25:18 - Just as God promised Hagar, Ishmael's family would also grow into a great nation of people. Mandy of the Bedouin tribes of the middle east are descendants of Ishmael. Verse 18 also confirms the second part of God's prophecy about Ishmael...his people would always be against the Israelites. Even when God is working out His will through our positive and negative choices, there are often far-reaching consequences for our sins.
25:28 - From that line right there, you know there is going to be trouble. Nothing good ever comes when parents so favoritism amongst their children. It's crazy - you'd think with the incredible oral story telling tradition of the Hebrew people, they would start to figure it out as they told these stories!
25:29 - Huge decisions about your future should not be made while exhausted and hungry...just a tip.
26:6 - What in the world! Do they teach this in Abe's family or something?! Again with the sister thing? It amazes me that these men can be so faithful to God...trusting Him to lead them and protect them...and yet, they have these times of weakness, where they can't even trust God to protect them from some semi-powerful king! The faith journey has its ups and downs, and you hope that the legacy you leave behind is one of faith, not faithlessness.
26:8 - How does the king know they are husband and wife just because they were laughing together. Well, the Hebrew suggests that there was a little more than laughing going on...something a little more intimate. They would have gotten in huge trouble in my youth group for PDA!
26:22 - I like the spirit of Isaac...he is the bigger man here. When there is conflict he just moves on until he finds a place that offers enough space and a peaceful solution for everyone. It is hard to seek peace at any cost...even the cost of your pride, and we can see in the verse after that - that no one loses respect for Isaac.
26:34 - Why does marrying the Hittite women drive Isaac and Rebekah crazy? Well, Esau is the firstborn and in their mines, the heir of the bloodline of Abraham...and he has broken the family tradition. Abraham desperately wanted Issac to marry someone from their family tree and I'm sure Isaac wanted the same thing for his firstborn. Esau rejects the tradition and even goes so far as to marry multiple foreign women. He has already rejected his birthright...now he has broken the family tradition, and we will soon see that God just completely passes Him over as the heir of Abraham's line. If we are not willing to answer the call that God places on our lives...God will find someone else to replace us. Nobody can stop the will of God. You can either choose to be a part of His will, or outside of His will. Choose wisely!
27: It has always bugged me that Rebekah and Jacob pull this huge trick on Issac. I never understood why God would use lies and trickery to guide Jacob into becoming the father of Israel. But we see in the chapters before, that Esau had already disrespected his place in the family of God's people...he was a rash man bent on serving his own will. Jacob at least was reluctant to lie to his father and only did so at the bidding of his mother...and it is a powerful testimony that God can even use flawed and sinful individuals to bring about His plan.
1 comment:
Read it.
Just kidding haha.
I thought it was cool how I hadn't read this til today and then 25:28 shows up, which is what we were talking about today at BWB. I really liked the part about the naming of the wells. It's so cool to see Christians naming their source of life by the ultimate source of Life, Jesus.
As for chapter 26, I honestly thought I was re-reading a part of the bible because of the whole "she's my sister" thing and the naming of the wells...but it's all good now. Hah.
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