Monday, January 9, 2012

January 9

Genesis 26:5
"I will do this because Abraham listened to me and obeyed all my requirements, commands, decrees, and instructions."
Like father, like son in this story of how Isaac deceived the Philistine king the same way Abraham did. Isaac told them that Rebekah was his sister (when that wasn't even halfway true as it was for Abraham). Isaac also 'ignored' God's blessing to Jacob before he was born by attempting to give his blessing to Esau before he died. (Remember God told Rebekah how the older will serve the younger while they were still in her womb?) I find it interesting that God reminded Isaac of the promised blessing, but he also reminded him that he was receiving this blessing because of Abraham's obedience--not his own.

I get so upset when reading this story because of all the deception and lies here just for Rebekah and Jacob to get their way. I almost feel bad for Esau, "but Esau's wives made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah" (Gen. 26:35). Esau married Hittite women who did not obey God and His commands. He made things miserable for his family because of the women he decided to marry. I see this as Rebekah being a typical woman and trying to take things into her own hands instead of trusting God to keep His promise. The name Jacob means 'deceiver' and what a fitting name. He had moments where he could have not lied and told Isaac who he really was. I wonder if Isaac would have blessed him if he had reminded him of God's promise that Esau would serve Jacob instead of all the lies and deception. We know he suffered the consequences of his actions by having to flee the country or his brother would have killed him.

So let us put our trust in God that He keeps His promises and follows through on them. We don't need to step in and take over because He already has a plan. That's a hard lesson I have had to remember the past few weeks. Things could have gotten really bad for me if I had attempted to take control of this situation.

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