There is so much deception going on in our passage today!
We already knew about Abraham's deception of two different rulers over Sarah, Isaac's similar (and even worse) deception over Rebekah, and Jacob's taking advantage of Esau in a weak moment to steal his birthright from him in a less than honorable way. Today we see Isaac's decision to bless Esau with the birthright, even though he knew it was supposed to go to Jacob (no doubt Rebekah would've told him about her prayer, and Jacob would've told him about the deal he struck with Esau). Esau was going to accept it, though he clearly knew he had traded it away to Jacob. Rebekah and Jacob determined to trick Isaac and Esau into Jacob receiving the blessing.
It just goes on and on! What is the common denominator here? What is behind all these acts of deception? Failure to trust God, and fear. That's what it boiled down to in every case. Failure to trust God that He would be faithful to His promises, and fear of what would happen if He didn't. They did not even allow God the opportunity to prove His faithfulness.
How often do we do the same? We take matters into our own hands, we make bad decisions based on fear and mistrust, we lie, we deceive, we become impatient waiting for God's timing.
Jacob and Rebekah's act of deception has some long lasting consequences! Rebekah and Jacob never saw each other again. Jacob's brother wanted to kill him. He was deceived by his uncle. His family was torn with strife. Esau became the founder of an enemy nation. Jacob was exiled from his family for years.
We must realize too that when we choose not to trust God, the consequences will not be good!
It seemed almost fitting, even laughable, that Jacob was deceived by Laban and got a little taste of his own medicine.
Unfortunately, Leah was the pawn in her father's game and she paid the price for it by being married to man who did not love her. I love the fact that Jesus is a descendant of Leah through her son Judah. I love that God chose to bless her in this way. Once again, we see an act of amazing grace!
Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Genesis 30-31
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Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God," - Genesis 28:20-21
God is always with us not matter who we are or what we've done. God was still able to make Himself known to Jacob through his dream which prompted Jacob to fear the Lord.
I forgot to mention how different Jacob's method of finding a wife was from Abraham's servant's method of finding a wife for Isaac. Abraham's servant prayed to God, asking Him for wisdom in finding a wife, and was most concerned with her character. Jacob, on the other hand, focused purely on physical appearance.
I also think that the fact that Judah was Leah's son is pretty cool. What a great way to bless Leah who was not loved the way Rachel was.
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