Wrongs Don't Make Right

"Trust in the Lord and do good."  Psalm 37:3a

Everybody in the story of Isaac's blessing for Esau did something wrong.  First, there was favoritism among the parents.  Isaac favored Esau, his son who enjoyed hunting and the outdoors.  Jacob preferred to stay around home, and his mother Rebekah loved him the best.

 

God had told Rebekah when she was expecting the twins,  "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."  Genesis 25:23.  In spite of God's prophecy, Isaac was determined to give his blessing and the position of patriarch of the family to his older son Esau.  A part of the blessing he gave to Jacob, thinking he was Esau, included these words,  "May nations serve you and people's bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you."  Genesis 27:29a.

   

Isaac had called Esau to himself privately to avoid a confrontation with Rebekah, but Rebekah overheard the conversation between father and son.  Do you suppose she could have been eavesdropping?  Rebekah came up with a plan of her own whereby Jacob could deceive his father and receive the blessing and the birthright.  Jacob's wrongdoing occurred when he fell in with his mother's plan to deceive his father. Esau became so angry about the deception that he determined to kill his brother Jacob as soon as his father died.

   

When should we take matters into our own hands and work out our own plans?  When is it all right to sin in order to bring about a desired end, a good result?  Never, ever!  No end will ever justify a sinful means.  God is able to bring good about in every situation if we will trust and obey Him.  God will never need for us to take charge.  He is absolutely capable!

Father, thank You for Your promise to bring good for us and glory for You in every situation if we trust and obey You.  Amen.

Isaac's Bride

Isaiah 65:24,  "Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear."

God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of many descendants.  In order for God to fulfill this promise, Abraham's son, Isaac, needed a wife.  This bride needed to be chosen with particular care since she would play a key role in God's plans for the future and in His promises to Abraham.  The Canaanite women were idol worshipers, and none of them would be suitable as a wife for Isaac.  So Abraham instructed his most trusted servant to journey back to Nahor, about 500 miles from Hebron where Abraham was presently living, and find a wife for Isaac among Abraham's own people.

    The servant was anxious to fulfill his mission well, but he did not know how to recognize the woman God had in mind as Isaac's bride.  He did as we are instructed to do when we lack wisdom.  He prayed and asked God to show him the right person.  Where do you suppose this servant had learned to pray?  No doubt he was following the example of his master.  What a contrast with Abraham's influence and Lot's influence upon those around them.  

    The servant prayed specifically,  "See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water.  May it be that when I say to a young woman, 'Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,' and she says, 'Drink, and I'll water your camels too'--let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac."  Genesis 24:13-14a.  Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her water jar and gave the servant a drink and then watered his camels.  She was the daughter of Abraham's nephew, Bethuel.  God had answered the servant's prayer and had led the servant to the bride He had for Isaac.

    When Rebekah was asked if she would go with the servant to be Isaac's bride, she was ready and willing to leave her old life for the new life that God had prepared for her.

This beautiful love story is a picture of God's love for us.  Abraham represents the Father who is seeking His bride, the church.  The servant represents the Holy Spirit Who searches for those who will comprise the Bride of Christ. He does not speak of himself but directs all attention to the Bridegroom.   Isaac is the picture of the Bridegroom, Jesus, who welcomes His bride into His house, loves her, and shares all He has with those who belong to Him.  Rebekah represents the Church, the Bride of Christ, on whom the Bridegroom lavishes His love, His possessions and His presence.

Father, thank You that all who comprise the church will be a part of the Bride of Christ.  Thank You for all that You have prepared for those who love You and have left their old lives behind and embraced the new, eternal life that is found in Your Son, Jesus.  Amen.

    

      

Sacrifice of Isaac

Hebrews 11:17-19,  "By faith, Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice.  He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him,  'It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.'  Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death."

When God told Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering, what thoughts do you suppose ran through Abraham's mind?  Surely not, God.  That doesn't make any sense.  Not only was Isaac the precious, beloved son of Abraham and his wife Sarah, doted upon like a grandchild, but Isaac was the key to the promises God had made to Abraham about his countless descendants.  Sometimes God's instructions don't seem to make sense to us.  Sometimes He doesn't explain his actions to our satisfaction.  Warren Wiersbe wrote,  "Our faith is not really tested until God asks us to bear what seems unbearable, do what seems unreasonable, and expect what seems impossible.  Whether you look at Joseph in prison, Moses and Israel at the Red Sea, or Jesus at Calvary, the lesson is the same: We live by promises, not by explanations."

One of Abraham's first thoughts must have been,  "How will I ever explain this to Sarah?"  Certainly he did not share God's instructions with his wife, nor with anyone else, because other people would have thought he was crazy and would have tried to stop him.

One of Abraham's traits which especially endeared him to his Heavenly Father was his instant obedience.  When God told him to do something, Abraham got right on it.  He made the arrangements and left with Isaac, two servants, the wood and the fire for the sacrifice and headed to the designated mountain to carry out God's command.  We do have some real insight into one of his thoughts in Genesis 22:5, which says,  "He said to his servants,  'Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there.  We will worship and then  WE will come back to you."  Our Hebrews passage tells us that Abraham believed that if he slew Isaac, God could raise him from the dead.

    Abraham continued to trust God though the hardest test of his life, and God beautifully rewarded his faithful servant.  God never intended for Abraham to kill Isaac.  He just wanted Abraham's willingness.  Sometimes that's all God wants from us--our willingness to make whatever sacrifice He asks of us.  Sometimes He requires the actual sacrifice itself.  Whichever the case, God will always be right there with us and will applaud our trust in Him.

Father, whatever You may ask of us, may we be as obedient and as trusting as Abraham.  Amen.