The Story: Chapter 3 The Bible: Genesis 27
This is the story of deception, specifically, Jacob deceiving his elder twin brother Esau out of his birthright. Yet Jacob is not alone in this plan for his mother is also an active participant, in fact perhaps the initiator. In our story so far, Isaac is aware that his length of days is coming to a close. Rebekah overhears of Isaac’s desire to pass the family blessing down to Esau and she intervenes in favor of Jacob.
Genesis 27:9-10, 14-17 [v. 6, Rebekah said to her son Jacob] “Go to the flock and get me two of the best young goats. I’ll prepare them in a tasty way for your father, just the way he loves them. Then you will take it to your father. Thus he will eat it and bless you before he dies.”
So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother. She prepared some tasty food, just the way his father loved it. Then Rebekah took her older son Esau’s best clothes, which she had with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck. Then she handed the tasty food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.
Borrowing from the words of Sir Walter Scott (not Shakespeare as most commonly thought): Oh, what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive. For truly, the actions of Rebekah and Jacob will initiate problems and the domino effect of family troubles some 30 or 40 years later, even after Rebekah’s death. We will visit that part of the story tomorrow.
For now, we simply acknowledge deception for what it is. Dishonesty. Trickery. A Lie. This is not a new character quality for Jacob; throughout his life we see threads of deceit. From inside the womb he struggled with his brother (Gen. 25:22-23); he used trickery to increase his wealth from Laban’s livestock (Gen. 30:29-43); and finally struggles all night with the LORD (Gen. 32:24-32).
Yet there is hope. There is always hope. God’s plans cannot be thwarted by the sinful actions of humans. Despite flaws and self-motivated desires, God can and often does use imperfect people to carry out his perfect will. To be clear, all sin has consequences, and we will see this in Jacob’s story tomorrow. For now, let us be thankful for God’s ultimate plan of grace and forgiveness.
Today’s Prayer Suggestion: Thank your Heavenly Father for the times he has rescued you from self-motivated desires. Thank Him for his grace and forgiveness.
The devotional Tail of Two Goats Part 1: The Deceiving End appeared first on Write From My Heart at https://writefrommyheartblog.blogspot.com
Email: Dotty Willmon, writefrommyheartblog@gmail.com
The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright © 1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.
General format for WFMH devotionals will follow the pattern of chapters outlined in The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People, M. Lucado & R. Frazee, Zondervan, 2005, 2008, 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment