Sermon Tone Analysis

The History of Jacob

Younger of twin sons born to Isaac and Rebekah ().

Isaac had prayed for his barren wife, Rebekah, and she conceived the twins, who jostled each other in the womb.

She inquired about this of the Lord, who told her that she was carrying two nations and that the older son would serve the younger (v 23).

Esau was hairy and red (later he was called Edom, “red,” v 30; 36:1), but Jacob was born holding the heel of his brother, so that he was named Jacob, “he takes by the heel” (cf.

), with the derived meaning “to supplant, deceive, attack from the rear.”

Personal History.

Esau and Jacob were very different from each other.

Esau was an outdoorsman, the favorite of his father, while Jacob stayed around the tents and was loved by his mother.

One day when Jacob was preparing red pottage, Esau came in famished.

Jacob offered to sell Esau some stew in exchange for his birthright as firstborn, and Esau agreed, thus repudiating his birthright (cf.

).

The significance of this episode of the red pottage is demonstrated by its association with Esau’s second name, Edom (“red”) ().

The Paradox of Time

Isaac became old and blind.

One day he asked Esau to take his weapons and get some wild game, of which Isaac was very fond (; cf.

25:28), so that he could eat and then confer his blessing upon Esau.

Rebekah had been eavesdropping, so she called Jacob and told him to go to the flock and select two good kids.

She would prepare a dish that would pass for the game while Esau was out hunting.

Jacob feared that Isaac would detect the deception, for Esau was very hairy, but Rebekah had everything planned.

She placed the skins of the kids on Jacob’s hands and neck to give the impression of hairiness (27:16) and clothed him in Esau’s best garments, which had the smell of the outdoors on them.

Although Isaac recognized the voice of Jacob, his other senses failed him, and he was deceived by the feel of the skins and the smell of the garments.

He proceeded to give the blessing to Jacob (vv 27–29).

No sooner had Jacob left than Esau arrived with the game he had cooked.

Jacob’s ruse was discovered, but the deed could not be undone () for, as the Nuzi tablets show, an oral blessing had legal validity and could not be revoked.

Esau was heartbroken (cf.

).

Isaac gave him a blessing inferior to the one given to Jacob (, ).

The animosity between the brothers deepened, and Esau plotted to kill Jacob after the death of their father.

Rebekah learned of this, so she instructed Jacob to flee to her brother Laban in Haran ().

Esau’s Hittite wives meanwhile had been making life miserable for Rebekah; she complained to Isaac, who called Jacob and sent him to Laban to marry one of his uncle’s daughters.

(v 46–28:4).

Jacob set out for Haran.

Using a stone for a pillow, he dreamed one night of a ladder reaching up to heaven, with the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

God spoke to Jacob and gave to him the promise he had given to Abraham and Isaac concerning the land and descendants.

The next morning Jacob took his stone pillow and set it up as a pillar, anointing it with oil.

He named the place Bethel (“house of God”) and made a vow that if the Lord would be with him and provide for him he would give a tithe to the Lord ().

When Jacob reached the area of Haran he met shepherds who knew Laban.

Rachel, Laban’s younger daughter, arrived with her father’s flock, and Jacob rolled the large stone from the mouth of the well and watered the sheep for her ().

When Rachel learned that Jacob was from their own family, she ran to tell her father, who greeted Jacob warmly.

After staying with them for a month, Jacob was hired to tend Laban’s flocks.

When wages were discussed, Jacob proposed to work seven years to earn Rachel as his wife (vv 15–20).

DeVries, C. E. (1988).

Jacob.

In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol.

2, p. 1084).

Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

The Paradox of Time

Time is a strange thing.

On one hand it seems there is never enough time while on the other hand it seems that time is taking forever.

There are distinct moments when you just know that you will not have enough time to finish that project, or homework, or yard-work or whatever.

But then, there are equally distinct moments when you just know you are going to most assuredly die of old age waiting for things like the DMV, a pot of water to boil, or for a package to arrive.

If you watch a show like Chopped, you can see time become an issue in both ways for the contestants as they battle a time limit that seems so short, but small steps in the cooking process seem to always take longer than they want them to.

I was thinking about some of this when a movie we were watching commented about how strange it was that people allowed time keeping devices to rule their entire lives.

The comment caused me to wonder, have we become slaves to time?

Aren’t deadlines incredibly important to us?

He better propose soon or this relationship is over

How much longer until the sale is over?

The grant is due on such and such a date

Deadlines are important to us… even now some of you, maybe most of you have wondered how much longer the sermon is going to be.

He better not preach too long this morning, I have things to do

We try to influence deadlines too

I was talking with someone taking some evening classes and they casually mentioned they could simply ask for an extension for their report

An extension?

When I was in school you needed a dead parent and a rotten kidney to get an extension but the person I was talking too was so casual in their comment so I asked

“Isn’t it hard to get an extension?”

Oh no I do it all the time.

I just mention my kids.

We try to influence deadlines.

We all do it, even here.

I’m a football fan too, trust me I know the game is on.

I cook, I know how important temperature and time are.

Even my cats look at me on a Sunday as if to say, “Now you know what time we’re supposed to eat right?”

Now this might sound judgmental but I admit, I do it too.

Whenever we go to Officer’s Councils I like to remind DHQ about how far everyone’s driven just in case they’ve forgotten.

We all try to influence time.

Here’s my latest war on time: Anyone try to beat the estimated arrival time the gps gives you?

You know how you beat that time don’t you?

Speeding.

Breaking the laws of the land.

It’s not like we’re actually beating time and yet my goodness doesn’t it feel good when we get there before the estimated time.

We brag about it too.

“Well I know a shortcut”

or

“I outsmarted the traffic pattern”

We get weird with time and I think its because time is weird.

In our portion this morning, Jacob is going to learn some very valuable life lessons, most notably a lesson about deception, but the one we will focus on is the lesson about time and waiting.

Time Flies When You’re Having Fun

Gen

We’re familiar with the saying time flies when you’re having fun and this was true for Jacob.

While he was working for his uncle, there would have been plenty of interaction with Rachel.

He loved every minute of it.

The more they interacted the deeper his love for her became.

Now unlike today, the seven year period would have been very rated G… as in Walt Disney Romance G. Consider vs 21:

Seven years had gone by quickly, but now that it was gone it was time in Jacob’s mind for this rated G romance to turn into something a bit R rated.

But there was protocol to be followed and so there needed to be invitations sent, a feast to be had and finally the wedding night.

So seven years felt like a few days, but a few hours probably felt like years.

Finally the wedding night and trickery!

Gen 29:

Time Slows to a Crawl

Gen 29:

You’ll remember that Jacob’s first seven years seemed like nothing at all.