396: Richard Morgan - Exhortation: Jacob's Redemption

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   Welcome to good Christophian talks. Thank you for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our Daily News feed. Each week we post a talk that we previewed from suggestions sent in by listeners from around the world. Then we record a short intro beforehand as a personalized recommendation to you on why we are sharing the talk. And now let’s talk more about this week’s talk. Hello all and welcome back.

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   This is Brother Benji. This week’s talk will be an exhortation given by Brother Richard Morgan at the Semi Hills, Ecclesia, California, USA on the 19th of January 2025 to the theme Jacob’s Redemption. This exhort entails a brief tour through Jacob’s life, particularly focusing on his relationship and encounters with his family.

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   Brother Richard does such an excellent job drawing out the sense of the text. I’ll admit I have a soft spot for Jacob, yet you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who’s not moved by his story and redemption.

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   I pray this talk will inspire you, move you, and encourage you for the week ahead. With that said, I’ll give you over to our brother Richard for his exhort Jacob’s redemption. Good morning everyone. Do you ever feel when you come to the breaking of bread, You come here every week, you break bread and you drink wine, but something just doesn’t seem right. You know that in the Lord Jesus Christ you have the forgiveness of your sins, but something doesn’t feel right. You don’t feel at peace.

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   Well, if you’ve ever felt like that, and perhaps you feel like that right now, or maybe you’ll feel like that in the future, then you have something in common with Jacob. Jacob was a man who lost peace in his life, but God worked with Jacob. He worked to to transform him and for him to find peace again. So we’re going to talk about the redemption of Jacob this morning.

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   And hopefully, brothers and sisters, it will be an encouragement for us if any time in our life we feel that we’re not at peace. Now, I want to start towards the end of our story and the reading we just had in Genesis chapter 32. Here, Jacob is returning from exile. He’s been in exile for at least 20 years, probably more. While he’s on his journey home, he sends a message to his brother Esau.

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   And it’s a little bit odd. Let’s read about it. What we just read through Lucas in chapter 32 verse three, it says that Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of sea of the country of Edom, instructing them thus shall you say to my Lord Esau. This says your servant Jacob, I’ve sojourned with Laban and stayed until now. I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants and female servants I’ve sent to tell my Lord in order they may find favour or grace in your sight.

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   So he wants to find grace in the sight of Esau. Last he knew Esau wanted to kill him. So he sends this message. Note note a couple of things here. He he calls Esau my Lord, and he describes himself as Esau’s servant. So he’s establishing some kind of hierarchical relationship here with his brother. And the message itself is strange. He wants to tell Esau, I have lots of animals and servants. OK, why does he do this?

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   Why does he send this message to Esau? If you carry on reading, it says in verse 6 that the messengers returned to Jacob saying we came to your brother Esau and he’s coming to meet you and there are 400 men with him. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people with him and the flocks and herds and camels into two camps, thinking if Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape and he’s scared out of his mind. Last he knew Esau wanted to kill him and now he’s coming with 400 men.

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    But Jacob only has himself to blame here, doesn’t he? He didn’t have to send this message. Just just think about the geography of the situation. He’s come from Haran, way up in the north in modern day Syria, and he’s made the long journey South. And he’s about halfway down on the east side of the Jordan, next to the land of promise. And all he has to do is find a way across the River Jordan and he’s home safe.

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    But instead, he goes completely out of his way to send this message to Esau. Miso’s in the land of Edom, way down South, miles and miles away.

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    So Jacob sends his message. Why did he do this? Why does he? Why does he pause before returning home? Well, let’s go to the beginning of the story, shall we? Back in Chapter 25. This is the first interaction. Well, really, it’s the second interaction, 1st after he’s born with his brother Esau. This is where Esau sells his birthright for a bowl of Stew.

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    You know the story. Esau’s been out hunting and he comes home absolutely exhausted, starving, hungry. And he sees that Jacob is making some Stew. And he says, I’m exhausted, give me some of that Stew. And Jacob says, sure, yeah, I’ll give you some Stew if you give me your birthright. And Esau said I’m about to die.

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    What use is a birthright to me? And he sold his birthright for a bowl of Stew. Now, Esau was wrong to do that. But we’re not here to talk about Esau this morning. We’re here to talk about Jacob. And Jacob was no better, was he? I mean, he could have done the brotherly thing.

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    He sees Esau coming in absolutely exhausted, famished, and he could have been kind to his brother and say here, have some Stew. But instead of showing kindness, he took full advantage of the situation. He took advantage of a man in a very vulnerable state, probably knowing how Esau would react, and he basically stole the birthright from his brother. And things didn’t get better between them, did they? They got a lot worse.

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    So if you turn over to chapter 27, this is where now Jacob steals the blessing from his brother and he does the same thing. He takes advantage of a man in a very vulnerable state, and this time it’s their dad, Isaac, poor old blind Isaac. Jacob takes advantage of a man with a disability and he deceives him with the help of his mother Rebecca. He puts the goat skins on his neck and on his arms to make it appear like he’s Esau.

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    He lies, he cheats, he steals. There’s nothing good that could be said about Jacob in either of these incidents. So let’s read the record show he’s in chapter 27 here and verse 26. Then his father Isaac said to him, come here and kiss me, my son. So he came here and kissed him and Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, see the smell of my son is the smell of the field that the Lord is blessed.

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    And as as Jacob leant down and embraced his father, Isaac would have felt the roughness of the goat skins and the smell making it appear that this was Esau. And Isaac gives to Esau, sorry to Jacob, the the blessing that he reserved for Esau. And Jacob steals that blessing through deceit from poor old blind Isaac. So what did he steal?

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    Well, if you look at the blessing in verses 28 and 29, it can be summarized as prosperity and power. The verse 28, May God give you the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain of wine. May God make you prosperous. And in verse 29, it’s all about power. Let people serve you and nations bow down to you. Be Lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.

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    So you’re going to be Lord. People are going to serve you. People are going to bow down to you, including your mother’s sons. That’s the blessing that Jacob stole from his brother. What was Esau’s reaction? Well, he went out and wept. Verse 34 As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceeding great and bitter cry. And Esau has had enough of his brother. He’s up to hear with him.

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    And, and no wonder, so it says in verse 41. 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. And their relationship is absolutely torn apart at the seams. Jacob has wronged his brother.

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    He sinned egregiously against him. Esau hates him for it, and he wants to kill him. So Jacob has to flee. And that’s exactly what he does. He flees into exile. Next chapter, chapter 28, verse 10, Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. And isn’t that what sin does? Brothers and sisters? Doesn’t sin put us into exile? It creates A separation between US and God. It creates A separation between us, a distance between US and those that we’ve hurt.

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    And it feels like we’ve gone into exile. So Jacob heads towards Haran and it’s while he’s on his journey that he has his first encounter with God. We’re going to look at 3 encounters that Jacob had with God this morning. This first one when he’s going into exile, the second one when he’s in exile, and the third one when he’s returning home from exile.

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    And it’s through these encounters with God that God is going to work with this man to change him, to redeem him. So let’s have a look at this first encounter with God, shall we? It’s in this chapter, chapter 28. This is where Jacob has the dream of the angels ascending and descending on the ladder, a message to Jacob that God is going to be with him, and that’s exactly what God says to him in the dream.

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    If you look at verse 15 of chapter 28, God says, behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, despite the kind of man you are, Jacob, despite what you did to your brother, I’m going to work with you. I’m going to refine you. I’m going to redeem you. And then it says carrying on in verse 15.

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    And I will bring you back to this land. I’ll bring you home. And isn’t that what we want, brothers and sisters, when we go into our spiritual exile, we want to find our way home. So what was Jacob’s reaction to this first encounter with God? Well, he makes a vow. In fact, it’s the very first recorded vow in Scripture.

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    If you look down at verse 20, it says Jacob made a vow saying if God will be with me and will keep you in this way that I go and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone which I’ve set up for a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that you give me, will give a full 10th to you. So this is Jacob’s vow.

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    It’s a covenant he’s in with God, right? And in this covenant, yes, God has God promised to be with him, to look after him and to give him the necessities of life, as it says at the end of verse 20 there, to give him food and clothing. And then significantly in verse 21, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, because that is what Jacob has lost. This is a man in turmoil.

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    He’s estranged from his father. He’s on the run from his brother. His life is a mess and he wants to come home, but he wants to come home in peace.

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    And then he says, if if you do this for me, if you provide me with food and clothing, it says at the end of verse 22 there of all that you give me, I will give a full 10th to you.

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    So do you think Jacob kept his vow? Oh, So we carry on readings for the next few chapters. Jacob comes to Haran, to his uncle Laban’s house. He marries Leah and Rachel. He’s there for at least 20 years, probably more. So what did God do for Jacob while he was in exile? What would you do if you were God dealing with this rogue, dealing with this man who’s lied and cheated and stole his way through life?

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    What would you do to refine him? Well, what God does for Jacob, it’s a little bit strange if you think about it. He makes Jacob prosperous. He takes many of the flocks and herds that belong to Laban and he gives them to Jacob. Why does God do that? If you turn over the excuse me, if you turn over to chapter 31, Jacob acknowledges this.

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    So chapter 31, it says in in verse 9, Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given it to me. He’s made me prosperous. It’s almost as if God is confirming the blessing that he stole from Esau. Remember the first half of that blessing that God will make you prosperous, and now God is making Jacob prosperous according to the blessing that he stole.

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    Why does God do this now? This is at the time where Jacob now has his second encounter with God and it’s in the form of another dream. So in verse 11, it says, then the Angel of God said to me in the dream, Jacob and I said, here I am. And he said, lift up your eyes and see all the goats that mate with a flock of stripes spotted the muddles. See what I’ve done for you, Jacob. I’ve taken the flocks and herds that belong to Laban. I’ve given unto you, I’ve made you prosperous. And then very significantly, God reminds him of his vow. So if you look at verse 13, God says I am the God of Bethe where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Remember that, Jacob, over 20 years ago you made a vow to me of all that I give you.

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    I’ll give a full 10th to you and I’m keeping the covenant. God says I’ve given you food and clothing. In fact, I’ve gone above and beyond. They’ve made you prosperous. So Jacob, do you remember your vow? And then it says at the end of verse 13, now arise. God says to him, now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.

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    It’s time, Jacob, you’re ready. It’s time to go home. Jacob wants to go home, but he wants to go home in peace. So Jacob takes his wives and his children and all this prosperity, all these animals that God has given to him, and he he leaves the House of Laban and he heads on home.

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    And that brings us to our readings in chapters 32 and 33, where Jacob pauses at the River Jabak on the east side of the Jordan. Before he crosses the Jordan and arrives home, he stops and and sends this message to his brother Esau. And Esau’s coming now with 400 men and he is scared out of his mind.

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    So what does Jacob do? Well, the first thing, the first thing he does is he prays to God. So that’s in verses 9 through 12.

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    We won’t, we won’t look at the we will look at the prayer. But what this prayer illustrates in verses 9 to 12 is that Jacob is a changed man. He’s now somebody who puts his trust in God. And Jacob does something else here. He puts together a present for his brother Easel, and his plan is that he’s going to send this present on the head with some servants in the hope that when Jacob comes on the scene, Esau having received the present, will be amenable to Jacob and won’t want to kill him, but will will accept him. So let’s read about the instructions then he’s given to his servants.

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    If you look at verse 20 of chapter 32, he tells his servants, you shall say when you hand over this present to Esau, moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us. And then we get some insight into what Jacob is thinking. So carrying on in verse 20. For he thought I may appease him with a present that goes ahead of me.

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    And afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me. And this is what Jacob was worried about, right? He’s worried about a face to face meeting with his brother Esau. In fact, the word face is there in the Hebrew a number of times in that verse where it says I may appease him literally, I may appease his face, where it says at the end of the verse, perhaps he will accept me literally, perhaps he will accept my face.

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    So this is what Jacob is worried about. He’s going to have a face to face meeting with his brother Esau, a face to face meeting with his past, a face to face meeting with his sins, a confrontation with his demons. And he’s scared. But there’s something significant going on here, brothers and sisters.

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    You see that word appease there in verse 20. I may appease him with a present. That happens to be the very first occurrence of the word atonement in the entire Bible. It’s the word used all the way through the law of Moses for the way in which the the sacrifices provided atonement. So this present then is it’s a gesture of atonement. And I think that Jacob understood something very fundamental.

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    Remember, he wants to go home, but he wants to return home in peace. But I think Jacob understood something that we all understand innately, what the prophet Isaiah says, that there is no peace to the wicked, or as Isaiah says elsewhere in the verse that we have on the screen. Excuse me? The effect of righteousness shall be peace.

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    You see, under the law of Moses, the peace offering had to be offered on top of the burnt offering, the offering of righteousness. And the principle is you cannot have peace without righteousness. You cannot find peace without making things right. And I think Jacob understood this. He wants to return home in peace, but he knows the only way to find that peace is to make things right.

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    And so this present is a, is a gesture of, of wanting to make things right. So he puts together this present. Now it’s quite the present if you just come back to verse 13. Let’s have a look at it. Verse 13 says he stayed that night and from what he had with him, and he had a lot with him. Remember, God has made him prosperous. He’s given him many of the flocks and herds and other animals that belong to Laban.

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    So from what he had with him, it says there in verse 13, he took a present for his brother Esau. And then in verses 14 and 15, it lists all the animals that make up that present and there’s a lot of them. There’s 580 animals.

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    So I thought to myself, how much would these animals cost in today’s markets if I was to put this present together today? How much would it cost me? Just to give an idea of the scale of this present. Now animal prices, they have a range because of the pedigree of the the animals.

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    So I went with a more conservative estimate and this is what I came up with. So it starts in verse 14 with 200 female goats. If you were to buy 200 female goats in today’s markets, how much do you think that would cost? Conservatively? That would set you back about $50,000 and it carries on. 20 male goats 5000 dollars 200 U $70,000.20 Rams $5000.30 female camels with their young 450,000 dollars 40K was $140,000 10 bulls $60,000 Twenty female donkeys $30,000.10 male donkeys $15,000 for a grand total of $825,000.

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    It’s ridiculous. I was trying to remember the last present I gave my brother. I think it was a book of dad jokes or something. I mean this, this is, this is crazy, but it’s not. It’s not just the monetary value, is it, Brothers and sisters, Think about what Jacob is giving his brother here with the milk from the various animals and the meat the the wolf from the sheep of the animal hides. He’s giving Esau here enough resources, basically a farmer factory whereby Esau might provide for himself and his family food and clothing for the rest of their lives. Remember, Jacob’s just been reminded of his vow. You think Jacob’s keeping his vow? Remember, all he asked for was food and clothing. God provided him in abundance, and out of that abundance he now gives this present to his brother. I think Jacob is keeping his vow. So he puts together the the these flocks and herds and cabals and so on, and he sends them on a head with some servants.

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    And in the meantime, this is where Jacob now has his third encounter with God. Is this where he wrestles with the Angel? It’s recorded for us at the end of chapter 32. From verse 22 to the end, you remember the story how the Angel blessed him and changed his name from Jacob to Israel and and touched the hollow of his thigh.

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    But what did Jacob learn from this encounter with God? Well, we have that in verse 30. It says that so Jacob called the name of the place where he wrestled with the Angel Penny Al. It means the face of God saying, for I have seen God face to face and my life has been delivered.

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    My life has been saved. You think there’s a message in here for for Jacob? You think this is a sign for Jacob? Remember, this is what he’s worried about. A face to face meeting with his brother Esau and now coming face to face with God, he finds salvation. And I think as we move into chapter 33, that Jacob now approaches this face to face meeting with his brother Esau, no matter how scared he might be, he approaches it now with renewed confidence that everything’s going to be all right, that things will be made right. There will be atonement, there will be reconciliation and he’s going to be able to go home in peace. So let’s read about this face to face meeting, shall we? It’s in chapter 33 verses 4 through 11. It says in chapter 33, verse 4.

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    But Esau Ranter meet him and embraced him and and fell on his neck and kissed him and they wept. Over 20 years previously, it was Jacob who embraced his father and kissed him with a kiss of deceit and stole the blessing from his brother. And Esau wept. But now, now the two brothers come together, they embrace, they kiss one another, and they weep together.

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    Verse 5 And when he saw, lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, who were these with you? Jacob said the children whom God has graciously given your servant. You see, there’s something significant going on here, brothers and sisters, we met the very first occurrence of the word atonement in chapter 32.

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    Well, this happens to be the very first occurrence of the word to be gracious. And God had been gracious with Jacob, hadn’t he? Despite the kind of man he was, despite what he done to his brother, God had poured grace into the life of Jacob. You’ve gone above and beyond, and Jacob acknowledges this. God has been gracious to your servant. Verse 6 Then the servants drew near and their children and bowed down.

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    Leah likewise, and their children drew near and bowed down and lost. Joseph and Rachel drew near and they bowed down. Esau said. What do you mean by all this company? All these animals that I met? There’s hundreds of them, Jacob answered. To find grace in the sight of my Lord. You see what Jacob’s doing here?

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    Don’t you remember the blessing that he stole from his brother 20 years previously, How he would be Lord over his brothers? And now Jacob calls Esau my Lord, how people would serve him, and he says, I am your servant. And how people would bow down to him, including his mother’s sons. And now the whole of Jacob’s family bows down to Esau, led by Jacob.

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    Verse three He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times. I think you see what Jacob is doing here in this gesture of wanting to make things right. Verse 9 But Esau said, I have enough my brother, keep what you have for yourself. Jacob said no, please, if I found favour in your sight, then accept my present from my hand, for I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God and you have accepted me just as he learned from that face to face meeting with God, you find salvation.

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    And then verse 11, please accept my blessing that is brought to you because God has dealt graciously with me, because I have enough that he urged him and he took it and he calls that present that gesture of wanting to make things right. He calls it a blessing. What we have here, brothers and sisters, is a beautiful picture of atonement and of two brothers torn apart by sin and now brought together by the grace of God. And Jacob, well now he can return home in peace. Says in verse 18 that Jacob came safely. The word is Shalom.

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    Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan. Well, this morning, brothers and sisters, we have an encounter with God. Here we see our Lord face to face and in the bread and the cup we have a reminder that God has gone out of His way.

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    God has gone above and beyond in pouring grace into our lives. The question is, what is my response? Am I willing to, to go out of my way to to go above and beyond and seeking to, to make right what has gone wrong?

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    Maybe, brothers and sisters, the message in the the bread and the cup this morning is it’s time. We’re ready. It’s time to go home. It’s time to find peace.

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