“By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.” Hebrews 11:20

Theme: Faith is an act of committing the future to the sovereign God. 

Introduction: Isaac demonstrated his faith by blessing his twin sons Jacob and Esau. Before he passed away, Isaac desired to bless them in the name of Yahweh. We see here a true parent who committed the future of his sons to God. The main tenor of Isaac’s faith is not how God would bless his two sons, but how he trusted God. Isaac trusted the God of sovereignty who would control all things. He asked God to bless his two sons. Before they were born, they struggled with each other. So, Rebekah asked God about it. God replied to her in this way, “Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger” (Gen. 25:23). Rebekah received the divine plan of God for her two sons. Isaac believed it. Also, he believed the covenantal blessings of God promised to Abraham and his descendants. So, he blessed his two sons according to the covenantal promise of God. He committed the future of his blessed sons to the sovereign God.

The readers of the book of Hebrews were under persecution. Their future was murky and risky. They were likely to worry about their future. Indeed, nothing was promising to them. The author of Hebrews, presenting Isaac as another exemplary man of faith, encourages his readers to trust the sovereign God for their uncertain, dangerous future. The text tells us that God plans a blessed future for His people. So, they must commit their future to the sovereign God. This is what we shall discuss today.

1. God holds the future of His people in His hand.
   
   1. Faith is a trust of the sovereign God. The God of the Bible is the God of sovereignty. This means that everything is under God’s control. God controls all human affairs. God controls human history. Nothing happens apart from His knowledge and permission. Good and bad, blessing and curse, prosperity and adversity are under God’s perfect control. This is what Isaac believed and experienced. His marriage with Rebekah, his conflicts with neighbors for water, his blessings from God, and his daily walk with God, indicates that He trusted the sovereign, providential God who controls every aspect of his own life and all human lives. He knew the story of his father and mother who experienced the fulfillment of God’s covenant. He knew the miracle of his birth story. He knew how God brought him into a nuptial union with Rebekah. He knew how God blessed him despite his concessions to his neighbors. All his life experiences with God pointed to the truth that his entire life was under God’s perfect control. His past, present, and future are under the hand of God.
      
      
   2. Faith is a trust of God’s covenantal promise. Through his wife, Isaac got to know God’s plans for Jacob and Esau. He heard the older would serve the younger and his two sons would be the fathers of two nations. Time went by. It seems that Isaac had forgotten the plan of God for his two sons. Before it was too late, Isaac would like to place his blessings upon his elder son who would continue his line. So, Isaac asked Esau to go and hunt to make his favorite food. While Esau was busy finding a game for his dad, his mother Rebekah and his brother Jacob were working together to receive the father’s blessing. Isaac could have blessed Esau if Esau had brought his favorite food to him before Jacob. However, with the help of his mother Rebekah, Jacob disguised himself and brought the food to Isaac to ask for his blessing. Though he was skeptical of the whole situation, Isaac happened to bless Jacob his younger son. That’s why the author of Hebrews places the name Jacob first before Esau. It seems that God apparently allowed Isaac to pronounce His blessings on Jacob. As predicted years ago, Isaac poured out the blessings of God on his younger son, believing that he was his older son. Amid all human conspiracy and shortcomings, at any rate, the plan of God was working out for the covenant of God with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. According to the providence of God, God prevented Isaac from pronouncing the blessings of God on Esau.
      
      
   3. Faith is a trust of God’s holding the future of His people in His hand. Honestly speaking, we don’t know exactly how God worked out His covenantal will for Jacob and Esau. However, at the end His plans for Isaac’s two sons were fulfilled. This fact indicates that God holds the future in His hands. Isaac believed it; so, he declared God’s blessings for Jacob and Esau. If God had had no control or power over the future, Isaac’s blessings for Jacob and Esau would have come to naught. Nothing could nullify the plan of God set in eternity. No one can prevent God from doing His work. All things are under His control. Hannah, the mother of Samuel, sang of the Lord of sovereignty as follows:“The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up”(1 Sam. 2:6-7). Life and death are under His control, which means all our affairs between life and death are under His rule. Instead of worrying for the future, therefore, God’s children must trust the God of sovereignty.

To be continued………………

More Lively Hope

© Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church
14 Bedford Square, Colonel Light Gardens, South Australia 5041