Days 19 & 20. Reading in Genesis 25-26. (Posted on Monday)

I accidentally posted Day 19 yesterday, so today will be part TWO of my usually combined weekend posts, Day 20.

Genesis 25.

After his wife Sarah died, Abraham took another wife named Keturah. She had six sons. But regardless of these boys and Ishmael, Abraham made it quite clear that it was Isaac, whom Sarah bore, who was the son of his inheritance, receiving not only his own things but all the promises of God for blessing, descendants, land, and ultimately the One who would bless all peoples, the Messiah.

Abraham died at age 175. (This is actually 15 years after Isaac and Rebekah had their twin boys, Esau and Jacob. So they were able to know and learn from their grandfather.)  Isaac and Ishmael buried Abraham in the cave of Machpelah with his wife, Sarah. Ishmael returned to Arabia, and God blessed Isaac, who settled further south to the well of Beer-lahairoi (where God first met the runaway, Hagar).

Backtracking a little, the story of Isaac and Rebekah continues. Like Sarah, Rebekah was barren. Isaac prayed for her, and 20 years later the LORD granted his prayer. She conceived twins, and even pre-birth they seemed to be warring inside her.  SHE prayed to the LORD about it and He told her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”

Eventually, she gave birth. The firstborn was red and hairy, and they named him Esau (meaning red). Second to be born was a boy with his hand clinging to the heel of Esau. They named him Jacob, meaning “grabber.”  (He’s going to grab more than just Esau’s heel!)

Esau was a skillful hunter, a man’s man, and his father Isaac loved him best, especially for the wild venison he brought the old man (now in his 70s) to eat.  Jacob was a quiet guy. He liked home and hearth, and probably looking after the farm animals. He learned to cook quite well.  In fact, his lentil stew was so good he could tempt his twin brother into selling him the birthright with it. 

Esau came in one day, “starving,” saw/smelled the stew Jacob was stirring, and craved it.  Wiley Jacob traded that yummy bowl and a slab of fresh-baked bread for the double portion of their father’s inheritance. WHOA!

• NOTE: The first-born son always got a double portion. When Isaac died, his possessions would be divided into three parts. The oldest boy would get two parts, the younger, only one. Jacob’s bargain changed that.

Genesis 26

Okay, now comes the dumbest thing Isaac ever does.  He had moved his family back to Gerar in Philistine territory, and he – yes, Isaac, not Abraham – told everyone that beautiful Rebekah was his….SISTER!!  WHAT?  She was not even his HALF sister (second cousins at most). This was a flat-out lie.  Why did he do it?  Same as his father. He feared that other men would want her and KILL HIM to get her.  What a bunch of wimps these Hebrew men were!  Ever heard of fighting for your woman?

One day, Abimelech looked out his window and saw Isaac and Rebekah frolicking. (The Hebrew may suggest an intimate relation.)  He called in Isaac, infuriated.  “She is your WIFE!  How could you say she was your sister? What have you done to us? One of us might have slept with her, and YOU would have brought guilt on us all!!“

Abimelech (maybe the same man who had taken Sarah when Abraham was there) proclaimed to all in his kingdom that “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death!”  I’m thinking that Abimelech is a more honorable man than Isaac (or Abe). 

After that, Isaac and the king’s men had more trouble digging wells and falsely claiming them (like with Abraham)  Finally, the king told him to “Go away from us.” 

So Isaac and his family moved up to Beersheba. And there, the LORD appeared to him, saying, “I am the God of Abraham, your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.”  

Was this the first time God had appeared to him and gave him the Abrahamic blessing?  Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the LORD.

• God is so good to His children. Even when we blow it and sin, He is gracious to come to us with fresh blessings. Great is His faithfulness!

And then – wonder of wonders – Abimelech came to Isaac, saying, “We’ve seen how God is blessing you. Let’s get along. (And maybe some of that blessing will fall off on us too).  Let’s live together in harmony.”  So they had a big feast… and they all got along happily ever after.

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When Esau was forty years old (Isaac’s age at marriage), he took two Hittite women to be his wives.  TWO?  “And they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.”