Family Drama, Future Blessings| The Garden, The Flood & The Promise | Chad Veach

0:00 Hey, what's going on, everybody? Thank you so much for listening to this week's message from Zoe Church. We are in a series. We are studying the book of Genesis together, and today we are going to look at the life of Isaac. Before we jump in, I want to thank every person that helps get the message of Jesus out around the world. If you'd like to give today, go to our website, and you can give there. Thank you for your faithful generosity. It's making an impact. In fact, today is Baptism Sunday here in Los Angeles, and we're seeing tons of people get baptized. And last Sunday, over 40 people said yes to Jesus. So thank you. Let's jump into this week's message called Family Drama Future Blessing. We are studying. We've been studying the book of Genesis together, and we've been talking about Genesis 21, verse 6. We've been talking about the first book of the Bible, kind of journeying, walking through every book, I mean every chapter, and trying to understand where we come from, our origin.

1:02 We started when God created the heavens and the earth. He created the sun and the moon and the stars. He created for six days, and on the seventh day, he rested. And then we looked at the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, how they took and they eat the honeycrisp apple. And then we looked at the first boys, the first broskies, first brotherhood, Cain and Abel. We've been marching through Genesis. Last week, Father Abraham had many sons. Many sons had Father Abraham. That was last week. And we've been just kind of walking through learning about where we come from, where this faith thing all started. And I want to look together now at Isaac. Abraham, if you remember last week, Abraham waited and waited and waited and waited for the promised son, Isaac. And when he was born, God asked for him back.

2:00 So I want to teach you today, a lot of times God will bless you with something so big that he'll ask for you to put it on the altar just to see if the blessing became more important than your God. Wow. So he asked for Isaac and Abraham said, Isaac's not more important to me than you. And so he brought his boy up a mountain and prepared the offering. And Isaac, what I love about this boy, Isaac, is that he had up to this point brought so much joy into Abraham and Sarah's home. In fact, watch Genesis 21. Watch how it's described. Sarah says, God has brought me laughter and everyone who hears about this boy, Isaac will laugh with me. God had given this old couple, Abraham and Sarah, a son, Isaac, and his name means laughter because God had blessed them so big that it made them laugh. I'm praying that God blesses you so big that it'll make you chuckle.

3:00 Just like, I can't believe what God just did in my finances. I can't believe what God just did And my business, I can't believe what God just did in my life. I'll never forget when our 11-year-old Winston, when he was born, you know, our firstborn, Georgia, who's 13. When she was born, she was born with a rare brain condition. And we had to get a lot of tests done to see if we could have more children or if this would happen again. And so we went through a lot of testing. When we got the green light that this was a fluke incident. Whatever happened here, this genetic chromosome, it will not happen again. And when we got the green light to have more children and our son was born, we named him Winston. His name means joyful stone. And all those nights of hardship and tears, all those nights of feeling overwhelmed, when he came into our home, he brought joy the moment he walked into our house.

4:04 Sarah is saying his name means laughter because Isaac's such a joy and a blessing I've got to laugh about the goodness of God I'm praying that over you today somebody's going to get blessed so good it'll make you laugh at how faithful and generous and benevolent and merciful our God truly

4:28 ow should have worn denim and and so Isaac you remember he is born and they were laughing look at how good God is and faithful and in God I think they're laughing because you know God's timing is so different than our timing and God doesn't bless you just enough to be like well thank you so much he'll bless you so big, it'll be like, this is too much. And so they have Isaac. And remember, God asked for Isaac. And so he brings up his son with him to the mountain. And Isaac's helping prepare the sacrifice with his dad. And he's like, dad, this is crazy. We got the kindling, and we got the firewood, and we got all the, we just don't have a sacrifice. Dad, where is the sacrifice? And remember, Abraham says, the Lord will provide. and right before Isaac, before Abraham was going to take out Isaac, remember God stopped him and said, I was just going to see if you would withhold him from me.

5:32 He was testing his faith. And Isaac was quiet all the time preparing and his life is marked with a quiet confidence. That's why you got to be careful in LA when people are flashy. It's like, oh, that's a sign of having no money.

5:57 Ah, I've been around enough to understand. You need validation, right? And Isaac is marked by this quiet confidence. He's not just quiet when he was preparing the sacrifice. His life is filled with this quiet confidence. In fact, write down point number one today. Quiet obedience leads to great blessing. Quiet obedience leads to great blessing. Look at Genesis 26. Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold because the Lord blessed him and the man became rich and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. Then Abimelech said to Isaac, move away from us, man. You've become too powerful for us. So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the valley of Gerar where he settled. I like this because God was elevating and promoting Isaac in the eyes of his enemies. See, when God blesses you, you can't hide the blessing of God. The blessing of God will come upon you in such a way that you won't be able to shield it or hide it. Come on, when God promotes you. It'll put you on full display. Come on. Anybody believe today he prepares a banqueting table for me in the presence of my enemies. And the Philistines had to watch him eat and the Philistines had to watch him prosper and the haters had to watch him grow. Why? Because God was making him wealthy and God was making him rich. And did you see he sowed and reefed a hundredfold in the same year. I pray that over my Robin Hood account. I pray that over my Charles Schwab. I need that in my Edward Jones account.

7:46 and he sowed and he reaped a hundredfold in the same year and God was making him wealthy and God caused him to prosper and God made him so rich that they said, you got to get out of here, man. You, you're too big for us. See, I think that God is going to bless you in such a way that you'll need, he'll need, he'll need to bring you into a more spacious spot. He'll need you to bring you in a place where you can flourish and you can grow. Maybe right now, some of you are trying to prosper in a place that feels stifled and stuck, and you feel like people don't want you to take off. No, God brought Abraham to a spot, a spacious place where he can prosper and enlarge his tent and enlarge his territory. And I'm praying that over your life, that your quiet obedience will result in great blessing in your future. And Isaac, just obeying God, and following God and serving God. And I'm telling you, quiet obedience leads to crazy blessing.

8:50 And all of a sudden he was getting blessed. And all of a sudden he was getting promoted. And all of a sudden, listen, in other words, if you take care of your part, God will take care of his part. If you just keep trusting God and obeying God and fulfilling what God has called you to do, you just keep your eyes on him. God will take care of the rest. Even your enemies will have to say, you got to get out of here. You're too big for us. And so Isaac not only had quiet obedience, but I like this. He remembered one day when my dad was around Abraham, Father Abraham, my dad used to have all these wells going. Watch this in the same chapter. Just read along in verse 18. Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped after Abraham died and gave the same names his father had given them. Isaac's servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh Fiji Evian essential water. But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, the water is ours.

9:55 So he named it Essek because they disputed with him. Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also. So he named it Sitna. And he moved on from there and dug another well. And no one quarreled over this well. So he named it Raboathoth and saying, now the Lord has given us a room and we will flourish in the land. The Lord has given us room and we will. See, you need space to grow. You need space to flourish. Write down number two today. Redig old wells. I like that. Isaac sitting at home, man, we were most prosperous. We were doing the best when my dad's wells were not blocked, were not stifled, were not obstructed. So he reopened the wells. I wonder what it is for you that used to work, that used to have a flow, that used to have breakthrough, but it's been obstructed by sin or obstructed by bitterness that today the Holy Spirit's saying, you got to re-dig that old well. You don't need a new thing in your life. You got to go back to that old thing. And if you redig that old well, oh, come on, spring up old well. God is going to let the kingdom of God flow in your life through that thing that needs to be unobstructed and, come on, released by heaven. And some of us are always running around looking for the new thing.

11:17 We need the new, we need the new thing. We need the new thing. We need the new place. So we need the new relationship and we need the new car smell and we need the new, no, no, you need to go back to the whole thing. And you need to re-tap into the well that was once a source of life and strength. And why don't you re-dig that old well? In fact, put it up on the screen. I put this definition. The Philistines stopping the wells represented spiritual dryness and obstruction. It's time for us to revive past moves of God, restore spiritual hunger, and reclaim lost territory. Go back and re-dig. Do you remember? This reminds me of Jesus in Revelation when he says, go back and do the things that you did when you first got saved. Re-dig that old well, that old Bible that you used to read out of, that old prayer life. Go back and get that old worship song that you used. Re-dig that old well where there once was vitality and the river of God was flowing in your life. Why has the enemy been allowed to obstruct that? Why has he allowed to bring dryness to your life? No, come on. I believe we should re-dig the wells of revival and let the kingdom of God come flying and rushing in our lives.

12:33 Isaac said, I don't need a new well. I need to go re-dig an old well. I don't need a new thing. The new thing is found in the old thing. And I'm going to go back and do what I used to do. I'll never forget a couple of years ago, Pastor Jensen Franklin came and preached at Zoe Conference. And we love Pastor Jensen around here. He looks like George Clooney and they call him the Prince of Preachers. Pastor Jensen is amazing. And I'll never forget this particular night, he preached a message, shut down Zoe conference. I mean, he shut it down and he's got this thick Southern accent. He's got the, he's from Gainesville, Georgia, thick Southern accent. People always ask me, where did you get your accent? I said, listening to Jensen and listening to Snoop Dogg. That's how I came. That's how I showed up here. And Jensen preached this unbelievable message and shut down the conference. And I was standing next to him side stage. And he looks at me, he says, have you ever heard the message I preach called build it and prosper? And I said, And, you know, I get real kind of timid around him like I'm 16.

13:31 Like, no, sir, I have not heard that one. But I'll run and go here tonight. And he's like, I need to come and preach it for you. Yeah, yes, sir, you do. Yes, yes, yes. And he said, no, in fact, I'll just give you my notes. You preach it. Nah, I like the first idea better. You come and preach it. And many times, Pastor Jensen has talked to me about taking the preachers of old, getting their notes, and preaching their messages. and it's talked about re-digging old wells. And I just wonder what used to work for you when you were on fire for God that's been obstructed and gotten dry because of sin or bitterness. Isaac said, I know how we're going to get the blessing of God. We are going to reopen these old wells. We are going to re-dig from this old thing. And as he started to do it, man, water started to flow. And what did the Philistines say? That's our water. That's all. You can't have that. He said, all right, I'll go to another well, open it up. That's our water. And he opened it up and he kept going until what? Until God gave him space. Come on. If you're not celebrated at the table that you're currently sitting at, go find a new table. Stop going where you're tolerated.

14:43 Start sitting where you're celebrated. Come on, clap today. If you understand what I'm you want to have that well? By all means, that well's yours. That well's yours. And he kept moving until there was a well that there was no dispute over until there was no fight over. And he said, I'm not willing. In fact, write down number three. This was so Isaac. He chose peace over pride. And some of us, we keep choosing the prideful thing rather than the peaceful thing. and he could have fought over the first well. He could have fought over the second well, but every time the enemy asked for it, he said, it's yours. I believe God is good enough and I am blessed enough to keep moving into a land that I won't have to worry about it or fight over it. God will make a way and God will give us space. God will give me a land. God will give me a room. God will give me a church.

15:38 he chose peace over pride. And some of us, our biggest issue is we'd rather be right than have relationship. And you can be right and wrong at the same time. But Isaac chose peace over pride. Don't let your pride destroy your future. Don't let your pride destroy your relationships. Don't let your pride destroy the blessing and the favor that God has for your life. He chose peace. He said, you can have this well. You can have this well. God will bless me. God's been good. God's been faithful. God's been generous. God's been leading me. And he just kept going until there was no dispute. I want to encourage you. Get peace on your pillow. Get peace in your marriage. Get peace in your home. Get peace in your business. Stop walking by the spirit of the pride of this air. Start walking in the spirit of the living God, which is humility.

16:34 God didn't call you to tear down walls. He called you to build walls, be a bridge builder, not someone that tears down relationships. Amen to that. And so here's Isaac, quiet Isaac, and his quiet obedience led to great blessing. And he was blessed and he sowed and reaped a hundredfold in the same year. And he reopened these wells and it just started flowing and going. And he said, if that worked for Abraham, my father, it can work for me. And he reopened what was once dry. He got it flowing. I just believe this is a word for somebody today that you're going to go home and re-dig that old Bible reading plan. Maybe that old Bible, that prayer life. Maybe it's a worship list that you used to walk through. Maybe you need to start going on prayer walks. Maybe you need to do something. Go, man, when I was at my best when I was serving or tithing or whatever it is, come on, clap if you're down to re-dig an old well today.

17:35 You don't need a new thing. You need to go back to an old thing. And he said, I'm choosing peace over pride. And so Isaac lived a blessed life and he was great and he did great things. And he had two boys. His two boys' names were Esau and Jacob. He had two boys, Esau and Jacob. Now Esau, Isaac loved and Jacob, the mother loved. In fact, let me just read to you the way the scriptures say this and look in Genesis 26, 25 verse 27. The boys grew up and Esau became a skillful hunter and a man of the open country while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. And Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. So here you see now in the Bible, this is the first time favoritism has entered. Now Malachi will reference, you know, that Abel, Abel was, his offering was accepted. Abel have I loved, Cain have I despised or hated. So we see that in Cain and Abel, but now this is evident from both sides of the parents. So Isaac, the father loves Esau. Esau is a REI boy. He goes to Cabela's.

18:45 Esau loved a hunting fish. She's trying to do my white guy. And Esau out there. Esau knows how to build a tent. Esau is a, he knows how to shoot them. I mean, Esau's out. Jacob loves to be at home. Jacob's an inside guy. Jacob, he's a baker. He's an inside guy. And the Bible says, Isaac loves Esau, but the mother, Rachel, loves Jacob. So now we see favoritism. Be careful with favoritism in your life, because this is going to divide a family. In fact, write down point number four today. God works through broken families. God does great stuff through broken, and you're going to see the brokenness play out here in this story. In fact, when Isaac is just about to die, he's so old, he can't really see that well. He's in his bed, and he's getting ready to give the firstborn his blessing, which is Esau. He's going to get the father's blessing, the blessing that Abraham gave Isaac. Isaac is now going to give his son Esau. So it's about to happen. This is the end of his life, and he's given the firstborn blessing. Well, Esau goes out on a hunting trip to Utah, and he's out hunting with his boys, and they went to Cabela's, And while he's away, Rachel gets Jacob and says, hey, let's cook some meat for your dad and some food. And I want you to go in and pretend like you're Esau, go into your dad's bedroom, pretend like you're him. And I want you to get the blessing that's due to Esau. We're going to put a bunch of hair. We're going to go down to the costume store. We're going to put hair all over your arms, like you're Esau, so that when your dad is wondering if it's you, have them fill your arms and he'll think, oh yeah, Esau mad hairy.

20:24 Because Esau had hair on his head, front, back, just hair. Esau, you ever meet a hairy guy? Don't point at him. How hairy is he? Mad hairy. so she says if you go in and you've got the hair he'll think it's esau and he'll give you the blessing so they make all the food and in in he practices jacob practices a lower register hi dad it's me esau how have you been and so they practice it and they get already you ready yeah is it is it is on there Yeah, you got all the hair. That's hairy. Okay. And so he walks in. Hello, father. It is I, Esau. And he walks in and the dead, the dead Isaac memory can't see. So he's like, huh? Yeah, this is crazy. This is the voice of Jacob. But bring your arm over here. He feels the arm.

21:26 He goes, but hairy like Esau. And he's so, I got my son to laugh on that one. Thank you, God. First time for everything. Thank you, God. catch me in Sunday school next week. And so, and so he said, this is good. This is, I hear Jacob, but this is the arms of Esau. And so he prays the blessing that Esau was supposed to get over Jacob. And so Jacob gets the blessing that's due to the firstborn. and he weasels his way out of there because Jacob means, his name means deceiver and he's deceived his father and he slides out of there and he gets the blessing. Right when he gets out, guess who comes home from hunting?

22:20 Esau. And Esau cooks up the meal and he gets all ready and he walks in and he goes, hey dad, how you doing? Me and Esau just got back. Ah! Dad! I'm doing Julia's father's voice right now. Hey dad! Hey, dad, give me your blessing. And Isaac goes, oh, no.

22:42 Oh, no. Remember, he can't see. Son, who was just in here? Because I just gave the blessing to Jacob then. And Esau begins to weep. And he's like, no. No, that's my blessing. And he starts to cry. He's like, dad, reverse it. Can you still bless me? And he's like, I can't undo it. And so now Esau hates his brother Jacob. See, what messes up families is betrayal, lies, deception, affair, rejection, abuse, abandonment. Now the family's torn apart because of deception. And I just want to encourage somebody today. If there's been lies and deception in your family, God's not done with your family. He can restore.

23:34 He can rebuild. He can fix. in fact, read this next scripture on the screen. Just go down to, uh, Genesis chapter 27, verse 41. Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And he said to himself, the days of mourning of my father are near. Then I will kill my brother, Jacob. Esau hated him. Esau was filled with enraged. How could my brother take my blessing and how could he be so deceitful and he hated him. I don't know if you've ever hated anybody or had that emotion before, but here comes Esau and he's filled with hatred. This is sibling rivalry. This is a family that's been torn apart. Rachel was in on it. Jacob was in on it. There's mistrust, distrust, abuse, abandonment, rejection, betrayal, all in a family. And I don't know if your family's ever faced anything or your family's ever gone through anything, but my guess is that it didn't just happened in the book of Genesis to a bunch of families, but it's probably happened in yours.

24:38 And one of my favorite scriptures of the book of Genesis is years later, Jacob's going to go his way and Esau's going to go his way. And we see a picture that when they first see each other for the first time, after years of being hurt and away from each other, Esau, the first time he sees Jacob and Jacob sees Esau, they come running to each other. And when they see each other, they fall on one another, and they embrace, and they weep, and they hug, and they forgive. because I know you've gone through stuff, maybe with a sister or a brother or a parent, but I want to tell you, God does great stuff through broken families, and the lie of the enemy is to tell you that you need to come from a perfect family to be used from God, but I'm here to tell you that Jesus, our Savior, comes from a lineage of broken families. that if you look back in Matthew chapter one, in that lineage is people like Rahab, who was a prostitute, foreigners, people that face things.

25:48 And I wonder, I wonder for you if it's time for you to forgive a family member and let God do a mighty work in your own family. I wonder if right now is a season when you and somebody in your family need to get together and have a cry sesh to say, I forgive you for those years that you hurt me. I forgive you for that thing that you said against me, for that money that you stole, for that thing that you did, for that word that you spoke over me. Many of us are not whole and not well today because of things family members have done. But I'm just here to tell you today, God works through broken families. and if you come from a broken family so does Jesus and if God could birth the savior of the universe through a broken family God could do great miracles through your family the same there's a scripture we're going to get to towards the end of Genesis and it will be with a different J.

26:50 This one's Joseph, whose brothers sell him into slavery. talk about having issues. You ever had your brothers sell you into slavery? And years later, Genesis 50, Joseph's going to stand and say, what the enemy intended for harm, God turned it around and he used it for good. I'm just praying over you today that what the enemy tried to use to take you out, it's going to be fuel for the purpose for your future. the enemies worked wonders to try and mess with your faith, mess with your purity, mess with your trust in leadership. The enemies tried to work wonders to get you to question, does God really love me? Is anybody good? And I'm believing that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you will be healed enough to trust again.

27:59 because you were not built or made to be untrusting but God has wired you to be a person that trusts others and lets others into your world and in those years of Jacob could you imagine running around Jacob just feeling like I got this blessing but I'm a liar and I'm a deceiver and I got this blessing but I didn't earn it and I don't deserve it and I just wonder and just the the anxiety and the identity and the, and the questioning, the years of, of, of, of struggle that Jacob went through the years of rejection that Esau went through of going, that's supposed to be mine. That should be me. And I'm supposed to be there and I'm supposed to have that. And they are where I'm supposed to be. I'm just here to tell you, God is big enough and good enough to put you in the right place at the right time with the right people. He's not done with you yet. the pain is real i don't want to minimize it i don't want to skip past the thing that you've gone through that has caused such heartache but i'm just telling you if you'll let god in he'll heal your heart jesus says the spirit of the sovereign lord is upon me because he's anointed me to bind up the brokenhearted to set at liberty the captive to declare the acceptable favorable year of the Lord. That's how good God is. Do you believe it today? Come on, clap and give him a praise.

29:30 what I really like about the story of father Abraham to Isaac and now Jacob gets the blessing is that our God is a generational God in fact write down the last one today faith is to be passed on from generation to generation all through the scriptures it says I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. I am the God of Jacob. I'm the God of Abraham. I'm the God of Isaac. I'm the God. In other words, I don't just start stuff. I complete stuff. I might've started with father Abraham, but I poured out my spirit into Isaac and Isaac gave it into Jacob and it kept going. I want to encourage you today. Put up Psalm 145. The Bible says one generation shall declare his good works to the next generation. And I don't know about you, but I want to give my life to trying to take all my faith and all my Jesus and dump it into the next generation.

30:35 The coolest thing yesterday with my dad preaching at Brotherhood Barbecue yesterday, all the broskies were out. Here's my dad and he's preaching the word. He was in Psalm 103 yesterday, but the coolest part to me was my dad was up preaching and me and my sons were in the front row looking up at grandpa preaching abraham isaac and jacob see i think that we serve a god that's not just about one or two but come on clap today if you believe god is a god of legacy god is a god of baton passing god is a god of generations and everything that god did in you come on anybody want the next generation to go further and to do better and to be bigger and to shine brighter for the glory of the living god see see the bible says in joel 2 that our young people are going to prophesy but our old people will dream dreams let me translate that for you god has something today for every generation in our church and god doesn't favor young people and cast away old people he's still giving the old people in our church dreams and and he's still dumping his spirit out on the young people of our house.

31:45 it's got to be passed. It's got to be passed. It's got to be passed. I was watching dad yesterday. I was thinking, man, I watched this man read his Bible. I watched him serve. I watched him golf and he's a bad golfer. So I'm a bad golfer and I, the curse is real and, and, and I hate it, but, but, but I watched him and I watched him worship and I watched him teach and I watched him and I'm a result of his faith. And I'm praying and believing for my boys that they're going to be raised in the house of God to follow Jesus and to serve Jesus because that's all that matters. Let me ask you today, if you got everything you're working for financially and you got everything that you're dreaming for, for your career, but your kids don't serve Jesus, what is it worth? What's it worth? Because the true Testament of your life would not be a 401k. it would not be how much money you made or successful you are your life is a vapor here today gone tomorrow and the only thing you're leaving is a legacy of faith abraham isaac jacob abraham isaac jacob maybe isaac didn't just have god's blessing because of his father maybe he learned to obey because he saw his daddy obey maybe jacob wrestled with god the way that he did because he saw his dad wrestle with god the way that he did see i don't want to minimize you come into church parents hear me today you come into church is such a big deal because it's signaling to your children today the house of god is a priority for our family and as for me in my house, we will serve the Lord. And if you're passive about church, what will your kids be about church? If you're passive about serving, what will your kids be about serving? See, everything that you're doing right now is for not you, it's for the next generation.

33:56 So now I want to give you my title. today's message is called family drama future blessing because i know you got drama and i know you got issues and i know you're working through stuff welcome to the club but i'm believing that you work through your drama and it will result in a future blessing it's not for us so we give something away this is the spirit of the gospel this is the heart of God and notice how it says one generation shall declare his works to the next doesn't say one generation will just worship and not say anything but in our homes let's talk about Jesus in our cars let's listen to songs about Jesus in our service let's make our conversations about Jesus for he is the one that we live for forever and ever amen amen come on clap if you agree with it today