Covenants - Part 9d - The Abrahamic Covenant - JACOB

COVENANTS

THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT – JACOB

We saw that:

Despite his failings, Jacob is referred to as a godly man while Esau is called godless. Jacob desires the right things but tries to get them the wrong way.

Esau sold his birthright to Jacob.

The birthright is not the Abrahamic blessing.

The birthright holder was the spiritual leader of the family. At that time God dealt with the family head and this was only ended when the Levites assumed this role. (Num 3:11-12) Thus Esau was considered “godless” or “profane” because he placed no value on being a spiritual leader through whom God would direct the family.

Now, we’ll see how with his mother, Rebecca’s assistance Jacob deceives his blind father, Isaac, to ensure that he receives the Abrahamic blessing too.

Gen 27:1-4 (NIV) When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” he answered.

THE ABRAHAMIC BLESSING

I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.

ISAAC’S TROUBLING ACTIONS

While the actions of Rebekah and Jacob are rightfully frowned upon, the inappropriate actions of Isaac seem to be overlooked.

Isaac must have been aware of the Lord’s prophecy given to Rebekah (“the elder shall serve the younger.”).

He also knew that Esau had despised the birthright and sold it to Jacob.

Furthermore he was unhappy about Esau’s marriages to Hittite women.

Yet he persists in trying to give Esau the blessing – because he was his favourite son

ISAAC’S TROUBLING ACTIONS

As he believed that he was going to die soon, he should have called both of his sons for a deathbed blessing – like Jacob would do years later with his 12 sons.

Yet he is secretive and speaks to Esau alone, not informing Rebecca or Isaac of his intentions.

Despite having despised and sold his birthright, Esau shows no surprise at his father’s request and immediately goes out to do his bidding.

It seems that Isaac and Esau have schemed together to bypass Jacob.

AN ACCOMPLISHED EAVESDROPPER

But they didn’t bank on the fact that, like Sarah before her, Rebekah was an accomplished eavesdropper.

The walls of tents are thin and Rebekah was privy to their secret conversation. Just as Sarah had eavesdropped on Abraham and his 3 guests years before, so Rebekah does the same now.

Gen 27:5 (NIV) Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau…

REBEKAH’S PLAN

Rebekah swiftly comes up with an action plan.

Gen 27:5-10 (NIV) … When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’ Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.”

REBEKAH’S PLAN

Gen 27:11-12 (NIV) Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin. What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.”

Jacob hesitates but not because of the proposed deception – he is concerned that he may be caught.

While Rebekah is often judged harshly we must remember that she was a godly woman who had heard from the Lord years ago – regarding Jacob being the son of the covenant.

REBEKAH’S PLAN

She is so committed to the covenant that she is prepared to take the curse should the plan fail.

Gen 27:13-14 (NIV) His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.” So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it.

Isaac and Esau are also wrong in acting secretly. Like Sarah, who tried to help God keep his promises, she comes up with a plan of her own. Perhaps she should have rather challenged Isaac directly regarding his own covert actions instead of responding in like manner.

REBEKAH’S PLAN

Gen 27:15-16 (NIV) Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.

Isaac is surprised (maybe suspicious) that “Esau” is back so soon.

Isaac is surprised (maybe suspicious) that “Esau” is back so soon.

Gen 27:18-20 (NIV) He went to his father and said, “My father.” “Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?” Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.” Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The Lord your God gave me success,” he replied.

Gen 27:21-22 (NIV) Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.” Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

Gen 27:21-22 (NIV) Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.” Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

Despite being blind, Isaac also recognises that Jacob’s voice does not sound like Esau and he is apprehensive.

THE BLESSING

Isaac is still not convinced that he’s really talking to Esau.

Gen 27:23-27 (NIV) He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked. “I am,” he replied. Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.” Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.” So he went to him and kissed him.

Upon smelling his clothes, Isaac’s doubts are finally laid to rest.

Upon smelling his clothes, Isaac’s doubts are finally laid to rest.

Gen 27:27-29 (NIV) When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed. May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness— an abundance of grain and new wine. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.”

ESAU

THE BLESSING

Esau arrives back and Jacob’s deception is revealed.

Gen 27:30-32 (NIV) After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.” His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” “I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.”

THE BLESSING

Gen 27:33 (NIV) Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!”

When Isaac realizes that he has been tricked Isaac “trembled violently.” While we might have expected anger, there is no indication of this. Perhaps his fear is based on the sudden realization that God has accomplished his plan in spite of his intentions.

It seems that legally the verbal blessing was considered irrevocable by Isaac.

ISAAC’S REDEEMING QUALITY

Heb 11:20 (NIV) By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.

Isaac’s faith is demonstrated in that after his attempt to thwart the will of God failed, he said of Jacob, “and indeed he shall be blessed.”

“As soon as Isaac perceives that he has been wrong in wishing to bless Esau he does not persist in it. He will give Esau such a blessing as he may, but he does not think for a moment of retracting what he has done — he feels that the hand of God was in it. What is more, he tells his son, ‘He is blessed, yea, and shall be blessed.’” (Spurgeon)

Gen 27:34-36 (NIV) When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!” But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.” Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!”

Gen 27:34-36 (NIV) When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!” But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.” Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!”

THE BLESSING AND THE BIRTHRIGHT

A blessing could be given regardless of birthright. However, a greater blessing was given to the one who held the birthright. *

Gen 27:36 (ESV) … Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”

* https:// www.gotquestions.org/ blessing-birthright.html

Esau finally realises the importance of the blessing and now begs for it.

Gen 27:37-38 (NIV) Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?” Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.

REPENTANCE

Heb 12:16-17 (ESV) that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

God is merciful and can forgive us of sin, but there are some doors we forever close for ourselves by our actions, actions that cannot be undone. This is for us a sobering warning, which speaks directly to our character and what we value most. *

AN INFERIOR BLESSING

Esau then received a secondary, inferior blessing.

Gen 27:39-40 (NIV) His father Isaac answered him, “Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness, away from the dew of heaven above. You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.”

Esau appears to have suffered from 3 chief sins:

Being worldly minded (carnal)

He is sexually immoral

He is murderous

MURDEROUS

Gen 27:41 (NIV) Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

MURDEROUS

While Jacob uses deceit to get the blessing, Esau has some more serious character flaws. His response is like Cain’s - planning to murder his brother - out of envy and revenge.

Esau held a grudge which developed into murderous intent.

1 John 3:15 (NIV) Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

Esau’s somewhat spiritual concern by seeking the blessing with tears quickly disappeared and it turns out that he is violent and murderous – plotting to kill his brother. This also shows his disregard for the covenant – he believes God’s covenant can be thwarted by killing Jacob.

GONE FOR A WHILE?

Gen 27:42-45 (NIV) When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you. Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran. Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides. When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

Rebekah mistakenly believes that Jacob will only be gone “for a while.” But for her part in the deception, she will never again see her beloved son Jacob.

ISAAC’S BUY-IN

To get Isaac’s buy-in she appeals to the fact that he too was not happy with his sons marrying Canaanite women.

Gen 27:46 (NIV) Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”

Gen 28:1-2 (NIV) So Isaac called for Jacob and … commanded him: "Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother's father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother.

ESAU’S MARRIAGES

After Jacob acquires the birthright, we learn that Esau married two Hittites. His marriages were “a source of grief” to his parents.

Gen 26:34 (NKJV) When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

Seemingly without consulting his parents, Esau took wives for himself - two Hittite women from the local idolatrous people – the very ones that the Abrahamic promise said would be displaced.

ESAU’S MARRIAGES

So the godless Esau married godless women.

Jubilees 56:25 And in the second year of this week in this jubilee, Rebecca called Jacob her son, and spake unto him, saying: 'My son, do not take thee a wife of the daughters of Canaan, as Esau, thy brother, who took him two wives of the daughters of Canaan, and they have embittered my soul with all their unclean deeds: for all their deeds are fornication and lust, and there is no righteousness with them, for (their deeds) are evil.

Being worldly minded (carnal) Esau had no room for God in his mind (which explains why he never properly understood the significance of his birthright or his marriages).

ESAU’S MARRIAGES

Remember the lengths to which Abraham went to insure a good wife for Isaac. He made his servant promise that he would ensure that Isaac does not marry a Canaanite. Why hadn’t Isaac been more proactive in procuring a wife for his sons, as his father had done for him.

For his part, Esau was so self-absorbed that he wasn’t even aware that his parents were unhappy about his choice of wives and that his marriages were a source of grief to them.

ESAU’S MARRIAGES

It wasn’t until his parents sent Jacob back to Haran to find a wife, that it dawned on him that his marriages were displeasing to his parents and he decided to take a third wife – an Ishmaelite.

Gen 28:6-9 (ESV) Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram. So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father, Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael…

SEXUALLY IMMORAL

Interestingly Hebrews 12 calls Esau a fornicator although there is no account of this in the OT.

Heb 12:16 (NKJV) lest there be any fornicator [pornos] or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.

(ESV) that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.

(NASB) that there be no sexually immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.

A FORNICATOR

Some thus regard this as a reference to spiritual fornication. But the same word is used in the natural sense in the very next chapter.

Heb 13:4 (NKJV) Marriage is honourable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators [pornous] and adulterers God will judge.

Matthew Henry: “Many have regarded the word used here as referring to idolatry, or defection from the true religion to a false one - as the word is often used in the Old Testament - but it is more natural to understand it literally.” *

The Targum ** of Palestine alleges that Esau “had gone in unto a betrothed damsel.”

JACOB

To escape his brother’s vengeance, Jacob leaves Beersheba and goes to live with his mother’s family in Haran.

JACOB’S FLIGHT

THE ABRAHAMIC BLESSING

When he prepares to leave, Isaac again blesses him - knowingly this time - but seemingly resigned to the fact that the covenant blessings will go to Jacob. Isaac explicitly blesses Jacob with the Abrahamic blessings of land and descendants.

Gen 28:1-4 (NIV) So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him … “May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien, the land God gave to Abraham.”

God is not bound by men's traditions (e.g. the inheritance must go to the older son), but chooses those who value his covenants. At Bethel God himself thus re-affirms the 3-fold Abrahamic covenant with Jacob (land, descendants and blessing to the nations).

Gen 28:10-15 (NIV) Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of' the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.

He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood The LORD, and he said:” I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.

Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south, All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

RIGHTEOUS DECEPTION?

There is an ethical problem with Rebekah's and Jacob's deception. God is a God of truth and this was the opposite of truth. It was unrighteous, not worthy of approval - except by shrewd people who value expediency over integrity.

But some actually respond by claiming that that deception is not always sinful, citing the examples of the Egyptian midwives in Exodus 1 and Rahab in Joshua 2. One website article calls Jacob a “righteous deceiver” and asserts:

It is not Jacob and Rebekah who should be viewed negatively here, but Isaac, who sought to interfere with God’s plan. Rebekah is actually the heroine in the story, as she protected the covenant... *

RIGHTEOUS DECEPTION?

Can God allow sin to be a part of the working out of his purposes? The surprising answer of is, "Yes." When Joseph's brothers later sell him into slavery out of jealousy, he later says to them "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (50:20) Though Joseph's brothers had sold him into slavery with the worst motives, clearly sin against him God used it for good.

Does this mean that somehow Joseph's brothers are innocent, that God made them do it and they had no choice? No. They were responsible for their sin, just as Judas was responsible for his sin, even though in his sin he was fulfilling prophecy. *

GOD’S DEALING WITH JACOB

The Bible makes it clear that God dealt with Jacob regarding his deceptive ways:

Hosea 12:2-6 (ESV) The LORD has an indictment against Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways; he will repay him according to his deeds. In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God. He strove with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought his favour. He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with us … “So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.”

REAP THE WHIRLWIND

We noted that although Jacob desired the right things, (the covenant blessing of God) he tried to get them the wrong way. God did not approve of his deception - Jacob seems to have faced unintended consequences as a result of his deception.

Hosea 8:7 (NIV) “They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.”

What did this proverb mean?

REAP THE WHIRLWIND

Taking the “wind” to mean something worthless and foolish (cf. Job 7:7; Prov 11:29; Eccl 1:14,17), we can surmise that Israel’s foolishness in the past would result in a veritable storm of consequence. Indeed, in the previous verses, Hosea decries Israel’s idolatry (vv. 4-6). Their foolish pursuit of false gods would reap a severe judgment from the Lord. *

The proverb uses an illustration gleaned from the agricultural process of sowing and reaping. A farmer would sow seed. Of course, the type of seed he planted determined the type of plant that would grow and be harvested. This is the principle of duplication. *

ASSUMED IDENTITY

Also at work in the proverb is the principle of multiplication: a farmer may plant one kernel of corn, but he will reap much more than that—a whole ear. In the same way, Israel’s sin of idolatry would bring forth an amplified consequence that would sweep them all away. *

Those who live in unrepentant sin can expect to suffer the consequences of their sin—consequences that both “fit the crime” and exhibit a stunning intensity. *

Thus Jacob, who was a deceiver, got a taste of his own medicine when he met Laban, a first-class conman.

Jacob had used deception based on false identity – he assumed Esau’s identify to obtain the blessing. Laban would also con Jacob with a deception based on false identity. He got Leah to assume Rachel’s identity so that Jacob married the wrong sister.

Laban accepted Jacob’s offer of 7 years’ service in exchange for marrying Rachel but then tricked him into working 14 years and into marrying both his daughters.

ASSUMED IDENTITY

While Laban defends his fraudulent behaviour by claiming it was customary for the elder daughter to marry first, “Jacob plainly had no idea of such a custom, and would not have given seven years’ service for Leah.” (Ellicott) If there was such a custom, why did Laban conclude a covenant with Jacob, contrary to custom?

Jacob eventually flees from Laban who is a fraudster of note. Laban claims that Jacob’s wealth actually belongs to him, when Jacob worked for it. Jacob notes that his salary and terms of employment kept changing for the worse – because he was doing well.

WITH THE MEASURE YOU USE

As a young man, Jacob had deceived his old, blind father Isaac – his deception had involved clothing. Years later, as an old man, Jacob’s own sons would deceive him – using an item of clothing.

Gen 37:31-32 (NIV) Then they got Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. They took the ornate robe back to their father…

We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.

WHY WAS JACOB BLESSED?

Why was Jacob blessed?

He obeyed and honoured his parents.

Unlike the godless Esau, he was still a godly man who valued the things of God. Despite his other failings, Jacob valued God’s covenant so much so that he was prepare to do anything in order to receive the covenant blessings. In contrast Esau sold it all for a plate of food. Remember that Abraham and Sarah also tried to get the covenant blessing the wrong way (the use of Hagar to produce an offspring).

WHY WAS JACOB BLESSED?

Although Jacob should have left the matter to God by virtue of the earlier promise to his mother, he resorted to deceit to acquire the promises. God uses Laban in his deceitful treatment of Jacob regarding his daughters to teach Jacob that the end does not justify the means, in other words deception should not be used to acquire God’s promises.

Nevertheless God makes Jacob the recipient of the Abrahamic covenant, not because of his deceit but rather despite it, because he placed high value in God’s covenant.

Jacob was a man determined to get God’s blessing. When he wrestles with God and has his hip wrenched, he still refuses to let go and says:

Gen 32:26 (NIV) “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

Like his grandfather Abraham, Jacob now receives a new “covenant name”.

Gen 32:28 (NIV) Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”

RESTITUTION

We often overlook the importance of restitution. It’s is a word we don’t hear too often.

Restitution is when a perpetrator of wrong restores to the victim whatever was stolen from them or compensates them for their loss. It might also be defined recompense for injury made by the person responsible for the injury.

It was practiced in the Old Covenant.

Ex 22:1 (ESV) If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.

2 Sam 12:6 (NASB) So he must make restitution for the lamb four times over, since he did this thing and had no compassion.”

RESTITUTION

Leviticus 6:2-5 covers other situations in which the stolen property is restored, plus one fifth of the value. Also of note in this passage, the restitution was made to the owner of the property (not to the government or any other third party), and the compensation was to be accompanied by a guilt offering to the Lord. The Mosaic Law, then, protected victims of theft, extortion, fraud, and negligence by requiring the offending parties to make restitution. The amount of remuneration varied anywhere from 100 to 500 percent of the loss. The restitution was to be made on the same day that the guilty one brought his sacrifice before the Lord, which implies that making amends with one’s neighbor is just as important as making peace with God. *

* https:// www.gotquestions.org/ restitution-Bible.html

RESTITUTION

Restitution had to be made on the very day a person admitted or realised guilt.

Lev 6:4-5 (ESV) if he has sinned and has realized his guilt and will restore what he took by robbery or what he got by oppression or the deposit that was committed to him or the lost thing that he found or anything about which he has sworn falsely, he shall restore it in full and shall add a fifth to it, and give it to him to whom it belongs on the day he realizes his guilt

RESTITUTION

It is not enough to turn from sin – restitution must be made. This is what constitutes true repentance.

Num 5:7 (ESV) he shall confess his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong.

Ezek 33:14-16 (ESV) Again, though I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ yet if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks in the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live.

Restitution is also a principle that was carried over to the New covenant. Note that after the sinner Zacchaeus meets Jesus, not only is his life changed – he makes restitution.

Luke 19:8 (NIV) But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

The sincerity of Zacchaeus’ repentance is evident by his immediate resolve to make restitution.

Luke 19:9-10 (NIV) Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Zacchaeus was penitent and contrite. The proof of his conversion was his desire to make amends as much as possible, for past sins.

From Zacchaeus’s words, we learn:

he was guilty of defrauding people

he was remorseful over his past actions

he intended to make restitution

From Jesus’ words, we learn:

Zacchaeus was one of the lost he had come to seek and save.

Zacchaeus was saved that very day.

The evidence of his inner salvation was both his outward public confession (cf. Rom 10:10) and his relinquishing of all ill-gotten gains.

WHY WAS JACOB BLESSED?

Jacob made restitution – on his return

Gen 33:11 (ESV) “Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he urged him, and he took it.”

… when Jacob returns from exile a wealthy man, rich in flocks and herds, he does make some restitution to Esau for the material abundance he stole from him when he took his firstborn blessing. Jacob sends Esau hundreds of goats, sheep, camels, and donkeys, and when they meet in person, he says to him, “Accept the gift I have brought you.” *

This is literally, “Please accept my blessing that has been brought to you.” Jacob is making restitution by providing Esau with a “blessing” in place of the one he stole. *

RESTITUTION

* Ibid.

RESTITUTION

* Ibid.

Jacob also bows down to Esau and calls him “My lord,” even though Isaac’s blessing to Jacob had been, “Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.” *

RESTITUTION

The same holds true for anyone who truly knows Christ today. Genuine repentance leads to a desire to redress wrongs. When someone becomes a Christian, he will have a desire born of deep conviction to do good, and that includes making restoration whenever possible. The idea of “whenever possible” is crucially important to remember. There are some crimes and sins for which there is no adequate restitution. In such instances, a Christian should make some form of restitution that demonstrates repentance, but at the same time, does not need to feel guilty about the inability to make full restitution. Restitution is to be a result of our salvation—it is not a requirement for salvation. If you have received forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ, all of your sins are forgiven, whether or not you have been able to make restitution for them. *

* https:// www.gotquestions.org/ restitution-Bible.html

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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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