What can we learn from ‘both/and’ characters in the Bible?
7 February 2021 - 11am Service
Both/And: Jacob & Esau
This Sunday we start our new preaching series Both/And with a message from Clare Thompson on ‘Jacob & Esau’.
In this series, we’ll be exploring some of the rich characterisation of people we don’t often look at from the Bible.
In particular, we’ll be focusing on issues raised in these contrasting personalities. The people we’re focusing on will show different examples of what ambition, leadership and servanthood looked like and how their own strengths and weaknesses affected them and those in their lives.
Remember, our 7pm service will be looking at the same topic Dave Mitchell will be sharing with us. Check it out!
DISCUSSION NOTES
INTRODUCTION | Genesis 25:20-34 (Chapters 27-33)
Key thought: Seeking blessing.
A mature Church has mature people, with diverse gifts equipped by a diverse team. Ephesians 4 gives us a template of a ‘five-fold ministry’, a team that equips a Church. The missiologist Alan Hirsch has invested heavily into the five-fold ministry (or APEST) with his 5Q teaching where he suggests this model is for everyone.
STUDY QUESTIONS
If we describe the characters of Jacob and Esau briefly. Who do we identify with most? Who do you warm to most?
Esau is clearly a man of appetite and seems impulsive. It’s reflected perhaps in the way he takes various wives as well as food! Jacob’s marriage by contrast could be described as one of ‘delayed gratification’. How much is instant gratification part of our culture today? Why might this trait seeking instant gratification cause people to miss the most important and sacred things of life?
Why does God bless Jacob?
How is Jacob changed by his ‘blessing’? What does God use to shape his life?
Have you ever ‘wrestled with God’ for a blessing? How does this relate to Jesus teaching on prayer in Luke 18?
TAKE HOME FOOTNOTES
Jacob gets to be the one who carries the covenantal blessing of God (28:3-4). He flees to a far country, where he finds refuge wives and children. His blessing isn’t instant or easy however. Who do you think has the easier life, Esau or Jacob?
God is going to work on your character if you seek his blessing however as he does with Jacob. It’s not just a case of ‘bless me, but leave me unchanged’!
Family favouritism causes trouble, but Jacob doesn’t learn that lesson (c.f. Jacob & Joseph). It’s a problem through the generations of his family.
Jesus must have had this story in mind when he told his own story of the prodigal son. He inverts some of the characteristics of the two sons but his story lands with the question ‘do you want the father’s blessing’? No matter what our character or gifts are ‘seeking first the kingdom of God’ seeking blessing is the route to becoming part of God’s kingdom story, place and purpose.