Sermons @ Hope

So far, in the life of Jacob, we have a problem. God promises to bless the whole world through a family. So far, in this family, we have three generations of deceivers with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In Jacob’s generation, his parents, Isaac and Rebekah, are bad communicators and they work against each other. Rebekah undermines her husband’s authority. She uses a son to trick her husband. In this family, there is a lack of nurture and care. They use manipulation and practice favoritism. There is deceit, feelings of betrayal, shame, and contemptuous murderous rage. We seem to have a problem. How many of us grew up in homes that had or have some of these elements? Sometimes the dysfunction is more subtle, but it is there. Either you are aware of it, or you are not. In Gen 27, Isaac blessed Jacob. This blessing was the result of scheming. God made no direct appearance in this chapter. Now, Genesis 28 is a divine confirmation of the blessing of Jacob. Genesis 28 teaches that though the...

Genèse 26:34-28:9 parle d'un Dieu miséricordieux qui bénit l'humanité malgré notre dépravation totale. Dieu est bon envers les pécheurs qui ne le méritent pas. Dans ce texte, on trouve l'aveuglement spirituel, le favoritisme, la ruse, le mensonge, la tromperie, la trahison et la haine. Et pourtant, Dieu reste miséricordieux et fidèle à ses promesses. Un texte comme celui-ci nous rappelle que, en raison de la faiblesse humaine, Dieu reçoit toute la gloire. Il ne peut pas compter sur la bonté, les compétences ou la fidélité humaines pour accomplir ses desseins. Cela ne veut pas dire que, en Christ, nous ne plaisons pas à Dieu, mais nous restons pécheurs. Ce récit met en scène quatre personnes. Chacune d'entre elles est pécheresse. Nous voyons la bénédiction de Dieu se transmettre d'une génération à l'autre dans l'histoire. La bonne nouvelle pour nous est que, peu importe combien nous avons péché, nous avons un Dieu fidèle qui est avec nous. Nous pouvons toujou...

This text is tough. If we studied Gen 27 without any context, it is a text about a dysfunctional family.  God is absent and humanity’s depravity is on full display. When we look at the bigger picture with the whole Bible in mind, we forget about this family’s dysfunctional and Genesis 27 is about God’s blessing going from one generation to the next. This is good news for us. We can say that Gen 26:34-28:9 is about a gracious God who blesses humanity despite our total depravity. God is good to undeserving sinners. In this text, there is spiritual blindness, favoritism, scheming, lying, deceiving, betrayal, and hatred. And still, God’s blessing is passed down to the next generation. God remains gracious and faithful to his promises. With this kind of God, no matter how much we have sinned, we have a faithful God who is with us. We can always turn to him to enjoy his goodness. I will cover the content of Gen 26:34-28:9 topically under four themes: (1) God’s Commandments and Blessi...

La Genèse 25 nous enseigne que la bénédiction de Dieu à Abraham est transmise à Isaac, puis à Jacob. La Genèse 26 met en lumière l'histoire de Jacob à travers celle de son père, Isaac. La Genèse 26 montre que la tromperie de Jacob est profondément enracinée dans ses relations familiales. Jacob est au moins un trompeur de troisième génération. Plus loin dans le récit de Jacob, dans Genèse 33-34, les fils de Jacob sont une quatrième génération de trompeurs. Ce sont les personnes que Dieu a choisies pour apporter une bénédiction à toutes les nations du monde. Ils n'étaient pas moralement supérieurs. Dieu les a simplement choisis pour apporter la bénédiction. Genèse 26 place Jacob dans le contexte d'une famille de trompeurs, mais surtout, il offre un merveilleux résumé de toute l'histoire rédemptrice de Dieu. Genèse 26 montre que Dieu utilise un peuple pécheur à la foi vacillante pour bénir toutes les familles du monde. Genèse 26 revisite les cycles de Genèse 1-9 pour offri...

In Genesis 25, God’s promise to Abraham to bless all the families of the world passed down to Isaac and then to Jacob. Now, Genesis 26 sheds light on Jacob’s backstory with the story of his father, Isaac. Genesis 26 shows that Jacob’s deceit is deeply rooted in his family’s way of relating. Abraham was a deceiver. Isaac walks in his father’s deceit. Now, Jacob is at least a third-generation deceiver. Later in the Jacob narrative, in Genesis 33-34, Jacob’s sons are a fourth generation of deceivers. These are the people God has chosen to bring his blessing for all the nations of the world. They were not morally superior. God just chose them to bring about the blessing. Genesis 26 places Jacob in the context of a family of deceivers, now even more importantly, it offers a marvelous summary of all of God’s redemptive history. Genesis 26 shows that God uses a sinful people with a shaky faith to bless all the families of the world. Genesis 26 revisited the cycles of Gen 1-9 to offer a ...