Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Our Christian formation classes are taught by the clergy of Church of the Incarnation (Dallas, TX). Journey with us as each season unfolds.
Alright. Let's go ahead and pray and we'll get started. Father, we thank you for this beautiful day and we thank you for each new day. We thank you for again this opportunity to study your word. Thank you for revealing yourself to us through the scriptures.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:And, father, I pray that we would be, again, faithful in our reading of the scriptures and our living lives that reflect what is presented to us, your character, your love, your grace, your mercy. And we thank you and commit this time to you, Lord. We pray these things in Christ's name and by the spirit. Amen. Amen.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Alright, yeah, well we left off last week with talking about the Jacob narrative. We looked at the Jacob narrative, it's about 10 chapters in the book of Genesis and the Jacob narrative is a very fascinating narrative because it kind of represents a man who we talked about last week whose life is sort of at the middle of this intersection of so many lives over the course of several years. Jacob is being affected. He is being influenced, and he's also influencing others. I see Jacob's life as sort of a life on the run.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:You know, this is a man who's just constantly moving about, and everywhere he goes there's tension and strife and conflict, which we talked about being one of the major themes of the book of Genesis, this idea of conflict or grasping or different things along those lines. And yet he's bound and connected to these other people. This idea of coherence we talked about last week, he is cohere, he is connected. And so he is affected by the relationships in our lives, in his life, and we are affected by the relationships in our lives. We talked last week about there's no such thing as an individual person.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:All persons are a set of relations to each other and so this notion of an individual person is a very modern Western notion and so you see this come out very clearly in Jacob, in his life and the narrative for Jacob is that he is being deeply shaped and influenced and moved by the other persons in his life. You see the, from the womb itself, this idea of him having a twin and then the grasping that occurs right after he's born. You see this selling of the birthright. Esau sells his birthright to Jacob and what that brings about in the family, the blessing of Isaac on Jacob, the second son, not on the first son, Isaac. So, you see this turning over that's happening in society, in Israelite society, this preference for the lesser that's occurring and what that's going to do in terms of shaping not just the narrative for us, but also the actual person of Jacob himself and the plan of God going forward and how this sets a pattern for the plan of God as we see throughout the scriptures that God is on the side of the lesser, the poor, the second born, you name it, the marginalized.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:God is going to commit himself to those in society who are often forgotten or neglected or marginalized or abused. He is going to commit himself to those. So we must pay careful attention to that, this idea that the social order is being turned upside down, and this is going to again set the pattern for all of the book of Genesis and the scriptures themselves. And so what I wanted to do today is we're kind of wrapping up the Jacob narrative as it were, these 10 or so chapters in the book of Genesis, and today's chapters are 33 through 36, but we're really just going to hone in on chapter 33 today. And what I want to do first is think about Jacob and Esau and this history they have, you know, of course Jacob moves and he goes with Laban there and he has tension there and he ends up marrying two women there, Leah and Rachel, then he has to flee because he has this conflict, and then he's constantly on the run from Esau as well, so there's this kind of like overriding tension that's happening throughout the narrative where Jacob is a man who fears for his life because Esau is on the run chasing him.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:And so this whole tension is sort of coming to a head in chapter 32, as we saw last week. There was this whole idea that he's nervous, he's spent, he's at the end of his rope, he's exhausted, and what does he do when he's exhausted at the end of his rope? For those who were here last week. Yeah, it's the longest prayer in the book of Genesis, right? In 32.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:It's the longest prayer in the book of Genesis. And then you start to see this language emerge, too. He's like kind of coming on the heels of that prayer that Jacob is someone who is anticipating something big is about to happen, something very big is is on the horizon with Esau. This is all coming, sort of the plot is coming to a head there, and he's talking a lot about his face. Is he going to see my face?
Dr. Stephen Bagby:How is he going to see his face, what's this kind of facial theme you see emerging throughout that narrative. And then of course, he, well known, famously, wrestles with this man or angel or God or God man in 32, in which he says in that narrative that he has seen the face of God, right? So idea of penile, you know, seeing the face of God. In the midst of that, and there's this injury that occurs to him, but also a blessing that occurs as well. And so with that, I want to sort of pan back a little bit or move forward in the canon of Scripture, and I think a lot of us, when we look at the story of Jacob and Esau, we remember what the Apostle Paul said in Romans nine.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Okay, and it's on the back of your sheet there. I put Romans nine there. The Apostle Paul, for centuries, theologians and commentators have recognized that in Romans nine through 11, you have sort of one thought from Paul. You have sort of a thought that occurs over the course of three chapters and culminates at the end of chapter 11. And the Apostle Paul in chapter nine famously talks about this relationship between Jacob and Esau, and he seems to be, on first glance, contrasting this relationship between the two.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:What Paul is doing there in Romans nine is he is, a big picture, Romans nine through 11, he is wrestling with Jewish and Gentile salvation, this idea of rejection and acceptance. Paul himself is a Jew, he is lamenting that his own people have largely rejected Christ, their Messiah, and the Gospel went to the Gentiles, they have accepted, and so he has this very much a kind of dialogue going on, in some ways a hypothetical dialogue occurring during these chapters, and what Paul wants to emphasize in Romans nine is the idea that God's promise is what makes things effective, not necessarily ethnicity. He says this very clearly in Romans nine, it's all about the promise, the promise to Abraham, the promise to Isaac, the promise to Jacob himself. It's not necessarily the firstborn ethnically, Esau, it's the promise to Jacob, and that's what matters ultimately in God's plan. And so promise matters more than ethnicity.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:And so what Paul's doing is saying, this is not about human exertion, this is not about sort of the human way of seeing things, it's ultimately about God's sovereignty in thinking through this. So I want to read Romans nine for you, and I want to talk through this for a little bit and explore what Paul is saying in Romans nine. Okay, I'm starting with chapter with verse one here. I'm speaking the truth in Christ. I'm not lying.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:My conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit. I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood. They are Israelites. And to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:To them belong the patriarchs. And from them, according to the flesh, comes the Christ, who is who is over all. God blessed forever. Amen. It is not as though the word of God has failed, for not all those descended from Israel are Israelites, and not all of Abraham's children are his descendants.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:But it is through Isaac that the descendants shall be named for you. This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise who are counted as descendants. For the word of the promise is this: About this time I will return, and Sarah will have a son. Nor is that all. Something similar happened to Rebecca when she had conceived children by one husband, our ancestor Isaac, even before they had been born or had done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose of election might continue, nor by any works, but by His call.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:She was told, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau. What then are we to say? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:For He says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows mercy. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I may show my power in you and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. So then he has mercy on whomever he chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomever he chooses. Okay, that's a tough passage, right?
Dr. Stephen Bagby:I think pretty much anybody who has read Romans nine and reflected on it has struggled to understand what Paul is saying there. What does the Apostle Paul mean when he says and when he quotes, he's quoting from Malachi by the way, this idea that God loves Jacob and hates Esau. I want to sort of set up an idea here for you. The way a lot of people have thought about this passage over the centuries is this notion of kind of divine election in two different directions, right, this idea of a decretum absolutum, the theologians call it, this absolute decree of God, okay, that he elects some to salvation and he elects others to damnation. Or at the very least, he elects some to salvation, predestines them to salvation, and he passes over others to ultimately damnation.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Okay? And so there's this idea that God is exercising his mercy to some and his justice to others. Okay? And that we see an example of this with Jacob, right? Being the recipient of God's mercy and Esau receiving God's justice.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Okay. And what we see here is the language of, Esau was loved. I'm sorry, Jacob was loved, Esau was hated. And so, a lot of Christians over the centuries have seen this passage in Romans nine as this idea that there is an absolute decree and there is this strong notion of antithesis occurring between those who are loved and those who are hated. Those who receive mercy and those who receive justice.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:And it's quite easy to read the text this way, and I certainly did for many, many years, but I always struggled with it. I had tension. It really made me uncomfortable on certain levels as it does a lot of people. Can this be possible that there is such an antithesis occurring in Paul's thought here in Romans nine, especially in relation to our story? And one of the challenges of this sort of antithetical view of reading Romans nine is that you see this attribute of God, his mercy, and you see this attribute of God, his justice, and it seems like there are distinct attributes that might be in opposition to each other.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Does God express his attributes in oppositional ways? Is there ever tension between God's attributes? A reading of the text this way could suggest that. Okay? Another reading of the text that has really sort of challenged this traditional view is this idea that this seems to suggest a certain reading that God shows partiality towards some, ultimately for salvation and non partiality to others.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:But we know from earlier in Romans, Romans two eleven, that God shows no partiality, that God is not a respecter of persons, he doesn't make this distinction between persons, he shows no partiality. That is explicit in Romans two eleven. So if he shows no partiality, then it might challenge us to read this text in a different way. And as I said earlier, this is Romans nine here. By Romans 11, the end of Paul's thought here, specifically Romans eleven thirty two, Paul explicitly says that God will ultimately show mercy on all.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:All. And so, if we take Paul at his word, then it seems difficult to read this text in an antithetical way. Does that make sense?
Participant:In other words, you're saying that God is both merciful and just to both Jacob and Esau.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Yeah, we're getting there. Here, just take the C, you can taste this. You're probably better equipped than I am anyway, you've been reading the Bible longer. And so, I want to pose this question to you this morning. Is it possible for God to hate anybody?
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Is it possible for God to hate any person he has created?
Participant:Not for long.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Okay. Okay. Let's examine, if you have your Bibles, first John four. If you're turning to first John four, you have it on your phone or app or anything. And while you're doing that, let's explore the attributes of God.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:What are some of the attributes of God besides these? Okay, love? Omniscience. Which one? Omniscience.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Okay, what's omniscience? All knowing? Okay, let's ask ourselves a question. Is it possible for God to cease being all knowing? Okay, does he ever have partial knowledge?
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Is he ever mistaken about anything? Does he always express his omniscience? Okay, that's a different story. Can kind of go Philippians two, Kenosis, all that, but I'm talking just generally of theology proper. Let's ask ourselves, is it possible for God to never express his omniscience perfectly?
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Right, what's another attribute? Omnipotence. Omnipotence, okay, all powerful, the God's all powerful. Is it possible for God to fail to express his power fully at all times? It is possible?
Dr. Stephen Bagby:That's not possible, right? He doesn't have limited power, does he? He doesn't cease to use his power. But does that diminish his power? No.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Okay. So what about love? Love is an attribute of God, right? Okay, first John four:eight and 16, let's turn there. First John four:eight says, Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:First John four sixteen. So, we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. So the attributes of God, including his love, are of his very essence, right? Love is of God's very essence.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:In other words, I find it difficult to understand an idea that would suggest that God sort of turns on and turns off his attributes, flips them on and off like a light switch under different conditions, that God would sort of become loving or cease to love in certain circumstances. Does that make sense to you? And so if God is loving, if love is of his very essence, just like these other attributes, then we need to sort of explore a reading of Romans nine in relation to Jacob and Esau that aligns with that, right? Okay. And how do we align it with that when we have this language that seems to suggest an idea of antithesis?
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Okay. I want to suggest a different reading of it based on the wider context of Romans nine through 11. I want to suggest that God expresses his justice. And that justice can be severe in our lives. But that idea of justice, the severity of that justice is an expression of God's mercy, which is itself an expression of God's love.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:That is, is that we, based on what you see in Romans eleven thirty two, and let's turn to it. Ultimately, this is where this text is leading for Paul. The Apostle Paul says in Romans eleven thirty two that, this is the end of the very section, For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. Is, God has, and different translations have a different way, God has imprisoned all disobedience, God has shut up all, God has consigned or confined all to disobedience so that he may have mercy on all. Paul seems to be suggesting there in Romans 11 that in our disobedience, in our disobedient lives, we are at times left sealed off, closed off in our own delusions, our own lives, our own lies, our own false selves, and God allows this to happen, this closing off, this sealing off that happens so that we will see our false self for what it is, so that we will see the lies and the delusions for what they are, so that it will lead us to repentance.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:So this idea that we are experiencing God's justice in this way is actually an act of his mercy, an expression of his mercy, because he is going to be with us through it on the other side. God loves us. God loves us. God loves us. What are the implications of God's love?
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Okay, think about a parent and a child. These are always good illustrations, right? How might that manifest itself in a parent child relationship? There are times when you might need to express your relationship with a child in a certain way. It doesn't mean you cease loving that child, but in some sense that child may experience the results of their own decisions.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:They may be confined, imprisoned in their own decisions and their own delusions for a season. But ultimately, what is the story? Where is this going? Mercy and love, right? So what do we make of this language here?
Dr. Stephen Bagby:God loved Jacob, God hated Esau. I think that Paul is kind of using some anthropomorphic language here, some human style relate language to convey an idea. That he's basically saying that this passage here, Jacob I love, you saw, I hated, has more to do with the selection of Jacob as the inheritor in that Genesis context, is that things are being turned over. It's more of a preference for Jacob. It doesn't mean he hates Esau.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:It doesn't mean he doesn't wait with Esau. Paul has already told you in Romans itself, Romans three, that he tends to use anthropomorphic language. You know, Romans three says, it's probably in the parentheses in your Bible, it says, Well, I'm speaking in human terms right now. You may remember that text, I guess Romans three:five or something. I'm speaking in human terms.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:So he has a proclivity to do this, to convey a point, but I think his point here in Romans nine has more to do with, look, Jacob is going to be the inheritor. Jacob is going to have the birthright. Did God ever abandon Esau? I would say no. I would say no.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Based on Romans eleven thirty two. I think Romans eleven thirty two is one of the most profound passages in all of scripture. Let's read it. Romans eleven thirty and following. Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so also you have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you, they also may now receive mercy.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:For God has imprisoned, or shut up, or consigned, or bound all in disobedience, so that he may be merciful to all. I don't think it's a coincidence that the next four verses in Romans are a doxology. The very next four verses, Paul breaks out into doxology. I think Paul is so overcome and so taken by the truth that's being conveyed about God that he breaks out into praise and doxology. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
Dr. Stephen Bagby:How unsearchable are his judgments, how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:To him be glory forever. Amen. I feel like you have here kind of a line that runs down, that we need not necessarily see in a big picture sense, in a decritum absolutum sense, Jacob and Esau opposed to one another in terms of their future state, in terms of their final relationship with God. I just don't see that as possible. You could even turn to the Karl Barth, the twentieth century theologian.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:He talks about this idea that all of us, in some sense, are Esau and Jacob. All of us experience both sides of things. All of us are bound up together. He opposes any antithesis as well in this thought. He talks about, if you'll recall, Exodus 14, you have the pillar of cloud and light, right, that's leading the Israelites out of Egypt, and just before they're about to cross the Red Sea, that pillar of cloud and light goes from the front of Israel's camp and goes to the back of Israel's camp between the Israelites and the Egyptians.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:And Bart makes this profound point that at times in our lives we are on this side of the cloud, as it were, where there's darkness. Israelites were in darkness in Exodus 14. And other times in our lives, we are on this side of the cloud, whereas light. And that we have this sort of tension in the Christian life when we are confronted by God's revelation in Christ. We have this tension of exposing who we really are as sinful creatures and experiencing God's grace afresh all the time.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:He says famously in his commentary on Romans, For God is the God of Esau because he is the God of Jacob. He is the creator of tribulation. Because he is the bringer of help, he rejects in order that he may elect. And so these are some of the reasons I feel like it's hard to sort of say one camp is being elected to salvation, another camp is being elected to damnation and we just sort of have to accept that. The final reason I believe that is because of the Genesis text itself.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:How does the Jacob narrative end?
Participant:Reconciliation.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:And we seem to forget that, or I seem to have forgotten that for many years, is that when I sort of saw this through a certain lens here, I thought well Jacob is the one who was loved and Esau is the one who's hated and there's good reasons for that. But Genesis 33 gives us a beautiful story of reconciliation. We must not forget that. Let's read that. Genesis 33, After all that Jacob has been through, after all the trials and tribulations and all some of these things he brought on himself, of course, but all the things he experienced over these 10 chapters and many, many years of his life, Let's look at Genesis 33.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau This is right after he struggled with the man by the river. Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming and 400 men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel into two maids, and he put the maids with their children in front. Then Leah with her children and Rachel and Joseph last of all. He himself went on ahead of them, bowing himself to the ground seven times until he came near his brother.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him and they wept. When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he said, Who are these with you? Jacob said, The children whom God has graciously given your servant. Then the maids drew near. They and their children bowed down.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And finally Jacob and Rachel drew near and they bowed down. Esau said, what do you mean by all this company that I meet? Jacob answered, to find favor with my Lord. But Esau said, I have enough, my brother.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Keep what you have for yourself. Jacob said, no, please. If I find favor with you, then accept my present from my hand. For truly, to see your face is like seeing the face of God. Since you have received me with such favor, Please accept my gift that is brought to you because God has dealt graciously with me and because I have everything I want.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:So we urged him and he took it. And so I ask you today if you've struggled with reading texts this way, and of course, you know, we all hover blind spots, including myself, it can be difficult to read these texts, but I ask you today, is it possible that Jacob hugged the neck of a man who is destined for perdition? Is that possible? Is that a possible way to even read the text? And how could Jacob say to Esau, Seeing your face is like seeing the face of God?
Dr. Stephen Bagby:This is a beautiful story of reconciliation, and I think it gives us a glimpse of where things are going in scripture. God's ultimate plan is about redemption, reconciliation, and restoration. This is the pattern of Genesis. This is the pattern of the Old Testament. This is the pattern of the New Testament.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:You see this played out in many texts throughout the Bible. You see this played out in Jacob and Esau. You see this played out in Joseph and his brothers, this idea of reconciliation. You see this in Luke 15. There's those three parables in a row, all having to do with reconciliation.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:You see this in Ephesians two, where Paul talks about the dividing wall of hostility being broken down, this coming together. You see this in Colossians one, For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, talking about Christ, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross. So, was Jacob ultimately rejected based on what we have in the biblical text. I'm sorry, Esau, see you, Esau. Daylight Savings is messing with me.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Ended that World Series last night, which I couldn't turn off. I was like, what are you doing to me, Dodgers and Jays? I don't even have a dog in this fight, you know? And I'm being just totally sucked in by this whole thing. My brother's texted me from Houston, he's like, are you watching this?
Dr. Stephen Bagby:I'm like, yes. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good question. Yeah, because we don't always see an idea of reconciliation manifested in the text of Scripture itself. You know, we all know how Saul ended his life, right?
Dr. Stephen Bagby:But I do think that this is the trajectory nevertheless. You do have tragic stories throughout Scripture. I mean, even Solomon at the end of his life. Gideon's life didn't necessarily end well as well, but I do think that there is an arc, a narrative or theological arc throughout the Scriptures bending in the direction of reconciliation, and the Apostle Paul emphasizes this throughout his writings, like I mentioned, Romans five as well, two Corinthians five. There is a constant emphasis that God is at work reconciling not just families, individual people, but creation itself.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Remember all of creation fell, right? We talked about that. The separation between God and humanity, humanity and humanity, humanity and creation, humanity and itself, all of it's fallen, and God is at work restoring and reconciling all of it together. Yeah. So Is Paul's language of reconciliation anything less than all encompassing?
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Well, at his language. Yeah, Ephesians one. Will all be saved? It's hard to say in Paul's language that all doesn't mean all. Well, is Paul saying it?
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Is Paul saying it? In the fullness of time, God will bring together, sum up, recapitulate all things in Christ. Ephesians one ten, right? Things in heaven and things on earth. He's bringing together everything.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:That's what he says. He says in Colossians as well. So we have to wrestle with whether all means all because Paul says all a lot. Yeah, Ephesians five. We had to wrestle with that, but I'm just saying is the arc of scripture for Paul is very, it's not just on the family level, it's cosmic.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:He's talking about this pattern of reconciliation that's occurring throughout all of creation itself. And as those are easy to I've to wrap up here, but those are easy to miss, those passages. I think for years I looked at Paul's language in Ephesians, there's one, other passages, and you sort of see this he's up here in the clouds kind of thing and I kind of skip over it, but those are very important understandings of Paul's thought. You have to wrestle with the totality of Paul's thought and that's hard for us to do that, but Paul has, and his one thing I want to emphasize, his understanding of reconciliation is not just family reconciliation or between God and individual humans. For him, has a broader understanding of reconciliation that the creation itself is involved in this restoring process that you see, and it comes out all the time in Paul's thought, and so we have to reckon with that.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:We have to walk with Paul through that. So that's my reading. That is a, Because I just have a very difficult time reading Romans nine the way I used to in terms of sort of seeing God's attributes in sort of opposition to each other. That would be a challenge that I would have with my understanding of God, and so reading him more along these lines of people sort of being sort of vessels of wrath, but also vessels of mercy, which we see you can be a vessel of wrath in Ephesians three and also be a vessel of mercy at the same time, so they're not necessarily opposed to one another. They can be through.
Dr. Stephen Bagby:Okay, we'll wrap up with that. Thanks for your time, and we'll see you next week to wrap it up. Yeah.