18 - A marker for God's house

Jacobs Ladder to Heaven - Source Wikipedia - Standard Bible Story Readers Book Three

Chareen's Thoughts:

• Genesis 28:10-22 Jacobs dream.  I love the way the Lord speaks to Jacob and reaffirms the blessing of Abraham.  I enjoyed Jacobs response to the dream: This stone that I have set up as a marker will be God's house, and I will give You a tenth of all that You give me. Genesis 28:22
• The name Rebekah means knotted cord/ to bind.  Gosh what a tangled web she wove ! Encouraging her son to steal a blessing, using Isaac to send / protect Jacob. 
• Genesis 29:21-30 Well Jacob met his match in Laban ! His love for Rachel ran very deep when I read this account. Imagine working for 14 years to marry someone. Genesis 30:3 Gosh and once again history repeats itself. Rachel is barren and gives her slave to Jacob to have children for her. 
• Genesis 29:31-35 and Genesis 30:1-24 this is an interesting read.  I love the choices of names for their children and the meanings of all the names and how each child was added to the home.  I enjoy reading how the blessing of the womb is attributed to the Lord. This is the beginning of the promises fulfilled. 
• Some of Jacobs practices when watching over Labans flocks was rather odd.  I wonder why he did those things. (Genesis 30:37-43)

Blessings
Chareen

17 - Isaac's life with his sons.

Kathleen’s thoughts

Genesis 25-27

Isaac’s sons Esau who was an expert hunter, a man of outdoor living, and Jacob who was quiet and stayed at home. Isaac’s love for Esau was because of his love for the taste of wild game but Rebekah loved Jacob,

Deception is a very ugly thing, brings heartache and hatred and this is what happened in Isaac’s home. Jacob stole basically Esau’s birth right then he stole his blessing. I can’t imagine how Esau felt, it must have been heart wrenching for him and when you read this part of the scripture Jacob seems quite happy with it. Then you read about their wives and it states here how these women brought bitterness into Isaac and Rebekah’s household. It’s very sad,

The Lord once again assures Isaac about his offspring being numerous as the stars in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed by his offspring.

This reminds me of the sins of the fathers brought down. Abraham lied about his wife Sarah being his sister. Here in Chapter 26:7 Abraham's son does the same thing! Isaac lies about Rebekah his wife being his sister and it was to the same King Abimelech. And his reproach to Isaac is the same as it was to his father. Interesting!

It was sad reading the end of this chapter when Esau begged Isaac to bless him. There is hope though in this blessing where Isaac says “you will break his yoke from your neck.”

Blessings

Kathleen.

17 - Blessings affirmed and blessings stolen

Jacob offering a dish of lentils to Esau for his birthright, 18th century painting by Zacarias Gonzalez Velazquez

Chareen's Thoughts:

Genesis 26:2-5 The Lord affirmed His blessing to Isaac.  Of particular note to me is verse 5. because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My mandate, My commands, My statutes, and My instructions.

I had a look at the meanings of these words in Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary because God states a reason here for His blessing upon Abraham I wanted to more fully understand what He said. This is what I found:

• Mandate - A command; an order, precept or injunction; a commission
• Commands -  To bid; to order; to direct; to charge; implying authority, and power to control, and to require obedience
• Statutes - declaring, commanding, or prohibiting something; a positive law, An act of a corporation or of its founder, intended as a permanent rule or law
• Instructions - The act of teaching or informing the understanding in that of which it was before ignorant; information, Precepts conveying knowledge Proverbs 8:10 Receive my instruction in preference to [striving for] silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold,
• listened - To hearken; to give ear; to attend closely with a view to hear. To obey; to yield to advice; to follow admonition

Genesis 26:6 - 10 Yikes Isaac does the same as his father and lies about his wife calling her his sister (at least in Abraham's case it was a half truth!)
Genesis 26:29 Interesting to note that the people of the land recognised the hand of the Lord's blessing in Isaacs life.
In Genesis 27:1-46 We read about Isaac handing Esau's blessing to Jacob.  As I read it I realised that Isaac doubted and asked Jacob 3 times if he was Esau before he blessed him. It made me think of Peter denying the Lord three times before he went to the cross (Matthew 26:69-75).

In Genesis 27:36 Esau speaks thus about Jacob (surplanter) - So he said, "Isn't he rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice now. He took my birthright, and look, now he has taken my blessing." ... One thing that is dear to my heart is the naming of my children. I have felt quite strongly that the name of a person carries with it a blessing. It amazes me as I read this account that Jacob stole from Esau twice. First he bought his physical inheritance with a bowl of lentils and second he stole his spiritual blessing.

The thing that astounds me is that once the blessing was given it could not be retracted. Secondly the Lord honoured the blessing even though it was meant for another. The blessing was conveyed through touch.  Blessings are another area of interest to me. 

Blessings

Chareen

16 - Isaac's marriage to Rebekah and Abrahams death.

Kathleen’s thoughts

Genesis 24-25

I love the way God has recorded the ages of the people in the Bible especially how old the parents are when they gave birth and then their deaths and after that He gives a record of the descendants.

Abraham lived to a wonderful age of 175 years. After Sarah’s death he re-married to Keturah a concubine and had a further 6 sons. In Chapter 25: 6 Abraham gave gifts to these sons and sent them eastward, away from his son Isaac, to the land of the East. The reason for this he gave everything he owned to Isaac and did not want these sons near him.

When Abraham died Isaac and Ishmael buried their father with his wife Sarah in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre. I note here that Ishmael must have lived near them.

Once again Ishmael’s family records are recorded here of his sons. Ishmael lived 137 years

I love the way Rebekah was chosen for Isaac as his wife. God must have spoken to her as well as she was so willing to go with Abraham’s servant.

Rebekah’s blessing from her family. Our sister, may you become thousands upon ten thousands. May your offspring possess the gates of their enemies?

When God blessed Isaac and Rebekah with child, it must have been quite an interesting time for both of them this is the first time in the word that twins are mentioned. Esau and Jacob were born. Isaac was 60 years old. I’m in that age bracket and having to run around with wee ones whew! It must have been a very interesting time for them all.

Blessings

Kathleen.

16 - The older will serve the younger

Rebecca and Eliezer by Bartolomé Esteban Perez Murillo

Not many thoughts today.  I did not realize that Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebecca. (Genesis 25:20) and they were married for nearly 20 years before she conceived and bore the twins Esau and Jacob. (Genesis 25:26). I found the wording in this verse intriguing.Genesis 25:24 When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb.
Genesis 25:23 When I read the Lords response to Rebecca's inquiry I am reminded that nothing is a surprise to Him.  Sometimes I forget how sovereign He truly is and just how much He knows. How often have I read the story of Esau and Isaac and the sale of a birthright to be surprised by the actions of these two brothers and yet it was foretold to their mother while she still carried them in her womb.

Blessings

Chareen

15 - Forsaking All I Trust Him

Abraham Sacrificing Isaac, by Laurent de La Hire, 1650

Chareen's Thoughts:

Genesis 22 The thought of being asked to offer up one of my children as a sacrifice makes my skin crawl. I wonder what Abaham's thoughts were ?  His feelings as he walked with his son and servants ? I wonder if they suspected Abraham's intentions after all he did live in a time when offering ones children as a sacrifice was fairly common.  I did some extra reading (see footnotes) and realised the faith that Abraham had.  As a prophet had God given him a foreknowledge ? I don't think so because the beginning of Chapter 22 it says After these things God tested Abraham. Why did He need to test Abraham ?
Genesis 22:4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. As I read this I thought about how this is a foreshadowing of Jesus. Three days in the grave for Jesus, three days for Abraham to walk with his son.
Genesis 22:5 Abraham prophesies that he and Isaac will return together.
Genesis 22:8 Abraham prophesies that God will supply the sacrificial lamb.
Genesis 22: 11-14 God provision and affirmation of covenant with Abraham.

What an amazing story. Reading it again has left me with a deeper appreciation for the faith that Abraham walked in. 

Forsaking All I Trust Him a simple acrostic with a very deep message. 

These words are so simple yet their ramifications run deep and wide.
Blessings
Chareen

Footnotes Curtesy of Bible Gateway:

1. Genesis 22:5 Abraham was not lying to his servants or trying to deceive them. He believed God, Who had promised him that this young man's posterity was to inherit the promises made to Abraham (Gen. 12:2, 3).
2. Genesis 22:8 We must not suppose that this was the language merely of faith and obedience. Abraham spoke prophetically, and referred to that Lamb of God which He had provided for Himself, Who in the fullness of time would take away the sin of the world, and of Whom Isaac was a most expressive type (Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible with A Commentary). For Abraham was a prophet (Gen. 20:7). Jesus said Abraham hoped for "My day [My incarnation]; and he did see it and was delighted" (John 8:56). 
3. Genesis 22:9 Isaac, who was perhaps twenty-five years old (according to the ancient historian Josephus), shared his father's confidence in God's promise. Was not his very existence the result of God keeping His word? (Gen. 17:15-17.)
4. Genesis 22:11 See footnote on Gen. 16:7.
5. Genesis 22:18 We have the authority of the apostle Paul (Gal. 3:8, 16, 18) to restrict this promise to our blessed Lord, Who was the Seed through Whom alone all God's blessings of providence, mercy, grace, and glory should be conveyed to the nations of the earth (Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible with A Commentary).