The Blessing
One-Year Bible: 01/12/2023
Genesis 26:17-27:46
The Blessing
We live in a democracy that chooses our future leaders based on elections. A faulty election sets everyone’s “teeth on edge,” no matter what side of the fence you are on. The words “stolen election” have created quite “A Buzz”... then and now!
What if I told you today that God is still sovereign even over “Trickery and Deception”? What would you say about that? Today’s story tells us just that!
Sometimes God allows his people to be disciplined while in their sin by handing them over to the evil they have been seeking. We see this side of the coin throughout the Old Testament, and sometimes he looks at the heart and picks the better person with a heart for God. God uses both good and evil as He is above all!
“From the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth, may God always give you abundant harvests of grain and bountiful new wine. May many nations become your servants, and may they bow down to you. May you be the master over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. All who curse you will be cursed, and all who bless you will be blessed.” (27:28-29)
What do we know about Esau, who would be the leader? “But Esau’s wives made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah.” (Gen. 26:35)
You see, Esau was connected to the godless nations around them, and they influenced him and made life miserable for his parents. Rebekah saw this and “Went around the situation.” Did she do it the right way?
No, Rebekah “cooked up” a scheme that involved deception, deceit, and delicious food.
While Esau was out hunting for the animal to fix a delicious meal for his father, Rebekah was covering Jacob'’s smooth arms with the animal hair and dressing her son in Esau’s clothes.
Jacob beat his brother to his father, Isaac’s bedside in just a short time. His father “smelled the smell” of his brother’s “earthiness,” ate the delicious meal, and blessed his second son, Jacob.
The good news was that Jacob got TWO DELICIOUS MEALS while TWO NATIONS DECLARED WAR!
As Tess, from “Touched by an Angel,” would say, “God holds time in his hands like a ball of string--yesterday, today, tomorrow, now, and forever, right here where he can see it, all at once. But for everyone else, he stretches time out. He lays it along a golden thread so that humans can imagine it in a straight line.” (Tess from Touched by an Angel)
Here is the mystery explained. In the womb, God already knew and declared there would be two nations and that they would be at war. He is not surprised, and His foreknowledge “holds time in his hands like a ball of string… yesterday, today, and tomorrow.”
God’s blessing to Abraham was continued through his son Isaac. And now it will be continued through his son Jacob. But first, Jacob will wrestle with God.
He will be BROKEN and then BLESSED…That, we will see, is often a recurring theme throughout the New Testament.
If your life and family seem a bit on the imperfect side, welcome to the club!
The entire Old Testament reads like an episode from “Nashville.” However, we are heading to Bethlehem, and “The Blessing” leads us there.
“May God pass on to you and your descendants the blessings he promised to Abraham.” (Genisis 28:4)
