Straight Lines with Crooked Sticks – Genesis 25:19-34
1. God’s surprising…
- With regard to…
“These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created…” (Genesis 2:4)
“This is the book of the generations of Adam…” (Genesis 5:1)
“Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram…” (Genesis 11:27)
“These are the generations of Jacob, Joseph being seventeen years old…” (Genesis 37:2)
“Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.” (Genesis 11:30)
“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.” (Genesis 16:1-2)
“These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham. These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael; and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.” (Genesis 25:12-14)
“The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32)
“This church has existed from the beginning of the world and will be to the end, for Christ is an eternal King who cannot be without subjects. The holy Church is preserved by God against the fury of the whole world, although for a while it may look very small and as extinct in the eyes of man.” (Belgic Confession – 1561)
- With regard to…
“The unhurriedness of God seems strange – and unwelcome – to us. The passage of time with no noticeable moves toward promise-fulfillment poses a problem for faith. We prefer a deity with high blood pressure who is on the move, whose promises are delivered with microwaveable instructions.” (Dale Ralph Davis)
- With regard to…
“And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 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—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” (Romans 9:10-12)
2. A family’s flawed…
“Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times.” (Genesis 27:36)
“Jacob seems to be anything but a model disciple. He’s a trickster, liar, and selfishly ambitious man who fathers children with four women and leads a dysfunctional family rife with jealousy and backstabbing. But Jacob is also Israel, the namesake of the Old Testament community of God, chosen and blessed. As such, this sinner-saint, who limps along with the Lord, burdened by weakness and beset by problems, is the mirror image of all of us who follow Jesus. In his life, we see our lives, our struggles, our failures, and most especially the God who loves us and chooses us as his own.” (Chad Bird)
3. One man’s…
“See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.” (Hebrews 12:15-16)
“Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” (Genesis 27:41)
“But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’” (Luke 14:16-21)