Sermon Tone Analysis

liberty bible church          7~/6~/08 P.M.

By Tom Zobrist

“sins that will destroy the home”

Genesis 27:1-29

introduction

Illus. of A very short boy wanted so badly to play basketball.

He even told his dad that he wanted to become a pro when he was older.

Knowing that his son would never be able to play the game, the dad asked the local coach if there was anything he could recommend to make the boy taller.

"You might take him down to the museum and put him on the old torture stretch rack," the coach said.

Several weeks later the coach asked the father if putting the boy on the stretch rack had helped.

"Well, it didn’t make him any taller, but he confessed to several things that I never knew."

We don’t use torture racks today to get our families to confess, but we still have sins that we harbor that can cause problems in our homes.

What are some of these sins that are so dangerous to our homes and families?

OPEN to passage.

*Prop.

*In this passage, we see common sins that break down the home and what we can do about it.

Open in PRAYER.

PREVIEW the passage.

We’ve already seen Jacob steal Esau’s birthright.

Tonight, we see him receive the blessing, but not in the way that God may have initially intended.

Within this passage, we see some common sins that can cause problems in any home and they certainly do here in the home of Isaac and Rebekah.

The first sin that will destroy the home if left unchecked is the sin of…

 

  i.

selfishness vs. 1-4

Illus. of “Kept the Larger Piece” You may have heard the story of two friends who met for dinner in a restaurant.

Each requested filet of sole, and after a few minutes the waiter came back with their order.

Two pieces of fish, a large and a small, were on the same platter.

One of the men proceeded to serve his friend.

Placing the small piece on a plate, he handed it across the table.

“Well, you certainly do have nerve!”

exclaimed his friend.

“What’s troubling you?” asked the other.

“Look what you’ve done,” he answered.

“You’ve given me the little piece and kept the big one for yourself.”

“How would you have done it?”

the man asked.

His friend replied, “If I were serving, I would have given you the big piece.”

“Well,” replied the man, “I’ve got it, haven’t I?” At this, they both laughed.

Our Daily Bread, August 11, 1992 Who is selfish in this home that creates such a problem?

a. Isaac is selfish   

            1.

Certainly Isaac would have known about God’s oracle to Rebekah.

Cf. Gen. 25:23 Why would he seek to bless Esau, in spite of what God had said?

V 1      2.

A point is made about Isaac’s age and very poor eyesight.

He calls Esau to himself and makes a request.

V 2-4a 3. Isaac loved wild game and its his flesh that drives him to send Esau and out pay him with a blessing.

A last meal of sorts, compromised by a misdirected blessing.

V 4b    4.

It is this last statement that set in motion a series of events that would seriously compromise this already fragile home.

Jacob and Esau had problems.

Esau had married two women that were problems for his parents.

This home was already struggling.

Now, add this and you get real problems.

And Isaac was one of the catalysts.

b.

Esau is selfish

V 5b    1.

By agreeing to this plan, Esau saw an opportunity to take back what he had lost previously.

He had sold his birthright and now he had a chance for the blessing.

But, he would have to break the oath he had made in  Gen.

25:33.

But, he does it anyway.

He goes ahead and heads out for the hunt.

2.

Both Isaac and Esau demonstrate a selfishness that leads the entire family down a wrong pathway.

*Trans.*

SELFISHNESS is one of the sins that can destroy a home.

Second is the sin of a…

 

 

 ii.

lack of faith vs. 5-17

Illus. of “Prime the Pump” The following letter was found in a baking-power can wired to the handle of an old pump that offered the only hope of drinking water on a very long and seldom-used trail across Nevada’s Amargosa Desert: “This pump is all right as of June 1932.

I put a new sucker washer into it and it ought to last five years.

But the washer dries out and the pump has got to be primed.

Under the white rock I buried a bottle of water, out of the sun and cork end up.

There’s enough water in it to prime the pump, but not if you drink some first.

Pour about one-fourth and let her soak to wet the leather.

Then pour in the rest medium fast and pump like crazy.

You’ll git water.

The well has never run dry.

Have faith.

When you git watered up, fill the bottle and put it back like you found it for the next feller.

(signed) Desert Pete.

P.S. Don’t go drinking the water first.

Prime the pump with it and you’ll git all you can hold.

Keith Miller and Bruce Larson, /The Edge of Adventure/

Without faith in God and one another, families will struggle.

We see that here.

a. Rebekah demonstrates a lack of faith  

V 5a     1.

Being the doting mother, Rebekah listens in to the conversation that Isaac has with Esau.

Whether she was sneaking around or in the room we’re not told, but we do know that she used this inside information to undermine what her husband was trying to do.

Whether she was right or wrong in her motives, her methods were not right.

The ends never justify the means.

So, Esau leaves to hunt the game his father desires.

AS soon as this happens, Rebekah springs into action.

She fears that the promised blessing that was to be given to Jacob would not be fulfilled.

She failed to believe that God could overcome these circumstances, so seeks to manipulate the situation herself.

And manipulate may be too kind of a word for what is about to take place.

She not only does this herself, but she draws in Jacob as well.

V 6-7   2.

She fills in Jacob on what has taken place between father and son, rather than speaking to her husband about the problem.

She goes to her favorite between the two boys.