Sovereignty and Blessing

06Jul09

Today’s Reading: Genesis 25 – 26

Gen. 25. God’s Sovereignty

Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. ~ Gen. 25:8

Altogether, Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people. ~ Gen. 25:17

Today, we say that believers have “gone to be with the Lord”, but remember, at this point in time, Jesus had not been resurrected; so rather than joining Him in Heaven, believers went to a place that Jesus called Abraham’s Bosom.  Jesus talks about this place in Luke 16:19-31 and I believe this is what “gathered to his people” means.

 

Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.

The LORD said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.” ~ Gen. 25:21-23

This good husband prayed on his wife’s behalf. I love that! And I think God did too. Certainly God’s promises for Isaac were going to come to pass, but it was fitting for Isaac to remind God of his waiting in faith. When Rebekah was concerned about her babies, she went to the Lord. His answer was specific, and indicative of His sovereign will reigning supreme in the affairs of mankind.

So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. ~ Gen. 25:24-26

The name Esau means “hairy”, and the name Jacob means “heel catcher” or “supplanter”. Can you imagine if we named babies according to their birth circumstances today? Our children might be named “Feet First”, “Fourteen Hour Labor”, or “That Makes Two”!

So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. ~ Gen. 25:27-28

Parents demonstrating favoritism causes so many problems in families. In Esau’s case, he was rash and rebellious, an impulsive man of action rather than words — and Isaac let him get away with it. In Jacob’s case, he was a conniver, a deceitful man who used manipulative words to achieve his goals, rather than action — and Rebekah let him get away with it.

Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom.
But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.”
And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?”
Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.”
So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. ~ Gen. 25:29-32

The name Edom comes from the word “red” and seems to refer to the color of the chili that meant more to Esau than his birthright. The significance of the birthright was the privilege of having the Messiah as one’s descendant, and the promise of God’s blessing. But God and His promises did not seem real to Esau, so he did not value them, and therefore he chose to do things his own way rather than God’s way.

Perhaps this explains the saying, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated”, if Jacob represents faithfulness and Esau faithlessness.  Isn’t this the same issue we saw exemplified with Cain and Abel?  Compare: Malachi 1:2-3 and Romans 9:10-15.  He is the potter; we are just the clay.

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Gen. 26. God’s Blessing

There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar. Then the LORD appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. ~ Gen. 26:1-6

Isaac had been living in Beer-lahai-roi, which, it is believed, was about 60 miles south of Gaza. According to Google maps, Gerar was about 15 miles southeast of Gaza, and this town, where the King of the Philistines, Abimelech lived, was where Isaac now traveled. God reiterated that all the land in Canaan belonged to the offspring of Isaac (not Ishmael or the sons of Keturah), and confirmed his covenant with Isaac.

Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him. Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.” Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. ~ Gen. 26:12-17

The Philistines envied Isaac and all the blessings that God had bestowed on him. Isn’t this one of the reasons that people have persecuted the Jews throughout history?

Then he went up from there to Beersheba. And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.” So he built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well. ~ Gen. 26:23-25

Beersheba was about 20 miles southeast of Gerar. At this place, Isaac worshiped the Lord, and we see his reconnection with the Lord as the basis for his faith.

Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol the commander of his army. And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?”
But they said, “We have certainly seen that the LORD is with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a covenant with you, that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD.’”
So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.  Then they arose early in the morning and swore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. ~ Gen. 26:26-31

So the Philistines and Isaac’s family were at peace in the time of Abimelech. We saw earlier that Abimelech was righteous before God, and here again, he demonstrates godly wisdom and his belief in the Lord and His sovereignty.

It came to pass the same day that Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” So he called it Shebah. Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day. ~ Gen. 26:32-33

The name Shebah means “oath” and Beer means “well”.  It’s so cool that many of these places, like Beersheba, are still on the map today. And how awesome that God has preserved His Word for us, with all these records intact. My idea of heaven is having the time to learn everything we always wanted to learn. I’d like to delve into this a lot more!

When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah. ~ Gen. 26:34

Here is further proof of Esau’s rebellion against authority. He married two women who were outside the Hebrew faith, which brought sorrow and strife to his parents.

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