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.
Tag: Isaac
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.”
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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.
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THIS IS A TEST, THIS IS ONLY A TEST
I don’t know how many of you have watched Star Trek. But one episode is about the Kobiashi Maru. It is training exercise for Starfleet cadets to see how they manage a crisis aboard a Starfleet vessel. The good thing is that it weeds out the weak leaders from the strong. The bad thing is that it is a no-win situation. Fortunately, for the cadets, it was only a test. A real-life situation like this would have been catastrophic. But that is often what some of us face. A real-life, no-win situation. But I have to say, nothing in life is really no-win if you have Jesus in your life.
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TWO SONS, TWO NATIONS
It’s been a year since Lord told Abraham and Sarah that Sarah have a son. Who would have ever imagined that a man of 100 and a woman of 91 years would have a baby together? But God had promised a child to Sarah and Abraham. You can just imagine the celebration. The promised child had finally arrived. Just as He had promised, Sarah gave birth to Isaac. She laughed again, this time with joy. Isaac’s name reflected her joy. But even in this time of joy, there was one who did not rejoice. Ishmael.
