Genesis 24 – 27
The Bible has many parts to it like historical studies as we see here. One of the problems with reading these is we tend to blur the lines of what is written as something more than what it is intended. These chapters give an account of Isaac, his wife Rebekah and their two children Jacob and Esau. Often we read Biblical stories and try to apply something more than what it is.
We must remember much of the Bible, especially much of the Old Testament, has many historical stories so one can understand the roots of our faith. There are also many spiritual truths which a derived from these stories, along with promises from God. Finally many of these stories are there as examples for how we should live our lives.
Now we read the story of Abraham and how he “found” a wife for Isaac. Verse 24:45 & 46 is a recounting of how the servants chose Rebekah as the wife of Isaac:
45 “Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ 46 She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels drink also.
This is an example on how God MAY answer prayers and not an example of how fathers need to select their offspring’s spouses. But when you dig into this story, it’s not full of examples, truths or prophecies, but just a story about how things happened.
I love the story of Esau and Jacob more from the aspect of a bad example of how things really should not be done. Esau was a proud manly man, while Jacob was more of a thinker and homebody. Jacob took advantage of Esau more than once during their lives, stealing his birthright and his blessing. Verse 25:34 ends the story with Jacob winning:
Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
This is often preached on how Esau was living in the here and now, while ignoring the future. Jacob took advantage of that and took what was rightfully Esau’s. This is the ultimate in sibling rivalry! I look at this as what we should not be doing! When you get down to it family is all you really have. Your father, mother, brothers and sisters are it when you think about it. So where rivalry is good for advancing the family, it should not be used to destroy each other. But that’s my take on this story.
In chapter 26 God renews his promise to Abraham with Isaac. But I notice something in this chapter where Isaac repeats a lie his father did, claiming Rebekah as his sister. Verse 9 is the lie being found out:
So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’”
Again if you have faith that God will protect you, why lie? This shows me an example of what not to do more than something of spiritual significance.
We end with Jacob deceiving his father and getting Esau’s blessing. Again this to me is messed up. Rebekah conspires with Jacob to trick his father into giving him the blessing. To me this again is more useful as a bad example than something of theological importance. Verse 24 has Jacob flat out break a commandment:
He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.”
Again when reading the Bible, especially the Old Testament, don’t take stories like these and build a church with Jacob as the cornerstone. It’s not ok to lie to your father to better your position, while screwing you brother over who is faithfully doing what his father asked. It is though what happened and needs to be told so we can understand the history of our faith.