I want to give God, the Most Exalted One All glory, honor, and Adoration. I want to appreciate Him for giving us another opportunity to minister His infallible Word deposited into us by the power of His Holy Spirit? Every day we are witnessing is opportunity to do it better than yesterday. We cannot continue doing the bad we’ve always done and want to live in the freedom of Salvation, it is not possible. For we to live in the freedom of salvation, old things must give way to new. Today I want to talk about birthright compromised. Why did Esau become a beggar in his father’ house; and his brother Jacob became a grabber. What a dysfunctional family! I believe the wisdom of God would come into us and lead us into this eternal message for the reader and the writer.
I remember a night vision I had sometime 2014/2015, this will also bring some meaning into this message: Let me create a scenario here that will bring understanding: I remember in that vision of the night, I was holding something in my hand, and every person around me in the dream were trying to wrestle it out of my hand what I was holding; then, I woke up. Though, they didn’t collect it from me, but it was a tug of war. The scripture that came to my mind when I woke up was in Revelation 3:11 that says, “11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown” Revelation 3:11.
I thank the Holy Spirit for reminding me because it’s also necessary for the clarity of this message. In Revelation 3:11-13, Jesus was saying to all His followers that He would be coming soon, and we should hold all fast to what we have so that no one may seize our crown, the one who conquers all the blessings, and the promises are there.
Now, how come Esau become a beggar, and Jacob a grabber in their father’ house. This is a birthright war that led to a compromise. I want to set up a scenario here that will help with understanding before I go into the spiritual aspect of the message.
Citizenship anywhere can be acquired by any person automatically by the operation of the law, this takes place in situations: by virtue of the person’s birth within territory or because one or both of their parents is (or was) a citizen; or by marriage, or by application. Some Countries operates with Unrestricted Birthright Citizenship because they have nothing to offer, no papers, nothing. Anything comes and goes. Anybody can enter the country, you cannot do that in a country like the US, UK or Singapore. If anyone visited those countries without due visas, such person(s) would repatriate back to his original country and banned.
Also the Kingdom of God operates on protocol; there are members of that Kingdom who are citizens, but even though people were all invited freely, yet there is protocol. If we do not follow due protocol, there may be problem. We remember a man that didn’t follow the protocol, a man without the wedding garment that was thrown out, such fate may befall such person(s) (Matthew 22:11-13). But the moment we follow the protocol according to John 1:11-12 says, “He came to His own and His own rejected Him, but as many that receive and accepted Him, He gave them rights to become children of the Most High God.”
So, after we have fulfilled all righteousness and become a citizen of the Kingdom of God, we have rights and privileges to cry “Abba Father” (Romans 8:15). Rights to become children of the Most High God and if you have become His child, you can talk to Him and learn His ways. As you are all born into our individual physical family setup, you have such rights and privileges.
1. Right to habituate, because you are member of the family
2. Right to food.
3. Right to be educated
4. Right to water
5. Right to speak to your parents, no matter how high handed they are; you have rights to ask questions and to receive answer. That is what Jesus meant in Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it shall be given unto you.” We have the right to call unto Him by ourselves as He promised to answer – Jeremiah 33:3; Mathew 7:7, we do not need anyone to help us. Many do not understand that the basis for answering answers to prayers is the revelation of God’ Fatherhood, which is the foundation to an effective prayer. If you don’t know Him as Father, you cannot confidently approach/engage Him for talk. It means you will be looking for a prayer contractor, and an intermediary. Jesus says in Luke 11:2 that we must approach God as Father. Father can do anything for their children. In one of David songs, it says, “As a father pity his children so the Lord pities them that fears (regards) Him. For He knows our frame: He remember that we are dust” Psalms 103:13-17.
6. Right to clothing, no sane parent has baby and leave the baby naked. When Adam sinned, God clothes him even-though Adam tried to clothe himself, the clothe he sown for himself didn’t fit, God had to come into the situation. So, as a child of God, if you mess up, go to God, do not run away from Him.
All we need to do is to return to him with all our heart (Zechariah 1:3). So, if you are born into a family, your needs are met by your parents. I don’t see a good parents that we have children and don’t care about them. If you are an owner of a property, it would be an abomination to be locked out of your property; you have rights to it. If you don’t know your rights is another thing; and if you don’t know your rights, you will be short-changed. People will deceive you to part with what you have. Jesus warned in Revelation 3:11, “Do not let anyone take what is yours.”
If you do not know your rights in your father’ house like Esau, to call on him whenever you have issues; your birthright would be placed on negotiation table of trading stock for bazaar, it would be wrestled from you, and you will be short-changed on what is due to you. There are some people that are streetwise targeting your rights, but you don’t need to be streetwise in the Kingdom of God, we must all be contented with whatever our portion is; you don’t need to grab another person’ destiny. Between birth and rights, some people only experience births without rights, and others enjoys both.
Now how do we get both birth and rights in one word? As I earlier mentioned if you are an owner of a property, it is an abomination for you to be locked out of your property, but it happens to some people; the preacher in his book of Eccl. 7:10 says he had seen another abomination on the earth, “While princess walk on the ground, slaves rides on the horses meant for the prince. It is an evil thing.” As a Prince, you should know that all that belong to your father belong to you, except you don’t know your rights. If you don’t know, that is when you begin to run to false prophets for help. And they will begin to trade on the rights that originally belongs to you, what happens afterwards is a compromise.
In the Kingdom of God, everyone that belogs there have equal rights, and that birthrights must not be traded, God forbid it, remember Revelation 3:11. Birthright must not be undervalued, God frowns at it, you must subject your birthright to be nothing of importance. Everyone has their place of strength and weakness, discover your own and maximize it. Birthrights must not be despised, God hated it. There is a purpose one is born into a family; birthright must not be devalued. You must not say. Oh, I cannot do it. You also have your strength. You need to You need to discover your strength. This is the reason God said Esau I hated because He had seen the end from the beginning. Esau despised his birthright because of instant gratification; what he ate and pass out in the toilet. He did not value his right, so he couldn’t stand present temptation. He could have confronted Jacob and say to him, “Even if I do not have money today, I have a positioning in this house. When our parents started to build family, why couldn’t you jump forward as the first born? That is my right, my birthright. That is my position. You can have all the money and build houses, hotels all around town; you are still the last born here. When we come to the family meeting, I have certain right you don’t have, and I am not going to trade it for peanut. If you go back to your home, you have all the rights to instruct your servants on what you desire; but here, in our father’ house, I will cherish my rights.
If you despise your birthright, where will you get another? When we begin to put things in this right perspective as children of God, life will take a greater turn, we will not take decision we would regret tomorrow. Many young women had traded their rights because of nothing, may the mercy of God speak for us all and that is the purpose we were talking this today. When challenges of life come, and we cannot call on God, something bad would happen because you will begin to listening to the voice of strangers. Jesus said My sheep would not listen to strangers (John 10:27-28). They hear My voice. That was the reason when Adam said “I am naked”. God ask him (Genesis 3:10-11), “Who told you that you are naked”. This was the same Adam that shine the glory of God to all creation, the same Adam that God brought all animals He made to; and asked him to name them and whatever Adam call them became their names (Genesis 2:19-20). What happen to Adam, he compromised his right by talking to a stranger and traded his birthright and lost his authority. You are now saying somebody told you that you are naked, a child of God is now saying he has family curse; who told you that? False prophet/teacher? Where were you when your grandfather, and father committed what they said they committed? What did the Word of God’ position on curses? You don’t know. They said if I don’t do this, you are under a curse, right?
Strange spirit told Esau that he would die if he didn’t eat, and he believed it and lost his right forever.
Talking about compromise. When we talk about compromise, compromise means changing the question to fit in the already made answer in your mind. I hope you understand that. You change the question. You don’t need to change the question to fit in the answer, you are only deceiving yourself by changing the question to fit the answer in your head. I remember a friend of mine who watch a broadcast on YouTube, and the much sweet, talked woman analyzed some life issues she had helped lots of people to find solution to. So, my friend needed an alibi, she asked me to watch the video and tell her my thought. Sincerely, I was disappointed in her because we have a stand on Christ and His Word, He said by their fruits you know them. The sight of the woman tells me a lot, so I didn’t bother to check on her and didn’t get back to my friend. After a month, my friend asked me to check on the video again, so I told her that Christ or nothing for me. It was 6months past that my friend confessed to me that she contacted the woman, because she had some issues, she said the woman began to tell her things that are not scriptural, that was when it dawns on her that Bisola was right. We must be careful, contacting some of these kinds of people can compromise our rights in Christ. It is an exchange for them, it is a transaction for them. Esther had just one direction she faced and it was a direction of no return, she said, “If I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16). The 3 Hebrews boys do not reconsider the situation they were about to face, minds fixed on God (Daniel 3).
Our help should be from the Lord, not on our feelings. Esau bowed to his feelings and placed his birthright on negotiation table, he lost.
Let me give you a scenario to understand, let’s agree that Esau was hungry and came home to be fed, and Jacob his brother was not playing ball to give him food without taking something in return; why couldn’t Esau cry to his mother, if he knew his mother didn’t like him much, where is their father? I have listed the responsibilities of parents from the beginning of this message; they are the providers. Let’s say in a home where there is good relationship. Yeah, there was no cats and rats’ relationship. Where no one is planning to usurp another one’ rights and position. where there were plans that one is planning to become greater than the second. Just one mother and one father, the same birth. Let even say that your junior brother was a selfish type, of course many siblings are selfish, and Edom was hungry, and Jacob refused to give him food. Why couldn’t Esau had shouted to mother. Let’s take it another way, if mother was acting out because of the prophecy she received during their birth, why couldn’t Esau had called on Dad? Maybe Esau was not in good relationship with them because he was a lazy type that do not do his chores at home. Which parent would show open love to such stubborn child?
Now, let’s bring it into our relationship with God as followers of Christ, you don’t pray as you ought to (Luke 18:1; Matt. 7:7; Jer.33:3). You don’t read the Word (Joshua 1:7-9). You cannot live successfully outside of God, ask those people who lived outside the Garden of Eden. You will know what happened to them. It was in that place, outside of the Garden of Eden, outside of the presence of God, even-though they could be rich in terms of silver coin and promissory note, building houses and cities, bearing children like rat. These are unbelievers’ measurement of God’ blessings. Yet, the presence of God is missing in their lives. Every time they must be negotiating living with satan, and there is no way you can outsmart satan. satan has been in the business of cheating before you were born, before everybody came to this place, satan will outsmart you of your glory if you don’t know how to approach God. But with God we don’t negotiate, He is the loving Father, even if you sin, you can reach Him. Go and ask the prodigal son, the moment he showed up at the porch of his father house, his father knew that, for his son to have returned home, he had repented, and the father restored him to his original position in the family. He commanded clothes to be brought, family heirloom was placed on him, ring in his finger and party was thrown. Angels are happy in heaven when the children of the Kingdom return home. We don’t negotiate with satan. God is a good Father, and it is His good pleasure to give us whatever we need. It does not offend Him if we ask all that we desire to live for the purpose we are created for. The scripture says, “Silver and gold belongs to Him, even cattle on a thousand hills” (Haggai 2:8; Psalms 50:10-12).
There is no doubt, there is wisdom or lessons in this birthright saga between these two brothers. Now, it’s Jacob’ turn, and this wisdom will be against Jacob. We mustn’t be what God does not want us to be. After many years of Jacob outsmarting people, his brother, his father, his uncle Laban, I’ve never seen someone like Jacob before. The important question is: does those things he took from people made him to be who he eventually become? No, those things will only bring sorrow, unrest into his life. Peace left him, you can’t do all that and you have peace. Peace left him and he ran away from home, he couldn’t go to the market without looking over his shoulder because of fear, he knew those he had duped would come for him.
He was always on the run, there was no correlation between his mind and his brain. This is why many pastors today have bodyguards because they know that some people are coming for them. They have stolen people’ properties. I remember when we were in synagogue, there was one man who visited TB Joshua from US.
He came with one beautiful car; and TB Joshua instigated one man called Nkechi to convinced him to give TB Joshua the car in exchange for the miracle he sorts for. After some time, the man didn’t get anything as miracle, he saw that TB Joshua had swindled him, and the man who introduced him to TB Joshua advised him to get a lawyer to repossess his car because he himself has earlier lost 10million naira to TB Joshua. Do you think if TB Joshua didn’t restore on time, would they not have hunted him? Those men have guts to confront TB Joshua, there are many other persons that didn’t have mind to confront him. Why should you be doing the work of pastor and surround yourself with bodyguards; who want to kill you? Those people you took things wrongfully from, but you don’t need to steal from anybody in order for God’ promises to be fulfilled in your life.
The things Jacob took from people didn’t add up to God’ promises for his life. It wasn’t those source that prospered Jacob, so, stop being wicked to others. Grabbing, grabbing, grabbing, grabbing, grabbing will not help anyone. The Word of the Lord says, it is only the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, it is not the corrupted blessings you have stolen. The blessing of the Lord attaches with no sorrow; but the blessings you stole will add sorrows. Jacob become what he became because of God’ plan and purpose for him, stop outsmarting people, Stop helping God, you cannot help God. Yes, someone had giving you vision, or prophecy have said you would become a millionaire in life; ok, now what should we do? Must you become a bandit to actualize the vision? That was what Jacob did. He became a desperado at every turn, duped his brother, conned his father, and duped his uncle. Stop out-smarting people. Stop helping God; God is not crippled. God does not need anyone’ help to fulfil His promises. It’s God’ show, not ours. For Jacob to fully understand God’ path, God had to take him back to the beginning of time. When he escaped his uncle’ place in a hurry, in the dead of the night because of what he had done; he was afraid at the back (Uncle), and afraid at the front (Brother). What kind of life is this? So, when he got to Peniel (Genesis 32:24-32); that was when God met him, as he was in meditation in the presence of God, thinking about his life and the Angel of the Lord appeared. The Angel of the Lord asked, “what is your name?” the name he had was a bad omen on him. Jacob was taken back to the beginning of himself so that he could start a new spiritual journey in life. And he said to Jacob, your name shall no longer be Jacob, Israel. Now that he became Israel, when Jacob, I mean Israel got to Shechem, something happened to his daughter, Dinah. If it were the old Jacob, he would have done something very bad in taking a revenge, but because he has become a new man. He said to his children to allow peace to reign as he released everything into the hands of God to judge.
So many of us need to go back to the beginning. We cannot use street wisdom to work with God or to help Him to fulfill His promises in our lives. We must develop relationship with God, if you don’t have relationship with the Father to speak to Him if you are in need, that’s when you will begin to negotiate your needs with people that will exchange your birthright like Esau. So now concerning you Jacob in the Kingdom of God, you don’t need to grab people’ things because they are vulnerable. No, you should not; we are saved by the grace, not of our own, so that no one will boast (Ephesians 2:8). The psalmist says, “Not unto us, he repeated it, Not unto us, but unto God Be the glory unto Thy Name.” Ps. 115:1-8), We must realize that He is our help in time of need; we must stop taking advantage of people like Jacob, pastors should stop tying people’ destiny down to get relevancy in life. Many places of worship have become polluted to the point that anybody that enters there can no longer be normal. It is not fair, it is ungodly, it is unacceptable; it is abomination before God. You must stop living another man’s life, all that you accumulated will end one day; what would it be your profit to gain the world and lose your soul (Mark 8:36-37).
For your birthright to be compromised means you don’t know who you are in the family like Esau, or like Esau who was lazy to cook, a lazy Christians that can’t read their Bible, have no time to pray, and too gluttonous to fast. You are always looking for a prayer contractor, asking every dick and harry to pray for them. Can you pray for me? Can you pray for me? Crippled minded Christians would keep asking around till they get to destiny negotiator that will grab their birthrights. If you become a beggar like Esau, transaction would happen on your birthright; exchange will take place and your birthrights will be compromised.
Now, this is for Jacobs in the house of God, please stop grabbing people’ rights; you would be what you would be no matter how long it takes. When you grab, you think God need help, but the Word of God says, “He rules in the affairs of men.” He knows everything, He can do everything by Himself. With all the things that Jacob stole, when there was food shortage in the land of Canaan where he lived, Jacob sent his children to Egypt; why couldn’t the food he had last him a lifetime? What a lesson we learn here! God bless you. Thank you very much.