When Isaac told Esau that he was going to bless him, he asked Esau to hunt wild game and fix it form him the way he liked it. So, Esau followed Isaac’s request and went hunting. Rebekah had heard Isaac’s request. To me, it seems obvious that she knew what Jacob had done to Esau regarding Esau’s birthright. Jacob wanted that blessing and Jacob was going to get that blessing if she had anything to do with it. She told Jacob what they were going to do to ensure that Jacob was blessed as if he were the first born. He hesitated at first, fearful of being caught tricking his father. But Rebekah took on herself any consequences for the deception.
Month: July 2023
JUST DIG ANOTHER WELL ALREADY
Now, the area around Gerar was arid, desert land. So, water was a precious commodity. To stop up someone’s well was a serious crime and could well start a war. But Isaac moved everything and everyone he had to the Valley of Gerar. He reopened the wells that his father had dug but moved again because Philistine shepherds continued to dispute his ownership of them, not once but twice. Isaac and his men dug a new well. The Philistines again claimed it. So, he moved again and dug another well with the same result. Finally, he moved again and dug a third well. When that third well was dug there were no disputes. Isaac knew that God had given them room to grow and flourish. He named it Rehoboth: “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish.”
Share this:
WATCH WHAT YOU’RE GRABBING
The story of Jacob and Esau is one of a third generation on the road to creating the nation of Abraham’s descendants that was promised. It shows us how God works in spite of one’s life choices. Let’s face it, Jacob was a jerk. He took advantage of his brother’s hunger to steal his brother’s birthright as the eldest son. He tricked his father into giving him the blessing that should have been given to the first born, Esau. He had been so devious that he had to run for his life. The story of the relationship between Jacob and Esau reads almost like a soap opera. It is full jealousy, favoritism, greed, deception and hostility between brothers.
Share this:
OOOH! IS THAT A NOSE RING?
Abraham was nearing the end of his life and Isaac didn’t have a wife yet. Abraham did not want his son to marry a Canaanite woman. It was customary for parents chose the spouses for their children and Isaac had waited patiently but he was nearly forty years old. While it was common practice to marry within a family group, it was an added advantage for Abraham as Isaac would not be marrying a pagan. Abraham wanted to be obedient to God, not only in who Isaac married but in where she came from. Abraham did not want Isaac to leave to go search for wife himself. He needed Isaac to stay where he was. So, Abraham entrusted the task to Eliezer, a life-long servant of Abraham’s.
Share this:
FINALLY, A PLACE OF MY OWN, SORT OF
Abraham was in a foreign land, looking for a place to bury his wife. The Hittites knew Abraham. To them he was a great and wealthy prince, a prince of God. They had a lot of respect for him. They offered any of their choicest burial spots to him. While Hittites didn’t share Abraham’s belief or values but they appreciated that he lived by those values.
