The blessing

Genesis 25: 23
The LORD said 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."


I brought up Jacob, and Esau yesterday to show how people give up great things for instant gratification. Anytime I bring up Jacob and Esau the blessing always comes up. So I thought I would go ahead and put my thoughts on it out there.

Jacob receiving the blessing was God’s will. Now I know that the big question here is did Jacob do wrong by following his mothers advice? That is a hard question to pick apart. The birthright, and the blessing go hand in hand. Isaac’s blessing was really a recap of all the things that the Lord had promised Abraham, and Isaac. Isaac was simply passing the proverbial torch. Esau, had little reverence for the birthright, but he wanted the blessing. Don’t we all feel that way form time to time? We want the payoff, we want the benefit, but we do not want the responsibility that comes with it! This is what I meant earlier in the week when I said all the crying in the world will not change it. Choices made during defining moments will affect your life forever. Esau shunned the birthright; he traded it, and then walked away. At this point in his life the blessing was not his to have. Just because he finally realizes what he has lost, does not mean that the deal he made is negated.

Jacob fully understood both. HE wanted both, and it had already been said that the older would serve the younger. God’s plan unfolds weather we like it or not. His will comes to pass even though we might not approve of how it does come about. Jacob took what was his to take. It was his through the deal made with his brother, and it was his by word of the Lord. You cannot steal something that belongs to you. Yes he tricked his father into it, but his father would not have understood, and written it off to childish behavior. Yes you could argue that it was wrong, but at the end of the day what belongs to you belongs to you, especially if the Lord wills it. When the Israelites crossed into Canaan they took the land from the people there. The Lord delivered the land to his people as promised. It was violent, and people were hurt, but as I said before God’s plan will unfold. That plan is not always neat, and tidy. Often it is messy, and people who have turned their back on him will be visited by his wrath. To steal something back from a thief is not theft, it is taking what is yours. Esau knew the deal; he saw an opportunity to take back what he had already given away. He who lives by the sword dies by the sword, he who lies and cheats, will be lied to and cheated. We reap what we sow. The bible is full of these examples, we will get our just reward, it might not be what we think we deserve, but it is by his will not ours. What Jacob did could be viewed as wrong, but God is perfect, and he has to deal with imperfect people. His plan will unfold.

Peace,
Rev. T