeremiah 31:33). God’s word written on our hearts is His gift to all who are in Christ Jesus.
C). THE WORD GOES FORTH.
Isaiah 55:10-13.
Isaiah 55:10-11 is about God’s words not returning to Him void. At first, we might imagine that God is talking about the weather, with all this talk of rain and snow. And what if there is no rain, nor any melting snows from the mountains of Lebanon? Famine!
Yet God is not just talking about the weather, He is talking about His Word. ‘The seed is the Word of God’ says Jesus in Luke 8:11. And there is, incidentally, such a thing as a famine of the Word of God (cf. Amos 8:11-13)!
The metaphor is this:
1. just as in the cycle of creation the rain and snow comes down, waters the earth causing it to spring forth and bud, giving seed to the Sower and bread to the eater (Isaiah 55:10);
2. “So shall my Word be” -
(i) it shall not return to me void,
(ii) it shall accomplish that which I please,
(iii) and prosper in the thing for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:11).
It is interesting to note that there is a part for man to play in the purposes of God. It rains/snows, the earth brings forth - what? Seed and food. Without the Sower, without the reaper, we starve. So it is with the Word of God. ‘How shall they hear without a preacher?’ asks Paul in Romans 10:14.
There follows God’s encouragement to His people in Isaiah 55:12,
“You shall go out with joy…”
And one of those wonderful word pictures in Isaiah 55:12-13, of the whole of Creation rejoicing with us in His covenant. The last verse, “it shall be a sign” refers to the covenant of David.
D). THE CROWNING OF THE YEAR.
Psalm 65:1-13.
1. God in the Place of Sacrifice (Psalm 65:1-4).
PSALM 65:1. “Praise waits for thee, O God.” Praise is not entertainment, but the grateful response of a thankful people to our gracious God. In some church gatherings you can just feel it: an awesome, adoring silence in the sanctuary. This is the prayerful eager anticipation of a people waiting for the solemn announcement: ‘Let us worship God.’
“in Sion” speaks not only of mount Sion, nor only of Jerusalem, but of the tabernacle that was located there in David’s days, and the temple that Solomon later built. It spoke of the place of sacrifice, where God met with man. It speaks today of the places where the ultimate sacrifice of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is remembered, especially around the communion table, but also in the preaching of the Word, and the praising of His name.
“and unto thee shall the vow be performed.” We may never fully repay our debt of gratitude to God, but God ‘inhabits’ the praises of His people (cf. Psalm 22:3). God looks upon the sacrifice of Jesus, and accepts our praises.
PSALM 65:2. It is in the nature of God that He hears and answers prayer. All other ‘gods’ ultimately fail their devotees. Yet “all flesh” (Psalm 65:2), “all the ends of the earth” (Psalm 65:5), “they also that dwell in the uttermost parts” (Psalm 65:8) are encouraged to bring their prayers to the only true and living God.
PSALM 65:3. Sin, of course, is an obstacle to prayer. Nevertheless, through the sacrifice of Jesus, our “transgressions” are “purged away.” He who was without sin bore our sins and ‘became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him’ (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21). God has accepted THIS sacrifice, and hears our prayers.
PSALM 65:4. Blessed are we if we are chosen by God to ‘boldly approach the throne of grace’ (cf. Hebrews 4:16). This is not about places of worship, but dwelling in ‘the secret place of the Most High’ (cf. Psalm 91:1); worshipping God through our Lord Jesus Christ in the here and now, and thereafter possessing our prepared place in the house of many mansions above (cf. John 14:2).
2. God Performing Wonders in the World (Psalm 65:5-8).
PSALM 65:5a. It is in “awesome deeds” that “the God of our salvation” hears and answers our prayers “in righteousness.” Righteousness and salvation are knit together by the One who is both ‘just’ and ‘the justifier of him that believes in Jesus’ (cf. Romans 3:26).
PSALM 65:5b. The Psalmist foresees God as “the confidence” of “all the earth,” including “them that are afar off upon the sea.” Not just those who live in distant isles, but even ‘those that go down to the sea in ships’ (cf. Psalm 107:23).
PSALM 65:6-7. “By His strength” God establishes the mountains, being “girded with power.” The relative stability of the mountain ranges is contrasted with the roaring of the seas – which God “stills.” Picture Jesus in a storm tossed boat with His disciples: He rebuked the wind and commanded the sea, ‘Peace be STILL’ (cf. Mark 4:39) - and the wind and the sea obeyed Him. God stills also “the tumult of the people” - the turmoil of the nations.
PSALM 65:8. “They also that dwell in the uttermost parts” are awestruck at His wonders. The sunrise and the sunset rejoice in His glory. God’s creation brings joy to all and sundry, the whole world from east to west.
3. God in the Harvest. Psalm 65:9-13.
PSALM 65:9. We have a picture here of God as the gardener (cf. John 15:1), watering what He has planted from the abundant “river of God,” preparing “corn” (staple foods) for the consumption of man. This is why we give thanks to God whenever we eat.
PSALM 65:10. He waters the ridges, levels the furrows, and fills them with rain, blessing it to spring forth with a crop. Mr Spurgeon, in his ‘Treasury of David,’ likens this to the operations of the Holy Spirit within us, ‘beating down high thoughts, filling our lowly desires, softening the soul, and causing every holy thing to increase and spread.’
PSALM 65:11-12. The “crowning of the year” is a good harvest. The “paths” of God flow with abundance. The benefits overflow into “the pastures of the wilderness,” and “the little hills” are surrounded with the sound of rejoicing.
PSALM 65:13a. “The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered with corn.” All this from the overflow of God’s blessing of rain.
PSALM 65:13b. “They shout for joy, they also sing.” The whole of creation joins us in our harvest celebration.
E). MINDSETS.
Romans 8:1-11.
I. A SET FREE MINDSET.
Romans 8:1-5.
“Then-now-no” begins the Greek of this wonderful chapter of God’s Book. This firm negation placed right at the beginning of the sentence serves to emphasise the absolute impossibility of there ever being any “condemnation” - to whom? “To those in Christ Jesus” - otherwise defined as “those who walk not according to the (sinful) flesh but according to the (Holy) Spirit” (Romans 8:1).
The “then” or “therefore” links with what has gone before: the whole question of the salvation which is ours in Christ Jesus as described in the earlier chapters. The “now” emphasises our present and continuing possession of this privilege of “no condemnation!” [It is interesting to note that the chapter also ends with a negative: ‘no separation’ from the love of God which is ‘in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (cf. Romans 8:38-39).]
The Apostle then goes on to explain why there is no condemnation: “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus set me free from the law of sin and of death” (Romans 8:2). This is not putting us under a ‘new law’ but under the sound of the gospel: for it is the gospel which liberates us. And receiving the Holy Spirit is equivalent to having God’s law written on our hearts (cf. Jeremiah 31:33-34; Ezekiel 11:19-20), so that we no longer live by the letter of the law, but by the Spirit who dwells within us.
This is personal: the gospel “set ME free.” Free from what? Two things: “the law of sin” and “the law of death” (Romans 8:2b). The law is not sinful, nor is it responsible for the sin within us: but it exposes sin, and it provokes sin, and it condemns sin (cf. Romans 7:7-9). Neither is the law the cause of death, but is used by sin to produce death (cf. Romans 7:13).
The law, even though it is God’s law, has proved itself inept to make us right with God. This is not a fault with the law (cf. Romans 7:12), but the law is nevertheless rendered powerless through “the flesh” i.e. our fallen sinful nature (Romans 8:3a).
But God did what the law could not (Romans 8:3b).
1. “God sent His own Son” (cf. John 3:16). Not just a messenger, or a prophet, but the Son of His right hand: His own Son. This speaks of the incarnation of the Son of God.
2. God sent His own Son “in the likeness of sinful flesh” (cf. Philippians 2:5-8). This is not to suggest that His was a mere “likeness” of humanity, for Jesus became man in every sense but one: that is, that He is ‘without sin’ (cf. Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22).
3. The Sinless One came “for sin,” to deal with sin, as a sin-offering. This speaks of the sacrificial death of our Saviour.
4. God “condemned (that word again!) sin in the flesh” (i.e. in our fallen sinful nature) by ‘making Him sin who knew no sin’ (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21). There is a definite substitution here: our sins imputed to the Sinless One, His righteousness imputed to us. It is not that our sins did not merit condemnation, but that our condemnation fell on Him!
All this is done so that “the requirement of the law should be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the (sinful) flesh, but after the (Holy) Spirit” (Romans 8:4). Jesus came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it (cf. Matthew 5:17), and in this way He fulfils it in us. In other words we are not only spared the condemnation, but equipped to live the life.
“For those who live according to the (sinful) flesh mind the things of the (sinful) flesh, but those who live according to the (Holy) Spirit mind the things of the (Holy) Spirit” (Romans 8:5). It is all about mindset, about what absorbs our interest and how we use our time.
What is our mind set upon today?
II. TWO MINDSETS, TWO ROADS, TWO DESTINIES.
Romans 8:6-11.
This short passage describes two states of mind: literally, “the mind of the flesh (which is) death;” and “the mind of the Spirit (which is) life and peace” (Romans 8:6). These are two quite distinct mindsets, which lead to two differing choices of lifestyle (cf. the exhortation of Romans 12:2). Our mindset is determined not by what we do, or what choices we make; but by who we are, and whose we are: whether we are ‘in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1), or not.
These two states of mind also determine our present circumstance, and our destiny: whether “death” or “life and peace” (Romans 8:6). Death arose from rebellion against God (Genesis 2:17), and has left man in a state of flesh-serving carnality ever since (Romans 8:7). Adam had but one law to keep, but his failure ushered in ‘the law of sin and death’ (Romans 8:2).
This is spiritual death, such that we are each born ‘dead in trespasses and sins’ (Ephesians 2:1). The carnal mind is dead to God, and totally unable to keep the law of God (Romans 8:7). Those whose mind is set in the flesh, and who therefore serve their own selfish interests, cannot please God (Romans 8:8).
Yet the Apostle Paul is writing to Christians, so he wants to reassure them here, after all this talk of fleshly carnality: “but you…” (Romans 8:9). First, negatively, you are not in (enslaved to) the flesh. Second, positively, “but in the Spirit” (Romans 8:9).
Paul casts no doubt on the status of his addressees. You are in the Spirit “if indeed” or rather “since” the Spirit of God dwells in you. It is a matter of fact, just like a clause in Jesus’ prayer: ‘Thou, Father, in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us’ (John 17:21).
This is an unashamedly Trinitarian verse. The language moves seamlessly from “the Spirit” to “the Spirit of God” to “the Spirit of Christ” (Romans 8:9). The inference is, “anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ” does not belong to Him!
The present state of the believer is one of hope. The principle of our life is no longer based in the old ways of corrupted flesh in rebellion against God (Romans 8:7). We have a new principle: the life of the Spirit within us (Romans 8:10), arising from the fact that we have been made righteous in Christ Jesus (cf. Romans 3:21-22)
Peter says that it was God who raised Jesus from the dead (Acts 2:24), with which Paul also concurs (Acts 13:30). As the good shepherd, Jesus also claimed to have the authority not only to lay down His life, but also to take it up again (John 10:18). Paul implies the involvement of ‘the Spirit of holiness’ in Jesus’ resurrection (cf. Romans 1:4), and in our own… (Romans 8:11).
If it is indeed the Spirit who raised up Jesus from the dead who dwells in you, believer - and it is - we have the assurance that our mortal bodies shall also be raised “by His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).
F). THE SOWER, THE SEED, AND THE SOIL.
Matthew 13:1-9; Matthew 13:18-23.
There were great crowds pressing to see Jesus, straining to hear His words, or perhaps hoping for a healing touch. The Lord entered into a boat and sat and taught, whilst the crowds stood on the seashore. The boat served as a pulpit, and the open spaces provided good acoustics.
There are seven parables in this chapter: the first (Matthew 13:1-9), along with its interpretation (Matthew 13:18-23), being the most well-known. We can imagine Jesus spotting a farmer sowing seed somewhere nearby, and using this to illustrate His own ministry. Even whilst talking about it, Jesus was sowing the seed of the Word of God!
The Word of God is good seed: of that there is no doubt. So why is it that it does not have a good result in the lives of all those who hear it? The fault is in the soil.
No matter how well the farmer prepared the ground, there would always be some part of that rocky terrain that would not yield any fruit. On any account, seed scattered would not always land in the good soil, the prepared soil. No matter how ‘good’ the preaching, the Word of God only takes root in hearts prepared by the Holy Spirit (Acts 17:32-34).
Jesus speaks of four types of hearers, with four results:
1. There are those who hear and do not understand (Matthew 13:4; Matthew 13:19). The Word is snatched away immediately upon their hearing it.
2. There are those who seem to receive the Word in an emotional moment, and with much celebration (Matthew 13:5; Matthew 13:20).
Not everybody will be enthusiastic when you are converted. Some will mock and scold, questioning your sanity; others will bully and apply psychological pressure upon you to conform to the world; others will persecute and murder. Then there is questioning in the heart when it seems that God’s providence is against us.
There is no root in them, and they fall away at the first sign of trouble (Matthew 13:6; Matthew 13:21).
3. For some, the seed falls among thorns (Matthew 13:7; Matthew 13:22).
The cares of this world soon smother the good work that God would do in their lives. Those who lack, covet; and those who have riches must needs build bigger barns (Luke 12:18). There are dangers in both extremes (Proverbs 30:8-9).
Earlier Jesus taught, ‘Take no thought for your life’ (Matthew 6:25). Not that He is counselling carelessness, but rather warning against being overly concerned with the fleeting comforts of this world. Striving after things that perish should not take precedence over our relationship with the Word of God (Matthew 6:33).
4. Finally, there are those who hear and understand, trust and obey (Matthew 13:8; Matthew 13:23).
How do I know that they trust? Because they bring forth fruit in their lives (John 15:16). A fruitless life is a rootless life: ‘faith without works is dead’ (James 2:17).
What is interesting here is the diversity: some produce a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. This is a matter of fact observation, rather than a criticism. Let us each do our utmost and our best, in proportion to the gifts and opportunities which the Lord has given us.
“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear” (Matthew 13:9).
