Genesis 25
Today we talk about Isaac and Rebekah's twin sons Esau and Jacob.
27 And the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field. And Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. 28 Now Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison. And Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 And Jacob boild pottage. And Esau came in from the field, and he was faint. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage. For I am faint. Therefore was his name called Edom. 31 and Jacob said, Sell me first thy birthright. 32 And Esau said, Behold, I am about to die. And what profit shall the birthright do to me? 33 And Jacob said, Swear to me first. And he sware unto him. And he sold his birthright unto Jacob. 34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils. And he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way. So Esau despised his birthright.
So basically one child was especially loved by one parent for his manliness and the other was loved by his other parent for being a bit of a home body. As any of us know as parents this of course is a "what NOT to do" situation. Because of this there is of course a great deal disfunction between these two brothers. As a result Jacob cons Esau out of his birthright. He takes advantage of his brother being exhausted and leverages his birthright away from him .... basically for a bowl of pottage. We can look at Jacob and say he is a bad person, true, but the fact the Esau was so easily deceived into accepting such a terrible offer is just about as revolting. I would say this a lesson for both brothers for sure. The disfunction and deceit continues (of course) in the next blog.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Genesis 21
Genesis 21
In this chapter Sarah has had a child Isaac and Abraham is 100 years old. Isaac is weaned and Abraham has a party. At the party Sarah sees her handmaid and Ishmael.
10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this handmaid and her son. For the son of this handmaid shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. 11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight on account of his son.
So now that Sarah has had Isaac she wants to throw her handmaid and her child to the curb. Of course Abraham obliges her request.
14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and gave her the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. 15 And the water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. 16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot. For she said, Let me not look upon the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept.
So basically Abraham sends this woman and her child, his child, out to the wilderness with bread and a bottle of water. She goes until they run out of said provisions and then prepares to die. If you're Abraham could you do this? Well thank goodness God always has a plan.
17 And God heard the voice of the lad. And the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not. For God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. 18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thy hand. For I will make him a great nation. 19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
Thank goodness God always has a plan... for the handmaid and child's sake for sure. Left to Sarah and Abraham, these two would have died. Definately a case of what Not to do! ... thank God for grace and mercy.
In this chapter Sarah has had a child Isaac and Abraham is 100 years old. Isaac is weaned and Abraham has a party. At the party Sarah sees her handmaid and Ishmael.
10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this handmaid and her son. For the son of this handmaid shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. 11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight on account of his son.
So now that Sarah has had Isaac she wants to throw her handmaid and her child to the curb. Of course Abraham obliges her request.
14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and gave her the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. 15 And the water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. 16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot. For she said, Let me not look upon the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept.
So basically Abraham sends this woman and her child, his child, out to the wilderness with bread and a bottle of water. She goes until they run out of said provisions and then prepares to die. If you're Abraham could you do this? Well thank goodness God always has a plan.
17 And God heard the voice of the lad. And the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not. For God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. 18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thy hand. For I will make him a great nation. 19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
Thank goodness God always has a plan... for the handmaid and child's sake for sure. Left to Sarah and Abraham, these two would have died. Definately a case of what Not to do! ... thank God for grace and mercy.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Genesis 20
Genesis 20
2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister. And Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, Behold thou art but a dead man, Because of the woman whom thou hast taken. For she is a man's wife. 4 Now Abimelech had not come near her. And he said, Lord, wilt thou slay even a righteous nation? 5 Said he not himself unto me, She is my sister? And she, even she herself said, He is my brother. In the integrity of my heart and the innocency of my hands have I done this.
So once again Abraham and Sarah come into a city and say that Sarah is Abraham's sister only getting the leader of that city into trouble for taking a man's wife. The only trouble is that this time Abraham has condemned basically a man of integrity. His lying has truly made another man stumble. Sarah also goes along with this.
6 And God said unto him in the dream, Yea, I know that in the integrity of thy heart thou has done this, and I also withheld thee from sinning against me. Therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. 7 Now therefore restore the man's wife.
Of course Abimelech restores Abraham's wife to him but not before he asks him why. You won't believe this response.
9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? And wherein have I sinned against thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? Thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. 10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing? 11 And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place. And they will slay me for my wife's sake.
Much like some christians today who judge people, especially when they start judging others are a believers themselves, Abraham just starts judging these people before he knows if they have a fear of God. This of course is a terrible practice and another example of what "not to do".
This next verse will blow you away if you've been following this blog from the beginning.
12 And moreover she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife: 13 and it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt show unto me. At every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.
WHAT!!! Abraham tells that his wife is ACTUALLY his half sister, *ooo!* and that he has ordered her to lie when they come to a city and that this is the kindness she WILL show him. i.e. he hides behind Sarah because he is a huge coward. It's amazing that this is the first time we hear this "she is indeed my sister" story ... where was this earlier. The incest, the lies, causing others to stumble, causing your wife to sin with other men... I would say this is definately a case for my "what NOT to do" theory about Abraham.
Next we'll deal with Sarah throwing out her handmaid...
2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister. And Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, Behold thou art but a dead man, Because of the woman whom thou hast taken. For she is a man's wife. 4 Now Abimelech had not come near her. And he said, Lord, wilt thou slay even a righteous nation? 5 Said he not himself unto me, She is my sister? And she, even she herself said, He is my brother. In the integrity of my heart and the innocency of my hands have I done this.
So once again Abraham and Sarah come into a city and say that Sarah is Abraham's sister only getting the leader of that city into trouble for taking a man's wife. The only trouble is that this time Abraham has condemned basically a man of integrity. His lying has truly made another man stumble. Sarah also goes along with this.
6 And God said unto him in the dream, Yea, I know that in the integrity of thy heart thou has done this, and I also withheld thee from sinning against me. Therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. 7 Now therefore restore the man's wife.
Of course Abimelech restores Abraham's wife to him but not before he asks him why. You won't believe this response.
9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? And wherein have I sinned against thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? Thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. 10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing? 11 And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place. And they will slay me for my wife's sake.
Much like some christians today who judge people, especially when they start judging others are a believers themselves, Abraham just starts judging these people before he knows if they have a fear of God. This of course is a terrible practice and another example of what "not to do".
This next verse will blow you away if you've been following this blog from the beginning.
12 And moreover she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife: 13 and it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt show unto me. At every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.
WHAT!!! Abraham tells that his wife is ACTUALLY his half sister, *ooo!* and that he has ordered her to lie when they come to a city and that this is the kindness she WILL show him. i.e. he hides behind Sarah because he is a huge coward. It's amazing that this is the first time we hear this "she is indeed my sister" story ... where was this earlier. The incest, the lies, causing others to stumble, causing your wife to sin with other men... I would say this is definately a case for my "what NOT to do" theory about Abraham.
Next we'll deal with Sarah throwing out her handmaid...
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