Sunday, 11 January 2009
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January 11, 2009
This week's message was delivered through our very own Elder Emmanuel Lak. Praise God for His blessings!
As we begin the second full week of 2009, we remember that time is passing us by. Even as things end, things are beginning anew! As we grow older, we seek God's face to grow wiser and learn the mysteries that He has in store for us and our lives! Now is the time to fully commit yourself to seeking His blessings!
This week, we were focusing on our future, and it's a good time to do it! So, let's start with the Word of God from this Sunday!
Genesis 25:20-34
20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram [a] and sister of Laban the Aramean.
21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, "Why is this happening to me?" So she went to inquire of the LORD.
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."24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. [b] 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob. [c] Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I'm famished!" (That is why he was also called Edom. [d] )
31 Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright."
32 "Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright to me?"
33 But Jacob said, "Swear to me first." So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.
So Esau despised his birthright.As a note, let's remember that when this says that Esau "despised" his birthright, that it doesn't mean that he hated it. It merely means that he didn't hold it as something important to him. It was something that he didn't care about enough to worry about it over the food that he was wanting to eat!
This passage begins by stating that although Isaac and Rebekah were married, they were barren. God promised Abraham, Isaac's father that his descendants would be countless, so how was this to be? They sought the face of God and Rebekah conceived, but there were problems. There were two nations within her womb, both fighting to become the most powerful. Though many would suspect twins of having similar character, in this case, nothing could be further from the truth! These were two distinctly different people, even from the time before they were born!
We were to learn the Prophetic Positioning of Jacob and Esau's birth. Jacob vs. Esau! In this section, we heard about the selling of Esau's birthright and blessing to Jacob for food. Wait, does that seem right to you? Who seems in the wrong here? Jacob? Or is it Esau? They had been struggling for power, even from the womb and now the birthright had finally traded hands. There were two people, two types of people described here, and hopefully, when we're finished, we'll see why Jacob was actually not "stealing" the birthright here, but doing what God had planned for him from the beginning.
We know that before they were born, it was prophesied that "the stronger shall serve the weaker" or "the older shall serve the younger" and this is what we see put into action here. This is something that may be difficult for us to understand. In our world, the strong rule. But God has said "the first shall be last" so we know that His ways are not our ways. We need to understand and seek what He means for us to do. It may not be conventional in our thoughts, but remember, He's looking at the big picture!
It's an interesting way to view God's processes. Whose system are you following? The "Jacob System" or the "Esau System"? In Esau's system, a person is materialistic. He's looking at the NOW. He's not looking for the future. Just like Esau was hunting from day to day for food, he is not looking to increase his holdings or his future. He is living in the now, from day-to-day. In this manner, you can miss out on life because you never look forward to something more. With Jacob, we see that he is always thinking ahead. He is planning, he is staying home and making a future for himself. We see this more in action even later in his life. He is not focused so much on the now, but on the future. He is a cultivator, a planter. Someone who is looking for the big picture in things.
What are we doing with our lives? Is our lifestyle like Jacob or like Esau? With money, with food, with relationships? Are we planning the future? Are we preparing ourselves for success or for survival? God chooses your life and your steps and we want to seek where He wants us to go. He knows more than we and can rightly choose where we should plan. Jacob's thought was to take something small and increase it. He took a bowl of stew and exchanged it for a birthright. Esau's thoughts were focused on destruction. He was worried only about consuming what he saw. In this manner, he lost what was probably most important in his life. Don't focus so much on the now that you lose sight of the future and destroy yourself. Focus on God that your steps and path might become clearer and you will prosper!
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