GENESIS 25:27-28:5
Genesis 26:2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. 3 Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. 4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed,
God told Isaac what He was going to do. It didn't tell him how or when. He also told Isaac what he was supposed to do but with not much detail. Just go where I tell you to go. We need to remember when God tells us something we can trust it and we don't need to read into it or try to make it happen. I have been thinking a lot about the providence of God lately and we see it as we read through these stories again. Sara didn't wait for God to give Abram children and tried to make it happen on her own and it cause trouble in her household but God in His providence had a plan for Ismael as well as Isaac.
Genesis 26:19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20 But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him. 21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. 22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”
I was drawn to the fact that Isaac did not fight for the wells of water that his servants had dug. After all God said He would give them all of the land. He could have decided on his own that they did all the work and God had said... so this is ours. But instead he just moved on and dug another well again and again until no one quarreled over it. Trusting in God's providence and promise. The mind blowing thing is that had he not moved on and stood a fought, whatever would have come of it would have also been part of the plan and used by God.
Genesis 27:22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. 24 “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked.
Not everything that we do is pleasing to God and in line with His word but he has already ordained how He will use everything we do good and bad to accomplish His purpose. Jacob and Rebekka were deceitful and selfish in getting Isaac to bless Jacob. It was done in a terrible way but God knew it was all going to happen before the twins were even born.
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.”
Is it possible that Rebekka remembered this promise and was taking things into her own hands as Sara did? Sure but none of that matters because God's hand is over it all.
God's providence is one of those things that is too great for me to comprehend but I believe it is true. My tiny human brain from my limited worldly perspective cannot understand it but my Great God has revealed it in His word and I trust Him completely. This gives me great comfort in knowing that there is nothing I can do to stop God's plan. We just finished Revelation and we know the end of the story. That is a promise. So even though I want to please God and serve Him and love Him with all my heart, my soul, my mind and my strength I am going to make mistakes. I am going to have to come before Him and humbly ask for forgiveness over and over again. I am going to suffer some consequences for those mistakes and even sometimes suffer because of the mistakes of others but I can't mess up God's plan. And that is really the only thing that matters.
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