Double Trouble

“Isaac…loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.”    Genesis 25:28

The Battle of the Boys began as babies.  The twins wrestled in the womb and wrangled during birth as Jacob arrived grasping his brother’s heel in an effort to slingshot his way to the front.  But Esau was the firstborn, a position which carried great privilege—Dad’s big blessing for life and double bounty at his death.

As the boys became men, the match continued with the parents picking sides.  Connected by their passion for the outdoors, Papa Isaac preferred the rowdy Esau.  Mom Rebekah was biased to baby Jacob.  Quiet and kind, he hung around the house, helping with the domestic duties. “Isaac…loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.”  And trouble was brewing.

It showed up first in a soup cauldron.  Esau, starving after a futile hunting trip, swapped his birthright for a bowl of Jacob’s stew.  In a moment of weakness, he gave away his legacy and gobbled the lentils.

The problems reappeared on a platter. Isaac, old and blind, wished to bless his oldest before he was buried.  He rang for Esau and requested a wild game dinner for the occasion.  Rebekah overheard the opportunity and wanted the best for her beloved.  While Esau stalked, Jacob schemed.  Dressed in his brother’s clothes for smell, with his hands and neck covered in goat hair for feel, Jacob served Dad a deceitful dinner and stole the special blessing.  

 

Enraged at the ruse, Esau made plans to murder his brother after he mourned for his father. 

Homebody Jacob had to run for his life and didn’t return for twenty years.

And nobody won the war.

Favoritism and fraud fare no one—especially families—well.  Deceit never wins the day and neither does a double-standard.  Our love can be expressed differently but should always be shared equally.

Be fair and don’t be false.  Your home shouldn’t be a combat zone. 

Happy Matrimony

“Isaac brought her into the tent…and he married Rebekah…and he loved her….”  Genesis 24:67

The match was made in heaven but the message needed to make it to earth, for Sarah was dead, Abraham old, and their son Isaac unwed.   The hometown girls weren’t exactly holy, so dad sent a servant to retrieve a relative for his son.  

The man was more than moderately anxious about this assignment.  Abraham promised an angel would go before him, but the servant heard no wings as he approached the well at Nahor. (Since women came to draw water in the evening, he thought it a good place to scout for a spouse.)

But before he inspected, he implored.  “Then he prayed, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, give me success today.”   He asked God to make the choice easy and obvious—“Please, may the girl who gives water to both me and my camels be the one you’ve chosen as Isaac’s wife.”

Before he even said “Amen,” Rebekah arrived and gave him a drink to sip and his camels drinks to slurp.  The servant was delighted to discover she was the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother, and he bowed in worship.

Invited home as a guest, he wouldn’t touch his supper until he told the whole story, giving God credit for His kindness and praise for His provision.  Rebekah’s brothers realized this duo was divine, bestowed their blessing, and agreed for her to depart the next day.  

As she neared her new home, Rebekah spotted Isaac in the field and hopped down from her camel into holy matrimony.  The servant’s mission was complete, and Operation Hitch was a has-been.

If you’re married, you probably prayed for your spouse.  God answered when you asked, so praise Him for your partner.  Unlike Isaac, you got to pick for yourself, so celebrate your choice and commit again to helping your mate become all that God desires.

Love holy and wholly. That will make the Matchmaker happy. 

And you too.

Trust and Obey

“Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering…”    Genesis 22:2

“Abraham, take your son….”  Fear crept in after only four words, but God continued, “Your only son, Isaac, whom you love….”  The reminders of affection only increased Abraham’s anxiety.  “Go to the region of Moriah.”  Why Moriah? What will happen at Moriah?  “Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”  The dread of every parent—the death of a child, and Abraham must do the deed himself.

We’re not told how Abraham felt or what he said, but we know what he did.  “Early the next morning Abraham got up and…set out for the place God told him about.”  Abraham obeyed and Abraham believed.  

He stopped his servants short and instructed them to stay put.  “We will worship and then we will come back to you.”  Two would go and two would come.  Abraham knew God’s promise and trusted Him to do the impossible to keep it.  

Isaac noticed the wood, the fire, and the knife, but seeing no sacrifice, he asked dear old dad, “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”   Abraham answered, “‘God himself will provide the lamb…’ And the two of them went on together.”

Surely God would have him stop before the top, but the summit appeared and the sacrifice approached.  In the ultimate act of abandon, the father bound his son and raised the blade. 

And then God halted from heaven.

Isaac’s life was spared.  Abraham’s loyalty was commended.  And a ram in a jam ended up as the offering.

We’re not told to kill our kids, but we must be willing to surrender what we cherish.

Trust and Obey.

Hold nothing back.

And God will provide.

The Last Laugh

“Then the Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh?’”  Genesis 18:13

I would have chuckled—and so would you.  

After many decades of marriage, the table was still set for two, and since Abraham had sired a son with a servant, the fingers of fault pointed at Sarah.  By eighty-nine candles on the cake, most women would have gotten over it, but the stigma and sting of an empty cradle still haunted Sarah’s heart.

Then three men arrived at midday.  Ever the hospitable host, Abraham invited them to come in, cool off, and chow down.  They picnicked under a shade tree, with Abraham standing close by.  “Where’s your wife?” they wondered.  “Over there, in the tent,” he replied.  One of the men (who was God in the guise of a guy) said, “I’ll be back in a year, and by then, she’ll have a baby boy.”

The snooping Sarah could hardly believe her ears.  In fact, she couldn’t.  She laughed to herself as she thought, “After I’m too tired and Abe’s too old, will we now be blessed with a little bundle?”

When God asked why she laughed, Sarah lied and said she didn’t—but she did.  God didn’t let her off the hook, but He didn’t let her down either.  At ninety years old, Sarah cuddled her newborn son.  Then she handed the crying kid off to his century-year-old daddy.

They named him Isaac, which means “he laughs.”  “Sarah said, ‘God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”  Especially God, who delighted to have the last laugh!

Embrace your Isaacs—those running-around, right-before-you reminders that sometimes God does something so hilariously incredible that all you can do is laugh!

Abraham and the Altar

“There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.”  Genesis 12:8

One day God said to Abraham, “Time for a trip.  Phone the wife, pack the Winnebago, and drive till I say stop.”  So Abraham pulled out and headed south, with only his possessions and a promise—“You will become a great nation.  You will have a great name.  I will bless you, and everybody on earth will be blessed through you.”

Abraham came to Canaan and traveled to a place called Shechem—and built an altar.  He moved between Ai and Bethel—and built an altar.  He moved to Egypt. (Things weren’t good there but God was.)  He moved back from Egypt to the altar between Ai and Bethel.  He relocated to Hebron—and built an altar.

His nephew Lot, whom he should have left at home, moved to Sodom and was soon a spoil of war.  Abraham and 318 personal soldiers ran to the rescue, routed the four raiding rulers, and returned with his relatives, a lot of others who had been captured, and all the loot.  The grateful king of Sodom said, “Keep what you’ve collected,” but Abraham took no pay and received no prize.

“After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:  ‘Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield, your very great reward.’”  Abraham had refused the goods of men, and his reward was Almighty God.

Abraham didn’t need stuff.  He needed a son.  So he asked, “O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless?…My servant will be my heir.”  But God said, “No, not your servant.  Your own son.”  He took Abraham outside and ordered, “Look up. Tally the stars and you’ll be totaling your descendants.”

So, “Abraham believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.”
And Abraham built an altar.

God’s blessings are beyond what we can figure.

Look around and count.
And offer your thanks on the altar of faith.

 

 

The Blueprint of Babel

“Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens…”  Genesis 11:4

 

I would really like to have seen it.  

Architecturally, Babel’s tower was surely impressive.  Its base was bold enough to bolster height which would climb to the clouds.  Its sides were surrounded by a city able to contain its ambitious inhabitants.

Babel was built with bricks—one by one.  The abundance of sand and sun assured never-ending supplies, so the blocks were fashioned and then fastened—held together by a mortar of tar and a motive of pride and preservation.  “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

The name of God was not enough.  They wanted one of their own, so they set out to leave a legacy by living for themselves.  One by one.

God came down to inspect.  He noticed the foundation was them not Him, and since the priority of this project did not meet code, He confused the speech of the laborers.  Unable to understand each other, they scattered away from each other.  One by one.

Babel was never completed.  No certificate of occupancy was ever issued.  The unfinished tower stood in the desert as a desolate monument to the grand plans of men—minus God.

In vanity, they built up.  And God came down to scatter.

In humility, we look up.  For God came down to gather.  One by one.

Live your life by God’s design and not by Babel’s blueprint, for only what lifts up Jesus today will last past tomorrow.