Identifying Patterns

Genesis 26:1-5 Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines. And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Abraham went down to Egypt in famine.

We can not be driven by fear.

We need to recognize and break generational patterns that don't align with God's Word.

The patterns that shaped you do not have to be the patterns that keep you. Build on God's Word.

God reminds us of His promises repeatedly to keep us on track and give us perspective, hope in the midst of trials.

What promises has He spoken to you? How have you needed to be reminded of it during times of testing?

You first need to identify where God has placed you (and with whom - i.e. your present marriage and children) to have the faith to sow in times of famine.

Breaking Patterns

Genesis 26:6-16 So Isaac settled in Gerar. When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance. When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with Rebekah his wife. So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’” Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.” And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him, and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him. Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father. And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

Even in obedience, there are times of testing.

Isaac responded the same way as Abraham, out of fear because of the beauty of his wife.

It may be the same place, the same marriage, the same children and the same circumstances, but as we sow in faith we believe God to bring about increase and blessing.

Sowing into new things in the familiar famine, you can reap a reward in the same year.

Sowing Into Something New

Genesis 26:17-33 So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them. But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah. And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.” From there he went up to Beersheba. And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake.” So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac's servants dug a well. When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army, Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?” They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.” So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. That same day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” He called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

Sowing into something new may be digging up the old wells that provided life to you in the beginning or that others set a clear godly example for you regarding. Through God's redemption, wells that have been stopped up can be unplugged.

Second City Church: Redemption Sermon Series 2016

So much of our lives are a struggle for satisfaction, trying to find out who we are and what our place is in the world. We pursue careers, relationships, positions and wealth hoping to finally become the man or woman we think that we should be. Along the way, we make decisions that have long term consequences in shaping both our temporal and eternal destiny. Esau and Jacob were no different, and as we will see in the account of how these two brothers handled their birthright, we will find out why we need to strive to truly find our rest in God.

The Things That Drive Us

Genesis 25:19-28 This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. 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.” When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

What have you been known for? What were you esteemed for and what do you wish you had been esteemed for?

These desires drive us far more than we realize.

Jacob means one who grasps the heel, a colloquialism for deceiver. This was the way Jacob was identified from his youth.

Esau and his natural talents brought him favor with his father. He was his father's favored son, while Rebekah bonded with Jacob in the tents.

These affiliations were no doubt felt by each member of the family and drove what Esau and Jacob were willing to do to find peace and satisfaction.

"You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you." - St. Augustine in Confessions

The Truth About Your Birthright

In ancient Near Eastern culture, the firstborn received the division of the material possessions divided by the number of sons plus an additional share. Thus, the firstborn received a double-portion of the inheritance. This is what Isaac's favored son, Esau, was in line to receive.

1) Your birthright from God has to do with an eternal, not just temporary, reward.

You are an eternal being.

Your birthright can be something temporary but also eternal. In a culture obsessed with the reward of immediate gratification, we need to focus on things that are eternal and unseen.

Matthew 6:1-18 II Corinthians 4:1-18

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Matthew 20:1-16

What is a birthright?

Your birthright speaks of an inheritance that your parents have prepared for you. In the natural, it can consist of property, possessions and titles. In the spirit, it is that and far more.

You begin to know your birthright through the natural gifts and talents God has given you. Like Esau, these aptitudes lead to natural interests and opportunities.

Esau started well in the natural, becoming a great hunter and man of the field.

How have you already excelled in the endowments that God has given you?

Esau, however, took his birthright for granted by never considering its redemptive purpose or connection to God. Because he thought so little of it, he was willing to sell it at a moment's notice, to satisfy a very real, but passing, carnal desire.

Jacob was content to be in the home and would have had time to consider and think through the significance of the birthright, so that he was willing to position himself to attain it. He would go about obtaining it the wrong way, however, and, because of this work of the flesh, would pay dearly for it with many years of anxiety, strife and reciprocal manipulation. What you sow, you will reap. If you are willing to deceive, backstab and steal to get ahead, it will eventually come back to you, as Jacob discovered with Laban. If you sow good, .... , it will also return to your doorstep. (An older woman, his mother Rebekah, would eventually mentor him in how to attain it).

Don't be deceived. Both sets of struggles can be a trap. Those who, like Esau, seem to have most things in life go their way are tempted not to think about the eternal because they are consumed with life's temporary pleasures. Those who have to fight uphill like Jacob can be distracted by life's struggles, being so earthly bound that they miss the divine.

2) Your birthright needs to be protected.

Like Jacob, you will be grasping, striving, clamoring for security, acceptance and approval all of your life if you are not satisfied in the inheritance of your Heavenly Father. Like Esau, you will be willing to sell your inheritance for moments of carnal gratification if you are not focused on the eternal judgments and rewards of God.

Despising Your Birthright

You despise your birthright when you trade eternal pursuits for the temporary.

Genesis 25:29-34 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” That is why he was also called Edom. Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. 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.

How can I despise my birthright?

You can despise/trade your eternal birthright by over-indulging in temporal things. God has given us all things for our enjoyment, but if your sole goal is to consume as much pleasure in life as possible, if work is simply a means to finance weekend excursions and expeditions unattached to the worship and building of the Kingdom of God, then you will not have your heart or mind set on the eternal where God the Father has prepared an inheritance for you.

Don't let the concept of "work-life balance" tip the scales so that you become ineffective and unproductive for the Kingdom of God.

The devil wants to steal your birthright. Jesus wants to restore it.

Jesus and Your Birthright

Jesus comes to redeem your birthright, buying back through the cross what you once sold in your sin.

Jesus is the ultimate firstborn, son of preeminence amongst all humanity. Because of His sinless life, no title or authority can ever be stolen or taken from Him. He is the sole and rightful heir to His Heavenly Father's throne. Yet because He is benevolent and good, he voluntarily shares the inheritance with us. Through Jesus' death and resurrection, you have the opportunity to become a co-heir with Christ. In this, there is no more striving or fear, but peace because He makes your lot secure. Repent of sin, put your trust in Jesus' redemptive work and allow Him to restore every gift, relationship and dream within the context of His inheritance for you, the birthright contextualized in His gospel purposes for the world.

Ephesians 1:7-14 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Psalm 16:5-6 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.