The Patriarchs And Predestination Of Israel
Before Jacob and Esau were born, God chose the younger.
Before Jacob and Esau were born — before either had done anything good or evil — God made a choice, and it was not the obvious one. The older would serve the younger. In this sermon on Genesis 25, Dr. Toby Holt examines what the birth of Jacob and Esau reveals about divine election and sovereign grace, how this passage became the centerpiece of Paul's argument in Romans 9 about God's freedom to act according to His own purpose, and why the doctrine of election — rightly understood — is not a cold theological abstraction but one of the most humbling and assuring truths in all of Scripture.
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Questions This Sermon Answers
Genesis 25:23 records God's pre-birth declaration: "the older shall serve the younger." Paul interprets this in Romans 9:11 as the paradigm case of unconditional election: "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." The choice was made before either son existed, on no basis within either son, demonstrating that God's election is unconditional and sovereign.
Paul quotes Malachi 1:2-3, where God speaks of two nations, not merely two individuals. "Hated" in this context means "loved less" or "set aside" — a Semitic idiom for comparative preference (compare Luke 14:26 where Jesus says disciples must "hate" their families). The statement concerns God's sovereign choice of Israel as the covenant nation through Jacob's line, not a statement about Esau's eternal destiny. However, Paul does use it to establish the broader principle that God's mercy is not owed to all.
The Arminian view holds that God elected those whom He foresaw would believe. Reformed theology argues this contradicts Paul's point in Romans 9:11: the election was made "not because of works" — which includes future works, including the future work of faith. Westminster Confession 3.5 states that God's election is "of His mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith, or good works, or perseverance in either of them, as conditions or causes moving Him thereunto." Foreknowledge in Romans 8:29 means fore-loved, not fore-predicted.
Calvin defined predestination as "the eternal decree of God, by which He determined in himself what He wished to happen with regard to every man." He distinguished between election (choice for salvation) and reprobation (passing over others), while insisting God is not the author of sin. Calvin argued that the doctrine, though mysterious, is taught plainly in Scripture and should be neither denied nor over-speculated upon: "Let us not be ashamed to be ignorant in a matter in which ignorance is learning."
Sproul, following Calvin and the Westminster Standards, argued that God's election is monergistic — God alone causes salvation, without any contributing merit from the sinner. In his book Chosen by God, he presses the common objection that election is unfair by turning it around: the question is not why God saves some and not all, but why He saves any at all. Since all sinners deserve condemnation, the election of any is grace; the non-election of others is justice. Neither is unfair.
The doctrine of election is one of the most stabilizing truths in Christian experience. If salvation originates in God's choice rather than human decision, then it cannot be lost by human failure. Romans 8:29-30 forms the "golden chain" — foreknown, predestined, called, justified, glorified — in which no link breaks. Spurgeon likewise rejoiced that the eternal purposes of God do not depend on the whims and fancies of weak human beings. Election grounds the assurance of salvation in God's unchanging will rather than the believer's fluctuating feelings.
Jacob was a deceiver — his name means "supplanter." He deceived his father, stole his brother's blessing, and manipulated his uncle's flocks. Yet he was the chosen one. This is not an embarrassment to the doctrine of election — it is its illustration. God did not choose Jacob because of his superior character. He chose Jacob to display His sovereign freedom and to demonstrate that His covenant purposes are not thwarted by the failures of His chosen instruments. The same pattern continues throughout Scripture and in the church.
Romans 9 does not resolve the tension between divine sovereignty and human responsibility — it asserts both. After establishing God's sovereign election (9:6-18), Paul immediately addresses human responsibility in the remaining chapters: "whoever believes in him will not be put to shame" (10:11). Westminster Confession 3.1 affirms both: "God from all eternity did ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away." Both are true; neither cancels the other.
1. Unconditional Election
Westminster Confession 3.5 states that God predestined certain persons to life "not because of any foreseen faith, or good works, or perseverance in either of them, but of his mere free grace and love." This is what the Jacob-Esau narrative establishes: two sons, equal in every way, one chosen and one not, on no basis within either of them. The doctrine is not a philosophical speculation — it is the exegesis of Genesis 25 and Romans 9. Calvin, Sproul, and Spurgeon all held it for the same reason: Paul says it plainly.
2. The Sovereignty of God in Salvation
The Reformed tradition's consistent witness is that God's sovereignty in salvation is total, not partial. Monergism — the view that God alone causes regeneration, and human faith follows rather than precedes it — is grounded in texts like John 6:44 ("No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him") and Ephesians 2:1 ("you were dead in trespasses and sins"). The dead cannot choose life; they must be made alive. Jacob and Esau illustrate this at the level of redemptive history: the covenant people exists because of God's choice, not human initiative.
3. Election and Assurance
The practical benefit of the doctrine of election, as Calvin taught in the Institutes, is that it grounds assurance in God's unchanging will rather than the believer's changeable feelings. "I have loved you with an everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3) — everlasting means it predates time and survives all human failure. The Christian's security is not based on the firmness of their grip on God but on the firmness of God's grip on them. Romans 8:35-39: nothing "shall be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
4. The Text: Romans 9:11-13 (NKJV)
"For the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls, it was said to her, The older shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated."
Continue studying: explore the full Book of Genesis sermon series, or browse the complete Reformed Sermon Archive.
About The Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt serves as the third President of New Geneva Theological Seminary (Colorado Springs, CO), founded 1993. An expository preacher with over 1.9 million sermon downloads on SermonAudio.com, Dr. Holt brings over 17 years of pastoral experience to his verse-by-verse Bible teaching. New Geneva offers fully online, Westminster Confessional theological education — M.Div., Th.M., D.Min., and other degrees.
Summary. In this expository sermon on Genesis 25, Dr. Toby Holt of New Geneva Theological Seminary teaches that God identified Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob not to honor their faithfulness but to display His own faithfulness to His covenant promise. Preaching the account of the barren Rebekah, the twins struggling in her womb, and God's word that 'the older shall serve the younger,' Holt shows that Genesis 25 is the seminal text of predestination and election—Paul cites it in Romans 9 ('Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated')—proving that God sovereignly chose Jacob over Esau before either had done good or evil, on the basis of His own will alone, not human works.
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: His Faithfulness, Not Theirs
Throughout the Old Testament, God introduced Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. As you may remember, these three men were considered the patriarchs of Israel and the spiritual patriarchs of believers everywhere. However, when God referred to these men, it wasn't to highlight their faithfulness. Instead, it was to highlight His.
And that will be the focus of today's study from Genesis 25. When we lived in Wyoming, we were part of a church plant for about five and a half years. When we lived in Wyoming, in the northeast corner, we were not far from South Dakota. And in South Dakota, just over the border, there's a national monument.
Anyone know what it is? Rushmore. Mount Rushmore. Let me ask you, another pop quiz.
Who's on Mount Rushmore? What are the names? Who do we got? Washington?
Jefferson? Lincoln? Roosevelt. All right, you nailed it.
I thought someone would say Grover Cleveland, but no luck. That was the alternate Mount Rushmore. All right, so you've got the four guys. You've got Washington, you've got Lincoln, you've got Jefferson, Roosevelt, and so forth.
Now, in American history, you might say that these guys are the patriarchs, so to speak. These guys on this monument in South Dakota, they represent our history.
Continue reading the full transcript 31-minute read · 13 sections · every section links back to the audio
Why God Names the Patriarchs: The God of the Promise
Now, speaking of patriarchs, in Scripture, we know that the patriarchs of Israel were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But what you might not know is that repeatedly, over a dozen times, when God identifies Himself to someone new, He will identify Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now, why do that? Think about when God met Moses in the burning bush.
He could have just said, hey, I'm God. It's me. I'm God. But what does He do?
Specifically, Exodus 3 says this. When Moses saw the burning bush, he marveled at the sight, and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying, I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. And so Moses trembled and he dared not to look.
Now why, why does God identify Himself that way repeatedly? That's just one example. Why does God repeatedly point to those guys, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Was it because they were just so awesome?
Was it because they set a bar so high that God just wanted to appeal to those awesome guys, as I'm the God of those guys, and since I'm the God of those guys, you want to be awesome too, then you should worship me? What was His reason for explaining to Moses and others throughout the Old Testament that He's the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?
Well, we know this much.
The Sins of the Patriarchs and God's Covenant Promise
“I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.”
— Exodus 3:6 (NKJV)
It couldn't have been based on how awesome Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were, because oftentimes they were not awesome. We talked about — a few weeks ago, Pastor Fish preached on the time that Abraham lied to protect himself. Remember, Abraham lies. He talks about his wife, his beloved wife, and he says, hey, when we go into this new land, tell them that you're my sister.
And because you tell them that you're my sister, maybe he won't kill me to try to get to you. So Abraham did that. But you know who else did that? Someone named Isaac.
He does the exact same thing, the exact same lies. The son learns from the father. Now, don't even get me started on Jacob. We'll get to him in a few weeks.
We'll go through many of the sins of Jacob. Jacob was a flat-out scoundrel, just a flat-out scoundrel again and again and again. So God could not be identifying Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because those guys set such a high bar that He needed to name drop them when He was introducing Himself.
These guys were wonderful in many regards, but sinful in others. And that's before we even get to Jacob's sons. You start getting to Jacob's sons who sold off their brethren to slavery and then brought the bloody cloak back and put animal blood on and said, hey, Jacob, your son Joseph is dead. Before we even get to those guys, there's a lot of sin in the first three; the fourth generation on, the sin gets worse.
So if they were such a sinful people, why did God keep bringing up the names, especially of the patriarchs? Well, again, it's not to highlight their faithfulness. It's to highlight His. He says, I'm the God of Abraham.
I'm the God of Isaac. And I'm the God of Jacob. And I do what I do, not because of them, but oftentimes in spite of them and in spite of you. See, I made you, O Israel, a promise.
My promise is that I would be a God unto you and you would be a people unto me. My promise is that I would not leave you and I would not forsake you. My promise is I will make you holy, set apart from every other nation on the planet. That's been my promise to you.
And when He keeps introducing Himself as the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, it's a way of saying, I'm the God who has kept my promise in spite of those guys, in spite of their sons, in spite of the generations of faithlessness that we see within the Old Testament. Whenever God refers to the patriarchs by introducing Himself, He says, I'm God, the God of the promise.
All right, this morning we're going to talk about this promise and these patriarchs as we work through selections of this chapter. Let's start verses 7 through 11. I'll reread them, and then we'll look at this, and then we'll work our way through the balance as we can this morning.
The Death of Abraham and the Passing of a Season
“This is the sum of the years of Abraham's life which he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years. Then Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.”
— Genesis 25:7-8 (NKJV)
So, verse 7: This is the sum of the years of Abraham's life which he lived, 175 years. Then Abraham breathed his last, and he died at a good old age, an old man full of years, and he was gathered to his people. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite, the field that Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth.
There Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife, and it came to pass after the death of Abraham that God blessed his son Isaac, and Isaac dwelt at Beer Lahai Roi. You know, all of the three major religions, all the three major religions on the planet today — Christianity, Judaism, and Islam — they have this in common.
They all revere Abraham. Abraham is considered a father figure, in a sense, to all three religions. Now, in the New Testament, within Christianity, Abraham is referred to in the New Testament, centuries after he was gone — he's referred to in the New Testament over 70 times, and he's repeatedly cited for his faithfulness.
Now, as we discussed in previous weeks, he was faithful. He had sin issues. Yes, he messed up here, here, and here, but he was a faithful man in this key sense. God made him a promise, and he believed it.
God said, Abraham, I'm calling you out to make a people unto thee. You and your seed and your descendants will be more numerous than all the sand on the beach, all the stars in the sky. I'm going to give you a land. It's presently occupied, but I'm going to kick those guys out and I'm going to move you in.
Do you believe it? And Abraham said, Amen. And Abraham acted accordingly. So he was faithful.
He was faithful even to the point that when God says, take your own son, take your only begotten son, Isaac, and place him on an altar and sacrifice him to me, he was willing to do it. Now, of course, God spared his hand as we looked at last week. God stayed his hand.
He stayed his hand so he would not slaughter Isaac. And he offered instead a substitute, the ram that was caught in the thicket. And last week we talked about how the ram in the thicket is a type of Christ. That whole chapter, the whole chapter pointed to the personal work of Jesus Christ.
With that said, Abraham was a faithful man, absolutely, and yet, and yet, he was a sinner. As a husband, he had his faults. We talked about that a moment ago. As a father, he had his faults.
So after Sarah had died, Abraham had a second wife. Her name was Keturah. Abraham went on to have six children with Keturah. You don't hear too much about them, for he sent them away.
He sent them to the east. Whatever the case, in verses 7 through 11, we read that Abraham died. Abraham died, and the future was in Isaac's hands now. And before we move into Isaac, let me just offer this about Abraham.
Abraham was a good and godly man. He was used of God to great ends, but in due time, his season ended. All of us have a short season. All the wonderful people read in the Scripture — Abraham, or Moses, or Elijah, or what have you — they were good and godly individuals, and God used them in good and godly ways to do amazing things.
And yet, at a certain point, He was done using them, and they graduated. At a certain point, their season ended, and there's a lesson for us. If God had no more need for an Abraham at a certain season, if He had no more need for a Moses at the end of his season, at a certain point, we will graduate.
So the question is, how do we use our time now? Whatever the case is, Abraham's season ends in verses 7 through 11, and Isaac, the son of promise, is the one who will carry on his legacy.
Isaac, the Son of Promise, and a Barren Wife
All right, let's skip ahead, verses 19 through 22. We're going to pick up Isaac's story, the son's story, when he is 40 years old, verses 19 through 22. Now, this is the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham begat Isaac.
Isaac was 40 years old when he took on Rebekah as his wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian, of Paddan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian. Boo, Laban. He'll come up in a few more weeks. Now, Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife because she was barren, and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah, his wife, conceived.
But the children struggled together within her, and she said, If all is well, why am I like this? And so she went to inquire of the Lord. You know, in my own family line, when I was younger, genealogy, I think, was a bigger deal in previous generations, but I had this book in our house.
It was the whole history, and there was the tree, And it showed all the different generations and how this guy begat that guy and that guy begat that guy and so forth. All the way, all the way down. But I couldn't help notice something interesting. At the bottom was me, but there was no one else.
My dad only had sisters. At the bottom of the whole family tree was me. There was nothing else there. Now, as a kid, I wondered, boy, I guess it's all on me.
Well, good news, God was kind, God was gracious, and in due time, I had a son. But guess what? It's all on him. So I did my part.
With that said, can you imagine how many times Isaac had to hear that he was the son of the promise, right? How many times did he hear that story? Abraham's sitting around the old Abraham campfire, you know, doing Old Testament s'mores or whatever. And he tells Isaac and he says, all right, Isaac, Isaac, my boy, God made me this promise.
How many times did he relate to how God came to him and told him? And Sarah said, I was there. I heard. I mean, I laughed, but I heard how many times Abraham tell Isaac the story in order to impress upon him this point, that you, Isaac, are the son of promise.
You were the son that God gave me in my old age. You are the son of promise. Now, with that said, you could argue that Isaac had really one job in life. That was to procreate.
That was to have another son. But what do you see there in verse 20. Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebecca, his wife. 40 years old.
Can you imagine, you know, everyone who knew the son of the promise thing, when is this going to work out? How's this going to work out? He's 40 years old when he gets married. Okay, that's not the end of the world.
Abraham was an old, old man when he had a child. But, but then after marrying at 40, to Rebecca, wonderful woman, what happens? Well, nothing for 20 years. Rebecca's barren.
That's what we just see in the text. She was barren. Verse 20, Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah as his wife, the daughter of so-and-so, the sister of Laban the Syrian. Now, Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife because she was barren.
Ultimately, she would have a child, but it was not until Isaac was 60 years old.
The Testing of Faith: God's Promises Across the Waiting
What can we learn from that? Among other things, we can learn this, that God makes promises, but He's very okay. He's very okay with making a promise, but then letting the circumstances just stew to test the faith of those He's made the promise to. God told Abraham, you'll have a kid.
You'll have a son. Absolutely. 100%. Take it to the bank.
But as time went by, what did Abraham do? Well, he says, all right, God, you're on the clock here. I'm not getting any younger and neither is my wife. And ultimately, what did Abraham and his wife do?
Well, they figured, well, this God, you know, we need to help God along, right? We've got to help God. Dear heavens, that's bad theology. You don't ever think you need to help God out.
But they say, well, we'll help God out. What should we do? And Sarah says, well, I don't know. I got Hagar over here.
Maybe we could try that. Maybe that would be the solution to the problem. This workaround. Now, that was a huge and gigantic sin.
Did God ultimately use that sin? Yes, but nevertheless, it was a huge sin. They didn't fully trust as time went by. Sometimes you and I have the trust today.
I believe in God today. I believe in the promises today. But then something in our life is allowed to stay beyond its welcome time. Some hardship or heartache in our life lingers, and so our confidence ebbs.
Well, here's the thing. If God has made you a promise, He absolutely will fulfill it. It's a stone-cold promise. 100%, take to the bank.
If God makes a promise to His people, He will keep it. But He's 100% okay with that occurring across a swath of time that tests the faith of the people He made the promise to. He did it with Abraham, and guess what? He's doing it again with Isaac.
Isaac, the son of promise, is 40 when he's married. For 20 years, his wife is barren. Now, what does he do?
Isaac Pleads With the Lord: Prayer as the Right Response
“Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived.”
— Genesis 25:21 (NKJV)
What does he do? Well, to Isaac's eternal credit, he did not do what his father did. Remember his father's sin with Hagar? At least Isaac learned this much around the old campfire.
He learned that that's not the solution. No more Hagar. So what does he do? Well, he does the right thing.
He does the exact right thing. You see that in verse 21. Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife. He pleaded with the Lord for his wife because she was barren, and the Lord granted his plea.
And Rebekah, his wife, conceived. That is the 100% right thing to do. And notice he did it across a swath of 20 years. Some of the things that you desperately want in your life, and some of the things you desperately want for people you love in your life might not happen today, might not happen tomorrow.
But that's out of your department. Your job is to do what? Your job is to pray and to pray and then wake up tomorrow to pray again and keep praying. In this case, 20 years of praying, right?
But God answered the prayer. If you interceded before God and God answered it, we see there in verse 21. But interestingly, in verse 22, we read that the children, after she's pregnant, the children struggled within her. She has twins.
And not only do they struggle within her, not only do they struggle within her, but she says in verse 22, if all is well, why am I like this? The struggle was not like something she ever expected. And even other moms in the community probably told her, yeah, that ain't normal. Whatever's going on, whatever's going on in — this is not the way it's supposed to be.
This is especially bad. It was bad enough. We see there at the end of verse 22, she asked the question, if all is well, if I am the mother of the son of promise, if I am the one to bear the children, why is this so hard? What's going on?
Am I going to survive? Are my children going to survive? So verse 22 says, so she went to inquire of the Lord.
Two Nations in the Womb: The Older Shall Serve the Younger
“Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.”
— Genesis 25:23 (NKJV)
All right, let's look at verses 23 through 28 to see God's response to Rebekah. Verse 23, And the Lord said to her, There are two nations, two nations in your womb. There are two people that shall be separated from your body. One people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.
Now when her days were fulfilled to give birth, indeed there were twins in the womb. And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over. So they called his name Esau, which literally means hairy.
Verse 26: After his brother came out and his hand took hold of Esau's heel, so his name was called Jacob, which literally means heel grabber. They weren't real inventive with the names. You get red, you know — Esau. He grabbed a heel — he's Jacob.
So afterwards he grabs the heel there in verse 26. Now Isaac was 60 years old when Rebekah bore them. But thereafter, verse 27, the boys grew, and Esau was a skillful hunter; he was a man of the field. But Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in his tent.
And Isaac loved Esau. Listen why. Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game. Isaac loved Esau because Esau cooked for him.
But Rebekah loved Jacob. Remember we talked about earlier that the patriarchs, they weren't all — this is not some golden age where they had it all right, it all figured out. This is a messy family. You have these two sons, two nations that will fight against each other, war against one another, pitted against one another for all time, two sons from one womb.
You have these two parents who have different views on which son is the best. You have favoritism, all these different things. There's sin issues taking place. With that said, the interesting thing when you look at verses 23 through 28 is that there were two children, two children that were born, and yet God told Rebekah that only one of them, only one of them is the seed from which my people will ultimately come, and he won't be the one you expect.
He will be the younger one. You know, earlier we talked about, God would say, I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He never once said, I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Esau. Never once.
Now why? Tradition would have held that if there was a son of promise, if there was a progeny, if there was a line, then it was to go through the firstborn. Two kids, which one was born first? That would have been the first question anyone would have asked.
They wouldn't have cared about the weight and the ounces and how long and all that sort of stuff. Not one bit. You had twins. Which one came out first?
Why? Because that's where the birthright went to. By virtue of being born half a millisecond before the other one, all the advantages on the globe belonged to you. And yet, God tells Rebekah that when it happens and when these children are born, it's not going to be that older one who will be favored.
In fact, the older one's going to fight against the younger one, but the younger one will prevail over the older one. Now, if you're Rebekah, you had to wonder about that. What does this mean?
The Seminal Text of Predestination and Election
“As it is written, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”
— Romans 9:13 (NKJV)
What is the future going to hold? Now, with that said, let me stop for a moment before we get back to the patriarchs here. This text, what we're looking at right here, is the seminal text for a key theological precept that we call predestination. Predestination, election, God choosing, what have you — this is the seminal text.
It's such a seminal text that later on in Romans 9, Paul himself will talk about this text when he talks about the very concept of predestination. He'll say this in Romans 9, when Rebekah had also conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac, for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him who calls, it was said to her, the older shall serve the younger.
As it is written, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated. All right, we're not going to go on at length on this theological precept we call predestination. We've done that in other sermons. But the point is, it's right here.
God looks down. He ordains and decrees and appoints that two children will be born. Two children. But before they've ever done anything right or wrong, what did Paul say?
Before they'd done good or evil, before they'd done right or wrong, while they were still in the womb, God says, I choose the one and not the other. That's exactly what he told Rebekah.
The Sovereign Choice of Jacob, Not of Works but of God's Will
I choose the one, but not the other. Now, on what basis was that choice made? Well, again, it wasn't on the basis of Esau or Jacob doing anything better or worse than the other. In fact, they'll both be kind of scoundrels, which we'll see here in just a moment.
It wasn't on the basis of any inherent righteousness in them. It was done on the basis of God's own choice, God's own volition. God chose Jacob. For reasons that startle and amaze us, the more we learn about this Jacob and the things that he would do, God chose Jacob.
His own dad didn't want Jacob. His own dad was like, Esau, you know, Esau makes that good stew, right? Esau's my boy. But God says, no, no, no, no. The line is going to come through Jacob.
Now, not just any line, mind you — the line. You have Abraham, you have Isaac. Isaac has two sons, Jacob and Esau. One of them will be the seed through which all of Israel will go — all of Israel.
The other one will not. The other one — Edom. Edom is the people who would come from Esau. Which is interesting.
It's interesting for this reason: because when you think about Jacob — so Jacob is the grandson of Abraham — when Jacob has sons, he has sons through all sorts: he has sons through different wives, he has sons through concubines. And you know what? All those sons, all 12, are the tribes of Israel.
But Esau is the actual grandson of Abraham. Like, all the DNA and everything matches up perfectly. And he was a twin with Jacob, and yet God says, I'm going to choose the one, and I'm not going to choose the other. Now, for what it's worth, that's just what God does.
It's above our pay grade as to who and how and why he chooses. I have no idea. If He's chosen me, I didn't give Him any basis for the choosing, neither did you, and neither did Jacob, right? We have no idea why He chooses.
Why Israel? Why not the Canaanites, you know? Why not the Philistines, or the Moabites, or the Hittites, or what have you? We don't know, but God of His own volition says, I'm making a promise to set apart one people, one people on the whole face of the globe.
It'll be the people Israel. They'll come through Abraham. I'll make a covenant with them. I will dwell with them, first in a tabernacle, then in a temple.
I will be their God. They will be my people, over and against all the other nations on the face of the earth. Why does God do that? Again, above our pay grade.
But what we know is that He does it, and right here He does it. Right here He does it unequivocally, to the point this is the seminal text that even Paul, centuries and centuries and centuries later, will point back to in order to demonstrate the sovereignty of God over the salvation of souls.
The Proof of Election: God Pursued Jacob but Let Esau Be Esau
So this is this seminal text. now for what it's worth getting back to jacob and esau what was the proof that god chose jacob and not Esau? What was the proof that he chose Jacob? Well, as we'll see in the weeks ahead, although Jacob's a scoundrel, although his name literally means heel grabber, swindler, although he was those things, God pursued Jacob.
God disciplined Jacob. In a couple weeks, we'll see how God wrestles with Jacob, breaks his hip. We'll see that God disciplined and pursued Jacob. You want to know what the proof is that God chose Jacob and not Esau?
God pursued Jacob every day of his life. As a father does, He disciplined and He corrected Jacob to the point that when Jacob was finally a mature old man, he was a lot more sanctified than when he started. But the proof of God's love and care and choosing of Jacob was that God pursued Jacob.
What did God do with Esau? Nothing. God let Esau be Esau. There is no sign anywhere that God pursued Esau.
He cut the rope and He let Esau be Esau. Esau pursued the life that he wanted and he died apart from God. God loved Jacob. God hated Esau.
Can't explain it because I wonder about the other people in my family. I wonder about people on my street. I wonder about people in my world. I don't know how He does what He does, but I know He does it.
I know He does it. All right, at this point, only three generations in, the patriarchy takes this pivotal turn. There are now two nations, two nations from these two twins.
Esau Despises His Birthright for a Bowl of Stew
“And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.”
— Genesis 25:34 (NKJV)
Let's look at remaining verses, verses 29 through 34. And we're going to get our first picture into the nature and relationship of these two twins. Verse 29. Now, Jacob cooked a stew and Esau came in from the field and he was weary.
And Esau said to Jacob, please feed me with some of that red stew, for I am weary. And therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, sell me your birthright. You want the stew.
Sell me your birthright as of this day, as of today. You want the stew. You're hungry. You're weary.
The stew's right here. It smells good. It looks good, doesn't it? Here's the transaction.
Sell me your birthright as of this day. Verse 32. And Esau said, look, I'm about to die. Have you ever said that?
I'm so hungry I could just die. I could keel over right here. That's what he's saying. Look, I'm about to die.
So what's my birthright to me? But Jacob said, swear. He said, this isn't just idle chit-chat, you're swearing to me. Swear to me as of this day.
And so he did. He swore to him there. In verse 33, he swore to him, he sold his birthright to Jacob, and Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils, and he ate and drank, he arose, and he went on his way. Thus, Esau despised his birthright.
In the history of bad transactions, this has got to be the worst. Esau, remember who Esau's family is. He's the grandson of Abraham. When they were sitting around the campfire growing up, he heard all the tales too.
He heard how God was calling out a people. He heard of covenants. He heard of promises, the son of the promise. He heard of the miracles by which his old elderly, elderly, elderly grandmother gave birth.
He heard the stories and the promises and all that God said He would do. But here, he's hungry one day, he's weary, and his brother comes and says, hey, you know that stuff we've heard about? Why don't you sell me your birthright? You're hungry, why don't you sell me your birthright?
And Esau does it. In the face of all that he knew, in the face of all that he had heard about this, he despises, despises his birthright. Now, for what it's worth, as we close on these verses, we'll get to more Jacob and Esau next week, but here in this little window we see of Jacob and Esau, when they're first introduced to us, both brothers come out looking really bad.
Esau, as we just said a moment ago, Esau despised his birthright. He treated it as nothing, for just a meal. He sold out the promises of God. You ever wonder why Jacob I've loved, Esau I've hated?
It wasn't singularly because of what they did. It wasn't singularly because of any works they committed. And yet, that didn't help. Esau despises the birthright.
One who you would think would aspire to be the son of promise couldn't have cared less about that promise. And by despising the birthright, he despises the God who made that promise to begin with. Esau just looks like a hungry buffoon. He sold his birthright for stew.
This had better have been the best stew in the history of stew. This really must have been some stew. He sells his birthright. So he looks terrible, but Jacob looks terrible too.
Remember we said that the families of the patriarchs, they were flawed, they were broken? Look here. Abraham's grandson schemes. And this isn't even the worst scheming he'll do.
Next week we'll see how he dresses up as his brother to fool his old man. The scheming and the sin, oh dear heavens. Nevertheless, Jacob here, you can see that scheming even by cooking up — I'll cook this meal, he can't turn down this meal, and I'll get the birthright and so forth.
Remember, he was a calculating young man. He was a clever young man. He sat in his tent, his brother went out and hunted, and he sat in his tent and he schemed. And then, aha, I've got it, and he makes up this stew.
And Esau falls for it. Whatever the case is, both these men, both these men look terrible.
God Builds His Kingdom in Spite of the People He Uses
Let me close with this thought. When we think of the patriarchs, when Israelites have thought of the patriarchs, we do revere them, in a sense. We revere them because in many ways, their righteousness, especially the righteousness of Abraham — I mean, it's no small thing. We should all aspire to have the faith of an Abraham.
But with that said, as you look at Abraham, as you look at Isaac, and you look at Jacob, and then you look at the sons of Jacob who would sell off their own brother into slavery, what you realize is if God was going to build a nation through these people, it was not because of these people — any more than it's because of us that He builds His church.
God is at work building His kingdom, oftentimes in spite of the very people that He uses, in spite of their sins, in spite of the ways that they mess up. Now, on the one hand, that's convicting. On the other hand, it's encouraging. It's convicting because we don't want to make the same sins that others have made.
We don't want to transgress in the ways that they've transgressed. We don't want to be Jacob, at least at this phase of life. At the same time, it's also encouraging to think, God used a Jacob? No matter who you are, no matter what you've done, no matter how you've messed up, no matter how much you might have messed up this past week, is it not possible that if God used Jacob, that He just might use you?
You know what you've done. You know things that you've done and said and thought that the people to your left and right don't even know. And if they did know them, they'd scoot away from you right now. God knows all of it.
And He chose you. And He's using you. Just as he used Jacob. If there's hope for Jacob, as we'll see in the weeks to come, there's hope for us.
The God who makes promises does not make those promises contingent on our inclination to flawlessly follow His plan. He makes those promises contingent on His own will and volition and ability to fulfill them, which He has time and time and time again, as we're going to see next week. Let's pray.
More in Genesis Explained
Continue the verse-by-verse series.
