Jacob and Esau fought before they were born. When he was born, Esau rushed out and Jacob grabbed his heel to come out.
Jacob cheated Esau out of his birthright with a bowl of red bean soup.
Jacob joined hands with his mother to cheat God's blessing by deception.
Jacob tricked Esau into forgiving him at Jabbok Ferry.
This is the understanding of Jacob and Esau by the world. From this series of things, we usually see that Jacob is cunning, while Esau is relatively tolerant. We can't see anything wrong with him except that he sold his birthright for that bowl of red bean soup, but God doesn't love him. But Jacob has many obvious shortcomings, but God loves him. What happened?
Look at the problem from the perspective of God. God said: Jacob is my love, and Esau is my hate. Their attributes and endings are decided here. Jacob is pleasing to God, so Jacob should be blessed. Esau is flesh and blood, and the cursed cannot be blessed. Isaac's blessing is coming true. God said, "In the future, the old will serve the young." May you be the Lord of your brother, and your mother's son will bow down to you. ), so it is providence that things have developed like this.
What's more, the Bible has spiritual meaning, and spiritual things should be explained in spiritual terms. Isaac predicted Christ, who had two sons. Today, some people believe in the Lord, whether in body or spirit, the outcome is different. Whoever keeps the law will live by it, but he can't inherit the blessing promised by heaven. Isaac is old, his eyes are dim and he can't see. He represents the law here. He loves Esau. Rebecca is a beautiful woman and spirit. He understands God's will.
Gen -27 chapter
Before reading the Bible, we must first understand God's will to choose people. God once pointed to Jacob and Esau and said: Rom. 9: 1 1 (Gemini hasn't been born yet, and good and evil haven't been done yet, just to show God's will to choose people, and don't care about people's behavior, only care about the caller). 12 god said to Rebekah, "in the future, the old will serve the young." 13 as it is written, "Jacob is my favorite, and Esau is my evil."
The Lord said, "I love you." But you said, "Why do you love us?" The Lord said, "Isn't Esau Jacob's brother? But I love Jacob, and I hate Esau. I made his mountains desolate and gave his inheritance to wild dogs in the wilderness. 」
Hundreds of years later Moses wrote Genesis. He has no family tree, nor did he grow up in an Israeli family. He wrote this story entirely out of God's inspiration, so that we can understand God's will in the last days. Don't care what others do, just care about the caller. Today, we should stand in the perspective of God and see what God wants us to know.
What happened in Isaac's house foreshadowed the state of the church today. Esau and Jacob seem to be two people, but they actually refer to one person in our Lord today.
The first thing to know here is Isaac, who represents three identities, 1. He represents Christ and God. 2. The husband of the former dynasty predicted the law, and the spread here represents the law. The law belongs to him and cannot bear the spiritual blessing. Nowadays, the law has no effect on salvation, so Isaac also refers to the body. He is the leader of today's church, as well as a priest and elder. He only pays attention to the body and looks.
Rebecca is the wife representing the church. She is a beautiful woman with spirituality.
Esau is the eldest son, and he is flesh and blood. There is a provision in the Bible that great things are all flesh and blood, because the great should serve the small.
Esau: 1. The eldest son is red and hairy, like a fur coat, so they named him Esau. He is visible.
Esau is good at hunting and often stays in the fields.
From these two points, we can see that Esau belongs to flesh and blood.
Jacob: 1, the body is smooth; Jacob is quiet and always lives in a tent.
Tents refer to our bodies; Jacob is a younger brother. He is spiritual, which means the spirit within us. Two people become one, which is who we are today.
On this basis, we can see the essence of the Bible.
Esau's hunting means going outside to preach the gospel. Pastors and elders of the church observe people's behavior.
When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim, he called his eldest son Esau and said, "My son." Esau said, "Here I am."
Isaac predicted Christ. He first called our elder (Lin Qian). 15:46), that is, we are flesh and blood. He turned away from our transgressions and called us to him, crying, "My son," and we said, "Here I am. In this way, our flesh people came to God first.
He said, "I am old now, and I don't know when I will die. Now take your equipment, that is, quiver and bow, and go hunting for me in the field. Make delicious food as I love and bring it to me so that I can bless you before I die. "
At the end of this, the world will end. When Isaac sent Esau out to hunt, he also sent us out to preach the gospel.
When we come to the church and listen to the word of God, we have a spiritual life. It is the church that shapes us and brings us to God.
Bless Jacob: May God give you the dew in the sky, the fertile soil on the earth, and many grains and new wines. May many nations serve you and many countries bow down to you; May you be the Lord of your brothers, and your mother's son will bow down to you. Cursed are those who curse you; Blessed are those who bless you. "
This is a spiritual blessing in the Lord today.
Esau's blessing: His father Isaac said, "The fertile soil on the earth will be your dwelling place, and the dew from heaven will be yours. You have to live by the sword, and you have to serve your brother. When you are strong, you can break his yoke from your neck. "
Now, those who rely on the law live and seek for the things on the ground, serve and fight with the flesh, and when they are strong, they kill their younger brother, the spirit.
After reading the stories of Jacob and Esau, people still don't know themselves, and they can't tell the difference between spirituality and flesh and blood, which is of no benefit to themselves and unclear to God. Everyone thought Jacob was deceitful and cheated Esau. When he was young, he cheated his eldest son with a bowl of red bean soup. When Isaac was old, he cheated his father's blessing in partnership with his mother. These people only read the story but didn't read the will of God. I only saw God say, "In the future, the old will serve the young." As it is written, "Jacob is my love, and Esau is my evil." We can't say that God is unreasonable and dictatorial, so we have to talk nonsense. At first, I said how bad Jacob was, and then I said how much God loved Jacob. Finally, I can't say anything clearly. But it doesn't mean that Esau belongs to the flesh, but Jacob belongs to the spirit.
Esau should inherit from a human perspective. Esau came to the world first and was called great, but from God's point of view, Jacob was great. Together, the two brothers are what we are now, with flesh and blood and spirit inside. The combination of body and spirit should be as inseparable as Christ and the church, and integrated as Adam and Christ. From the perspective of human nature, Christ is Adam, with Esau-like flesh and blood; From the perspective of divinity, he comes from above and is the manifestation of God through the body. Because the body is visible to people, it is called greatness, and the spirit is invisible to people, so small that it is ignored. But the Holy Spirit came from God, and was called great before God, but our own eyes deceived us. Jesus is above all men because he has a spirit above all men. Jacob was chosen by God before he came out of his mother's womb. As for Jacob, he chose us in Christ before the creation. Who is older than Jacob and Esau? Jacob knew that the birthright of the eldest son was his own, so they fought in the womb and had to fight. "Two countries are in your belly" Two countries: two nationalities, two countries, one spirit and one blood. We should follow Jacob's example and fight for the Holy Spirit, because God blesses the Holy Spirit. Today, the body confronts the spirit, so we must make the spirit great and win. Jacob is great, so how can you say he is a liar? Blessed is Isaac when he is old, and Jacob is clothed in sheep's clothing and Christ's righteous robe. His blessing was originally predestined by God. How can you say that he is cheating? Blessed are we, because we exalt Christ in spirit and are justified by faith; Spirit is the truth. To know the Holy Spirit, material things and spiritual things must be separated into two individuals. The big one should serve the small one. Our bodies should serve the spirit. The body must obey the spirit. The holy spirit in the body changed people's will. The good things we do are not done by the body, but by the spirit. Let the spirit dominate the body and serve God. What the body can't control the spirit can change the body.
This article comes from the green olive tree network. The original address was http://www.qgls.org.
Of all the ancestors, no one was as silent as Isaac; No one lives as quiet and simple as him: I don't know whether he shows a better son or a better husband; As far as the former is concerned, he threw himself into his father's sword and mourned for his mother for three years; As far as the latter is concerned, he didn't try to sleep with any maid, but he was loyal and patient, and left himself twenty years to pray. Rebekah can't have children for so long, and his prayers are much more effective than those of his children. Finally, she got pregnant, not because of her ability, but because of her husband's confidence. It seems that she didn't just give her son to Sarah's daughter-in-law.
God is always good to us, asking more than us. Isaac prayed for one son and God gave him two at a time. Now, she is as painful as losing her child to fight for it. We don't know when we will be satisfied: what we ask is often not satisfactory; When we are full and hungry, we often complain. Rebecca was at ease before she got pregnant. Before spiritual life is reborn, the human soul is peaceful: once a new person is formed in us, lust immediately competes with the Holy Spirit. Where there is no chaos, there is no elegance. Esau was alone and didn't struggle. Human nature is always congenial to oneself. Rebekah is not pregnant with only one Esau, nor is she so happy, but only one Jacob: she must be the mother of these two people, so that she can be both happy and tested. This struggle began long ago: every real Israeli started a war as soon as he had a life. We don't know how many wars there are, and there is no warning and significance!
These two men are fighters of the two countries: the battlefield is in their mother's womb, and they are fighting for seats and advantages. Esau has the right to the flesh, and Jacob has the right to grace; However, when equality appears, I am afraid that Esau will run faster than his brother. When he comes into the world, Jacob will hold on to his heel. In this way, one of his hands was born before the other. But because Esau was a few minutes older than him, little Esau asked what God promised, so he bought what he couldn't win. If you can get spiritual blessing through fighting, buying and begging, you will be satisfied. If Jacob was born first, he wouldn't know how much he relied on God to promote him.
There is nothing better than Jacob's soup except forbidden fruit, which was bought at such a huge price; In these two things, what is eaten is cursed. Every true descendant of Israel is willing to buy spiritual goodness with things on the ground; Too much Esau's blood has been shed on those who would rather die than surrender.
But if Esau, who didn't care, was blessed by selling his birthright, what did he lose? Or what does Jacob get if his brother's game cancels Jacob's soup? However, this is what old Isaac is determined to do. Isaac's feelings at this time are blind, just like his old eyes are dim. God warned him in advance that the old would serve the young, but Isaac would bless Esau.
It is difficult for Abraham to coordinate God's promise and offer Isaac as a sacrifice, just as Isaac coordinated Jacob to bless Esau first. Because first of all, the hand of God is inside; In the latter case, only his own hand is inside. God's most precious saints are sometimes conquered by family relationships. Isaac saw that he was more loved than Ishmael, even though he was his brother. He saw his father obey God's command, deliberately forgetting his own flesh and blood relatives, and tied him up in order to offer him as a sacrifice. He saw Esau marrying a foreigner lewdly, but he remembered nothing except that Esau was my eldest son. However, God is so gracious that he won't let us sin when we want to! We should arrange our actions in this way, not doing what we want to do, but doing what we should do!
God has appointed the youngest as the master and arranged for him to be blessed: when his will is launched, there will be no shortage of methods. Mothers would rather beat their sons and cheat their fathers than cheat their chosen sons and deprive them of the happiness they deserve. What is good about Jacob for Rebecca? Better than Esau? Who is the mother who doesn't love her eldest son more? But now God has made mother's love go against the habit of human nature and favor the small one, because father has broken the promise of loving the big one. The split of parents' love: in order to make the promise come true, Rebekah should respond to Isaac's eccentricity with cunning; Isaac unfairly wanted to turn Esau into Jacob, but Rebekah cunningly turned Jacob into Esau: her wishes were good and her methods were illegal. God does often use our weaknesses to realize his just will; However, this does not prove our weakness, nor does it defile his own actions.
This is just a forgery; A disguised person, a pseudonym, a fake game, a fake answer, but look, there is a real blessing; But this blessing is to bless that person, not this meaning. These methods are so improper that Jacob himself is really more afraid of the curse they cause than expecting their success. Isaac is naive and old now. However, if Jacob really discovers this scam, he will definitely be cursed and will not be recognized.
People who are simple in their own hearts hate others to cheat. Rebekah realized God's word and her husband's innocence, boldly took risks for Jacob, persuaded him to do so, and cooked food for him. Yes, she handles the food and people. Now teach him what to say, put food in his hand, put clothes on his back, put sheepskin on the exposed part of his body, and then send him in. This arrangement will be blessed. There is no doubt that standing at the door depends on how successful her plan is. If old Isaac saw this trick through any feeling, she would immediately go in and take responsibility, and sincerely implore him with the well-known God's will. Jacob would be the master and Esau would serve, and whether he was old or spoiled, Isaac would forget this will.
Now she hopes to borrow Esau's clothes and his tongue, so that she can safely deceive all his senses, and his senses make him more dangerously deceived by his feelings. But it was too difficult for her to solve: her son had to say that he was Esau in Jacob's voice. Not only is it difficult for us to behave ourselves, but it is also difficult for our tongues not to show their true colors. This is enough to make Isaac doubt and question, but he doesn't believe it. It's hard for good people to believe in the evil of others. He would rather not trust his feelings than the loyalty of the people he trusts. Isaac checks with all his senses, and nothing sticks to his judgment except his ears: to deceive Isaac's ears, Jacob must support his disguise with three lies in one breath: I am Esau; As you told me; My game. One sin that has been accepted, pull another one in; If you are forced to live alone, you will neither leave nor die. I love Jacob's blessing, but I hate his lies. I don't want to do Jacob's weakness for the sake of blessing. Forgive his weak God and curse my stubbornness.
Good Isaac held out his hand to test whether what his ear told him was correct; He touched the hand of the man who doubted his voice: an honest man's heart will not think of putting on a skin, which is much easier than putting on a lung. Evil doesn't make people cautious, but a little satisfaction can make them satisfied. Isaac believed it and blessed his youngest son, who was dressed as a son. If our heavenly father smells our brother's clothes on our backs, we can't leave him without being blessed.
As soon as Jacob left, he was blessed with joy, and Esau came in, hoping to be blessed; Now he regrets that he sold the blessing to the soup in the middle of hunger. He hopes to buy it back with game, but it is too late to regret it. The hope of the wicked, in the most urgent time, will live up to what they have entrusted, while the children of God find comfort that they dare not think of in an emergency.
Now he came in panting and sweating, waiting for his reward, but all he got was rejection. When the wicked thought they had been rewarded by God and proudly came to ask for care, they could not get any other answer except "Who are you?". Both father and son were surprised, one with fear and the other with sadness. Isaac trembled and Esau wept bitterly. One is out of conscience, the other is out of jealousy. Isaac's heart now tells him that he should not intend to send blessings according to his wishes. This kind of blessing is because of the person who blessed him, not the person he intends to bless. So he didn't dare to reverse what he did according to God's will except his own: because now he saw that he had done justice unintentionally. God should find time and ways to get back what belongs to him, stop them from committing crimes, and point out and correct their mistakes. Who would have thought Esau would cry? In other words, who can believe it when you see these tears coming from such immoral eyes?
"My father, please bless me too", this sentence is well said. Every wicked person can seek benefits for himself. If blessing is enough, then no one will suffer. Why didn't he ask his brother for soup, but asked Isaac for a blessing? If he hadn't betrayed himself, he wouldn't have to beg now. It is just that God will not give us care that neglects to maintain and enjoy. Esau's tears can't make Isaac regret. Isaac only regrets one thing, that is, Jacob should have done his duty, but he was trapped.
There is no motive to make a good-hearted person regret what he has done. How blessed it is to know the day of grace and not ignore it! How desperate it is to know and ignore it! This tear is both too late and fake; Tears of anger, jealousy and lust. Secular sorrow is killing. Although Esau was crying for blessings, I heard him crying for his father's reserves. "Didn't you leave me a blessing?" Crying for his brother's cunning, "isn't his name Jacob?" I can't hear him blaming himself for his mistake. He couldn't see that although his father was deceived and his brother was cunning, God was just and he was disqualified. He knew that he loved the world, but he claimed that he was blessed.
Those who don't pay attention to pleasing God, but pay attention to getting external care from God, complain if they can't get it; As if God owed them, they could do whatever they wanted. However, God is so full of mercy. He has a second blessing to those who don't love him and give them everything they care about. The blessing of special love has not been given to anyone except Israel; But these universal favors are for those who betray their birthright. This blessing far exceeds Esau's due. However, he is like the second Cain. He is determined to kill his brother because he is more acceptable to God. I don't know whether he is a worse son or a worse brother; He wanted his father to die, intended to let his brother die, and vowed to shed blood instead of tears. But the wicked can't do whatever they want: Jacob wrestled with him and beat his powerful wrestler, turning his wound into a kiss with a broom. A company came with Esau, and an angel met Jacob. Esau threatened and Jacob prayed; His prayers and gifts melted Esau's heart and made it love. Now what Jacob sees in Esau's face is not the cold face of the executioner, but the face of God. People and ghosts are frustrated; The proudest man can't resist God. He who can seriously fight with God will not be hurt. Those who are furious and fierce in heart, and tears can't make them change their minds, are all subject to love. If a man's behavior pleases God, God will make his enemies reconciled with him.