Slices
Prepare
In what ways do you see your life as a journey of discovery with God?
Bible passage
41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, ‘The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.’
42 When Rebekah was told what her elder son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, ‘Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you. 43 Now then, my son, do what I say: flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran. 44 Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides. 45 When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?’
46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, ‘I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.’
28 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him: ‘Do not marry a Canaanite woman. 2 Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. 4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.’ 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6 Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, ‘Do not marry a Canaanite woman,’ 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8 Esau then realised how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; 9 so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.
Explore
Abraham took the initiative to find a wife for Isaac to secure his family line. But his daughter-in-law, Rebekah, took the initiative to find a wife for Jacob (v 46). Her reasons for doing so were complex. What were they (see also 26:34,35)?
We could speculate on the prime reason. After all, how could the twins live in the same household after Jacob's deceit and Esau's rage? How important was it that Jacob should marry a cousin, maintaining some semblance of racial and religious purity? Rebekah's father and brother had referred to God when negotiating with Abraham's servant (chapter 24), but there's little evidence that they were committed to obeying God as Abraham had been.
In the end, Jacob became the father of many sons who would become the nation of Israel (35:10–12). But Esau married his half-cousin (v 9), from whom came the nation of Edom (36:9). Abraham's descendants were as many as the stars in the sky, but at this point in the story, Jacob's family line remains precarious. Who will his descendants think they are? It's too early to say, but God's promise has been made – and God keeps his promises (vs 3,4).
Respond
What has God been revealing to you about your journey of trust in him over the last two weeks? Today, share one thing you have discovered with someone else.
Deeper Bible study
Thank God that you have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.1
Jacob is now preparing to flee into enforced exile, hiding from his enraged brother (vs 43,44). His deception came with a high price tag. Despite, and certainly not because of, the deception and subterfuge, God’s plans were not thwarted. God had told Abraham that through him (Abraham) he (God) was going to build a great nation. Build a great nation is exactly what God did.
Isaac then blessed Jacob (28:1–4). These were not merely the words of a little prayer to send Jacob on his merry way. In Middle Eastern culture, the blessing was, and still is, an invocation of the supernatural power of God into another as spoken by his delegated authority. It seems incongruous that such a schemer could be, or even should be, blessed at all.
The blessing spoken to Jacob was particularly important to him at this time. Blessings are applied to make whole or set apart, invoke divine favour, wish the person well, invoke prosperity and make one happy and glad.2 Israel’s divine destiny was embedded in this wily young man and he needed God’s blessing. God knew that, despite his actions, Jacob needed encouragement, to embolden and empower him for the journey and destiny that lay ahead. God is committed, devoted and faithful. He is committed to blessing the world through you. He is devoted to blessing you so that you can be a blessing to others. He is faithful to fulfilling every promise he has made to you. It is awe-inspiring to witness God work all things together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.3
God sees the end from the beginning. He does all things well and all at the right time.
Over whom would you like to speak a blessing today, to encourage, embolden and empower?
1 Cf Eph 1:3 2 Robert Strand, The B Word: The Purpose and Power of the Blessing, Evergreen Press, 2005, p10 3 Rom 8:28
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: 1 Samuel 7–9; Proverbs 21,22
Pray for Scripture Union
Watford Schools Trust were hoping to run a school prayer space this week. Prayer Spaces in Schools have refocused a number of their resources to provide children and young people with prayer activities at home. Pray that children and young people who access these would meet Jesus and grow in faith.
