Burunche’s Blog

Genesis 28:1-22  Jacob Flees to Laban

“So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. “Do not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” he commanded. “Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel, and take a wife from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples. And may He give the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants, so that you may possess the land where you dwell as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.”

So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Esau Marries Mahalath

Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to take a wife there, commanding him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,” and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and gone to Paddan-aram. And seeing that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women, Esau went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, in addition to the wives he already had.

Jacob’s Ladder

Meanwhile Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. On reaching a certain place, he spent the night there because the sun had set. And taking one of the stones from that place, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.

And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down the ladder. And there at the top the LORD was standing and saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you now lie. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and east and north and south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. Look, I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

When Jacob woke up, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was unaware of it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven!”

The Stone of Bethel

Early the next morning, Jacob took the stone that he had placed under his head, and he set it up as a pillar. He poured oil on top of it, and he called that place Bethel, (House of God) though previously the city had been named Luz.

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, and if He will provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear, so that I may return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God. And this stone I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give You a tenth.”

For being his father’s favorite, Esau certainly hasn’t exerted himself to try to please his father. Remember those Hittite wives Esau has married? It’s not only Rebekah who is fed up with these women; Isaac is also tired of their wrangling. When Rebekah suggests that Jacob return to her brother Laban in Haran to find a wife, Isaac thinks it’s a great idea. Surely someone from Rebekah’s family will behave better. In a belated attempt to appease Isaac, Esau takes a wife from Ishmael’s family in addition to the two Hittites, not precisely a recipe for peace. What those Hittite ladies may have said or done to this new rival can only be imagined!

Until now, Jacob has never encountered the One True Living God for himself. While Jacob may have heard stories from his father Isaac, it’s likely that he may have dismissed them as myths. Now Jacob is fleeing his brother Esau’s wrath after tricking their father into giving him the blessing that was to be Esau’s. Exhausted, Jacob finds a safe place to sleep and lies down, using a stone for a pillow. And then God shows up. God makes Himself known to Jacob in a dream, identifying as the God of Abraham and Isaac and promising to bless Jacob and to be with him wherever he goes. God even promises that all the families of the earth will be blessed through Jacob and his offspring.

Jacob may be a self-centered manipulator, but he recognizes that he is in a holy place and calls it Bethel, meaning “the House of God.” Jacob vows that if God will keep His promises, Jacob will serve him as his God and will give God one tenth of everything he has. This is the second mention of tithing in the Book of Genesis.

Why Jacob? For that matter, why Abraham or Isaac? The more closely we examine these men, the more repellent they appear; yet, God has chosen them to use and to demonstrate His glory. Jacob is on his way to Haran, where he will meet Uncle Laban, someone far trickier than he is. God is preparing a series of tests and learning experiences for Jacob that will totally change Jacob’s life.

What can we learn from Jacob? God will show up anytime we are open and receptive, and God doesn’t wait until we are cleaned up to show up. That night when Jacob has the dream, he isn’t looking for God, but God IS looking for him. Once Jacob meets God, he has peace that he is going the right way and that God will be with him.

Even though Jacob has left his family to save himself from his brother’s wrath, God is still guiding him. It’s impossible to guide a stationary object; you must be in motion for God to guide you. Even if you start out by heading in a wrong direction, if you will listen to God, God will still direct you and give you His peace.    

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to watch for Your appearing and to listen to Your leading in the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Isaac Blesses Jacob

Genesis 27:18-46 So Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.” “Here I am!” he answered. “Which one are you, my son?” Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may bless me.”

But Isaac asked his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?”

“Because the LORD your God brought it to me,” he replied.

Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau or not?”

So Jacob came close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” Isaac did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.

Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he replied, “I am.”

“Serve me,” said Isaac, “and let me eat some of my son’s game, so that I may bless you.”

Jacob brought it to him, and he ate; then he brought him wine, and he drank.

Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come near and kiss me, my son.”

So he came near and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothing, he blessed him and said:

“Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed. May God give to you the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth—an abundance of grain and new wine. May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. May you be the master of your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed.”

The Stolen Blessing

As soon as Isaac had finished blessing him and Jacob had left his father’s presence, his brother Esau returned from the hunt. He too made some tasty food, brought it to his father, and said to him, “My father, sit up and eat of your son’s game, so that you may bless me.”

But his father Isaac replied, “Who are you?”

“I am Esau, your firstborn son,” he answered.

Isaac began to tremble violently and said, “Who was it, then, who hunted the game and brought it to me? Before you came in, I ate it all and blessed him—and indeed, he will be blessed!”

When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, O my father!”

But Isaac replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”

So Esau declared, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? (Supplanter/Deceiver) For he has cheated me twice. He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

But Isaac answered Esau: “Look, I have made him your master and given him all his relatives as servants; I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?”

Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, O my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.

His father Isaac answered him: “Behold, your dwelling place shall be away from the richness of the land, away from the dew of heaven above. You shall live by the sword, and serve your brother.

But when you rebel, you will tear his yoke from your neck.”

Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart: “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

When the words of her older son Esau were relayed to Rebekah, she sent for her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is consoling himself by plotting to kill you. So now, my son, obey my voice and flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. Stay with him for a while, until your brother’s fury subsides—until your brother’s rage against you wanes and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a Hittite wife from among them, what good is my life?”

There is a saying that “If something seems too good to be true, it generally is.” This story bears out that statement. Isaac is blind and must depend on his other senses, including his hearing. When Jacob brings the savory food Isaac loves, Isaac recognizes Jacob’s voice; yet, he convinces himself he is dealing with Esau because he wants to believe so. Isaac wants that food, and he wants it now. No matter how hairy Esau is, he can’t possibly be as hairy as a goat! And if Isaac can smell Esau’s clothing, why doesn’t he smell the scent of goat on the skins Jacob has attached to his arms and his neck? The same man who was willing to attempt to deceive King Abimelech doesn’t even consider the possibility of someone else being even trickier than he is.

Esau’s response is also very interesting. “Is he not rightly named Jacob? (Supplanter/Deceiver) For he has cheated me twice. He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing.”  Esau has a faulty memory, for he has freely given up his birthright to assuage his hunger, taking no thought for what he has actually done. Traditionally, once Esau is returning from hunting and meets his brother cooking, he should be able to ask for food without any conditions being set. Perhaps Jacob originally asked Esau for his birthright as a joke, never expecting that Esau would actually agree. Esau has given up his birthright; Jacob has not taken it. Isaac does give Esau a blessing, but he doesn’t know what to say and improvises, expressing his frustration and anger as he pronounces over Esau the scanty blessing he has reserved for Jacob.

Talk about a dysfunctional family! Isaac isn’t much of a father, favoring one twin against the other, following his appetites rather than God’s leading. Rebecca is bitter and manipulative. Esau and Jacob are as much victims of their parents’ poor relationship as anything. Nobody in this situation is enjoying any peace despite their best efforts to do so.

What if you have been born into a dysfunctional family? The plain fact is that most families have a certain amount of dysfunction; the question is what do we do with the results? There are innumerable self-help books attempting to advise people on fixing themselves, but God is still the ultimate People Fixer. God is the Peace-giver and God is the One who can help us heal from whatever damage we may have incurred from our families of origin. Let’s pray for God to heal us, rather than depending on gimmicks. Memorizing particular scriptures that speak to you is another very helpful device. Bitterness over family dysfunction will only make things worse instead of better. And we must want to be healed. God cannot change us as long as we are clinging to our hurts, nourishing them and cherishing them.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, You are the One who can heal all emotional damage and make us whole and healthy. Please help us to allow You to heal us. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Jacob’s Deception

Genesis 27:1-17 “When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” Esau replied.

“Look,” said Isaac, “I am now old and do not know the day of my death. Take your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out into the field to hunt some game for me. Then prepare a tasty dish that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”

Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac told his son Esau. So when Esau went into the field to hunt game and bring it back, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I overheard your father saying to your brother Esau, ‘Bring me some game and prepare me a tasty dish to eat, so that I may bless you in the presence of the LORD before I die.’

Now, my son, listen to my voice and do exactly as I tell you. Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so that I can make them into a tasty dish for your father—the kind he loves. Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”

Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am smooth-skinned. What if my father touches me? Then I would be revealed to him as a deceiver, and I would bring upon myself a curse rather than a blessing.”

His mother replied, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey my voice and go get them for me.”

So Jacob went and got two goats and brought them to his mother, who made the tasty food his father loved. And Rebekah took the finest clothes in the house that belonged to her older son Esau, and she put them on her younger son Jacob. She also put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. Then she handed her son Jacob the tasty food and bread she had made.

Rebekah has given birth to twin boys; however, she loves Jacob, the quiet one who remains at home, while Isaac loves Esau, the brawling macho hunter, for the game Esau brings him. What’s wrong here? Rebekah loves Jacob for his nature, probably similar to hers, while Isaac loves Esau for what he can get from him. Isaac is a spoiled only child, raised to believe that everything should come to him aand that people should do things for him because he is entitled.There is also another problem: Isaac’s willingness to betray Rebekah to save his own skin. When Isaac moved his family to Gerar, he lied about Rebekah, stating that she was his sister rather than telling the truth that she was his wife. Rebekah may have had no idea that Isaac had lied about her status. Only when King Abimelech of Gerar rebuked Isaac did Isaac admit the truth. All these years, Isaac’s faithlessness has rankled with Rebecca, embittering her, and now it’s payback time. There’s also the possibility that Esau has refused to respect his mother, slighting her by taking his cues from his father. And then there are Esau’s wives.  

Esau has married two Hittite women, both of whom are shrews, fighting each other and mocking every word Rebekah utters. Even though Esau and his wives and children have their own tents, they are still living next door to Isaac and Rebekah and screaming fights go on day and night. Sometimes it is even difficult to sleep because of the noise these two women make. Perhaps these women or their children refuse to greet Rebekah in the morning, a major social offense or perhaps they even dare to invade Rebekah’s tent, trying to steal jewelry and anything else that attracts them. Perhaps each of these women has borne several children and they are using their fecundity as a means of mocking Rebecca for only having one set of twins. No doubt about it, these women have gotten on Rebekah’s last nerve!

Rebekah can’t very well advise Isaac to send Esau away; however, she can manipulate the situation so that Jacob winds up with the bulk of the family assets rather than Esau. After all, a guy who will give away his birthright for the sake of one meal is scarcely the one you want to have as the head of the family when Isaac dies. Who knows what other foolish decisions this man might take?

Blinded by bitterness, Rebekah has no notion of God’s will in this situation. Perhaps Esau would mature if given more responsibility; however, Rebecca doesn’t want to take that risk. And perhaps Rebekah fears that once Isaac dies, she will be relegated to an isolated tent and neglected, reduced to near-starvation; it’s happened before and Esau doesn’t appear to have any love or respect for his mother. So the stage is set for another round of deception with Rebekah pushing the situation and manipulating Jacob. Rebekah is afraid and is taking the only means she can think of to protect Jacob and herself, particularly herself.

Hindsight is 20/20, and we know that this decision will result in Jacob fleeing to Rebekah’s brother Laban, where he will remain for twenty years. Reading this story, we might wonder how God can possibly use these people; after all, we routinely refer to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Despite all the chicanery, God will still use these people; however, for the next twenty years, they will have very little tranquility. Manipulation and forcing situations just don’t bring us peace!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to trust You and not to manipulate or force situations into shapes that You never intended. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.  

Isaac and Abimelech

Genesis 26:1-34 “There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.

Then the Lord appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, “She is my sister”; for he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” because he thought, “lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to behold.” Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, showing endearment to Rebekah his wife. Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?”

Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’ ”

And Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.” So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him. Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them.

Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there. But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, (Quarrel)  because they quarreled with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name  Sitnah (Enmity.) And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth,(Spaciousness) because he said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”

Then he went up from there to Beersheba. And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.” So he built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol the commander of his army. And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?”

But they said, “We have certainly seen that the Lord is with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a covenant with you, that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.’ ”

So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. Then they arose early in the morning and swore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

It came to pass the same day that Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” So he called it Shebah. Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.”

Like father, like son! Isaac has moved westward into the land of the Philistines to escape a famine. The drought is on and there seems to be more grazing in Gerar. But now Isaac is pulling the same stunt his father pulled and in the same place-claiming Rebekah is his sister so that someone won’t kill him to get Rebekah. Talk about cowardice. But King Abimelech has already learned his lessons about Isaac’s family and watches long enough to see Isaac embracing Rebekah as if she is his wife and not his sister. Quickly, Abimelech puts out the word to his people to leave this man and his family strictly alone! Isaac moves away from the Philistines but remains close to them and his servants open up the wells that Abraham dug when he was in Gerar. Evidently, the Philistines have stopped up these wells out of spite, a short-sighted move in a land where water is at a premium. Finally, Abimelech, one of his close friends, and Phicol, the commander of the army, make a treaty with Isaac because they realize that God is blessing Isaac and they don’t want to mess with God. Ironically, the pagan Philistines appear to have more regard for God and His power than does Isaac. The final statement in this chapter describes Esau’s two wives as troublesome women who are giving Isaac and Rebekah nothing but problems. Neither of these marriages are arranged; Esau has gone out and done whatever he wants with no regard for his parents.

Why would Isaac pull the same stunt that his father pulled previously? Don’t either Abraham or Isaac trust God sufficiently to tell the truth and allow God to protect them? Even though God has promised to make a great nation of both Abraham and Isaac, they continue to attempt to lie and manipulate others. The account is silent about Rebekah’s response or what this cowardly act does to Isaac and Rebekah’s relationship. Poor Rebekah! For the rest of her life, she must live with the fact that her husband was willing to sacrifice her to save his own skin.

It is tempting to criticize Isaac, but are we any better? How far do most of us really trust God when we feel threatened? Sadly, most of us would probably make some attempt to protect ourselves rather than trust in God. We would tell ourselves that we are merely being prudent, but in fact, we are being faithless.

If anybody ever had the right to try to help himself, it would have been Hudson Taylor. Sent as a missionary to China by a small mission group, Taylor found himself in a desperate situation with scanty funding. The group that originally sent Taylor out had no idea of the actual costs of securing a dwelling or purchasing food, assuming living costs in China must be quite cheap. Not only did Taylor struggle to care for himself, but the same group sent out a doctor and his family and demanded that Taylor find an appropriate accommodation for them without sending adequate funds. Taylor’s struggles to survive his first mission term are the stuff of nightmares, and yet, Taylor learned from all these trials and founded the China Inland Mission, based solely on voluntary contributions from individuals. At its height, CIM had more than 1500 mission stations throughout China and was one of the most successful mission groups. One of Taylor’s favorite sayings was that “God’s work done God’s way will never lack God’s supply.”

We work in a small mission hospital in a remote area in a country with a soft currency that is steadily devaluing. Prices of goods and services are rising daily; meanwhile, payments from the national insurance scheme, our major source of reimbursement, continue to delay. Some of our patients and their relatives can scarcely feed themselves while in hospital. We too are supported by voluntary contributions. There is no way we can manipulate this situation; we can only beg God to intervene on our behalf.

The most amazing thing about the story of Isaac is that God knows all of Isaac’s shortcomings and uses him anyhow. There are no perfect people, so God must use imperfect people to do His work. But in our search for peace, we must remember that peace will never come from lying or manipulation, no matter how we attempt to disguise it. The mark of the Holy Spirit is peace, and the Holy Spirit knows more about us than we know about ourselves.

Today, let us ask God for His perfect peace and then be prepared to obey when He points out some area in our lives where we have fallen short by attempting to lie or manipulate. God is not a God of confusion, but a God of peace.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. We praise You, that You are the Peace-giver and the Peace-maker, and that through You we can have perfect peace. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 25:19-33 Jacob and Esau (Malachi 1:1-5; Romans 9:6-29)

“This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean.

Later, Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.

But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So Rebekah went to inquire of the LORD, and He declared to her: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb. The first one came out red, covered with hair like a fur coat; so they named him Esau. (Hairy) After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob.(“He grasps the heel” or “He deceives”) And Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.

When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home. Because Isaac had a taste for wild game, he loved Esau; but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Esau Sells His Birthright

One day, while Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the field and was famished. He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am famished.” (That is why he was also called Edom, meaning “Red.”)

“First sell me your birthright,” Jacob replied.

“Look,” said Esau, “I am about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?”

“Swear to me first,” Jacob said.

So Esau swore to Jacob and sold him the birthright. Then Jacob gave some bread and lentil stew to Esau; he ate and drank, and then got up and went away. Thus Esau despised his birthright.”

Jacob and Esau were twins with totally different personalities. Esau (“Hairy”) came out of the womb first, covered with red hair and screaming lustily. Jacob came out of the womb clinging to his brother’s heel. The name Jacob means “supplanter, deceiver, someone who circumvents or usurps.”  If Jacob cried at birth, he cried discretely, not copying his brother.  Esau became a macho man, striding home with fresh game he had just killed while Jacob was quieter, more thoughtful, and far closer to his mother Rebekah. Isaac loved the game Esau killed and felt closer to Esau as a result.

As the first-borne of twins, Esau would naturally inherit his father’s possessions and authority and would inherit twice as much as Jacob, even though he was only a few seconds older than Jacob. As the only son of a very wealthy man, Isaac himself was extremely rich. Upon Isaac’s death, both men would be wealthy; however, Esau could look forward to becoming far richer than Jacob and dominating Jacob for the rest of their lives. But Esau made a horrible mistake.

There was nothing subtle about Esau; he lived for the moment and in the moment. One day, Esau came back from hunting; he was exhausted, hungry, and thirsty as well. While Esau was honing his hunting skills, Jacob had become a skilled chef and was stirring a savory stew over the fire just as Esau returned home. Esau couldn’t see beyond the end of his nose and gladly gave away a bright future for the sake of one good meal. In the book Kim Rudyard Kipling quoted an Indian proverb that said, “So I would lose Delhi for the sake of a fish.” That was the degree of foolishness exhibited by Esau.

Esau’s main failing was a lack of self-control as well as a lack of foresight. Until the day Esau gave away his birthright, he had probably never considered the nature of that birthright. Esau also likely assumed that since he was his father’s favorite, his father could rescind any bad decision Esau had made. Perhaps Esau had already misconducted himself and Isaac had had to make allowances or excuses for him or even to pay money to a family whose daughter he had raped.    

Let’s step out of this story for a moment to consider the natures of these two men. Esau is driven by appetite, never a good idea. Following your lusts will plunge you into one dilemma after another. Jacob, on the other hand, is a planner and a schemer. Jacob is also controlled by his lusts; however, they are more subtle than Esau’s. Jacob realizes that if he’s ever going to get ahead in this family, he’ll have to do it by stealth. Eventually, Jacob will come up against his uncle Laban, a really crafty guy, and experience first-hand the results of deception. Face it, neither of these guys is particularly appealing; yet, God is already planning to use Jacob to found the Jewish nation and to allow Esau to become the founder of the nation of Edom. (God uses imperfect people because that’s the only kind He has to work with.)

Esau’s big mistake is taking the way of expediency to get instant gratification. When we are under pressure, such a choice can seem very appealing. Someone may get on your last nerve and you find yourself dumping your gunny sack of complaints on that person, never a good idea. Speaking in anger and frustration generally leads to saying more than you have intended to say and may get you into trouble. Those involved in Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous know that if you can simply keep postponing that drink or that fix, you can triumph over your addiction. But AA members will continue to describe themselves as alcoholics for the rest of their lives, knowing that temptation is always lurking and that they can fall at any moment.

Esau doesn’t know any of these things and would probably be offended if you attempted to teach him. Esau’s whole attitude is “I’m all right, Jack! What’s it to you?” But before we criticize Esau or Jacob too closely, we must examine ourselves. How many times have we tried to live only in the moment or scheme to get ahead of those around us? Have those actions pleased God?

If we want peace in ourselves and peace with God, we must do things God’s way and not ours. Living for the moment or scheming will never draw us closer to God, for God already knows all our schemes.  Let us allow God to order our lives, trusting that He knows what is best for us.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to refuse to take shortcuts, knowing that You will guide us into right paths. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 24:29-66
“Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran out to the man by the well. So it came to pass, when he saw the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, saying, “Thus the man spoke to me,” that he went to the man. And there he stood by the camels at the well. And he said, “Come in, O blessed of the LORD! Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.”
Then the man came to the house. And he unloaded the camels, and provided straw and feed for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. Food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told about my errand.”
And he said, “Speak on.”
So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. The LORD has blessed my master greatly, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and to him he has given all that he has. Now my master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell; but you shall go to my father’s house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.’ And I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’ But he said to me, ‘The LORD, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house. You will be clear from this oath when you arrive among my family; for if they will not give her to you, then you will be released from my oath.’
“And this day I came to the well and said, ‘O LORD God of my master Abraham, if You will now prosper the way in which I go, behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass that when the virgin comes out to draw water, and I say to her, “Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,” and she says to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,”—let her be the woman whom the LORD has appointed for my master’s son.’
“But before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah, coming out with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ And she made haste and let her pitcher down from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels a drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels a drink also. Then I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the nose ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists. And I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of truth to take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son. Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”
Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The thing comes from the LORD; we cannot speak to you either bad or good. Here is Rebekah before you; take her and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as the LORD has spoken.”
And it came to pass, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, that he worshiped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth. Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.
And he and the men who were with him ate and drank and stayed all night. Then they arose in the morning, and he said, “Send me away to my master.”
But her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman stay with us a few days, at least ten; after that she may go.”
And he said to them, “Do not hinder me, since the LORD has prospered my way; send me away so that I may go to my master.”
So they said, “We will call the young woman and ask her personally.” Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?”
And she said, “I will go.”
So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her: “Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands; and may your descendants possess the gates of those who hate them.”
Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.
Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming. Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel; for she had said to the servant, “Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?”
The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took a veil and covered herself.
And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.”

This story is all about people taking a risk, following God’s leading, and finding happiness and peace. Abraham takes a risk by sending his head servant with ten camel loads of wealth. Abraham’s head servant takes a risk by traveling several hundred miles in hopes of finding Abraham’s relatives. And Rebekah takes the biggest risks; she agrees to travel with Abraham’s servant to meet a groom she has never met in a strange country, knowing that she will probably never see her immediate family again. The key is faith, Abraham’s faith in God, the servant’s faith in Abraham’s God, and Rebekah’s trust in Abraham’s servant.

Life doesn’t always come with guarantees, but when we trust God, wonderful things may happen. Here a young woman agrees to marry a man whom she has never met. The blessings Rebekah’s family pronounce over her will come true. “Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands; and may your descendants possess the gates of those who hate them.”

Are you on the brink of a major decision, one that will demand you risk everything? Ask God for guidance and then see what He will do. God will not go against His Word in the Bible. God will send you wise people who can guide you. But if you have no peace about your decision, wait! God gave Rebekah peace and she left everything familiar. The mark of the Holy Spirit is peace and God will always give you His peace. If you have to talk yourself into doing something, it’s probably not God’s will at that time.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help all those facing difficult decisions to put their trust in You and wait for Your leading. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 24:1-28 “Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please, put your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

And the servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?”

But Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there. The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there.” So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, for all his master’s goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water. Then he said, “O Lord God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”

And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up. And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.”

So she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.

So it was, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden nose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold, and said, “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge?”

So she said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah’s son, whom she bore to Nahor.” Moreover she said to him, “We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge.”

Then the man bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord. And he said, “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.” So the young woman ran and told her mother’s household these things.”

Sarah has died and both Abraham and Isaac are in deep mourning. Abraham is enough of a realist to realize that his time on earth may be drawing to a close as well. But what about a wife for Isaac? Even now, the Canaanites are already indulging in gross religious practices that are repellant to Abraham; at the same time, Abraham realizes that if Isaac ever gets sight of Ur, he might find Ur so attractive that he will remain there and never return to this land God has promised. Abraham calls his closest friend, his oldest servant who runs the entire household and puts forth the problem. “I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

The servant is naturally worried; how will he know which young woman to select? What if the young woman refuses to leave her family? “And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there.” 

The servant takes ten camels, loads them with luxury items, and travels several hundred miles back to the city of Nahor. This servant has worked under Abraham for long enough that he also trusts the One True Living God, so he prays that God will give him a specific sign, that the young woman of God’s choosing will spontaneously offer him and his camels water. God honors that request and Rebekah appears and offers water. Once the servant learns Rebekah is from Abraham’s extended family, he knows that God has blessed his quest.

In Abraham’s day, arranged marriages were a common practice; even today there are many places where arranged marriages are still the norm. Parents would carefully investigate the family and character of a potential spouse for their sons or daughters, for such a decision was too important to be left to young people with surging hormones. Abraham fully believed that the same God who had given him Isaac would now pick a perfect wife for Isaac as well. What must that servant have felt like as he traveled east with those ten camels? Abraham had trusted this man with the affairs of the entire household for years, but what if he failed to find Abraham’s family? GPS did not exist in those days, and information was spotty. What if he found Abraham’s family, but there was no suitable young woman? What if he found Abraham’s family and there was a suitable young woman but she refused to return to Canaan with him, preferring to remain secure in a walled city? That trip must have really been a several hundred-mile prayer meeting!

God answered Abraham’s and his servant’s prayers, leading the servant straight to the city of Nahor, Abraham’s relative, and to Rebekah. Now let’s leave that story to tell another one. When my father was in his teens, he prayed earnestly for God to give him the wife of God’s choosing. Dad was all signed up to attend a local college when he accompanied a friend to help him move into his college dorm two hundred miles away. Dad was so impressed with the college his friend was to attend that he came home and told his parents he wanted to change schools. It was at that second college that Dad met Mom, who was already a student there. They were married three years later. My parents were married for 36 years until Mom’s death from cancer in 1980. In retrospect, Mom was obviously the wife for whom Dad had prayed as a teen. When Mom died and Dad remarried, we won the lottery a second time because my stepmother was a wonderful woman and clearly a second answer to Dad’s prayers.

When my husband and I met, neither of us was looking for a spouse. Both of us had gone through brutal divorces and were still wounded; yet, God brought us together, healing us in the process. We recently celebrated our 42^nd wedding anniversary, and we can verify the fact that God is a great Matchmaker!

Perhaps you too have been burned by previous relationships. You are ready to give up and remain single for the rest of your life, even though you long for someone with whom you can share that life. Ask God to be your Matchmaker. Let go of any preconceived notions and allow God to work. You will be amazed at what He can do!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help those looking for mates to allow You to choose for them. Heal the hurts and cause them to realize that marriages based on You will last. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 23:1-20 The Death and Burial of Sarah

“Now Sarah lived to be 127 years old. She died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went out to mourn and to weep for her.

Then Abraham got up from beside his dead wife and said to the Hittites, “I am a stranger and an outsider among you. Give me a burial site among you so that I can bury my dead.”

The Hittites replied to Abraham, “Listen to us, sir. You are God’s chosen one among us. Bury your dead in the finest of our tombs. None of us will withhold his tomb for burying your dead.”

Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. “If you are willing for me to bury my dead,” he said to them, “listen to me, and approach Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf to sell me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me in your presence for full price, so that I may have a burial site.”

Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth. So in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city, Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham, “No, my lord. Listen to me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”

Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land and said to Ephron in their presence, “If you will please listen to me, I will pay you the price of the field. Accept it from me, so that I may bury my dead there.” (10.1 pounds)

Ephron answered Abraham, “Listen to me, my lord. The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver,  but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”

Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the standard of the merchants.

So Ephron’s field at Machpelah near Mamre, the cave that was in it, and all the trees within the boundaries of the field, were deeded over to Abraham’s possession in the presence of all the Hittites

who had come to the gate of his city. After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field at Machpelah near Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. So the field and its cave were deeded by the Hittites to Abraham as a burial site.”

Sarah has died at age 127. This means Isaac is 37 and Abraham is probably 137. After suitably grieving for Sarah, Abraham now needs a fitting burial place. Despite the fact that Abraham is a very wealthy and powerful man, notice the way he handles the negotiations.

1. Abraham humbles himself, going to his Hittite neighbors and stating that he is a stranger and an outsider. Abraham doesn’t just go out and bury Sarah in any old location because he doesn’t know the intricacies of the local burial practices. If Abraham is not careful, he can needlessly offend his neighbors, violating taboos. By these actions, Abraham is demonstrating respect for those among whom he lives.
2. After Abraham’s Hittite neighbors make extravagant promises about burial sites, Abraham next asks for their help in interceding on his behalf with Ephron. Abraham wants to buy Ephron’s field, along with its trees and the cave at the end of the field. If Abraham fails to buy the field, he might not have access to the cave in the future.
3. Formal negotiations commence. The threefold repetition of the phrase “I give it to you” is an ancient bargaining formula indicating that the seller is willing to bargain. The use of this phrase does NOT mean that Ephron is ready to make Abraham a gift of the field, the trees, and the cave.
4. After Abraham pledges to pay the full price, Ephron casually mentions how much he wants. You can almost see Ephron shrugging his shoulders as he says, “Listen to me, my lord. The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver,  but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”
5. Abraham does not haggle but pays the full asking price. Perhaps Abraham’s friends have already checked and have informed him of the going rate for land. Abraham’s acceptance of Ephron’s price indicates that Abraham trusts Ephron not to cheat him and that he wants to remain on good terms with all his neighbors.
6. By Abraham’s conduct in this situation, he is assuring himself of peace with his neighbors.

In an age when electronic media have assumed such importance, it is necessary to remember that we need to maintain personal relationships with family, friends, and neighbors if we are really to have peace. Abraham could conduct himself in a very high-handed fashion; he could also find his herds and flocks being stolen in bits, his herdsmen slaughtered, and he and his family in danger.

We have spent a significant part of our lives functioning in cultures not our own. Interestingly, the worst cross-cultural mistakes we have made took place in our own country, and our experiences are quite typical. When traveling abroad, visitors expect things to be different and are willing to adjust; however, when traveling within one’s own country, we expect that the culture will be the same wherever we go. Wrong! When we Yankees moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1983, we had no idea how the Southern culture functioned. It was particularly tricky for me as a female surgeon because I faced a host of cultural expectations for which I was totally unprepared. By the time I had adjusted, I faced a great deal of relational rebuilding, all because I had no idea of the differences between the culture of my Midwestern childhood and the culture of the Midsouth. As one horrible example, when the pediatric surgeons with whom I was going to work invited us to a picnic, I wore the same clothes I would have worn in Illinois…shorts and a tee shirt…WRONG!!! I should have dressed only one step down from the clothes I would have worn to church! My hostess took pity on me and lent me some clothes; otherwise, I might have had to leave. (I had tried to get costume advice; however, the local ladies whom I consulted had no idea of my deprived background.)

Here in Ghana, we have to be careful about the colors we wear. While white, black and white, or blue and white are colors for celebration, black, black and red, or black and orange or brown are considered traditional funeral colors to be worn only on specific occasions. Any woman wearing a black head scarf is considered to be in mourning for a friend or relative. I used to whistle while walking around the hospital. At that time, we had a physician assistant from a particular tribal group working with us. It was only years after this man had moved on that I learned that his tribe believed anyone whistling was trying to capture someone’s soul.

The story of Abraham’s negotiations for a gravesite for his wife can serve as a great example for us. Never take those around you for granted and try to be sensitive to subtle cultural differences. Understanding and compassion will bring peace.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to be sensitive to those around us and not to jump to conclusions or to take them for granted. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

The Offering of Isaac (John 3:16-21; Romans 5:6-11; Hebrews 11:17-19)

Genesis 22:1-19 “Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he answered.

“Take your son,” God said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”

So Abraham got up early the next morning, saddled his donkey, and took along two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had designated.

On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told his servants. “The boy and I will go over there to worship, and then we will return to you.”

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac. He himself carried the fire and the sacrificial knife, and the two of them walked on together.

Then Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!”

“Here I am, my son,” he replied.

“The fire and the wood are here,” said Isaac, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two walked on together.

When they arrived at the place God had designated, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar, atop the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.

The Sacrifice Averted

Just then, the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

“Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.”

Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time, saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies. And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

Abraham went back to his servants, and they got up and set out together for Beersheba. And Abraham settled in Beersheba.”

This morning God has ordered Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering on Mount Moriah, and Abraham is stricken with grief! Isaac is the miracle son of Abraham’s old age, the one through whom Abraham will have descendants as numerous as the sand on the sea shore. How can God possibly demand Abraham sacrifice Isaac now that Abraham has sent Hagar and Ishmael off into the wilderness? And Isaac is an appealing little boy with black curly hair, bright dark eyes, and a perpetual smile. Isaac is a happy child, always singing or whistling, and brightens anyplace he happens to be. God has asked Abraham to move from Ur to Canaan, and then to further move all over Canaan, always living in tents. Until now, Abraham has always obeyed, but how can he possibly sacrifice Isaac? The idea is almost unthinkable. All Abraham can do is to obey and hope God will relent!

As Abraham and Isaac start out with two servants, Abraham is almost dragging his feet while Isaac can’t wait for this new adventure and is skipping along and singing. The only thing puzzling Isaac is the absence of an animal for the sacrifice, but he’s sure his abba already has something in mind. Then the group reaches Mount Moriah and Abraham and Isaac go on by themselves. By now, Abraham is almost in tears; only the self-discipline of a lifetime is keeping him from throwing himself on the ground in grief.

“Papa, where is the lamb?” Isaac asks. “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answers. Finally, the altar is built and Abraham begins binding Isaac’s hands, sobbing loudly as he does so. Trusting and unafraid, Isaac allows his father to bind his hands and his feet and to lay him on top of the wood on the altar. Just as Isaac is realizing that his father has raised the hand holding the knife, they both hear the angel of God calling, “Abraham, Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

“Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.”  Suddenly, Abraham hears the noise of something thrashing in the bushes. A huge ram, the most handsome ram Abraham has ever seen, has caught its horns in the bushes and can’t escape. Abraham wastes no time in dispatching the ram and releasing Isaac from his bonds. Then the angel of God speaks a second time.

“By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies. And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

Abraham and Isaac bow themselves to the ground in worship and awe. When the sacrifice is completely consumed by the fire, Abraham scatters the coals so that the bush will not catch on fire, and then Isaac and he return to the servants with holy joy on their faces. The servants have no idea of what has happened; however, they know something wonderful must have occurred from the way Abraham and Isaac are behaving. Even Abraham, old as he is, is practically skipping down that mountain! Then they all pack up and return to Beersheba.

We always think about Abraham’s risking the life of his miracle son, but what about Isaac’s faith? If Isaac didn’t trust his father, he would never have accompanied him, nor would he have allowed Abraham to bind his hands and feet and to lay him on the altar. Abraham wasn’t the only person to hear that Voice from heaven; Isaac did as well. And that Voice promised to bless Isaac’s descendants, to multiply them beyond all counting, and to bless all nations of the earth through those descendants. For the rest of Isaac’s life, those words would remain in his heart, assuring him that he was specially blessed.

What would have happened had Abraham refused to journey to Mount Moriah and stayed home? Blessedly, Abraham had sufficient faith to meet God’s challenge, to take that risk, and untold blessings resulted.

When we visited Saboba in February 1992, we had no plans to come here. Saboba was a small village with a health center employing only 11 workers while I was a highly trained general and pediatric surgeon. I belonged in a hospital. But when we stepped out of the vehicle and set foot on the mission house yard for the first time, the Holy Spirit descended, wrapping us like a big warm blanket, and suddenly we KNEW we were supposed to come to Saboba. We had to return to America and find a sending agency, another big problem. And then we came to Saboba having raised less than half the funding we needed because the situation was so urgent. Our first year here, I was plagued by health workers carrying wild stories about me to the Regional Director of Health Services. But when a small tribal war broke out, suddenly that little health center became the only source of help for 100,000 people from one tribe. We started the lab and the theater (OR) and began functioning as a hospital, even though we still had only a U-shaped health center building with grass in the center of the U.

Why did we do all this? The Love of God constrained us. God called, and we had to come. Today that small health center is a flourishing district hospital. Perhaps you too are struggling with a thorny decision. You know God is calling you to take a risk and you wish He would give a few guarantees. But God doesn’t work that way. There’s a scene from the movie “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” Jones needs to cross a seemingly bottomless gorge; when he throws a handful of sand out ahead of him, a narrow path suddenly appears. Now Jones has a choice: step out onto that path and trust that it will hold him and that he will not fall to his death, or abandon his quest. Jones steps out, crossing to the final resting place of the Holy Grail.

When God is about to do something great in your life, He may ask you to take a great risk. You have free will and you can choose to risk or not. But if you draw back, that failure to risk will haunt you for the rest of your life and you will miss untold blessings and have only uneasy peace. Have the decades since that decision been easy for us? Scarcely! But God continues to guide and to bless us, and we rejoice in knowing the peace of God in our lives.  

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, many of us are on the brink of important life-changing decisions. We are afraid to stay and afraid to go. Help all those in such situations to hear Your still small voice so that they will make the decisions that will bring them Your everlasting peace. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 21:22-33 “At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do. Now, therefore, swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or descendants. Show to me and to the country in which you reside the same kindness that I have shown to you.”

And Abraham replied, “I swear it.”

But when Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized, Abimelech replied, “I do not know who has done this. You did not tell me, so I have not heard about it until today.”

So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant. Abraham separated seven ewe lambs from the flock, and Abimelech asked him, “Why have you set apart these seven ewe lambs?”

He replied, “You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand as my witness that I dug this well.” So that place was called Beersheba, (well of the seven) because it was there that the two of them swore an oath. After they had made the covenant at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army got up and returned to the land of the Philistines.

And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God. And Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines for a long time.”

Remember Abimelech, King of Gerar, who nearly added Sarah to his harem until God warned him not to in a dream? After God warned Abimelech, he paid Abraham 1,000 pieces of silver, plus giving him manservants, maidservants, and all kinds of livestock. Abimelech opened his land to Abraham, inviting him to live anywhere Abraham wished. Ever since that incident, Abimelech has been watching Abraham very closely to see if Abraham is actually a man of integrity. Because Abimelech is thoroughly impressed, he comes to Abraham along with Phicol, the commander of his army. Abimelech tells Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do. Now, therefore, swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or descendants. Show to me and to the country in which you reside the same kindness that I have shown to you.”  Abraham gives his word to deal fairly with Abimelech, his family, and his country.

Now it is Abraham’s turn. In a country where water is scarce, Abraham has dug a well, only for Abimelech’s servants to seize it. Abimelech is appalled; here he is making a covenant with Abraham and his servants are creating problems. Now Abraham gives Abimelech seven ewe lambs in witness that Abraham has dug this well. The two men call the well Beersheba, or the well of the seven. Abraham also plants a tamarisk tree near the well as a second monument and worships God there. With honor being satisfied on both sides, King Abimelech returns to the land of the Philistines and Abraham remains near Beersheba.

This short story illustrates the success of two outstanding leaders to achieve peace despite a regrettable action by Abimelech’s servants. While Abraham is not a king, he is very wealthy and powerful. After watching Abraham for some time, Abimelech has decided that Abraham truly is an honorable man, one who will fulfill any covenant into which he has entered. As a ruler with foresight, Abimelech wants to have Abraham and his descendants on his side.

Notice how Abraham handles the problem of the well. Abraham allows Abimelech to state his case and pledges loyalty. Only then does Abraham complain about Abimelech’s servants seizing the well dug by Abraham’s servants. Abraham makes a concession before he lays a complaint. Many of us would have complained before we did anything else, offending Abimelech in the process. Next, Abraham gives Abimelech a very handsome present, seven choice ewe lambs that Abimelech can add to his flocks. Even though Abraham is actually the offended party, he takes the initiative to make peace.

How can Abraham take the initiative to make peace? Abraham worships God and trusts Him. Because Abraham has trusted God, God has given Abraham a miracle, a son in his old age. Abraham is more concerned about preserving peace than in proving who is right or who is more virtuous. Abimelech has taken the step to come to Abraham, and Abraham wants to demonstrate his appreciation. Abraham is wise enough not to sweat the small stuff.

Many times, the problems that assail us aren’t big ones; it’s just that there are so many of them. Someone has described such experiences as “being stoned to death with popcorn.” Trivial problems, small stuff, can still become overwhelming, plucking on your last nerve. But there is a very wise test to apply to the things that irritate you: will you remember this in five years? If you won’t remember this problem in five years, it’s not worth wasting energy worrying about it now. Solve problems, but refuse to sweat the small stuff. Isaiah 26:3 tells us, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” Abraham could handle complicated relationships with local rulers because he worshiped regularly and continued to ask God for guidance.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, many of us are struggling to relate to family members, work colleagues, and others. Please guide us and give us Your peace so that we will also bring peace to these relationships. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.