Its an interesting cast of characters: (1) Esau who had such contempt for God that he is willing to give up his birthright and subsequently the covenant promise God made to Abraham for a bowl of stew; (2) Jacob who dresses up and flat out lies to his father about his identity to steal the blessing that rightfully belonged to the first-born son; and (3) Rebekah who shows such favoritism that she is willing to be cursed just so her favored son might receive the blessing.
Then after the deception, we see hostility and hatred breed inside of Esau to the point where once again we see “sin crouching at the door”. He fully intends on murdering his brother – it sounds like Cain and Abel all over again.
Did God choose Jacob or was the blessing passed down through him only as a result of deception? If Rebekah had not chosen to take things into her own hands, would Isaac still have given Jacob the blessing? If you had to choose between Esau and Jacob as to who would receive the blessing, which would you choose? Why?
think about it:
Who are you most like? Are you like Esau who was willing to give up something of great value simply to meet an immediate physical need? Do you lose sight of what God has promised to give you eternally so that you can satisfy your earthly desires today? Are you like Jacob who changed who he was on the outside in order to get what he wanted? Do you change how you look, how you talk, and how you act in order to fit in with a certain group? Or are you like Rebekah who showed favoritism? Do you treat people differently based on your personal assessment of their worth?
Why did God choose Jacob? Why has he chosen you? He has chosen you – check out John 15:9, Eph 1:11, Col 3:12, and I Peter 2:9. What will your response be?
i think that most of the time i am most like rebekah, but i think since we are only human, we have been like each of them at LEAST once in our life... but anyway, especially being a teenage girl, i have a tendency to judge people by how they look or talk or something like that, and being at a small, private, and christian school, i often get to know the people that i judge, and they turn out to be GREAT, AMAZING people, and i think about how i used to judge them, and it's really funny now... in a not funny sort of way... i guess you could say irony. and then i STILL do it again, but now sometimes i think about the people i have judged who turned out to be AWESOME people, and i let that influence what i am doing....
ReplyDeletebtw, i like ephesians 1:11, i dont have a favorite verse because the entire book of ephesians is my favorite!!!!