John 6:22-59 "This is the Bread of life!"

Following the dramatic crossing of the sea of Galilee, or lake Tiberias (6:16-21), we find Jesus on ‘the other side of the sea (6:25). It is here that the stage for the first of His weighty seven “I Am” sayings“[1]  is  set... “I am the bread of life”.  

Our passage essentially makes one BIG point: Jesus announces Himself to be the Bread of Life  (6:35,48,51). By this He declares Himself to be more than food. He declares Himself to be the sum and substance  of  our  life. 

The ‘I Am’ statements  are nothing  less than  a declaration in which Jesus identifies  with the I AM of Exodus  3:14, where Yahweh, the God of Israel reveals Himself to Moses as,  “I AM WHO  I AM”. We are once again confronted by the claims of Christ, and we must make up our mind concerning Him. Jesus cannot remain weightless among us. Either He is who he says who He is, or else He is a liar or worse still- He is a lunatic.  As a young student I was very helped by this quote from C.S. Lewis[2] :

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

So, Jesus’ disciples had just witnessed two spectacular manifestations of Jesus’ power (feeding of the 5000; walking upon the sea in a storm) which should have deepened their faith in Jesus. This  might have been necessary  for two reasons[3]: (i)  they may have sensed disappointment that Jesus would not fulfill the  popular expectations  they  may have shared  with  the crowd who wanted to make Jesus their king (6:15)  (ii)  Jesus was about to make  statements  that would cause  massive defection from the ranks of His followers (6:66).

Our text is structured around a series of  six questions by the Jews concerning the claims of Christ, and  the answers which Jesus  gives them in response.  

QUESTION 1 (6:22-27): “When did you get here? (6:25) Our passage begins with a baffled crowd. They had previously seen Him on the eastern side of Lake Tiberias where they had witnessed the miracle of the loaves and fishes (6:1-15), and now He was gone. After a search they found him at or near Capernaum[4]  on the western side of the lake. As they ask Him, ‘when did you come here?, instead  of answering their question,   Jesus confronts them very directly  concerning their true motives for seeking Him. “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill at the loaves.” (6:26). Jesus is telling them plainly that what they were seeking from Him wasn’t eternal life but free food.  So, He tells them, “Do not work for the food that perishes (i.e. barley loaves and fish), but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has set His seal.”

We are reminded that interest in Jesus is not always spiritual in nature. They were fascinated by the miracles and the free food. They were taken up with the idea of having a king or another Moses- like figure leading them and providing heavenly manna for them.  Right now they could not see, nor accept or believe in Jesus, even though the evidences were overwhelming.  And you have now sat through 6 chapters of exposition of John’s gospel. You too have read and heard the extra ordinary credentials of Jesus Christ in Chapter 1. You have read   concerning the extra ordinary miracle  of the water into wine (Chapter 2) and the healings in chapters 4,5 and 6  and the  various discourses where Jesus  explains  Himself and His work to the Nicodemus  (a Jew) and to  the Samaritan Woman  (a gentile). When you look at Jesus what and who do you see?  

At this  point Jesus enters into this  discussion with them  about  the food  which they  truly need, which will culminate with  this  amazing claim  in  6:35 , “I am the bread of life.”   But right now in 6:27 Jesus introduces the food which He (the Son of Man on whom the Father has set His seal) gives.  He tells them “not to work for the food that perishes, but (to work) for the food that endures to eternal life.”

QUESTION 2 (6:28,29). Notice how they latch on to the word ‘work’:  “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”  i.e. “what good works can we do to earn the blessing of which you speak?” The assumption is that we get something from God if we do something for God.  That is the default position of our hearts. What can I do?  

We find  a similar habit,  when in our society we are invited for a meal, the first question asked is,  ‘What can I bring’?  We find it very hard to receive freely, and especially this in the matter of receiving the gift of eternal life, freely!  Jesus’ answer in 6:29,  “This is the work of God i.e. this is what you can do: Believe in Him who  God has sent!  

Believe! That word is the golden thread which runs through the chapter cf. vv. 36,47,64,69.   Do you see the irony in Jesus’ words here? Believing is not really ‘a work’. But for their sake Jesus called believing ‘the work of God’. In reality it is no work at all. It is simply trusting God in Christ. Very well then… BELIEVE.

QUESTION 3 (6: 30-33) : “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat”.  We want to believe, but we want to be fed for 40 years – as in the desert, when Moses led   1 million of our people.   If you really are the prophet foretold by Moses (see 6:14), then you must do this and be this to us.  So, prove that you are like Moses. Give us another sign, one just like you did across the lake.

At this point (6:32), Jesus needs to challenge their false interpretation of the OT event.  “It was not Moses that had provided bread to a million people, but God who gave you the manna – the bread from heaven[5]. They are missing the point. They read the Scriptures wrongly. Theirs is the problem that was already pointed out in 5:39-40!  And Jesus, by implication is saying, “I, who gave you full bellies on the others side of the lake am not just a prophet like Moses. I am your Creator (who came down from heaven v.33) who miraculously provided this bread, as I indeed gave your forefathers Manna in the desert for 40 years.” This was   what Jesus sought to communicate all the while, while His listeners intrigued by His miracles were more interested in the material things which He could supply. They were only interested in food that perishes, and in so doing they were missing the point! They were not hearing or seeing Jesus for who He was.  But they try anyway …

QUESTION 4 (6:34-40): “Sir may we have this bread always?”.  Here is Jesus’ most direct response to them: “I AM the Bread of Life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (cf. Samaritan woman in  4:14). What they needed to do right there and then was to commit themselves unconditionally to Christ.  The one thing  necessary to enable  them to live forever in the presence of God is to receive  Jesus as the bread of life. “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life.” There is sadly, a BUT in the picture…“BUT, I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe…” (6:36). These people had seen  and heard so  much of what Jesus  did and said   BUT still they did not believe  Him. 

WHY?  Here comes the ultimate answer...

Because they needed divine enablement. This is the essence of  what Jesus says  in 6:37-40: This portion of Scripture  teaches us that man’s will and inclination  to seek  God  is so bound by his sinful and rebellious nature that nothing less  than  divine enablement would help him  to see. All Jesus’ healings of the blind, deaf and the lame and the raising of the dead are ultimately illustrations of man’s spiritual state. What can a blind man, a deaf man, a lame man a dead man do to escape their condition? NOTHING!  What can a spiritually dead and unresponsive man do to inherit eternal life? NOTHING! They all need help. They need divine help. And this is precisely the thing that Jesus begins to address now. And the answer is this, “Look to me! I am the bread of life. Everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him has eternal life.”(6:40)

QUESTION 5 (6:41-51): This statement in 6:40  induces grumbling among the Jews (6:41). “How can we look to HIM? He is Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?” (6:42). Again Jesus  gives the answer: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw Him” (6:44 repeated  in v.65). The point is this-  To raise a spiritually, dead, unresponsive human being takes nothing less than a miracle - a miracle like all the other miracles, and a miracle is by definition something that human beings in their own strength, power or authority cannot do. Jesus is speaking here to people who are religious, but they  are not  born again (John 3:1-8) . They are not going to inherit eternal life unless they look to the Son. And here is the great difficulty. They MUST look to the Son to have eternal life. But  they will not look to the Son  because they are blind, deaf, lame and dead.  So, they need the  mercy of God to draw them. They (and we) need to look to the God of Moses  to do the impossible, and   so in 6:45  Jesus says, “It is written in the prophets  (Isaiah 54:13), ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone  who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.”  The hearing and learning  comes through divine ability. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, who points us to Jesus, described in John 3:1-8. Again and again, Jesus affirms that He is the life giving Bread upon whom they must feed (read 6:48,51)  to have eternal life.

QUESTION 6 (6:52-58): “How can this man  give us his flesh to eat?“  They  think literally. Jesus, of course, means  it  in a spiritual sense. He is not thinking about  cannibalism.  He is saying that  we have to take Him into ourselves. We need to receive Him into the core of our  being. In that sense alone we need to feed on Him.  You have to take Jesus into you. You have to receive Jesus into your heart. 

Sadly there  are none as blind as those that will not see this. And so they  grumble. 

We  will consider this  question and the far reaching conclusions to  the end this chapter in greater  detail in our next sermon. Be amazed at  their unbelief  Be amazed at the turning away from Christ.
But  YOU- YOU  ask yourself. Have I  believed in Jesus? Am I into Him?  Am I participating  in Him- His Life, His death, His resurrection? 
Unless you do, you have no  assurance of  heaven and eternal life. 
Come to Jesus  NOW!

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[1] The 7  ‘I Am’ sayings (ergo eimi) : John 6:35 (I  Am the Bread of Life)  ; 8:12 (I Am the Light of the World) ;10:7 (I am the Door for the Sheep); 10:11 (I Am the good Shepherd) ; 11:25 (I Am the Resurrection and the Life) ; 14:6 (I Am the Way the Truth and the Life) ; 15:5 (I Am the Vine)

[2] Lewis, C.S. : Mere Christianity p.52 ,Fount Paperbacks 1989

[3] Yarbrough, Robert: John p. 71

[4] Mark 6:53 says that  Jesus meets the crowd at Genesaret, a few kilometres from Capernaum

[5] Ex. 16:4-5; Num. 11:7-9

John 6:1-21 "This is indeed the Prophet…"

Chapter 5 finds Jesus in Jerusalem and now in Chapter 6 He is back in Galilee. The distance between the two, as the crow flies, is approximately 130 kilometres. Jesus’ ministry is truly ‘a back and forth’ between Galilee and Jerusalem, and that without air transport, rail transport and tar roads. I hardly walk 20 kilometres a week! No wonder that there is no mention of Banting and Keto and other weight loss diets in the Bible. There is also no mention of slap chips and koek-sisters (you have to be born in Southern Africa to understand this)  in the Bible … only fish and barley loaves. We read of ears of grain harvested from the fields with the hands and eaten raw, as people were passing through them, walking to their various towns and villages. We read of no pies and a coke   at the truck-stop along the way.

  

In Chapter 5 Jesus had healed a man on the Sabbath, and the Jews were angry about that. They were not concerned that a man had been made well. They were concerned that Jesus had used the Sabbath to do that.  In engaging them Jesus is beginning to assert the source of His true authority. He calls God His own Father, and in so doing they understand that He is making Himself equal with God (5:18).  Jesus is now getting into real trouble. The Jews are now persecuting him (5:16) and in fact they want to kill him (5:18).   Unbelief is written across their foreheads. Jesus uses some of the strongest language to accuse them of their unbelief with respect to Himself and His ministry in 5:39-47. They will believe every other false prophet, but they will not believe this true Prophet sent from God (John 1:11). They are hostile towards Him. For this reason, Jesus finds it necessary to go back into Galilee. This is where we find Him in this 6^th chapter. 

Outline of chapter 6

(i)               6:1-15: An account of the feeding of the 5000, recorded in all the 4 gospels.

(ii)           6:16-21: An account of  Jesus miraculously  walking across the  lake of Galilee (also known as lake Tiberias[1]), and this  during a strong wind  and  a  rough sea. 

(iii)         6:22-59: In this section He makes the first of His famous 7 “I AM” statements – I am the Bread of Life. This section, as we shall see next time, is closely related to the feeding of the 5000. It illustrates both, the divine nature of Jesus, and it illustrates the necessity of believing in Him as our only Life-giver and our true Nourisher. Here He illustrates that   “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God “(Deut. 8:3, cf. Matt. 4:4).

(iv)            6:60-71 : The 6^th chapter closes with  an account of the sad fact that many of His  disciples are now  turning away from him, because they find  His  teaching hard to believe (6:66). We shall see that only 11 of the original disciples, represented by Peter, continue to trust in the Lord Jesus.  In this chapter we shall find one of the greatest affirmations or confessions from the lips of a man, as to who Jesus is.   The central point of this chapter is contained in this last section. Humanly speaking, it is impossible to follow and to trust Jesus. We shall see that more is needed to be a Christian than a mere decision to be one.  The chapter ends with the doctrine of  sovereign election (6:63,64,65,70)

And now that you have the roadmap for the 6^th chapter, let us consider our text.

6:1-15: The Feeding of the 5000

We saw that Jesus had found it necessary to withdraw from Jerusalem, because the pressure was mounting. The first talk of killing Him was being expressed (5:18).  John tells us that this was near the time of Passover (6:4). Jesus would eventually be killed during the Passover. He was after all, as John the Baptist had  said earlier,  the Passover Lamb of God that was going to be killed  to take away  the sin of the world  (John 1:29,36).

Back in Galilee then He was again followed by a crowd, because they saw the signs He was doing on the sick (6:2). You really need to see this picture here. This was a needy, physically sick, depressed and often demon possessed crowd. Mark 6:34 tells us, “He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things…” . Did you hear that? Moved with compassion, He teaches them many things! Their greatest need at this stage was not food. They needed the Word of God – they needed perspective for Life from the God who had made them. They needed the Bread of Life. These were a spiritually needy, ignorant, sin sick people that had been in the hands of spiritual neglect and of spiritual wolves for far too long.  They needed perspective from the Word of God. He, who was the Word,  was now here – in person (John 1:1-3). This Word, full of grace and truth, had become flesh and now dwelt among them. (John 1:14). 

Jesus knew full well that these people coming towards Him (6:5) were going to be hungry. He was going to make their physical hunger an illustration of the spiritual hunger, which they ought to have.  The disciples, represented here by name were Philip (6:7) and Andrew (6:8). Jesus (by way of a testing) challenges them to find food for these many people. Frankly speaking, this is impossibility. This was not a town with a Checkers shop or a Pick ‘n Pay. This was the open country. There was nothing here.  Do you know how much food you need to feed 5000?  Philip quickly figures that it would take about 8 months’ wages (200 denarii)[2] to buy enough bread for each one to have even only a little (6:7). Given these facts then, this becomes the moment for Jesus to show who He is, once again (as if He hadn’t done it enough!)

After a brief prayer of thanksgiving to the Father (6:11) Jesus divides the few bread loaves and the few fishes (which were, incidentally, given by a boy), and now the seemingly impossible happens! The food is miraculously multiplied.  There is, incidentally a foreshadowing of this miracle in 2 Kings. Elisha told his servant to feed the people gathered there, although there was not enough food for the hundred men. One of the men said, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” (2 Ki. 4:42–43) In the end, however, the men not only had enough to eat, but “they ate and had some left” (2 Ki. 4:44).  And so, in 6:12-13 we read, “And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, ‘gather up the leftover fragments… and they filled up 12 baskets…”.  This is a true miracle. Remember, that He has done this before.  In Cana of Galilee, in 2: 1-12, not far from here, He had the jars filled with water as He turned the water into finest wine for a wedding.

What’s the point here? This is all a testimony to the divine nature of Jesus. He who was in the beginning with God, He by whom all things were created, was simply doing what was within His nature to do! As such He exercises   His authority over nature (and we shall see this just now), and over creation, over bread, over life and death, over demons and principalities – over everything! Do you know what Jesus is saying in effect here?  He is saying, I your Creator, your Sustainer and Provider (though I am veiled in this flesh- this body), I am here among you.

This story is like so many situations in our life, isn't it? Like right now, in the life of our church.  We don't have the resources to meet the many challenges we face. Many a problem is too big for us.  But our extremity is God's opportunity. Where are we going to find sufficient to do what we have to do? We look to Jesus. He has the answer.  The problems of this city, the problems of this country with its vicious drought crisis and financial crises – we look to Jesus.  For our depressions, our difficult marriage, our children and all our personal problems we look to Jesus.  Lord you know!

At the end of this story we find the people beginning to look at Jesus in a different way.  6:14 says, “When the people saw the sign that He had done, they said. This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.” Something was beginning to dawn. Something miraculous had happened, and now they saw Jesus as the prophet who is to come  into the world. This is most likely a reference to Deut. 18:15 – a prophet like Moses who would appear in the last days. They will refer to Moses again in 6:30, 31. At any rate, this prophet, in their eyes was a political deliverer, which Jesus was not. He was much, much bigger than that. He was the Saviour from the tragic and horrific consequences of their sin! And so Jesus had to escape again from them. He withdrew to the mountain by Himself. (6:15) 

6:16-21 Walking on Water

While Jesus is on the mountain by Himself, the disciples take a boat to row across the lake – most likely to find a place to sleep for the night. A strong   wind comes up and they are in trouble. This is apparently not unusual. The Sea of Galilee is about 200 meters below sea level and it is surrounded by mountains up to 500 metres above sea level.  When it gets dark, the temperature suddenly changes and with that   these squall develops as cold air rapidly sinks to the low lying areas causing this strong wind. Mark tells us that  it was  during the 4^th watch of the night (i.e. from 3 am in the morning) that they were battling against this wind, when Jesus appeared  walking on the water!  [3]

Now what was this all about?  If all you had was John's version of the story, we would not have the same clarity as the gospel of Mark provides.  Mark gives us a possible reason why the disciples were experiencing this trial. He refers to the disciples’ hearts as being hardened (Mk. 6:52). Their response to the feeding of the 5000 had been a disappointment to Jesus. They did not understand who He was.

Jesus comes to these disciples, walking on the lake, in the midst of the storm.  He could have stopped this storm from wherever else.  But He walks out to them into the middle of the storm. That is the kind of Saviour we have. He did not want   to perform His miracle from a distance.   He comes to us in the storm.  He wanted to show them who He was. They thought He was a ghost (Matt. 14:26) . But He assured them with these words, “Take heart. Don't be afraid, it is I.”  And after   He took His place in the boat, the journey was soon over (6:21)

The feeding of the 5000 and the walking on the water correct our wrong notions of Jesus. He is not just a miracle worker. He is not just a prophet like Isaiah or Jeremiah or Ezekiel. He is infinitely greater. He is One whose sandals we are not worthy to untie. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the incarnate Son of God. And He has not just come to give us what we want in our physical hour of need. He has come to give us much, much more. He is the Bread of life. Look beyond the externalities. See Him for who He is.  

He has come to deliver us from the power of sin and death. He invites you now to look to  Him. May be you have never seen Jesus for who He is before.  If you do today, then repent of your hardness of heart and your unbelief.  Stop running from Him. Turn to Him while He is passing by right now.

Give Him your sin, and He, in turn will give you eternal life, and the real food  that will sustain you,  which will  not lead you to be at the mercy of the world and yourself, and all this  while you wait for  His coming.

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[1] Tiberias ( the sea of Galilee)  was  so named by Herod Antipas in about  AD  20 in  honour of  Roman emperor Tiberius, the  second Roman emperor (reigning from 14 AD to 37 AD), succeeding Caesar  Augustus.  

[2] a denarius was a day’s wage

[3] Mark  6:45-42

Genesis 25: 19-34 “The Difficult (?) Doctrine of Election“

In Chapter 25 we find  the account  of Abraham’s marriage to Keturah, following the death of Sarah. Keturah bore Abraham six more sons.  This made the promise of God first given in Genesis 12,  that he would become the father of many nations,  even more definite.  This chapter also records Abraham’s death. Whenever a great man, who has begun  a great  movement dies, there is concern for who will carry on. But this is not  a movement begun  by  a man. It is God’s movement, and God will see to it that  the work that He has begun  will be completed (Phil. 1:6). Nothing can thwart His purpose. This section of Genesis shows that God keeps His promises.

The major part of the chapter deals with the genealogies of his senior sons, Ishmael (25: 12-18) and Isaac (25:19-34).  But the focus now shifts very definitely to Isaac - the son of promise.  This does not mean that the life of Isaac will be smooth and without challenges. Quite on the contrary…

The big idea and purpose of this chapter, and indeed of the whole Bible is the establishment of   the chosen seed - particularly as seen  in  25:23. [1]   The apostle Paul cites this text in Romans 9:11-13 and he calls it there “God’s purpose of election”. So we need to think carefully about this important doctrine and how it applies to us. Let us do this with the help of our text. I want to anchor our  theme  (the doctrine of divine election) and our text in these few thoughts : 

1.     God’s Purpose According To His Choice Will Stand

2.     God’s Choice Usually Is  Contrary  To Man’s Wisdom.

3.     God’s Choice  Proceeds  From The Principle Of Grace, Not Merit.

1. God’s Purpose According To His Choice Will Stand.

God had promised to make Abraham the father of a multitude of nations (Ch. 12; 17:4).  This is how it happens. Abraham’s sons by Keturah will, in time, produce a number of nations.  Then our text lists the generations of Ishmael (25:12-18). Why? To make the same point- that God’s purpose according to His sovereign choice will stand. Abraham had previously asked the LORD that Ishmael might live before Him, in the sense that he should become the son of the covenant (17:18).  God had denied that request because He had chosen Isaac, born of his covenant wife, Sarah. This does not mean that God would not bless Ishmael in other ways.   He promised Abraham that Ishmael would become the father of twelve princes and that He would make him into a great nation (17:20).  But God had also said that the sons of Ishmael would live in defiance against all his kinsmen (16:12). We see the fulfilment of this here in 25:18.  Again we see  that God’s purpose is accomplished according to His sovereign choice.

The blessings of the covenant  however go to none of these.Our text shows that Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac (25:5). While he gave some gifts to Keturah’s sons, he sent them away (25:6). The same was true for Ishmael. He was sent away (21:8-21). Only Isaac was given the covenantal promises of blessing and the land. Thus  we read that God blessed him after Abraham’s death (25:11). 

The story  of God’s election becomes even more  fascinating  as  we now read concerning  the birth of the twin sons  of  Esau and Jacob,  the sons of Isaac.  I want to remind you that if God was going to  continue  his covenantal  promises  to  Abraham through Isaac, then Isaac needed to have children. But Rebekah the wife of Isaac, like  her mother-in-law, Sarah, was barren. Isaac was 40 when he married Rebekah (25:20) and only 20 years later, when he was 60,  did she  give birth to the twins (25:26).  While Ishmael flourished and produced  12 sons, Isaac learned the patience of barrenness. He had to learn to depend on God. Struggle produces prayer, “It is time for you  to work oh Lord!”  God does all things in His time.  Isaac learned that the delays of God are not denials. [2]

Rebekah falls pregnant. Here is the fascinating part.  A disturbing problem develops in her pregnancy. "The children struggled (lit. crushed, jostled) together within her, and  she said, ‘If it is thus, why is this  happening to me?’ (25:22). The LORD reveals to her in 25:23 that there are 2 nations within her womb. The LORD tells her that these two nations shall not be at peace with one another.  Again we see that God made a choice. He tells Rebekah that two nations would come from her womb. He told her that the older (Esau) would serve the younger (Jacob). This was an inversion of the traditional norm. Usually the older would inherit the father’s blessing and the land. But it was not to be so in this case.  Esau would become the father of the nation called the Edomites.  Jacob, whose name was later changed to Israel (Gen 32:28) would become the father of the Israelites – God’s chosen people.  In the history of the OT we discover that these two nations will be sworn enemies, even though they have the same parents, and again God’s Word is true.  

So, everything in our text makes the same point. God chooses certain people to enter into a covenant- for His own purpose. This is the difficult doctrine of election. It is difficult, because we have no control over this process. It belongs to God alone.  As indicated earlier, Paul picks up on this text in Genesis 25: 23 in Romans  9:11-13 and  comments:  “10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”    

C. H.  Spurgeon comments,  “Jacob was God’s chosen one; he had set his love upon him, and before he was born, he  had distinguished him as his elect one. Now this is a great deep, and there are many  who  argue  at and question it; I am not here to answer them. The Book says so; let  them argue  with the Book, not with me.“  

The doctrine of election runs right through the Scriptures. A.W. Pink comments:[3]

In Genesis  we see  the difference which the Lord made between Nahor and Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac, Jacob  hating Esau are cases to the point.

In Exodus we behold the distinction made by God between the Egyptians and the Hebrews.

In Leviticus the atonement and all the sacrifices were for the people of God. 

In Numbers  God  used a  pagan  named Balaam to announce  the fact that Israel were “the people” who “shall dwell alone, and shall not be numbered among the nations” (23:9); 

In Deuteronomy it is recorded,  “The Lord’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance” (32:9).

In Joshua we behold the  mercy of the Lord bestowed upon Rahab the harlot, while the whole of her city was doomed to destruction.

In Judges the sovereignty of God appears in the unlikely instruments selected, by which He brought victory for Israel: Deborah, Gideon, Samson.

In Ruth we have Orpah kissing her mother-in-law and returning to her gods, and yet  Ruth cleaves to her and obtained inheritance in Israel—who made them to differ?

In 1 Samuel David is chosen for the throne, preferred to his older brothers .

In 2 Samuel we learn of the everlasting covenant  with David  (23:5).

 In 1 Kings Elijah becomes a blessing to a single widow selected from many;

In 2 Kings Naaman alone, of all the lepers, was cleansed.

In 1 Chronicles it is written “ O offspring  of Jacob, His chosen ones” (16:13); while in 2 Chronicles we are made to marvel at the grace of God bestowing repentance upon  a wicked ruler , Manasseh.  And so we might go on. The Psalms, Prophets, Gospels and  the epistles are so full of this doctrine…

2.         God’s Choice Usually Is Contrary  To Man’s Wisdom

Our text shows us that  God chooses  contrary to human  inclination. In God’s sovereignty, the Isaac’s wife was barren. His half-brother, Ishmael had not problems  in fathering  12 sons.  Isaac only  managed to have a pair of twins,  and that after 20 years of marriage, in which he pleaded with God.  Again, human  convention would dictate that the oldest would be chosen to  be the successor. But God  chose  not the manly hunter Esau but, Jacob, the mommy’s boy and the deceiver. God’s choice  is contrary  to man’s. Paul explains in 1 Cor. 1:26-30:  “26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” The logic is fairly simple. If God chose those who were strong in themselves, they would  have reason to boast in themselves and God would be robbed of His glory. If God chose those who first chose Him, they could brag about their intelligent choice. But God chooses those whom the world would never choose, those who cannot choose Him. When His purpose is fulfilled through them, He gets the glory. 

3.     God’s Choice Proceeds On The Principle Of Grace, Not Merit.

One of the most difficult truths to grasp in the Bible is that God doesn’t operate on the merit system. He doesn’t choose those who have earned it or who show the most potential. He doesn’t choose on the basis of birth order or strength. If He did, He would have chosen Ishmael over Isaac and Esau over Jacob.   And, contrary to popular opinion, God doesn’t choose those whom He knows in advance will choose Him. Many people believe that God, in His foreknowledge, looks down through the halls of history, sees who will decide for Him, and then chooses them on that basis. However, that makes God dependent on the choices of man.  This is not so  and that is what  Paul asserts in Romans 9:11. God determined that Esau would serve Jacob, before they did anything  good or bad, so that God’s purpose in election would stand. God didn’t work out His eternal plan after previewing how things would turn out. God, ahead of time  sovereignly chose those  whom He chose according to grace,  by means  of  His unmerited favour. This  thought  often  bothers people, because it supposedly takes away man’s  ‘free will’ , and strips us of all choice  and glory.  But the truth is  that no one would ever choose God  if it were not for grace. Listen again to Spurgeon,  

I believe the doctrine of election, because I am quite certain that, if God had not chosen me, I should never have chosen Him; and I am sure He chose me before I was born, or else He never would have chosen me afterwards; and He must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find in myself why He should have looked upon me with special love. So I am forced to accept that great Biblical doctrine.[4]

The idea of this  being ‘unfair‘  is  anticipated and  discussed by Paul in Romans 9: 1-26.  He asks, “Is there injustice on God’s part?”  He strongly answers, “By no means!”  (lit. May it never be!) Then he shows how God has mercy on whom He wills and hardens whom He wills. Then he anticipates  the  next objection: “You will say to me then, ‘Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?’”  Listen to  the response: “But who are you  O man, who answers back to God?” (Rom. 9:14-20). 

The proper response is simply to submit to God and seek to obey what His Word clearly reveals, namely, that God’s sovereign purpose according to His unconditional choice will stand and that,  at the same time, I am responsible to submit and obey.  

Is that  so difficult to understand?

When we submit and commit ourselves to God’s purpose,  He surely blesses us. We go forward, and often  with difficulty, but we go forward.  Abraham  is the prime  example in our text. He submitted and committed himself to God’s purpose, and God blessed him abundantly. We read that he died “full of years” (25:8).  So too with Isaac. God blessed  Isaac  (25:11)

The doctrine of election ought  to be a doctrine of blessing, assurance and joy  to every  true believer.

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[1] cf. also Malachi 1:2,3

[2] Donald Grey Barnhouse: Genesis Vol 2 , p.39

[3] https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/pdf/pink_election.pdf

[4] Spurgeon’s Autobiography, 51.