When families fail.

Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob."
Genesis 27:41

This is the fruit of a sin-filled dysfunctional family. It started with the horrible practice of parents playing favorites with their sons. It moved on to power politics within a family in which a mother and her son (Jacob) plot against the culture and leadership of a father and the oldest son (Esau). The result was deception, broken spirits, disappointment, and bitter hate.

Esau articulates the worst that can happen when the closest relationships that we should have on earth turn sour. He is plotting to kill his brother over the deception, trickery, and robbery of his blessing. He does not remember selling his birthright, but he is bitter over the loss of the blessing of his father, because he was closest to dad and felt he deserved it most of all.

This dynamic gets repeated even today. It may not end in murderous revenge thinking, but it might, given the right circumstances. I know as a counselor that the family dynamic can foster a lot of bitterness. Sinners sin against sinners and sinners that get sinned against respond sinfully. That is exactly what happened in the family tents of Isaac and Rebekah. And it occurs in the manicured lawns and Parade of Homes domiciles of my culture!

The most valuable commitment in relationships is in these close family settings. It is worth committing to biblical standards. It must be guarded, protected, watched, nurtured, and taught. And nothing else I do is nearly as important as helping my family work through conflicts and sins with grace and forgiveness. It starts with guarding my own heart, moves into guarding my unique oneness with my wife, and extends to the character and commitments of my children.

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Blessing a new generation.

28    They said, "We see plainly that the LORD has been with you; so we said, 'Let there now be an oath between us, even between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you,
29    that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD.'"

Genesis 26:28-29

Just a simple observation for today: The covenant that God made with Abraham promised him that nations would bless him. This is the first reward of the promise in Abraham’s son Isaac. Abimelech and the Philistines had a tumultuous relationship with both Abraham and Isaac. Both patriarchs had deceived them similarly. Both had managed to become quite wealthy in Canaan’s territory. But it is Abimelech who comes to Isaac now making a treaty of peace. And the basis of him doing so is that the pagan king clearly sees that Isaac has a unique situation with God.

God keeps His promises. He made a vast, national, global, and epic covenant with Abraham. He is keeping it to this day. And the rest of Genesis will show how this blessing keeps coming to each succeeding generation.

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Parents playing favorites.

27    When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents.
28    Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Genesis 25:27-28

There are very real dangers to parenting, and Isaac and Rebekah demonstrate one of the worst of them: playing favorites. Their twin sons were literally answers to prayer for them. I am sure they loved them, but over time, as each boy developed a unique personality, each parent gravitated toward a favorite son. And the results would mark their lives and affect generations.

Isaac loved the rugged outdoor hunter Esau. There was something especially appealing to him about a boy who became such a skilled hunter and provider. I have to confess that the man in me would find myself attracted to that as well. Quieter boys are harder to get to know. The rugged outdoorsman was most appealing to Isaac.

Rebekah on the other hand loved her quiet and reflective boy Jacob. He stayed around the tents. He was more of a manager, and as we will see, a shrewd deal-maker. And from the text, we also see that he was a skilled chef who could cook up a mean pot of lentil stew. So he had his own personality that his mother found attractive. But as the parents drew toward the sons, they found themselves unwittingly pitting themselves and their sons against each other.

I have two children. They are unique in their personalities and I need to be careful that I don’t only feel drawn to one over the other. One is quiet and withdrawn… a deep thinker… a poet… and an emotional processor. The other is happy-go-lucky, a social butterfly with many friends, a constantly busy joker, less emotional unless it is telling a joke, and a wildly gifted musician. Fortunately, I find myself drawn to both of them in unique ways, but I need to be careful not to exalt one over the other. They sense if I am spending more attention on one over the other and they let me know! So Isaac and Rebekah serve as warning posts for careful parenting.

Technorati Tags: Genesis,Isaac,Rebekah,Esau,Jacob,Parenting

a different kind of love story.

Then I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to take the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son.
Genesis 24:48

This is indeed a love story, but one with a much different focus than we normally tend to think about this time of the year. Abraham is incredibly old, he has lost his wife, and is concerned that his son Isaac marry the right woman. He binds his household manager to a solemn oath to find a wife for Isaac among Abraham's own kinsman. The servant knows this is a daunting and dangerous task, but does so.

When he arrives in the territory of Abraham's family, he realizes that the task must be divinely directed. You have to hand it to Abraham. He had instilled a vivid faith in the members of his household as evidenced in the servant's prayers to God. And God heard and answered them with the events that clearly made it apparent that Rebekah was an outstanding, caring, and hard-working young lady. Again, not at all like how we might think of a love story today, but she is the right woman because of her character.

The result was that God was worshiped in such a human matter as procuring a wife and arranging a marriage. Abraham's servant acknowledges God's direction in the provision of Rebekah. Her family recognizes the hand of God in the matter by letter her go to be the wife of Isaac. Rebekah follows God's clear direction by agreeing without hesitation to leave home and family and marry a man she has never even seen!

In the end two things usually at odds are perfectly harmonized. God is glorified by clearly leading in the matter and perfect obedience to Him yields a wonderful result. Secondly, Abraham got exactly what he desired for his son, showing that his desires and wants were in keeping with God's will. And Isaac and Rebekah seem to truly have found a remarkable love, as evidenced in her response to him and his willingness to take her as wife. All in all, quite the happy ending... at least for chapter twenty-four.

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