2024年11月10日 / グレース・トロント日本語教会
創世記 25章
19 これはアブラハムの子イサクの歴史である。アブラハムはイサクを生んだ。
20 イサクが、パダン・アラムのアラム人ベトエルの娘で、アラム人ラバンの妹であるリベカを妻に迎えたときは、四十歳であった。
21 イサクは、自分の妻のために主に祈った。彼女が不妊の女だったからである。主は彼の祈りを聞き入れ、妻リベカは身ごもった。
22 子どもたちが彼女の腹の中でぶつかり合うようになったので、彼女は「こんなことでは、いったいどうなるのでしょう、私は」と言った。そして、主のみこころを求めに出て行った。
23 すると主は彼女に言われた。「二つの国があなたの胎内にあり、二つの国民があなたから分かれ出る。一つの国民は、もう一つの国民より強く、兄が弟に仕える。」
24 月日が満ちて出産の時になった。すると見よ、双子が胎内にいた。
25 最初に出て来た子は、赤くて、全身毛衣のようであった。それで、彼らはその子をエサウと名づけた。
26 その後で弟が出て来たが、その手はエサウのかかとをつかんでいた。それで、その子はヤコブと名づけられた。イサクは、彼らを生んだとき、六十歳であった。
27 この子どもたちは成長した。エサウは巧みな狩人、野の人であったが、ヤコブは穏やかな人で、天幕に住んでいた。
28 イサクはエサウを愛していた。猟の獲物を好んでいたからである。しかし、リベカはヤコブを愛していた。
Please note that the Japanese translation below is done by Google Translate.
Nov 10, 2024 / Grace Toronto Japanese Church
Genesis 25
19 These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham fathered Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. 21 And Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. 23 And the LORD said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you shall be divided;
the one shall be stronger than the other,
the older shall serve the younger.”
24 When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
27 When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. 28 Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
OPENING AND CONTEXT
After Sarah died, Abraham lived 48 more years. And he even remarried and had 6 more sons.
But Isaac—the son that God had given to him and Sarah—continued to be the son of the promise of God: “Your very own son shall be your heir. Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Gen 15:4–5).
So, in Gen 25, Abraham gave his new sons gifts and then sent them away to the east country (v. 6). Abraham didn’t want them to stay with Isaac because they would get in the way of Isaac.
And Abraham died at the age of 175 (v. 7). Also, there is a brief section about Ishmael in Gen 25. He had 12 sons (tribes). Ishamel died when he was 137 years old (v. 17). After his death, Ishamel’s descendants settled in the desert of Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt (v. 18).
TEXT
And today’s text is about the birth of Isaac’s descendants (i.e., Abraham’s grandchildren): “These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son” (v. 19). This birth is important because God will make Abraham into a great nation through this family line.
We saw Isaac getting married to Rebekah last week in Gen 24. Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah as his wife. But for the next 20 years, they had no child “because she was barren” (v. 21). So, Isaac prayed for her, and God answered. Rebekah got pregnant (v. 21).
But in her pregnancy, Rebekah felt some unusual movements. It seemed there were more than one baby in her womb, and they “struggled together within her” (v. 22). So, she asked for God’s guidance, and God said something that’s hard to understand:
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you shall be divided;
the one shall be stronger than the other,
the older shall serve the younger” (v. 23).
So, what God revealed to her was:
- You’re carrying twins.
- They will become two nations (two peoples).
- Their fates will be quite different from each other: (1) One will be stronger; (2) The older will serve the younger
Rebekah must have been puzzled to hear that. One reason that she was confused was because their custom and tradition was that the younger would serve the older. While having twin boys is nothing strange, what the Lord said about the older serving the younger was something very unusual.
And as God had said, Rebekah gave birth to twin boys (v. 24). And their birth story is fascinating (vv. 25–26).
ESAU: “The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak” (v. 25). This first boy was so hairy even from birth. Their naming convention seems unfair to us modern people because we try to give our children meaningful names (e.g., EXAMPLE). But Isaac and Rebekah named him “Esau” mainly because of the baby’s appearance—his name was connected to the Hebrew word Esav (עֵשָׂו) meaning “hairy.” It symbolized the baby’s wild nature and personality.
JACOB: Another remarkable thing that happened at their birth was that the second baby came out immediately after the first with his hand holding his older twin brother’s heel (v. 26). Again, it led the parents to name this boy “Jacob” (יַעֲקֹב)—his name was connected to the Hebrew word (עָקֵב) which meant “heel.”
When Esau and Jacob were born, their father Isaac was 60 years old (v. 26).
Both boys grew up, and they lived different lives. Let’s read vv. 27–28 together: 27 When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. 28 Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. Jacob was a quiet man and normally stayed at home (probably helping his mother). Esau was a wild man and skillful hunter and spent most of his day in the field. Each parent (Isaac and Rebekah) had their own favorites.
One day, as usual, Jacob was at home cooking something. This time he was cooking red stew (v. 29). And Esau came back home, and he was exhausted (v. 29). And Esau asked Jacob to give him some of the stew (v. 30). Jacob made a striking suggestion: “Sell me your birthright now” (v. 31). As the eldest son, Esau had the birthright. What was the birthright? It was his right as the firstborn son in his culture, and Esau could receive a double inheritance (i.e., two times more than Jacob’s portion). So, Jacob is quite cunning here. He saw his older brother Esau was tired and starving, and he wanted to take advantage of that. We know Jacob’s bowl of red stew was nothing compared to Esau’s birthright. But Jacob is telling Esau to sell his birthright to him only for a bowl of stew, and it’s so shocking that Esau agreed to do so! It almost seems like he had no brain. Esau didn’t really care and sold his birthright to his younger brother for the stew: “So, he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob” (v. 33). And Moses (the writer of Genesis) explains why he sold it: “Thus Esau despised his birthright” (v. 34).
So, what’s happening here? What Gen 25 shows us is that God chose Jacob to bear the promise he had made to Abraham: “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing . . . and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen 12:2–3). So, God chose Jacob as the one to be stronger than Esau (v. 23); the older (Esau) shall serve the younger (Jacob) (v. 23).
One may wonder: (1) Do I need to be a quiet person to be chosen by God? (2) Help mom? (3) Do I have to like cooking to be elected by God? Etc. These are ridiculous (absurd) questions. Why? We should remember it was not because Jacob was a quiet man helping mom that Jacob was chosen. We should know that it was not because Esau was a wild man hunting in the field all day long that he was not chosen by God.
Do you want to know why God chose Jacob? Let’s go to Romans 9—the Apostle Paul explains why.
“When Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—she was told, ‘The older will serve the younger.’ As it is written, ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated’” (Rom 9:10–12)
So, why was Jacob chosen? Is it something that Jacob did? Paul says “No.” God’s election of Jacob over Esau was never based on anything Jacob had done. God chose Jacob “in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls” (Rom 9). Simply speaking, God chose Jacob because he wanted to do so.
Our potential objection: That is unfair! But Paul says we can’t question God’s justice (Rom 9:14) because God is absolutely free and sovereign: [God said to Moses] “‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion’ So then itdepends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy” (Rom 9:15–16)
Again, why was Jacob chosen to bear the promise of God? It was only God’s sovereign and merciful choice. It had nothing to do with Jacob himself. Look at today’s text. Jacob was a bit cunning and deceptive. He manipulated his brother and took his birthright. What does it show? It tells us that there was nothing in Jacob that deserved God’s election. Again, Jacob was chosen because of God’s own faithfulness to his promise, not because Jacob pleased God in any way.
APPLICATIONS
And the same is true with us today.
We can ask these questions:
Why did God choose and call Abraham in Gen 12? Did God elect Abraham because he was somewhat better than any other men? No. God chose Abraham and called him solely based on God’s own sovereign grace.
Why did God elect Jacob in Gen 25? The answer is the same. Jacob was chosen only because God had mercy (Rom 9:16).
Why did God save me? The same answer again. God chose and saved you not because you’re relatively better than others but only because God is full of grace and mercy. That’s it. And that’s all. The Apostle Paul says in Eph 1:4 “God chose us in Christ before the foundation for the world.” And in 1 Cor 15:10, Paul says, “By the grace of God I am what I am.”
CLOSING
So far, we’ve seen God chose Abraham and gave him the covenant of promises. Isaac was the son of the promises God gave to Abraham and Sarah. Now, in Gen 25, God gave Jacob twin boys, Esau, and Jacob, but he only chose one of them, Jacob, the younger one, as the son of the promises. And God’s choice was never dependent on Jacob but based on God’s amazing and sovereign grace. And I said it applies to all God’s people, including you and myself.
This keeps us from two things.
First, Gen 25, the story of God’s election of Jacob keeps us from boasting. None of us deserves God’s election. The Bible always teaches us that God graciously elected you.
Second, the story of God’s election of Jacob (and Isaac, and Abraham) protects us from self-pity and despair because it is God who elected us. Remember God chose you even before the creation of the world when you and I “were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad” (Rom 9:10–12). Why? It’s for the glory of God. Paul says that God chose us so that “God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls” (Rom 9:10–12). It is God who has mercy; it is God who calls us. This God elected you and called you. So, this keeps us from the deceptive lie that God will abandon you if you don’t measure up to his standards. Remember God graciously elected you.
In a way, living as a Christian means we are fighting this fight against the two things: (1) boasting, and (2) despair.
- There are times when we feel good about ourselves and think Hey, I’m doing well. God is pleased with me because I’m doing good. I don’t drink. I go to church on Sundays. My relationships are good. Money is not a problem. I am proud of myself. I think God likes me.
- There are also moments when your hearts are filled with guilt, when you know you failed again, and you don’t measure up to God’s standards. Your sins are before your eyes, and the Enemy whispers to your ears, God is angry with you.
While we oscillate between these two extremes, living as a Christian means having Eph 1:4 as the sure foundation of our identity and existence. Who is Jacob (God’s chosen)? Anyone who is in Christ is God’s child. He’s God’s elect, and God will keep him.