If you’ve not read the account of Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac in the Bible yet, take time to do so. There is SO much to learn about God in it. One nugget that struck me this time was from Genesis 22 when Abraham is instructed by God to sacrifice Isaac on an altar…I know that’s horrible, right? God was testing Abraham to see if he still loved God more than this special son from whom nations were to come. (Genesis 22:1-2) Abraham was STILL faithful to God! (Genesis 22:5)
Abraham’s answer to Isaac there in chapter 22 says it all. “Abraham said, ‘God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.’” (Genesis 22:8) He trusted God and God did just what Abraham told Isaac He would do in verse 12-13. “12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.” This seems harsh to us. God doesn’t/wouldn’t ask us to kill our children now or even after this in the Bible!!! Understand God knew Abraham would choose to follow Him! Remember, I don’t have to know why God does what He does to get meaning from a passage.
Wow! Just think for a moment about the important people in your life. Are you willing to leave to do whatever God might ask you to do? What does your commitment look like to the world? Are you willing to give up anything to follow the Almighty God, Creator of the Universe?
The next nugget has to do with Isaac and Rebekah…theirs is another interesting story! In Genesis 26, we see Isaac try the same lie his father Abraham tried in calling his wife his sister out of fear!!! Isaac gets called on it by King Abimelech. 9 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.’ ” (Genesis 26:9) Not a good way to be like father, like son!
Okay, that was a small rabbit trail but not what the real nugget is about! Isaac and Rebekah have twin boys named Jacob and Esau after Isaac prays for his barren wife. Again, sound like any other accounts from Genesis? If you said Abraham and Sarah, you would be right! It’s interesting the parallels we see between Abraham/Sarah and Isaac/Rebekah.
These twins were named Jacob and Esau. Esau, the oldest, was tricked by his own mom…really!! Read about it in Genesis 27. Jacob gets Esau’s birthright through this trickery after Esau basically gave it away for a bowl of stew! (Genesis 25: 29-34) I found it interesting how Jacob “bought” it, but did he really think he would have it? Probably not. Sons didn’t do the dividing, fathers did! And THEN, his own mom tricks her husband. Talk about playing favorites!
Moving to the next nugget! Jacob gets tricked by his father-in-law, who is also his uncle (Genesis 28:2), when he’s given the wrong wife. Say what? Yes, the expected bride of Jacob, the younger sister Rebekah, was not the intended bride of her dad, Laban. Laban’s reasoning to Jacob was that Leah was the older and had to be given in marriage first. I personally think Laban wanted 7 more years of free labor by Jacob. The second 7 years served felt longer than the first, I’m sure! I wonder if it reminded Jacob’s of his own deception with the birthright. (Genesis 29)
But that’s just the beginning of Uncle Laban’s less than stellar behavior/trickery. Genesis 30:25-36 shows him tricking Jacob in the division of the flock. BUT, Jacob just figures out how to trick him right back in verses that follow in the rest of the chapter. (Genesis 30:37-43) Are you seeing the pattern of one behavior passing to the next generation? Now there’s a family with fun holiday dinners!!
And, Laban was not at all helpful to his daughters. Their DAD was unwise, deceitful, and brought MORE struggles to his daughter’s lives through deception and trickery! Poor Leah had to feel like the ugly stepsister and yet, excited to be married before Rachel. Genesis 29:16-17 speaks the family rank and Rachel’s beauty. I wonder if there were already issues because of this.
From Genesis 29:31-30:24, we see a relationship of jealousy between the two sisters over the ability to conceive, which was HUGE for a woman at that time. But God saw Leah (Genesis 29:31) and she bore three sons for Jacob to try to win his love/affection. The fourth one interestingly she called Judah to praise the LORD (Genesis 29:35). I see a change of focus for Leah from seeking praise of her man to being thankful to her Creator. When we focus on affirmation/love we think we want/need from those around us, we can miss the blessings right in front of us. Yahweh had blessed her with THREE sons and would bless her with three more before he opened Rachel’s womb. What blessings has God given that you have missed being aware of and thankful for?
Between all the deception and trickery in the family, it was a rough life. I hope you can see in these stories God’s willingness to use us even with our sinfulness. None of these are perfect, as you can clearly see. Keep reading His word and hope to see you soon at CultivatingFaith.org. Blessings. #CultivatingFaithOrg