"Greetings in the Name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ"
Today's Blog Title: "Jacob and Esau"
Today's Scripture Reading: Genesis 25:19-34
Today's Key Verse: Genesis 25:23 "And the Lord said to her: Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, and the other shall serve the younger"
Chapter 25, opens with Abraham taking a new wife. We are told that Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac, but he also gave appropriate gifts to the sons of the concubines, and to protect Isaac's inheritance after his death he send them away.
In verse 7, after God had given him a long life as promised, Abraham dies and was buried in the cave of Machpelah along side his wife Sarah. Abraham was 175 years old when he died. James 2:23 says, "Abraham believed God, and it accounted to him for righteousness and he was called the friend of God." Wow!!! Isn't it great as a believer, to be called a "Friend of God".
We read that after Abraham's death, that God blessed Isaac, because He had already established His everlasting covenant with him.Verses 12-21 deal with the genealogy of Ishmael and Isaac.
In verse 21, we read that Isaac pleaded (prayed) passionately for his wife Rebekah. Rebekah, was experiencing a period of infertility just like Sarah. We now see that the Lord answers the plea or prayer of Isaac as Rebekah becomes pregnant. . What a joy it is to know, that we can go to the Lord and pray, and He listens to us as we plead to Him.
Rebekah's pregnancy was difficult. It would appear that the two children within her, were battling each other. Rebekah prayed to the Lord and the Lord told her that two nations would come from this birth, and He tells her the older would serve the younger.
Rebekah now gives birth. The first out was red and hairy and was called Esau (which means hairy), the second came out grasping his brothers heel, and was given the name Jacob (He Who Grasps at the Heel). As the boys grew Esau became a skillful hunter, while Jacob was a mild man dwelling in tents. We now see the Isaac and Rebekah illustrates the folly of parental favoritism. Isaac loved Esau because he would eat of Esau's hunting's and Rebekah loved Jacob more because of his mildness.
In verse 29, we see that Jacob was making a stew and Esau came in from the field, and he was really hungry and asked Jacob to feed him with that red stew. Because of his desire for red meat, and his reddish complexion, Esau's name was changed to Edom, meaning "Red". Jacob tells him, that he will give him some stew, if he sells his birthright to him. Remember, Esau as the firstborn, had a birthright to a double portion of everything. He also would inherit from Isaac the privilege of an everlasting covenant with God. Esau decides that what good is a birth right to him, if he dies because of hunger. So Jacob had him swear it, and he did, and this was a formal oath, even though unwitnessed, would have been regarded as binding. So as the Chapter closes, we see that Esau has now has sold his birthright to Jacob, for food and drink.
Closing Question and Comment: "How do you treat your family members?" We have learned today, that Esau traded the lasting benefits of his birthright, for the immediate pleasure of food. He acted an impulse, satisfying his immediate desires, without pausing to consider the long range consequences, of what he was about to do. We can fall into the same trap. Sometimes when we see something that we want, our first impulse is to get it. At first we feel satisfied and sometimes even powerful, because we have obtained what we set out to get. But immediate pleasure often causes us to lose sight of the future. We can avoid that mistake, by comparing the short-term satisfaction, with its long range consequences, before we act.
Lord, You are more precious than silver,
Lord, You are more costly than gold;
Lord, You are more beautiful than diamonds,
And nothing I desire compares with You.
Have a God Filled and Spirit Led day. Go In Peace, Serve the Lord and Love God More Today.
Yours In Christ
Cindi
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