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 will 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.
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.
Now, Isaac was 40 years old when he
took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel,
the Syrian of Paddan-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.
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.
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 7th
of Romans.
"...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."
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.
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 to serve
the younger.
"...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
buried them."
Actually, they'd been married there for about 20
years before the children were born.
These two boys, and the oldest is Esau.
He's all red, if you please, earth-colored.
And Jacob, they called him that, a usurper.
"...And he took hold on Esau's heel."
And he's trying to become the elder or
take his place, but God's already promised that
to him, and he should have believed God.
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.
Now, at the very beginning, I must confess
that Esau is more attractive than Jacob is.
But you see, you can't 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.