Thru the Bible

GUEST (Male): It's a great day to study God's word on Through the Bible, and we're continuing our journey through Genesis. This time, we're in chapter 25. We're about halfway through the book, by the way. So, open your Bible and follow along as Dr. McGee shares some wisdom from God's word about raising godly families.

GUEST (Male): But first, Greg Harris, Through the Bible's President and I have some exciting things to share about what God's doing through the teaching of his word in the Armenian language.

GUEST (Male): Yeah, I mean, when's the last time the word Armenian appeared in a sentence where you were talking to somebody? I'm asking everybody listening. Probably not too often.

GUEST (Male): Yeah. Well, occasionally here. It is on the border of Iran, and so there's there's that. And we live in Southern California where there's a huge population of Armenians. But it's not it's not a country that gets spoken about or a language. And we're very excited to share some great responses. And this one, the first one is from a teenager. And I love that because sometimes people think Through the Bible is only listened to by older people.

GUEST (Male): And her name is Rita and she shares this. A few months ago, I started asking questions online about the Bible and about the Through the Bible program. I had so many questions that a woman on your staff suggested we begin meeting online each week for Bible study. Those weekly conversations helped me understand scripture more clearly and gave me a safe place to ask anything on my heart. I really looked forward to the meeting and I could feel my faith growing as we studied together. As we came to the end of our study in the book of Matthew, she asked me if I was ready to make a decision to give my life to Jesus. I wanted to do that, but I felt it was important to pray on my own to make that decision by faith. She was nice and wrote a prayer for me so that I could pray it privately, and I did. In that moment, I gave my life to Jesus. She also encouraged me to talk with my parents about this decision and to invite them if they wished to take the same step of faith. I look forward to continuing to grow as I study the Bible. Wow.

GUEST (Male): Wow, so encouraging. And I and I love that in this case, this girl did not come to Christ because she was listening to Through the Bible. That's okay. She played a role in that. And ultimately, it was our ministry partner that was able to work with her individually online.

GUEST (Male): Yeah, and and Dr. McGee says this, you know, we're not the only ministry doing good out there. In fact, we're we're just a small part of a giant work of the body of Christ around the world and and nothing makes us happier than that we partner with other members of the body of Christ to see a young woman like this come to Christ. Now, you want to read this next one?

GUEST (Male): Yeah, this is another faithful listener named Levon tells us this. Thank you for spreading the true word of the Lord so that we may live by it and enjoy it. May the Lord protect you and bless you for the most beautiful service you provide. I hear you every day and feel the Lord's love and peace upon us. We have no one but you, to my God and my chosen one, Jesus the Messiah, I give all glory and worship.

GUEST (Male): Yeah, sometimes, Steve, the the listeners are are poetic in their responses to Through the Bible and uh it's a reflection of their culture and their and their deep deep love for the word of God coming into their lives. Amazing. All right, our last note comes from Ari who asks us for prayer. Ari says, I listen to Through the Bible regularly and God's word has been such a help to me. I want to ask you to pray for my brother Artush. He doesn't know the Lord yet and my greatest desire is that he would come to faith in Jesus. As I study with you, I'm reminded that God is the one who changes hearts. Thank you for praying with me and trusting the Lord to work in my brother's life.

GUEST (Male): Such such encouragement. Let me do that now and pray for Artush. Heavenly Father, we are thankful for Ari and her faithfulness and her desire to see her brother come to Christ. I pray that you would move in his soul that he might trust Christ for his salvation. And Lord, that's our prayer for everyone who listens to the ministry of Through the Bible, that they would see Jesus Christ glorified and and displayed in scripture and that they would turn to you in faith and that you would save them. Bless the program as it goes out now, in Jesus name we pray. Amen.

GUEST (Male): Now, here's Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee in Genesis 25.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now today our study brings us to the 25th chapter of Genesis. And this one records the death of Abraham, and it gives the generations of Ishmael, and also the generations of Isaac, and the birth of the twins, Jacob and Esau, or Esau and Jacob, if you want them in chronological order. And then the experience of Esau and Jacob relative to the birthright. So that this is a remarkable chapter and covers a great deal of ground.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now, we saw last time how a bride was secured for Isaac. And that bride was Rebecca. And we read now in chapter 25, this will be the last mention of Abraham, that is, in the record, but frankly, his story ended back when the servant was sent out to get a bride for Isaac.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: I'm reading chapter 25 now, and verse 1 of Genesis. Then again, Abraham took a wife and her name was Keturah. Abraham after the death of Sarah, he married again and this one is Keturah. And she bare him Zimran, Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And that's quite a family. He had his biggest family after the death of Sarah.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And somebody raises the question, "Well, I thought that at the time of the birth of Isaac, that this man, he was dead as far as his capability of bringing a child into the world." Friends, he was, but you see this is an evidence of the fact that when God does something, he really does it. That's the reason that I believe that anything that God does, bears his signature. And right here, this man Abraham was not only able to bring Isaac into the world, but he now brings in this great family here.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: But the interesting thing that we have before us is that we have Medan and Midian. Now the other boys, I'll be honest with you, that nations came from them but I can't identify them right now and I'm not interested because they do not cross the pathway in Scripture. But Midian does. We'll find out that Moses a little later on goes down into the land of Midian, and he takes a wife there in Midian. Remember, that's in the line of Abraham. And the Midianites also.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: So that you have here these other sons of Abraham. But we'll not follow them for the very simple reason that we're following Isaac. In Isaac is the way the Lord put it, your seed are called. It's through Isaac and not through any of these others, not through Ishmael, not through Midian or Medan.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And all of these were men of the desert, nomads in that day. Now we've come down to verse 5 and Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. Now notice that, but unto the sons of the concubines which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward unto the east country. And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived 103 score and 15 years. Then Abraham gave up the ghost, died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: This is interesting and his sons, Isaac and Ishmael, buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar, the Hittite, which is before Mamre. The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth, there was Abraham buried and Sarah his wife. Now Ishmael comes for the funeral because after all, Abraham is his father. And here Isaac and Ishmael bury Abraham.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: In verse 11, we follow right along now. It came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi. That's where, you remember he met Rebekah when she came to him.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now, we have in verse 12, down through verse 18, the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham. Now the list of them are given here and I have no intention of reading this section at all. But to call your attention to the fact that this is the method of the Holy Spirit, this is the handwriting of the Spirit of God. And that is in the book of Genesis, the rejected line is given first, and then set aside, not mentioned anymore, and the line that's leading to Christ is given.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And therefore, after we have the line of Ishmael, then we come in verse 19, and we have here, And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son, Abraham begat Isaac. Now, this is the line we're going to follow. And you'll find this in the first chapter of the book of Genesis, Abraham begat Isaac. Isaac begat Jacob. Each one of these had other sons, as we've seen, Abraham had quite a few sons here. But they're not mentioned, that is, the genealogy of these men's not followed at all. Only the genealogy of Isaac is followed.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And now we read in verse 20. We're following Isaac from now on. You can forget Ishmael, and you can forget Midian and Medan. Now they'll cross the path of the sons of Abraham through Isaac time and again.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel, the Syrian of Padan Aram, the sister to Laban the Syrian. And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife because she was barren. And the Lord was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now, this girl Rebekah is barren. Now, Isaac beseeches the Lord, and she now is going to give birth to twins. Verse 22, and the children struggled together within her. And that is a very interesting statement. In fact, it's so interesting that you can follow it right on through the Scripture. This is the struggle.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: You find that that is the struggle that goes on today in the world. There is a struggle between light and darkness, between good and evil, between the spirit and the flesh. And every child of God knows something of that struggle. It's what's set before us in the seventh of Romans.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And the children struggled together within her. And she said, "If it be so, why am I thus?" And she went to inquire of the Lord. She didn't quite understand. And now, verse 23, and the Lord said unto her, "Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy being, and the one people shall be stronger than the other people, and the elder shall serve the younger."

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now, this is the statement that God makes to her, the elder is to serve the younger. Now she should have believed it, and also her son that was the younger should have believed it. Because God says that the elder shall serve the younger.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now, verse 24. And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red, all over like a hairy garment, and they called his name Esau. That means red, by the way. He came out red, earth-colored. He's the eldest, but the eldest is to serve the younger.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And after that came his brother out and his hand took hold on Esau's heel, and his name was called Jacob. And Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them. Actually, they had been married there for about 20 years before the children were born. These two boys, and the oldest is Esau. He's old red, if you please, earth-colored. And Jacob, they called him that, the usurper. And he took hold on Esau's heel. And he's trying to become the elder, to take his place, but God's already promised that to him and he should have believed God.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now, we look at these two boys as they grow up in this home. And the boys grew, and Esau was a cunning hunter, and a man of the field, and Jacob was a plain man dwelling in tents. Now, here are the two boys, they're twins, but no two boys were ever as different as these two are. They not only struggled in the womb, but they are against each other from here on out. They just absolutely have different viewpoints, a different philosophy of life. Their thinking is different, their attitude is different.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now, at the very beginning, I must confess that Esau is more attractive than Jacob is. But you see, you can always judge by the outward sign. You have to judge by what takes place on the inside. Frankly, you need to see that in this particular case here.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: The boys grew. Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field. And Jacob was a plain man dwelling in tents. Now, this fellow Esau is a cunning hunter. He's a man of the field. He's the athletic type, the outdoor boy, the one that we'd call him today the all-American boy. He went in for sports. He went in for everything that was physical, but he had no spiritual ability whatsoever or understanding or capacity or desire. It was always for that which was physical. He represents the flesh.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And Jacob was a plain man. And I think that you can make of that anything you want to, dwelling in tents. He's indoors. He was mama's boy. He was tied to his mama's apron string. You'll notice that he moved and did what she told him to do. He's really a mama's boy.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And this boy Esau is papa's boy though. Verse 28, and Isaac loved Esau because he did eat of his venison, but Rebekah loved Jacob. Now you have the problem right here in the home. You would feel that under these circumstances, they're going to have trouble, and they are. Because when one parent's partial to one child and the other parent's partial to the other child, then you have trouble. And that's exactly what took place here.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And Isaac loved him because he ate of his venison. Esau went out hunting. And he always got something when he went out hunting. He brought home venison. And Isaac liked that. He liked this boy. He's the outdoor type. And Rebekah loved Jacob. He's a farmer's boy.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And very frankly, at this particular juncture, I must confess that this boy Esau is much more attractive. In fact, he seems to be more of a wholesome boy. This boy Jacob is cunning. He tries to be clever. In fact, the matter is, he doesn't mind stooping to do things that are absolutely wrong. God will deal with him.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: But the interesting thing, though Esau may be very attractive on the outside, down underneath, he had really no capacity for God whatsoever. And if there ever was a man of the world, he's that man of the world. He is just a physical man, and that's all. That's all he lived for. But down underneath, Jacob, there was a desire for the things that are spiritual. And it took a long time for God to rub off all of the debris on top and to remove all the coverings to get down where it was. But he finally did. And we'll see before we're through with this man Jacob, and he goes almost all the way through the book of Genesis now, that he was God's man all the way long, but he didn't demonstrate it until late in life. And we'll come to that.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now, we're told here an incident that took place in the home there. Now, you can well understand that in a home like this, that things would not be too even. There would be the difficulty. There would be this matter of conflict, and it would not be called a happy home.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Verse 29. And Jacob sod pottage. And Esau came from the field and he was faint. And Esau said to Jacob, "Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage, for I'm faint." Therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said, "Sell me this day thy birthright." And Esau said, "Behold, I'm at the point to die. And what profit shall this birthright do to me?"

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now, will you notice this incident reveals, frankly, the nature of both of these men. Esau came from the field. He was outdoors. And he was tired. He was exhausted. He's not starving to death as some would imply. And no one that had been brought up in the home of Abraham is going to get hungry. There'd be something for him to eat. The thing was, there was nothing prepared to eat at that moment but this pottage, this stew or soup that Jacob had made. Jacob's the indoor boy. He's a good chef, but not outdoors. He just does his cooking inside.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And Esau said to Jacob, "Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage." Actually, it's not in the original. "For I am faint." Therefore was his name called Edom. And that means red. It means earthy. And this man, he just asks his brother, "Give me some of this stew."

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now, Jacob said, and he's a trickster, he's a trader. He said, "Sell me this day thy birthright." Now, Jacob wanted that birthright. Now, what was the value of the birthright? Let's look at it for a minute. In that day, it meant several things. It meant that the one who had it was the head of the house. It also meant that the one that had it was the priest of the family.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And in this family, it meant the one that had it would be the one that would be in the line that would lead to Christ. Now, do you think that Esau valued it at all? Jacob knew that he didn't. That he attached no importance to it at all. He didn't care about being the priest of the family. In fact, that's the last thing that he wanted to do. He just wouldn't do that sort of thing.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: I feel today sometimes when I hear Christians, especially some man who's a Christian, they ask him to do something, say, "Oh, I'm not a preacher. I can't do that." Well, sure, you may not be a preacher, but you see that there are too many today that don't want to do that which is spiritual. They don't want to even give the impression that they are spiritual or interested in spiritual things.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Esau, he didn't want to give that impression. Anyone that would have called him deacon or preacher, would have insulted him. He didn't want the birthright. And he didn't care about being in the line that led to Christ. Fact of the matter is, no one could have cared less than he did about being in the line that leads to Christ.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And so Jacob sees that. And he says to him, "I'll tell you what I'll do. If you'll give me your birthright, I'll give you a bowl of soup." And Esau says, "I'll be very glad to do it. What profit is the birthright to me? What I care about the birthright? It's not worth a bowl of soup to me." The value that he had attached to spiritual things.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now the thing that's wrong about Jacob, of course, God has promised him, the elder shall serve the younger. The birthright's coming to Jacob in God's own time. Jacob though can't wait. And so he reaches out to take that which God has promised him, and he's taking it in, let us say, a clever, tricky fashion. He should not have done it this way. He should have waited for God to give it to him. But you'll find out this man can't wait.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And after all, this man operated on the principle, what I can do myself, there's no reason for me to look to God to do it. He felt thoroughly capable of taking care of his business. And he did pretty well as far as the world would measure it at the beginning. But there came a day when God really sent him to college. And Laban was the president of the college. And it was known as the College of Hard Knocks. And he's really going to learn a few things in the College of Hard Knocks. But so far, he's operating on the principle that he's clever enough to get what's coming to him.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Verse 33 now, and Jacob said, "Swear to me this day." He sware unto him, and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils, and he did eat and drink, and rose up, went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: That's the important thing to see at this juncture. This man just sits down, eats a bowl of soup. And for that bowl of soup, he surrendered his birthright just like that. It meant nothing to him. He had no spiritual value to him whatsoever, because nothing that was spiritual meant anything to him.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now, you meet a great many people that are that way. And unfortunately, I'm afraid, we got church members that are like that. Have no spiritual capacity whatsoever. No understanding of spiritual truth. And that I think is the mark of a Christian today is that one that the Spirit of God can teach and lead and guide.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: This is quite a revelation now, the two boys. Actually, here he's deceiving no one. He's just taking advantage of a man that doesn't attach any value to it at all. It's just like a man today that has a very valuable heirloom, say an old Bible that belonged to his grandfather. And another grandson wants it, and he pays him 25 cents for it, and the fellow says, "Well, give me your 25 cents. I don't care for it at all. And I was going to throw it away anyway." And that's exactly what Esau would have done.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: But this boy Jacob did this very cleverly. But now in this next chapter, and we're going to have to save that till next time, we're going to see he's really a rascal, by the way. May the Lord richly bless you, my beloved.

GUEST (Male): Well, you've heard the saying like father, like son. Well, next time on the Bible bus, we're going to see how Isaac followed in Abraham's footsteps. Not only in trusting God, but also in struggling to trust him. It's a reminder that we all need. Until then, for resources to help you go deeper in your study of God's word, call us at 1-800-65 Bible, download our app, or visit TTB.org. I'm Steve Schwetz and I'll be here saving you a seat on the Bible bus next time.

GUEST (Male): Today's study is always available, free to stream or download thanks to the generous and faithful investments from your fellow Bible bus travelers. Just go to TTB.org or download our app to listen again anytime. As always, we'd love to know what's God teaching you.